Overclocking is the somewhat unknown and uncommon practice of running your CPU (or other parts) past the speed that it is rated at. An example is running a 1.2 GHz CPU at 1.4 GHz or a 200 MHz CPU at 233 MHz. How can this be achieved? The following description isn't exact, but it captures the basic idea. Most CPU companies create their CPUs and then test them at a certain speed. If the CPU fails at a certain speed, then it is sold as a CPU at the next lower speed. The tests are usually very stringent so a CPU may be able to run at the higher speed quite reliably. In fact, the tests are often not used at all. For example, once a company has been producing a certain CPU for awhile, they have gotten the process down well enough that all the CPUs they make will run reliably at the highest speed the CPU is designed for. Thus, just to fill the demand, they will mark some of them as the slower CPUs.
Beware, however, that some vendors may sell CPUs already overclocked. This is why it is very important to buy from a dealer you can trust.
Some video cards are also very overclockable with some companies selling their cards already overclocked (and advertised this way). The Programs like Powerstrip can often be used to easily overclock the cards.
Also, if you're afraid to overclock your CPU, let another company do it for you! Companies like ComputerNerd sell CPUs pretested at overclocked speeds.
What To Consider:
Do you NEED to overclock? It may not be worth the risk if your computer is running fine as it is. However, if it seems a little too slow and/or you're a speed freak, it may be worth the risk.
How important is your work? If you're running a very important network server, it may not be worth it to put the extra strain on the computer. Likewise, if your computer does a lot of highly CPU intensive operations, you may also want to not overclock. Obviously the most stable computer is going to be one that is not overclocked. This is not to say that an overclocked computer can not be 100% stable because they CAN. If you just use your computer to play games and would like to have a little faster frame rates, then overlcocking may be worth it.
Potential Side-Effects?
The first impression people usually have of overclocking is "isn't that dangerous?" For the most part, the answer is no. If all you do to try to overclock your computer is change the CPU's speed, there is very little chance that you will damage your computer and/or the CPU as long as you do not push your computer too hard (i.e. trying to run a 500 MHz CPU at 1 GHz. Damage has happened, but it's a rare thing. Also, if you start increasing voltage settings to allow your CPU to run at a higher speed, there is more of a risk there.
The best way to prevent damage is to keep your CPU as cool as possible. The only way you can really damage your CPU is if it gets too hot. Adequate cooling is one of the keys to successful overclocking. Using large heatsinks with powerful ball-bearing fans will help to achieve this. How hot is too hot? If you can't keep your finger on the CPU's heatsink comfortably, then it is probably too hot and you should lower the CPU's speed.
Changing the bus speed is actually more beneficial than changing the CPU's speed. The bus speed is basically the speed at which the CPU communicates with the rest of the computer. When you increase the bus speed, in many cases you will be overclocking all the parts in your AGP, PCI slots, and your RAM as well as the CPU. Usually this is by a small margin and won't hurt these components. Pay attention to them though. If they're getting too hot, you may need to add extra cooling for them (an additional fan in your case). Just like your CPU, if they get too hot, they may be damaged as well.
Difficulty Level:
Believe it or not, it's actually quite simple. In many cases all you have to do is change a couple of jumpers on the motherboard or change settings in your motherboard's BIOS.
Recommendations:
Most of today's CPUs are multiplier locked, but you can change the bus speed. As an example, you could run a 1.2 GHz Thunderbird that normally runs at 133 bus (also called 266 because it is "double-pumped) at:
Multiplier * Bus Speed = CPU speed in MHz
9 * 133 = 1,200 MHz = 1.2 GHz = default
9 * 140 = 1,260 MHz = 1.26 GHz
9 * 145 = 1,305 MHz = 1.3 GHz
9 * 150 = 1,350 MHz = 1.35 GHz
Even though that CPU is multiplier locked, you can change the multiplier by connecting the "L1" dots on the CPU itself with a normal pencil (it's just enough to conduct electricity to allow you to change the multipliers). If you do this properly, it is perfectly safe. Here's an article on how to do this.
9 * 133 = 1,200 MHz = 1.2 GHz = default
9.5 * 133 = 1,264 MHz = 1.264 GHz
10 * 133 = 1,333 MHz = 1.333 GHz
Or change both together, like this:
10 * 140 = 1,400 MHz = 1.4 GHz
All you need to do here is use common sense really. For example, you wouldn't want to try to run a 233 MHz CPU at 400 MHz. For one thing, it won't work. For another, that probably would damage your CPU. I would advise starting out low and slowly trying to go higher. If you have a 233 MHz CPU, try running it one step higher, then the next step. Most likely you won't be able to get a CPU like this to run much higher than 300, but that is a possibility.
