Table of Contents Introduction History of Holiday Inn 1.1: Marketing Strategies in Hospitality or Tourism Sector Task 1 1.

2: Network and Customer Relationship Marketing Strategies 1.3: Marketing and Customer Loyalty Strategies Task 2 2.1: Marketing Communications to Develop Brand Identity Strategies 2.2: Effectiveness of e marketing, Virtual and Guerrilla Marketing Strategy

Introduction History of Holiday Inn

Holiday Inn Hotels began in Memphis in 1952. It was the pioneer in hotel franchising, which it began in 1957. This helped the organisation grow from 50 locations in 1958 to 500 in 1964 to 1000 in 1968. Holiday Inn became Holiday crop in 1985 when it incorporated various hotel brands such as the all-suite, embassy suites and the luxury brand, crowne plaza. The Bass Corporation acquired Holiday Inn before becoming part of international Hotel Group in 2003. Holiday in brands includes: Holiday Inn Suites Embassy Suites Harrahs Crowne Plaza Homewood Suites Hampton Inns

Today, Holiday Inn boasts 1228 individual locations worldwide, representing more than 245000 hotel rooms. According to the Intercontinental Hotel Group, the chain logs more than 100 million guest nights each year and three people check into a Holiday Inn location each second. Holiday Inns can be found near airports, in city centers and in resort locations. Holiday Inn continues to update their properties and add new locations, both in the United States and overseas. Currently 368 additional hotels are under works.

Task 1 Marketing Strategies in Hospitality or Tourism Sector

Marketing strategy is a process that can allow an organisation to concentrate its limited resources on the greatest opportunities to increase sales and achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing strategies serve as the fundamental underpinning of marketing plans designed to fill market needs and reach marketing objectives. Marketing strategies are dynamic and interactive. It involves careful scanning of the internal and external environments. Internal environment factors include the marketing mix, plus performance analysis and strategic constraints. External environment factors include customer analysis, competitor analysis, target market analysis, as well as evaluation of any elements of the technological economic, cultural or political likely to impact success. Large hospitality and tourism organisations normally have a director of marketing who is responsible for the management of all marketing activities. In hospitality and tourism industry, marketing function is the responsibility of an operations manager who must be concerned with other functions as well. The successful marketing is not accomplished by just little effort. Establishing and maintaining a successful marketing program requires significant management time and effort. Marketing strategy plays an important role in running any business. It is the backbone of the successful business. Holiday Inn is a renowned hotel chain. They need to develop an effective marketing strategy to compete its competitors. Attracting customer is the main focus of the organisation. There are number of possible strategies which can be adopted by Holiday Inn to attract people to chose Holiday Inn. There should be a separate counter within the hotel for tourists so that they can get special services and warm welcome form the staff member of the hotel. Hotel can provide a tour service for the tourists to take them around the places. Hotel can advertise special offers and packages for tourists on airports, print media, channels etc. Organisation can sign contract with travel agents to convince more tourists to choose Holiday Inn. Organisation needs to categorise which type of customer they are looking for and offer the desires as per the requirement of that particular class. For example if the organisation is targeting rich class, they can offer luxury suites with additional comforts or benefits or they can make contracts with premium airlines like British airways or Emirates to make packages together with air travel and hotel stay.

