Promotional Strategy of Sailmaker Restaurant in Hyatt Regency Sydney Hotel

This research report is a detailed analysis of the promotional strategy of Sailmaker restaurant in Hyatt Regency Sydney Hotel. The purpose of the report is to identify issues in the promotional strategy applied by the organization and develop suitable strategies to increase sales and consumer base.

Running head: MASTER OF INTERNATIONAL HOTEL MANAGEMENT
Master of International Hotel Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Content
1. 0 Introduction.........................................................................................................................2
1.2 Background to the research..............................................................................................2
1.3 Problem Statement...........................................................................................................3
1.4 Research Aim, questions/objectives.................................................................................3
1.5 Significance of the Research............................................................................................4
1.6 Scope of the Research......................................................................................................4
2.0 Literature Review.................................................................................................................5
2.1 Analysis of hotel organizations from the perspectives of marketing...............................6
2.2 Keys to marketing strategy...............................................................................................6
2.3 Strategies for restaurant marketing..................................................................................7
3.0 Methodology......................................................................................................................10
3.1 Data collection method..................................................................................................10
3.2 Non-probability sampling method.................................................................................10
4.0 Findings and Analysis........................................................................................................10
References................................................................................................................................14

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1. 0 Introduction
This research report is a detailed analysis of the promotional strategy of Sailmaker
restaurant in Hyatt Regency Sydney Hotel. The purpose of the report is to identify issues in
the promotional strategy applied by the organization and develop suitable strategies to
increase sales and consumer base. Hotel marketing could encompass a huge array of topics,
skills and strategies that hoteliers could like and the brand in the sector has to be aware of
this, if they wish to succeed in optimising the success. This report investigates the existing
marketing strategy such as promotional strategy of Sailmaker Restaurant and develop suitable
strategies for the growth of sales and guests’ visits.
1.2 Background to the research
It has been identified that Sailmaker Restaurant Hyatt Regency Hotel Sydney offers
exciting dining experience for every visitor. Among its variety of the service, the
organization makes the difference in its food especially when serving freshest seafood as well
as regionally sourced from New South Wales (hyatt.com, 2019). At Hyatt, the purpose of la
carte is to care for people so they can be their best and this communication is required for
consumers to learn other as the most unique individuals which is further helping the brand to
learn about the tastes and preferences of consumers. The whole scenario is helping the brand
to design and develop the products accordingly. Nonetheless, the brand needs to know about
or be aware of considering an enhanced marketing for the hotel as the scope and opporunutes
in their current climate. Sailmaker Restaurant Hyatt Regency Hotel Sydney has a growing a
global presence as the brand is spreading over different nations in the world. As put forward
by Lee, Hallak and Sardeshmukh (2016), industry leading brands and convention of
innovation developed in its sixty year history; the firm is popular for its growing marketing
presence with the unique product portfolio in food and beverage items. Organization is wide
popular for its distinct wellness category within the portfolio of the brand. It manages and

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delivers services to license out trademarks in respect to residential ownership units that are
frequently adjacent to a Hyatt-branded full services hotels. As put forward by Chang (2013),
the firm has developed significant competitive strengths that support its mission to provide
distinctive experience for its consumers and its goals of being the most preferred brand for
colleagues, guests, owners and community operators.
1.3 Problem Statement
It has been noted that although, firm gains a tremendous amount of popularity under the
banner of Hyatt Regency Sydney, brand is lagging behind with respect to sales and consumer
base. This means the effort that brand puts on implementing its strategy do not fetch the
desired return. The brand is not able to implement its promotional initiatives adequately and
consequently, overall sales of the brand is not as high as it was expected. Moreover, the
promotional strategy of providing 50% discount on the food item is a more a traditional
approach to attract consumers but it would have generated a positive return, had the firm
applied the strategy effective by creating an awareness plan (Huang & Rundle-Thiele, 2014).
In addition to this, firm’s goals and objectives are not aligned the strategies that Sailmaker
applies for its business. This means organization aims to provide consumers with an
enhanced food experiences but the major target of its strategy is not even considered in the
strategy.
1.4 Research Aim, questions/objectives
The research aims to investigate the existing promotional strategy of Sailmaker
Restaurant Hyatt Regency and develop a suitable promotional strategy for organization to
increase sales and consumer base. Following are the key objectives of meeting the stated aim
of the study.
Objectives

