protean hospitality brand emotion study findings detail

Protean Hospitality & Hotspex Study of Brand Personality & Emotional Profiles

Summary of Findings

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© Protean Hospitality Partnership

Who We Are

◦ We’re a boutique brand strategy advisory firm focused on helping

our hospitality clients drive growth

◦ We combine our business/category expertise with tenacity, while

balancing rigor and creativity to uncover new opportunities for

your brand.

◦ We work with a network of partners & collaborators to help

operationalize the strategy


ACCELERATE ROI

RESEARCH

Understand the company,

category and consumer

BRAND

Understand and define a

OPERATIONALIZE

Align people, process, and

systems to brand promise

What we provide: Research | Brand | Operationalization


Hospitality, Travel and

Leisure

Aeroplan

Air Canada

Canadian Tourism

Commission

Cara Foods

Delta Hotels

Fairmont Hotels and Resorts

Fallsview Casino

Metropolitan Hotels

VFM Leonardo

Prime Restaurants

The Greater Washington

Board of Trade

The Newstead Belmont Hotel

(Bermuda)

Tourism Toronto

Travel Gay Canada

Via Rail

Holiday Inns

Other Categories

American Express

Bell / BCE

Brookfield Properties

Dell Canada

Deloitte Consulting

General Motors

IBM

Ministry of Economic

Development and Innovation

Ministry of Research and

Innovation

Pepsi Frito-Lay

Procter and Gamble

Rotman DesignWorks

Second Cup

Shoppers Drug Mart

Sport Chek

Our experience


Hotel Brands:

Love Some, Leave Some

5


Study Intent

Objectives

◦ To measure the levels of emotional engagement between consumers and

hotel brands

◦ To identify white space between brands, and hence un-owned territories

for brands

◦ To understand the cognitive, experiential and emotional drivers that

determine brand preference and purchase intent

Use of Information

◦ Strategically identify emotional, experiential and functional attributes that

will directly impact brand strength and hence purchase intent

◦ Assist in developing "mass localization" tactics to deliver these attributes

meaningfully at the brand level as well as the individual property level

With a bit more input from the brand, we can

◦ Predict trajectories of brands (with .92 correlation certainty)

◦ Predict increase/decrease in market share based on hypothetical

tweaking of specific emotional, experiential and cognitive attributes


Study Background/Methodology

The Protean/Hotspex 2012 Study of Emotional Profiles and Brand Personalities

was conducted among:

A representative sample of North American travelers with the objective of

understanding on an industry basis how emotional drivers affect hotel choice.

Eight major hotel brands were selected for the study: Best Western, Hilton,

Holiday Inn, Hyatt, Sheraton, Marriott, Westin, and Wyndham.

◦ These chains were chosen for strategic reasons, each offering specific

insights into the brand landscape.

The objective of the study was to apply classic brand attachment measurement

systems to the hospitality industry as a whole

Enabling a better understanding of the drivers of hotel choice (emotional,

experiential and cognitive) and how they relate to drivers of choice in other

categories.


Executive Overview


Overall

◦ The eight brands studied demonstrate distinct personas and emotional

connections. However, the breadth of differentiation is slim for most of the players.

◦ The differentiation that is observed is in intensity rather than distinctive offerings.

The mapping indicates the major brands are all covering roughly the same

territory, (leaving more contemporary areas such as fun, friendly, interesting,

exciting, familiar and desirable pretty much untouched (except for HI and BW

which unsurprisingly are tilted toward the more passive sentiments).

◦ This explains the prominence of modern lifestyle brands (which were not studied in

this project).

◦ The question becomes: which of the lifestyle brands (if any) are taking ownership

of these orphan but desirable territories, and what territories have they sacrificed in

doing so? And, how can the core brands amplify their emotional linkages to build

sustainable, meaningful higher order differentiation (the kind people pay money

for!)


◦ When consumers are asked to liken Hilton to a person, they describe an inspiring,

interesting, hardworking leader. They would likely use words such as: confident,

sophisticated, modern active, and especially rich. As a person, Hilton would bring

consumers new experiences and new ways of breaking the mundane. Much like a

creative new idea, unfortunately this creative person can also go too far and come

across as pretentious, arrogant and show off.

