Welcome to The Stanza’s In The Room interview series, designed to make you feel like you’ve just had a very satisfying and insightful coffee chat with an industry leader.
*Today’s interview was made publicly available thanks to the support of Peoplevine, the CRM software trusted by the best hospitality brands. See why the best hospitality brands use Peoplevine and book your free demo here.
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Today's guest is Jamie Caring, founder of Sevengage Consultancy, through which he advises hospitality entrepreneurs and real estate owners on brand creation and community building. Prior to his consulting career, Jamie was the CMO of Soho House, the Commercial Director at Caprice Holdings, the holding company behind restaurant brands such as The Ivy, Le Caprice, and Sexy Fish, and the Commercial Director at The Birley Clubs, which owns club brands such as Annabel's and Mark's. Prior to hospitality, Jamie had a 15-year career in music and entertainment at MTV and VH1.
Jamie started at Soho House in 2008 when there wasn't a marketing team, and during his tenure, helped shape it into the global category-defining lifestyle brand that it is today. This was my longest interview to date, and I definitely could have continued the interview. We went in-depth on Jamie's knowledge and insights coming from both of his lives in entertainment and hospitality, and especially focused on strategy for launching and scaling hospitality businesses, as well as the psychology of members clubs. He truly understands how to build an enduring hospitality brand that is a reference for other emerging brands, and I know anyone listening to this episode will learn a lot from Jamie's experience.
Listen to the interview on Spotify or Apple.
Connect with Jamie here.
Interview Highlights:
Applying insights from entertainment to hospitality
Meeting Nick Jones and starting at Soho House
Marketing-led vs transaction-led hospitality
Jamie's philosophy on member programming & events
Can people buy into "community"?
What is a true community in the context of a business?
Lessons from Soho House's banker purge in 2010
Top drivers for both membership renewals and cancellations
Expanding from members clubs into a lifestyle brand
The art & science of advertising exclusivity
Thoughts on Soho House's recent negative press and its IPO
Balancing creative vision and needs of investors
Jamie's experience at Annabel's & how legacy clubs can stay relevant
Thoughts on the proliferation of members clubs
Trends in the club industry
Advice for hospitality entrepreneurs
Audience Q&A
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