• Service Design
• Selected Clients
• Adil Işık: adilisik.com | adL.com.tr
• Garanti Bank: POSta Mag | Animations and Characters
• Volkswagen Doğuş Finance
• Music Industry
• Sirkeci Group
• Communicate Kırmızı Kalem

Project Sheet

Sirkeci Group Hotels&Restaurants

Client Background

Sirkeci Group Hotels and Restaurants may be defined as the hotel and the independently operating enterprises providing restaurant and bar services. There are 4 hotels respectively named Hotel Orient Express (4 stars), Hotel Erboy (3 stars), Hotel Ilkay (3 stars) and Sirkeci Konak.

It has 7 restaurants named Paşazade, Ottoman, Imbat, Sirkeci Balikçisi, Neyzade, Istanbul Restaurant and Terrace Restaurant.

Although the hotels are technically very different from each other, they have similar organizational structures regarding service qualities and utmost customer-satisfaction oriented attitudes. Sirkeci Group Hotels have undertaken certain responsibilities in parallel to the social development and revision movements going on in the Sirkeci area and is continuing to participate actively in projects designed for the Group and for the district.

The Group prefers to describe itself as "a group in love with Sirkeci" and aims at stressing the fact that status quo was only obtained as a result of value oriented struggles and to note the work accomplished in the area.

Sirkeci was an important area for accommodation at the beginning of 1900s but has faced degeneration after 1950s.

Recently, contrary to the previous periods Sirkeci has once again come into the limelight as the rising star of Istanbul. Sirkeci Group has undertaken an important mission to promote Sirkeci area as an attractive living space in the right manner. When it is projected that Sirkeci will attract the attention of intellectual community of Istanbul in the next 2-3 years, it is very important to get prepared for the future and to introduce Sirkeci in much better means.

Urban rehabilitation works going on in Sirkeci area will be completed in 2 years' time and in 2010 underwater transportation project will be completed. Due to these developments Sirkeci Group Hotels and Restaurants has chosen this location. The area is already ahead of its goals in respect of customer satisfaction.

In terms of creating "value" the group has positioned itself properly as well. In fixing the rates, the services offered were meticulously chosen to be exactly right and money's worth. While the local guests form only 10% of the guest profile, remaining 90% mostly consists of citizens of OECD countries. Each hotel has a different guest structure. Therefore, Sirkeci Group continues the advertisement and introduction activities by employing various channels.

In addition to ads placed in the globally renowned tour operators' catalogs such as TUI (Tourist Union International), the advertisement and introduction activities are carried on via Internet channels.

What they wanted?

When Sirkeci Group Hotels & Restaurants meet Kırmızı Kalem they were on the eve of a new corporate approach based on total client satisfaction. This approach needed a brand new corporate identity. They were ready to face the facts most establishments can't dare facing. Ready to change everything from their logos to their crew.

What we did?

This project needed a holistic approach, not only a graphic or interactive design, but a service design. We start by digging the client surveys accumulated for years 1 by 1. Those surveys helped us a lot to figure out what went wrong and what went well. "For example most of the clients complained about the lack of proper coffee which could be easily satisfied. Once we determined this problem, Sirkeci GH&R started immediately contacting most famous coffee brands of the world and signed a contract with 1 of them. Because they were really ready to change..." says project manager Aydincan Ataberk.

Transparency was the first keyword we put on our brief. One of the hotels had fairly small rooms, so instead of using tricks to show the rooms bigger, we directed the photo shoot in order to show the rooms as they really are, small... Suddenly all complaints about the size of the rooms ceased.

After sevice debugging we started the graphic design process. For every hotel and restaurant Sirkeci GH&R had we made long inspiration and design trips, research and interviews with relevant specialists. For example before designing Sirkeci Konak logo we invited famous Turkish calligraph Kehri and consulted him about old Turkish calligraphy.

We designed for every hotel and restaurant a unique corporate identity, in order to be perceived as part of a bigger corporate entity. From the design point of view this was the biggest challenge of the project.

Today Sirkeci GH&R celebrating the success of their hotels and restaurants with the awards and brilliant reviews they are receiving.

Services Provided

• - Innovation and design management
• - Interactive marketing consultancy
• - Around 10 web sites' design and maintainance
• - Newsletters
• - Corporate logos and identities
• - Hotel and restaurant brochures
• - Magazine Ads
• - Presentations
• - Google optimization and marketing

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