◦ As a result of drifting a bit too far into this negative territory, Hilton’s weakness is in

the “hospitable” essence of hospitality – and the consumer relationship with this

brand would not be described as well-rounded. At its core, Hilton is not relaxed, nor

is it necessarily trustworthy, kind, balanced or comforting. As a brand, Hilton is the

opposite of “home” and of what’s familiar to consumers.

◦ A second look at Hilton’s logo (the sum of: blue font, finesse of the round swirl

around the letter H), reveals an “oxytocin” brand – which by design should be a lot

more nurturing than it is currently being seen as. Hilton would likely therefore benefit,

and form a stronger emotional bond with consumers if while keeping the leadership

position that it owns, it also gets consumers a little bit more in touch with its softer

side – something which it is lacking currently.


◦ This is a BIG, balanced brand who is driving a very solid brand image. To describe

Marriott as a person, consumers used words that represent all the core attributes

that drive their future visit intent (a measure on which Marriott outperformed the rest

of the brands in the survey): interesting, cool, likeable, like you, easy-going, reliable,

competent and successful. But the true magic about Marriott’s brand image, as

perceived by consumers, is its ability to drive a modern, leadership, mature, and

traditional personality without neglecting the friendliness, kindness and honesty.

◦ Marriott is the most well-balanced hotel brand of the eight we studied. There are no

major weaknesses to focus on other than some of the key “nurturing” attributes

which could use some attention: kind and unselfish, good, family-oriented, decent,

and polite could all be dialed up.


◦ To consumers, Hyatt is a more successful, yet nerdy version of Westin. While not as

cool as Westin, Hyatt is more of a leader, rich and serious.

◦ While focused on building this status, leadership and competence, Hyatt is not

getting the fundamentals of relationship-building right. Just like its peers, consumers

can’t relate to it because they are not connecting with their softer side as there is no

balance in the core.

◦ Hyatt needs to build up associations with balanced, kind, down-to-earth, and

reasonable.


◦ As a person, Wyndham is an empty shell who – on the surface – is modern, rich and

knowledgeable, but is superficial, pretentious and arrogant.

◦ It is the brand that consumers could relate to the least.

◦ The obscurity needs to be solved by building associations starting with Wyndham’s

core. It is not interesting, optimistic or cool, it is not building empathy and it is not

nurturing or familiar.


◦ Holiday Inn is a person like you: likeable, wonderful, happy, balanced, easy-going,

down-to-earth, reliable, and competent. It is not a particularly successful or

interesting person. Welcome home. Holiday Inn is associated with all of the

characteristics that one would use to describe something familiar, nurturing, and

friendly.

◦ While a well-established brand, Holiday Inn appears to be coasting along and not

doing enough to maintain excitement and vitality. It is looking a little tired, with some

consumers calling it a out-of-date and unfashionable. Its weakness is in the

leadership space where they could do a little bit more to raise their status. Also, the

brand image is currently diluted and could do a more to breakthrough.


◦ Likened to a person, Best Western is very passive. Consumers see a likeable,

balanced, easy-going, down-to-earth and reliable brand. However, it is imbalanced,

tending to be average, plain, out-of-date and unfashionable.

◦ It is very weak on the active side, and would need to reinvent itself to become more

interesting, optimistic and cool.

◦ The issue is not lack of awareness, but more a lack of connection and interest in

what Best Western stands for.


◦ Traditional, mature, and competent. Those are the words that most consumers use

when describing Sheraton as a person. However, it resembles symptoms of a brand

that has past its peak and is not doing enough to reinvigorate itself.

◦ At first glance, Sheraton comes across as an unsuccessful version of Hilton. While

just as rich, competent, traditional, and conservative, it is not building any interest,

empathy or a connection with consumers. It is just as pretentious, arrogant and

uptight as Hilton, but it is missing Hilton’s charm: Sheraton is not seen as interesting,

cool, and likeable.

◦ Sheraton has the quality, reliability and confidence of an established brand, but the

personality of a C-list celebrity who needs a facelift , a Toastmasters membership,

and, like Hilton, a crash-course on getting consumers in touch with its softer side.


