Strategic Marketing Analysis and Planning for Hospitality Businesses

This report delves into strategic marketing within the hospitality sector, using Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotels as case studies. It begins by assessing the role of strategic marketing, analyzing the relationship between corporate and marketing strategies, and outlining the steps to develop effective marketing plans. The report examines decisions made at the corporate level, such as setting vision and mission, and utilizing tools like the Ansoff matrix and Porter's generic model. It also assesses the impact of these decisions on business and functional levels, including departments like HR and marketing. Furthermore, it analyzes approaches to competitive positioning and the strategies that contribute to competitive advantage, including marketing communication and tactics. The report provides a comprehensive overview of strategic marketing principles and their application in the hospitality industry, offering valuable insights for businesses seeking to enhance their marketing strategies.

STRATEGIC MARKETING
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
ACTIVITY 1....................................................................................................................................3
Assessing the role of strategic marketing in organization...........................................................3
Analyzing the relationship between corporate and marketing strategy.......................................4
Analyzing the ways to develop marketing strategy.....................................................................4
Analyzing the choices and decisions that are to be made at corporate level...............................5
Assessing the impact of these decisions at business and function level......................................6
Analyzing approaches to the competitive positioning of enterprise............................................6
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................7
Evaluating the approaches to internal environmental analysis....................................................7
Evaluating the approaches to external environmental analysis...................................................8
Explaining the ways of integrating internal and external analysis..............................................8
ACTIVITY 3....................................................................................................................................8
Assessing the range of strategies that can contribute to the business competitive advantage.....9
Analyzing marketing communication strategies..........................................................................9
Analyzing and implementing the marketing tactics...................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11
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INTRODUCTION
Strategic marketing provides direction by which firm creates their plan for the purpose
of attaining different types of objectives such as raising the customer satisfaction and improving
the organization's profitability (Strategic marketing, 2015). The report is based upon varied types
of case scenarios. However, all these case scenarios focus upon main objective which is of
developing the strategic marketing plan for the prospective clients. In this regard, report will
showcase the ways of analyzing tactical marketing decisions which is being taken by the
organization. Furthermore, the report will also provide a detailed description regarding the range
of marketing strategy that can be implemented to contribute in the competitive advantage.
ACTIVITY 1
The information pack is produced for the prospective new clients of TMS (Total
marketing solution) that are associated with the hospitality industry and named as Ritz Carlton
and hotel Hilton. The pack produced will cover the following points:
Assessing the role of strategic marketing in organization
The concept such as strategic marketing plays a crucial role within organization like Ritz
Carlton and Hotel Hilton. Strategic marketing has the role to streamline the product development
process of firms. It is because marketing strategy begins with the marketplace research wherein it
considered the needs and demand of target buyers (Role of strategic marketing, 2015). Thus, on
the basis of these assessed needs and demand only, cited enterprises carry out the development of
effective products and services. Through this way, firm can perform necessary improvements in
their sales and profitability related condition. In addition to this, strategic marketing assists the
firms with regard to build up the positive image about the brand in minds of buyers. In this
context, it has been seen that the type of marketing strategy which is being selected by the firm
possesses significant impact on the mind of customers. For example, the use of modern and high
tech promotional means by Ritz Carlton develops an effective image among customers (Brookes
and Palmer, 2003). Here, buyers decvelop this type of image about the firm in their mind that
they are using the services of that particular organization which understands the needs and
importance of modern and high tech means. Thus, it can be said that the given concept has
greater importance within enterprise.
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Analyzing the relationship between corporate and marketing strategy
There is a relationship exist between the corporate and marketing strategy of firm. In
order to explain about the same, examples from the cited hospitality organizations are drawn. In
accordance with the given context, on the basis of analysis, it has been found out that Ritz
Carlton has the mission of providing genuine care and exceptional services to the customers that
result into high profits. In order to perform the same, at first, manager of the cited firm has to
give information to its buyers regarding the type of goods and services which is being offered by
it. However, with an aim to achieve the given goal, manager of Ritz Carlton has to take
assistance from varied marketing promotional tools and techniques such as television, print
media and social networking sites etc. (Daniels and Radebaugh, 2006). This is because, by using
these given specified means only, hotel can attract large number of buyers towards its services.
As a result of it, the mission of corporation can be met that is of increasing the profits of
organization.
