Marketing Business Plan

The focal point of this paper is to prepare the 12 month business plan as marketing manager for MK Resort Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia.
Distribution channel

The MK Resort Gold Coast is located in a very favourable location. But to sustain its business on a long term and to penetrate the market is necessary to formulate a proper distribution channel. For formulating a proper distribution channel it is essential to promote the resort and its services to customers by the means of internet or magazines, TV promotion, newspaper, hoardings etc. Promotions in Magazines, TV, Hoardings and newspapers would be directed towards the domestic customers.
It is obvious and it is seen time and again over the years of business promotion that these means of communication with the potential clients seem to be the most effective mode of promoting business. The internet would be predominantly targeting the international customers especially from New Zealand and East Asia as most of the foreign visitors at Queensland are from these parts of the world. Thus advertising on the internet would be cost beneficial and effective at the same time as the internet would be able to cover up the potential customers of the entire world (Anand, 2006)
Target market
The target market is mostly domestic market of Australia but considering the trends of recent time which saw a rise of about 1.3% in the international market segment in the last year (Anand, 2006) thus it could well be stated that the target market is both domestic and international. However, as the basic market segment of the spot is mostly dependent on the domestic market with 80% domestic turnaround and 19% of the international visitors it would be relevant to mention that the focus should be equally distributed on both the sectors keeping in mind the recent rise of international turnarounds. (Fletcher, 2006) The business strategy would be to target both the segments and yield the maximum amount of benefit by providing the best possible amenities at the lowest possible price. The end concern would to satisfy the customer by all means.
Competitor analysis
The competitors are other hotels and restaurants in the same location. Also hotels who have same or similar target market with this hotel. These are the segment where the company can expect maximum competition and as most of these are established for quite a while it would evident that there would be a certain amount of loyalty associated as far as customers are concerned. However, being a relatively new hotel there are certain advantages for the MK Resort Gold Coast. It should also be taken into account that Competitors’ market power is greater as there are lots of hotels and apartments in the immediate area. (King, 2006)
At present the predominant competitors of the region are well established hotels and resorts like Courtyard by Marriott Surfers Paradise, Moroccan Beach Resort, Anacapri, Aegean Resort, Centrepoint Resort and Biarritz. Most of these resorts are well located in the heart of the region with exclusive facilities for the guests. Biarritz, for example, presents the facility of 3 bed rooms for family and Courtyard by Marriott Surfers Paradise presents the guests with playgrounds and shopping arcades. (Ozhorizons, 2007)
Thus to counter all these specifications it would be a good strategy to incorporate all the facilities provided in a moderate scale. It is true that location advantage cannot be changed but the resort can take the best out of the competitors’ tools and incorporate in them. For example, the resort can provide the facility of 3 bed rooms for family like Biarritz or shopping arcades like Courtyard. Obviously, as an emerging competitor the resort can hardly operate at the scale of Courtyard for budget reasons in the context of shopping arcade but they can use the idea and incorporate it in a moderate scale.
Similarly the 3 bed rooms for family need not be highly luxurious as Biarritz but can still operate at a moderate scale. This is to enable greater number of visitors interested in the resort. The bottom line remains that the guests should get whatever facilities possible to provide. This because Berkowitz stated in his book Aggressive Hotel management: Its Causes, Consequences, and Control that “it is important that a manager is always a ‘yes man’ to the customers and should be able to provide any and everything at the snap of a finger”. (Berkowitz, 2004)
This way the resort would be able to provide all the amenities provided by other resorts without the escalating the budget by a great margin. For the visitors this resort would be an accommodation of great attraction as they would be able to get all the amenities at the same venue.
Marketing Mix
With the boom of tourism industry in Australia it can well be assumed that there would be a heady demand for accommodation and thus the market can be stated as well secured. It has been reported that the average room occupancy in 5 and 4 star hotels range from 75% to 90% which is extremely high under all conditions. (Bandura, 2005) Under such circumstances it would relevant to mention that the basics of the product are already well positioned as the MK Resort Gold Coast thus has a very favoured position in the region with its 4 star facilities and 214 room capabilities.
Alongside it is important to develop the service skills of the staffs along with the motivating skills of the managerial levels by the help of proper training schedules. Similarly, the price should be kept in a competitive level in accordance to the tariff of the competitors. However, there should be some extra facilities like discounts and free gifts for the clients to make them feel comfortable and render their money’s worth.
Accordingly, there should be a wide range of advertising campaigns through mass media like TV, Magazines, internet and hoarding to keep a deep impact on the minds of the potential customers. These campaigns and promotions should be carried out all through the year to sustain a continuous impulse in the consumer level. (Edelman, 2005)
Creating Brand awareness
The methods for advertising and promotion the hotel’s products and services are through variety way such as TV, magazines, direct mail, public relations, and radio and these are the best methods of creating brand awareness. It could be mentioned that these methods create constant hits in the mind of the consumer making the consumer more aligned towards the product. (Lamb, 2004) Apart from these methods there are other ways of creating a significant brand and creating brand awareness.
