Marketing Function and Strategic Plan

This assignment explores the essential role of marketing function in every organization, helping businesses achieve their targeted aims and objectives on time. It discusses different roles and responsibilities of marketing, along with a strategic marketing plan that includes objectives, aims, mission, vision, and the 7 Ps (person, place, physical evidence, promotion, price, product).

Hospitality Marketing
Essentials

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within a selected
hospitality organisation...............................................................................................................3
P2 Discuss how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational
context.........................................................................................................................................4
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing
environment ................................................................................................................................6
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional
units within a selected hospitality organisation..........................................................................7
D1 Critically analyse the key elements of the marketing function and how they interrelate
with other functional units within a selected hospitality organisation........................................7
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
P3 Compare the ways in which different hospitality organisations apply the marketing mix to
the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives..................................................7
M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by hospitality organisations to demonstrate how
business objectives are achieved...............................................................................................10
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................11
P4 Produce a basic marketing plan for a hospitality organisation to meet marketing objectives
organisation...............................................................................................................................11
M4 Produce a detailed, coherent, evidence based marketing plan that applies the marketing
mix to meet marketing objectives for a hospitality organisation..............................................13
D2 Design a strategic marketing plan that tactically applies the use of the 7Ps and includes
measures for monitoring and evaluation to achieve overall marketing objectives...................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERNCES.................................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is defined as a key tool in modern business firms as it involves the
understanding of marketplace, building profitable relations, understanding consumers demands
and provide quality among the customers. Whereas hospitality marketing explains about how
segment of the hospitality industry such as hotel, restaurant, amusement parks etc. utilise their
marketing techniques so as to promote their business goods and services (Baker and Saren,
2016). This report is based on a hospitality industry name Hilton hotel which is a global brand
full service hotel and resorts as as well an American multinational hospitality company founded
by Conrad Hiltonin1919. This assignment gives the brief explanation about the key roles and
responsibilities of the marketing function within a hospitality organisation along with
comparison of the ways in which different hospitality organisations apply the marketing mix to
the marketing planning process to achieve business objectives. Apart from this basic marketing
plan for a hospitality organisation to meet marketing objectives organisation is also being
produced in this report.
MAIN BODY
As per the scenario being a student of hospitality management with a specialisation in
marketing undertaking a industry based internship at Holiday Inn hospitality organisation in
London for three months. At the end of the internship a written report is being produced which
consist of following learning outcomes:
TASK 1
P1 Explain the key roles and responsibilities of the marketing function within a selected
hospitality organisation
Marketing definition:
Marketing refers to promotion of activities that leads to buying and selling of a product. It
is a broad concept includes selling, promoting, advertising and delivering the commodity to its
end user, that is, Customers (Chandiok and Sharma, 2017).
Development of marketing concept:
Marketing Function and Marketing Concept needs to walk parallel to complete the
meaning of Marketing. Marketing Function concept suggests that an organisation needs to

identify the products they need to work upon and promote them by differentiating it from their
competitors. It can be considered as a plan of action that an organisation apply to increase their
sales , satisfy their customers and to maximize their sales.
Roles and Responsibilities:
Holiday Inn is a chain of British owned hotels established in various parts of world. With
around 1,100 hotels all over the world, Holiday Inn has become one of the successful hotel
chains all over the world (Dioko, 2016).
Key roles of marketing function:
Relationship Building: Main role that marketing function of Holiday Inn performs is that
they need to need maintain a cordial relationship with their customers. It is very vital for an
organisation that too in Hospitality industry to have a warm relationship with people for the long
run.
Brand Awareness: It states that an organisation needs to attract customers and ,here, in
Holiday Inn this role is performed by marketing function. They assure that hotel is easy to find
on portals and information is provided to the customers according to their needs easily.
Innovate: Every industry needs something new after a period of time, same goes for
hospitality industry. It is a role of Marketing Manager to come up with something new to attract
more customers.
Key responsibility of marketing function:
Research: There are various reasons why a customer choose a particular hotel and it is a
parting responsibility of marketing function to identify those reasons and do the promotions
accordingly, as, this requires whole a lot research which only marketing function can perform.
Strategy Implementation: Choosing the right strategy is itself a task and it is the
responsibility of marketing function to ensure the right strategy has been chosen and organisation
is working for its correct implementation in the time being.
Promotion: The responsibility undertaken by Holiday Inn here is that they make sure
that proper promotion is done from time to time especially when business is going slightly lower
to gain the market share at that time as much as possible.
P2 Discuss how roles and responsibilities of marketing relate to the wider organisational context
Marketing function plays vital role in every organisation as without the help of
marketing function business cannot promote its products neither can create awareness about its

