Marketing Objectives of Aberdeen Beach - Essay Example

? ABERDEEN BEACH Inserts His/Her Inserts Inserts Assumptions In Aberdeen city was ranked as the best-situated city for growth in Britain (VisitScotland 2012). The city is a top tourist destination offering a variety of sites and recreational activities within its borders. While Aberdeen beach has been experiencing some troubles in recent times, tourism volume in Scotland has increased considerably as compared to last year. With respect to the tourism industrial climate, it is assumed that: i. Perceived insecurity will reduced local tourism volumes by 4% ii. Competition from Blackpool Beach will decrease income from both inbound international tourism and local tourism by a considerable margin (between 8-10%). iii. With the tourism in Scotland on the rise (VisitScotland 2012), our competitors will institute new facilities and recreational activities for the summer season before March 2014. Marketing Objectives Aberdeen Beach offers a serene, beautiful and relaxing environment for tourists, both local and international. Apart from coming up with a mission statement that is both marketing oriented and consumer-focused, Aberdeen City Council should create an objective to attain cumulative growth in tourism volume of at least 60% over the next three years. At least 30% of this tourism growth should result from local tourist and from new facilities that offer activities that are non-seasonal or are generally undertaken during the off-peak period. Aberdeen beach should also institute efforts to capture over 25% of the tourism market share in the area within the next 3 years. This will make sure that it is the biggest tourist destination in the area. Better facilities and activities that take advantage of off-peak tourism will ensure that it offers valid competition to Blackpool beach. To accomplish the various marketing objectives laid down, the Aberdeen City Council should put benchmarks in place to assess progress. Frequent evaluation of these objectives will offer feedback and potential remedial actions on a timely basis. The chief marketing objective is to improve the perceptions tourists as well as the locals have about the Aberdeen Beach. Since Aberdeen beach has been slowly losing both the local and the international tourists, it must not be satisfying its current consumers. The city council should review the problems that hinder success and use it to not only keep its current tourism base but encourage new international and local tourists to the area. To improve success, benchmarks should be developed to understand how the city council can improve the experience of tourists to the beach through knowledge of tourist’s needs and specific opportunities for instituting new recreational facilities. The benchmarks should be developed through market research as well as the City Council’s marketing information system. Another objective should be the institution of an education program that will serve to educate the local residents about the issue of climate change and the rising flood risk in the area. The City Council should collaborate with the local residents in efforts to conserve and restore the beach (Robert Gordon 2013). The City Council should also create a new office that deals with beach security and cleanliness. It should interact with local residents and set up an institution that deals with cleaning up the beach and ensuring that companies and other individuals do not use the beach as a dumping point. According to Chan, Leung, and Wong (2006) collaborative environment restoration efforts can be utilized as a means of advertisement both for local consumers and international. It should also collaborate with local law enforcement to ensure that visitors to the beach are safe. Marketing Strategies A. Target Markets Target Market 1: The first target market is the local tourists. Posters and customized calendars showing the beauty of Aberdeen beach could help reconnect with the local population. The Beach has also received bad press from the violence and killings that have occurred in the past. The City Council should then use television media stations to show efforts being taken to improve security in the Beach. The city council should also set up a “Beach Clean-up” open day where local residents can come together to help clean up the beach at least twice a month. The open day should be modeled such that it is not only fun but educational. The city council should also build a beach security office near Aberdeen beach to take care of security issues as well as reassure local residents that measures are being taken to ensure that they can relax in the beach at all times without any worries. Target market 2: The second target market is international tourists. The city council should provide brochures highlighting the facilities and recreational services offered in Aberdeen beach. The brochure should be readily available from the internet as well as in international travel agencies. As such, an inviting and eye-catching website for Aberdeen beach should be launched as soon as possible to take advantage on the raise in international tourism. A Sports Centre that houses an ice skating ring, a beach volleyball field as well as various winter games should be instituted so as to take advantage of off peak