Accor announced on Tuesday a refresh for its Pullman Hotels and Resorts brand that includes lifestyle-inspired design features as well as a new brand symbol and marketing campaign.
The move comes as the company is under new leadership, with Yann Caillère serving as interim CEO after the ouster of Denis Hennequin in April. Caillère, who is also a candidate for the position, said that the move is part of Accor’s larger redefinition of its brand portfolio.
“Upscale and luxury segments are a key element of Accor’s strategy. Sofitel’s successful repositioning has given us strong credibility with our customers and investors in these markets. In 2007, we reestablished Pullman and now, we have overhauled its identity and service offer and made it a unique brand in a highly competitive segment that will serve as a key lever to help us fulfill our ambitions in the upscale and luxury segment,” Caillère said.
The brand’s new look will be showcased at five Pullmans in Paris, which are being renovated over an 18-month period set for completion in April 2014. The new look includes a new reception table and lobby armchairs inspired by train carriage seats designed by Christophe Pillet. Public areas will also see a new globe for the lobby and meeting room table designed by Mathieu Lehanneur to look like a poker table. New uniforms by Martine Sitbon and a collection of contemporary art, initially in Paris, London and Brussels, are also included with the refresh.
Caillère said Pullman hotel owners will primarily cover the renovation costs of the brand refresh.
“Since Pullman is mainly operated in management contracts, most of the capex, if you talk about renovations, will be borne by the owners” Caillère told HOTELS.
The new designs, as well as the yin-yang inspired symbol, emphasize a “work hard, play hard” aesthetic for which the brand has coined the term ‘bleisure.’ Accor, Courcouronnes, France, said the aesthetic reflects the changing behavior and desires of upscale business travelers.
“We think it’s now very important to design and conceive the hotel by blending and mixing the business and leisure destination,” said Grégoire Champetier, Accor’s global chief marketing & distribution officer. “We would like the Pullman hotel not to be a kind of neutral business machine, which is what we think most of the American business hotels tend to be. We will put more design, more trendiness into the hotel.”
This theme will also be expressed in the new ad campaign for Pullman that Accor has worked on with DDB. Advertising on billboards, printed press and the Internet will be launched this year and in 2014.
Champetier told HOTELS that about US$30 million will be spent on the “Design Your Journey” campaign, which will target Brazil, China, Germany, the U.K., the Netherlands and France.
“We had a very massive TV campaign for Ibis a few months ago. The target for economy hotels is very broad — that is not the case for our 79 Pullman hotels, so we are not having the same kind of investment,” Champetier said. “We will only advertise with print, outdoor and the Internet. It is important to have a strong online presence, and we are preparing a lot of things for early 2014 with Facebook and LinkedIn. Social media will play a big part.”
Coupled with the refresh is a pipeline growth plan to nearly double Pullman’s portfolio to 150 hotels globally by 2020, primarily via management contracts in Asia Pacific, Latin America and Eastern Europe.