With properties ranging from heritage icons to remote resorts, Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is leaning into its differences while unifying the guest experience around personal, heartfelt moments as part of a new repositioning strategy.
As the company accelerates its global growth and presence under the Accor umbrella, it has launched a new brand campaign to clarify its market position while acknowledging its diversity. “It’s never going to be a one-size-fits-all,” Vice President of Brand & Marketing for Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Loay Nour told LATTE at International Luxury Travel Market (ILTM) Asia Pacific in Singapore last week. “Everyone’s version of special is different.”
The last major campaign launched four years ago, and with Fairmont’s expansion from 74 to 95 hotels (with 28 more in the pipeline), he believes the time is right to recalibrate how the brand presents itself to the world.
“This is not just an advertising campaign,” he said. “It’s actually about overhauling the whole ethos of the brand.”
Centred around a new tagline, Make Special Happen, the initiative redefines what luxury means for Fairmont, transforming not only its messaging but its entire service culture and guest experience.
This repositioning was born out of deep reflection and global engagement with stakeholders, ranging from guests to colleagues. “We went through an extensive piece of work with business partners, with guests, focus groups… to ask, what is Fairmont? What do we stand for? Who are we?” he shared. “We’ve always been inviting the world to come and celebrate – but how do we do that? What’s our secret?”
The result was a renewed focus on Fairmont’s ability to create meaningful, personal experiences, with the findings from this exercise helping to inform the Make Special Happen campaign, which goes beyond a traditional campaign.
“We wanted to infuse this in the service culture,” Nour said. “Placing a cake and balloons in the room is not special. Everyone is doing that. That’s not what we mean.”
Instead, Fairmont has invested heavily in training, encouraging staff to tune into guest’s individual needs and recreate meaningful moments, such as a beachside proposal that a couple may return to commemorate.
The launch of Make Special Happen also introduced 20 curated experiences available on Fairmont’s website, tailored to each destination. “Special happens under the stars, around the table, in the wild,” Nour said. “They go beyond just staying in a hotel. It’s about the unexpected.”
The flagship video, developed in partnership with New York agency Kingdom Partners, was filmed at Toronto’s Royal York, chosen for its mix of traditional and modern design, reflecting Fairmont’s evolution.
This campaign is only the beginning, according to Nour. “Early next year, another chapter of the campaign will focus more on meetings and events, family, and wellness,” he said. Future plans include expanded brand collaborations in wellness and mobility, the revamp of Fairmont Gold (its “hotel within a hotel” concept), and further trade engagement efforts.
“We’re doing a lot of work revamping our brand programs,” he said. “And ensuring the trade comes with us on the journey through training and immersive experiences.”
