Elevating each globally renowned destination
With an expertly curated collection of 46 iconic hotels, historic trains and river cruises, a 40-year heritage in building authentic escapes and now a LVMH Maison, Belmond hospitality is widely considered among the world’s finest. A comprehensive brand review was a necessity and Belmond commissioned Nelson Associates to undertake this and the development of a full product brand identity programme. Our work took the form of a reinvention, reconnecting with the brand’s singular spirit of pioneering luxury and bringing it to life once more. Our objective was ensuring that each of Belmond’s storied properties carved out and occupied its own place under one iconic master brand.
Belmond’s history tells a pioneering tale – an audacious collection of some of the world’s landmark destinations in the lexicon of global travel. To create many distinct brands that would neither clash nor cannibalise necessitated three years of close collaboration with Belmond global teams, working to identify and distil the character of each. We began with a full reimagining of the master brand to reflect its unique, experiential approach to luxury, then moved onto the crafting of 46 full brand identity programmes, spanning Belmond’s entire global portfolio and designed to invoke a spirit of decidedly modern luxury throughout.
Having defined master brand architecture, vision and ambition, identified the key to each property and mapped every touchpoint on the customer journey as an opportunity to connect, we created every piece of collateral required across all 46 properties. Common to all, we commissioned globally-renowned craftspeople of extraordinary skill, apparent in our rare materials, tactile production, bespoke illustrations and specially commissioned ceramics. Many pieces of collateral have become sought-after keepsakes and, upon launch, the reinvigorated Belmond was named Luxury Brand of the Year in the prestigious Walpole Awards.