Integrated Hospitality Marketing Communications for Premier Inn Case Study

Introduction: Effective Marketing Channels for Hospitality Businesses

Stability and the financial position of the company depend upon the marketing strategy which is been used by the company. The company should use appropriate channel through which they can use to communicate with the target customers. The channels such as advertisement, social media marketing, sponsorship and the direct marketing are the sources through which the company can easily communicate their strategy & objectives. Marketing communication plays an important role in the hospitality industry as this will help in attraction and retention of the customerin an organization. This report will help in identify the various marketing communication tools and the model which the company can use for promoting the business. The company on which the assignment is prepared is the premier inn. This report will also include the evaluation of the channel of communication and how this will help in add value to the organization. Recommendation will be provided regarding the choice of the channel for the Premier inn company. It will also include the formation of the objective and the detailed identifying the strategies which could help in achieve the objectives.

Premier Inn profile

The chosen hospitality company for the assignment is the primer Inn which is the largest hotel chain of the UK. Whitbread establish the company in the 1987 as the “Travel Inn”. He also establish “premier lodge” which was later merged with the travel inn and formed Premier Inn in 2007. Currently the company is working with 800 hotels all across UK with more than 72000 rooms. The aim of the company is to provide proficiency to the customerthrough their hotels and restaurant services. It has a market share of the 11% in 2022 with the annual turnover of 2.62 Billion British pound. The target market for the company is to attract all type of customer from leisure traveler to the business travelers. The aim of the company is to provide the comfortable and quality accommodation to the traveler at an affordable rate. Business traveler are the main targeted customer for the company which aim at the providing all the services and the facilities to the customer while working far away from the organization. The company used various strategies which will help in attracting more customers and increasing the profitability of the organization (Strategies used by the Premier Inn, 2023). They have employed price discrimination strategy by offering discount rate on the weekends. The company is implementing the value pricing strategy which means they want to provide the best quality and the satisfaction form the money they spend in the company. The company also implements the dynamic pricing strategies which includes no fix rates for the prices of the room and decides on the basis of the demand. The company has established a high reputation in the UK, Germany and the Ireland.

Communication Channels For The Hospitality Organization

There are various marketing communication channel which are used by the Premier Inn to attract and retain customer in the organization. This help in improving the level of the knowledge of the traveler regarding the objective and the goals of the company. Current communication channel are as follows:

• Advertisement: It is the traditional method which aims at attracting the high amount of the customer by educating through the TVs or radio ads. This is the most expensive method for promoting the services. Under this the company provides 1 min description of the services which are generally provided by the company.
• Social media: This is the widely used channel of communication in the recent times. Young generation generally influence their decision on type basis of the information provided on this sites (Law, Leung and Chan, 2020). The company makes an attracting video and the pictures of the hotel and its services which attract mort of the company.
• Emails and phones: These are the traditional channels through which the costumers are made aware of the services which the companies are providing. In the Emails all the detail regarding the company are mentioned with the services and the discount amount. Emails are the double side communication with the traveler through which the customer asked their queries and solve them problems.
• Search engine optimization: it is the method through which the company represents on the top when the key words are searched. This made the organization familiar and popular among the costumers and travelers. Through this the customer identifies all the services and the facilities which the company is providing.

Critical Analysis Of Channel Through The 4 C's Model

While selecting the best channel of the communication the Premier Inn evaluated the entire communication channel on the basis of the 4'C model. The 4 ‘c include the costumer, cost, content and the control. The company evaluates the above channels in the following ways:

Importance Of The Marketing Channel

From the above discussion it can be identified that there are variety of marketing channel through which the customer could be attract. Marketing channel adds value to the company as this will impact the profitability and stability position of the organization. Social media marketing is the most popular strategy which been used by the Mitchell and butlers company. This helps Premier Inn in acquiring the high amount of the customer from all over the world. The company is successful implementing the technique by uploading more than 90 posts in a year. They have hired a team which create the script and decide what the content should be which help in determining the effectiveness of the post and to check the accuracy of the content. The company has also focused on providing training to the employee's so that the marketing could be done by any one (Sano and Sano, 2019). These have long lasting impact on the customer and are able to generate more costumers in the previous year. These help Premier Inn in attaining the long term goals for the investing in the revenue and help in engaging more customers towards the organization.

Appropriate Channel Of Communication For The Premier Inn

Premier Inn is deciding to establish devise communication goals for the firm which will help in improving the profit. The company has decided to increase the brand awareness of the company (Peter and Dalla Vecchia, 2021). The company aims at increasing the sales by the 10 % in the upcoming year. To accomplish concerned objective Premier Inn should use the social media marketing as the channel of the communication. The company should use this channel for the various reasons which are as follows:

• Through this channel the Premier Inn would become able to cover the large amount of the audience in smaller time. The company is targeting the young generation which could be achieved through this marketing tools.
• Social media marketing will help in creating the awareness among the customer by providing attracting videos and the photos on the regular basis. Through the objective for the customer awareness could be achieved as this can spread the information in the shorter time interval.
• To achieve the goals of increasing the sales by the 10% social media is the best channel as this will attract more costumer. As the time is changing people generally search on the social media sites such as facebook, Instagram etc before deciding any hospitality company (Kurdi, et. al, 2022). Regular social media marketing will help in influencing huge customer and improving the profitability of Premier Inn.

