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Branding is one of the strategic processes of businesses and entails a wide range of

business operations (Randall 1997, 2000). The strategy aims at developing point of

differentiation among offerings (Wood 2000 2000). The concept has got widespread fame and

almost every field has some brands. Fast moving consumer goods have the highest number of

brands that have established customer base and market position. McDonald¶s, KFC, Clear, Coca

Cola, Prudential, Airtel and many more are clear examples of branding. Branding has been

giving the products a distinctive place in the market through clear identity, security,

differentiation and greater value (Randall 1997, 2000).

Hospitality has been becoming a highly competitive industry. Although advertising is an

effective tool for the profitability of a brand, the concept of branding is more competent. Firms

can earn a distinctive identity and clientele of loyal customers for their brands through branding.

It is believed that branding is the most powerful tool for hospitality firms to gain competitiveness

in the market (Hsu and Powers 2002).

Branding is seen as a more powerful tool in the hospitality industry and is seen as a more

effective indicator of quality because there is no international agreed upon uniform standard to

evaluate the quality of a hospitality firm hence, brand offers greater assurance of quality of

service (Goff 2006 2006).



  





British Hospitality Association has presented four elements that comprise UK Hospitality

industry; Restaurants and related services that include pubs, licensed clubs and motorway service

areas and take away food shops, hotels and related services including camping grounds and other

lodging services, event management includes conferences and exhibition arrangements and

catering including contract catering to both private and public clients and also in house catering

across non hospitality sectors (The British Hospitality Association 2010).

It is believed that hospitality industry particularly hotel sector has developed rapidly with

structural shift in the economy of UK. Moreover, the development of fast food and

accommodation sector is enormous (Morrison and Thomas 1999).

According to a report, UK hospitality industry has an estimated turnover of £90 billion by 2010

with an estimated £46 billion¶s gross value added. The industry is providing employment to

around 2.44 million people directly and around 1.2 million people in indirect manner. These

figures are enormous and are much greater than financial, construction, transport and

communication and education sector. The industry is 5th largest industry in terms of direct jobs in

UK. The industry is also contributing greatly to tax revenue of the country. Its participation in

foreign exchange export earning is about £7.4 billion which is 1.8% of total export earnings (The

British Hospitality Association 2010).

Such indicators represent the magnificent outlook of the industry and its influential role in the

economy of UK. The development of this industry is indispensible to sustain growth of the

economy. The promotion of this industry needs an effective strategic plan to set and achieve
long range targets of this industry. A number of obstacles can be seen in this regard which should

also be addressed for the development of this industry.

Branding is one of the fastest growing trends in hospitality industry particularly in hotel sector

around the world (Kayaman and Arasli 2007). Managers in the hospitality industry are required

to understand the concept of branding and they should attempt to present their services as a brand

in order to create greater value for their customers (Shoemaker 2010). In USA, the branding of

lodging industry is around 70 per cent, in Canada it is under 40 per cent and in Europe it is less

than 25 per cent. This figure is quite low in comparison to two large countries of the world and

shows that much work is to be done to increase branding in the country. Surveys highlight that

UK hospitality industry mainly comprises domestic customers whereas other parts of Europe

have international customers primarily (Bowie and Buttle 2004).

The UK firms of hospitality industry are required to develop strong brand equity. Brand equity

which is defined as customer¶s favourable or unfavourable perceptions and attitudes towards a

product or service has a strong influence on consumer¶s service acquisition decision. A study

indicates that brand equity can contribute significantly to the profitability of a hospitality firm

(Kayaman and Arasli 2007).

B


The term brand has been defined in several ways in literature. The most common

perception about brand is that it is a combination of a name, a logo, a design or a feature that

distinguishes a product or a service from others but with advancement in business strategic needs

the definition is going beyond this mere boundary. It is a set of customer perceived value of both
tangible and intangible nature (Recklies 2000). Now, love marks are also being established to

strengthen brands.

Branding is simply a more effective way of selling things. Today, companies do not sell

their products and services rather customers buy firms¶ offerings (Haig 2003). Market

segmentation has helped significantly in the creation of brands when firms divided the market

into different sections and firms started to establish niche products to cater the needs of each

segment (Cline 1996).

Product branding is quite common today and is thought to be relatively easy due to its

nature. Contrary to it, due to uniformity in the offerings which makes the differentiability a tad

difficult, service branding is more challenging (Dibb and Simkin 1994). One can barely

differentiate among various brands of service but still, companies must strive to create a brand of

their own because it clearly represents a company or a service. Without establishing a brand, a

service can hardly be recognized as a distinguished offering.

Considering hotel business, which is a prime sector of hospitality industry, one can see

that it is difficult for most of the customers to distinguish hotel service from its competitors¶

offering. Research says that in UK, majority of population does not bother about brand of hotel.

Promotion of industry is also critical to promote brands as in few cases brands do not get

recognition because people have little know how of the class of brand (Dibb and Simkin 1994).

Branding of service is quite less addressed concept in marketing as yet (Heaney and

Heany 2008) and needs much research and promotion for the development of service industry

around the world. Many service firms are not inclined to create brand because these firms believe

that it is a discipline of product firms (Croston 2010). Service industry can yield large spectrum
of benefits through widespread knowledge of this concept among customers. Most business

managers of service industry believe that branding can benefit their business to a great extent.

Therefore, it is felt that researchers must play an active role to devise model for service branding

(Heaney and Heaney 2008) because a well done branding can offer the same benefits to service

firms as product firms get from great branding.

Service firms have also a great responsibility to develop stronger values. The core traits

of intangibility, perishability, heterogeneity and variability of service make brand building

complex as service vary from customer to customer, the relationship building between customer

and service provider is a complicated process (Heaney and Heaney 2008).

