Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for Intercontinental Hotels

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the integrated marketing communications strategies employed by Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts. It begins with an introduction to the concept of integrated marketing communications and its benefits, specifically within the context of the hospit...Read More

Integrated Hospitality
Marketing
Communications

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK...............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Evaluate the current marketing communications situation and channels of the resort,
identifying the tools, channels and the methods in use...............................................................1
M1 Critically evaluate how marketing channels of communication are integrated within a
range of hospitality organizations to add value and maximize resources making use of the
relevant marketing models..........................................................................................................3
D1 Make valid judgments about how marketing channels add value using specific
hospitality organizational examples to demonstrate how they serve communication
objectives,....................................................................................................................................4
P2 Design communication objectives for a given hospitality organizational situation and
provide justifications for the selection and integration of communications channels chosen....4
M2 Evaluate the application of the communication objectives in relation to the marketing
communications mix and the hospitality business objectives.....................................................5
D2 Create a valid and detailed integrated marketing communications plan that appropriately
integrates multiple communication channels, has SMART objectives and tactics to meet the
overall marketing and business objectives..................................................................................6
P3 Design and produce content appropriate to the channel and communication objectives....6
M3 Determine the communication strategies that can be used to help achieve these
objectives. This should also include the channels and the medium or media to use. Do not
forget social media, channel choice and creative content issues.................................................7
P4 Critically evaluate an integrated marketing communications plan in relation to the
communication strategy, channel choice, creative content.........................................................8
M4 Critique and review the success of the monitoring and impact of the integrated marketing
communications plan..................................................................................................................8
D4 Provide appropriate and justified recommendations for improving the integrated
marketing communications plan to maximize revenue and successfully meet both
communication and business objectives.....................................................................................9
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9

REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Integrated hospitality marketing communications is the strategy that ensures the two way
communications between two parties customers and business. This the process which is used to
merge marketing communications components for instance enhances public relations, social
media communications, audience analytics, development of the principles which influences the
customer and business relations, making advertising and many more . This all can be done by
the marketing and the human resource teams of the business. There are multiple benefits of the
integrated marketing communications such as it improves the efficiency of working through
generating regular feedbacks, covers the wide audience, make reduction in the costs of the
functioning and the most important it builds the trust among the customers. The report is being
made in the context of Intercontinental hotels and Resorts which is a UK based hotels famous for
their great services and foods(Akarsu, Foroudi and Melewar, 2020) . The aim of this report is
to highlight the current marketing communications situations and the channels which is used by
the hotel and resorts, then it evaluates the communications objectives that the hotel uses for the
hotel, adding to that it evaluates the design which is appropriate for fulfilling communication
objectives and further it explains the plan of enhancing the communication strategy, channel
choice and creative content.
TASK
P1 Evaluate the current marketing communications situation and channels of the resort,
identifying the tools, channels and the methods in use.
Back ground of the company
Intercontinental hotels and group is the hospitality sector which is founded in 15 April 2003.
Started by Juan Trippe with the vision to implement the services which provides luxury
accommodation to the people. These hotels provides great customer services and one of the
leading hotels in the world. There are more than 3,25,000 employees working in these hotels in
more than 100 nations. They have the diverse portfolio with multiple brands which is loved by
the millions of the customers around the world. The intercontinental hotels and resorts works
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with different hotels brands such as it works with crown plaza, hotel indigo, hotel holiday Inn,
Staybridges suites and many more.
Position in the market of Intercontinental hotels and Resorts
They are capturing major audience through their outstanding services and unique packages
with helpful products. The intercontinental hotel and resorts is one of the lucrative organization
with high competitive advantage. They have exclusive packages for every segment of the
customer which makes them highly approachable by the customers (Angeloni, 2022) . The
hotel is competing with other hotels such as Hilton hotels it is well known as the hotel establish
substantial market base of more than 130 million customers whose preferences are based on the
prices and the quality of the Intercontinental Hotels and Groups.
Types of communication channel used in the Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts
There are different types of the communication channel used by the hotel some of them are
discussed below:
 Advertising- It is the most preferred communication channel as it covers the wide range
of the customers in less timings and affordable prices. It also helps in providing mini
hotel view to the customers which attract them the most.
 Email- It the formal way of communication to the customers , informing customers about
the latest discounts and the offers will done through emails. It can be evaluated that
emails are considered as the most trusted by the customers.
 Social media- Social media marketing is the most economic way of marketing that
intercontinental Hotel and resorts are using which covers multiple advantages at one go.
 In person- Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts also communicate with the customers
thorough face to face in respect to make the major impact . As face to face
communication influence the customers most.
