Integrated Marketing Communication Strategies in Hospitality Industry

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of integrated marketing communication (IMC) within the hospitality industry. Part A introduces IMC and its importance, discussing various marketing channels such as advertising, public relations, social media marketing, and digital marketing, and how these support communication objectives. It also critically evaluates an integrated communication plan concerning communication strategy, channel choice, and creative content. The report uses the Connaught Hotel as a case study in Part B, designing communication objectives, justifying the selection and integration of communication channels, and designing an IMC plan to meet these objectives effectively. The report highlights the shift towards digital marketing and the importance of creative content to engage consumers and build brand image, concluding with the need for effective communication plans, channel selection, and creative content to attract consumers and increase brand awareness and equity.

Integrated Hospitality
Marketing
Communication

Table of Contents
PART- A..........................................................................................................................................1
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
P1. Discuss the various marketing channels used by the hospitality industry to support
communication objectives of an organisation........................................................................1
P5. Discuss and critically evaluate a integrated communication plan in terms of
communication strategy, channel choice and creative content..............................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
References:.......................................................................................................................................5
Books and Journals.................................................................................................................5
PART - B.........................................................................................................................................6
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................6
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................6
P2. Discuss and design the communication objectives for the Connaught hotel...................6
P3. Discuss the justified reasons of selecting and integrating of chosen communication
channels..................................................................................................................................7
P4. Discuss and design an integrated marketing communications plan that effectively meets
communication objectives for the Connaught hotel...............................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
References:.....................................................................................................................................10
Books and Journals...............................................................................................................10

PART- A
INTRODUCTION
In today’s competitive environment when a person enters the field of marketing the most
important thing is to communicate effectively with the consumers for which an effective
knowledge and understanding about marketing communication tool is necessary. The integrated
marketing communication is the concept that that has involved all the kinds of communication
tools and interaction programmes together which can be used by the organisations to
communicate and also as a promotional tool (Khandamova, Shchepakin and Bazhenov, 2017).
Hospitality industry is the service industry that provides service to their customers related to
accommodation, food and beverages, event planning, hotels, resorts, tour and travel and many
more. The hospitality industry also utilizes the integrated approach of integrated hospitality
marketing communication to increase the customer’s interaction with their organisation. The
present report is on the famous 5 star hotel “The Connaught Hotel” based in London, UK. The
hotel is owned and operated by the Maybourne Hotel Group. The hotel has 121 rooms, two
restaurants, public area, function area, spa and much more. This section of the report will outline
the different marketing channels and how they aid to communication objectives of the
organisation. Further in the integrated communication plan is critically evaluated in relation to
the communication strategy, channel choice and creative content.
MAIN BODY
P1. Discuss the various marketing channels used by the hospitality industry to support
communication objectives of an organisation
Marketing channel is the medium by which the organisation transfers their product and services
to the consumers. Basically it is the method of connecting the company with the consumer in
order to communicate the message of the organisation products and services to the potential
customers (Bruhn and Schnebelen, 2017). In the Connaught hotel the marketing manager and the
team of marketing use different marketing channels to serve their communication objectives for
increasing the sales and to pursue their potential customers. The different marketing channels are
discussed below:
Advertising: Advertising is one of the paid form of communication and the marketing channel by
which companies choose sponsor or an agency that draws attention towards the services and the
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products of the organisation. Advertising effective marketing channel for the Connaught Hotel as
it focuses on the living the message to the large group of people through the media like television
radio newspaper magazines and in many other forms. Advertising is the oldest form of
promotion which has timely gate new technologies and Medias to enhance their service and also
to expand their limit beyond the traditional advertising channels (Blakeman, 2018). In
Connaught Hotel the purpose of advertising is to provide the consumers informative knowledge
to create the brand awareness as well as the awareness about their products and services and also
to launch and announce the new offers in services that are beneficial to the consumers. The help
of advertising company also support the communication objective by pursuing and convincing
their consumers to try the services of Connaught Hotel and remain loyal to a current brand.
Public relations: Public relation refers to the concept or a process of maintaining good and the
favourable relations between the organisation and the public group’s, communities and the
consumers which are beneficial for the brand image. Public relation does not required to pay for
the publicity for getting the attention of the consumers all the other stakeholders of the hotel
rather it polishes the image of the organisation (Iba and Lilavanichakul, 2020). In Connaught
Hotel to support their communication objectives the company used PR strategy and the
communication channel to give the favourable brand image by drawing the attention of
consumers by newsworthy and attention would the activities. In Connaught Hotel the purpose of
using public relations as a marketing channel is seek the attention of the consumers as well as to
build the long-term relationship with them in order to maintain the loyal customers and to
promote the organisations product services and brand which helps the organisation in shaping
market perceptions as well as to generate the Goodwill of the hotel in the hospitality industry.
