ZENOLOGY: To Creat a Green, Balance and Environmental Friendly World
——Interview with Mr Jeroen Sogtoen the CEO of ZENOLOGY and the Commercial Director Ms Mireille Laurent
Jeroen
World Hotel: The first question is a normal question. Please introduce the history and development of ZENOLOGY?
Mr. Jeroen: Actually, it’s a very interesting history. I studied Fashion Design at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute (AMFI) and worked for 10 years as a Fashion Designer. Then I was after couple years in fashion, what I thought is that the consumption of fashion goes too quick. I want to do something else, so, I changed focus from fashion to interior design and created alongside field specialists, the concept for a boutique hotel in Amsterdam. Whilst creating an amenity line for this boutique hotel he started his own brand ZENOLOGY. It was a very beautiful level designed hotel, and one of the elements I found was the products in the hotel industry, in those I have gone, most of them done very bad quality. Because when we travel, I would never put hotel shampoo in my hair, I think that’s odd, that’s strange. I couldn’t find what I was looking for, so I want to create a brand that is as green as possible.14 years ago, I want to create a green label. And I want to good quality and good design, including every good thing without chemical agent. That’s how ZENOLOGY is created. So, that's how I started of everything. Normally, a lot of products like shoes or fashion start to produce hotel elements. I start another way around, so I laterly created hotal brands, which I found is really interesting , really cool, and quliaty is really good. And then what happened, people in the hotel rooms used the products, they say wow, it’s a nice product, I want to have it. So, suddenly, I got the demand to do retail. Step by step, the brand grew. Now we are doing hotels, we are doing airlines, we are doing retail. That’s the history why ZENOLOGY is here, linking to hotel business. What we do is making hotel luxury home. Laterly, we also will do hotel program, big products at home and travelling between. It’s an interesting story.
World Hotel: Yes, it’s a very interesting story. I searched on the internet before, many people comment that Zenology are good products and they love them.
Mr. Jeroen: I think that’s because where the trends are going, that’s all things on consumer. In the hotel, they use my products, they wanted them home.
World Hotel: You know Taobao the popular online shop in China? Chinese people now buy everything in Taobao. So, is the shop of ZENOLOGY in Taobao authorized by officials?
Mr. Jeroen: The shop of ZENOLOGY on Taobao is selling not ours. That is very sad what happenes.
World Hotel: Why do you started in some hotels and homestay? Have you plan to sell open a shop on Taobao?
Mr. Jeroen: We are looking how to get products sold in China, because when we want registation, it still needs some procedures. But I believe it very much because we work with a company in Hongkong, and they also open a shop in Shanghai. But I strongly believe in the online world, online shopping. It means future of retail. Of course, we need some people to see it, join in us, we later open roadshow in Shanghai you can order these shampoo, it’s up to you. You can also find our products the original ZENOLOGY by searching Mymm on Wechat. That’s a new way to do business with consumer, we can communicate directly with consumer.
Ms Mireille: This is Mymm. This is like online platform by ZENOLOGY. Belong with this group, Enjoy beautiful by clicking on the channel, there you can buy ZENOLOGY, and Mymm ship from Hongkong.
World Hotel: How many kinds of products has ZENOLOGY produced?
Mr.Jeroen: As you can use, there are totally 75 products. We have everything in big sizes, that is better for environment. Next to big sizes, we have small sizes for hotel lines. You can go to sports school, gym travel with small size, which is convenient. That is also an important thing we do. We create everything ourselves that is important to ourselves.
World Hotel: There are 75 products of ZENOLOGY, which of them are major products?
Mr.Jeroen: We also do leather goods, little beautiful gift sets. (This is made by hands, and they are wonderful leather). With simple design, and they are lined for travel, like I said including travel, hotel and home.
World Hotel: Compared to other bands, what’s your superiority?
Mr. Jeroen: We are fragrance company, with good quality and good design. ZENOLOGY owns completely true smell. If you find out that you like a kind of smell then you can buy all the products, shampoo, body wash products with the same smell in ZENOLOGY. It is very organized, everything in the same smile, in the same design.
World Hotel: Did you have some impressive cases about cooperation with hotels? Could you share them with our readers?
Mr. Jeroen: The hotel just opened it in Amsterdam, named QO. It is greenest hotel in the world I think. Everything created is recycle, reused water, energy and so on. I’m very proud that everything created is environmental. We sit down, and try to catch the spirit of QO in the smell. So we created beautiful fragrance. I think we all need to aware the environment needs attention.
World Hotel: Yes, environment is very important to us.
Mr. Jeroen: I agree that. It very difficult to discussion what is green. We are just as green as possible. People can use our products like shampoos without destroying our environments. We always try to catch the latter development. We can say, ZENOLOGY means balance between nature and science. Because our products 100% natural, that’s is green.
World Hotel: What’s ZENOLOGY’s culture?
Mr. Jeroen: It is care and consider, you can read on our website. That means be care and consider for a lot of things. So, we do special projects, such as each trade, we donate 1 dollar, replant trees. A lot animals died, we care. At the same time, we also do a lot projects with young people. ZENOLOGY is a company with a green spirit. When and where improvements can be made, we will. Time has come to educate ourselves and our children about taking care of our environment. Each of us can make a difference by using products that do not contain antiseptic or environmentally unfriendly ingredients. Step by step, we will follow developments into the green field.
World Hotel: What’s your future plan of ZENOLOGY?
Mr. Jeroen: My next step is to pick up a communication with the brand. It’s a difficult challenge, I want to communicate with my consumers and my clients. How people see my products and how they contact with me is important to me. I want to see that information now. Click, read, you can see the information, you can read about it. I want to be your home with my products. So, what I want about the future is all about communication.