Help doctor, I can't find a pulse!

Help doctor, I can't find a pulse!

Since I started writing this column 12 months ago I've covered a smorgasbord of dos and don'ts, as well as the good, the bad and the ugly of living brands. But I've never really addressed the issue of what a "living brand" really is.

I was prompted to tackle this meaty issue 12 months after it was probably due thanks to a recent trip to Phuket. Over the last seven years I've travelled regularly to the island and have always enjoyed it, usually staying in one of the island's numerous beautiful resorts, yet I've always come away with the feeling of "but". Late last month I finally nailed what the "but" was: far too many resort brands on Phuket don't live. They recline. They chill. They put their feet up in hammocks. They are all having a bit of an afternoon nap. Boring, dull and downright unimaginative. Far from being living brands, they are seaside snooze-fests. What's missing is a rhythm, a pulse: anything that can shift the heartbeat above its restive state.

Before we dig further into the causes and problems with this tropical somnambulance, let's take a little stroll to the origins of hospitality. If one peers into the coaching inns of 18th-century Europe _ for example, the centrepiece of these establishments were their social hubs: the bar and the restaurant. All manner of unmentionable debauchery took place, but they were essentially meeting places for people to talk, engage, laugh together and be entertained. The guestroom was almost an afterthought, a place to rest your weary head after the mayhem and frolicking from down below. In short, the inns were vibrant hubs of human connectivity. As Abraham Maslow informed us, we like a sense of belonging and social connectivity, and through that connectivity comes inspiration and greater fulfilment.

Yet in the modern resort there is so little that engages guests, and what there is seems to be the odd tweak here and there on themes being peddled by others along the beach front. Similarly, when in Khao Lak I visited about six of the newer beachfront resorts that have popped up. Some were well designed, most had helpful and charming staff, but none of them felt in any way enlivening or invigorating (even taking into account the off season). Plus the design configurations all felt like variations on the same theme _ reception on the inland edge of the property, guestrooms running down either side, pond and swimming pool in the centre and bar next to the beach. And the major emphasis in each seemingly focused on relaxing, pottering about and taking it easy. Even the perennial favourite in the repertoire of repetitive resort management _ the daily activity bulletin _ just smacks of coming from the "got-to-have-one-of-those-not-to-be-left-behind-by-the-neighbours" school of copycat hospitality management.

It's worth considering where this passive mode came from. Basically it was from the influence of Westerners, for whom doing nothing other than reading a good book, taking a dip, getting a sunburn and sipping a sundowner was enough. (Go to southern Spain if you want to get a clearer picture.) But those lobster-coloured layabouts are being trampled in the rush by Russians, other Asians and particularly the Chinese to get down to the beach. And for Chinese, doing nothing is stressful! They want to learn, get involved, socialise, understand a bigger world, because for most they've seen precious little of it during their lives.

So where are all the more active, involving, stimulating destinations that recognise this and are distinct from the resort-by-numbers crowd? Club Med is a shining beacon of differentiation: its entire function is centred on rejuvenating, family-based activities and learning adventures. I learned to juggle at Club Med a few years back, and my children still recollect their high trapeze acrobatics. Thanyapura in the centre of Phuket island has a globally unique emphasis on guiding guests and members towards more balanced and fulfilling lives, through sport coaching, mind management, integrative health and education. There are one or two other sparks of energy and differentiation out there, but the problem with most of the resort lemmings is they have been built around the same fundamental set of needs and functionality for far too long _ in short, places to switch off, not to spark your imagination. And that is not going to go down well with the hordes of fulfilment- and betterment-seeking Chinese and other Asians who are now flocking to Southeast Asian beaches.

To turn these predictably passive resorts into something enlivening, they need to go back to the basics and remember that humans react really well to places with a heart, a spirit and a sense of life. And many of them need to stop copying the others, because all they're doing is replicating the same misplaced and monotonous fare. In order not to fall into this trap, they need to throw away the notion of "resort" and all it has come to mean and examine who their guests are and what they want. Whether the answer lies in wellness and anti-ageing, sport and health, meditation and mind-management or ocean-based adventures, it certainly doesn't lie in expecting an increasing amount of your guests to check-in and switch off.


James Stuart provides branding guidance to companies throughout Asia, specialising in the hospitality and service industries. He is the managing partner of The Brand Company and can be reached by email at james@thebrandco.com. For more information, visit: www.thebrandco.com

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