TORONTO—Best Western International kicked off its annual brand conference at the Toronto Convention Centre here with the announcement of two new brands, one of which will be a boutique flag called Vib designed for Millennials. The company’s other newly created offering will be a soft brand concept called the Premier Collection.
President and CEO David Kong introduced the Vib brand—short for vibrant—to the company’s membership. “Because of our broad appeal, we have a unique advantage in launching a new boutique concept,” he said.
Kong described the brand as having “cost-effective in-room features and simplistic design.” He added, “the lobby is designed to be a vibrant and distinct gathering place.”
Kong also maintained the brand will be inexpensive to build.
Kong also laid out his three primary objectives for Best Western going forward. The first of those is to be the leading brand in J.D. Power’s annual guest satisfaction rankings for its segment. Secondly, he stated he would like for the company’s loyalty program to be the best in the industry and eventually drive as much as 50% of room revenues. Lastly, Kong also aspires for Best Western to beat Hilton’s Hampton brand in RevPAR. Best Western achieved a RevPAR index of roughly 111 this year but still trails Hampton.
Best Western also revealed it’s in the process of updating the company’s traditional logo, but has not settled on a new look as of yet.