A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRAND MANAGEMENT OF THE TAJ GROUP OF HOTELS
Brands never die. They are meant to live forever. However, their luster fades by the imprudent decisions of brand managers who fail to see the future unraveling.
The concept of branding is not new; many famous brands have been with us for some time. Many developed as the result of the energy and enthusiasm of the entrepreneurs behind them. As the companies grew the responsibility of maintaining the brand tended to fall to others from which the brand-management system emerged. How the brand is managed is crucial to its success and there are many advantages of the brand-management system.
Brand Management is as dynamic a subject as any. It is as dynamic in its changes, as is society itself. Brands need to change and adapt to their customers and consumers. They need to be in sync with the psyche of their target segment. Rigid brand mangers are the biggest liability to the brand.
Brand management may be described as adaptive, responding not only to the actions of competitors, final and intermediate customers, and other stakeholders, but also to its own past actions and reputation. It is a continuous endeavour in which marketers turn levers to create and sustain a presence in the market and provide experiences for customers. By doing so they attempt to improve customer acquisition, retention and overall brand performance in the market. Periodically they step back and reconsider their strategic direction and fundamentally change their goals and objectives.
In this context the paper seeks to critically analyse the brand management of the Taj Group of Hotels and explore how the Taj is continuing to adapt itself to the dynamic environment it thrives in. At the very onset of the paper a brief about Taj is essential.
The Taj Group's first hotel, The Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai was created by Mr. Jamshetji Nusserwanji Tata, and opened on December 16, 1903. This