InterContinental’s Kimpton Buy: A Difference Between Hard and Soft Branding

There's a certain karma that InterContinental Hotels Group CEO Richard Solomons vows to retain for Kimpton Hotels in light of IHG's pending $430 million acquisition of the boutique brand -- and he's not necessarily referring to the future of the Kimpton Karma Rewards loyalty program, which Solomons said today he's not ready to address. In acquiring Kimpton Hotels, IHG's first brand acquisition since purchasing Candlewood Suites in 2003, Solomons spoke during a London conference call with financial analysts about the importance of maintaining Kimpton's "soft branding." "Personally I've stayed in several Kimpton Hotels and it's an offering that I've admired greatly for many years with the ability to deliver a consistent and distinctive service through soft branding in a very wide variety of hotels," Solomons said. “Soft branding,” in this context refers to a s