Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, China, Chinese Culture, Comment, Hotels, Luxury, Management, Marketing, Marketing Fail
So I recently went back to China.
If that wasn’t wonderful enough, I was put up at the Waldorf Astoria.
If I’m being honest, I still get a thrill at staying in hotels. As a kid, we NEVER stayed in one – in fact the closest was a B&B in York – so every time I step in one, I feel excited.
But this was something else.
Something I didn’t deserve or – if truth be told – felt comfortable with.
It was sooooooooo over-the-top because the Waldorf Astoria x China makes for the most ostentatious experience you could ever imagine.
They were so nice to me, even though I imagine that every time they saw me in my shitty jeans and t-shirt, they wondered how the hell I was there.
But there was something before my trip that showed that even those at the very top of their game, can make mistakes.
It was this …
What the fuck?
Put aside the fact they called me Robert. Put aside the fact they talk about cleaning/disinfectant brands. Put aside the fact that by mentioning they are part of the Hilton group, they immediately diminish the prestige of the Waldorf. But why in gods name would anyone talk about ‘hygiene’ in a top hotel when that is the minimum expectation and now you’re left wondering what the fuck may have happened.
Worse, why would anyone talk about hygiene and use the name of brands you pick up in the Supermarket as examples of their exemplary cleaning practices. Not that I have anything against Lysol or Dettol, but I don’t think of them as the best in industrial cleaning, more like the stuff you use every now and then.
Yes … I appreciate Covid is still recent.
And it is something that originated in China.
And the country is still in its early days of opening up to the World.
But why, oh why would they raise an issue than you would never have considered an issue?
Of course when it came to the actual stay, it was brilliant. The people were amazing. And being back in China was wonderful – because of all the special places I’ve lived, China is the most special to me.
However of all the great memories that trip gave me – including the utterly bizarre experience of being interviewed by Fashion TV [I know, I fucking know!!!] – there’s one that should serve as a very important lesson for anyone who ever feels intimidated to talk/deal with people they perceive as being more successful than them.
Being rich, doesn’t mean you’re clever.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, America, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Culture, Experience, Hotels, Management, Marketing, Relevance, Resonance, Service
One of the places I find most hysterical in the World is San Francisco.
Yes … the entire place.
I find it hysterical because it’s often referred to as a liberal, hippy paradise when the reality is it’s one of the most expensive, exclusive and divisive places on earth.
Of course it wasn’t always this way, but the rise of tech has seen so much money coming into the place, that not only is everything hideously expensive, but the service industry – something America was once famous for – has seemingly given up making any effort whatsoever, safe in the knowledge they’re going to get people giving them money for stuff regardless.
No where is this attitude more prevalent than the hotel industry.
Because there are so many people coming into the place – hotels are almost always full.
What that’s resulted in, is even crappy hotels charging rates plush places in LA would balk at.
Case in point, the hotel I stayed in – The Taj – cost more for 1 night than the 2 nights I stayed at the Ritz Carlton at Marina Del Rey.
Which had a water view.
And breakfast included.
What I got at the Taj, was this …
Now I used to have Taj Hotels as a client.
I know their history and the way they approach their business.
Thanks to the Silicon Valley goldrush … the Taj San Fran doesn’t embody any of them.
In fact, I would say the only thing it’s suitable for, is a Martin Parr photo assignment.
For those who don’t know the brilliant Mr P, he is a photographer who specialises in brilliantly capturing the utterly mundane … usually in Britain.
With that in mind, I’ve written him a letter, dedicated to the experience I had at the Taj SF.
Dear Martin Parr.
If you’re looking for inspiration on what – and where – your next photo project could be, may I suggest The Taj Hotel in San Fran.
Not only does it have the depressingly bland interior design qualities of 1980’s middle England that I know you love love, but it comes with the price tag of a modern of Russian Oligarch.
Even when I came back to the room at 2:30am – after a long day at the office – I was reluctant to sleep there, for fear the rundown averageness of the place would do me irreparable damage in the night.
It is a photo exhibition waiting to happen.
Possibly your finest ever.
I even have a name for the shot … Expensive Beige.
You’re welcome.
Rob
That photo above is of the mini-bar price list for the East Hotel in Bejing.
And no, that’s not a typo … everything in the mini-bar is free.
FREE!!!
EVERYTHING!!!
At a time where so many hotels are trying to charge you bloody fortune for basic amenities … like toothbrushes and water.
I have written many posts over the years about how customer service in Asian hotels is better than anywhere else in the World and this is another reason why … though I must admit it would have been better if they’d told me about the freebie mini-bar when I checked into the hotel rather than having me realise it just as I was checking out.
Cunning bastards.
Filed under: A Bit Of Inspiration, Advertising, Attitude & Aptitude, Comment, Creativity, Culture, Family, Hotels, Technology
A long time ago, I was working on an innovation brief for a prestigious car brand.
As I sat there, listening to all the engineers talking, I realised their focus was more on optimising and evolving rather than innovating.
By that I mean, they were more focused on what they do and how they could make it better and more useful than embracing issues that were bigger than just the industry that they’re in.
So I said it.
Silence and incredulity.
“So what would you suggest?” one of them asked.
Now in these situations, it can only go one of three ways.
1. You go blank.
2. You say something they’ve already done/thought about.
3. You say something that makes them stop and think.
In the vast majority of cases – let’s be honest – it tends to be numbers 1 or 2, but on this occasion, I said something that fell into the last bracket.
“What if you made the car the most private, personal space they could be?”
That shut them up.
They weren’t expecting that.
To be honest, either was I … but while they came back at me with all sorts of technological and legal reasons why this couldn’t be done or wouldn’t be wanted – from car data through to our desire to be always contactable through our digital devices – the chief engineer was suitably intrigued for him to ask me to work with them on exploring what it could mean and who it would appeal to, most.
Which led to a year of one of the most interesting projects I ever worked on.
I should point out that when I talked about privacy, it was not about ‘isolation’ … though there is a value in that … I was talking literally about privacy.
Or said another way, ‘what goes on in your car, stays in your car’.
And while there was a bunch of fascinating research and explorations that went on in the quest to see where this could end up, it never got to where I hoped it would. And it certainly never manifested into an actual product I thought it could become.
Which is why this graffiti I got sent recently, hit home:
To me, this encapsulated where my head was at.
The desire to have a place where we are assured privacy and/or solitude.
A cross between a hibernation and a cultural vacuum, if you will.
To be honest, this was all influenced by work we did for Taj Hotels back in 2007 … where we blocked all mobile access at certain Taj resorts.
Back then, it was less about social media and more about the intrusion of work on family holidays … but the premise – and benefit – was the same.
[For the record, it was only possible because of where technology and the law was at back then. Plus all customers opted into this experiment with the acknowledgement there were alternative contact methods available, even if not as convenient]
Of course, I appreciate that was slightly different to what I put forward with the car idea. That was more about having a ‘social kills switch’ when the car was more a mobile ‘black hole’ … but I do believe the value of privacy – even momentary privacy – will soon rival that of FOMO.
We’re already seeing it.
From VPN’s to quiet luxury.
Not because we don’t want to be connected with the world around us.
But because we want to feel we have greater control over it.