44NL Year 1 Creativity assignment
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Trade Fair - can you convince the visitor?
In your market, you are not the only player. You need to know who would want to stay at your hotel and you also need to know who your true competitors are – the ‘Comp set’. Hotels will often compare their performance against Com Set hotels, in order to find ways to make their own offering more competitive).
So now it’s time to pay extra attention as to how your hotel positions in the market and the way you would promote, sell and distribute it.
A very important Trade Fair is coming up. Ms. Jill Jandal has strongly suggested that Emerald Forest be present and participate fully at this event. This is not only a good opportunity to present your hotel to press, industry - think: travel agents and planners - and potential guests; it’s also the place where you can closely observe your competitors’ commercial efforts and improve on your competitive advantage.
Trade fairs have a long history of onsite presence; examples of important events include ITB Berlin, WTM in London or the Dutch Tourism Expo. With Covid19 mostly behind us, face-to-face networking and industry live-events are back in combination with integrated social media platforms as part of digital marketing: a hybrid approach. Social media has not been fully capitalized by the Bergmans so far. The original hotel has a limited social media profile whereas Christina, Jill and other staff members are active on their 'private' accounts. Clearly, these inconsistencies, the lack of proper digital marketing and adequate social media footprint could be seen as a great opportunity.
Situation
Check recent developments and how Emerald Forest Hotel has been doing so far. Don’t just copy that or upgrade it: you have after all developed your own strategy. So be sure the way you plan to integrate and use social media matches your strategy. Social media are used for:
- communication with your clients
- 'eavesdropping' on your clients
- checking the competitors
- digital marketing
- reviews as a separate thing
- ... etc.
All these qualities can be used to set up an ultimate campaign performance on the Trade Fair.
Goal
Your Team File Year 0 Preparations and strategic choices have to be ready in plenty of time before the Trade Fair. Beware that you also have to reflect on the Trade fair and observe your competitors, do a competitor analysis, as this is part of your decisions in year two. This assignment is not just about generating some mindless marketing and sales blurb! It might be a good idea to divide the tasks - all the while making sure your deliverables are going to be coherent!
Deliver an improved plan using social media, with concrete choices. In the end this should contribute to better marketing communication and, in the end, it should also bring a measurable result. Create the ultimate campaign to beat the competition!
Task, deliverable
In year 0, in the strategic choices, you made a Facebook business page as well as a 2nd Social media channel. Check once again what your measurable goals are, and aim for an even better result.
- Create at least five posts on both accounts, supporting your strategy.
- Be creative in the type of posts, the target audiences and the content you upload (beware of IP!)
- Try to get a decent number of followers or reads, views or comments on these posts.
Be sure the accounts are public and check your links on the tab ‘Year 0’ in your Team File.
At least two members of your team should be present and attending your online booth during the entire fair. This ‘booth’ will be your promotional material, your video and an open chat-box. Your fellow students, coaches and other staff members will visit you and discuss your concept and strategy.
- Prepare and participate in the Trade Fair. Keep a few things in mind: see the file Trade Fair.
Assessed elements
- Is the link to the strategy clear? Are the posts online, original and effective?
- Does the appearance on the Trade Fair reflect the news strategy?
- In your booth in good order, does the team answer questions in a coherent way?
Handing in your assignment
Hand in your material by uploading it in the right way, as instructed on MS teams.
- Be sure that your posts and video are also made public, be sure anyone with a link can access posts and video without any login (!)
- Be present and active on the Trade Fair.
Additional information
- Social media
- Website
- Competition
- IP
- Social media now in use by Emerald Forest Hotel
- 3 ways to keep social media visitors hooked on your website
- Tips to Market your Business Effectively at Trade Shows
- Trade show ideas
- Tips on Trade shows
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