Ms. Bohrod

Social Media & PR

Designing with a Theme: It's just not sticks and bricks any more

By Georgi Bohrod, Principal, GBG & Associates

Once upon a time the world was flat. Or at least we thought so. It took brave explorers to dispel linear thinking. Once the flat world illusion was exposed, men and women circumnavigated the globe, discovering the world. Today our universe has expanded further to outer space, cyber space and exploration beyond our wildest dreams. However, for some reason, a horizontal mentality still dictates the operation of our businesses and the development process.

Think about your last hospitality design and construction challenge. Where did you start? Was it budget-driven? Was it program driven? Was it customer driven? Investor driven? HOA Board driven? Was it the same place as your previous deal? Will the next project be the same? Ask yourself? Is it time to make a change?

From a public relations perspective, it is not all about the sticks and bricks. It is all about delivering on the promise. So, from the marketing perspective it makes sense to coordinate all the functions of hospitality, design, operations and development to offer the most comprehensive guest experience.

Today with our global community we know the planet is round; pictures are not in black and white and we all function better interacting in a community with each other. So for what was once a journey from point A to point Z, with each component being measured singularly, we now start to process a fresh way of thinking.

Margit Whitlock, AIA, an architect and designer who concentrates on the hospitality industry calls this the "Concentric Design Process".

Starting from a central goal of The Guest Experience the process for development is structured concentrically. Thus, the guest experience needs to be wrapped within a resort's or hotel's core principals and key departments. This concept will also establish a framework for partnership within your organization.

Each entity has different core principals. These in turn become message statements to be used in the marketing programs and communicated to various audiences. Perhaps "you strive to develop unique properties in unmatched location; or you provide healthy and sustainable environments; or your goal is to create family oriented resorts at a moderate and affordable price."

What does this have to do with "DESIGN"? And what does design have to do with PUBLIC RELATIONS AND MARKETING?

Taking the very center of the hospitality core as the guest experience - ask yourself, what exactly provides a unique guest experience for this property? Shelter, fun, location, community, and a place to reconnect... All of these important aspects relate to the built environment and the functionability of the indoor and outdoor spaces. Do not forget the most important touch points of a guest experience - reservations, arrival, reception / check in, circulation, living unit, amenities, as well as check out and post stay responses.

Architecture and interior design are the first tools you have to convey the message - the promise you have made to the guest / owner. The intent is to have an integrated product that is viable, marketable and deliverable.

If the message is (no pun intended) concrete from the onset, the marketing message will not be compromised by the environment. To let the public know that your resort is primarily for families, and for the guests to discover there are no children's facilities can be a disaster. The core message of a family centric property needs to be transmitted from the sticks and bricks all the way through to the web site.

What about the couple who arrives based on the web site promise that they will have a quiet romantic weekend, only to find young teens running up and down the hall to the game arcade. Or the boomers who read about your property in a travel publication only to find it did not meet their dream expectations.

These marketing and design gaffs can be avoided if the process involves all departments of your property.

Where do you start? Build your own hospitality "DNA" model. Here, a concentric design model is presented that better expresses the parallelism of the various development activities. Whitlock suggests this exercise:

Next, draw a straight line to connect each point together and then draw a circle connecting each star point. Now you have the framework.

Each step of the development process is in direct contact with the other. Each has a responsibility to the core principal with all elements touching and impacting each other.

This outlines a broad brush stroke of a very complex process. There will be many interior circles with important aspects of the development process. However, nothing is outside the circle.

For instance, when her firm, Architectural Concepts was assigned work at Optimum Health Institute, Whitlock used this thinking in a workshop with key staff members and to help them develop the essence of their core principles. This gave them a game plan to enrich the environment for quiet and calm spaces planned for rest and reflection. An important component was the provision of outdoor rooms for personal and group activities devoting each area of the landscaping to the guest.

Operationally this meant that the staff needed to make a commitment to maintain the grounds in superior shape and to be flexible and considerate of noise, dust and other distractions. From a management point of view this was exemplified by their acknowledgement that it takes time and money to provide an exceptional experience, but when a staff is truly committed the result is astonishing. Ownership of the company's goals was important in achieving effective communication and input to create an environment specific to the target market.

Evolving from the static A-Z, "world is flat" thinking to the dynamic "Concentric Design Process" is really can be as simple as holding an executive staff retreat for a day and asking some basic questions to develop your product through the results of the concentric design process.

Continue your questions until you understand the end result.

Don't forget to invite the outside firms who will help you achieve your goals in the end. You might have your branding team, marketing team and your design team on hand to make sure your message continues to be consistent and feasible. And, have fun!

Georgi Bohrod, RRP leads a consortium of writers, media specialists and graphic designers at GBG & Associates. GBG specializes in the integration of multiple marketing and public relations strategies to fulfill client business goals. The company has implemented marketing, advertising and public relations programs for hotels, timeshare resorts, resort developers, small businesses, service providers and travel industry corporations. Under the leadership of Georgi Bohrod, the company has won countless awards for collateral material design, interactive media design and public relations. Ms. Bohrod can be contacted at 760-803-4522 or georgi@georgibohrod.com Extended Bio...

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