Branding is alive and well in the fashion world, but is the same true for the travel industry?
Clothing brands regularly reinvent themselves, inspiring consumers to snap up the latest ‘must-have’ handbag or sunglasses. Kate Moss’s modelling transformed Burberry from an institution where my father bought his raincoats to the kind of place selling the sort of clothes Kate’s friends want to wear.
You can see its success from the fringes of the travel business: in the new Bangkok airport, no matter which gate you are going to, you can purchase Gucci, Chanel or Mulberry. It is the same in many international airports.
At the heart of the travel business, however, branding doesn’t cut it like it used to. The value of airline brands has ceased to exist. With a few exceptions, such as Virgin Atlantic, airlines have little to offer the customer in promoting themselves as appealing.
Customers choose airlines based on price, schedule and loyalty programmes, rather than because they are attracted by a specific brand.
Hotels suffer a similar dilemma. It is difficult to identify clear distinguishing factors between one five-star hotel and another.
Few tour operators fare better. Some specialists, such as Abercrombie and Kent, have successfully established themselves as suppliers of high-end, tailor-made packages. But other once-trusted brands have disappeared or merged with others.
Maybe the way ahead is for the travel industry to stop deluding itself that products can benefit from branding. Instead, it might consider borrowing the branding practice of more successful exponents.
Perhaps this is the thinking behind the trend for hotels to link up with fashion brands – Armani, Missoni, Ralph Lauren…
If what’s needed is to provide fundamentally similar products with some differentiation that will carry weight with the customer, then where is the Kate Moss of the travel world?