Marketing Analysis of Bridge climb Sydney - Case Study Example

?Marketing Table of Contents Introduction 3 Market 3 Segmentation 4 Positioning ment and strategy 7 Marketing Mix 8 Conclusion 13 References 14 Bibliography 16 Introduction Bridge climb Sydney is basically an Australian tourist company which got established in the year 1998 (Bridgeclimb, n.d.). The primary service provided by the company is the access to climb the Sydney harbor bridge. The company offers climbing experiences at the peak position to the visitors from different parts of the world. In order to carry out the course of action the company presents different types of climbs. The climbs are segmented as ‘the express climb’, ‘the discovery climb’ and ‘the bridge climb’ (Bridgeclimb, n.d.). While doing so the company has also added many feathers to its cap. One such feat achieved by the company is to get its name enlisted in the Guinness book of world records for making most flags flown on the Sydney Bridge (Worldrecordsacademy, 2008). Market Market plays the most pivotal role for a company to successfully demeanor it business. Market consists of a cluster of users who exhibits some similar requirements and desires. In other words a market is set of possible buyers of a product and service (Allen, Macy & Hutchison, 2009, p.21). Therefore for a company to perform its operation effectively in the market place it needs to segment its intended market appropriately (Croft, 1994, p.1). In the context of Bridge climb Sydney their main market lies with the adventure tourism group. The market also lies with those persons who like elevation and high altitudes from the ground but not adventurous. The company also has its market scattered all over the world, as visitors from different part of the world arrives to experience it. Segmentation Market segmentation can be defined as the way by which the companies segments the market into various subgroups based on the similar characteristics of the consumer (Bose, 2004, p.513). There are many available alternatives for segmenting the market such as geographic segmentation, demographic segmentation and psychographic segmentation among many others. These day’s companies design their goods and services based on the needs of consumers. Therefore marketing segmentation and market targeting is considered as an essential and central element of marketing activities (Kamakura & Wedel, 2000, p.3). The concept of marketing segmentation helps in understanding the needs of consumers more effectively than its competitors. However on the other hand market targeting is based upon the segmentation and its decision to cater to that segment (Clemente, 2002, p.253). Therefore in the context of the company, segmentation can be done on the basis of geography i.e. the location of the consumers. The geographical segmentation can be used for segmenting the tourist from different countries and accordingly offering products and prices for them. The customers which exhibit adventurous and exploration attitudes are one of the major segments of the company. Apart from that bases of segmentation the company can even undergo niche market segmentation strategy for segmenting the market. This will also reduce the number of competitors for the company. Now according to the services offered by the company the segmentation can be regular visitors, adventurous visitors. The company needs to target adventurous travelers who will surely avail the opportunities. For adventurous travelers the company can cater them by offering ‘discovery climb’ and ‘bridge climb’. These ultimate climbs will surely satisfy the needs of those customers. And for targeting the regular visitors the company can make use of ‘express climb’, which is also conducted in a short period. Therefore the market can be segmented into regular and adventurous visitors. Some of the strategies which can be undertaken by the company for targeting adventurous customer group are as follows:- Product Strategy: - A product strategy is a pivotal function of the company. It resides at the heart of a company’s overall strategy and holds a commanding position. A product strategy is the central function for managing competition. Apart from the existing offerings of the company, they can also introduce another climb and can name it as adventure climb. The features of the product may include climbing in some audacious ways. In this context the company may offer the visitors to climb the way mountaineers do, and resisting the use of stairs. To diversify the offerings the company can add more products. The next recommended product can be for those adventurous people likes height but faces problem in climbing. Therefore for them the company may introduce helicopter services which will directly take the visitor to the peak position. Price Strategy: - Pricing strategy plays an indispensable role in the acceptance of a product in the market. Pricing can be stated as the way of influencing the customer to acknowledge the price. Pricing in tourism is considered as the most complex process. There are many bases of pricing. It can also depend even on the geographic location and seasonality. The Company can make use of premium pricing strategy as this are mainly intended to the adventurous group, who will not mind to spend a few bucks extra if they are to get the excitement and thrills. But the company must make sure that the price at least remains at par with the competitors. The difference between the prices of the company and its competitors must be nominal. Place Strategy: - Place strategy can be referred to as the way by which a company delivers its goods and services to the customers. The place strategy in tourism is about the place where the spot is positioned. But in this scenario the bridge is at a static place and other means of place strategies like transportation and facilities are also sufficient. But the company can use agents spread over different areas to bring customers. Apart from that they can also employ franchisee offices for slot bookings and special other kind of bookings. Availability of internet booking and telephone booking will also give a competitive advantage to the company. Promotion Strategy: - Sales promotion and advertisement in tourism can be very effectual if harmonized with personal selling and publicity. There are many alternative ways of carrying out the promotion such as electronic media, print media, public relation or PR etc. Therefore in order to promote adventure tourism, Bridge climb Sydney needs to make effective use of promotional tools. It can make use of simple travel magazines and magazines based on adventure trips for grasping the attention of the consumers. They can also make use of digital marketing i.e. the use of internet marketing. If the company remains active in the digital world it will surely help in serving the purpose of promotion. Apart from that Bridge climb Sydney can also make use of broadcasting media to some extent. This platform will help in reaching the mass customers. Word of mouth is another effective way by which the company may get enormously benefitted. Apart from the traditional ways of promotion the company can use some modern and innovative ways of promotion. Bridge climb Sydney can host a competition mainly intended for the adventurous visitors. The competition will be like a race. There will a selected number of participants who will be taking part in the completion and the participant who reaches the peak position among others will be considered as the winner. This will lead to the generation