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Next-Jen travel: In conversation with Clifford Weiner, GM, Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore
Sunday, 24 Mar, 2016
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When a well loved long established hotel brand with a loyal following completely reinvents itself – with new name and all – how does it communicate these fundamental changes to build on its success? Shangri-La’s Traders Hotel portfolio has been in the throes of an Asia-wide transformation, converting to the all-new Hotel Jen brand concept. Travelmole’s Ray Montgomery met with Hotel Jen Tanglin Singapore general manager Clifford Weiner to learn more.
What is in a name? ‘Jen’ is a virtual persona, functioning as the face of the new brand which aims to showcase its warm, playful spirit and personality. The company describes Jen as a ‘lover of life, travel and discovery.’
"Every hotel brand focuses on something that is product or service related. We found there was a space in the market to introduce a persona that is more personalised," explains Weiner. This is a very deliberate brand wide concept but he has striven to maintain Hotel Jen Tanglin’s own individual character by ensuring a more subtle integration.
"It is extremely important to stamp your own personality on a hotel and our own inimitable ‘small touches’ give Hotel Jen Tanglin a very unique quality."
However such a radical transformation is not without its challenges. While many loyal guests have embraced the new look, the hotel’s focus now is to re-establish itself under the new moniker.
"Our aim is to market ourselves as a long established, credible hotel business under the Shangri-La banner and try to dispel the assumption we are a new independent hotel. Our systems and knowledge have been honed over many years and with Shangri-La we are part of a large, market leading loyalty program," Weiner says.
The hotel’s core clientele is still the business traveller, although the leisure sector is gaining traction. Established markets include the US, UK, Europe and Australia with China especially strong since the rebrand. Notwithstanding this, cultivating the new Hotel Jen message to the masses is still a work in progress. Trade partners – agents, bed banks and even OTAs – have a key role to play in this respect in what is a highly competitive market.
"We need to create more awareness with the various distribution channels."
The usual template for a Millennial focused urban hotel, Weiner says, is generally tested in North America or Europe by western hospitality companies first before rolling out in Asia. Hotel Jen on the other hand was conceived in and is specifically for the Asia market, giving it an edge in the region. Arguably the most conspicuous alteration since the Traders era is the radical change in style. There are many touches which perfectly highlight the playful Hotel Jen persona, not least the quirky art and decor. But it is not simply showy for the sake of it. It is just one element of the hotel’s modern retelling of the Singapore story – something Weiner is keen to promote.
"It’s very important for us as a hotel to engage local suppliers and Singaporean artisanal brands to shape the personality of the hotel. As a differentiating factor, I feel strongly we should have a number of touch points that tell a local story."
Each month the hotel organises ‘pop-up weekends’ showcasing an idiosyncratic side of Singapore life courtesy of niche purveyors of cuisine, fashion and art. In short, it’s simply all about ‘engagement, interaction and telling a story.’
In fact he makes it his personal mission to engage directly with local talents who can potentially add an extra dimension to the hotel guest experience, while at the same time nurturing community focused relationships at a very organic level, something that is rather refreshing in cosmopolitan, globalised Singapore.
TravelMole Editorial Team
Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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