Marketing Project

…THE RETREAT

www.escapetheretreat.com

Escape will provide customers with a relaxing, rejuvenating atmosphere where

people will come to look and feel good about themselves.

THE STORY BEHIND THE IDEA:

Stress levels among individuals are increasing on a daily basis. Work

anxieties, relationship pressures are severely impacting individuals, mentally
and also physically (burnout, exhaustion)... And after coming to IMT, we are
witnessing a constant increasing state of despair in students and we realized it’s
far worse in the corporate world.

In a certain incident, a person, fed up with the constant pressures

inflicted on him (studies, girlfriend) just got up and ran...And ran...And
ran....

Therefore, we felt that what we are offering is of immense value to the

individual and thus the society.

FUNCTIONAL AND EMOTIONAL NEEDS

Stress severely harms the self image of individuals. It hampers productivity of

employees. And it also has an effect on their relationships, both at home and at
work. Nagpur doesn’t yet have an all-encompassing stress-alleviation recreation
centre. Hence, ESCAPE will come and fill in this gap.

Our innovative services (musical therapy and colour therapy) will help people
significantly reduce their stress levels thereby increasing their efficiency at
work and helping them significantly improve their personal relations.

OBJECTIVES

The objectives for ESCAPE are outlined below:

1. Substantial profits (Rs 4,65,000) by end of second year.

2. Profit before tax by end of second year.
3. Have clientele return rate of 90% by end of first year.
4. Become the established destination for stress alleviation by end of first
year.

MISSION

ESCAPE will provide a comforting, yet stimulating, atmosphere in which

customers will be able to relax both their body and mind and reconnect to their
daily lives and its true purpose. ESCAPE will establish itself as a dependable
destination to which they can always come to escape the stresses of life, and
rejuvenate their energies, their souls, and their lives.

KEYS TO SUCCESS

1. Quality and skilled employees familiar with energy work and oriented to
a soothing spiritual disposition.
2. Establish trust within the community that each customer's needs will be
taken care of during every visit.
 3. Easily accessible location.
4. Effective advertising.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:

ESCAPE offers a wide variety of mind and body healing services. The stress
alleviation recreational centre is devoted to providing holistic methods of
massage, body work, and energy work. This is all done in a relaxing, serene
setting.

1. SPA

• Massages

• Aromatherapy

• Steam

2. ANGER MANAGEMENT

3. COUNSELLING

4. COLOR THERAPY

5. MUSIC AND DANCE THERAPY

6. YOGA AND MEDITATION

7. SPA PRODUCTS

CUSTOMER ANALYSIS:
SEGMENTATION

Asians have the third highest stress levels among people in different
countries. Employees who are less than 35 years old experience the highest
levels of stress; employees with six-to-ten years of experience show the highest
levels of stress; and there is a significant inverse relationship between
educational level and stress level. Report says that annual costs attributed to
stress-related alcoholism, drug abuse, disease and low productivity are about
US$142 billion. Lot of employees in today′s organizations suffer physical
ailments directly related to stress. So the basis for our segmentation is the stress
levels among different age groups and the people who suffer from physical
ailments directly related to stress.

TARGETING:

With its growing population of moderate to high income professionals, Nagpur

provides an ideal market. It is also one of the fastest growing areas in the
country, with a continually expanding consumer base. Another advantage to the
Nagpur market is the high level of travel to the area, especially among
professionals. This also increases our possible consumer base.

Escape aims to provide health and spa services to those seeking physical and
mental well being. Women between the ages of 18 and 70 are the vast market,
with an emphasis on professional women in their mid twenties through their
mid fifties. Also, women battling or recovering from a serious injury or illness
are another specific target market. For men, professionals concerned about their
appearance are our main market. They are often in their late twenties through
their mid forties. We target anyone who is searching for a natural method to
heal body and soul.
Our second target market is the corporate workers of Nagpur. We have chosen
these people, ranging from early twenties to mid forties, because they are
in stressful jobs and could use relaxation and exercise. They also have the
financial opportunity to regularly treat themselves to a facial or massage. Often
in the working world it is necessary to look healthy and fit, therefore, we
offer exercise facilities to keep people fit and healthy.

The third group we target are individuals who are either recovering from an
injury or people who have a condition which needs special attention. We
wanted to create a safe environment where people feel comfortable and get the
attention they need with out feeling ostracized or sick. We offer special classes,
massage, and homeopathic opportunities for people with specific needs.

Our fourth target segment is retirees. Their medical problems and mental stress
could be alleviated with our spas and physiotherapy sessions along with
psychological support for retirees who are lonely at home (children living in
different cities).

POSITIONING:

We will automatically position ourselves as one of the top spas in Nagpur area.
Considering that none of the other competitors will offer the range of services
we will, or that their staffs will be trained like ours, and that there are not any
spa of our type in our target locations, we will be able to provide services to a
portion not currently being tapped.

VALUE PROPOSITION:

Our value proposition is that we will bring a unique mode of relaxation and
fulfilment to individuals. When people are relaxed, comfortable, and happy,
they have the ability to work harder, concentrate better, feel physically,
emotionally, and mentally balanced, and give that happiness back into their
homes, workplaces, and community. Simply put, our value proposition is that
we help our customers become better individuals to live and work with.

COMPETITORS:

Being an all inclusive stress busting club, we do not have any direct
competitors. However, we will face competition from the spas in hotels, health
clubs as well as stand alone spas. The cost of our services will be placed in
between that offered by the stand alone spas and the spas in hotels.

