Hotel’s events marketing strategy
During recent years, the sport’s scope has expanded greatly, and the number of Grand Prix held on other continents has escalated.
video: http://www.yoVutube.com/watch?v=d5jA55__ly8
Review of F1:
Place
Programming
Packaging and Distribution
Specially customised combination packages are something new but limited which were offered for people who cannot decide on which Grandstand to book. Hence, the package was introduced to allow them to expose to different parts of the street circuit over the 3 days. Tickets for F1 are distributed through online and SISTIC counter which is their official distributor. Tickets can be classified into different types to cater to a larger market segment. For example, the Paddock Club are for VIP to socialise or to strengthen their relationship between each other. As for those people who just want to soak in the atmosphere can purchase the walkabout tickets whereas for F1-enthusiastic people can purchase a more expensive ticket to view the race. Furthermore, corporate tickets are also for sale to corporate clients. As a result, maximum revenue is captured which contribute to the successfulness of the event.
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| Photo: http://singapore.thinkexpats.com/shops-a-services/127-hotels/560-nice-hotels-in-singapore.html |
Ritz-Carlton Hotel is the chosen hotel for
this assignment. Under the hotel itself, it has numerous events lined up from
now till July 2013. One of their past events was related to Formula 1 (F1) where
they were one of the main partners of the event. It can be observed that their
marketing strategy for taking up this big and global events is to somewhat
heighten their reputation against their competitor. Being associated with such
high profile events will increase their brand equity in the long run and also
ensure that they build up an extensive clientele of those rich and famous. This
tactic differentiates themselves from other competitors who are also targeting
high end market such as Shang-ri la and Four seasons by reinventing luxury.
Under appendix, articles have shown that Ritz-Carlton Hotel is reinventing
itself and by inference made, they are trying to say that their brand of luxury
is different from their competitors and theirs is a better and latest version.
At the same time, they may be implying that their competitors are stagnant
because they are not improving themselves. One great example is the podium
lounge event which is attended by F1 drivers, celebrities and musicians that
Ritz-Carlton Hotel have previously organized further prove that they are
reinventing themselves because efforts are seen in terms of hiring the world
renowned music DJ and fashion runway featuring the latest collection by
exquisite Italian brand, Canali.
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| Photo: http://www.booked.net/hotel/the-ritz-carlton-singapore-51422 |
Besides differentiating themselves from
competitors by reinventing and creating their own brand of luxury, they are also
trying to reposition themselves as part of their marketing strategy. As it is
commonly known that Ritz-Carlton Hotel has always been a brand which evokes old
school glamour associated with movie stars and royalties. Hence, they reposition
themselves to appeal to the younger market by taking on youthful events such as
the F1 and playing a major role in being the event venue for F1 related fringe
events such as the podium lounge to show that they are updating themselves to
appeal to the younger generation who are cash-rich and successful to compete
with Marina Bay Sand (MBS) which would now be the preferred hotel for young rich
people.
Description
and Review of event
Description of
F1:
Formula One, which is also known as F1, is
the highest class of single-seater auto racing that is approves by the
Federation International I’Automobile (FIA). The term ‘formula’ refers to all
participants’ cars that must abide the set of rules. Grand prix, which is also,
known as the series of races during F1 season, takes place throughout the world
on purposed-built circuits and public roads.
F1 cars are considered as the fastest
circuit-racing cars in the world, as the cars are bound to very high cornering
speeds acquired through the bringing forth of large amount of aerodynamic
downforce. During recent years, the sport’s scope has expanded greatly, and the number of Grand Prix held on other continents has escalated.
Review of F1:
F1 which stands for Formula One may seem
to be simple and sophisticated on the surface because people may see it as
different teams racing around the circuit and whoever is the first to cross the
finishing line wins. However, F1 does not only involve a driver and a car but it
has also become partly hi-tech and science. The skillful drivers, challenging
tracks, technology and the car that is travelling at a ground breaking speed
than any other cars we see on the road are simply mind-blowing. Anybody can find
watching F1 races enjoyable especially if they make a trip down personally and
watch it live. The effect of watching it live and at home in front of the
television is different due to the atmosphere. Watching it live is more than
just thrilling and exciting. It gets your adrenaline pumping with the car
engines piercing your eardrum and the roaring crowds.
