The search for the individual marketing project took me to Mahabalipuram. When I reached there it reminded me of the history books where I had read about it in childhood.I started my search to identify the potential topic for my project. I saw a cluster of general stores, garment stores, some super markets and finally as I walked down the roads I saw a huge crowd heading in one direction.Out of curiosity I followed them which led me to the place for which Mahabalipuram has become famous for - the sea beach. It was a great feeling to see the beauty of nature and people all around enjoying in the sea. I too got tempted to have a dip in the water, but controlled myself as I had a task at hand. Walking down from the beach, I realized I had found my topic. Mahabalipuram is famous as a tourist spot. So what attracts the tourists here??? The beaches and the famous temple. This led me to start my search for one of the basic requirements that should be present to aid the tourists. Good accommodation facilities instantly clicked on my mind and that gave birth to my project. I wanted to study one of the hotels that stood out prominently in the entire gamut of hotels that was present. I froze MAMALLA HERITAGE for my study.
MAMALLA HERITAGE:
Mamalla Heritage is situated in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach. At first sight, it looks enchanting with good outdoor advertisement techniques in the form of attractive and prominent boards utilized to attract the prospective customers. The hotel looks spacious with 3 floors and enough open space at he entrance.I make my way to the reception and am greeted by one of the personnel there, Krishnamurthy. I introduce myself to him and he is kind enough to agree to my request. The first thing that strikes me is his smile. The first question that I ask him is :"What is the specialty of this hotel?" He replies :"Friendly staff" and I couldn't agree more as he indeed was very friendly.I decided to pen his discussions in the Marketing Mix - the 4 P's of marketing as below:
PRODUCT:
The product i.e. the hotel looks good with a very soothing ambience. There are a total of 38 rooms in the hotel with rooms being available in two options : Standard and Deluxe.The difference in the two is on the basis of price and the deluxe room offers more space and better interior decoration over the standard room. They also have three restaurants to their credit and 1 coffee shop:
(a) Roof top restaurant specializing in sea food.
(b) Golden Palate offering pure vegetarian cuisine.
(c) One more restaurant that offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
They also offer complementary break fast.
They have a parking space that can accommodate close to 40 cars!! They also offer to exchange foreign currency on the house.
PRICE:
There is a differentiation in the manner in which the two rooms have been priced with the Deluxe version being offered at Rs. 2374 and the Standard room being offered at Rs. 2136. The prices have been strategically devised keeping in mind that it generally attracts foreign customers and for them the less than significant difference in the two generally makes them opt the Deluxe room.
PROMOTION:
The peak season for full occupancy is from October to March. So how do they ensure that people are aware of the hotel. They have their official site www.hotelmamallaheritage.com by which the customers can book their rooms online. Also they have tie ups with the tarvel agents for the same which ensures that the hotel is running with full capacity during the peak season.
As mentioned earlier, the hotel is situated in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach which offers it a distinctive advantage over its competitors.
So what is the USP of the hotel. His eyes sparkle and he is quick to say : "there is a swimming pool on 1st floor over the coffee shop and of course the friendly staff".
It sure looks like a good bet to me. Delving further into our long discussion, I ask him about the consumer feedback process and he is quick to acknowledge that they do have it in place. So what do the consumers have to say about the hotel:
The good things:
(a) Value for money.
(b) Variety of restaurants.
(c) Ease of converting foreign currency.
(d) Location (Place)
The opportunities:
(a) Alcohol is not served and there is unavailability of bars.
(b) Check out time of 12 to 12 could be made more flexible.
(c) Restaurant closing hours of 22:30 hrs should be extended.
That leads me to the other question : So what have you done regarding this?
He answers :"Customer feedback survey is an important tool that we use to evaluate ourselves and make ourselves more customer friendly. We are looking at the prospect of leveraging on our strengths and overcome the opportunities. Significant development has been made in this regard and points on check out time and restaurant closing hours have been looked at. There will be some development in this regard. Regarding the option of bars being set up, we are looking at that prospect at all, but that is a long drawn process and it will take time. After all, we are here to serve our customers and we value their feedback."
