William Blue Resort Marketing - Case Study Example

Name: Instructor: Course: Date: William Blue Resort Marketing Introduction William Blue Resort has been running in business since 2013. The Resort lies along at Airlie Beach, the gateway to the Whitsundays, Queensland. William Blue Resort offers a luxury boutique hotel experience at affordable prices. The Resort provides a fully operational industry placement option for students of William Blue who run it under the guidance of hailed hoteliers. William provides a tranquil location and the guarantee of quality in food, beverage and service delivery. Focusing on eminence service standards and state-of-the-art packaging solutions, the Resort customizes client experiences for family holidays, weddings, conferences and product launches. The décor, tables, settings, menu, staff and overall atmosphere created will hence vary from time to time to meet the client’s requirements. William Blue Resort is the perfect blend of luxury and hotel facilities with its sophistication, exquisite interiors inviting the outside in. The Resort keenly focuses on creating that perfect holiday mood, entertainment and exceptionally good food and beverage. William Blue Resort caters for accommodation with different wonderful suites fitted with satellite televisions, marble bathrooms, air conditioning and private bathrooms. Bars are present too, ranging from beach bars, cruises, foyer bars, coast lounge and bistros. The Resort offers more than just relaxing in the suites, different sporting activities are also available in plenty to choose from, those that are free of charge and those which you have to cough out something. They range from wind surfing, beach fishing, river kayaking, biking, diving, tennis among others. Tourism tends to drop when economy shoots sky high but a good marketing strategy can chip in and save the organisations some cash and also ensure that on the good days the demand is high. To this day William Blue Resort uses different marketing strategies; advertising online through their websites and the billboards in metro areas like Sydney, personal selling through sales representatives targeting corporate accounts and travel agents(Baldi,57). In addition to those methods there are other effective ways to market the resort. Marketing mix is a device marketers use to meet the criteria of the targeted market, in this case the tourists. It is the combination of the Product, Price, Promotion and Place commonly known as the 4P’s of marketing. An orderly and stable blend of the 4P’s can have a positive impact on the demands of both products and services of the William Blue Resort. Market Segmentation is another brilliant marketing strategy. Divided markets depend on factors of age, income, class, psychographic, behavioural, geographical, gender among others (GOYAL, 47). To market their diverse products and services, the Resort has to put in mind that there is no single product or service that fits all the segments (Baldi,89). The sections assist in recognizing the diverse requirements, attitudes and lifestyles of the clients more efficiently. Relationship Marketing emphasizes on building networks, maintaining relations and continuous interactions with the clients. It is one of the most crucial marketing plans in the current marketing state. Relationship Marketing aids in client turnover decline and create a steadfast client base. When planning the relationship marketing, it is best to put in mind that there are four types of clients. There are the loyal customers who are regularly at the Resort, the occasional clients, the not yet clients who have are a target by the marketing strategy and those who used to be clients but for some reason stopped being clients. The marketing strategy depends on the different clients. The marketing ways used ii loyal customers are not the same as those used in other clients (Baldi, 102). In today’s marketing situation, retaining one’s customers rather than acquiring new ones is highly emphasized. This idea is put into practise by gathering detailed information about the clients and keeping in touch effectively with them and heeding to their demands and needs. The clients receive on the latest products and services and are contented with those services and the Resort attains competitive advantage. To maintain a good client connection, the loyal customers should be rewarded every now through free spa treatment or discounts on products. The occasional clients should be enticed to the Resort through different marketing strategies like offering them special offers. Marketing Plan is a strategy where the plan is developed annually although some organizations extend the plan to three or more years. The plan contains the various strategies, the timeline and the expense. Positioning is another crucial phase of the marketing plan as it is vital for the Resort to comprehend how different it is from others. Lastly in the marketing plan is the control system that is seen through the plan execution (GOYAL, 47). This aids in seeing that the plan being carried out in the right direction and in case of divergence one can bring it back on track. The Resort will easily be able to note the strategies that work and those that do not for better future planning. The marketing plan contains the marketing mix to be used, the segment the market should target, the period of time to be implemented and the resources required to carry out the marketing plan. Online marketing in this era is very advantageous especially the social networks like Face book and Twitter. Creating an account in both of the social media and often updating information and photos of the William Blue Resort increases the client base. The Resort’s website link should also be incorporated in the accounts. Distribute the Resort’s videos that should be available in multiple formats online, include the videos in the blogs and websites, use