MEMBER PROFILE
Market-Sensitive Pricing
Hilot, the Filipino traditional massage treatment, employs the use of banana leaves and virgin
coconut oil.
landscape for spa owners as day spas
tend to sprout at every nook and cranny.
To compete, Dr. Montalbo says
authenticity is important. “We always
make sure that the business is authentic
and genuine in all aspects, whether in
marketing, operations, training, and in
other areas. To promote Hilot is our
mission and we stick to that no matter
what,” he says. “As the founder, I see to
it that the Hilot we offer is always true
to its principles. In every province I go
to, I look for the oldest practicing
manghihilot (local Hilot practitioner)
and experience the healing first-hand. I
apply everything I learned and teach
them to my staff to improve and develop
our services.”
When marketing, the spa uses social
media. “Social media has played a big
role in maintaining the status of our
brand name. We have utilized Facebook
Ads extensively, from hiring to
marketing. We use it to inform our
audience with the latest spa industry
trends, promos and other important spa
matters,” he says. “The metrics and
reporting in Facebook Ads has also
helped us to gather the much-needed
data in fine-tuning succeeding promos.”
Dr. Montalbo knows that, in the day spa
business, price points are important,
especially in a market where massage
treatments can be easily availed at an
affordable rate. “The pricing of our
services has also helped us in retaining
our clients. From our Php55 (about
US$1.25) 10-minute massage to our
Php380 (roughly US$8.50) one-hour
massage, we have always considered our
client’s budget,” he says. “We are fully
aware that, as a developing country,
Filipinos have many other things on their
priority lists. By making our price range
affordable and market-sensitive, they
have no reason not to try or go back to
our spa.”
In general, the spa’s guests are about
70 percent female and 30 percent male,
many of whom are between the ages of
25 to 34 years old. While the spa gets a
lot of local business, it also attracts a
varied group of tourists depending on its
franchise location.
Its Lapu-Lapu, Cebu City branch, for
instance, tends to have more Korean
tourists because the spa has a partnership
with local travel agencies. “Around 40
percent of their daily clients are Koreans,”
he says. “But in general, Mont Albo
Massage Hut branches are visited by 10 to
20 tourists per day, mostly Koreans,
Chinese, Japanese and Americans. Most
of the tourists who come are looking for
the local massage experience.”
Aside from Hilot, its Organic
Whitening Scrub with one-hour massage
treatment package is also popular because
the majority of Filipino women want to
get fairer complexion. Another in-demand
is the spa’s Home/Hotel service, which is
popular in urban areas because of the
convenience it offers.
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 20)
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September 2016