Tag Archives: Spa Design

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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“Addicted to Beauty” TV Show – Not Such a Pretty Picture of a Medi Spa

“Addicted to Beauty” TV Show – Not Such a Pretty Picture of a Medi Spa
by Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider

It was bound to happen…a reality show with a spa focus.

While Bravo TV has had Tabitha’s Salon Takeover on for a couple of seasons, it was more salon oriented than spa oriented. I actually quite liked Tabitha’s Salon Takeover – although Tabitha herself was a bit hard to like at times. You’ve got to respect her though – she knows how to make a salon profitable and is herself a star stylist. And let’s face it – she is entertaining.

So now we have the new reality show Addicted to Beauty on Oxygen. The basic “plot” is that a plastic surgeon’s office and a day spa merge to become a medi-spa. (They probably don’t know – yet – that the term MediSpa is trademarked by Dr. Bruce Katz of Juva MediSpa in New York).

Dianne York-Goldman heads up the spa team and Dr. Gilbert Lee is the plastic surgeon. The new entity is called Changes Plastic Surgery and Spa and is located in La Jolla, California.

The only problem is (and they got this right because it is a real-life issue) that the cultures of spa and medical are not mixing so well. The spa employees are drama-all-the-way-around and the doctor is very buttoned up…more than a few conflicts result.

While the mix is entertaining, the biggest problem in my opinion is that all the employees who work for this new medi-spa have themselves had more than a tad of plastic surgery – and the results are a bit scary. Young faces with lips that are too large and uneven, blown up breasts that make everyone look topsy turvy, cheek implants and narrow noses….it’s not as bad as Michael Jackson but some get pretty close to that Joan River’s look.

So what do I think of this show considering that I am in the spa industry? Well, thankfully we have had so many reality shows to date that we are all used to the outrageous. Just like we know that most housewives are not like the Housewives of New York, Orange Country and Atlanta, and normal Bachelors and Bachelorettes don’t end up confused about who to marry, I think that most people will know that this depiction of a medi-spa is pretty out-there.

While Addicted to Beauty doesn’t exactly paint a pretty picture of a medi-spa, it does show that spas have joined the big leagues…and, I will probably be tuning in again next week!
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Walter Cronkite, Spa, Wellness and a Good Life

Walter Cronkite, Spa, Wellness and a Good Life
By Susie Ellis
SpaFinder Insider

Being “of the moment,” I can’t help but weigh-in on today’s headlines which are all about Walter Cronkite’s life and death. Although I never actually met the man who became the most trusted voice of TV news, I feel somewhat connected to him through two people close to me who did get to know him.

The first is my twin sister, Katrine. She met Mr. Cronkite when he was on board the QE2 as a lecturer and she was on the cruise ship managing the Golden Door Spa at Sea. That was in 1986. When I called Katrine this morning to see if she still had the photo I remember seeing of the two of them (memorable because they were both on exercise bikes with their arms on each other’s shoulders), she was able to email it to me in a few quick minutes.

I asked her what she remembered about Cronkite to which she immediately replied, “that he was so kind.” Apparently Mr. Cronkite would work out regularly in the gym on the QE2 while he and his wife were passengers and was always gracious with everyone and more than happy to pose for photos – even with the fitness instructor who was wearing “double legwarmers” at the time – what were we thinking back then?

The other connection with Mr. Cronkite is through my housekeeper. The great gal who cleans my apartment here in New York two mornings a week was also one of Mr. Cronkite’s caregivers these past few years. Although she never betrayed any confidences, it was about 3 weeks ago when she said to me,”he’s not looking good; it may be any day now.”

I remember gasping in horror saying, no! no! bad timing! You see Michael Jackson had just died and that news had swiftly trumped Farrah Fawcett’s death earlier that very same day… and the Hollywood circus was just starting up. Had Walther Cronkite died at about the same time, I am afraid that it might have precluded the fitting tributes his distinguished life deserved.

Fortunately, the timing of Mr. Cronkite’s death turned out to be much like his life – at the right place, at the right time.

Walther Cronkite died yesterday, Friday, July 17th, and all the headlines in the papers and on TV are filled appropriately with rememberances. Barring any other catastrophe, we will at least have a weekend of memories which will allow us to think back to a time when a man’s life could be summed up with such words as trusted, respected, authoritative, competitive, authentic…and yes, kind.

The news doesn’t talk as much about his personal life although I understand he had a very good and lengthy marriage, three children and four grandchildren. He lived to be 92 and although suffering from dementia in the past couple of years, it appears as if the way he led his life – including working out regularly – served him well.

