PART TWO
Previously I left Mahabs Tours with an unanswered question
about their marketing strategy. This was the starting point of my second visit.
I had also decided to visit few more Tour and Travels and do a comparative analysis
about this industry in Mahabalipuram.
I was happy to see the same employee who previously answered
my question with lot of fervour. He knew what I was going to request. I was
straight to my question after a small Hi/hello. According to him, since Mahabs
is not a big city marketing happens on its own. Next question - What he meant
by on its own? When you open a shop a small inauguration is decent projection
of your entrance in the Market. What next is on cards for shop’s market image
enhancement? He said word of mouth is the strongest marketing technique in such
market (Mahabs per say). I asked him since Mahabs is a tourist place people may
not know about any shops. Answer was quite convincing. Tourists visit many
other shops and that is when this publicity happens. Other shop owners inform
tourists about Tour & Travels shops which they can visit for their travel plans.
Obviously he dint answered what these shops get in return. Also, Local
population also travels across India. They also form a decent proportion of Market
base. Marketing Lesson - Word of Mouth still holds strong in small markets. I
thanked him for his valuable time and left.
Next shop was J.R.S Tours and Travels. Before I start
sharing my experience with J.R.S, I would like to share one observation. Most
of the shops of same domain like, Tours and Travels, Grocery, Readymade
garments and many more would mostly or always have their shops nearby. Reason
is to create a small defined market for that domain for customer to have
options and establish market share. It is very similar to a concept of
supermarket i.e., “everything under one roof”. A good takeaway is that when you
target small markets try to position your shop nearby your competitors as it
gives you image enhancement.
Back to J.R.S, Owner of the shop is Miss Kavita Priyadarshi.
This shop is there for last 40 years. Some legacy I must say. The lady knew
about Great Lakes which saved my time which I would have spent convincing her
on why/what I would like to study. I asked the same question which I asked at
Mahabs Tours. Product mix contained Hotel and Travel Packages (which was
missing from Mahabs Tour’s portfolio). Most of the product was sold through
internet. Most sold ones were Packages
for Malaysia, Tamil Nadu (across the state), One day Chennai/ Pondicherry tour.
Shop was congested but was full of Travel guides, Map, Brochures. Pricing strategy was a bit strange. They charged extra bucks from white skin and
less from our own brown people. It’s pretty easy to convince Foreigners and
vice versa for Indians. Bargain is something foreigners don’t know or don’t like-
Quoted by Miss Kavita. Marketing was an easy task for this shop. According to Kavita since the shop has been
for generations (4 decades) they don’t have to do much for the same. She still mentioned about local media
advertising option. Mahabs has a local channel which charges approximately Rs
2000 for a two week long advertising strip running during local shows. They
have a B2B partner in International Air
Transport Association (IATA).
Marketing lessons learnt-
·
History helps you sell.
·
Local Media can be used as a strong tool to
market.
·
Price as per your target customers.
·
Business Associations helps provide better
deals.
I visited one more shop named P.A Tours & Travels.
Answers were more or less the same. This shop dint had a legacy like J.R.S.
However they were also doing very well.
He mentioned that Tours and Travels market has close to 35 competitors
in Mahabs but it’s not a cut throat competition. Any shop won’t hesitate consulting
his/her customer to its competitor.
I would like to end this blog here and would like to wrap by
writing synopsis of my entire experience in my next carve.
ANKIT SETHI
FT13408
No comments:
Post a Comment