Marketing: Lasting Impressions

By L. Brooks Baldwin

The candle on my nightstand flickered and its engaging fragrance momentarily distracted me from my book. I reached over to examine the candle. The glass jar inscribed with ”Spa Soleil” instantly triggered pleasant memories of my recent visit to South Carolina.
      It was fall of 2007 when I ventured to Hilton Head Island, a recreation-lover's paradise situated among South Carolina's temperate barrier islands. I went there to experience spas,

but was immediately taken with the geography, culture, history and renowned hospitality of the semi-tropical coastal counties known as Low Country.
      While the 12-mile-long, five-mile-wide island claims only 31,000 permanent residents, it attracts an average of 2.5 million visitors each year, most of whom stay at its more than 10,000 accommodation options. During the lengthy high season from March to November, families, wedding groups and meeting attendees flock to Hilton Head.

Spa Soleil

Upon entering one of the 500-plus guestrooms at the Hilton Head Marriott Resort & Spa, I spotted an assortment of treats the spa staff had sent to welcome me, along with a service menu and the memory-inducing candle. Later, lounging on a balcony that overlooked a restless Atlantic Ocean, I perused the spa menu (which offered a tempting variety of treatments as well as a Teen Spa program), sipped wine and listened to the waves splash against the shore—all in the amber haze of that deliciously scented Spa Soleil candle.
      Upon entering Spa Soleil the following morning, the first thing I noticed was how the spa seemed far larger than its 8,000 square feet. Down the hall from an enormous co-ed relaxation room I noted men's and women's locker rooms, each with steam and sauna.

Courtesy Spa Soleil
 

    When Krystal Silverthorn was hired as the director of Spa Soleil, she was an experienced medical aesthetician who’d never worked in spa management. Yet she was charged with the daunting task of handling its August 2007 grand opening. Recalling the experience, she told me, "I've grown a lot and have accomplished many things I didn't think could get done.”

Courtesy Spa Soleil
 
    Silverthorn certainly learned quickly. Beyond wooing the local crowd, she focused extensively on "training, training and training. The low season presented an opportunity for us to revamp and improve ourselves," she says of herself and the spa's original 20 employees. The high season with its onslaught of tourists necessitated the hiring of close to 30 more people. And while substantial training was required for these new hires, Silverthorn was at ease knowing that her well-trained, seasoned staff would step up in the leadership roles that come with the territory.
      During its abbreviated low season (November to March), the spa's focus shifts from servicing hotel clients to servicing locals. In addition to a year-round 20% discount available to locals Monday through Wednesday, Silverthorn soon plans to initiate a program for women that will include monthly spa parties and yoga classes.

      Spa Soleil's retail space must be given its due. The journey from front desk to private spa milieu is cleverly designed so that each client must wander directly through the retail space. The gigantic space features a wide range of casual clothing, loungewear, and yoga and fitness gear; home-care products; children's spa products and clothing; books; and assorted gift items, including those memorable candles.

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