Strategic Marketing Plan for 'Your Destination' Transportation

This report provides a detailed marketing plan for 'Your Destination', a transportation company aiming to expand its operations within the UK. It begins by outlining the key duties and responsibilities of a marketing officer, including market research, advertising, budget allocation, and sales forecasting, along with a proposed marketing department structure comprising a Vice President of Marketing, Marketing Manager, Marketing Researchers, and Marketing Executives. The report further explains how the roles and responsibilities of the marketing department contribute to the wider organizational context, influencing finance, sales, human resources, research and development, and customer service. Finally, it emphasizes the importance of a customer-centric approach and analyzes the marketing mix elements (Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Process, People, and Physical evidence) to develop effective strategies for 'Your Destination' to compete with major players like National Express and achieve its expansion goals.

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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
TASK1...............................................................................................................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................10
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................14
CONCLUSION.................................................................................................................................19
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................20
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing is the function of an organisation which helps the company sells its products or
services to the customers. The marketing department has the responsibility of attracting new
customers with the means of events, ad campaigns, posters, slogans, branding, packaging and
designing (Foxall, 2014).
The current assignment aims to examine the basic principles of marketing and help the
students understand the marketing plan of an organisation. The assignment will highlight
various theories and frameworks which are used to carry the marketing activities in an
organisation successfully and associate these theories with a transportation company ‘Your
Destination'. The company has completed three years of its establishment and registered a
positive growth in these years. At present, the company has its operations at London and Essex
and the company is planning to expand the services to other big cities of the UK. The major
competitor of the company is National Express which is the leading company in the
transportation sector in the UK. The company has planned to recruit new marketing managers
in the company. These managers have been assigned a task to prepare a detailed marketing
plan for the company.
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TASK1
EXPLAIN THE KEY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES FOR A MARKETING OFFICER AND A
PROPOSED STRUCTURE AND OPERATIONS OF THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT
‘YOUR DESTINATION’
Address: London, UK
Date of the memo: 10 APRIL 2018
To: VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING
From: Marketing Manager
Subject: How marketing manager is responsible for the development of the company.
DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING OFFICER
‘Your destination' is a fast growing Transport Company and planning to expand its
operations in major cities of the UK. The marketing officer has the prime responsibility for
efficiently managing the operations of marketing. The marketing manager should have
excellent communication skills and analytical skills to perform his duties. Other important
duties and responsibilities of a Marketing Manager are discussed below:
 Identifying new transport destinations and expand the services efficiently in new
cities such as Manchester, Newcastle, Glasgow and Aberdeen (Baker, 2014).
 Performing market research and finding ways to launch the operations in the new
destinations successfully.
 Establishing the operations of a company in a new city sometimes requires
collaborating with other companies. An efficient marketing manager believes in open
communication and establishing long-term relationships with the business partners.
 The marketing manager has the responsibility of designing marketing and advertising
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plans so that company can attract new potential clients.
 All marketing activities require a large number of expenses. The marketing manager
has the responsibility of allocating the budget at the right place and ensure strict
adherence to all these allocated goals.
 Many trade shows, exhibitions and tours have to be designed to increase the
awareness of the services of the company. The marketing manager should ensure
that these campaigns run successfully by inviting journalists, customers and other
guests to the event.
 Conducting sales forecasting and ensuring the future profitability of the company by
efficient marketing strategic planning and monitoring the current trends in the
competitive market (Preston, 2012).
 Analyse the demand of the customers by taking customer feedbacks and surveys and
use these findings to prepare a strong marketing plan for the company.
 Monitoring the effectiveness of marketing activities from cost-benefit perspective
and making amendments in the marketing plan based on the above findings
PROPOSED STRUCTURE OF MARKETING DEPARTMENT
‘Your Destination’ is currently operating in London and Essex and is planning to expand in
other cities of the UK. The proposed structure of the company should comprise of a vice
president of marketing which will provide instructions to the marketing manager. The
marketing manager will have marketing researchers and marketing executives under him.
The responsibilities of these positions are explained below:
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VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING
The vice president of marketing is the person who will be the person in charge of all the
marketing activities in ‘Your destination’. He is the ultimate reporting authority in the
marketing department and establishes a liaison between top management and the
marketing department (Wilson and Gilligan, 2012).
