Executive summary
Addressing problems and issues requires effective identification of the most relevant factors that shouldbe addressed. With that, a comprehensive analysis involving a study on key factors that would affect the occupation level of the Lyric apartment is crucial in designing strategies to ensure full occupation. Thus, this report provides a study of the factors that are relevant to the occupation issue and recommends strategies that effectively address the identified needs and preferences. In that respect, it is identified that the apartments’ proximity to the University makes it more attractive to the students who are mainly youthful and seeking convenience. With that, the recommended strategies include the apartment’s positioning that suits the segment needs regarding design, safety, and convenience. Also, the apartment’s pricing should take into consideration that the students it targets are low-incomepersons while also charging a higher price for the value added features in some of the rooms. Finally, suitable promotions strategies such as social media advertising and occupation discounts are recommended as ways of attracting more students.
Introduction
Finding the best solutions to a problem requires understanding its parameters. That is because the parameters act as a guide regarding what is acceptable to the stakeholders and what may not be acceptable to them. With that, understanding the analytical problem solving is crucial as it would result in solutions that effectively balance the stakeholders’ interests. In that respect, this analysis uses the case of the Lyric Apartment that seeks the ways of attracting more residents. In that view, the report presents a summary of the methodology applied, the findings and conclusion as well as recommendations.
Report organization
Methodology
A study requires a suitable methodology that suits the needs of the researcher considering the issue at hand and the audience targeted by the final report. In that respect, this study seeks to apply a descriptive study of the Lyric apartment and the relevant target group. The analysis is in the view that the issue at hand is one that relates to marketing of space in terms of the Lyrics apartments. In that respect, it would entail identifying the most relevant aspects of the offer as well as the target segment. That is because marketing is an approach that seeks to offer solutions that need to match the target group’s needs for there to be desired response.
OrganizationOverview
Lyric Company is a housing company based in the US with properties across the various markets including the commercial and the residential market segments. The company seeks offer accommodation and office space for the US urban population with a focus on both the low and high-income market segments. With that, the business has grown its operations over years to include properties in various states. However, the current situation is marked by less than optimal performance where the lyric’s apartments do not attract residents to command full capacity accommodation, hence the need to address the issue as a means of enhancing the business performance.
Findings
Given the analysis of the Lyric apartments along the University way St Paul, thisfindings section has summarized the key issues regarding the property as well as the target market segment. The following table presents some of the parameters describing the property and the target market.
The analysis finding is that the potentials residents are people who are location and price conscious. Further, it is identified that the pricing of lyric apartment depends on the floor plan as well as the rooms’ features. Finally, the location is identifiedto attract mainlythe University students.
The key apartment’s facilities include
Residence rooms
Study rooms
Recreational center
Available promotions channels around the St Paul include
Sign boards
Social media
Target segment’s traits
Youthful aged 15 to 30
Educated
Technologically savvy
Seasonal residents
Low income
The students’ needs include
Convenience
Proximity
Affordable accommodation
Recreation facilities
Given the above findings, the Lyric apartment can determine the most suitable strategies that address the identified needs as well as those that are more suited to the marketing conditions regarding available resources and communication channels.
Conclusions
Given the above analysis,it is shown that the Lyric Apartment islocated near the St Paul University where the residents are mainlystudents. With that, the potential residentsof the apartments are studentsidentified to belong to a segment with common traits. Thus, the apartment should seek to apply strategies that attract the segment given their needs and preferences.
Recommendations
With Lyric apartments being located along the University Way, St Paul, they have the proximity to the university community hence its key target customers are the various groups in the university. In that respect, the apartment’s attraction of more residents to achieve a full capacity would require theapplication of strategies that are sustainable and tailoredto the targets customers’ needs.Inthat view, the proposed solutions include an effective marketing mix with theconsideration that the location already addresses a key aspect of distribution with the near location that is just 7 minutes’ drive away being thekey aspect. With that, the remaining recommendations relate to how a suitable mix can be achieved through appropriate pricing that suits the students’ability and wiliness to pay, the apartment’s facilities that position it to serve the students’ needs and the application of suitable promotion strategies that ensures that the target segmentis attracted to the apartment. In that respect, the following is a summary of a comprehensive marketing mix comprising of strategies relating to the property’s positioning, pricing, and promotion
Apartment’s positioning
The property positioning in the market should seek to serve the target segment’s needs with facilities that are relevant to their needs and traits. In that respect, the following is a summary of the means by which the Lyric Apartment property can enhance its image and attraction to the segment considering the segment’s traits (Kotler & Keller, 2006).