There are many reasons why F1 is very
attractive to the spectators around the globe but one of the reasons is because
it is doubtlessly a global race. This sport comprises of drivers that comes from
all over the world and just naming a few of them such as Brazil, Germany, Japan,
Australia, France, India. Along with
these, the races that are held globally on circuits make it appealing to the
audience internationally. Of course, each and every Grand Prix circuit has its
own challenges, legends and unique history which make each and every race
awe-inspiring. Since its commencement in 1950, Spectators have been intrigued by
the breathtaking F1 races.
Currently, there are 12 teams racing
against each other in the Grand Prix and these do not exclude the Ferrari and
Mercedes which are the well-known car manufacturer. Not to leave out McLaren,
Lotus and Williams in which those who are new to F1 would probably not know even
though they are all big names in racing. As above mentioned, F1 racing may seem
to be easy in its elegance, thinking that whoever crosses the finishing line
wins. To show how tough it is, think about Honda and Toyota who enter F1 racing
late. Neither of the team has ever won the Grand Prix and exiting eventually.
Despite saying that, Force India and Red Bull are new teams who just joined F1
racing circuit and thus, injecting new blood.
Marketing
Mix – 8 P’s
The Formula 1 (F1) Grand Prix in Singapore
turns out to be a tremendous successful event attracting millions of spectators
worldwide (not including television audience) due to the use of various
marketing mix adopted by the event. Now, let’s take a look at the effectiveness
of these various components that contribute to the success of F1 and they are
categorized into experiential and facilitating component which is also known as
supporting component.
Experiential
Component:
Product
Anything offered to the market for
acquisition, consumption, use or attention that can satisfy a need or want is
referred to as product, including services, organisation, physical object, ideas
and places. Product is classified into four levels namely Core Product,
Facilitating Product, Supporting Product and Augmented
Product.
-
Core Product
It is the most basic level that answers
the question of what the buyers are really buying. It is identified that the
core product of F1 is the F1 race itself where audience get to have the novel
experience of watching the world’s first and only night
race.
-
Facilitating Product
It refers to the present of goods and
services in order to use the core product. Facilitating product for F1 would be
the famous drivers & race cars, ticketing companies, hotels for
international buyers, infrastructure, and construction of Grandstand and racing
tracks.
-
Supporting Product
It refers to the offering of extra
products to add value to the core product and helping to differentiate from the
competition. The supporting product of F1 would be F1 brochures, websites and
social media. Merchandises available on sale are also considered as supporting
product because they add value to the core
product.
-
Augmented Product
It refers to everything that encompasses
the service and its delivery including intangible characteristic such as the
atmosphere and accessibility. Hence, augmented product of the F1 would be the
security, various stages offering entertainments to attendees such as singers
and DJs, shuttle bus and extended public transport hours, ushers to seat and
first aid.
The four level of products mentioned above
contribute to the success of F1 as the “wants” and amount spectators are willing
to pay for them are taken into consideration to minimize the chances of
suffering from product orientation. Furthermore, the four levels of products
mentioned above works hand in hand together to provide an unforgettable
experience for the audience.
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| Photo:http://www.gpnow.com/formula1/12217/%E2%80%98singapore-agreed-to-five-year-f1-deal%E2%80%99-ecclestone/ |
It refers to ways on how the customer can
receive services or obtain the products. F1 was held at Marina Bay surrounded by
Marina Bay Street Circuit (also known as Singapore GP Street Circuit) where it
is the nicest view in Singapore as the shimmering skyscrapers are located in
that area. Public roads in Marina Centre area was close up in order to
facilitate the setting up and dismantling of the race. During the event,
lightings were installed to drum up the atmosphere and also because it is a
night event and good lightings are required to enable clearer view of the race.
This event is successful partly because of the convenience that it has provides
for the audience due to the event being located in the city area where it is
easily accessible because it is near to Raffles Place and City Hall MRT station.
It is also held at a place near to the hotels where international attendees
stay.
