BRAND MANAGEMENT OF HOTEL NETWORKS IN MODERN CONDITIONS

Abstract

The essence and significance of the brand in the activities of hospitality enterprises have been considered. It has been substantiated that branding in the field of hotel and tourism business is a technology of creating and promoting branded tourist services, an activity to form a long-term preference for them, which is based on the increased influence of a trademark, trademark, advertising arguments, materials and sales promotion measures on a certain segment consumer; design and organization of points of sale of services, as well as other elements and promotions in the field of advertising activities, combined by a separate idea that distinguish the organization’s services from competitors, create its image, emphasize positions and uniqueness. It has been proven that the main tools of brand management of hospitality entities are promotion through the Internet (website creation, involvement of social networks); presentations (participation in regular events); advertising campaigns (use of various means of advertising: press, radio, television, Internet); effective marketing policy; sponsorship (participation in charity events) and co-branding. It has been argued that co-branding of hotel chains, suppliers, partners, and other participants helps to strengthen the brands of each of the participants, and ensures the complementarity of their resources. The goal of co-branding is to create synergy, increase awareness and increase the value of the brands involved by leveraging each brand by transferring associations from one brand to another and differentiating them from competitors. Since the co-brand has been a visible part of the collaboration, it would be appropriate to identify the forms of relationship between the merging brands and companies that include weak and strong ties to the company’s brands. A weak connection manifests itself in the fact that when a new brand has been created, it will have nothing in common with the «parent»; brand, or there will be weak inheritance. A stronger relationship has been manifested in the fact that the new brand will coincide with either one of the «parent»; brands or with both. The Top 50 hotel chain brands in the world as of 2022 and examples of co- branding in the hotel industry were analyzed. It has been proven that co-branding can be an effective tool for strengthening the market positions of hotel enterprises and will provide an opportunity to strengthen relations with customers and increase the company’s profitability. Therefore, it is important for hotels to consider co-branding as a valuable tool in their business strategy and seek partnerships that benefit both their brand and their customers.