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SELECTED ISSUE
Spa Business
2014 issue 1

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Leisure Management - Male grooming

Product focus

Male grooming


Luxury spas are increasingly offering more wellbeing services for men. We take a look at why and how

Kate Corney, The Leisure Media Company
Male grooming

Pour Homme Luxury Men’s Grooming
Fairmont Dubai, UAE

Dennis Doroja, Salon Manager

What do you offer male clients?
Our salon is a dedicated male facility so we only offer male grooming services by Hommage. We have a full range of services including haircut, shave, facial, manicure, pedicure and waxing and we only use products that are designed and created specifically for men.

Where do your clients come from?
The Fairmont Dubai is a business hotel attracting a high proportion of men and 20 per cent of our revenue comes from hotel guests. The rest are all local residents of different nationalities.

Most new clients come from word-of-mouth referrals. Once on-site it’s simple to please them – just make them feel relaxed.

What do your clients want?
The Master Barber Cut, which costs AED135 (US$37, €27, £22) is the most popular service followed by the basic or luxury Hand and Foot Grooming starting at AED120 (US$32, €23, £20). The 60-minute Precision Shave and the Renewal Facial, priced at AED500 (US$130, €99, £83), is the third most popular service.

 



The Master Barber Cut is the most popular service at this male-dedicated facility
Percentage of male clients: 100 per cent
Product house: Hommage

The Spa at Four Seasons Maui
Hawaii, USA

Pat Makozak, spa director (Americas)


What do male spa-goers want?
Men want skincare produced with men’s skin health in mind. By bringing in more male-orientated skincare products we’ve seen retail purchases by men increase by 42 per cent.

OM4 Men created an amenity display for our men’s locker area so products can be sampled discreetly. It’s confidence-building for men to be able to try before they buy and this tactic is working wonders. We’ve
definitely noticed that men have become much more intrigued with caring for themselves and their skin and as spa-goers they’re very no-nonsense. They know exactly what they want; there’s no second-guessing on the part of the staff.

Do men buy more products than women?
Men typically only buy what they need. They’ll take only one product – the one they’ve run out of. But they’re certainly less cost-conscious than women.

How do you market to men?
We highlight our activity and food images in our marketing material to reach men as most of them play hard, rest hard and then have a good meal. As a resort property, marketing to couples also works well for us and a romantic get-away appeals to mostly everyone of every age.


 
OM4 Men, HydroPeptide, Somerville, ISUN
 
Percentage of male clients: 40-50 per cent
Product houses: OM4 Men, HydroPeptide, Somerville, ISUN

Spa My Blend by Clarins at Ritz-Carlton
Toronto, Canada

Jill Carlen, Spa Director


What are the benefits of male clients?
On average, they spend CA$199 (US$179, €131, £108) a visit, slightly more than females at CA$195 (US$176, €129, £106). They also spend less time in the spa – usually only 30 minutes after their treatment, resulting in a higher dollar per minute ratio.

What do they want?
Results-oriented treatments are the most popular. Our CA$340 (US$307, €226, £188), 150-minute Blokes and Beer treatment – a manicure, facial and massage followed by a beer – works well also.

In addition, we’ve created a Gentlemen’s Power Hour consisting of treatment choices that make up an hour, including a 30-minute facial, 15-minute power nap, ear or nose waxing, sports manicure, scalp massage and extra touches such as charging a smartphone, pressing a shirt, a shoe shine or a smoothie to go. Men who work nearby are glad there’s a quick solution so they can get back to work.

How do men like to be treated?
Men prefer more privacy. They don’t like to have manicures or pedicures with lots of other women around and they don’t like a big fuss. At check out, men prefer a smooth and quick transaction as well, they don’t typically like a big show and tell of the products so it’s important that the therapists recommend the products to men in the room. This way they are far more likely to make a purchase.

How do you market to men?
We only use pictures of men and strong, bold lettering. Anything that could be interpreted as feminine is immediately dismissed.

