Service Marketing Group Project:

Peppermint Club Dubai Evaluation

and Analysis

Submitted by: George Dedoussis, Hayat, Loay

Dr. Tarek Mady
MKTG 411- Service Marketing
INTRODUCTION:

Within this report we will evaluate and analyze a local company based in Dubai,
called Peppermint Club. Following a service marketing plan we will be able to
understand what this company has to offer to clubbers in Dubai in terms of customer
satisfaction, how well it does this based on it competition and industry, and also try to
find solutions in which it could improve its marketing problems, if any. Dance oriented
nightclubs have being around for a good two decades, in this time they have being able to
lure customers with their music, lighting schemes, and decors which has made them one
of the highest cash flow businesses in the world. Finally as most clubs target customers
in the 21 to 35 age range, and mainly childless young professionals or university students,
it is an area of key interest to us as consumers of this service and members of this target
market to understand.

INDUSTRY ANALYSIS:

In order to understand how well Peppermint Club actually does to satisfy its
customers we must look at the industry as a whole and the key competitors it faces.
Some of the main competitors that Peppermint Club faces are as follows: The
Apartment, Chi @ the Lodge, The 400 Club, Trilogy, and Buddha Bar, although there are
many other clubs these are the key ones that big Peppermint Club some of its key
competition. A distinction must be made at this point, Peppermint Club like Trilogy is
managed by an event management and entertainment company; Peppermint being
handled by Fluid Productions and Trilogy or now newly opened Elegante is managed by
Deep Lounge another event management company. This distinction must be made in
order to fully understand the operating abilities and management structure of the clubs in
question. Although sales figures and market share information cannot be found on the
clubs in Dubai, each one plays a very distinct role and targets different customers having
both advantages and disadvantages in services offered and marketing strategies used.

THE APARTMENT:
The Apartment is located in the Jumeirah Beach Hotel, being in such a location,
most of its customers are tourists. These tourists have no idea where the hotspots of
Dubai’s nightlife are and their most predictable information will come from the hotel
front desk. Any staff there will of course mention The Apartment and hand them one of
the brochures that can also be found in the hotel rooms about the club. To further lure
them if a guest is staying at the hotel a no entrance fee applies. For other customers
certain promotions come into place every week, for example Tuesday and Wednesday is
free entrance, ladies receive free selected cocktails before 12pm, while Thursday and
Friday free entrance for men before 10pm and women before 12pm with women
receiving a free glass of champagne before 12pm. With staff that have received proper
training through the hotel program and recognition programs for employee of the month,
staff working at the club are eager to help and satisfy consumer’s needs. On the other
hand a small crammed underground space with only 400 people capacity and not much
room to dance leaves many customers dissatisfied due to its physical facilities. Also The
Apartment has being one of the first clubs to implement a smoking only in designated
areas rule, much too some customers discontent. Finally with Dubai being one of the key
tourist destinations and Jumeirah Beach Hotel being one of the best Hotels to stay in
although its physical facilities may suffer to an extent The Apartment targets a market
that has basically no other option to go to, or doesn’t know of one.

CHI @ THE LODGE:

Overhauled in 2007 Chi @ The Lodge was suffering from being over packed with
customers but waiting in lines for ages and crammed like sardines when inside. However
now it boasts one of the largest ‘outdoor’ areas that can hold 2000 capacity and 3 other
zones. In terms of physical facilities it does well to satisfy customers, with also a new
sound and lighting system installed by Triangle Entertainment Services which was taken
from Peppermint’s venue. Yet it employees lack in training and employee empowerment
isn’t given to all, lowering customer satisfaction. The bathrooms are most of the time a
mess and drinks take ages to order simply because there aren’t enough people to mend
the bars, or enough bars for that matter. Also it has still to fix the problem of people
waiting in line before entering the club, which may last up to 45mins, leaving the
customer in a very discontent mood and without any service recovery intention by
anyone. On the plus side management has done well to create 4 different areas within the
club, each is focused at a different type of customer or music genre; therefore
differentiating its customer base and also being able to charge different customers
different prices for drinks and tables, without customers coming into contact with one
another.

THE 400 CLUB:

The Fairmont Dubai is home to one of Dubai’s most exclusive clubs, The 400
Club; only Dubai’s rich and famous go there to be seen. It has hosted private parties for
rapper Ludacris and Akon and many others, however one would expect the best customer
treatment for such celebrities, however nothing exemplary is to be seen. Its capacity
holds 400 customers and there aren’t any musical thrills to be heard of either.

