Paetra Hennigar's Mastery Journal

Paetra Hennigar is the name, Graduate Student at Full Sail University and Internet Marketing is the game. This is my Mastery Journal for exploring this new professional journey. Enjoy.

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The Final Act

IMK 691 Internet Marketing Campaign Development Goal: Understand what makes a great internet marketing campaign. Goal: To be able to create a great internet marketing campaign for my own businesses, businesses I work with, and also create a marketing campaign for a business I would be interested in working for in the future. Goal: Learn how to create and implement mobile marketing strategies into my campaigns.

In the beginning of this entire program I simply had a desire to delve deeper into the world of internet marketing and find out how mastering this diverse world might fit into my own life. I was nervous, only having experience and knowledge in two worlds, the world of writing and the world of riding. I knew that this would be a big jump from just taking my minor classes in marketing during my undergrad to something so much more in depth and involved. And I absolutely loved every minute of it.   This final class, Internet Marketing Campaign Development, not only put all the work over the past year into a final project, it also reminded me of how far I’ve come within my own knowledge on the many subjects within internet marketing. I had no clue how PPC ads worked, and while I still struggle a little with them as numbers are not 100% my specialty, I understand how they work and can create a PPC campaign for a company. I understand how social media plays so much more of a role in conjunction with all other aspects of marketing, and I really loved creating an influencer outreach campaign that allowed me to connect my creative side with my love of connecting with people and networking. I definitely feel like the three original goals I set for this class all came together and were successfully accomplished within this past month but more-so over the entire last year of learning that I’ve completed. Stepping forward, just this morning I had an interview with a well-known company that works on connecting professionals with careers in the internet marketing world, and I have a few interviews lined up for other positions that will be internet marketing related as well. I know the learning aspect of a career should never stop, and if it does then you need to quit that career. Learning is a lifelong thing and I hope that whatever career I step into will be something where I can utilize all my new knowledge, but also keep learning every single day.

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The Law and The Internet

IMK 671 Internet and the Law Goal: Learn how the law plays into internet marketing. Strategy: Complete all readings in the class and do any extra research necessary to finish all assignments thoroughly to help me learn all I can about the law in the field of mastery I intend to work in. Goal: Understand copyright issues in internet marketing. Strategy: Research cases of copyright infringement in the internet marketing world to familiarize myself better with the laws. Goal: Learn more about copy writing law, trademark law and online publishing laws. Strategy: Take the course, Rights of Publicity: A Deeper Dive by Dana Robinson on lynda.com.

I stepped into this class with a basic understanding of criminal law and divorce law from previous law classes throughout my education, but I had never focused at all on internet law. I was eager to learn some new bits about a different section of the law and how it might affect an internet marketing world. Initially I had set the above three goals with the idea of just learning more about what the laws were. After completing this course though I have a better understanding of not only what the laws are, but how they can affect a person or a company, what some defenses are for things such as defamation, and how jurisdiction plays into the law with the internet being such a vast machine. I loved learning about jurisdiction the most I think because I had never even thought about how one would prosecute an internet law case, let alone where they would prosecute if the person “injured” was in a state, versus the person causing the “injury” was in a completely different state, maybe even a different country! Each of the things we earned about it this class are things that I will take with me into the professional world. Now that I have knowledge on copyright infringement I can use that knowledge to avoid potentially doing this infraction in the future, and help teach others what this might be if they never learned the basics of internet law. While I love the information I learned in this class, it didn’t give me any inclinations to run out and start looking into education to practice internet law one day thankfully! I will gladly store and utilize what I’ve learned to apply to my professional life in the future though.

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WAO...WOW

IMK 661 Web Analytics and Optimization Goal: Get more fluent in using and understanding metrics tools. Strategy: Take time to be more active in researching and understanding Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and HootSuite. Goal: Learn about what other metrics and analytics tools internet marketers are using. Strategy: Start a discussion on the LinkedIn group, Social Media Marketing, or ask questions to other internet marketers privately about what analytics tools they use and why they like them best. Goal: Learn at least one new analytics tool to use. Strategy: Take the course, Up and Running with Adobe Reports and Analytics with David Boothe on lynda.com.

