Club Med: Marketing Management Analysis

Club Med: Marketing Management Analysis

1. Introduction

As one of the first companies in the world to offer the all-inclusive vacation model to travelers, Club Med makes an interesting marketing case study. The purpose of the following report is to get oriented with Club Med’s situation, identify sources of some issues, facing Club Med, analyze the firm’s current position and options, and make an action plan recommendation to the company moving forward. The analysis uses some key marketing theories include SWOT, Porter’s Five Forces and Four P’s of marketing to apply to the case. The final recommendations relate primarily to Club Med’s lack of connectivity for tech-savvy customers, lack of different room privacy and sharing options, issue with culture communication barriers between some levels of staff, and also the strong potential for growth in the North American, Japanese, and some Western European markets. These issues are addressed with five central recommendations to Jacques Giraud.

II.         Getting Oriented

Club Med has developed a competitive advantage in several areas. Perhaps their most important advantage is their quality and range of locations, which they acquired by entering the all-inclusive market early. By setting up key locations in some of the world’s most attractive destinations before the all-inclusive model became a trend, this company has created a strong foundation for success. Their early entry ensured strong bargaining power with local communities, because they were able to offer strong results of economic investment, especially in developing countries. Club Med has now occupied some of the best vacation spots in the world, which cannot be easily taken over by competitors.

Club Med has also developed a strong following of customers who are very loyal to the company, and who are willing to spread the word about their experiences with Club Med. This is also partly due to their early entry into the all-inclusive market. When Club Med was introduced to young and busy professionals, it was a unique and innovative idea that stuck in their minds. When they entered into the Club Med experience, it was unlike anything else they had seen or heard about. This has given Club Med the valuable reputation as the original all-inclusive resort, which cannot be occupied by any other competitor.

Furthermore, this company’s early entry has given them a good level of experience which newer all-inclusive companies may not have. The company has survived the period of trial and error that many other industry innovators fail to survive. They have used this period to gather important experiences of what works and what does not in the all-inclusive industry. Much of this information and experience will remain exclusive to Club Med, and other newer competitors will have to spend years gathering themselves and catching up.