Sheraton Marketing Report Essay Example

Sheraton Marketing Report Essay The aim of this marketing report is to present in the resort’s stature in the market and its further year’s plan to attract in more customer’s even in the troubled economic times. Amongst the core European destinations, holidaying focuses on a far off trip on a destination where one could relax far off from normal tensions, unlike other communities, where in priority is given upon family outings, picnics, etc. I have chosen to target the people of the Great Britain from the whole of European Union as a major part of our customers through this troubled times of economic crisis. Simply, for a plain reason they have a higher spending capacity and that their currency power is higher, though fluctuating in the current market, but still fetches a good amount to its value. The British would not mind spending the right kind of amount to spend a nice long or short vacation where they are away from the city hustle and troubles. In terms of services also Sheraton Krabi beach resort can not disappoint any holidayed on the whole. With the capacity of 246 humongous rooms, serving a minimum capacity of 492 guests on an estimated â€Å"completely booked† day we get more chances to serve the customer in a much better way every time. We can emote ourselves in much better manner with having facilities like exhibition halls, conference rooms, having features like wedding, meeting, family, activity features, spa and wellness offers, puts us higher above the list on a customer’s option list. |Page Samir Tengli 000585975 International Marketing Operations Management 30th April, 2010 MARKETI G AUDIT Marketing audit displays an analysis of the micro and macro environmental analysis, micro is explained by SWOT, while macro by PEST Analysis. SWOT Analysis: Strengths of our resort vary from the modern facilities to the relaxation of just person and the sun on the beach, indoor and outdoor gaming facilities, a nd the resort provides prompt services on any call. We will write a custom essay sample on Sheraton Marketing Report specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sheraton Marketing Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sheraton Marketing Report specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The main strength of the resort is its name, from which it drives in the trust by the name, also being well connected to the Krabi international airport; it brings in an advantage for hotel staff to recommend Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort. Weakness of Sheraton Krabi beach resort is its location which is next to Nakamanda Resort and Spa, which provides similar facilities for a much cheaper package, lack of usage of Internet marketing until now to the fullest potential did lack in attracting more customers or rather to maximize the usage of the resort. Opportunities that are coming across are the usage of technology for marketing and targeting of a set of customers and expansion of the resort to accommodate in more customers. Threat, the political unrest that is disturbing the atmosphere in Thailand is a major factor to stop from customers to choose the country, as long as the problems do not affect Krabi to a very great extent, and recent global economic downturn is making people think thrice before spending every penny. PEST Analysis: The ongoing political unrest seems to be a major threat as customers may question the security of the area and the suitability to the situation. On the part of the government it will be much better on part of the government to resolve any unrest in the country to handle their economic situation that is fairly fallen down more post the recession problems. As far as economical situation is considered, recovering from the global recession just brings in more opportunities to try in newer strategies and come out as champions, or try again. In terms of long-term access to data, this decision can help the GDP of Thailand to a great extent as the main income pre-recession was tourism and must continue along the same paths, so success of our strategies has to be important. Socio-culturally, majorly follow Buddhism as the major religion in the country. Language does play an important factor, as the locals are not very well-versed in English, they do find difficulty in adjusting to foreign products. Technological wise we are quite modern, have the access to the latest gadgets available. CSR plays an important role for us, as we will have to maintain the relationship for our benefits so with the entrance of technological features this plays a helping hand. 5|Page Samir Tengli 000585975 International Marketing Operations Management 30th April, 2010 CORPORATE OBJECTIVES Corporate Objectives were concentrated upon the basic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that the resort is responsibility towards the society also. This year I propose to setup solar heaters in place of the electric heater throughout the hotel to balance on the wastage on the tons of electricity spent on the water heating throughout the various quarters. Usage of this solar power could be channeled to other parts also, but main usage will help store and use power. In the premises of the resort, we could promote the use of solar powered carts that help save fuel and/or electricity on the electric run carts. Then I propose to organize marathons in the local city of Krabi and advertise it to other television stations, thus help boosting our resort and help give a boost the tourism of Krabi or Thailand on the whole. With the advent of media with marathons we could also get donations for charity work from many of the millionaires or work in tandem with the government and work for collecting a good amount of money and fund it towards an organization in need through our platform. In the hotel premises, we could introduce the use