Final Project Video and Story

Link to Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTN3KNUftLg

“Marketing in the Market of Lodging”

Businesses all around the country are having to adapt to the fast paced marketing world that has made standing out from surrounding competitors almost impossible, especially for those in the lodging scene in Oxford, Mississippi.  

With all hotels and motels in Oxford Miss. having their Oxford Tourism and Economic Development Tax, created in 1983, increased by three percent each year, last year the hotel market brought in more than $22.5million in combined lodging revenue. This tax goes straight to the offices of Visit Oxford, a main hub that promotes marketing for tourists and attractions in Oxford.

Marketing strategies for businesses has become a main priority in the last couple years due to the fact that social media is the main resource used to connect with potential customers.

General Manger of The Graduate, Gerald Peralta has spent over sixteen years learning the ins and outs about what goes into marketing for hotels:

“So much of Oxford is a "word of mouth" or "social media" impact that we are aware of the success and draw of the hotel already,” said Peralta. “The Graduate strives to be the living room of the community, and we try and promote ourselves as a place for all to come - college students, hotel guests, local Oxionians.”

Marketing for hotels and motels takes on more of a public relations approach when it comes to having a connecting with their customers. But, every city is different with how information is processed by every day citizens. Every city has its own key aspects, benefits and implications, which all feed into how a businesses approach their marketing scheme.

“Marketing fills up the leases,” said John Castro, General Manager of Gather Oxford. “Without our name out on billboards, phones and special offers that attract customers, we wouldn’t exist.”

With that type of thinking every aspect of marketing comes into play when opening a new

off-campus student housing complex. That business must exhaust every avenue of communication they can get to make sure their business is well-known.

“Everyone is realizing how affective marketing can be,” said Virginia Kennedy, General Manager of The Domain in Oxford. “I am always stressing the progression of marketing. And some businesses lose focus of that and don’t succeed.”

An off campus housing complex that has not been able to keep up with the rapid pace of the marketing world, is the Hub. Last year they were fully booked by January and now, in May, they have only fifty percent of their rooms leased. The Hub either did not satisfy their customers or their efforts towards marketing did not meet the standards that other businesses set.

“We started offering anyone who came for a tour around the Hub, a $10 gift card, in hopes to attract more students and provide a greater incentive than what we already were,” said Marketing Coordinator Aleksandra Luba.

With social media making life move even faster than it already is, businesses must attempt to control that area in hopes to attract new customers and stay ahead of the marketing game. Not much is said for a business that does not make their name more like a brand name. A method that is taught at the University of Mississippi in Oxford, Miss..

With the constant generation of new marketing jobs increasing, so does the Marketing School at Ole Miss. Since 2011, the Integrated Marketing and Communicationsschool has taken in over a thousand new marketing student majors. It is proof that the marketing world is developing rapidly and it is a businesses job to keep up and stand out or be left out.