Marketing Principles For Contemporary Theory, Practice And Cases - A Case Study Of Marina Bay Sands Essay.

Micro Analysis

Discuss about the Marketing Principles for Contemporary Theory, Practice and Cases. 

Marina Bay Sands is known as a destination where the company seamless combines business and leisure into a singular destination unlike any other. Being fronted at the Marina Bay in Singapore, Marina Bay Sands is a premier entertainment destination known as an integrated resort of the nation.  Established by “Las Vegas Sands”, this spectacular resort is allocated as the world’s most luxurious standalone casino property at 8 billion Singaporean dollars, inclusive of the land’s price (Marina Bay Sands, 2016). Behind the building of Marina Bay Sands, the vision to build an integrated establishment is to present timeless experience, to become a landmark that possesses a divergent position, giving a distinguish identity among from other cities of Singapore. The company facilitates vibrant diversity of attractions and facilitates for their premium clients and solidifies its standing among the world’s greatest destination. Situated along with the waterfront of Marina Bay, the company features three cascading hotel towers, a lotus inspired Museum, “floating” crystal pavilions and an expensive retail stores featuring international brands, the hottest night clubs and a Las Vegas-style casino, trendy chef restaurant and other endless entertainment. This integrated resort company segregates their business into seven main sections such as Hotel, Entertainment, Shoppes, Sky park, Museum, Restaurant, Event sections and so on.

Now the company is all set to develop an effective a marketing plan to reach more and more to their targeted consumers by incorporating new service such as Adventure Sport additionally in the entertainment sections. The management finds this additional entertainment required due to high competitive pressure from the companies like Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, Melco Crown Entertainment. The objective of this report is to conduct a detailed marketing research and analysis to promote the services of Marian Bay Sands. Marketing principles like SWOT, Porter’s five forces, marketing mix all will be analyzed to better understand the situation, current marketing position and future prospects.

The micro business environment is the immediate environment that impacts a business (Jobber & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Suppliers, consumers, competitors all factors needs to be considered to analyze the insight and likelihood of the impacts which directly impacts on businesses.

The casino resort industry is highly regulated and extremely competitive.

There is a huge competition between the marina Bay Sands with Resort World Sentosa. Resort World Sentosa includes a Universal Studios theme part. Here two casinos licensed to operate in Singapore and thus both the casino resorts have the exposure to capture 50 percent market share. This means huge competitions exists in the internal market.

Competitor's Analysis

Marina Bay Sands, an integrated resorts plus MICE (Meeting, Incentives, Conventions, and Exhibitions) has geographically expanded their market towards the Southeast Asia. Here the company has been competing with many of the companies provides same range of services and facilities (Marina Bay Sands, 2016). Those companies are Wynn Resorts, MGM Resorts, Melco Crown Entertainment, Resorts World Sentosa.  Wynn Resorts Limited engages in ownership, development and operation of destination casino resorts. The company acquires and operates Wynn Las Vegas casino resorts include twenty two food and beverages outlets comprising six dining restaurants , two nightclubs , one spa and salon, 18-hole golf course, meeting space, retail showrooms like Marian Bay Sands. Wynn has been selected considering pure play competitors of Marina Bay Sands not only targeted the same customer base but huge challenge exists due to identical geographical locations. In case of Melco Crown Entertainment Limited knows as an entertainment and casino resort, initially facilitates in the Macau special administrative region of the “People’s Republic of China". As Las Vegas Sands expands more and more into the Macau and Cotai Strip region, the company begins to face the competitions associated in other parts of the area.

Entry and Exit:

The forces of entry-exits are considered to be highly preventing aspects of the competitive landscape in the “casino-resort” industry. This industry in Singapore is largely regulated and highly taxed. In this context, the government plays a significant role for the success or failure of casino-resorts. 

Supplier Power

There is a limited power in the hands of suppliers in this industry as the price of the market place is completely depends on supply and demand. However, the principle suppliers of Marina Bay Sands were the supplier of land and the gaming license suppliers. Generally the license suppliers are the government personnel such as state gaming control board.

Buyers Power

There is evidence that buyers are the huge power in this service industry because buyer’s preferences are considered in determining attractions and other facilities such as restaurants and shows of entertainment (Sheth & Sisodia, 2015). For this reason, Las Vegas Sands Corporation built Marina Bay Sands, the most luxurious stand-alone integrated resort property at the cost of USD 5.5 billion. The resort has been constantly trying to out-do its competitors with new service-offerings and developments. Now the company would like to introduce “Adventure Sports” in the entertainment section for their high profile clients.

Macro Analysis (Pestle)

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In this section, an extensive market analysis will take place which are not controlled by the company, however, sustainability of the business largely depends on the political, socio-cultural, economical, technological, environmental and legal factors (Lilien et al.2013).

