Choice CEO Rolling Out a More Competitive Strategy

Stephen Joyce Making Choices About Company's Future

• 
  SAVE
• 
  SHARE
• 
  TEXT SIZE
• 
  PRINT
• 
  COMMENT
• 
  PDF

. October 14, 2008

OCTOBER 3, 2008. When Stephen Joyce was appointed as the successor to lead Choice Hotels International as its CEO into the next decade, it was a move heralded by its franchisees. After all, this is the man who basically created franchising at Marriott and helped to make it into the company it is today.

And while it took some time to lure him away, now that he's settling into his new position Joyce is looking to breathe new life and energy into the company. He plans to launch some new brands, heighten the company's emphasis on business travelers and better differentiate existing ones. It's a move he's quite passionate about, and one he feels he'll be able to do with the full support of the franchise community.

"The nice thing is that this company is incredibly poised to do a lot of great things," said Joyce. "We have an incredible opportunity with Cambria Suites and we are putting everything we can behind it with financial support," said Joyce, noting that the company is working to bring in big multi-unit franchisees that can do several projects a year, especially its Cambria and Mainstay Suites brands.

Joyce indicated that Cambria, a lifestyle business-focused brand, is really the lynchpin for tomorrow's Choice Hotels system, and said emphasis on Cambria will boost sales throughout the rest of the company. The idea here is that this brand will be the first in a new family of brands targeted to business travelers. In fact, Joyce told Hotel Interactive the company is seriously considering adding a full-service brand, as well as something that would fit into the upscale extended-stay category, a segment that is a personal favorite for Joyce.

With those brands working in conjunction with its leisure brands through the prism of its Choice Privileges guest reward program, Joyce is confident they've got a winning formula.

"Choice is 70 percent leisure and very value-oriented for the consumer. When working in conjunction with brands focused more on the business traveler and then have that compressed on Choice Privileges, it becomes a very compelling consumer proposition," said Joyce.

One of the most common complaints from franchisees is that some of the brands are not as clearly defined in the consumer mindset as they would like. Joyce acknowledged this has been an issue and is working to make appropriate changes so brands are no longer muddled together.

First up is Comfort Inn and Comfort Suites, which are part of the same brand family. "We are going to define [Comfort] and where it is. The company has been working on brand positioning for all the brands and most of that work has been done. We are sharply defining what each stands for," said Joyce, acknowledging that "some of the brands have gotten blurred."

He also added that he believes Cambria and Sleep are already "very well defined" and said that Comfort in particular has gotten lots of input from the franchisee community as to where it should be positioned. To seek franchisee input, the company has been conducting online chats to gather ideas on where each brand should head.

Joyce clearly understands the franchise community must be behind any changes. Therefore it's critical they be an integral element of the process, which is something that its owner's council, CHOC, has been clamoring for in the past.

"You get a lot more alignment in the process. After all, it is their money. And they are going to think these issues through more thoroughly than someone who isn't putting money on the line. It's a great process because what you get is real intellectual honesty. It may be a messier process and it takes longer, but in the end you get a better result," said Joyce.

With the domestic house in order, Joyce is also working on global expansion plans. By the end of the year he expects the company to finalize a strategy. Then he said it will be a case of where they should put "boots on the ground". To make sure their strategy is rolled out properly, they'll seek out people that know the language, culture and how the government operates in each of those regions or countries.

Joyce said the company is "not where we should be" in places such as China, India and Russia, and said the company will focus on those areas.

"This company is poised for really strong growth. We just have to make sure our franchisees are with us and I think we will really have something. We have a brand for every stage of the lifecycle of a hotel and our franchisees can [change flags] and still get great value," said Joyce. "We are having fun and I think we will have great success."