MARKETING
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing is potentially the single most important action of any business. The term "marketing" essentially is all of the actions that a business does to get customers to use their products/services. For five star hospitality establishments, the importance of good marketing is no less significant to companies that sell other products. On this page, I will investigate the successful marketing campaigns and strategies of my case study, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group.
THE ROLE OF MARKETING
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
Typical aims and objectives versus those of Mandarin Oriental...
Dominic Clark
DEMOGRAPHY ANALYSIS
An insight to the target market groups of Mandarin Oriental...
Dominic Clark
MARKETING MIX: PRODUCT
We explore the products that are offered by Mandarin Oriental in this Marketing Mix analysis...
Dominic Clark
MARKETING MIX: PLACE
We explore the locations where Mandarin Oriental properties and campaigns exist...
Dominic Clark
MARKETING MIX: PRICE
A look into Mandarin Oriental's pricing strategy and how prices vary by country/property...
Dominic Clark
MARKETING MIX: PROMOTION
A look into Mandarin Oriental's pricing strategy and how prices vary by country/property...
Dominic Clark
DEMOGRAPHICS
PLACE
In addition to where the hotel locations of Mandarin Oriental are based, rooms and hotels need to be marketed in far more markets than specified above. As they are marketing a hotel brand, holidaygoers and business people travelling out of their country need to be communicated with in able for Mandarin Oriental to secure sales.
PRICE
The prices of Mandarin Oriental's products and services differ by city, product classification, rate type, product type, and many other factors. Some VIPs may have lower rates for better products, whilst some pay higher rates for standard rooms based on their point of sale. In this section, I will investigate the different prices by each of the above factors and attempt to put together some averages. In addition, I will include some financial information from Mandarin Oriental's official financial report for the fiscal year 2014.
ROOM RATES BY CITY
Below are the average room rates for a selection of 14 hotels within the Mandarin Oriental Network. These figures were taken from the official financial report released by Mandarin Oriental in 2014.
Amongst these 14 hotels, the total average room rate is approximately US$564 per night. This is not the average across all of Mandarin's hotels, however it gives a good understanding of the types of prices that customers are expected to be paying. The high price of rooms for just the average figure exhibits just how premium the services, facilities and offered products at Mandarin Oriental hotels are.
Mandarin Oriental have carefully priced all of their rooms throughout their network based on numerous factors such as; location, quality of hotel and quality of rooms. An example of pricing strategy is shown when comparing Mandarin Oriental's Paris property, located in a restored classic building in the center of paris, to Mandarin Oriental Jakarta. Below, I will provide an analysis of why the prices differ between these two cities.
Location has a huge impact on the pricing of hotel rooms. The Mandarin Oriental Paris is located on the on the "extra fabulous" rue Saint Honore. This is right in the middle of Paris' main shopping and dining districts which is famed all over the globe. Just to give an idea of the cost of living in the area, the price of a one-bedroom flat is €1,260,000 (US$1,340,451). Although The Mandarin Oriental Jakarta is also located in a prime location for the city, it does not compare to the location in central paris. A similar sized property in proximity to the Madarin Jakarta is only worth approximately US$99,000, which is only a fraction of the price of the Parisian flat. This comparison exhibits the mere diffreinciation between the value of the two properties, being one of the causes why the room rate of the Mandarin Oriental Paris is more expensive than the average room rate of MO Jakarta.
Above are the descriptions of the most basic room for each of the two hotels (Jakarta on the left, and Paris on the right). As you can see, the prices of these two rooms differ significantly (with Paris being more than four-times the price of Jakarta). The quality of these two rooms do not have large differneces. In fact, the cheaper option Jakarta, offers a larger size than the room in Paris. In addition to location, demand also has an effect on pricing. MO Paris is a small, boutique hotel with only 138 rooms in comparison to MO Jakarta's 272 rooms and suites. The demand for Mandarin Oriental Paris' rooms would be higher as a result, and when taking the location into account, the hotel can afford to charge such high prices. This may not be possible in Jakarta as competitors such as Shangri-La, where the standard room is being sold for US$184 per night.
Displayed above are the fitness and wellness services/facilities available at both of the hotels (again, Jakarta on the left and Paris on the right). The services available at Mandarin Oriental Paris appear to be of higher quality, and there appears to be more variation for hotel guests. This can have an effect on the pricing of rooms as it adds to the benefits of which the guests recieve, the better the facilities, the more expensive the prices get (in most cases).
PROMOTION
Throghiut the year, in addition to indviual hotel based promotion, there are some forms of promotion used