Marketing Strategies: Your Destination vs National Express Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Your Destination, a UK-based transportation company, in comparison to its major competitor, National Express. The report begins with an introduction to the importance of marketing for organizations and highlights the key duties and responsibilities of marketing officers, including marketing research, strategy development, customer relationship management, employee management, and identification of new business opportunities. The report then delves into the contribution of marketing officers towards achieving organizational objectives, such as business expansion and gaining a competitive advantage. The second part of the report focuses on the 7 P's of the marketing mix, comparing Your Destination and National Express across product, price, place, people, process, promotion, and physical evidence. The analysis covers various aspects, including product offerings, pricing strategies, distribution networks, staffing, and customer service. The report concludes with an overview of the key findings and implications for Your Destination.

MARKETING ESSENTIAL

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART -1 ..........................................................................................................................................1
P1 The key duties and responsibilities of two marketing officer in structuring marketing . 1
P2 The contribution of roles and responsibility of marketing officer towards achieving
objective of organization........................................................................................................3
PART – 2 ........................................................................................................................................3
Marketing mix elements for your destination........................................................................3
P4 : Marketing plan for Your destination ..............................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES .............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
The concept of marketing is important for any organisation as with this they can promote
their products and services that are provided by them. Today for any company marketing have
become an essential aspect (Sherry and Canon, 2014).In order to grab or attract more number of
customers companies are making strategies to promote its products and services. The transport
company also make use of marketing concept to conduct its business on broader platform .In
terms of marketing management the needs,wants and demands plays an important role. The
needs can be explained with basic requirement of human that is food,shelter and water etc. In
marketing the thing can be associated with market as these products and services will be
purchases by people. The same products and services are sold by the same brands. The wants are
not same as they change after certain time period . This is not required by human in order to
subservient value is the product values and for that product the money is exchanged between
buyer and seller.
The company your destination is a transportation company in UK. The main goal of the
company is to become nationwide company and to compete with national express which is a
market leader. This report will explain the key duties of marketing officer in context with your
destination company. The marketing mix for you destination company will also be used in this
report. In order to become a national expansion basic marketing plan for the company will be
produced.
PART -1
P1 The key duties and responsibilities of two marketing officer in structuring marketing
The duty of marketing manager of your destination company is to pay attention on
practical application and mange the marketing operation of the company. The two officers talk
about their contribution in structuring marketing and about opportunities that are there in
marketing. They should possess excellent skill in communication and also should have good
analytical skills. This would help them to be efficient and effective in performing their duties.
The entire activities of marketing is handled by marketing managers. In order to tract more
customers to choose its products and services over rivals marketing office formulate, coordinate
and direct the activities of marketing. Some key responsibilities of marketing officers can be as
follows-:
Conduction of marketing research
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In order to discover or find what is the requirement of customers regarding products and
services the marketing officer will conduct a marketing research. The new opportunities will be
identified by conducting marketing research (Schmidt,Spann and Zeithammer, 2014).This will
help organization to develop market niche for its products and services. With this the marketing
officer of company your destination can analyse the rivalry organization. This marketing
researches that is done by marketing officer of your destination will help to analyse the products
and services that is offered by competitor company nation express. With this they can develop or
create superior products in comparison with rivals and the efficient techniques of marketing can
be employed. By using questioners, factors face interviews or evaluating the purchasing habits of
consumers companies can conduct research on marketing.
Development of strategies of marketing
For the organization your destination the marketing strategies will be developed by
marketing officer. In these strategies the plan that is made by company will be made in order to
promote its product and service to target customers .This will help organization to increase its
sales and a competitive edge over rivals will be maintained.
Customers relationship management
In the organization the marketing manager performs the function of championing
customer relationship management. From customers database of organization the information is
gathered by marketing manager. In order to make sure that excellent services is given to
customers the marketing officer share this information with other employee of the company.