Be more concerned with changing the bus speed than the CPU speed as that will provide the greatest amount of speed improvement. For example, running a CPU at 250 (83.3x3) would be better than 262.5 (75x3.5) in most cases because the bus speed of 83 is higher than 75. The default for most CPUs is at 66 MHz bus speed. The newer P2's bus speed is 100 MHz by default. Many computers will not have options on bus speeds, but if you get any of the motherboards I recommend, you will have different bus speed options. The higher bus speed you can run at reliably, the better. Depending on what your other components are though, they may cause your computer to crash or become unstable if they can't handle the higher bus speeds. With bus speeds like 133, you have to have higher quality PC133 or PC2100 DDR SDRAM to be able to achieve this bus speed reliably.
What you'll need:
An open computer case and your motherboard manual is all you'll really need to try it, but more efficient cooling may be useful as well. Of course, your motherboard needs to support the bus speeds you plan to use and the multiplier you plan to use. Your motherboard manual should tell you whether or not it supports certain bus speeds and certain multipliers. If the exact CPU speed using a particular multiplier and bus speed isn't listed, don't worry. If you have the proper multiplier and bus speed in your manual, then you should be okay.
How to calculate your desired speed:
First consider your default speed. For simplicity, lets say it's 1 GHz. If this is an Athlon processor, it would most likely be running at the 133 MHz bus speed with a multiplier of 7.5 (100x7.5 = 1000 MHz = 1 GHz) or at the 100 MHz bus speed and multiplier of 10 (10x100 = 1000). Let's use the latter instance as an example - 100 MHz bus and 10 multiplier.
If you wanted to run at around 1.2 GHz you could increase the multiplier to 12 and leave the bus speed alone (100x12 = 1200). *Please note* most of today's CPUs prevent you from changing the multiplier and only allow you to change the bus speed! The step below explains how to do this.
If you wanted to increase the bus speed and the motherboard supported the higher MHz bus speeds, you could do something like 10x120 for 1200 MHz. Calculate your new speed by multiplying the bus speed by your CPU's multiplier.
You could also try increasing both the bus speed and multiplier. An example would be increasing the multiplier to 11 and bus speed to 110 MHz for just over 1.2 GHz (11x110 = 1210 MHz).
How to SET this speed:
In your motherboard manual, find the jumper settings for the particular bus speed and multiplier you want to use. Locate those jumpers on your motherboard and change them to fit the jumper settings in the manual. If it says "closed" for a jumper, then you need to have the little "shunt" placed over the two pins for that jumper which "closes" the connection. If it says "open" you may need to pull off the shunt.
If your motherboard has a "SoftMenu," then you can change your bus speed and / or multiplier in the computer's BIOS. Usually you will have to press F1 or Del to enter your BIOS while your computer is starting up. Try to locate the CPU speed settings and rotate through the available bus speeds until you find the one you are wanting to try.
Some motherboards will have both jumpers and a SoftMenu and you can use either one. Others have a combination and you may need to change the bus speed on the motherboard with jumpers, and change the multiplier in the BIOS. That's all there is to it!
In a concrete effort to finally do something to improve the country's tourism fortunes, the government is set to stage a "Visit Indonesia Year" in 2008.
As part of the drive to improve visitor numbers, improvements will also be made to basic infrastructure in some of the country's top tourist destinations.
The official announcement of the campaign, the second that will be held by the country after an earlier one in 1992, will be made next month, and will kick off a months' long promotion campaign, the Culture and Tourism Ministry's director general of marketing, Thamrin B. Bachri, said Tuesday.
Throughout 2008, the country will stage 100 international-scale events and cultural festivals, with the "visit Indonesia" campaign being timed to coincide with the World Culture Forum 2008.
"We have held meetings with the provincial administrations to outline our plans and ensure that their regions are ready for the events," Thamrin said.
The ministry, he said, was encouraging them to develop tourist attractions in their respective regions by improving facilities and access to the attractions.
In the first Visit Indonesia Year in 1992, the country boosted foreign tourist arrivals by more than 20 percent to 3.1 million from 2.5 million the previous year.
Thamrin did not say how many visitors were expected to visit Indonesia during next year's campaign.
