Essay: Marketing Strategy For Grand Victorian Hotel." (50 Characters)

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Discuss about the Marketing Strategy for Grand Victorian Hotel.

Any organization that aims to achieve successive growth and long-term sustenance in future, must consider the importance of chalking out an innovative marketing strategy that helps it to distinguish itself from the rival giants of the industry. This report evaluates and critically analyzes the admirable marketing strategy, as adopted by the retail giant Woolworths (Australia), and the grand Victorian hotel of Australia, Regatta Hotel. Both the organizations had succeeded in bringing about innovation that has improved the consumer perception of the brand, and this report will discuss and explain the effectiveness of the marketing strategies adopted by each of the two companies.

The marketing strategy of an organization is the implementation of its plans that helps it gain a competitive advantage over the other organization, by promoting a consumer-centric marketing plan. In order to neutralize its competitors, Woolworths has not only improved the core offer, but has also considered innovating the quality of service provided to the consumers. Just like any of its competitors, such as Coles, Woolworths definitely lowered its price, offered ample discounts to the loyal consumer base, but most importantly it has launched virtual stores, in order to facilitate convenient mobile shopping, for the consumers.

On the other hand, the Regatta Hotel, as an organization operating in the hospitality industry, was always required to gain the confidence and goodwill of the travelers. Keeping this in consideration, the organization established a strong and effective Website Management System. Although the organization has gained a huge recognition, among the Australians as well as the international visitors, the organization had to ensure, that it does not lag behind, in promotion, as compared to the Hotel Grand Chancellor Brisbane, Hilton Brisbane or ibis Brisbane. As a result of a strong and well-maintained WMS, each employee of the organization is well-aware of the IT skills, necessary for handling the website. The moment any event or social program, is being organized by the hotel, any employee can update the website, informing he consumers about the same. Hence, the marketing and the promotional aspect of the website, can easily be maintained, and looked after by any employee (Chamberlain 2014). As the Forbes magazine suggests, the web design of an organization is a new, innovative strategy that drives the growth of the organization, and enhances its popularity and recognition among the masses. It should be noted that Site-Ezy system has enabled the organization establish interactive and consumer-friendly sites, that helps the organization engage actively in the promotional and marketing processes (Ajake 2015).

Marketing Strategy

The ulterior motive behind the marketing strategy of any organization is to influence the consumers, to avail the service of that organization, by creating a distinguished identity. Woolworths was well aware, that it does encounter a tough competition from some of the most recognized supermarkets of Australia, and hence it decided to disrupt the existent marketing process, followed by every supermarket. Woolworths established its virtual stores in Sydney Town Hall Station and Flinders Street Station, as a result of which the consumers, sitting in any location, could easily gain access to the products and services of the organization (Rajeck 2015). The importance and effectiveness of the strategy, simply lies in the fact that the organization has succeeded in creating a distinguished identity of itself, that seeks to show the very reason, as to why, the consumers should buy the products from Woolworths, instead of other organizations. By launching the virtual stores, the organization has succeeded in capitalizing the customer needs for cost effective and convenient marketing solutions. The Director of Woolworths, Tjeerd Jagen, said that the disruptive innovation was an integral part of the marketing strategy, adopted by the organization. Jagen has rightly claimed that the organization expects that the impact made by this innovative move will be far-reaching and largely beneficial for the future growth of the organization. Brad Banducci, the Director of Woolworths, has claimed that since the other supermarkets of Australia, were also offering the very same goods and similar services, as offered at Woolworths, it was important for the organization to bring about a revolutionary change in the shopping experience of the consumers. Hence, a consumer-centric approach has been taken up by the company.

