Marketing Plan Analysis for InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) Muscat

This report presents a comprehensive marketing plan analysis for the InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) in Muscat, Oman. It begins with an executive summary and introduction, outlining the objectives of the marketing plan. The report then delves into the current market and company situation, utilizing SWOT and PESTEL analyses to assess IHG's internal and external environments. It examines market segmentation strategies, focusing on affluent leisure travelers. Marketing objectives are defined using the SMART framework. The core of the report provides detailed marketing mix strategy recommendations for product, price, promotion, place, people, processes, and physical evidence. Finally, the report outlines evaluation and control mechanisms, including key performance indicators (KPIs), and concludes with a budget allocation for various promotional tools, including digital and traditional marketing channels, and a complete list of references.

Running head: MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Executive Summary
The report is based on the development of a marketing plan for an organization named
InterContinental Hotel Group in Muscat. The development of leisure tourism related
activities by the Government of Oman is considered to be a major factor that is related to the
proper development of the marketing plan. The segmentation process that can be
implemented by the organization based on proper situational analysis related to the internal
and external environment of IHG Group. The recommendations will also be provided based
on the development of an effective marketing mix that can be developed by IHG Group. The
evaluation of the marketing objectives and key performance indicators have also been
analysed in the report in detail.

2MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction and objectives............................................................................................3
Current market and company situation analysis............................................................3
Market segmentation......................................................................................................5
Marketing plan objectives..............................................................................................6
Marketing mix strategy recommendations.....................................................................7
Evaluation and Control..................................................................................................8
Budget............................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................10

3MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Introduction and objectives
The Inter-Continental Hotels Group PLC is a multinational hospitality based
organization that has its headquarters in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England. The hotel
group mainly consists of more than 800,000 guest rooms and around 5000 hotels as well. The
different brands that are a part of the IHG Group include, InterContinental, SixSenses Hotels,
Regent Hotels, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton Hotels and Resorts, Crowne Plaza, Staybridge Suites
(Ihg.com 2019). The report will be based on the analysis of the operations that have been
developed by the InterContinental Hotel Group in Muscat. The analysis and development of
the marketing plan is mainly built on the methods by which the inbound leisure tourism based
activities performed by the organization can be discussed in detail (Ihg.com 2019).
Current market and company situation analysis
The internal environment of InterContinental Hotels Group of IHG can be analysed
with the help of proper implementation of SWOT analysis framework.
Strengths – The global presence and brand value that has been developed by the
InterContinental Hotels Group or IHG is considered to be a major strength of the firm. The
recruitment related strategies that have been established by the firm are highly effective for
the development of different organizational functions in an effective manner in its Muscat
based operations (Blakeman 2018).
Weaknesses – The IT security that has been provided by IHG to the customers are
weak and is affected in a negative manner by the malware that had attacked the credit card
holders. The IHG Rewards Club or loyalty based programs have developed negative reviews.
The negative reviews that are provided by the customers are able to influence the loyal
customer based development of IHG in Muscat (Bowie et al. 2016).

4MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Opportunities – The major opportunities that are provided to the organization based
on its operations in Muscat are based on the development of inbound leisure tourism related
activities that are performed by the company (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick 2019).
Threats – The competitors that have been able to provide major levels of threats to
IHG Group in Muscat mainly include, Muscat Grand Hyatt Hotel, Al Bustan Palace, A Ritz
Carlton Hotel and many more. The organization has also started facing major issues based on
the gaps that are present in the training based activities that have been performed by the
organizations (Dwivedi, Kapoor and Chen 2015).
PESTEL analysis will be able to play a key part in the proper analysis of the macro
environment based factors that have an impact on the operations of IHG Group in Muscat.
The environment in which IHG Groups operate can be considered to be highly dynamic in
nature. The dynamic environment is mainly affected by the development of effective
regulatory frameworks, changes in the government regulations and the technological changes
as well (Dzhandzhugazova et al. 2016).
Political factors – The political condition in Muscat is able to affect the policies and
regulations that have been established and implemented by the InterContinental Hotel Group
or IHG. The regulatory practices that have been formed by the company are considered to be
highly significant factors that have an impact on IHG Group (Fraj, Matute and Melero 2015).
Economic factors – The operations and development of the operations of IHG Group
in Muscat is affected by the economic performance that has been depicted by the country.
The pressure that has been exerted on spending levels of the consumers are highly important
for the organization to maintain its profitability levels (Kennedy, Kemper and Parsons 2018).

5MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Social factors – The leisure based interests of the customers are able to provide huge
chances built on the preferences based on the experiential products which are provided to the
consumers. The health and safety based attitudes have an impact on the organization
(McDONALD 2016).
Technological factors – The developments that have taken place in the technological
implementations have been able to transform the expectation levels of the consumers who are
a part of the service sector (Kingsnorth 2019).
Environmental factors – The environmental norms that have been developed by the
government of Muscat have an impact on the regulations and policies that are formed by the
organizations. The levels of awareness among the customers in the organization are quite
high (McDONALD 2016).
Legal factors – The data protection based laws and effective protection of the patents,
intellectual property and copyrights have an impact on the operations of IHG in Muscat.
Market segmentation
The market segmentation process that has been developed by IHG in Muscat is
mainly based on the ways by which the organization aims at targeting the affluent leisure
based travellers in the tourism based industry. The affluent customers can be targeted by
InterContinental Hotels Group in Muscat (Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés 2015). The
development of services based on the ways by which the affluent group can be targeted is
considered to be an important factor that is able to affect the segmentation process. The
effective segmentation process is considered to be highly significant for the methods by
which the organization is able to maintain the reliable customer base (Quesenberry 2015).

6MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Marketing plan objectives
SMART Goal 1
S- Smart To increase the growth in tourism activities that are performed in
Oman.
M- Measurable Can be measured with increase in levels of revenues.
A – Achievable The goal is achievable.
R – Relevance The achievement of this goal is relevant.
T – Timely Time required for achievement of goal is 1 year.
SMART Goal 2
S- Smart To increase the footfalls of the customers in InterContinental
Hotels Group in Muscat.
M- Measurable The effectiveness of the goal can be measured based on increase
in revenues of the hotel.
A – Achievable The goal is achievable by the organization.
R – Relevance The achievement of the goal is relevant for the operations of
IHG Group in Muscat.
T – Timely Time required for the achievement of the goal is 1 year.
SMART Goal 3
S- Smart To increase the levels of InterContinental Hotels Group in
different areas of Muscat.
M- Measurable The goal can be measured by analysing the demands and needs
of the customers.
A – Achievable The goal can be achieved by the organization.

7MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
R – Relevance The goal is relevant for improvement of its operations.
T – Timely Time that is required for achievement of the goal is 1 year.
Marketing mix strategy recommendations
Product – The products that or services that can be offered by the InterContinental
Hotels Group in Muscat are based on high luxury based rooms and suites that are based on
high levels of comfort (Nieves and Segarra-Ciprés 2015).
Price – The premium pricing based technique can be implemented by
InterContinental Hotel Group in order to offer the luxury based services to the customers.
The additional services are also provided with the help of the same pricing technique
(Kingsnorth 2019).
Promotions – The promotional strategies that can be used by the organization is based
on an effective mix of the customization and standardization processes. The hotel will depend
in a heavy manner on the advertising and promotional activities that are performed by the
international hotel brand on a global basis (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick 2019).
Place – The locations of development of the properties of IHG Group will be mainly
based on the prime areas in which the firm will be able to attract more guest within a short
period of time.
People – The people or employees of IHG Group in Muscat are able to improve the
services that are offered by the firm in order to accomplish the wants of the guests
(Kingsnorth 2019).

8MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Processes – The processes that have been implemented by the organization are
important for the service organization like IHG Group. The low costs of operations are
considered to be important processes of the organization.
Physical evidence – The physical environment and infrastructure of IHG Group will
be able to play a major part in the growth of the services on Muscat (Nieves and Segarra-
Ciprés 2015).
Evaluation and Control
The marketing mix based strategies that have been recommended to IHG Group are
built on the methods by which the reviews can be analysed in an active way. The collection
of feedback of consumers is a key process that can be implemented by the firm. The reviews
provided by the customers on the website will be analysed with the help of effective data
collection based methods.
The five major key performance indicators that can be developed by IHG Muscat are
as follows,
 Online ratings that have been provided by the customers.
 Levels of customer satisfaction.
 Return on investment based on the advertisements.

9MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Budget
Promotion Tools Amount
(in €)
Digital Media and Marketing Tools
Facebook usage €3,000
Twitter usage €4,000
You Tube usage €3,200
Total Social Media Marketing expenditures €12,000
Other Online Marketing based Media
E-mail Marketing €20,000
Online Display advertisements €9,000
Other Online promotional Campaigns €25,000
Total Budget for Online Media €76,200
Traditional Marketing Media
Newspapers €10,000
Magazines €30,000
Total Print Media €40,000
TV Channels €75,000
Billboards €30,000
Total €105,000
Total Required Budget for Promotion €181,200

10MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
References
Blakeman, R., 2018. Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to
implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Bowie, D., Buttle, F., Brookes, M. and Mariussen, A., 2016. Hospitality marketing.
Routledge.
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Dwivedi, Y.K., Kapoor, K.K. and Chen, H., 2015. Social media marketing and
advertising. The Marketing Review, 15(3), pp.289-309.
Dzhandzhugazova, E.A., Blinova, E.A., Orlova, L.N. and Romanova, M.M., 2016.
Innovations in hospitality industry. International Journal of Environmental and Science
Education, 11(17), pp.10387-10400.
Fraj, E., Matute, J. and Melero, I., 2015. Environmental strategies and organizational
competitiveness in the hotel industry: The role of learning and innovation as determinants of
environmental success. Tourism Management, 46, pp.30-42.
Ihg.com 2019. [online] Available at: https://www.ihg.com/content/us/en/about/brands
[Accessed 28 Apr. 2019].
Kennedy, A.M., Kemper, J.A. and Parsons, A.G., 2018. Upstream social marketing
strategy. Journal of Social Marketing, 8(3), pp.258-279.
Kingsnorth, S., 2019. Digital marketing strategy: an integrated approach to online
marketing. Kogan Page Publishers.
McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016. Strategic marketing planning: theory and practice.
In The marketing book (pp. 108-142). Routledge.

11MARKETING PLAN ANALYSIS
Nieves, J. and Segarra-Ciprés, M., 2015. Management innovation in the hotel
industry. Tourism Management, 46, pp.51-58.
Quesenberry, K.A., 2015. Social media strategy: Marketing and advertising in the consumer
revolution. Rowman & Littlefield.