In this Hotelintel.co LIVE event, Hotelintel.co's founder Wimintra interviews Dr. James Mabey, Managing Director for Middle East and Asia for Standard International.
Dr. Mabey is also the Professor of Hospitality Strategy and Development for Hong Kong Polytechnic School of Hotel Tourism and Management. In this interview, James speaks about International branding strategies, particularly for hotels, and lessons that he has learnt building hotel brands around the globe.
More importantly, he speaks about the pitfalls that many western brands often fall into when it comes to trying to realise their brands in new cultural settings - settings that may not share the same original core precepts that those brands were founded on. We also hear about how so-called 'studies' that many academics and executives rely on to execute their branding, marketing and investment strategies may well be flawed, and what hospitality executives can do to ensure that their branding is a success.
Dr. Mabey is fluent in several languages including Chinese (Mandarin), Thai and Spanish. His deep understanding of these languages and the cultures that go along with them puts him in a unique place when it comes to global branding and marketing.