Excerpt: Today’s most successful and impactful hotel brands are those that have made Purpose their motivating raison d’être. In this blog post, we make the case for why your hotel brand should be driven by a Purpose, and how you uncover it and put it to work for the benefit of your hotel and business, for people and planet.
Hoteliers, answer this: what’s your hotel brand’s purpose?
If your answer entails earning a profit or serving a specific stakeholder group, such as your hotel guests, employees or investors – we kindly suggest that it’s time to rethink your purpose. You see, purpose must go above and beyond; above creating value for a single category of stakeholder and beyond making money. It must be broad, humanistic and socially-engaged, linking your hotel brand to a greater good.
Let’s just say that’s the difference between purpose and Purpose, with a capital P!
So are you ready to start the journey from purpose to Purpose? In this blog post, we’ll show you the way forward.
Before we continue, let’s be clear about what your brand’s Purpose actually is: Brand Purpose is the reason your hotel exists – its WHY. It inspires you, hotelier, and your team members to do what you do – and love it!
It is not a vision statement (where your hotel is headed) or a mission statement (what it does to get there), but it is the compass at the heart of your hotel that guides it - and all team members - in the right direction.
Walk down the aisles of your local supermarket or scroll through Booking.com, and you’ll see: consumers have endless choices. So how do you get your brand (aka your hotel) to stand out? By connecting with them on an emotional level. By demonstrating that your hotel brand has a distinct Purpose - one that they connect with.
In its Strength of Purpose study of 8,000 global consumers, Zeno Group found that 94% of consumers say it’s important that the companies they engage with have a strong Purpose. And when they do, consumers are:
And there’s more compelling data out there. The Kantar Purpose 2020 study found that brands recognised for high-commitment to Purpose have grown at more than twice the rate of others. Over a period of 12 years, the brands with high perceived positive impact had a brand value growth of 175%, versus 86% for medium positive impact and 70% for low positive impact.
Need more reason? Purpose allows hotels to:
1. Define your Purpose
To define your hotel brand’s Purpose, bring together a diverse group of people within your hotel, across a range of departments, and ask yourselves the following question:
WHY do we exist beyond making profit? Why do we get up every morning?
Tips to a great Purpose statement:
2. Embed your Purpose
What is Purpose if it’s not properly embedded into your hotel? Rhetoric. Empty promises. Bullshit.
To realise the benefits of Purpose, it’s important to build a culture around it. Identify and empower those people who are equally driven by your hotel’s WHY and allow your Purpose to guide all steps you take together.
Tips to embed your Purpose:
3. Amplify your Purpose
Once your Purpose is properly infused internally, it’s time to take it external and attract those people – guests, customers, partners, etc. – who also believe what you believe. Here the goal is to inspire and spark a movement among your stakeholders, so that they’re motivated to join your hotel on the way to a more purposeful future.
Tips to amplify your Purpose:
It is easy to define a Purpose. Actually living, breathing and effectively demonstrating a commitment to that Purpose is a larger task, but that’s what it takes for your hotel to create real and sustainable impact in the world.
The message is clear: begin your journey to a Purposeful hotel brand now. If you want a place to start, we suggest picking up “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek.
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