TRILOGY / ELEGANTE:
Run by Deep Lounge events management Trilogy was Peppermint’s toughest
competitor, however a recent membership scam and relocation to Elegante has left
regular customers dissatisfied and brought down the image it had. Trilogy was operating
in Medinat Jumeirah a 3 floor venue with a rooftop as well, that had every customer’s
desire handled. Lines weren’t horrendous, quick service at the bar was accomplished;
different rooms meant different musical tastes could be satisfied within the same venue,
not to mention a state of the art Dj booth for international superstars to play in. All was
going extremely well for Trilogy, so much so that it decided to create a membership card
that would in essence, lower the waiting period in lines and also create certain benefits
for card holders. With such satisfied customers many were in line to buy the special
cards that would give them cheaper and swift entrance, however plans didn’t go well for
the customers. Management decided to collect the cash from these card holders and then
state that due to new plans the cards had to be canceled and the venue wouldn’t open
again. This brought great distrust from customers as many had paid up to 4000dhs for
the cards and customer satisfaction was obviously lowered, without any option for a
refund or any type of service recovery plan customers felt cheated.

BUDDHA BAR:
Targeting a different customer base Buddha Bar is a chic bar-cum-lounge club
that also serves good Asian food with soft lounge music in the background. Its customers
are always taken care of and their every need satisfied, from the moment one walks in the
door they are greeted and taken to a table if needed be or to the bar where a well trained
waiter or waitress is at their service. With a higher income class target group as their
customers, Buddha Bar can afford to properly train its staff, which it does avidly. Also
they allow empowerment of the frontline employees if a customer asks of something to a
waiter or whoever is next to them at the time it is that person’s responsibility to find them
a solution, and it usually happens.

CONSUMER EXPECTATIONS:
Although customer expectations will differ from customer to customer there are
certain elements that are accepted as a minimum standard for a company or service
provider to be able to accomplish. Within the clubbing industry these can be as follows;
provide quick entrance into the club, quick and courteous service at the bar, physical
facilities are visually appealing, providing the services at the time it promises to do so,
and employees never being too busy to help a customer. These are some of the key
elements that a common customer entering a club will demand, however certain
customers, (especially those that pay for tables) will demand more. These VIP customers
will pay around 2000dhs for a table at most clubs in Dubai and obviously expect the
service that comes with this extra fee. This can be anything from having a private waiter
to give prompt service or a security at the table to deter free-rollers, or understanding
their specific needs and ensuring that they are filled. Dubai nightlife has risen to such a
competitive state that most of these needs will be satisfied at the major clubs without
much hassle to ensure that they will have repeat customers entering through the door
every week. In particular many clubs go to the extend to have their most regular high
paying customers needs understood and on a database for future reference and ease, so
when they call and ask for ‘my’ table which one they are referring to is known.

MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
Today Dubai has become an important tourist destination with 5 million visitors
in 2004, and expected to reach 15 million by 2010, also its economic growth is expected
to increase and more expatriates are expected to come and search for jobs in Dubai. The
UAE’s GDP per capita is in line with other West European countries and it has
diversified its revenues to come from other industries. Its population is around 4.6
million people based on the 2005 census, including a significantly higher estimate of net
immigration of non-citizens then previous estimates. The age structure of the population
is as follows: 0-14 years 20.5%, 15-64 years 78.6%, 65 years and over 0.9%, while
73.9% of the 15-64 years age group is non-national. The 2008 median age showed 30.1
years to be the average for both sexes while 24.6 the average for females and 32 years the
average for males. Also a net immigration rate of 24.41 migrants / 1000 population in
2008; all of these factors have a great affect on the way the clubbing industry is to grow.
 All of these trends seem to be great opportunities for the clubbing industry. For
the clubs such as The Apartment which is located in a top tourist hotel, the fact that
Dubai rates as a top tourist destination and will continue to do so is very good news. For
their target customers are those tourists visiting a country they no nothing about the
nightlife, convenience and the hotel employees will make sure they at least check out The
Apartment. The fact that the UAE has a high per capita GDP ($55,200, (2007 est.) means
that there are people with the disposable income at hand to spend a bit for their
enjoyment at clubs, either simply going in as a regular customer or paying the extra cash
and getting a table for the night. Further, most clubs target either the young childless
professionals or university students, with a average median age for both sexes at 30.1
years means there are plenty of such consumers to be found. On top of this both the GDP
growth that is expected and the net migration rate of 24.4 migrants per 1000 of the
population means that plenty more of these consumers shall be there for the demand to
increase for clubs and competition for these consumer to exist.
On the other hand all these opportunities may actually create some threats in the
longer run. For example there has being talk that English based Ministry of Sound may
want to make Dubai home to one of its 3 worldwide super clubs to open, this club would
be build in the Palm Jumeirah within the near future. Such positive outlooks for the
clubbing industry are bound to bring in new competition from abroad and local sources.
Also being a Islamic country every club must make sure not to offend the local laws that
are governed, for example one of the main regulations applies during the Holy month of
Ramadan, where no clubs are to be open or to serve alcohol under any circumstance.
Finally the under 21 years of age drinking policy must be strictly upheld by all clubs, not
doing so would result in loss of their license for 2 weeks and a substantial fine; although
customers may be lost and dissatisfied in the process it would hurt the business much
more if they weren’t.

