Logical, Responsible, Practical

"Illogical, captain."

When times get tough for businesses, there are things that get the heave-ho, put off or downgraded. Training, recruitment, marketing, R&D; they all tend to be the victims of a slow market. Yet there is slow market and there is market change. And under the conditions of the latter, there are businesses that operate in a fashion that defies logic, whose very existence is perhaps not logical.

The tourism market in Mallorca functions at present under two obvious conditions of market change - lower spend per head and an alteration caused by all-inclusive offers. The lower spend might be defined as being evidence of a slow market; to the extent that it is a market change, permanent, is debatable. There is less equivocation surrounding the all-inclusive; it denotes a market change and is probably irreversible unless the force of European law establishes standards of service by the all-inclusive that are beyond the capabilities or the budgets of hotels.

When talking to some businesses, their response to the likes of marketing or advertising spend is that they cannot (or will not) do it because of all-inclusives. The all-inclusive is the devil. It is also a convenient devil. The illogic of the argument is profound, as the logical outcome of this stance is that the business itself is not viable, not just its spend on things like advertising. A business is many things. It can be argued that its marketing (in its various facets) is a business. Without it, there is no business.

The market change has highlighted the impoverishment of some of the supply in the market; not impoverishment in the sense of having no money but in having no idea how to truly market one's business. There has long been a passivity of expectation within the Mallorcan restaurant and bar business; that the mere physical presence of an establishment is sufficient to bring in customers. This is, and has always been, wrong-headed. It is not just wrong-headed under today's conditions, it is distinctly dangerous.

Take a combination of a slow market and a market change, and the temptation to cut costs is understandable. No business looks to over-spend, even in the best of times, but when the market is less than buoyant - as it is - it is still no excuse to cut back on the very thing that creates differentiation or a presence in a competitive market - one's marketing. To not perform this or to entrench significantly signals the onset of failure. To cast the all-inclusive in the role of the pantomime villain that is stabbing the business in the back may have some validity, but the logic of the market is to fight back, as the alternative is to fold. And there is logic in that. The all-inclusive is, in one sense, a positive. It has, or should, force businesses to address the very nature of their business, their marketing and indeed their presence in the market. The all-inclusive has placed the spotlight on over-supply and a lack of innovation and proactivity. It, together, with the lower spend, has ended the days of easy money. Not investing in aspects of the business, such as marketing and advertising, is a common reaction, but the logic, or rather illogic, of the argument, disguises the real problem, and the real problem is not the all-inclusive.


And ... by the way. I don't normally accept comments that come into the comments thingy. I do ask for me to be mailed, but exception time. Two comments about Roger Hodgson for yesterday's entry. Both very positive. Glad to post them. Sounds like Rodge could be a decent gig at the Pollensa Festival. Only too pleased to give a different perspective. Thanks.


QUIZ: Yesterday - "Music", John Miles. Today's title - look back to yesterday if a clue is needed.

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And Music Of The Past

So I think ahead. What should I say today? And I decide. It's about this "and food", "and music" malarkey. And having decided this, there is then the coincidence, or sort of, so it makes something complementary. Even in a short blog entry, I like completion, synergy, a touch of serendipity; all these things I like.

And so it started with wondering what was with the sprouting of restaurants and bars that carry the "and something" tag. Like Chili in Puerto Alcúdia - "pizzas and food"; like Diablito in Puerto Pollensa (and Puerto Soller and Santa Ponsa) - "food and music"; like Café Paris in Can Picafort - also "food and music", or is it the other way round? Not important. Where does this all come from? These are all Spanish-run places after all, but they take the English and make it sound, well make it sound I'm not entirely sure. Trendy perhaps. But within the vogue of the motif, there is a degree of tautology, at least with Chili at any rate. Are pizzas not food? And the music is, well, music, as in music from some speakers, though Diablito are talking about live music, maybe. And this is music that is to be heard in many places. Not the same music perhaps, but music all the same. Of course, it probably plays with a youthful market, but that raises the question of market positioning. "And music" sounds as though it excludes different market segments, though that is not the intention, and nor should it influence you if you are not part of this possible target market. This said, in the case of Café Paris, I do wonder if there is not too much of a shift in focus. Here is a place that, historically, has been a German meeting-place, a bar-café for coffee and cake, for German buffet, for dancing to cabaret of a more mature style. Café Paris, in many respects, has been Can Picafort. Yet now it has changed, and adopted a style (or at least an "image") that is more "club". I'm not sure. Whereas even a year ago, Café Paris was full of Germans having lunchtime brunch buffets and dancing in the evenings, when I was there recently, there was nary a German to be seen. You change your image and you change your market at some risk. I hope it works for them.

Then there is the coincidence. Of a musical nature. I was in JKs in Puerto Pollensa, and there were people talking. I overheard and butted in. The chap was a musician, name of John Lynam. I thought it meant something but was not sure. He was with Thin Lizzy for a bit, his own band - back in the '70s - was Sundance and was a stable mate of Dire Straits who got the gig, as it were, whereas Sundance didn't. Anyway, John is now playing around these parts, at places such The Hideaway in Gotmar (Puerto Pollensa), Trencadora (Pollensa) and Shamrock (Puerto Alcúdia). He hasn't lost his rock roots entirely, but his act is basically singing and acoustic guitar with different styles, such as flamenco and blues, thrown in. What's interesting is that here's someone who is a genuine musician doing a live act, something that is often difficult to find outside of Palma. If anyone would like to know how to get in touch with John, just mail me, and I'll get the message to him.

Oh and finally, the Pollensa Festival this year will feature a rock act for the first time. Arctic Monkeys? Kaiser Chiefs? No. Roger Hodgson. Who? Roger Hodgson. Supertramp. Not even Supergrass. Supertramp. I don't know, but it doesn't really grab me, but maybe he'll be very good and he replaces the previously announced "rock" act, Paul Carrack. Paul Carrack? Ace, Mike and the Mechanics. Wasn't he?


QUIZ: Yesterday - The Editors. Today's title - this is a line from?

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