Parsippany, New Jersey—Ever since what was then Cendant Corp. bought the Wyndham brand from The Blackstone Group two years ago, company executives have been working to reposition the upscale brand.

Instead of targeting retiring baby boomers, Wyndham Hotel Group has been strengthening the Wyndham brand’s position with Generation X, a group of travelers who figure to book the bulk of both business and leisure hotel stays for the next two decades. To solidify its deepening relationship with this demographic, Wyndham is revamping its décor, its personality and its marketing scheme.

After years of targeting Westin as its main competition, Wyndham now aims to compete more directly with the Sheraton, Hilton and Marriott brands as it eschews pretense and traditional luxury in favor of more Gen-X friendly functional design and technology. “The whole room and public spaces are built around a more casual lifestyle,” says Kevin Rupert, Wyndham’s vice president for marketing. Wyndham commissioned Michael Graves & Associates to re-imagine the brand’s prototype, and the firm already has made a splash with the introduction of the Wyndham Smart Chair.

The Smart Chair, which will become a standard guestroom amenity by the end of this year, is a hybrid lounge chair and workstation, featuring integrated pivoting tables on both armrests, a built-in power source and embedded Internet connections. The Smart Chair has proven to be such a hit that numerous universities and businesses outside the industry have inquired about purchasing the product, and Wyndham plans to begin selling Smart Chairs to the public by 2009.

Several other Michael Graves-designed guestroom amenities have been implemented as brand standards, like single-serving coffeemakers featuring Wolfgang Puck java or mp3 player clock radios with pre-programmed “WynTunes” playlists.

Wyndham has begun rolling out a bedding ensemble, along with flat-screen TVs and an energy-efficient lighting package featuring flexible gooseneck lamps. In addition, recognizing that many Gen-Xers are now doting parents, Wyndham has partnered with VTech Electronics to install educational video game systems in more than 3,000 family suites.

To publicize the brand transformation, Wyndham settled on a new tagline: “Be Well,” which it is using on revamped marketing collateral, advertising and a simplified Web site. “Be Well” is directed at the Gen-Xers, who trend toward wellness interests. “It fits in with their lifestyle—they’re more social and health conscious,” Rupert says. “They’re more of a 'we’ generation than a 'me’ generation.”

Supporting the tagline are other new features like Wyndham’s new Fields & Sun healthy breakfast program and bath amenities from Bath & Body Works.

Wyndham is turning to non-traditional advertising methods, including taxi tops, billboards and a network of television monitors displayed in high-traffic office buildings. Additionally, a sponsorship of three Cirque du Soleil tours invokes the Wyndham brand pillars of personality, innovation and, quite aptly, flexibility.

As a franchise organization, Wyndham must support the marketing endeavors of its owners, so the brand now offers the Wyndham Marketing Asset Center (WynMAC), an online resource that provides properties with the flexibility to customize their advertising through templates, stock images and copy consistent with the brand’s image.

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