Part of a capstone project

We certify that this capstone project is our own work and contains no material which has been accepted for the award of any degree or diploma in any institute, college or university. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge and belief, it contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference is made in the text of the capstone project.

Signed:

TABLE OF CONTENT

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 2. BRAND CONCEPT 6 2.1. Product 6 2.1.1. Product concept 6 2.1.2. Customer benefits 6 2.2. Location 6 2.2.1. PESTLE analysis 6 2.2.2. Market trends 6 2.2.3. Market potential 6 2.3. Customer 7 2.3.1. Customer segments 7 3. COMPETITIVE STRATEGY 8 3.1. Competitive analysis 8 3.2. SWOT 8 3.3. Price segment & average prices in EUR 8 3.4. First year revenue forecast 8 4. GLOBAL MARKETING STRATEGIES 9 4.1. Brand logo & slogan 9 4.2. Brand image & brand associations 9 4.3. Brand positioning 9 4.4. Cultural analysis of the country 9 4.4.1. Self-reference criterion 9 4.4.2. High context – Low context 9 4.4.3. Hofstede’s cultural typology 9 4.5. Economic analysis of the country 10 4.6. Taxes & laws 10 4.7. Political risks 10 5. COMMUNICATION STRATEGIES (IMC campaign plan) 11 5.1. Goals and SMART objectives 11 5.2. Promotion Mix tools & content examples 11 5.3. Communication channels 11 5.3.1. Channel KPIs 11 5.3.2. Ad payment models for ad channels 11 5.4. Communication schedule 11 5.5. Communications budget allocation 12 6. DIGITAL STRATEGIES 13 6.1. Wordpress 13 6.1.1. Template 13 6.1.2. Index with Google 13 6.1.3. Information architecture 13 6.1.4. On-page SEO 14 6.1.5. Special features - Plugins 14 6.2. Media plan 14 7. SALES STRATEGIES 15 7.1. Sales team 15 7.2. Quantitative and qualitative objectives 15 7.3. Prospecting strategy 15 7.4. Compelling offer 15 7.5. Objections 15 8. CONCLUSION 16 9. REFERENCE LIST 17 10. APPENDICES (optional) 18

The concept of our restaurant is a gallery restaurant with a lounge bar from 11pm. The main idea of our concept is to create unforgettable experiences for guests as the concept is pretty unique where they will be able to have breathtaking views on the Burj Khalifa as well as the very famous fountain shows. The restaurant will be located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a country part of the Middle East. Our restaurant is going to be on the bottom floor in the Dubai Mall, it is also going to have its own terrace with tables with a view on the fountain. People are going to Dubai because they are sun-seeking, in addition a lot of businesses are getting created in Dubai. We decided to call the restaurant, the Impressionist restaurant and gallery. We chose this name because it is in relation to the art movement that appeared in the 19th Century in France as we are going to have artworks exhibited in the lounge of our restaurant. The artworks are going to be temporary and we are going to have donations from important art galleries all around the world, we are going to intent choosing some art pieces that are in relation to our brand name, the artworks are going to be changed on a monthly basis and we are going to try to keep a minimum of 20 art pieces per month. Regarding the gastronomy and the culinary art of the restaurant we chose to focus on molecular gastronomy. One dish that we are going to make is deconstruction salmon, which consists of all the ways we can cook and eat salmon, generally speaking our dishes are going to be small and delicate in the mouth, tasteful and we are also going to intend to achieve the affective side of the customers with tastes that can recall them dishes they like. The aim is to create an atmosphere that will make people want to return to this place. In addition to the fact for the guests to have an unforgettable experience in the restaurant, they will have the opportunity to come through the gallery and have the opportunity to buy and admire the beautiful artworks with signature cocktails from the bar. To enhance the experience of the guests, they will have the chance to dance and experience the nightlife in Dubai in our bar after the dinner service.

The value proposition for our potential customers includes the gallery-restaurant concept, music, incredible artworks, high quality food and drinks at a competitive price for the location and the city we are basing ourselves in. In order to make sure that the quality of the service is kept, the food and drinks will be served with attention to details, time, quality and friendliness of our waiters. Some of our potential guests are coming from all over the world to have fun, unforgettable memories and experience some unique concepts. Since there is a lot of competition in Dubai, we will need to make sure that we identify our competitive advantage and stand out, in order to do so, we will need to make our pricing strategy competitive at the beginning in order to attract customers and to engage the customers so they will come back. This pricing strategy will be advantageous for us because the potential customers will enjoy high quality food, drinks and service in our restaurant. The customers will benefit from our concept because they will be able to buy artworks and also have a drink and eat at the same place. Lastly , our location is very important because it is one of the most touristic areas in Dubai, therefore, we need to make sure that the tourists are attracted to our image, the architecture and decor need to be as unique as our concept in order to create a unique atmosphere adapted to the unique selling point. Our restaurant will present our guests with an entire journey into the art world, sparking all their senses, sight, smell, hearing, touch and most importantly taste.

