Marketing Communications Plan for the Hotel - Case Study Example

[your teacher’s of the Table of Contents I. Introduction 3 II. Findings 3 A. Essentials of campaign management 3 B. The hotel market 4 i. Nature of market 4 ii. Primary market: segmentation criteria 4 iii. Secondary market: segmentation criteria 4 C. Consumer behaviour analysis 5 i. Primary target market 5 a) Consumers heart 5 b) Consumer behaviour model 5 c) Decision-making unit 6 ii. Secondary target market 6 a) Consumers heart 6 b) Consumer behaviour model 6 c) Decision-making unit 7 III. Recommendations 7 A. Strategic marketing 7 i. Mission/vision 7 ii. SMART marketing objectives 7 B. Integrated marketing communications tools 8 i. Primary market: IMC tools 8 ii. Secondary market: IMC tools 8 C. Brand framework/integrated marketing communications strategy 9 i. Brand framework 9 ii. Primary market 10 a) IMC objectives 10 b) IMC mix 10 c) Media mix 10 iii. Secondary market 11 a) IMC objectives 11 b) IMC mix 11 c) Media mix 12 D. Action plan 12 E. Measures of effectiveness 13 IV. Conclusion 14 I. Introduction A new international hotel is going to be built in Londons one of the most prominent buildings, the County Hall by a joint venture of the Japanese company Shirayana Shokusan with Richard Brasons Virgin company. This hotel targets families and business alike with its four-star accommodation and amenities. This paper aims to present an integrated marketing communications plan that would promote the hotel to become the primary choice of consumer and business travelers alike when they visit the city. With the hotel being poised to become the largest hotel in the city, the positioning offer includes affordability and a sense of the city as the views outside the hotel includes the river Thames as well as the house of Parliament. This paper aims to provide an IMC plan after the time of building of the hotel. II. Findings A. Essentials of campaign management Marketing during these contemporary times require companies to achieve their goals in the most efficient manner. This involves the use of strategic management. In order for companies to remain successful by adding value while cutting costs down at the same time, effective campaign management, like at war is necessary. This entails a strong mission, a vision to reflect the mission, and objectives in order to fulfil such vision. In order for an objective to be effective, it has to be a SMART objective. According to the Oxford Dictionary of Human Resource Management, SMART is an acronym for specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and timed (2001, 334), in line with the goal-setting theory of management. These are the essentials of a campaign management. B. The hotel market i. Nature of market The case focuses on the hotel market in London. With the location strategically located in one of the most famous buildings in the place, the County Hall, this hotel market targets both native residents of the town, as well as local and international tourists that would be visiting the city. The hotel market is divided into two categories: consumer market, and the corporate market. ii. Primary market: segmentation criteria The primary market for hotels in London are individuals as consumers, either looking for a place as travelers and tourists. This market can be effectively segmented according to the size of the group that checks in at hotels: singles, pairs or couples, or groups of three and more. Since hotel rooms have definite numbers after the time of conception, to segment the market based on the number of individuals per room, can be the most useful segmentation criteria in this case. iii. Secondary market: segmentation criteria The secondary market includes business travelers, or just business people who constantly use hotels for temporary accommodations during their business trips and conferences. This market should be segmented according to geographical region, or businesses that are within the vicinity of the hotel. This is because, these business travelers activities include stay during weekdays, corporate conferences and trainings, as well as exhibitions. Those who may likely respond to the hotels offers would be organisations situated near and around the hotel. C. Consumer behaviour analysis i. Primary target market a) Consumers heart The hotels primary target market would be groups or families comprised of three members above. According to the case, the hotel rooms would be made huge enough for families to have their children stay with them in their rooms. The demographics could include younger families or families with one or two kids, as the hotel plans to rival Disney with its amenities. The hotel will also cater to budget-conscious families. Since the hotels purpose to these families is for travel accommodation, direct competitors include other four-star family hotels include Hilton London Metropole, Hilton London Gatwick Airport, and Marriott Bexleyheath (Expedia.com 2009). Indirect competitors include thousands of hotels in London and other inns that offer travel accommodation. b) Consumer behaviour model Preference for hotels is a partly cognitive purchase in this target market. This is because, as travelers, choices for hotels are included in the choice of travel packages that consumers usually avail. Since there is a budget, and the risk usually is high for the family as there are kids, this is a cognitive purchase, where the cognitive model of Awareness-Knowledge-Liking-Preference-Conviction-Purchase holds (Rapacz, Reilly & Schultz 2008). c) Decision-making unit Either of the parents are the usual gatekeepers, decision-makers and the buyers. Influencers could include opinion leaders such as personalities parents look up to, or even kids who could suggest where they want to stay because of the amenities. ii. Secondary target market a) Consumers heart The hotels secondary target market are business people who would like to stay for a few couple of days either for business meetings, exhibitions, corporate conferences and trainings, etc. These people come from organisations that are situated near the vicinity of the hotel. Some of these could also be business travelers, maybe from organisations outside London, but a business trip and meeting in London is necessary. For business conferences, trainings and accommodation, the hotels direct competitors include