Book excerpt: In recent years the brand has moved squarely into the spotlight as the key to success in the hospitality industry. Business strategy once began with marketing and incorporated branding as one of its elements; today the brand drives marketing within the larger hospitality enterprise. Not only has it become the chief means of attracting customers, it has, more broadly, become the chief organizing principle for most hospitality organizations. The never-ending quest for market share follows trend after trend, from offering ever more elaborate and sophisticated amenities to the use of social media as a marketing tool—all driven by the preeminence of the brand. Chekitan S. Dev’s award-winning research has appeared in leading journals including Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, Journal of Marketing, and Harvard Business Review. He is the recipient of several major hospitality research and teaching awards. A former corporate executive with Oberoi Hotels & Resorts, he has served corporate, government, education, advisory, and private equity clients in more than forty countries as consultant, seminar leader, keynote speaker and expert witness. Hospitality Branding brings together the most important insights from the author’s many years of research and experience, all in a single, affordably priced volume (available in both print and eBook formats). Skillfully blending the knowledge of recent history, the wisdom of cutting-edge research, and promise of future trends, this book offers hospitality organizations the advice they need to survive and thrive in today’s competitive global business environment.