Marketing of Service Product: of Nyali Beach Hotel in Mombasa Kenya - Case Study Example

Service Product Analysis Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………..3 Justification………………………………………………………………………………..3 Analysis of 7p’s at Nyali Beach Hotel…………………………………………………….5 Product…………………………………………………………………………………….5 Place………………………………………………………………………………………6 Promotion………………………………………………………………………………….6 People……………………………………………………………………………………..7 Process……………………………………………………………………………………..9 Physical evidence…………………………………………………………………………..11 Pricing……………………………………………………………………………………..13 Recommendations…………………………………………………………………………14 References…………………………………………………………………………………19 Service Product Analysis 1. Introduction While studying marketing many authors have mentioned the application of 4 P’s that represent pricing, place, product, and promotion. The necessity to study the 4 P’s is for the purpose of implementing marketing plans in businesses. The P of pricing analyses all the issues that touch on costing and the eventual prices that consumers buy products or services. P of product is about decisions that are made in relation to designing or redesigning products and services while distribution and supply chain management are addressed through the P of place. The final P of promotion analysis all the aspects of marketing related to promotion of products and services. This is done by marketers through the use of different types of media for adverting or through personal or direct selling. Marketers in the service industry saw the need for additional of more P’s to address the unique nature of service marketing. As a result 3 additional P’s have been generated leading to 7 P’s. The additional P’s represent process, people, and physical evidence. In the service industry, services are mainly delivered by people even when technology is used in the delivery of service. This paper will address the application of the 7 P’s at Nyali Beach Hotel in Mombasa Kenya. 1.1 Justification Nyali Beach Hotel provides various forms of service to both local and international visitors. Accommodation is one type of service that is available to clients and the hotel management has introduced various types of accommodation that include single, triple, double and presidential suites. In this hotel, guests are provided with health and wellness spas where massage and physical fitness services are availed to the willing guests. Guests are also provided with a variety of sports to engage them during their leisure time. These sports include beach volleyball, rafting, tennis, chess, and swimming among others. There are many restaurants at Nyali where guests are served with foods and drinks which is another form of service. As many scholars have noted, hotels and other hospitality outlets are categorized to be in the service industry and hence Nyali Beach Hotel was a viable choice of company. 2.0 Analysis of 7 P’s at Nyali Beach Hotel 2.1 Product The product in services marketing is considered to be intangible as they cannot be measured. It is therefore important for caution to be observed when designing service products. For the case of Nyali Beach Hotel, a hotel blue print was prepared first before the business was established. It is through the service blueprint that product is clearly defined. The product service at Nyali Beach Hotel is categorized into food and beverage service, accommodation services, entertainment services, and conference facilities. There are five restaurants at Nyali Beach Hotel that serve various cuisines (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). The Mvita Grill restaurant is the most popular as it is situated at the beachside where seafood is served. For the service of lighter meals, and drinks, visitors are served at Parrots Beach Bar. For the breakfast and table d’hote meals, guests are served at L’Orangerie restaurant. Bistro restaurant is located in the main lobby where contemporary menus are offered. Entertainment products at Nyali Beach Hotel are normally offered at night and they include Noons discotheque, traditional dances, acrobatic shows, and casino. Sports at Nyali Beach Hotel are also categorized as product services that provide entertainment and relaxation to guests. There are two large swimming pools overlooking the ocean and next to one of them is an outdoor Jacuzzi (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). Windsurfing and catamaran sailing are also available. The visitors wishing to explore the ocean are provided with glass bottom boats where they can also scuba dive or deep sea fishing. Coconut palms and casuarina trees provide shade to the white coral sandy beach and visitors can also swim safely in the ocean. Sports include volleyball, squash, tennis, and table tennis. Guests may also play golf at Nyali Golf Club that is close to the hotel. 2.2 Place In service marketing, place determines the exact location of a service product. Nyali Beach Hotel was opened in December 1946 by John and Eva Noon. It was the first beach hotel to be established in the Kenyan coast so it had the opportunity to choose the best location (Hemsing, 1975). It is situated in a 20 acre land of flamboyant tropical gardens. Nyali Beach hotel is located next to the Nyali Beach and being a beach hotel it attracts hundreds of tourists from all over the world, to ensure it remains relevant in the hospitality industry. The hotel is located next to Indian Ocean and since Mombasa is a world tourist destination point, Nyali enjoys the advantage of being situated there. The road leading to the hotel is also generally smooth for an easier accessibility by guests. 