Free «Marketing Strategy: Travel Today» Essay

Introduction

Marketing is a function of business management that enables companies to create awareness of an organization’s products and services in the market with an aim of increasing sales (Kotler & Keller, 2011). As the travel agency Travel Today is introducing a new product - traveling tours to dangerous destinations, it is important that they have in place a strategic marketing plan to increase its competitiveness in the market. The use of a marketing mix approach will help Travel Today meet its objectives of spurring the business and returning to its competitive position in the market. The marketing mix consists of the 4 Ps: product, place, pricing, and promotional strategies. This paper will discuss the four strategies in relation to how they may increase the competitiveness of Travel Today and its new product.

Product Strategies

The product is the core element in an ideal marketing mix (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2010). The design and development of a product should be based on the need to satisfy a specific demand in the market (Zeithaml, Bitner & Gremler, 2010; Kotler & Keller, 2011). As such, an ideal product is the one that has an ability to create utility. In a bid to enhance its competitiveness, Travel Today has come up with a new type of traveling tours so as to satisfy the specific need of its customers who desire to travel to dangerous destinations such as war torn countries, destinations whose information is not readily available on mass media, and destinations that require group traveling, amongst others. This product is introduced to create value for Travel Today in the modern market, where customers are using the Internet to book their travelling arrangements. As outlined earlier, this is the main market dynamic that led to the reduced market competitiveness of tour firms in the global market.

Analyzing the possible effects of this product strategy on the competitiveness of Travel Today, it can be noted that this is the first product of its kind to be developed in the market. Thus, it can be argued that the company has an ability to enter a target market of customers who love group adventure and travels to dangerous / unstable destinations. Travel Today can use its position to reap the benefits associated with being the first to introduce a specific product or service in the market, which will eventually enhance its competitiveness.

Place Strategies

According to the marketing mix approach, an organization should provide its products to the target market at a required place (Powers & Loyka, 2010). At this point, it is worth highlighting that the place of the utility is an important element in customer satisfaction. In the light of enhanced competition amongst the players in the travel industry and the disruptive effect of Internet based technologies on business dynamics, it is imperative that Travel Today devices an appropriate strategy of presenting its new traveling tours to the market. To start with, it is important that the company maintains its physical presence in the offices so as to cater for the needs of walk among the customers. The physical offices should be complimented by a strong and dynamic Web presence. The use of Web 2.0 technologies such as maintaining the company’s website and establishing its presence on social media will enable Travel Today reach out to an unlimited number of customers. As such, it will be able to create market awareness of the new traveling tours and sell the product to potential customers. Additionally, a strong Web presence will enable the company to provide its services to a growing number of travelers who use Internet based platforms to plan their travels and make various bookings. This strategic move will place the company in line with the Internet based technologies that have revolutionized the way of doing business in the travel industry. Thus, the place strategies of Travel Today presented above are expected to enhance its competitiveness in the market. As for its competitors, it can be highlighted that Global Travels and Experience Travels also have a strategy in place to incorporate e-business techniques in their operations, thus presenting a competition to Travel Today. It is therefore recommended that Travel Today has in place a robust and dynamic Internet business strategy so as to be able to win the intense virtual business competition.

Pricing Strategies

Pricing is another important strategy that may influence the organization’s competitiveness (Kotler & Keller, 2011). With customers having numerous travel companies to choose from, it is important that Travel Today comes up a competitive pricing strategy. A good starting point is to match the price with the value presented to the customers (Ingenbleek, Frambach & Verhallen, 2010). This should be done by taking into consideration that the lowest price is not necessarily the most competitive. The value of the new product provided by Travel Today is a function of many variables, and the price is just but one of the many. Furthermore, it is expected that the pricing strategy that the company would use for its new traveling tours should be guided by the danger level and the risk factors associated with a specific travel destination in addition to the distance as well as the special requirements demanded by the trip. When evaluating Travel Today’s competitiveness under this strategy as compared to its competitors, it is worth highlighting that price is a major factor that is used to influence organizational competitiveness in the travel industry. Due to this reason, it can be argued that Travel Today faces harsh competition from other players on the basis of price. However, its attachment to customer experience, service and innovations provides more value to its products, thus making its pricing strategy more competitive.

Promotional Strategies

Promotional strategies are meant to create market awareness and acceptance as well as enhance product sales. A good marketing strategy should be matched with an exhaustive promotional strategy that would eventually enhance the ability of an organization to sell its new products to the target market. The main promotional strategy that should be used by Travel Today for promoting its new product is the use of Internet based platforms such as social media as well as the company’s website. Other strategies that can be used include personal selling, participation in travel fairs, advertising on travel sites, and publications in magazines (Huang, Yung & Yang, 2011).

Conclusion

The essay has discussed the use of the marketing mix by Travel Today to enhance its competitiveness and sell its innovative product – traveling tours to dangerous destinations. It was argued that the product is a core element of the marketing mix, and the new traveling tours are aimed at meeting the needs of a specific target market. The best place strategies are those that make the product reachable for its target market; in this respect, the use of Internet based technologies and maintaining physical offices are the key place strategies that Travel Today should use. Finally, the application of a strategy that matches value and price and the use of a mixed promotional strategy are likely to enhance the competitiveness of the company. It can be argued that the new traveling tours present Travel Today a great chance to redeem itself in the market. However, there is a need for it to have in place a strategic human resource base to implement the business strategies outlined above.