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Program Web Address

www.htm.uoguelph.ca

Abstract

In his dialogue titled - Overcoming The Impotency Of Marketing - K. Michael Haywood, Assistant Professor, School of Hotel and Food Administration, University of Guelph, originally reveals: “Many accommodation businesses have discovered that their marketing activities are becoming increasingly impotent. To overcome this evolutionary stage in the life cycle of marketing, this article outlines six principles that will re-establish marketing's vitality.”

“The opinion of general managers and senior marketing, financial, and food and beverage managers is that the marketing is not producing the results it once did and is not working as it should,” Haywood advises.

Haywood points to price as the primary component hospitality managers use to favor/adjust their marketability. Although this is an effective tool, the practice can also erode profitability and margin he says.

Haywood also points at recession as a major factor in exposing the failures of marketing plans. He adds that the hotel manager cannot afford to let this rationale go unchallenged; managers must take measures to mitigate circumstances that they might not have any control over. Managers must attempt to maintain profitability.

“In many hotels, large corporate accounts or convention business generates a significant proportion of occupancy. Often these big buyers dictate their terms to the hotels, especially the price they are prepared to pay and the service they expect,” Haywood warns. This dynamic is just another significant pitfall that challenges marketing strategy.

The savvy marketing technician must be aware of changes that occur in his or her marketplace, Haywood stresses. He offers three specific, real changes, which should be responded to.

“To cope with the problems and uncertainties of the hotel business during the remainder of the decade, six components need to be developed if marketing impotency is to be overcome,” says Haywood in outlining his six-step approach to the problem.

Additionally, forward thinking cannot be over-emphasized. “A high market share is helpful in general, but an even more crucial factor is careful consideration of the market sectors in which the company wants to operate,” your author advises.

“Taking tactical initiatives is essential. Successful hotels act; unsuccessful ones react. The less successful marketing operations tend to be a hive of frantic activity. Fire-fighting is the normal way of life in such organizations, Haywood observes. “By contrast, successful firms plan and execute their tactical marketing activity with careful timing and precision so as to create the maximum impact,” he extends in describing his fruitful marketing arabesque.

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