The United Arab Emirates was created in December 1971 but has developed tremendously over the past 30 years nonetheless the UAE currently became the leading location for F&B operations in the Middle East due to the exalted tourist flow. Additionally, throughout the years, it has become one of the world’s largest melting pots, gathering over 200 different nationalities.

Dubai is a modern city that is open to many innovations, which is why we chose this location, as the concept of our art gallery restaurant is relevant and modern, which is ideal for the city.

The exact location of our dining establishment is between the two most popular tourist attractions. Firstly, on one side of the terrace, our guests will get to have a view of the world-famous dancing fountains, and right on the other side, they will get to catch a glimpse of the tallest building in the world, Burj Khalifa. Secondly, another one of “The Impressionist” attributes is that the world-renowned Dubai Mall is also within walking distance, which is considered to be a very good advantage, as the Dubai Mall is also a tourist attraction which will captivate individuals to come and have this journey with us

Political:

UAE is considered to be a politically stable country among Arab countries and in the gulf area. As for the government system in the UAE they follow the constitutional monarchy as a system of the government. They are considered of 7 seven emirates, Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras Al Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain. As for opportunities in the political factor, they maintain good trading relations with the United States, India, China and other countries in the region(“Country Report United Arab Emirates”,2022) . The political threat for the UAE as they participated in the Yemen war and this had caused some conflicts between them and Iran which has a major regional power. In addition to that, they are also a participant in the blockade of Qatar from 2017.

Economic:

As for the whole country of the UAE, they are members of different international economic and political forums, like the UN, world bank, IMF, Arab League, OIC, OPEC, and GCC. UAE ranks 29th in the world which is a high ranking among the neighboring countries. As for the interest rate of the UAE it has increased from 4.5% in September 2022(“Bank of United Arab Emirates Interest Rate 2022) this could be a threat for the UAE economy as interest rate is increasing.

Social:

The United Arab Emirates’s population is 9,272,000 ("United Arab Emirates - History", 2022). The UAE is considered as the country with more immigrants than the actual Emiratis population with only 20% of the population. Therefore this is an opportunity for us because it means that the UAE is a very prominent cosmopolitan and multicultural country, there are over 200 nationalities living in the UAE. Such diversity is an opportunity for us because it allows us to be an open-minded company with multicultural employees and create diversity, therefore also attracting different stakeholders. This could also be a threat for us because it can raise the racism percentage between our employees.

The main language of the UAE is Arab, however English is a necessary language considered in applying to a job.The main religion of UAE is Islam ("United Arab Emirates country profile", 2022). Among other values the UAE nationals emphasize religion and traditions. United Arab Emirates main cities’ are characterized as very high on living expenses. This could be a threat for our company because we will need to increase the wages and salaries in order to allow employees to live comfortably in Dubai. This could also be an opportunity for us because it means that our potential customers will be willing to pay more for our services.

Technological:

Nowadays, people are using more and more technology, therefore this could be an opportunity for us because it means that our potential customers are familiar with technology. In UAE, the three most used social media platforms are Whatsapp, facebook and Instagram ("UAE SOCIAL MEDIA STATISTICS 2022", 2022). High social media engagement can therefore be seen as an opportunity for new businesses to increase brand awareness, build leads, and further strengthen brand loyalty.

Legal:

UAE is considered as one of the safest countries in the world as it has a very low crime percentage. The legal system of the UAE is a mixture of civil and Sharia law. Private sector workers are required to work 8 hours per day or 48 hours per week ("Working hours and overtime", 2022), therefore we should respect this law for our business, in order to enhance the wellbeing of our employees.

The United Arab Emirates is considered a tax haven because corporations and individuals are not forced to pay income or wealth taxes, however there are other taxes that we need to consider in our business.

Government taxes to be considered:

Tourism taxes:

Restaurants, hotels, and resorts (among others) may charge the following taxes: 10% on the room rate, Service charge (10%), Municipality fee (10%), City tax (6–10%), Tourism fee (6%) and Tourism fees and hotel charges vary by Emirate ("Tourism Tax in UAE - All About TAX In UAE, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah", 2022).

Environment:

Dubai is one of the most visited cities in the world. The country attracts millions of tourists with its wide range of entertainment and leisure activities with its wide range of cultural and historical attractions.

