This Week's BLLA Commentary
Forging Collaborations
One of our strongest suits in the boutique and lifestyle industry is our independence, and yet there are many ways in which working together is crucial to our long-term success. The benefits are clear when we combine our powers in a universally recognized standard, which is the reason we created the Boutique & Lifestyle Lodging Association. But there is another way in which working together adds to our power, and that is through the growing trend of forging collaborations.
There’s a reason why collaboration is all the rage in today’s interactive world. A well-chosen collaboration can work wonders for your hotel, harnessing the cachet of another brand, and in the process adding value to both parties through association.
One of the most popular forms of collaboration today is the ‘fashion hotel’, for what could be a more reliable signifier for luxury than a successful style brand? From Missoni to Versace, Armani to Moschino, hotel companies have been queuing up to align themselves with the catwalk’s biggest names and accrue fashion cred that is sure to rub off on their hotel’s public image.
Next came the lifestyle collaborations, such as furniture retailer West Elm’s work with hospitality form DDK, and British clothing company Joules’ partnership with Watergate Bay Hotel in Cornwall. Relying more on individuality and charm than flashiness, these projects take the look and feel of a hotel to be a physical embodiment of the brand’s aesthetic.
But in 2017 the collaborations are becoming more imaginative, more singular, encompassing sporting icons (footballer Cristiano Ronaldo joined forces with Pestana Group on Portugal’s CR7 boutique hotel), opticians (Garrett Leight California Optical provided a range of its sunglasses to The James New York for guests to rent during their stay), sneaker brands (Converse manufactured an exclusive pair of All-Stars for New York’s Ace Hotel) and even color experts (Brussels’ Pantone Hotel is a haven for the palette-obsessed).
Some hotels have gone into collaboration overdrive, such as New York’s 11 Howard, whose ongoing partnerships include work with charities The Global Poverty Project and Feed (with Lauren Bush), public art initiative Groundswell, art and design organization Oliver Gustav Studio and healthy-eating outlet Thrive Market.
So if you’re a boutique hotel owner who is contemplating surrendering your prized independence and embarking on a collaboration, how should you go about it? First of all, make sure that you choose a collaboration that fits for your brand. Make a list of the attributes that make your hotel special, and consider which companies might align best with these values. You may end up with companies that have never considered such a thing – but don’t be afraid of forging new ground, as this will make you stand out and provide a great selling point.
Secondly, bear in mind that a good proposal could make all the difference. List all the reasons why your chosen company could benefit from being associated with your brand. This document could make the difference between a disinterested company and a long-term collaborator, so spend time getting it right.
Lastly, be clear about what you want to achieve in collaborating. Working together is a chance to take on some of your collaborator’s best parts while retaining those aspects about your own company that you treasure. A good collaboration could be limited to one particular detail - the lampshades, say, or the carpets. You’re not obliged to change anything you don’t want to change. So be clear on the terms, and this could be the start of a beautiful friendship.
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