A New Trump Brand Not Named for Trump? Yes, Meet Scion

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/travel/donald-trump-hotels-new-name-scion.html

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The new line from Trump Hotels won’t bear the famous name behind the original brand, but that was the plan all along, according to its chief executive.

The hotelier announced a sub-brand in June but released its name, Scion, late last month.

Unlike Trump Hotels, a collection of 14 luxury properties worldwide that launched in 2007 with nightly rates beginning at $700, Scion, which means “descendant of a notable family,” according to the news release, will have rooms beginning at $200 or $300 a night, said Eric Danziger, the chief executive of Trump Hotels. He likened the new brand to W Hotels & Resorts (originally a brand from Starwood Hotels & Resorts that’s now a part of Marriott International).

The announcement of the new brand has gained attention as the man for which the company is named, Donald J. Trump, is slipping in the polls in his bid to become president. In a piece on the new name, Travel and Leisure quoted a company spokesman as saying data from Hipmunk and Foursquare showing decreased occupancy rates had been manipulated — a charge that may echo the tone of the candidate, who on the campaign trail has said the polls are rigged. But the hotel company is run by an executive team that also includes Mr. Danziger and three of Mr. Trump’s children.

Mr. Danziger will oversee the new brand while Kathleen Flores, the executive vice president of new brands and innovation at Trump Hotels, will manage the day-to-day details.

“We intentionally didn’t want to have ‘Trump’ anywhere in the name because we didn’t want to confuse consumers between the two brands,” he said.

“Scion will be relevant but not faddish, and though we’re not necessarily going after millennials, the concept will likely draw in millennials,” he said.

The properties will have stylish décor and emphasize communal spaces, especially lobbies, in which guests as well as the local community can work and socialize while being surrounded by exhibits showcasing pieces by local artists. In addition, good service will be a brand hallmark.

Excluding the word “Trump” from Scion is a smart marketing strategy but not because of the impending presidential election, according to Rummy Pandit, the executive director of the Lloyd D. Levenson Institute of Gaming, Hospitality & Tourism at Stockton University in New Jersey.

“Forget politics — this is a different brand altogether from Trump Hotels and needs a different name,” he said. Mr. Pandit cited the example of Ritz-Carlton, the luxury brand under the Marriott International umbrella. “Ritzes are a part of Marriott, but their concept and target market is different from the hotels that are called Marriotts,” he said.

Hotel companies often establish a larger footprint than Trump Hotels did before creating offshoots. But, according to Mr. Danziger, Scion has been in development for more than a year. “It was one of the first ideas the Trump family and I discussed when I joined the company in September 2015,” he said.

There are currently nine in the pipeline, in both smaller cities and resort areas that are all in the United States, and although Mr. Danziger declined to name specific locations, he said that the first Scion is expected to open in early 2017.

Sean Hennessy, a hotel consultant and an assistant professor of hospitality at the Jonathan M. Tisch Center for Hospitality & Tourism at New York University, said that Scion’s debut is part of a larger movement of hotel companies introducing affordably priced “lifestyle” brands, such as InterContinental’s Even Hotels and Hilton’s Curio.

“Many hotel companies are rushing to create brands like Scion because it is challenging to make profits in the luxury hotel segment, and also because the emerging bulk of travelers today are millennials who shy away from the formal luxury which Trump Hotels generally exude,” he said.

Mr. Danziger said that contrary to reports, Trump Hotels are not struggling adding, “Our brand is doing well and any news of the otherwise are sensationalized right now because of the elections.”

Scion aside, Trump Hotels have seen soft demand; there were readily available reservations and lower room rates at the newly opened Trump International Hotel Washington, D.C. — compared with other luxury properties in the city — when the World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund meetings took place in Washington, D.C., in early October.