Welcome

Tempe, Phoenix, AZ.

July 2009


Dear reader,

Welcome to this page!

We would like to introduce ourselves:

Megan van den Dorpel, 21, second year student of NHTV, FBTR
Olja Petkovic, 18, first year student of NHTV, VTM
Andreas Brausum, 28, third year student of NHTV, ITTI
Nadia van den Boom, 18, second year student of NHTV, FBTR

We've made this blog for our assignment for the Summer Course 2009. The assignment is to choose a real American concept and analyze wether it could work in countries outside the United States or not.

The concept that we've chosen is the Hard Rock Café. We’ve chosen this concept because we have a member in our group, who is a big fan, (Megan van den Dorpel), and the concept is worldwide known. The Hard Rock Café was started by two Americans, now it’s owned by the Native Americans. We want to see how that change an impact on future developments has.

The slogan of the Hard Rock Café is "Love all, Serve all" and "All is one". This slogan is based on the fact that they care about the wellness of people and the planet. For example they give a part of their profit to victims of major calamities. Charitable work will always be integral to "what" Hard Rock "is". The All is one part of the slogan has three different meanings. The first one is about the same human rights all around the world; the second one is about the experience of the lifestyle of the Hard Rock Café. The third one is that it all started with that one café in London.

The first Hard Rock Café became a sort of museum, started with a guitar of Eric Clapton. Nowadays everywhere around the world there are things (this is different in each café) of famous people signed by themselves hanging on the walls. People visit the café’s to see these things; they can also buy merchandise from the Hard Rock Café. These merchandise are very popular, the price quality proportion is of a very high standard.

History

The Hard Rock Café is a well known company around the world. They are located in only 42 different countries, but in every country people know about this phenomenon. We have been raised while the Hard Rock Café was already a success, but there have been times that this company didn’t even exist. To give you an idea about how this company, this concept was formed we will now show you a part of the company’s history.

Everything started with Eric Clapton and his guitar. (A Fender Lead II). This idea of the Hard Rock Café all started with a joke among friends. In the seventies (1971) Eric Clapton often dined at a café in London called the Hard Rock Café. It was a funk old building that used to be a Rolls Royce dealership. The café was founded by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, two enterprising, music-loving Americans. The Hard Rock Café was a classic. You could be yourself at the Hard Rock Café, it was good food, at a good time, at a good place.

Eric Clapton became friends with the proprietors and went to dine at the Hard Rock café frequently. The proprietors asked Eric Clapton one day if they could hang one of his guitars to the wall of their Café. They laughed about the idea and he handed them a guitar, which they hung up to the wall. It is still to be seen in the Hard Rock Café in London nowadays.

No one thought about it anymore until one week later another guitar arrived (a Gibson Ls Paul), with a note from Pete Townshend (The Who), which read: “Mine’s as good as his. Love, Pete”. This guitar was also put on the wall. After this the guitars and band equipment, better said rock equipment, never stopped coming.

Nowadays you can find over 70.000 guitars, drums, pianos, harmonicas, microphones, shirts, pants, scarves, shoes, handwritten lyrics, cars, bikes, a bus, etc- by far the largest most valuable collection of such things in the world- on the walls of over 138 Hard Rock Cafes, Hotels and Casinos in 42 countries worldwide.

But it all started with the one

Concept

Location

The Hard Rock Café managers are very smart about where to put the Cafés. The Hard Rock Café is located in each capital city of the 42 countries where they are now, spread all over the world. You can also find them in the cities of main importance, which makes multiple Hard Rock Cafés being in one country. They can be found near important buildings, such as stadiums, shopping malls and city centers.

Target group

The Hard Rock Café doesn’t have one specified target group. The main lovers of the Hard Rock Café are people who love (hard) rock music and their merchandise.
When walking into a Hard Rock Café you will see all kinds of ages, from young to (sometimes very) old.

A Strong concept

The main thing that you have to ask yourself about a concept is, what a strong concept exactly is.

