We enjoy serving you with a smile

Rishab Patodia 2011M09 PGDSM

The Perfect Hotels, the hospitality brand launching next year, is positioned to meet the needs of today s travelers. Perfect Hotels is embarking on a new journey in January 2012 with the launch of The Decent Hotel. A new brand catering to the emerging set of contemporary travellers, Decent is a part of the Perfect Group s strategy to have a large footprint across India. Decent adds a new dimension not just to the Perfect brand of hotels but also to the Indian travel industry by bridging the wide gap between luxury and budget travel. The product opens up the market by meeting an unfulfilled need among contemporary travellers while maintaining the standards of excellence that wish to be established by the Perfect brand.

The Success Mantra The Perfect portfolio proposes to comprise of three segments: luxury (Luxury Hotels), business / leisure (Decent Hotels) and economy (Economy Hotels). The luxury segment will have only high-end city hotels and palaces, whilst economy will be the low budget hotels. These will be launched at a later stage. The segment in focus is the business / leisure - Decent group of hotels which will open in Jan 2012. Thus at one end of the brand pyramid is Luxury and at the other is Economy. The space in between these is too wide, which is where Decent will be a perfect fit. Markets in India are expanding very quickly, and if the Perfect don t have an offering at an upscale level, it could probably lose a business opportunity, which is why The Decent brand has been positioned in that price range. The Brand Persona We have worked to create a contemporary brand personality that would give the Decent a competitive edge, with the brand values of being crisp, courteous, dynamic, warm and consistent. But there is a Perfect Hotels Brand Decent - We enjoy serving you with a smile Page 2

need for a brand differentiator. Many international hotels and chains (who haven t come to India yet) are talking about affordable chic . We at Perfect Hotels have realised that in the Indian context, the consumer wanted a little more. With changing lifestyles, young India wanted to do things at its own pace, in its environment. This gave rise to the Decent differentiators of fitness, flexibility and freedom. Decent was positioned as affordable chic combined with freedom, flexibility and fitness. Products were created to address each of these facets. Fitness included active foods, 24x7 fitness centres, extended swimming pool hours and in-room yoga. Flexibility meant 24x7 service centres for laundry, breakfast, room service and business-related activities a differentiator for an upscale brand. Through Decent explore , guests will be given the freedom to chart their own holiday itinerary. Signature items such as Decent wines and Decent coffee will be created. A lot of work has been done at the operational level to create product experience. For future implementation, the team is exploring a Decent mini bar that will include products for fitness buffs, a Decent Fitness-Spa version, entertainment zones within the hotel and in-room music delivery. The new logo clean, contemporary and very international reflects the brand personality. The colours red and grey denote brand attributes of warmth, dynamism and vibrancy. The brand personality is young and contemporary. It is aimed at people who are striving for achievement, who have great potential going forward. The focus is on building an independent identity, on positioning Decent with attributes and expectations independent of the Perfect brand. The communication style is also informal, but professional. The advertising is built around this message through famous personalities who reflected different aspects of the brand personality. So there is Konkana Sen Sharma, who wants healthy food, Sidharta Mallya, Ranbir Kapoor and Deepike Padukone looking for 24x7 services and John Abraham interested in the 24-hour fitness centre. While Decent is an independent brand, it remains under the umbrella of the Perfect brand in terms of the loyalty programme (Perfect Privilege Circle) and the reservation centre. The brand is fully supported by the Perfect network, using the same call centres, sales and marketing team and PR network. The Spread Decent will be launched with 26 hotels (16 operating hotels, a mix of erstwhile business and leisure properties, and 10 under development). Perfect is looking at Decent as the brand that will help achieve domestic domination. A few years down the line in certain markets, customers will have multiple Perfect brands to choose from. For instance, in tier 1 cities, there could be both a Decent and a Luxury. Going down to tier 2 and 3 cities, there might be a Decent and an Economy. Some major destinations will have a Luxury, a Decent and an Economy. It s part of a multi-pronged strategy. The purpose of travel will not be the only reason why a customer stays in a certain brand or category. Our hotels and brands will be distributed depending on whether they fit that brand proposition, price brand and category.

