Antoine Duvalier, the Promotions Director for Storybook Resort, had a problem. The Caribbean-based resort's guests raved about

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Question:

Antoine Duvalier, the Promotions Director for Storybook Resort, had a problem. The Caribbean-based resort's guests raved about the food and location in the post visit surveys, but many of them complained that the activities were too generic and much the same as other resorts. This was despite promotions Antione had created for special events targeting specific interests. He had vacation events for football fans, environmentalist, water sports enthusiasts and even ones modeled after popular TV shows (imagine an entire week's vacation built around an American Idol theme).

He realized that the guests were probably right - even though Storybook promoted the events as being for a special group, the activities were pretty much the same - beach parties and dinners - and the only real differences were the entertainment and decorations. The resort's problem is that it was known for being everything and for being nothing - it had no identity.

Antoine's boss Philippe, the VP of Marketing, suggested they change their strategy to focus on a consistent positioning, rather than a constantly changing theme. After some research and analysis, they settled on a positioning as the "learn a new hobby" resort. Guests not only got to enjoy great beaches, food and entertainment, they also could select a new hobby to learn. After their two weeks at the resort, they left a budding sculptor, woodworker or potter.

Questions

1. Antoine needs to conduct marketing research to select their new strategy. What type of research would you recommend to him? Be specific about which research methods you would use, and why. Make sure you use the right terminology and explain each in enough detail that he understands your research plan. You MUST start be describing the business problem he has and what your research questions are.

2. They identified two groups of consumers they want to target. Start by describing the concept of segmentation. Select one of their groups and describe that segment using the two most logical types of segmentation variables (think about your segmentation in your project) with no less than four bullets for each of the two types.

3. For the segment you selected, briefly describe an IMC plan. You MUST include the core message you want to deliver and the mediums you will use to deliver it. Be specific. For example, saying "social media" will not work, I would need to clearly understand what part(s) of SM you plan to use, and why. Be sure to include what type of appeal you will use.