Experiential Learning Project

DeliverablesExperiential Learning Project

Deliverables Developing a marketing plan primarily for social media

engagement for the restaurants at Avari Hotel, Karachi.

Develop Brand positioning of restaurants at Avari Hotel for younger generation and provide insight about the industry.

Develop a strategy to increase the footfall in the restaurants at Avari Hotel, Karachi

Experiential Learning ProjectAdvisor

Farahnaz Baig

Team LeadMuhammad Raza Ayub

Team MembersMuhammad Osama SakhaMuhammad Usman Azam

Hyder Abbas MuftiMinhaj-bin-Mushtaq

Project Terms of Reference

Project Terms of Reference

Project Sponsor’s Representatives

Mr. Dinshaw Byram Avari – Director

Mr. Kamran Sani – Director of Sales

Ms. Shajia Raza – Public Relations

Sample Size

Online Surveys – 50 individuals Personal Interviews – 40 individual interviews

Focused insights as per request Focus Groups – 16 individuals

Total sample: 106 individuals

Focus Groups Total of 2 Focus groups were

conducted. Each focus group of 8 students,

currently studying at IBA.

Focus Groups - Insights

We like dining out. Refreshing, socializing, enjoying food with ambience, variety of food,

experience. Food is part of the experience.

Ambience and taste go hand in hand. PC Chandni (Fine Ambience. Food is not that good).

Share one experience to remember; Arizona Grill, Koffee Chalet, Ginsoy, Beach Luxury, Kolachi, Café 44,

Dining out 4-5 times on average in a month. (Lunch with friends, dinner with family).

We like fine dining . (Ambience and Food) Hotels: Ambience is fine/ Food is satisfactory.

Focus Groups - Insights Price Points

Willing to spend upto 2500 PKR , if there is value for money. Dynasty is fine, but ginsoy wins it on value for money.

Preferred Cuisines: Chinese, Continental, Seafood and BarBQue.

Top 3 hotels: PC, Marriot and Movenpick.

Top of the mind recall: Arizona Grill, Roasters, Ginsoy, Charcoal, Kolachi.

Focus Groups - Insights

Mediums influencing a dine out experience: Family/Friends/Word of Mouth Social Media Online Reviews

Stand Alone Restaurants/ Hotels Price Points a major difference.

Focus Groups – Picture Association Avari Towers: Corporate, Expensive, swimming

pool. Marriot: 5-star, much better than avari, Ballroom,

hospitality, high quality. Movenpick: Sheraton,Sheesha, Expensive. Worst

Pakistani Food. PC: Respectable, Cakes, Live Kitchen, highly

sophisticated. Noodle House is good.

Focus Groups – Picture Association Dynasty: Chinese, Fine food, old feel. Fujiyama: Japanese, kung fu. Cinnamon Café: Café feel. Sky BBQ: Live Food. Asia Live: No comments. Aylanto: Pretty Place. Café Flo: Good Food. Roasters: Everyday café, good food. Jade Garden: Narrow, Not good. Ginsoy: Best Chinese place, dragon chicken, prawns.

Focus Groups - Statements First thing that comes to mind when it comes to dining out at Avari Towers.

With Friends: No With Family: Yes.

Fine dining at premium hotels: they lack freshness in food and taste. Environment is too formal. You have to follow certain norms. You cant ease up with friends. Live Kitchen.(Can be a plus). TGIF , Dubai ( An example for fine dining restaurants in Karachi-

Complete Experience). Fine dining at hotels can be occasion based. (Engagements, Post

Marriage dinners). Kolachi( Best Restaurant in Karachi.) Ginsoy.(Best Chinese Place in Karachi)

Personal InterviewsProblems

Personal Interviews 40 personal interviews were conducted Mostly conducted through Skype and phone calls

while a few were face-to-face. Majority consisted of graduate students mostly IBA

Alumni. Few recently married individuals

16

24

Personal Interviews - Composition

UndergraduatesGraduates

Interviews

18

22

Gender Composition

Male Female

Interviews Dining Out All respondents had a preference for dining out

Reasons Change of environment Relaxation point Break from your daily routine Quality food Meeting place (Friends, Family, Colleagues)

Frequency of Dining out More than 2 times a month

2

27

11

Time of Day

BreakfastDinnerLunch

Timings Dinner

Office workers Busy schedules in day time Hanging out with friends and family Celebrate special occasions

Lunch During office hours With office colleagues or friends nearby

Breakfast After dropping off kids Or breakfast with kids

1 2 3 4 50

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

3

15

12

8

2

Frequency of fine dining / month

Fine Dining Respondents preferred fine dining

Exotic dishes (Japanese, Chinese, Thai, Barbque etc.) Cultured Environment Premium feel High customer service Peaceful Environment Not many entertainment spots in khi

Frequency of fine dining Majority dines out around 2 times per month

700-1000 1000-1500 1500+0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

13%

35%

53%

Average Spending / per head

Cuisines

Italian

/French

Japa

nese Tha

i

Turkish

/Laba

nese

Chines

e

Barbeq

ueStea

k

Seafoo

d

Others

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%

Cuisines Traditional dishes don’t count as fine dining New dishes available at these restaurants Gives a change taste Like trying new things out Preference for Chinese food, Steak, Thai dishes

Café Fl

o

Ginsoy

Dynast

y

Café Ayla

nto

Kolachi

Suzie

Wong

Roasters

Arizona G

rillOkra

Little

China

China Town

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

4

6

5

3 3 3

4

6

2 2 2

Fine Dining Resturants

Fine Dining Resturants

PC Movenpick Ramada Marriot Avari Regent Plaza0

2

4

6

8

10

12 11

7

1

10

9

2

Fine Dining Hotels

Hotels Fine Dining at Hotels

A luxury above normal fine dining, because to the whole created experience.

