Be inspired by the secret of Hof van Saksen

Recently Sebastiaan de Ruiter spent a long weekend at vacation resort Hof van Saksen. In every cottage was the book "GAST!", in which Ronald Giphart describes the metamorphosis of Hof van Saksen. An inspiring and fascinating book that illustrates how important the human factor is in the jungle of marketing terms.

Distinctive branding

During the last lockdown, it was sometime in December, I went with my family for a long weekend to vacation resort Hof van Saksen. The resort is operated by Landal GreenParks, but in a way it's an odd duck in the Landal pie, as they carry entirely their own identity. They really distinguish themselves as a luxury family park with Saxon farmhouses and vacation homes. There's a whole history behind that.

The secret of Hof van Saksen

In 2012, the park is close to bankruptcy. Real estate investment company Driestar takes over the park, hands over the day-to-day operations to Landal GreenParks and hires Roland Rozenbroek as general manager. It will be up to him to breathe new life into the soulless resort and win back the hearts of its guests. In April 2020, Rozenbroek will step down as general manager of the resort. His parting gift is 'GAST!-Het geheim van Hof van Saksen', an inspiring and fascinating (management) book in which Ronald Giphart describes the metamorphosis of the resort. There is now a copy of this book in every vacation home.

Brat

I enjoyed reading the book. What makes the book so enjoyable and interesting? For starters, the story of Roland Rozenbroek is an intriguing one. A so-called self-made man: he didn't finish school, but knew how to be successful in the hospitality industry pretty darn quickly. For the owners of the establishments where he worked this was often a reason to sigh: who is this brat coming to tell me how to run my place? But thanks to his insight, he did manage to build a small hospitality empire in Amsterdam.

Not three thousand guests, but three thousand times one guest

Besides being the story of an interesting man, it is also a fine marketing book. Giphart spent two weeks at Hof van Saksen in the fall of 2020 to immerse himself in the goings-on at this resort. As a non-marketer, he ended up in a world where terms like customer journey and brand consistency flew around his ears. With great regularity, Giphart had to google what was meant by some marketing term, but gradually he realized Rozenbroek's strength. For eight years he gave his heart and soul so as not to miss a single detail. So one of the most important rules at Hof van Saksen was: we don't have three thousand guests, but three thousand times one guest. A substantial difference.

An extraordinary customer experience starts with people

This book beautifully describes a practical situation, demonstrating what all those marketing terms actually mean. How are you really consistent, how do you really create the extraordinary experience that Hof van Saksen promises? What Rozenbroek understands better than anyone else is that it starts with your people. If a customer tells a waitress during dinner that his or her son's birthday is the next day, it is important that that message is passed on so that a present can be delivered to the house the next day. Those details, that's how you create an extraordinary customer experience, and that also demonstrates that the cleaning lady is just as important as the food and beverage manager.

Human-centered DAM design also begins with listening.

I certainly don't want to measure myself against a guy like Rozenbroek, but we at Comrads also believe that success starts with people. No matter how sophisticated the technology, only when you get your people on board, when they understand why it is important to consistently use your brand elements, only then can the whole branding process become successful and marketing really becomes part of your DNA. We too try to bring that personal touch to our contact with clients. A human-centered DAM design also starts with listening. Without paying attention to people, you can attract the most amazing guru, but the road to success becomes a very difficult one.

Curious?

Want to talk further about how our Brand Management solutions can support your organization with content management, consistency and automation? Feel free to contact us or request a free demo right away. We like to think along with you. Now and in the future.