Marketing Plan of Mandarin Oriental Hotel - Case Study Example

Marketing Plan Report Executive Summary Mandarin Oriental Hotel is a typical modern day five star hotel located in Al Saddiyat Island in Abu Dhabi. The hotel targets the holiday seekers who travel to the Middle Eastern country for holiday and travel needs. The hotel strives to diversify its services in order to capture its target market thus enhance its profitability. Just as is the case with any other commercial organization, the management of the hotel carries out extensive marketing of the hotel not only to maintain its current customers but also to increase the hotel’s current market share. Marketing is a fundamental function of management whose primary objective is to determine a substantial market for a company thus fostering its profitability objectives. As such, the management of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel continues to employ unique techniques in order to achieve this. The marketing mix is among the fundamental marketing tools that the management of the hotel uses in developing new services and products that endear to their target markets thus increasing its market share. Key elements of the mix include price, place, product and promotion. The four elements are important and the marketers of the hotel continues to devise new ways of maintain its market share. Place is a vital element in the mix that helps define the target market for a corporate organization. The location of Mandarin Oriental Hotel is a prestigious high society valley. The strategic location of the hotel enhances the value of the hotel thus its ability to satisfy its customers. Price is yet another important factor and an element of the mix that influences the profitability of a company. The management of the hotel strives to provide value for the money they charge their clients. Products on the other hand refer to the hotel and the services it offers. The hotel is an iconic and beautiful building with the staff of the hotel striving to maintain high quality services with the view of attracting new markets. Promotion is a dedicated process whose key purpose is to raise the awareness of the target customer on the existence of a product or service in a particular market. The management of the hotel employs appropriate promotional tools in order to earn the establishment new market. In retrospect, Mandarin Oriental Hotel is a perfect example of a commercial organization with a dedicated marketing department whose key objective is to enhance the profitability of the company just as is the case with many other commercial organizations. The longevity of the hotel is a portrayal of the business’ profitability arising from the success of the marketing techniques employed by the marketing department of the hotel. The hotel faces numerous factors including political, economic, social and technological factors all of which require effective management and manipulation in order to foster the profitability of the company. The hospitality industry is a competitive but an equally profitable industry. The management of the hotel exhibits understanding of the industry thus employing appropriate techniques to counter competition thus sustaining the profitability of the hotel as the report below reveals. 2. Situation Analysis An industry consists of numerous players often including competitions and the government among other stakeholders. Each of the varied stakeholders often influences the operation of every company operating in the industry. The same is the case in Abu Dhabi as the like of Mandarin Oriental Hotel strives to sustain profitability in a highly competitive industry. However, the hotel among other similar businesses enjoys a conducive market as the government of the country continues to market the country and promote its tourism industry. Current, Abu Dhabi is among the leading tourist destinations globally. As such, the marketing department of the hotel thus targets the global market a feature that makes the process both expensive and equally profitable since the region is a robust market that continues to attract travelers for varied reasons (Pride & Ferrell, 2006). Political factors often affect the operation of commercial companies in a country. Politicians form government thus formulates and implement policies. As such, political factors affect the tax regimes, the peace and stability of the country among other economic factors. Abu Dhabi continues to expand its hospitality industry owing to the government’s commitment to the development of a peaceful and stable country in which both investors and tourists enjoy stability and peace. The government of the country champions the marketing of the country globally thus striving to increase the number of tourists visiting the country. This way, the government increases the size of the market for the marketers of Mandarin Oriental Hotel among other similar businesses in the country. Economic factors are yet other important factors that influence the operation of the hotel. As stated earlier the economy of the country counties to grow a feature that validates the growth of the tour and hospitality industries in the country. The viable economic state of the country enhances the profitability of companies operating in the country. The same is the case with social factors, which influence the profitability of companies since the companies exist in societies. