Lessons for a major rebrand. The industry wants all-in-one. Sesame voice AI, impressive but. Major inspiration, true food for thought.
Hello,
Catching up on things. It wasn’t just ITB there was more — see my column below. Major rebrands have a tendency to reach crunch time and so things get set aside. But I did manage to somehow keep the newsletter up and that’s pretty cool.
Best, Martin
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All-in-one vs. Best-of-breed
Over ITB I had a conversation with a hotel IT consultant and friend and we discussed the concept of single provider or multiple. I was always in favor of multiple. To get the best of all world. But maybe I was wrong. The market is leaning towards large providers who can service all parts. It gives hotels bigger buying power, better service and better integrations. Even if some features aren’t the best, the pain of having to deal with expensive (and political) integrations between competing companies could justify it. I’ve always thought integrations would be solved by now – but it seems hotel tech still has a long way to go. Oh and nobody says best-of-breed anymore.
UNIFIED HOTEL TECH VENDOR [I WORK WITH]
I tried Sesame voice AI
Sesame’s voice agent is undeniably impressive, incredibly low latency and interactions that feel almost human. Talking to it truly mimics a real conversation. However, there’s one major flaw—it lacks purpose. Conversations are meant to be an exchange of ideas, and this just isn’t that. I pushed it to help me book a hotel room, but instead of completing the task, it kept veering off track at the last moment, much like Monty Python’s Cheese Shop sketch—almost getting there but never quite delivering. Even after repeating five times that I wanted to book, it never explicitly stated it couldn’t. Rather, it just kept the conversation going. The tech is solid, but the real question is: can it be trained to have intent and actually be useful?
SESAME DEMO SIMONE TRIED IT
About me: I'm a fractional CMO for large travel technology companies helping turn them into industry leaders. I'm also the co-founder of 10minutes.news a hotel news media that is unsensational, factual and keeps hoteliers updated on the industry. Hotel Insights & Inspiration
Two interesting reports came out last week. Hospitalitynet’s Yearbook and Influence Society’s 30page visual tech and design inspiration for hotels. Both are excellent reads and also very different. Opinions and Inspiration. Don’t wait for someone to tell you the future, form your own ideas about it. We’re in a time of massive change and opportunity. As long as people travel our industry is solid – but what tech and what style is right? AI can suggest stuff, but in the end you need to form your own opinions.
YEARBOOK SOCIETIES
Hotel Room Design
Working in a hotel room is growing. We do more calls than before. We do video calls. We need space that is quiet and isn’t visually embarrassing (an unmade bed in the background isn’t ideal). A manager from a furniture company give his thoughts about it.
HOTEL WORK COMFORT
Urgent: Creative Performance in Marketing
The notion of a “creative performance half-life” highlights the pressing need for fresh creative strategies. Unfortunately, many hotels have become hyper-focused on performance metrics, at the expense of creativity. This emphasis on numbers alone can stifle innovation, reducing long-term effectiveness. Only focusing on performance is a race to the bottom of a limited audience. The creative side helps grow the available audience.
MARKETING CREATIVE URGENCY
Engaging the Multitasking Consumer
Relevance is the key to future of advertising. While 100 years ago advertising was spamming, today it needs to shift to relevant repetition. Google and Meta are getting better and better at it. AI targeting is becoming more and more relevant. In a utopic world, ads could be helpful. For a little while search ads were helpful. But that relevance is moving to AI.
AI CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT
Podcast: I was invited on the Hospitality Daily Podcast and spoke about technology in hospitality, some thoughts on what wont change in hospitality, and why I co-founded 10minutes.news. Best, MartinOpinion
Rebranding multi-product companies, lessons learned
Rebranding is fun—on paper. New logos, fresh color palettes, a shiny website, and a fancy style guide. But in a complex multi-product environment, it is a system designer / engineer job not a graphic design job. Here are some of the key takeaways from one of the hotel tech industries most complex and thorough rebrands ever done.
1. Graphic design isn’t as important as the system
Beautiful graphics are great, but if your system is built for the style guide, it won’t last. Fancy graphics can mask a lack of system, but only for so long. Solid systems are much more important. Scalability is the key.
2. The Hardest Part? Identifying the Right Problem
Most of the time, the issue isn’t what you think it is. Make the logo bigger or change the name to be more readable are symptoms. If they persist you’re not solving the underlying problem. Think about why the problem exists in the first place.
3. The Right Solution Won’t Be Flashy
The best solutions are often simple, even boring. Often the real solution seems obvious in hindsight. It can be disappointing to look back and see that nothing is as flashy as the original mood board. But that’s ok.
4. Exceptions Are the Enemy—But They’re Inevitable
A perfect system has no exceptions. But reality disagrees. No matter how well you build something, there will be edge cases. The key is designing a system that can handle them without crumbling.
5. Big Projects Are Overwhelming—Focus on the Next Step
Thinking about every detail of a massive project is paralyzing. The trick is to focus on the immediate next step, execute it well (and as fast as possible), and then move on to the next. Before you know it, big projects get done.
6. Internal Buy-in Matters More Than You Think
Getting everyone on board is one of the toughest parts of a rebrand. You’ll have to become a salesperson, pitching the vision with enthusiasm and conviction. Without that, you’ll get a flood of unnecessary feedback from well-meaning but misguided stakeholders. But don’t be so convinced that you don’t accept the feedback.
7. Brand and Design Systems Are a Language
A good brand system is like a language: structured but flexible. It needs to evolve while maintaining coherence. Bad systems fall apart quickly with constant redesigns needed for exceptions. However, even great systems need maintenance.
8. Build First, Write the Guide Later
Build the assets—website, brochures, sales decks—first. Put the system to test based on the loose rules of the system. Fix what breaks and evolve. Once it works, write the guide and lock down the rules.
There’s probably a lot more. These are some of the ones I could think of relating to designing a system for a brand. After doing multiple patch-ups. Not that those are wrong, finding the right problems becomes clear because of the patch-ups. I would always suggest a patch-up or two first. Before really getting into building a system.
