LSC UoS BA Business: Marketing Management - Travelodge Campaign

This report presents a comprehensive 12-month marketing campaign plan for Travelodge, a UK-based hotel chain. It begins with an introduction to the campaign and the company, followed by an in-depth marketing audit that includes an analysis of the macro-environment, marketing strategy, and environmental factors. A TOWS matrix is developed based on the SWOT analysis to identify strategic marketing tactics. The report then outlines specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) marketing objectives for the campaign, focusing on increasing online presence, revenue growth, and market expansion. The marketing mix plan is detailed, covering product, pricing, place, promotion, and people strategies, along with adaptations due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The report concludes with recommendations for improving customer service and adapting to future market changes.

MARKETING
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Marketing audit and TOWS matrix of Travelodge......................................................................3
Marketing objectives for the twelve-month marketing campaign of Travelodge.......................6
Marketing mix plan......................................................................................................................7
Improve the level of customers....................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Marketing campaign is an organized course of action and plan to promote or sell the
product or services of a company. Travelodge is a UK based private company operating in
Hospitality industry and serving across UK, Ireland and Spain. It has more than 570 hotels in
UK, making it the largest independent brand of hotels in UK. This report focuses on a 12 months
marketing campaign- “Enabling a leading Brand” for the company and will explain the
marketing audit principles undertaken in order to develop TOWS matrix which will help to
demonstrate its competitive environment. The report will also state and justify Marketing
Objectives based on SMART Model and highlight the Marketing Mix in context of the
campaign. Important proposals will be recounted for future adaptations and improvements of
Travelodge's customer service as a part of the marketing campaign.
MAIN BODY
Marketing audit and TOWS matrix of Travelodge
Marketing Audit refers to the systematic evaluation and analysis of internal and external
business marketing environment of an organization to ascertain problems and opportunities and
recommend a plan of action to improve the marketing performance. Its based on principles like
Macro- Environment or Demographic and political factors, Marketing Strategy Audit to check
the feasibility of Business mission, goals and objectives and Environment Audit Factors like
Markets, customers and distributors etc. The Audit is done in a systematic and comprehensive
way and is ideal for generating TOWS matrix. (Dandage, Mantha and Rane, 2019)
TOWS matrix is derived from the Swot Analysis model and is aimed at generating marketing
tactics for Travelodge by analysing internal and external factors of the business environment of
the hospitality industry.
1. Strengths:
 Affordable room rates: Travelodge offers very reasonable prices for family rooms and
double rooms and also launch various special deals and early bird discounts on special
occasions. For a budgeted hotel, promotions and discounted offers attract a lot of
customers.

 Schemes and Initiatives: Rooms by the hour schemes which lets customers save money,
'catnap and coffee' initiatives for drivers and motorists to recharge their batteries and stop
for a break.
 Travelodge business account card for premium customers for convenience and quick
booking to retain them and gain competitive advantage.
 Extended presence throughout UK with over 500 facilities foe ease in finding
accommodation on any location customers want.
 Committed sustainability programs like Travelodge green.
2. Weaknesses:
 Narrow range of products: Travelodge is not able to provide its customers with a wide
range of services such as room service, concierge or porter service like other luxury
hotels do.
 Aesthetics: The design and aesthetics of the rooms are plain ans basic, which is not
appreciated by customers and their experience is impacted.
 Policy of overbooking: Travelodge mostly operates on full capacity which may lead to
customers facing the risk of being turned down upon arrival due to unavailability of
rooms.
3. Opportunities:
 Potential of Expansion in other countries: Travelodge is majorly concentrating its
operations in UK and Ireland and missing out on new markets. Europeans countries are
big on tourism and therefore affordable hotels are in high demand all over.
 Ecotourism: Recent momentum of green and ecotourism can help Travelodge achieve
goodwill and positive feedback from guests over its sustainability programs.
 New partnerships: Good marketing Strategies and public image can help Travelodge get
new partnerships for further diversification and expansion.
 Expanding Online presence to attract more millennials and Gen- Z as target customers.

