London Ships Preliminary Marketing - Essay Example

LONDON SHIPS PRELIMINARY MARKETING PLAN By: Executive Summary The London-based Ships of Historic Interest Partnership (SHIPS) promotes the maritime history and legacy of Great Britain through encouraging the public to visit its seven historic vessels located in London. Over the past several years, the Partnership has experienced a decline in the number of visitors to these historic sites. This report provides the basic research, analysis and recommendations that SHIPS will need as it moves forward in developing and implementing a comprehensive international marketing strategy. This paper identifies the major internal and external (micro and macro) environmental factors that SHIPS will face as it moves toward developing an international marketing plan. The report recommends that the plan limit the number of marketing objectives to four; identifying international markets, developing generational marketing strategies, maximizing opportunities arising out of the 2012 London Olympic Games and increasing the membership and private donor support. Data compiled by the Office of National Statistics and the Department of Culture are utilized to identify target markets in Western Europe and North America. The remaining global nations are targeted through existing Olympic Games partnerships. The core marketing strategy revolves around the use of digital media networks and interactive video technologies. The SHIPS website should be completely re-designed and social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter should be utilized to market the SHIPS product to younger people. The report recommends that a full-time marketing manager be hired to oversee all aspects of the marketing plan, its implementation and the evaluation of outcomes. A budget of $140,000 pounds has been identified to implement the marketing strategy and a timeline of 23 months has been established leading up to the opening of the 2012 Olympic Games. Introduction London’s Ships of Historic Interest Partnership (SHIPS) is dedicated to the preservation of the unique heritage of Britain as a maritime nation. Its seven historic ships provide an orientation and education to visitors about the important role that sea trade played in helping to shape the economy of Britain and several other European nations as well (londonships.org). One of the major challenges that SHIPS faces is to expand the scope of its message to target audiences outside of the United Kingdom where few people know of the historic ships as a potential tourist destination during visits to London. This comprehensive marketing assessment provides analysis and recommendations in support of an expanded marketing campaign beyond the traditional U.K. market. Major Marketing Objectives The London SHIPS website indicates that overall interest in maritime history in general as well as actual visits to the historic ships in particular has remained stagnant for the past several years. This is consistent with general population research that shows that younger children tend to find a special fascination with historical attractions such as museums. However, as they grow older, their interest in history and culture appears to wane (Wu, Homes & Tribe, 2010). The following four major objectives have been identified and are recommended for inclusion in the final marketing plan: Objective 1: identify international markets with the highest probability of attracting visitors to the London area. Objective 2: develop generational marketing strategies targeted at children under the age of fifteen and their parents. Objective 3: maximize the opportunities associated with the 2012 London Olympic Games. Objective 4: raise international awareness around the need to increase membership in SHIPS and expand the company’s private donor base. One of the critical components to the ultimate success of any marketing plan is to identify objectives that are realistic given the circumstances facing the organisation. In this case, it seems reasonable to concentrate on a few international regions that have a high potential to generate visitors, to target the younger generation, to maximize the opportunities associated with the Olympics and to attempt to increase membership and the donor base which will provide longer term stability for London SHIPS. The Marketing Environment The successful development and implementation of a marketing plan requires an accurate and comprehensive assessment of the internal and external environmental factors impacting the organisation. It is important for SHIPS to be aware that these environmental factors in an international context can vary significantly from the factors that impact marketing on the domestic level. Organisations that attempt to market products and services in the international community quickly realize that the complexity of the global environment and the speed at which the factors change makes accurate analysis difficult and complex (Doole & Lowe, 2008). In deciding which countries might be appropriate in meeting the first objective of the marketing plan, it is important to consider the economic, cultural, legal, technological and political environments of these countries and to determine if these factors will ultimately enhance or constrain the marketing initiatives. Targeting countries with relatively stable political environments is important. Political unrest can result in a decline in the number of visitors from a particular country or region. A country’s economic condition is important because SHIPS wants to market to countries where people have the fiscal capacity to travel to London. The plan should target countries with sophisticated technological infrastructure because digital marketing can be an effective and inexpensive marketing tool. The cultural and social characteristics of the target countries are also an important consideration. An obvious question might be; what connection does this particular culture have to maritime history? It probably makes little sense, for example, for SHIPS to market to a landlocked country located in central Africa. Finally, it is important to understand