Unit 15: Hospitality Marketing Essentials Assignment

Table of Contents

Introduction to Unit 15 Hospitality Marketing Essentials
Activity 1: Meaning, roles and responsibilities of Marketing
Interrelationships between marketing and other functional departments
Activity 2:Marketing mix
Marketing plan

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Introduction to Unit 15 Hospitality Marketing Essentials

Marketing may be defined as a process, activity and set of institution in order to create, communicate, and deliver as well as exchanging offerings that are valuable for the customers, partners, clients and society at large (Zhou et al, 2021). Now, in the changing landscape marketing becomes essential for attracting the large number of customers which in turn leads both sales as well as profitability. For students seeking UK Assignments help on hospitality marketing, this IHG case study provides comprehensive analysis. In addition to this, assignment will be based on the importance of marketing in the hospitality sector in the context of InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (IHG). Marketing is important in hospitality sector because it helps in growing a business operation, build a loyal customer base and differentiate themselves from the competitors. It is one of leading British hospitality multinational company and it’s headquarter is situated in Windsor, Berkshire, UK. This hotel is managing the operation through management contracts, franchising and owned as well as leased models (IHG, 2025). Apart from this, report will highlight the role of marketing along with its inter-relationship with the other functional departments. It also depicts the application of marketing mix & other tactics in IHG and its competitors. Additionally, it will also include the detailed and evidence-based marketing plan to meet the objectives.

Activity 1: Meaning, roles and responsibilities of Marketing

Marketing functions includes various activities that help the organizations to determining, satisfying and retaining the customers while accomplishing the organizational goals and objectives. Emphasis on marketing is beneficial for the organizations because it helps in promoting their products and services, attracts new customers and creates brand awareness (Wichmann et al, 2022). In the context of hospitality sector, marketing is significant because it helps organizations in enhancing their visibility and reach to the broader audience which ultimately positively impacts the overall growth and success of the operations. Additionally, in case of service sector, product, place, promotion, pricing, people, process and physical evidence are significant elements of the marketing functions. Apart from this, marketing plays wide range of roles and responsibilities in the hospitality sector which positively influence on the overall growth and success of operation.

Roles

Identification the demand of customers is considered as one of the key role of marketing in the hospitality sector. Marketing function helps in determining the needs and preferences of the customers which helps the companies, operating within hospitality sector, to provide service accordingly for their retention (Tiep Le, Ngo and Aureliano-Silva, 2023). In the context of IHG, marketing helps in conducting market research that helps in gaining the customer’s insight and thereby contributes in meeting the needs and preferences of guests.
Brand development is another role of marketing function that helps in achieving growth and success in the competitive market. Emphasis on marketing is beneficial for IHG because it aids in developing and maintaining the distinctive and strong brand identity over the competitors. Marketing function helps in creating the guidelines of brand and also ensures consistent messaging across all the marketing channels (Sheth and Parvatiyar, 2021). In the current environment, use of technologies becomes popular within the hospitality sector due to the digital disruption. Therefore,
digital marketing is considered as another important role of marketing function in hotels. Generally, hospitality sector engagement of users and their online presence is important so digital marketing plays an immersive role in reaching and attracting the guests which helps in generating enough profits and provides competitive advantage over competitors.

Responsibilities

Market research is recognized as one of the key responsibility of marketing in the hospitality sector because it helps in gaining insights about the guests in relation to their needs and preferences. Market research is beneficial for IHG because it helps in providing services to the guests as per their needs and thereby leads business success.

Marketing function is also accountable to develop positive relationships with the customers, management and other departments which helps in completing all the work within the given period of time (Swaen, Demoulin and Pauwels-Delassus, 2021). Emphasis on marketing is also beneficial for IHG because it helps in accomplishing the common goals and objectives by developing the positive relationships among them.