There is a list that mainly consists of these following subjects:
· Meaningful
· Sustainable
· Easy to communicate
· Interesting / distinguishing
· Emotional
· Humoristic
· Original / authentic
· High quality

When you take the concept Hard Rock Café, you can see if the concept is strong enough, by using that list.

The Hard Rock café is absolutely meaningful. It is meaningful for a group of people who love rock music. They see it as a place to come home to and to be with people who love what they love as well.

The Hard Rock café is also sustainable. They are very involved with human beings and the well being of the world. For example they used paper bags that were recycled from old paper so that they don’t need paper that came from the rain forest.

It is easy to communicate. During the day the café puts slow music on, which makes talking easier. When artists perform in the Hard Rock Café, customers don’t mind when they can’t hear each other, because they come to see the artists. It is also easy to communicate in the shop of the Hard Rock Café, while you here rock music on the background.

The Hard Rock Café is certainly interesting. When you walk into the café you feel like you’re in a museum. Everywhere you look you see interesting and nice stuff and products that you simply don’t know where to look first. For example the café’s are totally different. In every café you see different objects of artists that performed there. So every time when you visit a Hard Rock Café in a different city you see something new. Also with the products is the same story. For example the Hard Rock Café in Phoenix has a pin with Arizona on it and that pin you can only buy in Arizona and nowhere else.

For the people who love visiting Hard Rock Café is it very emotional. Those groups of people feel a certain connection, because all of them love the same thing. They love Hard Rock Café in general, they wear the Hard Rock Café clothes and they also share the love for (hard) rock music.

Some people love the Hard Rock café, some people don’t, but the Hard Rock Café is definitely not meant as humoristic. It is an experience for everyone who likes to discover something new.

You can call The Hard Rock café original, because it is one of his kinds and there is no other place like it. Especially there is no place or a concept that has a café, entertainment/concerts, merchandise and a small museum.

One thing that stands out about the Hard Rock Café is that there is a high quality. The products that they sell are very good of quality, which can be used for many years. The Hard Rock Café has also a high quality with the staff. Everyone who works there would love to help you out if you need something. The staff is also very friendly, they open the door for you when you want to come in and ask you polite how you are doing.


Formula oriented

The Hard Rock Café is oriented on a formula market. The concept is oriented on customers who like music and wearing clothes of rock music.
Things that standout are the lay-out of the Hard Rock Café. On the walls you can see, signed stuff of artists who have performed in the café. For example you have the guitar of Eric Clapton in London. It’s also very cozy because of the people who go there, really enjoy being there. The atmosphere is also great because all the people who visit the Hard Rock cafe they feel all like one.
You also have a various offer of things. In the Hard Rock Café you can drink, eat, and listen to live bands that perform, buy merchandise like T-shirts and sweatshirts.

The assortment is also very big. There are like I said T-shirts, but also gadgets, jackets, accessories, hats and many more things.
The Hard Rock cafe gives you also an opportunity to listen to live music. Most of the music that is displayed is rock. For example Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Jackson performs there. Because of all the performances, the cafe offers a great entertainment for people. The main theme of the Hard Rock cafe is rock, that’s why all the artists what perform are rockers and the clothes that they sell are rock.

The Marketing Mix

Place
The marketing mix consists in total of 4 elements (Product,Price, Place, Promotion) which are often referred to as ‘the four Ps’. One of those four Ps is “Place”:
Place represents the location where a product can be purchased. It is often referred to as the distribution channel through which goods and/or services are moved from the manufacturer/service provider to the user or consumer. It can include any physical store as well as virtual stores on the Internet.
In our case the Hard Rock Café operates in 38 countries throughout the globe.

The Café’s of the Hard Rock chain are located in:
Hawai, North America, Mexico/Central America, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Middle East, Asia, Japan and Australia/Oceania.

