Mission Statement and VisionLouise Hotel is a spa-focused hotel located in Houston Galleria Area. The positive and friendly approach of the hotel has been tailored to inspire every client. The mission of Louise Hotel is to maximize the value of the hotel by providing a healthy spa life and excellent guest services. The vision is to be a leading company in the hospitality industry for its unique development and elegant style. The hotel aims to provide a healthy and relaxing ambiance with a personal feel and touch.Marketing Condition AnalysisComparing to other hotels in the market and hospitality industry, Louise Hotel not only has a consistent increasing of revenues but also over achieved the goals and objectives. However, the hotel industry has been experiencing an economic downturn where employment rate has been constantly decreasing, and the number of conference travelers has been decreasing as well. A financial analysis and rating company named Standard and Poors, forecasted a further decline in the performance of the hotel and catering industry (Moore, 2002). Fortunately, during this period, Louise Hotel has still been doing well and has not been affected by the economic downturns. Our marketing strategies ensure our guests get well serviced, while at the same time guarantee them a personal touch. In addition, our internal performance reports suggest that our hotel needs to focus on operational benefits within the organization.
The internal factors that may destroy the success of Louise Hotel include strategic limitations and marketing mix (Price, Product, Promotion and Place). Also, the management and leadership style are important internal factors for the organizational culture. Business relationships and processes within departments are other factors which influence the effectiveness and efficiency of the hotel. The hotel has put large emphasis on its diversity of consumer target by following and tracking the changing customer needs and preferences. This emphasis is very important to the hotel, because it adds a personal touch to our services, since the same type of products and services are offered in other hotels at different prices. For instance, there are coffee house and bars in the lobby that are designated for our guests to have intimate conversations, socializing and or simply relax. The diversity of our hotel shows that we value our guests. These practices will further help the hotel in simulating revenue per customer. Louise Hotels marketing strategy should consider both external and internal environments. The internal environment factors are the marketing mix, strategic limitations and performance analysis. The external environment should consider factors such as competitor analysis and the evaluation of a technological environment (Moore, 2002).Comparison to CompetitionJust like any organization, Louise Hotel could easily be affected by competition from other companies within the hotel industry. As a solution, Louise Hotel has come up with product differentiation techniques for targeting a specific market and gaining an advantage over our competitors. Even though the new companies in the hospitality industry may be harmful to Louise Hotel, we have improved our operation skills and raised our service standards to increase the costs for new companies to survive in hospitality industry. Louise Hotel has also been making attempts to diversify our market share portfolio by offering substitute goods for the guests. For instance, in technology and communication, Louise Hotel has both wireless and capable Internet allowing the guests to choose depending on the required Internet speed. Market share owned by the hotel indicates that room improvement has increased the share; however, the greatest part market share is affected by customer satisfaction.
Due to intense competition that the hotel has to face, we have come up with smart phone apps, where our guests can book any of the hotel services on their mobile phone, including accommodations. In such way, Louise Hotel has gained considerable competitive edge over its competitors. We have already put down huge investments in differentiating our services to go above the standards and hopefully beat our competition. As compared to the competitors, InterContinental Hotels Group has a lot of hospitality services such as saunas, Jacuzzis, fitness lessons, skydiving, and conference rooms. The services that go beyond the typical hotel standards have been added in some InterContinental Hotels to gain more customers. The customers budget is always price sensitive, and these services have helped increase revenues on high price range products that have a smaller price variance. However, the biggest challenge for our hotel is the ability to improve the quality of the customer service at the currently low prices. Louise Hotel will become more successful once we solve this problem.Segmentation, Targeting and PositioningCustomer segmentation for Louise Hotel is very important and it affects our pricing, product and distribution. Various segments have various tastes and preferences. Customer segmentation includes geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation and behavioral segmentation. The hotel will embrace demographic segmentation in addressing guests occupations, lifestyles, age and occupation of the target market. Psychographic segmentation revolves around social interests and values of target population while behavioral segmentation will address benefits, occasion and features of target market. Geographical segmentation of Louise hotel indicates the size and population that the Hotel targets.
Louise Hotel has made an effort to provide great experience for different generations at very affordable prices. Young travelers want to experience low prices and tasteful style, and tend to prioritize general experience over room service. The front desk and concierge of the hotel offers snacks and drinks available for guests for free to create a comfortable and caring environment. The other target group of customers is the high-end business people; therefore, we have installed high-speed Internet for them to check their emails and be in a position to handle online transactions.