Apart from this, marketing is considered as significant part of the hospitality sector because it helps in attracting the guests through the means of advertisement. With the marketing, other functional departments such as human resource (HR), finance, operation management etc play crucial role in enhancing overall efficiency over the competitors. The roles and responsibilities of marketing are interrelated with the functional departments that companies to manage the overall operation and gain success.

Interrelationships between marketing and other functional departments

Marketing & human resource department :Marketing and HR are considered as core departments of the companies. The key role of marketing is to understand the target customers and provides the products and services accordingly to attract them. Whereas, it is the responsibility of marketing department is execute all the strategies in effective manner which helps business unit in getting the desired level of outcome or success. On the other hand, the key role of HRM is to recruit right applicant on post to manage the overall operations (Mubeen et al, 2021). Whereas, regulating and executing HR strategies, policies and procedures in an effective manner is the key accountability of HR. In the context of IHG, both departments are interlined with each other. The marketing manager of the chosen hotel communicates HR team about the vacant posts. In this line, HR manager recruits personnel who can meet marketing goals and objectives.
Marketing & finance department: In the context of hospitality sector, marketing and finance department are interlinked with each other. Within business organization, finance department drafts budget for several activities such as R&D, promotion etc. On the basis of this budget, marketing department carries out all the activities prominently (Lin et al, 2021). In the perspective of IHG, both departments are important because better allocation and use of resources facilitate achievements of goals and objectives.
Marketing & operation department: Marketing and operation department are interrelated with each other in hospitality sector. The key role of marketing department is to nurture customers, acquiring new customers and increase profitability. On the other hand, the key role of operational department is to oversee and coordinates the all activities, optimize resources and driving efficiency. Apart from this, the operational manager is accountable for streamlining business operation and managing the budgets and forecasts (Mogaji and Nguyen, 2022). Whereas, the marketing manager is responsible for planning, executing and managing the strategies in effective way in order to foster the company’s goods and services. In the context of IHG, both departments are important because they helps in improving the overall operations from which they are able to provide better and high-quality of hospitality services to the customers which leads to generate revenue.

Activity 2:Marketing mix

In the corporate world, marketing mix is highly significant as it helps in promoting the products and services which helps in attracting the customers. Marketing mix is defined as combination of the products, pricing strategies, place and promotions which are uses by the companies to differentiate them from the competitors (Yusuf and Matiin, 2022). Adoption of marketing is beneficial for the companies because it helps in accomplishing the desired objectives and gain competitive advantage over competitors by developing effective strategies.

IHG is also emphasis on marketing mix in order to accomplish the objectives of retaining position in market and increase market share as well as gain competitive edge over competitors such as Hilton and Marriott International. Marketing mix of IHG and its competitors are as follows:

Basis	IHG	Hilton	Marriott
Product	IHG is one of leading hospitality company in the UK. The service portfolio of selected organization includes providing franchisee with popular hotel brands, strong reservation system and powerful loyalty program.	In the hospitality sector, the products are services. The services of Hilton include accommodation, food and beverage services, meeting and event spaces, business services etc.	The services of Marriott includes its various brands, Bonvoy loyalty program, timeshare and vacation ownership, online booking and mobile app services etc.
Price	The current pricing strategy of IHG is based on its competition. This organization is setting the prices of its room according to its competitors to attract the guests at broader level.	Hilton is also implementing various pricing strategies as same as IHG and Marriott. The pricing strategy of Hilton is based on value added services such as parking food, Wi-Fi etc., as compare to its competitors Bhasin, 2024).	Marriott is adopting dynamic pricing strategy where the rates of rooms are fluctuating on the basis of demand, occupancy and seasonality level (Bhasin, 2024). Adoption of this strategy is beneficial for Marriot as compare to IHG and Hilton because it helps in optimizing revenue particularly at the time of special events and peak seasons.
Place	This organization has global presence in more than 100 countries. IHG also adopts omni- channel distribution system where it includes its offline and online stores for the easy accessibility of customers.	In the context of place, Hilton continues strengthening its international presence with its properties in more than 124 countries and territories.	Marriott has extensive global presence with properties and hotels in the major cities such as business hubs worldwide, tourist destination for ensuring the accessibility of different travellers.
Promotion	IHG uses various media channels to promote its products in the competitive market as compared to its competitors. IHG uses both traditional and several social media platforms to advertise the products to attract the customers.	For promoting the services in the wider market, Hilton is emphasis on using various digital marketing channels to promote its services (Bhasin, 2024).	For the promotion of the services in the competitive market, Marriott is conducting loyalty programs and provide personalized offers, using digital marketing and social media for user’s engagement as well as engage in partnership and collaboration (Bhasin, 2024).
People	To increase the skills and knowledge of the employees, IHG is also emphasising on providing training and development to them (StudyCorgi, 2023).	Hilton is emphasising on recruiting skilled and talented people who are capable to provide better and high quality services to the clients.	To improve skills and increase knowledge of the employees, Marriott is conducting the employee training and development. Adoption of this people strategy is beneficial for Marriott as compare to chosen hotel because it helps in providing better and high quality of services to the guest from which they become loyal for long duration.
Process	IGH is using computer and other digital channels to handle its process in order to deliver services to the customers and increases efficiency.	Hilton follows all the steps which are used in delivering better and high-quality services to the guests (Bhasin, 2024).	The process of Marriott includes booking process to the actual stay and post-stay services. The process strategy of Marriott is consist of booking and reservation, check-in and checkout procedure, customer service and support as well as follow quality assurance and standards.
Physical evidence	The physical evidence of IHG is loyalty cards that help in attract customers by increasing their engagement.	The physical evidence of Hilton includes trademarks, brand value and many other things.	The physical evidence of Marriott includes hotel properties and architecture, room design and amenities, lobbies and common area, leisure and fitness facilities etc.

Marketing plan

Executive summary

Marketing plan refers to the strategic direction that assist the organizations to map out their strategies related to advertising and promotional in order to attract the prospective customers and connect with their intended audience (Perreault Jr, Cannon and McCarthy, 2021). Establishing marketing plan is beneficial for the organization because it helps in identifying the target market, determines competitors, defines unique selling position and supports ROI on marketing trends and set out strategies to target ideal customers. This marketing plan will based on introducing the robotic services within IHG.

The key aim of IHG is to provide better and innovative services to guests through robots and become leading hotel in the UK market. To accomplish the objectives, IHG is emphasis on making investment in emerging technologies and innovative as well as redesign the services. The key mission of selected hotel is to become the first choice of the customers within hospitality sector by providing better and robotics services to the guests.

Objectives of IHG

To become a leading hotel and build reputed position in the market

To increase market share by 20 % at the end of 2025
To gain the trust of guests and increase profit by 10% at the end of 2025.

Segmentation, targeting and positioning (STP)

To analyse the target market and achieve objectives it will be important for IHG to segmenting its markets through STP (segmentation, targeting and positioning) model. Adoption of this model will be useful for hospitality companies because it assist marketers to prioritise the propositions and then build as well as provide relevant and personalized message to increase engagement of the audience (Huang and Rust, 2021).

Segmentation: IHG will need to employ demographic and psychographic segmentation in order to target the groups for the robotic services. By understanding the diverse preferences and needs of each income group, chosen organization will be able to provide robotic services to the clients in order to improve their experience.

Targeting: IHG will target the customers who have high level income and likely to avail robotic services for their convenience (Human, 2024). This organization will target the people have age in between 21-40 because they will likely to avail innovative services.

Positioning: Developing reputed position in the market will be beneficial for the organizations because it helps in attracting and retaining customers for the long period of time (Human, 2024). In advertisement, hotel unit will highlight Robotics and related services to differentiate it from the competitors.

SWOT Analysis

To accomplish the objectives it will be important for IHG to evaluate its internal environment. It helps in determining the strengths, weaknesses, threats and opportunities from which they improve the weak areas to achieve the objectives successfully (Puyt, Lie and Wilderom, 2023).