The UAE faces the impact of rapid development and the effects of climate change. In addition, because of global warming, there is a rise in the appearance of invasive species, noise pollution, limited water resources, carbon footprints, overfishing, waste generation, air pollution and land degradation and desertification are posing an environmental threat to the UAE ("Environmental challenges", 2022). In order to tackle these issues as a business, we will need to use our energy reasonably and use when possible renewable energy.

Modern catering trends are focused on a variety of areas, including gastronomic trends, which are most visible to service users. Molecular gastronomy is one of the most intriguing modern trends in food. Due to the complexity of these current restaurant trends and the fact that it is a relatively recent development in restaurant meal preparation, it is both underappreciated by the general public and exceedingly complicated (Božić, A., & Đurović, M., March, 2019).

Molecular gastronomy is a culinary style that is gaining popularity all over the world, including in Dubai. Many of Dubai's top chefs are developing cutting-edge meals by incorporating technologically sophisticated cooking methods, like liquid nitrogen flash freezing and syringe infusions.

With time, tastes and demands of the people are changing regarding food safety, sustainability and transparency.

You can't help but be charmed by the flamboyance and good old fashioned fun of it all if you don't mind your dinner table appearing like a chemistry set has taken over.

Who are your potential customers? How many of those are in Dubai? How many restaurants of similar level/type are there in Dubai? How much would you get if you divide all potential customers by the number of competitors?

potential customer numbers - the target market potential - tourists, local? (high income, age, how many people in total

potential competitors, how many in that city/area?

divide the amounts - market potential

The debut of the molecular gastronomy practice and the art of preparing food in a particular way was greeted with both good and negative responses. Some believe that this trend is simply the use of "fancy" food preparation techniques, while others believe that it is a genuine application of science to the process of meal preparation.

There was a rise in molecular gastronomy in Dubai in 2003 and the customers got attracted by the concept of innovative cooking incorporated with scientific techniques at their table. With Dubai becoming the culinary capital of the world, the idea is to get that trend back with The Impressionist.

There is no denying that the hospitality sector is more competitive than ever. Actually, individuals are constantly looking for fresh and unique activities and we believe that The Impressionist will deliver exactly that. With our concept of molecular dining with a side of having a gallery to sell artwork we are building something unique from scratch.

The initial marketing goal would be to focus on developing a new customer base. The target market would consist of more affluent individuals who are keen to have a distinctive and memorable dining experience.

Customer segmentation is an integral part of principal marketing decisions which will allow us to correctly identify the potential target audience and develop effective strategies accordingly.

Geographic segmentation: The impressionist being located in Dubai Mall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, we target mostly locals native from neighbouring countries such as other Middle East countries, but we are also going to target tourists from China, Europe, United States, British, French.

Demographic segmentation: As per law restrictions, we are going to target only adults that are more than 21 years old, they can be women and men. Young adults, couples and friends are allowed at The Impressionist. Our market segment should have a high income as our restaurant is more expensive than an average restaurant, our restaurant is for every ethnicity.

Psychographic segmentation: The targeted social class is going to be medium to high class who can enjoy molecular gastronomy, breathtaking views on the Burj Khalifa and buy artworks. The potential customers in our restaurant would be social, energetic, fun, active, adventurous in regards to discovering new things. Our potential customers are looking for an experience paused in time that they will remember all their life so coming to our restaurant is the perfect place to be. Our restaurant is going to be perfect for innovators, experiencers, thinkers and makers.

Behavioural segmentation: Our target customers can come to our restaurant to celebrate any occasion or even come without any reason of visiting, the benefits sought by coming to our restaurant is to have an unforgettable experience within a nice environment with a good vibe. The user status can be any type, first comers at first as we are opening right now. Our goal in this target market is to make our potential customers become loyal customers, therefore more sensitive in coming back to our restaurant.

The ideal customer will need to be at least 21 years old in order to enjoy the restaurant because of the law restrictions in the United Arab Emirates.

The logo of our restaurant, first, shows the name of the restaurant in capital letters, below, you can find our slogan which is sophistication in everything which will represent the high service we are going to provide our potential guests. We also chose this slogan because it represents in a very appropriate manner we are going to present our dishes and the art pieces we are going to select. It is also emphasising the fact that we are a high quality restaurant, therefore our service should be sophisticated. On top of the name, we can find a flower which creates the shape of the women with closed eyes.

We chose black and white colours. Black represents the luxurious and high quality restaurant designed with a very sophisticated and minimalistic decor which our restaurant is going to have. On the other hand, the white background colour represents the pureness and cleanliness of restaurants (DigitalSynopsis.com, 2022). We could qualify our logo to be very minimalistic but it is the spirit that we want to transmit with the help of our brand.

