Marketing Principles: A Detailed Report on Thistle Hotel's Strategies

This report provides a detailed analysis of the marketing principles applied by the Thistle Hotel. It begins with an introduction to marketing principles and their importance, followed by an examination of the various elements of the marketing process, including understanding the marketplace, designing marketing strategies, constructing integrated marketing plans, building customer relationships, and creating customer value. The report then evaluates the benefits and costs of a marketing orientation for the hotel. It analyzes the macro and micro environments using tools like stakeholder analysis and PESTLE, and explores segmentation criteria and target strategies. The report also covers positioning strategies for new services, the impact of buying behavior on marketing activities, and how to develop products to sustain a competitive advantage. Furthermore, it discusses distribution, pricing, and promotional strategies, along with an evaluation of additional marketing mix elements. Finally, the report recommends marketing mixes for different segments and outlines a marketing plan, including the differences between B2B and B2C approaches and the implementation of marketing strategies abroad.

MARKETING
PRINCIPLES

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
TASK 1......................................................................................................................................3
1.1 explain various elements of the marketing process..........................................................3
1.2 evaluate the benefits and cost of the marketing orientation.............................................4
2.1 Analyze the macro and micro environment with the help of tool....................................4
2.2 and 2.3 segmentation criteria for Thistle hotel and choosing a target strategy................5
2.5 Positioning strategy for the new service..........................................................................6
2.4 How buying behaviour affect the marketing activity in different buying situation.........6
3.1 How the product should be developed to sustain the competitive advantage..................7
3.2 How distribution is done to provide customer convenience............................................7
3.3 Pricing strategy according to the marketing activity........................................................7
3.4 How promotional activity should be integrated to achieve marketing objectives...........8
3.5 Evaluating the additional element of marketing mix.......................................................8
TASK 4......................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Plan and recommend the marketing mixes for two different segments...........................8
4.2 Marketing plan for the strategy by giving the difference between B2B and B2C...........9
4.3 Implementing marketing strategy abroad and difference between international and
domestic market.....................................................................................................................9
CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing principles are the rules which every organization should keep in mind
before marketing their products in the market. In this report it talks about the Thistle hotel
which is one of the largest hotel of UK and it has around 33 branches all over the world. It is
known for its services which they give to its guest. This report emphasize on the marketing
plan of the hotel and various strategy which can be used by the hotel to market its new
services. Further, it gives insight about the new services which is introduced by the Thistle
hotel to attract its customer.
TASK 1
1.1 explain various elements of the marketing process
Various element of marketing process in thistle hotel are as follow:
 Understand the market place and analyzing the need of the customer- For doing the
marketing of any organization, it is very essential to understand the marketplace in
which the hotel will operate its function and then should analyze the customer
requirements (Belohlavek, 2008).
 Designing the marketing strategy- After evaluating the customer needs, it is important
for the hotel to design the strategy which is helpful in promoting their products. The
strategy should be according to the customer preference.
 Constructing a integrated marketing plan- After designing the strategy, important
function of the hotel is develop the marketing plan in which it will determine the cost
and the source which will help the company to market their services easily (Evans,
2010).
 Building relationship with the customer- The most important part of the service
industry is to build relationship with the customer. The hotel becomes profitable if
they have built fruitful relation with the customer. So Thistle hotel needs to build a
strong bond so that loyal customer can be gained by them (Elements of marketing
process, 2015).
 Creating value from customer- Lastly, after the whole process now it’s time for the
hotel to extract profit from the customer. With the help of marketing, the customer

will be attracted towards the hotel which will lead to profit maximization (Martin,
2009).
1.2 evaluate the benefits and cost of the marketing orientation
There are several costs and benefits attached to the marketing orientation in Thistle
organization. It is basically it is a model which helps in designing the product according to
the needs and requirements of the customer and delivering successfully to the user. Some of
the benefits attached to it are as follows:
 Product according to the demand of users- in case of thistle hotel, marketing
orientation helped in designing the services according to the requirements of
the users (Wise and Sirohi, 2005). Because this, the customer which are using
the services are satisfied with the services which are rendered to them
 Increases the cost of the services- By doing the market orientation, the cost of
the services increases as the money spend on this activity is attached to the
service (Porter, 2011). For customer it becomes costly and sometimes it
creates problem. There are many competitors so for the hotel industry it has
been very careful in increasing the price as there are many competitors.
 Assist in building customer value- In the recent time, Thistle hotel made
modifications in the rooms according to the needs of the customer. This
increased the value of the customer and also built loyal customer.
2.1 Analyze the macro and micro environment with the help of tool
It is important for the company to analyze the micro and micro environment. For
developing the marketing plan, the hotel should identify the internal and external scenario to
carry out its marketing activity. The tool used for analyzing the micro environment is
stakeholder analysis. This includes all the stakeholders which affect the decisions of the
business. These are as follows: Customer- Thistle hotel should analyze the target customer which they are going to
target. It is important to know the behaviour of the target customer and their needs so
that according to this only they can make the marketing plan (Femie, Femie and
Moore,2013). The method used in the marketing plan also depends upon the target
customer. Employees- It is very significant for the hotel to make sure that they are satisfying the
needs of the employees with the organizational goal. Hotel can motivate the
employees for effectively operating their business.

