MRKT20052 Marketing Management And Digital Communications

A marketer requires a good marketing plan in order to provide direction and focus to a brand, product or company. If a detailed plan is in place a business will be better equipped to handle situation like the launch of a new product or the building of sales of an already existing product. Cairns Aquarium is a public aquarium situated in Australia that provides a platform for the public to interact with exotic animals and plants that are found in the wet tropical land of Australia. The region of Cairns attracts over million tourists every year generating over 3 billion dollars for its local economy and the objective of this marketing strategy is to provide a further push to this already expanding region.

Cairns Aquarium is one of the recent addition to an expansive development program that has stimulated the growth of tourism in the northern region of queensland. This 7800 square metre, $54 million centre inaugurated on september 2017 expects around 700,000 visitors every year which will generate around $20 million worth of revenue (Tourisminvestment.com.au, (2018). Entrepreneurs Daniel Leipnik and Andrew Preston developed the Cairns Aquarium and reef research centre after witnessing that a majority of tourists visiting the region were uncomfortable about going into the water but instead they were more interested and amazed by the marine life from the shoreline. On of the first aquarium to be built in australia since 2000 it features over 15000 aquatic animals, fish, plants and other organisms that are displayed in 71 live exhibits spanning over 10 life like viewing habitats (Tourisminvestment.com.au, (2018). It has already becoming the cities top attraction and averaging about 1200 visitors per day. A significant growth in this is expected in the summer which will tap into the steady growth that is being experienced by Cairns and forecasts indicates that there will be a continuation of this trend.

Cairns Aquarium is a one of a kind approach that showcases the vibrant biodiversity of the tropical North Queensland rainforest. Thus it has the potential of attracting visitors from every possible demographic.

The main demographic attending the centre will be tourists in the age group of 20 - 40. There main interest would be to enjoy the varied diversity of the wet tropic region without having to put on scuba diving suit and getting wet (Nath & Saha, 2017). The Aquariums specially designed, 10 metre deep tank provides just that. The varied colors will come alive as the tourists stroll through the 3 floors of the centre expanding over 7500 square metres (Almeida, 2016). Guided tours for adults providing various information will be provided simultaneously as the tour progresses. Special kiosks have also been designed with an interactive touch panel that will provide the visitors with adequate information regarding every display.

Accompanying the previous demographic will be tourists in the age group of 1- 20 years. Special guided tours are provided for children below the age of 15 with a more interactive guidance approach using special and a more holistic references that will provide the children with a more firm and factual grasp on what they will be observing.

The centre is a place for leaning, fun and discovery and special attention will be provided to cater to the needs of the students. The innate curiosity of the students will be encouraged by providing them with an hands on approach to teaching and learning. Reef and rainforest experts referred to as “aquanuts” been appointed for engaging and connecting students with the living environment (Corkindale, 2015). All year around program for schools are available and are scheduled as per request. The students will be participate in an interactive journey of a raindrop descending from the mountain ranges travelling through the rainforests and mangroves through the great barrier reefs and finally into the depths of the Coral Sea. This programs have been aligned with the outcomes of learning of the “biological science” strand of the National Curriculum of Australia (Ntamkarelou, Bantimaroudis & Economou, 2017).

Various environmental professionals ranging from Botanists and zoologists to ecological experts are a limited but steady demographic that have a regular footprint in the centre. They come in search of opportunities to observe and record rare and endangered species that are indigenous to this area (Kottege, Jurdak, Kroon & Jones, 2015). Since it is the only location on Earth that hosts two world heritage listed biospheres - The Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Forest, the attendance of environmental professionals is expected to rise in the upcoming years. Keeping this demographic segment in mind the centre provides special viewing areas for guests with special interests regarding one particular exhibit (Mellish, Ryan, Pearson & Tuckey, 2018). Special passes and permission slips are also provided to professionals with valid ID proof for long hours of observation.

