Sales and Marketing 04-may-2011

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Sales and Marketing 04-may-2011

The Oberoi Mumbai vs The Tajmahal palace Mumbai

The above properties are jewel and legend of the city Mumbai, Their rooms, profile of the
guest are more or less same. If we remove the term sales and Marketing strategy from the
guest circle then it will be very difficult for that particular guest to choose any one of this in
terms of stay. The market segment for both the hotels are similar, both are having a major
chunk as a business travelers. Indirectly this indicates the importance of sales and marketing
strategies for the respective hotels. Before discussing their strength and weakness on their
sales and marketing strategies, let’s read through their introduction and facilities, following
by City scan of the Mumbai city hotel in term of revenue and occupancy, to understand their
sales and marketing strategy deeply.

Introduction

Taj Group of Hotels is India's largest hotel group and the company operates in three major
segments of the hospitality sector: luxury, business and leisure. Historically, the Taj Group
has used the Taj name for all its operations to leverage the brand equity commanded by the
name "Taj". As the Taj Group expands to other locations outside India, the Taj brand is
playing an increasing role of driving revenues.

Tajmahal palace Mumbai- Since it opened in 1903, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai has
created its own unique history. From Maharajas and Princes to various Kings, Presidents,
CEOs and entertainers, the Taj has played the perfect host, supportive of their every need.
The hotel is an architectural marvel and brings together Moorish, Oriental and Florentine
styles. Offering panoramic views of the Arabian Sea and the Gateway of India, the hotel is a
gracious landmark of the city of Mumbai, showcasing contemporary Indian influences along
with beautiful vaulted alabaster ceilings, onyx columns, graceful archways, hand-woven silk
carpets, crystal chandeliers, a magnificent art collection, an eclectic collection of furniture,
and a dramatic cantilever stairway. Over the past century, The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai has
amassed a diverse collection of paintings and works of art and is a veritable showcase of
artifacts and art of the era. From Belgian chandeliers to Goan Christian artifacts, the hotel
incorporates a myriad of artistic styles and tastes.

It has got 560 rooms including 44 suites. 10 restaurants, 11 banquets rooms with a capacity
ranging from 25 to 500 persons auditorium style or 18 to 2000 persons for cocktails /
receptions. The hotel can also provide state-of-the-art conference facilities for conferences
and seminars.

Awards – Taj has won 107 awards till now with the latest one on April 2011, it has been
included in the highly coveted Conde Nast Traveller, UK Hot List 2011 - The World's Best
New Hotels

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Similar is the story with our Oberoi Hotels which is an Indian brand associated with
ultra luxury hotels. Founded in 1934, Oberoi manages 30 hotels and 5 luxury cruises under
the Oberoi and Trident brands. All the hotels owned by the company across the many
segments in India operate under the Oberoi brand name.

The Oberoi Mumbai - Located in the city’s prime business and shopping district of Nariman
Point, The Oberoi, Mumbai has been completely redesigned to be the ultimate destination for
contemporary style and luxury in the city. Overlooking the Arabian Sea, the hotel welcomes
you with space and serenity. Luxuriously appointed guestrooms have been meticulously
planned with a host of innovative features using the latest technology.

The Oberoi, Mumbai is located on Marine Drive, the famed boulevard along the coast in
South Mumbai. An hour's drive from the airport and only minutes away from the business,
financial and entertainment districts, the hotel is also well located to visit the city’s tourist
attractions.

The hotel offers a rich variety of dining experiences ranging from an all day dining restaurant
serving global cuisine, to an Italian Restaurant and a signature Indian restaurant under the
direction of a Michelin starred chef.

An ideal location for business meetings and conferences in Mumbai, venues range from
private meeting rooms at the 24-hours Business Centre to the conference rooms on the top
floor of the hotel offering sweeping views of the Arabian Sea.

Recreational facilities include an outdoor heated swimming pool, a fitness centre and a full
service Oberoi Spa. The Spa and the Fitness Centre are open 24 hours.

Complemented by Oberoi Hotels’ legendary service delivered by caring staff, The Oberoi,
Mumbai is the ideal hotel for discerning business and leisure travellers.

Awards – The Oberoi Mumbai has won 28 awards till now with latest one on 2009 by Forbes
Traveler 400, The World’s Best Hotels and Resorts 2009.

