Getting to know you: the importance of brand immersion and collaboration

The Dialogue team recently travelled to St Moritz to see partners Badrutt’s Palace Hotel for a whistlestop content gathering trip that reinforced the importance of face-to-face meetings. A vital part of any content strategy in any sphere is to truly understand a client’s objectives, challenges and ethos. When working in the luxury travel sphere, it is particularly crucial – we know that travellers want bespoke luxury experiences, truly exceptional service and memories made with a variety of experiences, but what does that look like in reality and how can we communicate that if we haven’t experienced it ourselves?

The team travelled to Badrutt’s Palace Hotel with a photographer and a plan: to create content for the current issue of Tower Revue Magazine, to create further content for the towerrevue.com website and to spark ideas for future content across all platforms.

In just two action-packed days, our content team was able to efficiently conduct 13 shoots across five different locations at the luxury hotel, interviewing five key figures at the hotel while deepening client relationships and ensuring seamless brand alignment. This annual visit allowed us to fully immerse ourselves in the hotel’s ethos, which is crucial for capturing its essence in both print and digital formats.

“Being on-site offers something no virtual meeting can,” says Dialogue’s Creative Director Rich Berry. “It’s not just about overseeing the creative process, but about being agile and making real-time decisions.” With a packed schedule, we worked closely with the photographer to capture the right shots while staying adaptive to any changes. We ensured the shoots aligned with the hotel’s sophisticated image, producing content that truly reflected the brand’s luxury and exclusivity.

The client was equally impressed. “It’s one thing to talk about expertise on a call; it’s another to see it in action,” says Content Editor Claire Hutchings, who was on hand to capture the voice of the staff in interviews, ensure the content strategy for both print and digital aligns with the hotel’s objectives and uncover the stories that make great content. The in-person interaction allowed for spontaneous collaboration, creating opportunities beyond the scope of the original project. For instance, a photoshoot was planned on the spot for the brand’s website, making the most of the team on site.

In addition to producing exceptional content, being on-site enabled deeper storytelling. Meeting hotel staff face-to-face provided more than a mere interview explains Claire: “You get a sense of who they are, their passion, and the nuances of their roles – insights that are harder to capture remotely.” This direct engagement allows us to weave richer, more authentic narratives into our content.

Brand immersion: understanding both sides

An integral part of our visit was not only delivering on the client’s brief but also immersing ourselves in the brand. By spending time on the ground, we got to know the hotel team, its work environment and the guest experience, all essential elements for producing luxury content with a purpose.

“It’s only by seeing firsthand the challenges and operations that you can fully understand the pressures they’re under,” says Rich. This allows us to plan ways to make our processes more streamlined, but this immersion was mutual. The hotel also gained valuable insights into who we are as an agency, how we operate and how we approach content creation. “It’s important they see the rapport and dynamics within our team, how we collaborate and problem-solve,” says Claire. This shared understanding strengthens the working relationship, ensuring that both sides are aligned not only on objectives but on values, vision, and the creative process. Alexander Marakovits, Public Relations Manager at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel says: “Dialogue goes that extra mile with Tower Revue Magazine and is therefore fully aligned with the hotel’s philosophy, because we also go the extra mile for our guests – that is our aspiration and is in line with Dialogue’s philosophy.”

Our ability to grasp the hotel’s ethos and customer experience allows us to craft content that resonates with its audience and fulfils the hotel’s brand promise. Alexander says: “Together with the agency, we try to cover new topics every year and find a content mix that appeals to all of our guests. So far, we have succeeded very well. To create the best content, we need to listen to our guests and at the same time look to the future, what will be interesting to communicate in the coming winter and summer seasons and what will be relevant all year round.”

This deep connection and knowledge exchange makes for content that is not only visually striking but authentically reflective of the hotel’s luxury offering. It also highlighted the exceptional talent Dialogue uses to collaborate on content, a fact that is very important to Alex: “The magazine should be a pleasure to read, and it is important for us that Dialogue works with the best journalists and photographers to create worthy, third-party editorial that is credible rather than PR content. Dialogue has an excellent network, which is why the content is of a correspondingly high quality.” Claire was able to showcase her own network, and expand Alex’s, over dinner and by encouraging a transparent and collaborative working relationship both parties had the opportunity to share best practice.

Another critical advantage of working on location was the flexibility to capture additional assets for future projects. “While the primary goal was for the magazine, we also identified content ideas for the hotel’s digital channels, extending the value of our visit,” says Claire, who spent the train journey back to Zurich airport planning future features and exploring broader ideas inspired by the stunning views of the Swiss mountains and the majesty of the historic hotel. These spontaneous opportunities reflect the agility and creative flow that only an on-site presence can foster.

Ultimately, our visit reinforced the importance of face-to-face interaction in the content creation process. While remote working is efficient, nothing beats the creative and strategic advantages of being on the ground – especially when the goal is to produce high-end, immersive content.