2.3 Promotion Promotions have become critical in the service marketing. In the hospitality industry most the services are similar or duplicated ad so hotel mangers have to engage in the improvement of brand image through promotions (McCole, 2004). Without promotions, guests may view the service products being offered at hotels as being monotonous and boring. Nyali Beach Hotel advertises its services through the internet with an aim of reaching global tourists who tend to have a higher spending power than the local tourists. In the advertising campaigns, all the services offered in the hotel are mentioned with emphasis being put on the more unique services available at the hotel. Some of these services include beach parties and beach dancing. Through advertising the hotel has been receiving more international tourists since the year 2003 and this has contributed positively in the economic development of the hotel. Other than advertising, Nyali Hotel has also been holding sales promotions in different times of the year and especially in the low tourist seasons. The promotions include lowering of hotel charges during low seasons in order to target the local tourists. Package rates are also introduced where families pay less than individual guests (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). This has led to many families visiting the hotel during the low season and the notable result has been the increase in bed occupancy rates. Although the profits during promotions are generally lower, the hotel is able to maintain most of its operations instead of closing down during such seasons. Other promotion measures practiced at Nyali Beach Hotel include hosting of cultural nights where cultural foods, drink. 2.4 People In the hospitality industry service is mainly provided by people. For services to be said to have been delivered effectively, a lot of interaction between customers and the people facilitating the service is experienced (Boella, 2000). The interaction with people at Nyali Beach Hotel starts when a prospective guest enquires about the availability of rooms from the reservation officers. Fundamentally the reservation officers set the pace on the guest’s perception about a hotel. There are some instances where a guest withdraws from placing a reservation due to the treatment offered at the reservation department (Reid & Bojanic, 2009). In the hospitality industry, it is a rare occurrence for people to be mistreated while making reservations due to the fear of putting off guests. The staffs at the reservation department try their best in convincing guests why they should visit their facilities and guide them through all the advantages of making such a decision. In the hospitality industry, an organization is defined by the service staff. Most of the guests, who visit Nyali Beach Hotel, may not be conversant with the sports that are available at the hotel. The hotel has taken the responsibility in providing qualified coaches at the tennis courts. In the instances where the coach is absent, the hotel contacts some qualified tennis player who assists guests in tennis playing. Basically, tennis is a sport that requires more than one player. This makes it quite difficult for a guest to play alone, since the service can only be of benefit if a guest is provided with a hitter or a coach. Beach volleyball is another sport at Nyali Beach Hotel that requires guests to interact with people. To ensure that the needs of guests who play volleyball are attended, the hotel has five players who are always on standby whenever they are required to participate in this sport for the sake of the guests. The spa is another section that is frequently visited by guests. Different types of massage are offered depending on customers’ requirements and the satisfaction derived from this service depends on the professionalism applied by the people involved (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). Strong customer relation skills are applied by the people working at the spa so that clients can make return visits. Some massage attendants tend to be more popular with guests due to the customized service they give clients. Room attendants are other people that frequently interact with guests. They are quite important as they make guests to be comfortable by ensuring that beds are well made, clothes are iron and also attend to all the guest’s laundry needs upon request. Without room attendants the clients may not have an opportunity to enjoy their stay in a hotel. Food service in the hospitality industry is delivered by the kitchen staff and the restaurant staff. The chef ensures that meals are prepared according to customer’s specifications and also addresses any complaints that might be raised by customers (McCole, 2004). It is paramount to note that customers feel confident when there are waiters in the restaurant to attend to their needs. Imagine a situation where guests serve themselves with buffet but there are no waiters to attend to the guests. The guests will be dissatisfied and numerous complaints will be forwarded to the management. The service staffs at Nyali Beach Hotel are dressed smartly to attract the attention of guests. A very good meal prepared by the chef may be spoiled by the poor service offered by the restaurant staff. A dirty waiter or waitress may spoil guest’s appetite leading to a tainted brand image. 