COMPANY BACKGROUND:
Peppermint Club Dubai is a trademark of Fluid Productions, a event and
production company that was set up in August 2002 to promote and bring to the Dubai
nightlife new concepts of entertainment. Since its conception it has brought to Dubai
some of the biggest names in the Dj’ing scene with great success each time. Although
Peppermint has moved its location a few times it seems that the consumers follow it, as it
is able to still be the largest club in Dubai filling approximately 1200 people each
weekend. Although no sales data were found on the company, an interview with resident
Dj Ahmed Ajam (MadJam), brought much light to the company’s structure. Peppermint
Club is a mobile club, “meaning that all equipment for an event can be set up within 24
hours anywhere”. Fluid Productions sets up contracts with hotels in Dubai to book the
ballrooms they have for a certain fee over a certain time. It has had contracts with
Fairmont Hotel and Grand Habtoor, and recently with Crown Plaza Hotel, when asked
about why Peppermint Club wasn’t renewing the contract with Grand Habtoor Ahmed
commented the following, “Whoever takes over the ballroom is their business if they can
generate enough profit to pay the rent, (that has doubled in 2 years)”. Fluid Productions
also has strong ties to its partners which allow it to be at the forefront of the Dubai
nightlife. Some of these are in the advertising industry and produce magazines that
clubbers read, or websites that they visit, (Mumtazz, Timeoutdubai, The Buzz), others are
beverage suppliers that also help with hosting special events, (Smirnoff, Pepsi), or even
partners that like having their names mentioned at events and also help with special
games or promotions at events, (Virgin, Axe, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, Volvo). But their
key partners are BoxOfficeME, which provide web based tickets for events that Fluid
Production organizes, Emirates Computers that re-supplies them with any lighting,
sound, or Dj’ing equipment they may need. If figures for the number of customers that
go to their events are any measure of the amount of success they have then it is obvious
they must be doing something right.

TARGET MARKET:
Focusing on target markets using mass appeal to those markets Fluid Productions
has being able to focus on three particular groups. The university students this is a key
group partly because they can become lifetime customers, or at least for the next 10 years
and secondly because they are the group that seeks this type of nightlife entertainment.
Childless young professionals, (that may come from previously university students) are
another target group because they have both the income and free time to enjoy such
events. Most people who spend in the UAE are young people, their way of thinking,
beliefs and life style of this group fits perfectly with the entertainment Fluid Productions
has to offer. More and more tourists come to Dubai every year, and a good percentage of
them also seek to have a good time during the night, these tourists and business travelers
are another target group that Fluid Productions also targets these. Much of Fluid
Production’s advertisement of its events goes through the radio or by repeat customer’s
word of mouth which at times is much better then any other form of advertisement. Also
having good words written about the club in major clubbing magazines and websites,
(that it is partners with) also lures these target customers.

