Smart marketing

Rarely do we get to read any positive or good news in the newspapers these days.

So, your "Focus on Jakarta" on page 3 on Dec. 2, 1997 gripped my attention. It is nice to know that a five-star hotel in Jakarta is offering free lunch for the city's taxi drivers. What better way exists to satisfy a man except through his stomach?

However, in all advertising related activities, my theory is quite simple. If the message is too good to be true, don't believe it. Look for a hidden agenda and be sure to read the fine print!

In any case, I was happily reading along the said news item until I came to the last sentence, which gave away the truth. While the drivers enjoy their free lunch, the hotel staff would be putting the hotel's stickers on the taxi's windshields, of course, with the gracious permission of the drivers.

You can bet no cab driver (worth his salt) would be inclined to deny such permission. But, it's obvious that wherever the taxis ply, the stickers represent free advertisement for the hotel too.

In the final analysis, we should keep in mind that nothing at all in this world comes without paying the price and there's just no free lunch any time anywhere.

The hotel's campaign is rightly called "Power Lunch". What a nice name these Marketing/Advertising executives came up with for their strategy.

By launching the "Power Lunch" campaign, the hotel management is assured of "empowering" themselves through the medium of taxi drivers, who may be counted upon to bring in much needed business for the hotel.

It's not always easy to be a step ahead of competition but by roping in the cabbies as partners, you can be pretty sure of driving fast and keeping the competition far behind!

All the same, we must congratulate the hotel management on their novel idea. It's indeed a win-win concept.

I would certainly not rate this as yet another marketing gimmick, for the simple reason that sometimes, the means may also justify the ends.

D. CHANDRAMOULI

Jakarta