YouTube to show the videos and respond to the comments and include the Resort’s URL above each video(ANDREU,GNOTH,KOZAK, 52). Blogs should have fresh and interesting information and up to date, include the Resort’s events and activities, post the current offers, discounts and news and make sure the blog is on the niche of the common blogs. Implement the use of ad retargeting, once anyone visits the webpage and like what they see but forget the link through retargeting the viewer’s browsing ways stores information giving brands a chance to bring up the ad at a later time. Use online Paid Hotel Marketing. Put into use the Pay per Click advertising, contemplate buying some ad space, undertake online contests and reward the winners, include polls in the blog and website and submit the Resort’s articles in article directories under travel classifications. Use Newsletters in the Resort’s marketing. Good hospitality newsletter must be created for your Resort’s website; the newsletter has to be on all the channels of online marketing, offer discounts and packages to newsletter subscribers, subscribers email should not be shared publicly, the Resort’s advertisement has to be posted on different online classifieds (ANDREU, GNOTH, KOZAK, 52). Put into use Mobile in marketing. Generate a mobile friendly website, 81% of people use mobile apps and internet for products research (e-Marketer 2010 survey) Focusing on individual product and service and perfecting it to please the different clients. Take the spas for example, instead of offering a variety of massage or facial options, tone it down and settle for traditional massages and clarifying facials that are fixated on health and wellness. Let the clients get tangible results that will justify the time and money spent at the spa. Another strategy that should be put to use is opening the doors to the local people. Resorts spas unlike typical day spas have an added benefit since they can offer a variety of services for clients to relish. Implement special offers for the local clientele and the results will be amazing. Invest in customer service since even with the best marketing skills in the market without proper client treatment and service, the Resort will be unsuccessful. Client services and marketing are inseparably linked and a contented joyful customer is the best marketing tool the Resort can ever have. The client will use the word of mouth to market the Resort or the social platforms to share their experience. Taking surveys and analysis and going that extra mile of using questionnaires to find out what the clients want is another marketing strategy. If say a casino has been suggested by a couple of people, consider implementing it in the Resort. Internal marketing is a vital part in reaching marketing objectives in the Resort. It identifies the fact that even the employees have a huge role to play in marketing since they have contact on a one on one base with the clients. It is advisable for the Human resource managers in the Resort to use the market techniques to recruit communicative and motivated employees. The employees have the task of providing quality service in a way that the client is contented even before they decide to make a reservation in the Resort and after the reservation they have to ensure that the promised services and products are delivered. To achieve all this, the Resort needs motivated employees who know what they are marketing and have the best professional skills available. The employees should have the right service attitude since attitude comes naturally and cannot be taught. Lack of the right skills from the employees can weaken the marketer’s effort of creating a good name for the Resort. Once an employee has been appointed, the managers and colleagues have the task of polishing and teaching the employee to give their best since every Resort has its own service culture, operating systems and service standards. This is known as induction training and the success of the internal and external structure depends on the company’s role. This training should be nonstop even after the initiation since constant training and career development determine the accomplishment of most hospitality organizations. Training only is not enough, the employee needs some boundaries to work with, and they need to know the lines that are not to be crossed to avoid unsatisfied clients. The empowerment of the employees depends on the organization but it is advisable not to give the employees the accountability to solve the problems on their own without getting a second opinion. Clients like quick solutions without having to repeat their complaints to other employees. Inappropriate training and resources to the employees makes them feel uncomfortable in making hasty and better decisions. To get the desired results and happy contented clients, the employees are up to speed on progress and new measures to come into play. Employees get promotions and rewards for commendable work. Marketing all comes down to the participation of every employee in the Resort, those at the top of the structure all the way down to those at the bottom. I would recommend one to start internally before even thinking of marketing externally. Relationships between the clients and the organization are also important in ensuring the organization runs successfully. Heeding to the clients’ needs and wants will keep them coming for more and working on improving the services from time to time will have your organization running for a very long time. . References BALDI, F. 2013. Private equity targets: strategies for growth, market barriers and policy implications. Milan, Springer. GOYAL, A. 2014. Innovations in services marketing and management: strategies for emerging economies. Newyork: Wileys and Sons KOZAK, M., GNOTH, J., & ANDREU, L. 2010. Advances in tourism destination marketing: managing networks. London, Routledge.   . Read More