Less than a year after changing the CEO, Accor wants to accelerate its development. The Ibis brand, which brought together so far 919 hotels worldwide, will become the backbone: it brings under its identity all the cheap hotels in the hotel. From 2012, Ibis will be divided into three brands: Hotel Classic, which will bring together existing hotels, Ibis Styles, which will replace the hotels All Seasons, and Ibis Budget, which will include the Etap Hotel and Formule 1. In total, 169,000 rooms, a third of the total stock of Accor, which are involved. The redeployment of the brand is also accompanied by a change in the logo. Exit the two small red flowers. From 1 January next year, they will be replaced by a pillow, the color will change depending on the hotel type: red for Hotel Classic, green for “Styles” and blue for the “Budget”.
Expand into new markets

According to Denis Hennequin, former head of McDonald’s Europe, it is expanding the potential customer of the brand, already well entrenched in people’s minds. “Ibis is a bit of the Bic Mac Accor, says he. The company enjoys a strong reputation around the world, but it must be given more flexibility to allow it to flourish in new markets. “And at the same time increase the income of the parent. For Ibis is a nugget as we rarely see. The brand an operating margin (that is to say, the benefits of the activity divided by sales) by 40% when that of most French companies is around 10%. Denis Hennequin hopes to expand this recipe works for all of its center of economy hotels. It has also invested 150 million euros to renovate the hotel, change the covers and to renew the offer of restoration. Far from the shadow that hangs over its share price – which has collapsed 34% since the beginning of the year – Accor therefore retains confidence in the future.