COMPETITIVE EDGE (DIFFERENTIATING FACTOR):

Our competitive edge is a combination of our unique services, outstanding

location, and our interaction with customers. By providing our customers a
holistic and integrative spa, we build relationships of trust and satisfaction. Our
customers will come to depend on our unique services and fulfilling
environment. Offering special classes for those with serious health concerns sets
us apart, as does the availability of all services under one roof.

SURVEY RESULTS:
 AgeGroups

18%
25%

20-25
25-35
16% 35-45
45-60
60+
24%

17%

Stresslevelsinour target segment

5% 6%

15%
veryhigh
30% high
average
low
verylow
45%
 Income range in target segment

17% 14%

15000-25000
25000-40000
40000-60000
29%
60000+

38%

Willingness to for stress

busting activity

28%

yes
no

72%
 Amount willing to spend
(in Rs/month)

6%

18%

45% Less than 1000

1000-2000
2000-5000
5000+

31%

Services willing to avail

23%

57% 8% Anger Management

Color therapy
17%
Aroma therapy

Massage and sauna

Yoga and
Meditation
48% Music and dance
therapies
45%
MARKETING STRATEGY:

Our marketing strategy is the key to our success:

1. Emphasize our name and unique services through advertising.

2. Focus on the convenience of our location.
3. Build community relationships through unique and quality service,
friendly and caring atmosphere, and establishing absolute dependability of
our services.

MARKETING PROGRAMS:

Owner of ESCAPE will be responsible for advertisements through the

advertising channels. The general manager will be responsible for assisting with
the implementation of alliance advertising partnerships. Our advertising budget
is 300,000 for the first year. Advertising will begin one week prior to opening.

PRICING STRATEGY:

Our pricing strategy will be similar to that of our competitors in different areas
of expertise (spas, health clubs, healing centres). We will not charge over, or
substantially under, standard prices for our services. We will be paying our
employees a higher straight percentage of their total individual customer sales
than our competitors. This will allow us to hire the best employees, and have a
built-in motivational factor that will keep them working hard and happily.

PROMOTION STRATEGY

Our promotional strategy will be two-fold: first phase promotion will deal with
advertising before, during, and six months following our opening; the second
phase advertising will deal with all long-term advertising.
FIRST PHASE PROMOTIONS

Advertising
We will utilize local newspaper, local social and health magazines, local radio,
television, mail-outs to all households within the immediate five mile radius,
and mail-outs to all local business within a five-mile radius.

Internet
We will have a comprehensive website.

Alliances
We will place our brochures within the offices of our medical referral clients.

SECOND PHASE PROMOTIONS

Advertising
We will continue to place ads in the local social and health magazines year
around. Mail-outs will be done again within a five-mile radius once every year.
Television ads will be done only when we have sale promotions during the most
stressful times of the year for the Christmas season, and graduation; television
ads are not certain, we will evaluate their effectiveness before further
implementation.

Internet
We will continue to have a comprehensive website. After the first six months,
and certainly after the first year, we will evaluate the viability of having target
clients advertise on our site, and conversely, we will evaluate viability of
advertising on our target clients’ websites.

Alliances
This type of advertising will be implemented once we have grown beyond our
break-even point. We will also form advertising alliances with any business
with whom we share common business goals. We will also implement mutual
perks with our business neighbours which will aid in local visibility.
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY

Escape will be staffed according to department. We will have a psychiatrist, the

spa with be staffed with a full-time beauty technician besides five masseurs.
The health department will have three part-time instructors working on rotating
shifts.

Management will have four managers, each with specific areas of expertise:
financials, publicity, human resources, and ongoing development.
COST STRUCTURE:

EXPENDITURE:

EXPENSE HEAD AMOUNT (in Rs.)

Legal 75,000

Rent 3,60,000

Equipment 2,00,000

Insurance 2,000(Per month)

Salaries 4,00,000

Promotional activities 1,00,000

Inventory 1,50,000

Furniture 50,000

Web design 20,000

Security Deposit 60,000

Other Expenses 13,000(Per month)

Hiring and training the employees 2,00,00

TOTAL EXPENSES 17,91,000

CAPITAL INVESTMENT:
Capital(Cash) 15,00,000

Liabilities (Loan) 3,00,000

TOTAL 18,00,000

MAINTANENCE COSTS:

OFFICE EXPENSES 30000

OPERATING COSTS 30000

TOTAL 60000(Per month)

EXPECTED REVENUES:

From Services to Customers 40,000(Per month)

From product sales 10,000(Per month)

TOTAL 50,000(Per month)

SALES FORECAST:

LIABILITIES:

BANK LOAN 3,00,000

INTEREST 45000(Per year)

BREAK-EVEN ANALYSIS:

LOCATION:

Gandhi Layout: The area comprises of an intellect crowd from different

backgrounds like Academicians, Medical Doctors, Builders, Lawyers, Business,
Media and Engineers. A peaceful locality, it borders areas like Jafar Nagar,
Teachers Colony, Rose colony and New Gandhi Layout. A Ring Road passes
outside it which ensures great connectivity to the entire city.

VERBATIMS:

“I have been married for 33 years. I am lonely and depressed at home since my
children are no longer at home. I wish I can communicate and indulge in
activities with other individuals my age.” - Mrs. Iyer.
“I ran a coaching centre (Success Point Coaching Centre). Initially, I was very
successful. However, in recent years, my students have not been clearing the
CAT and as a result my institute has got a bad name. Due to the loss in students,
I am under immense stress and depression.” - Mr. Kumar.

“I am the CEO of a very successful IT company. However, the intense working

conditions are having a severe impact on my personal relations. I am constantly
under stress.” – Mr. Ahmed.