Hyatt: Brand Reorg Designed to Unclutter Focus

Hyatt Hotels Corp. has reorganized its broad collection of brands into a grouping of five portfolios that serve what president and CEO Mark Hoplamazian said are "common core" customers.

Over the past few decades, Hyatt has vastly expanded its brand collection both through acquisitions and the launch of its own original brands. The new structure is a way for the company to "step back, re-align those and make sure we have a clear focus," Hyatt head of Americas development and global head of Hyatt Studios Dan Hansen told BTN.

"We don't look at it as having 30-some brands; we look at it as having five distinct focuses," Hansen said. "They all have a little bit of a different offering, but they're concise enough that we can dedicate resources so that those guest needs and owner needs are met."

Among the grouping categories is an "Essentials" portfolio that includes Hyatt's select-service brands, such as Hyatt Place and Caption, and the upper-midscale extended stay Hyatt Studios. Hyatt's flagship Hyatt and Hyatt Regency brands fall into its Classics portfolio, while the Luxury portfolio includes Park Hyatt properties and other top-tier properties in the Hyatt family.

Hyatt already had announced the creation of its Lifestyle portfolio last year when it acquired Standard International, and former Standard executive chairman Amar Lalvani is leading that group as president and executive director. The fifth group, Inclusive, covers the brands in Hyatt's all-inclusive business and will be led by Javier Águila, Hyatt's group president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Speaking at the recent Americas Lodging Investment Summit, Hyatt VP of global brands Katie Johnson said there currently is "brand fatigue," both from the consumer and the industry standpoint. 

"There's a lot of mergers and acquisition and transition, and the brand landscape is challenging to navigate," she said. "I want to see the success of our brands continue to evolve."

When a slide displaying all of Hyatt's brands was shown at the conference, Hoplamazian, who has been Hyatt's president and CEO since 2006, acknowledged it could seem like an "eye chart." That led to the new "slices" within the organization, he said.

"We said, What are the different customer segments we're serving, where you can distinctly identify a common core customer basis,' and that's the lens through which we said, 'Now let's go and recut the portfolio that way, so we can rally focus and intensify our resources around how we go to market and our distribution channel,  and get to know our customers better,'" Hoplamazian said.

Hansen said corporate travel will be a key part of multiple portfolios, noting that as of Hyatt's third-quarter earnings that about a third of its transient mix was in the luxury tier. The five segments will let Hyatt have "adequate capacity for business travelers that represent different industries," he said.

"You might have a group of consultants that wants a full-service restaurant, a place with room service. You might also have a group that wants a little more vibrant experience, maybe look at more of a hotel that has programming in it," Hansen said. "Having a family of brands allows you to tailor-make the experience for that business trip."