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Consumer Driven Communications Model

The Source Branding will be done keeping the Perfect group in mind. We will adopt the multi branding strategy. As mentioned earlier individual brand names have been fixed. Individual brand names naturally allow greater flexibility by permitting a variety of different products, of differing quality, to be sold without confusing the consumer s perception of what business the company is in or diluting higher quality products. The Message The Perfect group intends to promote its message of - We enjoy serving you with a smile. In order to do several series of advertisements shall be lined up. Press releases will be scheduled showcasing the hotel s strengths and appealing factors. Free meal / stay coupons will be distributed via promotional events which will be strategically planned. A customer helpline / helpdesk shall be set up to address any sorts of customer queries, grievances. The Channel As shown above the Perfect and the Decent websites shall be highly interactive. The customer helpline is already in place. Prominent bill boards will be targeted. 20 30 seconds slots will be booked on national television during prime time in order to increase visibility and awareness. Brand ambassadors in Perfect Hotels Brand Decent - We enjoy serving you with a smile Page 4

the form of Konkana Sen Sharma, (healthy food), Sidharta Mallya, Ranbir Kapoor, Deepike Padukone (looking for 24x7 services) and John Abraham (24-hour fitness centre) will be roped in. They will highlight their necessary feature. The company can look at the option of co sponsoring or being a hospitality partner of a huge sporting event like the F1 grand prix or any such event as a matter of fact may prove advantageous. The Receiver The receiver in our case obviously happens to be guests (consumers) and our stake holders. The Noise It s clearly going to be a journey of huge proportions, and there will be challenges along the way. The complexity of the ownership of the properties is one of those challenges. The launch of the Decent brand is significant because, for the first time, we are actually launching a brand. The second challenge will be training employees, changing mindsets and ensuring that every aspect of communication matched that is on the ground. Perfect s inclusive approach and its focus on direct and sustained communication activities should help the entire team to be on the same page during the journey. With e-learning modules, town hall meetings, posters and e-mailers, we plan to reach out to every single person down the line. In order to overcome this we have developed e-learning modules which will take the employees through the entire guest interaction from the time that a guest is received at the airport, through his stay and finally checkout. To make it more interesting and retentive, two brand mascots Enjoy and Smile shall be created to communicate the messages.

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Touch points 1. Interaction with the hotel reception regarding room availability / tariffs / discounts / pick up and drop facilities. 2. Hotel calls the guests a day prior to their stay to confirm booking and to confirm the time of arrival so that check in process can be seamless and extremely easy / enjoyable. 3. To check if the hotel taxi reaches the pickup point on time or not. If it s on time, then it s perfectly all right. If it s not, the guest calls the hotel and complains and show disappointment. They arrange for an alternate hotel taxi quickly or arrange a private taxi (nearest to the pickup point) and pay the fare to the hotel. Vehicle brand, condition, maintenance aspects are also observed. 4. After arriving at the hotel, hotel staff greets the guests. Present them with small tokens (garlands, flowers, t-shirts) of appreciations for showing faith in them. Post check in the guest does not like the outside view, so asks them to change it. If the Hotel has another vacant room, then they change it immediately. If there isn t it gets the guest into an altercation with the hotel staff. The manager promises and ensures the guest that he will get a better room in some time. In the interim period the guest is offered complimentary coffee and juice to make himself comfortable and are henceforth accommodated into a suitable room. 5. The guest asks the reception to wake him early morning (be his alarm clock) and they do that faithfully. 6. The guest gets locked in his bathroom. Via intercom in the bathroom he communicates with the help desk and he is attended immediately. 7. The guest goes for complimentary breakfast, but as soon as he reaches the breakfast table, he discovers he is late. Kitchen staff smilingly sees what best they can do. 8. The guest misplaces his key card and the reservation clerk has had a bad morning, the hotel manager comes to the rescue and sorts the matter. 9. The guest takes the hotel cab for an important business meeting. It breaks down mid way on a high way. He calls up the hotel help desk to arrange for another vehicle and see how efficient their service is. 10. Explore the facilities hotel has got to offer, the active (low calorie) foods, 24x7 fitness centres, snooker/pool, spa centre, extended swimming pool hours, in-room yoga, 24x7 service centres for laundry, breakfast, room service and business-related activities etc. Through Decent explore , guests were given the freedom to chart their own holiday itinerary. The guest finds some appreciative remarks or complains about the same and brings it forth to the manager. The action taken then is worth noting.

