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欧美老牌连锁酒店巨头（如希尔顿全球、万豪国际等）坚信他们近期推出的一众“软品牌”兰心蕙质，品相不俗，一定可在亚洲独立酒店联盟这一市场板块中分得一杯羹。面对传统连锁酒店集团凭借个性化新品牌的“入侵”，一直独霸此类市场的大佬（如立鼎世、璞富腾等）对此不屑一顾，驳论说：“欲打响品牌，秘诀在于对酒店规范不过多雕琢，而应呈现每家酒店原汁原味的独特风格，这恰是以标准化取胜的连锁酒店集团的短板所在。”
U.S.-based hotel chains such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International believe they have an attractive proposition with their new soft brands for Asian independent hotels， but those who have long dominated the market such as Leading Hotels of the World and Preferred Hotels & Resorts scoff that the proof of the pudding lies in whether they can just let independent hotels be.
何为软品牌？
软品牌（Soft Brand）泛指独立酒店联盟品牌，将独立运营的并符合品质要求的个体酒店（Independent Hotels）纳入麾下，为这些酒店提供如环球市场营销及分销系统、销售培训及电子商贸方面的服务，让独立酒店既可享有全球性平台的优势，亦可保持独特风 格与特色。独立酒店联盟看似组织松散，却保留了每间酒店自己的个性。世界五大顶级独立酒店联盟品牌分别是：立鼎世酒店联盟 （Leading Hotels of the World）、璞富腾酒店及度假村联盟（Preferred Hotels & Resorts）、全球奢华精品酒店联盟（Small Luxury Hotels of the World）、世尊国际酒店联盟（Worldhotels）、罗莱夏朵酒店与餐厅联盟（Relais & Chateaux）。
相对而言，连锁酒店品牌则可以称作“硬品牌”了。在同一品牌下的酒店要使用突出的统一LOGO甚至相同店名，遵照统一的设计标准建造酒店，使用统一的产品和 服务元素。相比软品牌较为松散的联盟制，连锁酒店的集团化、网络化和品牌化等优势渐渐使此类酒店成为酒店业的主流。连锁品牌的代表有很多，如万豪 （Marriott）、希尔顿（Hilton）、喜来登（Sheraton）、假日（Holiday Inn）、宜必思（Ibis）等等。
有趣的是，随着标准化酒店产品的日趋饱和，以及当今客人的品位越来越青睐个性化酒店，传统的连锁酒店集团近年来也纷纷开始打造软性品牌。洲际酒店集团继推出倡导邻里文化的英迪格（Indigo）品牌以来，又于2012年推出旗下健康生活方式品牌-EVEN;万豪国际集团与酒店大咖伊恩·施拉格联袂打造的EDITION和Autograph Collection两个独立酒店联盟品牌广受好评;希尔顿全球集团的CURIO， A Collection by Hilton倡导极度个性化理念，颇受年轻一代宾客的期待;相对于喜来登（Sheraton）、威斯汀（Westin）、W等“硬品牌”来说，喜达屋集团的Tribute品牌力求展现旗下酒店自己的故事，而且是以相当有趣的方式将这些故事向会员及宾客娓娓道来。
A Soft Brand refers to an independent hotel alliance brand， that brings independent hotels （which operate independently and meet quality requirements） under its brand by providing global marketing and distribution systems， sales training and e-commerce services， so not only can these independent hotels enjoy the advantages of a global platform， they also get to keep the unique style and characteristics. Seemingly loosely organized， each hotel has retained its own personality. The world's top five independent hotel alliance brands are： The Leading Hotels of the World Alliance， Preferred Hotels & Resorts， Small Luxury Hotels of the World， Worldhotels， Relais & Ch?teaux.