I stepped into this class with a plan, knowing that I had the opportunity to become Google Analytics certified. I thought this was such a great thing for a class to incorporate because we as students intending to enter a professional field, or be better in our current profession, will utilize something like that. The whole course was geared nicely towards helping me achieve more knowledge of understanding and utilizing metrics tools and analytics as well. I felt like my understanding was more well-rounded on those subjects by the end of my final week. In looking at how to create a analytics plan using goals, actions, KPI’s, etc. I felt like I could walk into a company and implement that practice right now. That feeling of being confident in a subject or a task is what one needs to have when entering into a professional field as well. I recently started sending out resumes to dozens of jobs or companies in order to just start getting my name out there and see if a door might open. In speaking to some companies I realized how nervous I really was about entering this new career that I had minimal knowledge in. Yet, when I truly thought about the knowledge I have gained from such courses as this one, I realized I’m not as “in the dark” as I thought. Taking the goals I’ve accomplished here and applying them to a professional aspect is something I’m very much looking forward too now that I have the skills to take forward with me.

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IMK 641 Strategic Internet Public Relations Goals and Learning

Goal: Understand how a publicist plays a role in internet public relations and learn how to become my own publicist for my businesses.

Strategy: Research how publicists play roles in all public relations for all types of businesses.

Goal: Learn how to develop a positive public relations strategy for a business.

Strategy: Try to outline a positive public relations strategy for each business I work for and for my own businesses.

Goal: Understand basic public relations in businesses.

Strategy: Take the course, Public Relations Fundamentals with Deirdre Breakenridge on lynda.com.

After taking this class, I realized that Public Relations plays a huge part in a marketing plan in order to keep the brand and the people working for the brand successful in the public’s eye. I feel like I did develop a good idea for each of the goals that I set before I began this course. I now have a better idea as well on how a Public Relations team should handle a crisis situation. Our group project was neat because it showed us how to collaborate with people from anywhere. Our group chose to do a crisis management plan for the BP Oil Spill, which was a great learning experience to see how Public Relations can really help a company or hinder it if not done properly.

For my final project I plan on incorporating the idea of a good Public Relations team that not only handles external affairs but internal as well. An internal Public Relations team for Caneel Bay would be really good to implement in order to educate all the employees on the brand  that is Caneel Bay, and help them understand how to conduct themselves regarding social media comments, posts, verbal comments, etc. Knowing that the BP Oil Spill Public Relations did not work so well because employees made ill-advised comments, and other grave mistakes is something I will keep in mind for my final project for Caneel Bay.

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IMK 621 Advanced Search Engine Optimization GOALS...

Goal: Understand better what exactly SEO is. 

Strategy: Complete each class reading. Goal: Learn what differentiates a good SEO marketing from bad. Strategy: Find people who are SEO gurus in internet marketing and try to connect with them either via Twitter or LinkedIn to ask questions about what they feel makes good SEO marketing versus what they might recommend not to do. Goal: Learn the search part of SEO and what drives it. Strategy: Take the course, Advanced SEO: Search Factors with Brad Batesole on lynda.com.

I initially stepped into this course with the idea that I would learn all of the goals listed above, understanding SEO better, learning what differentiates good SEO marketing from bad, and learning the search part of SEO and what drives it. I most definitely learned all of these within the past four weeks. It seems to me that SEO is more important than many companies focus on, or they focus on it too much and over optimize their site or information. With regards to a balance between SEO and Paid Search Campaigns, both need to be equally balanced and regarded thoughtfully when creating a website, content or a search campaign. Finding that natural balance is what advanced search engine optimization focuses on and understanding the best practices and things to avoid is important for any internet marketer. After taking this course I was able to look at the company I am doing my Internet Marketing Plan for, Caneel Bay, and my own personal website, along with a few sites I do some online marketing for, and see where things needed to be changed and updated to better suit the best search engine optimization possible. For my Internet Marketing Plan, all of the knowledge I gained within this course will go towards creating a great plan for Caneel Bay that will have a good balance between a successful paid search campaign and valid search engine optimization.

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AIM - Goals

IMK 511 Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies Goal: Learn how to create a logical set of strategies for a company’s internet marketing. Strategy: Read all my assigned reading for this class and research other company’s marketing strategies they have used in the past with success. Goal: I would like to be better at setting SMART goals for developing internet marketing strategies. Strategy: Do more research during this class on how SMART goals play such a major part in developing good strategies, and practice creating SMART goals for each business I work with and my own. Goal: I would like to get better at branding and be very fluent in it so I can implement it into any marketing strategies for businesses I work with or for my own. Strategy: Take the course, Advanced Branding with Brad Batesole on lynda.com.