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 To identify the contemporary promotional strategies of hotel organizations
 To investigate the existing promotional strategy of Sailmaker restaurant in Hyatt
Regency Sydney Hotel
 To develop suitable promotional strategy of Hyatt Regency Sydney Hotel
Research Questions
 What is the existing promotional strategy of increasing sales and consumers base at
Sailmaker restaurant in Hyatt Regency Sydney Hotel?
 How promotional strategy can be applied to increase sales and consumer base?
1.5 Significance of the Research
Out of the study would help to learn the contemporary promotional strategy to increase sales.
It is certain that market environment in the hospitality sector has been dynamic in nature
which means shifting of consumers demands and preference is a certain factor that band must
be aware. So, by performing a strategic analysis on Sailmaker Regency, it can be learnt how
organizations in a dynamic environment is dealing with changing market environment and
consumers’ taste. Outcome of the papers generate a suitable insight about organizations in the
restaurant sector should deal with the promotional approach to increase the consumer base.
Moreover, out of the paper can be treated as the secondary source of information when
expanding then study on the selected topic.
1.6 Scope of the Research
This research paper is performed considering the primary data only, which means the
analysis is entirely based on the primary data. However, the review of existing papers on
promotional strategies of hotel organizations is limited to journals that are on hotel industry
only but there are several other management journals about strategic initiatives of hotel

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organizations but those papers are not covered and used in the research. In order to perform
the review, only twenty journal articles have been used.
2.0 Literature Review
It has been identified that hotel industry is highly competitive and many different
hotels could be competing for the same potential consumers. Consequently, it is crucial for
hotel organizations tend to use a variety of marketing strategies to make themselves visible
and promoting their hotels as the best available choice (Sacks et al. 2015). Hume andHume
(2015) performed a study and mentioned the fact that as the technology is rapidly developing,
to gain the market exposure organization needs to make its hotel brand website a visual treat
for visitors. According to the authors, hotel website is a significant marketing tool, while
serving as the single most significant distribution channel because it is the only one which
can be implemented to generate direct sales. This means that website visitors should be able
to find out significant information about the hotel, see the food items of the hotel rooms and
pay the required visits. So, it goes without saying that when running operation in a hotel
sector, organization needs to make sure that it needs to have an efficient booking platform
developed.
Pro-active use of social media: As put forward by Nave, Rita and Guerreiro (2018) digital,
social media is one of the single best inbound marketing tools which are available to owners
of the hotel and even marketers have also got the free access to such platform. This could
allow the organization to post and share promotional posts to a developed audience, paid
advertising on social networks such as Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Twitter to enable
the business to reach out beyond the audience. Moreover, social or digital media platforms
have wide reach and this means marketers could target the audience belonging to remote
areas. On the other side, Kim, Li and Brymer (2016) mentioned the fact that online

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reputation management is highly significant aspect in hospitality business. So, competition in
the social media can be a significant way to spread the word about the hotel, while twitter
hashtags could help hotels to spark conversations and keep it all in one single place.
On the other side, it is certain that hotel organizations on a frequent basis applies the
promotional strategies to attract and retain costumers but technology or social media plays a
great role in creating awareness of such initiative or approach. This means that consumers
need to learn about the products and services –creating a promotional strategy and applying
them to the context would not be effective, unless they are not known and disseminated
across the market.
2.1 Analysis of hotel organizations from the perspectives of marketing
As put forward by Corrie, Stoeckl and Chaiechi (2013), a common mistake that hotel
organizations usually make when they have started to be aware of the requirement to
structure the marketing function which has been there to focus on the operational side. It has
been identified that consumer focus of small medium enterprises has been in the hands of
commercial nature of entrepreneurs who can lead the projects and such guidance has been
deposited in the intuition as well as business senses and such leadership has supplied strategic
focus and method. Chen and Elston (2013) arguably mentioned the fact that in most of the
cases, branding strategy in most of hotel organizations in most of the cases and in most of the
cases, it is limited to the design technique of the formal elements of the brand. Hotel
organizations have neglected the phase required branding techniques as defining identity
platform and the development of value proposition as well as the definition of the desired
positioning.

