Existing marketing strategies:
“Marketing strategies can have a broad impact on the business in terms of instilling a marketing orientation among all those in the firm: the way of thinking or philosophy of the whole organization. However, marketing strategies can alternatively be seen as dealing only with the development of competitive advantages directly associated with the marketing function such as customer loyalty and distribution channel control. In the latter case, the domain is sometimes even further restricted by sole attention to the various element of the marketing mix rather than the more general issues of customer and channel relationships. There are two key distinctions which are central to marketing management: the selection of target markets which determine where the firm will compete and the design of marketing mix (product, price, promotion and distribution method) which will determine its success in these markets. The marketing mix refers to the apportionment of effort, the combination, the designing and the integration of the elements of marketing into a programme or “mix” which, on the basis of an appraisal of the market forces, will best achieve the objectives of an enterprise at a given time.” (Michael J. Backer)
Travelodge is the first budget hotel brand to launch in the UK in 1985 and now operates 380 hotels (over 26,000 rooms) - in Ireland, Spain and the UK. Travelodge is growing rapidly with plans to operate 70,000 rooms (approximately 1000 hotels) by 2020 and aims to be the biggest hotel operator in London by the 2012 Olympics.
Six and a half million people stayed with Travelodge last year and 87% of reservations are currently made online at travelodge.co.uk, where room prices start from £19 per night. The chain employs 5,500 staff and is owned by Dubai International Capital, who acquired the organisation from Permira in 2006. In January 2009, Travelodge launched the UK