Hilton Hotels: Analysis of Marketing Mix and Strategic Planning

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Hilton Hotels' business operations and marketing strategies. It begins with an executive summary outlining Hilton's global presence and business procedures. The report then delves into the marketing mix, evaluating the product, price, place, and promotion strategies employed by Hilton. It examines the core, facilitating, and supporting products offered, as well as the pricing techniques used, including penetration, skimming, and premium pricing. The report also explores Hilton's distribution channels and promotional strategies, including loyalty programs and collaborations. Furthermore, the report assesses Hilton's internal and external environments through SWOT and PESTEL analyses, and conducts a competitor analysis, comparing Hilton to Marriott, Ritz Carlton, and Accor. Finally, it offers market strategies and recommendations for the company, including market segmentation and an overview of the decision-making process within the hotel. The analysis is supported by relevant references to industry research and academic sources.

Running head: HILTON HOTELS
Hilton Hotels
Name of the Student:
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Author note:

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Executive Summary
Hilton Hotels Corporation (HHC) is one of the most prominent global hospitality corporation
that has more than 3500 hotels world-wide in 91 different nations. This paper has elaborated
on the business operation of Hiltons, providing a brief background of its business procedures.
It has also assessed its strengths and weaknesses and the opportunities and threats present for
it in the current business scenario. The paper has also carried a PESTEL analysis in order to
assess its macro environment which influence its business. With the same, it has also
conducted a SWOT analysis in order to assess its internal and micro environment factors. It
has also shed light on its competitive edge along with the market research strategies that the
enterprise uses. In order to do so, it has carried a competitor’s analysis taking Marriott, Ritz
Carlton and Accor into consideration. There are also some market strategies and objective
recommendations made for the part of the company and with the same, it has also made a
market segmentation by dividing a large segment of the market into smaller segments.
Furthermore, it has also presented a brief overview of the decision making process in the
hotel and have presented a marketing mix, assessing the 4 Ps of marketing.

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Marketing Mix
Defining a proper marketing mix for hotel industry is crucial for the success of hotels
marketing efforts. A marketing mix is used to indicate the several marketing variables used
by the sales team to target specific guests or target market segments (E.g.: Corporate,
Transient, Groups, Conference, Leisure etc.).
Product
A product is divided into three different levels and they are Core, Facilitating and Supporting
products. Hilton Hotels can be identified as a up market fully serviced hotel, which offers
services such as hotel rooms, meeting/ conference facilities, hosting weddings receptions,
banquets Restaurant, lounges Bars, food & beverage services, room service swimming pools,
gift shops, retail facilities and other services such as but not limited to airport transfers. The
core products of Hilton Hotels are the hotel rooms that Guest stay in for a precise period of
time (Hotel 2017). With the same, Hilton offers a group of common facilitating product like
client services, bars and restaurants, meetings/events and on-line reservation facilities.
Moreover, Hilton Hotels provides 24/7 room service, free newspapers and magazines for
enterprise travellers, concierge offerings etc. Furthermore, the augmented products supplied
by Hilton Hotels consist of membership discounts, luxurious room and exterior designs, high
end restaurant with relaxed ambiances. It also provide augmented products. It is to note that
the Augmented product is advantage provide made by way of companies that consist of core
product and peripheral services. Augmented products supplied by Hilton Hotels consist of
membership discounts, luxurious room and exterior designs, high end restaurant with relaxed
ambiances.
Questions to asked when marketing a hotel
 What's the name of the presented product? (brand)