Youthful aged 15 to 30:The youthful segment comprises of persons who are energetic and who have some needs such as theneed to keep physically fit and maintain a healthy lifestyle. With that, the apartment can provide a Gym space within the property. With that provision, the youthful segment would get an opportunity to exercise, interact and keep fit just within the property, hence enhancing its preference compared to the other apartments that would lack such facility. Further, the segment has a need for a place that looks stylish and one that they can identify with. In that respect, the Lyric Company can apply strategies such as making sure that the rooms have designs that appeal to the segment. The designs would include the stylish items within the apartment such as well designed and attractive pathways that are decorated. Finally, the apartment can provide a place for a healthy eating cafeteria. With that, the segment would have apreference for the property given that it would provide them with proximity to a facility that helps them remain healthy. In summary, the positioning to serve the youthful segment would involve theinclusion of a gym, health eating cafeteria, and attractive designs.
Educated: Considering that the segment comprises of educated persons; mainly the students, the apartment can seek to enhance its image by enhancing some aspects that would be of concern to an educated market. Such would include addressing issues such as property cleanliness, convenience, and safety.
Cleanliness would be a priority for the property management considering that the educated segment would have a preference for a place that is relatively custodians than the other surrounding apartments. That can be done by the company management ensuring that there is a caretaker within the property who keeps the facilities and the apartments clean on a daily basis.
Regarding the convenience, the caretaker would also be in a position to effectively address the property issues such as utility failure. That would include prompt reporting and repair of failures in utilizes such as water, gas and electricity. With that, the educated segment would find it more convenient to live in the apartment given that it would not interrupt their operations in a significant way that affects their studies and daily operations.
For safety, the property should seek to ensure that it is always safe for occupation. That can be achieved by ensuring key safety features such as adequate emergency and exit doors, and placement of safetyequipment such as fire extinguishers in strategic locations. With that, the segment would feel safer to live in the apartments compared to the others that would be lacking in those facilities and features.
Technologically savvy: Considering that the segment comprises of the technologically savvy persons, the apartment could seek to serve their need by theplacement of more features that they can identify with. That would involve the use of electronic sign boards within the apartment that would be necessary for communication between and among the residents regarding issues of interest to them such as safety and other announcements that the property management would want to make to their tenants. That would help attract the attention and interest of the segment that would easily find means to get communication through a more appealing and technologically advanced chanel. It would also help those responsible for taking care of the property to keep the residents well informed through an interactive platform that would ensure not only safety and convenience but one that identifies with their need for technologically driven solutions.
Pricing
Regarding the pricing of the apartment, the Lyric Company could seek to ensure that it balances between serving the low-income segment while also charging for the added value it offers some of its tenants. That would consider some of the following traits of the segment.
Low income:Considering the students as low-incomesegment would require a low pricing strategy. Thus, the apartment would attract more students by charging lower prices for some rooms with fewer facilities compared to the on-campus accommodation. In that view, the price range that provides for some low priced rooms at $600 would attract more attention given that the campus accommodations of $650 would be considered more expensive.
Need for Convenience:Given the convenience that the apartments would be offering with some added facilities in some of its floors, the apartment’s application of a wide range of price choices would be appropriate. That would include charging more for the rooms that have higher value facilities and designs and those offering an added value to the students. That would be catered for by the higher price range with the more convenient rooms and apartments commanding a relatively higher price than the rest.
Promotion
Promotion is a keyaspectof themarketing of any goods and services as well as properties. Thus, attracting and ensuring that the apartment maintains full occupation capacity would entail strategic promotions ways (Doyle & Stern, 2006). The following would be some of the applied strategies applied in promoting the apartment.
