IN LESS than a year and a half, Forte chief executive Antoine Cau has given the company the kick up the backside it needed.
Forte has always been a much-loved institution with some great hotels, but it was a mystery what many of them stood for. You always know you’ve got a problem with brand strategy when people in the industry don’t understand it. If that’s the case then the average punter hasn’t got a hope.
Now Forte has got a much cleaner strategy with four distinct brands competing in different markets.
The comparison with tour operating, where brands are collected like they’re going out of fashion, is an interesting one. Try to write down all the brands that Thomson and Airtours have got and you’ll need a few sheets of paper.
The theory these days in tour operating is that if you destroy a brand, you’ll lose customers. Crystal has got a loyal following and if you call it Thomson Ski overnight, a lot of Crystal’s regulars will drift off to other operators.
The situation is a bit different with UK hotels. The properties are more tangible than holidays in brochures and provided they offer decent service and standards, will always attract clients. But giving them a clear brand and strategy enables staff to sell them with confidence and the trade to get behind them.
Jeremy Skidmore – editor