Marketing analysis of a London tourist attraction - Somerset House.

THE BRIEF

What is marketing?

Marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably. This is what Somerset house wants.

I have been asked by a marketing agency to produce a marketing strategy for Somerset house’s new or existing products. In order to produce a marketing strategy I had the opportunity to visit Somerset house where I was briefed on there existing marketing strategies for there existing products. The products include the ice rink, Gilbert collection, Courtauld gallery, Hermitage rooms 3 shops, 2 cafes, and a Restaurant/Bar.

Ice rink

This year was Somerset house’s second annual ice rink opening in the spectacular setting of the courtyard, the rink is London’s most beautiful open air skating outdoor rink covering an area of 700 square meters. It is open from the 5 December to 20th of January. This attracts a large audience of young people and increases the chance of people visiting the galleries.

Gilbert collection

The Gilbert collection of decorative arts is one of the most important gifts ever to be made to the British nation. The collection comprises some 800 works of art and was formed over the past 35 years by Sir Arthur Gilbert. Magnificent European silver, spectacular gold snuffboxes and remarkable Italian mosaics can be found in the south building at Somerset house.

Courtauld institute gallery

The courtauld institute gallery has one of the most important and best loved small collections in the country, including world famous impressionist and post-impressionist paintings, as well as well as old master paintings, sculpture and decorative arts from the 14th-20th centuries. The courtauld institute gallery is an integral part of courtauld institute of Art, the oldest centre for teaching History of Art in England, and is housed at Somerset House, one of the finest 18th century buildings in London.

Hermitage rooms

Displayed on the ground floor of the south building at Somerset House, the décor of the hermitage rooms recreates, in miniature, the imperial splendour of the winter Palace and its various wings which now make up the state Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. This imperial setting provides the backdrop for rotating exhibitions from the collections of the Museum in St Petersburg and other Hermitage-related activities.

Shops and restaurants

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Shops and restaurants

Somerset house also gets some of its income from the two cafés, introductory gallery café and the courtauld gallery café. Also in the winter when the ice rink is open an extra café is opened next to the ice rink (the ice rink café). The restaurant and bar in the south building attract many business people to use them, because of its location. The richness of the Georgian period is reflected in a range of merchandise available in the courtauld shop, inspired by works in the exhibition and by the ornate ceiling in the original Royal Academy Meeting room. Jewellery, ornaments, silver and ceramics, many specially commissioned, are all to be found at the Gilbert collection shop. This is the only shop in London to sell this kind of jewellery. The majority of items at the Hermitage rooms shop are especially made in Russia and include porcelain, glass ware and leather items. Because of Somerset house’s location in the heart of London with a balcony view of the Thames it is ideal for hosting corporate and private and educational events.

In summer the river terrace and the Edmond J Safra Fountain Court are a major attraction for both London residents and tourists.

Objectives

The Somerset house trust was formed in mid-1997, with the following principal objectives

Conserving and caring for the fabric of Somerset house;
Opening up the building and the spaces around it to the public; and
Developing Somerset house as a centre for culture and the arts.

Vision

Somerset house aims to create a major new visitor attraction for London, and a new centre for culture and the arts at Somerset house, by

Repairing and caring for the whole Somerset house estate to best conservation standards, and being an effective landlord;
Displaying and interpreting the building and its history to the public;
Developing and running high quality visitor facilities for the public;
Opening up pedestrian routes through and around the site;
Adding to the culture attractions already on display at Somerset house, by finding appropriate new tenants for the Upper Floors of the South Building;
Arranging a wide-ranging programme of cultural events in the Great Court; and
Efficient, proper and accountable administration.