4. Threats:
 Intense competition from other budgeted hotels: hospitality is a highly competitive sector
and there are various competitors with better deals and services like Premier Inn,
ACCOR, Days Inn worldwide.
 Limited International presence: Most tourists prefer hotel brands that they are familiar
with and Travelodge is not widely known across other parts of the world. This may lead
to tourists selecting Hotels with reputation in their home countries.
 Covid-19 Pandemic: It is the worst threat hospitality industry is facing as the countries
are in lock-down and tourism is heavily impacted.
S-O strategies:
 Existing Sustainability programs like 'Travelodge Green Programs' can be heavily
marketed to gather Ecotourism market share.
 Offering discounts to First time Users of other countries can help in expansion and
market their name worldwide.
W-O Strategies:
 New partnerships will also help Travelodge in developing new ideas about their
architecture and designs. They can also switch from basic to a more attractive aesthetics
with the help of additional finances.
 Expanding online presence by opening portals and dedicated websites for other countries
and using certain software to track the problems of overbooking.
S-T Strategies
 The Threats of high competition can be tackled using their existing pricing policies and
inclusion of facilities like up-gradation of room type to solve complaints and discount
offers for regular customers.
 Travelodge Businesses Card can be linked with other services to offer additional
discounts in the areas of shopping and entertainment.

 Foreign tourists can be provided with a 'Guide on Call' facility for helping them explore
nearby places with local translators and tour guides.
W-T Strategies:
 The weaknesses like narrow range of products can be minimized by tendering local
workers to establish extra services. This will help them get competitive advantage and
avoid threats of price wars with other hotel companies.
 Its weakness of policy of overbooking should be minimized as it is important to avoid
threats of customer dissatisfaction and it might increase competitive advantage of other
hotels companies.
Marketing objectives for the twelve-month marketing campaign of Travelodge
Marketing Objectives are defined goals of a company for a specific period. It outlines the
strategies, targets and intentions of the marketing team in order to state clear directions for team
members to follow and review. The objectives should be based on the SMART model of being
specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. (Jaremen, Jędrasiakand Rapacz,
2016) It is essential to use this model to achieve long term goals. Various tests can be done to
assess if the objectives are relevant or not, they are: the truth test, the focus test, the relevancy
test, the consistency tests, the clarity tests, the cost test, the assess test etc.
Travelodge is currently facing impacts of the slowdown in hospitality industry due to corona
virus pandemic. Its current twelve month marketing campaign- “Enabling the brand Strategy” is
aimed to consolidate its position by embracing the Internet technologies needed to create
competitive advantage. The appropriate marketing objectives for the company are as follows:
1. Doubling the Online reach and adopting cloud technologies: The primary marketing
objective of Travelodge should be increasing the customer base online by continuous
interaction with people using various social media sites and keep them educating about
upcoming offers post lock-down, safety protocols and other information. Apart from all
this the company should adopt the latest cloud technology in its operations using which
hotels can be managed without physical presence. PMS systems should be incorporated
with mobile concierge apps and help guests engagement without personal contact. Hotel

jobs can be transferred to completely remote work like e-commerce and digital
marketing.
2. Increase revenue by 20% and initiate recovery rate with one year: The slowdown
should be countered by achieving higher sales targets by concentrating on new customer
base. After expansion in online platform is increased by two folds, the revenue target
should be achieved by focussing on online marketing and increasing sales. Millennials
are likely to take advantage of the lowered prices after lock-down ends and help with the
business recovery plan as they prefer Brand value authenticity over perfection of local
brands. Monthly and daily reports should be developed to do revenue management of the
hotel and keep track of hotel rooms' booking prices. This is necessary for gaining key
insights of room comparison with previous month or year. Demand forecasting is vital to
maximise revenues and minimize unexpected surprises and optimize hotel's potential.
3. Expanding market share in at least three countries : The marketing department should
focus on finding opportunities of expansion in at least 3 countries by the end of the
marketing campaign and focus on enabling and establishing itself as a leader in the hotel
industry. The market assessment of government policies, infection rates, infrastructure,
customer behaviour, travelling costs and economic stability should be done. The focus
should be target market, customer profile, demographics, and analysis of market. Market
can be defined by constant updates and proper analysing of the country research is being
done in. Factors like finance, politics, customer tastes and preferences, legal compliance
and facts about tourism and travel should be analysed properly. The accuracy and
authenticity of all data should be considered extremely important. All results should
ultimately able to find possibility of expansion of the hotel chain in that country with
optimal usage of resources.
Marketing mix plan
It is very important for the company to maintain their reputations and performance in the
market which can take place if there is the use of right framework. Covid-19 has really affected
the company in a lot of ways possible which will have to be understood and measures have to be
taken accordingly. Safety and health of the customers are the most important factor in the
organization which will have to be maintained.

