Sofitel Luxury Hotels, the only French brand in the luxury hotel sector, announced that its repositioning strategy initiated since 2007 has now been successfully completed. The two high-priority brand objectives on the horizon for 2015 are to increase brand value and pursue targeted development in key capital cities and major tourist destinations, and to attain a total of 150 hotels by 2015.

At present, 15 hotels are currently under construction, while another 20 projects are pending signature.

Since 2007 repositioning, almost all hotels are being upgraded, with introduction of two new labels Sofitel Legend in 2009 and Sofitel So in 2010. In comparison to 2010, Sofitel’s brand activity has progressed faster than its direct competitors with significant growth of 8% in 2011, in global revenue, per available room.  The brand has also successfully become a major hotel player in China with 18 hotels, making Chinese clientèle the brand’s primary nationality globally.

2012 sees the launch of a new advertising campaign, centred on voyage and the unique Sofitel addresses, in addition to the redesign of the Sofitel.com website to boost direct reservation, and seasonal offers on the theme of fashion collections. The events strategy will continue to be developed in the hotels around the three brand pillars: design, culture and gastronomy, the outstanding feature for which the brand is internationally known.

Sofitel’s second stage of its « Life is Magnifique » ad campaign, currently being rolled out internationally. It is inspired by a travel diary and it focuses directly on the brand’s flagship hotels to reveal the individual personality of each property.

This ad campaign spotlights Sofitel hotels

Zenitude and natural harmony created by Kenzo Takada at the Sofitel So Mauritius.  Stunning monumental architecture at the Sofitel Chicago. Haute Couture fashion and style at Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg. In the new Sofitel ad campaign, each hotel gets to tell its own story and create moments of emotion.

From Fashion to Travel, a contemporary campaign

As the brand has upscaled, the original « Institutional » campaign — which took fashion as its guiding theme and had a strong feminine presence has evolved and the campaign now communicates by creating « relationships », this time on the concept of travel, directed by Alexia Silvagni and François Halard.

Typical travel codes travel diary, luggage labels, textured paper, handwritten script and hotel visiting cards are used to create a blend of traditional and contemporary styles.

With its polaroid-type visuals and handwritten script, the Moleskine notebook which serves as a backdrop for the ad also transports us into the world of travel literature.

Because the brand has an original cousu main approach to communication:
Every Sofitel tells a story …

Another original feature of this ad campaign: each visual is created individually, with a different story for each hotel to highlight its personality.

Visuals and text provide a glimpse of an emotion experienced in a Sofitel hotel, blending the French art de vivre and local culture so important to the brand. A hotel card is pinned to the photo to give the name of the destination discreetly, in true luxury style.

From left to right: 1) Sofitel Guiyang; 2) People's Grand Hotel Xian; 3) Sofitel Shanghai Jing'An Huamin;