Premier Inn has today announced it has strengthened its senior team with the appointment of Tamara Strauss as Brand Marketing Director.
The news comes as its owner Whitbread seeks to appoint a new creative agency as it sharpens its focus on the hotel business following the sale of Costa Coffee.
Strauss brings with her extensive travel and leisure industry experience, having previously held numerous director roles, including with Royal Caribbean International, where she launched its hugely successful Where Extraordinary Happens, brand positioning and InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG), where she led the UK’s brand repositioning for Holiday Inn - the largest global hotel re-brand of its kind.
Premier Inn will be approaching a select shortlist of agencies which it believes mirror its brand values directly to invite them to partake in the tender process.
The successful agency will join Premier Inn at an exciting – and pivotal - time in the company’s history. The business is strengthening its presence internationally, with hotels opening apace in Germany, where it is soon set to be one of the country’s biggest budget hotel operators.
It also continues to innovate as the UK’s leading budget hotel chain, including with the launch of its new Premier Plus rooms, rolling out new ‘best-ever’ pillows estate-wide and embarking on partnerships with businesses including Amazon, luggage-storage network Stasher and online fitness-provider Hussle.
Premier Inn’s search for a new agency means it will amicably part ways with incumbents Lucky Generals, with whom it has worked since 2016.
During their tenure, Lucky Generals developed Premier Inn’s popular brand positioning A Great Place To Start, as well as a number of warm-hearted, humorous and high-energy TV creatives, including The Scaffolders, Great Aunt Mabel’s Birthday and The Bridesmaid’s Tale, which memorably featured a Bollywood wedding.
Strauss commented, “Premier Inn is a truly iconic British brand and I couldn’t be more delighted to join them at this exciting stage in their journey. As the business grows its strengths internationally this is an ideal opportunity to bring a new agency onboard and we are really looking forward to meeting with the agencies we approach directly with this exciting brief”.
She added, “Lucky Generals have worked with Premier Inn for a number of years now and have done a great job in helping us maintain our position as the UK’s best-loved hotel brand. We wish them the very best for the future”.
Golin remain its retained PR agency and UM their media buying agency.