In contrast， the chain hotel brand can be called "hard brand". Hotels under the same brand are required to use the same LOGO， even same name， and built in accordance with a uniform design standard， and to use the same set of uniform products and service elements. Compared to the looser alliance systems of soft brands， hotel chains own advantages of collectivization， networking and branding and have gradually become the mainstream of the hotel industry. There are many representatives of chain hotel brands， such as the Marriott， Hilton， Sheraton， Holiday Inn， Ibis and so on. Interestingly， with the saturation of standardized hotel products and the rising appreciation of today's guests in personalized hotels， now even traditional chains have started to build flexible brands in recent years. InterContinental Hotels Group， following its introduction of Indigo brand， an advocate of Neighborhood Culture， has launched in 2012 its Healthy lifestyle brand - EVEN; Marriott International and Ian Schrager together created two acclaimed independent hotel alliance brands， EDITION and Autograph Collection; Hilton Worldwide Group created CURIO， A Collection by Hilton， these two brands' philosophy of extreme personalization has proved popular among the younger generation of guests; with respect to the "hard brand" such as Sheraton， Westin and W， the Starwood's Tribute brand seeks to tell the hotel's own story to their beloved members and guests in a fairly interesting way.
“他们试图与我们分一杯羹，但不得章法。他们仍然指挥酒店做这做那，我们却不然——我们了解并钟爱独立酒店，愿其保持个性，自由发展。”总部位于芝加哥的璞富腾酒店及度假村联盟亚太、中东及非洲执行副总裁安东尼·罗丝如是说。
面对资深的独立品牌联盟的质疑，这些连锁酒店集团很快找到了适合自身的打法。最佳西方国际酒店集团（BWI）表示其在软品牌市场采用“绩效付薪”的模型，并与酒店业主制定四年短期协议。“我们认为酒店业主不该为自己所打造的业务买单，如果我们成效不佳，他们就不需要继续再与我们的独立酒店联盟品牌BW Premier Collection合作。”该集团品牌管理高级副总裁罗恩·波尔坦言。喜达屋在其独立酒店联盟品牌业务中的集中服务费水平大约占客房总收入的7%-8 %，在业内极具竞争力。对此，其亚太总裁斯蒂芬·霍一语道破：“此费用结构远胜主要竞争对手出的牌”。
其次，这些连锁酒店对于新打造的软品牌定位也很明确，尽量避免与集团内其它品牌酒店之间“相煎太急”。霍表示，Tribute品牌的建立不会对豪华精选这样的5星品牌造成任何冲击，因为前者目标是4-5星级的独立酒店。BW Premeier Collection定位于高档酒店，BWI的波尔也表示，BW Premier Collection只是一种合约式的经销模式，并不会要求这些酒店都按照BWI的检验标准“削足适履”，因而并不会撼动本集团内Best Western Premier这个高端连锁品牌的地位。希尔顿Curio的目光则愈发挑剔，只专注于奢华品类中的“人上人”。
"They try to get into our space， but not really. They are still going to tell the hotels to do this or that， whereas we understand and love independent hotels; we let them keep their own brands and personalities，" said Anthony Ross， executive vice president of Asia Pacific， the Middle East & Africa， Preferred Hotels & Resorts， Chicago.
Faced with the questioning of independent hotel alliance， these chain brands have found their strategy. BWI said it is the only one to offer a pay-for-performance model in the soft branding market and has a short-term agreement spanning only four years."We believe hotel owners should not pay for business they generate on their own and if we don't perform， they are not required to continue with the BW Premier Collection representation for their hotel，" said BWI Senior Vice President of Brand Management Ron Pohl. Starwood offers a competitive centralized service fee bundle at around 7% to 8% of gross room revenue， which its President Asia Pacific Stephen Ho said is "a more competitive ongoing fee structure than that of our key competitors." Secondly， chains are also clear about the segment they are in and are careful not to canabilize their own brands. Ho said there is no way Tribute will dilute Starwood's Luxury Collection， which is a 5-star experience， whereas Tribute targets 4- to 5-star independent hotels. BW Premier Collection is pitched at upscale and luxury hotels. BWI 's Pohl also said the collection won't dilute the chain's Best Western Premier， its most upscale hotel brand， as the collection is a distribution agreement and the hotels are not required to complete a PIP to meet BWI inspection standards， whereas a Best Western Premier hotel gets all the benefits a global brand has to offer and pays an annual fee based on hotel size. As for Hilton's Curio Collection， it takes aim at only the top end of the upper-upscale and luxury segments.