◦ A cool, interesting, successful, competent and reliable person. That’s how consumers

described Westin. It is just as competent, rich and modern as its peers, but it is also

as pretentious, arrogant and uptight.

◦ While being seen as an attractive, fashionable, trendy and modern brand, there is a

barrier in building the consumer relationship because consumers can’t relate to it.

◦ Westin would benefit from focusing on dialing up consumer associations with friendly,

likeable, kind, down-to-earth or reasonable to create a stronger relationship.


Making Emotional Connections


Cracking the code of Emotions

Until recently, most researchers focused almost exclusively on the rational mind in

quantitative surveys. While research techniques to measure ‘emotions’ continues to develop

(brain scanning etc.),

Invested 4 years and conducted thousands of surveys toward developing a

comprehensive online measurement approach, which effectively captures how people

‘feel’ about and react emotionally to brands, new product concepts and packaging designs.

This methodology is based on a comprehensive list of 85 emotions and 182 personalities.

The relationship between these attributes has been mapped and inter-related in great

detail through over 10,000 surveys and advanced multivariate analytics.

We have proven conclusively across over 34 categories and over 101 brands that, on

average, “soft” drivers account for half of all buying behavior. Therefore measuring these

drivers is critical to any successful research project.

How people feel

about brands, new

product concepts,

packages and

services.

The personality that is projected

outwards by brands, new product

concepts, packages and services.


Category Context

1. Emotions – a connection,

warmth, excitement, pleasure –

have twice as much impact on

their choice of where to stay

when compared to rational

features and benefits (70% vs.

30%)

20

Emotional vs. Rational Drivers of Choice

2. Compared to other categories

– even service categories --

hotel brands are

underperforming radically in

terms of delivering these

emotional connections

Consumers evaluation of emotional drivers


Brand Personalities


Understanding the Emotional Regions

Orange: The Inspiring or

Leadership Zone

Is based on feeling inspired and

optimistic

Blue: The Nurturing Zone

Is linked to feelings of human

warmth such as love, caring, and

compassion

Grey: The Familiar Zone

Is home to feelings of

satisfaction and gratitude

Red: The Fun Zone

Is associated with emotions such as

enjoyment, amusement, and desire

Yellow: The

Interesting Zone

Is built on the core emotion of

Interest as well as feelings of

amazement and surprise, and

being alive and energized

Purple: The Friendly Zone

Is associated with emotions

related to liking

Green: The Trustworthy Zone

Is grounded in emotions such as

trust, loyalty, and respect

Brown: The Competent Zone

Includes core emotions of

acceptance and fellowship, as well

as feeling informed and self-

confident

“LIKE YOU”



“LIKE YOU”

Attributes at the edge on the map have

greatest negative impact on behaviour and lead

to distraction and rejection.

Attributes in between the Core and Outer rings

are typically the attributes that can be used to

differentiate between brands.

In general, attributes closest to the centre or core

of the map have the greatest positive impact on

consumer behaviour – on attraction and buying –

but are difficult to differentiate on.


Good brand/Bad brand

24


PersonaSphere – Full Map


PersonaSphere – Hilton

Base: Hilton (n=68)

Q12. Brands are not people, but they do have personality. If this brand were a person would it be more…

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Marriott

Base: Marriott (n=95)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Hyatt

Base: Hyatt (n=113)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Holiday Inn

Base: Holiday Inn (n=100)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Wyndham

Base: Wyndham (n=108)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Best Western

Base: Best Western (n=99)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Sheraton

Base: Sheraton (n=84)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


PersonaSphere – Westin

Base: Westin (n=123)

Competent

Fam

iliar Friendly

Inte

rest

ing


Brand Experience


EmotiSphere – Full Map


EmotiSphere – Hilton

Base: Hilton (n=128)


EmotiSphere – Marriott

Base: Marriott (n=101)


EmotiSphere – Hyatt

Base: Hyatt (n=88)


EmotiSphere – Holiday Inn

Base: Holiday Inn (n=97)


EmotiSphere – Wyndham

Base: Wyndham (n=93)


EmotiSphere – Best Western

Base: Best Western (n=104)


EmotiSphere – Sheraton

Base: Sheraton (n=117)


EmotiSphere – Westin

Base: Westin (n=76)


Summary of “Centers of Gravity”

44


Centers of Gravity: Totality of Personasphere and

Emotisphere

Six of the eight brands

cluster in 2 emotional

territories, with the 2

family brands sharing

space on the other

side of the map, in the

“Familiar” segment.


