HAT202 - Exploring IBIS Hotel Chain: Business and Marketing Portfolio

IBIS hotel chain focuses on providing world-class hospitality services at affordable prices. Core products include fully-equipped rooms and 24-hour reception services. Augmented products include light-hearted decoration in lounges for a calm and friendly atmosphere.

STUDENT NAME:
DATE:
ASSESSMENT 3 HAT202
BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Current Business Operations...........................................................................................................3
Product.........................................................................................................................................3
Location and Distribution............................................................................................................3
Pricing Models.............................................................................................................................3
Customer Segments......................................................................................................................4
Branding and Positioning.............................................................................................................4
Current Promotion and Marketing Materials...............................................................................5
Product images.........................................................................................................................6
Location and distribution images.............................................................................................6
Pricing models images..............................................................................................................7
Branding and positioning images.............................................................................................8
Current promotional materials images.....................................................................................9
Recommended New and Innovative Idea........................................................................................9
Description...................................................................................................................................9
Applicability...............................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................15
2

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Introduction
IBIS is one of the renowned hotel chain businesses in Australia. It belongs to the hotel and
hospitality sector. The business is owned by Accor Hotels. In case of operational activities, the
business focuses on providing world-class services to its customer base. The study is going to be
focused on the marketing mix strategies of this hotel chain. In addition, the study defines the
promotional decision-making process and brand marketing tactics of Ibis. Moreover, several
graphical images are going to be portrayed.
Current Business Operations
Product
The preliminary vision of the IBIS hotel chain is to offer hospitality service to customers with
the utmost comfort at the best price. The core products are fully-equipped rooms, innovative
bedding along with 24 hours of reception services (Accorhotels.group, 2019). The augmented
products are Light-hearted decoration in lounges provides a calm, friendly and casual
atmosphere. The supplementary products are large, plump pillows, unique design mattress that
can mould itself, cosy duvet and many more. Visitors experience nice Kitchen space in IBIS
hotels where they can settle down, relax and meet people during dinner or lunch provided by a
hotel.
Location and Distribution
IBIS hotels are located in different areas in Australia mostly in Sydney and Melbourne such as
Ibis Sydney Darling Harbour, ibis Melbourne Hotel and Apartment. The company has round
1152 hotels spread around 67 countries around the world. Additionally, the areas served by Ibis
includes Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, Middle East and Latin America. In Sydney, Mascot is the
best destination for IBIS hotels. Apart from this, IBIS hotels are located in various cities like
Brisbane, Victoria, Katherine, Perth and so many other places. The specific location which is
mostly chosen by the hotel chain are airport, city centers, railways and beaches which helps them
to get hold of a strong customer base.
3

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Pricing Models
IBIS hotel chain in Australia does not focus on a particular section of people instead they follow
a cost-based pricing model for their products and services so that a large number of consumers
can afford it. Moreover, the competition-based pricing model is also supported by these hotels as
they offer the best facilities in the most cost-efficient way (Vila et al. 2015).
Customer Segments
IBIS hotel chain mainly follows demographic segmentation for offering their products and
services as they target young customers who are concerned about price issues. Additionally, their
competition-based pricing model allows them to provide products at a comparatively lower price
than others. For example, ibis Sydney Darling Harbour is considered as one of the cheap hotels
in the city.
Branding and Positioning
IBIS hotel chain plays a predominant role in the Australian hospitality industry, and the brand
welcomes to more than 100 countries throughout the world with nearly 3700 hotels
(Accorhotels.com, 2019). The group mainly emphasises the opportunity of luxury to the
economy for guests for branding IBIS hotels.
IBIS hotel chain belongs to the quadrant of low price and high quality in positioning map
because these hotels are mainly famous for their high-quality services available in comparatively
more economical cost.
4

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 1: Positioning Map
(Source: Vila et al. 2015)
Current Promotion and Marketing Materials
The business group arranges their special promotions for booking via online channels and most
of their services and facilities are accessible in the company's official website. The Hotel Loyalty
Program of Le Club Accor is also used as the mean of advertising discount offers in private sales
prior 48 hours, online check-ins, fast check-outs, free nights and many more (Mason, 2015). The
Accor group organises ad campaigns for marketing the brand name of IBIS hotels and present
their customer-centric approach.
5

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Product images
Figure 2: Product images
(Source: Accorhotels.group, 2019)
Location and distribution images
6

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 3: Location and distribution images of IBIS in world map
(Source: Accorhotels.group, 2019)
Pricing models images
Figure 4: Pricing models followed by IBIS Hotel Chain
(Source: As created by author)
Customer segments images
7
Pricing
Model
Cost-based Competition-
based

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 5: Customer Segmentation of IBIS hotel chain
(Source: As created by author)
Branding and positioning images
Figure 6: Advertisement for IBIS Hotels
(Source: Accorhotels.group, 2019)
8
Customer
Segment
Demographic

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Current promotional materials images
Figure 7: Current promotional materials images
(Source: Accorhotels.group, 2019)
Recommended New and Innovative Idea
Description
The business group may focus more on online marketing including social media and advertise
the discount offers and special offers in lean periods in these social media platforms apart from
the official website. It is noted that the firm will tend to enhance growth of the firm not only by
developing new products and services, but also increase their marketing through online digital
strategies (Accorhotels.group, 2019).
They may also develop Search Engine Optimization (SEO) content for their official webpage so
that visitors can quickly identify them in the Google search list
9