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel continues to monitor the social developments and thus employing prevailing technologies and observing the social trends in marketing the business. Among the key contemporary social feature is the use of social media in marketing. The rapid spread of the internet and its inherent services such as the social media have revolutionized online marketing. The hotel uses such owing to their viability in marketing thus positioning the hotel strategically in the market. Such portray the company’s utilization of technology in improving the profitability of the hotel. Prevailing technologies influence the management and marketing of commercial organization (Burrow & Jim, 2009). The management and marketers of the hotel observe and utilize such trends appropriately thus enhancing the profitability of the hotel. SWOT analysis is yet another important tool that influences the marketing of commercial organization. The marketers of Mandarin Oriental Hotel employ the tool in their quest to understand both the industry and the business in order to position both the hotel and its services appropriately. Among the elements of the tool are strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses are internal factors the management can easily manipulate thus enhancing the profitability of the hotel. Opportunities and threats on the other hand are external factors existing in the industry. The marketers of the hotel cannot control such factors and must therefore change their operations in order to enhance their profitability dispute the unique prevalence of the two factors in the industry. Among the strengths of the hotel is the diversity of its services. Diversity is a key marketing tool that enhances the profitability of a business since it expands the target market. This way, the hotel targets a large market a feature that enhances its profitability. Additionally, the five star hotel meets the status of such hotels feature that sets the hotel apart as its targets the elite market. As such, the hotel employs elite marketing strategies besides offering elite services. Such include customer loyalty among many others. Such are intricate factors that enhance the profitability of the hotel thus the success of the marketing team. The main weakness of the hotel on the other hand is its defined target market. The status of the hotel often limits its target market since its services are world class with the fees reflecting the same. The hotel has numerous opportunities as the hospitality and tour industries in the country continue to expand. The fact that the hotel targets the global market implies that it enjoys a large target market thus has a large potential for profitability. Additionally, the hotel employs numerous elite marketing strategies such as customer loyalty services all of which appeal to the elite market (Moore, 2006). This implies that the hotel is likely to foster its profitability as the government continues to encourage the development of the tour industry by advertising the country globally. The size coupled with the rapid development of the tour and hospitality industries in the country are primary factors that provide the hotel with a large insatiable market. Despite such lucrative features of the market, the hotel’s primary threat is competition. Abu Dhabi continues to welcome the construction of new five star hotels in strategic locations throughout the country. Another equally important marketing tool is the marketing mix and the promotional mix. The two are key yet related tools that the marketing team of the hotel continues to exploit in order to enhance the profitability of the hotel. The marketing mix includes such elements as price, place, promotion and product. The four are primary factors that the management and marketers of the hotel continue to manipulate and employ strategically in order to position the hotel strategically in order to appeal to its target market. The promotional mix is yet another important tool used by marketers to enhance the reputation of the business. Promotion is a factor in the marketing mix a fact that portrays the importance of the promotion. The management and marketing team of Mandarin Oriental Hotel employ numerous techniques in marketing the services of the hotel. Such include both the traditional and the new media. The hotel uses such strategically in order to each both its local and international target market. 3. Marketing Objectives The main objective of the marketing report is to enhance the profitability of the hotel. However, such is often a hectic undertaking that requires effective understanding of both the business and the industry. The management and marketers of Mandarin Oriental Hotel portray this understanding thus tailor the services and operations of the marketing departments in order to enhance the profitability of the hotel. As discussed earlier, marketing is an important management function (Blick, 2011). As such, the marketing department influences the operations of the company. Marketers must understand both the industry and the business. In order to achieve such an objective understanding of the two, the marketers must carry out exhaustive market researches and analysis in order to synchronize the operations of the business to the prevailing trends in the market. The marketing department thus influences the operations of the company a feature that implies that the marketing manager in the hotel is a top-level manager capable of influencing the operations of the business in order to synchronize the operations of the business to the prevailing market factors. The key objectives of the marketing department thus include: a. To maintain the current market by satisfying the demand of the current market the hotel enjoys b. To grow the company’s market share through the introduction of appropriate products and services 4. Marketing Strategy and Programs Marketing is a fundamental operation for every business organization. The marketing me at Mandarin Oriental Hotel employs numerous marketing strategies and programs all of which enjoy elative successes a feature that validates the position of the hotel as one of the industry leaders in the country. As the marketing mix portrays, the elements of the mix are important factors that influence the profitability and competitiveness of the hotel in the industry. The hotel typifies both the modern and the future of the hospitality industry as the management employs specific marketing and management techniques in order to foster the profitability objectives. The product as a key element in the marketing mix refers to the hotel (Zarrella, 2010). The structure and services of the hotel influences the profitability of the business. The company for example strives to provide value for money. As such, the structure of the hotel boats high quality and tailored services a feature that sustains the profitability of the hotel. The hotel targets the wealth and rich members of the society. Such is a unique market that demands specific features in order to satisfy their demands. The hotel