With this the long lasting relationship can be build with customers and can benefit company in
its business (Shih, Chen and Chen, 2013.).
Management of employees
The department of marketing is handle and monitored by managers of marketing and
within their department they are responsible for employees. For departmental staff the duties and
targets area assigned by marketing offers. The evaluation of performance of employees that are
working in a company is also done by marketing officers. This is done in order to check whether
employees are doing their duties or work that is assigned to them properly or not.
Identification of new business opportunities
The trends in market is analysed by marketing managers .This is done in to
recognize unexploited or new markets for products and services of the organization peak and off-
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peak demand periods of their products will be identified by studying the purchasing power of
customers. The future performance of products of organization can be estimated by employing
sales forecasting. In order to make sure that organization remain competitive they can develop
strategies by using analysis of market and forecasting.
The marketing department of this company will make a marketing research by analysing
buying habits of consumers to gain competitive advantage form national express. The strategies
of marketing will be made by company so achieve its goals to promote its services on a larger
platform.
P2 The contribution of roles and responsibility of marketing officer towards achieving objective
of organization
The goals of business such as spread of transport business on a broader platform and
competitive advantage from rival company such national express can be achieved with strategies
that are made by marketing officer. In order to expand the business sales the marketing officer
plays and essential role. They help to understand the requirement of customer by conducting
research . They achieved the goal of the company by using material that are required for
marketing and also by sin g social media site to promote their company products.
The materials that are needed for marketing can be described by marketing department
and the core products related to transport facilities that is offered by company to its customers is
promoted by these officers. The current web content of the company is kept up to date by
marketing department .The socials media pages such as Facebook, twitter, blogs etc are also
maintained by marketing department in order to help company in achieving its objectives. The
services such as bus, coach and train services can be made better by giving better quality of food
and rinks to customers in their journey(Menon and Edison, 2015.).
This will grab more amount of customers and customer-satisfaction will be there. On the
other hand this will beneficial both for company and organization as the sales of the company
will increase and more number of customers will choose the company services. The staff that is
working at company will be evaluated by marketing officers .They will monitor them in order to
see whether the correct treatment and facilities to customers is given by them. The correct
advertising need to be done by marketing department to achieve the goals of company. The
correct knowledge about product and services among customers need to be spread.
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PART – 2
Marketing mix elements for your destination
Comparison between 7 marketing mixes between your destination and national express.
7 P's of marketing mix Your destination National express
Product The products of this company
are bus, coach, train
services .This company is also
planing to give car services
also. The services that is
offered by this company
cannot be touched and is not
having any physical
appearance. In order to target
its market the products and
services will have bundles of
features and benefits. The
luxurious travel will be given
to customers. The buses will
have air condition and a
television is a source of
entertainment. The tangible
elements that are provided by
their company are seats racks
foe luggage and toilets. In
trains the customers will be
given good quality food items
as per their requirement and
hygiene atmosphere will be
given. The travel of customers
will be made comfortable and
In comparison, with your
destination, the main products
of company are coach train
and bus services. The market
of transport operator services
consist of both tangible and
intangible components. For an
instance the food and drinks
that are give to customers on
their journey are attributes if
tangible the services that are
given to customers are
intangible.
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lavishing by the services of the
company(The marketing mix
model and service
characteristics, 2017).
Price There is a unique policy of
pricing that is followed at this
company. The price
differentiation strategy is
basically followed. The
customers are charged low if
the tickers are booked early
and they are charged high
when tickets are booked late.
The spare capacity is utilized
coach with help oft his strategy
of Your destination company
and less percentage of empty
seats are ensured. A flotation
strategy of pricing is applied
on online booking system of
this company. In order to gt
possible rates the price of
coach ticket is changing over
time. So, the customers has to
revisit the sites .
In the field of services the
decisions of pricing is very
critical. The revenue fort he
firms can be determined by
this pricing component of
marketing mix also. In services
the sensitivity of consumers to
price would be more. On the
absies of cxlas od reavle .load
factors ,profit margins ad
competitors pricing, the price
of services is decided by
company.