The hotel also has a strategic business location and great environment for the business people. We try our best to balance the needs of families who might decide to go spend their vacation in the hotel and the business people who are planning to work through their stay. They will experience comfort, as the hotel has a heated swimming pool and shuttles to major points of interests. Another target customer group of the hotel is corporate employees, who might decide to spend some leisure time in the hotel, while at the same time monitoring their jobs and performing minor tasks away from the office. Therefore, each room has a fold down writing desk, an ironing board, a coffee maker, wireless internet access, Iphone docking station as well as parking for only $20 a night.
The positioning of Louis Hotel emphasizes on development of customer value. The positioning process of our hotel needs to focus on creating a healthy, calm Spa life after a busy week for business people, and a quick getaway for vacationers. An accurate positioning is necessary in coming up with solutions and finding the suitable segmentation and marketing research.Marketing StrategiesVaries marketing strategies are used by Louise Hotel in order to increase brand awareness as well as building company values. To attract more guests from different segments and to build a long-term loyalty relationship with our guests, we decided to work on our marketing strategies both externally and internally. Advertising is one of the most important external strategies we use. Our priority is to show the value of Louis and why it is a better place to stay. To better monitor the marketing results, we have outlined the quarterly occupancy rate and revenue objectives that we want to achieve through advertising. Types of advertising we are currently using include local newspaper, travel magazines, local traveler radio, out door billboards, transit posters and television.
Internally, pricing is always a very important feature in the marketing mix. As a marketing strategy, Louis Hotel charges relatively constant prices for the products and services. We believe rate parity in various booking sites will increase our guests loyalty to the brand. Customers are probably not willing to pay a different price for another hotel facility in the same brand name. Hence, it is necessary to have product standardization. Due to the vast products and services that Louise Hotel offers, the quality of delivering services should be monitored consistently so as to attain consistency in the pricing procedures.
Another marketing strategy we use to attract customers is a unique sense of style and comfort. Louise Hotel offers different cuisines in an attempt to draw in the clients from all cultures. On the hotel room side, we offer platform beds that were draped with fleece blankets. The beds were made from reclaimed pine, while the blankets were made from the recycled soda bottles and polyester. These products provide our guests with a unique feeling.
The hotel always quickly responds to our guests feedbacks and makes any necessary changes according to the needs of a client. This helps us to measure how efficient the strategy is in practice. The easiest way is to ask all guests how they heard about Louis. Then we go on by utilizing the internet to spread our brand further, and also encourage word of mouth, so we will have new people to come to have the first try. Surveys can be used after their stay and we have a little contest to win different promotion packages for customers who filled out.
Louise hotel fully understands that the whole point of marketing is to attract potential guests and retain our guests for future business. We ensure that the guest gets value for his money through the well-customized experience that perfectly suits his pocket. The reason Louise Hotels marketing strategies include a very close analysis of the external and internal environments is so that we can maximize our brand awareness while building a strong, loyal customer relationship.Marketing Avenues and ExplanationNow that we have to turn our ideas into practice and define our business alongside affordable operations, it is time to think how we should promote our products and services. Marketing is a better chance to connect with the market and the potential customers. We have to ensure that the customers understand what we do and how they can obtain our products and services. According to the standard definition of marketing, it is the advertisement effort to share with the customers and to meet their needs (Young & Page, 2014). However, marketing is more than an advertisement. One has to find strategic ways to influence the consumers, communicate with the current and potential clients, how to approach them and educate the market. In addition, marketing would encompass promotions and distribution channels. Simply, marketing is an activity that connects the business operations and the target audience. Marketing is thus the key enabler to the business growth and achieving success. We have to find a channel that communicates who we are, what we do, and our values. As a hospitable industry, we have to make sure that we offer efficient services and approach the needs of all customers regarding tastes and preferences (Young & Page, 2014). We have to display our services and raise them to a level that would compete in the market. There are varieties of marketing avenues, but we must be wise to choose and use those channels that would familiarize the market on our products and impact them.
We have to make our operations competitive while communicating and promoting our hotel service. Being a 3-4 star hotel, it means that we have to allocate a communication channel that targets audiences of a different nature. One of the best efforts to make is use of the internet. With the use of the internet, we can ensure that we have an efficient distribution channel to reach potential customers. After carefully sorting out the best internet service to use, we decided that social sites and websites would suffice the need. Social sites have turned to be reliable avenues to market and find potential customers. On the other hand, websites are a best opportunity to keep our customers updated (Young & Page, 2014). Other channels that would greatly promote our needs in the local vicinities are billboards, TV, radio, magazines, banners, and newspaper. These channels will help the local to share our products and service. Conversely, we aim to extend our services to other regions. As a result, we opt to use internet, which would be the best channel to market our product. In this forum, we can discuss with the current and potential customers to better our services.