Hard Rock Hotels are located in the following cities throughout the world:
Bali, Chicago, Orlando, Pattaya and San Diego. In the near future (2010-2012) new Hard Rock Café’s will be opened in Atlanta, Hungary, Palm Springs and Singapore.

Hotels and Casinos of the Hard Rock Chain are available in:
Biloxi, Hollywood (Florida), Las Vegas, Macau, Tampa and Tulsa. In 2009 and 2011 new hotels will be coming soon in Dubai, Panama, Penang.

Since we are in Phoenix at the moment, you have to opportunity to visit the Hard Rock Café’s at the following address:
Hard Rock Cafe Phoenix
3 South 2nd Street, Suite 117
Phoenix, AZ 85004

If you are interested to visit the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas as well. Then head for the following two addresses:

Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas
4475 Paradise Rd.
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Hard Rock Cafe Las Vegas (Strip)
Temp Address:4475 S. Paradise Road
Las Vegas, NV 89169

Promotion
The Hard Rock Café uses different types of media to promote them self. They use billboards in crowded areas, short commercials on television, promotional events, organize meetings and auctions, a website for every store and a general one with extra information about the history and upcoming events, live concerts in the Café’s, Hotels or Casinos, actions with famous people (examples will follow later) and the most important one of all; they use the people who like to visit the Hard Rock Café, to create a worldwide known brand. They even organize weddings and parties in a Hard Rock theme.

These people are the fans of the Hard Rock Café; they like the lifestyle and were the merchandise with the brands on it. They want to see all the Hard Rock Cafés all around the world. Some people even go on a Hard Rock Café tour. These fans are very important and the Hard Rock Café offers them an All Access system. This system uses member cards. When a member spends money at the Hard Rock Café he/she gets points, with these points he/she can get free merchandise, drinks or food or a discount. When people spend more than $25 they always get a free gift. Sometimes this is a pin of a glass.

Examples
Some upcoming events of the Hard Rock Café are the pre party for U2, a live concert of Paolo Nutini and Bruce Springsteen and different CD releases. At this moment the Hard Rock Café has a collection of clothes created by Bon Jovi.
As you can see the promotion marketing of the Hard Rock Café is very important. They stay updated and through this strategy they keep the concept working.

Product
The product of the brand Hard Rock exists of 4 different things; the Casino’s, the Hotels, the Café’s and the merchandise stores.
There are 5 Hard Rock Hotels, 6 Hotels/Casino’s and there working on 7 new Casino’s worldwide. The hotels are of a high standard and they offer more than regular hotels. For example they offer a special package for people who want to celebrate an anniversary or a birthday.
The Hotels/Casino’s offers the same high standard rooms but you can also find stores and a spa.
There are 150 Hard Rock Café’s at the moment and they are working on 13 new café’s. The Café’s offer typical American food and drinks. In every Hard Rock Café you can find a store with merchandise. The collection that they offer is made of high standard material.

Pricing
The Hard Rock Café sells expensive clothes. When you buy a T-shirt or trousers, they are expensive, but what you get back is priceless. Merchandise that you buy there, you can use it for years and years and after years the merchandise that you have bought is still good.
The prices for events and concerts start average from $50 up to $150. This is normal for concerts. So The Hard Rock Café isn’t that expensive regarding the concerts and events prices from other places where they find place.
Regarding the prices in the café, it is expensive. For a glass Coca-Cola you pay like $3 or $4 dollar. But for food you pay a lot but you get in return a lot of food. So that is in proportion with the price.

People (personnel)
How do the personnel sell the products to the (possible) customers and how do they take care of the concepts quality?

For a company, the personnel are of main importance, to be able to sell their concept, their products. Very often the company chooses to train their people to sell products and treat the customers the way, they think that fits to their concept. This is also with the Hard Rock Café.

New personnel of the Hard Rock Café are selected on several points as friendliness, then being open to compliments as well to complaints and how they react on certain situations. Every single person who works for Hard Rock Café is trained to stand for the concept (examples will follow later) and to give the customer a once in a lifetime experience, which they will remember. Every visit to each Hard Rock Café is different and exciting. Whether you visit is for the first time or if you visit it on a monthly basis.

