Guestonian B&B: Loyalty Program and Extended Marketing Mix

This report provides an analysis of relationship marketing and its application to The Guestonian Bed and Breakfast, a proposed establishment in London, UK. It details the extended marketing mix (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence) and its relevance to the B&B's success. The report also examines the characteristics of relationship marketing, such as service culture, segmentation, database management, trust, commitment, and reward systems, in the context of implementing a successful loyalty program called 'Guest Platinum'. Furthermore, it outlines specific strategies for the loyalty program, including special events and loyalty rewards, aimed at enhancing customer satisfaction and retention, ultimately contributing to the profitability of the B&B. The report concludes that relationship marketing is crucial for attracting and retaining customers in the hospitality industry.

Relationship
and Marketing
strategy

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Extended marketing mix of The Guestonian Bed and Breakfast................................................1
Analysis of characteristics of relationship marketing for successful implementation loyalty
programme .................................................................................................................................3
Strategy of loyalty programme of The Guestonian Bed and Breakfast .....................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................8

INTRODUCTION
Relationship marketing plays a significant role in retaining consumers in the hospitality
industry (Harrison and Hair, 2017). The bed and Breakfast proposed in this report is The
Guestonian Bed and Breakfast which will be located in London, UK. This report is involves
demonstrating the knowledge of extended marketing mix for the proposed bed and breakfast
restaurant. In addition to this, characteristics of relationship marketing are analysed for
successful implementation of loyalty programmes at the proposed bed and Breakfast. Apart from
this strategies for gaining success from loyalty programmes of the proposed bed and Breakfast
restaurant are also provided in this report.
MAIN BODY
Extended marketing mix of The Guestonian Bed and Breakfast
Marketing mix includes the various marketing tactics which can be used by business
firms to gain successful results from their marketing efforts. Originally the marketing mix only
included four elements of Product, Price, Place and Promotion but the marketing mix has been
extended to include other important points such as People. Process and Physical Evidence.
Marketing mix for the proposed Bed and Breakfast restaurant The Guestonian is provided below:
 Product: This is the first element of the marketing mix which revolves around the product
and services offered by the company (Estima, Manso and Nunes, 2017). The products
and service offered by the company should fulfil consumer requirement and resolve any
consumer problems. In case of The Guestonian Bed and breakfast, the services offered b
the hospitality firm will include accommodation services for guests in comfortable rooms
along with freshly prepared morning meal of traditional English Breakfast and evening
Tea. The B&B will fulfil consumer requirements by offering hygienic accommodation
services and delicious dining services along with amenities such as Wi-Fi, parking and
laundry services. The services offered by The Guestonian will provide consumer homely
environment for staying and tasty meals so that they are able to fully enjoy their stay.
 Price: This element looks at the price of the product and services offered by the company.
This is an important element of marketing mix as setting effective price helps business
firms gain profitability and face intense competition. In addition to this the pricing
strategy adopted by the company is also included in this element of the marketing mix.
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The Guestonian will adopt competitive pricing strategy. This is simple pricing strategy as
it involves setting prices of various services after conducting thorough research on the
competitors and setting price in relation to direct and indirect competitors. This pricing
strategy is advantageous for Guestonian as it will helps the establishment be at par with
their competitors. In addition to this, seasonal and holiday discounts will also be given by
the establishment on various services in order to gain supplementary income from
consumers and increase sale.
 Place: This is crucial aspect of the marketing mix as it describes how the products or
services of the company will be accessible to the consumers. Ensuring that the consumers
are able to access the products and services easily helps firms maximise sale (Augusto
and Torres, 2018). Apart from this the place of the establishment plays a crucial role in
attracting consumers in case of the hospitality industry as it affects the consumer
experience. The Guestonian will be located nearby London City Airport. This is lucrative
location for the B&B as guests will able to easily travbel to the Airport. Room bookings
and reservations at The Guestonian can be completed from the company website or major
Online travel Agencies. In addition to short-cut room booking service is also offered to
consumers where they can book reservations by interacting with official social media
page of The Guestonian and make payment when they reach the B&B. These service will
increase fast accessibility of the B&B and also build positive digital presence of the
establishment.
 Promotion: The promotional activities undertaken by the company are included in this
element of the marketing mix (Farha and Elbanna, 2018). Usage of effective marketing
strategies helps business firms make the end user aware of the products and services and
persuade them to increase consumer revisits. The Guestonian will utilize relationship
marketing and construct an attractive loyalty programmes to attract consumers and
increase consumer retention. In addition to this digital marketing strategies such SEO and
social media marketing will be also used as the promotional element of the marketing
mix.
 People: The employees of the marketing mix who are involved in providing consumers
products and service are included in this element of the marketing mix. Employees play
an important role in delivering effective services to the consumers and increasing
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consumer satisfaction in case of the Hospitality industry as employees are directly
involved in fulfilling consumer requirements. In context of the Guestonian B&B,
employees hired for the proposed establishment will be experienced in the hospitality
industry so that consumers gain professional hospitality services. In addition to this,
experienced kitchen staff will be recruited to prepare fresh and delicious meals for the
consumers.
 Processes: This refers to the various processes which contribute to timely deliver of
products and services of the company (Eniola and Entebang, 2017). In case of The
Guestonian, top management will frequently check various processes which directly
contribute to delivery of hospitality services to the consumers. This will ensure smooth
functioning of the establishment and that the consumers gain high quality hospitality
services at all times.
 Physical Evidence:The final element of the marketing mix includes physical environment
of the establishment, tangible item, received by the consumers from their purchase and
user-friendly aspect of the online site of the company. The Guestonian will have
Victorian interior aesthetic which will please consumers. The loyalty programme
application of The Guestonian will also be easy to use. This will help the company
provide best environment to the consumers from the besieging of their consumer Journey.
Analysis of characteristics of relationship marketing for successful implementation loyalty