2.5 Process Process in the hospitality industry is the method through which the final service is delivered to the final customer. The process of service delivery determines whether the customer will be satisfied or not (Reid & Bojanic, 2009). The process of the service delivery in a hotel may be determined by the experience and the attitude of the service staff. Take for instance some delicious meal prepared by kitchen but presented to a guest by a rude or dirty waiter. When a guest is interested in waking up early, the receptionists may be informed in order to arrange how the guest can be alerted to wake up in the morning. Although this service is vital in ensuring that guests are on time for their daily activities, the method of alerting the guest to wake up is of utmost importance. If an alarm is used for this purpose, then it should not produce annoying noise. At Nyali Beach Hotel, the room telephones are fixed with an attractive ring-back tone that does not bother clients when they are being woken up (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). The night receptionist keep a list of all the guess who have requested for a wake-up service and make a call to those guests at the exact time that guests wish to be woken up. At the restaurants, the waiters are trained to always smile to the guests while serving them. This may seem to be challenging but it lightens up the guest’s mood setting up the right atmosphere for enjoying their foods and drinks. It is also important to use the appropriate equipment while serving guests. Cheap cutlery may be disappointing to the guests as they may fail to feel the value of their money. The process of welcoming visitors at Nyali leaves guests with good memories. There is a beautiful lounge where guests rest as they are checked in by hotel receptionists (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). A sparkling clean hand and face towel if presented to a guest followed by a cold glass of fresh fruit juice where a guest may choose from either mango, orange, passion, pineapple, or cocktail juices. The glasses used to serve these juices are embedded with a welcome message making guests to relax and feel at home. Another important aspect of service delivery at Nyali Beach Hotel is the way a guest is welcomed to an accommodation room. A beautiful fruit basket is put in the room with an assortment of fruits and a welcome card that bears the guest’s name. In addition to the fruit basket, the mini fridge in the room is stocked with drinks and a guest is also given a chance to request for more drinks if required. 2.6 Physical evidence Services in hotels are considered to be intangible in nature as one cannot have any physical proof the service has been provided (Rao, 2004). Some of the physical evidence to use in describing the types of service available at Nyali includes brochures that illustrate all the types of services that one expects to get after visiting the hotel. The intangible nature of service industry necessitates the need to provide clients with extra experience by providing tangible elements of service (Reid & Bojanic, 2009). At Nyali an example physical evidence of service is the beautiful natural ambience that reflects the hotel to be on a natural setup complete with green exotic trees. This makes guests to feel more relaxed and safe due to the presence of security guards at all entrance points. Guests also feel comfortable since no intruder can get to the hotel without going through the security detail. To avoid confusion in the restaurants, seats are neatly arranged and tables are clearly marked with table numbers. The first impression that one gets after entering the restaurant is that there is order. Having order in an establishment is a form of service but in this case it has physical evidence as a proof (Magnini et al., 2007). In addition to the neat seta arrangement, the interior décor at the restaurants are designed to represent different cultural themes. The lighting system is adjusted to fit what would be acceptable to many guests. Different dinner nights with different themes are also arranged to cater for the guests who might want romantic set ups. Nyali Beach Hotel has an impressive cool atmosphere with whitewashed walls and tiled floors in all its accommodation rooms. The rooms at Nyali are quite spacious leaving the guests with a lasting experience for accommodation services (Fitzpatrick, Parkinson, & Ray, 2006). The Garden Wing has rooms that are more modern rooms situated in the tropical gardens. Palm Wing is quite luxurious as it has its rooms facing the ocean. The rooms in this wing have wooden floors, mini-bar, satellite TVs, air conditioning, telephone, modern bathrooms and 24 hour room service. All staffs are dressed in smart uniforms that complement the service provision to customers. The feeling would have been quite different if service was provided by members of staff who are not appealing to the guests. Like in any other service industry, customers are treated as the most important asset in hotels and staffs are discouraged from arguing with guests at all times as a guest is considered to be always right. In the provision of entertainment, Nyali has taken an extra mile by inviting live bands at least three times in a week. Unlike plain music, this is a form of service that can physically be documented and has been a main attraction many tourist visiting the hotel (Fitzpatrick, Parkinson, & Ray, 2006). Since many hotels strive to provide service to their guests the competition in his sector is always on the increase prompting hotels to focus more on the physical forms of evidence as a way of differentiating their products. The swimming experience at Nyali is quite unique due to the location of the swimming pool. The pool is situated some few meters from the ocean and the painting at its walls are done in ocean blue color which gives guests and impression that the pool is an extension of the Indian Ocean. This is a memory many guests would not want to forget as it puts Nyali at a more competitive advantage. 