Example:
A man isn’t familiar with Hard Rock Café, but did hear his friend talking about the friendly personnel who helped him to get what he was looking for. The personnel helped him with a real smile (no dentist smile) on their face, without being annoyed that his friend looked about 50 minutes to decide which T-shirt he wanted. The friend also tells the man about the perfect quality of Hard Rock Café products.
“You know my friend I have bought some T-shirts between ten years ago and now and it’s still perfectly fitting. And the same bright colors as when I purchased it.”

The man visits a city where Hard Rock Café a café has and the man walks in. He entered a whole different world. It’s a café, museum, diner, store and a world all together. He decides to buy some souvenirs to remind him about his experience but he can’t find what he wants.
Here comes the Hard Rock Café personnel: “Hello, how can I help you? Or do you wish to look around a while?”

The man explains the situation and together they’ll go and find something he likes. When he has found everything, he leaves the shop with a smile on his face, a great experience and a memory to never forget.

When thinking of Hard Rock Café personnel, this list describes then a whole:
· Friendly
· Patient
· Open minded
· Sustainable
· Profit
· Service

Branded Customer Experiences

What is a brand?

A brand communicates specific information about an organization, product or service, distinguishing it from others in the marketplace.

A brand is a "promise": a promise regarding the qualities and particularities that make the organization, product or service special and unique. In short: a brand has the message to show and tell the public what an organization represents and what is has to offer.

The brand of the Hard Rock Cafe is one of the world’s most recognizable brands. It offers guests great American fare in a rock ‘n’ roll atmosphere. The Hard Rock Cafe itself consists of three different sections: A stage for live performances for the musical artists, a Cafe which offers typical American fast food such as hamburgers, chicken wings and sandwiches and finally a retail rock shop where customers can buy merchandized souvenirs from the Hard Rock Cafe itself like a T-shirt with the Hard Rock Cafe logo printed on it. But what makes the Hard Rock Cafe so unique is the great collections of rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia, which are mounted on the walls throughout the whole Cafe. It’s collection ranges from autographed guitars, outfits from world tours and rare photographs of artists. One famous collected item was the unsigned Red Fender Lead II guitar from Blues artist Eric Clapton.

What is a costumer experience?
Quotation: "It’s the sum total of the interactions that a costumer has with a company’s products, people, and processes" (Richard Own, vice president of Dell). A costumer experience starts from the moment on when a customer purchases a product from the company. After the purchase the customer evaluates his purchase decision: was it the right choice? Is he satisfied with his purchase?

From different customer experiences the Hard Rock Cafe in Phoenix is rated positively with a good costumer service, great atmosphere and delicious food.

What is a branded costumer experience?

From the customers perspective: Consumers desire a certain experience in order to reach their dreams and wishes to live a certain life-style.

From the company’s perspective: The company tries to provoke a certain feeling/atmosphere with their logo inside the costumer. A logo is designed to graphically represent the identity of the company and should be easily recognized by the customer.

The branded costumer experience of the Hard Rock Cafe is to deliver the customers an ultimate destination for rock lovers of all ages.

Conclusion

The assignment

We went to Flagstaff and Phoenix for a summercourse. It's not only holidays but also hard work. We received a paper with on it an assignment. The assignment was as following:

Choose an American Brand (Company) and analyze this Brand. When having analyzed this, try to find out if this concept could work out in countries outside of the USA, especially the Netherlands.

We chose for Hard Rock Cafe. It is an American Brand and exists for over 30 years now.

What did we do?

At first we started looking at the internet and find as much information as possible. When having this done we have gathered the information and made a pile of useful information, after which we started to write the history and welcome page.

We created an interview, for the customers aswell as for the general assistant manager of the Hard Rock Cafe, with which we went to the Cafe. When we got there we weren't allowed to interview the customers so we only interviewed the general assistant manager and meanwhile observed the customers.

