歐美老牌連鎖酒店巨頭（如希爾頓全球、萬豪國際等）堅(jiān)信他們近期推出的一眾“軟品牌”蘭心蕙質(zhì)，品相不俗，一定可在亞洲獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟這一市場板塊中分得一杯羹。面對傳統(tǒng)連鎖酒店集團(tuán)憑借個(gè)性化新品牌的“入侵”，一直獨(dú)霸此類市場的大佬（如立鼎世、璞富騰等）對此不屑一顧，駁論說：“欲打響品牌，秘訣在于對酒店規(guī)范不過多雕琢，而應(yīng)呈現(xiàn)每家酒店原汁原味的獨(dú)特風(fēng)格，這恰是以標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化取勝的連鎖酒店集團(tuán)的短板所在。”

U.S.-based hotel chains such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International believe they have an attractive proposition with their new soft brands for Asian independent hotels， but those who have long dominated the market such as Leading Hotels of the World and Preferred Hotels amp; Resorts scoff that the proof of the pudding lies in whether they can just let independent hotels be.

何為軟品牌？

軟品牌（Soft Brand）泛指獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌，將獨(dú)立運(yùn)營的并符合品質(zhì)要求的個(gè)體酒店（Independent Hotels）納入麾下，為這些酒店提供如環(huán)球市場營銷及分銷系統(tǒng)、銷售培訓(xùn)及電子商貿(mào)方面的服務(wù)，讓獨(dú)立酒店既可享有全球性平臺的優(yōu)勢，亦可保持獨(dú)特風(fēng) 格與特色。獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟看似組織松散，卻保留了每間酒店自己的個(gè)性。世界五大頂級獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌分別是：立鼎世酒店聯(lián)盟 （Leading Hotels of the World）、璞富騰酒店及度假村聯(lián)盟（Preferred Hotels amp; Resorts）、全球奢華精品酒店聯(lián)盟（Small Luxury Hotels of the World）、世尊國際酒店聯(lián)盟（Worldhotels）、羅萊夏朵酒店與餐廳聯(lián)盟（Relais amp; Chateaux）。

相對而言，連鎖酒店品牌則可以稱作“硬品牌”了。在同一品牌下的酒店要使用突出的統(tǒng)一LOGO甚至相同店名，遵照統(tǒng)一的設(shè)計(jì)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)建造酒店，使用統(tǒng)一的產(chǎn)品和 服務(wù)元素。相比軟品牌較為松散的聯(lián)盟制，連鎖酒店的集團(tuán)化、網(wǎng)絡(luò)化和品牌化等優(yōu)勢漸漸使此類酒店成為酒店業(yè)的主流。連鎖品牌的代表有很多，如萬豪 （Marriott）、希爾頓（Hilton）、喜來登（Sheraton）、假日（Holiday Inn）、宜必思（Ibis）等等。

有趣的是，隨著標(biāo)準(zhǔn)化酒店產(chǎn)品的日趨飽和，以及當(dāng)今客人的品位越來越青睞個(gè)性化酒店，傳統(tǒng)的連鎖酒店集團(tuán)近年來也紛紛開始打造軟性品牌。洲際酒店集團(tuán)繼推出倡導(dǎo)鄰里文化的英迪格（Indigo）品牌以來，又于2012年推出旗下健康生活方式品牌-EVEN;萬豪國際集團(tuán)與酒店大咖伊恩·施拉格聯(lián)袂打造的EDITION和Autograph Collection兩個(gè)獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌廣受好評;希爾頓全球集團(tuán)的CURIO， A Collection by Hilton倡導(dǎo)極度個(gè)性化理念，頗受年輕一代賓客的期待;相對于喜來登（Sheraton）、威斯汀（Westin）、W等“硬品牌”來說，喜達(dá)屋集團(tuán)的Tribute品牌力求展現(xiàn)旗下酒店自己的故事，而且是以相當(dāng)有趣的方式將這些故事向會員及賓客娓娓道來。

A Soft Brand refers to an independent hotel alliance brand， that brings independent hotels （which operate independently and meet quality requirements） under its brand by providing global marketing and distribution systems， sales training and e-commerce services， so not only can these independent hotels enjoy the advantages of a global platform， they also get to keep the unique style and characteristics. Seemingly loosely organized， each hotel has retained its own personality. The world's top five independent hotel alliance brands are： The Leading Hotels of the World Alliance， Preferred Hotels amp; Resorts， Small Luxury Hotels of the World， Worldhotels， Relais amp; Chateaux.

