Marketing Strategy: The Case of Courtyard by Marriott
About this Assignment
In this course, you learned how to analyze consumer behavior, use technological tools for marketing, set prices, create advertising campaigns and understand trends in the industry. For this case study, choose a specific brand from a hotel company of your choice (Courtyard by Marriott, Homewood Suites by Hilton, Hyatt House by Hyatt, etc.), research and analyze their market strategy, and write a 2000 to 3000-word paper.
Consider the following questions as you perform your case study analysis:
Environment: What is their market environment? Who are they competing with? What consumer and technology trends impact them? What cultural environmental, ethic, or political factors affect them?
Market Segment: Who are they marketing to? And how are they positioning themselves in their marketing segmentation? What research have they done to influence their strategy?
Product: What are their product offerings? How does this make them competitive relative to other companies in the space? What is their pricing, their brand, and their approach?
Marketing: How do they advertise? This should include their public relations strategy and their sales and marketing strategy. Please make sure to include both online and direct relations with the consumer.
Formatting & Sources
Please write your paper in the APA format. As part of your research, you may refer to the course material for supporting evidence, but you must also use at least three credible, outside sources and cite them using APA format as well. Please include a mix of both primary and secondary sources, with at least one source from a scholarly peer-reviewed journal. If you use any Study.com lessons as sources, please also cite them in APA (including the lesson title and instructor's name).
Primary sources are first-hand accounts such as interviews, advertisements, speeches, company documents, statements, and press releases published by the company in question.
Secondary sources come from peer-reviewed scholarly journals, such as the Journal of Management. You may use like JSTOR, Google Scholar, and Social Science Research Network to find articles from these journals. Secondary sources may also come from reputable websites with .gov, .edu, or .org in the domain. (Wikipedia is not a reputable source, though the sources listed in Wikipedia articles may be acceptable.)
If you're unsure about how to use APA format for your paper and sources, please see the following lessons:
What is APA Format? Definition & Style
How To Format APA Citations
Grading Rubric
Category Unacceptable (0-1) Needs Improvement (2-3) Good (4) Excellent (5) Total Possible Points
Structure and Organization (x2) Disorganized, paper length does not meet expectations, and illogical structure hinders understanding Somewhat disorganized, paper length does not meet expectations, but structure does not detract from understanding Structure is logical, paper length meets expectations, and organized and supports understanding Organization is logical; paper length meets expectations, structure enhances clarity and delivery of material 10
Mechanics (x2) Submission has major errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax; organization confuses the reader and interferes with the communication of ideas Submission has a number of errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax; organization negatively impacts readability and interferes with the communication of ideas Submission has few or no errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax Submission has no errors related to citations, grammar, spelling, syntax; organization enhances readability and the clear communication of ideas 10
Marketing Content (x3) Descriptions are missing in more than one of the following areas: the brand's market segment and marketing strategies Includes few details or is missing descriptions in one of the following areas: the brand's, market segment and marketing strategies Includes appropriate descriptions of the brand's market segment and marketing strategies Includes a precise, well organized description of the brand's market segment and marketing strategies 15
Environment & Product Content (x3) Descriptions are missing in more than one of the following areas: the brand's environment and product Includes few details or is missing descriptions in one of the following areas: the brand's environment and product Includes appropriate descriptions of the brand's environment and product Includes a precise, well organized description of the brand's environment and product 15
Before You Submit
When you are done writing your research paper, we suggest taking some time to check for any errors or to add some final touches. We also suggest that you use online plagiarism checkers such as PlagScan or DupliChecker to make sure that your research paper is not too similar to any existing materials. Plagiarized submissions will NOT be graded.
How to Submit Your Paper
When you are ready to submit your research papers, please fill out this submission form and attach your case studies as Microsoft Word, PDF, or Text documents. After turning in your case studies, you may go ahead and take the proctored final exam. You do not need to wait for your written response to be graded. You should receive your research paper grade within one week.
If you are not satisfied with the score you receive on your papers, you may revise or rewrite your papers and resubmit them for grading using the same submission form above. Keep in mind that the grade you receive on your papers is only a portion of your overall grade for the course, and you are free to retake the proctored final exam as well if you choose. Please see the course syllabus for a more detailed breakdown of the grading policy.
Marketing Strategy: The Case of Courtyard by Marriott
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Introduction
Since its first inception more than three decades ago, Courtyard by Marriott has focused on creating and improving the hospitality industry. The brand boasts of being dedicated to fashioning an environment where great things happen. In line with this dedication, ambitious and enterprising guests, who consider business travel as the driver of professional development and personal fulfillment, see Courtyard as their brand of choice (“Courtyard by Marriott”, n.d.). Courtyard continues evolving to meet the demands and needs of guests while offering unimaginable opportunities for visitors to pursue professional and individual objectives. By branding itself as smart, the hotel brand enables visitors to make optimize their time and resources while on travel. By integrating style and comfort with unmatched technology, Courtyard’s open lobby offers guests the flexibility that they need to work. In general, the success of Courtyard by Marriott is attributable to business environment in which it operates, market segmentations, product offerings, and marketing strategies.