General Conclusion
The Hard Rock Café is expensive, but what you get in return is of high quality. The Hard Rock Café provides their customers with high quality food, merchandise articles and good entertainment which makes the Hard Rock Café excellent in customer service.
The Hard Rock Cafés unique factor is the great amount of memorabilia’s of popular artists who had once performed there.

The Hard Rock Café’s are good located and easy accessible. They also use various marketing strategies to promote their products, such as billboards and advertising.
The branded customer experience of the Hard Rock Cafe is to deliver the customers an ultimate destination for rock lovers of all ages.

The main question is whether the Hard Rock Café would work in the Netherlands as well
We came to the conclusion that this concept from America would also work in the Netherlands, because this concept is already being realized in the Netherlands (Amsterdam). If there wasn’t a Hard Rock Café in the Netherlands, it would also work because of the high standards that the Hard Rock Café provides in their customer service, concept and merchandise.

Sources

Interview with Mr. Bryan Webster (General Assistant Manager), Hard Rock Cafe, Phoenix, AZ.

1. What kind of customer experience does the Hard Rock Cafe offer?

The Hard Rock Cafe offers a big variety of products and experiences, to their customers such as the merchandise which differs in every country, the memorabilia displayed in the Cafes and stores, the casinos and hotels. Just to be inside is an experience on itself.

2. What kind of promotion do you know of, which Hard Rock Cafe uses to promote their product/concept?

Through the selling of merchandise which the customers wear and display, Hard Rock Cafe Phoenix put a billboard beside the road, we organize events and live performances on a regular basis to attract people to come to the Hard Rock Cafe.

3. What is the function of the personnel in selling the concept to your customers?

The personnel in the store is our businesscard. If they aren't nice to the customers, those customers won't return and will spread negative information about us. To prevent customers from spreading bad news, we make sure that our personnel is well trained in customer service, personal hygiene (such as their clothing, make up and clean hands during work). Our personnel aswell as we do, wish our customers to leave the Hard Rock Cafe with a feeling they wish to come back as soon as possible and experience more of us. For example: they open the door for the customers to enter the store and they help you with anything you need help with.

4. How do you know what your customer wants?

Through the years the Hard Rock Cafe has proven itself that the concept is working. It started with one Cafe in London, which is now part of a chain with over 143 Cafes worldwide. Lots of people are walking around in T-shirts created by the Hard Rock Cafe and a lot of people enter the store everyday. We do surveys with our customers asking them for their feedback and we have learned how to listen to and observe the customers, that's how we know what the customers want.

5. What do you consider as a typical Hard Rock Cafe customer?

A real Hard Rock Cafe customer is someone with a certain life style and taste. With a desire to show this to the world. People who love music (not only rock music) and who like to share this with other people from all around the planet. You can never really tell what kind of person enters the store, but one thing is for sure they love music, they love the atmosphere and they are all as one.

Websites:

Main source:
Hard Rock Café, 2009. http://www.hardrock.com/

Branded Customer Experience:
Wikipedia, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Rock_Cafe
Mouthshut.com, 2009. http://www.mouthshut.com/review/readreview.php?rid=117877&r=1
Tripadvisor.com,2009. http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g31310-d496222-r29339008-Hard_Rock_Cafe-Phoenix_Arizona.html
Hard Rock Cafe, 2009. http://www.hardrock.com/corporate/press/content.asp?id=264

Marketingmix:
Hard Rock Café, 2009. http://www.hardrock.com/

Seminole, 2009. http://www.seminolehardrocktampa.com/amenities/hard-rock-retail-store
Hard Rock Hotel, 2009. http://www.hardrockhotel.com/
Wikipedia, marketingmix, 2009. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marketing_mix

Marketingteacher.com, 2009. http://www.marketingteacher.com/Lessons/lesson_place.htm

Other sources:
Interviewee: Mr. Bryan Webster (Assistant General Manager), Hard Rock Café Phoenix