ASSESSMENT OF CURRENT SERVICE:

Fluid Production’s current service in terms of assessing the demand of events has
being mostly spot on. Each event they organize has seen the venue however large or
small, packed. They are able to predetermine the amount of people that would come for a
specific Dj event, even events that have being hosted in the very large trade hall
exhibitions have being packed with over 4000 people attending. In assessing the
performance of their service providers, Fluid Production sets certain criteria when taking
them as partners, if at any one point these criteria fail their partnership goes under review.
Such was the case with Fluid Production’s partnership with Fairmont Dubai when they
raised the rent for the ballroom for Peppermint Club. They set clear objectives as of what
is required from their service providers, if these cannot be met then Fluid Production also
has secondary providers which it can also rely on. However its close partnerships with its
service providers means that feedback is provided from both ends of the partnership so as
to make the relationship work to the benefit of both sides. However to determine the
perception of how well all this comes in the eyes of the customer we conducted a survey
to capture customer perceptions and expectations of service quality.

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:
Peppermint Club’s regulars would say that the club serves their every need and
satisfies their clubbing experience, but is this, the case with most of Peppermint Club’s
customers. Does the company actually seek repeat business and favorable word of mouth
or is there just enough demand in the market to not have to worry about this. Negative
word of mouth hurts businesses to such an extent that there must be a huge demand, for
new customers to always enter into a new service provider so that the company would not
lose customers. However this is obviously not the case, Fluid Production’s goal is to
satisfy the consumer by creating a memorable and new entertainment service that is
unmatched by any rival.
One particular example of how Fluid Production keeps an eye on the customer’s
satisfaction and smoothes it out can be told. As evidence arose about customers arguing
with employees about the correct amount of change they had to receive during hectic
operations, Fluid Production had an ingenious idea to introduce. On Sasha’s appearance
on July 12th 2008 they introduced the casino chip payment system, with cash being
exchanged for 10dhs tickets at the door and at specific points around the club, also
training employees holding General Packet Radio Service machines allowed customers
with credit cards to purchase the tickets too. Drink and shot prices were adjusted
accordingly and actually saw increased beverage turnover by 15%. Also as Tony
Chouchani, (Fluid Production events operations manager) commented ‘People were
previously waiting up to half an hour to get served, and this has removed the
responsibility of cash and hassle over allegedly incorrect change from the bar area”, he
further adds “and it has minimized the work for service staff and definitely created
greater customer satisfaction”. This obviously shows that Fluid Production cares about
its customers and responds to dissatisfaction as best as it can.
On other nights that technical difficulties have meant that a Dj would play for less
time or if a Dj was late to show and the crowd started to get dissatisfied and complain,
Fluid Production would immediately recover from this service failure. They would
announce that with the day’s ticket you could enter for free on another night for example.
Therefore Fluid Production closely monitors customers’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction
so that the minimum experience a customer may expect is only the best acceptable
experience. Treating it customers well and making them feel valued, respected and part
of the experience that Fluid Productions has to offer is key to their organizational beliefs.

SURVEY:
The following survey was created using SERVQUAL analysis to assess customer
perceptions and expectations of service quality in their favorite clubs. These surveys
were administered to some university students and to random people at certain bars that
are hangouts for clubbers, (Barasti Bar, BarZar, and Long’s Bar). The first and second
question seeks to understand if indeed young professionals and university students are the
target groups clubs should be aiming at. Question #3 determines which club is their
favorite. Questions #4 - #10 seeks to determine customer’s perceptions and expectations
in terms of reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles dimensions.
Results of the survey showed Peppermint Club as the favorite club in Dubai and
respondents showed why, in their answers. However respondents for the rest of the clubs
were too low to determine any particular trend most of the times, although some clear
ones were able to be determined. Also the key age for club goers seems to be under the
age of 36 with most being under the age of 25. Therefore the survey further agreed with
most perceptions that were made before hand.
Please fill in the blank or check boxes below relevant to you.

Personal Data:

#1: Age (years)

□ 1: Under 25
□ 2: 25-35
□ 3: 36-45
□ 4: 46-55
□ 5: Over 55

#2: Sex
□ 1: Male
□ 2: Female

#3: Favorite Club

□ 1: Peppermint Club
□ 2: The Apartment
□ 3: Chi @ the Lodge
□ 4: The 400 Club
□ 5: Trilogy / Elegante
□ 6: Buddha Bar
□ 7: Other

The following questions will help us determine the level of satisfaction you have from
your favorite club. Please circle the most appropriate level below (for your favorite club,
(question #3).
1 indicating strongly disagree
2 indicating disagree
3 indicating neither agree nor disagree
4 indicating agree
5 indicating strongly agree

# Questionnaire Item Scale from 1 to 5

4 When a problem arises Club “X” shows a 1 2 3 4 5
sincere interest in solving it.
5 Employees in Club “X” are never too busy to 1 2 3 4 5
respond to your request.
6 You feel safe in your transactions with Club 1 2 3 4 5
“X”.
7 Employees of Club “X” understand your 1 2 3 4 5
specific needs.
8 The sound, lighting equipment and physical 1 2 3 4 5
facilities are visually appealing at Club “X”.
9 Cues at Club “X” aren’t much of a problem. 1 2 3 4 5
1 Employees at Club “X” try to make up for any 1 2 3 4 5
0 service failure.

