Distribution Channels
In modern economies, firms rarely deal with more than one trade. For instance, hotels are specialized in offering hospitality services only rather than dealing in many activities such as transportation, storage, and marketing pricing and selling. To be efficient, business entities resort to channels of distribution to maximize marketing mix tools. Distribution channels entail a series of third-party entities that offer pricing, product, place, or promotional strategies (Carroll & Siguaw, 2003).
Marketing intermediaries in the hospitality sector are a form of distribution channels that primarily deal with the promotion and distribution of electronic information on room service, pricing, and availability (Carroll & Siguaw, 2003). Marketing intermediaries are essential actors that execute a series of functions on behalf of a company and help in the promotion, selling, distribution, and delivery of products to direct consumers as well as management of successful relationships. Hilton Hotel and Resorts is a chain of hotels and resorts targeting business and leisure travelers across the globe. Hilton Hotel has a solid business history that relies on international marketing intermediaries.
One of Hilton’s marketing intermediaries is Cramer-Krasselt, an independent agency dealing with creative advertisements. In 2011, Hilton Hotels entered into a partnership with the agency at a $50 million account (Adage, 2011). The intermediary offers unique advertisements across multiple platforms including out-of-home, online, and print advertisements. The intermediary showcases Hilton’s remarkable portfolio and a global presence through the latest evolution of advertisement campaigns such as “Go Chill”, “Go Hilton. Go Everywhere” Rakuten Travel is one of the largest international intermediaries that offer marketing promotion on an agreement. The marketing agreement with the intermediary was signed in 2013 (Rakuten, 2013). The intermediary saw Hilton Hotels accessing the international reservation system and extending its services to Japan. This saw Hilton becoming the leading hospitality service provider to Japanese guests. Rakuten being the leading digital travel agency in Japan, the intermediary service enabled Japanese customers to access more than 5000 Hilton hotels across seventy-six countries.
References
Adage. (2011, January 26). Y&R Loses Hilton Hotels to Cramer-Krasselt. https://adage.com/article/agency-news/y-r-loses-hilton-hotels-ad-account-cramer-krasselt/148494
Carroll Ph.D., B., & Siguaw Ph.D., J. (2003). Evolution in Electronic Distribution: Effects on Hotels and Intermediaries.
Hilton, (2018). Retrieved from https//:www.hilton.com/en/corporate/
Rakuten. (2013). Hilton Worldwide and Rakuten Travel Sign an Intermediary Agreement to Connect International Reservation Systems. Rakuten, Inc. https://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2013/0717_01.html?scid=we_ogp_pr_release_en