Well, I guess it is fitting to end with the tag line he made famous, “And that’s the way it is.”

However, sadly, it feels more accurate these days to say, “And that’s the way it was.”

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Spa Industry Lemonade

Spa Industry Lemonade
by Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

I remember when my twin sister, Katrine, first got engaged. The guy proposed, promising that a ring would follow. Well, when weeks turned into months and there was one excuse after another and no ring, she sensed he was waffling and decided to call it off. What followed were many tears and a lot of anger. We tried to comfort her, saying such things as “It’s for the best,” “Something good will come out of this,” etc.

Well, at the time she didn’t want to hear it, and wasn’t believing it anyway; however, here we are 30 years later laughing about what turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to her! Luckily she didn’t marry that guy and instead, some years later, she met Bill who swept her off her feet, proposed (with a lovely ring by the way), and they have been happily married for close to 25 years.

We all know stories like this from our own lives or others. In these days of economic turmoil, it’s probably a great time to dig some of them out and dust them off. It’s the old “lemons to lemonade” adage.

So I am proposing that those of us in the spa industry give ourselves a good pep talk and spend some time looking for opportunities in this challenging economic climate. How can the spa industry emerge stronger? What changes can we embrace during these times that will make our business better?

Well, I have a few ideas to get the lemons to lemonade conversation going. I look forward to hearing yours!

Change Messaging: Move from words like pampering to wellness, prevention and stress reduction. Line up with the Obama Stimulus Package with terms such as integrative health, behavioral changes, and health coaches.
Change Pay Structures: Move your practitioners to fixed pay per service and add benefits.
Downsize: Cut at the top, and move people down one rung on the ladder. You save money and have people performing in places where they excel. (It’s a way of undoing “The Peter Principle.”)
Practice What You Preach: Put all you know about stress reduction into action. Later you will be an even greater expert.
Create Community: Come up with ways to get your clients to bond with each other – that bonds them with your brand. Introduce group walks, group lectures, group parties, etc.

If you are seeing opportunities during these difficult times, please share them with us through the comment link. We all love hearing lemon-to-lemonade stories!
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Not Your Ordinary Manicure, Pedicure and Massage, Rather this Spa is a Jewel Box

Not Your Ordinary Manicure, Pedicure and Massage, Rather this Spa is a Jewel Box.

Susie Ellis, SpaFinder Insider

Last Friday I had a chance to visit my first Sense Spa. Rosewood introduced this brand quite recently – I believe within the past year or two. Three months ago the Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel opened Sense, A Rosewood Spa™. From what I understand, the correct name for the spa is, ‘Sense, A Rosewood Spa’ since that is the name they trademarked.

The name took me a bit by surprise for a couple of reasons – there already is a spa brand out there named Six Senses and the name Sense, A Rosewood Spa™ isn’t exactly an easy name to say, repeat, or remember.

On the other hand Rosewood has a fantastic reputation and I was certainly looking forward to what this sophisticated brand might present as their spa product. I understand that their portfolio of Sense Spas (although I think I am supposed to say portfolio of Sense, A Rosewood Spa™) looks like this at the moment:

Currently opened:
Rosewood Mayakoba, Mexico
Rosewood Little Dix Bay, Caribbean
CordeValle, A Rosewood Resort, CA
The Carlyle, A Rosewood Hotel, New York

Opening in 2009 or 2010:
Rosewood Dubai
Rosewood Sand Hill, CA
Rosewood San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
Rosewood Telluride, CO
Rosewood Costa Carmel, Costa Rica

I had a very positive spa experience on Friday evening – the Hammam treatment ($280) was a nice combination of a scrub, wrap, shower deluge with color therapy and massage. Here are some of the thoughts that went through my mind while I was there:

The spa feels intimate – from the moment I opened the iron door into the reception area, to the sparkling locker room, relaxation lounge and treatment rooms

It has a sophisticated décor with just the right touch of glamour for my taste

The $75,000 worth of shimmering gold tile that lines the stairway to the lower floor is especially effective

Donna Creagh, who was the consultant on this project, knows what gives a spa a heartbeat. She also created the very successful Great Jones Spa here in Manhattan. It seems that she gets the nuances right.

A small spa space with five treatments rooms may turn out to be a very smart spa-build given the current economy

Everything has a luxurious and sophisticated feel to it – even the packet with the shower cap – and the shower cap itself!

Getting the talented hairstylist Yves Durif and his team to be “the” boutique salon in the spa was a stroke of genius

And finally of particular interest to me, I noticed that despite all of the talk about doom and gloom in the economy, this spa was actually busy! More about that in the next blog.