Leela Embarks On International Marketing Campaign
By Derek Gale, Senior Editor -- Hotels, 9/30/2008 11:00:00 PM
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| Photographs of Leela employees are being used in brand advertisements to tell the story of how thoughtfulness leads to guest delight. |
MUMBAI — MUMBAI—To coincide with its aggressive expansion plan of going from four hotels to 12 hotels in the next three years, The Leela Palaces, Hotels & Resorts is rolling out a marketing and branding plan that includes an alliance with Chicago-based Preferred Hotel Group as well as a significant international advertising campaign.
The Preferred partnership allows Leela to better target the key U.S. market, which currently makes up some 40% of the company’s business and continues to grow (U.S. travelers comprise 50% of Leela’s guests in Bangalore and Mumbai).
The relationship was a no-brainer for Leela President Onno Poortier, formerly board director of what is now Preferred Hotel Group as well as vice chairman in Asia Pacific of Preferred Hotels and Resorts Worldwide.
Raising Brand Profile
The advertising campaign, meanwhile, launches this month in U.S. magazines like Travel + Leisure, Departures and Food & Wine, as well as in Condé Nast Traveller UK and Vanity Fair UK. The purpose is to raise the Indian brand’s profile in key markets outside its home country.
The tagline for the ads—starring Leela employees right on up to the chairman himself—is, “Where thoughtfulness leads to delight... at The Leela.” The ads tell the story by showcasing actual examples in which hotel staff thoughtfulness has indeed led to guest delight.
Poortier spearheaded the campaign, which is based on his beliefs that the word “luxury” is overused and that it is important for a luxury hotel group to be humble and to be able to deliver on its messages or promises to its guests.
The company’s goal is to understand what it takes to make guests feel special and to think one step ahead to give guests truly personalized service. With that in mind, staff members are trained to think about what a guest wants or what would interest a particular guest.
Such thought is then translated into the anticipation of guest needs—thoughtfulness that leads to delight.
Poortier puts a heavy emphasis on Leela’s staff and their attention to detail as the brand’s strongest differentiator. Why such a keen focus on human resources?
“The luxury traveler today is looking for a hotel where interacting with the staff is a delightful as well as a memorable experience—a place where needs are pre-empted. When individual likes and dislikes are understood and acted upon, they feel a sense of being valued individuals and wanted guests.”
Direct comments to: derek.gale@reedbusiness.com
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