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11. Laundry people burn the guest s apparel. Notice the manner he is reprimanded and the way the guest is compensated. 12. Guest goes out for some important meeting and after returning reports a case of theft in the room. Hotel management finds out using CCTV surveillance and take damage control measures. 13. The guest has a medical emergency late night. He manages to call up the reception for medical help. Notice how they arrange for a doctor late night. 14. The guest wishes to go sightseeing. Hotel staff set up your tour program and arrange for a well informed tourist guide. He turns out to be a crook, he steals all the cash, takes the mobile phone and credit cards. In short the guest is mugged and beaten up and ends up in a police station. He calls up the hotel and they help the police track the tourist guide. Guest is impressed and gratified by the way hotel people have come to your rescue. 15. The guest has come along with his family and wishes go to a pub with his spouse. The hotel has a crche facility or arrange for a baby sitter for the children. 16. The hotel is located in a foreign location. Notice how the hotel people help the guests out with visa facilities, travel insurance cover. 17. The guest wishes to delay his checking out schedule by 2 hrs. Notice how hotel people comply with your demands. If it s possible or not, whether they offer you a full waiver or they charge on hourly basis or they charge for an entire day. 18. See how the hotel management promotes their culture by organizing cultural fiesta for their guests. 19. Interaction with the reception to offer discounted rates in the other branches of the hotel the guest wishes to visit elsewhere. 20. The guest wishes to assign a contract to the hotel for arranging a function. He discusses the various services they are going to offer and what all special arrangements they ll make for the function. 21. The guest visits the pub inside hotel premises and has an altercation with a drunken person. What action does the hotel take against the same person? 22. The guest has finished his foreign currency. See how hotel helps the guest out with foreign exchange. 23. The guest is a pure vegetarian and the hotel kitchen doesn t serve good vegetarian food. He discusses with them the alternative of serving him food from some other restaurant. How would the hotel react? 24. The guest gets stuck in the hotel lift. Notice how the management helps youu come out safely.

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25. The guest wishes to travel to some place nearby but without luggage and he has already checked out of the hotel room because he will catch his flight immediately after he returns. He requests the hotel to drop his luggage to the airport on time and they do so.. 26. The guest wishes to go to some other city in the same country and knows no one there. Hotel nicely arranges an accommodation for the guest in the respective city and he is obliged. 27. The guest has never travelled in a limousine. He asks the hotel staff to arrange one short trip in it. They do it. 28. The guest has missed his flight back home and has to wait for another 12 hrs to board the second flight. He calls up the hotel staff and finds out if they can arrange for something. They offer him accommodation in a VIP lounge through their affiliate members. 29. The guest wants to take his spouse for a romantic / surprise outing. He asks the hotel to schedule the entire event for the couple. 30. The guest forgotten an important document/mobile phone/charger behind. He requests the lost & found department of the hotel to locate it and courier it to him. 31. Concierge department - responsible for providing the entire info about the city promotes and guides tourists. 32. The guest doesn t like the dish he has asked for. His dish is replaced. 33. The guest wishes to have a coffee / maggi at 3 am. He requests the room service to arrange one for him even though the cafeteria shuts down at 12am. 34. The bathroom geyser isn t working properly. He complains to the room service. 35. The guest needs to send an urgent e-mail / fax to his client and his laptop net connection isn t working. The hotel provides him with the business centre facility. 36. The guest always has had a fancy of being a bar-tender and wants to give it a shot. The hotel manager speaks to the pub and lets the guest enjoy his moments. 37. The hotel has been constructed keeping in mind the ecology. Recycles its water / waste and communicates the same to all its guests. 38. The hotel pays all its necessary taxes on time without any delay. 39. The hotel involves itself in CSR activities like teaching the underprivileged kids or constructing homes for the homeless 40. The hotel has a tie up with an academic institute in order to enhance the learning skills of its associates.

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