The Solution
To achieve this special connection between families and the Alua brand, we present the proposal of creating a kids’ club, which allows customers to identify in a single-service exclusive activities aimed at younger guests. So that the clients found an attractive association with the kids’ club, we proposed the creation of a physical mascot.
Pets are a frequent strategy in hotel chains and other types of companies, so we bet on a novelty that also acts as a differentiator of Alua Hotels in the hotel sector: create a family of characters applying the characteristics of people of different sexes, and adult age and infantile age, so that the members of the families were reflected in the family of Alua.
Next, we work with the necessary branding elements to create the kids’ club and add this new sub-brand to the main brand of Alua Hotels & Resorts and to the establishments dedicated to family services.
PHASE 1: Creation of Astro Family
For the creation of the Alua family of pets, we consider the intangible values of the hotel chain. The Moon, the night, the stars, are part of the symbols that define the vision of the company of an ideal holiday in the waters of the Mediterranean. That is why, to name this family and relate it to these symbols that are so important for the company's team, we call this family Astro Family. We develop a story to create a universe around the Astro family: they are a family of immortal and funny aliens who millions of years ago came to the Moon, where they built their home, and among their trips through the universe choose the Earth for their vacations , like the worlds of Alua.
At the time of creating the family, the proposal consisted of creating characters with different personalities and representing a family image, so that customers could see themselves reflected in them. For this method we rely on the segmentation of the children's audience, since within the segment of young customers there is another segmentation of more than three groups defined by the activities that Alua Hotels prepared for each one of them. These three groups are the groups of children from 2 to 6 years old, the group from 6 to 12 years old, and the group from 12 to 16 years old. At the time of ascribing their names, we decided to take the idea of the stars, one of the symbols of the Alua team, and we chose to create the names of the characters from the translation of Estrella in different languages.
The members of the Astro Family and their profiles were the following:
STERN / Mr. Astro: Thomas. The father of the family.
STAR / Mrs. Astro: Brenda. The mother.
STJARNA: Danko. The adolescent son, with a more charismatic touch with his cap and his skateboard, represents young people from 12 to 16 years old. It would be the heart of the Astro Family, the main mascot.
STELLA: Lily. The middle daughter, who represents children from 6 to 12 years old. Of its image it emphasizes its float, that symbolizes the summer holidays.
SEREN: Jan. The smallest member of the family, includes the image of children from 2 to 6 years. Not only is he the smallest member, he is also the only member of the family that flies; represents, then, the smallest, and especially those who are children with disabilities, which made him the strongest reference within the Astro Family.
With these diverse profiles, we sought to create that emotional bond of families with the characters of the Astro Family. We work in granting them an image in relation to their personalities, in relation to their concept of alien family, and considering in the graphic aspect the chromatic range of Alua Hotels.
PHASE 2: Creation of the kids’ club
With the aim of granting an identity to the kids’ club that identifies with the clients, we decided to work on a branding strategy to create a unique brand for Astro Family, as well as connect this family experience with the brand of Alua Hotels & Resorts.
Thus, we developed a main logo inspired by the concept of alien family, and also taking into account the main color of the Alua Hotels brand. This logo would have other complementary colors, and in its ornamented version, a background of stars was added, so that the message of the identity of the kids’ club was given more strength. We also prepared the appropriate colors to vary the main logo in case there were limitations in the different applications of the kids’ club that Alua wanted to make.
To end up providing a more defined identity to the club, we assigned a corporate typeface to be applied in all formats of the kids’ club; this typography was "Bryant Alternate".
Given that the application of the brand is fundamental to transmit a solid identity, we prepared a manual of identity and applications, so that the company knew the brand of Astro Family: logo, typography, color range and characters.
