Club Mahindra Revamps Brand Identity

India’s largest vacation ownership company, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts (MHRIL), has unveiled a brand new identity for its flagship brand, Club Mahindra. MHRIL is a part of the $16.2 billion Mahindra Group .Under the new identity, the brand unveiled a new logo and announced an ambitious expansion plan for the next few years.

UK-based creative director Daren Cook designed Club Mahindra’s new identity which features a symbol made up of four hearts coming together in shades of blue, yellow, orange and green. Inspired by the ‘colours of holidays,’ the new identity symbolized friends and families coming together. "This fresh new brand identity reflects its renewed focus on delivering the best vacations to our members across the country," Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra told reporters in Mumbai.

Club Mahindra will also add at least 1,000 rooms until the end of the next financial year, said Mahindra Holidays Managing Director & CEO Rajiv Sawhney. The company presently has around 2,500 rooms across 41 resorts in India and overseas.In regards to the opening of resorts at new locations, the company has already identified several properties in the eastern part of the country and looking at expansion in Sri Lanka and Malaysia, added Mahindra Holidays Managing Director & CEO Rajiv Sawhney. Club Mahindra’s presence is not limited to Indian shores. It’s members shave access to popular tourist destinations such as Dubai, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, and Innsbruck in Austria..

Refusing to divulge investment details for the future expansion plans, Club Mahindra did comment that it spent on an average Rs 80 lakh to Rs 1 crore per room during its recent expansion. The funding for this expansion program is said to come entirely through internal accruals. Debt-free MHRIL reported a rise of 13% in its operating income from last year.

Commenting on the success enjoyed by Club Mahindra, Anand Mahindra, said, "When we launched Club Mahindra in 1996, the concept of vacation ownership was not only viewed with skepticism but was also relatively nascent in India. The fact that we are India's leading vacation ownership company with over 1,60,000 members is a clear validation of its success and this fresh new brand identity reflects its renewed focus on delivering the best vacations to its members across the country".The average occupancy last year was 82-83%; a slight dip from the 89-90% seen the year before. Officials said the dip was mainly on account of new properties being added to the inventory. About 17,000 new members were added last year and the company is targeting membership to grow up to 2,20,000 by FY 15.

Summary:

With a brand new identity unveiled on 22nd October 2013, Club Mahindra hopes to leverage its position as the market leader in the vacation homes segment and grow even further. The company has chalked out an expansion plan that will see more resorts being added and in turn strengthen its position as the market leader.