Hotel Okura Amsterdam: A Japanese Connection

The Objective

Renowned corporate travel and conferencing venue, the luxurious Japanese-owned Hotel Okura Amsterdam required a clearer brand story and redefined brand positioning to help them appeal to and connect with leisure travellers.

The Insight

We delivered a two-day branding workshop with senior management to pinpoint the unique essence of the hotel and how this should inform their positioning.  In this workshop, we started with desk research locally and globally to better understand how Hotel Okura differentiated themselves. Using a combination of brand archetypes and personality exercises we helped them build a portrait for themselves.

The Advice

We translated our findings into practical Brand Identity Guidelines to help Hotel Okura Amsterdam live by their new positioning, whilst still adhering to strict branding rules set by their Japanese parent brand, Okura Hotels & Resorts. The new positioning was further brought to life through supporting marketing assets provided by us: a beautiful brand video and a hotel photography shoot.

The Lasting Impression

The Brand Identity Guidelines for Hotel Okura are in use today. The detailed strategy helped embody the Japanese culture which in turn helped them connect with new types of leisure travellers.