The Ritz-Carlton brand carries strong attributes of hotel and resort. The fractional ownership destination brand needed to be positioned within the Ritz-Carlton brand standard, but differentiated in the minds of the affluent target audience.
90% of the marketing being done for the fractional ownership concept was being attributed to the hotel and resort group, and was not building awareness of ownership opportunities. Within the frame of rightly rigorous brand standards people were simply missing the ownership message. Our team structured a comprehensive research and validation program that would work to solve for the confusion in the marketplace.
With the Ritz-Carlton brand as paramount, how could subtleties in imagery and copy build the ownership brand, complimentary to the hotel and resort brand? And what name would best tell the ownership story, while not standing apart from the flagship brand and the heavier spend of the hotel and resort operation?
“Club” was validated by affluent audiences as having the appropriate tone, aligning with the Ritz-Carlton brand, while connoting something different and intriguing. Everything that is Ritz-Carlton, and maybe something more.
Existing brand advertising was falling short of awareness objectives.
The print and digital campaigns were striking. The copy was well-written and the photography was page stopping. The agency was doing everything it could to tell the story but there was simply too little differentiation between Ritz Hotels and Resorts, and the Ritz-Carlton Club ownership group.
The images of family, for which the Ritz-Carlton brand is not well-known, plus adventure settings helped to create some space between the two. But it wasn’t enough.
The differentiation came from a new focus on the interior of the Club spaces.
While maintaining the brand standards we were able to create a more distinct and immediate difference in what the affluent audience would takeaway from an ad or online experience. While retaining the nod to the resort amenities we focused on elements one does not typically find in a hotel or resort accommodation. Like large Viking ranges, living room layouts, and other interior attributes that told the story visually and solved the differentiation problem. Sometimes it’s subtle shifts that make the most difference.