Bina Pujani Hair Studio Case: Who needs advertising?
Submitted by: Group 7, Section A
Rishu Singh (2013038), S. Suchita (2013039), Sagar Jain (2013040), Sahil Borkar (2013041), Sakshi Dua (2013042), Saloni Sood (2013043) and Sameer Volvoicar (2013044)

The Bina Punjani Hair Studio (BPHS) is an upmarket hair salon, started in 2012, that aims to provide personalized and expert hair services on par with major international brands. It is located in the Miramar locality of Goa’s capital city, Panjim. While revenues have been increasing, the proprietors of the salon are concerned that they do not have much visibility, which is unusual for a market as small as Goa, given the quality of their product. BPHS’ Head of Operations and Business Development, Pralay Bakshi, estimates that 80% of Goa and 90% of Panjim do not even know that they exist. Despite dabbling with a bit of ad space in premium magazines and a couple of newspaper ads, BPHS wishes to steer away from mass advertising as they feel that it could affect the perception of their potential brand, which is positioned as premium product whose quality speaks for itself and doesn’t really need to be advertised. Moreover, BPHS’s advertising expenditure would consume 20-25% of their margins if they choose to pursue such a strategy.

The challenge faced by us is to provide a marketing strategy to BPHS that will somehow increase revenue yet won’t involve a mass media advertising campaign that may dilute both the perception of their brand as well as their margins. Also, we need to determine how proposed plans to expand BPHS’s operations to a new location in Porvorim, as well as salons in North and South Goa, will affect the sales at the flagship store.

We decided to analyse BPHS in terms of the Seven Ps Marketing Mix, give our viewpoints on how to strengthen each one and hopefully provide solutions to the questions proposed by the case.

Price
BPHS faces competition from salons like Sephora and Snip that aim to cater to the same audience that they do, and even offer lower prices in addition to beauty and spa treatments. Ordinarily, this could be seen as a major threat; but we feel that BPHS should not tamper with their pricing strategy as what they are offering is a service and experience that is fully deserving of it. BPHS’ focus on bringing international standards of hairdressing to Goa is a major differentiating factor, and the price reflects those values offered. It can also create a sense of mystique in the consumer’s mind as to what makes BPHS so different to other options.

People
People is another area that we wouldn’t want to touch. We already know that staff at BPHS are highly trained and technically proficient but, according to one our group members who had visited the salon, they are extremely courteous and eloquent as well, enhancing the entire experience. BPHS should continue to maintain high standards while recruiting.

Process
BPHS’ commitment to international standards means that the time usually spent in a salon while one waits for one’s preferred hairdresser to be available is dissipated as everyone in the shop is well versed in the techniques. Even those who are waiting for colour or other services to develop are offered manicures, pedicures and head massages. However, we would like to suggest that BPHS offer WiFi-enabled tablets to consumers who do not wish to partake of such options, and would instead like to do something more productive like catch up on their e-mail or work on some document for the office. Also, for valued customers, appointments could be booked using Facebook or Whatsapp for convenience.

Product
As stated above, BPHS’ product, in terms of the actual hairdressing as well as the overall experience, speaks for itself. However, as our group member noticed, they do not have hair products for purchase that can be consumed at home. We feel that by offering such items, along with technical explanations as to why they are beneficial to the consumer, BPHS can open another avenue for revenue. In addition to this, the consumer needs to be told of what the benefits of a BPHS treatment is when compared to other salons, as they may not even be aware of how their haircut will hold its shape longer than the competitors’.

Place
We do not believe that the proposed salon at Porvorim is necessarily a good idea, as it would probably pull in customers away from the Miramar store as the two locations are hardly 10-15 kilometres away from each other. However, as the Planning Commission’s Goa Development Report states, Salcete is the next richest Taluka after Tiswadi (wherein Panjim is located), which means that a store opening in Margao will probably be a good idea.

Promotion / Physical Presence
We now come to the most important Ps in the Marketing Mix for BPHS, the promotion and the physical presence, which we believe tie in together. BPHS has a Facebook page which has yielded attention to the store via many online promotions like free haircuts. Customers who get their hair cut or styled are shown in before and after photos to emphasise the change in style. We suggest that customers be encouraged to use these before/after photos as their profile pics on Facebook and tag the BPHS page in them, which would allow them to avail a discount on their next visit. BPHS relied on word-of-mouth, but accepted that it was too slow; this process is now sped up as everyone on the consumer's friend list is made aware of the store. As Ms Pujani herself admits, almost everyone in Goa who fits into their target segment already knows each other so, via the connectivity of social media, they are quickly made aware of BPHS. The page could also allow visitors to try out virtual hairstyles on pictures of themselves via an app, which could lead to visits to the salon.

However, the most important step that BPHS needs to take in order to increase revenue and create positive word-of-mouth in the long run is to create partnerships with major hotels and wedding planners in Goa. The first thing that a couple does when a wedding date is set is to book the venue or hire a wedding planner. As BPHS is essentially targeting the upper-class to higher-middle-class segment, ensuring that their name gets across to the consumer as a recommendation by a hotel or wedding planner is key. BPHS would provide a cheaper alternative to flying in a stylist from Mumbai as is what usually happens in Goa. The long term effect is that positive word-of-mouth is generated and BPHS could target consumers who are flying in, from other parts of India as well as the world, to Goa for destination weddings. As is the case with other high profile hair designers in India, BPHS or Ms Pujani herself could be featured on lifestyle channels like NDTV Good Life, TLC etc; giving them national visibility.

In conclusion, we hope that our ideas to help BPHS increase visibility without affecting advertising expenditure prove fruitful and lead to desired growth.