In contrast， the chain hotel brand can be called \"hard brand\". Hotels under the same brand are required to use the same LOGO， even same name， and built in accordance with a uniform design standard， and to use the same set of uniform products and service elements. Compared to the looser alliance systems of soft brands， hotel chains own advantages of collectivization， networking and branding and have gradually become the mainstream of the hotel industry. There are many representatives of chain hotel brands， such as the Marriott， Hilton， Sheraton， Holiday Inn， Ibis and so on.

Interestingly， with the saturation of standardized hotel products and the rising appreciation of today's guests in personalized hotels， now even traditional chains have started to build flexible brands in recent years. InterContinental Hotels Group， following its introduction of Indigo brand， an advocate of Neighborhood Culture， has launched in 2012 its Healthy lifestyle brand - EVEN; Marriott International and Ian Schrager together created two acclaimed independent hotel alliance brands， EDITION and Autograph Collection; Hilton Worldwide Group created CURIO， A Collection by Hilton， these two brands' philosophy of extreme personalization has proved popular among the younger generation of guests; with respect to the \"hard brand\" such as Sheraton， Westin and W， the Starwood's Tribute brand seeks to tell the hotel's own story to their beloved members and guests in a fairly interesting way.

“他們試圖與我們分一杯羹，但不得章法。他們?nèi)匀恢笓]酒店做這做那，我們卻不然——我們了解并鐘愛獨(dú)立酒店，愿其保持個(gè)性，自由發(fā)展?！笨偛课挥谥ゼ痈绲蔫备或v酒店及度假村聯(lián)盟亞太、中東及非洲執(zhí)行副總裁安東尼·羅絲如是說。

面對資深的獨(dú)立品牌聯(lián)盟的質(zhì)疑，這些連鎖酒店集團(tuán)很快找到了適合自身的打法。最佳西方國際酒店集團(tuán)（BWI）表示其在軟品牌市場采用“績效付薪”的模型，并與酒店業(yè)主制定四年短期協(xié)議。“我們認(rèn)為酒店業(yè)主不該為自己所打造的業(yè)務(wù)買單，如果我們成效不佳，他們就不需要繼續(xù)再與我們的獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌BW Premier Collection合作。”該集團(tuán)品牌管理高級副總裁羅恩·波爾坦言。喜達(dá)屋在其獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌業(yè)務(wù)中的集中服務(wù)費(fèi)水平大約占客房總收入的7%-8 %，在業(yè)內(nèi)極具競爭力。對此，其亞太總裁斯蒂芬·霍一語道破：“此費(fèi)用結(jié)構(gòu)遠(yuǎn)勝主要競爭對手出的牌”。

其次，這些連鎖酒店對于新打造的軟品牌定位也很明確，盡量避免與集團(tuán)內(nèi)其它品牌酒店之間“相煎太急”。霍表示，Tribute品牌的建立不會對豪華精選這樣的5星品牌造成任何沖擊，因?yàn)榍罢吣繕?biāo)是4-5星級的獨(dú)立酒店。BW Premeier Collection定位于高檔酒店，BWI的波爾也表示，BW Premier Collection只是一種合約式的經(jīng)銷模式，并不會要求這些酒店都按照BWI的檢驗(yàn)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)“削足適履”，因而并不會撼動本集團(tuán)內(nèi)Best Western Premier這個(gè)高端連鎖品牌的地位。希爾頓Curio的目光則愈發(fā)挑剔，只專注于奢華品類中的“人上人”。

\"They try to get into our space， but not really. They are still going to tell the hotels to do this or that， whereas we understand and love independent hotels; we let them keep their own brands and personalities，\" said Anthony Ross， executive vice president of Asia Pacific， the Middle East amp; Africa， Preferred Hotels amp; Resorts， Chicago.