strives to meet such demands by tailoring its services. The hotel has unique elite services that strive to appeal to the elite market it targets. Such features as customer loyalty cards are appropriate ways of marketing a product or service. Additionally, such is an effective technique of maintaining the current market share. Through such services, the clients of the hotel readily receive a loyalty cards. The cards enhance the satisfaction of the customers since it increases the value for the money they spend at the hotel. Through the card, the customers accrue redeemable loyalty points. The points have financial value as the clients readily redeem the points for additional tailored services within the hotel. Diversification of services and collaboration is yet another essential marketing technique the company employs in growing its market share. As explained earlier, diversification of services and products is a way of widening the target market. Besides the hotel and catering services, the hotel offers numerous other services including car hire and chattered flight for its clients. The introduction of such additional services ensures that the company retains its clients by tailoring the services for such loyal customers. Such is an appropriate way of competing with the other hotels in the industry that do not offer such related services. Collaboration is yet another appropriate way of increasing the profitability of a business. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel collaborated with numerous other businesses that offer varied services. Through such collaborations, the company introduces appropriate services that enhance their each to their target elite services thus increasing the profitability of the hotel. Mandarin Oriental Hotel collaborates with airline companies and hotels in other countries. This way, the hotel receives referrals an effective way of increasing its profitability. Price is yet another fundamental element of the marketing mix that influences the profitability of a company. The Mandarin Oriental Hotel charges varied prices for its services. The prices are appropriate based on both the quality of the services the hotel offers and the market it targets. The rich and the wealthy in the society are unique classes of consumers who can readily afford the services and products. As such, they often consider the value they obtain for the money they spend. Such is an und3erstanding that validates the lavishness in luxury that the hotel employs. Additionally, by tailoring its services, the hotel maintains its clients by charging each client uniquely based on the services each client obtain rom the hotel. Coupled with the variety of services and the loyalty services, the hotel strives to satisfy bits client thus validating its elite status. Promotion is an equally important feature of marketing. It refers to the activities and techniques the hotel employs in raising its customer awareness of the existence of the market. The process requires the marketers to identify the target market thus employ appropriate media that will enhance the reach to such a target audience. The marketers at Mandarin Oriental Hotel employ numerous strategic media that enhance their reach to their target market. Additionally, the hotel has an effective loyalty service that makes it easier for the marketers to track its customers thus communicate any new service bouquets. Such are effective ways of improving the customer’s awareness of the hotel (Zarrella & Alison, 2011). The hotel runs numerous adverts of both local and international media. The hotel runs numerous adverts on radio, adverts and billboards both locally and internationally. Among the international media the hotel uses in advertising, its services include Aljazeera, the BBC and the DW among many others. The media have unparalleled reach to their target audience thus enhancing the reach of the hotel to its target international and local clientele. As explained earlier, market researches and analyses are fundamental marketing undertakings that that informs the operations of the businesses since it remains synchronized with the prevailing trends in the market. In order to achieve this, the Mandarin Oriental Hotel employs appropriate ways to advertise its services and carry out the researches. The loyalty services are effective ways of maintaining contacts with the customers thus carrying out effective researches. Through the contacts, the hotel seeks feedback from the clients of the hotel thus revising its services in order to satisfy the customers. Additionally, the hotel advertises its services through the new media. The internet has appropriate ways of marketing its services and reaching out to its target market. The social media is such an appropriate way for the hotel to carry out its market researches and analyses. The social media offers users an appropriate way of interacting a provision the hotel uses in obtaining feedback from such users. This way, the hotel revises its services often improving most with the view of increasing the reach of thus its profitability. Through the social media and the customer loyalty services, Mandarin Oriental Hotel has appropriate ways of reaching out for feedback from its clients thus maintaining its customer loyalty and position in the market. 5. Financial Documents Mandarin Oriental Hotel has numerous financial statements that portray the company’s dedication to carrying out effective market researches and marketing its services throughout the world. The company understands the need for marketing and therefore apportions appropriate resources in marketing its service, among the important financial statements that portray the flow of money within the company thus portraying the importance of marketing to any business organization including the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Among such statements, include the balance sheet, income statement and statement of cash flows. The financial documents portray the importance of marketing in the company as the management of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel employs extensive resources in the marketing of the services of the hotel. A balance sheet is among the most important financial documents in the company. It