Four ways hospitality brands inadvertently sabotage their own branding.

You probably spend a whole bunch of money promoting your brand. But are you aware of all the ways you might also be sabotaging it?

It’s not conscious, of course. No one willfully says, “I am going to make choices that dilute the strength of our brand.” Instead, it happens stealthily. Choices are made that satisfy other goals – budget, staffing, timing, etc. – that weaken the brand position so quietly, it’s easy to look the other way.

But over time, these choices leave your brand dinged and scratched. So that money your marketing team spends to promote a pristine and strong brand image? It’s wasted, because your customers feel the disconnect.

Be vigilant, y’all. Here are four simple but super-sneaky ways that your brand position might be eroded without you noticing until it becomes too big to ignore:

1) USING AUTOMATION TO GIVE THE ILLUSION OF PERSONALIZATION

Yes, it’s great that there are so many tools, apps, and CRMs out there that allow you to make each guest feel like they’re getting special treatment and personalized service. But that entire scenario is a giant oxymoron: if you’re using an automated system to create the illusion of individual attention, then it’s quite literally NOT individual attention. And as more and more brands use these types of tools, people catch onto the ruse and realize it’s just another marketing trick…and that they’re not really that special.

This is a no-win situation regardless of whether or not your brand position touts personalized service. If you DO tout that, then you’re subtly sabotaging your brand simply by using automation, which is cheating. If you DON’T tout that, then you’re subtly creating the impression that you kinda do…and then when guests expect to find personalized attention elsewhere in your ecosystem, they’ll be disappointed.

Restaurants especially are having this “crisis of automation” right now in an effort to foster more repeat business, and as expected, guest reactions are mixed.

2) NOT TRAINING ALL STAFF ON BRAND POSITION AND PROMISES

Front of house, back of house, ancillary, temporary…it doesn’t matter. All staff need to be thoroughly trained on a brand’s position and promises. This is partly because in tourism and hospitality, you never know who may have contact with a guest, even if it’s just tangential. But it’s also partly because a brand’s position and promises need to be baked into an organization’s DNA, and that DNA gets protected by the staff.

Every day, every single staff member makes choices and performs actions that impact the brand, and it’s not just the guest service team who wields that power. It’s the procurement team who chooses the in-room amenities at a hotel, the logistics team who oversees transportation at a tour company, the maintenance team who keeps equipment humming, the bookkeepers who approve spending…the list is endless.

If you choose to thoroughly train only your guest-facing staff on the brand’s position and promises, you’re taking a big risk. All these other people need the same training or they may make innocent choices that inadvertently sabotage the brand.

And BTW, the opposite is also true: by training all staff on your brand’s position and promises, they can find ways to support and uphold them, in the way that this hotel housekeeper made me a customer for life with her one small action.

Note: Destinations…I see you and I feel your pain. This is way harder on you than other tourism segments because YOUR brand has to be upheld by all the various entities and operators within your borders, most of whom are not yours to control. This is why internal trade campaigns, road shows, and education should be equally important to you as your consumer marketing efforts. You have to work harder to train the people who will be your ambassadors because they don’t “work for you.”

3) NOT SHARING MARKETING PLANS WITH GUEST-FACING STAFF

I know, this sounds like a big “duh,” but it is shocking how often we see a total disconnect between marketing and the people on the front lines with guests. What kind of trouble does this cause? Plenty, such as:

• Hotel front desk agent can’t answer a guest’s questions about upcoming holiday packages.
• Customer service phone rep has no details on the event someone is calling to inquire about.
• Restaurant hostess learns of the new happy hour program you’re launching next week because a customer saw it on your Instagram.
• Tour manager learns about next year’s new regional itineraries from a guest who gets your loyalty program newsletter.

Every time your guest-facing staff displays cluelessness about stuff you’re already marketing to the outside world, your brand gets dinged. It dilutes your brand credibility when you’re out there making promises that your staff knows nothing about.

4) IGNORING THE BRAND POSITION WHEN IT’S CONVENIENT/EASIER

This one cuts the deepest and is often less subtle. Like, if your hotel’s brand position touts “luxury,” and you put medium-quality towels in the guest rooms as part of a cost control initiative, that’s gonna ding your brand. I know it, the guest knows it, and let’s face it…YOU know it too.

The thing is…when budget, staffing, or other resources are at stake, we often rationalize choices we’re making that sabotage the brand.

Like when we know the website is clunky and not user-friendly, and – despite our promise of exceptional guest service – we keep putting off an overhaul because of budget.

Or when we allow huge lines to form at check-in each day because – despite our promise of warm hospitality – we operate with a much leaner staff than we should.

Or when we send out a trite, formulaic, and/or subpar guest newsletter because – despite our promise of authentic local experience delivery – our marketing team is stretched too thin to have time for meaty content development.

Examples like these happen every day and I get it…we never have enough resources to do what we know in our hearts needs to be done, so we cut corners and look the other way. That’s just life.

But the important thing is to KNOW when you’re doing it, and to not blindly ignore the impact it’s having on your brand. Sometimes, you COULD take a stand and make that additional investment needed to align with the brand position and promises, but you’re still choosing to go the easier/cheaper route. Just know that the more you sacrifice the brand position for the easier/cheaper route, the more you sabotage your brand’s power. And the more you sabotage your brand’s power, the more you weaken the relationship with your guests and potential guests.

Ultimately, the negative impact of this weakness will creep into your bottom line, even if you don’t see it happening in real time.

So be aware of these sneaky saboteurs and remember that at the end of the day, you’re not just protecting your brand…you’re protecting your profit.