The Business Travel Magazine Dec/Jan 2019/20

THE CONVERSATION
Chief Marketing Officer, citizenM
Robin Chadha
Sasha Wood chats to citizenM CMO Robin Chadha about establishing
and growing a new hotel brand in an already crowded marketplace
Abrand is a living thing that has
values, heritage, personality, tone of
voice and DNA that never changes.
Human beings have all these things but a
strong brand has them too,” says citizenM’s
Chief Marketing Officer, Robin Chadha.
He is the man responsible for growing the
hotel brand into a distinctly recognisable set
of 13 hotels in seven countries (so far) since
its inception back in 2008.
The group aimed to establish a luxury
hotel brand with a unique identity that is
predominantly aimed at business travellers.
“We looked at the market and said ‘let’s
disrupt this traditional hotel industry model’”
says Chadha. With his design partner at
Concrete, Chadha set about deconstructing
the traditional hotel model, deciding what
aspects to streamline or change.
Not quite a ‘disruptor’ in the modern
sense, the group is nevertheless showing
how things can be done differently in the
hospitality industry. It’s found a gap in the
market for affordable luxury and it’s
identified its core customer in the savvy
urbanites and creative millennials that travel
the world’s cities for work and play.
“If you look at strong brands such as
Tesler, Virgin and Starbucks, they all have
personality and a tone of voice,” says Chadha.
He knows from his experience in the often
fickle fashion industry that establishing a
strong and unique brand identity is half the
battle. His family used to own Mexx – the
US fashion company – which once had a
staggering turnover. But Chadha says when
they sold the company, the new owners
made too many changes, forgot the core
identity, confused the customer, and
ultimately the brand was dead.
Chadha’s father’s experience running Mexx
also provided the lightbulb moment that led
to the founding of citizenM. Mexx was quite
cost-conscious so when the designers and
buyers travelled for work – to Tokyo, New
York, Paris, Milan – they could never spend
more than 100 euros per night on hotels.
This led them to stay in non-descript
places right outside of the city centre and
they’d always come back a little loose-faced
and lacklustre. A gap in the market was
identified for hotels that combine great
design, good locations and top amenities at
a price that doesn't break the bank.
Chadha is very clear about what citizenM
represents: “We’re accessible to everyone,
we’re urban and we always offer value. We
always try to be below the market,” he states.
The core brand values have filtered
through to every aspect of the hotels from
the design ethos to the friendly staff
‘ambassadors’ who are picked through a
All our guest rooms
are the same, offering
everything you need and
nothing you don’t. It’s all
about the experience and
easing the journey for guests”
casting process and trained in every aspect
of hotel management. Its properties manage
to be both smart and quirky. The living room
– essentially the hotel’s lobby lounge – is
scattered with the kind of interesting objects
you might find at a friend’s house, and bar
staff act with the familiar ease of flatmates.
The ambassador concept has also been
very successful in delivering high levels of
service: “In New York City we rank 9.4 for
service, while the Four Seasons ranks 9,”
Chadha proudly boasts.
He knows his customers too. Chadha says
they have four core customers including
‘cultural citizens’ and ‘business citizens’ but
acknowledges that we can be all things at
different times. “You may be travelling for
work, in meetings during the day but
checking out the latest cocktail bars and
restaurants in the evening,” he says. And the
brand is designed to reflect that.
By walking in guests’ shoes, citizenM has
also changed the way hotels traditionally
operate. Self check-in has proved
particularly popular, eliminating the need for
guests to queue at a reception desk and
instead use a kiosk to receive their room key
in less than a minute. And by the end of 2019
it will have launched the citizenM app which
will bypass check-in and check-out altogether.
“Everything we do is for the good of the
brand, but eventually for the good of the
guest too,” says Chadha. Following recent
openings in Boston, Zurich and Amsterdam,
additions in 2020 will include hotels in
Seattle, Geneva and Washington DC.
32 THEBUSINESSTRAVELMAG.com