Marketing in Hospitality - Assignment Example

MARKETING IN HOSPITALITY al Affiliation) Role of the promotional mix A marketing mix is a tool used to influence demand and a major concept in marketing. It has several roles in the industry that ensures the promotion of the products and services offered. Advertising and sales promotion is one of the roles. This occurs through the decisions made by the marketing professionals in the hospitality industry in relation to product promotion (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). The decision considers the employees and the customers that participate in the service delivery.

The marketing professionals also determine the way of packaging the products and services. They determine the programs for the customers in terms of time management. There is also the determination of the kinds of partnership formed within the industry. The companies in the industry utilize customer experience in the promotion of their services and products (Reid & Bojanic, 2006). This is because there is an emphasis on food and service quality. The customers depend on branding strategies of the hospitality firms for quality assurance.

Role of sales promotion and public relations The firms in the hospitality industry spend many resources on advertising. The aim and objective is to increase the market share through the communication of the products and services offered. The firms grow due to the different media used in the promotion of sales in the hospitality industry. Such media include the internet, print media, and billboards. However, these methods of marketing depend on the ability of the companies to finance the sales promotion through their marketing budget (Horchover, 2002).

The limitations of the sales promotion include the cost involved. Television commercials, for instance, involves high costs as the charges are according to the words used. The costs also rely on the economies of scale in the case of the ownership of many hotel properties. The sales promotion places an emphasis on branding due to the creation of a brand identity (Wearne & Baker, 2002). This ensures that consumers easily identify certain products with certain firms in the industry. Through this, the customers are able to evaluate different companies through the comparison of information about their products and services.

Relevance of market research The role of a market research is the provision of relevant information to the management of the companies in the hospitality industry for decision-making. For instance, a hotel may consider undertaking a market research to determine whether it requires and additional facility for the target market. The process of market research involves market identification, data collection, analysis of the data, suggestion of alternatives, choice of appropriate option, and implementation of the chosen option.

The data collected considers forecasting in relation to the expected sales of certain services and products after their introduction into the market (Hamersveld, 2007). After the conduct of the market research, the companies determine the positioning of their services and products. There is also the consideration of the business environment with an emphasis on the quality of the products and services. The market research identifies the customer perceptions of the products and services offered.

Through the information collected, the companies in the hospitality industry focus on quality maintenance or improvement. ReferencesHamersveld, M. 2007. Market research handbook (5th ed.). Chichester, West Sussex, England: John Wiley & Sons.Top of FormBottom of FormHorchover, D. 2002. Sales promotion. Oxford, U.K.: Capstone Pub.Top of FormBottom of FormPickton, D., & Broderick, A. 2005.Integrated marketing communications (2nd ed.). Harlow, UK: Prentice Hall/Financial Times.Top of FormBottom of FormReid, R.

, & Bojanic, D. 2006. Hospitality marketing management (4th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.Top of FormBottom of FormWearne, N., & Baker, K. 2002. Hospitality marketing in the e-commerce age (2nd ed.). Frenchs Forest, N.S.W.: Pearson Education.