programme
Relationship marketing is defined as marketing with deliberate purpose to develop and
manage long-term relationship with consumers, distributors, suppliers or other parties in the
marketing environment (Kim and Baek, 2018). Relationship marketing is crucial for the success
of Bed and Breakfast establishment. This is because relationship marketing is integral to
increasing consumer satisfaction so that they are retained by the company. Relationship
marketing will be used by The Guestonian to successfully implement the Loyalty program Guest
Platinum and build strong relationships with consumers. The characteristics of relationship
marketing are analysed in context of successful implementation of loyalty program by The
Guestonian B&B below:Service Culture
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Developing a service culture is an important part of relationship marketing as service
quality leads to strengthening consumer relationship by increasing consumer satisfaction. This
leads to relationship longevity which will lead to consumer relationship profitability. The merit
of this characteristic is that it ensures that consumers gain exceptional experience (Al-Weshah,
2017). The demerit of this characteristic is that is leads to micromanagement. Service culture will
help the Guestonian deliver exceptional services to consumers and persuade them to purchase
loyalty program services so that they gain more benefits.Segmentation
This is key enabler to excellence relationship marketing and involves dividing consumers
in various segments with similar characteristics. The purpose of creating consumer segments is
to gain better understanding of the consumer and provide consumers specific experience in
accordance to their consumer segment. The merit of the characteristic is that it helps the
company simplify the process of relationship marketing by building profitable relationship with
different consumer segment according to their needs and expectations. The demerit of this
characteristic is that market segmentation increases costs as the company has to utilize different
marketing tactic to build relationship witch different consumer segments (Cheng, Lam and Chiu,
2020). The Guestonian will be able to successfully introduce the loyalty program Guest Platinum
with the help of this characteristic of relationship marketing as the company will understand the
neds of different consumer segment and build loyalty program for each consumer segment.Database
This characteristic of relationship marketing involves creating a consumer database
which has detailed information about the past purchases of the consumer, likes and dislikes of
the consumer and collecting other consumer information such as addresses, gender, phone
numbers, contact information etc. The consumer database is than used to improve consumer
relationship and offer personalized services to each consumer so that bond between the consumer
and the firm is strengthened. The merit of this relationship marketing characteristic is that it
helps the company increase positive personalization to improve consumer satisfaction (Rather
and Hollebeek, 2020). The demerit of this relationship marketing characteristic is that
maintaining and creating large consumer database is time consuming, financially taxing task and
also introduces various cyber-security issues. The Guestonian will be able to attract consumers to
purchase the loyalty programme with the help of this characteristic of relationship marketing as
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strong database of consumer information will hep the company persuade consumers to purchase
Guest Platinum loyalty programme. In addition to this the firm will also be able to deliver better
loyalty programme services as the company will be able to understand individual needs and
concerns of every consumer and adjust the loyalty programme to fulfil individual consumer
requirements.Trust and Commitment
Relationship marketing focuses on developing strong relationship between buyers and
sellers through trust and commitment. This can be achieved only if the relationship marketing
strategy is transactional and relational. The merit of this characteristic is that it helps ensure that
objectives of both buyer and seller are met through maintaining long-term trust and commitment
(Pansari and Kumar, 2017). The demerit of this characteristic is that trust of the company can
also be used by criminals to commit fraud. The Guesthouse will not be able to utilize this
characteristic to ensure that consumers trust loyalty programme and always opt for the respective
firm instead of industry rivals.Reward and Recognition
The characteristic of relationship marketing involves providing consumers rewards and
recognition in order to improve consumer satisfaction and engagement. This helps build positive
consumer relationship (Hwang and Choi, 2020). The merit of this characteristic is that it helps
facilitates continues interaction between the consumer and seller as they gain rewards in
exchange of completing n action such as subscribing to loyalty program or recommending the
company to others. The demerit of this characteristic is that providing consumers rewards and
recognition which improves their satisfaction requires high financial investment which increases
the cost of the establishment.
Strategy of loyalty programme of The Guestonian Bed and Breakfast Special events: This strategy involves conducting special events for consumers who have
purchased loyalty programme services. This is an effective strategy for gaining success
from loyalty programme of the company as consumers will fell special and valued from
other normal consumers. The Guestonian will prepare special Holiday events at their
B&B tin order to make The Guest Platinum loyalty programme participants feel special
and will also persuade them to visit the B&B during various Holidays. This is a useful
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strategy for the company as it will help increase guest satisfaction while also contribution
to the profitability of the company.

Loyalty Rewards: In this strategy consumers are giving rewards to improve their
satisfaction (Başgöze and et. al., 2021). In case of The Guestonian, the consumers who
participate in the Guest Platinum will gain rewards point on their very visit to the B&B.
These rewards points can be used to gain discounts on various services and priority
reservations at B&B.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report it is determined that relationship marketing plays an important role
in attracting and retaining consumers at hospitality firms. The extended marketing mix helps
hospitality firms utilize effective marketing tactics to improve consumer satisfaction and offer
them exceptional consumer experience. The extend marketing mix elements are product, price,
place, promotion, people, process, and physical evidence. Service culture, segmentation,
database, trust and commitment and recognition and reward are the main characteristics of
relationship marketing which have different merits and demerits. These characteristics can be
used by hospitality firms to ensure success of their loyalty programme. In addition to this special
events and loyalty rewards are the tow elements which can help business firms successfully
introduce loyalty program.
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REFERENCES
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willingness to pay in the banking industry: Mediating role of consumer-brand
identification and brand equity.
Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services,
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Journal of Service Theory and Practice.
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The Journal of Academic Librarianship,
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Telematics and Informatics,
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