2.7 Pricing The pricing system for services is more complicated than those of products. When guests visit the Nyali restaurants, the hotel only charges them for the foods or drinks consumed. No one is charged for the beautiful ambience and décor that forms part of service provided to guests. Guests are also not charged for the live bands that frequently visit the hotel as it is considered to be a complimentary service for them. But what should be understood is that such bands have to be paid by the hotel inviting them. While calculating the pricing for the service products at Nyali Beach Hotel factors such as labor, cost of material and other overhead coats are considered. Since it may appear rude to charge guests for some extra services such as music and ambience, the management passes the cost to other services such as foods or drinks (Fitzpatrick, Parkinson, & Ray, 2006). The cost of fixing the ambience and other costs related to service is transferred to other intangible services provided to guests. It is for this reason that food and drinks prices are relatively higher compared to other ordinary hotels (Srinivasan, 2004). This ensures that the hotel meets all the costs and makes profit out of the investment. There was a time when Nyali Beach Hotel made huge losses, but after the review of their pricing strategy to cater for all their overheads, the establishment started gaining profits from the investment. 3.0 Recommendations 3.1 People In the services marketing people are involved directly in the provision of services to the guests. It therefore follows that for any hospitality establishment to succeed in giving guests the best service, people that interact with guests should be trained to offer professional service (Nargundkar, 2006). Guests at Nyali Beach Hotel are expected to interact with different people in various departments of the hotel. Since individual people have different personalities, there is likelihood for the guests to receive varying services from the employees. There are instances where guests prefer to be served by particular waiter in a restaurant due to the personality traits exhibited by such a waiter. For the uniformity in service marketing, the hotel should invest in the training of restaurant staff in order to offer professional service that will encourage guests to make return visits to Nyali Hotel. It is important to set high standards in the recruitment of restaurant staff to enhance their interaction with guests. This can be done by prioritizing on the requirements that relate to strong communication skills, interpersonal skills, and personal hygiene. Since the guests at Nyali come from different cultural background, the management should endeavor to hire people who can speak more than one foreign language. This will play a big role in the provision of services to guests who might only understand a certain language. In the event where hiring employees who have studied foreign languages becomes practically impossible, the hotel management should come up with a long-term solution (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). For instance, the hotel can arrange to fund some employees to enroll in some short courses on foreign languages. The selection of the employees to be trained should be on merit with those from the Food & Beverage department, front office, and accommodation departments being considered first. For diversity and quality training, the hotel should carry out a study on the background of their guests and identify the most popular languages. Each of the departments mentioned above should have different employees who ca speak different foreign languages. Since almost all employees in the hospitality industry are involved in the provision in the provision of services to guests either directly or indirectly, the hotel management should ensure that they are professionally trained to work effectively in their departments (Tracy, 2007). Like in other hospitality outlets, departments at Nyali Beach Hotels are interrelated. For the food to end up being consumed by guests, the purchasing department has to order quality raw materials for food production. The food is then taken to the kitchen where the chef ensures it is prepared as to the standards acceptable in the hospitality industry. Restaurant staffs are involved in the process of presenting the food to the guests where they create the final impression to the guests. The food might be professionally prepared but the waiters may provide poor service causing customer’s dissatisfaction. Sometimes the cooks may mess in the meal preparation leading to guest’s complaints despite having received good service from the restaurant staff. Likewise guests might be served well at the reception and the front office but receives poor service in the accommodation department. As it can be noted, a simple mistake in the hospitality industry might lead to customer dissatisfaction and hence affecting the brand image of the hotel (Philips & Gourlay, 2006). To ensure that all employees remain up to date in their skills the management at Nyali Beach Hotel should introduce a strategic system where staffs are taken for refresher courses on rotational bases to cope with the changing trends in the hospitality industry. For the employees to offer best services to the clients they ought to be satisfied in their job. All their needs should be addressed by the management and their salaries should be reviewed constantly to reduce the rates of labour turnover (Tracy, 2007). They should also be motivated by being rewarded for their good performances. This can be done by hosting them for annual dinners where prizes are given to best employees. As a result, the morale of the workers will be boosted and will be reflected in service delivery to the guests. 