Indian Hotels Company (IHCL), which runs the Taj chain of hotels, may be looking to rebrand its properties which could see the Vivanta and Gateway brands facing the axe and all its hotels being branded under the broader Taj badge. The company proposes to categorise all properties as Taj Palaces, Taj Resorts and Spas, Taj Safaris, and Taj Hotels. The company, under the leadership of Rakesh Sarna, who took over the reins of IHCL in September 2014, is believed to have indicated the same at an internal meeting.
When Hyatt man Rakesh Sarna was brought in to head IHCL as managing director and CEO, many felt he was chosen for the top job due to his astute understanding of the American hospitality market, as it would benefit the group to manage its challenging US-based portfolios. According to sources at the Taj, the then ED Abhijit Mukerjee was considered to be close in line to take over as MD, when Sarna took over. With his own style of functioning and leadership, it was presumed that Sarna’s entry would be advantageous for the legacy hospitality brand as with him would come an increased sense of global professionalism. He wanted to bring in change, which also included the rebranding initiative. It is important to note that, the Taj Group had already gone through a major re-branding exercise under the leadership of Krishna Kumar, few years ago, which gave birth to the brands Vivanta and Gateway, which Sarna intends to do away with.
A former senior management official at the Taj Hotels, who was part of the rebranding team, said, “The re-branding exercise was done after a series of deliberations spanning close to a decade under the leadership of Krishna Kumar. A lot of investment was made, both financial and intellectual, by visionaries as part of the rebranding initiative. After some very heavy rethinking, the brands Vivanta and Gateway were born. The global trend clearly stated the launching of brands within the mother brand, in keeping with the taste, temperament and customer profile. It was also a time when hospitality in India was witnessing a change in segmentation from product to target markets.”
Global hospitality groups such as Starwood and Marriott have their own list of brands to meet a certain target audience, which holds true even for Hyatt, Hilton, Accor Group, and others.
However, in August 2016, the Taj Group, under Sarna’s vision coined a new word – Tajness – to describe hospitality of a legacy brand. During that phase, it was rumoured that brands such as Vivanta and Gateway may fade away giving birth to something new. Though the Taj Safaris brand is already in existence, the plan was to add resorts and spas as a separate entity to its portfolio. Since the rebranding news surfaces again, on October 25, during an internal presentation to the business heads made by Sarna, the industry in general feels it may not be prudent to fade out the entities Vivanta and Gateway.
According to industry thought leaders, this move toward rebranding has to be looked at with prudence. In an exclusive with Express TravelWorld, Mandeep Singh Lamba, MD – hotels and hospitality, Jones Lang LaSalle India, said, “There have been some whispers of the Taj Hotels considering a rebranding exercise at a time when the newer brands in their stable are just beginning to get noticed. While I am sure the very able leadership at the Taj is working to a well planned strategy to spur much needed growth, it would, in my mind, be important for the group to keep its brand presence across the spectrum of mid-scale, upscale and luxury markets in the attempt to grow their distribution through the asset-light strategy adopted by the group to compete with the growing number of global hospitality brands in the India market.”
He further added, “All big global players have multiple brands, unless one wants to be a Four Seasons and just be a luxury player. But that limits growth.”
Whereas, few feel that the change may not happen anytime soon due to the sudden change in the top leadership at the Tata Group itself. As of now, its a wait-and-watch situation, as the parent company itself is clearing issues of vital concern with their leadership change. The Taj Group’s spokesperson and PR head did not respond to consistent calls and messages from Express TravelWorld for an official update of this development.
