Four Seasons Hotel at Park Lane, London - Essay Example

Marketing Marketing Introduction This paper aims to conduct a market research of Four Seasons Hotel at Park Lane, London. Initially the significance of market research is discussed followed by the collection of primary and secondary data related to customer demographics and their satisfaction level. In addition to this the paper will create a product that will be helpful in satisfying the needs of least satisfied customer group. Here, price strategies are identified along with the promotional activities, sample of promotional tools and the problems that may arise while marketing the proposed product. Part – 2 Market Research of Four Seasons Hotel at Park Lane, London Market Research It is defined as a comprehensive process which helps in answering particular marketing questions, for instance, what new types of products should be launched in the market, how new customers should be approached etc. In broader perspective all the components of a marketing plan including environmental analysis, segmentation and pricing are actually based upon research (Kolb, 2008). Market research also involves the study of competitors and the changing customer preferences which facilitate organizations in developing new products and creating marketing mix. Importance of Market Research Market Research plays a very significant and crucial role in the overall progress and development of the organization. For instance, it helps in identifying the least satisfied customer group while exploring the unmet needs of target market. Subsequently it define measures which must be ensured when developing a new brand and gaining competitive edge in the market (Hague, 2004). Organizations are now facing tremendous competition due to globalization hence many products leave the market before entering in to the maturity stage. Market research is important in rejuvenating such products through incorporating different product features and identifying new markets (Hague, 2004). In addition to this the importance of market research is expected to increase in the near future because of two major reasons i.e. managers now require more quantitative results from their investments and the market power has actually shifted from sellers to consumers. Thus market research is important to understanding the driving forces of consumer’s purchasing power (Burns, 2007). Customer Demographics and their Satisfaction Level The Four Seasons Resorts and Hotels are a significant part of United Kingdom’s hospitality industry. The organization started its operations in 1961 with a firm belief in innovation, dedication to highest hospitality standards and expansion. It is a Canadian company which has been functioning in UK for around 50 years now. Their primarily values include efficiency, friendliness, maintaining traditions as per the international hotel services and providing luxuries to the contemporary travelers (Four Seasons History, 2014). Thousands of people stay at the Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts every year. These people travel to London from almost all parts of the world for business or recreation purposes. The organization largely distinguishes its customers in to different categories including those who require wedding services or venues for corporate meetings whereas others come to Four Seasons for spending quality family time. Customers coming to the hotel are mostly interested in food services, spa, entertainment and luxury private jet services. The reviews on Four Seasons official website reveals customers’ satisfaction level and their overall experience of staying at the Hotel. One customer states that no other hotel provides hospitality services even closer to the standards set by Four Seasons (Discover Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, 2014). Another customer expresses his contentment through stating that the Hotel is located at prime location in London which facilitates tourists in visiting the museums, shopping areas, theatres etc. Moreover the staff is highly hospitable and the hotel also has a well equipped fitness centre to cater different needs of customers (Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane, 2014). Analysis and Summary Research indicates that Four Seasons Hotel primarily focus on family recreation and tourism. On the other hand they also address the business needs of managers and event organizers through providing them various facilities and venue options. Hence demographically customers belong to the age group 30 to 65 whereas the number of males is comparatively more than females staying at the hotel. Furthermore the reviews indicate that customers are interested in family activities and corporate events while being highly satisfied with the current services of Four Seasons Hotel. Part – 3 Marketing Mix for Four Seasons Hotel Above research and analysis reveals that the customers of Four Seasons Hotel are satisfied with their services. To increase their facilities and to fulfill the recreation needs of customers the organization can develop a library within the hotel premises. In order to create this service the management of Four Seasons will first have to formulate the marketing plan including the pricing and promotion strategies. Product In