US scholar suggests branding Macau into hedonic place

Saturday, 15 August 2009
by Anni Lam

U.S. scholar Mark S. Rosenbaum, from the college of business of the Northern Illinois University, suggested the local government should develop a position in customers' minds of Macau being a “fun and hedonic” place as it is that uniqueness that attracts tourists here.

The Institution For Tourism Studies (IFT) yesterday held a public lecture on “After the Marketing plan: how to create a service plan” for which the associate professor Dr. Rosenbaum was invited to talk.

On the sidelines of the lecture, Dr. Rosenbaum said that Macau as a place established to be an entertainment area, would be better to build an image that Macau is a place “where you can have fun and relax.”

“The fun signal should be clear to tourists when they arrive the airport or the ferry station,” he added. Besides that the scholar also said he would encourage the Macau government to fill the airport with sounds.

“You do want to hear the casinos, you do want to hear the sense of excitement. We're not coming hear to rest, customers are not coming to Macau for the water of paradise. We are coming here for fun.”

“If you want tourists to maintain high energy level to come here to spend money on shopping, gambling and food and beverage, plug the sight, sound and smell to the airport. You know, when I landed at the airport, I realised the airport was quiet and yet customers are expecting sights and sounds and clues. What clues is Macau telling customers upon arrival? ... To me, the airport, is bland,” he went on to add.

In terms of service plan, Dr. Rosenbaum said that making use of the service plan can benefit any firm, whether it is retailing or hospitality or even government service.

It is about planning what customers will experience at every moment filling in the service process. “Companies set a marketing plan, but they didn't know what to do when the customers enter the hotel, they don't know what to do when the customer enters the bank or the hospital, so a service plan fills this void,” he added.

According to him, the theory resembled going to the movies as audience are expecting every details to run smoothly and that was comparable to service planning.“Break the service into a series of moments.

What's going to happening to a customer in the hotel stage, what's going to happen to a customer during the restaurant experience, and then you may have twenty segments or fifteen segments that customers experience.

Bring the manger to mange the moment,” he added. According to him, the plan works around the world including countries like America, Vietnam, Bhutan and Cambodia.