of toiletries like soaps, shampoo, bathing gel, and shaving cream – come with a special mention of them not being tested by unfair means on animals but be 100% eco friendly. With a special importance to nature, our daily works also focus on preserving the local environment around in and around the resort. Critical ethics training is provided to the staff and members of the team in the interest of the customers and their satisfaction and also to the satisfaction of the stakeholders. Hygiene is given foremost importance inside the premises to embrace various health recognition awards and care for today and tomorrow. MARKETI G OBJECTIVES At Sheraton Krabi Beach Resort we follow a foremost aim to concentrate on the quality of the services offered, that cannot be compromised at any point of the time. Quality looks upon many factors where in cleanliness of rooms, quality of items used, even a welcome drink that is served must be presented beautifully. By the next year, we must have had our resort checked by international quality standards to rate our resort higher than what it stands at. Then we need to look at an investment factor of expansion to at least 20% more of room spacing, where in the starting initiative must begin within the end of the third quarter, this does not only include accommodation space but also expansion of the exhibition halls, wherein we can hold functions of a much larger scale – with designs done so as to promote the outside serene view also. Lastly, we need to go along with the fact that the customer is everything; all his/her needs must be fulfilled at the earliest, we must treat them with utmost care. Training of the staff is an important factor that must not be ignored at any point of the show, and for training per year quite a lot of money flows into it, because training can run not only into ethical behaviors, but every small speck of details that cannot be noticed by common 6|Page Samir Tengli 000585975 International Marketing Operations Management 30th April, 2010 sight must be taken care of, like let’s say a staff member is very courteous with the customer, customer might get pleased with him, but notices that his nails are not clean, that could put off an impression towards the entire lot. That could be harmful to the organization, every aspect is important, from grooming of staff to cleanliness of area, to their service promptness to the way bell boys handle luggage, even to behavior, all factors that strike in between. Every member of the staff must be able to communicate in at least more than two languages, English being the priority language. Even if we cannot invest on certain points under training always a mentor can come forward and advise willingly, and there can be quality check measures, regular survey amongst the staff to keep a check on the other’s and many such moves to bring up the quality of the service provided. Also, when we receive any customer, let’s say for instance a family, how well you gel or make their children comfortable is a major issue that comes in, sweets, toys or any such methods to impress the family to make their stay more enjoyable is always a plus point for the image of the resort. It could be useful for word-of-mouth advertising or for them to come again. Complaints as a section can be kept at check by feed backs provided by the customer upon check-out procedures, and must be regularly attended to as soon as possible to avoid receiving similar complaints from other customers. If customers come again back to the resort, identification must be completed immediately based on existing data and waiting time can be reduced and priorities can be placed on. MARKETI G STRATEGY The first factor where we do see is an involvement of lot advertisements for the resort through various available media. Promotional activities could run through various modes like radio, television, paper adverts, billboards, etc. For the resort to promote in the United Kingdom, I feel the best medium is the radio, which is an integral part of the population of the Great Britain, also because it is a cheaper mode as compared to other places. We could advertise in the local yellow pages, or be listed in local targeted area’s newspaper or magazine, where they can obviously afford to spend a column or page to have a write-up about the name Sheraton. Post cards with views of the resort can be placed on display at local greeting card stores. Flyers and brochures could be set up for hand outs at public places, crowded areas by partner travel agents. We can get covers for diaries and telephone books to be spread around certain organizations where the book coming in display could attract attention and spreading of information of the resort could be easier. Another vital position where we can advertise ourselves is at airport terminals of different airports around the world, which could be useful for frequent business travelers to our resort. Another form of popular and easy advertising has become the use of the Internet. Definitely the use of the hotel’s website to provide all the information is the most ideal method; we could co-ordinate with other web sites and provide a link to our website, we can place in 7|Page Samir Tengli 000585975 International Marketing Operations Management 30th April, 2010 promotional video of the resort and bits and pieces like rooms and services by the resort in the website. Number of people visited can be monitored by the number of clicks or hits per visit on the page. Packages made to attract customers have to be made at different level, keeping in mind various factors like segmentation by class, target for us will be majorly middle class couples, and higher middle class families and members of higher class. Segmentation could also be done according to choice of rooms, like suite, penthouse, double or single occupancy rooms with difference in packages to