 Phone calls- Making communication through phone calls could be taking time but it
majorly helps in clearing the issues of the customers and their queries.
How about social media channels used in Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts.
The most effective and covering wide range of customers are by using social media and the
different platforms in the social media. There are multiple channels on the social media which
can be used by the hotel are discussed below:
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 Instagram- This platform of social media have most of of the users and is very helpful in
communicating with the customers and understanding their view points on the various
aspects of the business(Darics and Koller, 2018) . The Hotel provides information about
the currents offers and discounts that they are offering to their customers.
 Facebook- This platform is the is very common and used for establish the brand image of
the Hotel by posting the pictures of the hotel with effective infrastructure and the
facilities. Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts gives the overview to their customers about
the working if the hotel.
 LinkedIn- LinkedIn is used for hiring relevant candidates for the organisation,
Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts generates appropriate candidates from this platform
who is capable of providing effective services.
 YouTube- This is the type of the social media platform which is used for informing or
providing any information about the hotel. With the help of video making
Intercontinental hotels and Resorts provides the information and any update about the
hotel.
M1 Critically evaluate how marketing channels of communication are integrated within a
range of hospitality organizations to add value and maximize resources making use of
the relevant marketing models
Communication is the major aspect in respect to run the hospitality sector and plays a
important role in enhancing the value of the Hotels. Intercontinental Hotel and resorts used
multiple marketing channels in their communication process. These channel add value in the
working of the hospitality sector. For instance it can be evaluated that direct contacting each and
every customers can e hard and time and money consuming , so an organization should go for
network marketing and digital advertising. These both channel have provides range of
advantages to the hotel industry as network marketing attract the customers from different places
through effective networks of the hotel. Digital advertising is the process of informing the
potential customers about the services of the hotel and what are the offer they are offering to
their customers(Gerardi, 2019) . It is the fastest process of making customers which enhance
company image.
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D1 Make valid judgments about how marketing channels add value using specific
hospitality organizational examples to demonstrate how they serve communication
objectives,.
Marketing channels helps in generating the appropriate services and the products and then
allotted that on customers. The members in the channels add value through fulfilling the gaps of
goods and services. This helps in reaching to the intended target audience and build the
relationship with the customers. Marketing channel help in promoting the goods and services
which ultimately gives the knowledge to the customers about the services(Widharini and
Kartikawangi, 2020). These channels serves the communication objectives by making
communication on the behalf of the company. Intercontinental Hotels and resorts promote their
services on social media which makes public aware about their services and related changes.
P2 Design communication objectives for a given hospitality organizational situation and
provide justifications for the selection and integration of communications channels
chosen.
Having effective communication skills in the hospitality industry is very beneficial in respect
to build the rapport with the customers , resolving the conflicts among the staff and developing a
positive and impactful environment for pleasing customers. As hospitality industry dealing with
the human beings and making constant communication plays a very important role in developing
the processes of the organization (Hoque, Hashim and Azmi, 2018) . There are multiple
objectives of Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts in conducting effective communication program
in the organization some of them are discussed below:
 Developing and enhancing the relations with the customers- The only way to
convince the customers for experiencing the services of the Intercontinental Hotel and
Resorts is making effective communication through different sources. This the main aim
of initiating a communication process.
 Making transparency in the working and thought processes- Communication brings
clarity in working of the hotel by implementing roles and responsibilities clearly among
the staff of the hotel. If each and everyone in the hotel are clear about their role then there
will be no overlapping and misunderstanding among the employees.
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 Establish positive guest experience- Constant communication in the hospitality
industry result in better working environment and customers fell valued because their
order accepted immediately.
These objective can be fulfilled by the Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts by implementing
different working approaches in their functioning and operations. In respect to enhance the
relations with the customers the hotel need to take the feedback for the regular customers which
helps in improving the functionality of the business and in treating customers as per the
expectations. Transparency in the working procedures can be implemented by conveying each
and every policies and responsibilities to the staff of the Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts. And
positive environment can be implemented effective communication with the working staff as if
staff is happy then they treat their customers well which as overall bring positive environment in
the Hotel.
M2 Evaluate the application of the communication objectives in relation to the marketing
communications mix and the hospitality business objectives.
The three basic purposes of the Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts to implement effective
communication process is to inform about the latest policies and the offers, to persuade
customers to take more an more services from the hotel and to entertain customers so that they
will prefer Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts over other hotels. The communication can also be
establish by the implementation of the marketing mix, which is mention below:
Place- Intercontinental Hotel is providing its services in multiple countries at the places which
are easily accessible by the people. So they have rightly place themselves in the market as they
are easily available for the potential customers.