B
B


Researches reveal that about 86 to 92 per cent of new products launched, fails to survive

in the long run. This figure is amazingly high which is mainly not due to the brand or product

itself but due to the ill marketing and strategic planning by professionals. Although a skilled

team of professionals is hired to launch a new brand the unsubstantiated marketing procedures

cause the new brand failure. Consumers too have become quite knowledgeable and sophisticated

and now drive the market. Companies are striving to grab their share from the market by offering

products and services especially tailored to meet the needs of consumers. Products and services

get replicated quickly to compete on the equal grounds. Companies hardly enjoy market

leadership position. They are expected to innovate on a regular basis to keep pace with the

competition through creating unique selling propositions (USP) regularly (Passikoff 2006).

Brand managers of hospitality industry must understand that brand building is merely a

good communication. Many firms fail to establish their brands because they are unable to
communicate their brand well. The distinctive features of a brand can also communicate well

without spending ample money on advertising. For this purpose the features of brand must be

well designed to be able to deliver its message effectively (Powell). Also, an effective interaction

by service provider helps to launch a better environment of communication and they can also

communicate their brands effectively. It is believed that good communicative strategy helps to

develop a sense of community and involvement among users of a particular brand (Ind and

Schultz).

The brand must also be credible enough. It is the feature that reinforces the image of a

brand in the minds of customers. Once customers find a brand credible they become client and

that leads to brand loyalty which is a valuable asset to a brand. Branding helps to develop a long

term bond between customer and the brand as when they find a brand to be an effective way to

satisfy their needs they continue to acquire it and hence their trust in the brand leads to a long

term relationship (Powell). In practice, trust is found absent in many cases which cost higher to a

firm to do a business in variant sectors and societies. To gain customers¶ trust, firms tend to

spend big sums of money. A research by market survey firm Young and Rubicam revealed that

customers trust on brands has dropped from 52 per cent in 1997 to 22 per cent in 2008 (Ind and

Schultz). It is very important to maintain customers¶ trust. Many firms lose their customers

because they fail to deliver their promise (Haig 2003). Firms should spend more effort on

developing enough reasons to extend trust in its brand for customers rather delivering what their

brand is (Ind and Schultz). In the process of trust building, honesty of firm is extremely

important. Firms must realize this fact that honesty can aid them to build a longer term bond of

trust. Honesty must reflect in firms¶ commitment to deliver to their promise, in their employees¶

dedication to satisfy customers¶ wants and between management and staff (Ind and Schultz).
 In the branding of hospitality firms internal branding is thought to be much beneficial

which entails branding from the inside out. The branding of a hospitality firm must involve

employees too as consumers view service employees as the personification of service brand

(Punjaisri, Wilson and Evanschitzky 2009). One can find many examples that show that brand

building is not longer handled by marketing department of firms instead this responsibility has

been taken on by the internal customers of the firms. It depends on the everyday interaction of

internal and external customers of the organization (Ind and Schultz). Firms of hospitality

industry must attempt to ameliorate the attitudes and behaviour of service providers to make

them represent themselves and the associated brand in a favourable way as they have a strong

influence on customers¶ perception regarding functional and emotional values (Punjaisri, Wilson

and Evanschitzky 2009). Surveys indicate that brand loyalty is directly affected by service

providers (Strategic Direction 2003). The negligence by service providers can affect a brand¶s

goodwill for a longer period of time. Moreover, many firms can be found tailoring their brand

through direct involvement of their customers as they have come to realize that firms can no

longer have a hold over a brand rather an effective dialogue for brand building is more

competent.

The failure of a brand is not always due to firm¶s lack of strategy rather in some

situations other factors may also contribute to the failure of a brand. Brands start to fade away

from one¶s memory once they make a 360 degree change in its brand identity hence brands must

be careful about this strategic move because customers barely accept a radical change in their

favourite brands (Haig 2003). In some cases customers discontinue to acquire a brand because

they no longer find themselves the part of that community that is they are unable to associate
themselves with the brand due to some changes in social structure. Some radical change in fads

and fashion influence the success of brand to a great deal.

Branding has become such an important aspect of the success of business that a failure of

brand can brush off the whole company from the market (Haig 2003) hence companies must not

only plan their brand prudently but also make equal efforts to maintain it. The rapidly changing

discipline of branding has been raising many challenges for firms apart from profitable business

opportunities. Firms have now less power to control their brands, they have to keep an eye on the

changes occurring in the environments and need to be receptive to them and they need to develop

and strengthen trust between brand and consumers (Ind and Schultz). These challenges can be

coped through effective strategy of brand building and by using

In a nutshell, brand building is the most crucial component. Brands¶ success can be

sustained for a longer period of time primarily through effective marketing strategy. It has been

found that firms should be very careful in selecting its communication. Even the big budget

efforts can be failed if content is not carefully selected. They should deliver effective and

persuasive message to acquire clientele. Firms should not try to keep the brand in their control

rather they should entrust their customers with the brand. Firms must understand that customers

create brand and not the firm. They should listen to their opinions about the brand and make

necessary changes. Firms must directly involve their customers to co- create their brands. They

must be viewed as a source of value creation and creativity. Moreover, firms must also remain

open to various changes in order to respond appropriately through modifications in the brand

(Ind and Schultz).





Hospitality industry is one of the fastest growing industries of the world that is going through

developments in multiple disciplines. One way to keep up its progress is branding which offers

greater profitability to businesses. Branding is particularly important for hospitality industry due

to the absence of judgment criteria for its quality of service. This phenomenon is also recognized

by customers and hence their preferences to acquire the services of hospitality firms are also

being influenced.
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