Hotel Marketing Plan

Louise Hotel is located in Houston, Galleria Area, and is spa-focused. The positive and philanthropic approach of the hotel has been tailored to inspire every client. The mission of Louise Hotel is to endeavor to make significant differences in the lives of its guests and associates through similar life passions. The vision is to be a leading company in the hospitality industry that is recognized for the development of its unique and elegant style in the realm of spa facilities provision. The concept of Louise Hotel encompasses five keywords – inventive, humble, hip, happy, and conscious. The hotel also aims at providing a healthy and relaxing ambiance with a personal feel and touch. This approach has been illustrated by the vending machines that are located in the lobby, as they are fitted with wallets that have been made from the FedEx envelopes.

Marketing Condition Analysis for Louise Hotel (Internal Analysis)

Considering the hospitality market and industry, Louise Hotel has been reporting persistent increment of revenues to a point that it even surpasses its objectives. However, the hotel industry has been experiencing economic downturns, whereby employment has been constantly decreasing, GDP has been remaining constant, and the number of conference travels has been decreasing. Standard and Poor’s, which is a rating company, forecasted speculations of further decline in the performance of the hotel and catering industry (Moore, 2002). Moreover, during this period, the Louise Hotel has still been doing well and has not been subject to economic downturns. It has well-reviewed and established marketing strategies that ensure that its customer base gets catered for accordingly, while at the same time guaranteeing them a personal touch. In addition, the resource-based view suggests that organizations ought to derive operational benefits within the organization.

The internal factors that may undermine the success of Louise Hotel include strategic constraints, marketing mix modeling, and marketing mix. The hotel has also put a large emphasis on its global consumer target by conforming to the changing customer needs and preferences so as to maintain a competitive edge. This emphasis is of paramount importance because it proves to be convenient for the average trendy businesses since the same services are offered in other hotels at higher prices. The company’s management and leadership style are important internal factors for the management of the impact of organizational culture. Business relationships and processes within departments are also influencing the effectiveness and efficiency of the business.

For instance, there is much focus on lobbies with high energy zones and publicly designated places that are appropriate for intimate conversations. The global approach that Louise Hotel adapts necessitates for value lifetime models of the clients. These models are vital for the simulation of revenue per customer. For Louise Hotel, marketing strategy should consider both external and internal environments. The internal environment factors entail the marketing mix, strategic constraints, performance analysis, and marketing mix modeling. The external environment that Louise Hotel should consider entails such factors as competitor analysis and the evaluation of a technological environment (Moore, 2002).

Comparison to Competition

Just like any organization in operational existence, Louise Hotel is susceptible to competition from other institutions within the hotel industry. As a retaliatory solution, Louise Hotel has come up with product differentiation techniques in the quest for targeting a specific market and gaining an added advantage over its competitors. Even though the arrival of new entrants in the hospitality industry may be detrimental for Louise Hotel, the organization has diversified its operations to increase the costs of entry for new rivals. With respect to diversification, Louise Hotel has also been making attempts to diversify its market share portfolio by offering substitute goods for the consumers. For instance, in the realm of technology and communication, Louise Hotel has both wireless and capable Internet allowing the consumer to choose depending on the required Internet speed. Market share owned by the hotel suggests much room for improvement. However, even though such competitors as Louise Hotel entered the market much later, the greatest part market share is due to customer satisfaction.

Due to intense competition that the hotel has to face, it has come up with landline smartphones, whereby consumers can book any of the hotel services online, including accommodation. In such a way, Louise Hotel has gained a considerable competitive edge over its competitors. It has already made huge investments in differentiating its services to suit the top-notch recommendable standards in attempts to beat its rivalry (Moore, 2002). As compared to its competitors, InterContinental Hotels Group has an array of hospitality services such as saunas, jacuzzis, fitness lessons, skydiving, and conference rooms. The offers which go beyond the typical hotel services have been put in the grid of customer segmentation and can be offered at lower prices. The customer’s budget is always price sensitive, and this has received compensation from the high range of products that have a smaller price variance (Moore, 2002). However, the biggest price challenge for the company in regard to this aspect is the ability to improve the quality of the customer service at the currently low prices.

