Hotelier with a heart
MANILA, Philippines - Amid the endless flow of cocktails and canapes, live singers, reed-thin models in mini-metallic dresses, mime performers, and host Tim Yap entertaining an enrapt audience, Cristina Cruz, director of marketing of The Peninsula Manila, inconspicuously weaves in and out of the crowd at Salon de Ning. It’s the launch of the lounge’s Sing@Ning, a nationwide search for “the Ultimate Voice” for the popular night spot, and while Peninsula Manila general manager Sonja Vodusek credits Cruz as the brains behind the singing competition, the low-profile marketing director would rather people focus on the project that is much more than an American Idol-inspired event.
One of The Peninsula chain’s four Salons De Ning (there’s one in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and New York), Salon De Ning Manila entertains audiences with different live performers nightly. Famous acts like Mulato and Bea Tantoco have sung here, but for the most part, singers are found in bars or through talent managers. A year after Salon De Ning’s opening, the marketing director was looking for a way “to prolong the life of Madame Ning,” she says of the fictional wealthy world traveler who inspired the lounge’s extravagant art deco interiors and ambiance. For Cruz, it had to be “a concept with meaning, not just a regular, traditional advertising campaign.”
Her idea for a talent search took shape after she pitched it to The Peninsula’s corporate director for e-commerce in Hong Kong: Connect with students from different schools, he said, open the contest to non-pros. “That way, we’ll be giving back to the community,” explains Cruz.
For all its noble intentions, Sing@Ning is a first for any Peninsula hotel worldwide. Other than a karaoke contest among guests at The Peninsula Hong Kong, no Peninsula hotel has ever launched a singing competition of this caliber. As such, Sing@Ning was selected by the corporate office as one of the hotel chain’s three biggest stories of the year, the first time Manila was ever in the spotlight, notes Cruz proudly.
A mass communications graduate from the University of Santo Tomas, Cruz never intended to get into the hotel industry — or carve an impressive career that spans over two decades and counting. All she knew was that advertising and marketing were her favorite subjects in college, so when she came across an ad in the paper looking for a sales manager in charge of marketing a hotel, she applied for the job and got it. Her earliest employers, however, hired her for other reasons.
“I’m Chinese,” says Cruz, whose maiden name is Ong and who speaks the language fluently. Tasked to handle the hotel’s Chinese accounts, she admits these years reminded her of a difficult childhood, when classmates at the Chinese school where she was enrolled would tease her for her half-Chinese lineage and un-Chinese features. Today, Cruz has not only overcome the insecurities of her past, she’s actually embraced who she is. Years from now, she sees herself gaining international exposure and is even open to working in a hotel in China. She would also like to pursue further studies in Chinese business negotiating skills. “As much as I try to fight it,” she says of her heritage, “opportunities always seem to come to me. No use fighting it; I’ve actually become comfortable with it. And besides,” she adds with a laugh, “Madame Ning is from China!”
Eventually, Cruz would work for hotels that appreciated her skill for handling multiple brands and connecting well with clients. “I like giving solutions to guests and anyone who needs help,” she says when asked what she likes most about her job. “Of course, it’s stressful and has long hours, but you get a sense of fulfillment when you are able to help and satisfy someone.”
Describing herself as someone “who works from the heart,” Cruz fittingly heads the department that’s in charge of fleshing out Peninsula Manila’s CSR (corporate social responsibility) undertakings. In her four years with The Peninsula Manila, she has been on top of its various advocacies — specifically projects focused on children and education. Granting the wishes of terminally-ill kids and banning dishes that serve sharks’ fins are just a few of The Peninsula Group’s high-profile projects, but Cruz is particularly fond of the time she formed a choir of 20 or so hotel employees to help raise funds by caroling to their corporate accounts. (The effort brought in close to P80,000, Cruz reports with pride.)
Referring to the food servers of the hotel’s bustling lobby, she says with a smile, “they (as well as volunteers from the engineering and laundry departments) would never miss a rehearsal. And when we practiced, there was no such thing as ranks or levels; we were all equal.” Cruz recalls the time they were asked to sing impromptu during the traditional Christmas Tree lighting ceremony at the lobby. “They were so excited!” she exclaims of the choir.
It’s no coincidence that this mother of two girls, aged 22 and 14, is partial to projects that have anything to do with music. Cruz, as it turns out, has a passion for it, and spends her after-office hours unwinding to the sounds at Salon De Ning. Favoring the sentimental songs of Adele and Lea Salonga, Cruz says singing is “a great stress relief. “It gives me a sense of happiness.”
Open to college students, 18 to 25 years old, Sing@Ning invites interested parties to sign up via the dedicated YouTube channel www.youtube.com/singatning from August 1 to 31. Qualified contestants who make it through the initial video audition will undergo a series of live elimination rounds over a period of three months starting September 16. The top three finalists will compete in the grand finals at Salon De Ning on November 6.
Scholarships to Spotlight Artists Centre and John Robert Powers, a weekend stay at The Peninsula Manila, a contract to perform at Salon De Ning, and P100,000 in cash await the lucky winner.
For more details, call The Peninsula Manila at 887-2888.
