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Live Projects Client Report 2011/2012

Team 27 Frederico Costa

Nivair Merdono

Terri Kay

Omer Aly

Wujing Wu

Amir Hashemi

Carl Price

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Table of Contents

-Executive Summary 4

-Introduction 4

Scope, aim & objectives 4, 5

-Achievements on client deliverables

-Planning and control 8

-Meeting client expectations 9, 10

-Summary of products developed 11

Team Structure 12, 13

Appendix:

Gantt Chart 14

MDP Consulting deliverables chart 15

Products delivered 16, 17

Smartphone app 18, 19, 20

SWOT Analysis 21

Banner pricing list 22, 23

Trolley medal coin 24

Bibliography 25

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Executive Summary

The “Tempus Restaurant” business revolves around hospitality and luxury fine dining. The restaurant is situated in a grade two listed building called “Palace Hotel” which is situated in Manchester city centre. The representative for “Tempus Restaurant” is Mr Grove who is the general manager of “Palace Hotel” and its operations which include both Tempus Bar and Restaurant.

Mr Grove aimed to maximise usage of the restaurant during off peak times of the day and non-seasonal times of the year this aim was to ensure that business was to be stable and constant thus ensuring higher revenues and predictability. Mr Grove’s second aim was to encourage more visitors at the Palace Hotel to dine at Tempus restaurant. Mr Grove raised concerns about the physical external visibility of the restaurant and the internal layout and appeal of the restaurant. Additionally he raised concerns about the appeal of the menus and the degree of “user friendliness” of current website promoting the restaurant. Furthermore Mr Grove raised interests of the opportunities that Smartphone applications had to offer in the light of promotion however he did not raise it as a primary issue. One crucial request from Mr Grove that promotion is to be constrained by not including substantial discounts and free meals.

Introduction

This report finalises all the progress MDP consulting has made so far and additionally is an

updated version of the project’s status from semester 1 (September 2011) all the way up to the end

of Semester 2 (April 2012).

The final report consists of two segments the client report (updated version of the progress

report) and the academic report describing the processes MDP has adopted to complete the project.

Scope, aims and objectives of the project

MDP Consulting looked at the marketing mix of Product, Place, Price and Promotion and suggested that promotion is the key instrument of gaining more customers in our marketing strategy. We did not want to use aggressive marketing strategies as we believed the nature of the service and product provided did not needed to be oversold and furthermore would be too expensive and high risk advertising on that level. MDP Consulting main ethos was to keep costs at a minimal but effectiveness of our marketing ideas at a maximum. MDP Consulting aimed to set out to produce a Banner design, Smartphone application, metal key ring design, menu design and promotional pamphlets, website in order to increase awareness and promotion; all these techniques applied are economically feasible and effective. Additionally we aimed to place promotional advertisements and menus in strategic places within the hotel such as on room beds and tables and in lifts. The idea of joint promotion with Palace Theatre came into recognition with Mr Grove and we aimed to connect tempus restaurant with place theatre by aiming to put tempus restaurant on palace theatre event leaflets and vice versa. This idea was to raise awareness of Tempus restaurant.

On the academic side our group aimed to gain both intrinsic and extrinsic benefits that the project had to offer such as: recognition, skills and knowledge development, team building,

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achieving higher levels of self-esteem through challenging work, real life experiences in the hospitality industry, leadership skills and improvement of motivation.

Achievements on client deliverables

The Tempus Restaurant – Located inside The Palace Hotel – is in a need of maximising its

utility. The Tempus Restaurant has asked us to find different methodologies to maximise its

customers. There are some solutions to be mentioned which simply means the chance to create

access to experiences previously impossible to achieve. In order to satisfy the client’s needs MDP

Consulting will promote the Tempus Restaurant developing a Marketing Strategy consisting in

advertising inside the Hotel (the client is not keen in advertising it outside the hotel when they have

potential customers for the restaurant inside the hotel) in the short-run and giving a competitive

advantage for the long-run.To fulfil the client’s expectations MDP Consulting will take advantage of

the hotel’s good relationship with the Palace Theatre on main events, advertise the restaurant on

key areas of the hotel and “sell” the idea that the restaurant is not expensive to avoid preceding

judgements about the restaurant average price per person. Also a Smartphone application is to be

delivered.

