The Pre Launching Strategy Unclenching Water - Essay Example

?Table of Contents Introduction 2 Tasks a. Review of the marketing mix 2 b. Discussion of the pre-launch plan. 2 c. Objectives of the marketers 2 d. Pre-launch activities pre-launch activities 3 e. Elements of the Marketing Mix being focused and missing 3 g. Claims for the success of the launch. 3 h. Evident theoretical concepts etc 3 2.Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the approach taken in launching the new hotel 4 a. Areas for improvements 4 c. Other campaigns for comparison 4 3. A Review the website for the hotel and discussions which elements of the initial launch are being promoted in their marketing promotions. a.. Discussion on which elements of the marketing mix are still being promoted 5 b. Considerations for new developments 5 4. Conclusion 6 Annexes 8 List of references 12 . An analysis of the Pre launching strategy of Cotswold Water Park Introduction. Costswold Water Park Four Pillars Hotel located near Swindon was launched in 2007and had used integrated marketing strategies in pre-launching. Purpose of this research is to analyze if marketing approaches used by the hotel sustained the success of pre-launch a. Review of the marketing mix The hotel used high level plans related to the marketing mix. Chai, Lee , (May 2009) & MacArthy( 06 Sept 2011) consider the right mix of product, pricing, place and, promotion to be assured of a pre-launching success. It is likened to baking a cake wherein there is a right proportion to come out with a desirable product. b. Discussion of the pre-launch activities. Marketing Team Direct, 2011 of the hotel first considered the creation of positioning and message statements about the hotel. Next, they applied a segmented approach wherein they set a clear target of customers to know their needs and motivations, and travel behavior in order to get an actionable picture of targeted customers. Third, they created activities to support the launch such as marketing and sales tools. Then, they had the partnership strategy wherein they sold the product thru their distribution channel. Next,  they ensured that product infrastructure is fully developed. They also prepared for the international travelers by designing a website. Last is the preparation for the hotel operational activities and coming up with a price system.(Marketing Team Direct, 2011) c. Objectives of the marketers. Objectives set are to be assured of a ready market or advanced bookings of travelers to maintain operations during first months of opening d .What pre-launch activities are evident? Pre-launch activities were selective promotions to target customers by creating brand awareness, research on prospect’s data, and securing advanced bookings. Marketing tools used were advertising, vehicle graphics and press releases, PR and creation of a company website (Marketing Team Direct, 2011) e. Which elements of the Marketing Mix are being focused on and which are missing? Price, place, product and promotion are the marketing mix used, but the people factor is missing. MacArthy believes people or personnel should be incorporated as an approach for service oriented business like Cotswold.. Their strategy lacked the feedback support. The hotel is a service industry, and much depends on the services it offers. The campaign fails to identify the service culture that indicates “customer satisfaction is the top priority and the hotel activity should demonstrate these business objectives of the customer’. (ITIL Service Culture definition) Bruce Goff (2005), a licensed interior designer for hotel industry, uses the theory of Maslow for hospitality design that meets hierarchy of needs. On this, he speculates that hotels should be designed to meet the basic needs of travelers then afterwards respond to higher standards of customers needs. He related the bedding wars of Hilton, Marriot, and Westin Hotel and upgrading of small amenities like soaps, towels, shampoo that give customers satisfaction. Advanced Services Marketing (2008) said that there are service standards that should be designed for two classes of customers, the hard and the soft customers. For hard customers designs are those that could be counted, observed and timed while for soft customers, designs are based on options that cannot be readily observed. For instance, Ritz-Carlton hotel’s service design are focus on “customers to be treated with respect” And for this the Hotel came up with a Gold standard on employees’ personality, like wearing immaculate uniform, name tag, proper grooming and using proper etiquettes in replying to customers. .The marketing company claims that the launch was a success –what do you think? I think the launch was successful because of the statistics provided in their MTD 2011report, Furthermore, reviews gathered from customers of the hotel showed satisfaction in the service. Out of 302 reviews, 79% of travelers recommended the hotel and gave favorable appraisal about the services, food and location of the hotel.