Marketing Report: Marketing Essentials for XL Leisure Group (BUS101)

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by XL Leisure Group, a travel and tourism company operating in the UK, France, and Australia. The report begins by outlining the essential roles and responsibilities of marketing, including market identification, co...Read More

Marketing Essentials

Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Task 1.........................................................................................................................................3
Important roles and responsibilities of marketing..................................................................3
Interrelation of marketing function with other functions of business....................................4
Task 2.........................................................................................................................................5
Comparison of marketing mix for two organisations............................................................5
Task 3.........................................................................................................................................9
Marketing plan.......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................12

Introduction
Marketing refers to managing and controlling various activities that are related to
advertisement and promotion of different products and services of an organisation. It is the
major objective of a marketing department to make sure that they are correctly advertising
products and services in order to reach to their targeted consumers (Al Badi, 2019).The
present report is based upon travel and Tourism Company in United Kingdom which is
known as XL leisure group. The organisation is successfully charting schedules for airlines,
flight operators as well as holiday companies. They are operating in France as well as
Australia. The report consists of different roles and responsibility of marketing functions,
their relatedness to different functions in business along with a marketing plan. A comparison
between marketing mix of XL leisure group and its competitor is also described in the report.
Task 1
Important roles and responsibilities of marketing
The major objective of marketing function is to identify different needs and demands
in the market. They are required to define, measure and quantify sizes of market along with
the potential profit that can be earned. This is the basic segment of organisation that helps in
providing best services to the potential consumers.
Marketing definition: Marketing is conducting different activities in order to interact and
persuade the consumers in the market. The major objective of marketing is to make sure that
all the target customers are aware about products and services of organisation. The concept of
marketing have transformed within time and there are a number of different roles and
responsibilities of marketing managers.
Development of concept of marketing: Along with development of marketing concept the
major objective of marketers is now to analyse the needs and demands in market. They are
successfully using digital media platforms in order to understand activities of their
consumers. Being a travel and tourism company it is required by XL leisure group to make
sure that they are providing their services to their consumers on social media and digital
platforms (Amoako and et. al., 2020).
Product concept: It is necessary to provide good quality of services and products to the
consumers at the affordable prices. When taking XL leisure group into context the marketers

are attracting consumers with a budgeted trip planned specially for them. They are also
offering attractive discounts which will help them in influencing more consumers.
Production concept: The production concept is associated with utilisation of all the resources
present to the organisation successfully. All the resources are utilized by XL leisure group in
order to make sure that they can gain satisfaction from all their consumers.
Selling concept: The selling concept refers to various tactics, strategies and measures that are
used by organisations in order to sell their products and services. XL leisure group are using
cost-effective approach in order to serve all their consumers successfully.
Societal marketing concept: The following role of marketing deals with benefiting the
society while conducting various task in an organisation.. It is necessary that excel leisure
group is earning profit along with providing benefits to the society through the corporate
social responsibility perform by them.
Product development: It is necessary that the organisation is providing various deals to their
consumers so that they can successfully offer them high-quality products and services. XL
leisure group focuses on feedback from their consumers in order to improve the services they
are providing to them.
Research: Research is an important role of organisation which helps them in understanding
consumer preferences, demands, changing needs and so on. It is necessary that the marketers
in XL group are continuously conducting market research in order to understand the changing
demands of the consumer.
Brand management: Brand management is an important factor for an organisation which
helps them to sustain in the market for a longer period of time. The affordable prices and
quality trips that XL leisure group is providing to their consumers is helping them to manage
their brand successfully.
Interrelation of marketing function with other functions of business
Marketing refers to an art and science which is used in order to explore and deliver
value to the consumers in market. There are a number of different functions in a business
organisation that are related to marketing function in one or other way. Below mentioned is
inter-relation between different functions in an organisation:
Marketing and sales: The only major function of marketing department is to make sure that
they are successfully attracting their consumers and making them loyal towards the
organisation. They are also focusing on potential customers in order to make sure that they
can increase the consumer base of organisation. It is necessary that organisation is producing