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 The environment of the product? (Colour, size, design, and so forth.)
 In which, how and who is capable of use it?
 Customers’ expectancies from the supplied product?
 Form of supplied accommodation? (budget or high end)
 Highly-priced features of the product?
 What is the level of competitiveness?
 What is the variety of supplied services?
 How does the product satisfy demand
Price
Pricing techniques used by Hilton can be divided into four vast classes within the framework
of Pricing approach Matrix: financial system, penetration, skimming and top rate pricing
techniques. Penetration pricing approach, includes offering high end services and products in
low prices than the competition to be able to increase market share. The skimming strategy is
to position Hilton among the most prestigious of hotels. Skimming, as a pricing strategy is
contrary to penetration in a way that products and services are presented for a better price
tiers than the competition. The principle intent for the selection of skimming pricing approach
may also include the preference to companion services or products with exclusiveness and
excessive best. It would be used for a well-established hotel dropping prices at the last minute
to increase occupancy rate. These rate would be found on booking website such as
booking.com and hotels combined. Furthermore, premium pricing approach includes
charging excessive for products and services which are gave the impression to have superb
satisfactory and further traits and capabilities. Majority rooms of Hilton belong to upper
upscale and upscale pricing classes. Consequently, on the premise of category above the type
of pricing strategy followed by way of Hilton inns & lodges can be targeted as premium. It
also ‘sells’ a hard and fast of intangible advantages which includes sense of fulfilment, high
popularity and comfort.
Place/ Distribution

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Place or distribution refers to the accessibility of the goods to customers. Whilst comparing to
different merchandise generally resorts products would not travel to clients but the customers
come to the product. Hilton makes use of both direct or indirect distribution techniques to
attain out its potential clients, beneath are few techniques or channels used by resorts. Hilton
international serves visitors operating greater than 745,000 rooms in greater than one hundred
international locations and territories. Hilton resorts & inns brand particularly operates
206,635 rooms in eighty five nations and territories. Hilton’s distribution approach heavily is
based on facts technology and internet in numerous formats (Su, Mariadoss and Reynolds
2015). The official Hilton worldwide website of the employer serves as an effective platform
for provider distribution as it is supplied with a wide variety of features and skills imparting
sensible assistance to customers together with booking a room, planning occasions etc. and
reserving airport pick out-ups. It is also to note that the distribution of Hilton services and
products is also facilitated through mobile apps made available for iPhone and Android
systems. Social media is also customized and wholesalers would also be used to sell services.
The principle reason behind the choice of net platform because the base of Hilton’s
distribution method relates to an extensive range of conveniences related to website. In
particular, the net affords Hilton’s customers with the opportunities of buying services and
products in advance in a short period of time. Hilton would also use wholesalers to sell rooms
as it would put holiday packages together whom then would on sell these packages to travel
agents.
Promotion
The Hilton group is the well-known brand in the hospitality industry for a long time. The
group have collaborated with many business firms, multi-national companies, institutes and
various groups of their booking on priority (Zheng 2018). Also, The Hilton group has
collaborated with Payment Banks and many different restaurants. Other marketing is done

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with the content of premium magazines as well. Typical promotional strategy adopted by
Hilton is incentive trips, which is aimed at potential customers offering premium packages. It
will also conduct discount program assigning certain times where they will offer 50%
discount. With the same, it also has a loyalty program legal responsibility of $1,461 million
of December 31, 2017, along with $622 million reflected as a contemporary legal
responsibility in money owed payable, amassed expenses and other. Adjustments inside the
estimates used in developing our breakage fee or other anticipated destiny application
operations
Conclusion
Hence, from the above discussion it is to state that Hilton hotels own a very solid
incorporation features starting from owning the companies that manufacture its fittings to
being an investor in the online booking travel enterprises. It has endeavoured to a mixtures of
business and gaming. The enterprise does this for raising more profit. However, it is to state
that it is working continuously on improving its business and customer satisfaction. It is also
improving the guest services in international boundaries along with the iPad technology. In
order to maintain this position of it, it needs to be consistent in its business operation and
work more on enhancing and improving its business strategy with the ever changing trends.

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References:
Hotel, Hilton Deansgate, M. M. R. Perkin, K. Logan, T. Marrs, J. Craven, D. T. Greenblatt,
and D. Strachan. "British Society for Investigative Dermatology Annual Meeting 2017,
Hilton Deansgate Hotel, Manchester, 3-5 April 2017." (2017).
Su, Na, Babu John Mariadoss, and Dennis Reynolds. "Friendship on social networking sites:
Improving relationships between hotel brands and consumers." International Journal of
Hospitality Management 51 (2015): 76-86.
Zheng, Xin. "The Influence of the Difference between Chinese and Western Culture on
Advertising Translation and Strategy." Theory and Practice in Language Studies 8, no. 3
(2018): 331-339.