Marketing Strategies - Birmingham - Case Study Example

Marketing Strategies Introduction Birmingham is found in the culture-rich country of Britain. The is blessed with a rare-to-find combination of geography and history, dating back to 1400 BC. With its proximal local to the city centre, tourists are treated to a combination of latest fashions, exotic foods, and traditional bands. Tourists also get a chance to discover new cultures and heritage, enjoy unseen nature, and experience a rare mild climate like no other. Birmingham has therefore established itself among the most popular tourist attraction sites, especially for holidays and festivals, both for domestic and internal tourists. With a special focus on growth and stability of the economy, Birmingham’s Tourism strategies, primarily seeks to sustain and raise the number of visitors per annum. Promotional and marketing activities are aimed at encouraging the tourists not only to spend more days in Birmingham, but also to explore further inside to sample Birmingham’s exciting communities that offer the highest diversity of cultures, faiths, and lifestyles. Promotional activities in Birmingham include accommodation offers that allow tourists to get discounts on accommodation fees, art and cultural offers that give tourists special rates on leading art venues across Birmingham, event and attraction offers that gives tourist a bargain entrance to attraction sites at reduced prices. Other promotional tools are restaurant offers that allow tourists to enjoy tasty meals in restaurants and bars in the city, and finally travel offers that enable tourist to save on the travelling expense (Visit Birmingham 2012, p. 18). Competition Just like any business, growth and sustainability of Birmingham’s tourism faces stiff completion from other tourist destination localities. Over the past few years, a number of developments have taken place for example, the introduction of Motorway Service Stations in Europe. This began after the World War II with the construction of highways in Germany, Italy and France. The motorway service stations provides tourists, especially on domestic tours, access to fuel and snacks, while enjoying the beautiful sceneries (Holloway 2002, p. 225). Until recently, tourism was seen as a recreational activity. However, this has changed with the introduction of educational tourism. Educational tourism allows student travelling from other countries to learn with some of the best professors in the world. Initially, most Universities were only found in Europe, according to the OECD, many of the parents especially from developed countries who visited Europe on a tourism basis, ended up taking their children to foreign Universities to learn, but the emphasis was on the big names of some professors that were found in the foreign Universities. Another factor that has increased competition in tourism is the changing trends in market communication. Market communication is in two folds; personal and non-personal communication. Non-personal advertising includes the use of advertising, sales promotion and public relations. Direct marketing includes personal selling, direct marketing, and interactive marketing (Belch & Belch, 2001, pp. 143). Many firms prefer personal communication because the advertisement message can be customized to fit individual customer needs and also there is immediate feedback (Brown 1997, p. 142). Interactive marketing allows tourist firms to offer tourists a personal touch in terms of services. The common mode of interactive marketing tool is E-mail. This allows organizations to contact their customers economically. Moreover, the companies have safety measures in place for example ‘anti spam’ features that prevent the receipt of unsolicited emails by customers which is often a bother (Brown 1997, p. 142). Personal selling is the other avenue through which tourism marketing is done by the competitors. Personal selling enables the marketer to persuade and convince the customers to try a certain service (Holloway 2002, p. 235). A good example is the South Pacific tourism council, which markets its small islands through trade shows were marketers meet face to face with the customers and address their queries. Through this form of marketing, the country is able to market their unique image around the world to prospective customers (Yacoumis 1989, p. 16). Advertising is a paid for media used by organizations to inform and persuade customers to buy a product or a service (Ryan 1991, p. 101). Since advertising is non-personal channel of communication, information is passed using mass media to large groups of individuals (Belch & Belch 2001, p. 146). Some of the common channels under advertising include Television, internet, and painted vehicles. Some of the tourist site that has heavily invested in this form of marketing is Sri Lanka that uses CNN news to market. Partnerships are another way of marketing where tourist organizations collaborate with Air operators. Under this arrangement, customers that use the company to fly are often taken into a draw where they stand a chance to win trips to an arranged tourist attraction site. Through this form of marketing, customers who fail to win trips are informed about the sites and may make their own reservations to visit the places. Another form of partnership is between Sri Lanka and the county’s biggest Airline, the Sri Lankan Airline. The Sri Lankan Airline flies to and from about a hundred