How Archer Hotels Builds the Human Element Into Its Brand

We’ve all met a guy like Archer, who can make a well-nuanced martini with one hand while texting his friends in Marseilles with the other. Archer, always the consummate host with equal parts deference and flair, is the mysterious persona behind Archer Hotels, which opened its first property in New York’s buzzy Garment District last spring. Developing the Archer persona is a clever mechanism that adds a more human element to the brand, and it plays well on social media. The Standard Hotel group also does it deftly with its Stan D’Arde character. During the year before the New York launch, we heard a lot about Archer on social. He was living large in Paris one week, then drinking craft beer in Williamsburg the next. At times the persona went from aspirational to punchable. We never really get a close glimpse of Archer because he's the original silent traveler. He’s savvy with mobile and the latest hotel tech, but he’s also comfortable engaging locals in the lounge when the mood strikes. Two more Archer properties are presently in development in Napa and Austin, both scheduled to open late next year.