MEININGER Hotels

Anja Keplin

Hospitality Culture Authority

Anja Keplin is a marketing and communications professional with nearly 20 years of experience in branding, hospitality and customer engagement. After working with agencies including DDB and Scholz & Friends across PR, events and brand strategy, she joined MEININGER Hotels in 2009, when the company had nine hotels in operation. She helped grow the marketing department as MEININGER expanded to 36 hotels across Europe, with further openings planned.

How Hospitality Brands Earn Trust in a Sceptical Digital Age

Branding has become increasingly important, particularly for younger consumers who are well informed, digitally connected and more selective about the brands they trust. They have access to vast amounts of information and tend to question brand messages that do not feel genuine or credible. Because of this, a brand cannot be designed only from the inside out or exist on paper. It must be genuinely lived and experienced at every touchpoint across the entire customer journey, from pre-stay to poststay.

A strong brand should come from within the company itself. Brand purpose is not something you can simply define at the top and then hand down to employees. It has to be developed, understood and lived by the people who deliver the experience every single day.

At MEININGER Hotels, we followed exactly this approach. Around eight years ago, we worked with a brand agency to define and capture the brand DNA of MEININGER Hotels. It was not created in a room and then applied across the company. Instead, we conducted a full 360-degree analysis to understand who we truly were as a brand. This helped us identify our authentic DNA, which became the foundation of the brand experience we deliver today.

The Evolving Expectations of Today’s Experience-Driven Travelers

Technology plays a major role today. AI may sound like a buzzword, but for younger generations, it is simply part of everyday life. They expect convenience and want friction removed from their experience, whether in booking, check-in or general communication with a hotel.

This means hospitality brands must offer solutions such as pre-check-in, booking management tools, chatbots and other seamless digital services. For younger audiences, these are no longer extras but expected as part of a smooth customer journey.

At the same time, younger generations are seeking meaningful moments and authentic experiences. They want to explore, connect and exchange ideas. Tangible, real experiences are becoming increasingly valuable, reflected in broader cultural trends where authenticity and physical experiences are making a comeback.

From a brand perspective, this must be reflected across every touchpoint, not only in marketing and communications. The brand experience should also be reflected throughout the interior design, hotel layout and shared spaces. These areas should encourage guests to interact naturally with one another, creating an experience that feels seamless and meaningful.

The Role of Authenticity in Effective Brand Narratives

Storytelling and customer experience have always shaped how brands connect with people, but today authenticity matters more than ever. A brand’s message must align with the experience it delivers and the same applies to the stories it tells. The strongest stories clearly reflect a brand’s values and purpose, helping people relate to and connect with it in a genuine way.

At MEININGER Hotels, we have a very diverse audience, including backpackers, business travelers, families and school groups. While these groups are different, they all share a desire to explore the city and experience something new. This shared motivation is central to our storytelling.

Effective storytelling happens when you connect your audience’s priorities with your brand’s purpose. When those two align, the story becomes far more impactful. A big budget is not essential. The key is making the story feel relevant and authentic to the audience.

Honesty and truthfulness are essential. Authenticity is widely discussed in branding, but it is not a trend or buzzword. It is the foundation of strong branding and meaningful storytelling.

Creating Hospitality Experiences Guests Choose Again and Again

We pay close attention to feedback across multiple channels using a tool that helps us understand what people value and where improvements are needed. These insights allow us to continuously refine and enhance the overall guest experience.

This is not only a marketing and communications exercise. In marketing and communications, close collaboration with other departments such as operations and customer care is essential. This enables us to gather direct guest feedback while also sharing insights internally to improve different areas of the business.

Social media also plays a central role today. Younger audiences, and increasingly consumers in general, no longer rely only on Google as they did in the past. They turn to platforms like Instagram and TikTok for inspiration, recommendations and information. Over the past two years, AI has also emerged as a major channel for how people search for information and discover brands, with many turning to AI chatbots and other AI-driven platforms for ideas, recommendations and guidance.

For marketers and communicators, this means ensuring visibility, relevance and engagement across all these platforms.

Creating Brands That Last

When it comes to building a brand, every touchpoint matters. A brand is much more than marketing or communication. It is the complete customer experience with a company. This includes the physical environment, guest welcome, staff interactions, digital channels and interior design. Every aspect contributes to the overall brand experience.

That is why understanding the business as a whole is essential. If you work in marketing and communications, you also need a strong grasp of operations, HR, procurement, revenue and other functions. Only then can you create and deliver a consistent, strong brand experience.

On a personal level, curiosity and passion also play a major role. The world is changing rapidly, with new developments in digital platforms and technology emerging almost every month, sometimes even more frequently. Staying aware, adapting quickly and continuously learning is essential.

One final piece of advice, especially because I’m a strategist at heart, is that whatever you do, make sure you have a clear strategy in place. Without a strong strategy, nothing works in a sustainable way.