Marketing plan of Thomson Holiday Group

Case Company

The company chosen for implementation of this marketing plan is Thompson Holiday group and has its travel retail stores all across the UK. The travel business began in 1965 and the company has been able to be the market leader due to cost differentiation strategy.

Thompson Holiday group

The Thompson Holiday group started with the struggle of Thompson Roy who was from a poor backgroup but his efforts led him succeed and hence Thompson Holiday group was formed which was also a market leader in 1980’s. Thompson’s basic strategy is to provide quality products to its customers and fulfill needs according to age, destination or quality.

Situation Analysis

It is important for a company to identity the market opportunities and threats and also strengths and weaknesses to make the right market analysis. Opportunities and threats are the external factor and strengths and weaknesses which may affect a certain business performance.(Kotler, 1990, pg.77)

Internal Analysis of the Company

External Analysis of the Company

Marketing Strategy

An organization cannot form a marketing strategy all by itself, a marketing strategy is developed on the basis of set goals. (Kotler, 1990, pg.77)

Target marketing strategy

According to Vitez, target market can be defined as the group of consumers who is the focus of a company for selling its products and services and it is expected of them to consume the company’s products or services. A company makes its marketing strategies on the basis of the target market it chooses.  In most cases, companies develop the target market strategies with the help of specialized firms to sell common goods and their major objective is to sell to as many consumers as they can. (Vitez, What Is a Target Marketing Strategy?)

a. Segmentation

Segmentation is the basis of target market selection where the customer groups are established according to the responses they make in accordance to their competitors. Hence the segmentation strategy is also based on the competitors or also the benefit the customer is taking (A. Aker, 2008) Thompson Holiday Group, will therefore use an online medium to segment its customers will target its market using the segmentation characteristics.

b. Positioning

Using the positioning strategy, an organization is able to reflect the image it has been putting efforts in building consumer perception. (Taha U. , 2004) The segmentation strategy of Thompson Holiday Group will be used to reposition the brand as “a brand that builds a quality relationship with its customers”.

Marketing Mix

Apply marketing mix on Thompson Holiday group

Price

Price is the exchange of value expressed in money for any product or service. In marketing mix, it is the only element that is accountable for sales, revenue and demand. It is always the objective criteria for making the final purchase. Pricing has several objectives. One of which is increase in sales growth. This can be done by either reducing prices or keeping competitive pricing. A right kind of pricing is also essential for increase in the market share and predetermining the profit level. To compete against competitors or meet them and also to meet all kinds of cash flows,  right kind of pricing is important.  When deciding pricing all sorts of costs of are needed to take into consideration whether fixed or variable cost. (Hundekar 2010, pp.77-78.) Thompson Holiday group therefore has set its price as a competitive price by developing a cost leadership. This it had been able to do because of its increased market share and financial strength.

Product

A product is very important part of the marketing plan. It could be a good or service. Price, brand, design, label, packages and other physical objects and services are essential parts of it. It includes both tangible and intangible elements that create a value for the buyer. (Hundekar 2010, pp.49-50.) Thompson Holiday group has consumer products available to be consumed by the final consumers. The company has used the strategy of having an expanded product range by offering a variety of tours according to age, location and quality of service that customers would like avail. For instance, it has designed new brochures including mountains and lakes, far and away, young at heart, etc.

Place

Place is where a company sells its products at. For this different selling methods including direct calling, catalogues, mail, trade shows, retailers are used. Using these it is essential that customer receives messages at the right place with the right kind of information. (Tracy, 2004) Mobile phone being Universal, Thompson Holiday Group would therefore enhance its digital platform by being available on the platforms of social media so that the company is readily available for its customers whenever or anywhere.

People

People are the most important element of a service mix. It is always the front line manager who contacts them. (Van Vliet, 2013) Thus it is important for Thompson Holiday Group to especially train its front line staff and also other hired travel agents since quality is very important in terms of service. Perceptions are formed as a result of attitudes and behaviors. (Van Vliet, 2013)

Process

It encompasses the different procedure, protocols and activities through which service is delivered to the customer. It is essential that it is convenient, at ease, available and has a quality for its customers. (Kushwaha and Agarwal, 2014, pg.89) Thompson Holiday group should therefore on improving the processes and not allowing the services to be slow.

Physical environment

As stated by Kushwaha & Agraval 2014, p.88, the physical environment is another P from the 7P’s and it described about how the product or service looks from the outside. For a service, it includes all intangible elements that determine the quality of the service. It includes servicescape which is the environment in which the customer is being the service and thus, service is being consumed. Thomspson Holiday Group for this purpose has focus on all such elements which are company’s website, appropriate design of brochures including Far and Away, City Breaks, Freestyle, Lakes and Mountains,Young at Heart, Platinum, Gold, A la Carte, etc. It could improve its service by adding more in the aesthetic sense so that the service looks more appealing.

Promotion

Promotion is basically done to communicate about the existing products to its consumers with the techniques of influence, information and persuasion. Using the promotional techniques a customer’s belief, values and trends could be changed.  Advertisement is a paid form of promotion. An incentive is given for a product or service for gaining publicity. To attain personal selling face to face communication is done. (Sherlekar 2010, p.250-251) Hence to put promotional efforts Thompson Holiday Group could include displays and shows or exhibitions to invite more people and also use advertisement through the newspaper it already owns. In order to further promote its products, the company will make use of certain strategies, which are explained below.