communicates the liabilities, assets and ownership of a business. Key among the assets of the Mandarin Oriental Hotel include the equipment the business uses in marketing its products and services is vital since it balances the investments of the company besides portraying the profitability of such services. An income statement is equally important since it portrays the comprehensive statement of income in the company. This portrays the income of the numerous marketing employees of the company. This leaves the employees motivated thus capable of undertaking their duties effectively in promoting the services and products of the company. The company employs numerous human resource management techniques in order to motivate its employees appropriately a feature that increases their dedication to their duties. The employees portray creativity as they devise appropriate ways of marketing the services and products of the company. Additionally, the hotel expects a lot from its employees. The hotel employs professional hoteliers, people with appropriate customer relations skills to manage the services and products of the hotel. In order to enhance the profitability of the hotel, the management of the hotel employs effective marketers. The income statement is therefore an appropriate financial statement that portrays the earnings of the employees. Additionally, the statement portrays the statement of revenue and expense, and the profit and loss report. Such are vital reports that portray the financial position of the company and the relationship among the numerous components of the hotel. In retrospect, management is an all-inclusive undertaking that requires aptness from the numerous stakeholders. The financial statement discussed above thus portrays the importance of the numerous marketing functions including the company’s extensive human resource management and marketing plans. Statement of cash flow is yet another vital document that portrays the flow of money with the company. The company invests varied amount of capital in undertaking numerous marketing activities including advertisement, market research and media adverts among other important media contents that enhance the reputation of the hotel and its services. The statement of cash flow below portrays the company’s investment on the varied marketing undertakings for a year. Undertaking Cost Television adverts $ 500,000 Radio adverts $500,000 Loyalty card project $1,000,000 Social media $500,000 Total $ 2,500,00 The statement portrays some of the most important marketing undertakings the management caries out in raising the awareness of the hotel, its products but and services in order to foster the hotel’s profitability objective. Marketing is a costly undertaking that requires extensive resources, the hotel carries out numerous marketing activities at a time since they all have relative strengths and weaknesses, by incorporating numerous marketing undertakings the marketing team enhances the effectiveness of the process since the techniques complement each other. 6. Monitors and Controls Marketing just as any other management operation requires effective controls and monitors in order to safeguard the resources utilized in the process. As explained earlier, marketing is an expensive undertaking and therefore requires appropriate control and monitoring in order to safeguard the effectiveness of the marketing process. Monitoring and controlling the numerous marketing undertakings the hotel engages in is vital since it curbs the excesses in any undertaking. The systems theory of management views commercial organizations as systems with numerous components all of which must functions in uniform albeit independently in order for the commercial organization to realize profitability. Marketing is key among the components of the system. Controlling excesses in marketing the services and products of the hotel is therefore important since it contributes to the efficiency and profitability of the hotel. The primary way of measuring the effectiveness of the numerous marketing techniques is to evaluate the profitability of the company. Additionally, each marketing campaign has specific objectives. The marketers must therefore monitor the effectiveness of the numerous objectives and the ability of the campaign to achieve such objectives. Key among the marketing campaigns in the company is the loyalty program. Customer loyalty program is among the most basic services that are not only cost effective but also equally efficient. Monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the loyalty program is therefore essential to the success of the marketing campaign since it enables the marketing team to determine appropriate services to incorporate in the loyalty program. The number of customers registering and redeeming the loyalty points they gather from the program is important and the surest way of ensuring that, the company does not incur losses from one of the numerous marketing programs. The same applies to radio and television adverts both of which seek to raise the awareness of the target market on the existence and the uniqueness of the products and services of the company. Monitoring and measuring the success of the two methods of advertising is essential since they seek to increase the reputation of the business. Despite such, the key objective of every marketing undertaking in a company is to increase the profitability of the business. This implies that measuring and monitoring the increase in the profitability of the company is the surest way of measuring and monitoring the effectiveness of every marketing campaign. References Blick, D. (2011). The Ultimate Small Business Marketing Book. Surrey: Filament Publishing, Burrow, J. & Jim, B. (2009). Marketing. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Moore, G. A. (2006). Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Disruptive Products to Mainstream Customers. New York: CollinsBusiness Essentials. Pride, W. M. & Ferrell, C. O. (2006). Marketing: Concepts and Strategies. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. Zarrella, D. & Alison, Z. (2011). The Facebook Marketing Book. Beijing: OReilly. Zarrella, D. (2010). The Social Media Marketing Book. Beijing: OReilly. Read More