Identifying the critical components of internal rebranding in a hotel casino
The hotel and casino industry has seen its fair share of rebranding in the last few years. There has been rebranding due to change in ownership, such as when the Aladdin Resort and Casino was purchased by OpBiz LLC and was rebranded as Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino (Yeskel, 2007). The Treasure Island Resort and Casino kept its name but underwent a rebranding to reposition its brand from a family oriented brand to a sexier and sophisticated adult audience (Haussman, 2007). The Rampart Casino at the Resort at Summerlin has changed ownership twice but has had four name changes since it opened in 1999 due to changes in management contracts (Wikipedia, 2009). Rebranding in the hotel and casino industry presents a challenging undertaking. A rebranding effort requires both an external and internal marketing campaign. For businesses operating in the service industry, the internal rebranding requires special attention. The brand for a hotel and casino can be identified by its logo, architectural attributes and themes, brand messages through advertising and public relations, and by the experiences the employees create when servicing customers. It is the experience that employees provide that requires the special attention in an internal marketing campaign for rebranding efforts in the hotel and casino industry (Turkoz & Akyol, 2008). A properly designed internal rebranding strategy must be developed to achieve maximum potential for success. The objective of this paper was to identify the critical components to be considered in an internal re-branding strategy for a hotel and casino operation. The literature review is divided into four categories. The first category was in the area of branding and rebranding concepts. Internal rebranding was the second category for an understanding of the overall strategic goals. Third was in the area of employee communication and training. The final area pertained to segmentation of the labor force. An evaluation of the labor force and organizational structure typical of hotel and casino properties in Las Vegas were considered. This was completed to further recognize the critical internal rebranding components not identified in the literature review. Actual examples or hypothetical applications to hotel and casinos of the rebranding components were given to exemplify the strategic approach and management implications. Recommendations for an internal rebranding strategy were made based on the results of the literature review and personal interviews with executives in the hotel and casino industry.
Business and Corporate Communications, Hospitality Administration and Management, Human Resources Management, Marketing
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