Marketing Layout for Victoria House Hotel - Essay Example

? Marketing plan – Victoria House Hotel Marketing Plan - Victoria House Hotel Situation Analysis The privately owned company, Victoria House Hotel operates in a thriving industry whose size has been continuously expanding over the past decade and it is expected that it will keep on increasing in future as well. An evaluation of the industry as a whole shows that general patterns of the industry are that of targeting a mass market on the elements of cost benefits, convenience and location where the concept of differentiation is missing. The industry is becoming customer centric in an attempt to win an almost perfect competition where there is neck to neck competition and price wars going on in the industry, ultimately giving rational customers a choice to select the best opportunities available. Moreover, since the area is an attractive tourist spot, it has become a center of attention for many high end tourists and corporate clients who frequently travel to this area, giving the whole industry an advantage of increased customer traffic owing to the efficiently operating tourist industry as well as airline industry giving benefits of travel and tourism to customers. An overall change in the travel and dining out habits of consumers and potential clients has given the industry an extra advantage in terms of people dining out more frequently than ever before. Despite the benefits this industry enjoys, it is unfortunately also facing increased legislation and restrictions from administration and government which are creating new barriers such as licensing laws and ban on smoking in public areas. Taking a look at the firm itself and the internal factors affecting the health of it, we see that the Hotel is in an overall advantageous state in terms of profits and growth. It has been consistently expanding successfully, improving areas such as accommodation and entertainment. It is located at a strategically profitable location where tourists find it convenient to travel the nearest tourist spots and come back to the Victoria House Hotel later. The Hotel has been experiencing raising profits and has a dedicated team well trained in customer care in order to make the clients feel at home. One drawback that the Hotel has been facing is a reduction in corporate clients which needs to be addressed and solved as soon as possible (Thomas, 1998; Eldring, 2009). Target Audience Victoria House Hotel has seen a trend of declining corporate audience and tourists over the past year which is a sign of losing future profits because this portion of the industry is a thriving opportunity to be captured. The industry has faced a 20% rise in corporate events and hence a rise in corporate customers traffic. This means that in future, it is expected that corporate customers’ traffic along with tourists will increase, due to tourism and airline industries attempts to attract tourists and those clients who travel for business and trade reasons. The aim of Victoria House Hotel should hence be to attract this specific niche which has a lot of scope and new opportunities to be availed for future profitability. Provision of exclusive packages and luxury accommodation and travel to specific clients will help the company make higher profits as well as the advantage of having no direct competition when considering this specific niche in the industry (Luther, 2011; Westwood, 2012). Marketing Objectives For the company to ensure effective operations and improvement, it needs to define its objectives clearly that are to be different from other competitors. If the company keeps operating in this cut throat competition targeting the mass market, it will soon have to give up its profits and reduce operating margins or hope that competitors don’t come up with better strategies. 1) Target a specific audience and provide them benefits accordingly. It is not possible to satisfy everyone, hence only a certain segment of the target market will be chosen in this case, the corporate audience/tourists will be targeted. 2) Differentiating Victoria House Hotel from other competitors who are providing similar services. Victoria House Hotel should be concentrating on providing high class luxury services to corporate clients and tourists to capture that specific segment of the market which is expected to increase further. 3) Promotion and Advertising of Victoria House Hotel as for making corporate clients and tourists feel comfortable and providing them with specific customized packages for accommodation, food and travel (Stone, 2001; Debelak, 2000). Marketing Mix Product: The product involved is basically a service in the hotel industry which aims to focus on a niche market to attract the maximum corporate clients and customers towards it because they are likely to help generate the greatest profits for the company in the next two years. The existing services will be modified to attract the specified target market. Its location is ideal and all it needs to do is to make changes in accordance with the needs of the target market. This will require market research to identify the needs and demands of the market. Price: The pricing strategy of the company will be adjusted according to