Develop a Marketing Plan/Strategy

Executive Summary

The slogan at Gaza Hotel, Lounge, and Restaurant “A whole new experience” focuses on availing the guests of services more than just a Hotel. Our restaurant features an outstanding European menu coupled with a touch of Indian influence in place with a cozy atmosphere. The menu of Gaza Lounge has inspiration from different cuisine specialities. The business appeals to a variety and extensive clientele. In addition to the regular menu, the restaurant offers prix fixe dinner in a three-course fashion; business lunch is also provided with the same offer. The marketing strategy focuses on providing quality services and a rich menu at affordable prices. The aim of this is to get the customers to market the hotel by word of mouth. The product mix includes food, drinks, and hotel rooms. The promotion that the business will major in is personalized emails and messages. Other media such as television and radio will be used.

The Challenge

The guests who visit our restaurant get the best service values in the Notown market. The restaurant not only offers a stay-in just outside the business district, but it also has multiple amenities throughout the restaurant. The design for the restaurant features drawings and paintings from notable artists. Every month, the restaurant showcases an upcoming artist and their corresponding work of art. The objective of this is to allow the artists around the community to show their talent and work and to create an atmosphere that is exciting and friendly. Before the talent show by the artist, special invitations will be sent to attract more customers and newspersons. Only the lounge will be used for this event so that the activities of the restaurant are not disrupted, people will still be able to sit and relax. Those are some of the services offered in Gaza Lounge and Restaurant that make it unique.

Some of the strategies that the restaurant will leverage are as follows: when all bars and restaurants are closed on Mondays, the Gaza restaurant will have a Restaurant Night. Here the owners of other restaurants and their employees can come and socialize on the night off, the effect will be a sense of community in the local industry. The Restaurant will also feature a special evening for wine tasting, and it will be a five-course meal that would feature new wines that willing distributors will sponsor. In this event, customers may come out and learn about food and wine.

Sales figures that are targeted by the end of the year are as follows:

Item	Amount	Type
Sales from food	$5000	Income
Sales from drinks	$3000	Income
Cocktail Sales	$1000	Income
Sales form booked rooms	$5000	Income
Tips	$500	Income

Situation Analysis

Company Analysis

Goals

Gaza Hotel, Lounge, and Restaurant offer value and benefits to its clients that are over and above the market standards, and at affordable rates. The goal of the Hotel is to provide the guests and customers with personalized service that are exemplary. The Hotel and Lounge seek to give the customers a level of recognition that they can always rely upon. The customers are provided with an environment that is luxurious and relaxed within which they can carry out their different tasks.

The environment of Gaza hotel is larger and personalized, unlike our competitors. Gaza Hotel aims to make the customers aware that they can develop a fruitful relationship with the hotel to make their time and stay better, reliable, have plenty of support and have value for money. Because the Hotel operates in an environment which has a strong send of community, it aims to stay the society’s integral part.

Focus

The focus of our business is on the slogan “A whole new experience” to avail our guests, of services more than just a restaurant. Our restaurant features an outstanding European menu coupled with a touch of Indian influence in place with a cozy atmosphere. The menu of Gaza Lounge has inspiration from different cuisine specialities. The business focuses to appeal to a variety and extensive clientele. In addition to the regular menu, the restaurant offers prix fixe dinner in a three-course fashion and a business lunch with the same offer.

Culture

The culture at Gaza Hotel, Lounge, and Restaurant is a communal culture which appreciates hard work and art. Such can be seen in the restaurant design which features drawings and paintings by notable artists. Every month, the restaurant showcases an upcoming artist and their corresponding work of art. The objective of this is to allow the artists around the community to show their talent and work and to create an atmosphere that is exciting and friendly. Before the talent show by the artist, special invitations are sent to attract more customers and newspersons. This event is hosted strictly in the lounge so that the activities of the restaurant are not disrupted, other uninterested customers will still be able to sit and relax.

Strengths

Our Hotel has multiple strengths some of which include:

• Competitive edge in the menu, the environment and the Chef (Wagner, 2018).
• Good Service in a friendly place
• Local and international menu with fresh ingredients.
• An elegant and comfortable environment with warm and relaxing decor.
• Proper management and satisfactory service.
• Online ordering and delivery capability of the restaurant.
• Classy hotel rooms with exceptional service delivery at affordable prices.

Weaknesses

Like with any business, Gaza Hotel is not without its weaknesses, which include:

• The possibility of poor service by some staff.
• Inadequate training of the employees, some may not know how to attend to tables.
• Inconsistent supply may cause menu items to be unavailable.
• Possible disadvantages due to no economies of scale.

