The Marketing Book 5th Edition

Common Characteristics Indicating:

‘Key Marketing Issues’

• Image/Reputation


• Personal Service


• Location/Communication

SME

Marketing

Services

Marketing

Consumer

Marketing

768 The Marketing Book

the marketing aspects of its local environment

and infrastructure and it will use appropriate

literature to communicate this. It cannot hope

to promote this message itself to a wider

market, instead it will rely upon the local

tourist industry to do this.

Of course, there will undoubtedly be other
aspects of marketing that an SME hotel may
wish to engage, however, it simply cannot
ignore these key marketing issues. These key
marketing issues are almost imposed upon the
context because of the underlying inherent
characteristics. An SME hotel may want to do
mass media communication to reflect mass
consumer marketing, but it simply cannot hope
to do such even if the outcomes were desirable
or controllable. It will of course employ a
variety of industry marketing activities as part

of its ongoing revenue generation. For example,

functions and events built around themes of

interest to its local community as well as the

transient market.

Thus, the message from ‘marketing in

context’ is that because of certain inherent

characteristics which will impact upon an SME

in its given context, it cannot ignore these and

indeed, they will determine and perhaps dic-

tate the type and style of marketing that an

SME can perform.

Competency marketing

Competency marketing is a term which means

using inherent and learned skills (competencies)

to do marketing. To do marketing means

anything which impacts upon, or which influ-

ences marketing, as well as actually performing

Figure 29.3 Marketing in context – SME hotel marketing