Elodie Vilaverde, Marketing and Communication Director for the Luxury & Lifestyle Hotel Development department at Accor, actively contributes to the Group’s growth by combining strategic vision and marketing creativity. With over 20 years of international marketing experience in the services sector, she has held ten positions — many of them job creations. In this exclusive interview with The Women’s Voices, she opens up about her career path, the people who inspire her, and the values that guide her journey.
Can you describe your professional journey?
I discovered the services sector through my end-of-study Marketing internship at Elior, an international catering group, 24 years ago. I loved the passion and people-centric mindset and have never left the sector since.
Quite naturally, I joined Accor in 2012, and after a very rich journey within the Global Brands Marketing team on a worldwide scope — from Pullman & Mercure brand management to brand partnerships, via digital offers & promotions — I wanted to move into a more business-oriented and B2B environment. Here I am now, as the Global Marketing & Communication Director for the Luxury & Lifestyle Hotel Development department.
My mission is to maximize visibility and build brand preference for Accor’s Luxury and Lifestyle brands among investors, in order to support the development of our hotels worldwide.
My scope of work is broad: I define the 360° Marketing and Communication strategy, create commercial marketing tools, coordinate Accor’s presence at international investment forums (from negotiation to activation), and implement initiatives to boost engagement and performance among our 80 developers across the globe.
Learning new fields of expertise and bringing teams from different cultures together has always been a key driver for me. That’s why I’ve held 10 different marketing positions, mainly with an international scope, many of them as job creations. I’ve developed a wide variety of skills, which has boosted a real ability to adapt, structure a vision, and tackle issues differently in order to innovate and create value collaboratively.
What motivates you the most, and why?
I like creating new experiences, taking on new challenges, and transforming the existing for greater impact with purpose. I’m both a very organized and rigorous person, yet I strive to bring creativity and innovation to everything I deliver.
Opening my mind to what’s happening inside or outside my field of expertise really nurtures me, helping me to “think outside the box” and bring my personal added value and vision into the projects I lead. I regularly organize competitive hotel visits, focusing on flagship or newly opened properties, to gain inspiration and inform my strategic thinking.
Having had the opportunity to start from scratch in several of my roles was particularly exciting (even if stressful at times), as it allowed me to do things my own way, differently.
People interaction is also a real source of motivation and fulfillment for me — whether through the service or offer I work on, or through the working modes and dynamics of the company and teams I evolve in. I get a lot of good vibes and energy from it.
Post-Covid, I now work from home half of the time, and I try to work differently when I’m onsite — by prioritizing in-person meetings and interactions with my
colleagues, to benefit from the enthusiasm and stimulation they bring me.
Who were the inspiring “voices” in your career, and what messages did they convey?
It’s not intentional, but both inspiring voices I’m thinking of were women I had the chance to meet at different points in my career.
The first voice was one of my first managers. Before launching any project, she always insisted on asking: “What is at stake?” to ensure we had clear objectives and ambitions, and that we prioritized strategies and actions accordingly.
This question has now become a reflex for me, and I always ask myself this to make sure that what I do makes sense and will have meaningful impact with the appropriate resources. I also ensure that the people I work with clearly understand what their contribution is for and why they’re doing it.
The second was a coach who accompanied me during a difficult professional situation. She opened my mind to the importance of being sincere and honest with myself — always trusting my intuition to remain aligned, and finding the right solutions or alternatives without compromising my personal ethics.
I’m now confident that if a professional experience does not align with my values, then it’s not meant for me. Once I accepted and acknowledged that — pragmatically and without emotional attachment — I was able to move forward, overcome the situation, and come out stronger.
What are you most proud of professionally?
Being a voice that still matters for former team members and current colleagues. I’ve managed many junior profiles who have gone on to become successful leaders, and I’m very proud that, even after a decade, some of them still come to me for insights and vision to help them move forward and overcome professional challenges.
Even more recently, a peer thanked me for having helped her grow in her career and boost her confidence and audacity!
This inspired me to contribute more broadly by joining Accor’s RiiSe Mentoring program as a Mentor, and to support a colleague in their personal and professional development journey.
I believe the value of what we create lies both in what we concretely deliver for our company in line with our mission, and in how we help those we work with to grow and develop over the long term.
Being able to empower the teams I work with is what makes my job so rich and rewarding.
What is your motto?
I deeply value the motto “Alone we go faster, together we go further,” and the richness of what we can achieve as a group — even if it takes more time at the beginning — for a bigger impact and faster adoption by colleagues, partners, and guests when rolling out projects.
All the transversal roles I’ve held and the champion communities I’ve led have always proven this right.
I wish to continue embracing this collaborative way of working in my future roles to drive many more successes.
Discover : Agnès Roquefort: “We have the mission to sign and open one branded hotel every week”