Building on an icon

BY IMPACT Staff

The Taj Group of Hotels has stood tall over the decades as one of India’s oldest and most reputed hospitality brands. Deepa Misra Harris, Sr Vice President, Sales and Marketing, of the Group, takes us through the brand’s journey so far, its global portfolio and unique marketing principles.

Q] How has the current economic uncertainty affected the hotel industry, both in India and abroad? How has The Taj Group held its own during this period?

The Indian economy recorded its lowest GDP growth rate in a decade at 5% in 2012-13 down from 9.3%. This has impacted the overall tourism prospects in some parts of the world. Additionally, supply of hotel inventory increased by a CAGR of 17.8% for 2008-09 to 2012-13 — the strongest increase for any hotel market in the world. The supply demand imbalance has impacted the industry performance and is expected to settle down. This is a clear sign of a maturing hotel market.

The Taj has held its leadership position and continues to perform well through a strategic model that encompasses market, customer, financial performance across a single value framework, building on the pillars of loyalty, brand, distribution and sales. Much of this has come from sustained brand  development, structured sales approach, substantiated by deep and meaningful customer engagement and driving highly differentiated customer experiences across all brands.

According to a Credit Suisse Research study, Taj is one of the 27 great brands of tomorrow, and is also the only hospitality brand showcased in the study. The study highlights that the Taj’s brand architecture is well-poised to defend its market leadership in India, against the increasing competitive landscape.

Q] How has Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai fared post the 26/11 attacks? What has been the response from your foreign clientele?

Since The Taj Mahal Palace, our flagship hotel, is our most cherished and nurtured icon, it was critical that we manage the crisis in a manner that was extremely sensitive to all stakeholders especially our guests and associates. From showing resilience by setting up a 24/7 ‘war room’ to putting up a microsite within hours of the attack, to managing the environment and building back the business — the task was challenging to say the least. The microsite was termed a best practice in crisis management for the way it was used as a communication vehicle, contact centre, information outreach, guest information, baggage retrieval and for posting messages and condolences. We got an overwhelming avalanche of unprecedented support, confidence and love from well-wishers across the globe.

Other than campaigns that were launched completely supported by media houses, the most important aspect of the guest outreach programme was setting up of the Taj Public Service Welfare Trust Fund to help all victims of 26/11 and also for future calamities. This Trust has gone on to do extensive work, more recently for the Uttarakhand calamity. The restoration process and communication outreach to our global audience was done through the’Taj Forever Campaign’ which emphasized the enduring values of a 110-year-old brand and the timeless appeal of classic luxury brands that are authentic, celebrate heritage and quality whilst constantly reinventing themselves.

Q] What are the fundamental principles of your marketing strategy? What do your media mix and marketing spends look like?

The fundamental principles of any marketing strategy would be keeping the brand strong, relevant and differentiated. We have done this through extensive research, customer mapping to arrive at meaningful propositions and customer experiences to sharply define our brands. At the same time, we leveraged our brand assets to drive performance and price premium.

The media mix has changed with the volatility of the market with a higher percentage of spends on   tactical initiatives to generate immediate demand and share shift at the same time increasing our spends on digital platforms to get strong performance indices.

Q] How is the hotel chain using the digital platform to promote the brand’s various offerings to consumers?

Be it with websites, mobile or social media, digital has helped us achieve a 360-degree integrated approach to connect and interact with consumers. Given Taj’s global footprint and the emerging opportunities in the domestic market, we have used Digital to create awareness and reach in new markets, to build brand preference and to strengthen loyalty and advocacy. We have also used it to bring alive the brand experience even before they have stepped into the hotel. We have seen a steady increase in bookings through our website and other travel portals year on year. We actively listen in to conversations about our brands and engage with customers to be consistently relevant and responsive.

Q] What is the positioning of Brand Taj viz-a-viz its sub-brands? How do you alter your communication for these brands while retaining the original essence of brand Taj?

The corporate brand, Taj Group is India’s first and longest serving hospitality brand. Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces is our flagship luxury brand for the world’s most discerning travellers seeking authentic experiences, given that luxury is their way of life. Given its portfolio of iconic and landmark hotels and service legacy, it stands differentiated from its peers. Staying at a Taj hotel is not only a special experience but one is immediately seized by a deep sense of place, history and authenticity.

Each brand is enlivened by its own persona and lexicon, and communication is tailored to the brands specifically. However, a common thread that runs across is the promise of warm and personalized services that makes us one of the finest hotel companies.

Q] Taj (and Tata Group) has been aggressive in its expansion drive in India and internationally. What have been the cross-learnings?

We have invested to acquire and manage iconic assets in our key source markets, which we have re-branded to create a distinct Taj customer experience and connect with our customers. Through such acquisitions we bought into a captive market-share. However, the key learnings have been in the sphere of longevity of brands and the benefits thereof, customer experience layering, personalization across nationalities were some of our discoveries.

Q] What is the USP of brand Taj in relation to the other prominent hotel chains in India and globally?

According to a BAV 2012 study, conducted across 12 cities and 4,800 respondents, consumers poll Taj as the most-preferred hotel chain. The study clearly shows Taj as a break-away brand across the brand landscape in India. The Taj ranks higher in terms of brand differentiation, relevance, esteem and knowledge as against our competitive set.

Our Brand Equity Gallup study further reinforces that Taj leads in terms of brand image, awareness and service. With our new brand architecture, Taj Group is well-poised to defend its market leadership position in India, against an increasing competitive landscape.

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Tags : CMO Interview