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JUNE 15, 2007

CHEKITAN S. DEV

LAURE MOUGEOT STROOCK

Introduction

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Rosewood Hotels & Resorts: Branding to

Increase Customer Profitability and Lifetime Value

For nearly 25 years, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts (Rosewood), a private hotel management

company, sought to build a global reputation with iconic luxury hotels such as The Mansion on

Turtle Creek in Dallas and The Carlyle in New York—trophy properties so distinctive, each could

thrive on its own name, without any “corporate” identification (see Exhibit 1 for brand history). The

Rosewood brand was muted, unmentioned in advertising, and known mainly to hotel professionals.

However, in early 2004, to boost the company’s growth, John Scott, Rosewood’s new president

and CEO, and Robert Boulogne, vice president of sales and marketing, were considering a new brand

strategy. As Boulogne recalled:

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We thought the time was right to establish Rosewood as a true brand incorporated into the

name of each hotel and prominently displayed in all communications for and at our properties.

This would help provide us with a platform for encouraging guests who stay at one of our

properties to stay at some of the others.

But, they wondered how far they could push this branding strategy without undercutting the

distinctiveness of each individually branded hotel.

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Company Profile and Background

Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, L.L.C, was a privately held

company, established in 1979 by the Caroline Rose Hunt Trust Estate (see Exhibit 2 for biographies of

key figures). The first hotel Rosewood managed was The Mansion on Turtle Creek, opened in 1980.

This hotel was an old mansion in Dallas rescued from demolition by Mrs. Hunt, the daughter of

Texas oil tycoon H.L. Hunt. Rosewood worked with Hunt to transform the property into a worldclass hotel and restaurant. After successful conversions of existing hotels (The Mansion on Turtle...