the contemporary world online libraries actually fulfill the learning needs of customers residing in Hotels such as Four Seasons however online data base cannot replace the physical libraries. Since the demographic analysis of the organization indicates that majority customers either belong to corporate world or stay at Four Seasons for a quality family time therefore offering library will add a competitive edge to the hotel services. Here, it is important to mention that the library would be based upon modern style including a coffee house and separate reading corners. Management can also have a distinguished playing area with children’s books collection. The organization can also provide simple day care services so that parents who stay at Four Seasons for business purposes can leave their child in adult’s supervision. This will not only support in increasing services of the organization rather it will also strengthened the sophisticated hotel environment. For adults the organization can develop separate literary area with collection of traveling, corporate, arts, history and religion related books. The library can be further supported by an arts gallery where recognized artists of London city can exhibit their work. This will help the organization in generating more revenues while attracting artists and admirers of literature from all over the world. Pricing Pricing the library services is one of the most difficult tasks in developing the entire marketing mix primarily because of the fact that customers usually expect library services to be free of cost. However, the organization also needs to generate revenues while giving luxury reading experience to the international tourists. Hence initially the cost of setting up the library needs to be calculated. Subsequently the managers are required to use marginal recovery approach (Gupta, 2006) while pricing the services in order to engage more customers through reduced prices while covering the set up cost. It is important to mention that the price strategy is based upon the changing economic nature which does not allow an organization to offer free literary service (Ghosh, 2005) especially when their mission is to provide recreation activities to the travelers. More specifically the library services will be offered at lower price to the internal customers i.e. individuals who are consuming hotel and resort services of Four Seasons. For instance, these customers will have to pay an extra amount to visit the library as per the duration of their stay in hotel. The library charges will be derived from their hotel package. On the other hand the services will also be offered to external customers i.e. inhabitants of the London city who would like to benefit from the extensive books collection at Four Seasons. These customers will have to pay annual membership fee based on the library package that they may select. The children’s playing area which will be a part of children’s library section will be priced on hourly basis. Promotion Initially the organization has to develop goals for marketing plan, for instance, increasing customer awareness about library services (Fisher, 2006) offered at Four Seasons along with the children’s day care center and playing section. It is actually the responsibility of marketing manager to decide that when advertisement is necessary and what strategies of sales promotion should be implemented (Venkatappaiah, 1990). In order to promote the library services the Four Seasons management will have to first focus on the internal customers i.e. people who are currently residing in hotels and resorts. Here, the organization can develop a comprehensive form based on customer’s literary and reading interests along with his/her profession. These forms are then required to be analyzed to find customers who will be interested in library services. The profession of individuals will help in promoting the library, for instance, if there are people from academics and research then they can be sent vouchers or promotional posters of Four Seasons Library. This will help the management in reaching to the target market while stimulating the reading interest of its customers. Promotional advertisements can be run on television screens in hotel lounges while on the other hand quotations from books can also be framed and placed in the corridors which will add exquisiteness to the hotel while promoting its distinguished library services. Once this is done then the management is required to attract external customers through advertisement in newspapers and magazines. Here, brochures can also be distributed at different educational seminars and meetings while increasing awareness about the library services of Four Seasons (Kawatra, 2000). Sample of Promotional Poster Difficulties in executing the marketing plan There are number of difficulties which the management may face while marketing the Library Services of Four Seasons Hotel. For instance, Hiring new employees and making financial investment to develop the library (Naidoo, 2010) will impact the overall revenues of the organization on immediate basis. This is because of the fact that Four Seasons will have to develop library facilities along with a large collection of books as per customers’ interest. All of these operations require