Promotion- They are implementing various promotional strategies such as advertising through
television, social media platforms, emails and different campaigns.
Price- The prices at which the Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts are providing their services are
quite high but they are providing commendable services which is worth of paying that
amount(Kim and Lee, 2020) . With that they are providing several discounts and offers.
Product- The services they are providing are consider as the products. They are really effective
in their services such as luxury room with all the amenities attract the customers.
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D2 Create a valid and detailed integrated marketing communications plan that
appropriately integrates multiple communication channels, has SMART objectives
and tactics to meet the overall marketing and business objectives
The smart objectives of the Intercontinental Hotel and resorts is to influence their customers
positively, building high brand image, generate effective revenue and establishing effective staff.
In respect to fulfills this they have to implement communication with the customers which helps
them in identifying hotel services little more. The integrated marketing plan can be effective
advertising which engages the customers in it. Intercontinental hotel should communicate with
various channels such as posting on Instagram, through emails, posting videos on YouTube and
many more.
P3 Design and produce content appropriate to the channel and communication objectives.
The need for the marketing communications has two objectives one is to establish the creation
of the demand in respect to sustain in the market and the second is to enhance the preference for
the product. In order to maintain the appropriate channel which fulfills the communication
objectives there are needs to build sites and pages on the social media sites which attract the
customers (Kitchen and Tourky, 2022) . There are certain targets which Intercontinental Hotel
and Resorts have set in respect to achieve desired objectives. In a view of fulfilling
communication goals the Hotel have to work on several areas which is given below:
 Website design and development with capabilities of E-commerce- E- commerce
development in the websites are the procedure of enhancing the technical elements of the
company's websites which attracts the customers and make them visit the property. The
websites provides the information about the functions of the company and behaves in
response to the customers or user actions.
 Designing the content- Designing the content of the websites and on the social media
platforms indicates the way of thinking. Its all about making strategies in a way that
makes major impact on the customers. It is the important step as every customers check
websites of the hotels before visiting to the hotel. And having effective designing of the
websites works as the communication process and fulfills communication objectives.
 Regulations in marketing communications- There are several regulations in creating
advertising through TV or social media which needs to followed in respect to fulfills the
communication objectives. Making coordination in the marketing and promotional
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activities ensures customers satisfaction and Intercontinental hotel and Resorts applies
this relevantly.
 Implementing creativity in approaches of the promotions- Creative approach can
only be applicable if implemented by following steps such as promoting social media
handles by using popular hashtags, updating stores on Instagram and Facebook, check the
activities of the competitors and communicating with customers in a unique way for
instance various contexts and quizzes.
As per the online modes of communication in the Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts these
aspects will be helpful in designing the content appropriate channels.
M3 Determine the communication strategies that can be used to help achieve these
objectives. This should also include the channels and the medium or media to use. Do
not forget social media, channel choice and creative content issues.
Communication strategies that Intercontinental hotel and Resorts use to achieve objectives:
 Taking feedback from customers in hotel services- Generating view points from the
customers enhances the relations of the hotel and customers. Regular feedback helps in
attaining the change which is expected by the customers.
 Social media- It is the most appropriate way of making communication as it is the
cheaper way of communication and covers the wide range of audience. There are
multiple platforms on the social media which helps in promoting the services of the
Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts.
Issues related to social media, channel voice and creative content challenges.
 Falling engagement on social media- If the company goes out of trends they it effects
on their social media pages and downward in engagement of the customers(Miraki,
Yektayar and Esmaeily, 2022) . This falling trend can be more effective by continuous
updating their social media pages.
 Out of creative content ideas- Every time coming up with fresh ideas is quite common
issue faced by companies as constantly updating communication channels is tough but by
establishing an department which only look on this aspects makes it possible. Because
social media presence never stops growing.
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P4 Critically evaluate an integrated marketing communications plan in relation to the
communication strategy, channel choice, creative content.
An integrated marketing communication plan is the process that comprises the market research ,
strategic planning, selections of the appropriate marketing channel, communicating with
customers, budgeting and revenue analysis. As the market becomes more digitized and
connected and because of this communication between the consumer and the business changes.
Customer are shifting the power structure of the companies. So, making interaction with them
and influencing them directly becomes more essential. The various aspect of the integrated
marketing communication plan are discussed below:
 Communication strategy- Marketing strategy of Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts
builds in respect to market itself themselves to influence target audience. It can be
marketing campaigning or advertising of the working and facilities that hotel is
providing(Silviani and Darus, 2021) . The goal of the hotel is to increase the number of
guests and this can be done through identification of the targeted audience, evaluation of
the budget, developing a message that resembles with the targets customers and find the
appropriate channels to communicate such as advertising, taking feedback, connects
through social media.