 Government- It is important for the thistle hotel to make policies and norms according
to the government rules. The hotel should analyze the rules of the particular country
and make their policies (Knight, 2003).
PESTLE tool can be used for doing macro environment analysis:
 Political- The political scenario of the country in which it is operating its business.
This includes rules and regulations which are made by the government for
safeguarding the interest of the people.
 Environment- The environment rules which are made by the environment protection
committee. So, the working of the hotel should support the environment acts which
are followed in the particular country (Ceylan, 2008).
 Social- In this, the belief and the values of the customer which are attached with the
product and or the services. So it is advisable for the hotel to market their products by
not harming the culture and belief of any individual. Technological- It is very important for the company to become technological
advanced. The hotel should use the technology which is being used in the country. in
case of thistle hotel, they should modify their technological according to the
developed and developing country. In case of developed country they are not
technological savvy. It is vice versa in other scenario (Dimitrova, 2011).
 Legal-legal They are the acts which are made by the government and the Thistle hotel
should ensure that they are working by satisfying it (Martin, 2009).
2.2 and 2.3 segmentation criteria for Thistle hotel and choosing a target strategy
There are many types segmentation according to which the hotel can divide its target
customer according to the concern segment. According to the segmentation, the hotel can
plan its marketing activity. Thistle hotel can segment its target customer according to the
demography. They can divide its employees according to the age group and besides this,
according to the psychographic segmentation in can divide this customer according to the
lifestyle.
They can set their target group between the age group of 25-45 as those individuals
who are working and according to the psychographic segmentation they can divide them
according to the lifestyle which is the business class. With the help of this, they can quote the
price of the hotel high and render tem first services which they generally require.
The company has targeted this group because they are the one who mostly uses the
facility of the hotel. In case of the population of UK, the large crowd is working and it is of

the age group of 25-45. Even it is helpful in competing with the competitors as no other hotel
has targeted especially this age group. The price and the services which the Thistle hotel has
quoted is in the budget and the services like booking their flights tickets are very beneficial.
Even the hotel is not taking any extra charges to book their tickets. So the new service is also
giving an extra value to the customer (Kotler, Shalowitz and Stevens, 2011).
2.5 Positioning strategy for the new service
The service which the Thistle hotel has introduced is the ticket services which they
can book for the business class customer. They are the one who fly regularly and require the
flight tickets as well as other transportation mode tickets for travelling. Another service
which they recently introduced in their hotel is that if the customer is travelling to other
destination and the Thistle hotel is having its branch in that country, it offers discount to the
user. This is beneficial for the customer as well as the hotel. The measure which can be
adopted to position this strategy is basically advertisement (Liu and et. al., 2013). The target
strategy through with they can attract the business class customer is giving advertisement in
planes as they can give the brochure in the popular flights. This will help the customer to
know the hotel in which they can stay. Even they can give the special services which they are
giving to their business class consumer. Further, to promote the Thistle hotel, they can tie up
with the big companies. Most of the company provide employee with the accommodation. So
in this case, they can tie up with the organization. This will increase the profitability of the
company. Vice a versa the flights companies can tie up with the hotel as then the hotel will
promote the same flight if it is feasible for the customer. Positioning of the service can be
carried out by this measure (Olimpia, 2011).
2.4 How buying behaviour affect the marketing activity in different buying situation
Marketing activity is developed according to the needs and the requirements of the
customer. Like in the past, the marketing was done through advertisement through television.
Nowadays, it is done by using the social networking sites. This has changed because as the
target group is the business class they frequently use these sites. So the company using social
networking sites for promoting their products. In case of supply and demand, if the demand
of the hotel is high it means that the individual likes the place. So the marketing activity of
the hotel is nil. They do not spend on the marketing area as their sales are high and are
generating huge profits. But in case if the demand is less and the customers are not visiting
the hotel then in this case, to attract customer they give stress on their marketing activity to