为何连锁品牌能够比只专注独立酒店的品牌在亚洲更有竞争力？被访品牌一致认为，这得归功于他们长此以往在这个地区的历史业绩、他们的会员（已达上百万）忠诚 计划及全球基础设施投资。“独立酒店业主之所以会积极响应与希尔顿全球的合作，是因为希尔顿全球在该地区已经运营50余年，长远的全球建设计划深深吸引着 新客户来拓展市场。”希尔顿全球亚太区总裁马丁·林克说道。
有人嘲笑连锁品牌和独立酒店本身就是一个自相矛盾的说法，对此霍指出，喜达屋在豪华精选品牌的创造和市场拓展上已颇有历史，该品牌即属于独立酒店联盟品牌的范畴，每家酒店都有自己的故事。现在，他们希望创立Tribute品牌，同样汇聚各有千秋的独立酒店，只是档次会低于豪华精选品牌。就全球市场来说，Tribute希望在接下来的几年内能够将100家独立酒店纳入旗下。“亚太地区目前来说是喜达屋增长最快的市场，房间数量占所有喜达屋酒店未来房间版图的60%。从目前数据来看，我对于亚太区Tribute品牌达成预期目标很有信心。”霍说道。
On why they can do a better job in Asia than players who solely focus on independent hotels， the brands interviewed said the same thing， which boils down to their track records in the region， their loyalty programs， which run into millions of members and their investment in a solid global infrastructure. "Independent hotel owners will appreciate the association with Hilton Worldwide， which has been operating in the region for over 50 years， and its global infrastructure to attract new guests and expand their reach into new markets，" said Hilton Worldwide President Asia Pacific Martin Rinck.
And to those who scoff that chains and independents are an oxymoron， Ho pointed out that Starwood has a long history of creating and marketing the company's original collection brand， which belongs to the field of independent hotels alliances， where every hotel has its own story. Now driven by storytelling around the individual properties， Starwood also intends to build a Tribute brand with its level slightly lower than the original collection brand. Globally， the target is to have 100 hotels under Tribute within the next couple of years. "Asia Pacific is currently Starwood's fastest-growing market， accounting for approximately 60% of the company's future pipeline （by number of rooms）. Looking at this track record， I'm confident that Asia Pacific will occupy a fair share of the target set out for Tribute Portfolio globally，" Ho said.
显然，亚洲的独立酒店人早已挤挤挨挨，且仰慕者众。但大品牌深信，亚洲市场仍旧人人可挖，一个个携带可观嫁妆，纷至沓来。
Clearly， while Asia is fertile with independent hoteliers， it is not exactly barren of suitors. But big brands believe the market is big enough for everyone and they are coming in with， firstly， attractive dowries.
U.S.-based hotel chains such as Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International believe they have an attractive proposition with their new soft brands for Asian independent hotels， but those who have long dominated the market such as Leading Hotels of the World and Preferred Hotels & Resorts scoff that the proof of the pudding lies in whether they can just let independent hotels be.
何为软品牌？
软品牌（Soft Brand）泛指独立酒店联盟品牌，将独立运营的并符合品质要求的个体酒店（Independent Hotels）纳入麾下，为这些酒店提供如环球市场营销及分销系统、销售培训及电子商贸方面的服务，让独立酒店既可享有全球性平台的优势，亦可保持独特风 格与特色。独立酒店联盟看似组织松散，却保留了每间酒店自己的个性。世界五大顶级独立酒店联盟品牌分别是：立鼎世酒店联盟 （Leading Hotels of the World）、璞富腾酒店及度假村联盟（Preferred Hotels & Resorts）、全球奢华精品酒店联盟（Small Luxury Hotels of the World）、世尊国际酒店联盟（Worldhotels）、罗莱夏朵酒店与餐厅联盟（Relais & Chateaux）。
相对而言，连锁酒店品牌则可以称作“硬品牌”了。在同一品牌下的酒店要使用突出的统一LOGO甚至相同店名，遵照统一的设计标准建造酒店，使用统一的产品和 服务元素。相比软品牌较为松散的联盟制，连锁酒店的集团化、网络化和品牌化等优势渐渐使此类酒店成为酒店业的主流。连锁品牌的代表有很多，如万豪 （Marriott）、希尔顿（Hilton）、喜来登（Sheraton）、假日（Holiday Inn）、宜必思（Ibis）等等。
有趣的是，随着标准化酒店产品的日趋饱和，以及当今客人的品位越来越青睐个性化酒店，传统的连锁酒店集团近年来也纷纷开始打造软性品牌。洲际酒店集团继推出倡导邻里文化的英迪格（Indigo）品牌以来，又于2012年推出旗下健康生活方式品牌-EVEN;万豪国际集团与酒店大咖伊恩·施拉格联袂打造的EDITION和Autograph Collection两个独立酒店联盟品牌广受好评;希尔顿全球集团的CURIO， A Collection by Hilton倡导极度个性化理念，颇受年轻一代宾客的期待;相对于喜来登（Sheraton）、威斯汀（Westin）、W等“硬品牌”来说，喜达屋集团的Tribute品牌力求展现旗下酒店自己的故事，而且是以相当有趣的方式将这些故事向会员及宾客娓娓道来。
A Soft Brand refers to an independent hotel alliance brand， that brings independent hotels （which operate independently and meet quality requirements） under its brand by providing global marketing and distribution systems， sales training and e-commerce services， so not only can these independent hotels enjoy the advantages of a global platform， they also get to keep the unique style and characteristics. Seemingly loosely organized， each hotel has retained its own personality. The world's top five independent hotel alliance brands are： The Leading Hotels of the World Alliance， Preferred Hotels & Resorts， Small Luxury Hotels of the World， Worldhotels， Relais & Ch?teaux.
