Marketing

Name
Tutor
Course
Date
Marriot International
Just like in other key areas of life, technological advancement has had a positive influence on marketing. It has enhanced the development of new marketing channels and methods. One such method is mobile marketing. This involves marketing using a mobile device. Different organizations have adopted mobile marketing to acquire competitive advantage. One such organization is Marriot international. Initially, Marriott Mobile had been utilized as a directory for its 13 chains and 3,000 hotel properties. In august 2008, a relaunch was executed with the aim of upgrading the functionality of Marriot Mobile. Prior to the relaunch, mobile users were usually forced to call the actual hotel or visit the Marriot website to book reservations, make changes to the existing reservations or manage their rewards accounts.
The relaunch introduced the mobile site that led to a $2 million gross revenue between August and December 2008. It was deemed a fundamental strategic decision since it did not limit the type of handset to be utilized. Following the data and information collected from the site, Marriot created an efficient app marketing strategy first for black berry and then for Apple’s iPhone. Using this strategy, Marriot created a mobile survey for identifying customer needs. The collected feedback enhanced the hotel’s capability to respond to customer needs. Intrinsically, it ensured the development of a functional mobile service, therefore emphasizing on the importance of reaching the consumers through the mobile platform.
Question One
Based on the prescribed characteristics of survey research, the Marriot Mobile feedback system can be deemed effective and efficient. As per the first characteristic, the system uses short and straight forwards questions to enhance the ease of the responses provided. As per the second characteristic, the questions are relevant as per their intended purpose. They were aimed at collecting information on the usage patterns, site functionality and the new city guide functions. Based on the third characteristic, the system saves time due to the short nature of the questions used. As per the fourth characteristics, the system is reliable and valid. It provides data that can be reproduced. It is valid because it measured what it was intended to measure.
Question Two
The mobile survey created by Marriot International was associated with a few advantages. The first advantage is immediacy of data. Per se, the mobile-based feedback allowed Marriot to connect with the customer during his or her usage of the mobile platform. This alleviated the problems linked to the receipt of mobile experience feedback weeks or days after their usage. The second is its speed in determining what the customers need or are looking for. The third advantage is the use of short survey and questions to ensure timely response from the users on the go. The Hotel’s clientele is made up of users on the go. Providing them with a simple survey is very fundamental to enhance their provision o the fundamentally required feedback.
Question Three
As an individual in charge of mobile marketing at Marriot international, I would apply observation, personal interviews, questionnaires and projective research methods. Observation of customer’s utilization of the mobile services would accord with additional data on their preferences. Personal interviews with the mobile users would shed more light on their preferences and their opinions towards the mobile site. Questionnaires about the ease in use of the mobile site would provide information that could not have been acquired from the surveys. Projective techniques would ensure the provision of information that could have otherwise been ignored by the customers when using the surveys.