For this year, the ministry is hoping to attract 6 million foreign tourists -- expected to generate around US$5 billion in foreign exchange earnings -- through its "tourism acceleration program". Last year, foreign tourist arrivals stood at 4.8 million.
To support the acceleration program and prepare for next year, the ministry has requested additional funding of Rp 158.4 billion (US$17.6 million) from the revised 2007 budget, which is currently under deliberation in the House of Representatives.
The original 2007 budget allocated Rp 982 billion to the ministry. Of the additional funding, the acceleration program -- which includes overseas promotional campaigns and improvements to basic infrastructure, such as roads, and electricity and telephone access in tourist areas -- will get the lion's share of Rp 153 billion.
The planned overseas promotional campaign includes advertising on international television channels, said Culture and Tourism Minister Jero Wacik.
"Advertisements on such TV channels are one of the most effective ways of attracting foreign tourists," he said, adding that other countries, such as Malaysia and Thailand, spent vast sums on such advertising.
"We will be out of sight of the rest of the world if we don't take effective and immediate action to raise awareness among overseas tourists that Indonesia is a safe and attractive place to visit."
Malaysia is targeting 20 million foreign tourists this year through its "Visit Malaysia Year" campaign. The country hosted 17.5 million overseas tourists last year.
The marketing concept of building an organization around the profitable satisfaction of customer needs has helped firms to achieve success in high-growth, moderately competitive markets. However, to be successful in markets in which economic growth has leveled and in which there exist many competitors who follow the marketing concept, a well-developed marketing strategy is required. Such a strategy considers a portfolio of products and takes into account the anticipated moves of competitors in the market.
The Case of Barco In late 1989, Barco N.V.'s projection systems division was faced with Sony's surprise introduction of a better graphics projector. Barco had been perceived as a leader, introducing high quality products first and targeting a niche market that was willing to pay a higher price. Being a smaller company, Barco could not compete on price, so it traditionally pursued a skimming strategy in the graphics projector market, where it had a 55% market share of the small market. Barco's overall market share for all types of projectors was only 4%. Even though Barco's market was mainly in graphics projectors, the company had not introduced a new graphics projector in over two years. Instead, it was spending a large portion of its R&D budget on video projector products. However, video projectors were not Barco's market. Barco's engineers had been working long hours on their new projector that would not be as good as Sony's. Some people thought they should not stop work on that product since the engineers' morale would suffer after being told how important it was to work hard to get the product out. However, even considering the morale of the product team, it would not have been a good idea to introduce a product that was inferior to that of Sony. Barco wisely stopped working on the inferior product and put a major effort in developing a projector that outperformed Sony's. The Barco case illustrates several marketing strategy concepts: • Price / Selling Effort Strategies: A firm that follows a skimming strategy seeks to be the first to introduce a product with very good performance, selling it to the innovator market segment and charging a premium price for it. It makes as much profit as possible, then moves on when the competition arrives. The price is likely to fall over time as competition is encountered. Such a skimming strategy contrasts with a penetrating strategy, which seeks to gain market share by sacrificing short-term profits, and increasing the price over time as market share is gained. • Competitors have certain strengths and abilities. To succeed, a firm must leverage its own unique abilities. • A firm should prepare defensive strategies before potential threats arrive. If the competition surprises a firm with the introduction of a vastly superior product, the firm should resist the temptation to proceed with its mediocre product. A firm never should introduce a product that is obsolete when it hits the market. • The competition's probable response to a firm's actions should be considered carefully.
Marketing Research for Strategic Decision Making The two most common uses of marketing research are for diagnostic analysis to understand the market and the firm's current performance, and opportunity analysis to define any unexploited opportunities for growth. Marketing research studies include consumer studies, distribution studies, semantic scaling, multidimensional scaling, intelligence studies, projections, and conjoint analysis. A few of these are outlined below. • Semantic scaling: a very simple rating of how consumers perceive the physical attributes of a product, and what the ideal values of those attributes would be. Semantic scaling is not very accurate since the consumers are polled according to an ordinal ranking so mathematical averaging is not possible. For example, 8 is not necessarily twice as much as 4 in an ordinal ranking system. Furthermore, each person uses the scale differently. • Multidimensional scaling (MDS) addresses the problems associated with semantic scaling by polling the consumer for pair-wise comparisons between products or between one product and the ideal. The assumption is that while people cannot report reliably which attributes drive their choices, they can report perceptions of similarities between brands. However, MDS analyses do not indicate the relative importance between attributes. • Conjoint analysis infers the relative importance of attributes by presenting consumers with a set of features of two hypothetical products and asking them which product they prefer. This question is repeated over several sets of attribute values. The results allow one to predict which attributes are the more important, the combination of attribute values that is the most preferred. From this information, the expected market share of a given design can be estimated.