Market Share (Mplans, 2016)

Variable		2015	2016	2017
Revenue from Industry		$100,000,000	$110,000,000	$115,000,000
Gaza Hotel Market Share		0.2%	0.2%	0.3%
Revenue of Gaza Hotel		$20,000	$22,000	$34,500
Industry Variable Costs		$70,000,000	$80,000,000	$80,000,000
Gaza Hotel Variable Costs		$150,000	$170,000	$270,000
Industry Gross Contribution Margin		$30,000,000	$30,000,000	$35,000,000
Gaza hotel Gross Contribution Margin		$50,000	$50,000	$75,000
Expenses incurred for Marketing		$30,000	$35,000	$65,000
Gaza Hotel Net Contribution Margin		$20,000	$15,000	$10,000

Customer Analysis

Many arguments and reasons have constantly been stated in support of customer analysis yet most organizations fall victim to believing that they understand their customers since they interact with them on a daily basis. The reality is however often different as can be seen by the way organizations are caught off guard when their major market sectors decline. Because of this, there is a genuine requirement for regular assessment and re-assessment of what the customers want, their satisfaction level, and the scope for creating new services and products that customers may want.

Gaza Hotel values its customer and carries out customer analysis. The average number of customers that the restaurant serves in a day ranges between 80 and 100. Most of the customers are business persons, executives, and families. For hotel reservations, most of the customers are usually couples, and their number ranges between 30 and 50 per day. The value drivers increase the quality of the services or goods that are provided by our business. The value drivers that are expected to hook the customer are exceptional customer service, the cuisine at the restaurant, affordable costs and five-star treatment.

Most of the purchase decisions of customers are due to habit more than brand loyalty (Cuellar-Healy & Gomez, 2013). This is especially visible in the goods and services that have low costs such as the lunch Prix fix. Most of those who stay at the hotel do so due to the excellent customer service and therefore loyal to the brand. On some occasions, the buying decisions are due to a variety-seeking nature. The concentration of the customers that purchase regularly is usually grown people, business executives of families.

Competitor Analysis

Market Position

Some of the businesses that compete directly with Gaza hotel are listed below:

Hilton, Notown, a five-star hotel which exerts a lot of pressure on Gaza Hotel

Glendale, Notown, – these are furnished apartments which have about 10% better facilities than in Gaza

Hyatt Residence, five-star apartments that have rates that are almost 125 of Gaza Lounge.

Growth and Share
Competitor	Price	Growth Rate	Market Share
Hilton	$106	5%	21%
Glendale Apts	$106	5%	6%
Hyatt Residence	$122	5%	11%
Gaza Hotel	$106	7%	22%
Average	$110.00	5.50%	15.25%
Total	$440.00	22%	61.00%

 

Hilton, Notown Analysis

Strengths

The hotel is highly visible from the interstate.

Have a complimentary hot breakfast buffet.

The hotel has close proximity to an international airport.

Has a strong convention and visitor bureau.

Weaknesses

Unavailability of meeting space.

The management of the hotel is lax.

No company vehicle is available for the transportation of customer goods.

Opportunities

There is a new mall under construction a few miles from the hotel

Threats

Road construction will cause the main highway to the hotel to be closed.

The sporting event that takes place annually will move to a different city.

Another hotel is being constructed one mile closer to the airport.

Collaborators

Gaza Hotel, Lounge, and Restaurant will receive a subsidiary from the government for the expenses of food. The subsidiaries will be up to 20 percent of the costs incurred. Being a hotel, we have ties with many distributors to keep our stocks fresh and available. The most valuable distributors are the grocery distributors since these need to be fresh to give the food the taste that customers seek. Additionally, Gaza Hotel has joined forces with the Hilton Hotel to start an initiative of community development that will see that the local communities have higher living standards.

Climate: PEST ANALYSIS

Political factors

The performance of Gaza hotel partly depends on the political forces in its external environment. These are the effects of government action on the external environment of a firm. In our case the political factors include:

1. Complex policies on the environment (opportunity).
2. Policies on animal rights (opportunity).
3. Political stability or major markets (opportunity).

In the political dimension, Gaza Hotel has a chance to grow with little disturbances in the markets.  It can also improve its policies to surpass the policies in place.

Economic factors

This area of the PEST analysis focuses on the factors external to a firm that influences its economic viability. Gaza Lounge and Restaurant must align itself with the economic situation. The notable economic factors here include:

1. Slow growth of the U.S. market (threat)
2. A higher number of international trade agreements (opportunity).
3. The fast growth of developing markets (opportunity)

Socio-cultural factors

This dimension focuses on the external cultural and social factors that might affect consumption patterns and employee behavior. Such factors in the case of Gaza Hotel include:

1. Rising demand for business social responsibility (opportunity)
2. Trends in animal rights (threat)
3. Environmentalism (opportunity)

Technological factors

This dimension of external business analysis focuses on the way technology and technological innovations affect firms. The significant technological factors that affect our firm include:

1. Increase the number of transactions in e-commerce(opportunity)
2. Progressing levels of business process computerization (opportunity)
3. The speedy pace of innovations (opportunity)

SWOT Analysis

Market Segmentation

One of the integral parts of the marketing strategy at Gaza Hotel is targeting and positioning. Segmentation divides a population into different groups by different features while targeting is when we select the identified groups from segmentation to sell our products to. Positioning refers to the selection of the market mix that is most suitable for a target customer segment (Appelroth, 2015). The product positioning that we should use should be adaptive to the changes. Our company periodically repositions its services and products to cater for any changes in the segments.

