Thomas Cook Group's Marketing Strategy for Totally Thames

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Marketing and Business for the Service Sector
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
About the event................................................................................................................................3
Marketing plan.................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
Reference List................................................................................................................................13
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Introduction
Marketing, in the present scenario of business, is one of integral factors in all businesses.
Tourism businesses are largely facilitated through marketing (Mariani et al., 2014). London is a
city of festivals and events and there are differing activities for its visitors to do and see along the
banks of the river Thames. In this report, a marketing plan is going to be created for Thomas
Cook Group, which is intending to market the event Totally Thames 2019 that is going to be held
during the month of September 2019. The Thomas Cook Group Plc is a global tourism group
from Britain that had been formed during June 2007 through the mergers of My Travel Group,
Thomas Cook and Son and Thomas Group AG (Cook, 2019). The products and services offered
by this tourism organisation include packaged holidays, hotels, flights, cruise lines, and various
others. A detailed marketing plan for this tourism organisation will be prepared for attracting
visitors and the enhancement of sales and customer engagement within it.
About the event
The Totally Thames is one of the largest events and festivals that are held in London every year
(Tolerance et al., 2019). It is an annual celebration conducted for the river Thames with a diverse
and creative programme, which acts as an inspiration while enthralling and connecting people
throughout the span of September. The Totally Thames 2019 is going to be a great opportunity
for visitors in seeing large-scale free exhibitions, art installations as well as live performances
(Visitlondon.com, 2019). The highlights of the event include fun family activities, unusual and
unique performances, along with various immersive activities over the river. This event is being
largely marketed within the Thomas Cook Group.
Marketing plan
The success of any event is largely dependent over its marketing plan since it facilitates it for
focusing over the resources in a business while ensuring the growth of its sales and customer
engagement (Kotler et al., 2010). For the marketing of the event Totally Thames 2019, the below
is a marketing plan developed for the Thomas Cook Group Plc. This plan has been developed
using the SOSTAC model (Senguo and Kilango, 2015). The application of this model has helped
in the identification of the situation in which Thomas Cook Group Plc is prevailing, the
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objectives of the marketing plan, the strategy that will be adopted, the tactics to be applied, the
actions to be taken as well as its control tools.
Figure 1: SOSTAC Model
(Source: Sargent, 2016)
Situation Analysis
One can be defining situation analysis as the compilation of methods utilised by the managers of
an organisation for the analysis of its external and internal environment to gain the understanding
of its customers, capabilities and business environment (Kotler et al., 2014). For the situation
analysis of Thomas Cook Group Plc, there are three differing methods that have been used,
which are SWOT analysis, PESTLE analysis and the Porter’s five forces.
The SWOT analysis is beneficial to understand the internal environment of an organisation
(Gurel and Tat, 2017). The below table shows the SWOT analysis done for Thomas Cook Group
Plc -
Strengths -
 One of the biggest travel companies in UK
and Europe
 Availability of accessible and affordable
Weaknesses -
 Reducing market share because of
intensity in competition
 Persistence of long-term liabilities
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holidays and experiences for customers
 Global presence in domains such as
hotels, holiday packages, flights, resorts
and others
 Availability of flexibility and
customisation for customers
 Huge employee strength and improved
brand awareness through associations with
global sports events such as Olympics
 Alleged refusal for payment of statutory
EU compensation to clients
Opportunities -
 Growth within the tourism, hospitality and
events industry
 Boosting share prices through business
expansion
 Digitalising operations to enhance
penetration
 Global expansion
Threats -
 Uncertainty and lowering profitability
from airlines service
 Uncertainties such as the Brexit
 Dynamic government regulations
 Growing rivalry from discounted service
providers
 Increasing liabilities because of unpaid
compensations
Table 1: SWOT analysis of Thomas Cook Group
(Source: Learner)
The PESTLE analysis, on the other hand, is helpful for analysing the external environment of a
business (Hicks, 2017). In the following section, PESTLE analysis has been conducted on
Thomas Cook Group Plc -
Political factors In the UK, the sales of Thomas Cook Group have been affected largely
because of Brexit with net loss in 2018 (Thomascookgroup.com, 2019).
Conversely, the use of free trade policy has been beneficial for
decreasing its sourcing costs while enhancing long run profits.
However, due to operating in differing countries, differing political
situations affect the company’s operations, which is a major risk factor.
Economic factors The economic situation in the UK is uncertain. There has not only been
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an effect in Thomas Cook Group’s sales previously but is likely to be
affecting it later as well. Generation of GDP in the nation has reduced
because of recessions and economic fluctuations whereas Brexit has led
to changes in Thomas Cook Group’s share prices along with increasing
exchange rates.