1.2: Network and Customer Relationship Marketing Strategies

Networking is building relationship and rapport with another person in business meetings or in social events. Networking helps individual and organisations to develop relationships with different people and companies. Similarly networking is an essential factor for Holiday Inn, which can help organisation to grow its business and services. Organisation can build its networking through different companies events held within the hotel premises. In these events, different companies executives participate. Individuals are offered discount packages for personal or business trips to stick with the same hotel. In the events, Hotel intends to provide them best services to organise their event in a better way. Delegations from these companies can be offered a nice package and place within the hotel and the management of the hotel needs to make sure that each person is satisfied from the hotel services. This is a very good way of building a network and will help organisation to grow its business. Customer relationship is the relationship with every individual who is staying in the hotel and using hotel services. Customer relationship management is a strategy for managing companys interactions with customers, clients and sales prospects. The overall goal is to attract, find and win new clients, nurture and retain those the company already has, entice former clients back into the fold, and reduce the costs of marketing. This relation is very important in the hospitality and tourism industry. In general, people prefer to stay in a place recommended to them by someone who is close to them so management of the hotel should give equal importance. The best way to set marketing strategy for individual is to study and assess what other competitors are providing to their costumers. This will help company to improve their standards and set marketing strategies accordingly. The factors involved in customer relationship marketing strategies are: Warm welcomes form the hotel because customer expects a warm welcome from the hotel. They should be greeted properly when they arrive in the hotel The environment of the hotel should be friendly so that the customers feel like home If the management of the hotel is aware that the customers are regular customers of the organisation, they should be given some benefits like discounts or special rates so they feel happy and remain loyal customers of the hotel for long time Knowing the customer by refining insights into customer needs, behaviours and economics Targeting and tailoring value propositions Focusing business resources on activities that build long-term customer and economic value The hotel should be determined to provide all the essential and also luxurious facilities for which they are paid for

1.3: Marketing and Customer Loyalty Strategies

Before developing the marketing plan for the organisation, it is important to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation. This information is based on the past trends and performance and should include an annual analysis of the market and the competition. Also it is important to study environment for opportunities and threats. Marketing within hospitality and travel industry is in a constant state of flux, as corporations plan implement, and evaluate new marketing strategies and tactics. The important aspect to be considered in setting the marketing strategy is the operations which involve day-to-day operation of the hospitality including inventory control, service of guest rooms and all of the other activities that take place each day within hospitality or tourism operation. Customer loyalty is to attract the right customer, getting them buy or use services provided by the organisation. Providing good service is the best way of generating customer loyalty, sometimes new relationships can be strengthened or old ones refreshed by setting effective strategies for customer loyalty. Loyalty customers are among the most important assets of the business. Increasing loyalty of customers will increase the profitability of the industry. Strategies, which can be adopted to gain customer loyalty, are: Keeping in touch with customers via email marketing Showing that you care and remember loyal customers Providing free customer helpline Providing key customers with loyalty cards that entitle them to a discount Employees dealing with customers should be fully aware of current offers in order to provide customer best service available Providing loyalty customers attractive and attainable offers

Task 2 2.1: Marketing Communications to Develop Brand Identity Strategies

Marketing communication is a way to convey message by using related media to communicate with a market. The sources used for the communication are email, fax, and print media, Internet and broachers. These sources could help Holiday Inn to develop and promote its brand. Organisation can send promotion emails to its loyal customers and other offers. In the present time, customers mostly browse online to search for the best holiday package. So advertising promotion offers on different website browsed frequently by users will help organisation to attract more customers and will develop brand loyalty. Marketing communication plays an important role in developing the brand identity. There should be an effective marketing team communicating with customers and other companies to convince them to use services provided by the company. Developing a brand strategy can be a difficult step and could take quite a while but its a

vital step in creating the identity of the organisation. It is essential to research, define and build your brand, as it is a source of a promise to the customers. The steps involved in developing the brand strategy is to: Define the brand, as it is the foundation for all other components to build on Define the brand audience and objectives that the brand needs to achieve. This should comprise of the company personality, image, core competencies and characteristics Focus on the target audience as this will help to strengthen the brand effectiveness Perform a careful analysis to determine principal barriers that company may in contact with Brand is the identity of the organisation in the marketplace