MARKETING MANAGER
As discussed above, the marketing manager has the responsibility of managing all the
marketing functions such as designing a marketing plan and choosing the medium to
implement these plans. Analysing the customer demand and making strategies to design
marketing plan according to these customer preferences.
MARKETING RESEARCHERS
The marketing researchers conduct primary and secondary research to examine the
preference of the customer and decide the target market for providing the services of the
company. Market researchers various tools such as market surveys, focus groups and collect
the quantitative data regarding the customer opinions. This data is analysed by experts to
find the current market environment and the position of its rival companies.
MARKETING EXECUTIVES
The marketing executives have the responsibility to handle the public relations in order to
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promote the product and the services of the company. The marketing manager makes
strategic decisions to select an appropriate method for promotional activities such as
advertising, sales promotion or digital marketing, the marketing executives have the
responsibility to execute these marketing plans at the ground level. Marketing executives
visit the local press offices and submit the press releases which are designed to attract the
attention of public towards the services of the company.
OPERATIONS OF MARKETING DEPARTMENT
The marketing department in an organisation has the responsibility to create awareness
about the products and services of a company. The marketing department designs the
marketing campaigns and advertisements to make reach the services of the company to a
wide audience. The various operations of marketing department are discussed below:
MARKETING RESEARCH
Marketing research is very essential to identify the markets for selling the services of ‘Your
choice’ and identify the needs of the consumers for transportation. With the help of
marketing research, the company can identify the strength and the weakness of the
company in the competitive market. Marketing research helps the company explore new
channels for delivering its services (Morschett, et al. 2015).
ADVERTISING AND PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGNING
One of the basic operations in a marketing department is creating campaigns, events,
advertisements and other promotional materials so that potential customers can become
aware of the services provided by ‘Your Choice'. Marketing department modern mediums of
promotion such as search engine optimisation (SEO) and Pay per Click (PPC), and Google Ad
Word Marketing. These methods of advertising help the company to attract new customers
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to the business and increase the sales.
BRANDING
Marketing department makes efforts to strengthen the brand of the company. A well-
established brand name helps the company in differentiating its products and services from
other companies. Branding also creates loyalty of the customers and motivates the
customers to use the services of the company repeatedly. Branding focuses on
differentiating the identity of a company by choosing specific colours, designs, logos and
pictures, these activities help in creating a positive perception in the psyche of the
customers, regarding the services provided.
COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER DEPARTMENTS
The marketing department establishes communication with other departments so that the
employees can become familiar with the vision of the company and long-term marketing
goals. The marketing department conducts workshops and seminars to educate the
employees for better customer handling. Improved coordination between different
departments creates a positive work environment in the company and increases the
efficiency of the employees.
EXPLAIN HOW THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MARKETING DEPARTMENT WILL CONTRIBUTE
TO THE WIDER ORGANISATIONAL CONTEXT
The roles and responsibilities of marketing department make a strong influence on the other
organisational objectives of the company like Research and development, HR, production,
Distribution, which is discussed below:
FINANCE
The finance department of an organisation is closely associated with different marketing activities.
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Each marketing activity requires allocation of the budget so that different activities can be carried
out. The budget has been planned in an organised way so that all the activities of the marketing can
be coordinated with these functions. The finance department has the responsibility to calculate the
future estimates of the expenses which are required for the marketing functions so that these
activities can fulfil the organisational objectives and generate good returns in the business (Chernev,
2018).
SALES
The activities of sales department are strongly associated with different marketing functions. The
sales department can achieve its objectives only with the help of the marketing activities. The
marketing activities are designed in such a manner in which the sales of the company can be
increased. The sales department coordinates with the marketing department to examine the
demand of the market and plan the activities so that all the demand of the customers can be
satisfied.
HUMAN RESOURCES
The functions of human resource department are to recruit the best talent for the company so that
long-term organisational objectives of the company can be achieved. The marketing department
focuses on developing a strong brand image of the company and due to this strong image, a positive
perception of the company is made. This perception helps to attract the best talent for the
organisation. The marketing department also plays an important role in educating these employees
about the mission and vision of the company and the benefits of marketing activities for the goal
achieving process of the company (Mudie and Pirrie, 2012).