When the market is segmented a large number of the customers fit the criteria that will be described below. The customers that frequent Gaza Hotel are both domestic and international due to the airport. Most are aged between 25 and 45 and both genders are represented fairly equally. The customers mostly come from urban areas. Business persons make up a significant portion of the customers. The level of loyalty varies whereby international customers are the most loyal. The benefits that the customers seek are efficient prices, quality service and a rich menu. Reaching these customers requires proper marketing through personalized emails to inform them about offers. Another way to reach them is through affiliate marketing.

Alternative Marketing Strategies

One strategy is to conduct customer analysis to ensure the successful implementation of the objectives. A statistical research survey will be able to identify factors that influence the purchasing behavior of the buyers. This will ensure that the marketing strategy changes with the revolution of social status and buyer designs. A lot of focus must be placed on the behavior of the buyer. Such market research focuses on certain questions to understand what the market wants or needs in terms of what they want to buy, where they want to buy and when they want to buy. The study must focus on the many different segments of the target consumers. Everything that might influence the patterns of purchase will be considered. An influence on the choice of purchase may not be the element itself but a more extensive reason. When we understand their customers to a deeper level, we can strategically achieve our set objectives quite easily.

Selected Marketing Strategy

The strategy at Gaza hotel will be simple. The intention is to succeed by giving the customers excellent food coupled with an appealing environment which will attract a variety of successful people. The quality of services and food will be of utmost importance. Increasing awareness in the surrounding communities will be the primary focus of the marketing strategy. All the tactics and marketing programs will be aimed at explaining who we are and what we are here to do. The standards at the hotel will remain high to attain marketing through word of mouth successfully. The environment will be unbeatable, appealing, entertaining and with exceptional quality and affordable prices. The friendliness of the staff will be the talk of the town.

Marketing Mix

Product

The primary products of Gaza hotel are food, drinks, and hotel rooms. The product mix of  Gaza hotel has the following product lines: chicken, cheeseburgers, beef, whiskey, wine, fries, desserts, coffee and soft drinks, and hotel rooms among others. With time, we will expand our product mix by innovating new products to reach a more extensive customer base.

Price

Gaza hotel offers affordable rates for its service, yet at the same time, not a very low process. The strategy used here is price bundling to promote the purchase of a package instead of single items. The bundled items such as a night room coupled with food, for the entire stay are cheaper.

Distribution

Currently, Gaza hotel only has one branch but is projected to expand. We reach our customers directly. Another way to reach the customers is through an online ordering platform where customers around the neighborhood can order food, and it gets delivered for free.

Promotion

The tactics used by Gaza hotel in the promotion include advertising, sales promotion, direct selling and public relations. The most notable promotional tactics are advertisements. The advertisement media that we use include radio, TV, online media and print media. Occasionally we carry out sales promotions to attract customers to the restaurant.

VIII. Short and Long-Term Projections

The short-term projection for the marketing strategy is to increase sales and attract more customers to the business premises. The long-term goals are to develop an undisputable brand name which is rightfully earned and that must stay. This will foresee many international customers coming to the hotel. The customers of the class will also be attracted as a result. With continued growth, the hotel has projections to open other branches.

Conclusion

Gaza Hotel, Lounge, and Restaurant has a robust strategy in the market and is likely to succeed due to its exceptional cuisine, rich menu and excellent customer service. The affordable prices that will be offered are also part of the marketing strategies. Compared to its competitors, the business has a chance to succeed in the competitive market. Most of the clientele that the hotel seeks to attract are business persons, happy couples, singles, and families.

References

Appelroth, E. (2015). Marketing plan for a restaurant. Retrieved from https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/101013/Appelroth_Erica.pdf?sequence=2

Cuellar-Healy, S., & Gomez, M. (2013). Marketing Module 2: Customer Analysis (No. 186560). Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.

D’Alola, L. (2017). A Restaurant Industry SWOT Analysis. Retrieved from https://tdn2k.com/uncategorized/restaurant-industry-swot-analysis/

Mplans. (2016). Hotel Marketing Plan Riverview Hotel. Retrieved from https://www.mplans.com/hotel_marketing_plan/situation_analysis_fc.php

Wagner, N. (2018). Sample of a SWOT Analysis for a Restaurant. Retrieved from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/sample-swot-analysis-restaurant-73526.html 
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Week 8 – Signature Assignment: Develop a Marketing Plan/Strategy

Assignment

Due August 5 at 11:59 PM

In this assignment, utilize the information from the previous weeks in the course. Develop a marketing strategy and plan based on the opportunity you identified earlier. As you develop the plan, keep in mind that in addition to innovation in ideas, processes and products innovation are needed in communication with the market. You should review the trends that are now referred as Web 4.0.

To complete this assignment review the outline of a marketing plan found @ http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/plan/. The outline explains what is included in each of the sections of a marketing plan.

Support your paper with a minimum of four (4) peer reviewed articles published in the last five years. In addition to these specified resources, other appropriate scholarly resources, including older articles, may be included.

Length: 10-12 pages not including title page and references

Your response should demonstrate thoughtful consideration of the ideas and concepts presented in the course and provide new thoughts and insights relating directly to this topic. Your response should reflect scholarly writing and current APA standards.