Social factors The sales, profitability and operations of Thomas Cook Group have had
considerable effects because of socio-cultural factors. Trends in the
tourism sector such as green tourism, sports tourism, adventure tourism
has been largely affecting the company and its activities (Veretekhina et
al., 2017).
Technological
factors
The reliance and utilisation of mobile phones and internet for travel
related purposes has become increasingly common in the past few years
due to which Thomas Cook Group has had to enhance its online
presence. Digitalisation in operations is also required for its
sustainability.
Legal factors In the recent past, both environmental laws and legal laws in the UK
have been strengthened and enhanced. As a result, the operations of the
company in the country have to be conducted in a way such that these
laws are adhered by and no harms are caused to the environment. Health
and safety laws, discrimination laws, intellectual property laws, and
others also need being complied with.
Environmental
factors
The issues such as global warming, climate change, changing weather
conditions, and environmental degradation has led increasing difficulties
for tourism companies. Thomas Cook Group has to be ascertaining the
adherence with the differing standards relating to environmental
protection and any sort absence of environmental conscientiousness
would lead to serious threats for the company.
Table 2: PESTLE analysis of Thomas Cook Group
(Source: Learner)
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The Porter’s five forces model is beneficial for the analysis of competitive rivalry of a business
(Perera, 2017). In the below section, Porter’s five forces analysis of Thomas Cook Group’s has
been performed -
 Threat from new entrants - Thomas Cook Group’s threats from new entrants are
considerably low since accomplishing economies of scale will be difficult while the
capital requirements for establishing such a huge company within the tourism industry is
difficult to be made for any new venture.
 Threats from existent players - Strong competitive rivalry is existent within the tourism
and hospitality industry of UK. Major tour operators such as TUI Group, Virgin Travel,
Cox and Kings, and Emirates provide intense competition to Thomas Cook Group.
 Threats from substitute products - Large number of substitutes are available within the
context of the tourism and hospitality industry. However, the products and services that
Thomas Cook Group provides are unique and innovative in nature and it is difficult for
any tourism enterprise to provide such customised as well as flexible tourism products
that it offers, thus indicating moderate threat from substitutes.
 Bargaining power within suppliers - The suppliers in the industry are considerable in
number and the Thomas Cook Group is a large sized organisation. As a result, suppliers
do not want to end their relationship and operations with the company, because of which
their bargaining power is considerably low.
 Bargaining power within customers - This threat however is high for Thomas Cook
Group. It is because in the current scenario of the tourism and hospitality industry, low-
cost service providers are considerably increasing with no switching costs for customers.
Objectives
There are differing objectives for the accomplishment of which the Thomas Cook Group is
marketing the event Totally Thames 2019. The following are the SMART objectives of the
company for the marketing and promotion of Totally Thames 2019 -
Specific - To enhance the customer engagement as well as sales of the company
Measurable - To ensure that the sales of the company improve by 15% due to this event
Achievable - To increase sales by at least 10% through effectually attracting customers
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Realistic - To engage customers tactfully to attract them towards the event and enhance sales
Timely - To perform effectual marketing activities and accomplish the target within a span of 1
month (before the end of September 2019)
Strategy
There are three different strategies, which Thomas Cook Group will use in order to conduct the
marketing activities for Totally Thames 2019. They include segmentation, targeting and
positioning.
Segmentation
Effectual segmentation helps a company in targeting its customers depending upon their unique
characteristics (McCabe, 2014). For marketing activities of Totally Thames 2019, Thomas Cook
Group will be segmenting the marketplace depending upon psychographic segmentation and
behavioural segmentation. Through psychographic segmentation, Thomas Cook Group will be
segmenting the marketplace via consideration of attitudes, interests, and motivations for
spending on tourism activities and lifestyles. On the contrary, via behavioural segmentation, the
organisation will be segmenting its target customers considering their spending habits,
purchasing habits and brand interactions.
Targeting
The marketing strategy of a company involves the selection of the potential clients to whom
products and services are wished to be sold. In order to engage customers and enhance the sales
of the company, the Thomas Cook Group will be utilising a differentiated target marketing
strategy. With this strategy, it will offer separate offers for separate market segments depending
upon their behaviour and psychographic aspects. However, all offers and prices will be set
considering the competitor prices and offers in the UK market.