Multi-Product Resource Allocation The most common resource allocation methods are: • Percentage of sales • Executive judgement • All-you-can-afford • Match competitors • Last year based Another method is called decision calculus. Managers are asked four questions: What would sales be with: 1. no sales force 2. half the current effort 3. 50% greater effort 4. a saturation level of effort. From these answers, one can determine the parameters of the S-curve response function and use linear programming techniques to determine resource allocations. Decision algorithms that result in extreme solutions, such as allocating most of the sales force to one product while neglecting another product often do not yield practical solutions. For mature products, sales increase very little as a function of advertising expenditures. For newer products however, there is a very positive correlation. Portfolio models may be used to allocate resources among major product lines or business units. The BCG growth-share matrix is one such model.
New Product Diffusion Curve As a new product diffuses into the market, some types of consumers such as innovators and early adopters buy the product before other consumers. The product adoption follows a trajectory that is shaped like a bell curve and is known as the product diffusion curve. The marketing strategy should take this adoption curve into account and address factors that influence the rate of adoption by the different types of consumers.
Dynamic Product Management Strategies Two fundamental issues of product management are whether to pioneer or follow, and how to manage the product over its life cycle. Order of market entry is very important. In fact, the forecasted market share relative to the pioneering brand is the pioneering brand's share divided by the square root of the order of entry. For example, the brand that entered third is forecasted to have 1/√3 times the market share of the first entrant (Marketing Science, Vol. 14, No. 3, Part 2 of 2, 1995.) This rule was determined empirically. The pioneering advantage is obtained from both the supply and demand side. From the supply side, there are raw material advantages, better experience effects to provide a cost advantage, and channel preemption. On the demand side, there is the advantage of familiarity, the chance to set a standard, and the choice of perceptual position. Once a firm gains a pioneering advantage, it can maintain it by improving the product, creating a standard, advertise that it was the first, and introduce a new product in the market that may cannibalize the first but deter other firms from entering. There also are disadvantages to being the pioneer. Being first allows a competitor to leapfrog the early technology. The incumbent develops inertia in its R&D and may not be a flexible as newcomers. Developing an industry has costs that the pioneer must bear alone, and the way the industry develops and its potential size are not deterministic. There are four classic price/selling effort strategies:
Selling Effort Price Low High Low Necessity Goods
Classic Skim Strategy Vulnerable to new entrants
High
Classic Penetration Strategy
Luxury Goods
In general, products are clustered in the low-low or high-high categories. If a product is in a mixed category, after introduction it will tend to move to the low-low or high-high one. Increasing the breadth of the product line as several advantages. A firm can better serve multiple segments, it can occupy more of the distributors' shelf space, it offers customers a more complete selection, and it preempts competition. While a wider range of products will cause a firm to cannibalize some of its own sales, it is better to do so oneself rather than let the competition do so. The drawbacks of broad product lines are reduced volume for each brand (cannibalization), greater manufacturing complexity, increased inventory, more management resources required, more advertising (or less per brand), clutter and confusion in advertising for both customers and distributors. To increase profits from existing brands, a firm can improve its production efficiency, increase the demand through more users, more uses, and more usage. A firm also can defend its existing base through line extensions (expand on a current brand), flanker brands (new brands in an existing product area), and brand extensions.
The marketing mix-the 4 Ps-target audience-segmentation-objectives-evaluation. These and other terms are all used in the process of "marketing." In tourism and tourism related Industries, success means understanding this process. This bulletin is designed for those in the tourism industry who may not be completely familiar with marketing or who may simply wish to refresh their basic marketing skills. Covered will be important concepts used in marketing, the relationship of marketing to tourism, and a process for developing a marketing plan for tourism/recreation businesses and/or communities. It will be impossible to cover in detail all the aspects of marketing within the scope of this bulletin. There are, however, other bulletins in this series that will provide more in-depth information on the different components of a marketing plan.
WHAT IS MARKETING ?
