next years's marketing plan

competitive analysis

analyze competitors, not the physical properties that are important. more important is guest services, staff knowledge, cleanliness, and responsiveness.

marketing research needs

the needs can usually be divided into macromarket and micromarket information.

economic drivers of growth

they have the ability to rapidly affect change. marketers must be aware of these drivers before, during, and after entry into the market. (airports like philadelphia airport there is all kinds of shopping and eating options. ex. aerotropolis: centers are built to facilitate the rapid movement of fate and passengers. some airports are built in areas just to take advantage or enhance the products that might be coming from that area (tulips in amsterdam)

10 steps of a marketing plan

1) executive summary 2) corporate connection 3) environmental analysis and forecasting 4) segmentation and targeting 5) next year's objectives and quotas 6) action plans: strategies and tactics 7) resources needed to support strategies and main objectives 8) Marketing control 9) presenting and selling the plan 10) preparing for the future

micromarket information

1) guest information 2) product/service information 3) new-product analysis and testing 4) intermediary buyer data 5) pricing studies 6) key account information 7) advertising/promotion effectiveness *a time proven method of collecting market information is to personally visit the company's property, distributors who serve the company, employees, customers, franchises, and others knowledgeable about the company.

macromarket information

1) industry trends 2) socioeconomic and political trends 3) competitive information 4) industry-wide customer data

corporate direction

a good marketing plan begins with the fact that the only purpose of marketing is to support the enterprise. it is wise to begin next year's plan by recognizing and restating these corporate elements. let top management know the following to help guide the development of next year's plan: 1) mission statement 2) corporate philosophy 3) corporate goals

market potential

a lot of people do not pay attention to the market potential. people think it seems theoretical. people say market potential is theoretical and of little use because it is impossible to know exactly. but estimates can and should be made because it is helpful, without it, this can lead to overpricing, cutting, and frantic advertising. it should be viewed as the total needed, once you know that you can decide what to do. important not to mix other different hospitality products into a market potential (you would not want to say you need 10 new restaurants, 10 new hotels, etc focus just on what your industry is). key thing is that you need to analyze your own company, if you are a luxury hotel and a lot of budget hotels come in, your demand for luxury hotel customers might still be high. market potential is never static.

major environmental factors

hospitality organizations need to anticipate the influence of these broad environmental factors on their business: 1) social- social factors such as crime and changing demographics. these factors vary in intensity and their geographic incidence. 2) political- examples of political decisions likely to affect marketing directly are taxation, pension benefits, and casino gambling. international politics is increasingly important to corporate hospitality marketing plans. 3) economic- changes in economic variables like employment and interest rates should be recognized. the hospitality industry especially lodging and cruising sectors is highly sensitive to business-cycle movements.

Corporate Connection- related plans

in large corps, marketing related plans are developed sometimes by people who do not report to marketing. This is usually a result of: 1) establishing these departments independent of marketing 2) the failure of top management to understand the need to unify marketing related activities. marketing related areas in which plans are sometimes written independently of marketing include: 1) sales 2) advertising and promotion 3) public relations and publicity 4) marketing research 5) pricing 6) customer service The result of this is usually a chaotic counterproductive source for continuous infighting among marketing-related areas. When the organizational design of a company fails to place a major marketing activities under the marketing umbrella the task or writing and implementing a marketing plan is made more complex. Under these conditions it should make the marketing managers want to invite the managers of other marketing-related areas to participate in the marketing plan developmental process. and this action should be reciprocated.

section 2: Corporate Connection - relationship to other plans

marketing plans are not a stand alone tool. it must support other plans such as the firm's strategic plan. the marketing manager whenever possible should participate in or provide input to the development of a strategic plan. a marketing plan supports the company's strategic plan. next year's marketing strategies and tactics must support strategic decisions such as: 1)corporate goals with respect to profit, growth, etc. 2) desired market share 3) positioning of the company or its product lines 4) vertical or horizontal integration 5) strategic alliances 6) product- line breadth and depth 7) Customer relationship management (CRM)

Section four: segmentation and targeting

segmentation analysis: the heart of the marketing plan is careful analysis of available market segments and the selection of appropriate target markets. *not all market segments are appropriate for the hospitality company.

positioning statement

statement of how the enterprise intends to differentiate /position itself in the marketplace. this provides essential guidance to the rest of the plan. ex. small hotels usually position themselves as providers of vacation/holiday service for couples individuals, small groups. large hotels- position themselves as serving the market but also serving the corporate seminar, meeting, and conference market.

section 1: executive summary

the executive summary and a few charts or graphs from the body of the plan may be the only parts ever read by top management. it is of great importance to write this section carefully with top management in mind. tip to help with writing the executive summary: 1) write it for the top executives 2) limit the number of pages between 2-4 3) use short sentences and avoid using words that are hard to understand. 4) organize summary like this: describe next year's objectives in quantitative terms: briefly describe marketing strategies to meet goals and objectives. include a description of target markets. describe results by quarter. identify the dollar costs necessary as well as key resources needed. 5) read and then reread the executive summary several times. never write it just once and then place it in the plan. modify and change the summary until it flows well, is easily read, and conveys a central message the marketing plan.

The purpose of a marketing plan

the marketing plan serves as a road map for all marketing activities of the firm for the next year. it ensures that marketing activities are in agreement with corporate strategic plan. it forces marketing managers to review and think objectively through all steps in the marketing process. It assists in budgeting the process to match resources with marketing objectives. provides a road map for all market activities. once you have airports then you build the hotels, restaurants and entertainment

marketing research

the need for marketing intelligence is ongoing. much of information gathered for marketing research in a current calendar/fiscal year serves as a basis for developing next year's marketing plan.

market trends

they are available from outside organizations free of charge (visitor bureaus, universities) keep track of what is going on in the market they have somebody assigned to gather data. outside the company itself. here are some of useful market trend info 1) visitor trends- where they came from, where they stopped over, demographics 2) competitive trends: numbers, locations, types of products offered in other hotels 3) related industry trends- all members of hospitality industry should work together (if an airport expands, it's important that info be known by other companies in area like hotels and restaurants so they can expand)

selection of target market segments

this is the result of: 1) understanding the company and what it is and what it wishes to be 2) studying available segments and determining if they fit the capabilities and desires of the company to obtain and secure them. A common mistake within hospitality industry is the selection of inappropriate segments. market managers commonly err by allowing or encouraging `i//

section three: environmental analysis and forecasting

when a tragic event/terrorist attack happens some companies made mistake of offering substantial discounts to guests. it did nothing to increase demand but instead gave discounts to people who had to travel for business and would have traveled at a higher rate. hospitality marketers are expected to be aware of major environmental factors likely to affect the industry and company and consider the possible impact on marketing and to respond quickly and intelligently to new events and trends.