Fixing An Outdated Brand: "You Have To Overwhelm Them."

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Chicago Tribune: As a new Radisson Blu hotel opens in Chicago's architecturally significant Aqua building, the question is whether the lowly-regarded hotelier can go upscale.

Steven Silvers, a reputation management consultant at Denver firm GBSM, said the odds are good.

"When rebuilding a brand, you have to go all out," (Silvers) said. "If you do it incrementally, you're asking for a lot of patience. You have to overwhelm them. You have to create a level of cognitive dissonance that hits the reset button. That goes a long way toward creating a new life for an old brand."

[Read more...]