the legal environment of a particular country that is identified in the marketing plan. Are there local legal barriers to advertising, for example? What types of local approvals are required before a marketing campaign can be launched? Internal or micro-environmental factors must also be taken into consideration during the planning phase. In the case of the SHIPS partnership, three internal factors are critical in the successful execution of the marketing plan; organisational capacity, financial resources and stakeholder support. Does the partnership currently have or can it develop the internal human capacity to manage an international marketing campaign? Effective marketing requires an allocation of resources that are sufficient to cover costs over the duration of the plan. The partnership leadership must ensure that its existing members, donors and community supporters are comfortable with the development and implementation of a comprehensive international marketing strategy. Identification of SHIPS Market The only way to systematically and accurately identify potential markets is through rigorous research (Kotabe & Helsen, 2008). The U.K. Government has two excellence sources in this regard. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport publishes a number of reports related to tourism activity in the U.K. Moreover, this same ministry is also responsible for all government marketing and promotional activities surrounding the 2012 Olympic Games (Culture.gov). The Office for National Statistics (ONS) tracks incoming tourism volume by region through its International Passenger Survey. These data are invaluable in identifying target markets for SHIPS (Statistics.gov). ONS data show that 30 million international tourists visited the United Kingdom in 2009 and that these individuals spent a total of 16.9 billion pounds. The largest cohort of tourists by far comes from other European countries. This group represented 73 percent of the total tourism volume or 22 million people. The data show that 3.6 million visitors representing 12.5 percent of the total came from North America. All of the other countries in the world combined accounted for 4.2 million visitors or 14.5 percent of the total. ONS longitudinal data reveal that the number of tourists from North America has declined by 27 percent over the past 20 years, the numbers from other European countries have increased by 37 percent and the numbers from all of the other countries in the world combined have remained about the same (Statistics.gov). It appears from the research that visitors from other European countries are already traveling to the U.K. in large numbers and the volume is increasing each year. It seems that SHIPS simply needs to be more proactive in making these people aware that the historic maritime vessels represent one of London’s best kept secrets. The data from North America are rather disconcerting and present a much different marketing challenge. Canadians and Americans would make an ideal target market for SHIPS because of their historically close ties to the U.K. and the fact that they are both nations with rich maritime histories. The most cost effective way to address the “rest of the world” market is to utilize the momentum leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games in London. Attempting to initiate a stand alone marketing strategy to a variety of countries around the globe that currently only account for 14 percent of overall tourism is a risky and expensive undertaking (Japal, 2008). Target Markets In order to maximize marketing effectiveness and to be able to quantitatively assess outcomes, a measurable goal for each market segment must be determined (Stewart, 2009). The analysis leads to the identification of three distinctive target markets outside of the United Kingdom. The first represents the tourists who plan to visit London as a result of the 2012 Olympic Games. The primary objective with this group is to ensure that SHIPS marketing materials are made available as part of the U.K. government’s overall plan to market the games to international constituents. The second distinct market segment is adult tourists from North America and Europe. A marketing model must be developed and targeted specifically at this cohort. The third distinct group is young people from North America and Europe who visit the U.K. as tourists. The primary objective with this cohort is to utilize digital marketing strategies that will somehow capture their interest in historic ships and maritime trade. Granted, attempting to capture three very different market segments in an international marketing domain is no small task. However, the next section provides several specific strategies on how this might be accomplished. Marketing Strategies Given budget and time constraints, the best course of action for SHIPS to take with regard to the Olympic visitors segment is to partner with the various organizations that have been established to deal specifically with the 2012 Olympic Games. The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has established several tourism programs in conjunction with local government and community partners. These include Visit Britain, Visit England and Visit London. In addition, the Minister recently announced a one billion pound fund to be used by non-government entities devoted exclusively to marketing and public relations activities leading up to the 2012 games (Culture.gov). SHIPS should consider applying for a grant to help market the country’s maritime history. A second marketing initiative that will go a long way toward educating international visitors about SHIPS is the organisation’s website. The current site is absolutely terrible. It disseminates little in the way of information, has no interactive links and makes no attempt to appeal to a clientele outside of the U.K. It is strongly recommended that SHIPS immediately engage the services of a qualified web designer to undertake a complete re-design of the website. The site should also include a special link for donors. A third strategy is part of what has now become known in the corporate world as