New Company Name, New Abbreviation, New Logos, New Hotel Brand
HONOLULU (September 30, 2015) – The long trusted and familiar logo for the Best Western brand has been a constant along its journey of global expansion and quality improvement, as the company has grown to a diverse collection of more than 4,100 properties in over 100 countries. Yesterday, at its annual convention, the company’s leadership team revealed plans to signal to the world Best Western’s amazing journey.
“For more than two decades, Best Western has had a familiar, recognizable, and visible logo. But with our investments in this 69-year old brand during the last ten years, we need to make consumers aware of the exciting improvements in our brand. We are embracing our future with a completely reimagined brand identity that clarifies our exceptional offerings and broadens our appeal with a contemporary, energetic and relevant look,” said David Kong, president and chief executive officer of Best Western Hotels & Resorts. “We started over. These new logos are dramatically different and illustrate the amazing products and offerings of today’s Best Western.”
Best Western has evolved significantly in the last ten years. The introduction of a new masterbrand name and unique logos for each hotel brand communicates to travelers and developers the changes that have taken place to contemporize Best Western, including:
- A stable and progressive executive team, led by David Kong, one of the most experienced chief executives in the travel industry.
- An investment of $2 billion (by the end of 2016) in property improvements and renovations by North American Best Western hotels.
- A focused and conscious effort to elevate the quality of its family of hotels through the separation of more than 1,200 properties in North America over the course of the last ten years.
- Splitting the portfolio into three brands (Best Western, Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier) in 2011 to clarify and better set guest expectations.
- The emergence as an industry powerhouse by outpacing others in RevPAR (revenue per available room) and winning record levels of industry awards.
In another major move to better represent the quality and variety of its offerings, Best Western International will also be renamed Best Western Hotels & Resorts and use a new logo to identify the master company for its seven distinct brands: Best Western, Best Western Plus®, Best Western Plus Executive Residency®, Best Western Premier®, Vīb®, BW Premier Collection® and GLō, the company’s new broad midscale, new construction hotel brand. Best Western is also clarifying the differences between each hotel type by introducing new logos for Best Western, Best Western Plus and Best Western Premier. In addition, the rebranding emphasizes the brand’s initials — BW — in the new logo, which will be used across all communications channels, especially resonating in the digital space where space for a name is limited.
The effort to create new logos has been two years in the making and has included input from travelers, travel buyers, partners and Best Western’s global hotel owners. As part of this rebranding, Best Western is focused on contemporizing the look of the company and placing more of an emphasis on all seven of the company’s hotel brands. Best Western used today’s graphic design and digital printing capabilities to create an array of logos that use special effects to be distinctive and striking to consumers, but are also functional in various settings. Highlights of the new logos include:
- The Best Western Hotels & Resorts masterbrand logo pulls through the company’s current blue color, updated with a modern hue and uses the distinctive hand drawn lettering which was created to be contemporary, friendly and memorable. This logo will clearly define that Best Western is a company of hotels and resorts across the globe with brands that meet the needs of today’s travelers.
- The design of the Best Western hotel brand logo utilizes the hand drawn lettering, which is familiar and personable and pulls through the company’s updated blue color. The centerpiece globe comes to life through the use of special effects such as gradient, highlighting and a 3-D treatment. These effects will be distinctive within the hotel industry which traditionally uses two-dimensional logos.
- The Best Western Plus logo picks up on the brand’s traditional use of red, incorporates the signature lettering and draws more emphasis to the word “Plus” using a contemporary tapered line. The diamond shape, inspired by the shape of a mobile app, distinguishes it from the Best Western hotel brand logo by giving it a more premium look within the upper midscale segment.
- The Best Western Premier logo uses a classic yet contemporary font along with unique design elements to exude elegance and style. The BWP monogram brings an iconic expression with its multi-dimensional elliptical shape. The Premier word mark uses customized lettering and is accentuated with a tapered line and ties it to the Best Western masterbrand.
“These logos illustrate the clear differentiation between our brands. They not only represent the force Best Western is today, but also help define the new voice of Best Western for the future,” said Dorothy Dowling, senior vice president of marketing and sales for Best Western. “These logos have also been created for their functionality. Unlike many brands our logos must deliver business across various mediums, including a roadside sign during the daytime and night, inside and outside a hotel, on collateral, and in the digital space.”
“All of our properties worldwide will be coordinating signage and logo implementation, with a critical mass being completed for the launch of our advertising campaign in early summer 2016,” said Ron Pohl, senior vice president of brand management for Best Western.
Building on these accomplishments, Best Western is also taking other innovative steps by discarding the best website in the hotel industry (Compuware; Best of the Web Gold Award; 2012-2015) and building an entirely new digital platform and introducing a service promise at all North American properties.
- Using a phased approach, Best Western is redesigning its digital platform, including bestwestern.com, the mobile website and mobile applications. In August 2015, new property websites were created for over 2,000 properties across North America. A week ago, Best Western launched its new mobile booking experience, including a mobile website and mobile apps for smart phones and tablets, to provide a cleaner, uncluttered interface that is easy to use. In early spring 2016, Best Western will unveil its entirely new bestwestern.com.
- Targeted for implementation in January 2016, Best Western will approach major corporations and offer a money back satisfaction guarantee for their travelers. If dissatisfied, Best Western will refund the stay and deposit Best Western Rewards points into the traveler’s account to apologize for the inconvenience.
Adoption of the brand’s new logos and service promise are expected to be official in mid-November upon approval by Best Western hotel owners in North America.