The agreed outcomes were defined and after Mdp Consulting worked on all the areas seen as the most suitable for the Tempus Restaurant and following the structure presented on the Progress Report and the ‘weight’ of each team member we reached the following outcomes:

In and Around the Hotel

A banner to be placed on the reception of the palace hotel.(img.2)

-The banner is designed. This banner was designed by Carl Price and discussed with Amir. The idea was given in a team meeting. Trying to find a way to orientate the customer to the restaurant and in order to give more visibility to its entrance. To achieve this idea Frederico, Wu, Omer, Nivair and Terri visited the hotel and discussed the client’s needs on this subject.

All menus in lifts to be switched to more stylish ones and include pricing. (img.3)

-Again it was designed by Carl and Amir but the need was identified by the rest of the team that went to ‘audit’ the hotel.

-A new menu is being made by the Restaurant but a cover was created.

It follows the previous 2 points methods of dividing tasks.

Another banner to be placed at the main staircase of the hotel (connects to rooms) and that is to be placed on the downward entrance of the ground floor. (I.e. it is placed on the 1st floor facing people who are going downstairs). (img.2)

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-Again it was designed by Carl and Amir but the need was identified by the rest of the team that went to ‘audit’ the hotel.

‘Canapés’ as welcome service (this might include welcome drink from the group responsible for the bar)

That idea was approved and will be launched at the expo but then will be used on events at the hotel.

Frederico made use of his experience in the sector and has seen this as a cheap but productive method to make awareness of the restaurant’s location and quality.

Medal coins with the Tempus Restaurant Logo and info(img.1)

-This will make the costumer acknowledge the existence of the restaurant and will work both for existing customers and previous customers. Moreover it will be useful for them in the future. This product is a replacement for the original key rings previously designed. The cost is 49p per coin and minimum order is 1000 which makes a total of £49 in the first order.

It was designed by Carl, Wu and Amir were in charge of the market prospects and the rest of the team discussed what should be included on the design.

Inside the Hotel Rooms

A well designed flyer with a welcome or invitation theme.

The best place to put the flyer in the team’s opinion is next to the kettle (tea-coffee making area on the table).

-Decision-making exclusive to the Palace Hotel.

Alternatively, the flyer can be put on-top of the robes (on the bed).

-That only applies for specific rooms (e.g. double rooms & suits).

-The flyer is designed. Carl designed the flyers and the rest of the team made some prospects about what to include on it, sizes, printing costs and its viability.

The Palace Theatre

Banner in reception (img.2)

-The banner is designed.

-The banner will be placed according to the show that’s playing at specific days that matches with the client’s customer segmentation as agreed before.

-The banner will also be placed depending on the needs and wants of Tempus restaurant on the day. I.e. if they have a conference, putting the banner should be avoided.

-The banner is designed. This banner was designed by Carl Price and discussed with Amir. The idea was given in a team meeting. Trying to find a way to orientate the customer to the restaurant and in order to give more visibility to its entrance. To achieve this idea Frederico, Wu, Omer, Nivair and Terri visited the hotel and discussed the client’s needs on this subject.

Leaflets will be put in every seat of a selected show (the show has to be profiled as not all the shows follow the Tempus Restaurant customer segmentation).

-The flyer is designed. Carl designed the flyers and the rest of the team made some prospects about what to include on it, sizes, printing costs and its viability.

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Around the Restaurant

A banner to be put on the outside entrance of the Tempus restaurant.

-The banner is designed.

The existing menu placed at the inner entrance of the hotel to be replaced with a new stylish menu.

-Cover is designed, waiting for new menu that will be implemented by the chef of the restaurant.

Pricing to be included in most banners surrounding the restaurants. (In a subtle way).

-need to be decided by the chef and when the new menu is given (depends on chef that was elaborating the new menu) so price is still not included in any menu designed by MDP Consulting.

-The full team again discussed what should be done to improve the menu’s visibility and make the customer stop, read and decide to go visit the restaurant. Carl designed the menu but the rest of the team visited the hotel and analyzed what could be changed giving to Carl its specifications.

Smartphone app

It will not be finished by the time of the expo (takes about 3 to 4 months to be finished). Instead, a flash program will be done so the user can try it in the Live Project Expo and a questionnaire will be taken to get feedback from users. The program will be similar to the application but not connected with the Hotel’s database. If the client is happy with the user’s feedback (potential customer using the program as if they were going to book a table) the client will be more confident to launch this application.

-Omer, Nivair, Wu and Amir debated this with the client after Frederico and Carl made use of their knowledge in the sector given in another module and Terri were in charge of doing a questionnaire to have feedback from the user to be sure that this application would be useful to the client in the future.

