Choosing the best name for a hotel is both art and science, as evidenced by a recent spate of brand announcements.

　　When is a name more than just a name? When it’s a new hotel brand identity, according to marketing and branding experts.

　　That premise has been on display in recent weeks during a spate of hotel branding announcements that include, among others, Orient-Express Hotels Limited’s rebranding as Belmond and the Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s launch of Radisson Red and the Quorvus Collection.

　　Those names weren’t chosen for the sake of convenience, sources said. Rather, they reflect the offerings of the inherent guest experience, evoking certain emotions, memories or subconscious allusions to other times and places.

　　Creating a new brand name is as much art as science, according to Todd Leach, group account director for Dedica Group, which specializes in creative brand solutions for the hospitality sector.

　　"I don’t think there’s any set process,” he explained.

　　The first step usually involves some form of data mining, either qualitative or quantitative or both. The goal is to determine where and how the new hotel or brand fits into the competitive landscape.

　　For executives at Orient-Express, the end result was the stark realization that its existing identity was neither resonating with guests nor threading together its disparate portfolio of luxury hotel, rail and river cruise experiences, according to Ralph Aruzza, chief sales and marketing officer, during a call with investors.

　　The team at Carlson Rezidor was focused not so much on its existing brands but rather new opportunities—namely in a product that would target the emergent millennial traveler and another that could leverage the changing face of luxury.

　　Name game

　　When an understanding of the end product or goal is firmly established, the next step is to brainstorm a complementary identity, Leach said.

　　Orient-Express considered as many as 650 names in this early phase, Aruzza said.

　　Leach said there’s no magic number; the most important thing is to keep it manageable for key decision makers. It helps to group like names together in clusters, or what he called “pathways.”

　　One path might include names grounded in Latin, for instance. Another might include common terms evoking a sense of nature. Another still might feature entirely made-up concoctions that simply sound good.

　　Made-up brand names typically prove the most challenging, Leach said.

　　"You’re not only trying to get a consumer on with a new brand, you’re trying to get them on with a completely new word,” he said.

　　That’s in part why InterContinental Hotels Group chose a name grounded in reality for its Even Hotels brand.

　　"The name ‘Even’ speaks to the balances we face in life and to the balances we make possible when traveling—revitalization and relaxation, health and indulgence,” Adam Glickman, the company’s brand head, wrote in an email.

　　"Through our research, we found that more than 17 million wellness-minded travelers feel they ‘fall off the wagon’ when they travel, which is a point of frustration for them. Even Hotels serves as a wellness partner, helping them maintain their routine and keep that sense of balance they told us they seek when away from home.”