In contrast， the chain hotel brand can be called "hard brand". Hotels under the same brand are required to use the same LOGO， even same name， and built in accordance with a uniform design standard， and to use the same set of uniform products and service elements. Compared to the looser alliance systems of soft brands， hotel chains own advantages of collectivization， networking and branding and have gradually become the mainstream of the hotel industry. There are many representatives of chain hotel brands， such as the Marriott， Hilton， Sheraton， Holiday Inn， Ibis and so on. Interestingly， with the saturation of standardized hotel products and the rising appreciation of today's guests in personalized hotels， now even traditional chains have started to build flexible brands in recent years. InterContinental Hotels Group， following its introduction of Indigo brand， an advocate of Neighborhood Culture， has launched in 2012 its Healthy lifestyle brand - EVEN; Marriott International and Ian Schrager together created two acclaimed independent hotel alliance brands， EDITION and Autograph Collection; Hilton Worldwide Group created CURIO， A Collection by Hilton， these two brands' philosophy of extreme personalization has proved popular among the younger generation of guests; with respect to the "hard brand" such as Sheraton， Westin and W， the Starwood's Tribute brand seeks to tell the hotel's own story to their beloved members and guests in a fairly interesting way.
“他们试图与我们分一杯羹，但不得章法。他们仍然指挥酒店做这做那，我们却不然——我们了解并钟爱独立酒店，愿其保持个性，自由发展。”总部位于芝加哥的璞富腾酒店及度假村联盟亚太、中东及非洲执行副总裁安东尼·罗丝如是说。
面对资深的独立品牌联盟的质疑，这些连锁酒店集团很快找到了适合自身的打法。最佳西方国际酒店集团（BWI）表示其在软品牌市场采用“绩效付薪”的模型，并与酒店业主制定四年短期协议。“我们认为酒店业主不该为自己所打造的业务买单，如果我们成效不佳，他们就不需要继续再与我们的独立酒店联盟品牌BW Premier Collection合作。”该集团品牌管理高级副总裁罗恩·波尔坦言。喜达屋在其独立酒店联盟品牌业务中的集中服务费水平大约占客房总收入的7%-8 %，在业内极具竞争力。对此，其亚太总裁斯蒂芬·霍一语道破：“此费用结构远胜主要竞争对手出的牌”。
其次，这些连锁酒店对于新打造的软品牌定位也很明确，尽量避免与集团内其它品牌酒店之间“相煎太急”。霍表示，Tribute品牌的建立不会对豪华精选这样的5星品牌造成任何冲击，因为前者目标是4-5星级的独立酒店。BW Premeier Collection定位于高档酒店，BWI的波尔也表示，BW Premier Collection只是一种合约式的经销模式，并不会要求这些酒店都按照BWI的检验标准“削足适履”，因而并不会撼动本集团内Best Western Premier这个高端连锁品牌的地位。希尔顿Curio的目光则愈发挑剔，只专注于奢华品类中的“人上人”。
"They try to get into our space， but not really. They are still going to tell the hotels to do this or that， whereas we understand and love independent hotels; we let them keep their own brands and personalities，" said Anthony Ross， executive vice president of Asia Pacific， the Middle East & Africa， Preferred Hotels & Resorts， Chicago.
