As I’m sure you haven’t noticed (heh), I’ve been pretty tight-lipped about school so far this semester. This isn’t intentional, it’s just that…wait for it…there isn’t anything to complain about!

By the same token, there hasn’t been a whole heck of a lot to talk about in general. I only have one “group” assignment - for my Market Research class - and that’s a round-robin debate tournament on marketing ethics which lasts about two weeks.

The one fun thing…I’ve managed to pick a subject I can use for both my strategic marketing and market research classes, inspired by last weekend’s visit to the Ritz-Carlton. On the strategy side I have five deliverables over the next ten weeks, encompassing a customer analysis, competitor analysis, market analysis, and environmental analysis - and the Big Kahuna, an industry analysis. Oddly, this sounds exactly like what I did last semester in my marketing management class…and it is, just with the added boost of a strategic approach thrown in for flair.

For my market research class, we basically have to craft a business research proposal. We obviously can’t do the research itself, but it’s still pretty comprehensive. Again, I’ve picked the Ritz-Carlton as my topic:

Situation:
Ritz-Carlton prides itself on creating and maintaining exceptional relationships with its very loyal customers. This loyalty comes from an emotional sense among its guests that the hotel provides unmistakable quality and luxury in terms of accommodations, dining, amenities and customer service. While historically Ritz-Carlton’s cache has been as the lodging of choice for the very wealthy, with the recent “democratization of wealth” a new consumer has also been enjoying the benefits of Ritz-Carlton – the “aspirational” guest.

Enjoying luxury products and services at lower price points than the traditionally wealthy, these younger, middle to-upper-middle income customers are choosing to also spend their travel dollars on luxury accommodations.

Ritz-Carlton is addressing this customer segment by offering reduced rates on weekends, and a wide variety of affordable treatments in its spas, in an effort to capture additional revenue and create customer loyalty.

Business decision problem:
Will allowing the hotel to be more accessible to “aspirational” customers negatively affect the historic Ritz-Carlton reputation of luxury and consequently, its relationship with its most loyal customers?

Question:
What is the relative impact on the Ritz-Carlton’s relationship with its most loyal customer segment if it targets marketing efforts towards the “aspirational” customer?

I’m actually very excited about all of my projects…they’ve been a ton of work and research so far, but I get all giggly and excited when that proverbial light bulb goes on in my head. Like last night…I finally figured out how to word a proper research question and associated hypotheses…I got so excited I almost threw out my bad hip.