Brand Audit for Hotels and Restaurants by SAYHELLO Creative

In the world we live in today, the brand of your hotel or restaurant is as crucial to the success of your business as your rate strategy, location and amenities. For independent properties, effectively managing your brand can pose a challenge. SAYHELLO Creative partners with hotels, restaurants and other hospitality businesses to help effectively devise and execute a brand strategy. The first step is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a brand and its touch points through a Brand Audit.

What is a Brand Audit?

A brand audit is a comprehensive report that identifies the strengths and weaknesses of a brand. The report is based on a qualitative analysis of brand touch points – visual or tactile design elements and interactions during an experience – that can be designed and optimized to support the brand. Optimized touch points can increase revenues by charging premiums and decrease costs by allocating marketing funds more effectively. A strong brand can also cultivate brand loyalty and build community engagement, making the business more resilient. For hotels and restaurants in an industry that’s vulnerable to constantly changing political, social and cultural shifts, a strong brand identity provides a sense of control and security.

A brand audit can measure a brand’s efficacy in its local market. The report is made up of a brand overview, touch point analysis and a series of recommendations for optimizing the touch points.

Brand overview

The brand overview discusses the brand’s mission, values and assets (i.e. graphic language, such as logos, patterns and design elements, colors and fonts) as it relates to the digital (website, online press, social media platforms) and physical space (interior design, staff training and interactions like telephone greeting).

The brand overview also covers the strengths and weaknesses of the brand, e.g. the efficacy of the existing logo and graphic language in communicating the brand’s mission and values.

Touch Point Analysis

During the touch point analysis of the brand audit, digital and physical brand touch points are identified and analyzed for their optimization. Digital touch points include the experience navigating the website or the voice and images shared on social media. Physical touch points include the check-in experience or menu tour and layout. Not all touch points are necessary for every business; it’s the brand – it’s mood, mission and values – that dictate which touch points are necessary and ultimately how they are optimized.

Recommendations

After analyzing the existing touch points, we offer recommendations for new or modified touch points for optimizing those moments to strengthen the brand.

Examples of recommendations for optimizing touch points may include:

• creation of or update SOPs to better support your brand strategy
• website redesign or rewriting the copy to improve navigation or exploration of the website
• redesign the menu to make ordering easier, more intuitive, or strategic to upsell and increase average check
• redesign of interior space conducive to different or multiple functions
• suggest additional staff training to better understand the brand mission and values

Brand Audit for Hotels

Brand touch points integrated into your SOPs:

• Reservation (made online, over the phone or in-person)
• Airport Transfer
• Arrival and Room Tour
• During the guest stay
  • Using guest amenties (restaurant, spa, lobby, pool, fitness room, boutique, etc.)
  • Turn-down service
  • Signage and wayfinding
  • Taxi request or transportation
  • Requesting assistance by phone or at reception
• Check-Out and Departure
• Follow-up strategy
• Holiday and birthday greetings

Brand Audit for Restaurants

Brand touch points integrated into your SOPs:

• Reservation (made online, over the phone or in-person)
• Arrival and Seating
• During the meal
  • Menu tour + ordering
  • Experience leadership*
  • Upselling
  • Wine service
  • Bringing dishes to the table
  • Signage and wayfinding
• Check presentation, payment and Departure
• Follow-up strategy
• Holiday and birthday greetings

*Experience leadership is an approach to staff training that we’ve defined to encourage servers to take initiative and responsibility for the guest experience, leading guests through the dining experience in a brand-centric way.

What is the cost for a brand audit?

We charge a flat fee to perform a brand audit depending on the size and type of business. If you choose to accept all or some of our recommendations and continue to work with us, the cost of the brand audit is credited toward the cost of the services.

Contact us if you are interested in a brand audit for your hotel or restaurant.