promote their hotel. Mostly, the marketing activity is done by keeping in mind the behaviour
of the customer (Martin, 2009).
3.1 How the product should be developed to sustain the competitive advantage
For developing the products and services which are given to its customer, thistle hotel
should do modification in the services according to the needs and requirements of the
consumer. For this, they can analyze the behaviour of the customer and the demand of the
user. They can use the quality strategy to make the service sustain their competition
advantage. Thistle can provide ticket booking service by emphasizing on the cost which is
attached to it (Wise and Sirohi, 2005). This will help in creating a positioning in the minds of
the customer. The hotel can lower down its cost or provide additional service attached to it.
Hospitality industry generally works on the idea which is developed by their employees. The
can modify the services according to clients. In case of off season they can give another
service besides ticket booking and all. The tickets are easily available so they can give
another benefit. But thistle hotel can fight on the basis of the quality which they are providing
to their guest. The service which will be developed can sustain on the terms of the quality
which is provided by them (Femie, Femie and Moore, 2013).
3.2 How distribution is done to provide customer convenience
In case of the retail organization, the product reaches the stores then it will be
delivered to the customer. But in case of hotel, the services should be delivered appropriately
and the customer should be satisfied with the provided services. In case of Thistle hotel,
initially is the driver has gone for picking up the guest then he should behave appropriately
and the guest should be satisfied (Ceylan, 2008). Further, if the guest needs the employee
immediately then he should arrive quickly without delay. The distribution of the services
starts when the guest has book the hotel. Besides this, even if any problem arises earlier
before the guest has come then the hotel is responsible for communicating the message for
any inconvenience. Hotel has the major liability to satisy thier guest and ensures that they are
getting the proper services without any difficulty.
3.3 Pricing strategy according to the marketing activity
There are many pricing strategy which the Thistle hotel can use for the services which
they are giving to its business class customer. The best strategy which is suited for these
services is the economy pricing policy. In this, a small amount will be attached to the service
and it will not be taken in the name of service it will be adjusted in the bill which is finally

made for the user. This will give them satisfaction and will help in maintaining the good
image of the hotel. As they are business class customer they will not mind in paying extra for
the service. This will be cheap then the tickets which will be booked directly through the
airport. This is possible because of the tie ups. This pricing strategy is selected to remain
competitive in the market (Dimitrova, 2011).
3.4 How promotional activity should be integrated to achieve marketing objectives
For achieving the marketing objectives of the hotel, it is necessary to perform the
promotional activity according to the marketing objectives. In case of Thistle hotel, its main
objective is to create awareness among the target customer. To achieve this, it has taken help
of the advertisement by promoting its hotel and its services in social media sites and using
other sources of medium. Like in the other case, it has also used different communication
channels for promoting their services. Another marketing objective of the firm is to create
high quality positioning in the minds of users. So it is focusing on the services which they are
given to its customer. For this, they have made a creative advertisement which only features
their services (Ceylan, 2008.). From the advertisement, it creates the message as emphasis is
laid on the quality and the individual who wants luxury can stay in that hotel. so it can be said
that, both the promotional activity should be integrated with market activity to produce
successful result.
3.5 Evaluating the additional element of marketing mix
Marketing mix is the tool which is used by the marketing department for marketing
the product and the services. The two additional elements of marketing mix are: People- They are the employees of the hotel. They should give clean environment so
that their productivity can increase. Further, the Thistle hotel is using several tools for
satisfying its employees.
 Process- The process used for delivering the services and handling the queries in
Thistle hotel is effective. It has also developed an effective marketing activity for the
hotel as well as guest (Kotler, Shalowitz and Stevens, 2011).
TASK 4
4.1 Plan and recommend the marketing mixes for two different segments
For the demographic segments that is for the age between 25-45 years they marketing
mix which is suitable is the price, they can be given the services at the low prices because

they are the customer who just want the services as they do not emphasize on the quality. So
they can be given the all the services. Another is the psychographic segmentation, in which
they the Thistle hotel can put stress on the quality of services, most of them want the best
services and luxury services because they are insensitive to the price which is quoted in their
services (Porter,2011). The hotel can market their product and services by using these
marketing mixes. They are according to the needs and the requirements of the consumer
(Extended Marketing Mix: The 7 Ps of Marketing, 2015).
4.2 Marketing plan for the strategy by giving the difference between B2B and B2C
The thistle hotel emphasises on the two marketing mix which is product and the price
and in this case first the hotel has to identify its competitors and then it should plan. The best
suited for the hotel is the business to customer transaction as it has to deal directly the
customer and in case of business to business their thistle hotel client is another hotel. There
are various benefits and drawbacks attached to the strategy. After the identification, then they
have to plan the media through which they can promote their product. For promotion also the
techniques which are use by business to business and business to customer are different.
After it is done then it has to fix the price of the service according to the marketing trend in
which they are operating their business (Evans, 2010). The customer relations are creating in
business to customer transactions as they directly contact with each other.
4.3 Implementing marketing strategy abroad and difference between international and
domestic market
For implementing the marketing strategy, the hotel has to analyze its competitors and
the micro and macro environment in which it will be operating its business. Basically, the
main thing is that it has to follow all the laws of government which are attached with the
promotion of the product. Next is evaluating the competitors as there are many competitors of
the thistle hotel because it is the fast growing industry. Then it will open its branch and will
provide the services according to needs and requirements of user.
Domestic market is very different from the international market. Thistle hotel has to
make goodwill in the eye of the people who are living abroad but the local one knows the
name and image of the hotel (Knight, 2003). The risk attached to the failure is more in the
case of international market as the image of the hotel degrades largely as compare to the local
area. Further managing the operations of business with the new laws is difficult for any
company and this happens at the time of operating the business internationally.

CONCLUSION
From this report, it can be concluded that marketing activity is very important for
every organization and appropriate activity can lead business to success. Further, it can be
inferred that the service which are introduced in the thistle will lead the business to success.
The target customer which the hotel has targeted is also the best target group as for them no
hotel has especially rendered their services.

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