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2.2 Keys to marketing strategy
Lee, Hallak and Sardeshmukh (2016) performed a study and added the fact that
commitment from senior management analysing the success stories of large organizations
and brands in the present day. It has been noted that the role of leaders is crucial in a hotel
irrespective of the size and structure of the organization. Ha and Jang (2013) mentioned the
fact that it is quite common for the organizations in hotel sector to find the organizations
where the marketing departments called endeavours to manufacture catalogues, brochures,
preparing attendance at fairs and feed the web page content. Han, Nguyen and Lee, (2015)
argued that this strategy is wrong because the first initiative should be about the strategic
focus and the organizations must have to pay attention to early efforts. As put forward by
Chang (2013) a proper analysis, of the market, consumers, competition and the internal
context, allowing accurate segmentation of the segment to segment with the highest chance of
success, differential positioning could be transmitted with the resource available and the
outcome in a defensible benefits. Findings of this paper also state the fact the brand needs to
have a proper selection successful channel with a solid pricing policy which could reward the
channel and enable sustainable profitability in service exemplifying a winning proposition
consumer value. The brand needs to foster strategic culture in the hotel sector as well as to
achieve what until today seems impossible and do everything that can be done.
Customer orientation:
As put forward by Lee et al., (2013), customer orientation remains as one of the major
and common theme in the existing paper, thus, it is more of a consensus that organizations in
the hotel industry should be ‘consumer oriented’. On the other side, Korschun, Bhattacharya,
and Swain (2014) added the fact that digitalization is another crucial factor which historically
represent the greatest opportunity for hotel to compete with weapons similar to those of large
organizations.

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2.3 Strategies for restaurant marketing
It has been identified that Terho et al., (2015), landscape of restaurant business has
been radically transformed by the advent of digital technology. Authors of the study have
added the fact that no longer do owner of the restaurants depend upon the conventional word
of mouth to market their restaurants. In this context, Terh, Eggert, Haas and Ulaga (2015)
commented that considering the fierce competition as well as about 60% rate of failure of
restaurant business, it is vital that business get the marketing strategy. Korschun,
Bhattacharya and Swain (2014) performed a study and added the fact that success of any
restaurant business could bear down on its marketing strategy. When it comes to promotional
strategy of a hotel brand, this author of the study have mentioned about some specific
strategies such:
Go Social: It is the era of food porn as well as social media fields are bustling with many
pictures of delicacies that make the thriftiest of people spending more additional dollar. In
this context, Terho, Eggert, Haas and Ulaga (2015) mentioned the fact that in order to attract
the consumers, restaurant brands should bring the kitchen to social media. This means the
brand needs to promote its products, recipes, and other element to social media. This will
help consumers to know more about the brand.
Bring the contest on:
Lee, Hallak and Sardeshmukh (2016) performed a study and added the fact that
offering contests are certainly an effective away to spread the word of mouth about the
restaurant. Scholars of the study have added the fact of both offline and online contest and
this means starting a contest in physical restaurant that consumers can share online. On the
other side, () if it is considered that one consumer with a massive social media following

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content related to the restaurant. Offering contest could definitely get the word regarding the
restaurant out there.
Get listed on food apps: As put forward by Lee et al., (2016) many food applications
have sprung up over the years because of the popular demand by consumers. No longer do
the consumers have to go through the monotonous directories or surf the web for long
minutes to find a suitable place to dine. All consumers should do is install a food application
that navigates them to the nearest restaurant. Lee, Hallak and Sardeshmukh (2016) mentioned
that organizations need to take the advantages of this mobile technology by partnering with
the food applications to ensure that the restaurant is listed.

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3.0 Methodology
3.1 Data collection method
Present study is a primary data analysis of the promotional strategy of Sailmaker
Restaurant at Hyatt Regency Hotel Sydney. The analysis considers the scenario of the
existing loss in sales and consumer base. Thus, to perform the primary data analysis, data has
been collected by implementing primary data collection method. This means the study
follows a qualitative data collection method –data has been collected by performing interview
among organizational members of Sailmaker Restaurant.
Qualitative data collection method:
It has been identified that qualitative data collection technique is more of exploratory
in nature and it is fundamentally concerned with gaining insight and understanding on the
underlying reasons and motivations. Qualitative data do not include number or mathematical
calculations and it is widely associated with the words, sounds, emotions and feelings. Thus,
in the present study, qualitative data has been collected by performing interview among the
managers and market analysts of Sailmaker Restaurant. Respondents for collecting the
interview data has been selected on the basis of the sampling method described in the
following.
3.2 Non-probability sampling method
In order to collect data from the organizational members of Sailmaker Restaurant,
non-probability sampling method has been applied because non-probability sampling method
helps to choose the appropriate members who have knowledge about the research context,
this means that respondents are not taken in a random manner. Only the organizational
memes who manage the promotional strategies have been engaged in the data collections
method. The sample size for collecting the interview data is 10 organization’s managers.