more goods and services so that they can reach the targeted consumers. All these factors
together consider enhancing the sales of organisation. It is necessary that the sales department
is updated with different leads that marketing department is generating (Man, 2020). It will
help them to understand the changing needs in the market and conduct the functions in a
better way. The customization of tools and trips that excel leisure group is establishing for
their consumers help in enhancing the sales of organisation along with profitability.
Marketing and human resource: there are a number of rules for human resource department
in an organisation such as recruitment, selection, training and development of employs.
Human capital is an essential resource available to every organisation and it is necessary that
the selection of human capital is done based upon the capabilities and skills which can
contribute to achievement of objectives of the organisation. In the following scenario XL
leisure group requires human resource in their marketing department who can successfully
conduct research and understand the needs and requirements of the consumers (Fill and
Turnbull, 2019). In order to successfully recruit such personnel it is the duty of human
resource department to collaborate with marketing department. Both these department
working together can successfully hire workforce who can perform all the activities and task
provided to them in the organisation.
Marketing and finance: The finance department in an organisation requires to maintain the
financial resources so that they can successfully provide budget to all the different
departments in an organisation. There is direct relationship between finance and marketing
department as the amount of activities which is to be conducted in marketing department
requires huge funds. All these funds are granted by finance department. It is necessary that
the requirements of marketing department are communicated to the finance department so
that a budget can be created for different promotional and advertisement activities. Marketing
department will use all this funds in order to achieve their target and bring profitability for the
business.
Task 2
Comparison of marketing mix for two organisations
Marketing mix refers to a tool in order to evaluate brand or an organisation covering
various factors such as product, price, place, physical evidence, promotion, processes and so
on. Below mentioned is marketing mix of X and leisure group compare to its competitor
booking.com.

Basis XL leisure group Booking.com
Product This refers to the product and services
that are offered by the organisation to
their consumers (Kumar and Mishra,
2019).. It is one of the major factor due
t which the organisation is present in the
market. This strategy that excel leisure
group uses for their products
differentiation and providing a number
of different services to their consumers
in order to attract them. They are also
using differentiation strategy through
which they are providing various
packages and trips that are successfully
performed and planned by the
marketing people in the organisation
specially for different consumers.
booking.com is using various customer-
based service development in order to
successfully enhance their products and
services. They are adopting this service in
order to make sure that they can attract
huge amount of consumers towards their
offerings. They provide accommodation,
hotels, guest house and so on for their
consumers successfully.
Price Pricing refers to the amount that the
organisation is charging to their
customers for providing them with
different products and services. It is
necessary that the organisation is
successfully using the prices of their
competitors while deciding their own
pricing strategy (Malara and Ziaeian,
2019). XL leisure group is using
discount pricing in order to make sure
that they can reduce their prices of their
products and services to enhance the
number of consumer for the
organisation.
Booking.com is using variable pricing as
they have shifted their operation from
physical dealing to online dealing only.
The strategy that organisation is using
helps them to successfully variate their
price according to situation in market and
the amount of services they provide to
their consumers.
Place It refers to the location of the booking.com have undergone digital

organisation from where they are
offering their services and products to
the consumers. XL leisure group
operates from a number of countries
which include UK, France, and
Germany and so on. They are also
providing their services to the
consumers through online portal.
transformation due to which most of the
population are provided through their
services on online platforms. The
organisation is pushing their sales
through their online platforms along with
which they have also developed a mobile
application. It is successfully helping
them to communicate and interact with
all their potential consumers. Along with
this they also have some physical stores
where people can obtain their services.
Promotion There are a number of ways through
which organisation are reaching out to
their consumers with the products and
services provided by them. In order to
successfully promote the products and
services XL leisure group is advertising
through various traditional mediums
such as newspaper, TVs and so on.
They also use the digital medium such
as social media websites and online
portals in order to make sure that they
are promoting their products and
services to their consumers
successfully.
The company is taking into account
social media platform in order to
successfully promote all the services and
products they have to offer to their
consumers. Most of the promotion is
done through Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter and so on. It is one of the most
common ways of promoting the services
and products of an organisation in
today’s marketplace. In addition to this
the organisation is also using various
traditional methods such as promoting
through television. The company have
successfully gone through digital
transformation and they are using this in
their promotional activities (Kreutzer and
Vousoghi, 2020). It is a great help in
order to enhance and increase their
customer base. Along with this there are
also promoting their mobile application
on a number of different platforms.
People It refers to the target consumers who are There are a number of different appraisal

interacting with employees of the
organisation. It is necessary that the
perception and views of consumers are
effectively studied and researched by
the employees in the organisation so
that they can manage customer
relationship. Diverse workforce is used
in XL leisure group in order to make
sure that company is generating sales
through making relationship with
customers.
programmes, development programmes
and training sessions used in
booking.com in order to train the
employees in the organisation. It is
successfully helping in increasing
employee engagement within the
organisation which can smoothly flow
along with various activities in the
business to achieve success.
Process These are different ways through which
business operations are conducted in an
organisation. In X and leisure group in
order to manage services properly it is
necessary to make sure that consumers
are approached on a continuous basis.
The organisation is using processes
which can help in utilising all the
resources present to them in order to
achieve their goals (Petrescu, Krishen
and Bui, 2020). They are providing the
employees with a safe and secure
environment so that they can
successfully work towards meeting all
the needs of the consumers. Feedback
of consumers is also taken into account
while making decisions in the
organisation.
Booking.com is using simple and easy
processes through which they can
understand different techniques in order
to attain maximum number of customers
and satisfy them. The organisation is
providing services which extend to more
than 30 million hotels. They are using
their mobile application along with
various different platforms in order to
build channels to reach out to their
customers. They are using all the
information to make the flow of services
to their consumers smooth and effective
Physical
Evidence
It is defined as the surrounding of
marketing where interaction between
the consumer and organisation takes
place. Excel leisure group is offering
Personalisation is applied in
booking.com. Consumer can choose a
number of different services through
online platform. These services include

