How to plan a day in a foreign city? Have you ever felt lost in a megacity? How can I find out what attractions are waiting for me and how can I get there?
This report is based on an experience I have had. We were planning a daytrip to an English city where we had been never before. We tried to figure out what the city could offer us and what the different attractions would cost and when they close. After more than two hours searching on the web we decided that we have to go without knowing what we will see. We found it especially difficult to figure out where the attractions were located in the city and how long it would take us to come from one point to another. We only found out by accident that one attraction was half an hour out of the town centre at the edge of the city. We asked ourselves again: How do you plan a day in a foreign city?
The following part is the elaboration of a city-day-trip planner and explains especially the marketing aspects for this service.
To minimize the risk of a failing business the market research is a systematic approach which helps to find out more about the customer when plans are being made (Woodruffe, 1995). For my service it was important to find out how many people could use this service and if this is a growing or a dying market. The alongside table is limited to the UK. It shows how the number of short stays form 1-3 nights increased by 39 percent in the last few years to 12.8 million in 2005
Table of Contents
1. Proposal for a new service
1.1. Market research
a. Minimizing risk
b. Area of stay
1.2. The service offer
a. Core and secondary service offers
1.3. The Shostack molecular model
1.4. The service Blueprint
1.5. The service characteristics
2. The potential target market
2.1. Segmentation and targeting
a. Private persons (Age 15-60)
b. B2B and B2 non-profit/social customers
2.2. Concentrated approach
2.3. Positioning and competition
3. The service strategy
3.1. Product
a. Core and secondary services
b. Service encounter
c. Service quality
d. Service intermediaries
3.2. Price
a. Price discrimination by type of buyer
3.3. Place
3.4. Promotion
a. Promotion mix
3.5. People
a. Employees and Customers
3.6. Process
a. Monitoring performances
b. Critical incidents
c. Feedback system
3.7. Physical evidence
4. Conclusion
5. Bibliography
Project Objectives and Focus Areas
This report aims to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy for an innovative "city-day-trip planner" service. The central research question explores how to effectively structure and position a web-based service that simplifies tourism planning in foreign cities while addressing the unique challenges of service marketing, such as intangibility and perishability.
- Development of a core service model for city trip planning.
- Analysis of target market segmentation and competitive positioning.
- Application of service design tools like the Shostack molecular model and Service Blueprints.
- Formulation of a service marketing strategy covering the 7Ps (Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, Physical Evidence).
- Integration of service quality frameworks and gap analysis to ensure customer satisfaction.
Excerpt from the Book
1.2. The service offer
The following figure shows how the service is built and what secondary services are around the main service. It is critical to say, that services are often seen as a whole (Palmer, 2005). The inseparability of services makes the figure less meaningful. The main advantage of my service is for example, that it bundles all the different services on one place in the web so that the customer get an high quality research overview.
CORE BENEFITS: Excelent Overview, “All in one“ website + Planing tool, Up to date Information, User recommendations, Ability to plan a day in a foreign city, Secureness (you know where you go)
FEATURES: Group planning feature, Travel agency compatible, online Bookingservice, Online infoshop, Exchange of experience
TANGIBLES: brochures, welcome letter, membership card, citytrip printout
QUALITY: Feedback system, Trade marks contracts, Trip examples, User recommendations
Summary of Chapters
1. Proposal for a new service: This chapter defines the service concept, utilizes market research to justify the demand for a city-trip planner, and applies service design models to visualize the value proposition.
2. The potential target market: This section identifies and segments the primary customers, ranging from individual IT-savvy users to B2B tourist agencies, and analyzes the service's market positioning relative to existing competitors.
3. The service strategy: This core section provides a detailed marketing strategy based on the 7Ps, incorporating service encounter management, quality models (SERVQUAL), pricing structures, and promotion tactics.
4. Conclusion: The conclusion summarizes the viability of the service, highlighting its potential for market success provided it maintains up-to-date information and user-friendly processes.
5. Bibliography: This section lists the academic sources and theoretical frameworks used to underpin the marketing strategies presented in the assignment.
Keywords
Service Marketing, City-trip Planner, Market Segmentation, Service Blueprint, Shostack Molecular Model, SERVQUAL, Service Quality, Customer Experience, Competitive Positioning, Marketing Strategy, E-Tourism, Service Characteristics, Internal Marketing, Feedback System, Target Market
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the primary objective of this report?
The report develops a marketing strategy for a new digital city-day-trip planner designed to help tourists navigate and organize visits to foreign cities efficiently.
Which target groups does the service address?
The service targets a private market of day-trip tourists (categorized by IT proficiency levels) and a secondary B2B market, including tourist agencies and group tour leaders.
What is the central research question?
The study investigates how to effectively design, market, and position a service that resolves the complexities and uncertainty inherent in planning a trip to an unknown city.
What scientific methods are applied in the report?
The author uses established service marketing frameworks, including the Shostack molecular model, Service Blueprinting for process visualization, and the SERVQUAL model for gap analysis.
What is covered in the strategy section?
The main part details the 7Ps of service marketing: Product, Price, Place, Promotion, People, Process, and Physical Evidence.
Which keywords characterize the work?
Key terms include Service Marketing, Service Blueprint, Market Segmentation, Customer Experience, and Digital Tourism.
How does the service handle service failures?
The report suggests a "service recovery" approach using pre-written email responses, employee empowerment, and a structured feedback system to maintain customer loyalty.
What is the importance of the virtual servicescape in this context?
The virtual servicescape is crucial as the service is web-based; it focuses on user-friendly layouts and trust-building elements to ensure confidence in the platform's reliability.
- Quote paper
- Andreas Schmale (Author), 2007, Marketing Services, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/84422