3.2 Pricing The interrelation of departments in the hospitality industry makes pricing of services to be a challenge to the management. For Nyali Beach Hotel to ensure that it makes profits from the sale of service, it is crucial to establish a formidable cost accounting system that can be relied upon in setting prices for various services. The prices should basically be based on the cost of production where a thorough cost analysis is undertaken to determine all the overheads involved in giving clients a certain service. A market survey should constantly be conducted so as to understand the prices that the market is willing to pay (Frambach, 2000). Prices in the hospitality industry vary depending on seasons with peak seasons fetching the highest prices for the services provided. During the low seasons, the demand for service products is significantly low, and so the prices should be lowered during such periods. The pricing of the hotel products may also be determined by the type of guests who frequent the hotel. High income earners may be comfortable to pay high prices while low income earners may be unwilling to pay high prices. Understanding of the types of guests who visit Nyali Beach Hotel and their frequency may assist in the cost and pricing analysis of the service products. In order to cater for all types of visitors, the hotel should introduce various rates to be used by different guests based on their capabilities. When this is done the guests will always be going for the rates they can afford without feeling discriminated or mistreated. While setting prices in the service industry, the management should observe a basic rule of thumb of making guests to feel the full value of their money. 3.3 Physical Evidence The hotel should ensure that guests have memorable stays at during their visits. The décor at the reception should be improved to meet international standards (Magnini et al., 2007). It is also important for the accommodation and the housekeeping departments to ensure that all the facilities to be used by guests are in their best form. The staff at the restaurants and other departments should be dressed smartly and the management should by different pairs of uniforms that have different colors to avoid monotony (Nargundkar, 2006). As a way of marketing the staff should have badges that clearly indicate their names and the departments where they work. For brand marketing and to ensure customers have lasting experiences for their visits, the management should provide all the guests with hotel brochures where all the services they received from the hotel are listed. 3.4 Promotion In the past, Nyali Beach Hotel has been focusing in attracting local tourists by holding cultural nights on annual basis. More focus should be directed in attracting international tourists as well in order to increase the revenue base. Instead of inviting local guests in the cultural nights, the hotel should endeavor to host international cultural nights where cuisines from different parts of the world are prepared (Clarke, 2000). During such events, the marketing department should let the visitors have access to all services provided by the hotel. Another way of promoting the hotel’s service products would be to invest more in the IT industry. This will be instrumental in reaching out to global guests through the internet and other social media (Crane, 2003). Direct mail advertising may also be used where clients are requested to give their email addresses that are later used to inform them on any new services. Personal selling is another practical way of promoting the service products at Nyali Beach Hotel. This requires all staff to have relevant information on the services provided by the hotel and be able to encourage guests to make return visits (Magnini et al., 2007). A prerequisite for this would be good command in communication and interpersonal skills. References Boella, M. 2000. Human resource management in the hospitality industry. Boston: Routledge. Clarke, G. 2000. Marketing a service for profit: a practical guide. London: Cambridge. Crane, F. 2003. Professional services marketing: strategy and tactics. London: Cambridge. Frambach, R. 2000. Creating customer value through strategic services marketing. California: Time Books. Magnini, V.P., Ford, J.B., Markowski, E.P. Honeycutt, J.D. 2007. “The service recovery paradox: justifiable theory or smoldering myth?” The Journal of Services Marketing, 21, pp. 213-225. McCole, P. 2004. “ Dealing with complaints in services.” International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 16, pp. 345-354. Nargundkar, R. 2006. Services Marketing. New Delhi: Time Books. Rao, M. 2004. Services Marketing. New York: Routledge. Reid, R., & Bojanic, D. 2009. Hospitality marketing Management. New York: Routledge. Srinivasan, R. 2004. Services marketing: the Indian context. New Delhi: Time Books. Tracy, B. 2007. The way to wealth: Blueprints for success. New York: Heinemann. Hemsing, J. 1975. The Nyali Beach Hotel story: happiness through heartbreak. New York: Routledge. Fitzpatrick, M., Parkinson, T., & Ray, N. 2006. East Africa. New York: Wiley and Sons. Philips, M., & Gourlay, W. 2006. Kenya. London: Lonely Planet. Read More