Regatta Hotel, on the other hand, drafted an impressive marketing strategy, whereby it also emphasizes the customer-centric approach, in a different way. The organization operates in the service industry, and hence it becomes imperative for it, to enable the consumers derive a high rate of satisfaction from their service. This is the reason why the organization had decided to make its online presence stronger than before (Ladhari and Michaud 2015). The organization was well aware that the rival giants operating in the same industry, were also employing the use of social media tools, and hence making its virtual presence strong and interesting was a compulsion, if it intends to survive. The digital marketing strategy was indeed an innovative step, formulated and successfully implemented by the company (Issakova 2015). The organization focused on the importance of re-designing its old website, so that the consumers can gain access to the clear and well-written instructions, in an easier way, or can navigate across the important pages or information. Further, the strategy also ensures high quality of the visual content offered and a responsive website design. In order to enjoy the return on the investment, the management authority of the Regatta Hotel has successfully designed the website in a way that can turn each website visitor into a lead, and finally a sale.

Critical Discussion of the Marketing Strategy of Woolworths

The competition is continually heating up in the supermarket industry of Australia, with retail giants such as Coles and Aldi, offering a tough competition to Woolworths. Hence, the establishment of the virtual stores in Australia was nothing short of a disruptive innovator that undoubtedly helped the organization gain competitive advantage over the rival firms. The organization, however, had always introduced interesting marketing strategies, by lowering the price of the products, offering lucrative discounts to the consumers, rewarding and recognizing the loyal consumers, offering a wider range of products (Armstrong et al. 2014). However, the self same strategies were becoming commonplace, and hence it became imperative for the organization to select a strategy, that would enable it to invest in the multi-channel consumer experience (Trollvik 2012). Undoubtedly, the implementation of the virtual store did imply a huge investment, as it implied fresh recruitment as well as provision of IT skills to the existent employees. However, his has helped the organization focus on the consumer needs. The management authority had stated that the success of any marketing strategy largely depends on the extent the strategy is consumer-centric. In case of Woolworths’ virtual shopping strategy, the emphasis is being given on the consideration of the convenience and comfort of the consumers, so that they can gain access to the services, without worrying about visiting the organization in person. The mere installation of the App enables the working consumers buy the wide range of products. Besides, it has also influenced their purchasing behavior, as the consumers tend to order and buy more, as the products they want, are only a click away. Thus, the virtual shopping strategy of Woolworths has proved itself to be an immediate success that is likely to boost the sale and profitability of the company, in the coming years (Perrone et al. 2015).

The Regatta Hotel, on the other hand, has considered the importance of attracting the attention of the consumers, by offering the exact information to the consumers, and allowing them to have a nice experience, while searching about the necessary information about the services offered. The creation and re-design of the existent websites, offers the organization greater recognition among the masses, making its content appealing to the potential clients and customers. The new website divides and categorizes the information of the consumers into clear sections, such as the membership section or the newsletter section (Nevarez and Hyman 2012). Consequently, the organization is able to increase the traffic of the consumers, and retain the clients, as they can gain access to the relevant information (Abdullah et al. 2015). The information such as the nature and kinds of services, and the expenses involved, are provided in a detailed way. As a result of the Site-Ezy features, any employee working in the organization, can easily insert pictures, graphs, tables or create important forms and download the same, that helps the entire process much smoother nad effective for implementation (Wang et al. 2015).

Conclusion:

An organization, in order to maximize its profit, must ensure that it adopts a strategy that helps in improving the recognition of the company, while also boosting its sales. As it is evident from the case studies, both Woolworths as well as Regatta Hotel, have successfully implemented an effective strategy that has influenced the consumer purchasing decision, by helping the companies differentiate themselves from the rival giants. However, with the advent of technology, both the organizations has sought the help of technological tool, that has helped them innovate their marketing strategy, and gain competitive advantage.

Reference List:

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Chamberlain, L., 2014. The'Regatta Hotel': A story of triumph over adversity. Queensland History Journal, 22(5), p.387.

Issakova, A., 2015. Marketing Mix of the Hotel (Doctoral dissertation, Vysoká škola hotelová v Praze).

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