People hold a variety of misconceptions about marketing. Most common is its confusion with selling and advertising. Selling and advertising are actually types of promotion which is only a component of marketing. Marketing involves much more, including product/service development, place (location and distribution), and pricing. It requires information about people, especially those interested in what you have to offer (your "market"), such as what they like, where they buy and how much they spend. Its role is to match the right product
or service with the right market or audience. Marketing, as you will see, is an art and a science. According to the American Marketing Association, marketing is "the process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational objectives." Simply stated it is creating and promoting a product (ideas, goods or services) that satisfies a customer's need or desire and is available at a desirable price and place. Modern marketing is a way of doing business, heavily based on the "marketing concept" which holds that businesses and organizations should:
(1) design their products/services to meet customer needs and wants;
(2) focus on those people most likely to buy their product rather than the entire mass market; and
(3) develop marketing efforts that fit into their overall business objectives.
By adopting this concept you not only provide your customers with better products, you will avoid wasting valuable time and money developing and promoting a product or service nobody wants.
RECREATION AND TOURISM MARKETING Earlier it was mentioned that a product can be "ideas, goods, or services." Since tourism is primarily a service based industry, the principal products provided by recreation / tourism (R/T) businesses are recreational experiences and hospitality. These are intangible products and more difficult to market than tangible products such as automobiles. The intangible nature of services makes quality control difficult but crucial. It also makes it more difficult for potential customers to evaluate and compare service offerings. In addition, instead of moving the product to the customer, the customer must travel to the product (area/community). Travel is a significant portion of the time and money spent in association with recreational and tourism experiences and is a major factor in people's decisions on whether or not to visit your business or community. As an industry, tourism has many components comprising the overall "travel experience." Along with transportation, it includes such things as accommodations, food and beverage services, shops, entertainment, aesthetics and special events. It is rare for one business to provide the variety of activities or facilities tourists need or desire. This adds to the difficulty of maintaining and controlling the quality of the experience. To overcome this hurdle, tourism related businesses, agencies, and organizations need to work together to package and promote tourism opportunities in their areas and align their efforts to assure consistency in product quality.
THE MARKETING PLAN
One of the most important steps a business or community can take to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of their marketing efforts is to develop a written marketing plan. This plan will guide their marketing decisions and assist them in allocating marketing resources such as money and personnel time. The plan should include:
(1) the overall business objectives--what you want to accomplish;
(2) an assessment of the market environment--what factors may affect your marketing efforts;
(3) a business/community profile--what resources are available,
(4) market identification (segmentation)--the specific groups or clientele most interested in your product;
(5) the marketing objectives for each segment;
(6) the marketing strategies (or mixes) for different markets you target--the best combination of the 4 Ps
(product, price, place, promotion) for each segment;
(7) an implementation plan--how to "make it work;"
(8) the marketing budget-how much you have to spend; and
(9) a method for evaluation and change.
Figure 1 shows a framework which can be used to develop a marketing plan. Each component will be briefly discussed in the remainder of the bulletin. For more information regarding different components of the plan be sure to consult other bulletins in this series.
OVERALL BUSINESS OBJECTIVES Businesses, agencies, and communities should develop overall objectives and regularly monitor their progress. The objectives should provide guidance for all decisions including finances, personnel and marketing. They should be quantitative and measurable statements of what the business or community wants to accomplish over a specified period of time. Business objectives are often stated in terms of sales, profits, market shares and/or occupancy rates. Communities frequently establish objectives relating to such things as increasing the number of tourists, developing or changing their image, facility and activity development, cooperation among tourism related businesses and increasing length of stay and local expenditures. It is important that the objectives be reasonable given the market conditions and the firm's or organization's resources. Establish a few reasonable objectives instead of a long, unrealistic "wish list." This is especially true for new businesses or communities which do not have much experience in tourism development and/or marketing.
MARKET ENVIRONMENT ANALYSIS The next step in developing a marketing plan is to assess the impact of environmental factors (such as economic, social and political) on present and future markets. Changes in these factors can create marketing opportunities as well as problems. Demographic and Lifestyle Trends Changing demographics and lifestyles are having a major impact on R/T participation. An assessment of these trends is important to understand how they will likely affect your business or community. Some of the important trends that bear watching:
(1) population growth and movement;
(2) rural community growth compared to metropolitan areas;
(3) number of adult women employed outside the home;
(4) the number of households is growing, especially non family and single parent households, but family size is decreasing;
(5) the impact of two wage earner households on real family income;
(6) the number of retired persons with the financial ability to travel;
(7) better health to an older age; and
(8) continued aging of the population (we are becoming a middle aged society).
