Building on 120 years of heritage to create a brand with a fresh future
Established in 1903 Grand Hotel Miramare is a 5* hotel on the Italian Riviera. Situated in the heart of Santa Margherita Ligure, the hotel has been the setting for many grand stories. From Guglielmo Marconi transmitting the first ever radiotelegraphy and radiotelephony from the hotel terrace. To Laurence Olivier, Sophia Loren et al. retreating here for their summer holiday.
The Fustinoni family have been guardians of the Miramare since 1945, with Andrea and Fabio Fustinoni now running it. Thanks to their fresh and contemporary approach to hospitality and, despite its storied history and grand-hotel status, the Miramare is known for its relaxed atmosphere and familiar warmth.
Back in 2022, and with the hotel about to celebrate its 120th birthday, Andrea and Fabio felt this wasn’t reflected in the hotel’s brand and positioning. They wanted a brand that showcased their commitment to enriching local experiences. A brand that vibrantly stood out from the crowd in what can be a conservative Italian market. And a brand that would redefine luxury hospitality on the Italian Riviera, setting the hotel up for its 13th decade and beyond. This is where Positioner came in.
What does your dream hotel look like?
Our work with Grand Hotel Miramare began with a thorough deep-dive on the local and international market, identifying challenges, trends and areas of potential. We asked Andrea and his team to draw their dream version of the Miramare...
How did it look? What did it believe in? How did it do things? Why did people stay?
Their answers started to paint a picture for the Miramare’s next chapter - its vision, values and USPs - but there was a mismatch between how the hotel thought and felt, with how it looked and what it said. This is why we felt a strong theme should be created for the hotel. One that we could build a brand position and strategy around.
Estate Italiana with a twist.
Grand Hotel Miramare believes in living for the moment, taking time over what matters, and celebrating life for all its beauty. Food, wine, fashion, art, outdoors, music, family. This is all encapsulated in the lifestyle and mood of Estate Italiana, a concept that we began to explore in the hotel’s story and design.
Once you arrive at the Miramare, it only takes a moment to feel Estate Italiana. It’s the heat hugging your skin as the sea breeze and salty air passes over you. It’s shutters flung wide open and cicadas humming into your ears. It’s a first lunch, seaside with no shoes, followed by swims that break up the afternoon heat.
The Miramare are ambassadors of Estate Italiana, but they deliver it all with a twist. Andrea and his team bring a freshness to how guests experience Italy. Yes there is indulgence, but the team doesn't want guests to leave feeling like they need another holiday to recover. This is what led us to the hotel’s new position of Estate Italiana with a twist.
Creating a new verbal and visual identity for a grand hotel
We’ve incorporated it within the new primary logo, but delicately evolved it by adding a fresh modernity. We then customised the Engravers Gothic Bold font to provide further individuality and character, and opted for an uppercase-only extended typography to highlight Grand Hotel Miramare’s enduring stability and iconic status. The result is a logo whose timeless and solid typographic signature celebrates 120 years of grand heritage.
Balancing a grand heritage with a contemporary outlook
From there we’ve created a secondary logo that can be used across lifestyle merchandise e.g. T-shirts, tote bags and beach towels. This hand-drawn version of the primary typeface draws on the personal family-touch that the hotel prides itself on. It also nods to the carefree spirit and joy-filled days that await guests. Days of Estate Italiana with a twist.
To bring Estate Italiana with a twist to life, we’ve created a modernised picture language, refreshed branding materials, and a new website which is now live at www.grandhotelmiramare.it. But our work is more than just a change in aesthetics.
Andrea explains: “This rebrand is a renewed commitment to our guests and to our team. We are not just a hotel, but a destination that offers a slice of the Italian Riviera's soul. We want Grand Hotel Miramare to continue to shine - and get the attention it deserves! - and this rebrand will help us do that.”
Bringing the spirit of the Riviera lifestyle to life
With the Miramare’s new brand and ethos now in place, over the coming months we will begin the process of creating new products and services in-line with Estate Italiana with a twist. We’ll also host staff training sessions to familiarise the team with the hotel’s new brand values, guest engagement strategies, and service enhancements.
A personalised approach to positioning
Our work with the Miramare is a good example of how each of our client journeys differs. Here, it made sense to start with the visual and verbal identity of the hotel before looking at its offering. In other projects, for example with Schloss Zermatt, it was the other way around.
This is because much of the Miramare’s experience and spirit was already in place, it just didn’t have a brand to match it.
"While our values and spirit remain the same, Positioner have helped us articulate them better. They’ve created a brand that better reflects how we balance our grand heritage with a contemporary and refreshing seaside energy. This new brand will help my beloved Mira break new ground.”