Likewise, for instance, Hilton has objective to enhance the satisfaction of its buyers by
introducing new services in the market. The objective cannot be met by the firm if it would not
have assistance from the marketing department. It is due to the fact that it is the marketing
department only that conducts research upon the country where firm functions its operations. The
research as being conducted by marketing department helps the enterprise with regard to assess
the specific new area of services where it can explore (Gilmore, 2011). Thus, it can be stated that
the marketing and corporate strategy are inter-related and interconnected to each other. In order
to clarify it more it can also be said that the manager selection with respect to the type of
marketing means also depends upon its corporate strategy. For example, hotel Hilton has
introduced some services for the young buyers. Thus, in order to give information about the
services to the respective buyers, cited firm will use the marketing mean such as social media
websites. This is because, these are the websites which are mostly being used by the young
customers. Thus, by selecting the given marketing strategy the framed corporate goal of firm will
be met.
Analyzing the ways to develop marketing strategy
Number of steps are identified that can be used by the prospective clients of TMS with an
aim to develop an effective marketing strategy with regard to the products and services being
offered by them. The detailed explanation regarding the assessed steps is depicted as below:
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 Define about the products and services which are being offered by the firm: At the first
step, marketing manager of Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotel has to give proper explanation
regarding the type of products and services which are being offered by it. This is because,
on the basis of given information only, an effectual marketing plan can be developed by
the marketing managers. Identifying the target customer: In the next phase, marketing manager of cited
corporations have to gather the information regarding the type of customers which they
will be going to target for the particular goods and services (French, 2009). For any firm,
it is essential that it must improve its knowledge with respect to the target customers.
This is because; the type of marketing tactic which is being selected by the firm largely
depends upon the buyers which it will be going to target. Gathering the information about the competitors: It is important for the firms that are to
gather the information about the competitors as it helps in the selection process of an
effective marketing tactic. For example, manager of Hilton hotel has identified that its
competitor is using the social networking websites in order to attract the buyers towards
its services. Then, in this condition, Hilton should also adopt the given tactic. This is
because; lack of adoption by firm will lead to hamper the sales and profits of organization
in a negative way.
 Deciding the marketing budget and selecting suitable promotional mean: Finally, in the
last step, appropriate budget for the organization will be set. Thus, as per the predefined
budget only, an appropriate promotional mean will be selected by the cited corporation
(Berthon and et.al., 2012). For example, if Hilton has set very high marketing budget
then, in this condition, it can use the combination of different promotional means in order
to carry out the promotion of its goods and services.
Analyzing the choices and decisions that are to be made at corporate level
Different types of choices and decisions are assessed that are being made at the corporate
level. Setting the vision and mission of company is being regarded as one of the significant
decisions that are being made at the given level. For firms like Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotel, it is
necessary to form the vision and mission of firm. This is because; through this way only,
direction of corporation can be set. In addition to this, at this level, managers of cited
corporations have to make decision with respect to the type of strategy which it should choose.
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In order to make this decision, enterprises generally take assistance from the approach such as
Ansoff matrix (Ho, 2012). The tool is effective as it presents strategic choices among companies
like Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotel. Here, by selecting the suitable option, enterprises can increase
their sales and profits. Ansoff matrix possesses varied types of tactical choices such as product
development, market development, market penetration and diversification etc. The decision
related to all these given factors are taken at the corporate level. Furthermore, the individual who
resides at this level also takes decision regarding the ways of attracting the customers. For the
purpose to take this decision, assistance is being taken from the porter’s generic model. This
model includes the tactics like differentiation and cost leadership etc. Appropriate strategy is
selected by the individuals of corporate level after analyzing the conditions that are prevailing in
the external and internal environment of company.
Assessing the impact of these decisions at business and function level
Function and business level includes the departments like HR, finance, operations and
marketing etc. that performs the particular type of job. The decision taken at corporate level
causes necessary impact upon the functions which is being carried out by the given departments.
For instance, the corporate level team of Ritz Carlton has taken decision to choose the
diversification related strategy wherein it has decided to expand its operation in the retail sector.
In order to fulfill the given mission, cited corporation has to take the help from different
functional and business level departments (Jones, Suoranta and Rowley, 2013). There is the
requirement of recruiting more employees that will be raised if hotel opts for the diversification
related tactic. However, the need related to the workers can be met by it with the help of its
human resource department. In addition to this, since hotel is expanding its operations in the new
sector thus, there is need to give information about the same to customers is being raised in front
of Ritz Carlton hotel. This objective can be fulfilled by the cited firm with the use of its
marketing department. Thus, it can be said that the decision taken at corporate level molds the
work which is being carried out by other departments.