During the demand period
higher price of transporting is
charged by this company. For
an instance on weekend and
holiday season.
Place The services that is provided
by the company will be given
nationwide such as its
branches will be in
Manchester,Newcastle,
Within the UK the vast
network have been contributed
successfully to performance of
national express in the market.
Similar to your destination a
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glasgow and aberdeen etc. The
number of destination will be
reported by this company in
order to gain competitive
advantage form national
express.
number of destination is
targeted by this company. It
provides its services to vast
network in UK.
People Since the company is
expanding its business it will
target the customers where the
branches of the company are
located such as in Manchester,
glasgow, aberseen and
Newcastle etc. The employees
and staff will be hired and
recruited. In order to deliver
performance and delivery of
service the customers and staff
are involved. For this company
the staff are their key resources
.As the direct contact with
customers is made by staffs. In
order to deal with customers it
needs the staff to possess
certain degree of interpersonal
techniques. The customer-
feedback form need to be put
in order to see whether
employees are doing their job
effectively or not.
Not only responsibilities of
operational are done by staff of
national express,but the
responsibility of marketing
also taken when exposed to the
customers. In order to appoint
and hire staff who are
competent in both operation a
marking is difficult.
Promotion The advertising,sales In comparison with your
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promotions .public relations
and personal selling is
conducted by this company in
order to promote its products
and services in market. The
development in technology
such as use of social media
sites such as Facebook,twitter
and blogs have helped the
company to performs its
services to large amount of
people across globe (Menon
and Edison, 2015.). The
highly interactive website is
developed by company to
attract more number of
customers by vising this site.
The friendly online booking
facility is given to people in
order to book their tickets
online.
destination the traditional mass
advertising media is used by
national express. For more
specific advertising the more
modern promotion technique is
adopted by company such as e-
mail and website. In
comparison with traditional
ways of promotion the most
significant advantage of e-
marketing approach is that it is
cost-effective side.
Process In this to a business process he
customers are exposed to .The
customers are able to
experience the quality services
of coach during the
journey .The experience of
customers journey depends on
service performance of driver.
If the driver's service outcome
will be good then the
At the time of reservation the
proves begins and continues
till the seat is confirmed. The
qualities service is provided by
giving information about
where to book and how to
book (Schmidt, Spann and
Zeithammer, 2014). In order to
enhance their level of service
satisfaction the continuous
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experience of customers will
also be good. It is not easy to
get process in correct place for
first time. With booking online
of coach the customers can be
become frustrated as the minor
error in the process can end the
process of booking system and
customers have to begin again
with process of booking.
efforts is made by company in
its procedures.
Physical evidence On the components of tangible
products the physical evidence
will focus on. This will help
facilitate performance of
organization (Lockrey, 2015. ).
The website of company is
accounted form physical
evidence .It has a user friendly
panel and booking system. By
referring to organizations
website users makes their first
impression. For the success of
service marketing the design,
layout and functionality of
website of organization are
important.
The offices of booking and
counters of booking are
extremely spacious and are
designed with good looks. The
elegant interiors and seats are
well designed in the luxury
buses.
P4 : Marketing plan for Your destination
Executive summary
The company your destination is a transport company. The facilities that related with transport
such as bus, train and coach services are provided by this company. The online booking system
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is also there where consumer can book their tickets (Leonidou and Zeriti, 2013). The company is
planning to expand its services in other countries to increase its sales and to provide its services
on broader platforms. The company main objective is to gives its customers superior services in
comparison with rival company nation express. The objective of marketing plan is to help the
company in expanding its business in other countries. It is expected within period of 3 years the
company will acquire about 40 % of market of transportation. The number of strategies such as
advertising on social media is used in order to make this plan.