Economic Conditions Overall economic conditions can have significant impacts on recreation and tourism markets. A marketing strategy that is effective during periods of low unemployment rates may have to be significantly adjusted if unemployment increases. Businesses and communities should monitor and assess the likely impact of factors such as unemployment rates, real family income, rate of inflation, credit availability, terms and interest rates. Consideration should also be given to the prices of complementary products, such as lodging, gasoline and recreation equipment.
Laws and Government Actions
As a complex industry, tourism is significantly affected both positively and negatively by laws and by actions of governmental agencies. For instance, rulings on such things as liability issues or decisions regarding building and health codes may change or possibly prevent the construction of a proposed facility. If a public facility changes the prices of its services, this could affect the service offerings of associated private businesses. These actions may have both positive and negative effects on the marketing efforts of the business and community. To avoid wasting valuable resources it is important that R/T businesses, agencies, and communities continually monitor and evaluate governmental actions.
Technology Technological developments are increasing rapidly. New recreation products, such as all-terrain vehicles and wind surfers, provide new ways for people to satisfy their recreational preferences. New production technologies and materials offer recreation and tourism businesses ways to reduce costs and improve the quality of their products/services. Advances in telecommunications have and will continue to create new promotional opportunities. Technological innovations, in relation to jobs and the home, have resulted in increased leisure time for many people.
Competition Businesses and communities must identify and analyze existing and potential competitors. The objective of the analysis is to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the competition's marketing strategies. The analysis should include the competition's:
(1) product/service features and quality;
(2) location relative to different geographic markets;
(3) promotional themes and messages;
(4) prices; and
(5) type of customer they are attracting.
BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY PROFILES
Too many communities attempt to market themselves as tourist destinations without accurate information about their resources (facilities, services, staff), image (projected vs. actual), and how well their customers are satisfied. Without this information, it is difficult to make other decisions in the planning process. Included should be such things as recreational and entertainment facilities, cultural and historic sites, overnight accommodations, restaurants, shopping opportunities, special events and activities, staff size, and transportation. Each item of the "inventory" should also be assessed in terms of quality and availability.
MARKET SEGMENTATION (IDENTIFICATION)
Recreation and tourism businesses and communities often make the mistake of attempting to be all things to all people. It is difficult, and risky, to develop marketing strategies for the mass market. Strategies designed for the "average" customer often result in unappealing products, prices, and promotional messages. For example, it would be difficult to develop a campground that would be equally attractive to recreational vehicle campers and backpackers or promote a property to serve both snowmobilers and nature oriented cross country skiers. Marketing is strongly based on market segmentation and target marketing. Market segmentation is the process of:
(1) taking existing and/or potential customers/visitors (market) and categorizing them into groups with similar preferences referred to as "market segments;"
(2) selecting the most promising segments as "target markets;" and
(3) designing "marketing mixes," or strategies (combination of the 4 Ps), which satisfy the special
needs, desires and behavior of the target markets.
There is no unique or best way to segment markets, but ways in which customers can be grouped are:
(1) location of residence---instate, out-of-state, local;
(2) demographics---age, income, family status, education;
(3) equipment ownership/use---RV's, sailboats, canoes, tents, snowmobiles;
(4) important product attributes---price, quality, quantity; and
(5) lifestyle attributes---activities, interests, opinions.
To be useful, the segment identification process should result in segments that suggest marketing efforts that will be effective in attracting them and at least one segment large enough to justify specialized marketing efforts. After segments have been identified, the business or community must select the "target markets," those segments which offer them the greatest opportunity. When determining target markets, consideration should be given to:
(1) existing and future sales potential of each segment;
(2) the amount and strength of competition for each segment;
(3) the ability to offer a marketing mix which will be successful in attracting each segment;
(4) the cost of servicing each segment; and
(5) each segment's contribution to accomplishing overall business/community objectives.
It is often wiser to target smaller segments that are presently not being served, or served inadequately, than to go after larger segments for which there is a great deal of competition.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES FOR EACH SEGMENT
Marketing objectives which contribute to the accomplishment of the overall business objectives should be established for each target market. Objectives serve a number of functions including:
(1) guidance for developing marketing mixes for different target markets;
(2) information for allocating the marketing budget between target markets;
(3) a basis for objectively evaluating the effectiveness of the marketing mixes (setting standards); and
(4) a framework for integrating the different marketing mixes into the overall marketing plan.
The target market objectives should:
(1) be expressed in quantitative terms;
(2) be measurable;
(3) specify the target market; and
(4) indicate the time period in which the objective is to be accomplished.