destinations worldwide. The partnership has been facilitated by training of the Airline staff on marketing techniques by the tourism board, making this partnership an effective method of marketing. Others partnerships that the Airline is involved in, include working together with, the Board of Investment (BOI), Export Development Board (EDB), Tea Board, Gem & Jewellery Authority, and other bodies that are engaged in international marketing ( Sri Lankan Tourist Board 2012,p. 8). In an effort to be the preferred tourist destination site, Sri Lanka has adopted product differentiation as a tool to attract tourists. Product differentiation is marketing strategy that is applied in a market that already has players offering similar goods or services (Barucci & Becheri 1990, p. 227). Differentiation is aimed at creating the perspective that the company’s services have a value added advantage, and are therefore superior (Klemm 1992, p. 175). In Sri Lanka, product differentiation is seen in the form of services such as adventure sports centres, camping Sites, cruise liners and luxury vessels, eco Lodges, and elephant Safari. Other facilities include houseboats, whale and dolphin watching, tourist bungalows, adventure tours that include safaris, tours in the jungle, and mountain hiking and spice gardens. Since the country is blessed with a vast coastline and a beautiful terrain, tourists enjoy rare activities such as underwater exploration, aquatic adventures such as fish watching and sea sports that include surfing. Other scenic features are natural waterfalls and reservoirs (Sri Lankan Tourist Board 2012, p. 10). The country also has a well-established internet platform that enables customers to do the following activities from the comfort of their homes; get information regarding the country attractions, events that take place, and accommodation facilities available. Through the internet, tourists can access information regarding various attractions in the country found under the eight categories; beaches, sports and adventure, festivals, wild life, body and mind wellness, people and culture, scenic beauty and heritage. Public relation is another marketing strategy. Public relations are management functions that enable the organisation to establish effective and long lasting relationships with the public in order to maintain the image and reputation of the company. Maintaining a good PR program assists the company to receive huge amount of exposure, which translates to a positive image (Barucci & Becheri 1990, p. 227). This is buttress by the fact that customers tend to trust the media more than advertisers. Sri Lanka has also embarked on public relations as a marketing tool to advertise the country worldwide. In 2011 for example, almost 200 international journalists were invited to Sri Lanka. The Journalist were from reputed media houses such as CNN, CBN, BBC, Aljazeera, Sky News, just to mention a few. The country also works with foreign missions and the Sri Lankan Airline’s offices abroad in a bid to promote tourism. This is accomplished through participation in trade fairs and exhibitions worldwide (Sri Lankan Tourist Board 2012, p.11). Another component of public relations is corporate social responsibility (CSR) and consumer relationship management. This is an approach that Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has heavily invested in, so as to be distinguished from other luxury brands. As a result of this, Fairmont has strategically positioned itself as a leader as far as environmental preservation and responsible tourism is concerned (Fairmont Hotels and Resorts 2012, p.11). Database marketing is another tool that has been utilised by competitors. Database marketing is the collection, accumulation, analysis and use of individual customer’s data such as customer behaviour, to implement an effective and efficient marketing communication tool. The main reason for establishing a database is to develop a communication base and subsequently establish relationships with customers (Pender 1990, p. 272). Once the information is in the database, it can be used for various purposes such as service promotion, advertising, recruitment of new customers, and generally retention of ‘old’ customers. Direct mail is also an efficient tool of marketing tourism. Direct mails come in a variety of formats, through which they can be sent and include letters, postcards or three-dimensional packages that have movable. The packages must always stand out from the mails because most people may most likely ignore the mail as they lack time to read. As a result, the mail envelope must trigger interest to open. This interest may arouse by use of words such as “important” written on the mail. The letter must be crafted in a professional way in order to capture the attention of the reader. The letter often comes with booklet or flier in it explaining in words and pictures, the services offered by a specified tour operator parts (Duncan 2002, p. 609). The other commonly used tourism marketing tool is the Short Messaging Service (SMS). This is a new mode of market communication were a message is sent to the customers in the form of texts. SMSs are designed to promote the demand of a good or service, whether there is a response or not. Tour operators often use these texts to inform customers about discounts and other special offers, especially during holidays and other peak seasons. Short Messaging Service is a cheap and