Building iconic hospitality brands

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.

Thank you all for being part of The Stanza. If you enjoy the interview, please share it with a friend or colleague :)

Follow The Stanza on IG ⁠here⁠.

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