For example, increase the number of overnight stays by people from the Chicago market over the next two years by five percent. Remember, rank objectives by priority and carefully evaluate them to ensure that they are reasonable given the strength of the competition and resources available for marketing.
MARKETING STRATEGY (MIX)
The marketing strategy, or mix, should be viewed as a package of offerings designed to attract and serve the customer or visitor. Recreation and tourism businesses and communities should develop both external and internal marketing mixes for different target markets.
External Mix
The external marketing mix includes product/service, price, place/location, and promotion.
Product
Earlier we said the principal products that recreation and tourism businesses provide are recreational experiences and hospitality. The factors that create a quality recreational experience often differ among people. A quality experience for one skier might include an uncrowded, steep slope. To another it might be a good restaurant and a chance to socialize. Decisions on what facilities, programs and services to provide should be based on the needs and desires of the target market(s). They should not be based on the preferences of the owner/manager or necessarily on what the competition is providing. Recognize that a recreational/tourism experience includes five elements: trip planning and anticipation; travel to the site/area; the experience at the site; travel back home; and recollection. Businesses should look for ways to enhance the quality of the overall experience during all phases of the trip. This could be accomplished by providing trip planning packages which include maps, attractions en route and on site, and information regarding lodging, food and quality souvenirs and mementos. Recreation and tourism businesses should also view their service/product in generic terms. Thinking of products/services in this manner helps focus more attention on the experiences desired by customers and also the facilities, programs and services that will produce those experiences. For example, campgrounds are the business of providing recreational "lodging" not just campsites to park an RV or set up a tent. Marinas should provide recreational "boating" experiences, not just slippage.
Location and Accessibility---Place Too many tourism businesses and communities fail to recognize their role in improving travel to and from their areas. They focus instead on servicing the customer once they arrive at the site/community. A bad experience getting to or leaving an R/T site can adversely affect a person's travel experience. Ways to help prevent this include:
(1) providing directions and maps;
(2) providing estimates of travel time and distances from different market areas;
(3) recommending direct and scenic travel routes;
(4) identifying attractions and support facilities along different travel routes; and
(5) informing potential customers of alternative travel methods to the area such as airlines and railroads.
Potential businesses should also carefully assess alternative locations for:
(1) distance and accessibility to target markets;
(2) location of competitors with respect to target markets;
(3) modes of travel serving the area; and
(4) other attractions and activities that might induce travel to the area.
Pricing Price is one of the most important and visible elements of the marketing mix. When setting prices it is important to take into consideration all of the following:
(1) business and target market objectives;
(2) the full cost of producing, delivering and promoting the product;
(3) the willingness of the target market to pay for the product or service you provide;
(4) prices charged by competitors offering a similar product/service to the same target market(s);
(5) the availability and prices of substitute products/services (for example, campgrounds, motels, and bed and breakfast are all substitutes for lodging);
(6) the economic climate (local and national); and
(7) the possibility of stimulating high profit products/services (such as boats) by offering related services (such as maintenance) at or below cost.
When establishing prices, R/T businesses should give attention to pricing strategies which may encourage off season and non-peak period sales, longer stays, group business, and the sale of package plans (combination of room, meals, and recreational facilities).
Promotion Promotion provides target audiences with accurate and timely information to help them decide whether to visit your community or business. The information should be of importance and practical use to the potential or existing visitor and also accurate.
Misrepresentation often leads to dissatisfied customers and poor recommendations. Don't make claims you cannot live up to. Developing a promotional campaign is not a science with hard and fast rules. Making decisions regarding which type or combination of promotion types to use (personal selling, advertising, sales promotions, or publicity) is not always easy. If, however, you follow a logical process and do the necessary research, chances for success will be improved. It will be necessary to make decisions regarding:
(1) Target audience---the group you are aiming at;
(2) Image---that which your community or business wants to create or reinforce;
(3) Objectives---those of the promotional campaign;
(4) Budget---the amount of money available for your promotion;
(5) Timing---when and how often should your promotions appear;
(6) Media---which methods (television, radio, newspaper, magazine) will most effectively and efficiently communicate your message to the target audience; and
(7) Evaluation---how can the effectiveness of the promotional campaign be determined.
