Q: How did you form SCP?
We are both veterans in the hotel industry. Ken worked for public hotel companies, including Marriott International, Host and Sunstone. Pam worked in marketing both at Marriott International and then at USA Today. In 2018, we recognized an opportunity in a $9 trillion mature hospitality industry to create a hospitality company centered around a set of core values that squares with our own values and meets the needs of the conscious consumer.
Q: Does the world need another hotel brand?
The world definitely does not need another hotel brand or brand family. Still, the world is clearly telling us we need a better form of hospitality – one that shares society’s growing focus on wellbeing, mindset for good and prioritization of sustainability.
Consumers gravitate toward products and services that square with their own core values and represent who they aspire to be. Simply put, modern consumers are smart and know what they want - people will go out of their way to pay more for products and experiences that they feel good about. Today, there are few hospitality brands that genuinely resonate with the values of modern conscious consumers.
9 out of 10 people Identify with “conscious consumer” according to BBMG
Q: What research did you do before launching the brand?
Initially, we focused on sustainability and the environment. Upon further thought and research, the concept shifted to a holistic one involving wellness and taking care of oneself in order to be able to give back to the community and others. Wellness is physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and environmental. You can’t have one without the others. Wellness is about connection and interconnection.
Q: Do you need a specific loyalty program, or does the concept itself generate repeat stays?
SCP is in the infancy of its loyalty program. SCP’s guest loyalty “program” is based on the concept that “Every Stay Does Good.” The goal is to create lasting loyalty by providing guests with experiences that deliver a psychological lift because they know they have made a positive choice. We gage the loyalty-building effectiveness of our Every Stay Does Good program through net promoter scores (NPS). Our company-wide NPS target is 75, which would be considered world class. Today, our NPS is right about 50 and improving.
“People will go out of their way to pay more for products and experiences that align with their own core values. People buy what they feel good about.” – Ken Cruse
Q: Is the ESG bandwagon overloaded?
The ESG movement inspires many companies to do better, so that’s a great thing. That said, it’s difficult for an established brand or hospitality company with an existing mission and value system to authentically change course in response to the market’s need for better sustainability, governance and social good. An established company that deviates from its stated mission and values to gain ESG credit risks disenfranchising its existing stakeholders.
ESG compliance can be very difficult to establish and maintain when the brand doesn’t control its hotels’ real estate or management.
Q: How can a company avoid the perception of “greenwashing”?
We try to avoid creating the perception of greenwashing by using a third party (Earth Check) to validate our stated impacts.
We also seek to disarm potential critics by acknowledging up front that while we endeavor to do more good for our guests, communities and planet, SCP is and will always be a work in progress with respect to our stated “healthy, kind, green” core values.
Part of our “SCP code” which is hand-painted on a wall of each of our hotels, says, “We accept that we will never be perfect, however, we always strive to be better,” which helps set the tone that SCP is not the perfect representation of the values of healthy, kind and green. We think this not only helps us to avoid the perception of greenwashing, it also says that we are happy to meet our guests wherever they are on their own personal journeys, even if they don’t routinely live a healthy, kind or green lifestyle.
Q: What is some of the low-hanging fruit that hotels can take advantage of in the quest to become greener and more environmentally friendly?
Companies can start by creating a culture of empowerment that espouses the values of ESG. Most of the low-hanging fruit can be found on the environmental side, including projects like solar energy, water conservation, adding EV charging stations, and committing to regenerative efforts like reducing single-use containers.
Another easy step is to set up arrangements with local farms to:
- Source produce locally, seasonally and with minimal packaging
- Develop a culinary program that utilizes the maximum amount of the locally-sourced product / minimizes waste
- Send any remaining kitchen waste back to the farm for regeneration into next year’s crops
Q: How key have values and positioning been to returns? Do you see these generating an economic return or a return on values?
Both. In the short term, you forgo some profitability because of higher costs involved in efforts like plant-based menus, retrofitting rooms, and customer acquisition costs which could result in lower margins, but longer-term we believe measurably stronger economic returns will follow.
SCP has a longer-term value proposition. However, by espousing healthy, kind and green values, SCP attracts team members who are more engaged and inspired because they share the same values. This employee engagement creates better guest experiences, which results in higher guest loyalty and lower employee turnover.
Q: What examples of goals are you working on going forward? How do you approach your environmental goals? What have you learned in implementing these goals?
In 2021, the company instituted Raising the Bar:
- Shifting food and beverage offerings to plant-based, locally sourced food
- 100% peaceful rooms (no TVs, minimal electronics, etc.)
- 100% net zero waste
SCP aims to implement these goals in a way that will stick with a thoughtful roll-out process by educating team members and guests about why these goals and initiatives exist. The goals are aligned with holistic hospitality, which is the idea of the interconnectedness of taking care of oneself, others and the environment.
