Expedia Australia Marketing Plan: Daydream Island Campaign

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Marketing plan for
Expedia Australia
Student:
SID:
7003MKT – Marketing Foundations
Convener:
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Executive Summary
This marketing plan mix is for Expedia Australia which is a website of the bookings of travels
owned by the group named Expedia. This website is used for hotel reservation, booking of
airline tickets, vacation packages, car rentals, and cruises. The different travel products of
Expedia Australia are served through various channels of distribution, call centers, travel
suppliers and private labels.
Summary of market place environment: The main objective of the Expedia marketing is to
expand its market share by 2% by expanding its business on Daydream Island. The target market
of Expedia will be Daydream Island. The explanation has been made regarding the target market
and the positioning strategy of the company. All the product mix strategies with regards to price,
products, advertising, promotion, and place have been described in detail. The control and
evaluation have been exercised for evaluating the success of the marketing plan for the
achievements of objectives. This will help the company in determining whether Daydream Island
will be feasible for the company to expand its business.
Target market and positioning: The selected target market of Expedia is Daydream Island
which is a very beautiful island. The island is small in size and tourist can enjoy unparalleled
views across Whitsunday’s. Various underwater experiences can be made by visitors and bring
amusement which can be proved profitable for the company.
Primary marketing factors used in plan: The Company will go for the Travel and explore
campaign and will offer very attractive packages and discounts to the visitors visiting Daydream
Island. Various distribution channels will also be opted by the company for spreading awareness
regarding this and various promotions sources will also be used so as to increase the sales
revenue of the company.
Timelines: for the successful implementation of this strategy 15 months will take and will be
divided into different phases. Firstly the planning for the different packages and discounts will be
done, different advertising media bookings will be made, and evaluation and control method will
be adopted.
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Evaluation: for evaluation of the campaign the competitor’s response, customer satisfaction,
sales revenue of the company will be evaluated. The online survey will be done for analyzing
brand awareness among consumers.
Benefit to the company: The travel and explore campaign of Expedia Australia regarding the
Daydream Island will bring good benefits to the company as on the successful implementation of
the plan the sales revenue of the company will increase and the brand image of the company will
also get enhanced.
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Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
Target market and positioning.........................................................................................................5
Selection of target market............................................................................................................5
Positioning strategy.....................................................................................................................5
Marketing Mix strategies.................................................................................................................6
Defining the product attributes................................................................................................7
12 months media schedule of Expedia......................................................................................10
Evaluation and Control..................................................................................................................11
Implementation and schedule........................................................................................................13
Gantt chart.................................................................................................................................13
Conclusions and recommendations...............................................................................................15
References......................................................................................................................................16
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Target market and positioning
Selection of target market
The Expedia Australia adopt the differentiated marketing strategy whereby the company markets
its products and services to multiple markets segments by making use of the distinct market mix
for each one of them. The company is going to target Daydream Island which is the Island of the
Molle group which is small in size measuring around one kilometer in length and four-hundred
meters at its widest point. Here is the revitalized pool landscape that allows the visitors to swim
and fully enjoy the unparalleled views across Whitsunday’s. The location is also suitable for the
weddings, conferences and different types of events which make it very amusing and attractive
to the visitors and by providing its services to this Island will bring lots of profits to the business
of Expedia. The island has three beautiful beaches with Sun lovers’ beach that is fringed by the
live coral outcrops which contain over forty marine fishes species and fifty varieties of coral
considered as the location which seems perfect for the hours of underwater exploration and
snorkeling (Boniface.et.al, 2016).
The motive of selecting this island as a target market of the company is due to its popularity as
the most famous and beautiful reef island of Australia. It has beautiful picturesque vistas and
topography to the natural treasures and crystalline waters. There is an outdoor aquarium with the
life of sea from the Great Barrier Reef and here the activities such as scuba diving, tennis,
volleyball, badminton, snorkeling, parasailing, sail-boarding, coral viewing, and jet-skiing are
most popular here. Due to its natural beauty and different water activities, it is a very popular
destination for tourists (Theobald, 2012).
