Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company - Essay Example

For comparison purposes, it will also tackle the marketing performance of Motel 6. Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company is popular due to its upscale, luxury brand of hotels and resorts with locations in major cities in the United States and other internationally famous destinations such as Montego Bay, Jamaica, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Bali, Hong Kong and Qatar. The hotel company owns 59 hotels in 20 countries 37 of which are hotels while 22 are resorts. The operation of the hotel company began in 1983 with the purchase of the Ritz-Carlton, Boston by William B. Johnson. However, the legacy of the hotel is attributed to the celebrated "king of hoteliers and hotelier to kings," Csar Ritz.

The company states that "his philosophy of service and innovations redefined the luxury hotel experience in Europe through his management of The Ritz in Paris and The Carlton in London." The company's quest of providing quality accommodation and service named it one of the best hotels in the world as it consistently reaped awards from prestigious organizations like Forbes, Travel Weekly, Luxury Institute, and Consumer Reports. In 2006, it was awarded the Mobil Five-Star Award and AAA Five Diamond Award.

On the other hand, Motel 6 is a large budget motel chain the United States and Canada. It was founded in Santa Barbara, California in 1962. The company got its name from the original room rate which was $6 a night. The brand's commitment of offering value at low prices enabled it to expand rapidly. Currently, the motel chain is in more than 840 locations with approximately 870, 000 rooms in the United States and Canada. The company also boasts of being the largest owned and operated hotel chain in America, thanks to Accor the largest hotel operator.

MARKET SEGMENTATION Market segmentation is defined as the "division of market into homogenous group of consumers (Market Segmentation 1)." Market segmentation is a very essential tool in devising an effective marketing strategy for a firm. Market segmentation allows every company to develop marketing strategies for each segment to maximize product profitability. This tool enables the company to gain competitive market positioning as well as deliver maximum customer value. Ritz-Carlton's market segmentation can be seen on its different product offerings.

The company irrefutably utilized geographic, psychographic, as well as behavioral factors in designing their product line. In terms of geographic it can be noticed that Ritz-Carlton offers accommodation in four key strategic locations-tourist spots, business districts, metropolitan, and countryside. The company offers luxurious accommodations in scenic tourists' destinations like Bali, Milan, and Barcelona as well as in the business districts of New York, Tokyo, and Dubai International Financial Center.

Metropolitan like areas like Seoul and Kula Lumpur as well as the countryside of Florida and Montego Bay are conquered by the pleasure offered by Ritz Carlton. In terms of psychographic and behavioral factors, Ritz-Carlton segments its market by looking at the general and specific interests of its customers. The hotel company divides its target company according to the purpose of their use of facility. Three