2.2: Effectiveness of e marketing, Virtual and Guerrilla Marketing Strategy

Email marketing is a form of direct marketing, which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating commercial or fund-raising messages to an audience. It has become the most effective and popular media of advertising. The helps organisations to get the product or services message to limitless potential clients. By using email as the marketing media, hospitality or tourism industry can target its online marketing efforts to a specific audience of individuals for a particular product or service. E marketing allows to keep in contact with the current customers which encourages customer loyalty for the business and generates leads giving opportunity of acquiring new clients. The advantages of using e marketing are: Its the cheaper way of executing, sending and receiving information Organisation can initiate campaigns using graphics, videos etc. that will be of companys prospect to grab his attention and interest It enables to personalise and greet every person being targeted. This helps in creating a special bond with the prospects With an email the audience can understand your offering Executing an email campaign is simple and this can be done very easily and without any extensive resources Increase sales conversion Generate repeat sales Up-sell and cross-sell products or services Gain valuable feedback from visitors

Viral marketing are the marketing techniques that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives through self-replicating viral processes. Viral marketing help hospitality or tourism industry: To gain short term objectives Enables organisation to remain buoyant within the competitive business world, via a strategy that is not easy to integrate within a defined buyer-society, but also

one of that empowers the unattached onlooker within training and guidance Enables business propositions to reach out to a global audience by effectively putting the internet connectivity to play It works as a faster mode of reaching the customers Helps to build the reputation of the firm fact through increased sales and promotions Gain immediate visitors Attract visitors for years to come Causes exponential growth Automate marketing methods

Guerilla marketing is specifically tailored to meet the needs of small businesses, whereas traditional advertising venues are complicated and expensive to the point of exclusion. It is a cheap way of marketing and involves networking, both with customers and with other businesses. Some of the important factors involved in effective guerrilla marketing are: Organisation must be committed to the designed marketing plan To consider the plan as an investment Making prospects confident in the organisation Organisation must be patient to keep a commitment Management must aim to run the industry in a way that makes it convenient for the customers Put an element of amazement in the marketing Use measurement to judge the effectiveness of the marketing Prove the involvement with customers and prospects by regular follow-up with them Use marketing to gain consent from prospects, and then broaden that consent so that it leads to the sale The important factor involved in all types of marketing is the commitment with the marketing or advertising plan, as this will help Holiday Inn to implement the plan effectively and get the desired results. Also it is essential to review and update the marketing plan and techniques by investigating market and the behaviour of the customers. The role of guerrilla marketing has extended today; becoming not only an attribute for small businesses, but also the number of large companies using it is constantly increasing. In the hospitality and tourism industry, guerrilla marketing helps in: Product or service comparison advertising Execute raiding Short-term alliances Selective price cuts and offers Deliberate sabotage of the competitions test markets, marketing research, advertising campaigns or sales promotion Orchestrating negative publicity for a competitor

One of the most important feature of guerrilla marketer is his flexibility in making rapid tactics changes, abandoning a market segment, product, brand, business model or objective. The strategy being used is considered to be suitable when the resources of the attacker are quite weak, but those of the target competitor are relatively strong, making him able to withstand a head on attack.

2.3: Recommend and Justify Marketing Strategies References

1: Holiday Inn. (No date) Holiday Inn History [online] Available [Accessed at: 22nd

http://www.ehow.com/about_5064160_history-holiday-inn-hotels.html September 2011].

2: Network and Customer Relation. (No date) [online] Available at: http://www.themarketingprocessco.com/document_downloads/march2002seminar/CRM_ the_importance_of_segmentation_and_appropriate_customer_measurement.pdf [Accessed 22nd September 2011]. 3: Marketing & Customer Loyalty. (No date) Holiday Inn History [online] Available at: http://www.customerloyalty.org/what-is-customer-loyalty/ [Accessed 22nd September 2011]. 4: Hospitality Marketing Management By Robert D. Reid, David C. Bojanic 5: E-Marketing. (No date) Types of Marketing [online] Available http://www.tutebox.com/1897/business/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-viralmarketing/ [Accessed 24th September 2011]. at:

6: Viral Marketing. (No date) Types of Marketing [online] Available at: http://www.selfseo.com/story-14500.php [Accessed 24th September 2011]. 7: Guerrilla Marketing. (No date) Types of Marketing [online] Available at: http://www.gb3group.com/guerrilla-marketing.php [Accessed 24th September 2011].