GRAPHICAL INTERPRETATIONS:

Age (years)
Category
46 - 55 Under 25
3, 3.0%
25 - 35
36 - 45 36 - 45
17, 17.0% 46 - 55

Under 25
40, 40.0%

25 - 35
40, 40.0%

This graph shows that indeed the target groups that most clubs target are the ones with
the highest clubbers. An equal share of respondents are in either the under 25 years of
age group or from 25 to 35 years old, a further 17% are 36 to 45 years old and only 3%
are over 46 years old.
 Sex
Category
Male
Female

Female
43, 43.0%

Male
57, 57.0%

Of the 100 respondents 57% were found to be male and 43% to be female, a rather
unbiased population in terms of sex genre.

Favorite Club

Other Category
7, 7.0% Peppermint Club
Buddha Bar The Apartment
4, 4.0%
Chi @ the Lodge
The 400 Club
Trilogy / Elegante
Buddha Bar
Trilogy / Elegante Other
17, 17.0% Peppermint Club
41, 41.0%

The 400 Club

10, 10.0%

Chi @ the Lodge

8, 8.0% The Apartment
13, 13.0%
From our respondents it clearly shows Peppermint Club as the favorite club of 41% of
respondents, while Trilogy / Elegante surprisingly came second with 17% and The
Apartment third with 13%, while the rest were under 10% each.

When a problem arises Club “X” shows a sincere interest in solving it.

Category
Strongly disagree
Strongly disagree Disagree
7, 17.5% Neither disagree nor agree
Strongly agree
10, 25.0% Agree
Strongly agree

Disagree
4, 10.0%

Neither disagree nor agree

7, 17.5%
Agree
12, 30.0%

These responses were taken for Peppermint Club and show 25% strongly agreeing and
30% agreeing with the fact that when a problem arises Peppermint Club shows a sincere
interest in solving it. Showing that customers have the perception that Peppermint Club,
is reliable in solving problems.
 Employees in Club “X” are never too busy to respond to your request.
Category
Strongly disagree
Strongly disagree Disagree
7, 17.5% Neither disagree nor agree
Strongly agree
10, 25.0% Agree
Strongly agree

Disagree
4, 10.0%

Neither disagree nor agree

7, 17.5%
Agree
12, 30.0%

The above graph shows a clear customer perception that Peppermint Club employees are
responsive to a customer’s requests, with 55% agreeing that employees are never too
busy to respond to your request and only 27.5% disagreeing to this.

You feel safe in your transactions with Club “X”.

Category
Strongly agree
1, 5.9% Strongly disagree
Disagree
Agree Neither disagree nor agree
2, 11.8% Agree
Strongly disagree
5, 29.4% Strongly disagree

ether disagree nor agree

2, 11.8%

Disagree
7, 41.2%
The above pie chart shows the level of assurance of customers when dealing with Trilogy
/ Elegante, obviously since the card debacle, assurance of customers has declined and
70.6% of customers disagree with the fact that they feel safe with transaction with
Trilogy / Elegante, while less the 20% agree that they feel safe.

Employees of Club “X” understand your specific needs.

Category
Disagree
Disagree Neither agree nor disagree
2, 15.4% Agree
Strongly agree
3, 23.1% Strongly agree

Neither disagree nor agree

4, 30.8%

Agree
4, 30.8%

The above graph shows respondents of The Apartment 53.9% of respondents agree that
employees of The Apartment understand your specific needs and only 15.4% disagree,
showing that The Apartment employees show a great deal of empathy.
The sound, lighting equipment and physical facilities are visually appealing at Club “X”.

