Hotels are designed to make guests feel at ease. The kitchens, laundry rooms and service corridors that keep them running, however, rarely make it into the guest experience. Radisson Hotels is giving those spaces a different role with STAFF ONLY, a monthly cultural series created in partnership with Dubai Audio.
The idea is to turn the normally unseen parts of a hotel into intimate stages for UAE-based artists and creative voices. Think funk-jazz in an elevator, a live recording in a laundry room or a hip-hop set inside a kitchen. Each edition moves to a different Radisson property in Dubai, with a new artist and an unexpected location at the centre of the experience.
For the brand, the thinking goes beyond putting on an unusual performance. STAFF ONLY is an attempt to build cultural relevance, strengthen ties with Dubai’s creative community and give audiences a reason to engage with Radisson beyond a traditional hotel stay.
“Hotels are full of stories that guests don’t always get to see, and STAFF ONLY by Radisson Hotels gives us a completely different way to bring those stories to life. We wanted to create something that feels unexpected but still very connected to who we are as a hospitality company, opening our doors in a new way, celebrating local creative talent and creating experiences that bring people closer to our hotels and the communities around them. It’s also an opportunity for people to experience the distinct personalities of our brands in a fresh way. Radisson Blu and Radisson RED, for example, each have their own character and identity, but they share the same ambition: to create memorable experiences for our guests, our teams and the communities we’re part of. STAFF ONLY allows us to bring those different brand personalities to life beyond the traditional hotel experience,” says Stephanie Aboujaoude, Associate Area Vice President, Marketing & Communications, MEAT, MED, SEAP & SEE, Radisson Hotel Group.
The strategic question was how Radisson could become part of Dubai’s cultural conversations without forcing its way into them. Rather than build a conventional hotel campaign or attach the brand to an existing cultural moment, the team looked at what the hotel already had that could become a platform in its own right.
For BakingSoda Culture & Comms Studio, the campaign’s creative and amplification partner, that meant looking beyond the guest-facing experience and identifying an opportunity in the spaces, people and activity that usually remain out of view.
“BakingSoda’s approach has always been rooted in culture, looking at what is happening across hospitality, fashion, wellness, music, design, trends and communities, and identifying where brands can participate in those conversations in a way that feels natural rather than forced. Rather than approaching this as a traditional hotel campaign, we looked at what Radisson Hotels already had that could become a cultural asset: its people, its spaces and everything that happens behind the scenes,” says Josie Delfin, Co-Founder & Strategy Lead, BakingSoda Culture & Comms Studio.
The resulting concept was designed to give Radisson something it could develop over time, rather than relying on a one-off collaboration. Each instalment brings together a different property, performance space and artist, with the character of the location becoming part of the experience.
“That led us to STAFF ONLY— taking audiences beyond the polished, guest-facing side of the hotel and into…