People
People are differentiated into ‘cast’,
Audience, Host and Guest and what makes F1 a successful event in Singapore? It
is the people, the volunteers who help out in the event and the audiences
consist of people coming from all around the world. The people involved in the
F1 event include ushers, securities, ticketing staff, host and prize presenters.
They played a large part of the event experience and hence the interaction
between the setting, spectators and the staff or volunteers matters. Thus, by
understanding consumers makes F1 successful in Singapore.
Programming
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| Photo:http://500px.com/photo/14411141 |
Under appendix, there are many highlighted
entertainments with regards to the F1 as it can be seen that performers came
from different parts of the world. Purchasing F1 tickets will be seen as
value-for money because they are get to attend the concert that comprises
varieties of performance globally, not only the race itself. With this, it is
also another factor that chip in to the success of the event.
Facilitating
Component:
Partnership |
| Photo:http://hpility.blogspot.sg/2012/09/top-three-2012-singtel-grid-girls.html |
Formula one is supported by Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore GP
Pte Ltd. Singapore Tourism Board partners with Formula one mainly due to
publicity whereas Singapore GP Pte Ltd promotes the race for Formula one.
SingTel, LG Electronics and Santander are the few sponsors for this event (F1). SingTel as the
title sponsors, LG Electronics as the global partner of F1 and Santander as a
team sponsor for Ferrari have paid huge amount to accomplish this event. As we
all know that a major event like this involve huge amount of funding, this event
may not be as successful without the big sponsors from the companies mentioned
above. To add on, Asian corporate sponsors such as AirAsia, Proton and Lenovo
have also recently entered the F1 circuit.
Promotion
-
Advertising
To hype up the race, an advertisement
campaign was held at Changi Airport to remind the tourists and locals with
regards to the F1 season. The main purpose is to get visitors travelling to
Singapore to catch the F1 race. Video of F1 was aired around the airport
together with experiential activity set up at Terminal 2 that featured Lotus F1
team race car, 4 iPad with the Facebook Game Micro Race and race simulators
games. With this, it has contributed to the success of F1 as it is a mass
publicity that has effectively and efficiently reached out to a large number of
people.
-
Sales Promotion
Singapore Grand Prix Pte Ltd had this
contest, Be Spotted, to raise awareness of the F1 season to the locals because
one of the rules to participate in this contest has to be Singapore permanent
residents. Basically, this contest involve purchasing and displaying sticker
clearly in the vehicle every Saturday. Spotted vehicles displaying the sticker
will stand to win limited edition Formula One merchandise that is worth $250. By
doing so, it is also seen as a way of publicising F1 season and in turn
explaining the success of F1.
Price
Ticketing categories are available to
cater to the different ‘wants’ from the market. Early-bird pricing are used to
guarantee a certain number of people to turn up. During the F1 season, many
types of packages are available to appeal the market especially hotel packages.
In addition, hotels may include terms and conditions such as “fully pre-paid
with valid credit cards” and “non-refundable” to guarantee revenues earned.
However, F1 is successful only to a
certain extent under this component as price discrimination was not done very
well as the resale of tickets is not successfully prevented; people may buy the
tickets and sold them at a higher price to others. The objective of price
discrimination is to capture maximum revenue and reach out to as many people as
possible. Early-bird pricing can be considered as a marketing gimmick, but in a
way it is still price discrimination because people are still able to go for the
event even if they are on budget as long as they buy early. To add on, people
may buy the tickets earlier to enjoy early-bird price and sell it at a higher
price to others to earn. Packaging and Distribution
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| Photo: http://steelwool.wordpress.com/category/staycation/ |
Specially customised combination packages are something new but limited which were offered for people who cannot decide on which Grandstand to book. Hence, the package was introduced to allow them to expose to different parts of the street circuit over the 3 days. Tickets for F1 are distributed through online and SISTIC counter which is their official distributor. Tickets can be classified into different types to cater to a larger market segment. For example, the Paddock Club are for VIP to socialise or to strengthen their relationship between each other. As for those people who just want to soak in the atmosphere can purchase the walkabout tickets whereas for F1-enthusiastic people can purchase a more expensive ticket to view the race. Furthermore, corporate tickets are also for sale to corporate clients. As a result, maximum revenue is captured which contribute to the successfulness of the event.