brands and services. As the main role of marketing function of holiday is to promote the goods
and services in market place and influence customers to make purchase of their goods. Therefore
in order to carry out its role s and responsibilities in an effective manner it is essential for the
marketing function of Holiday Inn to maintain a proper coordination and communication with
other department of business. Thus, the interrelation of the roles and responsibilities of
marketing function with wider organisational context is being explained below (Eletxigerra,
Barrutia and Echebarria, 2018):
Basis Interrelationship
Marketing function with HR Main roles and responsibility of marketing function is to set
marketing strategy and to promote products and services so
in order to perform its roles and responsibilities in an
effective manner its is essential to have talented and expert
marketing manager who have the capability to promote
product is an efficient manner and who have the
qualification of being innovative so that effective marketing
strategy ca be implemented. Therefore in order to get
talented marketing manager marketing function have to
communicate with HR functional department because its the
responsibility of HR department to recruit and select
talented workforce for an organisation who can best suit the
firm. Thus, it can be said that marketing function cannot
achieve its targeted aim without the help of HR department.
Marketing function with
Production
Marketing function of Holiday Inn is also interrelated with
production department of business. As the main role of
production department is to manufacture goods and services
and thus the manufacturing process cannot be started until
marketing function report it to the production function
regarding the changing trends in customers demands and
preferences. It is the another roles and responsibility of
marketing function of holiday inn to communicate

information to production department so that according to
the changing customer preferences goods and services can
be produced. Thus, it can be said that without the help of
marketing function, production department cannot start it
production process which specifics that there exist
interrelationship of marketing function of Holiday inn with
production function of business.
Marketing function with Finance Most important roles and responsibility of marketing
function of Holiday inn is to implement effective marketing
strategy which includes how the marketing will be done as
it includes several ways like through social media,
magazines, websites, newspaper, billboards etc. In order to
implement effective marketing strategy it is essential for the
marketing function to have sufficient amounts of
availability of funds. Thus, for this marketing function need
to communicate with Finance function department as its the
finance department who will render the funds to the
marketing function of Hilton hotel so that smooth and
effective flow of marketing strategy can be carried out
without any hurdles as it will also helps in creating brand
image in the mindset of customers.
M1 Analyse the roles and responsibilities of marketing in the context of the marketing
environment
Marketing environment refers to various external and internal elements that have an
impact on the abilities of an organisation while establishing a relationship with the customers.
The impact can either be positive or negative (Guaracino and Salvato, 2017). The key roles
performed by marketing here would be establishing a healthy relationship with customers, brand
awareness and innovative ideas to create an edge in the market. And some of the key

responsibilities performed by marketing function in context to marketing environment are
researching, promotion and implementation of strategies.
M2 Analyse the significance of interrelationships between marketing and other functional units
within a selected hospitality organisation
It is very crucial for marketing function to have a cordial equation with other functional
units such as Finance function, Production Function or Human Resource Function as marketing
function can never be implemented alone, it is a strategic alliance with all the other function of
Holiday inn. Like, Finance function helps in calculating budget, Production Function helps in
knowing the availability and HR Functions helps in providing personnel.
D1 Critically analyse the key elements of the marketing function and how they interrelate with
other functional units within a selected hospitality organisation
There are different key elements of marketing function of Holiday Inn and they are
namely, product, price, place, promotion, physical evidence, people, process etc. Each key
elements are interrelated with the functional unit of Holiday Inn which include production
function, marketing function, finance function etc. Therefore each of this functional department
of Holiday in must take this key elements of marketing function into consideration while
producing and marketing the products and services to its target customers. If this key elements
will not be considered by marketing function then it will negatively impact upon the business in
the form of down fall of sales revenue and profitability margin.
TASK 2
P3 Compare the ways in which different hospitality organisations apply the marketing mix to the
marketing planning process to achieve business objectives
Marketing mix:
It is defined as set of marketing tools which are being sued by organisation so as to pursue its
marketing objectives (Guilding, 2014). It mainly include product, place, price, promotion,
physical evidence, person and process.
Comparison of marketing mix of Holiday Inn with Travelodge Hotel:
Marketing mix Holiday Inn Travelodge Hote
Product Hilton hotel is one of the hospitality Travelodge hotel is specialized

