Tribe was born in Australia in 2017. The brand is one of the latest additions to the Accor group. How is it positioned in the group’s hotel portfolio?
Pauline Oster : Tribe arrived on the 1stis October 2023 in the “Premium, Midscale and Economy” (PME) portfolio of the Accor group. It is the latest addition to this category of hotels. It is a hybrid brand: “midscale” with its 4 stars and “premium” with its lifestyle essence and its high-end, sophisticated design. The spirit of Tribe, which means “tribe” in French, is to create a pleasant place to live, a reflex for coming to work or to relax. The staff, dressed in casual urban attire – loose t-shirt and sneakers – welcome you “like at home”, making you feel at ease. Tribe is a free electron in the Accor group, with a business unit dedicated to the brand to ensure specific expertise, development and support for hotel owners and managers, the main players in the customer experience.
How do you think about the brand’s design experience?
AFTER : We are designing a design experience common to each of the Tribe hotels, with particularities depending on their location. We work on the combination of colors, textures and materials to give our establishments an exceptional design roughness and granularity on the hotel market. A designer specializing in art curation unearths iconic objects that make up the recognizable design of Tribe, his signature. We mix these art objects with more general public objects in each space of the hotel. We complete this aesthetic approach with a sound designer (sound designer, Editor’s note) and a light designer (lighting professional, Editor’s note) to create an ambiance – sound, but also olfactory – and lighting that evolves throughout the day. We consider the sound environment as a very important element in creating the customer experience and we therefore reference music representative of the essence of Tribe, more particularly electro, urban and pop-rock music.
According to a study conducted by the Accor group, 37% of customers place catering at the top of the criteria when selecting a hotel. Does this priority surprise you?
AFTER : Yes, and at the same time the hotel is a city within a city. At the hotel we sleep, we meet people, we relax… and we eat. The F&B (food & beverage, i.e. the activity of bars, restaurants, room service, Editor’s note) is also an imprint of the atmosphere that we want to create in a hotel. In each Tribe, we have designed a “social hub” with a central bar which punctuates the day with different activities. The living spaces are not partitioned, but allow, depending on the time of day, to work, relax, meet, eat… This flexibility is one of Tribe’s ingredients.
What differentiating experience do you offer around catering?
AFTER : Tribe imports international trends into a local environment, which sets it apart from other brands in the group. We have reworked the breakfast to make it healthier, in line with Tribe’s lifestyle DNA and the desire of citizens to take care of their health. The products have, for example, low glycemic indexes and we ensure their quality. In all our hotels, we have a barista offer with a large selection of coffee sourced from local roasters. Our baristas know its origin and can tell its story to customers. This coffee, one of the pillars of the brand, is also available, via a machine and capsules, in each room. We also offer a “grab and go” offer, foods or dishes prepared by the establishment or sourced, always locally, and ready to take away or eat on site. We try to avoid the industrial… even in the drinks offering. At the time of the after work, another pillar of Tribe is established: the mixology offer. We have a menu with classic cocktails, but also flagship, signature cocktails, created by our mixologists in each hotel.
What does a Tribe room look like?
AFTER : We work on spaces from 17 m2so there are also larger rooms and suites. This dimension may seem small, but we compensate for this narrowness with a high level of design, decoration and service. Whatever the type of room, the same level of services is offered. There is no need to pay extra to have that little something extra, that once again sums up the Tribe state of mind. Thus, products from the luxury brand Kevin Murphy are present in each room. They are all equipped with a latest generation television and a Chromecast (a device that allows audiovisual content to be broadcast on a screen from a mobile device, Editor’s note)but also a steamer (a steamer for clothes, Editor’s note) high quality. We are also testing a new beauty trend at the Tribe establishment in Clichy: collagen capsules. We are on pilots with three ranges.
What is your development plan?
AFTER : Worldwide, we have opened 18 Tribe hotels. In Europe, 13. In October 2024, two hotels open, one in Manchester and the other in Düsseldorf. In 2025, we will inaugurate Tribe establishments in Pantin, Montpellier, Malta, Krakow, The Hague and Reims. Our ambition is to open 100 hotels in Europe in the next five years. 20 contracts have already been signed for new hotels and around thirty are currently being signed. This development will facilitate brand recognition, notoriety and identification by our customers, who will be able to have the Tribe reflex as we establish ourselves. There is an appetite for the brand, because it complements a hotel offering at Accor. This type of hotel was also missing on the French market.