Of the three goals I walked into this class hoping to achieve, I find that the first one is the one I most strongly learned. Creating a logical set of strategies for a company’s internet marketing was a huge piece of this class and most definitely something that I will take into the professional world. The idea of creating one big strategy that includes understanding your audience, the marketing funnel, marketing tactics, metrics to follow, and specific finances to look at is key to being able to create a meaningful and successful marketing plan. I found that once again, my lack of a mathematical brain interfered with me in this course a bit. Knowing that finances and metrics are a part of marketing I have really tried to work on mastering these pieces better because I know I hate math and numbers. This class showed me that there is an easier way to understand the numbers and to calculate best possible scenarios and worst possible scenarios for finances. Knowing this and understanding it better I feel like I have taken away not only an overall understanding of marketing strategies, but a strategy specifically to tackle the mathematical side of marketing as well. These two pieces will most definitely help me be able to walk into a marketing meeting with a presentation for a marketing strategy that is comprehensive and complete.

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New Media Marketing Goals...(side note) LOVED this class!

IMK 521 New Media Marketing Goal: I would like to get better at using some social media sites for internet marketing such as, Periscope, and Pinterest. Strategy: Play with creating a Pinterest and Periscope account for each of the businesses I’m working for at the moment and practice creating content for those social media sites. Goal: I would like to learn how location based technologies play into new media marketing. Strategy: Search for articles, videos and tutorials on this subject and try to implement things I learn into my own marketing strategies. Goal: I would like to become more effective in my social media marketing for businesses I work for and for my own businesses. Strategy: Take the course, Social Media Marketing for Small Business with Martin Waxman on lynda.com.

I stepped into this class with the intention of getting better at utilizing certain social media sites that I was not 100% familiar with, and while that did not entirely play into what I took away from this class, I did learn how certain target markets utilize certain platforms through a deeper look at demographics. For example, knowing that Pinterest is a female driven platform, I would utilize this knowledge in developing my Internet Marketing Plan for Caneel Bay to reach the bride-to-be demographic that might be interested in a destination Caribbean wedding. One goal that I did achieve was my goal to become more effective in my social media marketing for businesses. This goal stems out of the understanding of what target markets utilize what platforms and tailoring my social media marketing to those specific platforms. The idea of utilizing a brand ambassador program or influencer outreach program through social media was also one I loved focusing on for this class. While I understand the workings behind a brand ambassador program, and currently use one for a small company I operate social media marketing for, I did not have an understanding for the idea of influencer outreach. Learning how this can help a company was great though because I fully intend to utilize it for my complete Internet Marketing Plan at the end of this program. I am very excited to take the knowledge I learned from this course into future work!

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Goals for IMK 541 Web Design and Usability

Goal: Learn coding, HTML, JavaScript, etc. Strategy: Find videos and tutorials on how to begin understanding and implementing this in website development. Take the course, JavaScript for Web Designers by Joe Chellman on lynda.com. Goal: Connect with another student doing web design at Full Sail. Strategy: Become more active on SchoolsApp and potentially in a school club regarding web design to network and meet other students that might be in that field of work. Goal: Become better at developing websites, change and edit my own business websites and finish creating my personal marketing business website. Strategy: Take the course on Creating a Responsive Web Design with Chris Converse on lynda.com.

Initially one of my main goals of this course was to learn coding, HTML, JavaScript, and things along those lines. While I learned a little bit about them, I do not feel as if I quite met that goal to the level I was looking for. While this was a little disappointing I do feel that I learned a lot about usability and findability, two concepts that I had not even considered when entering this class a month ago. The ability to look at a website and see the issues with one now is something I did not have in my knowledge bank before this class. Now I understand the importance of testing a website, how usability is important, and what findability means for internet marketing. Usability and findability are both ideas that I will definitely be taking with me into my professional career after I finish graduate school. I currently work part-time for a company doing some internet marketing and after taking this class I know that I will most definitely be using the ideas of usability and findability to help improve their website. Currently users can only find some products on their site, while others are listed on amazon.com, I’ll definitely be trying to get that changed to better help the company with their sales.

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Internet  Consumer Behavior and Analysis Goals...

IMK 591 Internet Consumer Behavior and Analysis Goal: Take knowledge I gain each week through this class to look at businesses I am interested in and try to identify how successful their marketing campaigns are doing.   Goal: Become more involved in my response posts for my discussion boards. Goal: Gain more insight on consumer behavior.

I began this course with the above goals that I had set upon what I thought the course would teach me. I think that looking at all three of those goals I certainly did achieve them all, most importantly that I learned what consumer behavior in regards to the internet meant, and how that applied to Caneel Bay. The most important thing for me to learn was how to take understanding the target market of a company and look at how that helps determine consumer behavior of those within the target market. Consumer behavior regarding online use is key for then touching into the worlds of retargeting, behavioral targeting and other aspects of marketing that rely on understanding what consumer behavior really is. This was a fact that I had not set as one of my goals to understand for this class because I did not think that we would be delving that deep into this subject. I love that we connected the dots more though because this is all knowledge I plan to take forward into future classes regarding this subject, my final project for IMMS, and on to any marketing jobs I will do in the future. The best thing that helped me with this understanding throughout this class too was being able to actually look at a company that has their marketing set up and see how their marketing uses these concepts and how they could improve upon them too.

