Research Paper on Luxury Hospitality Brand Marketing Communication: Strategies & Actions

Introduction

This study seeks to analyze the different ways through which luxury hospitality brands may set up marketing communication actions and strategies. These communication actions and policies help to maintain the brand identity to consumers and the target market. Notably, a luxury brand is a leading brand, justifiably priced highly and destined primarily to a group of the social-economic elite (Cristini, Kauppinen-Raisanen, Barthod-Prothade & Woodside, 2017). Luxury is about the consumer outstretching themselves further to buy something extraordinary and rather expensive because their financial ability empowers them to do so (Brun & Castelli, 2013).

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I chose to explore the Zuma restaurant in Dubai, which is a luxury hospitality restaurant renowned for its sophisticated services encompassing a twist on the Japanese Izakaya style of informal eating and drinking (Contemporary Japanese Cuisine Restaurants, 2018). This business approach is authentic but not necessarily traditional. This restaurant is an offshoot of the Zuma restaurants brand, which was co-founded by chefs Rainer Becker and Arjun Waney in 2002, and it operates in 13 countries globally (Contemporary Japanese Cuisine Restaurants, 2018). Their menu showcases a variety of dishes from three kitchens: the central kitchen, the sushi counter and the robata grill. The restaurant offers unique spaces perfect for any event cutting across high-end consumers from different cultures. The Zuma restaurant's brand is headquartered in London, U.K. I will focus on the Zuma restaurant in Dubai for this paper.

The paper will explore in detail, the restaurant's brand identity using Kapfarer's brand identity prism (2012). The aim is to establish how the restaurant portrays its brand through marketing communications, the obstacles to its marketing strategies, and recommendations on how it can successfully build and actualize its dream value.

A brand identity encompasses the image of a particular business entity, which forms in the mind of consumers through the outward expression of the brand, including its name, trademark, communications and visual appearance (Da Silveira, Lages & Simoes, 2013; Maurya & Mishra, 2012). A brand identity is usually company-specific and entirely created based on the managerial approaches of the business entity. All brands need an identity because it is what embodies their character and helps to differentiate one brand from another. Like any other business in the Zuma restaurant's portfolio, the Dubai-based restaurant prioritizes luxury. As such, the services come at a pricy rate in return for the high-quality products and services, as well as some array of features such as buffet brunches that permit unlimited indulgence in sushi, starters and more (Contemporary Japanese Cuisine Restaurants, 2018).

Analysis of Dubai's Zuma Restaurant using Kapferer's Brand Identity Prism (2012)

According to Kapferer's brand identity prism (2012), this restaurant's identity can be discussed using the six unique elements of the prism. These elements amount to the overall perception and image of the restaurant, which are: physique, personality, culture, relationship, reflection and self-image (Kapferer, 2012). Consideration of these elements helps understand the brand from a holistic perspective and how they will affect the creation of the business and sustenance of its core values. I shall, therefore, analyze the restaurant based on the six identities:

Physique

Physique refers to the physical characteristics and feels of your brand. Kapferer advised that physique should be considered on the basis of the brand, because it is the most unambiguous visual representation of how your brand should be perceived. Thus, one should be more attentive to what they want their products or services to look like, the emotions they inspire, and how they might look like in their physical form when assessing a brand's physique (Kapferer, 2012). This particular restaurant conforms to the distinctive physical characteristics of the Zuma brand, such as sleek hardwood tables with an extremely smooth finish, iconic restaurant designs, well-organized lighting fixtures. However, the standout characteristic with regards to physique is the location in the Dubai International Financial Center, which places it in a prime position to offer after-work crowds with an exceptional ambient terrace to unwind from a rigorous day (Contemporary Japanese Cuisine Restaurants, 2018).

Personality

This second element encompasses in entirety, the traits of the brand in the eyes of the consumer. To convey the brand personality, luxury brands may use a specific style of service, food preparation, or particular colors (Brun & Castelli, 2013). For instance, Dubai's Zuma restaurant uses their authentic buffet brunches to communicate class, elegance, customer-friendliness, and quality-oriented business approach.

Culture

Kapferer describes culture as the set of values that create a foundation for the brand. These may or may not include the values of the brand's country of origin. This Dubai restaurant conforms to the sophisticated Japanese dining culture that is characteristic of all Zuma establishments. This culture involves continuously bringing food to the dining table throughout the meal.

