Passion Branding

In our ‘Better Way to Learn Innkeeping’ seminars for aspiring innkeepers we talk about branding your inn. This can be confusing to innkeepers and aspiring innkeepers as to what that means and how to do it. Branding your B&B does not need to be difficult or confusing. It may just need one simple idea, but it must be authentic, and you must be passionate about it.  Let us take a look at a branding concept that I believe can clarify the ‘how to do it’.

Hundreds of books on branding have been published for decades. A recent publication, Passion Branding: Harnessing the Power of Emotion to Build Strong Brands by Neill Duffy and Jo Hooper, takes an interesting approach to an old component to branding, the “emotional connection.”

“Centered on a passionate relationship between brand and consumer and the leverage of that passion in order to create value for all involved in the relationship.”

Relationships between you and your guests, (“brand and consumer”), is an important part of hospitality. Maybe the most important. Creating that value to “all involved in the relationship” between you and your guests is key.

Here a two examples Scott and Marilyn Bushnell, affiliates of The B&B Team, shared with me.

Jacob-Rohrbach Inn, Sharpsburg, MD

• Jacob-Rohrbach Inn, Sharpsburg, MD:  We worked with Amy and Chris Vincent when they purchased the inn near the Antietam Battlefield in 2015.  Chris is an avid Civil War buff and their search for an inn near a battlefield brought them to Sharpsburg.  He is now a licensed battlefield guide and sponsors the Civil War Summer Lecture Series  bringing guests to the Inn and Sharpsburg.  They have turned passion and personal interest into a growing business.

Passion for Civil War History

• Jay and Gaylen Matlock own Carriage Corner B&B in Intercourse, PA.  We worked with them in 2016 as they moved from Washington state to the hub of Amish activities…Lancaster County.  Gaylen brought her love of sewing to the Inn and now conducts Sew Camps retreats at the Inn, bringing like-minded enthusiasts to the Inn for sewing interaction and laughing as well as visits to local fabric and supply stores.

Carriage Corner Bed & Breakfast, Intercourse, PA

Passion for sewing at the Carriage Corner B&B

“These are innkeepers who have taken their passions and are using them to build their brand…and enjoy exercising those passions and building business at the same time. Word of Mouth marketing grows with these experiences and since they are the passions of the innkeepers, there is “staying power” for the long-term.  They are not just “oh, we tried that once and it didn’t work” ideas.  If it is of personal interest, it will have longevity and build a branding ‘personality’ to the inn.”

Thank you Marilyn and Scott.

Another key point on Passion Branding was to “align with an activity that one’s target customers are passionate about.” These innkeepers are doing just that, and it is not complicated or confusing! Passion is catching, in the most positive way. It creates an emotional connection with your guests that is both powerful and long-term. Can you spell repeat guests?

Thanks for Listening,

Janet Wolf

Declaration of Independence
Thomas Jefferson, the power of words

241 years ago today, July 4th, just after the Declaration of Independence had been adopted by the Congress earlier that day, a committee took the manuscript document, possibly Thomas Jefferson’s “fair copy” of his rough draft, to printer John Dunlap. Could it have been Thomas Jefferson himself who took his handwritten copy to Dunlap’s print shop? I like to think that it may have been.

Printer John Dunlap’s shop was located a few blocks from the State House (now Independence Hall). It is surmised he worked through the night printing a number of copies (possibly 200). These copies, known as the “Dunlap Broadsides” is the version that spread the Declaration of Independence to the rest of the world.

Just picture in your mind Thomas Jefferson walking down the streets of Philadelphia in the twilight hours of July 4^th with his ‘fair copy’ version of the document in hand. He then walks through the door of Dunlap’s shop, most likely a bell on the door rings to announce his presence. Jefferson hands the document to John Dunlap. The printer works through the night by lamplight…typeset, print.

Replica of John Dunlap’s press

The rest as they say is history. Our history. These copies set into motion the start of our nation, our independence.

It wasn’t until August that the signing of the famous engrossed parchment copy that we all can picture (with the iconic large John Hancock signature) took place. The famous painting by Trumbull depicts the Committee of Five, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Robert Livingston, Roger Sherman and Thomas Jefferson. Those five took on the task of composing the document. Jefferson alone took on the task of writing it.

In many of my blogs I link to articles and blogs that I believe are worth a read. Here is a link to the Declaration of Independence. Definitely worth a read. I think you will hear the power of persuasion in Jefferson’s words. I think you will hear the clear intelligent use of language from our five forefathers who drafted the declaration. I think you will hear words that well-define the resolve for separation.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”  Powerful words to live by.

Take a second to print a copy. 241 years later all we need to do is move an arrow and click print. Ol’ John Dunlap would be so impressed.

Thanks for Listening,

Janet Wolf