These procedures will make an impact in the short-run and will give sustainability for a new customer preview in the long-run. For that the Smartphone app is essential to guarantee the long-run booking system and have a competitive advantage over other restaurants in the area. At some point funds will need to be required.

Also the use of emerging technologies is essential. The use of a Facebook and twitter account is a primary tool in the business expansion, podcasts on the website, testimonials and adverts on YouTube and Flickr has a huge contribution and is free. MDP Consulting recommends an up-to-date presence in those social networks and open source e-marketing tools.

Teamwork applied here making good use of Carl design skills and each member’s strengths. Frederico’s leadership skills and Nivair’s organizational skills were also essential coordinating Omer and Terri’s accurate criticism and audit knowledge. Wu and Amir were very good following the procedures decided previously resulting in an accurate audit of the hotel in terms of advertisement.

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Planning and control

Planning and control procedures were essential to achieve success in this project. A Gantt

chart was created, the meeting records and task delegation also helped and everything was checked

by the team leader and deputy. The use of milestones and division of the whole portfolio by tasks

like a project plan, project report and continuous client feedback as well as this final report helped

the team to go on the right way to success. The use of milestones also gave us recurrent deadlines

that kept the team on track in order to achieve its goals. (check appendix).Furthermore, MDP

Consulting has used analytical methods to assess the Tempus restaurant’s potential. As a group, we

made a SWOT analysis. It was also found out the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats

and had good use of the 4 P’s principles in marketing mix which are Product, Place, Price and

Promotion. This helped us to find our marketing niche and customer segmentation.

As a result of the analysis methods implements by the it was shown that Tempus restaurant

had major advantages in its price, relative to competitors, amazing interior design and with its

location at the heart of the city centre. It had also major disadvantages with an outdated menu and

poor advertising tools.

Meeting Client Expectations

(after progress report feedback)

Progress Report Feedback

MDP Consulting, Project: Tempus Restaurant at The Palace Hotel.

Overview:

“A very well rounded project has been delivered by MDP Consulting. With the initial brief of looking

at ways in which to drive incremental sales through our Tempus Restaurant through increasing

awareness to the 33,000+ guests that stay with us every year via simple and yet poignant reminders

that ‘you need not go out to dine’.

A number of the items we initially had discussed and agreed were a good idea (ie Theatre Banner

etc.., have now been put into place).

A key ring, which as discussed will be amended slightly so that it can be used as a supermarket trolley

coin would make a simple, yet cost effective marketing tool.

The internal banner idea is also a great idea and as discussed, if we can incorporate this so that it is

on a clear film it could be added to a number of glass surfaces throughout the building as a

prompter.

The internal menu cover concepts have also been well received by the team, I particularly like the use

of the P and H from our group marketing in the strapline ‘sPice up your Easter Holiday’

Finally and possibly the most effective long term concept is the design of a user friendly app for

Smartphone, although as discussed our core market is currently the 40+ age group, its critical that

we begin to look at enticing other markets for the years ahead.”

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Overall, Mr. Grove is satisfied with the progress. According to the feedback, the group did

some change to the procedure. It can be known that the previous idea of the leaflets in the palace

theatre is in progress. The leaflets will be placed in the ticket office in a few weeks.

The team also designed a key ring with the advertisement of the restaurant on it. The key

ring will look like a pound coin. When the customer gets the key of their room, they will read the

information on it. Mr. Grove gave some suggestions about the key ring. He thought the idea of the

key ring is very good, however if the key ring can be change to something more useful and cheap like

the pound coins will be more effective. Then, the group has changed the key ring into the pound

coins.

The internal banner idea was also accepted by Mr.Grove. It is an efficient way for promotion.

People outside the restaurant will be attracted directly. It will obvious increase the number of

customers to come for dinner.

Mr. Grove also agreed with the idea of a new menu cover. The cover has been changed to a

more stylish one with a seasonal dish picture on it.

Mr. Grove is very interested in the Smartphone app idea. The well designed sample of the app has

been shown to Mr. Grove. He thought the app could be a new way to expand the potential market.

Iphone and smart phone apps as a solution for the future market were greatly regarded by Mr.

Grove. Nivair and Carl came up with the idea. As the app and smart phone market is growing every

year, and with future generations highly dependent on them, a free app would be a very cheap and

highly efficient way of marketing the restaurant, with the rewards possibly huge.

The last solution was to use a shopping trolley coin and put the name and number of the

restaurant on it. This idea was suggested by Mr. Grove himself, and the team took the idea on with

great acceptance. After research, thanks to the efforts of Amir, the cost of one coin would be 49p. A

very nifty advertising solution and is very cost effective.