Analyzing approaches to the competitive positioning of enterprise
Various types of approaches are analyzed that can be used by the manager of both given
firms in order to build their competitive position in the market. One of the approaches can be
setting clear and attainable goals and objectives of hotel. The success of firm largely depends
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upon the objectives which are being set by it. This is because, on the basis of framed goals only,
direction of firm can be maintained and this will help in enhancing the profits and sales of firm
effectively. In addition to this, with an aim to build competitive position, firm like Ritz Carlton
and Hilton hotel can introduce itself as the leader of particular market (Martin and Isozaki,
2013). Here, in order to become the market leader of specific market, managers of cited firms
has to carry out his/her efforts in terms of reducing the prices of services which are being
delivered by them. This is because; through this way only, organization can develop the
difference between services which are being offered by it and its competitors.
Moreover, hotels can gain the competitive advantages by adopting niche marketing tactic.
This tactic entails that firm should focus upon the small section of customers which it wants to
target (Proctor, 2014). For example, Ritz Carlton and Hilton are luxury hotels that targets
premium class customers who are able to pay high prices for their services. Thus, giving the
services to elite customers is being regarded as the competitive advantage for both the given
firms.
ACTIVITY 2
In this section, short training program is designed for the prospective clients of TMS
which will cover the following points:
Evaluating the approaches to internal environmental analysis
For the firms like Ritz Carlton and Hotel Hilton, it is essential with regard to carry out the
analysis of its internal environment while making any decision. However, this can be performed
by the cited corporations through using approaches like value chain and resource based analysis
etc. The first approach is of value chain analysis which is the useful tool that defines about the
firm's core competencies and activities. This chain divides the whole activity of firm into two
parts such as primary and supportive (Value chain analysis, 2015). This chain is effective as it
describes about the particular process which can be adopted by the firms like Ritz Carlton and
Hotel Hilton in order to add value to the services. Here, primary activities involves inbound
logistic, operation, outbound logistic, marketing and services etc. With respect to hotel Hilton,
inbound logistic will be all the efforts which is being put up by its employees with an aim to
accomplish the goal and objective of corporation in an effective way. The outbound logistic of
given efforts will be seen in the form of high customer satisfaction. Besides this, there are some
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supporting activities are also available which plays crucial role in the success of hotel. It involves
HR, infrastructure, technology and procurement etc. These all provide support to the strategic
goals and objectives of firm. However, it has been evaluated that the approach proved to be
ineffective when some changes occur in the external environment wherein firm needs to change
its process with an aim to add value to the existing services.
Furthermore, resource based approach assists the corporation to identify its resources and
capabilities. Both these information plays a crucial role in the process when organizations
formulate their marketing strategy. For example, by conducting the resource based analysis,
manager of Ritz Carlton can assess that whether it possess a significant amount of resources in
the form of HR and finance in order to meet its marketing goal or not. Here, on the basis of given
information, varied decisions will be taken by the enterprises (Tamilia, 2009).
Evaluating the approaches to external environmental analysis
Two basic types of approaches to the external environmental analysis are identified
which is PESTEL and competitor analysis. The tool such as PESTEL is effective as with the help
of this, hotels can gather the information related to different factors that might create hurdles in
the process of developing and implementing marketing plans. In addition to this, with the help of
given approach only, hotels such as Ritz Carlton and Hilton can gather thorough information
regarding market. This assists the corporation to make selection of an appropriate marketing
tactic (Wilson and Gilligan, 2012). However, the tool such as PESTEL analysis only provides
description regarding the different factors that may influence the operation of firm. The given
tool does not give information regarding the tactic which needs to be adopted by the cited firms
with an aim to deal with the given factors.
Furthermore, performing competitor analysis is another approach of analyzing external
environment. With the use of this tool, both hotels can gather the detailed information regarding
the competitors of company (West, Ford and Ibrahim, 2015). Moreover, firms can also improve
their understanding related to type of tactic which is being adopted by their rivalries. In addition
to this, by conducting the competitor analysis cited firm can set its direction towards the right
approach. Thereby, it can perform improvements in its own sales and profits in an effectual way.
In addition to this, the given type of analysis will also provide opportunity to the cited with
regard to mark an effective presence in the competive business environment.
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Explaining the ways of integrating internal and external analysis
Besides conducting the separate analysis of both internal and external environment, it is
impossible for the organizations to make the decision on the basis of one particular component
only. Thus, there is the need to form integration between given analysis. However, with the use
of technique like SWOT analysis, an effective integration can be established by the hotels
between both given environment (Giannakis and Harker, 2014). For instance, strengths and
weaknesses related factor provides description regarding the internal affairs of company.
