Marketing Mix Plan: Northern Sun Retreat - Case Study Example

Marketing Management A STRATEGIC MARKETING ASSIGNMENT ON Northern Sun Retreat 2009 Submitted by: XXXXXXXXXXXX Number: XXXXXXXX Submitted XXXXXXX Subject XXXXXXX Subject Code: XXXXXX University of XXXXXXXXX Northern Sun Retreat Introduction: Northern Sun retreat is a well known retreat for “a weekend to get away from it all”. This report has been aimed at discussing the various options that Northern Sun Retreat has on terms of its marketing mix strategies. A variety of options have been suggested for the company in the report. Firstly, the target market for the company as already provided is for male and female between the age group of 30 – 50 years, living in Perth inner city. The main targeted customers are white collared job people, who would prefer to have weekends away to detox and relax. A variety of possible marketing techniques have also been discussed, providing the company with a chance to analyse all possible options and make informed decision based on a through understanding and trial of the various marketing tools (Johnson, Scholes and Whittington, 2006, Kotler, et.al., 2007). Also a clear strategy for the product, price and place has also been included in this report. Product Strategies: Considering the products and the services that have been provided by Northern Sun Retreat, the strategy that the company uses should be appealing to the target markets. All of the products are meant for the target market as has been discussed. Northern Sun retreat has a very strong possible chance to use the retreat as a mode of marketing and brand creation for the company (Kotler, et.al., 2007). Considering Northern Sun Retreats various services and products that are provided, the company has already taken a step towards building an image. This brand image is one where the company has portrayed itself to be a soothing environment along with being very nature conscious. Recommendations for the company based on the current products and services will be discussed here. Firstly, Northern Sun Retreat has a wide range of services, this can be used as strength of the company and this can be developed into a product line by itself. This could carry a brand name for itself and could be sold not only in the retreat alone but also in other spas and recreation centres like these in the city. Northern Sun Retreat’s target market is more of middle aged people. Hence while deciding their packaging the company could use simple designs and lighter colours. This will prove to be more appealing to the target markets and will also cost the company a lot lesser. Also it is important to note that the company focuses on people with white collared jobs, and mainly to the elite groups, hence the products in terms of packaging, branding and labelling requires to be sophisticated and should overall provide a feel of style and class. This will be the major recommendations for the product strategy for Northern Sun Retreat. Pricing Strategies: The pricing of the products and the services already fall into the high end side of the scale. Firstly, since the products and services provided to the customers is five stars style hence the pricing of the products is also very high. The factors that could cause a change in the price would mainly be the lessened demand for the products and services. A slight drop in price can prove to be beneficial for the company, as it could lead to the company gaining more customers. However it is essential to also note that Northern Sun retreat is mainly for the rich and affluent members of the society. Hence the only factor which might possibly create an issue for the company is if a new competitor is built. This would then need Northern Sun retreat to reduce its prices in order to keep up with competition. Also it is important to point out here the Northern Sun is a monopoly at present hence it has the ability to fix the price in the markets and is not influenced by other in the market. Distribution Strategies: Northern Sun Retreat has the potential to be the market leaders with the current products and services it provides. Currently Northern Sun Retreat is in a position where it holds complete monopoly in the market. The current market for the company is direct. This makes the company one which has a limited scope and a limited reach to the customers. Northern Sun Retreat has a number of bright future possibilities to penetrate into different markets and also increase their bran awareness. To do so however, it is essential that the company uses more modernised and non traditional modes of distribution as well as promotion. Promotion Strategies: The current promotion is more based on word of mouth and direct mail marketing. In the current age of marketing, there are several possible opportunities for the company to improve. Currently what Northern Sun really requires is a strong mix of advertising, sales promotions and also public relations. Northern Sun Retreat has a number of different options to choose from. These can be used either by alone or even as a combination and will prove to be very beneficial for the company. Firstly, Email marketing, is one of the most effective and latest modes of marketing is email marketing. It has however been noted that people are willing to provide their addresses and telephone numbers, but when it comes to e-mail; they are not as equally open-minded. According to a number of experts, it is said that email marketing will definitely become a part of the marketing mix for a number of industries however it is unlikely that it could replace direct marketing (Baggot & Sales, 2007). Secondly, Northern Sun Retreat also has the option to use the option of Video marketing. This is a form of marketing which is known to be most beneficial in the case of the holiday industry. This is majorly because the company can emphasis on the various locations that they deal with and provide the customers with a virtual feel of the possible holiday locations and the various facilities that are included in the holidays (Miller, 2008). Also another very fast growing and very beneficial campaign style is called pay per click. Here the company can place their advertisements in other website, on search engines, and advertising networks (Mordkovich, 2006). Blogs and content sites are also a growing form of new media marketing. Here companies use blogs to share information about the company. Here the company has a chance to make the website as informative as well as interactive as they would like (Wright, 2005). Also user interactivity is one of the strongest and most essential parts of a website which provide a mode to reach out to a lager audience and create an impact on the audience. This can be used to provide games, quizzes and many more options related to the various services provided which could attract the attention of the prospective customers following which the customers can be drawn towards the website. This will prove to be a strong attention grabber and will also permit a higher and wider customer focus. The interactive usability can also be used in a mode where the customers are permitted to leave messages on the website. Also direct communication with the customers it is also possible for the company to gain both positive and negative feedback which will in turn help the company focus more on the needs of the customers (Sloman and Sutcliffe, 2004). Conclusion: The use of the various marketing techniques that have been provided above will provide the company with a chance to build and increase its bookings with the help of marketing by almost 30% within 12 months. Northern Sun retreat has a wide range of possibilities to gain better market awareness and also to gain a larger and stronger customer database. Also it has been noted that in the current times, innovation plays a very big role in building customer database and even to drive traffic to the website (Jobber, 2004). The factors that have been discussed above will help the company achieve a strong marketing mix and thereby allow the company to make a number of profits. Bibliography Baggot , C., & Sales, A., (2007), ‘Email Marketing By the Numbers: How to Use the Worlds Greatest Marketing Tool to Take Any Organization to the Next Level’, 20 April 2007, wiley Publishers Jobber, D., (2004), ‘Principles and Practice of Marketing’, 4th Edition, McGraw – Hill, Berkshire Johnson, G., Scholes, K. and Whittington, R., (2006), ‘Exploring Corporate Strategy’, 7th edn, Prentice Hall, Essex Kotler, P, Brown, L, Adam, S, Burton, S, & Armstrong, G (2007), ‘Marketing’, 7th, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest Miller, M., (2008), ‘YouTube for Business: Online Video Marketing for Any Business’, 1st edition, 29 August 2008, Que Publishers Mordkovich, E., (2006), ‘Pay-Per-Click Search Engine Marketing Handbook: Low Cost Strategies to Attracting NEW Customers Using Google, Yahoo & Other Search Engines’, 29 September 2006, MordComm, Inc. Publishers Sloman, J. and Sutcliffe, M., (2004), ‘Economics for Business’, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, Essex Wright, J., (2005), ‘Blog Marketing’, 1st Edition, 15 November 2005, McGraw – Hill Publishers Read More