Excel London, Earls Court Exhibition Centre, and Olympia Exhibition Centre (Maps.google.com 2009). The indirect competitors of the hotel includes other smaller exhibition centres and other hotels that offer business complexes as their amenities. b) Consumer behaviour model The decision for such amenities usually include a budget within the organisation, therefore because of the budget, people may have much involvement in finding information to compare value with prices. Therefore, this is purchase also involves the cognitive or the traditional hierarchy of effects model (Rapacz, Reilly & Schultz 2008). c) Decision-making unit For this type of market, the choice of hotel is usually left to some internal organisation function even if the one who will use the service is only an individual, as it entails certain budget and part of the expenses of the organisation. Therefore, decision-makers and gatekeepers can be the department manager, or the human resource manager, the one who holds or keeps an eye on the budget. The influencers can be travel agents or booking agencies. III. Recommendations A. Strategic marketing i. Mission/vision The hotels mission is to serve as the place in London being at the heart of it and located in a historic building: for people who choose to visit the city, for people who work in the city as a major accommodation at affordable prices. The hotels vision is to become the largest hotel in London, and become one of Londons most famous landmarks which can make it the preferred hotel both for travelers and London residents alike. ii. SMART marketing objectives In order to achieve the current norm of at least 69% (Thomas 2009) of room occupancy for the coming year, the hotel has to attract around 145,000 families on a per night basis for the next two year. This objective is only for the first phase of the hotel with 570 rooms initially. Since the second phase that creates a total of 1200 rooms for the hotel is uncertain yet, it would not be included in the setting of objectives. B. Integrated marketing communications tools i. Primary market: IMC tools The integrated marketing communication tools that can probably be used to reach the primary market can include advertising, public relations, sales promotions, and direct marketing (Kerr et al 2008). Advertising can be used either as a strong or weak force—that is, to tease the consumers or to reinforce a brand image in the process. Public relations in the form of events and publicity stunts can capture and sustain the interests of the consumers. PR in the form of press releases can also educate consumers and provide more information that could aid the purchase. Sales promotions give incentives to consumers to buy it now or take action after preferring it. Direct marketing can be used to reinforce the image of the brand as well as sustain the longer term relationships with the consumers. ii. Secondary market: IMC tools As for the corporate market, direct marketing can be used to feed information, as media tools like websites are powerful information sources. Also, for the corporate market, personal selling can be more effective than advertising and PR, as sales people can better explain the deals to the decision-makers, users, and influencers within the company. Sales promotion can also prompt the decision-makers to go on with the hotels offers if the person perceives the offer as a great deal. Lastly, direct marketing in the form of emails can be used to build long-term relationships with this type of market. C. Brand framework/integrated marketing communications strategy i. Brand framework The hotel does not have a brand name, but it is more probable that the County Hall, in order to preserve the historic association can be used. The key is, if there are negative associations as regards the brand name, it should be later addressed by marketing communications (Micu & Thorson 2008). The hotels values and personality is not stated in the case. But having families and corporate people as the respective markets, both of these would expect warm accommodation and an enjoyable place to stay in. The functional benefits include: a strategic place, at the heart of London and near railways that connect to key European cities through the Euro tunnels; a captivating view, overlooking the river Thames as well as the House of Parliaments from three-quarters of the hotel bedrooms; amenities to rival Disney, virtual reality and entertainment centre, aquarium and sea-life centre, museum and library, health and leisure centre, children’s learning centre and Crèche, computer learning centre, business meeting rooms, and training centre. The emotional benefits of the brand include reliability, backed by the long management record of the Virgin brand; fun and enjoyment, as apparent in the offers; feeling of being at ease, as the hotel is designed for use of the family, bearing in mind the children when conceiving the hotel layout, facilities, and services. The reason-to-believe for these claims include the fact that the venture is backed up by the Virgin brand. ii. Primary market a) IMC objectives In line with the marketing objectives, the IMC objective can be, to make the hotels brand part of the evoked set (top 5 choices of hotels) among 50% of the target market in a years time. Using the hierarchy of effects model, the objectives can be subsequently crafted as follows: awareness level: 80% of the target market; knowledge: 60% of the target market; liking: 50% of the target market (to belong to the evoked set); preference: 35%; conviction: 25%; and purchase of 15%. b) IMC mix In order to fulfil the IMC objectives, the IMC mix has to be carefully chosen. For example, the most cost-effective tool to gain 80% awareness would be advertising and publicity; to achieve knowledge-PR in the form of press release and direct marketing through a website; to achieve liking-events in order to create a feel of the brand; to achieve preference-sales promotion, to see that what the hotel offers is the best deal; to achieve conviction-direct marketing by confirming all the information gathered by the customer; and finally purchase-direct marketing, either through phone system or the website where the consumer can place reservations. c) Media mix For advertising the media mix can include print ads and select magazines; for publicity, the advertising can be leveraged as