different packages of trips to their
consumers. They are providing it
through their online website and also
offline sources of their offices.
accommodation, holiday packages,
travelling and so on.
Task 3
Marketing plan
Marketing plan is a written document that includes different strategies for promoting
an advertising products and services of an organisation. This includes vision, mission, scope
and different strategies in order to synchronise various activities so that goals of the
organisation can be achieved (Perreault, Cannon and McCarthy, 2019). A basic marketing
plan is necessary for XL leisure group in order to make sure that they are providing their
charter facilities, Flight tours and holiday packages to all their potential consumers. It is
necessary that organisation also develops its website in order to provide services through
digital media. They are using online booking platform which helps the consumers to save
their time while making their bookings with the organisation. Below mentioned is the
marketing plan for XL leisure group:
Offerings: The variety of services that the organisation is providing to their consumers
include different tour packages which are personalised for different consumers. They are also
serving through their website as well as physical stores. The major aim is to provide
consumer satisfaction with the services.
Mission and vision:
The vision of organisation is to set themselves as a benchmark for travel and Tours
companies by providing excellent services to all their consumers.
Mission of the organisation is to provide safe and convenient travel experience to all the
consumers of the organisation.
Marketing objectives:
 The major objective of XL group is to achieve their profitability by 10% in next six
months.
 They also aim at increasing their customer base by 15% within next six months.

Situations analysis: Environmental scanning refers to a process of collecting information
about different events and relationship of those internal and external events with the
organisation. It was successfully help the organisation while they are launching their new
services or products in the market.
SWOT analysis:
Strengths: The major strength for XL leisure group is that it is providing comfortable and
leisure travel to the consumers along with a number of services to fulfil all their needs. The
skilled workforce of organisation is personalizing each trip for the consumers according to
their needs and preferences.
Weaknesses: High intervention of government and a number of different rules and
regulations he is a weakness for XL leisure group (Hanlon, 2019). Also this provides the
organisation with less options while providing accommodation facilities to their consumers.
Opportunities: The economic development of various countries is a great opportunity for
XL leisure group to expand their business. Through improving security and safety of their
consumers while travel they can successfully gain attraction from more potential consumers.
Threats: The major threat for organisation is high amount of competition that is present in
the market. It is necessary that company is successfully working to develop strong marketing
strategies which can help them attract a number of consumers and make sure that the
competitors are not entering in their target market.
Target market: It is necessary to identify the target market for organisation in order to
successfully promote their products and services. STP analysis for X and leisure group is
mentioned below:
 Segmentation includes division of market into different categories. The company have
divided the market on the basis of demographical and geographical factors that
includes location, age, gender, income and so on.
 XL leisure group is successfully targeting their consumers who are earning high
income and are interested in spending that income in travelling. They are consumers
in this category are majorly focusing upon leisure travel which is the speciality of X
and leisure group.
 In order to position themselves in market XL leisure group is using online platform
along with various physical outlets. They are also providing mobile applications and
social media platforms where consumers can easily use their services.
Marketing budget: Marketing budget which will be required by XL leisure group in order to
successfully fulfil all the objectives of the marketing plan I mentioned below:

PARTICULARS I II III IV V
Start-Up Capital 5400 11000 12450 13030 17140
Investment 4300 7800 5500 4465 8636
TOTAL 9700 18800 17950 17495 25776
MARKETING
OUTLAY
Marketing 6500 7800 6900 12700 13660
Publicity 8800 12100 9900 10500 12200
TOTAL 15300 19900 16800 23200 25860
Monitoring:
Performance measures or indicators: Key performance indicators or KPI are important
for an organisation in order to explain their progressive ways of marketing and reaching their
business goals (Kofi Preko, Agbanu and Feglo, 2019). XL measures are using different KPIs
such as the level of consumer satisfaction they are providing to all the potential customers in
order to earn profits.
Conclusion:
With the help of above mentioned report it can be concluded that marketing function
is an essential and function in every business organisation which helps in brand building for
the business. The concept of marketing can be referred to collecting various information
which will help in fulfillment of all the objectives and goals of an organisation. It is necessary
that marketing management of an organisation is using effective strategies in order to
influence and attract consumers. The collaboration of marketing department with other
department in the organisation is necessary so that all the functions in organisation can be
carried out smoothly. The marketing strategies also describe various effective tactics that are
adopted by companies so that the opportunities for marketers help them in fulfilling all the
needs of their consumer.

References
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