Products
There are a lot of changes which are going to take place in the company which is because of
the customer’s safety and health. The customers are not going to have any direct contact with the
customers and the activities like swimming, gyming, etc so that the customers are getting the
reputation in danger (Šedík and et.al., 2018). The services for the customers are going to be
serviced in the room itself and the check in and check outs are going to be done online so that the
customers do not have to come in contact in any way possible.
Price
The company uses both type of pricing strategy in its workplace competitive-based
pricing strategy and valued-based value strategy. But in these both strategy, there are
competitive-based pricings strategy is too beneficial to Travelodge for making large customer
base in the market. Basically, competitive-based pricing strategy enable to this company for
providing something less price than its competitors in the market. This strategy enables to
company for offer the best and favourable price to different customers. On the other side, there
are value-based pricing strategy support to company for charging higher pricing from customers
on its luxury and premium services.
Place
Currently Travelodge serves in many countries at the international level. Nowadays, top-
level management of company focuses on expanding its business operations by entering in
different new market segment (Kublashvili, 2019). Generally, Travelodge is US based company,
but it has highly succeeded in expanding its business operations across the United Kingdom and
also in many other European countries. The company is aiming to increase size of its market
place by proving the quality services in the market.
Promotion
There is promotion is another very necessary task to this company. Basically, by
conducting different promotional activities this company will be able to increase its market share
in the UK’s travel and tourism industry. Currently there are various marketing strategies
available to company, which it can use for promoting its services at the large scale in the market
in effective manner. For example; digital marketing is one of the most appropriate marketing
strategies to this company which can contribute in attracting large customers and people ibn this
modern world (Tomczak, Reinecke and Kuss, 2018). There are marketing team of Travelodge

should use STP model as well for promoting its exclusive services. Basically, STP model is a
marketing strategy which can support to company for boosting its services in the market.
People
Currently Travelodge has a workforce of many effective employees who day or night out
their huge efforts in the workplace. Basically, this company provides different sessions of
training and development to its employees. With the support of these training and development
sessions an employee can easily improve its performance and productivity in the market. Upper
management of company always believes in maintaining effective relations with its various
stakeholders as well including customers and employees. By maintaining excellent relations with
its various people of the business environment, this company is able to boost performance and
productivity in the market.
Process
The company is able to run its various business processes in effective manner. Basically,
Travelodge’s upper management uses different management strategies and theories for managing
its various processes systematic way. Currently this company has a strong distribution channel
which support to this company in providing it’s all services to customers on time. It has an
effective workforce which can contributes in making Travelodge’s all processes too much
effective (Cavallone, 2017). This company considers the concept of operations management also
in its workplace which supports in providing the best services to customers with effective
business processes.
Physical evidence
Physical evidence is the last element in the marketing mix strategy. According to this
element of marketing mix strategy, Travelodge employees and staff of Travelodge should always
give proper support to different customers and people when they visit in the company’s
authorisation area. Employees of this company always provides proper information about its
services to all customers. That’s why most customers are fully satisfied with the Travelodge in
the market.
Improve the level of customers
There are a lot of measures and techniques which can be used by organizations in the
market to increase the satisfaction level of the customers so that there would be a better
functioning. Due to Covid-19 there are a lot of losses and the tourism in the country has