The in house Aqualuna restaurant is a perfect venue for hosting celebratory events. This will generate a larger demographic of corporate interests for events as well as informal celebrations like birthday parties, banquets and wedding celebrations. Guests have the privilege of choosing from 5 unique venues, each with their own themed habitats and visually appealing backdrops. The ultimate wow factor is the Ocean room located at the heart of the aquarium (Mason, 2015). Furthermore the guest of private parties will have the opportunity to avail private after hours tour of the aquarium that will provide a one of a kind experience.

SWOT ANALYSIS

• The centre provides an interactive journey for its visitors through the ecosystem of ar northern regions of queensland.
• The Aquarium Boasts a 10 meter deep specially designed tank to which enables the visitor to learn about the place in a quick Glance. The three floored centre which expenses over 7500 square metres boasts 10 special ecosystems and 71 different habitats.
• Government plays a key role in the success of this ambitious project which includes invaluable assistance provided by the Australian Australian Trade Commission’s Tourism Major Project Facilitation (TMPF) service (Tourisminvestment.com.au, 2018).

• The aquarium is short staffed and strained on human resource
• Ecological imbalance and environmental degradation over the years threatens the natural equilibrium of the center
  

• More Exhibits are being added to a collection of an already vibrant ecosphere
• More than 600 new jobs have been created by the center which has given the region a major boost in confidence (Al-Muhrzi, 2014).
• While revenue is mostly dependant on the sale of tickets international visitation from China and Japan Has generated a large amount of corporate interest thus creating the largest investment opportunity in the region over the years.

• Necessary price hikes to accommodate foreign interests may lead to the loss of customers.
• A lack of price sensitivity is being witnesses as customers complain that the restaurants are overcharging for meals.

A set of high aggressive yet potentially achievable objective have been set up in order to establish fluency in the proper functioning of the aquarium as a business model

• For the first year the center projects a footfall of 500.000 visitors as a results of various marketing schemes via social media and other channels of promotion.
• For the second year the center requires a projection of an estimated 700,000 tourists which an be achieved by diversifying the promotional aspects which include the use governmental tourism campaigns and private advertisement ventures throughout the world.
• By the third year the center expects an annual footfall of 1 million people. For this the marketing strategy needs to be concise and focused (Thyer, Thomas, McClintock & Ridd, 2018). The demographic of the overall footfall needs to be analysed carefully and majority groups of segmented dynamics need to be identified on the basis of factors like country, age group, profession etc. the promotional campaign needs to be focused on these particular groups in order to establish maximum efficiency.
  

Financial

• The Cairns Aquarium has a total valuation of $54 million. The center projects an annual income of $20 million and the revenue streams are fairly regular since most of it is generated by ticket sales. Tickets are priced at $15 for students and children and $40 for adults. Special ticketing schemes are available for group tours and school tours ("Cairns Holiday Aquarium", 2018).
• The center projects that the total investment behind the establishment will be collected by the end of the second year and profits will be seen by the third.For this the annual budget needs to carefully examined and proper allocation of resources need to be confirmed. Maintenance of the property remains a key factor for fluent functioning of the center.
• Budget needs to be allocated for the appointment of environmental experts who will ensure that the ecosystem is stable and self sustainable. Experts should oversee the day to day care programs for the fauna as they are the main attraction of the aquarium and argus its main source of revenue generation.

The centres marketing strategy is largely based on the differentiation of its services and their positioning. The primary visitors are international and intranational tourists with a varied age group. The objective of the aquarium is to provide a world with an elegant platform for human beings to interact with the incredible plants, animals and habitats that are only found in the wet tropics of Australia. Its objective is to cultivate its situational advantage and promote learning and conserving the delicate ecosystem of the area.