Faced with the questioning of independent hotel alliance， these chain brands have found their strategy. BWI said it is the only one to offer a pay-for-performance model in the soft branding market and has a short-term agreement spanning only four years."We believe hotel owners should not pay for business they generate on their own and if we don't perform， they are not required to continue with the BW Premier Collection representation for their hotel，" said BWI Senior Vice President of Brand Management Ron Pohl. Starwood offers a competitive centralized service fee bundle at around 7% to 8% of gross room revenue， which its President Asia Pacific Stephen Ho said is "a more competitive ongoing fee structure than that of our key competitors." Secondly， chains are also clear about the segment they are in and are careful not to canabilize their own brands. Ho said there is no way Tribute will dilute Starwood's Luxury Collection， which is a 5-star experience， whereas Tribute targets 4- to 5-star independent hotels. BW Premier Collection is pitched at upscale and luxury hotels. BWI 's Pohl also said the collection won't dilute the chain's Best Western Premier， its most upscale hotel brand， as the collection is a distribution agreement and the hotels are not required to complete a PIP to meet BWI inspection standards， whereas a Best Western Premier hotel gets all the benefits a global brand has to offer and pays an annual fee based on hotel size. As for Hilton's Curio Collection， it takes aim at only the top end of the upper-upscale and luxury segments.
为何连锁品牌能够比只专注独立酒店的品牌在亚洲更有竞争力？被访品牌一致认为，这得归功于他们长此以往在这个地区的历史业绩、他们的会员（已达上百万）忠诚 计划及全球基础设施投资。“独立酒店业主之所以会积极响应与希尔顿全球的合作，是因为希尔顿全球在该地区已经运营50余年，长远的全球建设计划深深吸引着 新客户来拓展市场。”希尔顿全球亚太区总裁马丁·林克说道。
有人嘲笑连锁品牌和独立酒店本身就是一个自相矛盾的说法，对此霍指出，喜达屋在豪华精选品牌的创造和市场拓展上已颇有历史，该品牌即属于独立酒店联盟品牌的范畴，每家酒店都有自己的故事。现在，他们希望创立Tribute品牌，同样汇聚各有千秋的独立酒店，只是档次会低于豪华精选品牌。就全球市场来说，Tribute希望在接下来的几年内能够将100家独立酒店纳入旗下。“亚太地区目前来说是喜达屋增长最快的市场，房间数量占所有喜达屋酒店未来房间版图的60%。从目前数据来看，我对于亚太区Tribute品牌达成预期目标很有信心。”霍说道。
On why they can do a better job in Asia than players who solely focus on independent hotels， the brands interviewed said the same thing， which boils down to their track records in the region， their loyalty programs， which run into millions of members and their investment in a solid global infrastructure. "Independent hotel owners will appreciate the association with Hilton Worldwide， which has been operating in the region for over 50 years， and its global infrastructure to attract new guests and expand their reach into new markets，" said Hilton Worldwide President Asia Pacific Martin Rinck.
And to those who scoff that chains and independents are an oxymoron， Ho pointed out that Starwood has a long history of creating and marketing the company's original collection brand， which belongs to the field of independent hotels alliances， where every hotel has its own story. Now driven by storytelling around the individual properties， Starwood also intends to build a Tribute brand with its level slightly lower than the original collection brand. Globally， the target is to have 100 hotels under Tribute within the next couple of years. "Asia Pacific is currently Starwood's fastest-growing market， accounting for approximately 60% of the company's future pipeline （by number of rooms）. Looking at this track record， I'm confident that Asia Pacific will occupy a fair share of the target set out for Tribute Portfolio globally，" Ho said.
显然，亚洲的独立酒店人早已挤挤挨挨，且仰慕者众。但大品牌深信，亚洲市场仍旧人人可挖，一个个携带可观嫁妆，纷至沓来。
Clearly， while Asia is fertile with independent hoteliers， it is not exactly barren of suitors. But big brands believe the market is big enough for everyone and they are coming in with， firstly， attractive dowries.