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4.0 Findings and Analysis
Theme 1: Customer based promotion
The interview data helps to observe the fact that organizational members tend to
believe in the fact that in order to attract consumers towards a particular service, brand should
lure the consumers by reducing the price of the product. However, it should be noted that
when the economy of a market is stable, lowering price of the product items would not be
effective approach to attract consumers. Brand should pay attention to the quality of product
and service. Nonetheless, one of the managers of the organization have stated, “before the
implementation of any strategy, it is essential to focus on how it is being implemented… in
our case strategies were up to the mark but we should stayed long on the awareness
program”
McManus (2013) added the fact that hotel industry is highly dynamic in nature, so
offering consumers with one time offer will not make any difference; this means that firm
needs to make long-term plan to increase the customers’ visit such as providing consumer
with the loyalty card, deals and offers on a frequent basis in in the 6 months of the launch of a
product. Interview data also help to know the fact the firm did not monitor the plan properly
which means after the implementation of the plan, it was required to monitor plan on a
frequent basis, which means visit of each customer and how frequently they are visiting and
likewise what is their usual choice of food in the restaurant. In the literature, it was studied
that it is certain that hotel organizations on a frequent basis applies the promotional strategies
to attract and retain costumers but technology or social media plays a great role in creating
awareness of such initiative or approach (Hume & Hume, 2015). Thus, it can be added that to
gain a desired outcome from the first-table strategy, brand needed to create awareness
program in a digital platform.

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Theme 2: Customer Segmentation
One of the respondents in the interview has added the fact that “segmentation is the key of
any marketing strategy –members in the segmentation are the focus of strategy. Brand needs
to target the right people who can actually embrace the offer but it is quite challenging
because everyone out there in the race to win over the folks”. This was also studied in the
literature review that every brand tends to target the potential consumers of the market
thereby market segmentation of the product or the strategy should be highly accurate and
effective. According to the product development manager of Sailmaker Restaurant, the major
focus was on the people whose annual earning is more than $50,000, this means only the high
end consumers were approached for the first table promotional offer. This strategy is again
contradictory because organizations in the hotel industry should be aware of the fact
consumer tastes and preferences in the restaurant sector is rapidly changing, so the brand
should know what is that exact element attracting the consumers.
One of the interviewee stated that “it is not effective when you approach a consumer
with 50 % off for a product item and the rest of the days you end up charging high price,
certainly consumers will not be influenced. This means many strategy in the food sector is
transient. Brand should approach consumers on a regular basis. It is more of an effort which
can affect the purchase habit of the brand. It was studied in the literature review that
promotional strategy of the brand should influence consumers’ purchase habit and to
influence the purchase habit, it is essentially important to approach consumers with the
regular unique deals (Corrie, Stoeckl and Chaiechi, 2013). Another scholars of the paper
have added the fact that food organizations should not depend on a long-term strategy, it
should be focused with respect to regular market characteristics.
Theme 3: Implementation of the promotional strategy

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According to senior marketing manager of the organization, in order to implement the
strategy, hotel brand should cover or target all classes of consumers in the market; this means
that brand should not stick to one particular category of consumers. Ha and Jang (2013)
mentioned that the fact that good marketing keeps drawing consumers’ attention to products
and services- restaurant brand should pay attention to clearly defined, well-packaged and
competitively price products and services remain as the foundation of your marketing. Brand
should focus on some particular elements such as advertising, personal selling or
telemarketing or any sort of digital media activities to target the consumer. Nonetheless, one
of the respondents in the interview has mentioned the fact that promotional strategy should be
aligned with an advertising strategy which should cover the whole market scenario. When
developing the advertising strategy, brand should pay attention to online marketing because
online marketing is cost-effective and is becoming increasingly significant to businesses.
Findings of existing papers also state the fact that developing a separate online
marketing plan to evaluate the options and help to implement strategy which is vital in
today’s contemporary marketplace. One of the respondents have mentioned the fact that
“online marketing strategy is not an easy deal for the brand, this means the brand should be
able to manage training to other formats of marketing”. Another respondents have precisely
added the fact that “ on the basis of type of business that brand runs, marketers should
prioritize learning how with respect to editing the website and use social media before
knowing how to communicate face to face.

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