The Impressionist restaurant aims for customers to associate the restaurant with unforgettable, breathtaking, unique and fun experiences. The feeling of our restaurant that we want to emphasize is high quality service leading to memories with friends, couples and families, minimalistic decorations and dishes associated with molecular gastronomy in addition to the magnificent view of the fountain we have from the terrace of the restaurant.

Our restaurant is located strategically as we are located in the most touristic area of Dubai, next to Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa which means that we are going to have a good average revenue per seat every night, such tourists area have many different restaurant with different concept but also food chains known from the local and international markets. However, having a lot of competition, we want to make luxury available for any type of consumer providing them with an experience that is unforgettable at a cheaper cost than our competitors. Despite our well-known competition, our unique selling point is expecting to attract a lot of potential customers, our unique selling proposition is the mix of gallery, restaurant and bar all in one place allowing them to have a memorable experience in our restaurant with a high quality service.

As a team, we trust that merging high quality service standards and affordable costs will differentiate our restaurant from our competition as our concept is unique in Dubai. Our restaurant can be considered as “affordable, luxurious, high quality standards and memorable”.

Emirati culture is based on Arabian culture and has been highly influenced by Indian, Persian and East African cultures. The United Arab Emirates is home to various different cultures meaning that the population is very diverse. Ethnical groups in the UAE includes Indians, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and other cultures. Therefore the population is qualified to be very hospitable, welcoming and friendly. Some of the most important festivals in the UAE are related to the Muslims as it is the principal religion in this country, therefore, they have the Eid al Fitr which marks the end of the Ramadan, as well as the 1st of January which marks the new year’s eve. They have their national day which is on the 2nd of December. In addition to all the previous events, they also have commemoration day on November 30 to honour those who died fighting for the UAE;

Self reference criterion is an important factor to consider when analysing the cultural part of a country as it refers to one’s cultural values, knowledge and experiences as a basis for decisions-making (Cateora et al., 2019). When evaluating the self-reference criterion of the Emiratis, there are a lot of points to consider. The Emiratis are qualified as a very welcoming and friendly population, they draw very high importance on the greetings manners. However, due to cultural matters, they are still very conservative when greeting a woman. Thus, this is important to consider when greeting guests in our restaurant, we should greet them as if they were VIP guests and offer them the best services they could imagine in order to make them have a fantastic experience.

As it is an islamic country, they have the holy month where they practise fast to connect with god, this period is called Ramadan, the fasting lasts from the moment the sun rises until sunset. As a restaurant in Dubai, we will need to show our support to the population in order to do so, we are going to extend our opening hours in order for locals to enjoy a nice dinner after the sunset.

The UAE is a high-context culture in which nonverbal communication is prevalent and is dependent on the context of communication and the communicator's values. The Impressionist’s team expects to achieve a built trust between any stakeholders when launching the project in Dubai. To have the feeling of achievement, our team will prioritise and show our unique selling point to enhance the country’s economic activity

Thanks to the Hofstede Cultural Typology, the United Arab Emirates can be characterized by the following six dimensions:

Power Distance Index: The United Arab Emirates ranks high on this dimension (74), indicating that people accept a hierarchical structure in which everyone has a position, and no further justification is required. Organisational hierarchy is viewed as reflecting fundamental inequities, centralization is popular, subordinates expect to be told what to do, and the ideal boss is a benevolent autocrat.(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Individualism vs collectivism: With a score of 36, the United Arab Emirates is categorised as a collectivist society. This is demonstrated by a strong, ongoing dedication to the member "group," which could be a family, an extended family, or a network of close friends. In a collectivist culture, loyalty is of the utmost importance and supersedes the majority of other social norms. In society, everyone accepts responsibility for their fellow group members, fostering deep bonds. Offence results in humiliation and face loss in collectivist societies, employer-employee interactions are seen morally, hiring and promotion decisions take the employee's in-group into consideration, and management is the administration of groups.(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Masculinity vs Femininity: The UAE scores 52 on this dimension, putting it in the middle of masculinity (high values) and femininity (low values) (low values). The masculine dimension is defined by competitive drivers within society who thrive for successful outcomes and achievements as evidenced by positions of leadership in the area. A low score in the feminine component indicates a focus on societal values in life quality and responsibility for others. In this community, success is defined by life quality, and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. (Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Uncertainty Avoidance Index: Arab Emirates ranks 66 on this dimension, indicating a strong desire for avoiding ambiguity. Countries with a high Uncertainty Avoidance retain tight belief and behaviour rules and are intolerant of unconventional behaviour and ideas. There is an emotional need for rules in these cultures (even if the rules never appear to function), time is money, individuals have an inner drive to be busy and work hard, precision and punctuality are the standards, innovation may be discouraged, and security is a key component in individual motivation.(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Long-term orientation: The Emirati society's normative nature can be reflected in its low score of 22 in this category. People in such civilizations are preoccupied with establishing the absolute Truth; their thinking is normative. They value traditions, have a low proclivity to invest in the future, and are focused on attaining rapid outcomes.(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