of huge publicities. Positioning statement and strategy Positioning is defined as the activity performed by the organizations in order to position the product into the minds of the consumers (Ries, 2003, p.3). In other words positioning is the group of strategies which an organization develops and executes it for ensuring that the company or one of its brands occupies a unique and significant position within the minds of the consumers. Now a day’s companies make enormous use of some positioning strategies in their advertisement campaigns. This is mainly undertaken for well positioning of the product into the minds of intended customers. The company mainly positions itself as the conductor of different climb adventures. Therefore to position itself more significantly the company can put forward a positioning statement which will illustrate its position more efficiently. The position statement of the company can be as follows:- ‘Come experience life’ Such statements will help the company to grabs the attention of the new customers. Therefore a position statement must be given an utmost importance. Marketing Mix Traditionally the concept of marketing mix was used to maximize the business profits within the limited resources, but now the modern concept of marketing mix describes it as the combination of factors used to satisfy the needs of the customers (Pride et.al, 2011, p.446). The term marketing mix refers to the exclusive combination of the 4p’s or product, price, place and promotional strategies (Mcdaniel, Hair & Lamb, 2008, p.44). All the mentioned four factors are in the hands of the company i.e. alteration and modification can be easily carried out whenever the company feels. In the context of Bridge climb Sydney following is their existing marketing mix strategy:- Product strategy: - Product strategy is possibly the most imperative function of the company. Product is the amalgamation of both tangible and intangible elements. A tourism product is mainly the destination spots and can only be experienced. Thus it is a merged product of attraction and facilities. All of these mentioned components have its own significance in the context of product mix. The current offerings of the company include express climb, discovery climb and the bridge climb. All the climbs are differentiated based on its features or the total time of the climb. Price strategy: - Pricing of a tourist product is a difficult task. Geographical position of the destination and the seasonality factor hugely affects the pricing choice. The primary objective of pricing strategy is to obtain a desired share of the target market. And the other function is also to balance the price elasticity of demand. The current charges of the company are:- Figure 1 Pricing of the products Figure 2 (Source: Bridgeclimb, 2012) The current pricing of the company clearly depicts that they charge more during the peak hours and peak seasons. They charges more on holidays as there will be more visitors and it will help in increasing the revenue of the company. It has been also noticed that the company charges more during the twilights. Higher generation of revenue is the principal objective for undergoing with this strategy. The company is striving to achieve the following through its pricing strategy:- Profit maximization Revenue maximization, To continue its existence in the market place Recover the cost incurred by the company. Place strategy: - There is different distribution strategies are available for Tourism marketing. In this case there is actually no physical distribution of a tangible product. The company makes use of internet for online booking of the time slots (Bridgeclimb, n.d.). Apart from that the company also made itself available through voice calling and agents at some places. Promotional strategy: ­- The promotional activity simplifies the actions needed for informing, influencing and generating awareness. The promotional mix plays an essential role in the buying process of a consumer. The five important platforms or tools used by the company for promoting its product are:- Magazines: - The Company makes use of magazines to a large extent for promoting itself. Company Website: - Company website is another tool which is used at the fullest extent. It offers all the necessary requirements starting from the tariffs to the online booking facility. Social Media: - Bridge Climb Sydney has active presence in the field of social media. The company is registered with some of the eminent social media platforms like face book, YouTube, twitter and Flickr. This platform is mainly for targeting the young age group. Television Advertisement: - Television advertisement has also been an important media for the company in order to promote its offerings. This is intended for targeting mass consumers. Newspaper Advertisement: - The Company also makes use of newspaper advertisement. This is mainly intended for customers of higher age group. Conclusion The report was about the marketing elements which are used in Bridge climb Sydney. The marketing factors which were taken into account include market segmentation, market targeting, market positioning and the marketing mix of the company. After conducting the necessary research about the company and its marketing elements it can be clearly concluded that all the aforementioned factors play a significant role in strengthening the market share of the company and also generating revenue for the company. It is recommended that the company must introduce a few variants in their offerings and also some modification in their promotional mix. Therefore the company must highly focus on the product strategy and promotional strategy for gaining competitive advantage in the market place. References Allen, P., Macy, A., & Hutchison, T. W. (2009). Record Label Marketing. Massachusetts: Focal Press. Bose, D. C. (2004). Principles of Management and Administration. New Delhi: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd. Bridgeclimb. (2012). Pricing - March to June 2012. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/The-Climbs/Pricing/. [Accessed on 21 May 2012]. Bridgeclimb. (No Date). About Us. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/About-Us/. [Accessed on 21 May 2012]. Bridgeclimb. (No Date). Climbs. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/Climbs.html. [Accessed on 21 May 2012]. Bridgeclimb. (No Date). The Climbs. [Online]. Available at: http://www.bridgeclimb.com/The-Climbs/. [Accessed on 21 May 2012]. Clemente, M. N. (2002). The Marketing Glossary: Key Terms, Concepts and Applications. New Jersey: Clementebooks. Croft, M. J. (1994). Market Segmentation: A Step-By-Step Guide to Profitable New Business. London: Routledge. McDaniel, C., Hair, J. F., & Lamb, C. W. (2008). Marketing. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Pride, W. M. et al. (2011). Marketing Principles. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Ries. (2003). Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind. Noida: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Worldrecordsacademy. (2008). Most flags flown on a Bridge-world record set by Bridge Climb Sydney. [Online]. Available at: http://www.worldrecordsacademy.org/travel/most_flags_flown_on_a_bridge-world_record_set_by_BridgeClimb_Sydney_80393.htm. [Accessed on 21 May 2012]. Bibliography Graham, H., & Hooley. (2008). Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. Delhi: Pearson Education India. Masonson, L. N. (2003). All about Market Timing. New York: McGraw-Hill Professional. Read More