Today for our CH BrandReview I am going to look at the website of Hotel Des Bergues in Geneva. When I just arrived in Geneva and I passed by Des Bergues, it appealed to me instantly. It has a remarkable location and I think I have seen it appear in movies ones and a while.

For this reason I had high expectations of their website but I became a bit disappointed when I took a visit.

When I searched for Les Bergues in Google, Des Bergues came out properly on the top position. However Des Bergues doesn’t have its own hoteldesbergues.ch, it has only a few pages on the fourseasons.com website. The photography is good but the framework is very basic. I see some similarity with this website only this is not concerning a luxury (hotel) Brand like Four Seasons is.

However I did contact Four Seasons about this and they do not agree with me on this. As a result they did put up an online survey. So when you visit their website you can agree or disagree with me.

What I really do miss though is storytelling. I want to know more about Des Bergues. It is supposed to be the first hotel of Geneve. And it has been a landmark on the Rhône since 1834..

There must be a lot more to tell. For example is the Quai des Bergues named after the Hotel or is it the other way around.

To be continued.

Screenshot Hotel Des Bergues Geneve

 

 

 

(inspired by brandchannel.com)

Seems like the luxury Brand debate is coming to an end. Luxury Brands often do have a problem with the transparency and accessibility of the web. Because they do have a reputation to protect. And they need to stay exclusive.

However this does not mean luxury Brands can ignore the the fast evolving changes in digital branding. Research shows that the luxury consumer is ready for 2.0 and they do have very high expectations.

Not meeting this expectations will definitely harm your brand. For a luxury brand, just ‘keeping up’ is not enough. You have to be outstanding.

Beth Uyenco, Research Director for Microsoft Advertising comes with the following Luxury Brand Engagement Model:

• ‘Awareness’ To stay in line with the offline communications, and to deepen the brand experience with interaction, your web presence needs to be of top quality.
• ‘Admiration’ Luxury Brands need to exceed expectations and do also have to communicate on an emotional level.
• ‘Exploration’ Similar to the in-store communications. Luxury customers will want a personalizes way of exploring the Brand and its products.
• ‘Consideration’ After the exploration phase, it is important to create engagement. In this stage it is very important to know who your future customer is, to deliver an exceptional service and to invite the customer to join the Brand.
• ‘Purchase’ Integration of offline and online will give the possibility to enrich the purchase experience. It is about helping to buy more efficient and/or making the purchase a remarkable moment.
• ‘Ownership’ There are many digital ways to keep and strengthen the relations with your exclusive customers.

(Thanks to Microsoft Advertising and frankwatching.com )