Project Description
Delta Hotels Rebranding
BRANDING, LOGO DESIGN, PRINT, WEB
TL;DR: Delta Hotels wanted a facelift to attract a new demographic and increase awareness.
Delta Hotels and Resorts wanted to reposition themselves from a 3-star hotel to a 4-star experience. To do this, the Olson team and I worked together with Delta Hotels to completely revamp and rebrand their full portfolio. It wasn’t about just creating an integrated campaign; it was about creating an integrated brand and a reference point for all Delta Hotels. Together we crafted a new tone of voice, visual styles, digital apps, type treatments, and colours while along the way documenting it all in detailed style guides. These style guides ranged from brand positioning, digital/CMS layouts, and structures, to shopper marketing. All of which ensured we stayed consistent and on-brand.
Our efforts paid off. In less than one year, we successfully repositioned their brand, increased their brand awareness and revenue. Marriot Hotels also took notice, and in late 2015 bought Delta Hotels and added their brand into the premium brands.
Delta style guides
To reposition the Delta brand, we worked strategically, starting inwards. We crafted Delta’s new tone of voice and documented their updated values, taglines, and instructions on creating new content. We looked at the type of photos to use and source for all categories. Working with Delta’s brand logo, we created their first-ever guide on sizing and placement in various formats. The style guides also captured and detailed the new Delta brand colours, textures, and typography.
Colours and typography
The Delta rebrand also included the creation of a new colour spectrum. Starting with their current and recognizable Delta blue, we carefully chose complimentary, web-safe colours that would work when paired with Delta’s many sub-brands (also undergoing a mini rebrand). Researching and experimenting with typography, we sought a bold, premium, unique typeface that was legible — “Brandon Groteque” delivered. We paired it with Open Sans, a web-safe font that was versatile enough to compliment and be an alternative when needed.
Corporate and guest collateral
The Olson team and I created various collaterals for Delta Hotels with their new branding. We worked with the Delta team to update their business cards and stationery, in addition to the stationary available in-suites. Additionally, we experimented and explored guest materials such as door hangers and Delta keycards and how we can integrate offerings into them.
Rebranding Delta’s sub-brands
Alongside the main Delta rebrand, we also explored Delta’s sub-brands and their offerings. We created new logos/iconography for each category and their respective typography. Each sub-brand was assigned a Delta brand colour to represent them while receiving their own custom branding (enough to set them apart but still thoughtful to the overall Delta brand).
Ease of a CMS
Property managers at each Delta location needed a way to stay on top of and create their own promotional materials. We partnered with PosterOne to create a custom CMS tool for Delta, giving all managers and employees the ability to design and develop posters, specific collateral, and more in one tool. PosterOne also allowed us to print and order all the materials needed to showcase and deliver them directly to the hotel.
Built for scalability
To help ensure design polish and ease for all user types, we created numerous templates, guides and assets to populate the CMS tool, creating drag-n-drop scenarios to make lives easier for Delta employees.
Campaign creative
Delta’s refresh was taking hold, and their new properties reflected that. Their first updated hotel was the Delta Ottawa. It was a modern showcase of where the brand was headed, and the perfect place to shoot their new television spot. One of the spots’ main goals was to shine a light on the event and meeting spaces available to book within the hotel. We took viewers on a journey through multiple guest adventures as they pasted one another. A strategy that also gave us the ability to create various vignettes for targeted categories.
The team and I further created a visual campaign targeting corporate events and families. These campaigns had a unique style and ran across multiple touch-points such as print, digital signage, and rich media.
Storyboarding
Wearing many hats within the Delta rebrand project, I also jumped in to create the storyboard illustrations and flow for our leading television commercial. Each frame captures a moment and offering within a Delta hotel.
Digital experience
In our continued rebranding efforts, we also looked at the digital presence of Delta hotels. We refreshed and restructured their website and simplified their booking systems. We also looked at their mobile application, giving it a visual facelift and integrating updated hotel information that would be more engaging for users.