Sales Advertising And Public Relations In Hospitality Industry

1. Analyze the ways in which sales, advertising and public relations can be used to promote a hospitality establishment. Three Principal Goals of Promotion are to inform, persuade and remind. Promotion in hospitality industry is essential in order to establish or change image of the organization, generate sales and send messages to publics. A manager of a hospitality establishment can create a customer through advertisement, sales promotion, and public relations. Behind each of these are: origination, imagination, appearance and appeal, salesmanship and hospitality. By using these tactical instruments, the company is able to raise its awareness, communicate the value it brings to its potential customers and helps in the sales process. First step in a successful promotion is identifying the target market. Managers need to understand their target audience before they can communicate with them. Second step represents determining the communication objectives. Thirdly, designing a message content, structure and format. Forth step represents selecting the communication channels, whether personal (face to face, telephone, presentation) or impersonal (print, broadcast and display media). Further comes selecting the message source, and lastly, measuring the communication’s results The guests determine what the business becomes. The guests convert economic resources into wealth when they rent rooms and buy meals and other goods and services. What the guests consider "value" and think they are buying determines what the business actually is, what it provides, and whether it will prosper. The most difficult and important part of the hospitality manager's job is marketingplanning and accomplishing sales. Sales are the fundamental measure of the success of a business. By developing the proper sales promotion program a hospitality organization can gain an enormous success. The size of the incentive is extremely important. The conditions for participation must be decided on, as well as the way of promoting and distributing. Furthermore, a promotion dates must be set and decided on the sales promotion budget. Sales-Promotion tools are samples, coupons, packages, patronage rewards, premiums, point-of-purchase, displays, contests, sweepstakes, and games. Sales: for hospitality firm helps secure corporate clients. This segment is ideally approached through direct sales. Direct sales are also an excellent medium to learn the service needs of different clients - helps customize your offer. Advantages of Sales Promotions: • Sales promotions have some of the advantages of advertising and sales. • Ability to get quick feedback. • Ability to add excitement to what is being offered by the destination. • Flexible timing. • Efficiency. Disadvantages of Sales Promotions

• • • •

Many sales promotions only provide short-term benefits. Ineffective in building long-term loyalty for the destination. Inability to be used in the long term without other promotional mix elements. Often misused by tourism and hospitality organizations (e.g., coupons).

Advertising can be defined as paid, public messages designed to describe or praise your business. This can be done through the use of posters, newspapers, radio or other media. There are three different types of advertising: • • •

Informative advertising is used to inform consumers about a new product or feature to build primary demand Persuasive advertising is used as competition increases and a company’s objective becomes building selective demand Reminder advertising is used for mature products since it keeps consumers thinking about the product

Every lodging business needs some form of advertising to keep revenues at a sufficient level to produce a profit. In addition to word-of-mouth testimonials and endorsements (the most valuable of all ways of increasing business), a well organized advertising program is essential . The sales can be increased by: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Encouraging potential purchasers to visit the hotel Obtaining leads for salesmen or channel members Introducing market influencers to a product and getting them to recommend Securing distributors-image development-enhancement Promoting immediate purchases through announcements of special sales and contests

Advertising can change attitudes: 1. Change the perception of the company’s brand with regard to some particular salient product characteristics 2. Change the perception of the competitive brands with regard to some particular salient product characteristic 3. Affect those forces which influence strongly the criteria choice used for evaluating brand belonging to the product class The advertising budget must be determined: • •

Most common method is as a percentage of sales Best method is the objective and task approach

Media plan is very important. An organization must decide on the type of advertising: • •

Media Magazines

• • • • •

Television Radio Yellow pages Radio Outdoor

Launching the advertising, followed by measure of advertising effectiveness are also essential steps in advertising program. Organizations can also capitalize on word of mouth, by: • • • • • • • •

Persuading customers to tell others Testimonials Monitoring satisfaction–would you recommend us to others Internal marketing–positive word of mouth, business cards Publics Get it right the first time–Guarantees– Service recovery Be able to tell customers why Exceed expectations

Effective advertising gains the attention of the prospective guest, holds it so that the message can be communicated, and makes a lasting, positive impression on the prospect's mind. A message is created by: • • • • • •

Advertising platform is the basic issues or selling features Copy Headline-sub Headline Body (readability, core message, frequency of words, sentence length, repetitionwithin the message repeat the same message) Signature--trademark, name, and address in an attractive manner Border

Advertising: helps position the firm to different segments, and in creating a brand name. However reaching out to different segments is possible through different media. This is most effective when the firm wants to attract individual travelers/vacationers from far away places (there are also other means to do this). Advantages of Advertising • • • • • •

Low cost per contact. Ability to reach potential visitors where sales staff cannot. Great scope for creative versatility and dramatization of messages. Ability to create images that sales staff cannot. Non-threatening nature of non-personal presentation. Prestige and impressiveness of mass-media advertising.