Marketing principles

These are many priorities within Somerset house, but if Somerset house is a truly marketing orientated, many of the marketing principles will be high on its agenda. These principles are divided into three categories:

-Needs of the customer

-Needs of the organisation

-Influence of the market

Needs of the customer

Customer satisfaction

This is done through market research, which must establish whether customers’ expectations are satisfied by current products and services. Somerset house has to make sure that its customers are satisfied. This may mean that Somerset house has to have excellent customer service and well-trained and motivated staff if they are to meet their customer’s needs and demands. If customer’s needs are not met properly, customers might not return to Somerset house which will led to a decrease in the amount of money coming in Somerset house. If customers get a bad impression of Somerset house, this could spoil Somerset house’s reputation, leading to a decrease in future sales.

Needs of the organisation

General income or profit

This principle clearly states that the need of Somerset house is to generate as much income as possible since it’s a charity.

With out this income Somerset house will not have enough money to spend on making improvements to the galleries. Make more attractions and events like the ice rink which is put on annually. Without this money Somerset will not have the financial suitability to improve its marketing strategy and advertisements. Which means if customers are not aware of what is available and on sale at Somerset house, the income will fall as no customers will visit the galleries and spend time in Somerset house.

Satisfactory growth

Somerset house can achieve satisfactory growth by entering new markets or creating new products and services. Somerset house can expand existing markets, or link with other organisations. From what we know about Somerset house it’s already trying to expand its scale of operation by increasing the collection in the galleries, future opportunity hermitage rooms and functions venues which in turn attracts more customers and increase its revenue.

Influence of the marketing

Awareness of changes

The PEST analysis examines changes in a marketplace caused by political, Economic, Social and Technological factors. Recently economic factors have had a large impact on Somerset house because of the war on terrorism, the country has gone into a recession, people are not spending as much as they used to instead they save as much as they can. This means less people visit Somerset house. Technology will have a massive impact on Somerset house. The Internet and other interact ways of conducting business will affect Somerset house. If Somerset house does not keep updated on what is going on in the business world it will risk being outmanoeuvred.

There have been many technological changes since 1986, Microsoft has introduced new windows packs, schools and other business have improved there IT facilities. Also Somerset house’s main competitors have better technology; if Somerset is to compete effectively it will have to improve its IT facilities. I will solve this problem by introducing cyber galleries, this might attract more customers.

Political change, from one party to another in control for example free entry to all museums in the U.K. under the labour governments could affect Somerset house.

Economic change, for example a recession creating increased activity at the lower ends of product price ranges. Interest rates rise depressing business and causing redundancies and lower spending levels by the public could also affect Somerset house as the number visitors will drop.

Social change involving change in attitudes and lifestyles could mean that more people could visit Somerset house.

Technological changes create opportunity for Somerset house’s to increase customer awareness for their products, creates opportunities for Somerset to launch new products, product improvements and new marketing techniques, for example sales of tickets on the internet.

Awareness of legal constraints

Statute laws like the consumer protection Act, competition Act and voluntary agreements like the monitoring of advertising by the advertising standards authority; all require Somerset house to understand their obligations. Constraints on marketing will influence/ effects on the marketing department at Somerset house. If Somerset house does not meet these legal constraints it could be prosecuted. These also include the social chapter, e.g. right to equal treatment, these are set as directives of EU law and Somerset house will have to work in line with them to be on the safe side of the law. The competition act 1998 operates through the competitive commission. It will be in of Somerset house not follow the competition act as the commission can now investigate any firms in dominant market positions to see if they are acting “against the public interest”. It is important that the marketing department at Somerset house understand the criticisms that they might receive as marketing has a major impact on the conflicts between business and social issues.

STEPLE is the same as PEST but in this cause the environment, education and legal are added. Because Somerset house is in the middle of London there might be some environment issue around it and because it’s an historic building changes are not made to it in a way that will damage its brick work.

Analysis of the competition

Somerset house will clearly have to understand who its major competitors are and what benefits they are offing, this will help Somerset house to plan for the future and be more competitive. Since Somerset house is a museum its major competitors are other museums like the history museum, other Art galleries, these will appear as a major threat but if Somerset house conducts its market research properly it could gain the largest market share. Somerset’s restaurants and bar is very competitive and attracts many high-class customers however, if Somerset house does not analyse its competition, customers might turn to other restaurants that offer them value for their money.