digital marketing. Chris Curtain, the current Vice-President for Marketing at Hewlett Packard and former digital marketing guru at Disney, is a leading expert on marketing to various population segments in countries all over the world. Curtain claims that using digital technologies is fast, extremely cost effective and captures the largest possible audience than any other form of marketing (Huffington Report, 2010). This is particularly the case for the segment of the population under 25 years of age. The social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter are where younger people get most of their information. SHIPS must begin to engage these social media networks in marketing its product to young people throughout Europe and North America. The potential is unlimited because a high percentage of people in North America and Western Europe have home-based computers. A fourth strategy that appeals across age and ethnic groups is interactive media. SHIPS can create a series of interactive programs that will bring these historic vessels back to life. Young people and sometimes the not so young are hooked on video games and interactive technologies in general. Utilizing this technology provides incredible marketing power for a relatively small investment. The Action Plan It is essential that London SHIPS immediately finalize its marketing plan. Timing is critical as there is only 23 months before the 2012 London Olympic Games begin. The SHIPS leadership should immediately begin to search for a full-time marketing professional to oversee the completion of the marketing plan as well as its implementation. A web design professional should be hired on a two month contract basis to re-design and test the SHIPS website and to create the donor page. Under the supervision of the marketing manager, SHIPS should become engaged in marketing the historic vessels through the social media networks. Web based as well as hard copy literature about the vessels and their historic significance need to be designed and disseminated through the Department of Culture, Media and sports and its partner organizations. The marketing manager should prepare a grant application requesting funds through the national program announced by the Minister of Culture. Finally, developing interactive video capabilities that make the historic vessels come to life should be explored as a longer term strategy over the next twelve to eighteen months. Performance metrics will also need to be established as part of the final plan. The marketing manager will need to analyze the data on the number of individuals who have visited the historic vessels over the past several years and if available, collect data on their age classification and country of residence. Growth metrics for each market segment must be established so that an assessment can be conducted to determine how effective the marketing campaign was in generating more visitors to view the vessels. The marketing manager should develop a brief hard copy and online survey instrument to gather data related to the vessel site visits over the next two years. Data should also be gathered related to the contacts established through the digital marketing media. Marketing Budget Item Cost Full-time Marketing Manager 40,000 x 2 years 80,000 Web Designer 2 months x 2,500 5,000 Clerical support (half time) 12 months x 1,500 18,000 Interactive video development 4 months x 2,500 10,000 Publications 4,000 Office space 24 months x 600 14,400 Office supplies 24 months x 200 4,800 Miscellaneous 2,500 Total Budget 138,700 Monitoring and Evaluation As noted earlier, the marketing manager will be responsible for all aspects of the implementation of the marketing plan including ongoing monitoring and outcomes evaluation. The performance metrics that are established as part of the final marketing plan will be assessed utilizing survey data gathered on site and through the internet. Monthly progress reports will be prepared as well as a comprehensive annual report and this information will be made available to the SHIPS leadership, the partnership members and private donors. Critical Issues There are several critical elements associated with this preliminary marketing plan. The first is the major time constraint. With less than two years before the start of the Olympic Games, SHIPS will have to act with some degree of urgency in moving from the planning to the implementation phase. A second issue relates to funding. One hundred and forty thousand pounds is a substantial amount of money that will need to be allocated to the project in a very short period of time. Third, the workload and responsibilities of the marketing manager are substantial. Whether SHIPS can find someone with the credentials to undertake the project given the salary and short term employment contract remains to be seen. Reference List Curtain, Chris 2010, “Top Social Network and Marketing Trends”, The Huffington Post, Available from: http://www.huffingtonpost.com [4 Aug 2010]. Doole, Isobel & Lowe, Robert 2008, International Marketing Strategy: Analysis, Development and Implementation, 5th ed., Cengage Learning, United Kingdom. Japal, Saran 2008, “How to Choose Optimal International Marketing Strategies”, Fusion for Profit, pp. 532-536, Available from: http://www.oxfordscholarship.com [4 Aug 2010]. Kotabe, M & Helsen, K 2008, Global Marketing Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York. London’s Ships of Historic Interest Partnership website, Available from: http://www.londonships.org.uk [3 August 2010]. Stewart, David W 2009, “Marketing Accountability: Linking Market Actions to Financial Results”, Journal of Business Research, vol. 32, no. 6, pp. 636-643. United Kingdom Department of Culture, Media and Sport website, Available from: http://www.culture.gov.uk [4 Aug 2010]. United Kingdom Office of National Statistics website, Available from: http://www.startistics.gov.uk [4 August 2010]. Wu, Kai-Lin, Homes, Kirsten & Tribe, John 2010, “Where do you want to go today? An analysis of family group decisions to visit museums”, Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 26, no. 7, pp. 706-726. Read More