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning

Louise Hotel has made an effort to provide a great experience for generation X and Y in small portions and at very affordable prices. In addition, an independent social traveler looks forward to cohabiting in a seamless world that alternates between public and private settings. Young travelers want to experience low prices and tasteful style and tend to prioritize dynamic experience over room service. The lobby of the hotel contains snacks and drinks available for free. The target customers are the high-end business persons because the rooms have access to high-speed internet that can enable them to check their emails and be in a position to handle online transactions.

The hotel also has a strategic business location and acceptable environment for the business people. The business targets affluent families who might decide to go spend their vacation in the hotel. The family will experience comfort, as the hotel has a heated swimming pool, bicycles for lease, and pet-friendly facilities. Another target customer group of the hotel is corporate employees, who might decide to spend some leisure time in the hotel, while at the same time monitoring their jobs and performing minor tasks away from the office. For the purpose of this target group, each room has a fold-down writing desk, an ironing board, a coffee maker, wireless internet access, iPod docking station as well as ample parking of only $20 a night (Bowman & Gatignon, 2010).

Marketing Strategy

As a marketing strategy, Louis Hotel charges constant prices for its products and services. In addition, Louis Hotel should, therefore, consider that that rate parity exists in various booking sites in different countries. Customers are probably not willing to pay a different price for another hotel facility in other affiliates of the same organization. Hence, there is a necessity for product standardization. For this reason, the hotel chain has consistently lower prices in all its branches, which is a marketing strategy used to counteract the inherent competition in the hotel and hospitality industry. Due to the vast products and services that Louise Hotel offers to its customers, the pricing strategy will have to take into account all these facilities and differentiate those that are most likely to differ seasonally. Inventory allocation and the management of sell rates are crucial and should be monitored consistently so as to attain consistency in the pricing procedures.

Louise Hotel’s marketing strategies include spending a significant part of the time for training the staff as well as the management in the quest of increasing standards of service offered to the customers and consequently increased loyalty. This strategy had worked before, as customer reviews in the media increased significantly. The hotel is also focusing on environmentally and socially conscious features, such as the vending machine branded by a magazine. The magazine was dispensing wallets that were professionally made from FedEx envelopes. In addition, wall art and an orange phone that automatically connected to the “philanthropy concierge” had a positive impact on the company’s image (Bowman & Gatignon, 2010).

Another marketing strategy the company used to attract its customer base was a unique sense of style and comfort. It was achieved by offering different cuisines in attempts to draw in the clients from all cultures as long as they were residing within the locality. The hotel was also offering platform beds that were draped with fleece blankets. The beds were made from reclaimed pine, while the blankets were made from the recycled soda bottles. These solutions provided customers with a unique feeling. The hotel always responds to the customer’s feedback and makes any necessary changes according to the needs of a client. Despite its geographical diversity, it is always ensured the product-line is conformed to.

Conclusion

Louise Hotel ensures that the customer gets value for his money through the well-customized experience that perfectly suits his pocket. The hotel saw an opportunity in the market, and its room rates are less than $100. It has much focus on lobbies with high energy zones and publicly designated places that are appropriate for intimate conversations. In the international growth strategies, there is no “one size fits all” approach, since some players will undertake an opportunistic basis, while others will be executing their well laid out plans. Companies should, therefore, do market research to arrive at a certain global growth strategy, but not embrace only one of them because of the mere fact that another company has adopted a similar strategy.

The international growth of Louise Hotel will call for a long-term strategy as well as such tools as the customer value lifetime models. The models can be very important for simulating the revenue per customer and the effects of strategy on the acquisition. For Louise Hotel, the marketing strategy should include a very close analysis of the external and internal environments.