By Denis Sheehan, Publisher, H&C News: Subsidised tattoos, piercings and hairstyles to combat people and skills shortages in hospitality.
In a search for solutions to the people and skills shortages in hospitality, subsidised tattoos, piercings and hairstyles is if nothing else, bold.
Under the slogan ‘Ready for a new tattoo?’ Ruby, led by founder and CEO Michael Struck, has created an innovative new employer branding campaign, which started in June across the DACH (German speaking Europe), UK and the Netherlands. The aim of the campaign is to show job seekers that the hotel industry is ‘sexy’ and Ruby is more than just a traditional employer.
Ruby supports every new employee after six months in their new job, with a grant of up to 500 euros for a tattoo, piercing or new hairstyle. Ruby wants to encourage its employees to create their individual success story, to show their own personality and also showcase it at work.
“Ruby is a brand for team players who value character, soul and individuality,” says Uta Scheurer, Vice President Human Resources. “We love people with personality and that’s what we want to communicate with our campaign.”
The face of the campaign is model and regular Ruby resident Moritz Taylor. The campaign is deliberately implemented in an attention-grabbing way and sets itself apart from classic recruitment methods.
The campaign will be played out on social media and the brand’s digital channels, directly on the storefronts of the hotels in the city centres, as well as in print in collaboration with Ruby’s long-standing local German media partners.
The placement of the campaign outside of the hotel’s own media assets into print media does stand out as out of kilter, a bit 20th century, unless media dynamics are very different in Germany. Ruby Group have one London hotel, with four more in the pipeline, where young people generally do not go far beyond their mobile for most reading matter.
The Ruby Group operates thirteen hotels, with a further 22 under construction or in the planning phase.