recreational activities. B. Ansoff’s Matrix Marketing Mix 1. Products: Aberdeen beach offers recreation activities as well as top of the line hotels and restaurants that allows tourists to enjoy the serene environment (Aberdeen City Council 2003). At the moment, the beach lags behind its biggest competitor, Blackpool beach. The City council should thus build various facilities that seek to bring in more tourists to the area. First, the Council should build a sports complex that offers a variety of entertainment and relaxation activities such as ice skating, spas, indoor volleyball etc. The complex can also contain showrooms that offer various goods to visitors and retail shops that offer local entrepreneurs a chance to participate in reclaiming the beach. The council should also begin efforts to build a hotel close to the beach that will cater for both local and international tourists. Apart from the hotel, the council should also build a security center or an office complete with patrol cars where local enforcement officers can camp out and periodically survey the beach and the surrounding areas to ensure ample security. 2. Price: Aberdeen beach provides an environment where visitors can relax and escape from the hassles of daily life. In the past few years, the economy has been quite hard on everyone and thus the city council should be sensitive to the price elasticity and overall consumer demand (Audit Scotland 2013). For the next financial year, the Aberdeen Beach facilities should set prices that is a little lower than most of its competitors so that it attracts local tourist in the area thus improving its profile and helping it achieve a better footing in the market. 3. Promotion: Aberdeen beach has facilities that offer both services and goods. At the moment, Aberdeen beach is experiencing low tourist volumes due to poor perceptions among the tourist arising from security issues and poor management of the beach itself (University of Aberdeen 2010). The marketing efforts should thus be focused on improving its image among the local population as well as among international tourists. According to Hunter and Shaw (2007), many tourists view the ecological conditions of an area as representative of the level of care, security and comfort that can be expected. The City council should advertise the beach by using brochures and travel magazines distributed to travel agencies all over the country and through the use of the internet. The City Council should also create a public relations office. Issues arising from pollution can be directed to this office ensuring that these issues are solved without reaching a point where the local residents are dissatisfied. The public relations office can also liaise with the local enforcement offices on issues of security. The Council should also create an open day where local environmental groups can coordinate with local residents to clean up the beach on regular basis. 4. Place: This denotes the distribution channels that can be used and customer service levels (McDonald and Wilson 2011). Aberdeen beach should utilize direct mail to distribute its brochures and journals. A website will also serve as a means of distributing marketing materials as well as price data for the various facilities in the area. Aberdeen beach should offer its services through the use of state of the art hotels, restaurants and sports facilities. The city council should also distribute its brochures to various travel agencies across the country and in hotels across the beach. Expected Results, Alternative Plans and Extended Marketing Mix a) Expected Results From the marketing objectives and strategies, several outcomes should be expected within the next one year. With improved security and cleaner beaches, Aberdeen beach will expect a rise of about 18% on the volume of local tourist within the next year. This will then boost up the volume of international tourist thus improving the market share of the beach. Education centers will also offer tourists as well as local residents to understand better the issue of climate change and its effect on changes experienced on the beach. Apart from this, the education center will educate people on the need to keep the beach clean and avoid pollution. Within the next year, the beach should expect fewer reports about pollution interfering with the lives of local residents and a cleaner beach will improve tourist volumes. b) Ansoff Matrix The marketing plans so laid are quite straight forward. Using Ansoff.s Matrix, alternative marketing strategies can be identified. The Ansoff matrix looks at the opportunities of presenting new and existing products within new and existing markets while considering the risk inherent with each. The Ansoff’s Matrix is shown below: i. Market Penetration Aberdeen Beach has been having poor tourism volume for some years mostly within the domestic tourism market. In this regard, Aberdeen beach has to increase its domestic tourism market as well as penetrate the market more deeply. In market penetration, Aberdeen beach has to improve its sale by promoting what it already has. The local populace was initially attracted to the beach due to its serene environment, impressive facilities such as restaurants and hotels as well as other attractions that are near the beach, sporting and other