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 8: Search Engine Optimization Process
(Source: Mason, 2015)
Applicability
IBIS hotel chain has already considered online marketing as an essential part of their
promotional activities. They can take the help of experts for making attractive videos for social
media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and others. An efficient person also can be involved in
managing social media activities.
Additionally, these hotels can employ an efficient content developer for creating attractive
content SEO content that can easily influence consumers. They also can study the market
properly to gain knowledge about competitors.
Future integrated marketing plan
Target market
10

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
The target market of the hotel chain Ibis will be associated with the young ones (from age 19-29
years), who are interested in scenic beauties of Australia. The organization will also focus on the
providing services for adventure tourism as another potential market (Loo and Leung, 2018). Ibis
hotels is trying to attract business group who are travelling at different places by providing them
with various discounts. Furthermore, the organization is also focusing on families who are
travelling on vacations at exotic locations by offering them with various eye catching discounts
and this type of strategy is helping the hotel chain to attract a lot of customers from different
parts of world.
Promotional mix
Personal selling
The personal selling process of this hotel chain will be executed through face-to-face selling of
services. Ibis will utilize skills and capabilities of sales persons for convincing potential
customers. As opined by Bayrakdaroğlu and Karabulut (2018), personal selling is one of the
methods of promoting products or services in market. It will help to assess the demand of its
customers better and deliver effective customized services to the target consumers. This way the
company will be able to enhance its competitive advantage.
Public relations
The technique of public relations (PR) of Ibis will be associated with three of the major reasons.
The reasons include press, product publicity and corporate communication. The hotel chain will
make sure that expertise PRs are capable of handling media and maintaining positive relationship
with target market (Al Muala, 2018). The aims of PR cover:
i. Building awareness
ii. Stimulating sales force
iii. Building credibility
iv. Lower promotional costs
Advertising
11

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
In case of advertising method, the hotel chain will focus on online marketing. Ibis will promote
its business through weekly advertisement in newspapers and television advertising. The
advertisements will be based on company contents and several add-on facilities, such as, gym,
yoga and boutique (Bruni et al. 2017).
Sales promotion
In order to make sales promotion, Ibis will focus on arranging sales promotion campaigns. On
that note, it is to mention that the Australia-based hotel chain will follow major strategies for
such campaigns. The strategies include:
i. Online discounts
ii. Membership rewards
iii. Special offers during low seasons
iv. Cross promotional activities (Loo and Leung, 2018)
Direct and digital marketing
The direct marketing of this hotel chain will take place through mail marketing, interactive
television marketing and telephonic marketing. The hotel chain will make sure that potential
target market will be managed through mail advertisements directly. In case of telephonic
marketing, efficient customers will be handled through marketing executives (Bayrakdaroğlu and
Karabulut, 2018). In addition, the interactive television marketing will be executed through
organizational advertisements for grabbing attention of target market.
12

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 9: Direct Marketing
(Source: Loo and Leung, 2018)
In case of digital marketing, Ibis will focus on following the most popular social media platforms
for influencing purchasing behavior of target market. The social media sites that will be highly
utilized are:
i. Facebook
ii. Twitter
iii. YouTube
iv. Instagram
v. LinkedIn (Al Muala, 2018)
13

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
Figure 10: Digital Marketing
(Source: Al Muala, 2018)
14

BUSINESS AND MARKETING PORTFOLIO
References
Journals
Al Muala, A., (2018). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM MARKETING MIX
ELEMENTS AND TOURISTS'PURCHASING DECISION IN JORDANIAN
HOTELS. European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, 7(01), pp.63-70.
Bayrakdaroğlu, F. and Karabulut, A.N., (2018). Marketing Mix Adaptation of Large-Scale
Hotels in Turbulent Times: A Case From Mugla City. In Managerial Strategies for Business
Sustainability During Turbulent Times (pp. 223-240). IGI Global.
Bruni, A., Cassia, F. and Magno, F., (2017). Marketing performance measurement in hotels,
travel agencies and tour operators: a study of current practices. Current Issues in Tourism, 20(4),
pp.339-345.
Loo, P.T. and Leung, R., (2018). A service failure framework of hotels in Taiwan: Adaptation of
7Ps marketing mix elements. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 24(1), pp.79-100.
Vila, T.D., Darcy, S. and González, E.A., 2015. Competing for the disability tourism market–a
comparative exploration of the factors of accessible tourism competitiveness in Spain and
Australia. Tourism Management, 47, pp.261-272.
Books
Mason, P., 2015. Tourism impacts, planning and management. Routledge.
Websites
Accorhotels.com. (2019). Accor Hotels - Discover All Our Hotels | Accor. [online] Available at:
https://www.accorhotels.com/gb/brands/index.shtml [Accessed 9 Feb. 2019].
Accorhotels.group. (2019). Breakfree. [online] Available at:
https://www.accorhotels.group/en/group/our-brands-and-services/breakfree [Accessed 9 Feb.
2019].
15