The Elusive Exclusivity

When Vijay Mallya was sitting with Prestige to chalk out what they were going to build on the plot where the erstwhile UB bottling facility stood, I am sure that there were shining plans thanks to the central location and quantum of land available. They planned to build a landmark. Something that nobody could escape knowing about; with a luxury mall, 5-star hotel, service apartments, one of the most sought after office address in Bangalore; the UB City looked all set to become one of the most awesome landmarks in the city.

Then something went wrong...

To begin with they decided to ape the architecture of buildings from New York (The Empire State and the Chrysler Building). In this day and age to pick up on the architectural design of a building that was the benchmark of the 60's and copying just the design and leaving out the grandeur of the 100 story structure was where the possibility to market a winning story was lost. The designers never thought of the fact that this structure that was going to be a landmark in the city, had to compete with international benchmarks in order to capture the imagination of the citizens as well as the visitors of the city.

Half a century after the construction of the Empire State Building, tourism alone contributes a good deal to the buildings revenues, which is a result of the marketing and the recognition that the building has got over the years. They charge an average of $20 per person for the ride to the top of the building and get over 3 million visitors per annum and growing. Now there is a lot of money being made.

Ok they made one bad decision, let us not crucify them for it...

Then some years later the place opens up for business and the road outside the building is clogged. Wait its not just the traffic that is clogging it, there is an overflowing drain as well. To add to that they number of vehicles parked across the road really makes the road and more so the structure look ordinary and is a huge compromise on security.

There is little that needs to be done to improve the situation, but either the developers are not at all concerned, or they are not able to think up of a solution for the same.

Let us say...

Mr. Vijay Mallya will certainly not lack the political leverage to ensure that the traffic flow issues, drains, etc. on that road are taken care of and it gets done the way his marketing team says it should be. Some amount of effort needs to be put in, in order to make sure that the beautification of the road and the area around lives up to the luxury that the mall promises with all its big brands. Considering the 380 crores of investment made to construct the entire UB City, it would be a miniscule additional investment, but one that will make the development live up to the promises of exclusivity and luxury that it has made.

All that needs to be done is, in steps, they need to first of all resolve the issue of the open drain that is flowing like a river across the road. Ban parking of vehicles on the road, let them use the pay parking available at the back of the building or park elsewhere. Get the entire stretch of road re-laid in a better manner (instead of dropping mounds of mud when it rains heavily). Then the look of the entire road needs to be re-done, pavements, lamp post, et al. The idea is to give an exclusive feel to the entire area. For a road that bears the name of his father, it is not a huge ask. In the end it is not about the amount of cash and work that is put into the project, but the level of details that are taken care of, no matter how trivial it may seem.

Reflecting on what I read in one of Seth Godin's books; marketing is about creating a story, one that although not authentic, leads one to believe that it is; through the meticulous adherence to details and by using exclusive elements, designed to reflect the same. It is often trivial things, that complete the story.