Strengths Global presence Effective recruitment strategies Strong financial position Experienced management team	Weaknesses Dependence on key markets High leverage Lack of scale in some markets
Opportunities Emerging markets Expansion of existing brands Launch of new brands (Gowrea, 2021). Invest in technologies to provide robotic services	Threats High competition Economic downturns

Strong presence in the key markets is considered as one of the biggest strength of IHG. This organization is operating the business operation in various countries UK, US and China. On the other hand, high leverage is biggest weakness of IHG which limits its flexibility in order to invest in the growth opportunities. Additionally, chosen organization will have opportunity of investing in technologies to provide the robotic services to the guests (Gowrea, 2021). Robots will helps in carrying luggage, delivering room service, assisting front desks etc., which helps in attract guests. Economic downturn is one of the biggest threats of IHG that prohibits achieving the objectives and gaining competitive advantage over competitors.

PESTEL Analysis

Before introducing innovative service it will be important for IHG to analyse the external environment. IHG will need to use PESTEL model in order to determine the influence of external forces on the business

Political	The changes in the policies and rules as well as regulations framed by UK government will highly affect the business operation of IHG. The political condition of UK is strong so it will be beneficial for chosen hotel to introduce new service successfully.
Economic	Economic growth, inflation rate, interest rate etc., are significant economic factors that directly impact the organization’s operation (GBR Editorial Team, 2022). The overall health of UK’s economic is strong it will encourage guests to spend more to live luxury and comfort life from which they are likely to avail the services of hotels that ultimately increases revenue of IHG.
Social	In current times, due to advancement of technologies, the customers are likely to avail robotic services, book tickets through online mode. So, IHG will need to emphasis on digital integration in order to enhance the overall experience of the guests (IvyPanda, 2024).
Technological	UK is technological country so IHG will need to make investment in Internet of Things (IoT), smart devices etc., in order to provide robotic services that helps in improving experience of guests.
Environmental	To protect the environment and safeguard the health and well-being of clients, IHG will need to adopt sustainability standards and rules as well as regulations of environment protection act.
Legal	IHG is one of popular hospitality companies so it will be crucial to implement all the rules and regulations of acts like minimum wages, general data protection regulation etc., legally (GBR Editorial Team, 2022).

Budget

For introducing robotic services it will IHG to set the budget appropriately. Marketing budget helps in outlining the specific amount of money that are allocating by the company to its marketing activities (Kedi et al, 2024). For achieving the objectives of build reputed position, increase market share and gain consumer’s trust it will be important for IHG to make investment in emerging technologies.

Particulars	Amount
Technical resources like artificial intelligence.	£ 7000
Recruit technical experts	£ 3000
Total	£10,000

To monitor and evaluating the success IHG will undertake various KPIs (Key performance indicators) such as sales, market share etc. Revenue is considered as one of the key KPI that will help in assessing the level of increasing market share as compared to the before (Mio, Costantini and Panfilo, 2022). Monitoring and evaluation will be useful for organization because it will help organization assessing deviations that take place in the current performance. By this, firm would become able to take corrective measures within the suitable time and thereby ensures fulfilment of the business objectives.

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Conclusion

In conclusion to this report, it has been articulated that marketing is considered as one of the key function of the hospitality sector that helps in advertising the products and services in an effective manner. Additionally, product, price, place, promotion, people, process and physical evidence are key functions of marketing. The marketing and other departments such as finance, HRM, operation etc., of IHG, are interlinked with each other. For marketing the services in the market, IHG is emphasis on marketing mix as same as its competitors. From the marketing plan it has been determine that, robotics services can helps in improving experience of customers, completion of tasks in effective manner which positively influence on profitability.