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I found this quote this morning while I was stressing about handling my grad school work, three jobs, keeping a house in order, riding my three horses, taking care of my two dogs, being a good girlfriend, and simply not losing my mind. At first I laughed when I saw this quote and thought, “Yes, this is appropriate at this moment.” Then I proceeded to park myself on my couch and dive back into my fifteen page Brand Strategy final paper...and “mad” took on a whole new meaning. “Mad” ended up formulating itself in my head to be “driven.” I had all these ideas, information, “aha” moments and thoughts swirling around in my head and they seemed to all be lining up with each sip of black coffee I took to spill out onto my page in coherent thoughts. Instead of letting the stress get to me as I initially thought, I took that and decided to run with it, letting the stress push me to work harder and get...it...done. 

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Digital Storytelling and Branding Goals...

MAR 632 Digital Storytelling and Branding

Goal: I would like to apply any knowledge I gain in this class to my own currently existing personal businesses, Green Gate Equine Services and Green Gate Publication. Strategy: Write weekly on my own personal blogs on both websites to better establish my personal branding and play with storytelling. Goal: Try not to procrastinate on weekly projects. Strategy: Set my timeline for weekly work so that I finish work by Friday night that way I can have the weekend to play with completing the previous strategy I listed. Goal: Learn more about how video content is impacting Digital Storytelling and Branding. Strategy: Take the course, Branding Fundamentals with Drew Boyd on lynda.com and take the course Final Cut Pro X 10.3 Essential Training by Ashley Kennedy on lynda.com so that I can begin to practice with video content.

The above goals were some that I wrote out a couple months ago when I first looked at the description for this class. While I did not write weekly on my own personal blogs and I did not take the two courses on lynda.com that I had hoped I could fit in, I did learn an amazing amount from this class. The creativity this class required in order to understand and complete some of the branding assignments really clicked with me. I enjoyed learning how to create a brand voice for a company, then how to take that voice and make a brand story, and then take those two pieces along with understanding archetypes and other important points, and combine them all to create a brand strategy. Being a creative writer and English major, I loved the storytelling aspect of this class and really understood how that is a huge part of what creates a really great brand. Having a great brand, one that people emotionally connect with, is a huge part of having a great marketing plan because without a great brand, you are just trying to sell things, or services, not things or services that will help people, change their lives, solve a problem, or let them have an amazing experience. Utilizing the knowledge I learned in this course to implement into my final Marketing Plan will be crucial to accomplishing the goal of having the company I chose not just have a good Marketing Plan, but a great one because they have a great brand behind it. All the pieces of this course will be super helpful to use professionally in either my own businesses or any that I do marketing for in the future. The pieces I intend to most definitely use are the archetype test, the brand voice and the brand story. Three pieces that I feel really are the keys to creating a great brand strategy because you can fully understand the brand that way, as if that brand was your best friend.

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Complete mastery of anything needs to be a combination of these things. I find this quite fascinating to think about and very inspiring! 

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Internet Marketing Fundamentals - Did I Reach My Goals?

Goal: Get a better understanding for all aspects of internet marketing. Goal: Begin to play with learning and understanding coding for websites. Goal: Figure out how mobile marketing fits into the internet marketing world.

The three goals above are from my Mastery Journey Timeline Goals post that I made about a month ago in regards to what I was hoping to learn from the Internet Marketing Fundamentals course. In looking at those goals, I definitely obtained a better understanding for all aspects of internet marketing from the course readings, videos and lectures. I also enjoyed being able to look at mobile marketing in relationship to digital marketing within the last week of this course, obtaining yet another goal I had set to learn for this class. Now my understanding of how mobile marketing involves all aspects of email, messaging, social media, etc. in relationship to mobile devices and mobile users around the world is key for helping me look at the company I chose to work with for this program. 

The biggest takeaway I have from this course and the thing I am most proud of is my Marketing Research Paper that we did in week one. I really enjoyed delving deeper into the world of research and learning how target market demographics, the SWOT analysis, and environmental and industry analyses all play such important roles in understanding the background behind marketing for a company. I would never have thought that environmental aspects could play a role in how marketing for a company was perceived when I initially stepped into this class. Now I find it fascinating and most definitely a crucial part to the whole piece. In a way I looked at that project as if I were a scientist, trying to not only find important information to help create a better understanding, but also analyzing the information as if I was a psychologist trying to reach into the minds of potential consumers to see what information and pieces of the puzzle would be more relevant to them in a marketing sense. It was a very in depth process to accomplish it, but very fun! 

