Westin brand building journey in Asia Pacific

BUILDING THE HOSPITALITY LEADER IN WELLNESS

2009 - 2016

For more than a decade, the Westin brand empowers guests to transcend the rigours of travel while on the road through the brand's six pillars of well-being: Sleep Well, Eat Well, Move Well, Feel Well, Work Well, and Play Well.

Challenge:

Westin was established in Tier 1 cities such as Tokyo and Sydney, but the brand was in the growth phase in other countries such as China and India. Asia Pacific is a diverse region with a small number of hotels and resorts spread out in about 10 countries and each country interprets well-being differently. While the brand essence is globally relevant, the content created was focused on the needs in the US, where most Westin properties were located.

Hazel's Approach:

Incorporated Global framework, defined Asia Pacific strategy and managed local marketing.
Built differentiation and deep brand affinity through psychographic targeting.
Created consistent branding and marketing to build strong brand recognition. Focused resources on activating two pillars of well-being that Westin already own - Sleep Well and Move Well.
Maintained category leader status by continuing role as an industry innovator.

Results:

Westin strengthened its brand equity and increased its market share in key markets

Sleep Well:

Power ahead of the competition by owning the sleep experience

In a 1999 study, travellers indicated that a good night's sleep was the most important service a hotel could provide. That year, Westin introduced the Heavenly® Bed which forever changed the hotel sleep experience. Since then, the brand has been synonymous with a good night's sleep. By activating the Heavenly Bed, Westin Asia Pacific capitalised on the brand's first-mover advantage, built strong brand recognition and gained a cult following. From anniversary celebrations to pop-up promotions in shopping malls, airports and public places with high foot traffic, the activations were extremely well received. To expand the marketing efforts, the brand leveraged its network and encouraged hotels to do similar. A playbook was created to guide on-brand activation.

Strengthened sleep authority position with the celebration of World Sleep Day

Westin Asia Pacific capitalized on the success of activating the Heavenly Bed and turned the occasion activations into an annual celebration to keep the buzz going. 17 years after its launch, the brand undoubtedly owns the sleep space, and in addition to the Heavenly bed, it has created other signature programs to support a restful night, such as the Sleep Well Menu and Lavender Balm. In collaboration with the World Sleep Society, Westin Asia Pacific kickstarted this thought leadership movement in 2016, which became a global activation in the years that followed.

Westin is best in bed

Westin x World Sleep Day

Westin New Balance Gear Lending

Brand value creation through consistent marketing of Design Target's unmet needs

"When I travel, my exercise routine continues, but workout clothes and shoes take up precious space in my suitcase, especially in my carry-on," said a Westin brand Design Target. Based on this insight and to bring the brand's core value of "Instinctive" to life, Westin partnered with New Balance in 2012 to launch Workout Gear Lending Programme. For US$5, a guest received a workout top and bottom, running shoes and a new pair of socks to keep.

Since the early 2000s, the brand has recognised the different needs of the Design Target and continually reinvented the workout experience. State-of-the-art fitness centres, WestinWORKOUT® rooms that allow guests to workout from the comfort of their rooms, Run Concierges who serve as running partners to guests, and RunWestin maps that show guests how to run like a local while exploring the surrounding area.

The Westin brand has consistently marketed these industry-first experiences around the world, and Westin China, was still in its growth phase, leveraged this global halo and promoted this programme launch.

Westin Well-being Advocates

6 Pillars of Well-Being:

Achieved brand resonance with content marketing driven by 5 well-being advocates

In 2012, Westin launched a global Well-Being Movement, an initiative designed to inspire guests and employees to discover new approaches to well-being through innovative partnerships and programs across the brand's six pillars of well-being. To continue the global momentum and drive meaningful brand engagement in the region, Westin Asia Pacific leveraged influencer marketing and partnered with five Key Opinion Leaders to drive word of mouth among their trusted fans.

Working with the 5 Key Opinion Leaders, also known as the Westin Well-being Advocates, content was created around the 6 Pillars of Well-being. Each Well-being Advocate shared tips that they personally practiced, making the content relevant to local markets. The premium content formed the backbone of the brand's digital well-being hub at Asia Pacific and was promoted through a robust marketing plan that included digital, offline and in-person events.

Learn more by taking a visual journey below.

Westin x Johanna Basford: Colour your way to wellness

Feel Well:

Innovation marketing to extend the reign of the Westin brand

In 2014, Westin entered into a global partnership with Headspace, an online company specialising in meditation, to offer guests and employees customised content such as videos and audio files. The content for Westin guests was specially curated to meet the needs of travellers before and after their hotel stay. Mindfulness has become increasingly popular, as has adult colouring. Westin Asia Pacific tapped into this trend and became an early adopter by forming an exclusive partnership with acclaimed illustrator and best-selling author Johanna Basford to help in-house guests relax during their stay. Six colouring sheets were made available, with three bespoke sheets featuring designs that reflected the brand's 6 pillars of well-being.

This is one of my personal favourites, partly because of the breadth and depth of the campaign intricacies, and also because I enjoy colouring.

Westin akeaways

Takeaways

These are some of the campaigns I've managed as part of my roles on the Asia Pacific and China teams. I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the Westin brand and have learned an enormous amount. Following sum up the many years of working on it:

Strong brand positioning - This has enabled a clear and differentiated strategy and effective activations.
Repetition. Consistency. Persistence. - It takes more than once for a consumer to remember and for a brand to own, follow through and achieve excellence.
Everyone is a brand ambassador. Internal activation is just as important as external activation.
Collaboration - The esprit de corps from Global to Asia Pacific to Regions and Properties was amazing and made the impossible possible.

It's been 5 years since I worked for the Westin brand and I still bring the brand to life by practicing the six pillars of well-being every day. This, is brand love.