Guest Relationship Management Principles as a Reference Point for building a Brand: The Case a Hospitality Group's Brand-building Process

The objective of this paper was to gain insight into the delimitation of ‘brand territory’ and ‘relationship territory’, in these territories’ interdependencies as well as relevant managerial attitudes and perceptions. Full support for this research was gained from a Dutch hospitality group which recently had formulated its new brand strategy and which was on the verge of entering into a rapid expansion track. Over a period of three years desk research, surveys and in-depth interviews created a clear picture of the process of brand building in practice. A striking outcome of the executed research was that most hospitality managers of the studied company were not aware of the differences between the relationship management and the brand management processes. By following a stakeholder approach, authors revealed a range of perspectives on Guest Relationship Management (GRM) that can enhance the probability of a successful outcome of the brand building process.