What's Floating Around Cloud 9? 29 October 2018

Welcome to another week and we are looking forward to next weekend already and the My Sight Notts Fireworks, family fun event taking place at Nottingham Racecourse on Sunday 4 November.

November, already! Where has the year gone. We are already booking events not just for 2019 but through into 2020 and in some cases 2021.

For most #eventprofs its been a challenging year and staying on top of all of the changes within hotels and venues is not easy. 

Most of the Q hotels have been sold or are undergoing a rebrand under their new ownership and will emerge as Hilton’s or Marriott’s and Accor are increasing their portfolio with the purchase of Movenpick.

These are just two examples of the ever-changing face of the industry, and it got us thinking about what happens to all of the marketing materials and branded elements when something like this happens.

Whenever we engage with suppliers, in addition to the details about their portfolios or venues, we also usually end up with everything from branded pens to post it notes, notes books and note pads, and stress balls and screen wipes.

In all honesty, some of it is useful but the bulk of it is not, and normally ends up collecting dust in some cupboard or on an inaccessible shelf.

However, whilst we may suffer from a little clutter, what on earth do hotels do with the mountains of branded items they must have when they are no longer synonymous with their brand.

The bulk of hotels have branded menus, notepads, pens, signage an all sorts of uniforms and promotional items so its an awful lot of stuff to simply send to landfill especially when its such a hot topic and sustainability is all the rage.

When a hotel does rebrand, and before any of us have the chance to check in – and check out the refurbishments – there is an awful lot of work to be done. A hotel rebrand goes way beyond a few new dressing gowns and a fresh box of newly branded pens.

The numbers, it turns out, are quite extraordinary. Even at the Melia Desert Palm, which only has 39 rooms and has just undergone a rebrand has had to order 2,000 key cards, 2,000 luggage tags and 1,000 pens. 

While most hotels are able to stay with the same brand for the entirety of its lifetime, 43 percent of hotels change affiliations at least once, according to data collected by the STR Census Database, which tracks hotel affiliations over time. Nearly one-quarter undergo two or more brand changes.

So that’s an awful lot of unwanted post it notes, where do they all go?

Have a great week.