Word: rao
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With credit tight and customers scarce, chief executives from San Francisco to Shanghai are hunkering down, cutting costs and praying that they can survive the punishing global recession. But not Madhu Rao, the new CEO of Hong Kong - based luxury-hotel operator Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Rao, 57, is forging ahead with an aggressive plan to expand Shangri-La's 60-strong network of hotels, even as his business slumps. "We have one single vision," Rao says confidently, "to lift this [company] to another level...
...level Rao seeks is global. Shangri-La has confined itself mainly to its home turf of Asia, where it is a well-known brand. But now Rao, a former accountant who became CEO in August, sees opportunity in crisis. He is undertaking a wide-ranging expansion that will take Shangri-La hotels to markets as diverse as Las Vegas and Doha. In January, the company launched its first Shangri-La hotel in North America, with the opening of a 119-room property in Vancouver. Japan will see its first open in March in Tokyo, and Europe later this year...
...Rao confirms that Shangri-La's occupancy rates were down in the fourth quarter of 2008 (the company hasn't released specific figures). Shares of Shangri-La's Hong Kong - listed holding company have plunged by two-thirds from their 52-week high. Still, Rao says he currently has no intention of throttling back. Armed with cash from a $668 million rights offering in 2007 and $700 million in available credit, Rao feels he has the financial muscle to absorb the shock of the slowdown. He remains bullish on the prospects for Asia, and particularly for China, where Shangri...
...Rolls-Royces - they never discount," says Greg Dogan, Shangri-La's chief operating officer. Instead, Shangri-La is targeting new customers, including corporations that might benefit from government stimulus packages, like construction companies, or are recession-resistant, like pharmaceutical outfits. "We have to knock on a few more doors," Rao says...
...That's an understatement. But it's true that all of the negative attention - the news stories, the blog rants, the insulting YouTube videos - equates to free media for the Toyota brand. "That's worth a lot, especially in these tough times," says Akshay Rao, a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota. "You may dislike the Toyota ad for the aesthetics, but the underlying message of zero percent is coming through. Toyota is looking for recognition, recall and comprehension of the message." As painful as it is to admit - or hear the commercial yet again - "Saved by Zero" scores...