Hospitality Marketing

Name: Erika Cabrera

Course: HRT 321- Hospitality Marketing

Date: October 24th, 2006

Assignment:

Since students in Hospitality programs across the country are required to take a “Hospitality Marketing” course in addition to a “Principles of Marketing” course, there must be some fundamental or additional information differences between these two courses. One would assume there would be some differences within the established four P’s of marketing (product, price, place, promotion). For this question explore and clarify those fundamental differences and give some comparisons/contrasts examples for each issue either among various parts of the hospitality industry or between some part(s) of the hospitality industry and non-hospitality industries. After explaining these differences, bring the paper to a conclusion by suggesting some implications these differences may have for managers in this hospitality industry.

Erika Cabrera

HRT 321

October 24th, 2006

Question 2

Marketing strategies generally fall under four controllable categories. These four categories are often called the 4 P’s and they represent the product, price, place and promotion aspects of marketing. Another term often used for the 4 P’s is called marketing mix. Marketing mix is a term that became popularized in the 1940’s by Neil H. Borden. Borden began using this term in his writings and teachings after the scholar James Culliton referred to the marketing manager as the “mixer of ingredients” in one of his works.1 Marketing mix is a general term that can apply to many marketing industries; because it does not restrict the marketer to the 4 P’s of marketing; since each industry has their own “mix of ingredients” that often falls out of the scope of the 4 P’s of marketing. This holds true for the hospitality industry, the hospitality industry in fact has 8 P’s of marketing. 2 This is one of the major reasons why higher education facilities require hospitality management students to take both a general business marketing course and a hospitality marketing course.

The 4 P’s of marketing were developed and outlined in the classic text Basic Marketing, written by E. Jerome McCarthy. McCarthy grouped the 4 P’s and called them the 4 basic principles of marketing. 3 The 4 P’s are considered the aspects of marketing that the marketing manager can control. The 4 P’s are to be used as focus points when developing a marketing plan. They are used to assess and target the customer in the specific target market of the product or service. The 4 P's outlines by Jerome are part of the 8 P's associated with marketing in the hospitality industry as well. The 4 P's are outlined as follows: product, place, promotion, price.

A product is a tangible physical product that can be sold to a consumer, a service can also be considered a product. Some examples of product marketing decisions would be: brand name, functionality, warranty etc. In a traditional marketing setting, marketers would focus on a particular product such as a clock radio, and they would figure out a brand name that would appeal to its target market customer as well as compliment the product. Once a brand name is achieved they would then focus on the specifics of the product such as how it works, consumer warranties and so forth.4 In the hospitality industry the product is considered a product/service mix.

Since there is an assortment of products and services offered to consumers, the first P is considered a product/service mix. This mix consists of every visible element to the customer and includes; staff appearance and behavior, building exteriors, equipment, furniture and fixtures, signage and communication with customers. In the hospitality industry aims to sell an experience not just a product, therefore its product is unique to its industry and requires special marketing, which sets it aside from traditional product marketing decisions.5

The next principle of marketing is place. This principle is concerned with all the decisions involved in getting the product or service to the target markets place. When making marketing decisions marketers take into consideration, location as to where the product will be available, middle men needed to get to the place desired, transportation needed to