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Positioning strategy
Expedia Australia has some of the guiding principles including one team, group first, be humble,
be honest and open, put yourself in the shoes of partners and customers. the slogan of the
company is “ To bring the world within reach” and is considered as the largest and diversified
travel platform of the world engaged in offering different products and services with different
attractive offers and discounts to all the people of any age.
Marketing Mix Strategies
Product or service: Expedia Australia sells varieties of products allowing customers for
selecting the varieties of products that suits best to them. Highly differentiated products and
services are offered by Expedia to customers that are not offered by its competitors including
Hotel quickly, Yatra, Ibibo, MakeMyTrip, Bookit.com and hence, its services and products are
unique. Customers can choose from over 300 plus airlines and 15000 hotels. By providing the
services at Daydream Island the company will gain a lot as there are fewer competitors offering
services there. Various tools will be used such as travel right, fare tracker, travel arranger, trip
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guides to deliver the information which is customized in tandem with the details that are
practical (Lai.et.al, 2014).
Defining the product attributes
Current Product Attributes New Product Attributes Resulting Consumer Benefit
1. Vacation packages
2. Flight bookings
3. Hotel booking
1. Special packages for
vacations at
Daydream
2. No booking fees
3. Resort booking with
premium services
4. Travel alert and price
matcher
5. Warranties, after-sale
service, credit, and
helpline services
All these services make more
customers to get attracted to
the services of Expedia. The
company will emerge as one
of the best online travel and
tourism website. Credit and
debit cards will make
customers easy to use the
website and get bookings of
hotel, resort, and the airplane
did quickly. Through
helpline services, customers
will get 24/7 help regarding
any of their queries and their
feedback can be obtained
which will help the company
to make changes accordingly
resulting in an enhancement
in the customer satisfaction
level.
Price: Expedia will offer various packages, discounts, and sale at the different seasons for
attracting the customers to travel at Daydream Island and will enhance customer loyalty. The
premium services will be offered by the company mainly targeting high-end consumers. The
competitive based pricing strategy is followed by the company. The costs will also be considered
for setting prices of a few products the information regarding which is not available on
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competitors. The company will start using the psychological pricing strategy where the products
are being priced by the company so that the prices seem to be lower such as $100 product can be
priced at $99 as this will be considered by the customers as lower. The strategy of price
penetration will be offered where the initial lower prices than the competitors will be offered. For
the middle-class section, it will offer special offerings to Daydream Island and seasonal
discounts and packages will be made available to customers (Binter.et.al, 2016).
Place: The headquarter of Expedia is in Bellevue, Washington. Daydream Island is the place
where the company is targeting to start its services as this island is considered as one of the
famous and beautiful islands in Whitsun lovers. It is relevant for the target market and providing
the platform for the initial twelve-month plan of marketing and budget, the extrapolation can be
made towards national footprints. And will contribute to achieving the marketing plan. The
selling is made to customers through the online websites an Omnichannel of distribution will be
adopted by the company for providing its services to the customers by integrating its offline and
online services so that the customers can have easy access. For providing easy navigation to the
users of Expedia the shop on social media will be opened by the company. The focus of the
company is to become more user-friendly and easy to use the website. The geographic pricing
strategy and lowest pricing strategy at the time of peak competition will be adopted by the
company. Various distributors and agents will be used for selling the services (Wang, & Xiang,
2012).
Distribution Model
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Promotions: for the promotion of its products and services different channels are being used by
the company including traditional media like radio, and television. This enables the company to
reach its large varieties of people. Social media and online advertising are used like these are
beneficial and cheaper due to the increased use of the internet (Richard.et.al, 2012).
For portraying the Expedia Australia strategy following sentence will be used by the company
“just travel and explore to the different destination”
1. Copy:
The video advertisement will start with two friends met in the hotel after a long time. one friend
will go to the room of another friend and what he saw that his room is so exciting, beautiful and
well-furnished with all the facilities in comparison to the other friend. The second friend ask the
first friend how much amount did you pay for this room it must be very costly but after knowing
the price he gets shocked as the second friend has booked the room in the same hotel for the high
price as compared to the price of his friend's room and he sees that his friend is getting many
facilities in the hotel from time-to-time then he asked him why there is so much difference in the
services then first friend say him that he booked his room in the hotel from the Expedia which
has won many awards including People’s voice award and has also won the mobile app award
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Expedia
Online
websites
call centres
Travel auppliers
Private
label
Direct sales
Wholesellers
Retailers

and is the most admired company in the online traveling companies. So next time you also get
the bookings of your hotel from the Expedia and you will have an excellent experience of its
services which you will love and remember for your lifetime.