However, components such as opportunities and threats look after the external environment of
company. Thus, by using the given tool, manager of Ritz Carlton and Hilton hotel can take some
strategic decision about its operations. Thus, firm can carry out necessary improvements in their
sales as well as in the market share. In addition to this, hotel has achieved integration between
given environment. It is being done by it by forming the connection between both internal and
external information. For example, if firm has identified through the competitors' analysis that its
rivalries are launching new services in the market. Thus, with an aim to compete with its
competitors cited firms will also have to introduce new services in market. However, with an aim
to perform the same it will have to done the internal analysis. For example, by conducting the
internal analysis it has been identified by the manager that it do not possess good team of skilled
employees who can launch the services as being launched by its competitor. Then in the given
circumstance significant measures will be taken by cited firm.
ACTIVITY 3
Finally, in this section, a report is prepared which needs to be given to the client of TMS.
Assessing the range of strategies that can contribute to the business competitive advantage
There are different types of marketing strategies which are assessed that manager of Ritz
Carlton can use in order to gain the competitive advantage in market where it is operating its
operation. The detailed explanation with respect to the same is depicted as below: Segmentation: The given strategy divides the total market of firm into varied sub
segments. This tactic can be used by Ritz Carlton with an aim to perform an appropriate
segmentation of its services (Payne and Frow, 2014). In order to perform the same, it can
use the demographic basis segmentation in which criteria like age, gender and income is
used. For instance, hotel can divide its services on the basis of income of buyers. Here,
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services with additional benefits can be given by the firm to those buyers who belong to
the high income class. Targeting: In order to gain the competitive advantage, the type of targeting strategy
which is being selected by company plays a very effective role. For example, Ritz
Carlton can use differentiated targeting tactic wherein it can frame different types of
promotional message for varied types of buyers.
 Product innovation and development: It is another method that hotel can adopt with an
aim to build distinct image of its services. In this regard, Ritz Carlton can introduce such
type of services in its firm which has not been introduced by any of its competitor.
Hence, it can achieve success in the market which is highly competitive in nature (Nasir
and et.al., 2013).
Analyzing marketing communication strategies
Varied marketing communication strategies are analyzed that can be adopted by manager
of Ritz Carlton with an aim to spread the information about its services among respective buyers.
The detailed explanation regarding the same is depicted as below: Use of social media websites: Ritz Carlton can adopt this tactic if it wants to reach among
the large number of buyers that resides in varied nations. This is because; the social
networking sites like Facebook and Twitter become the global platform which helps in
forming the interaction between individuals who belongs to different nations. By using
the given mean, hotel can attract large number of customers (Green, 2012).
 Placing ads on television: This can be used by Ritz Carlton with an aim to target the
particular group of customers. For example, hotel wants to attract high and middle
income class customer towards its services. Then, in the given circumstances, firm can
place its ads in the channels like travel and living (TLC) which is being seen by the given
type of customers.
Analyzing and implementing the marketing tactics
By designing the suitable process, framed marketing tactics can be implemented by the
firm: Assessing the organization objective: At the first step, manager of Ritz Carlton has to
make the decision regarding particular enterprise objective which it wants to achieve. For
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instance, hotel has an aim to increase profit within given specified time limit (Amasaka,
2011). Selecting the suitable marketing tactic: In this step, an effective marketing tactic needs
to be selected by the firm. For instance, in order to attain the given objective, hotel has
selected the social networking sites that are related with marketing communication tactic.
In addition to this, in order to achieve the given goal some other means will also be used
by the manager of cited firm. It consists of newspaper, magazines and television
advertisement etc. By placing ads in all the given means large number of buyers can be
attracted by the hotel. Selecting the marketing team: Here, organization has to make the judgment that whether
it possesses the team of skilled human resources or not who have the capability with
regard to place the firm’s ads in the social networking sites. For example, if organization
has identified that it do not have such type of skilled team then in order to deal with such
condition, firm will require organizing training and development programs for its
marketing workers (Panda and Mishra, 2012).
 Implementing the selected strategy: After performing all these given operations at that
last phase, cited organization will carry out the implementation of selected tactic. Thus,
the objective of the firm which is being discussed in the first step will be met.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded from the given report that it is required by the managers that they
must improve their understanding regarding different principles of tactical marketing as it will
help the firm in the process of achieving goals and objectives of corporations in an effectual
manner. In addition to this, in order to attain the competitive advantage, different marketing
strategies play a very crucial role. Moreover, it has also been assessed that the corporate and
marketing tactics of organizations are interrelated and interconnected to each other.
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