Hospitality · Fine jewellery
How a hotel and a jewellery brand build a partnership in Dubai
Two names on an invitation is only a start. Here is how to give guests a reason to come, divide the work and decide whether to do it again.
Hotels and jewellers want many of the same people in the room, which is why the pairing keeps coming up. At Mandarin Oriental in Dubai, for example, Eva launched a property-wide festive campaign with Garrard. A partnership like this asks a lot of two organisations that work very differently, so the planning has to start well before the invitation.
Find a reason a guest would care
Start with what the two of you can offer together that neither could alone: time with a designer, a private viewing in a suite, or an appointment fitted into a guest’s stay. Describe it in one sentence before anyone mentions publicity.
If that sentence comes down to both names appearing on an invitation, keep working.
Say what each side wants
A hotel may be looking for a reason to talk to its guests, more attention for its outlets or a story for the press. A jewellery house usually wants time with new clients and a setting that suits the collection. Say these things out loud in the first meeting. A partnership where one side is quietly disappointed rarely gets a second round.
Check the fit
Compare the audience, the service standards and the timing. Can this hotel host the format you have in mind? Can the house supply the pieces and the specialists it needs?
In Dubai, name the property and the people you want to reach, because “UAE luxury clients” describes nobody in particular. Residents and visitors need different plans. A resident can come to the boutique next week, while a visitor may fly home on Thursday, so their follow-up has to work by message or in another city.
The guide to choosing a hotel brand partner has a fit scorecard and an editable brief you can use here.
Put the split in writing
Most arrangements divide along these lines. Yours may differ, but write it down either way.
Usually the hotel
- The room and set-up
- Arrivals, valet and reception
- Food and drink
- Messages to its own guests
Usually the jewellery house
- The selection and the specialists
- Handling, security and insurance
- Messages to its own clients
- Anything to do with the sale
Decided together
- Who is on the guest list, and on what basis
- Photography and press
- How each name and logo may be used
- Who follows up on what
Marketing can’t settle all of this alone. Bring the hotel’s events and guest-services colleagues into the conversation early, and the house’s retail and product-handling teams before anyone confirms what can be shown.
Walk through it as a guest
Sketch the visit from the first invitation to the car leaving. Who confirms the appointment? Who greets the guest? Who answers questions about the collection?
Watch the moment a hotel host introduces a jewellery specialist, because that is where guests get asked the same question twice. The guide to planning a private jewellery viewing covers the room and the schedule in more detail.
Agree what you will count
Do this before the event. Confirmed appointments, attendance, requests for more information and later boutique visits you can reasonably trace are all fair measures. A short shared summary is usually enough, and personal client records don’t need to move between companies. How to measure a luxury brand partnership explains what to count at each stage.
Decide whether to do it again
Sit down together soon afterwards, while people still remember the details. Was the appointment long enough? Did the invitation promise the right thing? Could the hosts answer what guests asked?
Then repeat it, change it or end it. Ending it can be a perfectly good outcome. For a wider view of this work, see luxury brand partnerships in Dubai, or the guide to luxury hotel launch marketing if a partnership is part of an opening.
Hotels & fine jewellery