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MARKETING PLAN

DAY DREAM HOLIDAYS.COMDAY DREAM HOLIDAYS.COM

CLICK CLICK USUS AND MAKE YOUR AND MAKE YOUR DREAMS DREAMS COMECOMETRUETRUE

PAF-

Karachi

Institute of Econo

mics &

Te

Project Report on Marketing Plan for Fall-2011

Launching DayDreamholidays.comLaunching DayDreamholidays.com

Course Facilitator: Sir Qazi Imran Azam

Principles of Marketing (55464)

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M. Sajid Iqbal (55490)

Rabeea Haider (54852)

Talat Naseem (55819)

Toufeeq Ahmed(55302)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.................................................................................................................................. 4

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:................................................................................................................................ 5

SITUATION ANALYSIS:.................................................................................................................................. 6

OBJECTIVES:.................................................................................................................................................. 8

STRATEGIES:.................................................................................................................................................. 9

TACTICS:........................................................................................................................................................ 12

BUDGET:........................................................................................................................................................ 14

REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................................. 16

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

We are profoundly grateful to Almighty Allah for enabling us to accomplish this Project!

We are sincerely thankful to our supervisor Sir Qazi Imran (Course Facilitator: Principles of Marketing) for delivering best possible support and cooperation and for giving us the idea for making such a Project Report “Marketing Plan” on practical basis. He has got a strong command on the subject and the topics he covered during the semester will really help us a lot while implementing this knowledge in our practical life.

With the guidance of our supervisor we really enjoyed working on this project as it was a great learning process with a combined team effort!

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Executive Summary:

DayDreamholidays.com is an online B2B & B2C Hotel reservation and Tour packages selling web-portal with annual sales of 350 million.

The following marketing plan forms the basis for an introduction of an extended product of “DayDreamholidays.com”; the analysis allows us to outline the best strategies to follow the achievement of the company’s strategic goals. DayDreamholidays.com will be marketed as a unique online Hotel Reservation holidays selling platform First Time launching in Pakistan which provides instant confirmation globally of land apartments along with Air Tickets together and will serve both B2B and B2C market at one platform. One more unique feature is that customers can directly make reservations for hotels by themselves from home or anywhere where internet is accessible.

The marketing strategies will enable to reach a market of an estimated 2 million Targeted People with a forecasted sales growth prospect 50% within One Year and 100% in next year with recovery of 100% Return on Investment over the next 3 years while satisfying the needs of the still un-served market with this product. The other web-portals are there in the market but with less visibility. A huge marketing campaign will be run through Social Media Network like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, G+, MySpace, Bloggers, Public Relations, and Direct Mailing. Company will enhance sales team and marketing activities to give more brand visibility. Strategies are built to carry the company up to top spot as the market leader in the online web-portal selling of land apartments and air tickets together.

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Situation Analysis:The hotel and traveling industry in Pakistan is picking up and fast becoming an active field for revenue generation. With the growth of hotels and increasing number of travelers online reservation systems are becoming a very popular method for booking hotel rooms and flights.

Prior to the internet, travelers could write, telephone the hotel or airline directly or use a travel agent to make a reservation. They have to go to travel agent that was increasing their cost. Reservation process took more time and money.

Day-Dreams-holidays has responded to the rapidly growing needs of technology oriented customers by launching their product. Company launched a new web based reservation system called DayDreamsholidays.com.

No major competitor in the market because the daydreamholidays.com is the First Pakistan based web-portal for B2B and B2C Trade, which is providing at the same time Hotel Booking, Tour Packages at one place with New Technology introduced in Pakistan CMS (Content Management System).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths: System Connectivity No Paper Work Required Time Efficient Cost Efficient Automatic data validation User friendly environment Data security and reliability Fast data insertion & retrieval Easy performance check 3rd party data connectivity.

Weaknesses: If the system is not User friendly. If No features for Google-map / destination connectivity.

Opportunities: One platform for getting entire information about hotel & tour packages. Direct online booking by Individual & Corporate clients anywhere all over

the world. This entire system can also be sold out to other business partners.

Threats: New Technology introduced by competitors. Competitor with large investment.