industry who render full services.
The range of its products and
services is term to be quite extensive
and mainly includes banquets
facilities, weddings, special event
services etc. Product of Hilton hotel
can be categorized into three level
and they core product, facilitating
product and specialised product.
Core product of Hilton hotel hotel
rooms in which the customers stay in
for a specific period of time.
Facilitation products refers to the
customers services rendered by
Hilton hotel like online reservation
facility. Whereas supporting product
include 24/7 room services,
newspaper, magazines etc.
in its service sector which render
several services such as on the
spot room booking, spa facility,
swimming pool, meeting
r5ooms, Wi-Fi, enough of
accommodation, space for
events etc. Apart from this it is
famous for rendering Kurries,
Kebabs, Dakshin and for many
more other outlets.
Price This is the second essential aspect
which must be considered and
decided only after analysing the
market forces and competitors
strategy. Thus, Premium pricing
strategy is being adopted by the
Hilton hotel so as to establish good
brand image in niche market
segment.
Skimming pricing strategy is
being used by Travelodge hotel
which means they keep the price
as per the customer prefernces at
low rate so that middle and low
income people can also effort to
take their services.
Place Hilton hotel serves near about
745,000 rooms in more that 100
countries and territories, Apart from
It render its services in almost all
over the UK, Spain and Ireland.
Apart from this in order to

this it has near about 570 properties
in different parts of the nation as
they believe in the use of IT
technology and internet so as to
render more and best quality
services. Additionally, they possess
good distribution system too as they
make use of mobile portable
application so as to render platform
to the customers for booking
frequently within a seconds.
attract people from different
nation this company make use of
social media sites, mobile
application etc. so that
customers can make immediate
booking without wasting much
of time.
Promotion As Hilton hotel of one of the biggest
brand hotel in hospitality industry.
This is juts because it uses
innovative promotional strategy such
as offer discount facility, first time
availing service as well as deliver
exotic services too through the use
of sales promotion, advertisement
etc. in order to support promotional
and sales affairs of business.
Trvelodge doesnot uses
optimistic and upgraded stratgey
to promote its products and
services as they mainly promote
through mass media, travel
agents, internet etc. After
Malaysian the customer
demands only they decide to
whether to render discount
facility or not. If the demand is
too much they will not prefer to
give any kind of discount
facility. IN case if the demand is
less then in this case they will
render discount facility so as to
attract customers. This helps this
firm to increase the goodwill.
Physical evidence Physical evidence of Hilton hotel is
term to be quite attractive and
Physical evidence of the hotel is
quite influnecing as they render

influencing as they render different
rooms such as nearby by beach, etc.
Which helps in attracting customer
to have a experience of luxurious
services.
light music in cafeteria,
conferences hall, baby sitting,
well furnished services and
rooms, play zone for children
etc. Apart from this firm
usesceratin attrcative colour and
themes as per the customer
prefernces so as to generate
brand uniqueness and to render
clear appearance of hotel.
People There are approx 163000 workers
working in Hilton hotel and render
efficient and best quality services to
the customers. Thus, all these
personnel together makes effort to
render their best for organisation so
as to increase the satisfaction level of
customers.
In Travelodge hotel different
personnel exist which includes,
waiters, food and beverages
managers, services rendering
staff etc. Beside this workers
like guards, cleaners, drivers etc.
are also there who render
ancillary services to their
customers.
Process Process of check in and check out is
term to be quite frequent and fast
which also helps in reducing the
waiting time of the customers
(Wirtz and Lovelock, 2016). Apart
form this manager of Hilton hotel
render immediate feedback about the
type of services rendered by the
employees to their customer so that
immediately improvement can be
made.
Travelodge hotel render quite
instant services to their
customers as well as have
computerized system with the
hep of which they can
immediately respond to
customer feedback. This this fast
process of Travelodge helps in
building effective relationship
with customers.

M3 Evaluate different tactics applied by hospitality organisations to demonstrate how business
objectives are achieved
Marketing mix is the tactic which is being applied by the manager of holiday inn so as
to achieve the business objectives. It mainly includes product, price, place, promotion, person,
physical evidence etc. It is very much essential for the manager of hotel to take all this aspect
into consideration before bringing the product in market and this can be done only through
proper research analysis of market and its competitors (Kotoua and Ilkan, 2017). As after such
analysis only manager of Holiday inn must decide the price of its product, place, where they
have to promote product, , promotion, by which way they have to promote its products. Thus, it
will help in achieving the overall objective of the business on time.
TASK 3
P4 Produce a basic marketing plan for a hospitality organisation to meet marketing objectives
organisation
Marketing plan:
Marketing plan is defined as a effective strategy which is being considered by the
manager while performing different set of activities of business so as to achieve the targeted
aims and objectives. Manager of Holiday Inn is planning to launch new super de-lux room which
will help in rendering customers with more equipped facility such as coffee machine, hair-dryer
etc. Therefore marketing plan of Holiday Inn is specified below (Melissen and Sauer, 2019):
Overview of company:
Holiday Inn is a British Owned brand hotel in hospitality industry which is a subsidiary
of inter continental hotel group and its was founded in 1952 by Kemmons Wilson. It is
specialized in rendering services in food, lodging, meetings, timeshares, conventions etc. Apart
from this it serves approx in 1145 locations mostly in Americas, Europe, middle east, Africa,
Asia-pacific (Ng, Fang and Lien, 2016).
Vision:
Main vision of Holiday Inn is to be the best 4-star hotel in Dubai.
Mission:

Main mission of the Holiday Inn is to make difference in the individuals lives by working
together to deliver commitment , superior hospitality product and personalised services to its
customers.
Objectives:
SMART objective are being formed by the manager of Holiday Inn. While launching
super delux room the main target of the manager of firm is to increase its sales by 10 % within 6
month (Pike, 2015).
STP approach:
This approach refers to the process of segmentation, targeting and positioning and thus
the STP of holiday inn is specified below:
Segmentation:
It means division of whole population into different segments ass per their demand and
manager of Holiday Inn does the segmentation on the basis demographical and geographical
which helps business to render best services to their customers (Pike and Page, S2014).
Targeting:
Super delux room of Holiday Inn is targeted only for high class people who love to spend
time in such type of rooms for official purpose.
Positioning:
In order to achieve its good brand image position in the mindset of customers manager of
Holiday Inn uses promotional techniques such as direct marketing, social media sites etc.
SWOT analysis:
This is the analysis which is being done by the manager of Holiday Inn so as to identify
the strength and weakness of the business (Okumus and Cetin, 2018).
Strength Weakness
 Entering new market across continents.
 High brand visibility due to excellent
adverting.
 In emerging economics still trying to
increase penetration.
 Limited market share due to huge
number of competitors.
Opportunity Threats
 Travellers are looking for some more  Tourism industry decline due to natural

attractive and new destinations.
 Can render seasonal offers as per
different country.
disaster, terror activities etc.
 Intense competition.
Budget:
In order to launch super Premium room which will be named as super de lux room, so before
launching this plan effective budget is being prepared by the manager of Travelodge which is
being explained below:
Marketing budget
Particulars
1st year
(£)
2nd year
(£)
3rd year
(£)
4th year
(£) 5th year (£)
Initial money 5000 1300 770 1460 950
Investment 1400 1400 2530 3100 1250
Total 1900 2700 3300 4560 2200
Marketing outlay
Promotion and
marketing 750 330 440 340 315
Sales publicity 120 200 320 210 210
Direct selling 430 240 600 400 450
Total 1300 770 1460 950 980
Monitoring and controlling:
This is the last step of the marketing plan in which the manager of Holiday Inn have to
measure the performance level of their employees and this can be done with the help of
performance appraisal techniques such as 360 degree method, rating techniques etc. Thus, it will

in smooth functioning of business as with the help of performance measurement each employees
can improve their performance level (Pappas, 2015). Apart from this manager of Holiday Inn
also need to to control the working of activities and employees from time to time so as to
minimize hurdles.
M4 Produce a detailed, coherent, evidence based marketing plan that applies the marketing mix
to meet marketing objectives for a hospitality organisation
Detail coherent marketing plan of Holiday Inn includes several activity such as marketing
objectives, aims, vision, mission, budget, monitoring, controlling, STP approach etc. all this
aspect of marketing plan are being applied to the marketing mix strategy which include product,
price, place, promotion etc. So as to meet the marketing objectives of Holiday Inn organisation.
D2 Design a strategic marketing plan that tactically applies the use of the 7Ps and includes
measures for monitoring and evaluation to achieve overall marketing objectives
Strategic marketing plan is defined as a legal document which help each workforce of
Holiday Inn to carry out their set of activities accordingly and it mainly include objectives,
mission, vision, budget etc. All these are being applied while making effective marketing mix
which consist of product, promotion, price, place, physical evidence, person etc. Thus effective
marketing plan helps to measure and evaluate the performance of business so as to achieve
marketing objectives on time.
CONCLUSION
From the above report overall it can be concluded that marketing function is term to be
one of the essential unit for every organisation which help business in achieving its targeted aims
and objectives on time. Different roles and responsibilities of marketing function are being
specified above along with strategic marketing plan which included objectives, aims, mission,
vision of business. Apart from this marketing ki9x of an organisation is also examined in the
above report which included seven P's namely, person, place, physical evidence, promotion,
place, price and product.