Year: 2022
Client: Riant Capital, Taipei
Riant Capital is Taiwanese developer and owner of premium real estate behind projects like Taipei Sky Tower which would house Part Hyatt and Andaz, slated to open in 2023. Hotel EPISODE is its foray into creating an own brand – a new idea for the new age of lifestyle hotels. The launch of the brand with the first property in Hsinchu, Taiwan also marked the debut of the JdV by Hyatt brand in Asia Pacific. At time of writing, there are two additional EPISODE properties under development in Taipei and in Yilan, with more being pursued throughout Taiwan and in Japan.
Normal . created EPISODE Brand Identity and Brand Experience to power the ownership’s vision to disrupt the all-too-predictive lifestyle hospitality space. We took to heart the ownership’s norm-busting purpose to bring genuine change to an otherwise stale scene and built an ambitious brand proposition worthy of its innovative spirit. In creating the brand proposition Do Less But Better we underwent a process of elimination, leaving only the exceptional brand building blocks – an application of essentialist ethos in the creative process itself. The result was Brand Identity built on core propositions of Hybrid Living, Design-it-yourself and Do Less But Better.
Do Less But Better brand proposition was then applied to spatial programming throughout the public and private spaces. Normal’s proprietary methodology of Seven-stages of Guest Journey was applied to identify a number of Signature Spaces and Elements that brings Brand Experiences to life.
Ex-ssentialist positioning
Experiential Essentialist – Ex-ssentialist – is one who values premium experience but not the traditional trappings of commodified hotels.
Frustrated by empty promises of affordable luxury and likeminded community, they seek premium spaces that prune the frivolous and offer only the exceptional. Their life is intentionally hybrid to fuse hard day’s collaborative work with new encounters for energy but also make time for true-rest and recharge.
Ex-ssentialist positioning is an uncharted territory but where EPISODE choses to play to stretch the boundaries of essentialism and hybrid experience and create differentiation.
A Hybrid Place
Flexible and shorter core work hours are transforming our life habits resulting in change in how Ex-ssentialists perceive and use the space. After a period of perfecting mixing work and living in the home, our guests expect the same hybrid lifestyle in the hotel. Expectation for hotel space is one that allows for personalisation and optimisation.
EPISODE does the hard work of intentionally designing and running hybrid place so the guests can make most of the full spectrum of working and living moments. Spatial and experiential programming in the guest rooms and all-access living room Social, in particular, have been developed under the Hybrid Place brand promise.
New Life Habits
For EPISODE, Do Less But Better is not just a slogan but a way of life – to simplify and elevate. EPISODE wants to play a proactive role in helping the guest learn the ways of Essentialism and the brand nudges them toward new life habits that support things that matter most.
Experiential programming that promotes new life habits are offered at the hotel. Stay with EPISODE doesn’t stop at just trying out new things but rather departing for a new life path.
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The more externally chaotic the world becomes, the more we need sound internal logic.
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Chip Conley on Emotions
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