Political Factors:

Singapore is a democratic country. The political risk of the country is low. Since the independence, the country has experienced a stable political condition. The country is known for bureaucratic, extremely centralized and socialist approach. The government is actively participated in foreign direct investment and has made 99 percent import items a duty free (Tsitsiloni et al. 2013). Most of the businesses have considered Singapore as the one of the best commercial destination because the government has harsh laws in place and less corruption takes place due to strict governance and associated fines. Having joined in ASHAN, the nation has played a prominent role in this significant regional grouping (Ennew & Waite 2013).

Economic Factors:

Singapore has become an economic success because of its highly developed and successful free market economy. It enjoys a tremendously open and corruption-free environment, per capital GDP growth and stable prices. In 2014, the Gross Domestic Products per capital in Singapore was recorded at 38087.89 US dollar in 2014 which was highest in ASEAN (Ennew & Waite 2013). This corruption free economic environment largely supports the business sector and in competitions among the most competitive countries. The supportive legal and financial business framework, motivated workers has strengthened the economic condition of the country. However, the service and manufacturing sectors are concerned with some emerging constraints such as shortage of labor, rising labor costs and recent declines in productivity. The government of Singapore although hopes to establish a new growth path that focuses on rising productivity.

(Source: Swee, 2014)

Social Factors:

There is no doubt that society has constantly been transforming and the changing tastes and fashions of Singaporean people are largely responsible for this. The growing popularity in social media has made the social surrounding a broader one. There are many domestic and international organizations are trying to concentrate to offer products and services which aims to benefits people’s lifestyle.  Due to high purchasing power, consumers tend to grow their shopping habits and would like to keen to live in with better lifestyle.  On the other hand, literacy rate is quite high and skilled efficient labors are easily available because of the country’s large population.

Technological Factors:   

Technology transfer in human skills can also be provided by firms through “on-job training, in-house courses and overseas training with parents or other related businesses. In Singapore, these initiatives and various programs are funded by the government. The country invests heavily on technology. In 2015, an amount of $2.2 billion worth of ICT tender has been launched by the Singapore government to ensure growth in the digital, web and data services along with the development of IT infrastructure.  The nation is an established IT hub. Singapore government recently launched Smart Nation, visioning to harness technology to enhance the lives of its citizens and create more opportunities for businesses.

Legal Factors:

According to the Singapore Corruption Perception Index 2015, the level of the corruption has been shown 9.2/10 which is lowest compare to other developed Asian countries. Furthermore, some of the legal acts maintain the infrastructural stability and helps to develop hassle free businesses such as “Intellectual Property Rights”, “Amendments to the Evidence Act”, “Electronic Transfer Act”, “Regulation of Content”, and “Import-Export Procedures”. Furthermore, employee policy favors companies in Singapore.

Environmental Factors:

Both the national norms and people of Singapore have taken environmental factors much seriously. The nation has one of the world’s nest solid waste treatment systems in place. Owners of domestic and international businesses put much emphasized on recycling and optimum usage and constantly trying to restrict themselves to the use of natural resources of the nation which includes even water. However, one of the major concerns of Singaporeans is that the nation does not have enough water to support their needs.  In that context, the nation is looking for more solution to overcome these environmental constraints.

Strengths:

• Five star luxury hotels and casino attract ensures higher new worth individuals
• Marina Bay Sands seamlessly combines leisure and business into a singular destination. It offers exhibition facilities, accommodation, theater entertainment, bar, restaurants and 24×7 casino and game facilities
• Generates high revenue and the company boosts the economy of Singapore and growth of the tourism industry
• Huge support and contribution is provided by the government of Singapore
• The casino are placed strategically to take advantage of growing market

Weaknesses:

• Luxurious structure and services are hugely price sensitive to consumers
• Huge costs is associated in order to undertake new developments or repair and maintenance
• Very vulnerable to economic depression
• Targeted consumers are only high profile upper class people, international guests and so on. Therefore, the targeted consumer base is restricted.

Opportunities:

• Possible for a huge revenue jump with an economic boom
• Huge exposure into the new foreign market
• Better positioned to attract high rollers
• Luxurious lifestyle is welcomed by Singaporean people
• Highly acceptable of vibrant diversity of attractions and facilities

Threat:

• Increasing labor costs in the market of Singapore
• Possibility of rejection of contracts due to huge costs associated with it at the time of economic recession
• Unfavorable economic growth may reduce the purchasing power and thus, may impact revenues

S-T-D-P analysis is the effective method of marketing strategy considering four perspectives: segmentation, positioning, targeting and differentiation of product and services (Alon et al. 2013).

