Philips Ambient Experience

As I am packing my bags to head back to New York following a great week here in Amsterdam, I am still in awe over this hotel, CitizenM that we have been staying in all week.

One of the many aspects is the fact that one of the partners in the venture is Philips Electronic. According to Yahoo Business, Royal Philips Electronics has its royal fingers in lots of different pies. It makes consumer electronics, including TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and fax machines. But it also makes light bulbs (#1 worldwide), electric shavers (#1) and other personal care appliances, picture tubes, medical systems, and silicon systems solutions. Consumer electronics account for the largest portion of the company’s sales. Philips has been dumping noncore businesses — such as its stake in music giant PolyGram, mobile phones operations, and its chip unit — while acquiring and forming joint ventures in its primary lines of business, including medical equipment financing, thin film LCD panels, and digital rights management.

What makes this especially interesting is that this hotel is one of the first to us Philips Ambient Experience, an interactive, people focused environment that uses design and technology to create a more comfortable experience for hotel guests and staff, improve workflow and increase operational effectiveness.

-Bill

First commercial rollout Ambient Experience with citizenM hotels pioneers new direction for hospitality industry
WEBWIRE – Friday, June 27, 2008
Amsterdam, The Netherlands – Philips has today announced the first commercial rollout of its integrated Ambient Experience for hospitality with the launch of the citizenM hotel chain in Amsterdam. Combining Philips’ strengths across a unique combination of products and broad portfolio of solutions the Ambient Experience, which was originally debuted at the London Simplicity Event in 2007, provides players in the hospitality sector with complete, custom-made and integrated solutions across ambience, infotainment, personal care and design value spaces.

Using our bespoke solutions, hotel partners are able to build a unique intimacy with their guests and remove the traditional feeling of anonymity from the hotel experience. As consumer choices are increasingly driven by emotional factors - beyond merely the functionality of a product - the Ambient Experience offers them immersive experiences that go ‘beyond the product’ and engage all the senses.

“The commercial rollout of our Ambient Experience for the hospitality sector is a further validation of the success of our simplicity vision and customer-centric approach,” according to Geert van Kuyck, Chief Marketing Officer at Philips. “By leveraging our unique combination of solutions we are leading the way in creating innovative, people-centric solutions and designs, thereby creating a more meaningful, personal and desirable proposition”.

In an increasingly competitive market, the hospitality sector is looking for new solutions to help them differentiate themselves and achieve global consistency in branding and experience. “With the Ambient Experience for hospitality we are able to put the consumer at the heart of the hotel experience,” Arnold Stokking, Senior Vice President Business Group Hospitality. “Our partnership with citizenM not only illustrates the direction that the hospitality industry is going in, but it also indicates the way forward for creating unique experiences for hotel guests”.

To further capitalize on its strong position in the hospitality sector Philips is leveraging its business synergies to create more innovative, customer-centric solutions based on complete value propositions. Earlier this month Philips also announced that is would build a customized Ambient Experience room with NH Hoteles to conduct an intensive two-year study into the optimization of well-being amongst hotel guests.