Advertisement: Advertisement is a crucial aspect of informing the potential markets of the bout the apartment’s existence and availability of space within the apartment. With that, the Company should seek to employ advertisement means that target the right segment and through the most appropriate channels (Ferrel& Hartline, 2011). That would include advertising for the apartment space through the social media. With that, the technologically savvy segment could be easily reached and be promptly informed of any space availability. Also, the apartment could advertise the space availability in the University’s key strategic facilities such as electronic sign boards that attract more attention to the students.
Occupation discounts: Considering that many students attend their studies on a seasonal basis, the apartment could seek to ensure full occupation throughout the year with occupationdiscounts. That would involve offering some price discounts for the students who would choose to remain residents throughout the year. With that, more students would prefer long stay in the buildings for thepurpose of qualifying for the occupancy discounts.
Further, effective marketing of the apartment would also be greatly dependent on the management’s ability to develop long term relationship with the residents. That is given the nature of the offering that the apartment provides that requires occupation throughout the year. However, the target segment is defined by a seasonal nature in that they would come and leave depending on their college sessions. Thus, it would call for a measure that would be much more attractive and enticing for the students to retain their tenancy even when they are not in session. That would also be addressing the students’ need of having to seek for accommodation every time they come back for their sessions. It would also be offering the target segment more convenience hence it achieve not only convenience but also earn their loyalty.
Further, marketing is all about competition. In that respect, competition for residents who are mainly the students would require strategies that can make the apartment be viewed as more appropriate. That would include the use of favorable resident terms such as flexibility in payment terms. With that, the apartment’s management would be tailoring the offer to the customer needs and would increase their satisfactions hence earning more loyalty with the students.
Relationship marketing
Effective marketing focuses on addressing the customers’ needs in view of their preferences, tastes and ability as well as in consideration of other aspects that define them. In that respect, the Lyric apartments target customers that comprise mainly of the students can be defined as a segment that can be grouped and be targeted as a group. That is given that structure of the decision making and buying decisions that would place the university at better position of authority to make decisions regarding students’ accommodation outside the campus. With that, the management of lyrics apartment could focus on using the targeting of key decision makers to increase the possibility of having a long term relationship with its residents as well as an impactful relationship that would be highly dependent on the power of the decision maker. Thus, the management could approach the university for an arrangement for accommodation of the students on a long term basis. With that, students would find the apartment being more attractive given its recommendation by the university administration which in this case is a key authority that can easily influence their decision making. In that view and with the benefits of the power that the university has over the students as key buying decision influencer, there would be more students seeking accommodation on the apartment.
On the other hand, the management would also focus on the modern day concept of key account management. That would seek to focus on the university as an institution and would entail the management developing a key partnership that would be on a long term basis. In that respect, the apartment would be guaranteed of residents for every session that the students would be in need for accommodation to be in the university attending their studies. The relationship marketing would employ the key account management where the apartment’s management would deal with the university through the key approach that would help with easy identification of needs and enhance ability to tailor the accommodation offer to those needs. In that view, the university administration would be the key decision maker regarding the relationship between the university and the apartment’s management.
In view of the key relationship and account management between the two managements, the apartment management can easily develop incentive programs that suit the whole student community. In specific, that can be in terms of discounts. With that, it would increase the cost of the students switching apartments as they would lose the benefit of the discount.
In view of all the proposed strategies, the Lyric apartment would be able to differentiate its offering for space given that there could be other apartments offering accommodation to students within the same location. Consequently, the apartment would be able to enhance the business performance with a full capacity that would translate to better returns. That would be through the aspects of increased customer satisfaction and loyalty that are key to attracting and retaining customers for better and sustainable performance.
Works cited
Doyle, P. & Stern, P. Marketing Management and Strategy. New York: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2006. Print
Ferrel, D. & Hartline, M. Marketing Strategy. 5th Ed. Boulevard: South-Western, Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.
Kotler, P. & Keller, L. Marketing Management. 12th Ed. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
