Question

Topic: Branding

Please Review This Brochure For Our Hotel

Posted by cambridge on 12/1/2010 at 3:53 PM ET 500 Points
I would be very grateful for your comments and review of the new draft brochure we have put together for our hotel in Vancouver. The brochure (which will fold into 6 pages) can be viewed at the following link:

https://www.sungcreative.com/sung_uploads/Sunset/SunsetInn_Brochure_v4.6.pd...


In addition for your general comments/criticisms, I had a few specific questions that I would welcome feedback on:
(1) I have posted two versions of the page that will appear as the last page of this brochure (see pages two and three of the pdf). The only difference is that one contains reviews by professional reviewers, while the other consists of customer comments. Which version would you recommend we use?

(2) Brochures are often placed in racks where the lower half or bottom third is obscured. As a result, when the first page of this brochure is displayed on a rack, the text “Spacious Suites… Spectacular Location” may be obscured. Should we change this page, so that this text appears above the picture and can be readily read (and the picture is partially obscured on a display rack) or are we better served by letting the picture speak for itself? Since the picture also distinguishes our offering from a customary hotel room, we’re not sure which placement we should go with.

(3) Should we replace the subheading titled ‘An excellent value’ (see last page of pdf) with something along the following lines: “ Stay at the only hotel in Downtown where you will find…” We would probably need to add the word ‘and’ after ‘fitness and laundry facilities’ to explain that while other hotels in town may offer one or more of these , no one else offers all of these features/benefits. Alternate formulations I have been wrestling with include:


(a) No other hotel in Vancouver offers all of the following
(b) We’re the only place in town with…
(c) No other hotel in Vancouver offers what we do

I would welcome any other suggestions for wording, as well as your thoughts on whether we should just stay with ‘ An excellent value’

(4) Do our pictures and their order/placement in this brochure work?
(5) Any suggestions for changes to the text?
(6) Any other comments? The design and look of this brochure will generally match our new website.

Thank you all as always for your generous feedback.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by cookmarketing@gmail. on 12/1/2010 at 4:11 PM Member
    Before commenting on the brochure itself; being from Orlando FL, we have (literally) hundreds of such stands/kiosk.

    Questions:
    a) These are normally in high traffic, tourists locations - if so it that your customer? at that stand/kiosk at that time
    b) If? this stand/kiosk represents the above, a 6 fold will be: too expensive and the stand/kiosk 'pocket' will not hold enough brochures.
    c) the above answers will dictate a good amount of correct response
  • Posted by cambridge on 12/1/2010 at 5:07 PM Author
    Thanks for your response, cookmarketing. You are, of course, right that a 6 fold color brochure would not be cost-effective for use in high traffic, tourist locations. We're working on a two-sided piece for use at these areas.

    We expect to use this brochure as part of the package used by our sales staff when they are out on calls as well as for responding to prospective customers who write to us. We would also use it to educate/inform staff at tourist visitor bureaus and call-in centers, etc. (with some limited use at brochure racks in lower traffic or higher value areas).
  • Posted by michael on 12/2/2010 at 12:17 AM Accepted
    Hanif,

    I like the design of the brochure and it seems to have all the information for a leave behind.

    I visited the website and it still shows "download our 2008 brochure". Definitely want to change that tonite if you can.

    The only thing missing is a way to track whether reservations come directly from the brochure or not. There is no reason to create marketing materials that are not trackable.

    Michael
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 12/2/2010 at 7:40 AM Accepted
    (1) Since 2 of the professional reviews are attributed to a person, why not mix/match reviews. Pick the last 2 (AOL/DK) and pick 2 from customer comments to show how well loved you are.

    (2) Your picture doesn't convey that this is how most/all rooms look. You could be showing me a "special" junior suite room, rather than an average room that you offer. Are all your rooms suites? If so, say that. "Spectacular Location"...for what? After reading, I can see it's convenient to downtown and nature. Can you strengthen the "location" by showing a small map with the "best stuff" highlighted?

    (3) For suite size - can you mention the min sq. footage of a room? That'll help people grasp how spacious rooms are. Also, consider the words "Get More For Less" to convey the price and quality of services you're offering.
  • Posted by Tracey on 12/2/2010 at 5:34 PM Accepted
    I think the brochure should be more tailored to the demographic of your customers. Are you serving business guests or leisure guests?

    If business, I would talk about all the things business travelers find important - the personal assistant is great. But you can include copy on Internet, phone calls, business center, proximity to downtown, and proximity to bars/restaurants. The Drury Hotel chain does a great job of communicating benefits to business customers.

    If you are serving leisure guests, it's all about fun, tourism, etc. They might be value minded or luxury minded (I am guessing value?). Are they families or couples? For families, you would talk about space, activities, proximity to attractions, babysitting services, food, etc.

    My point is that 1- you cannot be all things to all people, so choosing your demographic will make the brochure more effective, and 2 - you should be able to tell, immediately when looking at the brochure, who the demographic is. To me, the cover photo seems like it's aimed towards a business guest, but the inside bottom photos look geared toward leisure guests.

    If you have both types of guests I'd recommend creating two different brochures; they would be distributed at different places anyway.
    Hope that helps...
  • Posted by cambridge on 12/3/2010 at 7:21 PM Author
    Thank you all for these very insightful comments.

    Tracey, we will work on better targeting the descriptions to our key target markets and demographics.

    We will also revise some of the text to incorporate mbarber and Jay's suggestions.

    We're also working on figuring out a way to incorporate Michael's suggestions on tracking results.

    I would be grateful for any additional thoughts or feedback anyone may have. Thanks again, everyone!
  • Posted by michael on 12/7/2010 at 3:30 PM Member
    Hanif,
    Most companies will put a "reservation code" on the brochure. I've had people tell me that can be spread all over the internet. Um, do you care? Pretty sure you're looking for reservations and it's not too difficult to make a change if 100% of them come in with that code.

    Michael

  • Posted by cambridge on 12/7/2010 at 3:37 PM Author
    Thanks for the suggestion, Michael. We will try this. You are quite right, of course --the more reservations, the merrier! We would probably be delighted to have the code spread all over the Net.

    Best wishes,

    Hanif
  • Posted by cambridge on 12/7/2010 at 3:39 PM Author
    Michael-- Your response came in right after I had closed the question!

    Please accept my apologies for not being able to award you any points.

    Best wishes,

    Hanif
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