Reference no: EM131006498

Holiday Inn to Turn Bar Into Social Hub"Now that it is wrapping up a $1 billion overhaul of its 3,400 hotels across the globe,Holiday Inn has turned its attention to its next project: redesigning and expanding ithotel bars to make them livelier.At its annual conference for franchisees in Las Vegas this week, Holiday Inn parentInterContinental Hotels Group PLC unveiled a preliminary concept it calls the "socialhub." The plan makes the bar the center of several Holiday Inn services, including therestaurant, game room and business center.The social-hub plan is partly an effort to address an issue that has dogged midmarket,full-service hotel chains like Holiday Inn for years. These hotels, especially those with150 or fewer rooms, often don't generate enough traffic to support full-scale, 24-hourfood-service operations - at least not profitably.It is also a response to the findings of a customer study that Holiday Inn conducted in2007 and 2008, when it canvassed 10,000 midscale hotel guests in six major cities.Among other things, the study found that frequent Holiday Inn guests - who are mostoften middle managers, route salespeople, entrepreneurs and government supervisors- want to be around other people rather than holed up in their rooms, Holiday Innexecutives say."These are more extroverted, charismatic people who like people," says Kevin Kowalski,senior vice president of global brand management for Holiday Inn. "They're not going tohang out in their rooms and watch TV. They're just social animals."That's partly why Holiday Inn wants the bar to play a bigger role at the hotels. The socialhub would tailor Holiday Inn's lunch and dinner menus to bar fare that can be shared,such as gourmet meatballs, sesame chicken wings, hamburgers and a few significantentrees, such as steaks and salmon club sandwiches.Those changes would allow for more food to be served by the bar staff, which in turnwould allow Holiday Inn's franchises to limit their labor costs by reducing restaurantstaff, especially at slow times of the day."We're not thinking about it as dinner," Mr. Kowalski says. "We're thinking about it asthis evening social occasion. You may want just a snack or a burger with friends."Holiday Inn would still treat breakfast as the most substantial meal it serves. But thesocial-hub concept will make breakfast more of a self-service offering, with buffets andcook-to-order stations for omelets and the like. That, too, would allow Holiday Innowners to pare labor costs by limiting their wait staffs.Other aspects of the plan call for moving other services adjacent to the bar, such as thehotel's business center, game room, dining patio and lobby. Holiday Inn envisions thatthe game room will offer such diversions as a Wii game console and billiards table andthe patio will feature fire pits and cabanas.Several Holiday Inn franchisees interviewed at the Las Vegas conference werereceptive to the social-hub project, especially because it promises to help them cutcosts. "Franchisees have to make sure they are pushing forward and keeping theirhotels relevant."ReferenceHudson, K. (2010). Holiday Inn to turn bar into social hub. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved fromhttps://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303443904575578613162270270.htmlDirectionsThe marketing managers of this business have made certain decisions about thecompany's marketing strategy. This is what building a marketing plan is all about.For each strategic point below, write a paragraph describing how they are answered inthe above article. Be specific in your response, and include examples from the article.Strategic Points:? Problem definition? Customer profile: a. Segmentation; b. Target market; and c. Positioning.? Operations costIn your final paragraph, analyze the strategy utilized in the article. Evaluate anddescribe whether their planning will be successful. Determine and explain if you believethe plan will work. Justify your response.RequirementsYour essay should be approximately 600-800 words