Analysis of Four Seasons Hotels' Marketing Strategies and Segmentation

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Four Seasons Hotels. It begins with an introduction to sales and marketing, emphasizing their importance in revenue generation. The main body of the report focuses on Four Seasons Hotels, examining their services, target markets (businessmen and families), marketing strategies, and segmentation approaches. The analysis includes an overview of their tangible and intangible services, promotional techniques, and customer loyalty programs. Furthermore, the report evaluates the impact of external factors, such as social and economic changes, on the hotel's operations and marketing efforts. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings and emphasizing the importance of segmentation and effective marketing for the hotel's success. The analysis references various academic sources to support its claims and provide a well-rounded perspective on the topic.

Sales and Marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Sales and Marketing is a process of making plans for the promotion, sale and distribution
of products or services along with handling operational activities that are involved in this
management function (Marketing, 2018). They both are prerequisites for an organization as they
help in selling for the purpose of revenue and profit generation. Marketing managers have to
ensure that they create strategies that will lead to maximum sale of their products and services.
This assignment will analyse Four Seasons hotels’ services that are provided by them. It will
identify their target markets, marketing strategies and segmentation of the organization. There
will also be evaluation of external factors that can potentially affect services and promotional
techniques of Four Seasons Hotels.
MAIN BODY
Four Seasons is a hospitality-based company and the organisation’s headquarters is in
Toronto, Canada and operates worldwide. Isadore Sharp is the founder and chairman of this
organization and it was founded in 1961. They have around 100 properties across 46 countries
and earn annual revenue of £3.5 billion (Lopes, 2016). Four Seasons has 45,000 employees and
is owned by Cascade Investment Kingdom Holding Company. They have a team of marketing
managers that design new services that can be offered to customers. Their management ensures
that there is regular research and planning done, so that they are able to meet customer
expectations as well as retain their position in the hospitality industry. They are a sustainable
organization and provide charities for cancer research programs. Four Seasons Hotel’s preserves
many tropical species by preserving their homes and environments. They provide online booking
services on their website as well, so that customers can book their rooms or restaurants
beforehand.
Four Seasons offers a wide variety of facilities and services, which include provision of
banquet and conference halls as well as spas for their target markets, businessmen and families.
Their core services include providing range of rooms, halls and spa treatments. These are
considered to be the tangible elements of their services. Their facilities consist of both tangible
and intangible elements as they offer a variety of them in many locations. Their services include
arrangements for weddings and conferences of large companies. These facilities are available at
a large scale and organisation has made them available at almost every platform in countries that
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they operate (de la Peña and et.al., 2016). While supplementary services are provision of
customer and after sale services. They also provide special services for guests that come for
birthday and anniversary celebrations. Four Seasons Hotel’s services are of high quality and they
use latest technology in their premises, so that there efficiency while providing such facilities.
Their services start from high standard prices and go up to luxurious prices (Lopes, 2016). Their
marketing team creates various promotional techniques to advertise their newly launched
services.
Four Seasons Hotel’s also offers services that have exquisite designs that align with
changes in trends and customer needs. They have many loyal customers and have been able to
successfully retain them. Their intangible customer services are of top quality and they give their
full attention while handling and dealing with certain issues that customers have faced during
their stay (Dalila, Foroudi and Hafeez, 2018). These services are marketed in an effective as well
as efficient manner, which makes Four Seasons Hotels very successful. They are able to
optimally use all available resources and provide the best services that can be offered to public.
Segmentation of markets helps Four Seasons Hotels in identifying their customer base, so
that they are able to design and create services according to consumer preferences (Market
segmentation, 2018). The first service line is for businessmen in which the marketing
management divides business groups of from different industries. This is done through
demographic segmentation. They have priced these services in such a way that companies that
get their work done and also enjoy such facilities. Due to global operations, facilities are
provided by analysing each country’s culture. This helps in satisfying the needs of customers.
Demographics is used by Four Seasons Hotels as a segmentation principle, while creating
marketing plans for business plans. The hospitality industry offers a wide range of services to
choose from, which makes it difficult for organisations to stay ahead in tough competitions ().
Promotions of Four Seasons Hotel’s new launches are done through newsletters, so that they can
reach old customers, such as businessmen that want to avail such services for their business.
They promote these services on social media, which attracts such individuals and promotional
campaigns help in advertisements of the organisation at a large scale.
The other target market of Four Seasons Hotels is families and they conduct behaviour
segmentation for understanding the needs of such individuals when they look for such services.
In this, marketing management analyses families and their spending patterns that change with
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trends as these customers generally change their purchasing habits frequently. They prefer
availing services according to new trends. Luxurious rooms, spas and swimming pools are such
services that are preferred by families when they stay at Four Seasons Hotels and organisation is
well aware of this fact (Dzhandzhugazova and et.al., 2016). They create new improved facilities
by researching market trends and identifying new ideas, so that they are able to cater to needs of
their customers. They prefer to buy such services of Four Seasons Hotels, as their standards meet
requirements. Organisations provide gift cards for members so that they can enjoy discounts
during festive seasons. They are loyal to Four Seasons Hotels and keep visiting them for their
services from as well as recommend it to others.