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IN CITY SCAN (revenue, business and occupancy)

Both the hotels are doing more or less same in term of ARR if compare them in year to date
basis. After the terror attack and renovation of the Oberoi Mumbai, the occupancy of the
Oberoi Mumbai has drastically fallen down. Currently the occupancy of Taj is 48% where as
ours is 20% year to date, i.e approximately just double, and same goes for REVPAR. The
major reason behind this was the delay in reopening of the Oberoi Mumbai as compare to
The Taj after attack, also the time gap of renovation because of which the guest has been
diverted to our sister hotel Trident. Even the new rack rate is pretty high as compared to old
one which reduces the volume of our regular customer to revisit again.

Note: the above source is taken by the Mumbai City scan followed by this sheet.

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Coming to sales marketing technique, both the hotels have similar strategies in term of
advertisement and promotional mix.

To categorize there are seven types of promotional mix which both are using-

Advertising – any paid presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by identified
sponsors, ex- print ads, television, billboard, brochures, web pages etc.

Personal selling – A process of helping and persuading one or more prospectus to purchase a
service. Ex – sales presentation, sales meeting.

Sales promotion – media and non media marketing communication are employed for a pre-
determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, ex- coupons, trade show, tie – ins.
Comp stay, air miles etc.

Public relation – paid intimates stimulation of supply for a product, service, or business unit
by planting significant news about it or a favorable presentation of it in the media. Ex-
newspapers, magazine articles, charitable contributions, speeches and seminars.

Corporate image – the image of an organization is a crucial point in marketing, if the

reputation of an company is bad, consumers are less willing to buy a product from this
company as they would have been, if the company had a good image.

Sister Hotels – guest promoted from other hotels of same organization, ex – guest from the
trident hotels are upgraded to the Oberoi when they are sold out.

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Strength and weakness of The Taj mahal place Mumbai.

Their biggest strength for promoting their hotel is they have history for the hotel. The Taj
Mahal Palace hotel resort was commissioned in Indo-Saracenic style by Tata and first opened
its doors to guests on 16 December 1903.It is widely believed that Jamsedji Tata decided to
build the hotel after he was refused entry to one of the city's grand hotels of the time,
Watson's Hotel, as it was restricted to 'whites only'. However, this story has been challenged
by some commentators that suggest that Tata was unlikely to have been concerned with
'revenge' against his British adversaries.

They have more hotels in india as compared to us, which gives them a segment of guest
directly or indirectly gained by their sister hotels.

They have more numbers of restaurants compared to us which divert many guest to them
from us.

In promotions the Taj have different travelling website of Taj hotels and tie up with more
numbers of travel websites.

The Taj also provides Surprises to their guest while booking from website.

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The Taj entertain more Celebrities then us which itself attracts many guest to stay with them.
For example in recent is the cricket teams, the president of America etc.

They Promotes big weddings and big functions regularly which enhances their sales directly
and indirectly

They have more sales office outside india.

On the weak side- the biggest weakness with the Taj is branding. i.e. “There is a Taj
Mahal in Mumbai, there (used to be) a Taj Garden Retreat in Chikmagalur and there is a Taj
View hotel in Agra … so they have a portfolio of hotels in various categories which confused
clients as to what it is that the Taj brand stands for. So there is a need for a clear demarcation
of brand category.

Also the organization has not won big awards from reputed travel magazines like
Conde Nast and travelers as compare to The Oberoi vilases. Which will loosen their target in
foreigner FIT segment.

Coming to The Oberoi Mumbai, the biggest strength of the sales and marketing is our brand
images “the Oberoi” as well as the awards which has been won by the hotel and the sister
hotel. Mouth to mouth advertisement also enhances a good segment of guest.

Tie up with international travel groups like kuoni, virtuosoetc

Good LQA scores also support our sales and marketing.

Our dedicated reservation system like OCC.

Also the elaborated website, as compare to The Taj website in our website the minor things
like special offer, best available rate, reservation details which is given in first page of our
website helps as easy access for our guest, also its time saving and motivation tool for our
guest.

On weaker side we don’t have that many Restaurants as Taj have, which is a demotivater. I.e.
especially when it comes to mouth to mouth advertisement.

We don’t entertain big weddings and Parties since we don’t have that big Banquet hall which
is a loss of a particular segment.

To conclude, in my opinion it would increase the sales and marketing of the Oberoi Mumbai
if we open few more restaurants. Also frequent advertisement in magazines and other
websites to attract local crowds and celebrities will help in attracting a particular segments
who are inter-linked with a potential customer for our business by direct i.e. mouth to mouth
or indirect like media hype or infamous way of marketing.

Thank you

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