When hotel marketers get it wrong

You usually need to be an astute businessperson to open a new international brand hotel.

If you've invested a whole lot of money it would make sense to have a memorable name; easy for clients - and potential customers - to remember.

Why then, would you chose a name that hardly anyone from overseas will be able to remember, or even say?

ibis, the world's leading economy hotel brand, has expanded its portfolio in Thailand with the opening of a brand-new property in Chiang Mai, the attractive city in the north of the country.

They could have called it ibis Chiang Mai. Simple. Memorable.

Instead they opted for ibis Chiangmai Nimman Journeyhub.

The name of the suburb of Nimmanhaemin is hard to remember. The hotel name even harder.

The hotel sounds nice. It is within walking distance of the ancient walled city and Chiang Mai University is just a short stroll away, apparently giving the entire area a hip, youthful vibe.

It has a nice looking pool, and an attractive terrace café.

But why didn't they do some market research, or take some advice?

My bet is there will be a name change sooner rather than later. Which will involve a whole lot of expense.

In Hobart, the Mid City Hotel was recently rebranded to the Allurity Hotel. A made-up name that's not easy to remember. Bad move. Even worse, they chose a script for their signage that is extremely difficult to read.  

I have no idea whether the name was chosen by an owner's dim-witted child, a moron in a hurry, or a focus group. Either way, it's a bad idea.