Four Seasons Hotel’s social media platforms regularly update followers about the new
launches of services that are provided by the organization (Wan and Law, 2017). This helps in
understanding spending pattern of customers and eventually lead to effective achievement of
marketing objectives. Therefore, they have successfully identified and divided their target market
of customers, which has led them to create and promote different services that is loved by
everyone who avails to it (Kandampully, Zhang and Bilgihan, 2015). They include families and
their children, of all ages and Four Seasons Hotels has been able to retain their loyalty over the
years. The marketing tools used for advertising and promoting their new services have also been
created and implemented properly by marketing management. Overall, the organization
understands segmentation principles and adheres to them for increasing sales and profits.
Four Seasons operates at an international level, which can cause high changes of their
promotions, being affected by certain external factors. The first one includes social elements
such as changes in spending patterns, behaviour and trends in each country (De Mooij, 2018).
Organisations in hospitality sector have to stay aware of these variations, so that they are able to
make changes in their facilities of clothing, footwear and accessories for their huge customer
base. This factor can potentially damage the pricing strategies of Four Seasons, because if the
marketing management is unable to identify changes in trends, then they will not be able to
satisfy their customers. This can lead to decrease in revenues and overall profit of the company.
It is important for them to analyse changing patterns in social factors, so that they can effectively
serve their customers (Bowie and et.al., 2016). Four Seasons will not be able to understand how
promotions can be done and this can potentially harm this aspect of external factors.
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Four Seasons Hotels can be affected by economic factors of the countries in which it
operates and provides their services. They have to analyse various activities that occur in the
economy, so that they can successfully operate even during times of recession. Being a high-end
brand, Four Seasons Hotels will face many issues of low revenue and can affect them if
customers decide to spend less (Venter, Wright and Dibb, 2015). The increase of minimum pay
for employees in hospitality organisations can cause issues, as they will have to spend more,
leading to low profits. Therefore, it is important for them to assess factors related to economy so
that they can plan service prices in such as way that there is minimum loss for them. This
element can potentially hamper promotions of Four Seasons Hotel’s services. However, with
proper planning, they can effectively manage advertisements of their new services to customers,
while gaining profits.
Hence, Four Seasons Hotels can be affected by social and economical factors in a
negative manner, as these elements influence them on a large scale. They will be unable to
achieve marketing objectives of pricing services and may cause been decrease in their revenues
(Romão and et.al., 2015). They have however, been able to maintain their position in the
hospitality industry, as they are one of the most successful brands across nations. Even though
there is stiff competition with other substitutes present, they have successfully been catering to
needs of their customers. Their online services for bookings and after sale services are the
reasons why they have loyal customers. They use promotion techniques for new services, in a
proper manner, which attracts many people to avail services from them (Minooei and et.al.,
2015). Overall, external changes of both social and economical factors can affect Four Seasons
Hotels negatively as they may not be effective in promotion of new launches of services.
CONCLUSION
This assignment can conclude that Four Seasons Hotel’s services require marketing
through segmentation, so that they effective promotion can be done. The organization mainly
provides facilities such as conference halls and spas. They use demographic and behaviour
segmentation for identifying their core customers. Social and economical factors of external
environment can affect their business as consumers have control over Four Seasons Hotels and
inflation can cause customers to change their spending habits. They are able to effective achieve
goals and objectives of promoting their services to the public.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Bowie, D. and et.al., 2016. Hospitality marketing. Routledge.
Dalila, B., Foroudi, P. and Hafeez, K., 2018. Marketing management capability: the construct,
and its dimensions: an examination of managers and entrepreneurs’ perception in the
retail setting. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal.
de la Peña, M.R. and et.al., 2016. Are innovations relevant for consumers in the hospitality
industry? A hedonic approach for Cuban hotels. Tourism Management. 55. pp.184-196.
De Mooij, M., 2018. Global marketing and advertising: Understanding cultural paradoxes.
SAGE Publications Limited.
Dzhandzhugazova, E.A. and et.al., 2016. Innovations in hospitality industry. International
Journal of Environmental and Science Education. 11(17). pp.10387-10400.
Kandampully, J., Zhang, T. and Bilgihan, A., 2015. Customer loyalty: a review and future
directions with a special focus on the hospitality industry. International Journal of
Contemporary Hospitality Management. 27(3). pp.379-414.
Lopes, M., 2016. The hospitality industry (Doctoral dissertation).
Minooei, O. and et.al., 2015. Importance of food packaging and its relation to the consumer’s
demographic profile. International Journal of Business and Management Invention. 4(1).
pp.8-11.
Romão, J. and et.al., 2015. Culture, product differentiation and market segmentation: a structural
analysis of the motivation and satisfaction of tourists in Amsterdam. Tourism
Economics. 21(3). pp.455-474.
Venter, P., Wright, A. and Dibb, S., 2015. Performing market segmentation: a performative
perspective. Journal of Marketing Management. 31(1-2). pp.62-83.
Wan, S. and Law, R., 2017. Leveraging online reviews in the hotel industry. In Analytics in
smart tourism design(pp. 235-252). Springer, Cham.
Online
Marketing. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/46086>
Market segmentation. 2018. [Online]. Available through: <
https://www.qualtrics.com/experience-management/brand/what-is-market-segmentation/
>
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