References

Books and Journals

Huang, M.H. and Rust, R.T., 2021. A strategic framework for artificial intelligence in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, pp.30-50.
Kedi, W.E., Ejimuda, C., Idemudia, C. and Ijomah, T.I., 2024. Machine learning software for optimizing SME social media marketing campaigns. Computer Science & IT Research Journal, 5(7), pp.1634-1647.
Lin, W.L., Ho, J.A., Sambasivan, M., Yip, N. and Mohamed, A.B., 2021. Influence of green innovation strategy on brand value: The role of marketing capability and R&D intensity. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 171, p.120946.
Mio, C., Costantini, A. and Panfilo, S., 2022. Performance measurement tools for sustainable business: A systematic literature review on the sustainability balanced scorecard use. Corporate social responsibility and environmental management, 29(2), pp.367-384.
Mogaji, E. and Nguyen, N.P., 2022. Managers' understanding of artificial intelligence in relation to marketing financial services: insights from a cross-country study. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 40(6), pp.1272-1298.
Mubeen, R., Han, D., Abbas, J., Álvarez-Otero, S. and Sial, M.S., 2021. The relationship between CEO duality and business firms’ performance: the moderating role of firm size and corporate social responsibility. Frontiers in psychology, 12, p.669715.
Perreault Jr, W.D., Cannon, J.P. and McCarthy, E.J., 2021. Essentials of marketing: A marketing strategy planning approach. McGraw-Hill.
Puyt, R.W., Lie, F.B. and Wilderom, C.P., 2023. The origins of SWOT analysis. Long Range Planning, 56(3), p.102304.
Sheth, J.N. and Parvatiyar, A., 2021. Sustainable marketing: Market-driving, not market-driven. Journal of macromarketing, 41(1), pp.150-165.
Swaen, V., Demoulin, N. and Pauwels-Delassus, V., 2021. Impact of customers’ perceptions regarding corporate social responsibility and irresponsibility in the grocery retailing industry: The role of corporate reputation. Journal of Business Research, 131, pp.709-721.
Tiep Le, T., Ngo, H.Q. and Aureliano-Silva, L., 2023. Contribution of corporate social responsibility on SMEs' performance in an emerging market–the mediating roles of brand trust and brand loyalty. International Journal of Emerging Markets, 18(8), pp.1868-1891.
Wichmann, J.R., Uppal, A., Sharma, A. and Dekimpe, M.G., 2022. A global perspective on the marketing mix across time and space. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 39(2), pp.502-521.
Yusuf, M. and Matiin, N., 2022. Analysis of the effect of the marketing mix on purchasing decisions. International Journal of Economics and Management Research, 1(3), pp.177-182.
Zhou, S., Blazquez, M., McCormick, H. and Barnes, L., 2021. How social media influencers’ narrative strategies benefit cultivating influencer marketing: Tackling issues of cultural barriers, commercialised content, and sponsorship disclosure. Journal of Business Research, 134, pp.122-142.

Online

Bhasin, H, 2024. Marketing mix of Hilton. Online. Available through: < https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-hilton-hotels/>
Bhasin, H, 2024. Marketing mix of Marriott. Online. Available through: < https://www.marketing91.com/marketing-mix-marriott/>
GBR Editorial Team,2022. External Environmental Analysis of InterContinenal (IHG) Hotels and Resorts. Online. Available through: < https://www.george-business-review.com/external-environmental-analysis-of-intercontinenal-ihg-hotels-and-resorts/ >
Gowrea, V, 2021. SWOT analysis of IHG. Online. Available through: < https://www.howandwhat.net/swot-analysis-intercontinental-hotels-group-plc/>
Human, 2024. STP of IHG. Online. Available through: < https://ivypanda.com/essays/hotel-management-4/>
IHG, 2025. About us. Online. Available through: < https://www.ihgplc.com/en/about-us>
IvyPanda, 2024. InterContinental Hotel Group PLC: Internal and External Environment Report. Online. Available through: < https://ivypanda.com/essays/management-report-intercontinental-hotel-group-plc-report/>
StudyCorgi, 2023. InterContinental Hotels & Resorts’ Analysis. Online. Accessed through:<https://studycorgi.com/intercontinental-hotels-and-resorts-analysis/>