The use of Twitter or Facebook has been rejected by Mr. Grove. The negative feedback on

the internet will influence the reputation of the restaurant. However, it was said that the pages

could be moderated; only accepting comments after read by the owner.

After receiving the official client feedback, our team changed our plan according to the

feedback given by the client. The team has made a huge effort to find a good but cheap

manufacturer on the pound coin. We have done some research to find the appropriate price for the

pound coins and the banner which were designed by MDP Consulting itself.

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Description of final products developed

“A brand is something made to appear unique. A brand is a trust. A brand is not merely a

product, it’s the feeling it evokes. A brand is why people will pay for a product.” Mooij, M

(2009)MDP Consulting has decided onto to develop 3 ‘brand oriented’ products after many trails

and ideas being scrapped and touched up from our initial ideas. On all of the designs we have kept

to the style that is present on the principle Hayley website and used the logos for the respected

companies such as; The Palace Hotel, Tempus Restaurant and Principle Hayley. We found out the

font that was used on previous versions of websites and menus by looking at the cufon replace

elements in the coding for the website, once we had this font we were able to create additional text

outside of that already present on the 3 logos.

Key Rings; The original idea for the key rings were to be in a kind of oval/rectangle style although

putting the idea forward to the client we both came to an agreement that we preferred the style of

a pound coin as it was a lot smaller to be placed on the keys for the hotel and would not cause a

problem for people holding the keys. For the design we looked at many existing designs and even

design templates already present on websites of the companies that produce the coins. Following

these conventions of layouts for the coins we produced a professional design being developed.

Banner; The banner was made very simple and clear with just the Logos on and an extra word added

onto the end of the Palace Hotel logo to say “The Palace Hotel Restaurant” the idea was so that the

banner could be placed anywhere that the hotel sees fit and could be moved around and not have a

design that means it specifically needs to be placed in a certain location. Also the addition of

Restaurant onto the Palace Hotel logo is to make sure that customers of the hotel recognise that the

Tempus restaurant is part of the palace hotel.

Smartphone App; The Smartphone app was at first only a brief idea put forward but was taken to by

the client and asked to be produced, we designed the app to include 3 main parts the Menu, Special

offers and a booking page. Keeping the same styles used through the principle Hayley website and

that we used on the banner and key rings to give a professional look and to also let the users notice

the familiar look and relate it to the palace hotel. “The difficulty of achieving and then maintaining

real technological/product advantage means that even companies outside of the traditional goods

(…) have begun to look at other means of product differentiation” Aaker, D (1993), based on that

MDP Consulting decided to be one step forward on the sector producing this Smartphone

application system to the restaurant.

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Team structure

Characteristics of a good team is one in which has a sense of commitment to the group; they have a

mutual feeling of trust and dependency within the group. The group is harmonious and supportive of

all members with low levels of absenteeism, errors and complaints. (Mullins, 2010). In order for a

good team they need to have a good leader. Leadership is inspiring and creating a vision for the

other members of a team. A good leader motivates, keep control of activities within the project as

well as providing feedback where necessary in order to improve the quality of work by team

members.

Responsibilities

Frederico Costa – As the team Chairman his main responsibility is to ensure that the team is cooperating and achieving milestones. He makes the connection between departments. Also lead meetings and share responsibilities for the sake of teamwork. Good knowledge on Marketing, Accounting and IT. Always tries to pull out strengths of its team members and suppress its weaknesses.

“In this we potentiate strengths and suppress weaknesses. This module gave me the opportunity of working again with real clients and learning directly from the experienced gained on this project is my biggest tool for the demanding world in business and consultancy.” – Frederico Costa

Nivair Merdono – As Deputy Manager (or deputy team leader) his main role is to coordinate the other part of the team (when divided into 2 semi-groups, for example finance/admin and design/Marketing). Excellent organisational skills make him have the responsibility of being on track of deadlines (as Frederico is of achieving milestones/objectives/goals).

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Omer Aly – As Public Relations his main duty is to arrange meetings with the client, pass the idea of the client to the team and its demands. The opposite way he represents the team’s ideas, actions, projects and products at the eyes of the client.

A big help idealizing what the client wants (marketing wise and passing the message about finance limitations).

Wujing Wu – As responsible for all the Finance Duties calculates what options that came from our marketing solutions are viable. It saves time when it comes to decide what should be presented or not.

