WHO ARE WE?

WHO ARE WE?

#Lofthostel

#sustainablity

#loftfeelings

#everydaymoments

#lifeatloft

Posts: Ideally 1 everyday, minimum 1 per week.

Time of posts: The best time is 13:00, however use

personal judgement

Avoid: Politics, steriotyping, advertsing (think is this

interesting to yourself and would you want to read

this)?

Remember: Who we are, our personality (Fresh,

Friendly, Confident and Honest), does this add value to

our followers?, #´s.

Posts: Ideally every 2nd or 3rd day, minimum 1 every 2 weeks.

Time of posts: The best time is 15:00, however use

personal judgement.

Avoid: Too many posts of the balcony, Ensure the picture

are clear and not offensive. Ask yourself, would you want to

see this on your own instagram account.

Remeber: #´s, to post these pictures on our Facebook as well.

The 6 Social Media Questions

1. Is this news worthy?

2. Can I apply a picture / video to

this post?

3. Is this better suited for my own

Facebook / Instagram?

4. Does this add value to our

followers?

5. Is this our Tone of Voice, (is this

Lofts´personalit? Fresh, Friendly,

Confident & Honest)?

6. Is this news worthy?

WHO ARE WE?

Like any commercial organisation, we are competing.

We’re competing to be the best hostels, have the best

staff and atmosphere. So, we need to be clear about

what makes us different from other hostels and

accommodation types, importantly, we need to be able

to communicate this.

So...

We communicate in three ways; the way we look, the

way we sound and the way we behave. As well as our

visual identity, which includes our logo, colours and

typography, our verbal identity is a crucial part of who

we are and how we connect with people, be it guests,

groups, outside tourists, Icelanders, suppliers or

business partners. It comprises our tone of voice, our

stories and our names. We’ll take a look at each of these

over the following pages.

Consistency is everything

The more consistent we are, the more likely it is that

people will understand what makes us special. The way

we express ourselves has to be joined up and consistent

so that people admire, respect and, crucially, trust us.

It’s no good saying we’re friendly if our language and

actions are anything but. So we need a strong verbal

identity that we all understand and know how to use.

OUR TONE OF VOICE

Our tone of voice is the way in which we write and speak, what we say and how we say it. Like a person, what we say is dictated by our principles, experiences and aspirations, how we say it is informed by our personality.

There has been a rigorous process to define our unique qualities. We’ve distilled these into a vision, big idea, values and personality for the different hostels and HI Iceland.

OUR VISION

What’s a vision?

A vison captures your overall direction in

life, where you’re heading, where you want

to be in the future. It’s your big, stretch

goal.

TO PROVIDE HOSTELS OR OTHER

ACCOMMODATION, WHICH PROMOTES THE

EDUCATION OF ALL YOUNG PEOPLE BY

ENCOURAGING IN THEM A GREATER

KNOWLEDGE, LOVE AND CARE OF THE

COUNTRYSIDE AND AN APPRECIATION OF

THE CULTURAL VALUES OF TOWNS AND

CITIES IN ALL PARTS OF THE WORLD,

WHILE NOT DISCRIMINATING RACE OR

FINANCIAL MEANS.

Our vision...

OUR BIG IDEA

What’s a big idea?

A big idea is your reason for being. It’s why

you’re on the planet. It’s what’s different about

you, distilled down into one short sentence

that’s easy to understand and remember. It’s

your one-line sales pitch.

WE PROVOKE A

COLLABORATIVE

APPROACH TO

SUSTAINABLE

TOURISM TO MAKE

A POSITIVE IMPACT

ON INDIVIDUALS

AND ON SOCIETY.

How does our big idea sound?

If we break our big idea down into separate elements

and explain what we mean by each of these, it’s much

easier to see how to bring it to life in the way we write

and speak. Think of scenarios where this happens and

bring them into life where it’s relevant and useful.