significant finances whereas organization will also need to hire separate staff members for the maintenance of facilities and delivery of library services. Another major difficulty would be reaching to the target market and internal customers who are actually interested in library. It may also happen that the customers residing in hotels and resorts may not positively respond to the promotions (Garrison, 2013). On the other hand it is also difficult to approach external customers while persuading them to visit Four Seasons Hotel Library. Ever since 1990s electronic publishing and the idea of digital libraries has gained enough recognition and appreciation in the literary world which has dramatically increased competition for traditional libraries (Arms, 2000). Since the Four Season’s library will be based upon traditional services with few exceptions therefore dealing with the increasing demand of digital libraries would be one of the major challenges for the organization. It is also difficult to manage large libraries with different departments because a manager can only handle one department (VanDuinkerken , 2011) and if his position is changed then it creates significant managerial issues within the library. Moreover, the internal customers of Four Seasons are basically international tourists but its external customers for library services will be individuals associated with academics. Strengthening the connection between users, for instance, doctoral degree holders and library would be difficult for the organization (Walter, 2010) since the two categories of customers are entirely different from one another. All of these difficulties can be managed through emotionally affecting customers and providing them such soothing environment that they are bound to visit Four Seasons Hotel Library for their recreational or educational needs. Libraries are actually beneficial in providing means through which an individual can experience true art (Weiner, 2010) which appeals to his or her aesthetics sense. This is further substantiated by the fact that in the past few decades emotions have been frequently used in promoting education (Cefai, 2009). Libraries play a dual role in the organizational setting because at one side they are a source of educating the community whereas on the other side they are the distributors of knowledge (Ashkanasy, 2000). Maintaining the culture of innovation and modernizing the library services (Huber, 2011) will further help the organization in meeting above difficulties. References Arms, WY 2000, Digital libraries, The MIT Press, Cambridge. Ashkanasy, NM 2000, Emotions in the workplace: research, theory, and practice, Quorum Books, Westport, Conn. Burns, AC & Bush, RF 2007, Marketing research, Pearson, India. Cefai, C & Cooper, P 2009, Promoting emotional education engaging children and young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties, J. Kingsley Publishers, London. Discover Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 2014, Four Seasons, UK, viewed 6 September 2014, Fisher, PH, Pride, MM & Miller, EG 2005, Blueprint for your library marketing plan: a guide to help you survive and thrive, American Library Association, Chicago. Four Seasons History 2014, Four Seasons, UK, viewed 6 September 2014, Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane 2014, Trip Advisor, USA, viewed 6 September 2014, Garrison, JA 2013, The Twelfth Off-Campus Library Services Conference Proceedings, Routledge, New York. Ghosh, SB & Mujoo-Munshi, U 2005, Reengineering library services: lessons of the past and the road ahead, Allied Publications, India. Gupta, DK 2006, Marketing library and information services international perspectives, K.G. Saur, Germany. Hague, P 2004, Market Research in Practice a Guide to the Basics, Kogan Page, London. Huber, JJ 2011, Lean library management: eleven strategies for reducing costs and improving customer services, Neal-Schuman Publishers, New York. Kawatra, PS 2000, Textbook of information science, A.P.H. Publication, India. Kolb, BM 2008, Marketing research a practical approach, SAGE, USA.  Naidoo, JC 2010, Celebrating Cuentos: Promoting Latino Childrens Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries: Promoting Latino Childrens Literature and Literacy in Classrooms and Libraries, ABC-CLIO, California. Vanduinkerken, W & Mosley, PA 2011, The challenge of library management: leading with emotional engagement, American Library Association, Chicago. VeṅKaṭappayya, V & Kaula, PN 1990, Dimensions of library and information science: Kaula festschrift : papers contributed in honour of Prof. P.N. Kaula on his sixty-first birthday, Concept Pub. Co, India. Walter, S & Williams, K 2010, The expert library: staffing, sustaining, and advancing the academic library in the 21st century, Association of College and Research Libraries, Chicago. Weiner, RG, Scott, RW, Nyberg, AK., Fee, WT & Goldsmith, F 2010, Graphic novels and comics in libraries and archives essays on readers, research, history and cataloging, McFarland & Co, Jefferson, N.C.  Appendix Customer Demographics of Four Seasons Hotel London Park Lane Age 30 – 65 Occupation Business, academics, tourists, researchers etc. Gender Male and Female Nationality European and Arabs Income Approximately $ 50K per year Read More