 



Men spend less time, but more money, in the spa
Percentage of male clients: 28 per cent – a 16 per cent increase since 2012
Product houses: Spa My Blend by Clarins, Clarins For Men

eforea: spa at Hilton
Pattaya, Thailand

Ryan Crabbe, Senior Director,
global spa brands

What are the benefits of male clients?
Male clients drive more volume to the spa and increase our customer base – we’re able to target men and families as well as just women.

Where do they come from?
Sixty-two per cent of our male customers come from leisure and sports and fitness visits, and an increasing number come with their partners. Others come from business (30 per cent) and conference (8 per cent) visits.

How do you promote the spa in-house?
Our therapists will walk around the pool one to two times a day, with a mini amenities tray, offering a free five-minute neck and shoulder massage. If men want a full treatment, we make an appointment and escort them to the spa. We gather two guests a day doing this.

We also heavily promote treatments via TV and written collateral in the health and fitness area which is linked to the spa.

What do male clients want?
A product line specific to their needs and not necessarily one that carries a male line as an adjunct to its core line. We chose VitaMan for this reason and because its message is clear and simple.

What do you offer male clients?
We introduced results-driven treatments specially designed – and named – for men such as a De-stress Face Treatment, Three-Part Recharging Massage and two different types of sport massages. We have a wide range of 47 products for men and 12 treatments.


 



An average of two men a day are up-sold a treatment after a free pool-side massage
Percentage of male clients: 51 per cent
Product houses: VitaMan, Li’tya, Kerstin Florian

Re:Spa at Reebok Sports Club
London, UK

Sally Fairbanks, Spa Manager

What do male spa goers want?
They like treatments that are more manual, as opposed to electrical; and deep tissue massage as opposed to lighter massage movements.

How do you promote the spa in-house?
As Re:Spa is a health club spa, a lot of our cross-promotions are sports- or medically-orientated – many treatments either enhance or assist the healing process. Also, the spa ensures the fitness team understands and is aware of what’s on offer in the spa.

Where do your male clients come from? The Reebok Club is in Canary Wharf, the banking and corporate hub of London, which attracts a high volume of men. We have 7,000 health club members and 60 per cent of these are men.

We’ve evolved our treatment menu to cater to their tastes because attracting more male spa-goers has increased our turnover – they generate a high percentage of our income.

How do you market to men?
The best results from male-targeted marketing campaigns have come from direct, straight, bold language. The campaigns use little spa jargon and clearly outline the results and benefits of treatments/products. They’re always factual avoid descriptive or emotive words.

 



There’s a big crossover between fitness and spa clients at this health club spa in London
Percentage of male spa clients: 35-40 per cent
Product houses: Aromatherapy Associates’ The Refinery, Murad and Guinot

Six Senses Spa in the Westin hotel
Paris, France

Melina Pourcel, Spa Director

How do you attract male clients? We work regularly with men’s magazines and have around five to 10 editorial pieces in them a month. The magazines are focusing more on spas as more men are becoming spa-goers.

Once in the spa, we’ve found that there’s little difference in how men and women wish to be treated and we adapt treatments to the needs of each person. Although we have a mixed menu of treatments, men particularly love the deep tissue massage.

How often do men buy products following treatments? After facials, around half our male customers buy products. We’ve found our product choice has helped attract male consumers because they like the textures and smells of them.

How loyal are male customers? They usually visit us once a month. The key is for them to find the right therapists in the first place, so we have a mixed team of male and female therapists to give them as much choice as possible. From the moment a man finds the therapist who provides the treatment they need and who they trust, they give their trust back and come to the spa regularly.

 



At the Six Senses Spa in Paris men only become regular clients once they’ve found the right therapist

 
Sothys, Visoanska
 
Percentage of male clients: 50 per cent
Product houses: Sothys, Visoanska


Originally published in Spa Business 2014 issue 1

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