New company name, new abbreviation, new logos, new hotel brand.
BANGKOK – 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. Today, 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.
“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.
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, Vib, BW Premier Collection and GLo, 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.
“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, SVP of brand management for Best Western.
Olivier Berrivin, MD International Operations, Asia said: “Best Western as a brand has undergone exciting changes in the last decade to meet the needs of today’s traveler. The new logos look fresh, modern and have been designed to clearly show the differences between the various Best Western brands. We are confident that this new look will appeal to our guests as well as our investors in Asia & beyond.”
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.
Best Western launches new suburban boutique brand
Best Western Hotels & Resorts announced the launch of its seventh brand GLo. GLo is a broad-midscale new construction brand that offers a hip, boutique-style experience for savvy travelers who expect the best in value, design and comfort.
The boutique hotel segment is hot and here to stay. The opportunity? Boutique brands currently are all designed for the luxury, upper-upscale and upscale segments; Best Western Vib being one of only two brands in the upper-midscale segment.
“We looked at the segmentation of boutique hotels and realized GLo would fill a void because of the lack of a boutique product in the broad midscale segment,” said David Kong. “Developers are expressing interest in a boutique brand for secondary markets with a high density population. With the demand to build a hotel product that is fresh, chic and contemporary, we see tremendous opportunity for GLo to change the development landscape in the midscale segment.”
As the name implies, the brand glows in many ways. GLo’s architecture and design have elements that speak to the name with the use of signature LED elements. LED lighting is articulated on the side of the building and in the glowing blue scarf, providing an unmistakable beacon at night, while the “Lite Brite” wall greets guest outside and extends inside behind the glowing welcome desk. During the day, the alternating blue and gold window panes bring the building to life.
With an innovative design strategy, GLo had been engineered to be cost effective to build. For example, the floor plan is designed so that the adjacent guest room baths are center-loaded, saving about 40-50 square feet in construction costs.
Form and function are carried throughout the design in the thoughtful approach to signature furniture elements and durable but stylish finishes in the guest rooms and lobby. Furniture pieces maximize space and are multi-functional. Finishes add to the warmth of GLo’s chic and contemporary design and create an ambience that is both energetic and comfortable for guests to relax and hang out.
“With the demand we are seeing for this broad-midscale boutique brand, coupled with the lower barrier to entry costs of secondary and suburban markets, we expect GLo development to ramp up very quickly,” added Ron Pohl.
“A brand like GLo will have lots of interest from our Asian investors and we are confident that it will be as successful as the rest of the other Best Western brands in the region” said Olivier Berrivin.
GLo is the latest addition to Best Western Hotels & Resorts growing family of brands. Each brand is positioned to serve the varying needs of today’s business and leisure travelers. The family of brands is comprised of Best Western Premier, BW Premier Collection, Best Western Plus, Best Western Plus Executive Residency, Vib, GLo and Best Western.
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