Changes
Not many changes have taken place this year as compared to last year
with regards to the F1. However, for the 2012 season, there is affirmation by
FIA that a number of rules have changed such as technical and sporting
regulations to increase the level of safety. Another difference would be the
pricing. As mentioned earlier that product bundling is being introduced, this
year, Single-day walkabout tickets were also newly introduced which was not
available last year. This ticket was where F1 fanatics’ gets to enjoy
promotional rates for the first 3000 tickets sold per day with limits to 6
tickets per transaction. After which, single-day tickets at zone 4 were still
available but sold at regular price.
Proposed Event
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| Photo:http://www.autoblog.com/2010/02/11/the-wild-card-red-bull-unveils-2010-rb6/ |
An event that I would like to propose to
the event organizer will be. It will be an event attended by invitations only.
This event is mainly about rides auctioning which basically means selling rides
whereby guests can choose to take a ride with the F1 driver whom they idolized.
The ride will take place around the circuits in a sports car or even maybe the
racing car, depending on the organization. Of course, it is known that the
racing car is single seater. Therefore, if the organization choose to use to
racing car to allow the guests to have the total experience of how it feels like
to be in it and around the circuit, it will have to liaise with the sponsors to
manufacture double seater racing car. Alternatively, the organization can use
sports car as substitution. Safety checks will be done to ensure the safety of
both the driver and the guests in the car. However, the guests will be notify
that the car will be travelling at a slower speed as compared to the actual
racing itself in order to prevent any accident from happening. Safety course are
also compulsory for the guests to attend to allow them to have better knowledge
of the dos and don’ts.
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| Photo:http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-09-02/rev-up-a-700-horsepower-formula-1-car-for-a-mere-7-000-jason-h-harper.html |
Since this is going to be an
invitation-only event, there will be publicity through the Medias such as
televisions, magazines and radios before this event starts. Interested parties
will then email or write in to express their enthusiasm towards it. Not
everybody can afford for such rides because there will be a minimum price set,
depending on the organization. Thus, the organization has to select from those
who responded. Celebrities are invited to join this auctioning event as well. On
top of that, the organization can organize a competition to give away exclusive
tickets to this event. Alternatively, lucky draws can be implemented as well to
allow the public to have a chance to participate in this event. This event
allows the outsiders to gain an experience of what racing is like, how it feels
to be in the car and around the circuit.
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| Photo:http://www.imgby.me/2010/09/13/lewis-hamilton-races-againt-vodafone-mobile-internet/ |
Event like this benefits both Ritz-Carlton
Hotel and the Formula 1 organization. From the hotel’s perspective, Ritz-Carlton
Hotel gets to earn reputation and increase in brand equity associated with
organizing such a high profile yet innovative event. In addition, the hotel can
add this to their portfolio of events organized which will help them to have a
smoother transition if they are shifting their brand positioning from targeting
the wealthy and older generation to the rich and youthful market. As a result,
revenues will be generated. Furthermore, if responses are overwhelming, the
hotel can make it an annual event which in turn enabling the hotel to earn
profits. On the other hand, looking from the organization’s point of view, the
event is beneficial to them as well. Promoting word-of-mouth communications of
this event helps to increase the hype about the race. Also, it increases
interaction and engagement of the desired target audience even after the race as
well. As only celebrities and people with higher status are invited to this
event, they are the ones with a higher disposable income and as a result making
the auction a profitable one. In conclusion, it can be said that it is a win-win
situation for both parties because both are able to benefit from this
event.
Reference:
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And Concept . Retrieved from Blogger:
http://strategy-marketing.blogspot.sg/2011/07/augmented-product.html
City Discovery, Inc. (2012). Formula 1 Singapore
Grand Prix 2012 Ticket With Accommodations. Retrieved from City Discovery:
http://www.city-discovery.com/singapore/tour.php?id=6450
Crash Media Group. (2012, September 10). Ferrari
extends Santander deal. Retrieved from Crash.net:
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/183799/1/ferrari_extends_santander_deal.html
Expat Living Publications Pte Ltd. (2012, September
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http://www.expatliving.sg/article/things-to-do/the-hottest-f1-parties-in-singapore
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Photos for
blog:
