Tag Archives: media

Three Gazillionaires Share Wisdom With ISPA Audience

Three Gazillionaires Share Wisdom with ISPA Audience
By Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

Am in Austin, Texas, at the annual International Spa Association (ISPA) event. While there are fewer attendees this year, the mood is very congenial and people seem to be enjoying a more intimate setting.

This year there are two especially outstanding sessions. Along with Lance Armstrong, who will be speaking later this morning, yesterday’s afternoon general session was inspiring and included a lot of laughs. Titled “The Power Panel, Trends, Marketing and Branding,” it included:

1. Guy Kawasaki, previous Apple big-wig and current venture capitalist
2. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, which was just bought by Amazon for 1 Billion!
3. Jeremy Gutsche, founder of www.trendhunter.com, known for being “at the forefront of cool”

I took some notes as the guys bounced ideas back-and-forth and answered questions submitted prior to the session and am sharing some of the tidbits I found particularly interesting. Comments in italics are my added thoughts.

What would a spa look like that was created by your brand?

Zappo Spa:
Something that would really serve the consumer. Perhaps helping simplify their life in some way. For example, get a massage while your car is being detailed.

Trendhunter Spa:
Something unique. What makes something so interesting that it spreads like crazy, both online and offline. Something where people say, “I have to tell someone about this!” For example, take your pet to the spa with you and each get services.

Apple Spa:
Combine some things. Maybe a pedicure and Twitter and call it TwaSpa. Or Twitter and tanning and call it Twans. Or Twitter and sauna and call it Twauna.

Discussion about brands, marketing, books.

Sometimes you need to create your own new category. For example, instead of a regular circus or even an “advanced” circus, we got Cirque de Soleil. Imagine your offering in a new way.
“Nobodies are the new somebodies.”
Recommended Books: How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding by Holt (Think Harley Davidson); Peak by Chip Conley; Tribal Leadership by Dave Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright
Don’t speak to the consumer, speak with them. For example, the campaign for anti-littering in Texas found that young men who drove trucks and had a very macho self-image littered the most. Instead of traditionally addressing those who litter, the advertisement that worked had the line “Don’t Mess with Texas.”
Try talking with your audience in their language.
Endeavor to embrace a set of emotions that move people toward the positive or away from the negative. Ask yourself, what emotions do you want to own?
Think on three levels (from Chip Conley, who owns a unique hotel chain)

Basic Level: Give them a bed, safety, etc.
Second Level: Give good customer service
Third Level: Give that extra feeling (leave my hotel and you will feel like a rock
star, or an Olympian, etc)

Be careful about how you define yourself. For example, Zappos isn’t about shoes. It is about customer service.

My thoughts:

Perhaps spas aren’t just about massages and facials. They are about relaxation, or about touching people’s lives, or possibly about transformation.
If spas are about helping people relax, that’s probably why the idea of a bar with spa treatments, where you have a sense of community, resonates with people. This reminds me of “The Chill House” concept presented by the students at the Global Spa Summit 2009.

Question: Should our industry be using the term luxury in our spas and in our advertising and communications today?

“Trying to hide the word luxury makes you look more guilty.”
If you position spa as “luxury,” then people will do it less often. It is wise to move in the direction of making spas more of a necessity.
For now, see what people are saying about you on Twitter. While it gives you some good feedback, you also have to develop thicker skin because there will be some blistering criticism. Don’t pay too much attention to major critics or let them get you down.
In a period of financial turbulence, some companies make their move. During the depression Kellog’s doubled their advertising budget and became the market leader, and remain so today.

Question: How can you predict the next big thing?

Although it’s impossible to have a formula for doing so, think about making a list of things “that will never work.” Some ideas on that list might be contenders.

Misc. thoughts:

A suggestion: On Twitter, post “In one hour ABC spa has an opening for a free manicure.” or “A 50% massage at XYZ. ”
Think about giving something away for free every day. Or give something away for free, if you know a code.
At Zappos they have an intense training program and after people complete the program, they are offered $2,000 to not work at Zappos. This way they weed out the people who aren’t really passionate about Zappos. About 3% take the money.
Zappos isn’t about shoes. It is about customer service. Therefore he can foresee a Zappos Airline (with the best customer service), or a Zappos Car Dealership (cool customer service). Similar to the way Virgin developed as a brand.

Question: Looking back, what would you do differently?

Zappos: I should have established core values with my company sooner. That way I could have hired and fired on the basis of whether or not people are living up to those values. If employees understand your core values, then they can make better decisions. There is a difference between managing and leading.
To be a better leader, train people regarding your core values, so you can rely on them to make wise decisions.
Example: Someone suggested to the head of Southwest that they should offer fresh salads on board. The head of Southwest just said these three words: “Low Cost Airline.” That pretty much answered the question about whether this was a good idea.
Luck is about being open to new ideas.

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Spas and Recession

Spas and Recession

by Susie Ellis

SpaFinder Insider

This morning I read the sad news that Spa Sydell, with six locations in Atlanta, is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. They have been in business for 25 years. This is just one week after I learned that Iatria spa in North Carolina is closing its three locations and filing Chapter 7. They started their business 10 years ago.

Heartbreaking – yet not particularly surprising given the current economic climate. In fact, I am sure that we will be seeing more spas closing. Frankly, I am surprised that we haven’t seen more already. I think it speaks to the fact that these businesses likely did everything they could to try and weather the recession, but at some point they had to pull the plug.

While I know there are many people who will participate in these losses – the landlords because the spas can’t pay their rent, lenders who lent money in good faith, product companies who won’t get paid, as well as some consumers who hold their unused gift certificates – I think it is likely that those who will suffer the most are the proprietors of those businesses. They will probably lose everything personally and professionally and have to start over.

What I don’t think many people understand is how difficult it is to run a day spa business – in the U.S. especially – because the profit margins are razor thin due to high labor costs.

Most people who own and run day spas do so because they are passionate about spas. Often, these owners are care givers themselves who love nurturing their clients, and sometimes business skills are secondary.

In addition, expansion is always a slippery slope; running one spa isn’t easy but managing multiple spas doesn’t usually result in economies of scale -in fact, it often makes operations more difficult because the owner can’t be in all locations at the same time.

Industry numbers show that many day spas are barely profitable, some only seeing 5% – 10% profit in a good year and much less than that during negative business climates. It is truly a labor of love for many.

I thought I would share some of what I have learned over the years about the day spa business and invite you to share your thoughts and knowledge as well. Perhaps together – both consumers and spa industry professionals – we can better understand what is happening, and in some small way make the transition that much easier for those affected.

Day spas have the smallest profit margins of all spas and so are more vulnerable to a downturn in the economy than are hotel, resort or medical spas.
Labor costs are the main culprit. Most spas find that they need to pay more than 50% of their revenue in labor costs.
In my opinion one change that would take costs down is for the entire industry to adopt the European model where all staff are “dually licensed” – that means the therapist can do both massages and facials. The result is much more flexibility in scheduling, more career opportunities for staff, and ultimately lower costs for the spa.
Summer is a slow season for spa-going so businesses struggling will have a hard time making it through. Usually business picks up in the fall.
Another challenge facing day spas this year is that resort and hotel spas have become more aggressive in building their local clientele thus increasing competition.
When a spa closes, other spas sometimes offer to accept outstanding gift certificates from the spa closing in an effort to help the industry through the transition and of course to hopefully gain a new client. When this happens, it is a great plus.
Allowing outstanding gift certificates to be used to purchase product at the spa closing is one way to satisfy some of the customers.
During a tough economy, consumers would be wise to be careful about purchasing series of treatments where you pay up front (six massages for $500) or gift certificates in large amounts ($1,000, etc.). Purchasing a smaller denomination gift certificate ($100 or so) which the recipient is likely to use soon is less risky.
While spas are not “recession-proof” they have done better than many other businesses because one driver that increases demand is stress – and people are more stressed than ever.
This is a good time to discourage additional spa openings. (Unless you are in one of the few areas where there is vibrant growth – Brazil for example.)

It is my hope that our industry will do better than most in navigating through this…and at the end we will all be strengthened by the challenges. We may, in fact, end up with some helpful adaptations!
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Spas, Wellness and Medical Tourism…Observations from a Medical Student in Europe

Spas, Wellness and Medical Tourism…Observations from a Medical Student in Europe
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider

My niece from Germany (yes….the third niece this summer) is visiting at the moment and we had a very interesting discussion last evening. Charlotte is a medical student in Germany who will be graduating next year before starting her residency. She plans to specialize in either radiology or neurology.

I decided to find out what her take was on such things as the words “spa,” “wellness” and “medical tourism” – all terms and concepts I read about, think about and most recently am writing about. I thought it might be interesting to conduct a sort of one-person-focus-group with someone from another country who I have never spoken with about these subjects. Since Charlotte is immersed in the medical field and grew up around the medical community because her father was a pediatrician, I thought her insights might be interesting.

So here are my questions, her answers and a few thoughts about those answers:

Q What do you think of when you hear the word “spa?”
A I am not totally sure because I have never been to a spa, but to me a spa is a place where you go to have massages, get beauty treatments, and most of all relax.

Q What do you think of when you hear the word “wellness?”
A We use the term wellness all the time in Germany, but I think it is an American word. When I think of wellness I think of pursuing health – maybe through exercise, massages, eating well, and such.

Q What do you think is the difference between “spa” and “wellness?”
A Hmmm….I don’t really know. I don’t think I can answer that. They seem quite similar.

Q What do you think of when you hear the word “medical tourism?”
A I don’t think I have ever heard the term “medical tourism” before. But I guess that isn’t surprising because it seems like everything in America comes to Europe years later. If I were to guess, I would probably say that “medical tourism” might be people experiencing medical treatments that are from different countries when they go to their doctor.

Well, I found her responses quite interesting. As our conversation turned into a discussion, here are some conclusions I came away with:

1. Re “Spa” and “Wellness”
We ended up agreeing that generally spas are places where people pursue health, and wellness is the thing they are pursuing and sometimes it will include some diagnostics. Also, what she confirmed (something I have often suspected) is that the term “spa” has a bit of an elitist connotation in Germany (and possibly in other places in Europe). She feels the term “spa” equates with “expensive” and “for the wealthy.” That might be one reason the term “wellness” has entered our vocabularies. It is a more inclusive way to say spa.

2. Re “Medical Tourism”
While her definition of medical tourism was different than the generally accepted definition I shared with her (traveling across international borders to obtain health care), she did find the concept intriguing. We realized that because her country’s health care system provides all medical care for its citizens, the idea of going outside of Germany for health care procedures is completely foreign to her. She felt that the only time she could imagine someone from Germany leaving the country for a medical procedure is if they are on a waiting list and don’t want to wait that long.

And finally…a few thoughts about Charlotte herself. I was pleased that she asked me to share with her the two papers I am writing about spas and medical tourism when I have them completed. It may mean our conversation on these topics will continue into the future. Secondly, I learned that my niece is a pretty smart cookie….having made an early request for residency placement two years from now, she snagged one of the few spots in a top hospital in Switzerland near Zermatt between November and March. Did I mention she is terrific skier?
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Flying Will Never be the Same – Spas to the Rescue

Flying will Never be the Same – Spas to the Rescue

by Susie Ellis

SpaFinder Insider

As I was boarding my American Airlines flight from New York to San Francisco there was a young woman handing out free Internet cards to anyone who wanted one. I immediately realized that this must be one of those flights where you can connect to the Internet while in flight. I knew that some airlines on some routes were now offering this, however this was the first time I would actually have a chance to test it out.

And so I did. The card gave me a promotion code which allowed me to save the $12 fee that they would normally charge me to be connected to the Internet for the entire length of the flight. A fair price I thought.

To my surprise, it was extremely easy to connect to the Internet and the connection was fantastic the entire time, even during turbulence. I was in email heaven. 5 1/2 hours of uninterrupted time to send and receive emails. No phone calls, no co-workers stopping by to ask questions – I really got a lot done.

The only downside was that my eyes became extremely dry. I learned from my eye doctor many years ago that when we work on the computer, we don’t blink as often and so our eyes can become irritated and red. Since it is very dry on airplanes, the not blinking as often can cause even more problems.

So my time to read and relax on planes is probably over. That’s sad. However the option to work via Internet is really exciting. My husband is already upset since airline trips were the one place he felt that he didn’t have to compete with my Blackberry.

kindle 788913 Flying Will Never be the Same Spas to the Rescue

But there is another change I noticed during this flight. That change had to do with what people (who weren’t on the Internet) were doing. It seemed like almost everyone around me was reading on a Kindle. (shown here on the left) And that’s when it hit me…..these developments are going to accelerate and become an even greater negative for the print industry. We all know that print media is struggling because of the Internet’s increasing dominance, yet the one bright spot that many had pointed out to me was that people still loved buying magazines at airports to read during flights. Well, I imagine that’s going to change.

With Internet service on flights and Kindles which give you access to books, newspapers and magazines, a new era is being ushered in. On the one hand it is sad to see these changes, on the other hand the technology has given us more options and more convenience.

What it does say to me, however, is that spas are becoming more important than ever as people’s stress levels continue to escalate. The spa is still a sanctuary where we can de-stress and rejuvenate.

Let’s just hope that no one figures out how to get the Internet or Kindles into the massage room.

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Spas: Pay Attention to the New Book “The End of Overeating”

Spas: Pay Attention to the New Book “The End of Overeating“
by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

If you could see the book shelf in my office (and a list of all the books I have read in the past three decades) you might be surprised to see how many of those books have been about weight loss. Not only has this topic been part of my studies and lifelong career, (I wrote a research paper comparing children’s weight with IQ my first year in college), but I have also had my own experience with overeating issues. For several years of my life I was an “exercise bulimic” who ran marathons to support my habit of overeating which was the true goal of all that training. I mention this because it will help you put the following statement in context:

“I just finished what I think is the most important book on weight loss that I have ever read!”

Dr. David A. Kessler’s new book, The End of Overeating is currently #5 on the New York Times best seller list. (My prediction is that it will remain on that list for a good long time – at least I hope so!)

This book really resonated with me. I can tell by all the underlining I did while reading it. Every page. Multiple times. Crazy! That’s because I kept turning the pages and saying…wow, that’s incredible. Wow…I didn’t know that. Wow…this is hysterical. Wow, this just makes me want to cry.

I am going to have to devote two blog posts to this book to share with you some of the pearls of wisdom I found within. It is my fervent hope that I can convince those who are interested in the topic of weight loss (and that is most of us) to buy the book or download it on Kindle ($9.99). Not only do I think that it has an important personal message for all of us, but I think the spa industry in particular can be seen in an entirely new light as a result. After all, spas – especially destination spas – are one of the few places left on the planet where solutions to the dilemma Dr. Kessler outlines can be achieved.

Here are a few tidbits to give you a sense of where this is going.

“hyperpalatable” (ideal combinations of sugar, fat and salt) foods are actually “altering the biological circuitry of our brains”
“where traditional cuisine is meant to satisfy, American industrial food is meant to stimulate.”
“Intentionally or not, industry activities take advantage of the biology of the brain, selling us products that alter our bodies.”
“the excitement in the brain generated by these multi-modal stimuli increases our desire for further stimulation.”
“the goal is to get you hooked” (craveability)

And in Dr. Kessler’s words:

“millions of people …don’t have any of the eating disorders we’ve learned to recognize and treat, but food is never far from their minds. And once they begin eating, they can’t seem to stop. Long after they’ve ceased to feel hungry, they’re still eating. No one has ever explained what’s happening to them and how they can control their eating. That’s my goal in this book.”

“…the struggle to resist certain foods isn’t unique to people who are overweight or obese–people who maintain a healthy weight also face this challenge. How can something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie hold such power over so many of us? I had to go inside the food industry and understand the workings of our brains to comprehend the essence of this struggle. The food industry designs foods to be powerful stimuli. And what is served in many restaurants is nothing more than FAT on FAT on FAT loaded with sugar and salt.”

“I wanted the answer to what would appear to be a simple question: why is it so difficult to control what and how much we eat? What I learned was that our brain circuits become rewired by certain foods, so that we end up wanting and eating more than we need. Naturally, my next question became: how can we alter our response to food? In more technical language, how can we make the needed “critical perceptual shift” that fundamentally changes the way we view food?”

In the next blog….solutions.