the results of the market research to be conducted within the specific target market and potential customers. Because the company will be providing customization and luxury different from other competitors who are targeting a mass market, there is a scope of raising prices and giving specialized services to the narrow market. Placement: The placement strategy basically relates to positioning in the minds of the consumers about the product. For Victoria House Hotel, the positioning according the new model will be that of attracting tourists and corporate clients, giving them better facilities, customized packages for accommodation and traveling and making their experience memorable. It will also involve positioning the company with luxury and exclusivity. Promotion: It is very important to promote the new strategy of the company according to the new target market and concept of differentiation within the next two years. Media and advertising as well as word of mouth can greatly help achieve a positive reaction and increase customer traffic from the desired target market. Promotion can be done through print media in corporate magazines, on the internet where potential tourists are likely to be found and on billboards in areas where corporate clients and tourists are likely to get exposed to the new branding efforts (Hiebing, 2004; Westwood, 2010; Kaganzi, 2000) Marketing Strategies: Ansoff Matrix The strategy as per the Ansoff Matrix that the company should now be following is as follows: The Victoria House Hotel is using its existing services to penetrate into a new segment that is; the corporate clients and tourists. The product/service they are providing is an existing one which will be modified to suit the needs of this newly targeted segment. Hence the strategy being followed is Market Development (Burton-Shaw Gunn, 2010; Lester, 2009) (Porter, 1998) Porter’s Generic Strategies: According to Porter’s Generic strategies, there are four options from amongst which a company can choose one. 1) Cost leadership 2) Differentiation 3) Cost Focus 4) Differentiation Focus Right now the company has a cost focus in the price wars with other competitors, but according to the new plan, the company will be opting for Differentiation Focus. Differentiation Focus strategy emphasizes that the company has narrowed down its target audience and is looking to provide them with customization and exclusivity within the target market. This will help the company stay focused on one segment of the target market and to keep them satisfied (Bachmeier, 2008; Bosche, 1997; David, 1995). Porters 5 forces: According to the Porter’s five forces model, the following points will be considered: 1) Rivalry: The firms in this industry are faced with a very competitive environment and the change in marketing strategy will help reduce direct competition by targeting a specific niche of this market. 2) Supplier Power: In this industry where there is a high concentration of suppliers of products and services, supplier power is weak. 3) Buyer Power: The buyers (the customers) of the hotel industry are also large in number but owing to the competition, customers have many choices and they will be driven towards those options which provide them the greatest benefits. Hence the industry is in a weaker position in comparison with its customers. 4) Threat of Substitutes: Even though there are many substitutes available, but with the combined power of differentiation and focus, threat of substitutes can be reduced to a great extent because according to the new strategy, the company would not have any direct competitors. 5) New Entrants: this can be an important problem to tackle with, but since the first mover’s advantage is usually helpful in many cases, it can be reduced by quickly implementing the new strategy and continuously improving it (Kennedy, 2000; Bly 2009; Eldring, 2009) Evaluation and control Once the new strategies are in place, they need to be monitored and controlled. This will be in terms of cost as well as time and quality. Research needs to be continuous and longitudinal to see the impact of the changes and check whether customers are satisfied with them or not. Continuous improvement should be the main aim and quality assurance along with cost and time checks are necessary to ensure success (Dennis, 2004; Eldring, 2009) References BACHMEIER, K. (2009). Analysis of marketing strategies used by PepsiCo based on Ansoff's theory. Mu?nchen, GRIN Verlag GmbH. BLY, R. W. (2009). Marketing plan handbook: develop big picture marketing plans for pennies on the dollar. [Irvine, Calif.], Entrepreneur Press. BOSCH, F. A. J. V. D., & MAN, A. P. D. (1997).Perspectives on strategy: contributions of Michael E. Porter. Boston, Kluwer Academic Publishers. BURTONSHAW-GUNN, S. A. (2010). Essential tools for operations management: tools, models and approaches for managers and consultants. Chichester, West Sussex, Wiley. DAVID, F. R. (1995). Strategic management. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice Hall. DEBELAK, D. (2000). Streetwise marketing plan: winning strategies for every small business. Holbrook, Mass, Adams Media. DENNIS, C., FENECH, T., & MERRILEES, B. 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