Internal Mix As stated, marketing services such as recreation and tourism differ from marketing tangible products. Recreation and tourism businesses must direct as much attention at marketing to customers on site as they do to attracting them. In this respect, internal marketing is important because dissatisfied customers can effectively cancel out an otherwise effective marketing strategy. The success of internal marketing is dependent on creating an atmosphere in which employees desire to give good service and sell the business/community to visitors. To create such an atmosphere requires the following four important elements:
(1) Hospitality and Guest Relations---An organization wide emphasis on hospitality and guest relations, including a customer oriented attitude on the part of the owners and managers as well as the employees. If the owner/manager is not customer sensitive, it is unlikely the lower paid employees will be.
(2) Quality Control---A program which focuses on improving both the technical quality (the standards associated with what the customer receives) and the functional quality (the standards associated with how the customer receives the service). All employees who come into contact with customers should receive hospitality training.
(3) Personal Selling---Training the staff in the selling aspects of the property (business) or community. This also includes rewarding them for their efforts. By being informed about the marketing objectives, and their role in accomplishing those objectives, they can help increase sales.
(4) Employee Morale---Programs and incentives aimed at maintaining employee morale. The incentives can be both monetary and non-monetary.
A customer oriented atmosphere usually results in customers that are more satisfied, do less complaining and are more pleasant to serve. This helps build employee morale, their desire to provide good service and their efficiency.
MARKETING BUDGET Successful marketing requires that sufficient money and personnel time be made available to implement activities comprising the marketing strategy. A marketing budget is a financial plan which shows the total amount to be spent on marketing during different times of the year and how it is to be allocated among alternative activities. Separate marketing budgets should be developed for each marketing mix strategy. The separate budgets should then be aggregated to develop an overall marketing budget. If the total amount is too great it will be necessary to modify the overall objectives and the target market objectives, narrow down or drop target markets, or adjust marketing mixes. The final budget should be realistic given your objectives. When deciding on a marketing budget, consideration should be given to the job that needs to be done as defined by the objectives. Basing marketing budgets on some percent of sales or what the competition spends usually leads to over spending or under spending. Decisions should also be based on the costs, projected revenues, and desired profitability of different activities, not just costs alone. Successful marketing activities will generate additional revenues which can be projected based on the marketing objectives (such as increase off season stay by 5%). Although budgets should be viewed as flexible plans, every effort should be made to adhere to them. Revisions in the budget should only be made after careful consideration of the likely impact of the change on the marketing mix and accomplishment of your objectives.
IMPLEMENTATION Many well designed marketing plans fail because they are poorly executed. Businesses, agencies, and communities can increase the likelihood of successful implementation if they:
(1) identify specific tasks which must be accomplished;
(2) assign people or departments specific responsibility for different tasks;
(3) provide employees with information on the marketing plan (rationale, objectives, strategies);
(4) develop time lines and deadlines;
(5) adhere as much as possible to the budget; and
(6) regularly monitor and evaluate progress.
EVALUATION It is important that marketing efforts be continually evaluated. This will improve the effectiveness of marketing strategies by quickly identifying differences between actual results and expected performance and determining likely reasons for the success or failure to realize objectives.
A framework for evaluation would include:
(1) determining which elements of the different marketing mixes are most important to evaluate.----It is rarely possible or cost effective to evaluate all elements;
(2) establishing performance standards to compare against actual results.---Marketing objectives, if properly formulated, should serve as performance standards;
(3) development of formal and informal methods for collecting data on actual results.---There are many ways different elements of the marketing mix can be evaluated. For example, promotions can be evaluated with money off coupons. Special information request forms, telephone numbers to call or post office box numbers to write to can identify the area the request is coming from. Also, formal (written) and informal (face-to-face) surveys can be used to determine the promotional material the customer used in planning the trip;
(4) comparison of results with objectives;
(5) determination of needed change(s).
CONCLUSION Customer satisfaction in tourism is greatly influenced by the way in which the service (hospitality) is delivered and the physical appearance and personality of the business. It is critical that these elements be communicated in the best possible manner to convince people to come and experience what your business or community has to offer. Equally important is the ability to generate repeat business because of your efforts. Thus, marketing becomes the method to reach potential visitors. It is a vital part of tourism management and can be done effectively and well, with sophistication and tact, or it can be done poorly in a loud, crass and intrusive manner. Hopefully, this bulletin has given you the basics for the former rather than the latter. Remember that to do an effective job at marketing:
(1) adopt a strong customer orientation which includes regular research and assessment of their needs, wants and attitudes;
(2) allocate sufficient resources and time to marketing;
(3) assign formal responsibility for marketing to one person or department; and
(4) develop and regularly update a marketing plan.
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