Case Study: Amari's Jalebi, is it a perfect product?

 

Throughout Ramadan, Hotel Amari Dhaka has been the hot topic of social media, and for no good reasons. The 5-star hotel launched a sweet called Jalebi @BDT 2200 per kg, spurring widespread public outrage and criticism. If you didn't know already, Jalebi is the Indian jargon for Jelapi. Now, with Ramadan coming to an end, I was wondering if Jalebi was a successful product? 

So, there are seven stages of product development before it is ready to launch in the market: idea generation, idea screening, concept development & testing, business analysis, product development, market testing, and finally, market entry. Let's evaluate every step Amari got right and wrong. 

Idea Generation: Successful

Surprised? You shouldn't be. An idea doesn't necessarily have to be a new one. It can be inspired by or reimagined from an existing product. Amari's Jelabi uses Jafran, an expensive spice that heightens the flavor of a regular Jelapi, or any food for that matter. In a way, Amari reintroduced the modern version of this traditional beloved sweet. 

Idea Screening: Successful 

A product with perfect timing! Jelapi is in high demand now, and most of us do not need any introduction to the sweet. In general, Jelapi has a higher profit margin than most other iftar items, and adding Jafran to it scales up the profit margin by 5x. I would say, Jalebi was an excellent well-timed item screened out by Amari.

Concept Development: Failure

Renaming Jelapi as Jelabi was pretentious. It added little to no value to the consumers. Amari might have thought that it would give the customer bragging rights. But in reality, this decision was mocked & laughed away by them. Why?  Because it's not the same as vintage wine. Consumer food items are enjoyed almost instantly after purchase. You eat it, appreciate it, but most importantly, you do not brag about it, no matter how expensive it was. So, in this case, Amari failed to achieve its object, and the concept development was a total disaster.

Business Analysis: Successful 

Jalebi has a justified premium pricing strategy. Naturally, any business that uses such expensive spices as Jafran would charge higher from its customers. Upper-end buyers are always the primary target group. In addition, having an excellent brand reputation weighs in on the price too. In a nutshell, Hotel Amari Dhaka knew its core customers and was able to tailor the pricing and positioning towards them, specifically. 

Product Development: Successful 

Despite the backlash, Amari's Jalebi is a pretty well-made product. According to reviews, most people found Jalebi tasty & memorable. The hint of Jafran is there, and the aftertaste keeps people wanting more. 

Market Testing: Overlooked

Market feedback is very vital to the success of any product. Hearing out the customers helps every business to reshape and retool its product to meet the market's needs. Restaurateurs generally do market testing before enlisting any item in its menu formally. However, Amari went on a different route with Jalebi this time around. The COVID-19 pandemic limited Amari's time to do market testing, and as we all know, it backfired big time. Had it consulted with the customers first, this whole fiasco could have been avoided. 

Market Entry: Failure

The most poorly executed step by Amari Dhaka!  The biggest flaw was its marketing coordination. Despite packing massive USPs into the product, such as its smooth texture and refined aftertaste of Jafran, Amari failed to mention any of it in the marketing communication. Even when the negative feedbacks from customers kept coming in, Amari didn't make a timely response. Needless to say, it was not a very good start. Some of the damage was recuperated by a review vlog from Rafsan the Chotobhai, but the damage was already done. 

All in all, I understand that Hotel Amari Dhaka had some shortcomings with its Jalebi. It's not a perfect product, but it doesn't deserve all the hate it got. As consumers, we should embrace new terminologies and understand where the brand is coming from before attacking it on social media. 

Yasir Arafat

Email- yasirarafatbusiness@gmail.com

Contact- 01821954321