The video advertising at the same time will be rational and emotional as the ad will show at the
end that the first friend will say to his friend that if you will get your bookings done from
Expedia then whatever money you will spend on the bookings it is 1 % will go to the children’s
education funds. This way you will contribute your money for a very good social cause
(Melamed, 2017).
2. Media:
The media that will be chosen for doing promotion of the services of the Expedia will be
television, billboard, magazines, radio, online sites, social media like Facebook, Instagram. By
this, the company will target the customers of all the age group and will attract them, through the
various attractive offers and discounts (Hastings, & Stead, 2017).
12 months media schedule of Expedia:
Media Au
g
Se
p
Oc
t
No
v
De
c
Ja
n
Fe
b
Marc
h
Apr
il
Ma
y
Jun
e
Jul
y
Radio
TV Four slots
On
e
slot
Two slots
Outdoors
Transit
Billboar
ds
Online
website
Social
media
Magazin
e
single
page Double spread Single
page
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The suggestions have been made by the researchers that to make consumers remind them of their
products at least five times exposure is required to be made for remembering the products. And
twenty times for considering its purchase. Therefore, the company is planning to run a
promotional campaign for twelve months. For the maintenance of credibility, the over the
advertising of the product will not be made.
3. Sales promotion:
For promotion, the Expedia will initiate the advertising campaign constantly providing a
message to its customers on all the platform of media which will help in increasing the brand
awareness among the customers. Different events will also be organized by the company in
which it will market about its pricing strategies discounts and offers which the company is
planning to make and special offers to the customers traveling to Daydream Island
(Lefebvre.2013).
4. Customer and service support:
24/7 services will be provided to its customers and all of their inquiries will be handled through
telephone contact number, web-chat, company’s website, emails, and Q and A’s. There will be
monthly briefing that will be done regarding the Expedia offers and services information for
ensuring that they are effective and knowledgeable in providing support to the distributors and
customers.
5. Trade promotion:
Different sources of promotions will be adopted by the company. The company will go for the
different contests and the top five people winning the contest will be offered free package tour of
traveling to Daydream Island. Various trade shows will be organized by Expedia and trade
allowances will also be offered. All this will contribute to enhancing the brand awareness of the
company (Gordon, 2012).
6. Public relations or publicity:
Public relations play a crucial role in building strong relations with the public and therefore,
various events and promotional campaigns will allow customers to directly have contact with the
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top authorities of companies. 24*7 customers’ services will build strong relations of the company
with the customers. The company’s cause-related strategy of marketing will work as a strong
strategy and 1% of each transaction with the company will go for the social cause of children’s
education. All these promotional strategies will allow the company to increase the sale of the
company by 6% by the end of twelve months (Hall, 2014).
Evaluation and Control
Three different evaluation methods will be used by the company for evaluating and controlling
the performance of products in the market. Return on investment, competitor response, and
customer response are three evaluation methods. The services and products offered by the
company will be used for measuring return on investment. The customer satisfaction level will
be measured by making use of the survey on which the customer response will be based. The
brand image of the company will also be used for the same. For measuring if competitors are
copying the things done by Expedia will be done through competitor response (Alkier.et.al,
2015).
Metric Method of
Measure
Timing Responsibility Outcome
Return on
investment Sales in AU$
1st month
3rd month
7th month
12th month
 Sales
Mana
ger
 Mark
eting
Execu
tive
The drastic increase is
expected to be made in the
first three months by 3%
then is expected to reach
6% within the 12 months
Customer
Response
Online survey After the first
month, the first
survey was
Marketing
Executive
And
-there must be a favorable
response of customers
regarding Expedia’s
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