recreation facilities. The City Council can improve local tourism by increased promotion through the use of brochures and media advertisement. The City Council can also reduce the prices of setting up business in the area as well as the prices of its various facilities in the area. Aberdeen beach also needs to institute activities and facilities that will target different demographic profiles, different age groups and different genders from their normal consumers. The City Council should develop activities that are geared for specific people and thus ensure that everyone is represented in the beach. For young people activities such as beach volleyball tournaments and ice skating will be advantageous. For middle age and above activities such as scuba diving, spa and massage parlors will be attractive. ii. Product Development Product development involves selling more items to people you have been already interacting with (Grant, 2010). Over the years, the beach has been able to attract both local and international tourist looking to enjoy the summer. In this respect, Aberdeen beach needs to develop non-seasonal activities and facilities that will attract tourists all year round. Aberdeen beach has been lagging on this point and as a result, has lost most of its consumer base to its competitors. Aberdeen beach needs to set up winter sports such as ice skating and attract investors to build state of the art hotels that will be profitable all year round through product and service variation. The beach also needs to increase time required for marketing, in order to ensure that it keeps its current consumers. The pollution problem has to be solved in a timely manner and steps should be taken to ensure that it does not happen again. Aberdeen beach should also improve the quality of services offered as well as improve its consumer service levels. Tourists use money in order to relax and enjoy. Insecurity and pollution shows that the beach does not value its consumers. It is thus imperative for the City Council to set up a beach cleanup group as well as liaise with local law enforcement to improve security around the beach. iii. Market Development Market development involves utilizing existing services and products in new markets. Aberdeen beach mainly deals with luxury i.e. hotels, restaurants and beach related activities. The City Council should develop a cultural and recreational center that will be used for various sports as well as promoting various wares being offered by local retailers to tourist visiting the area. The center will allow people to come together in one place so as to interact. The center will offer hotel services i.e. food and beverages common in the center as well as relaxation services such as spas and massage parlors. Aberdeen beach also needs to use different sales channels. In the current business world, the use of online trading has become imperative. Aberdeen beach thus needs to develop an online sales website that will be used for online booking as well as payment. Apart from this, the website will also be used to market the various facilities and activities offered by the beach. iv. Diversification According to Pettigrew, Whittington, and Thomas (2006), this involves creating new products and services and installing them in new markets. Aberdeen beach needs to develop sporting and recreational activities that are non-seasonal. These activities will be available in the cultural center and will be adaptive to the wishes of the consumers. Aberdeen beach also needs to penetrate the travel agency market. The City Council should set up an office that offers travelling help and booking services for tourists, both local and international. By acting as travel agents, the beach can market itself to more tourists. c) Extended Marketing Mix In the previous section, the 4ps of marketing we highlighted with respect to Aberdeen beach. The extended marketing mix incorporates people, processes and physical evidences (Grant 2010). When looking at the people aspect of the marketing mix, we have to consider the skills and knowledge of the staff as well as motivation in supporting the marketing process. According to the University of Aberdeen (2010), one of the biggest impediments on reclaiming Aberdeen beach is that people do not understand the concept of climate change and what effects it has on the beach. Another problem is that the staff comprises of local residents who carry out their business on a narrow minded scale that concentrate on their individual businesses and not the beach as a whole. The city council should carry out training on all the staff connected with the Aberdeen beach marketing program. Processes deals with the ease to carry out business with (Pettigrew, Whittington, and Thomas 2006). In the past, Aberdeen beach has been very hard to carry out business with as it lacks a public relations office and ample brochures highlighting activities, hotels, restaurants as well as costing details. Aberdeen beach should thus institute processes that are consumer friendly and less profit oriented. This includes utilizing tourist guides who can point out hotels and restaurants that meet the consumer’s requirements. The County council should also set up websites that have billing information as well as an online payment system. Physical evidence denotes