Relationship

Development of relationships between the brand and its consumers is an essential part of building a renowned brand (Kapferer, 2012). Customers like the feeling of being associated with the brand in a way that is more significant than just making a purchase, as this association contributes to the capacity for return business. Typically, this kind of meaningful relationship happens when businesses deal in high-end goods. Notably, it is advisable to be aware that building relationships with consumers is usually not be the fastest marketing approach. However, it is a powerful tool that can be used to create a lasting brand name (Peng & Wang, 2006). The Dubai-based Zuma restaurant offers first-class treatment to customers, which they augment with an ambient environment and customer-mindful acts like buffet brunches.

Reflection

This element refers to the aspect of the brand, which portrays the personality and identity of the target market. Consumers will only associate with your brand if they feel like they belong and fit in with the culture of your business (Kapferer, 2012). It is crucial to create a brand identity that matches the needs and likes of your target market. For instance, this restaurant attracts customers with a liking for serene leisure spots, high-end customer service, well-organized interiors and exquisite Japanese delicacies.

Self-Image

Self-image encompasses the particular feeling that the client of a specific brand wants to experience within themselves as a result of purchasing an item from the brand or when they receive service from a brand. Notably, the image of a brand in the world, and what the brand communicates about itself, has a direct impact on the self-image to the buyers (Kapferer, 2012). This concept is most evident in the business of luxury hospitality. With luxury brands, customers prefer high end luxury entities for the sake of being associated with the alluring and good-life feeling that results from the services offered, such as with Zuma restaurant.

Analysis of Luxury Hospitality Marketing Communication

Luxury retail marketing strategies differ from other retail brand strategies not just in the product formulations or in prices, distribution and appeals to customer distinction. Instead, it significantly stands on the legitimacy of a charismatic, creative director (Dion, 2011). Luxury marketing works on the principles of art and magic to collect the charismatic persona of the artistic director and to incorporate his aesthetic ideas to the brand (Kapferer, 2012). I shall then analyze how this restaurant does its marketing communication, the media avenues that the brand uses for both online and offline marketing, and its digital strategy and experience based on the principles of luxury communication.

Zuma Restaurant Digital Marketing Strategies and Use of Media

Maximizing on Social Networks

Photographs are one of the best mediums for evoking aspirational emotions that we connect with when marketing luxury products (Erdogmus & Cicek, 2012). Social platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest present a great chance to luxury brands to foster brand awareness and advocate for their products and services. The Dubai Zuma restaurant has over 5000 tagged pictures on Instagram alone, which is attributable to increased association with luxury dining for most visitors to Dubai. As such, their social network is accentuated by their advocates and consumers.

Creating a Stylish, Functional and User-Friendly Website

Generally, the websites of luxury brands are outstanding and unique, though they do not usually perform exceptionally well when it comes to user experience and functionality (Atwal & Williams, 2017). However, this restaurant's website is a pretty simple website to navigate through. The site has a bold black theme capturing blurry images of the foods, thus making it appealing to a potential customer who visits the website. The website contains necessary information about the restaurant, such as the accolades like a listing among the top 50 Restaurants globally, according to the highly respected San Pellegrino list (Contemporary Japanese Cuisine Restaurants, 2018). This feature helps to accelerate client decision-making.

Creating a Feeling of Exclusivity

Exclusivity is significant to luxury brand marketing because it creates and maintains consumer desire through scarcity and rarity (Hennigs, Wiedmann, Klarmann & Behrens, 2015). Customers who visit this restaurant are guaranteed an exceptional experience that is unlike any other restaurants. This guarantee of unique customer experiences is the biggest reason why luxury hospitality brands strive to maintain exclusivity, to attract a given section of the consumers.

Supplying Content that Reflects the Status of the Potential Consumers

In his book "Contagious", Jonah Berger states that primarily, people talk about things and spread praises about it either online or offline to create the image they like other people to get when they look at them (Berger, 2016). For instance, people like charity pages on Facebook and other social media platforms, to help create a facade of being charitable. Equally, this restaurant associates itself with high-end tourism-based entities as the means to association with consumers who bear a high social class and have no hesitation to pay for extra in quest for the luxury.

Using Brand Identity to Show the Origin of Products

Simon Sinek, in his book 'Start with Why' describes the way successful marketing communication begins by explaining why it exists (Dion, 2011). If a brand wants to perform excellently in the market, it must explain what it does and why it does that. For example, Apple believes that 'Everything we do, we believe in challenging the status quo. We believe in thinking differently. The way we challenge the status quo is by making our products beautifully designed, simple to use and user-friendly. We happen to make great computers.' The above statements indicate why Apple exists, how Apple achieves its way, and what Apple does. Similarly, this restaurant endeavors to communicate the story behind their Japanese Izikaya cuisine and the values that define their brand, making it an effective marketing strategy for such a luxury hospitality brand.