Sheraton has pumped $50 million into the renovation of its Sydney hotel in a bid to maintain a modern image and tap into the gig economy.
Speaking to AdNews at the launch of the hotel's new name Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park, Marriott International vice president of brand and marketing APAC Mike Fulkerson said the renovation was part of meeting new customer demands.
"Sydney will have a lot of new hotels coming in and we wanted to make sure Sheraton wasn't left behind when that happened,” Fulkerson said.
“The other part was we wanted to continue to maintain its status as this icon in the city.”
So how does a globally recognised brand reinvent itself without losing touch with its icon status?
“It's about doing a lot of checks. One of the things our brand leaders have done in the US is make sure they've gone to the hotels and teams around the world to do a lot of ideation sessions," he said.
“If hotels and associates don't get it then it doesn't work.”
Fulkerson approached the overhaul without a blueprint and saw the opportunity to build off people's nostalgia with the brand.
“We want to be built off the history, not be of the history," he said.
“It wasn't that people didn't have a love or affinity for the brand, it was just difficult for them to articulate it. A lot of the times people loved it because it was the hotel where they had their wedding, or High Tea with their mother."
Part of adapting to modern times means opening up its space to accommodate for the new gig economy.
Sheraton now competes with shared-spaces such as WeWorks and the growing force of Airbnb, but Fulkerson is confident its rebrand puts its at the forefront of the Australian hospitality market.
“We see some small independent hotels in major urban cities and some hotels in New York doing something like this but we're one of the first big international brands that are setting out on this path to really bring that community in the lobby," he said.
As part of the event were vignettes made for Instagram - a hint of how important social media is to the brands wider marketing strategy.
“Social media is incredibly important, it's the way people dream. People find inspiration for travelling and get recommendations from their friends on it. So the hope for us is to always be showing off the unique part of our brands and doing it through the lens of our guests.”
The brand also hosted a re-opening event with a slew of influencers in attendance, such as ex-Big Brother contestant Lisa Clark.
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