Pham Hong Ngan – E2200036 – MKT304 Final Assignment

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all members)
Name ID

PHAM HONG NGAN E2200036

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Module/Subject Information
Acknowledgement
Module/Subject Code MKT 304
COMPETITIVE MARKETING
Module/Subject Name
PLANNING AND STRATEGY
MR RAVI VARMMAN A/L K.
Lecturer/Tutor/Facilitator
KANNIAPPAN
Due Date 28/12/2023
Assignment Title/Topic

Intake (where applicable)

Word Count 2429 Date/Time

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Pham Hong Ngan – E2200036 – MKT304 Final Assignment

Signature: PHAM HONG NGAN Date: 28/12/2023

E-mail: e2200036@elplive.my.edu

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Pham Hong Ngan – E2200036 – MKT304 Final Assignment

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Assessment Task:
Introduction: Strategic marketing plays a crucial role in guiding businesses to achieve their
objectives in a dynamic and competitive environment. With the advent of digital technologies and
shifting consumer behavior, the landscape of marketing has transformed significantly. In this
assignment, you will explore the key concepts of strategic marketing and how businesses can
effectively utilize social media to gain a competitive edge.
Assignment Task:
1. Define Strategic Marketing: Provide a comprehensive definition of strategic marketing and
explain its significance in the overall business strategy. Highlight the key elements that make
up a successful strategic marketing plan.
Strategic Marketing refers to the process of planning unique marketing programs by providing
customers with better products and experiences to compete with other businesses in related fields
(Varadarajan, 2015). Strategic Marketing has 3 main characteristics, including analysis of business
market and specific customer demands, matching products to customer segments and marketing
program implementation to gain competitive edge over other competitors (Drummond, Ensor and
Ashford, 2008). As a result, strategic marketing helps companies to narrow down their target to
customers, competitors and internal business problems. By utilizing strategic marketing on
customers, businesses can cultivate their brand identity and reputation, resulting in sustainable
growth in the long term. Meanwhile, appropriate marketing strategies also create unique selling
points (USP) among competitors, which are the unique strengths businesses can develop to dominate
in any market niche (Liew, 2022). Moreover, strategic marketing also aligns the marketing target
with overall core value and growth direction of the companies, which fosters a sense of purpose in
the internal corporate.
According to Carpenter and Shankar (2013, p.9), to run a successful strategic marketing plan,
businesses need to apply several key elements, including 4Ps (Place, Product, Price and Promotion)
and STP (segmentation, appropriate target market and positioning). Regarding 4Ps Marketing mix,
product refers to tangible or intangible goods, which is considered as the core touchpoint of
customers and businesses (Singh, 2012). Therefore, 4Ps program pushes companies to produce
updated and better quality products, from there businesses can understand more about market needs

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and customer demands. Second, Price element decides the cost of the product, advertising plan and
strategic marketing distribution. Due to variable cost of products over time, prices need to be
dynamic to cover those unexpected changes. The following P is Promotion, having the most
influence on marketing strategy of businesses. Promotion is featured by advertising, marketing or
sales organizations. The final element is Place, the distribution channels of marketing strategy such
as social media, stores or agencies (Xia, 2023). By implementing 4Ps Marketing Mix, businesses can
regularly update products and introduce advertising programs. As a result, these companies can
increase brand visibility, boost brand value and sustainable reputation. One case study of a business
that succeeded in applying 4Ps in their strategic marketing is the launch of Tesla Model 3. With the
accessible product and affordable price in the electric vehicle market, combined with various digital
marketing programs on various outlets, Tesla Model 3 recorded unprecedentedly over 400,000 pre-
orders (Thomas and Maine, 2019).

2. Analyzing the Business Environment: Choose a real-world company of your choice and
conduct a detailed analysis of its external and internal business environment. Identify relevant
market trends, competitor strategies, and consumer behaviors that can influence the
company's strategic marketing decisions.
One real-world company can be mentioned is JW Marriott International, an multinational
American company that provides luxury accommodations including 5-star hotels or resorts. When it
comes to the external business environment, it refers to 5 indicators: customers, competitors, social,
political and technological aspects (Buhalis and Leung, 2018). While customers refers to consumer
behaviors, competitors are considered as competitor strategies and social would count for market
trends. Technological aspects can be seen in the integration of many novel technologies, such as
virtual reality, Internet of things (IoT) or even smart hotel models (Buhalis and Leung, 2018).
Meanwhile, the internal business environment of the JW Marriott International company includes
physical portfolios, its strengths and weaknesses (Hassanien and Dale, 2019). Marriott company’s
internal strengths features its brand reputation, global reach and firm loyalty guests base. However,
its internal weaknesses may be overreliance on luxury brands and distinction among services offered
(Wong and Wickham, 2015).
In terms of market trends in hospitality, it has witnessed a significant increase in the number
of demands for luxury travel experience, high-end accommodations and personalized customer
services (Wirtz, Holmqvist and Fritze, 2020). This reflects the fact that customers are having higher
and higher living standards, which enables them to stay in 5-star hotels and resorts for comfort and