These would be public display of customer benefits and occasional and seasonal competition for free lodging or air fares. Formulation of these techniques would create brand awareness among potential customers. Once the brand awareness is created the industry would be more favourable for the company as being a brand name there would be a certain amount of faith and compatibility attached with the company and these are high valued products in the industry. This is because once the customer faith can be generated then the market segments would be more aligned towards the company. (Sen, 2001)
Pricing strategy
For setting price the hotel used quality/price matrix as pricing strategy. Also the hotel will use discount and packaging technique to maintain customers’ interests. Apart from that there would be competitions that would enable the interest to grow among the potential customers. But the most significant approach would be to provide an economical section for customers along with high luxurious ends for willing tourists. Alongside is the aspects of business related tourism is taken into account then the pricing strategy would include discounts and facilities to corporate clients. (King, 2006)
However, it should be stated that the best pricing strategy would be to implement the matrix that would revel the maximum amount of tariff mechanism where the level of customer satisfaction remains in equilibrium. This matrix can be obtained by implementing qualitative and quantitative data mining where the preference of the customers would be revealed. The pricing strategy can then follow the parameters of the matrix developed from the data available. (Sen, 2001)
Market research
Market research indicated that there should be a number of variables that should be maintained in order to gain competitive advantage in the business. On seasonal period it is essential for the hotel to increase casual staffs. It is also important that Effective service improvement strategies will be accomplished through training of employees that should include providing adequate training for employees to possess the skills that are required in performing their job tasks and develop an Efficient internal communication between hotel managers and employees which will help employees to realize and understand what management expects (internal e-mail, blackboard). It is also essential to realize and understanding the different culture of Asian customers for employees. (Sen, 2001)
Yield policy
The yield policy of the resort would always look forward to achieve certain objectives that would include Guest’s satisfaction and happiness appearing on guests faces while accommodating with the resort. Furthermore it would be seen that the management maintains loyal guests and offer the quality rooms at the competitive price with among other hotels. Additionally, Staff performing a professional and superior service to guests from the front desk to in-house would always be overlooked and checked accordingly.
There would also be a well-training program designed to enhance staff motivation and service knowledge. Lastly it would be kept in mind that being a good image to local environment and its community with which the resort is involved would be most helpful for the resort. However, it should be stated that to sustain a successful yield policy it is important to incorporate a well trained and effective administrative level of motivated managers. It is important that the decision makers are always updated and well informed apart from being innovative. (Sen, 2001)
Moreover, there should be a continuous process of pioneering and original ideas like setting up a temporary free astronomical class during seasons with clear sky and make the visitors interested in sky watching. There can also be a free crash course in photography as visitors are sure to take pictures of their holiday and not the entire population are photographers. Methods like these would generate interest among the guests and they would feel privileged to take part in these programs and thus it would be helpful for the resort as visitors would always appreciate such moves and the number of returning customers would rise. (Sen, 2001)
Product innovation
The products and services that would provided by this hotel are accommodation, food and beverage, dinning rooms, lounge room and conference rooms for fulfil customers demands. Alongside, this hotel is located in magnificent location where the demand for leisure holiday is still to be explored. But still product innovation is essential for sustainability in the long run. From the point of view of the resort it would be a good idea to organize festivals regularly. For example an occasional barbeque festival would be interesting or a sea food festival that would deal with preparations from all parts of the world would also serve the purpose. Additionally there can be an indoor beach which would actually be made up of sand and a swimming pool with small ripple effects. This indoor beach can be promoted as a better option for sea during a rough weathers. (Sen, 2001)
References:
Anand, V; (2006); Tourism Review: Australia; Auckland:  HDT Ltd.
Bandura, A. (2005); Queen of Australia: Queensland; Australian Spectator; vol. 7; issue 3; Englewood Ciffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall Inc
Berkowitz, L; (2004); Aggressive Hotel management: Its Causes, Consequences, and Control; New Haven and London: Yale University Press
Edelman, S; (2005); Evaluation Techniques in International Business Management; Bloemfontein: ABP Ltd
Fletcher, R; (2005); Tourism Principals: Beliefs and Knowledge; Believing and Knowing; Dunedin: Howard & Price
Kar, P; (2006); History of Tourism Industrial Economics and Related Applications; Kolkata: Dasgupta & Chatterjee
King, H; (2006); Management Principals Today; Auckland: HBT & Brooks Ltd
Lamb, D; (2004); Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; Wellington: National Book Trust
OzHorizons; 2007; OzHorizon’s Gold Coast; Ozhorizons; retrieved on 12.10.2007 from http://www.ozhorizons.com.au/qld/gc/gc.htm
Sen, S; (2001); Difference between Thinking and Acting in Global Management; Bloemfontein: ABP Ltd.
Tourism Queensland and Corporate; 2006; Tourism Queensland; Retrieved on 12.10.2007 from http://www.tq.com.au/