Application Of The Communication Objective In Relation To The Marketing Communication Mix

The premier inn decided the objective of creating the brand awareness and improving the ales by 10%. This also includes attracting most of the customer towards the organization. The company has decided to employ social media marketing channel through which this goals could be achieved (Krizanova, et. al, 2019). With the change in time the impact of traditional marketing has been decreasing in the market. Social media marketing helps in attracting more costumers and the leaving a long lasting impact on the consumer mind. The marketing mix which the company should use is as follows:

Primer inn will include the content marketing at the initial level this will help in creating valuable content and posting on the company website on the regular basis. This will help in creating a sustainable and trust worthy relationship with the customer which will help in influencing the costumer.

The company will also adopt the influencer marketing which will help in increasing the sales. Premier Inn will provide a day an accommodation to the influencer and asked them to provide feedback through their account which will help in gaining the trust of the potential costumer.

The company will also use the YouTube channel where the company Vlogs will be uploaded on the regular basis (Martin, Javalgi and Ciravegna, 2020). This will also include the live feedback from the customer who are availing the facilities and help in fascinate more costumers.

The company will hire the team which will prepare the attractive video of the company and regular post on facebook and Instagram which will enhance the profitability of the company.

Integrated Marketing Communication Objective

The integrated marketing communication strategy indicates that when the customer approaches various marketing channel they will be receive the same objective of the company. These aim at unifying the message of the brand to the entire customer across all the Medias. After analysis the factors which are influencing the company the company has set the SMART integrated communication objectives which are as follows;

• The IMC objective involve the increasing the brand awareness of the premier Inn.
• The company has decided to improve the revenue by the 20% at the end of the upcoming years.
• Premier Inn Aim at retaining the existing customer by educating them regarding the new facilities and the discount which the company is planning to provide them.
• The company is planning to increase the profit by 10% at the end of the next quarter.

This is the various objectives which the company is wanted to achieve in the particular time periods. This all objective are interrelated to the each other and completion of one objective will ultimately fulfill the other.

Channel And Communication Objective

The company will be using variety of the communication channels for promoting the company and fulfilling the objective of the firm. The content is the most important part in the adequate marketing strategies as this help in influencing the customer toward the organization. Under social media marketing the company will provide various posts on facebook and Instagram which will include the following information while promoting the London branch

Communication Strategies For The Achievement Of The Objectives

Premier Inn is deciding on the communication strategies which could help in promoting the services of the company in the market. The communication strategies could be implemented with the various marketing strategies for achieving the objective of the company. Various communication strategies are as follows:

• Verbal communication: It is the type of communication strategy which aims at promoting the organization by the means of the oral communication. For creating brand awareness the Premier Inn could place advertisements on television, Through which the motive are explained to the customer by speaking and displaying concerned services. Premier inn could conduct various sessions where the employees and the customer could talk to each other which will help in clearing all the doubt of the employees and creating the image.
• Non-verbal communication: It is the communication strategy which aim at the promoting the company in the form of non verbal communication. Under this the company used the sponsorship method for the promotion of the organization (Paramita, et. al, 2021). Currently, Premier inn is focused toward investing in the sponsorship which will help in attract more costumers. This will help in improving the sale of Premier Inn leading to the revenue generation.
• Written communication: Under this type of communication strategy the company promotes the services in the form of the emails, article or the social media marketing. The company provides the information to the customer in the form of the Emails and then providing regular post related to the company objective and facilities. This will help in enhance the knowledge of the customer and help in attracting more costumers. The company could send the message to the existing customer related to the additional services through the emails or post on social media platform.
• Visual communication: Premier inn could use these strategies as this is the most impactful method of the marketing communication. Under this the meme, video, images etc are shared on the social media platform of the company. This help in influence the large amount of the customer (Rachmawati and Afifi, 2022). Advertisement through TVs is also including in this type of communication strategy. The company YouTube Vlogs, influence marketing and the content marketing can be effectively carried out through this strategy of the communication.

Evaluation Of Integrated Marketing Communication Plan

The company has decided to implement variety of the communication strategies for the achievement of the goals. To identify the success of the strategies benchmarking techniques has been used which help in determining the changes in the customer bases and revenue before and after implication of the strategies. This will help in determine the effective and the efficiency with which the objective could be achieved. It has been identified that the ratio of the booking of the hotel has been increased to 40% after involvement of the communication strategies. The company has used various channel of communication which includes phones, emails, videos and the social media which had a positive impact on the organization (Guinto and Alcantara, 2022). The company has able to cover large amount of costumers in the short interval and able to create awareness regarding the facilities provided by the firm. The content which the company is sharing include all the information which are necessary for the gaining more costumer. Premier inn provides a discounted offer which can help in retention of the costumer. They provide proper information regarding the location which helps in decision making of the costumer.