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entertainment. Another trend is the emergence of technology in hospitality, such as mobile check-in,
virtual menu or augmented reality experience (O’Connor and Murphy, 2004).
To stay up-to-date to these trends, many hospitality companies have implemented their
strategies to compete with JW Marriott International, Inc. While Hyatt is the hospitality company
that focuses on hotel management services, Four Seasons conducts strategic marketing by focusing
on personalized services and unique experiences (Kiessling, Balekjian and Oehmichen, 2009).
Basically, all JW Marriott International’s competitors would provide services to take care of
customers from the stage of pre-arrival and during their stay. However, the successful unique selling
point (USP) of JW Marriott is its loyalty program, namely Marriott Bonvoy. This loyalty program
enables guests to collect and redeem points for stays at various Bonvoy brands, such as Ritz-Carlton,
Sheraton or JW Marriott (Mani and Mishra, 2022). Thanks to the over 30 brands portfolio, JW
Marriott International has grown to the top tier of hotel and resorts companies (Nalley and Gregory,
2021). This means Marriott Bonvoy members can flexibly apply their loyalty programs at any hotels
of JW Marriott International.
Regarding consumer behaviors in the JW Marriott International brand, there are many
customer behaviors that have been changing the brand’s strategic marketing. This consists of the rise
of online bookings, social media influence and needs for personalization (Dixit, Lee and Loo, 2021).
Due to these ever changing demands of customers, Marriott Company has been not only leveraging
technology such as virtual reality and focusing on personalized services, but also participates in
social media to contact guests for marketing campaigns (Wong and Wickham, 2015).

3. Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning (STP): Explain the concepts of market

segmentation, targeting, and positioning. Using the company selected in Task 2, propose a
strategic marketing plan that outlines how the company can effectively segment its target
market, select specific target segments, and position its products/services to meet customer
needs.
To achieve a cost effective and time-saving strategic marketing, market segmentation,
targeting and positioning (STP) is indispensable. Market segmentation is the process of categorizing
customers into small groups based on common characteristics, customer behaviors and spending
habits. This process aims to understand customers’ needs and predict reactions or demands
(Drummond, Ensor and Ashford, 2008). From the basements of customer segmentation, targeting
involves choosing target customers and defining customer persona (Pyo, 2015). Meanwhile,
positioning is the process of building prestige and superior position among competitors. It is believed

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that businesses should match their products with customers’ demands to gain a competitive position
(Andaleeb, 2016).
Hence, I would give some suggestions on the strategic marketing plan for JW Marriott
International Company. First, regarding marketing segmentation, Marriott should research and
categorize customers into geographic, psychographic, demographic and behavioral segmentation
(Tynan and Drayton, 2010). Geographic and behavior in segmentation can be based on where the
Marriott’s brands take place (countries, regions and cities), allowing Marriott to understand more
about customer preferences and taboos in one country. For example, Marriott brands in Dubai would
separate pork from their menu to serve Muslim people, but they still provide a pork section for non-
muslim guests. Moreover, psychographic and demographic segmentation would include gender, age
and guests’ purpose for stay, such as business travelers or wealthy families (Cahill, 2006). From
there, Marriott hotels can generate suitable marketing campaigns, such as Tet Celebration in JW
Marriott Vietnam with lucky money decoration workshops for children.
Regarding targeting, the target market of JW Marriott can be separated into 2 main customer
profiles. The first customer persona is luxury business travelers in investors who treasure
convenience, luxury facilities and amenities, along with personalized customer services (Morritt and
Weinstein, 2012). Marriott Company can advertise about their premium amenities such as executive
lounge, business centers and concierge services. The second customer profiles that Marriott are
targeting are event and conference organizers, who seek high-quality event planning services
(Barreto and Mayya, 2022). Hence, the marketing strategy of Marriott brands can focus on Wedding
planning services and conference facilities with discounts when attending with a group of 300 people
and further.
Finally about positioning, Marriott brands has positioned itself as a top-rated hotel & resorts
chain with a symbol of luxury and elegance (Deuschl, 2006). Therefore, JW Marriott can feature
guests' experience through storytelling, testimonials to attract viewers. These activities can be
leveraged by the use of social media platforms, which also helps Marriott reach more audience.
Moreover, Marriott brands can also invite traveler celebrities from top sources to endorse hotels and
service quality.

4. Scope of the utilization of Social Media: Explore the role of Social Media in marketing in
today's business landscape. Identify and discuss various Social Media platforms and
techniques available to businesses. Evaluate how the selected company in Task 2 can
leverage Social Media to reach its target audience, enhance brand visibility, and drive
customer engagement.

