SAVOY Signature —
Once upon a name

For the past 20 years, the AFA Group expanded and diversified its offer and presence in the hospitality and tourism sector in Madeira Island, developing and acquiring mythical units like the Royal Savoy - a century-old hotel, a bastion of the tradition of superior quality hospitality that inspires and radiates through the whole portfolio of the Savoy Hotels and Resorts brand. This brand has solidified its notoriety and dimension in the Madeira destination, reaching 2018 as one of the main contenders to be the local reference brand in “standard luxury” hospitality. But there is more to this story.

The Savoy Hotels & Resorts portfolio represented more than the opportunity to claim the leadership in Madeira Island - this brand had the makings of an international hospitality group reference. The challenge was to prepare this portfolio for the next 20 years with a story built on its past, qualified its present, and preparing it for a consistent and value-driven future.

We started with a full brand and market diagnosis, in close relation to the AFA marketing team. What we found was a collection of hotel units with distinct propositions unified with the brand prefix “Savoy” stifling their individual concept and value proposition. On the other hand, the Group brand was strictly functional and shadowed by more notorious insignias of the same name. The strategic directions that came from this process pointed to the creation of a strong portfolio brand, that could build value structure to hold individual unit brands with some vertical identity, and at the same time, allowing a sense of group identity to flow throughout the structure. Focused on this ambition, a rebranding was necessary to create differentiation for the group brand, as well as internally the 5 different unit brands needed to express their own concept first and their Savoy heritage after.

We needed to identify what made this “Savoy” unique and special.

The project started to flow when we understood that the name Savoy is a universal synonym of hospitality excellence, and in the case of this specific portfolio, a synthesis of the value that upstreams through all the unit brands to the group insignia, consistency in service regardless of the different proposals offered - a name that is a culture, a culture that is a signature in service.

The group brand Savoy Hotels & Resorts was rebranded as Savoy Signature, an umbrella brand that now celebrates the singularity of their guests, their own hotels and resorts, recognizing each individual history with the commitment to offer a unique experience in every destination, in every stay. A brand that is legitimized by their signature in hospitality excellence fulfilling now a proprietary vision: to inspire and offer a singular experience in every destination with high-quality service, involving the guest in the best of the local history and culture. A brand that praises its past but is focused in its future, meeting the uniqueness of each guest with the uniqueness of their hotel units, because there is “Where our stories host you”.

This new paradigm created a new identity system. The new brand name inspired a naming structure that organized a hierarchy for the five units - Savoy is used as a qualifier in the two 5-star units (Royal Savoy and the newest Savoy Palace) and the absence of the qualifier identifies any unit in a tier below. All of the names were tweaked to help project the individual concept of each unit (Saccharum, Gardens, and Calheta Beach). All powered with their own storytelling and look & feel and all derived, but distinct, from the group language, unifying the portfolio and created tools that answered to the organizational and communication needs the Savoy Signature’s expanding universe demanded.

The overall tone of voice came from a will to tell the story of these hotels and resorts in a different and more involving way, inspiring like a magical tale of old. With this approach, we designed the whole brand universe, from group to the five units, including signage and wayfinding projects and six individual websites. We delivered a detailed Identity and Communication Guideline System, supported by a communication strategy and respective contents for the group’s digital life, launching a true 360º project to guarantee the consistent presence of a true signature of excellence.

An integrated identity and communication system that expresses the uniqueness of each hotel and resort and unifies the culture of the group, preparing Savoy Signature for a new organizational cycle, for more and more demanding guests, with tool and growth space for a very bright future.