(Trip Advisor, 2011) g. What theoretical concepts etc are in evidence? Theoretical concepts evident in the campaign are the need for a marketing mix strategy and communication because it is able to communicate to the target customers the product of the hotel when they want it, where they want it, at a price they are willing to pay. China Hotelier (21 December 2008) said a product launch is the result of “the understanding of the social, economic, and to a limited extent, psychological location of the consumer.” 2. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of adopting the approach taken in launching the new hotel. One of the approaches taken by the management is segmentation. Segmentation assures that the resources of the hotel can be more focused on the needs of the customers and prospects that have potential to become hotel customers thereby reducing considerable costs in advertising and promotion.(Market Segmentation Services, 2008) Disadvantage of segmentation approach is the demographic approach or life style that has stages. A demographic approach, according to Naic, Abhjiit, 2011is a process wherein characteristics of a market are defined through research, and these are age, gender and social class. Criticisms on this is that marketers fail to take note that there is lifestyle and economic changes in one’s life and a non traveler today may become one in the near future because they buy products at different stages of life. (Decision Support Services 2009) a. Some areas that need improvement are the continuation of the post-launch and noise through positive PR and strong analyst support. Mille, Phyllis Z. 2009, suggested the importance of timing for launching. Hotel should anticipate the demand or trends of visitors like important events and should prepare promotions and sales targets for those events. Other suggestions are use of introductory price, discounts and analysts review of the hotel. b. Other campaigns for comparison. For comparison, the launch campaign of the Ritz-Carlton residences is a campaign that used a unique proposition.(Ritz-Carlton Residences launches…..(2011) The grand opening featured art, cuisine and Palm Beach society. Like Cotswold, it used segmented targets. Cotswold targeted leisure and corporate travelers while Ritz targeted elite guests from Miami to the Palm Beaches. Ritz showed them a taste of luxury by displaying what kind of service they will get from the company if they become a buyer and owner. What sets them apart from other luxury offerings is the positioning of their iconic Ritz Brand, a class by itself, and its personalized, attentive service that truly sets them apart from other ultra-luxury offerings." The, developer of the Ritz Carlton Residences said the launch had a successful season because of the sales activity that followed after. For further comparison, the growth of Cotswold Hotel Water Parks Resorts in USA is shown in Annex 2. All in all, Cotswold Water Park in US have 169 properties and a total of 28,888 rooms, and are either operating independently or by franchise. 3. Review the website for the hotel and discuss which elements of the initial launch are being promoted in their marketing promotions. a. Discuss which elements of the marketing mix are still being promoted. Promotions and price discounts are still going on thru the website of the company. After the pre launch, post launch developments in the hotel are the hotel offerings of hosting of cultural events and sporting events like the 2011 Christmas buffet lunch and special dinner day once a month. The hotel also encouraged memberships in SPA and Foodie Clubs. (Cotswold Water Park Hotel). They now offer discounts in various services like freebies and other discounts for accumulated number of visits. (Cotswold). b. Critically consider any developments Travel Daily news forecasted that tourism in UK is predicted to increase by 60% by 2020. Travel News said this interest in tourism is caused by a favourable exchange rate, the forthcoming Olympic and Paralympics games and the appeal of the country’s attraction thus making tourism the fifth largest industry and foreign exchange earner in Britain This report is encouraging for Cotswold Hotel because of the expected arrival of tourists. Annex 1 shows hotel occupancy rate in US while Annex 3 shows hotel rate of occupancy in UK. It will be noted that hotel occupancy in UK is higher than US. Annex 2 shows the growth of tourism in UK from August 2010 to May 2011 showing healthy signs of tourism in UK. Conclusion The combination of the marketing mix of the hotel should include people or personnel factor because of its importance in the services. They are the front liners to customers and they should be properly trained and prepared. The pre-launched activities have sustained initial operations, but they should