Tête-à-tête with Kartik Bhatt, Manager – Marketing & Communication of Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway

Hotelier Today

Spokesperson: Kartik Bhatt

Designation: Manager – Marketing & Communication

Hotel: Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway

What are the different marketing strategies you adopt to be better than other Marketing professionals in Bengaluru?

To begin with, I believe in doing the right thing the right way. If you follow your strategies, plans and execute it with patience, everything falls into the place on its own. Being a part of the marketing industry for quite some time now, it is important to keep up with the current trends and adapt the new age technology. In today’s generation, digital marketing has taken a front seat and I completely support this. For example, recently in order to enhance visibility for World Café, a spectacular Café at World Trade Center managed by Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel at Brigade Gateway, we collaborated with Skilter App. In this app you can scan a QR code, solve an interactive and quirky World Café personalized Coffee quiz and enjoy a 1+1 offer on your coffee after solving it. This was taken very positively by the tech savvy audience in Bengaluru city and gave us a stupendous response.

How do you meet the Gap in Marketing & Sales?

In my opinion, there is a minimal gap between Sales and Marketing but they both go hand in hand. Although the job roles differ from one another, we are a team and marketing acts as a support system for the sales team at every step in order to maximize their productivity, we can be named as ‘smarketing’ in the current scenario, the combination of Sales and Marketing.  

Who is your favorite Marketing guru?

In particular, I do not have a marketing guru but I believe in the philosophy of Seth Godin. My favorite book by him is ‘all marketers tell stories’ which is an underground classic that explains how marketing really works and why authenticity is the best marketing for all. A very famous quote by him which I believe in is “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make but about the stories you tell”.

Do you believe in new age marketing or do you prefer old school of marketing helps more footfall for your hotel?

I believe you cannot market your product only through one method even if you choose either of the two. It is the old school marketing tactics that have evolved and are being used these days but in different formats. So it has to be a mix of both, since new age marketing tools helps us attract the millennials and tech savvy audience, the old school marketing help us attract the loyal clientele.

Is it true that Marketing professionals in hotel industry are stressed out with lot of pressure from the management? & how do you handle it?

It depends from person to person and most importantly on the workplace culture. I am not convinced with the fact that ‘Marketing professionals in the hotel industry are stressed out’. Hotel Industry is a service industry with business running 24*7*365 days and hence sometimes everyone is working somewhere at sometime. Marriott International as a company does not only sets strategic achievable goals for us, but helps us work around it throughout the year. This in turn helps us through the way and we do not face much pressure from the management as we are constantly working towards achieving our established targets. 

What are your long term plans in next 5 years?

I would love to be at challenging roles that make a difference. If given an opportunity, I would be glad to be able to amplify revenues through strategic marketing activations for the Indian subcontinent.

What do you think is missing in Bangalore Market when compared to other cities?

According to me, Bangalore market is one of the best markets to work at. Bangalore has all that’s required and whenever it’s required. I personally feel that this market has nothing missing when compared to other cities and it is one of the most rapidly growing and vibrant markets in today’s India. Bengaluru is leaving other cities behind with it being a Startup hub, being home to most tech tycoons & millionaires in India & with the next gen culture where Tech workers head to bars and breweries to meet and celebrate, resulting in exchange of ideas that don’t happen in other Indian cities.

From being a traditional tech hub, the city has progressed into a home for seasoned, future-ready enterprises. Successful business sectors like IT, Aerospace and Aviation, Manufacturing, Food, Real Estate, Retail, Beverages, Beer & Spirits, Namma Bengaluru has it all!