An integrated marketing communications campaign for Prime Asia Hotel

• Main Author: Kroll, Alyssa Princess L.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Hotels—Marketing; Marketing
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6245; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/13321/viewcontent/Kroll_Alyssa_Princess_Kroll_11584734_1_Redacted.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

According to the Department of Tourism (DOT), the contribution of the hospitality industry to the Philippine tourism and economy has a steady growth. Philippine tourism is now a PHP2.2 trillion industry generating 12.7% of the country’s GDP. It is also a source of employment for 5.4 million people from transportation, accommodation, and food and beverages. There are four segments in the hospitality industry; namely, Food and Beverages, Travel and Tourism, Lodging, and Recreation, and the chosen brand of the author, Prime Asia Hotel, falls under lodging which means accommodation for a certain time or a place to stay and sleep for the time duration of the person’s travel. In 2019, lodging records current value growth of 15% to reach PHP 243 billion in sales. Over the forecast period, lodging is foreseen to grow at a 12% current value CAGR. This is an 8% 2019 constant value CAGR to reach sales of PHP 423.8 billion in 2024. (Euromonitor, 2019) The main driver of this growth are the budget hotels due to partnerships with tech platforms like online travel agencies. Prime Asia Hotel is located in Angeles City, Pampanga which is also known as the Premier City of Central Luzon. Last March 2008, it was ranked 15th as the “Best Places to Live in the Philippines” by MoneySense Magazine, with a GDP rate of 8.5%. Today, the city is a hub for tourism, business, aviation, and industry in the country which includes entertainment and leisure. The local government wants to also uplift the image of the city and veer away from the perception that Angeles City is a red light district alone. The hotel started its operations last October 2013, and it is now in its 7th year in business. Its mission is to embrace and promote Philippine culture every day; and its vision is to provide guests with a unique Filipino hospitality experience. This Integrated Marketing Communications campaign is intended to be implemented for seven months through different initiatives from June to December 2020. The overall strategy that will be the key pillar of the campaign is tourism marketing for Angeles City, that will be provided by Prime Asia Hotel in order to offer experiences for the primary target market which are domestic travelers. The goal of the campaign is not just to increase brand awareness by 50%, but also to use it as a communication strategy to promote the experiences that can be acquired in Angeles City by domestic travelers. By promoting the local tourism of Angeles City, it can address the issue that the city is more than the perception of it being a red light district, and that Prime Asia Hotel can work hand-in-hand with this goal for the city. To also address the issue of low awareness amongst domestic travelers, this IMC campaign aims to achieve the following objectives: ● Raise the awareness of the domestic travelers aged 24 to 44 years old to 50% about Prime Asia Hotel and the experiences it can provide to guests ● Increase the overall sales of Prime Asia Hotel by 10% by increasing marketing communication initiatives of the hotel apart from listing the hotels on third party platforms which are also known as online travel agencies (OTAs) The big idea of the IMC campaign is Prime Experience with a tagline of “Make itPrime!” which aims to integrate and deliver the promise of providing unique Filipino hospitality experiences that make travelers feel at home in Angeles City. To attain the objective of raising awareness by 50% and increasing overall sales by 10% amongst domestic travelers, the hotel will use two main touchpoints; online (website, social media, SEO and SEM, influencers, CRM) and offline channels (out-of-home, events) from June to December 2020. By using the AIDA Model, this campaign will bring Awareness to Prime Asia Hotel by highlighting the big idea, Prime Experience. Interest shall come in once target domestic travelers start following the social media accounts of the hotel, sending inquiries about the stay and experience the hotel offers, and visiting the website for more information. Desire happens when the target domestic travelers are convinced that Prime Asia Hotel delivers the promise of providing unique Filipino hospitality experiences that make travelers feel at home in Angeles City. Lastly, Action comes in once these target domestic travelers finally decide to make a booking and stay in the hotel, and letting it be part of their prime experience of their travel.