be prepared to take advantage of the tourism opportunities in UK, and should be aware of the marketing strategies needed to encourage travellers to come to the hotel. With the advent of fast technology, there are ways to promote the hotel such as use of e-mail, on line advertising and social networks which have lesser cost than traditional methods Annex 1 USA Hotel Industry Performance The USA hotel industry occupancy reach 63.2% for 2007, just slightly under the 63.3% recorded for 2006 --- up from a low of 59.0% in 2002 and almost even with benchmark Year 2000. USA Hotel Industry Trends   2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 Occupancy 63.2% 63.3% 63.1% 62.7% 60.8% 59.0% 59.8% 63.7% Average Room Rate $103.64 $97.89 $90.95 $86.55 $83.60 $83.19 $84.85 $86.04 RevPAR $65.50 $61.96 $57.39 $54.25 $50.87 $49.04 $50.73 $54.07 Source: Smith Travel Research.  Coy Haralson Reort 2008. . http://www.hotel-online.com/News/PR2008_1st/Feb08_CoyHaralsonReport2008.html Annex 2 1 Overseas travel and tourism - summary table           Estimated visitor numbers and expenditure                                                                                                                                       % changes three months to                   August 2011 compared             Three months ending   with the three months to   Twelve months ending                                                     Aug May Aug   Aug May   Aug Aug %     2010 2011 2011   2010 2011   2010 2011 change                                                 Overseas residents' visits to the UK: by area of residence (thousands):                                     Seasonally adjusted                     All visits   7,640 7,800 7,720   +1 -1   29,590 30,470 +3                         Not seasonally adjusted                     All visits   9,130 .. 9,260   +1 ..   29,646 30,460 +3 Residence: North America 1,221 .. 1,230   +1 ..   3,400 3,500 +3   Europe 6,368 .. 6,370   0 ..   22,027 22,280 +1   - of which EU27 5,816 .. 5,820   0 ..   20,284 20,420 +1   - of which A12 674 .. 780   +15 ..   2,585 2,620 +1   - of which EU25 5,713 .. 5,700   0 ..   19,964 20,070 +1   - of which EU15 5,141 .. 5,040   -2 ..   17,699 17,800 +1   Other Countries 1,540 .. 1,670 +8 .. 4,218 4,680 +11 Purpose: Holidays 4,196 .. 4,160 -1 .. 11,494 11,860 +3   Business 1,624 .. 1,710 +5 .. 6,733 7,120 +6   Visit friends or relatives 2,469 .. 2,600 +5 .. 8,491 8,690 +2   Miscellaneous 841 .. 800 -5 .. 2,928 2,800 -5                         UK residents' visits overseas: by area of visit (thousands):                               Seasonally adjusted                     All visits   14,530 14,480 13,850   -5 -4   55,870 55,310 -1                         Not seasonally adjusted                 All visits   19,234 .. 18,300   -5 ..   56,377 55,630 -1 Area of visit: North America 1,099 .. 970   -12 ..   3,555 3,640 +2   Europe 15,785 .. 15,270   -3 ..   43,605 43,020 -1   - of which EU27 14,308 .. 13,960   -2 ..   40,025 39,490 -1   - of which A12 1,464 .. 1,480   +1 ..   4,135 4,270 +3   - of which EU25 14,173 .. 13,770   -3 ..   39,643 39,010 -2   - of which EU15 12,843 .. 12,480   -3 ..   35,888 35,230 -2   Other Countries 2,350 .. 2,060   -12 ..   9,217 8,970 -3 Purpose: Holidays 13,998 .. 13,420   -4 ..   37,155 36,370 -2   Business 1,559 .. 1,480   -5 ..   6,661 6,630 -1   Visit friends or relatives 3,201 .. 3,030   -5 ..   10,899 11,140 +2   Miscellaneous 477 .. 370   -22 ..   1,662 1,490 -10                         Overseas earnings and expenditure (? million):                                         Seasonally adjusted                     Visitors to the UK 4,390 4,390 4,510   +3 +3   16,710 17,300 +4 UK residents   8,180 7,860 7,680   -6 -2   31,440 30,810 -2 Balance   - 3,790 - 3,470 - 3,170   .. ..   - 14,730 - 13,510 ..                         Not seasonally adjusted                     Visitors to the UK 5,569 .. 5,715   +3 ..   16,727 17,310 +3 UK residents   11,041 .. 10,270   -7 ..   31,686 30,870 -3 Balance   - 5,472 .. - 4,550   .. ..   - 14,959 - 13,560 ..                                                 Source: International Passenger Survey               Source:Office for National Statistics:Overseas Travel & Tourism, August 2011. .gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-235058 Annex 3 Source: 4 Hoteliers2010 & 2011 UK Hotel forecasts. http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_nshw.php?mwi=7972 List of References 4 Hoteliers. 2010 & 2011 UK Hotel forecasts. Viewed 27 November 2011http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_nshw.php?mwi=7972 Chai Lee Goi. (May, 2009). A Review of the Marketing Mix:4Ps or more. International Journal of Marketing Studies.Vol. 1, No. 1. Viewed 20 November 2011 http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ijms/article/view/97 China Hotelier (21 December 2008) The end of the marketing concept. Viewed 05 November 2011 Read More