The center harnesses the availability of the amazing beauty of the marine life that can be witnessed from the shoreline of the Great Barrier Reef (Dwyer, Pham, Forsyth & Spurr, 2014). Its objective is to bring the wonders of the reef undercover and up close thus providing a chance for personal interaction between man and nature. It is the first new aquarium that has been built in Australia since the year 2000 and features over 15000 aquatic animals, fishes, plants and other marine life that have been housed in 71 live exhibits that are spread across 10 life like habitat for viewing. It is the only place in the world that showcases the biodiversity of the North Queensland tropical rainforest. Critically endangered and rarely seen species are on display which include unique marine life that are indigenous to this region such as freshwater sawfish, Jardine river painted turtles, freshwater whip rays, olive sea snakes, etc (Vila, Darcy, & González, 2015).

One of the main attractions of the aquarium is the country’s first “Deep Reef” habitat for observation. It is essentially a 10 meter high, 300,000 litre exhibit that displays the diverse marine life that exist on the reef's edge beyond the “drop off” point of the reef. This habitat is located on the edge of the reef and thus even experienced divers not get the opportunity to see this region (Pham, Nghiem, & Dwyer, 2017). Another one of its featured attraction is the 1.8 million litre Coral Sea habitat that comprises of an underwater tunnel for viewing the 360 degree panoramic view of the sea. It has already become the city's top tourist attraction and is averaging 1200 tourists every day. There will be a significant improvement on this numbers during summer.

The center has priced its tickets at $28 for children and $42 for adults ("Cairns Holiday Aquarium", 2018). The prices will be decreased depending on the footfall and different offers and comb packages are to be introduced, which will reduce the per person cost to enter the aquarium significantly and attract larger groups of tourists. Website based booking has been introduced and respective accounts have been created on PayPal and similar web based transaction systems (Hughes, Wang, & Shu 2015). The incentives provided by these platform will further add to the revenue. A significant amount of the budget has been allocated for web based promotion on different social media platform and a team of social media experts have been appointed for this purpose.

This ambitious project would not have been possible without the invaluable support of different governmental agencies especially form the Australian Trade Commission’s Tourism Major Project Facilitation (TMPF) which has provided tourism developers with a central contact person in the Government thus streamlining extensive processes of governmental approvals and and has increased the efficiency of the project (Ruhanen, Whitford, & McLennan, 2015).

A significant amount of the budget has to spent on allocating officials who will oversee the proper maintenance of the delicate ecosystem that has been established in the center. Proper care for the fauna is a primary objective for the authorities as they are the main attraction of the center (Australia, 2017). Appointments should also be provided to professional tour guides for the various exhibits that will be present and they should have extensive knowledge about the animals and plants in display as interaction and dispersion of knowledge is the main objective of the aquarium.

A $200,000 has been allocated for the development of promotional campaigns throughout the country and the campaigns have been channelled to proper promotional agencies. Billboards and other forms of mass media outlets have been processed and are ready to be used (Munro, 2015). Different media outlets have been contacted and they have shown strong support for the center.

Tourism Australia and Austrade have formed a Mutual Investment promotion partnership as a response the the long term tourism strategy of the nation. This initiative called the tourism 2020 involves the state and territorial governments of the Country working with the tourism industry to increase the overnight visitor expenditure to an amount of over $115 billion by 2020 (Tourisminvestment.com.au, 2018). This partnership has demonstrated that the government of Australia is dedicated and committed in making a hassle free investment process that will remove barriers and provide information and insight on the tourism opportunities of the country for interested investors.

A strong relationship with the local businesses, hotels, cruise ship companies and other key tourist operators will also be crucial to the development of the project as they have a huge promotional capacity and will create a healthy environment for the tourists to have a unique experience of the Tropical North Queensland (Rasheed, McKenna, Carter, & Coles, 2014).

Conclusion

Thinking on behalf of a larger demographic of people is a marketing concept is turning out to be more commonplace and essential for a number of business organizations. The concept of marketing strategically refers to the company's primary point of business being set according to the wish of its largest section of customer. Cairns Aquarium and reef research centre is an organisation that not only provides a unique platform for an intimate interaction between man and nature but it is also structurally oriented towards conserving the natural habitat of the area of North Queensland. This marketing Brief will successfully establish proper working module for the organisation.

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