 Channel choice- Most preferred channel of communication is email as it is considered as
the most relevant source of communication and customers trust that source very much.
And if Intercontinental Hotels and Resorts wants to cover large section of audience then
they have to use social media as the channel of communication.
 Creative content- It is evaluated that fun and creative content is mostly make impact on
the customers. Posting content which engage the customers by its creativeness is good for
business image. Intercontinental Hotel and Resorts have to make some creative content
which brings the attention of the customers.
M4 Critique and review the success of the monitoring and impact of the integrated
marketing communications plan.
Communication plans are very helpful in impacting the customers and influencing their view
points. As communication delivers the message which company wants to convey to their
customers. Intercontinental hotel and Resorts implemented various communication program and
by that they evaluated that mostly customers respond to the attractive ways of approaching them
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such with the interactive posters , attractive video, banners and many more. The hotel gets the
positive reviews by their implemented communication plans.
D4 Provide appropriate and justified recommendations for improving the integrated
marketing communications plan to maximize revenue and successfully meet both
communication and business objectives
There is need to develop integrated marketing communication plan by following steps. Firstly
company have to understand the customers better in terms of their preferences and they have to
set a plan. After setting budget hotel need to identify the unique selling proposition of hotel after
that they have to enhances the marketing communication methods which influence the customers
most(Smith, Patmos and Pitts, 2018) (Sonowal, 2022) . The sixth step is building a consistent
brand elements by listing the success metrics and the last step is execute the plan and test it
success. Through following all these steps company can maximize the revenue and fulfills
desired objectives.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it is concluded that integrated hospitality marketing communications
possesses major value in making communication and promotions because it provides the
company ways to reach out to customers. This report evaluates the current marketing
communications situation and channels. Firstly it explains the background of the company, them
market position of the company , then the communication channels and at last social media
channels of the company. Then it explains the communication objectives abs per the situation
that are Developing and enhancing the relations with the customers, Making transparency in the
working and thought processes and Establish positive guest experience. Adding to that it
elaborates appropriate design and content for communication channels such as Website design
and development with capabilities of E-commerce, Designing the content, Regulations in
marketing communications and Implementing creativity in approaches of the promotions.
Further it explores the integrated marketing communication channels which include social
media, channel choice and creative content.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Akarsu, T.N., Foroudi, P. and Melewar, T.C., 2020. Transforming the Complexity of Having
Multiple Channels to an Asset: Reflective Critics on the Dual Marketing and Co-branding.
In Beyond Multi-channel Marketing. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Angeloni, S., 2022. A Systematic Literature Review of Profit Models for Online Marketing
Channels. Advances in Digital Marketing and eCommerce, pp.83-92.
Darics, E. and Koller, V., 2018. Language in business, language at work. Bloomsbury
Publishing.
Gerardi, M., 2019. On Employee Communications Channels and Campaigns. In Strategic
Employee Communication (pp. 275-281). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Hoque, M.E., Hashim, N.M.H.N. and Azmi, M.H.B., 2018. Moderating effects of marketing
communication and financial consideration on customer attitude and intention to purchase
Islamic banking products: A conceptual framework. Journal of Islamic Marketing.
Kim, S.H. and Lee, S.A., 2020. The role of marketing communication mix on Korean customers'
coffee shop brand evaluations. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights.
Kitchen, P.J. and Tourky, M.E., 2022. Integrated Communication or Integrated Marketing
Communication. In Integrated Marketing Communications (pp. 69-87). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
Miraki, M., Yektayar, M. and Esmaeily, N., 2022. Prioritization of Indicators and Integrated
Marketing Communication Tools in The Iranian Clothing and Sports Equipment Industry Based
On The Hierarchy Of Effects Model. Communication Management in Sport Media, 9(2).
Silviani, I. and Darus, P., 2021. Strategi Komunikasi Pemasaran Menggunakan Teknik
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC). SCOPINDO MEDIA PUSTAKA.
Smith, S.A., Patmos, A. and Pitts, M.J., 2018. Communication and teleworking: A study of
communication channel satisfaction, personality, and job satisfaction for teleworking
employees. International Journal of Business Communication, 55(1), pp.44-68.
Sonowal, G., 2022. Communication Channels. In Phishing and Communication Channels (pp.
51-75). Apress, Berkeley, CA.
Widharini, F. and Kartikawangi, D., 2020. Integrated Marketing Communication at Museum
MACAN: Modern and Contemporary Art in Nusantara. In the 2nd International Conference on
Inclusive Business in the Changing World (ICIB 2019) (pp. 520-529).
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