BOLLENBACH: CONSOLIDATING THE HILTON BRAND

"Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) is a leading hospitality company with revenues of $3,819 million in 2003. The company owns, franchises, manages and develops hotels, resorts and timeshare properties. The Hilton chain operates under several brand names including Hilton, Doubletree, Embassy Suites Hotels, Hampton, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton Grand Vacations and Conrad. It operates over 2,400 hotels, mostly in the US. It also operates in 15 other countries. This case talks about the business operations of the company and also discusses the brand building efforts adopted by HHC through HHonors (a guest loyalty reward scheme), OnQ technology (a customer relationship management-driven enterprise solution that provided access to guest profiles across all points of contact), advertising campaigns and information technology initiatives (such as self-service check-in kiosks). This case can be used to discuss the following areas: (1) the business operations of the Hilton family of brands; (2) the nature of each brand; (3) how HHC can enhance each of its brand's performances; and (4) the pros and cons of the brand building efforts of HHC. http://www.ecchatbabson.org/"