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PLAN
1. Introduction
A brief introduction of the Integrated Marketing communication strategy
A briefing about the Holiday Inn
A thesis statement that gives a skeleton or rather a sketchy detail about the whole essay
2- Body
A theoretical argument of the various strategies integrated together to form a single more comprehensive marketing strategy
A practical example of each of the theoretical strategy drawn from the Holiday inn
3- Conclusion
A wrap up statement about the body, now summing up the whole essay
Integrated marketing communication strategy
Integrated marketing communication strategy is a comprehensive strategy that involves the well-coordinated use of different product promotional methods to achieve the firms marketing objectives. The comprehensive combination of the varying product promotional methods is seen as more viable as each of them reinforces the other. Various communication disciplines which include; advertising, public relations and sales promotions are coordinated together in a bid to articulate the firm’s marketing strategy in the most ample and best way (Holm, 2006, 22). This creates a greater impact than that which would have been created if each of the strategies were use in a segregated manner.
Most businesses in the contemporary world have adapted this new marketing strategy with an aim of boosting their total sales volume, maintaining a large customer base and attracting new customers. Holiday Inn is a transnational chain of hotels and forms part of the famous British based Intercontinental Hotel Group (Stuart, 2012, 13). The chain of hotels is one of the globe’s leading with over three thousand five hundred outlets which are scattered all over the world. The creation of this chain of hotels is a brain child of Emmons Wilson after he encountered a disappointment with the level of service that was being offered by road motels during one of his road trips.
Wilson’s chief aim was to leave a legacy in the hospitality industry by modifying and improving on the quality of service offered in the industry. True to his expectations, he walked the talk and his efforts bore fruits. Years down the line what started as a single hotel had now sprouted into a chain with plentiful outlets and had been branded as the Nations Inn keeper. The chain set a standard for its competitors like Quality and Ramada Inns (Stuart, 2012, 13). The company later intruded into other form of services. This includes medical and nursing homes, a media company, clubs and resorts. The success of the company was not received on a silver platter. It has been as a result of application of sound strategies and policies in each and every activity of the company.
The Holiday Inn’s accomplishments have been as a result of a wide market research which has enabled them to keep abreast with the numerous changes in the marketing strategies. The ultimate goal of production is sale and in large volumes. The Holiday Inn being a producer of both goods and services has been incorporating uprising strategies into their marketing strategies aim a bid to maintain the competitive advantage they already have at hand. They have amalgamated the use of various strategies in promoting their products which includes advertising, modifying the organization’s culture, public relations and pricing (Stuart, 2012, 14). The combination of these strategies has absolutely resulted in great prosperity of the company. The combination of various marketing strategies which is technically referred to as integrated marketing communication has been cultivated in the Holiday Inn as illuminated below.
One of the most integral parts of marketing in a firm is the internal organization of the company in question (Kelvin and Philip, 2005, 23). The sustained practices in a company are referred to as the organization’s culture. The culture of an organization comprises of the values, the vision, the systems, the symbols, the beliefs, the norms, the working language and the habits of the human resources who are part of the organization. As the saying goes, charity begins at home. A desirable and a virtuous organization culture are very vital in promoting their products. It is the foundation of all the other marketing strategies that are applied by the organization.
Each firm is partitioned into a number of departments whereby each is tasked with a varying chore to the other. Coordination of the various departments is extremely important to the achievement of the company’s mission and vision and specifically in marketing. The most imperative aspects of the organization’s culture are; the organizations vision and mission, the attitude and behavior of the workforce as well as the owners and the communication network within the organization. The mission and the vision in an organization act as a mirror that enables all the stakeholders of the organization to reflect their performances (Shaw, 2011, 124). It acts as a streamliner of all undertakings in the organization towards the same direction of achieving a given objective. The attitude and the behavior of the workforce as well as the owners are also very important in creating a good working environment in the business. The flow of information in the firm is also very imperative.
