Gone are the days when being fat was seen as a sign of
prosperity. Chennai has become increasingly fitness conscious and the common
man has plenty of options to choose from such as Tai Chi, Krav Maga, Kalaripayattu, Dancing, Aerobics or
good old weight training. Keeping this in mind, I have decided to do the
individual project on a dance school called Shuffle Dance and Fitness studio.
Shuffle dance school is located in a central area in Chennai
near Hotel Park Sheraton. This dance school is the brainchild of two IT
engineers, Abilash Panicker and Suresh Kumar who have more than their IT
profession in common. They started this school in October 2010 to pursue their
passion for dance. The school started with 7 students and now has more than 100
students. Shuffle is different from other dance schools. Firstly the students
get individual attention, and are taught in relatively smaller batches, maximum
of 15. The history behind each dance style is shared and the batch gets to do a
performance after completing the course.
At Shuffle, one can find an array of dance styles such as
Salsa, hip hop, rock and roll, jive, bachata, meringue, modern contemporary and
bollywood. Individual dance styles such as hip hop, bollywood, and etc. are
priced at Rs. 800 per month. Partnering
dance styles are priced between Rs. 1800 and 2000 depending on the dance style
and are usually taught for a duration of two months.
The age group of the students range from 4 to 46. Most of
the students are either working professionals or college goers and join with
the intention of staying fit. Shuffle has a marketing message that emphasizes
the opportunity to meet people, to enhance the quality of leisure time, to gain
health benefits and gain life-long skills while having fun. And this has worked
very well for them. I spoke to a few students at the dance school and learned
that the reason they joined Shuffle is because they wanted to engage in
activities that are fun, offer group support and allow them to de-stress and
enjoy dance. They were also very enthusiastic about performing in social
gatherings and parties.
The marketing plan adopted by Abilash and Suresh is very simple. Satisfy customers and provide them with the desire to
continue dancing. A happy customer will not only keep coming back, but he/she
will tell other people about Shuffle dance studio. During my visit to Shuffle
dance studio last week, I observed a very interesting aspect of consumer
behaviour. The initial set of students who have been learning at Shuffle from
late 2010 are still continuing dancing lessons there and have played a very
important role in influencing subsequent students to join Shuffle, resulting in
about 38 % of the current student strength.
Social marketing has helped Shuffle greatly in their
marketing campaigns by going through various social media like blogs, social
networking sites such as facebook and twitter, posting pictures and videos.
Abhilash tells me that in the last 6 months, all the new registrations have
been through referrals from social networking websites. And 27 % of the new
comers decide to continue further, which are either advanced courses in the
same style or completely new styles. It is interesting to note that among the
students who continue to take further dance classes, office goers are the
majority compared to college students. The reason is because the students
quickly move on to other hobbies or interests and also they don’t have a higher
paying capacity when compared with office goers, who don’t mind paying extra
for slightly more expensive forms of dance.
The success of online social media marketing clearly shows
that people can be influenced by peer groups or colleagues to take up dance
classes. Nearly 50 % of the students agreed that they had never thought of
going to a dance school before their friend or colleague brought it up. The
appearance of many discos and clubs that encourage social dancing is a strong
market factor for such dance schools to succeed. At the end of a course, a social
dance night is organised by the school at a popular dance club such as Havana,
Rain tree. The fun experience gives the students of the school something to
bond over and come back for more.
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