Social media marketing: The social media marketing is a digital marketing method by which
Connaught hotel can promote and advertise the brand and their offerings on the social media
channels like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media sites by posting the creative
and eye attracting social media content on it. The social media content is mainly in the form of
images, blogs, videos, live videos, info graphics etc. The social media platforms are the direct
platform for the companies to interact with their consumers when compared with traditional
marketing channels which will help the hotel to accomplish their communication objectives (Ma
and Chen, 2017). Therefore it is very important for the Connaught hotel to create creative
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content with the initiative that content must carefully be oriented towards their audience rather
than just for the advertising purposes.
Digital marketing: With the rapidly changing time and technology the ways of marketing has
also changes and shifted the traditional marketing into the digital marketing by leveraging the
internet technology. The digital marketing is the new marketing technique that uses the
technology effectively to communicate with the consumers which will help the Connaught hotel
to fulfil their communication objectives (Grewal and et. al., 2018). There are the different types
of digital marketing used by the businesses such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC
(Pay per Click), Video marketing, E- mail marketing etc. in order to improve the methods of
marketing and to connect with more consumers the digital marketing is the time effective and a
creative marketing tool for the hotel.
P5. Discuss and critically evaluate a integrated communication plan in terms of communication
strategy, channel choice and creative content
Marketing communication plan was basically blueprint of a process of developing effective
marketing and promotional strategy using different communication channels strategy and
creative content which will help the hotels of hospitality industry to convey their informative
attractive message of products and services to the consumer (Zhou and et. al., 2020). The plant
develops a common under effective message for the consumers which are showcased to the
consumer using the different channels of communication and marketing. The strategies
considered as the most effective strategy in order to utilise the various communication strategies
channels and opt suitable and adequate channels for the organisation and to create the content
which is attractive and creative. Integrated Marketing communication plan does not requires
heavy cost but the company is required to invest in the advertisement in The promotions in order
to reach millions of large audience. The Connaught Hotel also utilised this tool to develop and
attractive message for their audience after the impact of covid-19 in order to increase their sales
and to promote their brand with the help of various communication channels and strategies
which will provide and deliver a suitable informative message constantly to their consumers.
Integrated marketing communication in relation with communication strategy- Integrated
Marketing communication when related with the communication strategy the main objective of
Connaught Hotel is to serve their customers with informative and persuasive message related to
their product services and brand which helps the form to attract new consumers as well as to
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retain the existing loyal customers for the brand. It is evaluated from the integrated Marketing
communication plan that the main aim of the hotel was to gain larger audience effectively with
the help of outstanding communication strategy using the different communication and
marketing channels (Caputo, Evangelista and Russo, 2018).
Integrated marketing communication in relation with channel choice- It is very important to
deliver the correct information related to the products and services that are not Hotel provides to
their consumers for which the marketing team of the Connaught Hotel is required to use the
correct channel for distribution of their marketing strategies and their communicative objectives
to their consumers (Tsiakali, 2018). The Connaught Hotel analyse the various factors related to
the communication objective and integrated Marketing communication plan in order to choose
the correct channel for the delivering the message to their audience in less time with more
success rate.
Integrated marketing communication in relation with creative content- it is critically
analyse that in the marketing only a appropriate marketing channel or the communication
objectives and strategies are not enough order to reach to the mines in the heart of the customers
the content that the organisation are delivering to the various different modes of channels like
advertising, social media, digital platforms is required to have a creativity. A creative content
which involves the visual as well as a written content give the main focus of the consumers in
order to make the content creative the content must have a theme, catchy lines, good visual
pictures, graphics, short GIFs etc (Peruta and Shields, 2018). In Connaught Hotel the content
writer theme of the organisation create catchy themes slogans for the templates of advertisements
which are designed by the graphic designers as the creative content not only attract the
consumers as well as also helps the organisation and building their brand image and also makes
the impact on the consumer's mind for the long term.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded from the above information that with the growing digitalization and technology
the consumers are using online channels more to book their hotels and resorts and also the
expectations are increased in consumers through digital medium. Therefore in the hospitality
industry there is growing acceptance of digital marketing and distribution channels such as
website, online travel agencies, digital marketing, and social media marketing to increase the
customer base. These channels help the organisations to increase their brand awareness, brand
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equity, persuade the customers to buy etc. The budget of the advertising and promotions are
increased in the hospitality industry as integrate the effective communication plan with
outstanding communication strategy, choice of channel and the creative content to attract the
large number of consumers.