How do you build brand awareness?
AFTER : When I arrived at Tribe, I launched the “Level Up” strategy. We had a beautiful brand, which people liked, but without them really understanding what it was. The idea was therefore to use this base to go a step further. This strategy is made up of three pillars: reaffirming Tribe’s operational standards, its essence and making the brand’s constituent elements shine through in the customer experience; work on notoriety and ensure performance. These three pillars are connected to each other. We have worked hard on awareness this year, via press relations, presentations at trade fairs or meetings within schools, but also via online marketing campaigns – awareness and performance. We went to do roadshows with our owners. We operated at the brand level, but also on a granular basis at the hotel level thanks to communications around the partnerships we established. Partnering with a brand means taking advantage of its notoriety to establish yours. But, also, potentially benefit from its legitimacy, in fashion, design…
“We are aimed at aficionados of design, art, fashion…”
Is a television campaign possible?
AFTER : Television is not part of our marketing plans. In addition to the considerable budget that the media requires, it seems too mainstream to us. While everyone is welcome at Tribe, we are aimed at design, art, fashion aficionados… and I’m not sure they are often in front of their TV. The idea would rather be to make Tribe appear in a trendy series!
The Accor group was a Premium Partner of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. What was the impact of the event for Tribe?
AFTER : We arrived late in the Accor group’s negotiations around the Olympic and Paralympic Games and we thought it would be complicated for us to fill our hotels at this time. Finally, we had very good occupancy rates during the Olympics! We took advantage of the event to create an animation of our network in Europe. In particular, we launched a cocktail competition for our mixologists around the theme of the Olympics. We organized the final between mixologists from Milan, London and Saint-Ouen in the newly opened Tribe de Clichy. The creations, with the torch, the gold medal… were incredible.
“We respect the commitment made by the Accor group to zero plastic in all hotels”
How are you working to reduce the carbon footprint of Tribe hotels?
AFTER : We respect the commitment made by the Accor group to zero plastic in all hotels. We have removed water bottles, single-use bottles. The Tribe hotel in Batignolles (Paris) is, for example, certified Green Key 2024, an international eco-label awarded to tourist establishments and accommodation that meet environmental sustainability criteria. Our goal is for all our hotels to be certified or engaged in the certification process by the end of the year. To do this, we are working on our catering concepts for 2025. In addition to local products, whose carbon impact is lower, we want to reduce the proportion of meat products on the catering menu. The Accor group is committed to offering, by 2030, 60% of non-meat products in its offering. We will focus on this objective for 2025, by offering more plant-based or vegetarian alternatives.
What other trends do you see in the hospitality sector?
AFTER : Artificial intelligence. I see this technology as a source of optimization of operational processes. A way to solve boring tasks so that employees find pleasure in their daily lives. AI is already integrated into the Accor group’s revenue management system (dynamically and automatically set room prices to increase revenue and occupancy rate, Editor’s note) and we are starting to integrate it into customer response processes. Tomorrow, we can imagine AI being integrated into operational processes, such as room checking.
“I have my dream job.”
Why did you choose the hotel industry?
AFTER : When I was very little, my parents took me to a Hilton hotel, I remember being completely amazed. After my baccalaureate, I dreamed of working in the hotel industry, but my parents were reluctant. I started a degree in international relations, I tried my hand at banking, I continued with a master’s degree in international commerce, but my dream remained very present. After an MBA in marketing, I received a job offer in an American company, with a colossal salary. I couldn’t accept. It was at that time, in 2008, that Accor contacted me, for an internship, to help redesign a new hotel brand in France that came from Australia, All-Seasons. Sixteen years later, I am the director of a lifestyle brand also from Australia. I have my dream job. There were moments of doubt, of struggles, the journey was not linear, but I was able to count on the support of the Accor group who believed in me.
Source: www.e-marketing.fr