effective means of market communication as it is possible to send one message to over 600 phone users. The SMSs also reach the recipients within a short period as the waiting time is usually within a minute. Texts can also be used to inform customers on the booking status of their reservations and tickets. Telemarketing is a form of marketing that uses the phone to deliver a brand message that is designed to create a sale (Duncan 2002, p. 425). The two forms of telemarketing commonly used are outbound and incoming telemarketing. In outbound telemarketing, a sales person is often employed to call potential clients on behalf of the tour operator company. In incoming telemarketing, a toll free number (0800) is usually set-up and customers can call for free to make enquiries. In this form of marketing, clients are encouraged to call the toll free number, often printed on magazines or in displayed on television adverts. The number can be used to either make an enquiry or place an order (Duncan 2002, p. 425). Promotional gifts are also used as a mode of market communication. Here decorative, printed products called advertising specialities are given freely to people. Some of the gifts given by tour operators are travelling bags, customized luggage tags and ticket wallets. The advantage of using promotional gifts is that they last longer and hence act as reminder advertisement (Belch & Belch 2001, p. 450). Patronage awards are often included in market mix as they act as a good marketing tool. These programs are aimed at rewarding customers for their continued loyalty and encourage clients to visit the tour destination over and over again with the knowledge that they will be rewarded in return. The loyalty programs often require customers to visit the destinations as frequent as possible to earn rewards (Belch & Belch 2001, pp. 451). Currently, Fairmont groups of hotels has a successful ‘cross-promotion partnership’ including a marketing alliance with Lexus. In the year 2008, Fairmont groups of hotels and Lexus went into a partnership that aimed at rewarding loyal members with Lexus hotel courtesy cars and “eco-conscious” Lexus Hybrid Living Suites. The partnership greatly changed the perception of customers from luxury institutions to environmental concisions companies. The number of tourist visiting the resort subsequently short up as a result of the positive image (Fairmont Hotels and Resorts 2012, p. 12). Investment in innovation is another key marketing tool that has brought a paradigm shift in marketing. The collaboration between Google Company and New Zealand enabled the country to become the first in the world to establish a “tourism layer” on the Google Earth application. Through this layer, people could access a variety of information regarding tourist attraction sites and scenic highlights. As a result, New Zealand won its second “Webby” award for best tourism website, in 2006. However, other countries such as Japan, South Africa and Nova Scotia now have tourism layers too (Fairmont Hotels and Resorts 2012, p. 11). Use of Innovative Press Events has for the past few years been utilized by New Zealand in marketing. Through the innovative press events, brand awareness is created. A good example is the setting up of a huge inflatable rugby ball under the Eiffel Tower in France during the 2007 Rugby World Cup. The giant rugby ball was decorated with the colors of New Zealand flag, and as a result, it gained massive international media coverage that could be approximated to be in the millions. In order to utilize the massive coverage again, the rugby ball was reused at the 2011 Rugby World Cup 2011 Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (Fairmont Hotels and Resorts 2012, p.12). Recommendations In order to remain relevant in the tourism department, Birmingham has to use the above information to carry out a SWOT analysis. Through this analysis, Birmingham will be able to establish the needs of the market and rise to the occasion. List of References Belch, GE & Belch, M 2001, Advertising and promotion: an integral marketing communication perspective, 5 edn, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Boston. Brown, S 1997, Postmodern marketing, International Thomson Press, London Holloway, J 2002, The business of tourism, 6 edn, Pearson Educational Ltd, Harlow Barucci, P & Becheri, E 1990, Tourism management, Tourism Management Journal, vol. 11, no. 3, p. 227. Klemm, M 1992, Sustainable tourism development. Languedoc-Roussillon thirty years on, Tourism Management, vol. 13, no. 2, 1992, pp. 175. Ryan, C 1991, Tourism and marketing -a symbiotic relationship, Tourism Management, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 101. Garnett, C 1993, Impact of the channel tunnel on the tourism industry: a sea of change in cross-channel travel, Tourism Management, vol. 14, no. 6, 1993, pp. 436-9. Yacoumis, J 1989, South Pacific tourism promotion: a regional approach, Tourism Management, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 15-28. Sri Lanka’s Tourism Development Strategies 2012, Tourism development strategies, viewed on 8 November 2012, Pender, L 1990, Marketing management for travel and tourism, Stanley Thornes, Cheltenham. Duncan, T 2002, IMC: using advertising and promotion to build brand, McGraw-Hill, Boston. Fairmont Hotels and Resorts 2012, Marketing strategies, viewed on 8 November 2012, Visit Birmingham 2012, Visit Birmingham, viewed on 8 November 2012, Read More