Sofitel unveils rebrand by Lewis Moberly

Sofitel describes itself as French hotel group Accor’s premium hotel chain, but the new identity spearheads a move to reposition the brand further into the luxury market. Sofitel aims to compete with chains like Ritz Carlton and Hyatt.

‘Sofitel were very critical of their former logo for being old fashioned. We agreed that it did not convey luxury in any way,’ says Lewis Moberly strategic planning director Hilary Boys.

Lewis Moberly responded by creating both a logo and an icon. The logo contains the tag line ‘Luxury Hotels’ while the icon is intended to add meaning to the brand.

‘A lot of luxury brands have an icon that can be used when they don’t want to be too overt. Icons are subtler. When the clients saw our icon design, they began to invest lots of different meanings in it, which we interpreted as an indication that it had worked.’

Sofitel spokesperson Eric Lepleux asserts, ‘French-style luxury is often best described by foreigners.’

The hotel interiors will be updated by Sofitel’s in-house design team.

See Design Week magazine tomorrow for further details.