Indulgence vs Restraint: With a score of 22, the United Arab Emirates can be classified as a Restrained society. In contrast to Indulgent civilizations, Restrained societies place less importance on leisure time and exercise greater control over the satisfying of their wishes. People with this mindset believe that their behaviors are constrained by societal norms and that indulging themselves is wrong.(Hofstede Insights, 2021)

The United Arab Emirates population is 10,177,675 in 2022. Most of the population are foreigners (20% of the population are actually considered Emiratis), meaning that the population is ethnically diverse. The United Arab Emirates are divided into seven distinct states or emirates with seven different nations. Sociologists have difficulties to predict the growth rate of the population due unforeseen fluctuations in the regional migration, however, they supposed that the population of this country in 2030 is going to be 11,054,579 meaning that the growth rate would be 5,93% (Countrymeters.info). The current birth rate in the UAE in 2022 is 10.019 births per 1000 people meaning that since 2021, there was a 0.9% decline, in other words, there are fewer births than before.

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the United Arab Emirates was worth 358.87 billion US dollars in 2020, according to official data from the World Bank. The GDP value of the United Arab Emirates represents 0.27 percent of the world economy. (Trading economics, 2020)

Concerning the consumer price index, we can see that the United Arab Emirates experience inflation because their CPI is higher than it used to be. The inflation rate in the United Arab Emirates increased to 6.77 percent in the second quarter of 2022 from 3.43 percent in the first quarter of 2022. (Trading economics, 2022)

Another interesting factor to consider is the unemployment rate which calculates the number of people without a job. The unemployment rate in the United Arab Emirates decreased to 3.90 percent in 2021 from 6.70 percent in 2020 (Trading Economics, n.d). This means that less people are searching for a job meaning that the Impressionist team should consider this when doing their job offer advertisement in order to attract potential employees.

Dubai is a place where a lot of businesses are set up nowadays because it is really attractive tax-related.

Value-added tax first was introduced in 2018, the general VAT is 5%, this applies to most of the goods and services, however some of goods and services are exempted from this VAT rate. The 0% VAT rate applies to goods and services exported outside the VAT-implementing Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states, international transportation, the supply of crude oil/natural gas, the first supply of residential real estate, and some specific areas, such as health care and education. (Taxsummaries, 2022)

There is an absence of tax on the personal income in the UAE, meaning that for some people, this clearly shows an advantage compared to other countries.

Political risks are important factors to consider when opening a business in any country. The United Arab Emirates is a country in the middle east, therefore it is in the middle of various different conflicts. The political threat for the UAE as they participated in the Yemen war and this had caused some conflicts between them and Iran which has a major regional power. In addition to that, they are also a participant in the blockade of Qatar from 2017. This might lead to people without the desire to come and visit the United Arab Emirates leading to a decrease in the number of potential customers for The Impressionist.

The geographical location of the United Arab Emirates and its proximity to insecure parts of the world are two of the most important factors defining its political risk. When considering potential scenarios involving the United Arab Emirates' political dangers, issues such as psycho events, global war, and democratic accountability come to mind first.

1.1.1.1. Prototypes design

1.1.1.2. Template implementation

1.1.1.1. Google search console

1.1.1.2. Google Analytics

1.1.1.1. URL structure

1.1.1.2. Menu structure

1.1.1.3. Internal linking

Metatags

On-page SEO ranking factors

Content (human-machine)

Bank of United Arab Emirates Interest Rate 2022. Take. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://take-profit.org/en/statistics/interest-rate/united-arab-emirates/#:~:text=What%20is%20Bank%20of%20United,published%20Monthly%20by%20Central%20Bank.

Božić, A., & Đurović, M. (2019, March). MOLECULAR GASTRONOMY –NEW TREND IN RESTAURANT BUSINESS. View of molecular gastronomy – new trend in restaurant business. Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://ikm.mk/ojs/index.php/kij/article/view/1508/1507

BTI 2022 United Arab Emirates Country Report. BTI 2022. (n.d.). Retrieved October 11, 2022, from https://bti-project.org/en/reports/country-report/ARE

Page | 2