Preferred for events or special occasions

Avari 2 tier hotel

Still considered a luxury hotel due to limited high end hotels in Karachi

Low value for money Low brand awareness of restaurants except dynasty

Seen as branded house rather than house of brands Location

People want to avoid the evening traffic but some prefer it because of central location

Poor entrance The notice signs are unclear

Business Hotel Corporate guests Unilever

0

5

10

15

20

25

Avari Hotel – Quality Traits

Very PoorPoorSatisfactoryGoodExcellent

Dynasty Asia Live Cinnamon Lounge.

Fujiyama Sky BBQ0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

1st Priority2nd Priority3rd Priority4th Priority5th Priority

Restaurants

Restaurants Dynasty standing out as the most popular

Good reviews Reasonable pricing Quality taste Great Ambiance

Cinnamon Lounge had almost negligible presence in the minds of respondents

Mode of Awareness

Online reviewsReviews from

friends/Relatives Advertsing Social Media Traditional Print

Advertising

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

25%

65%

8%

3%

Medium of Influence

Standalone vs Hotel Restaurants Preference for Standalone

Easy Parking Purpose of hotel is different High value for money Quality taste in standalone restaurants Frivolous environment Easy to spot

ONLINE SURVEYS-INSIGHTS

4894%

36%

Preference for fine-dining

YesNo

1937%

2651%

612%

Average expenditure on fine-dining

PKR 700-1000PKR 1000-1500PKR 1500+

Family Friends Office Colleagues Others0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

71%

82%

18%14%

Preferred Companionship

Barbecue

Chinese

Steaks

Seafood

Lebanese/Turkish

Japanese

Others

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Preferred cuisines

57%

63%

67%

47%

16%

10%

16%

4/5 Star Hotel Restaurants

Stand-Alone Restaurants

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

What type of Restaurant comes to one’s mind when asked about Fine Dining

4/5 Star Hotel Restaurants

AvariMovenpickPCOthers

16% (3)

32% (6)

42% (8)

10% (2)

Attributes rating for a fine-dining restaurant

Attributes of extreme importance

Price

Variety

Duration of serving

Hospitality

Ambience

Taste

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40

24%

29%

26%

42%

43%

78%

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Series 1

60%

4%6%

0%

THE MOST INFLUENTIAL MEDIUM!

Recommendations Social media engagement pages

All restaurants engagement pages to be separate Theme based Name recall increases

Posting menus online Plan ahead and decide, try-out new dishes

Conducting social media engagement activities Free fortune cookie if you post a check in at Dynasty

for instance. Complimentary dessert at Fujiyama for checking in.

Recommendations

Offering discounts on weekdays to the customers. 15% off on the total bill. Buy one course and get 50% off on the second course. Free dessert

Moving from customer satisfaction to customer delight. Gifts, souvenirs to loyal customers/ Reward Points.

Reaching partnerships with food review agencies. (Karachi Snob, Karachi Food Diaries)

Targeted advertising, visibility, customer engagement

Recommendations Reaching partnerships with cinemas across

Karachi. Free tickets to the customers who dine out at Avari

(Over the total expenditure of PKR5000+) Enhancing the product line for Cinnamon café.

Introducing gourmet burgers/ Sandwiches. Mock tails /Cocktails. Cold lattes/ Coolers

Recommendations Marketing the chefs and their

experience/credentials on social media platforms. Small videos. Testimonials.

Marketing the “Live cooking experience.” (For example: live sushi)

Marketing tool: Using chef as a character to connect with people

Engage people while cooking

Recommendations Cover image - Make sure you take full advantage

of your cover image. You have 851x351 pixels to market your business for free. Include delicious photos of your food, or people having a good time enjoying a meal with friends

Facebook Page Tabs - Use tabs on your Facebook Page to entice people to visit your eatery

Check in increases visibility

Recommendations Geo target your ads: You can target your ads to be

seen only by Facebook users in your particular geographic location. You can also target your ads to be seen by those with specific likes, and by those who like certain pages.

RecommendationsTwitter Marketing.

Using trending hashtags. Example: #sweetthings #heavenlyfood.

Using specific/niche hashtags.Example: #dynasty #chinesecuisine #elegance #creatingexperience.

RecommendationsInstagram/ Facebook – Pictures. Asking the customers to share the pictures of their

food on the specific restaurant pages with a certain hashtag.

Increases food pictures. Brings more traffic on the page.

The picture with most views and likes can be incentivized.

RecommendationsInstagram/ Facebook – Pictures.

Using Instagram as an effective to market to younger generation.

Employee appreciation: Pictures of chefs working delicately to prepare the meals.

Sharing the pictures of the events on the social media.

Points of Differenciation Fine Dining Menu. Customer Service. Marketing your dishes- Try to be different.

Visually appealing. Food has to be interesting. (Marketing the creativity)

Enjoying the culinary art and marketing it. Reward System.

Not just discounts but Free meals.- Long term Loyalty. On 5 visits, you get a free main course for one person.

Safety over accessibility.

“We don’t call them chefs, we call them Culinary Artists.”

“We just don’t create food, we create experience.”

“Good friends, Good food and Good times.”

“Not settling down for anything less than the best.”

The Right Philosophy

THANK YOU