Category
Disagree
Disagree
5, 12.5% Neither disagree nor agree
Agree
Strongly agree
Strongly agree
12, 30.0%

Neither disagree nor agree

8, 20.0%

Agree
15, 37.5%

The respondents that choose Peppermint Club as their favorite club may have done so
due to the sound, lighting equipment and physical facilities, because 67.9% found them
appealing and only 12.5% disagreed.

Cues at Club “X” aren’t much of a problem.

Category
Strongly Disagree Strongly disagree
3, 7.5% Disagree
Neither disagree nor agree
Disagree Agree
5, 12.5% Strongly agree

Strongly agree
15, 37.5%

Neither disagree nor agree

5, 12.5%

Agree
12, 30.0%
Respondents showed that Peppermint Club has no problems in their cues with 67.9%
agreeing that there are no problems with their cues and only a small percentage of around
20% disagreeing with this statement.

Employees at Club “X” try to make up for any service failure.

Category
Strongly disagree
Disagree
Neither disagree nor agree
Strongly agree Strongly disagree
2, 25.0% 2, 25.0% Agree
Strongly agree

Disagree
1, 12.5%

Agree
2, 25.0%
Neither disagree nor agree
1, 12.5%

Chi @ the Lodge showed nearly equal agreement and disagreement on the fact that
employees try to make up for any service failure, with 25% strongly disagreeing and 25%
strongly agreeing.

DETAILED ASSESMENT OF CURRENT SERVICE DELIVERY PROCESS:

Using the Gap assessment of what the expected service is and what the perceived
service is we are able to understand how the service is handled by Fluid Productions.
Fluid Productions does well to determine what the customers expect and covers Gap 1
well in all its areas. Adequate research goes into understanding what the customer wants
and focus is spent on service quality that is achieved. There is a great deal of
communication between management and customers as is evident by the recoveries Fluid
Production overcame and satisfying dissatisfied customers that were waiting to get drinks
with improper change in return. Finally Fluid Productions has being able to segment the
market into adequate target groups and has focused on creating relationship customers.
Further Fluid Productions has being able to have in place the right service quality
designs and standards. Unique service designs that are customer driven and a system by
which management can create a service quality goals has being in place since its
conception as a service provider. Finally appropriate action has being taken together with
its key partners to keep the servicescape properly maintained and updated according to
customer wants and expectations. Although we found Fluid Productions to do well in
both Gap 1 and 2 we found that Gaps 3 and 4 could be better managed and needs great
improvement which we will talk about in the last section of the report.

SERVICE BLUEPRINT EXPLANATION:

Following the diagram we follow what a regular customer would undergo during
a normal visit to Peppermint Club or a Fluid Production event. Step one see a customer
buying a online ticket from BoxOfficeME, a registration process occurs backstage and
then a registration system occurs at the support services where the data is kept for
confirmation during the day of the event. Arriving at a Fluid Production event a onstage
interaction occurs where the customer gives the car to a valet and is then taken backstage
to be parked somewhere. Passing the security guard another onstage interaction occurs
where the customer’s id is checked. Next buying tickets this can either be linked to the
first event, (buying the ticket online) or at this specific moment, either requires a onstage
interaction with a certain employee to purchase the ticket. Next buying the coupons,
(coupons are required to purchase drinks) again another onstage interaction occurs much
like the previous step. Once entering the club the customer will want to dance and at
some point later buy a drink. Here the customer interacts with an onstage employee that
takes the order and fills it. However drinks must be re-supplied and glasses cleaned this
involves backstage employees that re-supply drinks from a storeroom and glasses from a
kitchen. The customer will then drink and dance away till at some point again in time it
is time for him to leave, whereby a onstage interaction occurs with the valet driver that
brings his car from the parking where it was left. Although the diagram may seem
simply may other processes occur to keep events such as these working however the
blueprint would be too cluttered to understand if we included every process, therefore we
look at the blueprint from the customer’s perspective and only the interactions he or she
comes into contact with or creates as a chain of events.
SOLUTION TO THE MARKETING PROBLEM:
Peppermint Club and Fluid Productions do well under provider gap one and two
in the Gap model to assess the organization’s service strategy, however gaps three and
four could be accomplished far better. Fluid Productions could do better to deliver
service designs and standards that are in place. Provider gap 3 is the discrepancy
between development of customer driven service standards and the actual service
performance by company employees.
To have a more effective human resource policy Fluid Productions needs to hire,
train, compensate and empower employees at all levels. Not just upper and middle
management, even though in terms of cost it might be cheaper for them to hire Asian
workers and barely train them, those workers are the ones that come into contact with
customers the most. These employees are the ones that play the biggest role when
customer interactions come into play. Fluid Productions needs to hire the best bartenders
and waiters or at least have an effective training program in play and clearly defined roles
each must accomplish. A new Human Resources manager must hire under these new
standards, each new employee must adequately fit their job description and be capable of
accomplishing it well. This means that they must know what is required of them, how
they can go about accomplishing their jobs, and also to be able to use any technological
equipment they will need well enough. Also these employees must be adequately
compensated; possibly linking their pay and benefits to satisfied customers, a happier
employee means a happier customer. They must be able to work as a team and not
simply see themselves as individuals, teamwork helps in accomplishing the greater task
at hand. Further letting customers know what is required of them as consumers would
also aid in closing the gap, if customers know what is to be expected of them it gives
employees an easier job to accomplish. Having them not get into fights in the club for
example is one key factor, also not shouting at employees for quick service or entrance
into the club may prevent mass rebellion of such factors.
Fixing this gap would in effect create better trained and knowledgeable
employees that could deal with more situations themselves rather then seeking for
assistance from high management. Also it would create employees that would be happier
to help a customer out if a problem arose not only because their pay would be linked to
creating satisfied customers but also because they would have received the training in
order to do so. Training these employees would obviously put a burden on the company
costs, however in the long term these costs wouldn’t have to come up again as employees
would stay with the company and also even profits may rise from the benefits of having
repeat satisfied customers.
Provider gap 4 shows the relationship between service delivery and the service
provider’s external communications, for example Radio One advertisements by
Peppermint Club and magazine advertisements and reviews on various websites and
magazines that clubbers read and listen to. Because of the extend that Peppermint Club
has become the leader in Dubai for event promotions and management, it has created a
expectation in customers minds that any event hosted by Fluid Productions would be the
best to offer and not one to miss out on. In a sense it has created a certain amount of
always promising its events to be the best and to a degree over promises customers.
Downgrading just a bit on the promises and possibly hosting a “bad” event could lower
customer expectations and then make other events after it to seem like they are the best in
years. Further associated with pricing, customers have no particular reference point for
pricing of services. For example ticket prices for events have ranged from 80dhs to
300dhs and all events seem to be packed. This means that the customer is not well
educated in these areas. This could be to the advantage of the company as it is in the
front line of the Dubai nightlife if it slightly raises the prices of all events this would in
turn become the normal price to pay for an event. Finally better managing customers’
expectations of what it is they are to expect during their hosted events would do better for
both customers’ expectations and the service delivery process. Clearly stating what a
customer should expect either over the radio and the advertising means that it currently
uses, (phone messages, radio, websites and magazine) would create a more manageable
customer. Less prone to arguing that this was not what they expected and less prone to
asking for a refund of their ticket for example. Stating when a Dj would come and play
and for how long lets customers beware of what to expect and not grumble when a Dj
only plays a one hour set or a set too late for them to be able to hear. Finally this would
in turn lead to un-inflated promises and manageable customer expectations.
These are only some very minor points that Fluid Productions could work on, it
would be very hard to determine any other points since their marketing plan seems to
work very well and has kept customers satisfied, (as was proven by the survey we
committed). Also Fluid Productions seems to have determined the key elements of a
successful marketing plan and has being able to use it well over the past 6 years it has
being in business. Fluid Productions is at the forefront of Dubai’s nightlife industry and
seems that with its current mind set this is not set to change any time soon.

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Cash-free profits.at http://www.arabianbusiness.com/499847-cash-free-profits?

ln=en&start=1 Retrieved March 22nd 2008.

Greenwood, Aaron. Groove Metha at http://www.arabianbusiness.com/13160-groove-

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His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum the UAE Vice President,
Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai official 2007 cite at
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Keegan.J.Warren 2003 Global Marketing Management, Published by Pearson Education

Pte ltd, Seventh Edition.

Shihab, M. (1996).‘Human Development in the United Arab Emirates’, Economic

Horizons, vol.17, no.66, pp 9–31.
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United Arab Emirates: Recent Economic Developments. IMF Staff Country Report No.
98/134. Washington, DC: 1998Worlside Look at Reserves and Production, Oil & Gas
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Interview with Ahmed Ajam (MadJam) conducted April 6th 2008.