Market segmentation is all about segmenting market as per the demand, preferences, behaviors, demographics and so on. According to Sánchez-Hernández et al. (2013), segmentation is the first step to define the target audience. There are three ways to make segment what the consumer wants. These segments include

Demographic Segmentation

This is one of the broadest market segmentation methods. Most companies use it to get the right population in using their product. Various attributes like age, family size, gender, income, occupation, religion, nationality all are used to segment the market or product or services (Taylor-West et al. 2014).

Behavioral Segmentation

Here the segmentation has done considering the behavior, decision making patterns and usage of population. This kind of segmentation divides a population based on their behavior. This segment are targeted the consumer behavior because there are several factors which a consumer takes into consideration before taking a final decision.

Psychographic Segmentation

Psychographic segmentation is dividing the market based on consumer personality values, traits, interests and lifestyle. Though the people have different attitudes and traits, companies needs to explore those relevant information and identify consumers who are interested in the company-specific marketing environment.

Based on the geographic location of people, the market can be segmented because the requirement can vary on the basis of geography. Market often divided by geographical areas such as city, country state, region and so on. However, this segmentation is not relevant for the company because this high-end integrated resort is established not only for serving domestic consumers but also international clients.

Thus, the services of Marina Bay Sands will consider Behavioral and Psychographic segmentation both. Here the consumer’s lifestyle, changing demands, service preferences needs, interest of Singaporean, leisure activities all will be considered before incorporate additional services, if any. On the other hand, consumer behavior will explore for better understanding Singaporean culture and consumer preferences. For instance, majority of people of Singapore, love to spend their time during the time of charismas. They usually plan and looking for experience for family vacations, eating at restaurant, shopping, entertainment and so on. Therefore, both the segmentations are justifiable for the perspective of Marina Bay Sands.

Targeting:

The strategy of targeting is the selection of the consumers the company wishes to serve for (Solomon, 2014). For establishing new business or any kind of new services or products, the company needs to plan their marketing as per the target audience-specific. Here the target strategy for Marina Bay Sands is as follows: 

Target group	Preferred Services
High profile individuals, couples	Trendy celebrity chef restaurant, the hottest night clubs, Las Vegas Style casino, Adventure sports entertainments (new addition), high end accommodation, retailing
Business visitors or high end corporate people	Casino, accommodation, MICE facilities such as extensive meetings, incentives and so on, fun by entertainment facilities

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According to the identified target group by Marina Bay Sands, the company needs to deliver preferred services to satisfy their target consumers.

Differentiation:

The objective of differentiation of marketing is to develop the product or service uniqueness in front of target consumers:

Here the marketer of Marina Bay Sands will provide differ types of adventure sports which are unique and provide a scope to consumers to enjoy additional fun during their vacation. Different types of adventure sports will be included such as Trials, Kite surfing, Jet skies, Paragliding. However, all sports are quite risky but full protection measures will be taken seriously. Therefore, quality of services is the main point of service differentiation.

Positioning:

Positing involves implementing the targeting. To create identity or image in the minds of target consumers is all about market positioning. Here the company is already positioned as a luxurious integrated hotel. The company will try to maintain their position with providing premium services to their consumers and ensure competitive advantages by providing unique services.

Diagram: Positioning Activities of Marina Bay Sands

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The marketing mix is a common tool that is made up of four unique but independent and interconnected variables (Goi, 2015).

Product: Offering right or suitable product is all about product consideration in terms of marketing (Filip, 2012). Here the company needs to introduce their new service like adventure sports in the Marian Bay Sand’s entertainment section to give more pressure and end-less entertainment during the client’s vacation. High profile youth of Singapore generally love to spend their time adventurously and enjoy the fun element. This is the reason behind introduction of new service by the company. Currently, the product is in initial stage and will be in mature stage when majority of the client’s find interesting these special entertainment service by Marina Bay Sands.

Price: The Company has been used the value-based pricing strategy. Value-based pricing is all about setting the service’s price based on the benefits provided by the consumers. Being the highly valued features, now the company will promote their product through price skimming strategy. To set the initial price high and later make available such service at the moderately low price will be used by the company during the initial phase of the new service (Armstrong et al. 2014).

Place: Marian Bay Sands will incorporate their new product under the entertainment segment of their business. All adventures will be occurred in the bay area of resort or from the top of the company providing full security and expert guidance.

Promotion: This integrated report company will promote their product through a tag line- “Stay in the most spectacular hotel and feel the extreme adventures”. Here the promotion strategy would be to promote new service through websites, social media, digital commercial and television commercials.

Conclusion

By the above mentioned marketing principles, Marina Bay Sands can introduce their new service to the market successfully. This integrated resort will enhance the entertainment quotient of their high profile clients and thus, increase consumer satisfaction. However, all principles must be followed considering the changing demand of consumers and ensure the competitive advantages in the Singaporean market. 

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