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Old Nov 2, 2017, 2:13 pm
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IHG to launch 2 more brands

According to this article, IHG wants to launch a new luxury brand, positioned above Intercontinental, and also a soft brand (i.e. their version of Curio, Autograph, Tribute, etc).

https://skift.com/2017/10/20/ihg-is-...-luxury-brand/
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Old Nov 2, 2017, 2:51 pm
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Originally Posted by davidw70
According to this article, IHG wants to launch a new luxury brand, positioned above Intercontinental, and also a soft brand (i.e. their version of Curio, Autograph, Tribute, etc).

https://skift.com/2017/10/20/ihg-is-...-luxury-brand/
Would be better to have some commonality of their existing brands first wouldn't it?

I thought all of the current brands were the equivalent of Curio by Hilton or Tribute by Starwood.
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Old Nov 2, 2017, 3:18 pm
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I'm not sure the addition of more brands is needed. I often wonder why so many of the companies have the need for so many brands. Then again, maybe that's the reason why they do it. With Mariott/Starwood being so large now, IHG may not want to seem like the brand of "less choice".

I definitely welcome a luxury brand. I would have accepted more ICs, but something better would be great too
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Old Nov 2, 2017, 4:25 pm
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I always thought Indigo is already a soft brand...

Ah yes, I dislike all these extra brands. Does nothing for me.

And think the old days when Holiday Inn developed and owned Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns, Homewood...and InterContinental owned Forum...Should have kept them don't you Holiday Inn?
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 3:37 am
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Originally Posted by Super Mario
I'm not sure the addition of more brands is needed. I often wonder why so many of the companies have the need for so many brands.
It may be insightful to look at this the other way around.

Not companies have the need for so many brands but consumers! Different generations of consumers have different preferences regarding hotels and hotel brands. Particularly many millennials aren't the biggest fans of old, big, well-established brands and prefer newer, smaller, and softer/more individualized brands.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 4:32 am
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Last edited by markle; May 25, 2023 at 7:08 am
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 4:54 am
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Originally Posted by chongcao
I always thought Indigo is already a soft brand...

Ah yes, I dislike all these extra brands. Does nothing for me.

And think the old days when Holiday Inn developed and owned Embassy Suites, Hampton Inns, Homewood...and InterContinental owned Forum...Should have kept them don't you Holiday Inn?
They actually owned Embassy and Hampton at one point? I really didn't know that. Before my time, maybe....

The new brand thirst belies insecurity, to my eyes.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 5:32 am
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Originally Posted by Concerto
They actually owned Embassy and Hampton at one point? I really didn't know that. Before my time, maybe....

The new brand thirst belies insecurity, to my eyes.
It was Holiday Corp (the company run by Holiday Inn founder Kemmons Wilson) that started Embassy and Hampton. It ended up selling Holiday Inn to Bass (which is one of the predecessor companies of what is now IHG). The remaining brands became part of Promus, which was eventually sold to Hilton.
Separately, Bass bought Intercontinental.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 9:54 am
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Thanks for the history lesson, davidw70. I find this stuff interesting, even if I'll never be on Jeopardy to use it.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 1:13 pm
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In many ways, the 'customers' of new brands aren't hotel guests, rather the potential franchisees.

New brands can be easier to sell, giving the franchisee "the first [brand] in Europe/US/Asia".
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 9:21 pm
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Originally Posted by Phorbas
In many ways, the 'customers' of new brands aren't hotel guests, rather the potential franchisees.
That's a myopic way of looking at it.

Why do you become a franchisee? Because you think you can use the business model profitably. But you would only think that if you believe the business (the new hotel brand) is attractive to hotel guests.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 9:28 pm
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Originally Posted by chongcao
I always thought Indigo is already a soft brand...
If you've got a USA IP address, an interesting look at how Indigo brands:


https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/324541/s01_e03_hotel_indigo

There are some things they're very picky about in terms of common design elements- the nautilus, proportions in the lobby an check-in area, the use of hipster artistic wallpaper, etc. so that people can easily recognize a property as an Indigo while each property still has design elements that reflect the location of the hotel and local culture.
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Old Nov 3, 2017, 9:53 pm
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Originally Posted by Super Mario
I'm not sure the addition of more brands is needed. I often wonder why so many of the companies have the need for so many brands.
Originally Posted by Phorbas
In many ways, the 'customers' of new brands aren't hotel guests, rather the potential franchisees.

New brands can be easier to sell, giving the franchisee "the first [brand] in Europe/US/Asia".
Originally Posted by 1flyer
That's a myopic way of looking at it.

Why do you become a franchisee? Because you think you can use the business model profitably. But you would only think that if you believe the business (the new hotel brand) is attractive to hotel guests.
All the franchise agreements I've seen came with geographic restrictions. These restrictions prohibit the chain from opening another same-branded hotel within a certain area.

For the record, I've never been an "insider" to an IHG-branded hotel. I could be way off. But, it's possible that one of the reason for starting a new brand is to increase market share in cities where they can't add hotels due to these geographic restrictions.
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Old Nov 4, 2017, 4:09 am
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Originally Posted by davidw70
According to this article, IHG wants to launch a new luxury brand, positioned above Intercontinental, and also a soft brand (i.e. their version of Curio, Autograph, Tribute, etc).

https://skift.com/2017/10/20/ihg-is-...-luxury-brand/
I think one of the problems is that there are too many similarly named hotels close to one another, especially in the US. Take ORD as an example, there are a lot of HI and HIX in the region that makes it hard for guests looking for their shuttle bus and taxi drivers. Avid might solve the problem if it is positioned around that of HI.

For IC, I always wonder if, in some cities, IHG signs a deal with the franchisee that no other IC will be allowed in the same city (many cities have just one IC). By creating a new brand, they might be able to bypass this problem and open more upscale hotels in a given city.

Originally Posted by beachmouse
If you've got a USA IP address, an interesting look at how Indigo brands:


https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/324541/s01_e03_hotel_indigo
Taiwan IP here, no problem watching.
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Old Nov 4, 2017, 4:38 am
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Originally Posted by ernestnywang
I think one of the problems is that there are too many similarly named hotels close to one another, especially in the US. Take ORD as an example, there are a lot of HI and HIX in the region that makes it hard for guests looking for their shuttle bus and taxi drivers. Avid might solve the problem if it is positioned around that of HI.

For IC, I always wonder if, in some cities, IHG signs a deal with the franchisee that no other IC will be allowed in the same city (many cities have just one IC). By creating a new brand, they might be able to bypass this problem and open more upscale hotels in a given city.



Taiwan IP here, no problem watching.
Shanghai has 5 ICs, Beijing, Tokyo 3, Chengdu 2. And enough potential for even more similarly positioned hotels. Another brand will help to capture more of the market and keep the IC brand somewhat exclusive; Hualuxe has already been placed below the IC brand.
I don't think the new brand will play a big role outside of Asia.

Last edited by Chinatrvl; Nov 4, 2017 at 1:02 pm
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