a teaser to the publicity stunt. The publicity stunt is aimed to capture the attention of the press, and thus give the hotel some free publicity in the process. As for the press releases, they should appear in the national newspaper, BBC website, London newspapers, and the hotels website. The hotels website should also include news about the brand like the press releases. To achieve liking, even a virtual event, perhaps one that could attract the attention of even internet and international users to the hotels website. Sales promotion can come with freebies, say free rides in cooperation with the Virgin airlines, and other promotional tactic. For conviction and purchase, the website is an excellent medium. The website may also contain references to the phone system for consumers who are reluctant to pay online. iii. Secondary market a) IMC objectives In line with the marketing objectives, the IMC objective can be, to make the hotels brand part of the evoked set (top 5 choices of hotels) among 50% of the target market in a years time. Using the hierarchy of effects model, the objectives can be subsequently crafted as follows: awareness level: 80% of the target market, that is, this time the corporate market; knowledge: 60% of the target market; liking: 50% of the target market (to belong to the evoked set); preference: 35%; conviction: 25%; and purchase of 15%. b) IMC mix The IMC mix for the secondary market is different because of the difference in the decision-making units and processes. In order to achieve awareness, the company can still resort to advertising, say in the form of posters, print ads or billboards, but the publicity stunt may not be a good idea. As for knowledge, direct marketing and personal selling can play a huge role. Personal selling still plays a key role in liking. In preference and conviction, sales promotions can prompt the decision-maker, reinforced as well by personal selling. As for purchase, personal selling is very valuable as sales agents usually secure a contract with the company; direct selling is also a good tool as companies can place their reservations over the internet or the phone system. c) Media mix For advertising, the hotel can use posters, print ads, flyers and billboards. For knowledge, public relations in the form of press release with direct marketing or a website for the hotel will be useful. For liking and preference, sales persons selling kits could be utilised. For conviction and purchase, the website is an excellent medium. The website may also contain references to the phone system to make it accessible to corporate clients. D. Action plan The action plan is comprised of phases. The execution of the latter phases would be delayed to make sure the hierarchy is followed, but once the phases are executed, they will remain for a year to make sure the communications are on a continual basis. The following figures are the time table (for the given year when the objectives are aimed to be accomplished). E. Measures of effectiveness The campaigns effectiveness can be measured by seeing whether the numerical objectives that are set are met. This can be found out through marketing research. But another indicator of the effectiveness of the campaign can be traced by looking at the bottom line: sales revenue. The hotel can also ask some small survey among its current customers as to how they find the hotel and the hotel deals, to get a rough picture of the most effective media in the IMC mix that have translated into sales for the company. IV. Conclusion For a new hotel like the one Richard Branson has ventured into to succeed, an effective campaign management is necessary. This entails a strategic approach of starting with a strong mission, then a vision, then setting SMART objectives, specifically marketing objectives. After determining a concrete objective for the marketing function, it has to be supported by other marketing tactics such as the promotions or integrated marketing communications. By crafting objectives in line with the marketing objectives, and better traced on the behaviour of the chosen target market, more effective strategies can be formed. The IMC mix should support the objectives in every way, as well as the chosen media mix. Lastly, the effectiveness of the campaign can therefore be measured simply by seeing the effect at the bottom line, revenues, and working upward, in such a way to note whether the numerical goals are met by marketing research. References Expedia.com (2009). “Family Hotel hotels in London, England.” Expedia.com. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://www.expedia.com/London-Hotels-FamilyHotel.0-0-d178279-tFamilyHotel.Travel-Guide-Filter-Hotels Kerr, G., Schultz, D., Patti, C., & Kim, Ilchul (2008). “An inside-out approach to integrated marketing communications: An international analysis.” International Journal of Advertising. Volume 27 Issue 4. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=102&sid=7eea413a-3ebd-4b96-bda1-de0d510813b8%40sessionmgr104 Map.google.com (2009). “Search results for london exhibition centre.” Map.google.com. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://www.google.com.ph/search?q=london+exhibition+center&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=com.ubuntu:en-US:unofficial&client=firefox-a Micu, A.C., & Thorson, E. (2008 Fall). “Leveraging news and advertising to introduce new brands on the web.” Journal of Interactive Advertising. Volume 9 Number 1. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=103&sid=526c2107-ebf5-4a7f-ba80-ea44f6b9456c%40sessionmgr108 Oxford University (2001). “SMART definition.” Dictionary of Human Resource Management. P. 334. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=106&sid=e7ff63df-5cde-4879-a31a-7402c469dcd5%40sessionmgr104 Rapacz, D., Reilly, M. & Schultz, D. E. (2008 January/February). “Better branding beyond advertising.” Marketing Management. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdf?vid=1&hid=4&sid=9ea48268-95a2-43fe-b3d9-1bd950e2604e%40sessionmgr2 Thomas, D. (2009 March 12). “Hotel revenues to fall further than expected.” Caterer & Hotelkeeper. Date accessed: May 17, 2009 from http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail?vid=1&hid=3&sid=956bdf3e-5d65-4df7-bf1c-b2787b0fea54%40sessionmgr3&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=buh&AN=37354745 Read More