Freya Evans

University Of Central Lancashire

BA(Hons) International Tourism Management

TL2008 Marketing Management for Tourism & Hospitality

 

 

Explore24 is an organisation intended to provide 24 Flash Deals within a time period of 24 hours, ranging from products such as Safari Holidays to a Triple Air Pass in Australia. The products aim to provide parts or all elements of an individual's holiday at a guaranteed best price, with the target market aimed mainly at UK couples of ages 18 and over who are looking for impulse getaways. In order to make the deals affordable for any incomes, and therefore widening the market segment, the products are offered at £40 per person up to £4,000 per person, however, there is a deliberate grading of budgets menu's so that potential customers will be exposed to other possible deals in their price range, with the further possibility of increasing customer revenue. In order to demonstrate the academic understanding of the 4 P's and 7 C's within marketing, Explore24 has been created as an application of theory to a physical product.

 

Commentary
The 7 C's of E-Marketing

 

Rayport & Jaworski (2003 cited in Lee & Benbasat, 2004, pp. 79-102) created a website design theory that provides a natural progression from McCarthy's 4 P's. The 7 C's consist of a mnemonic that provides 7 categories which are essential to the success of E-businesses or a business providing online services.
To demonstrate how the theory can be applied to existent e-businesses, examples are given below each of the categories as to where they have been used throughout the site.

 

 

Context

When initially opening up Explore24 on an Internet Browser, the aim was to create a design that would be smart, easy and enthusiastic to customers instantly. The 24 deals are split into 3 categories, Budget, Location and Star Rating, which are on the Menu bar at the top of all Pages. The Budget category is then split into 3 budgets, along with the Location category being divided by Continent and the Star Ratings being split according to the 5 Star Ratings. This is so that customers looking with certain preferences can navigate round the site easily. The Colour scheme is Orange, Grey, White and Blue so that it allows for a fun and bright reaction, where the 'White Space' has been altered to dark grey so that the attention will be focused towards the bright colours which contain the Deals.

 

Content

The Text for Explore24 has been created with a set scheme throughout the site. Anton is the most commonly used Text, as the bulky font suggests an instant piece of text requiring attention. Palatino Linotype was used for text regarding information with a deal or pages concerning important customer information. Imagery was carefully selected to portray the most appealing elements of a deal that also reflects the value of price for that particular deal. Therefore, in order to encourage higher expenditure, there was a distinct choosing of images that would provide a contrast between deals of low and high budgets.

 

Communication 

The communication was particularly important to establish through the site, as Communication is key to addressing the intended target market and highlighting the correct elements of a product (Adcock et al, 2001, P.273-4). Through this, a continuous link was created between the company, the customers and potential customers, where there is often an option to "Recommend" products and deals with others through a variety of secondary platforms such as Email, Facebook and Twitter so that customers are also communicating deals and the company to other potential customers. Additionally, a further option to "Like us" on Facebook creates an informal method of communication for customers in order to speak and engage with the company. A Customer Services Page for Explore24 has also been created to establish an opportunity to contact the company in a variety of ways with regards to bookings, complaints, queries and further information.
Additionally, an advertisement gallery situated on the Home Page immediately communicates current deals as well as providing information on what we provide as a Website so that the customer is quickly informed of the nature of Explore24.
 

 

Community

Varey (2002, P.73-4) suggests that customer rewards through discounts, secret exposure to company information, or 'reward' points that are obtained through repeat purchasing acts as an incentinve to build trading relationships with customers and therefore generates more profit for the business.  As an example of this, a special Community has been created in Explore24, where the company refers to the customers who Register with Explore24 as Explorers, allowing for an 'elite' feel when signing up to the site. The company also creates incentives to Sign Up such as daily E-newsletters and a Free access to know what deals are coming up when the current 24 hour deals end. As aforementioned, the Social Media community allows the company to penetrate other platforms and provides a free advertisement method, where the continuation of the term 'Explorers' are also used in any posts made by Explore24.

 

Customization 

Customising deals is often available through the options of purchasing additional products such as flights if not initially included, or choosing alternate dates for a differing price. These customisation options are only available when listed in the details of a deal, which presents some limitation of full customisation however it means that consequently, the deals are more segmented, cheaper and simpler to book. Another highlighted element of customisation would also be allowing extra access to information on upcoming deals when becoming an Explorer, allowing the customer a positively customised and more personalised visit to the site which encourages customer expenditure.

 

Commerce 

Bookings are taken on Explore24, on behalf of selling third party products but for a pre-guaranteed rate. As potential competitors would be that of Groupon, Lastminute.com and SecretEscapes, the deals are intended to be purchased on an impulse approach, meaning that the option to book has to be clear and there is a simple route from the Home page straight to the deal itself and consequently, the purchasing page. Buhalis (2003, P.121) suggest that the online buying process can reduce the decision process of booking a holiday whilst being more accessible and cost-effective. Therefore, the method of booking is strictly online, with no option to telephone or visit Tour Operator Stores for extra deals, further quickening the purchasing decision process.

 

Connection

By providing the option of additional products such as flights, the company is minimising the chance of customers searching elsewhere or leaving the site as the 'holiday package' presents less hassle as opposed to individually organising each element of a trip. Secondly, I have listed the necessary information regarding each deal in the relevant pages as well as installing TripAdvisor reviews of the relevant trip features, meaning that there is a decreased need to search elsewhere for information and reviews. The deals will also state the names of Hotels and will supply website links for tour operators and cruise lines on a new tab, where the prices will be higher than the one offered with Explore24, meaning customers will return to the site rather than look elsewhere for a cheaper price.

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References

Adcock, D., C. Ross, & A. Halborg. (2001, P.273-4) Marketing Principles and Practice. Pearson. Harlow.

Buhalis, D. (2003, P.121) ETourism. Pearson. Harlow.

Lee, Y. E., & I. Benbasat (2004) 'A Framework for the Study of Customer Interface Design for Mobile Commerce' International Journal of Electronic Commerce. 8, 3, 79-102

 

Varey., R. (2002, P.73-4) Relationship Marketing: Dialouges and Networks in the E-commerce era. John Wiley & Sons. England.