Marketing
strategies vital for business ventures
'Provide customers a service beyond their
expectations' :
Marketeers should be unique and creative in their marketing
strategies as marketing strategies are indispensable for the success of
any business venture.
Due to the global economic downturn, many companies had to reduce
their marketing campaigns to be cost effective, but marketeers took up
the challenge in promoting their business ventures, said Galadari Hotel,
Assistant Director-Sales, Trudy Corea.
Here are her down-to-earth views.
Q: What inspired you to select
marketing as your career?
A: I am a person who likes
to dream, create and say this could work. Marketing is a creative area
of business and since I have creative tendencies, I knew I should
channel these talents for the benefit of a business organization and
moreover, it suited my personality, such as building strong
relationships, taking up challenges and adapting to changes which are
vital for a true marketeer.
Galadari Hotel, Assistant Director-Sales, Trudy Corea |
Q. Being a frontliner of the company,
what are the challenges you face in the field of marketing?
A: Being a frontliner in
the hospitality and service industry, one of the biggest challenges I
faced was the service distinctiveness and its intangibility. Since
customers face a higher risk when purchasing services when compared to
tangible products the lack of physical evidence makes it difficult for
customers to evaluate services before purchase. Therefore, we have a
responsibility of providing our customers a service beyond their
expectations.
Q: What is the impact of the current
economic crisis on your organization?
A: The global downturn
affected the Travel and Tourism Industry since 2009 and as a result the
travel and tourism industry had to go through a tough time.
It was a challenge to increase the number of tourist arrivals and
apart from this business travel was also scaled down while Leisure
Travel too was affected.
This made travellers spend less on travel as the demand for luxury
hotels decreased while the demand for low cost accommodation became the
trend. Thus, trading down to secure the market share created a price war
amongst hoteliers, which of course had a negative effect on overall
profitability.
Q: In many companies we often see
that marketeers are not represented at boardroom meetings. What is your
view?
A: I beg to differ. At the
Galadari Hotel it is a boardroom rule that marketeers are represented at
boardroom meetings at all times as we understand that marketing is
absolutely fundamental to the organization.
Q: What are the advertising
strategies that you employ in your organization?
A: As a marketeer, I
believe in the importance of advertising as it informs, attracts
attention, creates a need and facilitates brand retention.
Q. What are the challenges you see
when it comes to global branding?
A: The biggest challenge
in global branding is that you may create a great strategy for your
brand in the local market, but globally your Brand may not create a
strong relationship with consumers in many countries.
Q: What do you think about local
marketeers?
A: Marketeers should be
unique and creative in their marketing strategies as great marketing
strategies are absolutely essential for the success of any business
venture. Due to the global economic downturn, many companies had to
reduce their marketing campaigns to be cost effective, but the
marketeers took up the challenge in promoting their business ventures.
As a result even during difficult times, marketeers helped companies
to reap profits with their creative marketing strategies. |