2.4 Prepare a marketing research plan to obtain information in a given situation
A marketing research plan consists of two main elements: identify and anticipate customer requirements, and to design the planning of an appropriate marketing mix to meet these requirements. It also involves gathering and recording information about consumers, market, product, and the competition in an organised way. Marketing Mix, SWOT Analysis, PEST(LE) Analysis and Porters’ 5 Forces Analysis are very helpful business tools to determine a wide range of quantitative and qualitative information which can influence new product/service or the entry of the business to a new market. The information is then analysed and used to inform marketing decisions (Business case studies, 2014). Next, a marketing research plan on a new product of Thomson Holidays will be produced as a case study.
Thomson Holidays: The Marketing Research Plan
‘Thomson Couples’ – Only From Thomson
Background of Thomson Holiday:
Thomson Holidays are one of the UK’s largest tour operators. The company originally named ‘Thomson Tour Operator’ and renamed in 1997. It was founded from the union of three separate package holiday companies and the Britannia Airways airline in 1965. Thomson Holidays grew to become the market leader in the package holiday market in less than ten years. Thomson Holidays currently operates with approximately 30% of the UK package holiday market share which enhance the reputation to the already strong Thomson Holidays brand. Since 2000 Thomson Holidays has been part of the TUI AG Group (Holiday hypermarket, 2014).
The expansion of Thomson Holidays has led to the offer of a huge variety of holidays to destinations worldwide. Also, it is increasing the ...
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...Online] Available at: http://www.tuitravelplc.com/home. [Accessed 19th May 2014].
VIARDOT, E. (2010). European Tour Operators: confronting competition in the tourism industry. [Online] Available at: https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=15&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CFEQFjAEOAo&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kinhdoanh.edu.vn%2Ffiles.php%3Fforce%26file%3Dresource%2FMAITF%2FCorporate-Strategy%2FSec_B___Optional_case_2___European_Tour_Operators_143814932.pdf&ei=jg18U_yrIIjm7Aa194H4DA&usg=AFQjCNE5guq-LTADSz_GB9qY1FleWagjzg&sig2=YAR6aRExj-nYHetSpuW0vQ. [Accessed 20th May 2014].
WIID, J. & DIGGINES, C. (2010). Marketing Research. [ONLINE] Available at: http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=wCDTX0ga0AkC&pg=PA84&dq=quantitative+and+qualitative+marketing+research+methods&hl=en&sa=X&ei=T_FvU57nBYfYOab9gMAI&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false. [Accessed: 8th May 2014].
Etzel, Michael J., Stanton, Bruce J., Stanton, William J. (2004). Marketing. (13th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Armstrong, G, Adam, S, Denize, S, Kotler, P, 2010, Principles of Marketing 5th Edition, Pearson Australia Group, Frenchs Forest
For the introduction, brief information regarding my purchase and the travel and tourism industry is presented. It was then followed by the explanation of the 2 chosen theories from two different chapters.
The firm to be addressed in this case is Travelodge. It is a franchise firm which was founded by Scott king in the year 1939 and later began franchising in the year 1966. It offers exceptionally high quality products and services. In addition to its services, it is committed in its work, enabling it to acquire world-class attention and everybody interested to know more about it and also experience its services and products. Travelodge has grown at a very alarming rate, and it is in this view that we are interested to know more about it.
Marketing is a process of determining a consumer’s needs, devising a product or service to satisfy those needs, and trying to focus customers on the goods and services you are offering. Marketing is extremely important, and a fundamental building block for business growth. A marketing team is given the task of creating customer awareness through a variety of different marketing techniques. If a business does not pay close attention to their consumer demographic and needs, they will eventually fail over time. Two important aspects of marketing include acquiring new customers, and the preservation and growth of relationships with current customers. Marketing has always been viewed as a creative outlet, which encompassed advertising, distribution, and the selling of goods and services. Marketing staff will also try to anticipate what customers will want in the future, often being accomplished with market research. In summation, a good marketing plan should be able to create a favorable proposition or series of benefits that a customer can value through goods or services. The marketing mix is normally described as the strategic positioning of a product or service in the marketplace, using the specification of the four Ps. During the early 1960’s, Professor E. Jerome McCarthy of Harvard Business School stated that a marketing mix contains four elements. The four key points are product, pricing, promotion, and placement. It is recognized that all these aspects must be present to ensure a successful business model within a given industry. We will now take a thorough look at the four marketing mix points.
We have come to the phase that allows Team A to apply the research tools and implement a market research plan. Team A will review various marketing research tools that are available for researchers to use such as secondary research, secondary on-line research, exploratory research, nondirective interviews, and the Likert scale. Our secondary research is showing that consumers are demanding healthier menu options. This market research implementation plan will develop several market research tools; including questionnaires’ and the Likert scale to verify if McDonald’s consumers genuinely want and will purchase healthier menu items.
...ch plays a pivotal role in this work as there are several underlying factors which affect tourism and a pre-research is needed to exactly identify the needs and expectations of domestic and international tourists. The title covers a broader scope whereas the study is done only with respect to hoteliers and other accommodation units. Hence reframed title would be more appropriate.
Malhotra, N.K., 2002. Basic Marketing Research: A Decision-Making Approach. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.: Prentice Hall.
Briefly it is a systematic design, collection, analysis, and reporting of data and findings relevant to a specific marketing situation facing the company, allows management to make the changes necessary for better results through adopting a proactive approach. Therefore, if a company wants to know what type of products or services would be profitable it should make a market research. Furthermore, a comprehensive research will enable the company to know about the product imperfections (if there are) and to know if it has been able to satisfy customers’ needs. It attempts to provide accurate information that reflects a true state of affairs. Due to market research the company can formulate a viable marketing plan and estimate the success of its existing plan. There are two main sources of marketing research information:
As this paper has shown there are numerous ways to conduct market research. A successful marketer and organization will understand how to choose the marketing tools that will work the best for their intended desires. However, the most effective way to oversee market research is to utilize both primary and secondary research to attain an organizations research goals and success.
Grover, R & Vriens, M 2006, The handbook of marketing research: Uses, misuses, and future
According to Leiper “Transportation is the only link between the tourist-generating region and destination region”[2]So, transportation was a more interesting sector to discuss in the report but I tried to find a company which is related with all these main sub-sectors discussed above in the report. I have decided to look in the U.K market for such company because “Tourism is one of the largest industries in U.K, worth approximately 75.9 £ Billion to the U.K economy in 2002 and supporting around 2.1 million jobs.” [3] During my research on internet I found many companies offering services in the tourism of U.K but I have decided to choose “Simply Travel” because of its variety of services offering related with the accommodation, transportation and attractions.
(EXIM Bank, 2016). According to Department of Tourism (2016), indicated that the number of registered business in the year 2016 is up to 12,391 companies. These numbers show that there are many competitors in the travel industry. There are many inbound tour
Michael D’Amico defines market research as a “broad range of activities that encompasses the gathering and analyzing of facts relevant to problems arising during the transfer and sale of goods and services “(41). Business owners tend to avoid any sort of effort that might involve marketing research. Many think that marketing research is too expensive, or that it is not worth the trouble, when in fact it is. Mark...
McDaniel, C., & Gates, R. (2006). Marketing research (7th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.