“WE FOCUS ON AN IMMERSIVE STRATEGY”

HBR spoke with Alison Broadhead, the chief commercial officer of Jumeirah Group, about the hotel chain’s response to the rise of inconspicuous consumption. Edited excerpts follow.

How are you adapting to changing consumer tastes?

Our ethos is “stay different”. No hotel in our portfolio is like another. Our resort in the Maldives is very pared back; space is the luxury, which means you might have a 2,500-square-foot room. At Port Soller the views are what’s luxurious. In Istanbul and Rome we’re in historic buildings; the idea is to blend in and focus on local culture. Dubai is a more traditional luxury market, but we have a range of offerings, including boutique-style hotels and beachfront villas. There’s something for everyone.

Do you think the backlash against conspicuous consumption will spread everywhere?

People in developed economies have become a lot more focused on fulfilling emotional needs, and this includes travel and ensuring that their limited downtime is well spent. There’s still an appetite for conspicuousness in emerging markets, but it’s shifting quickly. Russian and Chinese people have really only been travelling for a generation, but they’re already looking for more-curated experiences.

How have you shifted your marketing?

We focus on a much more immersive strategy – we want to be visible and available when customers are looking for us, when they’re dreaming and researching and of the mind to book travel. That’s different from the big advertising splashes popular five or 10 years ago. We emphasise packages – food and beverage or spa and wellness, say – that offer extra value to different customer segments. And we’ve invested in online videos to create an emotional connection with current and potential guests. We’re now the most-viewed hotel brand on YouTube.