the visible and tangible goods offers that consumers will encounter before engaging with the company or organization (Hollenson 2010). This includes the images in brochures, the reception area and the clothing worn by the staff. Aberdeen beach should thus create staff clothing that markets the beach and identifies the staff. The brochures should also reflect changes carried out in the beach as well as the beauty of the beach. Finally, the County Council should utilize international airport lounges by displaying pictures of the beach as well as various magazines and brochures promoting hotels and restaurants in the area. Budget According to the Aberdeen City Council’s budget, ?342 million has been set aside for various development projects around the city for the next 5 year period (Aberdeen City Council 2013). Of this amount, ?97.97 million has been set aside for service options across the city with ?9.4million being considered for education, culture and sport. Considering the potential for Aberdeen Beach as well as the many infrastructures surrounding the area, a sizable amount should be set aside for development of Aberdeen Beach as well as its promotion. The following highlights important activities that should be carried out within the next one year. Marketing Expenses (2014/2015) Expenses Legal ?2500 Stationery ?10200 Brochures ?24000 Insurance ?21000 Education ?45000 Infrastructure Planning ?80000 Security and Security office ?100000 Public relations ?85000 Total Marketing Expenses 2014/2015 ?367700 Implementation Since Aberdeen beach current and future services need extensive customization to meet the needs of its consumers, marketing function should be organized by consumer groups. This will allow the City Council to focus its marketing efforts on the needs and specifications of individual target consumer section (Coviello et al. 2002). Marketing efforts will be organized around local tourist and international tourists. Each group will be led by a tourism manager who will report to the marketing director. The personnel of each group will be given the power to make decisions based on the market trends and the objectives to be met. The chief executive will be the Aberdeen City Council and will be responsible for setting up the budget and deciding what and how things are done. The planning department will be responsible The implementation of all these activities will commence at the start of the next fiscal year on July 1. Unless changes occur, all responsibilities will be the responsibility of the Aberdeen City Council. On July 1, create two sales manager positions and the position of marketing director. The Aberdeen beach marketing analysis team will be led by the marketing director and will be composed of 12 employees from various positions within the council. By July 13, assign three members of the marketing team to the following projects: (1) research potential facilities and recreational facilities to offer tourists, (2) analyze the current operations of the beach as well as facilities offering services to tourists near the beach, (3) design a consumer survey project. By September 5, the three project groups will report their findings and the council will review all recommendations By September 6, commencement of the construction of the security offices as well as setting up a public relations office. By September 6, development of a new website that will market the Aberdeen beach to both local and international tourists. By September 15, implement changes to public relations as well as institute some of the practices recommended by the city council as a result from the three project analysis. The City Council will be in charge. By October 15, make new contact with potential tourist, both international and local tourist through launching of the new website and dissemination of brochures to travel agencies. The public relations office will also contact local residents to find out any concerns they have about the beach. By November 15, implementation of a customer satisfaction survey for current tourists with a random sample of 20% of current tourists who visited. By March 2015, implement a new activity that is non-seasonal, commence advertisement to current tourists and sample potential tourists from surrounding areas. By May 2015, analyze and report the results of all consumer satisfaction surveys and appraise the new product offering. Reestablish the objectives of the marketing team for the next fiscal year. The Aberdeen City Council will be responsible. References Aberdeen City Council, 2003. North Beach Planning Study. [pdf]. Available at: [Accessed 5 December 2013]. Aberdeen City Council, 2013. Five Year Business Plan 2013/14 – 2017/18. [pdf] Available at: . [Accessed 5 December 2013]. Audit Scotland. 2013. Community Planning in Aberdeen. [pdf]. Available at: [Accessed 5 December 2013]. Chan, R.Y.K., Leung, T.K.P. and Wong, Y.H., 2006. 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Pettigrew, A. M., Whittington, R. and Thomas, H., 2006. Handbook of strategy and management. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE. University of Aberdeen., 2010. Aberdeen beach case study. [pdf] Available at: [Accessed 5 December 2013]. VisitScotland, 2012. Scotland Visitor Survey 2012. [pdf]. Available at: [Accessed 5 December 2013]. Read More