Earlier this week Accor announced a brand refresh for its Mercure brand. What prompted Accor to do this refresh? What is the biggest challenge for Mercure faces in Europe?

　　Earlier this week Accor announced a brand refresh for its Mercure brand that includes the continued rollout of the Dedicaces renovation concept in Europe, a new service guarantee, lobby design, business spaces concept and food and beverage initiatives.

　　Accor, Courcouronnes, France, also highlighted its expansion plans for the brand with the refresh, noting that Mercure plans to open a total of 53 new hotels in 2013.

　　To learn more about the planning that went into the refresh, HOTELS sat down with Christophe Alaux, COO for Mercure & MGallery Europe.

　　HOTELS: What prompted Accor to do this refresh?

　　Christophe Alaux: We have done a huge amount of work on the brand strategy over the last 18 months, including working with focus groups and surveys.

　　Midscale today is going through an identity crisis. The client expectations have changed — they want quality, flexibility and diverse services through the brand. They want midscale to appeal more to emotions and not only function and standard procedures.

　　HOTELS: Has the target customer changed?

　　Alaux: The target customer is the midscale customer, but what does that mean? This can be a customer that used to stay midscale but has been seduced by new economy segment offerings. It can also be typically upscale customers that do not want to compromise on quality. These are the types of customers we are targeting.

　　What we know is that we may have more women than men within our customer base. Mercure is a more feminine brand than others. We know that we also have a strong leisure customer that wants to spend more time in the hotel and because we are well situated with our property locations.

　　HOTELS: What is the cost for owners of the refresh?

　　Alaux: We operate with an asset light strategy, so the renovation cost will be paid by the owners of the hotel. The new guestroom renovation is 30% cheaper than the prototype three years ago. Meanwhile the new lobby, amenities and uniforms are the same price as before.

　　HOTELS: What is the biggest challenge for Mercure faces in Europe?

　　Alaux: I would say that the biggest challenge is bringing all the franchisees along with us on the refresh. If they do not accept the need to reinvest with the brand, the refresh will not be a success. To help accomplish this, we changed our governance with the franchisees, to make sure their views were included in the brand refresh. This included working with us on the advertising campaign and the new logo. The more you give, the more they give back to you. It is a win-win strategy.