Faced with the questioning of independent hotel alliance， these chain brands have found their strategy. BWI said it is the only one to offer a pay-for-performance model in the soft branding market and has a short-term agreement spanning only four years.\"We believe hotel owners should not pay for business they generate on their own and if we don't perform， they are not required to continue with the BW Premier Collection representation for their hotel，\" said BWI Senior Vice President of Brand Management Ron Pohl. Starwood offers a competitive centralized service fee bundle at around 7% to 8% of gross room revenue， which its President Asia Pacific Stephen Ho said is \"a more competitive ongoing fee structure than that of our key competitors.\"

Secondly， chains are also clear about the segment they are in and are careful not to canabilize their own brands. Ho said there is no way Tribute will dilute Starwood's Luxury Collection， which is a 5-star experience， whereas Tribute targets 4- to 5-star independent hotels. BW Premier Collection is pitched at upscale and luxury hotels. BWI 's Pohl also said the collection won't dilute the chain's Best Western Premier， its most upscale hotel brand， as the collection is a distribution agreement and the hotels are not required to complete a PIP to meet BWI inspection standards， whereas a Best Western Premier hotel gets all the benefits a global brand has to offer and pays an annual fee based on hotel size. As for Hilton's Curio Collection， it takes aim at only the top end of the upper-upscale and luxury segments.

為何連鎖品牌能夠比只專注獨(dú)立酒店的品牌在亞洲更有競爭力？被訪品牌一致認(rèn)為，這得歸功于他們長此以往在這個(gè)地區(qū)的歷史業(yè)績、他們的會員（已達(dá)上百萬）忠誠 計(jì)劃及全球基礎(chǔ)設(shè)施投資?！蔼?dú)立酒店業(yè)主之所以會積極響應(yīng)與希爾頓全球的合作，是因?yàn)橄栴D全球在該地區(qū)已經(jīng)運(yùn)營50余年，長遠(yuǎn)的全球建設(shè)計(jì)劃深深吸引著 新客戶來拓展市場?！毕栴D全球亞太區(qū)總裁馬丁·林克說道。

有人嘲笑連鎖品牌和獨(dú)立酒店本身就是一個(gè)自相矛盾的說法，對此霍指出，喜達(dá)屋在豪華精選品牌的創(chuàng)造和市場拓展上已頗有歷史，該品牌即屬于獨(dú)立酒店聯(lián)盟品牌的范疇，每家酒店都有自己的故事?，F(xiàn)在，他們希望創(chuàng)立Tribute品牌，同樣匯聚各有千秋的獨(dú)立酒店，只是檔次會低于豪華精選品牌。就全球市場來說，Tribute希望在接下來的幾年內(nèi)能夠?qū)?00家獨(dú)立酒店納入旗下?！皝喬貐^(qū)目前來說是喜達(dá)屋增長最快的市場，房間數(shù)量占所有喜達(dá)屋酒店未來房間版圖的60%。從目前數(shù)據(jù)來看，我對于亞太區(qū)Tribute品牌達(dá)成預(yù)期目標(biāo)很有信心?！被粽f道。

On why they can do a better job in Asia than players who solely focus on independent hotels， the brands interviewed said the same thing， which boils down to their track records in the region， their loyalty programs， which run into millions of members and their investment in a solid global infrastructure. \"Independent hotel owners will appreciate the association with Hilton Worldwide， which has been operating in the region for over 50 years， and its global infrastructure to attract new guests and expand their reach into new markets，\" said Hilton Worldwide President Asia Pacific Martin Rinck.

And to those who scoff that chains and independents are an oxymoron， Ho pointed out that Starwood has a long history of creating and marketing the company's original collection brand， which belongs to the field of independent hotels alliances， where every hotel has its own story. Now driven by storytelling around the individual properties， Starwood also intends to build a Tribute brand with its level slightly lower than the original collection brand. Globally， the target is to have 100 hotels under Tribute within the next couple of years. \"Asia Pacific is currently Starwood's fastest-growing market， accounting for approximately 60% of the company's future pipeline （by number of rooms）. Looking at this track record， I'm confident that Asia Pacific will occupy a fair share of the target set out for Tribute Portfolio globally，\" Ho said.

顯然，亞洲的獨(dú)立酒店人早已擠擠挨挨，且仰慕者眾。但大品牌深信，亞洲市場仍舊人人可挖，一個(gè)個(gè)攜帶可觀嫁妝，紛至沓來。

Clearly， while Asia is fertile with independent hoteliers， it is not exactly barren of suitors. But big brands believe the market is big enough for everyone and they are coming in with， firstly， attractive dowries.