Objective
 To expand its business at a national level
 To provide superior services in comparison with national express
 To increase its sales in coming 3 years
 To produce customer-satisfaction with their transport facilities
SWOT analysis
Strength
 The growth rate is high (Kakarot-
Handtke, 2015.).
 The assistance in monitory is provided.
 The employees and staff are well-
trained
 At a fast rate company is growing since
3 years. All facilitates related to transport is
provided.
Weakness
 The market is competitive
 In order to reach new markets the lack
of funding is there to buy additional
luxury.
 There is a lack of capacity to meet
needs of wider market.
Opportunities
 The new markets are opportunities for
the company(Hofmann, 2015).
 There is a growing demand for
transportation.
 There is a availability of global
markets.
Threat
 The growing competition is shown in
this industry.
 For this industry automation is not a
known factor.
 The threat of high possible inflation
rates.
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 The size of market can be increased due
to new trends.
Pestle analysis on Your destinations Political factors– The business of company is affected by political environment of a
country (Gerlemann and Carr, 2014.). Any change in local authority can lead to
modification in policies. Upon the economic scenario the attitude of government towards
facilities of transport depends. In order to purchase fusion buses the government of UK is
providing subsidies. Economic factors– In the UK, the continuous downfall is noticed .The demands for buses
and rails is affected due to this downfall. By continuous evaluation the areas for growth is
focuses by the company. By optimum usage of resources the cost is considered as
important factor. The unemployment may rise, there may increase in prices of fuels due
to rise in inflation (Dawson, Hirt and Scanlan, 2016). Social factors – The use of public transport is avoided by most people today as they have
their own personal cars. The pensions schemes and insurance coverage to its employees
and passengers is provided by the company Technological factors– The new and advanced technology is used by company in order to
provide advance and proper facilities to its customers. In order to gives its passengers
security and safety the latest new buses are bought. In the buses the benefits such as
comfortable zone for disabled person are also there. Environment factors– The great level of contribution to the environment can be made due
to business related buses and rail. In order to minimize carbon emissions people are
encourages using more of buses and trains .To secure the environment there need to
launch some driving energy scheme (Dawson,Hirt and Scanlan, 2016). The devoted
energy mangers have been appointed by company who will guide the diminishing energy
consumption of the company.
 Legal factors – The policies are been made by government on fuel price hike place. On
this company this framework will have a positive effect. The business of company is
affected due to laws, regulation of a particular country.
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STAR
 Market growth is high.
 Cash neutral
 High market share
Problem child
 Build
 Low market share
Cash cow
 Market growth low
 Cash generating
Dogs
 Divest
 Cash neutral
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Illustration 1: Marketing structure
(Source:Marketing department structure , 2017)


STP for your destination
Segmentation – The huge market will be divided into small group based on their characteristics
in the process of segmentation. In order to help the company to price its services according both
demographics and geography segmentation variables should be used. In demographic the
age ,gender and income should be used and in geographic the physical location should be
chosen.
Targeting – In order to target its customers the cost differentiation method should be used by the
company (Bharadwaj,2015) . The size and expected growth will be used by this company to
target its makret.
Positioning – The advertisements and the website of company will be used to promote its
services provided by company. In order to understand the requirements of current market the
market research can be conducted.
CONCLUSION
Thus summing up the above report it can be concluded that marketing play an essential
role in growth of business. The sales of company can be increased due to this and also level of
customer- satisfaction will also be increased. The roles and responsibilities of marketing officer
is to conduct marketing research in order to gain more understanding about requirements of
customers. The staff is managed and also their performance is evaluated by marketing officer.
The strategies to promote the products of company is also made by them. In order to achieve
goals of organization marketing officer are essential. In order to increase the sales of company it
will make promotions strategy such as 30% off this will help the company to grab more number
of customers . Through the help of advertisements,social media the promotion of services
provided by company can be made. The marketing plan made will help the company to expand
its business across other nation and also help them to gain competitive advantage against national
express.
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