References:
Books and Journals
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman& Littlefield.
Bruhn, M. and Schnebelen, S., 2017. Integrated marketing communication–from an instrumental
to a customer-centric perspective. European journal of marketing.
Caputo, F., Evangelista, F. and Russo, G., 2018. The role of information sharing and
communication strategies for improving stakeholder engagement. In Business models for
strategic innovation (pp. 25-43). Routledge.
Grewal, R and et. al., 2018. Marketing channel management by multinational corporations in
foreign markets. Journal of Marketing, 82(4), pp.49-69.
Iba, H. and Lilavanichakul, A., 2020. Drivers for continued use of a direct marketing channel:
evidence from Thai farmers. Journal of Agribusiness in Developing and Emerging
Economies.
Khandamova, E.F., Shchepakin, M.B. and Bazhenov, Y.V., 2017. Managing the competitive
position of the enterprise by activating the tools of its marketing behavior. Экономика и
предпринимательство, (3-2), pp.1168-1175.
Ma, S.Z. and Chen, A.J., 2017. Cross-Border E-Commence: B2B or B2C—Based on the
Perspective of Marketing Channel. Journal of International Trade, 3, pp.75-86.
Peruta, A. and Shields, A.B., 2018. Marketing your university on social media: a content analysis
of Facebook post types and formats. Journal of Marketing for Higher Education, 28(2),
pp.175-191.
Tsiakali, K., 2018. User-generated-content versus marketing-generated-content: Personality and
content influence on traveler’sbehavior. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management,
27(8), pp.946-972.
Zhou, Q and et. al., 2020. Distributed control and communication strategies in networked
microgrids. IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials, 22(4), pp.2586-2633.
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PART - B
INTRODUCTION
Integrated Marketing communication utilise the various communication tools in order to
design and develop the communication objective for an organisation that helps the organisation
in creating the brand awareness as well as the awareness of their product and services in the
market. Basically integrated Marketing communication is it rule or a concept that helps in
communicating the message of the business as well as of the service that an organisation provide
in order to increase the sales of the company. The present report is the study of the Connaught
Hotel which is UK based hospitality organisation that provides various services and products to
their consumers in terms of accommodation foods and beverages power facilities event planning
and various other tours and travels. The report will outline the communication objectives of the
given hospitality organisation. Report there will be a justification of the selected communication
channels and at last the report will develop integrated Marketing communication plan which will
meet the effective communication objectives of the business of Connaught Hotel.
MAIN BODY
P2. Discuss and design the communication objectives for the Connaught hotel
Communication in general terms refers to the interaction of two individuals on some topic in
order to exchange each other’s view point. In business environment, business communication
means interaction between an organisation and its consumers in order to convey the company's
objectives and the products and services to the larger audience and the potential consumers
(Suárez-Rico, García-Benau and Gómez-Villegas, 2019). In Connaught Hotel the company has
communication objectives to communicate their offerings to the consumers. The communication
objectives of the Connaught hotel are:
Creating and developing brand awareness
First communication objective of Connaught Hotel is to increase their brand awareness in order
to inform their consumers regarding their excellent services and products which are premium in
quality. In hospitality industry it is very essential for the organisations to use different
communication strategy to increase their brand equity and awareness among the guests of
different geographical locations.
To persuade other Essential objectives
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It is very important to convey the quality price value and other extra ordinary services of the
organisation from the other competitors to the customers for which Connaught Hotel use
effective communication skills and channels in order to convey their brands offering to the
consumers which will help the organisation in attaining the other essential objectives of the
organisation such as organisational growth increase in sales, higher brand recognition and much
more (Porcu and et. al., 2020).
Stimulating and creating interest
The communication strategies and methods adopted by the Connaught Hotel for the business
communication help them in driving the interest of the consumers towards their services by
creating the differentiation from their competitors as it is the objective of the communication that
helps them to retain the existing consumers and to generate new customers for the organisation
(Adebayo, 2019). Creative content the company fascinates the consumer's to pay attention
towards their promotional ideas which in turn grabs their attention towards company's offerings.
P3. Discuss the justified reasons of selecting and integrating of chosen communication channels
In the hospitality industry communication channels are used by every organisations to stimulate
the effective and efficient way of communicating to their consumers so that company can
provide their consumers productive and informative knowledge about their services and
products. This helps the company in establishment of brand as well as attracts the consumer's
eyesight towards the products and services of Connaught Hotel. Justification of above chosen
communication channels in context of Connaught Hotel is discussed below:
To attract customers globally: the company has chosen digital marketing social media marketing
communication channel in order to attract the tourist, guest from all the world. As these
communication channels help the organisation to reach and access the consumers from different
countries by sitting in their native country. Social media marketing and digital marketing is the
best example by which various organisations of the hospitality industry are doing promotional
activities and communicating with millions of people in less time at low cost.
