MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
BY RYAN 0 ‘ GARA
COVID-19 MARKETING
WHEN THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC STRUCK , spas had to adapt quickly . In a matter of days , they went from business-as-usual to figuring out how to close their business and leave it in a good spot for when the reopening process eventually occurred . They faced issues related to staffing , finances and sanitization , often all at once . When it became clear that COVID-19 was not going away quickly , spas also had to figure out how best to approach marketing .
Marketing during COVID-19 is a balancing act . Spas are businesses that need to make money to stay open , but they also had to read the room before launching a self-centered marketing campaign . Many people were hit hard financially during the pandemic and were not as apt to spend . How should spas walk the line of continuing to reach their target audience while still being sensitive to the situation ?
This month , Member Perspectives looks at marketing from two vantage points and the strategies associated with each . The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group is a Hong Kong-based company with 30 spas and 32 hotels around the world , and the Goddess Health & Wellness Day Spa is a small day spa in Australia that is primarily a tourist destination . While there are some similarities in their approaches , each had different goals and took different routes to achieve them . Mandarin Oriental went with a structured plan across its properties to contribute to a greater goal , while Goddess Health & Wellness had more freedom to experiment and see which types of content drew a response from its audience . Each found
Mandarin Oriental got creative by livestreaming events on Global Wellness Day .
success , showing that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing .
Marketing for several properties
Even before COVID-19 , Mandarin Oriental featured stringent safety and cleanliness measures in place due to prior experience with the Sars epidemic . In the immediate aftermath , Mandarin Oriental tried to communicate that it would continue its reputation for quality , service and cleanliness and reach the high standard it had set at its 30 spas around the world .
During a period of lockdown , businesses obviously have far fewer guests , so Mandarin Oriental emphasized
32 PULSE ■ OCTOBER 2020