Disadvantages of Advertising •

Inability to close sales.

• • • • • •

Advertising clutter. Ability for visitor to ignore advertising messages. Difficulties in getting immediate response and action. Difficulties in getting quick feedback and in adjusting messages. Difficulties in measuring effectiveness. Relatively high waste factor.

Public relations represent all the activities that a hospitality and travel organization engages in to maintain or improve its relationship with other organizations and individuals. PR offers a way to distinguish your company’s products from another. One of the major PR activities is press relations. The aim of press relations is to place newsworthy information into the news media to attract attention to a person, product, or service. Publicity is one public relations technique that involves non-paid communication of information about an organization’s services. Product publicity assists in new product launch as well as in product repositioning. Furthermore, it creates interest in a product category. Publicity: is ideal when the firm wants to communicate about a new service, any service enhancements, hosting special events etc. As it is well known, this is most cost effective. Corporate Communications involves communications with internal and external customers and promotes understanding of the organization. Communication is the lifeblood of good public relations. In other words, you must first do good things and then tell the public about them. Lobbying represents dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation. Large companies employ their own lobbyists, whether small companies lobby through local trade associations. Counseling is a PR activity stands for advising management about public issues and company positions and image. It is very important when involving sensitive issues. Favorable acceptance of your business by the public is of utmost importance. No business is more concerned with human relations than the public hospitality industry-motels, resorts, hotels and restaurants. It is essential to have good public relations outside your walls, as well as smooth and harmonious relations between managers and employees. The Public Relations Process: 1. Research 2. Establishing marketing objectives • • • •

Builds awareness Builds credibility Stimulates the sales force and channel intermediaries Lowers promotional costs

3. Defining the Target Audience 4. Choosing the PR Message and Vehicles 5. Implementing the Marketing PR Plan 6. Evaluating PR Results • • •

Exposures Awareness/Comprehension/Attitude Change Sales-and-Profit Contribution

An imaginative and vigorous public relations program will help establish your business as a valuable and wholesome influence in the community. The public and your guests will recognize your business as one which provides the best services and products for rates and prices charged. There are many opportunities that PR marketing provides, especially in promoting hospitality institutions. PR marketing can be especially successful in promoting individual properties such as single hotels, tour operators, B & B s. PR is very important in turning the poor locations into advantages as isolation and obscurity can be a PR tactic. Furthermore, PR emphasizes unique services. The biggest tools in Public Relation marketing include publications, events, news, speeches, public service activities and identity media. All of the public interests must be served. Serving one group of the public at the expense of another does not produce desirable public relations. Good morals are the basis of sound public relations. Each individual business manager and the business he represents must become respected and earn the confidence of his community. There is no difference between his personal reputation and the reputation of his business. Periodic review of any management procedure is essential for continual improvement. Marketing, sales promotion and advertising data should be carefully assembled and analyzed. Statistical analysis is the best way to determine the efficiency and effectiveness of the campaign. Decisions are best made from factual data, not from guesses or hunches. Advantages of Public Relations and Publicity: • • • • • •

Relatively low cost. Effective because not seen as a commercial message. Credibility and implied endorsements (e.g., articles by travel critics). Prestige and impressiveness of mass-media coverage (e.g., feature articles). Added excitement and dramatization. Maintenance of a “public” presence.

Disadvantages of Public Relations and Publicity

• •

Difficulties in arranging consistent coverage of the destination. Lack of control over what gets printed or said.

The public must have factual information about your business. False information, rumors, and gossip are detrimental. A manager must relate the actual conditions as they exist. If marketing and promotional plans have been carefully and thoroughly made, it should not be difficult to measure results. Find out what has been accomplished and then review these findings, considering the cost and potentials for further progress. Compare what has been accomplished with what was planned. Try to discover the reasons for any shortcomings. If these shortcomings can be controlled, do so. 2. Suggest which above tools should be used and why in the following situations (more than one tool can be used in each case) A. A hotel in Corfu that has a guaranteed contract with a tour operator for July and August but wishes to encourage bookings for the remainder of the year. In this situation, the best way of promoting a hotel is by sales promotion. Sales promotion consists of those activities directly involved with the day-to-day business of selling rooms, food, beverage, and other lodging services. It can be thought of as the fundamental processes of training all employees to be sales-minded; the preparation of sales training materials; guest sales literature; direct mail programs; posters; use of give-a-ways and similar efforts to increase sales. Sales-Promotion Objectives: • • • • • • •