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Market Segmentation

SEGMENTATION VARIABLES AND BREAKDOWNS FOR PAKISTANI CONSUMER MARKET OFDREAMSHOLIDAYS.COM

MAIN DIMENSIONS VARIABLES BREAKDOWNS

GEOGRAPHICSEGMENTATION

RegionNationwide (all provinces and territories ) with emphasis on Urban/Metropolitan areas

Area Size 796,095 kilometer squareDensity UrbanClimate All (East, West)

DEMOGRAPHIC SEGMENTATION

Age Under 12-65+Gender Male, FemaleIncome

Upto 75,000 Pak Rs per month or more than thatOccupation Professional; Managers, Supervisors, Salespeople, Proprietors.Education

PHYCHOGRAPHICSEGMENTATION

Personality Love to travel, adventures, very tolerant towards multiculturalism and internationalism.

Lifestyle Active life, Importance of work and social life, Progressive, Ambitious, Leisure traveling

BEHAVIORALSEGMENTATION

Benefits Sougth

FUNCTIONAL BENEFITS:All available at one placeSpecial Packages offeringsPERCEPTUAL BENEFITS:Interactive Services/AccessibilitySocial standing/good looking

Usage Rate Seasonal (Peak in summer), Occasional (Special events like charismas, Eid, Business events etc)Regular

User Status First time user, Regular userLoyalty Status None, Medium, Strong

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Objectives:

A quality holidays for less is our aim. DayDreamholidays.com is a totally independent web-portal specializing in providing services of Online booking for Hotel reservations & tour packages.

Today the hotel, Tourism and traveling industry are thriving industries. There are a lot of 3-5 star hotels in Pakistan and all over the world with world class facilities. A number of Airlines providing flights within and outside Pakistan and offering services with special fares, packages and other facilities. Customers now have a variety in hotels and flights. To control heavily increased data and facilitate customers more efficiently the traditional travel agents have been replaced by online travel agents Online travel agents have pictures of hotels and rooms , information on prices and deals, flight schedules, fares and information about special packages. Many allow reviews of the customers to be recorded with the online travel agents. Customers can book rooms and flights using online security to protect their privacy and financial information and by using several online travel agents to compare prices and facilities at different hotels and airlines. Online hotel reservations are also helpful for making last minute travel arrangements. Hotels may drop the price of a room if some rooms are still available.

The Day Dream holidays company is centered on 3 objectives:

To strengthen and satisfy the needs of consumers with a new eye catching and functional product which will provide complete package by reserving hotels along with air tickets.

To become the market leader in the functional segment by providing B2C selling module with increased market share.

To make the company brand name more visible to customers.

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Strategies :

DayDreamholidays.com will provide the customer with the finest experience in B2B and B2C available in Pakistan and all over the world by blending superior Holidays with Air tickets reservation service in a unique online system that is as user friendly as it is tranquil. While the other companies provide there as only hotel reservation the aim is to make hotel and air ticket reservation from a single website. Part of the strategy is to provide the customer with a seamless arrangement of being able to blend their needs online by visiting DayDreamholidays.com with the provision of a home base B2C selling module. This will be achieved by the development of strong relationships with other service providers and delivering information and assistance to the customers to help them with their planning of their day.

1. PRODUCT STRATEGY:

DayDreamholidays.com is a web application which can easily be accessed by any device capable of accessing the internet. It is developed using Django software and has an easy to use interface making it attractive to all. Great emphasis has been placed on making the layout clear and User friendly so as to allow ease of navigation between its various views and quick access to information by just clicking icons. It has three main interfaces and access to these interfaces is granted based on the type of user accessing it. These interfaces are explained below:

The User Interfaces

This is the set of interfaces accessible to customers. It allows them to search for hotels and flights based on their location, rate these hotels flights and review them. It also allows the users to make reservations and pay for these reservations before arriving at the hotel or airport.

The Client Interfaces

This set of interface is available to client hotels and airlines who can register hotels and flight schedules and list the various facilities and services available. They can upload pictures, load/change rates and also view and manage reservations made to their hotel/guest house/flight.

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The Administrative Interfaces

This interface is available to only the software administrators who can track the number of reservations made for each hotel/flight and also manage the hotels/flights that are registered on DayDreamHolidays.com

2. SERVICE STRATEGY:

DaydreamHolidays.com offers services for two main categories Hotels and Air Tickets. The main services provided by DaydreamHolidays.com for each category are as follows:

3. PROMOTION STRATEGY:

To initiate strong awareness about the launch of DayDreamsholidays.com to win market share over top functional online systems the following promotional activities will be performed.