Key & Hidden Drivers


Positive and Negative Attributes

47


The Drivers of Consumer Choice

NEGATIVE

DRIVERS

Negative attributes do not

appear in driver maps, but they

are shown in the Hotspex

Heatmaps.

Drivers are plotted

against a dependent

variable (purchase

intent) in order to

calculate a derived

impact score.


Importance of Functional Attributes

Is different or unique in some way

Is well advertised or has memorable advertising

Room design is attractive

Service staff are friendly

Recommended by friends or family

Performs well on/ has high online ratings and evaluations

Provides an easy online reservation process

Available where I need to travel

Offers a good price/ provides good value for money

Offers special discounts or deals

Has a swimming pool Is successful and is a leading

hotel chain

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7

Sta

ted

Im

po

rtan

ce,

%

Category Derived Importance

Table Stakes

Unimportant

Key Drivers

Hidden Drivers


Importance of Personality Attributes

-

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

0.70

Chart 1

Personasphere

Derived Importance Average

Personasphere: Brand image– What I think of the brand


Importance of Emotional Attributes

-

0.10

0.20

0.30

0.40

0.50

0.60

Chart 2

EmotiSphere

Derived Importance Average

Emotisphere: Experience of the brand – How the brand makes me feel


The Opportunity

1. Understand how your operation is perceived

◦ Protean Hospitality Brand Measurement

or

◦ Survey of loyal customers and non customers

and how it is experienced

◦ Customer experience audit

2. Identify the deficits relative to the industry averages

3. Understand how these specific attributes are delivered, expressed and

experienced

4. Working with internal operations and marketing teams develop

operationalization programs

52


Thank you

Any questions??



“LIKE YOU” Opposite Zones Have

Opposing Relationships


Emoti / Persona – Summary Regions


PersonaSphere – Top-20 Positives


Base: those familiar with the brand (base varies by brand)

PersonaSphere

(Top-20 Positive)