We - we work together as a team, in the same direction

towards the same goals. There’s a supportive culture

here, which gets the best out of everyone.

provoke - we actively provoke new and different ways

of thinking and doing things. We stimulate thought and

challenge and push to make it happen.

a collaborative approach - we collaborate with each

other, cooperating between hostels and departments

as well as external organisations and people to create

exciting ventures and to break new ground.

to sustainable tourism – We operate in a sustainable

manner ensuring all our activities and policies focus on

the three pillars of sustainability, social, environmental

and economic. We further pass this knowledge onto

our guests and wider community.

to make a positive impact - we believe passionately

that our role is to bring about significant change for

good. It is part of our ethos and we achieve this

through our policies and mutually beneficial activities.

on individuals – Our hostels are designed

and run to bring forth an exciting

environment that explores creativity, to

enable knowledge and freedom to come

seamlessly.

and society – Our efforts towards

sustainability has a direct and positive

impact on the society and the world at

large. Our not-for-profit business model,

allows us to give back to the community

and stay focused towards our vision.

OUR VALUES

What are values?

These are beliefs that you hold dear and would stick

to no matter what, even if it cost you money. Just

like a person.

Our values

SUSTAINABILITY

INCLUSIVITY

LEARNING &

UNDERSTANDING

INCLUSIVITY

Our commitment to facilitate and promote travel

through the provisions of a quality accomodation

network.

What we mean That our accomodation is available to all, it is safe

an affordable and that it respects differences and

diversity of others.

SUSTAINABILITY

The commitmentment to act in a socially,

environmentally and economically ressponsible

manner.

What we mean It is our effort to reduce the carbon footprint of the HI

network, to become finiancially sustainable hostels

with the assured quality and standards that we wish to

uphold with the HI name. Developing and participate in

social and cultural programs that strengthen social

sustainability.

LEARNING &

UNDERSTANDING

Our commitment to facilitate and support

learning and understanding.

What we mean That we can give guests an experience of diverse

cultures, people and places in their travels. That

there is a promotion and push towards

responsible travelling and that we support

education outside the classroom. Operating as

part of rather than apart from the community.

OUR PERSONALITY

What’s a personality?

Your personality traits inform how you express yourself,

how you do things.

FRESH

FRIENDLY

HONEST

CONFIDENT

We are...

Fresh

What we mean Clean, creative, cheerful, bright, new,

openminded

What we don‘t mean Dull, unimaginative, stale,

How does `fresh´ sound we talk in a manner that is inviting and new,

we try and give a new perspective on things.

It is about making the new things familiar

and familiar things new (Samuel Johnson).

We avoid saying or doing things in a certain

manner just because that is how they have

always been done. We xplore the creativity.

We are...

Friendly

What we mean Inclusive, welcoming, responsive,

supportive, warm, down-to-earth, flexable,

helpful, personable

What we don‘t mean Rude, Impatient, cold, distant, no focus,

snobbish.

How does `friendly´ sound We talk in a down-to-earth tone and avoid

using over formal language or ambiguity.

We’re direct and honest. We connect with

people in a human way and are inclusive and

warm. People often talk about the welcome

and support they get at Loft Hostel. We’re

quick to respond and help to make things

happen (big and small). We’re in touch and

relevant.

OUR PERSONALITY

We are...

Confident

What we mean Accomplished, self aware , we celebrate

success, we take pride in what we do

What we don‘t mean Arrogant, over-promising, self-important.

How does `confident´ sound

We’d all like to be a little more confident. So

let us recognise our achievements and

individuality as a Hostel. This isn’t about

being arogant but doing justice to the

people and work here. We need to take

pride, acknowledge our hard work, whether

this be in our endless effort to recycle or our

amazing housekeeping and service etc. If we

ourselves are proud and confident in what

we do, others will be as well.

We are...

Honest

What we mean truthful, authentic, trustworthy

What we don‘t mean Hipocritical, inaccurate, misleading,

untrustworthy, excuses, dogmatism, lieing

How does `honest´ sound

Being honest and coming accross as honest

is key to our brand and sustainability of the

hostel. A good way to remember to come

across as honest is by the following

accronym HAIL.

H- honesty, be clear and straight

A – authentisity, be yourself

I – integrity, be your word

L – love, wish them well

Being honest is not about truthfully telling

everything you see and think. Some things

are best left inside your head. Rather being

honest is about expressing the good but

being truthful to that.