TOM JARROLD
© TOM JARROLD

GLOBAL BRAND REPOSITIONING

BACKGROUND


When W Hotels launched in 1998, it redefined lifestyle hospitality—turning hotels from places to stay into places to meet, socialize, and be seen. Two decades later, the brand had lost momentum. As luxury evolved and W transitioned from Starwood to Marriott, its identity had become inconsistent and increasingly reliant on clichés. What once felt bold and original had become spectacle without substance.


Below: What the brand looked like in 2019:


CHALLENGE


Reconnect W with the qualities that made it iconic while redefining them for a new generation of luxury travelers.

I was hired to lead the strategic and creative direction for W's global repositioning, spanning brand strategy, visual identity, voice, room design, and key flagship openings including W Nashville, W Rome, and W Union Square.

INSIGHTS


Luxury had changed. A younger generation of travelers was less interested in traditional markers of status and formality, and were seeking instead experiences that felt personal, social, spontaneous, and culturally connected.

W had many of those qualities in its DNA, but the brand needed new expressions to make it relevant again, to both existing and new, younger customers.

STRATEGY


I led the development of a new global brand strategy designed to inform every expression of W; from architecture, rooms, and F&B to programming, events, sonic and visual identity, and communications.


IDENTITY


I led the development of a new identity with Brooklyn-based Porto Rocha, translating LUXURY, LIBERATED into a complete brand system—a refined W mark, custom global typeface, visual language, and verbal tone of voice.

The result was a more contemporary and distinctive expression of W, designed to flex seamlessly across marketing, digital, and hotel environments.

ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN


I directed the development of a global environmental design strategy in partnership with Marriott’s architecture team, translating LUXURY, LIBERATED into the physical W experience—from arrival and public spaces to guest rooms, F&B, and social environments. The strategy established a cohesive design framework while allowing each property to respond authentically to its architecture, location, and local culture.

W BELGRADE

IMPACT


The repositioning established a new global foundation for W, spanning strategy, identity, voice, and environmental desig, that continues to shape the brand today. From renovated flagships to new openings around the world, W has emerged with a more contemporary, sophisticated, and experience-driven expression of luxury.