Hilton Sheraton Marriott Westin Hyatt Holiday Inn Wyndham Best Western

A B C D E F G H

Respondents: 68 84 95 123 113 100 108 99

Competent 76 GH 71 H 76 GH 63 65 63 55 48

Reliable 66 58 76 BDEGH 57 60 62 47 53

Successful 78 BDFGH 52 FH 66 FGH 58 FH 68 FGH 27 46 23

Likeable 50 42 61 48 46 67 BDEG 43 57

Interesting 64 BH 40 63 BGH 54 50 44 43 37

Friendly 37 26 43 29 31 60 ABDEG 28 52 BDEG

Cool 42 29 48 H 49 H 40 33 41 23

Like you 26 33 48 E 30 24 51 EG 29 42

Down-to-earth 28 25 38 D 11 17 65

ABCDEG 20

74

ABCDEG

Knowledgeable 39 36 36 33 41 33 30 24

Easy-going 22 19 32 18 16 65

ABCDEG 16

71

ABCDEG

Hard-working 37 24 39 19 29 43 D 27 31

Modern 38 24 39 H 36 38 26 27 15

Rich 47 FH 30 H 30 32 H 45 FH 10 30 6

Intelligent 35 28 34 30 42 H 23 24 14

Confident 36 24 35 30 36 19 22 18

Mature 32 28 35 22 30 22 19 17

Practical 28 22 32 14 17 39 D 18 33

Straightforward 25 23 29 20 24 33 15 28

Reasonable 20 21 27 15 24 37 G 10 31


PersonaSphere – Top-20 Negatives



Pretentious 21 23 13 25 23 3 26 2

Arrogant 16 20 11 23 20 1 19 1

A show-off 20 15 13 19 20 3 15 2

Average 5 17 5 9 4 19 13 27

Out-of-date 13 11 5 6 4 20 10 29 E

Plain 1 11 4 9 5 26 6 29 E

Rigid 13 17 9 16 17 4 7 2

Uptight 8 17 5 15 18 3 13 3

Unfashionable 1 10 6 6 2 22 7 24

A follower 9 13 2 10 2 18 4 16

Greedy 12 14 5 10 11 4 8 2

Superficial 9 12 2 13 8 3 13 5

Narrow-minded 12 12 3 8 9 5 11 5

Inflexible 9 13 11 8 13 3 5 2

Unimaginative 4 15 5 8 2 9 7 12

Demanding 11 7 7 12 9 2 11 1

Authoritarian 9 7 4 7 13 1 8 -

Cold 8 7 6 8 13 1 11 2

Unfriendly 4 12 5 7 4 - 8 5

Theatrical 10 10 6 5 9 4 5 1

PersonaSphere

(Top-20 Negative)


A B C D E F G H

Respondents: 68 84 95 123 113 100 108 99

10-15%: a concern, 16-19%: a serious concern, 20%+: a very serious concern


EmotiSphere – Top-20 Positives

Q12. In this section we are going to take a close look at exactly how you feel about a few specific hotel brands.


Trust 65 D 59 D 67 D 36 53 62 D 51 57

Interested 65 BDG 45 73 BDEGH 39 53 63 D 46 52

Liking 65 BDG 48 76 BDEGH 35 52 63 DG 37 55

Satisfied 55 G 38 66 BDEG 34 39 54 G 30 52

Pleasure 45 34 54 DEG 29 30 53 DEG 24 49 G

Comforted 41 37 59 BDEGH 26 34 44 28 32

Warm 44 D 32 56 BDEG 19 34 48 D 25 37

Happy 44 G 35 50 DG 24 40 46 G 21 35

Safe 31 40 47 25 39 36 34 42

Relaxed 46 G 29 52 BDG 24 33 39 23 34

Self-confident 40 35 39 24 32 40 23 28

A connection 31 22 41 G 18 24 36 16 36

Inspired 30 28 38 G 26 28 30 13 20

Respect 33 35 39 H 20 22 29 18 15

Accepted 21 15 34 17 18 20 11 33

Excited 25 24 29 14 23 24 17 12

Entertained 26 19 29 17 15 24 11 16

Informed 21 22 27 16 15 19 18 14

Optimistic 21 19 30 21 19 18 9 12

Loyal 28 17 24 11 19 17 11 9

EmotiSphere

(Top-20 Positive)


A B C D E F G H

Respondents: 128 117 101 76 88 97 93 104


EmotiSphere – Top-20 Negatives

Can’t relate 26 26 10 29 27 15 34 20

Unsure 9 6 7 11 6 13 16 16

Unaffected 4 9 4 8 3 9 11 14

Unchanged 3 6 7 8 7 8 9 13

Mixed feelings 5 5 2 8 7 9 8 11

Excluded 5 2 3 10 6 - 7 3

Disappointed 9 3 2 2 - 5 3 10

Apprehensive 1 2 2 6 4 6 7 9

Bored 3 - - 1 - 4 - 8

Pessimistic 4 2 2 4 4 3 5 5

Unhappy 2 - - - - - - 5

Dissatisfied 2 1 2 3 2 6 1 10

Uncomfortable 3 3 - 1 1 3 - 6

Critical 3 2 - - - 2 - 3

Worried - 2 2 - - 4 - 2

Shame 3 - 2 - - - - -

Unappreciated 5 1 1 2 2 1 2 5

Frustrated 1 1 2 4 2 1 - 5

Intimidated 3 2 1 4 3 - 2 1

Disliking 3 - - 1 - 1 - 4

EmotiSphere

(Top-20 Negative)


A B C D E F G H

Respondents: 128 117 101 76 88 97 93 104

10-15%: a concern, 16-19%: a serious concern, 20%+: a very serious concern

protean hospitality brand emotion study findings detail

Documents

brand level

brand preference

brand promise

brand personalities

brand strength

consumer brand

brand landscape

hospitality industry