Positioning
The positioning of the company for this event will be done according to its major competitors in
the UK market offering high customer experiences at considerably high price. In the following
figure, the positioning map of Thomas Cook Group has been presented -
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High Price
Low Price
High customer experiencePoor customer experience
Expedia
Airtours
EasyGroup
Shropshire
Tourism
Beyond
Tourism
TUI Group
BCD Events and
Meetings
Thomas Cook
Figure 2: Thomas Cook’s positioning map
(Source: Learner)
Tactics
In a marketing plan, tactics include the particular tools that are to be used in order to realise and
accomplish the objectives of a marketing plan (Kartajaya et al., 2019). The tactic that that will be
used to engage customers tactfully in Thomas Cook Group while enhancing its sales via
marketing the event Totally Thames 2019 is a marketing mix. Since Thomas Cook is a service
oriented organisation, the below is the 7Ps of marketing established for it -
 Product - The product in this marketing plan is the Totally Thames 2019, which consists
of a number of attractions for visitors from differing parts of the globe. It includes
archaeological tours surrounding the river, cruise rides, boat parties, water sports, insta-
worthy art installations, fun activities, river-themed art exhibitions and various other
attractions.
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 Price - The pricing for this event and its experience from Thomas Cook will be done
based on competitive pricing. Prices will be almost same as the prices at which the
company’s competitors will be offering the experience of this event to their customers.
 Place - The place in case of this product of Thomas Cook will be London itself and
around the surrounding areas of river Thames, where the event is going to take place.
 Promotion - As the time for marketing activities is less, Thomas Cook will conduct
promotions of this event using social media, its blog, along with video advertisements on
YouTube, marketing platform HubSpot as well as its application. Hoardings and flyers
are also going to be used.
 Physical evidence - The physical evidence is going to be through the hoardings and flyers
that the company will be using for promotion.
 People - Thomas Cook will be recruiting part time and freelance workers for the
marketing and execution of this event along with the presence of its skilled and
professionally trained workforce.
 Process - The process that is going to be used includes the manual system as well as the
online system. They also include the enhancement of the software and application of the
company along with the performing of differing tasks such as blogging, developing video
advertisements and others.
Actions
Different actions are going to be taken in order to ensure that the marketing of Totally Thames
2019 is implemented effectually. The following is the budget designed in Thomas Cook for the
marketing of the event Totally Thames 2019 using, which the actions of the plan would be
executed -
Particulars Amount
Market research £ 1,250.00
Owned media (Blogging) £ 1,550.00
Video advertising (YouTube) £ 2,525.00
Advertisements on social media (Facebook) £ 1,775.00
Marketing platform (HubSpot) £ 1,150.00
App enhancement £ 2,750.00
Software development and improvement £ 1,650.00
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Part time and freelance recruitment £ 850.00
Total budget £ 13,500.00
Table 3: Marketing budget
(Source: Learner)
The following is the action plan and timeframe for the marketing activities of the company,
which will be executed using the above budget -
Activities Responsible
department
Time span Resource requirements
Market research Marketing department 1 week Computer hardware and
software, efficient researchers,
market trend reports
Marketing activities
(video advertising,
blogging and others)
Marketing department
and sales team
1 month Funding, software, internet
access, computer hardware,
experienced marketing
professionals
App enhancement,
Software development
and improvement
Research and
development
department
2 weeks Efficient IT professionals,
hardware and software
Part time and freelance
recruitment
Human resources
department
1 week Experienced HR professionals
and HR consulting firms or
agencies
Table 4: Action Plan
(Source: Learner)
Control
Within the table attached below, the control measures that Thomas Cook Group would be taking
in order to ensure the evaluation, monitoring and optimum control of its marketing plan has been
shown -
Type of control Prime Responsibility Purpose of control Approaches
Budget control Middle management To ensure that the  Variance analysis
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marketing activities are
executed within the
developed budget
 Profitability ratios
Time control Middle management To ascertain that the
marketing plan is
implemented within the
decided time span
 Comparing time
taken to the
decided time
frame
 Time management
tools such as
Score
Marketing activities
control
Top management To examine if the
planned marketing
results are being
accomplished
 Sales analysis
 Sales to expense
ratios
 Financial analysis
 Market share
analysis
Table 5: Control techniques
(Source: Learner)
Conclusion
Therefore, with this report, one can conclude that the development of a marketing plan is one of
the integral aspects and most essential elements for the marketing of events and tourism products
within the service sector. The marketing plan created above helped in understanding how
differing tourism and hospitality organisations or event management enterprises can be creating
effectual marketing plans and how they can be implemented and evaluated in an organisational
context. This plan also helped in understanding how sales enhancement and customer
engagement in a tourism and hospitality can be brought about through the means of a marketing
plan.
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