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Abstract
The concept of the brand continues to demonstrate a strong positive presence in the minds of hotel industry executives as well as those tangentially linked to the industry. Yet when asked to define what is meant by the term 'brand', no two executives would probably be able to give identical definitions. The purpose of this paper is to address what is perceived to be the lack of a consistent understanding of the concept of the brand by industry executives and academics who freely use the term in making claims as to its value. First, it proposes several additions to the probable dimensions of the brand concept. secondly, it looks at the industry literature to ascertain what others may add to our understanding of the realities and complexities of the brand in the context of the hospitality industry. Hence, it introduces the construct of industry critical success factors and how they must be incorporated into an understanding of how a firm can achieve brand significance by how they perform on each.
Keywords:
branding, brand dimensions, critical success factors (CSFs), hotel industry
INTRODUCTION
Concept of brand
The concept of the brand continues to demonstrate a strong positive presence in the minds of hotel industry executives as well as those tangentially linked to the industry. Yet when asked to define what is meant by the term 'brand', no two executives would probably be able to give identical definitions. The literature focusing on the context of the global hotel industry offers no consistent definition either. When the term does appear, inconsistencies abound based upon whether it is used in a marketing, accounting, franchising or management-contracting perspective. What is necessary, it appears, is a common industry framework or definition of what the concept of the brand or branding really is.
Brand value claims
The purpose of this paper is to address what is perceived to be the lack of a consistent understanding of the concept of the brand by hotel industry executives and academics, who freely use the term in making claims as to its value with regard to customers, owners and other stakeholders. The paper will first address the contextual use of the term within the global hotel industry. Next it will provide a brief review...