PROMOTIONAL MIX

a) WEBSITE:

The system is itself web base, the website will be fully functional and updated in order to give customers more reliable and authentic services.

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b) ADVERTISING:

Advertising will be done through different means of media, magazines, internet and other outdoor activities.

c) PUBLIC RELATION:

Different activities will be performed to get and stay connected directly with retailers.

d) BRANDING:

All the documents and information placed into the public hands are to have a consistent look and feel that highlights the superior experience of services. The branding should leave the impression of indulgence and pampering.

4. PRICING STRATEGY:

Prices for hotels and air tickets have been set at the higher end of the market as the client base is seen as in the mid to higher socioeconomic sector. Pricing scheme is based on a net rate offered by hotel/airline in which service commission charged by Dreamsholidays.com and applicable taxes will further be added. Service commission will be 7% for B2B customers and 10% for B2C customers. Special packages will be announced occasionally and Dreamsholidays.com will also decrease service commission to benefit customers.

5. PLACEMENT STRATEGY:

Services will be available to all B2B and B2C customers and will be accessible by any device capable of accessing the internet. Daydream Holidays.com offers services for two main categories Hotels and Air Tickets.

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Tactics :

Successful business depends not only on location and quality of service but on how it is delivered. The tactics therefore, require a very attentive and direct approach to the client base. This however, cannot be seen to be pushy or over bearing but constructive and sympathetic to the client’s needs to take a break´. It is envisaged much of the repeat business will come from personal referral so the ability to offer simple clear information with a no fuss personal approach is important. The use of electronic answering machines is to be kept to a bare minimum and all direct interactions should be at a one-on-one level where possible, response to enquiries.

Sales Promotion:The pricing schedules are targeted to encourage customers’ usage as well as maximize the income for what is expected to be popular hotels, air tickets, tours and transfers deals. The offer of discounts to customers as well as the offer for referral selling should drive business. Pricing for the use of the facility for functions that would include the use hotels, air tickets, tours and transfers and different combinations of availing these functions would be treated as a total package, The use of promotions by introducing” Special packages” for different occasions and events will be introduced to attract customers.

Public Relations:

The Daydreamholidays.com is to be seen as being a positive contributor to the local community without expecting anything in return. It is to actively participate in local functions and support the regional initiatives around the promotion of hotels and  tourism in the region.

Different activities will be performed to get and stay connected directly with customers. Daydreamholidays.com will arrange different trade seminars, conferences get together for B2B customers and different exhibitions for B2C customers to promote business and manage good customer relationship.

Direct Marketing

The use of a high quality brochure is seen as  essential to providing potential clients information about the surrounds. This is to be available at all tourist destinations, all hotels, airline counters and counters at different malls and it is expected that these will be deliver by hand to discuss the offering. In addition, they will gather information about other facilities they can pass onto their customers.

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Mall promotions for this sector would need to be undertaken. Brand ambassadors should represent brand and its key features to customers at different locations on different malls. This activity will facilitate customers a lot because they will not have need to spend extra time to go to the travel agents and websites to get information.

The use of a bulk mail-out either via post, fax or email is not seen as productive as it does not provide the personal touch .However, all customers to the B2B will go onto a direct email database (provided they give permission) and promotions offering discounts to previous users will be offered on a regular basis. These will be in the form of a reduction in price.

Online Marketing:

The internet is seen as a critical tool to reach customers. During the opening phase of the program special deals will be on offer. These will be repeated if consumers accept these offers. The website is to be fully functional and will enable clients to request booking sand be able to make these in real time. On receiving the bookings the customer will receive a personal confirmation along with information of things to do in the region.

The advertisement will also be done on different websites and a new system ”Content Management System” will be launched for updation of banners and promotions on different web sites. By using Content Management system the company can make all the changes in banners, pictures, promotions etc without requiring the services of any computer programmer. Usage of “Content Management System” will ensure the timely updation of promotions.

All tours, hotels and airlines will be advised authorized of the change to offers being made to customers.

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Budget:

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References: Principles of Marketing, South Asian Perspective 13th Edition by Philip Kotler &

Ehasn ul Haque. www.google.com www.dotw.com www.booking.com www.hotelogel.com www.holidays.airarabia.com www.pafkiet.edu.pk

x x x x

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