In the business planning stages, one thing that will surely be identified is the target market to which people are aiming for. Overall, the different classes, such as A, B and C, will be at the forefront of the entire concept and methodology. The place and location to which a management team is eyeing will surely be critical, since their service or product needs to be thoroughly evaluated to be able to ensure its success and capture the market that it is strongly vouching for.
Today, the risk of being able to cater to the market class that most organizations are eyeing is substantial. There is not question that the success of fully implementing the business plan according to the mapped out marketing strategies that will complement overall operations shall be monitored so that they can be able to evaluate if the plans were carried out properly and if they are hitting their targets. In most cases, organizations would need to check on the Return on Investment (ROI) period above anything else to fully analyze and assess the situation.
Such idea struck me this afternoon when I visited a supposedly underachieving place called The Gateway Mall in Cubao, Philippines. This area was made famous by Muhammal Ali some time in the 70’s with his historic match in boxing with Joe Frazier. This was dubbed “Thrilla in Manila� something that is very much familiar to most people in the world, particularly in the boxing world. This event extended to naming a mall there, Ali Mall, which became a distinguishing mark for the area of Cubao.
Going back to this Gateway Mall, I have been hearing a lot of things about it, and one thing I noticed on my very first visit is that I really didn’t know which class it was catering to. The theme of the mall may be for the lower class A and class B people, but the Class C were also wandering around, putting some questions in my mind with regards to how far this place can be able to sustain its cleanliness and ambiance. Other malls that have followed the same route include Star Mall in Mandaluyong City, Shangri-la Mall along EDSA and the disappointing areas of SM North and SM Centerpoint. For all its worth, I foresee this mall going the same direction, no direction at all considering that it is just there for simply trying to revive the abandoned area of Cubao. What strategies to be done? Well, I think this is not for me to work on, but the developers and administrators of this so-called Gateway Mall.Â
Links and Resources:
- Mall Helps drive GM’s Marketing Plan
- Special Report: How to Market to the Super Rich
- The Disappearing Middle Class
Originally posted on September 16, 2006 @ 8:28 am