Question 1.1
Hasting Hotel Group is in the hotel industry in Northern Ireland. If Hasting Hotel Group decides to define itself as a marketing base company, it is likely going to increase its customer base rather than in case of defining itself as a hotel industry. This is because customers will get to know them as compared to when they are defining themselves as a hotel industry. Customers already know what a hotel industry offers.
Question 1.2
In Northern Ireland, there are no holidaymakers. This is because most of the tourists come to visit their friends or relatives. It is a marketing barrier since Hasting Hotel Group is not making any business. This has the negative effect to the Hasting because they are going to waste money on a group of people that will never visit their hotels. Therefore, the group might close down.
However, there is a possible solution to this barrier. Hasting Hotel Group should consider using a holiday or a tourist attraction activity to attract customers. In this case, customer will visit the hotels to enjoy the holidays. On the other hand, those who are not there for holidays will enjoy tourist attractions marketed by the hotels.
Question 2.1
Marketing segmentation is one of the marketing strategies often used by industries to attract their potential customers. The first market segment of Hasting Hotel Group is people with email. In this case, Hasting is sending emails to more than eight thousand people informing them of their hotel products. The second market segment is the use of online booking. Recently, technology has changed. Almost everybody is using internet to check for products, buying, selling, and booking. In this way, they have updated their site for online bookings and advertising for potential customers to see. Consequently, they are increasing their customer base.
The advantage of using emails to concentrate on this market segment is that it is cheap for both customers and Hastings Hotel. Second, it is an effective way of advertising their packages. On the other hand, not all the people who are sent these emails check them. This is because they might not be interested. Additionally, they find them clogging their email accounts. The use of online booking is another cheap way of attracting their customers. It is also effective. However, there may be a technical difficulty causing chaos for the hotels.
Question 2.2
Branding is one of the best ways of marketing goods and services. This is because it eradicates duplication of products by other companies. For instance, Hasting Hotels Group will need to brand their packages for the purpose of attracting customers with their unique products.
Question 3.1
Pricing strategies are among the best strategies, but they do not always apply. This is because of the saying “Cheap is expensive”. In the hotel industry, the cheapest rooms have poor services and products. For instance, if Hasting Hotel Group uses these strategies, they will not compete with cheap hotels. Second, they will not be able to advertise their goods.