Increase sales: Communication channels like advertising are highly persuasive as they try to
convince the customers creatively an informative Li to use the services and the products
provided by the Connaught Hotel and also time we remind the consumers about the features and
benefits of service of Connaught hotel (Lvovich, Preobrazhenskiy and Choporov, 2018).
Advertising helps the marketers of Connaught Hotel to showcase their message on several like
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TV, radio, newspaper, magazines, display ads on billboards, flyers etc. that is covers majority of
consumers of different types at different locations which give rise to sales and also creates brand
recognition.
P4. Discuss and design an integrated marketing communications plan that effectively meets
communication objectives for the Connaught hotel
The integrated marketing communication plan for the Connaught hotel to meet its
communication objectives:
Determine and understand the target audience: In order to create an effective integrated
Marketing communication plan the first step that an organisation is required to take is to identify
and understand the correct target audience for their marketing channel which will help the
organisation to increase the revenue of the hotel (Bruhn and Schnebelen, 2017). The marketing
team of Connaught Hotel will use an effective integrated Marketing communication channel to
identify its target audience.
Create a Budget: In order to have a good marketing communication plan which has adequate
resources it is very important to develop a budget which will help the marketing team of
Connaught Hotel to analyse their strategies and help them in choosing the appropriate
communication channel for marketing their communication objectives to the consumers.
Identify and choose Market methods: for developing effective integrated Marketing
communication plan the most essential thing is to identify the correct platform for promoting and
advertising the information products and services of the hotel as on the basis of that the
marketers of the hotel will create the creative content that will be spread as a message to the
consumers thereby providing the support to the communication objective of the organisation.
Maintain a brand element: Creating the integrated Marketing communication plan it is very
important for the organisation to maintain their existing brand elements that are always useful in
generating the higher revenues as well as create the differentiation in the services and the
products of the organisation from the other competitors because it provides brand recognition as
well as fosters the communication objectives using the new communication channels.
List the success metrics: This is a very important stage as this will help hotel to analyse their
success metrics means the feedbacks of the customers on the websites, how creative the content
it is given by the hotel to the consumers in order to meet the communication objectives. The
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Connaught Hotel has used effectively their communication channels for establishing good
success metrics (Porcu and et. al., 2019).
Execute, Test and Reiterate: By deciding all the elements of integrated Marketing
communication plan it is defined as days where the company is required to execute what that
plant and to make changes in the future if required.
CONCLUSION
The report concludes that integrated Marketing communication tools are essential for the
hospitality industry in order to create the awareness of their new services and products among
the consumers which will help the managers of the organisation to to draw the business forward
and pursue their consumers more effectively. It is also concluded from the above report that most
of the hospitality industry has the communication objectives that increases their brand
recognition and connects their customers with the services of the organisation for which
communication mix and promotional mix are utilised by the organisations. It is also concluded
that digital communication channels are considered as more effective in terms of communicating
with the customers of different geographical locations. In order to analyse what communication
strategy and organisation is requires for the support of the communication objectives of the
business a good integrated marketing communication plan is essential to develop.
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References:
Books and Journals
Adebayo, A.A., 2019. Impact of Communication on Customers’ Satisfaction in Hospitality
Industry in Kwara State, Nigeria (Doctoral dissertation, Kwara State University (Nigeria)).
Bruhn, M. and Schnebelen, S., 2017. Integrated marketing communication–from an instrumental
to a customer-centric perspective. European journal of marketing.
Lvovich, I.Y., Preobrazhenskiy, A.P. and Choporov, O.N., 2018, March. The simulation of error-
correcting communication channel for video transmission. In 2018 Moscow Workshop on
Electronic and Networking Technologies (MWENT) (pp. 1-6). IEEE.
Porcu, L and et. al., 2019. Analyzing the influence of firm-wide integrated marketing
communication on market performance in the hospitality industry. International Journal of
Hospitality Management, 80, pp.13-24.
Porcu, L and et. al., 2020. The antecedent role of a collaborative vs. a controlling corporate
culture on firm-wide integrated marketing communication and brand performance. Journal
of Business Research, 119, pp.435-443.
Suárez-Rico, Y.M., García-Benau, M.A. and Gómez-Villegas, M., 2019. CSR communication
through Facebook in the Latin American integrated market (MILA): Disclosure, interactivity
and legitimacy. Meditari Accountancy Research.
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