Branding Agency for Hospitality

HOTEL BRANDING AGENCY

At Aylott + Van Tromp we believe every experience guests have with your business should be meaningful. Our pedigree in brand synergy and focus on a ‘brand whole’ allows us to build purposeful and compelling touch points throughout your brand, rooted in research, strategy and design.

Your brand is far more than your name or logo. It represents who you are, what you believe in and how you want to be perceived by your audience by bringing the intangible elements of your hospitality business to life. Humans are drawn to ideas, stories and products that strike an emotional nerve for them. At Aylott + Van Tromp we specialise in creating emotive brand concepts that will connect and resonate with your audience, engendering customer loyalty and creating guests for life. 

We specialise in connecting brand identity with customer experience to design and produce innovative commercial and hospitality spaces. Our pedigree in brand synergy and focus on a ‘brand whole’ allows us to build purposeful and compelling touch points throughout your brand, rooted in research, strategy and design. Utilising a broad set of skills and technical knowledge, Aylott + Van Tromp create spaces that anticipate the needs, culture and lifestyle of those who inhabit them.

Branding Agency for Hospitality by Aylott + Van Tromp

WHO WE ARE

We’re a group of like-minded individuals who love to wear other people's coats, metaphorically speaking of course. We are design chameleons, there are no egos here. We take on your brand as if it were our own.

Directors Nathan Aylott + James Van Tromp lead each and every project, supported by experts, artists, designers and contractors.

The experience of Aylott + Van Tromp's founders is unique. With a cross sector background in brand activation, retail, fashion, architecture, aeronautical + automotive design, we are able to predict the ebbs and flows of popular culture and the changing needs of the modern traveller.

SEND AN ENQUIRY

UNITED KINGDOM
STUDIO 2.3
24 GREVILLE STREET
LONDON
EC1N 8SS

PORTUGAL
ALAMEDA SALGUEIRO MAIA LOTE 4
1 ANDAR, GABINETE 6
2660 329
SANTO ANTONIO DOS CAVALEIROS
LOURES 

info@aylottandvantromp.com

+44 (0)20 3488 2310

All human connection is built on the basis of storytelling. It's how we interact with each other and perceive the world around us. We utilise stories in a variety of ways every day, not the least of which is to market our products. Storytelling – or perhaps we should call it storyselling in this capacity – is about constructing a narrative to fit what you want to sell, one that will suit the potential buyer and appeal to what they want to hear. It might not be easy, but with the right branding agency on hand to help, using the power of storytelling to build your hospitality brand is likely to be the best thing you can do. Read on to find out more. 

Why Stories Work

Perhaps you’re wondering just what it is about stories that is just so important when it comes to your hospitality brand. Surely it’s enough to have beautifully designed rooms and great service? When you have that, even pricing isn’t such a crucial part of the customer experience. Isn’t that right? In part. However, it’s not enough. Many hotels, restaurants, and other hospitality venues have great designs and are comfortable and enjoyable places to be. But that’s the point; there are so many of these that it starts to become less special. That’s where the stories come in. 

A good story integrated seamlessly into your branding by a hotel branding agency can make you unique. It can make you stand out. No two stories are going to be exactly the same, and if you can harness what makes you different and use that in your storytelling and branding, you’ll become something more than just a nice place to be. Your customers will feel as though they are part of your unique story, and that counts for a lot. 

Know Who You’re Talking To

What kind of venue do you operate? Is it a luxury brand? A family place? A city-based hotel or restaurant? What is the average demographic of your clients? It’s crucial you are telling your story to the right people, the people who are most likely to want to use your services. Telling your story to a family when you run an adult-only establishment is a waste of time and money; even if they like what you’re saying, they’re not going to come to you. So although your story is crucial, you must also make sure you’re telling it to your target market. 

Once you know this, you can actually tailor your storytelling branding to them. If they are the kind of people who prefer video to text, make use of that knowledge. If they are older and are interested in rest and relaxation, that’s what your story needs to focus on. 

Use Visual Storytelling 

There are several ways to tell a narrative. While most people associate storytelling with words, utilising images to create a captivating tale about your hotel is an essential tool in the hospitality sector.

Visual and video content for your website should be based on the stories that these mediums can convey. Your hotel bar or poolside social scene should be put front and centre, highlighting the richness of the human experience.

You can utilise video and graphics to present a tale to your visitors as they check in or as they go to their room, in the actual world as well. Incorporating photos of nearby landmarks and unique hotel characteristics into the hallway art creates a sense of place inside the hotel. And these are only a few examples; your hospitality branding agency will offer plenty more ideas to play with. 

Your hotel's guests will be more likely to return year after year if they had a positive experience.

Be Authentic 

Digital marketing methods are now so widespread that customers are aware of the old tricks, which makes online users a critical set. When conveying your hotel's narrative, make sure it's true to who you are and what you stand for in order to connect with the appropriate people.

If you want customers to connect with your business, you need to convey authentic tales that come straight from the heart. There is no point in constructing some elaborate storytelling universe if none of it – or very little of it – is actually real. This will become obvious over time, and it just won’t feel right to anyone in your hospitality venue. You may even find that, rather than bringing people to you, you drive them away. 

You might feel as though your story is not an interesting one or that it’s the same as everyone else’s. This is not true. Every story is interesting if you know how to tell it, and that’s why having a branding agency on hand to help you is essential. As for your story being the same as everyone else’s, again, that’s not how it really is. It might be similar, of course, but there are ways you can make yourself unique, and when you put these ideas into action, you’ll soon see the difference they can make. 

Be As Creative As Possible 

Finding new methods to share experiences will always stand out when utilising narratives to connect with your audience. A tale can be told in many different ways, so you can be creative. For example, video material can combine strong images with client testimonials to create dynamic, multi-dimensional dialogues in threads on social media.

Your competition's storytelling materials might inspire you to think about how you could improve your own efforts. Take what you like and change what you don't in order to create stories that express who you are to an audience. Don't be afraid to do this; as long as you are telling your own story, there is nothing wrong with being inspired. 

The best tales strike a balance between the uniqueness of the author's voice and the universality of the human experience, and although this might seem like a big thing to get your head around, it’s not quite as daunting as it might initially appear. The key is to think about what you want to say and to ensure that those you are telling understand why you are saying it. The more creative you can be when you do this, the more memorable your brand will be.

Branding Agency for Hospitality by Aylott + Van Tromp