Recommendations

For improving the marketing communication strategies the company should focus on the Google ads which will help in effective communication with the costumers. This method is the cost effective method to reach the targeted audience all over the country (Gomez-Oliva, et. al, 2019). The company should focus on various social media marketing tool such as twitter and TikTok. This is the leading sources through which the young generation of the country could be attracted. During the advertisement the company should use the visual which include all the facilities with the images and try to create an attractive video to retain more costumers. This should also include the competitive advantage which the company is providing and variety of the offers which are available on the various occasions. The company is mainly targeted to the business traveler so the company should use the LinkedIn as the platform to attract and retain them.

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Conclusion

It has been concluded from the report that the marketing communication plays an important role in the attractive and retain large amount of the company. In the report Premier Inn has been taken as the organization which has been evaluated on the basis of the communication strategies being used by them. It has been identified that the emails, phone call, advertisement and social media marketing are the sources through which the effective communication could be undertaken. Premier Inn has set the goals to increases the sales by the 10% in the next quarter and want the create brand awareness. After evaluating all the sources on the basis of the cost, costumer, content and the control social media marketing as been define as the best sources for the marketing communication. For social Medias marketing the company has decide to upload regular post on the company's websites and decide to undertake influencer marketing. There are various communication strategies which the company has been using for the achieving the integrated marketing communication objective such as visual and the written communication. Various recommendations have been provided such as moving on the Google ads and the LinkedIn for attracting the business travelers.

References

Books And Journals

• Freeman, J., 2020. On Determining the Value of Online Customer Satisfaction Ratings–A Case?based Appraisal. Data Analysis and Applications 3: Computational, Classification, Financial, Statistical and Stochastic Methods, 5, pp.195-214.
• Gomez-Oliva, A., Alvarado-Uribe, J., Parra-Meroño, M.C. and Jara, A.J., 2019. Transforming communication channels to the co-creation and diffusion of intangible heritage in smart tourism destination: Creation and testing in ceutí (spain). Sustainability, 11(14), p.3848.
• Guinto, A.L. and Alcantara, A.N., 2022. The Kentucky Fried Chicken Integrated Marketing Communications Mix Strategy and Its Sales Revenue, Profitability, and Market Share. International Journal of Multidisciplinary: Applied Business and Education Research, 3(4), pp.710-716.
• Krizanova, A., L?z?roiu, G., Gajanova, L., Kliestikova, J., Nadanyiova, M. and Moravcikova, D., 2019. The effectiveness of marketing communication and importance of its evaluation in an online environment. Sustainability, 11(24), p.7016.
• Kurdi, B., Alshurideh, M., Akour, I., Alzoubi, H., Obeidat, B. and Alhamad, A., 2022. The role of digital marketing channels on consumer buying decisions through eWOM in the Jordanian markets. International Journal of Data and Network Science, 6(4), pp.1175-1186.
• Law, R., Leung, D. and Chan, I.C.C., 2020. Progression and development of information and communication technology research in hospitality and tourism: A state-of-the-art review. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 32(2), pp.511-534.
• Martin, S.L., Javalgi, R.R.G. and Ciravegna, L., 2020. Marketing capabilities and international new venture performance: The mediation role of marketing communication and the moderation effect of technological turbulence. Journal of Business Research, 107, pp.25-37.
• Paramita, W., Nhu, H.B.C., Ngo, L.V., Tran, Q.H.M. and Gregory, G., 2021. Brand experience and consumers' social interactive engagement with brand page: An integrated-marketing perspective. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62, p.102611.
• Peter, M.K. and Dalla Vecchia, M., 2021. The digital marketing toolkit: a literature review for the identification of digital marketing channels and platforms. New trends in business information systems and technology: Digital innovation and digital business transformation, pp.251-265.
• Rachmawati, M.A. and Afifi, S., 2022. The integrated marketing communication in digital environment: a case study of local radio in Yogyakarta. The Indonesian Journal of Communication Studies, 14(2), pp.105-119.
• Sano, K. and Sano, H., 2019. The effect of different crisis communication channels. Annals of Tourism Research, 79, p.102804.

Online

• 4C's model of the marketing strategy. 2023. [Online] Available through: https://www.onlinemanipal.com/blogs/4-c-of-marketing#:~:text=The%204%20C's%20of%20Marketing,fail%20in%20the%20long%20run.
• Profile of the Premier Inn. 2023. [Online] Available through :< https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/why.html>
• Strategies used by the Premier Inn. 2023. [Online] Available through:< https://www.howandwhat.net/marketing-mix-premier-inn/#:~:text=Similarly%2C%20it%20also%20pursues%20a,(Premier%20Inn%2C%202023).>