citizenM - Building a Hotel Brand From the Ground Up

KesselsKramer developed citizenM’s name and identity, based on the positioning of ‘affordable luxury for the modern traveller.’ citizenM reflects the guests who stay there: the mobile citizens of the world.

Our collaboration, which started in 2007 and is still going strong, encompasses all areas of the guest journey: hotel wayfinding; social, launch campaigns, even down to the scent of the toiletries.

Our approach to branding is to always develop a true, holistic personality that can thread through all aspects of the brand, from OOH to in-hotel, from central booking hub to social.

To help the brand grow, every new hotel launch acts as a pivotal moment to engage a broader audience. Each hotel launch, from New York to Kuala Lumpur, comes with a celebration of the diverse locals in the neighbourhoods. The portraits are shown in a window gallery on the facade of the hotel, and also through a website, film content & interviews.

Since citizenM’s biggest growth market is the US, we have created campaigns to build presence there, with campaigns resulting in an increase of over 10% in brand awareness throughout the nation.

Our holistic approach and partnership with their in-house creative and marketing team, has helped the hotel chain become a guest favourite, resulting in a €2.7 billion business with 37+hotels worldwide.