decreased which is making Travelodge suffer in the market. The safety and healthy factor in
Travelodge will have to improve if the company wants to get back into the business because
right now the company is not having a strong base for themselves in the market (Hüttner, 2018).
It is because of the government that the organizations which were functioning in the market had
to close themselves down and the tourism and moving around of the locals also stopped which is
why the company was not able to function and operate effectively in the market. Communication
There is a high use of internet and social media in the world after the lockdowns which have
taken place in the world. This is going to be very helpful for a long run of the organization if
there is going to be a direct communication for the customers in the market. There are a lot of
unique features which are going to be added in the organization after the lockdown will open like
adding sanitizer, temperature checking, etc for the safety of the customers so that they can have a
pleasant stay in the hotel (Hua, 2019). There are going to be services to the room directly for the
customers so that there is going to be a better functioning. Feedback
The population is having a trust issue with the travelling industry because of the increase in
Covid-19 cases all around the world which is why this is going to be a very effective way of
getting back the customers in the company (Baker and Parkinson, 2016). There have to be a lot
of changes which would be expected out of Travelodge and those will have to be followed by the
organization. Feedbacks are taken from the customers so that the right measures and changes can
come in the organization so that there would be a better experience of the customers and the
company will be able to get back their market share effectively. Technical Skills
There are a lot of methods for the employees who will also have to change like they will have
to work with having personal hygiene and the customers are going to trust the company. The
productivity of the organization will also have to improve so that the company will be able to
have better economic stability in the market so that there is going to be a faster recovery of the
organization in the market. The services will have to be from room to room so that the customers
are going to have better experience and the rooms are going to be cleaned everyday so that the
customers can have a better and safer stay. Experience of the customers increase

The services and products of Travelodge have to increase so that they can make the
customers have a better experience in the market. To have a stable economically which is why
there have to be more safety measures which have to be taken so that the customers can have
better functioning. The customers are going to have altogether a different expectation and take
on the hospitality industry after Covid-19 situation is recovered by the world. The pricing of the
rooms is going to be low because there are a lot of services which are not going to be functional
in the hotel like swimming pool, gym, etc in the organization for the safety of the customers
which is going to make the customers get loyal customers in Travelodge (Chernev, 2018).
Travelodge has been working in the market from a long time but the company is going to put in a
little more extra so that they can get back their reputation and economic stability.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that it is very important for any organization to have a better and
effective operations which can take place in the company. There have to be a right skill and
measures which need to be planned by the organization to that the expectations of the customers
can be matched and the company will be able to increase the satisfaction level of the customers.
The competition in the market is increasing which is why it is very important for the organization
to have an effective planning and the right framework to understand the market do that there is a
better functioning. The employees have to be trained in a way so that the changes which are
required in an organization can be taken effectively and the business will be able to operate in
the market for a longer run.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
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Chernev, A., 2018. Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Dandage, R.V., Mantha, S.S. and Rane, S.B., 2019. Strategy development using TOWS matrix
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Hua, H., 2019. Mobile marketing management: Case studies from successful practices. CRC
Press.
Hüttner, M., 2018. Marketing-Management: allgemein-sektoral-international. Walter de Gruyter
GmbH & Co KG.
Jaremen, D., Jędrasiak, M. and Rapacz, A., 2016. The concept of smart hotels as an innovation
on the hospitality industry market-case study of PURO hotel in Wrocław. Zeszyty
Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego. Ekonomiczne Problemy Turystyki. 36(4).
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Innovation and Economic Development. 4(5). pp.7-19.
Šedík, P and et.al., 2018. Generation marketing in strategic marketing management: case study
of honey market. Polish Journal of Management Studies. 18.
Tomczak, T., Reinecke, S. and Kuss, A., 2018. Planning the Marketing Mix. In Strategic
Marketing. (pp. 171-221). Springer Gabler, Wiesbaden.