Also helps on administrative duties trying to accelerate procedures (e.g. she doesn’t need to tell the secretary what is not viable as an answer to a general question about materializing a marketing idea, she replies to all straight away what is not viable and why).

Terri Kay – She isn’t just a secretary but actually does a full administrative job in the group. Writing minutes (divides that and is usually supervised by the deputy), sending e-mails, receiving and re-sending information and checking timetables to organise meetings are up to her. Also makes good use of her knowledge in Tourism and Leisure to give more notions to the group about the tourism sector.

Carl Price – as Designer and IT responsible he transforms ideas into products. All the non-procedure based solutions were designed by him following all the team and/or client specifications. Strict but at the same time very creative on products and ideas.

Amir Hashemi – In the group we do not have a Marketing Manager because all the team is marketing oriented but he works as a Marketing Consultant being only responsible for that sector. Because all the other sectors are well organised we can afford to have an individual that can be totally focused on the client’s needs which in this case is promotional needs so Amir checks all the options, what can go wrong or right before ideas are transformed into solutions (and then solutions transformed into a service or product, if profitable).

Processes

The chart above shows the hierarchical structure of team 27 MDP Consulting. This shows the chain

of command which establishes “the vertical graduation of authority and responsibility, and the

framework for superior-subordinate relationships in an unbroken line down from the top of the

organisation” (Mullins, 2010). The hierarchy shows that the team leader has the highest amount of

authority and responsibility for the project which regresses further down the hierarchal chart.

The decisions of who would be team leader and the deputy leaders were based on their qualities,

experience and organisation skills. The decision had been agreed upon by all members.

A democratic approach had been taken and in order for successful discussion, a variety of ideas and

opinions of all the members was discussed and used within the project.

However this may be how authority and responsibility was shown, but the communication channel

which effects the level of interaction of team members had been for this project an all-channel

network structure this means that it was a decentralised network in which enabled full discussion

and participation of all members.

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Appendix

Gantt Chart:

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MDP CONSULTING DELIVERABLES CHART - TEAM 27

UNIVERSITY OF SALFORD 2012 - Live Projects MDP 2

Frederico Amir Carl Terri Wu Nivair Omer TOTAL

gantt chart 0 0 0 60 40 0 0 100

products 10 10 40 10 10 10 10 100

p.scope 50 0 0 50 0 0 100

research web 15 15 10 15 15 20 10 100

research design 15 10 50 10 5 10 0 100

market research 15 15 15 15 15 15 10 100

designing 0 30 70 0 0 0 0 100

client contact 25 0 0 0 0 25 50 100

client contract 100 0 0 0 0 0 0 100

project plan 15 15 15 15 15 10 15 100

project report 30 10 20 10 10 10 10 100

risk assessment 5 5 5 5 5 70 5 100

final report 30 5 10 10 20 10 5 100

client report 25 10 20 15 10 20 0 100

client feedback 0 25 0 0 25 25 25 100

app 0 0 100 0 0 0 0 100

client meetings 15 10 10 10 15 20 20 100

deliverables presentation 15 15 10 10 15 20 10 100

TOTAL 364 189 375 235 200 265 175 1800

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Medal Pound Coins

(img1)

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Banner

(img2)

Menu (cover)

(img.3)

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Smartphone Application

(img4)

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When pressing booking it opens this new page

(img5)

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When pressing special offers this page will come

(Note it says ‘Booking’ to go back onto the booking page since that’s the app main duty)

(img6)

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SWOT Analysis

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Trolley Medal Pound Coin

Source: http://www.4imprint.co.uk/tag/112/Trolley-Coin-Keyrings/product/900091/Trolley-Coin-Keyring

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Bibliography

Jamal, T., Smith, B. and Watson, E. (2008) “Ranking, Rating and Scoring, Tourism Management, Vol.9 No1, Pages 66-68

Linton, J.D. and Thongpapanl, N. (2004), “Perspective: ranking the technology Innovation Management journals”, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 123-39.

Duchastel, Philippe C. “Marginalia.” The Technology of Text: Principles for Structuring, Designing and Displaying Text. Vol. 2. Ed. David H. Jonassen. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Educational Technology Publications, 1985. 210-236.

Defining yield management and measuring its impact on hotel performance P Jones - Ingold, McMahon-Beattie, and Yeoman (Eds) Yield …, 2000 Aaker, D (1993). Brand Equity & Advertising. New Jersey; Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc. Mooij, M (2009). Global Marketing and Advertising. London; SAGE