Increase short-term sales Help build long-term market share Entice consumers to try a new product Lure consumers away from competitors Hold and reward loyal customers Building stronger customer relations Obtaining new accounts

Internal Selling Persuading a prospective guest to patronize your business is not the sole concern of the sales effort. Internal selling- all sales efforts made after guests have been registered- must also be considered. Internal selling has two purposes (1) to encourage the guest to patronize all facilities of your business, and (2) to favorable influence him so that he will return again. Personal Selling Personal selling, as the most impelling type of selling, provides excellent potential for increasing business. All of the staff should be sales-minded. They must be trained to offer sales suggestions to guests when opportunities are presented. Friendly cooperation from

all staff is essential. Here are some examples: Desk clerk, while registering a guest: "Mr. Brown, we have a beautiful new dining room here and hope that you can try it out. We're also open for breakfast, beginning at 7:00 a.m." Telephone Selling Expert selling on the telephone is important, too. The hotel's telephone operator is in a good position to make sales. Guest's inquiries from their rooms or from outside can often be the opening for a polite and skillful sales effort. Negatively, an unfriendly or "snappy" manner can discourage sales. Your telephone company can assist in training. Other Methods Internal selling can be done by means of various printed pieces or by artistic posters and similar methods. In executing a sales promotion, pre-test to determine if they are appropriate and of the right incentive size, and in the end evaluate the results against the objectives of the program The sales promotion is a good tool in this case because it has wide assortment of tools, rewards quick response, and efforts are short-lived. In this case we can also use a persuasive advertising. It can help a hotel to build selective Demand. Company specific factors to be considered when setting the advertising budget: • • • • • • • • • •

Stage in the product life cycle, Competition and clutter, Market share, Advertising frequency, Product differentiation. Strategic versus tactical budgets, Overall promotional budget, Consistency, Opportunities to stretch the budget, The final budget.

A. The opening of a new Five Star hotel and conference centre. Informative advertising is used to inform consumers about a new product or feature to build primary demand. In this case, the advertising promotion would be one of the choices in promoting the new five star hotel and conference center. There are at least two dozen media which hotel can use, but it will probably use less than half of this number. When planning a program, the media considered as

essential, valuable, and probably helpful should be listed. The selection will depend upon budget, goals and markets being sought as well as season of the year. In this case an advertising on the magazine would prove to be good. For the promotion a hotel can choose execution styles: • • • • •

Slice of Life Lifestyle Fantasy Mood or Image Musical

Awareness about a company’s product or service can be created by: • • • • • •

Informing potential customers about product features Announcing new model Highlighting unique features of the model Informing customers as to where the product may be bought Announcing price changes Demonstrating product use

Following are the steps in media decisions: Step 1. Decide on reach, frequency, and impact Step 2. Choosing among major media types media habits of target consumers, nature of the product, types of message, cost Step 3.Selecting specific media vehicles, specific media within a given type, i.e. magazines. Must balance media cost against media factors: audience quality & attention, editorial quality? Step 4. Deciding on media timing scheduling of advertising over the course of a year pattern of ads: continuity or pulsing Finally, advertising is the best promotion tool because it reaches many buyers, repeats message many times, and is impersonal. A. A hotel that is reopening after having been closed due to the death of a guest from carbon monoxide poisoning because of a faulty water heater. PR helps a company to create a positive image and customer preference through thirdparty endorsement. Building good relations with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, developing a good corporate image, and heading off unfavorable rumors, stories or events. In this case, the best choice would be PR marketing. The PR manager is the person which is responsible for speeches to the public, and informing the press when crises happen, in this case, the death of the guest from carbon monoxide poisoning. Sometimes an owner

finds that his business has a poor reputation. He needs a positive, favorable public relations program to wipe out the unfavorable impression. A careful review of the procedures outlined in this section should suggest many ways for achieving good public relations. Product publicity assists in product repositioning. High ethical standards, cleanliness, maintenance, and a program of accident prevention in your lodging business can help assure a good reputation. Carelessness in these areas can undo the work of many years and the large sum of money invested in the business. Finally, a PR is a best tool for promotion because it is very believable, dramatizes a company or product, and is underutilized.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: •

Books:

Kotler, P., Bowen, J.T. & Makens, J.C. (2006), Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. •

Websites:

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