Peace of Mind With a Good Brand
Worldwide a strong brand and/or franchise can influence a consumer’s choice over another product. Being part of a brand has become more of a necessity than an option.
Franchising or partnering with a brand can often be the best avenue for accommodation businesses as well as providing all the brand benefits but without the loss of individual identity and management.
John Sheppard chairman of the all-Australian motel group Golden Chain gives an insight into their model and emphasises that franchisees or branding cooperatives must be aware of the entry requirements of any agreement and also be aware of commitments relating to resignations.
“What makes us better than our competitors is that our offer by comparison has lower fee rates. We give a simple program and value for money for our brand members that guarantee our guests will get a minimum 10% discount because all of our guests travel with discount cards. We guarantee a true discount off a published or advertised price within our six monthly directory,” said Mr Sheppard.
Our members look after the travelling public because they know travellers are referring on to the next person.
“By aggregating membership fees we can put more back into the brand to benefit members such as massive advertising like the very successful regional television campaign featuring Kamahl.”
Golden Chain recently spent $200,000 in improving their visibility Australia wide lifting the profile of their 344 members here and their affiliate of 102 in New Zealand.
“We are everywhere. Travellers can drive around Australia and stay at Golden Chains allowing a 4-5 hour distance between each one. We have to decline some applications so we don’t saturate the market for those who are already in that location.
“Most people shop around and look to see what they can find. Not only are we the largest but we participate in more locations and that is most important,” smiled Mr Sheppard. “We are strict on standards and will accept properties from three rooms up. Our various markets include motels, hotels, apartments, bed & breakfast and four-star cabins in suitable parks, giving consumers the widest possible choice
Golden Chain is a diverse market with a diverse customer base.
Terry Goodall, managing director of PathFinder Parks P/L, said that PathFinder is an exciting concept for marketing holiday parks. It has been developed to provide a focussed program around building the profile and the value of individual parks, while also delivering tangible benefits to consumers. PathFinder works with individual properties to develop tailored marketing plans that promote those properties unique features. This is a significant difference from what existing chains offer. The marketing plans are implemented in conjunction with the property owner. The PathFinder team then continues to monitor results and provide ongoing guidance. The approach is personal, professional and results focused.
PathFinder works as a brand that can operate alone or support an existing chain. Parks continue to operate their business while using the resources that PathFinder provides.
Holidaymakers are now more discerning in how they make choices. For tourism, this requires operators to be creating better experiences and being better differentiated from the competition. This is the focus of PathFinder.
Quest Serviced Apartments was established in 1988 and is a franchise business with more than 140 serviced apartment properties in Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. Nick Suriano, general manager franchising for Quest Serviced Apartments, shares his thoughts on the benefits of being part of a network like Quest’s.
“Quest opted for a franchise model early on when it was clear that franchisee-owned properties produced better financial results,” said Mr Suriano. “Since then, we’ve grown to 140 properties in CBD, suburban and regional locations. To leverage our size and ensure brand consistency, we developed centrally managed business functions which have delivered terrific benefits for our franchise network.
“This includes a centralised marketing function to manage the brand from a big picture perspective and to help franchisees successfully implement the brand locally. Consistency of brand across the network is key and ultimately each franchisee benefits from this being done well.
“Franchisees also have a dedicated franchisee support manager who acts as a conduit and mentor, providing ongoing support and guidance. Our national account management function manages on behalf of the network, the accommodation requirements of our corporate clients. This team secures and nurtures these relationships for the benefit of our entire network. We now count around 120 of Australia’s top 150 companies as our clients.
With so many properties across Australasia, Mr Suriano explains that brand consistency is extremely important. “It’s the reliability of our brand that instils trust, particularly for corporate clients accommodating their people at multiple Quest properties. They need to know that their people will be comfortable and well looked after no matter which Quest they choose,” said Mr Suriano.
As Quest has expanded, Mr Suriano says the business has leveraged the strength of the Quest brand to attract the best franchisees and employees and to build its list of corporate clients. “If demand is any indication that being part of a network like Quest’s is of benefit, 80% of our franchisees want another franchise and are all keen to expand and grow with in the network,” he said.
With more than 20 hotels StayWell Hospitality Group has a combination of branding and marketing. Richard Doyle, executive director of StayWell. explained, “We have a marketing arrangement where we lend our brand to hotels and someone else operates it but we are also a manager of hotels owned by others.”
Every property has its own general manager and staff, which StayWell collectively manages as a team. With third party owners StayWell provides a series of management services to manage the full operation. “We have ownership interests in a range of our properties—besides managing them we also own the properties.
“People can manage a property without being part of a brand but it is difficult to optimise the performance of a property if they are not part of a brand. A management company can provide a suite of services in relation to a hotel,” said Mr Doyle.
An operations manager ensures it runs smoothly-performing functions within the property, such as administration and maintenance. Accounts and financial services need management plus a range of sales and marketing activities — including corporate and government sales — attracting people to the business.
“You need to deal with airlines and wholesale and there is a whole range of sales and marketing activity, some of which is done at the hotel and some of which is done in head office.”
StayWell has its own loyalty reward system and belongs to a number of third party loyalty programs, such as Qantas Frequent Flyer; Myer one; Citibank and Westpac Altitude. A proprietary website incorporating an individual property and the group website has frequent traffic coming to it.
Most management companies manage their third party website using channel management. “We go to our hotel websites, check our pricing against our competitors and adjust the pricing accordingly. Where we licence our brand the owner of the hotel continues to manage their property and we simply bring them business through our brand and marketing services.”
“Some properties join Constellation Hotels because they have had frustrations with previous branding partnerships where the network they were a part of doesn’t understand the Australian market and Australian environment,” explained Bruce Holliday, director of development. “There is a live person at the end of our phones, who understands the business from the manager’s perspective.
“In the Constellation network, the licensee retains total autonomy in their business, without the licensor telling them what rates they have to charge, what distribution costs they have to bear and how they are to run their business. Modern customers are all about connectivity and they want to know what is going on in hotels and how hotels are changing. Social media allows us to communicate with our customers effectively.”
“Joining a network gives businesses access to cutting edge technology,” continued Tushar Raniga, Constellation development executive.
“Constellationhotels.com embraces social media with open arms. Our websites are now highly dynamic and our managed and brand license partners can take advantage of customising individual pages to suit their core market segments without the need for secondary websites.”
Constellation Hotels has a range of brands that cater for different properties. The property size isn’t the main criteria for joining a particular brand. It is the property’s value, location and facilities that are the drawcard. “What makes us unique is we don’t have a single brand we are trying to sell. Rather, a range of brands that all come together under one banner, each of the brands support each other but they are a different brand for different properties and locations,” said Mr Raniga.
Partnerships with a group/brand keeps you at the forefront of customer awareness and insures you are distributed to a much wider audience.
“Good brands are like a good insurance policy. They give customers peace of mind because they know what to expect when they arrive,” concluded Mr Raniga.
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