This entire interaction made me feel as if I was attending a marketing class. The concepts taught in the class became clearer and I could see him applying those principles in practice. I shook hands with him and thanked him for his valuable time and he replied :"It was my pleasure"
I am really impressed with the hotel and it would definitely be the place where I stay when I decide to come and visit Mahabalipuram in future.
As of now, I am signing off. I hope you liked my first attempt for the blog. Thanks!!
Amit Kumar Singh
FT13404
MAMALLA HERITAGE:
Mamalla Heritage is situated in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach. At first sight, it looks enchanting with good outdoor advertisement techniques in the form of attractive and prominent boards utilized to attract the prospective customers. The hotel looks spacious with 3 floors and enough open space at he entrance.I make my way to the reception and am greeted by one of the personnel there, Krishnamurthy. I introduce myself to him and he is kind enough to agree to my request. The first thing that strikes me is his smile. The first question that I ask him is :"What is the specialty of this hotel?" He replies :"Friendly staff" and I couldn't agree more as he indeed was very friendly.I decided to pen his discussions in the Marketing Mix - the 4 P's of marketing as below:
PRODUCT:
The product i.e. the hotel looks good with a very soothing ambience. There are a total of 38 rooms in the hotel with rooms being available in two options : Standard and Deluxe.The difference in the two is on the basis of price and the deluxe room offers more space and better interior decoration over the standard room. They also have three restaurants to their credit and 1 coffee shop:
(a) Roof top restaurant specializing in sea food.
(b) Golden Palate offering pure vegetarian cuisine.
(c) One more restaurant that offers both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food.
They also offer complementary break fast.
They have a parking space that can accommodate close to 40 cars!! They also offer to exchange foreign currency on the house.
PRICE:
There is a differentiation in the manner in which the two rooms have been priced with the Deluxe version being offered at Rs. 2374 and the Standard room being offered at Rs. 2136. The prices have been strategically devised keeping in mind that it generally attracts foreign customers and for them the less than significant difference in the two generally makes them opt the Deluxe room.
PROMOTION:
The peak season for full occupancy is from October to March. So how do they ensure that people are aware of the hotel. They have their official site www.hotelmamallaheritage.com by which the customers can book their rooms online. Also they have tie ups with the tarvel agents for the same which ensures that the hotel is running with full capacity during the peak season.
PLACE:
As mentioned earlier, the hotel is situated in the heart of Mahabalipuram, some 300 metres from the main bus stand and 5 minutes walking distance from the beach which offers it a distinctive advantage over its competitors.
So what is the USP of the hotel. His eyes sparkle and he is quick to say : "there is a swimming pool on 1st floor over the coffee shop and of course the friendly staff".
It sure looks like a good bet to me. Delving further into our long discussion, I ask him about the consumer feedback process and he is quick to acknowledge that they do have it in place. So what do the consumers have to say about the hotel:
The good things:
(a) Value for money.
(b) Variety of restaurants.
(c) Ease of converting foreign currency.
(d) Location (Place)
The opportunities:
(a) Alcohol is not served and there is unavailability of bars.
(b) Check out time of 12 to 12 could be made more flexible.
(c) Restaurant closing hours of 22:30 hrs should be extended.
That leads me to the other question : So what have you done regarding this?
He answers :"Customer feedback survey is an important tool that we use to evaluate ourselves and make ourselves more customer friendly. We are looking at the prospect of leveraging on our strengths and overcome the opportunities. Significant development has been made in this regard and points on check out time and restaurant closing hours have been looked at. There will be some development in this regard. Regarding the option of bars being set up, we are looking at that prospect at all, but that is a long drawn process and it will take time. After all, we are here to serve our customers and we value their feedback."
This entire interaction made me feel as if I was attending a marketing class. The concepts taught in the class became clearer and I could see him applying those principles in practice. I shook hands with him and thanked him for his valuable time and he replied :"It was my pleasure"
I am really impressed with the hotel and it would definitely be the place where I stay when I decide to come and visit Mahabalipuram in future.
As of now, I am signing off. I hope you liked my first attempt for the blog. Thanks!!
Amit Kumar Singh
FT13404
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