When it comes to marketing, the company should set an impressive mission statement which is achievable and attractive to the customers. The core objective of this mission statement would be to rationalize the actions of each staff and the owners towards achievement of what it stipulates. Coining of the mission statement should be done in the most creative way considering the market requirements and prospective customer’s preferences and needs (Kwoka, 2007, 56). Achievement of the mission would absolutely result in the realization of the set marketing goals. The workers attitude as well as that of the owners is also very importance. A friendly and a warm relationship between the organizations staff as well as the owners should be cultivated to ensure a smooth running of the organization. Smooth running of the organization would in turn result in attainment of the marketing objectives that have been set by the organization. A proper communication within the organization should also be fostered. This would hence allow free interaction of the different departments. The free flow of information would hence facilitate formulation of sound marketing decisions as well as their implementation.
The Holiday Inn chain of hotel’s mission statement is: “We are committed in providing our guests with the best experience”. Their vision is to offer a world class service to their clientele (Stuart, 2012, 13). These two statements are appealing to the customers and each person anticipates getting the exemplary experience. On the other hand, the statements act as motivating factors to the staff of the chain of hotels. Each worker strives hard to ensure that the two are achieved. The mother company’s management has also strived hard to improve on the attitude of their workers. They have been motivating them through forums as well as rewards which have resulted in more hard work among the workers. This has been a boost to the promotion strategies employed by the company. The company has also developed a system which allows free movement of important information in the company. This has also been efficient in facilitating the making of complex and comprehensive decisions in marketing as well as other scopes.
The other important aspect of marketing that is being amalgamated to others to make marketing more comprehensive is advertising. In the present day, advertisement techniques have advanced by a great deal due to progressions in technology (Donald and Kenneth, 2012, 156). Copious platforms that are yielding advertisement opportunities have cropped up. Most of the platforms are Information Communication technology based. These platforms include the internet and marketing software and applications. Currently in the world a better part of the total world’s population is having access to internet through gadgets such as mobile devices and handheld gadgets such as tablets. These advancements have opened up abundant fronts of reaching current as well as prospective customers. Internet marketing has not only enabled dissipation of information on a company’s products but also has also opened doors for the customer’s feedback. Behavioral advertising has facilitated most companies to evaluate the market requirements by tracking their behavior over the internet.
To ensure an all-round marketing other advertisement forums like print and tele-advertising are also essential (Stephen and Robert, 2004 12). They seal any loopholes that might have been left by the technological advertisements. This comprises the use of newspapers, pamphlets, journals, magazines, periodicals and leaflets to promote the products offered by an organization. Readers in most cases are influenced by appealing advertisements on the print media and are predisposed to give a trial.
The Holiday Inn has effectively used the advertisement platforms to seduce more customers. They have even sought the services of a marketing media research company to assist them create the best advertisement portfolio. The company has created their own smartphone application that is bringing their services closer to their clientele. The application has an inbuilt global positioning system that enables their customers to trace their premises wherever they are. In advertising the hotel is outstanding in that it unites all the means conceivable. Besides using the ICT based advertisements, this chain of hotels also uses the print media to create awareness of their quality services to unaware people. This includes magazines and pamphlet which they spread all over the world. The usage of innumerable media platforms has enabled it to build brand loyalty among its customers (Stuart, 2012, 14)
Other important aspects of marketing that are important in making it more all-inclusive are pricing, product value and the public relations. For efficient marketing to be achieved the product prices must be friendly and the products should be of the best quality. Giving the customers value for their service is very important in enticing more purchases (Deepak and Singh, 2002, 7). The way the organization relates to the public is also essential in construction of the marketing image of an organization.
The Holiday Inn has been a mid-priced hotel despite its international ratings. They have been offering their clients the best service since time immemorial. The company has also taken a very friendly approach in its dealings with the public. It has also been involved in charitable activities hence creating a good public image. The company has also been involved in other promotional activities including provision of gifts, offers and hampers to their loyal customers (Stuart, 2012, 14). This integration of numerous approaches in marketing has truly enabled it to be miles ahead of other inns.
The consideration of the combination of the above stated factors including the organization culture, the advertisement techniques, the pricing techniques, the product quality, promotional techniques and public relations is a nutshell, the integrated marketing communication strategy (IMCS). Integration of all these techniques, just as the Holiday Inn chain of Hotels has done is referred to as Integrated Marketing communication strategy.
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