them. Difference could be definitely gotten by seeing if the customer is already a previous customer or regular or recommended by a regular customer. Tie-ups with local famous away airlines like British Airways could be essential in many ways; packages made could be inclusive of all taxes and inclusive of extras like pickup and drop services. But airlines factor that apply in these cases will be providing the extra ease to the customer for booking and extra discounts, and advantages could be brought in where one world frequent alliance points could be added with extra credit on booking to Sheraton Krabi, with obvious addition to Starwood Frequent Guests credits. We could become like their local resort which can be recommended to their guests in general also. This can become like a feel of priority booking for a customer which can help us to win their hearts over at an early stage of their tour. With the case of bookings, online help could be provided in, either the customer can book online, or he/she can have an online chat with one of our consultants who will be on an online chat window, serving for answering to their queries, we could take down their details and get back to them. Before booking they could check with us if a special pre-order with services of cuisine can be looked up by us. We could tie up with the local market, in order to provide discounts as in when the guests come; we could ask them so produce the coupons and avail 20% discounts at the few novelty stores, 15% at restaurants. Local tours, such as the safari, dinner cruise can be provided as an on arrival package. At the resort, upon arrival coupons can be handed over for complimentary breakfast as a regular and a complimentary cocktail at dinner and/or complimentary basic spa package, and Jet Ski ride for an hour could be provided. Captive product pricing could be applied as a strategy like for the next hour we speak to the customer and inform that for the next hour we will charge a bit higher price than the actual. Another main issue is transport to the resort from the airport. The airport is located 30 minutes away from the Krabi International Airport, so convenience is suitable for us to provide private chauffer driver vehicles for our customers, and the ride must be a pleasant one for them upon arrival to make their ending phase of the journey till the hotel interesting, for example, the driver could be trained or instructed to be really sweet with the customer and act as a partial guide of places of which they cross through. For the customers who land at Phuket International Airport it does get a little bit difficult, not all customers can be provided with a personal vehicle, hence there can be arrangements of van or mini-bus to have a pickup of an interval of every 4 hours till the hotel. Off course regular 8|Page Samir Tengli 000585975 International Marketing Operations Management 30th April, 2010 customers and the high end customers will have a benefit of personalized pick up service from the airport to resort. Customer Relations Management (CRM) is a very important side to the coin when it comes to promoting our resort. With better CR we can promote our resort in the cheapest and the fastest mode, word-of-mouth, which can help to drag in more customers to consider us. We need a set of people who keen a track of reminders and convey wishes for important occasions, such as birthdays, anniversaries, etc and keep a healthy image of ours in their minds, so that they could either recommend us to their known people or come again for another holiday for a stay at our resort. We must tie up with an event management company in the U. K. to help us organize any event including, shows, marriages, or any concert. Marketing mix: The service marketing mix, is followed by us in the old fashion method, we have recruited the right amount of people for the service gaining the right kind of competitive advantage over our other competitors. Customers will have no question when the decision comes down to a quality time and down to understanding our staff, with proper guidance by them. For e. g. , our reception desk is highly capable of handling any kind of situations arising in their presence and their capability to guide any customer with ease of understandability has been appreciated many times in the past by our customers. An efficient process plays an important role in the service mix, it deals with the check-in, check-out, service bookings, services such as shuttle from airport to resort and the other way round after check-out. Physical evidence is the most essential item of the marketing mix of services, in this what the customer views at the web site or brochures has to be either exactly the same to his satisfaction or much bettered, like the room view. Product is the service or the package that has been provided to the customer. The customer looks at the product, waits for him to be able to buy the product and enjoy the fruits (this looks at the customer-life cycle) and the products extends its life cycle by going through the changes in its own services provided and pricing. Place is located as the tour trip that has been booked by the customer and he has channeled his path through bookings by gaining knowledge about our resort through various means. Promotion is an added feature to the mix, the service is the same – the resort package, difference comes in the inclusive we provide with the service and something extra that the customer does agree to our package, and finally comes its pricing. Where our resort follows a pricing strategy which offers a higher price than others but for quality that is assured and recognized worldwide, thus being a combination of premium and product line, where we have all inclusive but at a high rate with some little discounts than shave off the prices from the little corners that still actually make the price package exciting.