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Social media has been utilized as an irreplaceable program of strategic marketing. First,
businesses can enhance their brand identity and visibility through social media marketing. In the
competitive business landscape nowadays, social media offers platforms for businesses to showcase
their brands’ products and services (Hanna, Rohm and Crittenden, 2011). By generating attractive
contents, short videos and reels, brands can capture attention from a wide range of audience and
generate more leads. Moreover, social media also facilitates influencer endorsement. By connecting
with celebrities and influencers in their niche market, businesses can utilize the credibility of these
people to reach a wider audience (Campbell and Farrell, 2020). This would contribute significantly to
increase a positive association image to the brand.
In terms of social media marketing of JW Marriott International, this company has invested in
influencer collaboration and targeted advertising programs to attract customer engagement, increase
brand identity and reach their target market (Fyall et al., 2019). First, to reach their targeted audience,
JW Marriott has collaborated with traveler and lifestyle influencers to associate trust and credibility
(Boo and Mattila, 2002). One case study noted is JacksGap vlogger cooperated with JW Marriott to
produce a travel video on his Youtube Channel. This video received an unprecedented 900,000 views
(JacksGap, 2015). This reflects that influencer endorsements help JW Marriott reach more traveling-
interest people, then drive more booking rate for this hotel brand. Next, JW Marriott also makes the
most of targeting marketing campaigns on Facebook and Instagram. By utilizing advertising tools on
these social media sites, Marriott can target their reels and call-to-action content specifically to
customers with travel behaviors and interests (Morritt and Weinstein, 2012). From there, they can
drive in more brand exposure and engage with customers effectively, then increase traffic to their
official website as well.
5. Measuring Marketing Effectiveness: Describe the key performance indicators (KPIs) used
to measure the effectiveness of strategic marketing initiatives. Suggest appropriate KPIs for
the company in Task 2 to track the success of its marketing campaigns and overall strategic
marketing efforts.
Throughout the process of running strategic marketing, it is essential to have a value of
metrics to evaluate marketing effectiveness. The indispensable metrics of businesses is key
performance indicator (KPIs), which is used for monitor marketing performance, track success and
further improve marketing plans (Saura, Palos-Sánchez and Cerdá Suárez, 2017). With appropriate
KPIs set for each department in a company, this would not only help businesses keep track with their
goal, but also support a benchmark with competitors. Therefore, having KPIs enable operators to
have a clear vision about the business’ process.

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Pham Hong Ngan – E2200036 – MKT304 Final Assignment

In the JW Marriott International company, KPIs serve as a measurement metric of each

department or the whole property. Through data collected from KPIs, this hospitality company can
identify their strengths and weaknesses in the market, and then determine their opportunities and
challenges in the future (Jessica Hwang and Lockwood, 2006). The first KPIs for strategic marketing
of JW Marriott is click-through rate. Click-through rate is the number of clicks that viewers tap on
the advertisement button, call-to-action button or website link in the content of a hotel page on social
media (Anguera-Torrell and Langer, 2021). Click-through rate depends on how long businesses
display their ads, sponsored contents and the use of search engine optimization (SEO) in marketing.
Therefore, it is reasonable for JW Marriott to use click-through rate ro reflects how many guests
reached and also measure its brand exposure.
Another KPIs element for JW Marriott can be website traffic measurements. Web traffic
refers to the number of people visiting the web of businesses on various platforms (Bala and Verma,
2018). Specifically for Marriott, website traffic can be driven to official webpage, or Facebook and
Instagram of Marriott brands. When strategic marketing works properly, it will be reflected on this
KPI, which evaluates not only the number of visitors coming to Marriott webpage, but also collects
their personal information for further email marketing plans. Marriott webpage also features
promotions and call-to-action buttons, so when webpage traffic indicators increase, click-through
rate numbers also record upward trends.
The first KPIs factor that Marriott companies need to take into consideration is online reviews.
With the development of social media and sharing trends of users on these platforms, JW Marriott
can get ranks and stars from their guests (POCINHO et al., 2021). After applying a strategic
marketing plan, more and more people come and use the services of JW Marriott. Hence, they would
leave feedback and rating for their experience on social media platforms such as Tripadvisor,
e.booking or Facebook. Therefore, JW Marriott can identify their shortcomings to further improve
their offerings. From there, this company can ensure more guest satisfaction and increase guest
retention, which then ultimately grows the company’s revenues.
Conclusion: In conclusion, summarize the importance of strategic marketing in the digital age
and how businesses can leverage Social Media to stay competitive and achieve their marketing
objectives. Emphasize the need for continuous adaptation and innovation to thrive in an ever-
evolving market environment.
Note: The above tasks basically denote the issues that must be discussed in your work and not in any
way to be written with the respective heading given as such. The organization of your report would
depend on your flow of thought and arguments.

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