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
The research and development activities of an organisation are guided by the marketing research
which is a function of the marketing department. The market research identifies the current demand
and preference of the customer and the need to introduce an innovative product or services. Based
on these inputs the research and development activities are focused to innovate such product which
is able to satisfy the demand of the customers and improve the competitive position of the company
against the rival firms.
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CUSTOMER SERVICE
The customer service of a company is closely associated with marketing activities because the
service provided to the customers gives many inputs regarding better customer services which can
be associated with the marketing activities of the company. The customer service includes handling
the complaints of the customers, these complaints are mostly based on the differences experienced
by the customers regarding claims that are made during the marketing activities and the services
which are provided at the ground level. A detailed analysis of these complaints can help in improving
the marketing activities and aligning the marketing campaigns with the actual service provided by
the company (Zimmerman and Blythe, 2013).
Sincerely,
Marketing Manager
(Your Destination)
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TASK 2
It is necessary for every organization that is dealing with the provisional industry to follow the
customer-centric approach in their strategies and tactics which would be helpful in delivering
the required products and services to the customers. The tactics and strategies could be formed
by utilizing the tool marketing mix which possesses seven key elements that help in developing
the appropriate strategies. The major role of the marketing mix in the company is to promote
the required product and service for the target consumers (Armstrong, et al. 2015). The
marketing mix’s seven elements are Product, Price, Promotion, Place, Process, People and
Physical evidence. These tools are helpful for the company in accomplishing their organizational
objectives and also remain in the market for a longer period of time.
It has been observed that Your Destination has been becoming one of the growing
transportation companies in the UK as they are operating their business from past 3 years and
now, they desire to expand their business in the other regions of the UK like Aberdeen,
Glasgow, Manchester, etc. In addition to this, it is assessed that the major competitor of Your
Destination and the giant of the transportation industry of the UK is National Express who holds
major market of the UK (Luo, et al. 2015). A comparison has been developed among both the
companies in order to assess the major differences and build effective strategies for Your
Destination in order to compete with National Express and gain substantial growth in the
industry. The objectives and goals of the Your Destinations will also be accomplished through
the strategies (Khan, 2014). The marketing mix elements are explained in details as follows:
PRODUCT
It is essential for every company to provide a different kind of products to the customer. Your
Destination has been providing several types of transportation vehicles to the customers such
as busses, travellers, cars, etc. in order to fulfil their transportation requirement effectively.
Generally, they provide AC bus coaches and travellers to the big and small size families,
business trips, school or college student tours, etc. In addition to this, they also provide
transportation facility to the industry in terms of Lorries, trucks, and trams. In comparison to
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this, National Express has built their strategy on one single motto which is delivering the wide
variety of products and services to the people as per their needs and requirements (Douglas
and Bateson, 2016). The comfort level of the services is also high and the company also handles
any kind of damage or miss-happening effectively. They also provide insurance services for the
luggage and products to the customers.
PRICE
The organization should choose appropriate pricing tactic in order to operate their business in
the market. Revenue base of yield management is used by National Express in their pricing
strategy. In this strategy, the pricing strategy is formed by assessing the behaviour of the
customer and further forming it. The revenue generation of the company is dependent on their
services and it is restricted due to the liabilities like bus maintenance, etc. Your Destination has
developed their pricing strategy after considering the geographic area effectively. It is observed
that the costing of the products and services vary from one place to other and they are
developed by considering the services, economic elements, and location. Your Destination has
to deliver several discounts and offers to the customers during their business expansion in
different forms which will be helpful in gaining effectiveness.
PEOPLE
The employees and staff members that are working in National Express have high efficiency and
productivity which leads to success in the market. The company manages the performance of
the employees by regularly monitoring them and providing suitable training along with various
benefits like incentives and bonuses for their hard work. The motivated employees and staff
members result in high efficiency and productivity. Your Destination has been focusing on
expanding their business in other regions of the UK such that they need skilled employees in
order to manage their operations. They need the manager, the team of automobile technician,
and customer service executive in order to fulfil the requirements of the customers and
stakeholders.
PLACE
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