Environment
An organization does not operate in isolation; rather, it functions in an environment comprising external and internal factors. In essence, these factors dictate the choices made by the organization to maneuver the dynamic surrounding. By definition, a marketing environment comprises all the external and internal variables driving and influencing an organization’s marketing activities. Subsequently, Courtyard by Marriott’s marketing environment is an assortment of its internal and external factors driving its marketing activities. The factors include competitors, consumer and technology trends, culture, ethics, and politics.
In terms competition, the global hospitality industry has various companies offering rivaling services. Therefore, the competition in this industry is very high. The main competitors for Courtyard Marriott include Homewood Suites by Hilton and Hyatt House by Hyatt (“Courtyard Marriott Competitors or Alternatives”, n.d.). Homewood Suites is an American chain of all-suite residential style hotels. By the end of 2019, the chain had established 505 hotels in four nations and territories. Similar to Homewood Suites, Hyatt House by Hyatt is also a residentially inspired hospitality business offering capacious, apartment-designed rooms and suites with complete kitchen. With operations in more than 90 locations, Hyatt House by Hyatt delivers amenities and neighborly services to guests in different countries. Since Courtyard Marriott offers services similar to those provided by Hyatt House and Homewood Suites, it faces competition in that consumers can prefer its rivals.
Consumers of hospitality services vary significantly, compelling companies to focus on a specific segment. When it comes to tourism and hospitality sector, Marriott is one of the biggest brands. The company has hotels located worldwide, providing services to a wide range of travelers. With their several locations, Courtyard by Marriott majorly targets business and leisure travelers. This consumer group are attracted to the brand, amenities, and familiarity that the hotel offers them. In general, this consumer group has significantly influenced how Courtyard presents its services. In particular, to target its customers, the company brands itself as a smart residential hotel that enables visitors to optimize their time and resources while on travel.
Besides consumers and competition, technology has also influenced Courtyard Marriott’s marketing approach. Technology has transformed the way in which companies gather, record, retrieve, and use data. The ability to invent a new technology can be a distinguishing factor between successful and unsuccessful business organizations. In the hospitality industry, technology is widely deployed to improve efficiency, attract, and retain new customers. For the modern travelers, technology is pivotal to everything they do while on voyaging. Due to the significance of technology, Courtyard by Marriott has put technology at the forefront of its lobbies. Modern tech-savvy travelers are frequently linked to the digital world, expecting quick and fast access to information. Marriott has adopted the interactive GoBoard ™ technology, which gives travelers easy access to information (Marriott International, Inc., 2010). With such inventions, Courtyard has experienced an increase in guest satisfaction.
Cultural factors are crucial to the marketing strategies adopted by hospitality companies, such as the Marriott. As a service, the hospitality industry is majorly focused on consumers, who belong to different cultural groups. Courtyard by Marriott operates in different areas with different cultural backgrounds. In particular, the marketing approaches used in one geographical region might differ significantly from one location to another. For this reason, the company has developed a marketing strategy for each region, based on its cultural values.
Ethics is a crucial factor in the globalized hospitality industry, as it shapes the perceptions of consumers towards a company. Courtyard Marriott is not an exception to the impacts of public perceptions. According to Thomas and Kumar (2016), hotels and resorts with serious dedication to ethical responsibility have witnessed improved share value, customer retention as well as attraction of new clients. As part of the larger Marriott, Courtyard observes ethics by conducting its business in a way that is consistent with the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In this regard, the company’s marketing activities do not violate these principles.
The external environment also comprises political factors that influence company operations. By definition, political factors range from trade regulations bureaucracy and corruption to global peace stability, and regulation. With operations in various locations, Courtyard experiences different political factors that affect its operations. For instance, Middle East conflicts and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia recently might have adverse consequences on the traveling behavior of its clients. Such factors can affect marketing activities of the company, forcing it to reduce expenses and target other peaceful regions.
Market Segment
Market segmentation integrates the breaking down of the entire market for a commodity or a service into individual sib-groups or segments. Each subgroup might perceivably represent a distinct target market to be reached using a unique marketing mix with the goal of meeting consumers’ needs and wants. The goal of segmenting the marketing is to optimize scarce resources by ensuring that the elements of marketing mix, namely, price, distribution, promotion, and products, are designed to meet the specific needs of various consumer groups.
The first market segment for Courtyard Marriott comprises individuals who prefer the Marriott brand. This market segment includes individuals who have previously had a good experience or have heard positive things about the company from friends or family. Notably, such individuals have well-managed expectations when stating at Courtyard. Marriott targets this segment by ensuring that they do not perform below the expectations of this consumer segment.
The second segment includes travelers who like the familiarity of the Hotel. Travelers often ...