Nestled amidst tranquil blue waters of North Malé, Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa represents the flagship debut of Hilton Hotels & Resorts (HHR) brand in Maldives by Hilton Asia Pacific. Strategically located just a 20-minute premium speedboat ride from Velana International Airport, the Resort offers unique holidays for all travelers with 109 beach and overwater villas, including an ultra-luxurious Residence as well as a plethora of best-in-class amenities.

Labbrand helped Hilton identify the best opportunity space to position Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa in a crowded competitive market whilst mirroring the strategic brand intent with what the Resort truly exudes from existing spatial designs, hospitality service and more.

The solution encompassed a comprehensive brand positioning and experience strategy, of which the strategic outputs were used as a foundation for future communications, design, and activation work, guided through project extensions with the Hilton APAC team.

Challenge

As a world-famous tourist destination, Maldives is where many top luxury resorts reside, offering lavish accommodation and experiences overseeing the most beautiful island views. For Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa, the challenge would be to arrive at absolute clarity on what the property will be famous for within the minds of target guests, defining what makes it unique as compared to nearby competitive resorts within and outside of the Hilton portfolio, whilst proudly leaning-in to the heritage and iconic status of Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand. An added layer of complexity would also be to define the ultra-luxurious Residence offer within the Resort, ensuring a highly differentiated yet synergistic appeal.

Solution

In response to the said challenges, Labbrand first immersed in an extensive market landscape research along with stakeholder engagements to assess competitive positions, understand target audiences and identify key opportunities to tailor the Resort brand and experience of Hilton.

With thorough understanding and new insights gained, Labbrand developed a strong, unique positioning for Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa that succinctly embodies the warmth and vibrancy of Hilton’s hospitality atop the welcoming nature of the Maldivian people, and culture. ‘A Vibrant Welcome Home’ captures this strategic positioning intent, defining the Resort as one that provides a refined, spirited, and comfortable experience for all guests to feel genuinely at home during their trip here at one of the world’s most iconic tourist destinations.

With the established Resort positioning, an extended value proposition was developed for the ultra-luxurious Residence offer, defining it as a private cove that offers a vibrant and personalized getaway for an intuitive, uninterrupted, and blissfully joyful retreat. A comprehensive experience strategy was also crafted for the Resort and Residence, where unique and highly targeted activation and touchpoint ideas were recommended to enhance the overall stay and experience for guests within the property and island.

Additional solutions were also provided to enhance the Resort’s creative communications, where Labbrand tailored messaging for specific Resort offers and target audience groups, as well as created a breadth of design templates that are visually impactful yet highly aligned to the established Hilton Hotels & Resorts (HHR) brand standards.

Result

The holistic solution designed by Labbrand has provided Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa with a strong brand that aligns well with its property’s established foundations whilst staying true to Hilton’s renowned hospitality standards. With this, Hilton Maldives Amingiri Resort & Spa has successfully positioned itself as a remarkable contender, welcoming guests from all over the world to enjoy a warm, vibrant, refined, and comfortable experience, one that they can truly feel at home.

The Resort was recently voted among the Top 10 Resorts in Maldives at the 2023 Travel + Leisure Luxury Awards Asia Pacific, winning the hearts of many travelers.