Social Media Platform

One of the ways of promotion could be through improving the digital influence. A social media platform enables networking, sociability and communities where companies interact and cause an influence. Earlier direct marketing was done and traditional form of advertisements were adopted. The commercial information was believed more than any advertisements or promotions. With the coming of digitization, it has been able to make social reviews more important. (Dijkmans, Kerkhof & Beukeboom 2014, p.58)

Revamp Thompson Holiday Group’s Website

For all the businesses today, websites hold an integral position for the establishment of a marketing strategy. It is used as a medium to that enables client interaction and also provides relevant information to gain sales from current and potential customers. On the online media, websites are the storefront. (Chaffey, 2015)

Develop a page on Facebook

[large]Facebook gains popularity as a social networking site. It allows users to interact more often. The individuals and organizations make use of it. Services that are well able to express themselves, it is able to create a value for them. (Facebook Inc.2013, p.5) To generate traffic on Facebook, different updates will be made by the Thomson Holiday Group. The layout of the page would be designed in a new way so that it includes all related information for building a consistent brand image. It will be edited according to the layout of the new website so that it contains all the relevant information and is consistent with the brand image. Major components to be covered on the website would be inclusion of telephone number, email address, the website URL and other social media links.

Twitter Account

Twitter is a tool for micro blogging because of its easy easy access and also a great customer appearance. It is an easy to use site and it is able to interface effectively with web 2.0 tools so that a huge pool of the users could be increased with time. (Dunlap, 2009) To connect Thompson Holiday Group as a core brand and its relationship with the costumer’s daily lives, the Company will develop activities on the twitter page and thus, increase customer interaction.

Blogging

In blogging content is produced by one or more individuals. The writer writes about the company which could be published in magazines or newsletters. (Web-opas, 2015) Through blogging company’s products or events can be marketed. Thompson Holiday group can publicize itself and gain popularity.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Using “Search Engine Optimization” can be used as a tool to advance the organic search rankings of Thopmson Holiday Group’s website on the famous search engine such a Google. With this, it is essential that the website content is effective and has the relevant keywords and searches. In this case, hotel and travel related keywords would be utmost prioritized for instance: ‘UK Hotels’, ‘Travel to UK’. Or ‘Discover Europe’. Since this techniques takes time to effectively bring the Holiday Group on first ranking, effective keywords are very essential. Yet this technique is effective as customers most preferably as the customers usually click on the first link that appears to them.

Conclusion

The study was made to develop a marketing plan for Thompson Holiday Group and attract tourists and travelers. The study was also made to promote the brand through digital communication. The theoretical part of the study revealed development of a marketing plan, social media and marketing mix where target audience was figured out and the Thompson Holiday Group was positioned. The study also explained the internal and external analysis of the company.

The result of this study is that a ready-made marketing plan has been developed for Thompson Holiday Group. If it uses this plan, it could increase its market share and hence generate sales. The company there needs to focus on digitizing its brand for market expansion.

References

Benur, A. & Bramwell, B. (2015). Tourism product development and product diversification in destinations. Available at:  http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti-cle/pii/S0261517715000412

Chaffey, D. (2015). What is PR Smith’s SOSTAC® marketing planning model and how do you use it? UK: PR Smith Marketing Practises.
Cornerstone Business Solutions. (2001). The Importance of a Marketing Plan. Available at: http://www.cornerstoneresults.com/RefLib/KnlgeBk/mrkt_mrktplns_im-portance.htm.

Dijkmans, C, Kerkhof, P. & Beukeboom, C  (2014).  A stage to engage: Social media use and corporate reputation. Netherlands: Elsevier  Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266265448_A_Stage_to_Engage_Social_Media_Use_and_Corporate_Reputation

Dunlap. J & Lowenthal.  P  (2009). Tweeting the Night Away: Using Twitter to Enhance Social Presence. USA: Journal of Information Systems Education. Available at: http://patricklowenthal.com/publications/Using_Twitter_to_Enhance_Social_Presence.pdf?referer=https%3A%2F%2Fscholar.google.com.pk%2F

Entrepreneur(2014). Marketing plan. Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/marketingplan.

Ghauri, P. (2014). International Marketing. United Kingdom: McGraw-Hill Education.

Haasio, A. (2013). Sosiaalinen media ja kirjastot. Vantaa: Hansaprint.

Hundekar, S. A. (2010). Principles of Marketing: Himalaya Publishing House.

Kotler, P. (1997). Marketing Management 9th edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall

Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of Marketing 13th edition. USA: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Kushwaha, G. & Agraval, S. (2014). An Indian customer surrounding 7P’s of service marketing.

Raju, G. (2009). Tourism Marketing and Management.Mangalam Publishers.

Sherlekar, S. (2010).Principles of Marketing. Himalaya Publishing House.

Taha, U. (2004). How To Design Your Positioning Strategy?  Eugene: All your marketing dreams. Retrieved from http://www.smithfam.com/news/oct00x.html

The Economic Times (2014). Definition of ‘Marketing Mix’. Available at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/marketingmix

Tracy, B. (2004). The 7 P’s of Marketing. Available at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/70824

Vitez, O. What Is a Target Marketing Strategy? : eHow. Available at: http://www.ehow.com/facts_6931581_target-marketing-strategy_.html

Van Vliet, V (2013). Services Marketing Mix  and 7 P’s.  Available at: http://www.toolshero.com/servicemarketingmix7ps/.

Web-opas  (2015). Mikä on blogi? Available at: http://www.webopas.net/mika_blogi.html