July 25, 2005
WHAT'S IN A NAME? A BRAND, FOR ONE THING!
Earlier this month, the Hilton Hotel Corporation awarded its $40 million advertising account to a major New York-based advertising firm. These days, with companies like General Motors and Proctor & Gamble routinely spending 10 to 20 times that amount on their advertising efforts, Hilton's expenditure seems hardly noteworthy. I only mention it because I have a deep curiosity about the development, management, and stewardship of brands.
Powerful, long-lasting brands are built by owning a word or concept. Whatís a Volvo? A safe car. What's Wal-Mart? Cheap. What's Westin Hotels? The Heavenly Bed. Whatís a BMW? Fun to drive. What's Google? The best search engine. What's Hilton? That's a good question.
These days, for a generation of teenagers, Hilton means 'rich ditzy blonde'. For Internet users, Hilton means 'rich ditzy blond having sex caught on tape that's available for $3.95 for 30 days of continuous viewing' (or so I've been told). For television viewers, Hilton means 'two utterly stupid reality TV shows, one of which is a copy-cop of The Apprentice'. Finally, for business travelers, Hilton means 'Hilton Hotels', 'Doubletree', 'Embassy Suites', 'Hampton Inn', Hilton Garden Inn', Homewood Suites', and here in Indianapolis the 5-star 'Conrad Hotel'.
For those of you who don't know me all that well, I attended the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel & Restaurant Management at the University of Houston. I picked the school, in part, because of the Hilton name. Back in the mid- to late-1980s, the Hilton brand was synonymous with the Waldorf-Astoria, one of America's great hotels, and that fact alone was almost enough to convince me to travel all the way from Connecticut to Texas for my college education. While the University of Houston Hilton College has grown to become one of the most respected hotel and restaurant management programs in the country, I wonder what college-bound kids these days think of the Hilton brand.
Posted by Mikal at July 25, 2005 7:16 AM
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