6 minute read
Mandala!
ASIA’S LARGEST AND MOST DYNAMIC PRIVATE MEMBERSHIP COMMUNITY IS MAKING WAVES IN SINGAPORE, JAPAN AND BALI –AND IT’S NOT DONE YET.
WILD MAG SPOKE TO GROUP CFO ADAM CLAYTON.
ADAM, can you elaborate on the core vision and mission of the Mandala Group, and how you aim to impact the communities you serve?
For sure. Our vision is to build a network of world-class member clubs in Asia with community centric real estate developments. Our mission is to build meaningful connections and enrich people’s lives by uniting the world’s most exciting community of inspiring individuals.
What inspired the name ‘Mandala Group’, and how does it reflect the ethos and philosophy of your organization?
Mandala is a word that has many interpretations and meanings, but our brand name drew inspiration from its Hindu origins, which is ultimately a circular symbol representing unity and harmony. Uniting communities to bring harmony to people’s lives is at the center of everything we do. Our founder Ben can also show you his Mandala tattoo!
What were the initial goals when founding the Mandala Group, and how have they evolved over time?
We built the Mandala brand with the vision of building a community centric, luxury hotel brand.
We believed there was space to operate in this segment because most luxury hotel brands are not focused on bringing people together, they are focused on luxury over community. We believed our product would appeal to the next generation luxury traveler that wanted to come away from holidays and trips with new connections. During COVID we saw an opportunity to acquire an existing private members club and we saw this as a great opportunity and platform to build communities in cities that would eventually visit and stay at our community centric real estate developments. This pivot was amazing for our brand and we now have Singapore’s largest private membership community and we are opening venues in Indonesia, Japan and Thailand with the view of becoming Asia’s largest and most dynamic private membership community.
Who is your primary target audience, and how does the Mandala Group tailor its approach to meet the specific needs of this group?
We are targeting diversity. We work very hard to balance the demographics in our community in terms of age, sex, occupation and race. We believe a diverse room is a more interesting room.
What locations does the Mandala Group currently operate in, and what influenced the decision to choose these areas?
We are currently operating in Singapore, Indonesia and Japan and we are looking at expanding into key asian cities and holiday destinations. Our goal is to be the first Asian centric, multi-site, private membership product and we plan on building a 20,000 strong community by 2029.
Are there plans for expanding to new locations in the near future? If so, what criteria do you use to select these new areas?
Outside of Singapore, we recently opened Mandala Club in Niseko as a precursor to a soon to be launched real estate development. Mandala Club Bali is under construction and due to open in Q3 2024. We are exploring opportunities in Hong Kong, Bangkok, Jakarta, Tokyo and Dubai. Our primary driver for expansion is always what locations will add meaningful value to our existing community. All of the locations we are targeting are places where our existing community travel for business and leisure. If the primary objective is achieved, we then do a deep dive feasibility study of the region and search for opportunities that meet our financial return metrics.
Could you share a bit about the background of the founders? How do their personal experiences and expertise shape the direction of the Mandala Group?
Ben Jones is an ex banker who used to work in special situations debt structuring, but always had a passion for design and the arts. I am a qualified accountant and ex investment banker, but spent a chunk of my career building structure and growth into businesses backed by private equity funds. We both had entrepreneurial interests on the side, Ben was designing and developing luxury villas in Bali, I was involved in building Singapore’s largest independent fitness business. We met in Asia and came together five years ago with a vision to build the Mandala business into force in the luxury hospitality space.
What unique strategies or methodologies does the Mandala Group employ to achieve its objectives?
We believe we have three main competitive advantages:
Design. Our design is our edge; our unique fingerprint. Bold and contemporary, leaning heavily into art. Our inhouse design studio has received multiple awards from leading publications such as Vogue, GQ and Monocle just to name a few.
Content. Our ultimate purpose is to get like-minded people in the same room to create meaningful connections. To facilitate this, every Mandala property has an extensive cultural calendar across five programming pillars; futures, encounters, wellness, epicures and creators.
Experiences. Our events verticals are called Mandala Masters and Mandala Presents. Mandala Masters has successfully executed some of the world’s biggest culinary pop-ups with the world’s best restaurants. Mandala Presents exists to create intimatemusic experiences with cool artists. These events facilitate brand awareness, member engagement and database for membership acquisition.
How does the Mandala Group engage with local communities, and what role do these communities play in shaping your projects and initiatives?
Purpose is one of our core brand pillars. Part of our brand ethos is being a good corporate citizen. We are fully carbon neutral, we have joined the UN race to zero and we are Singapore’s most sustainable hospitality brand. We also support local charitable organizations in every market we enter by leveraging our powerful community for good. www.mandala.global
Looking forward, what is the long-term vision for the Mandala Group, and how do you plan to adapt to changing environments and challenges?
Our long-term vision is to build a network of world-class private membership clubs and community centric real estate developments, that attracts a community of inspiring individuals. Building communities across multiple cities and cultures will always present challenges, but we have built systems and processes that can be localized and we have an incredible team of people to help us execute the vision and meet these challenges head on. The future is bright and we are just getting started!