Another piece that I learned an incredible amount from was the Competitor Website Analysis. Learning all the tricks for finding certain pieces of information and how to use tools to figure out page rank, SEO information, performance scores, and much more was something that I will definitely be using in the future professionally.

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Internet Marketing Fundamentals Research Paper - Caneel Bay

Caneel Bay Marketing Research Paper

Paetra Hennigar

Internet Marketing Fundamentals

Professor Ferguson

January 7, 2017

Caneel Bay is a luxury resort located on the island of St. John in the United States Virgin Islands. The resort has one hundred and sixty-six guest rooms, four on-site restaurants, a gift shop, fitness studio, and tennis courts located on one hundred and seventy acres of the Virgin Islands National Park (Caneel Bay, 2016). Initially the space for the resort was discovered by Laurance Rockefeller in the early 1950’s and Caneel Bay opened in December 1956 (Caneel Bay, 2016). Caneel Bay started as a sugar mill plantation, that operated for many years until the West Indian Company first turned the property into a hotel (From Tainos to Rockefeller, Storied History of Caneel Bay Resort, 2010). First resort operations were run as a Rockefeller Resort, which then transferred to ownership under Rosewood Resorts in 1993 (From Tainos to Rockefeller, Storied History of Caneel Bay Resort, 2010). In 2013 Rosewood Resorts stepped out of the management picture, and the owners of Caneel Bay since 2003, CBI Acquisitions, stepped in, stating that the resort would operate as an independent hotel when it reopened under the name, Caneel Bay Resort (Myers, 2013).

The location was key for the resort, only being accessible by boat, forcing the island to keep much of it’s natural habitat, “A steadfast environmentalist and preservationist, Laurance Rockefeller was dedicated to creating a destination that would live in harmony with its natural environment” (Caneel Bay, 2016). Today that is what could be considered the mission statement for Caneel Bay, though there is no specific written mission statement available on their website, or in any publications. Rockefeller was known for his standard being, “understated perfection in beautiful, unspoiled places” (McCallan, n.d.). The concept of Caneel Bay being a resort of low-key luxury, surrounded by a spacious and unspoiled natural habitat, is one that still stands today in how the resort is operated. Rockefeller stated, “Our environment is part of us. How we care for our environment and live with it, utilize and enjoy it, determines the kind of people we are and will be” (Rockefeller, n.d.). In such a fast-paced, technologically advanced society Caneel Bay stands out because of it’s low-key luxury and the fact that they still remain a very unplugged resort. In proposing a mission statement for the brand I would suggest, “Unplug, unwind, and reconnect with life through low-key luxury here at Caneel Bay.”   

Caneel Bay operates on a forty-year long term lease on National Park Service property (Change to 40-Year Lease for Caneel Seeks to Enable Upgrade for Resort, 2014). As of March, 2014, plans to upgrade Caneel Bay were put into motion. Caneel Bay Managing Resort Director, Nikolay Hotze, stated, “Our objective is to maintain the position of Caneel Bay —  and St. John — within the ever-increasingly competitive luxury market segment” (Hotze, 2014). “At the heart of any property renovations will be our commitment to continuing the original vision and lasting legacy of Laurance Rockefeller, along with our philosophy of providing low-key luxury in an environment that is refreshingly free of digital distractions” (Hotze, 2014).

The target market for Caneel Bay consists of an upper class sector, predominantly focusing on the areas of Atlanta, Dallas, Miami, New York and Orlando (USVI Times, 2010). The luxury aspect of Caneel Bay is targeted towards the cream of the crop of upscale clientele that have at least a six figure salary as rooms start around $500 per night. The target market clientele typically owns their own home in an upper class suburban area or city area where most of the properties are owned. They take vacations regularly each year at least once to any high end destination, enjoy being outdoors, and enjoy the beach. The resort caters to two types of demographics as well within that upscale clientele, the romantic couples, or the families looking to reconnect with each other. Typically both types have at least one household member bringing in a six figure salary, while the other partner may also have a six figure salary job. According to Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, “Family travelers are more likely than total U.S. travelers to be married (80%), have a college degree (40%), and have a professional or managerial occupation (37%)” (Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, pp. 278-283, 2013). The demographic Caneel Bay also focuses on is the busy factor. Many of the clientele within the target market are busy in their lives, members of clubs, full-time jobs, children in multiple after school activities, and sometimes one of the members is a major commuter, traveling often for work.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

Ideal location on National Park Lands.

Diverse activity options for all ages.

Great brand equity.

Environmentally focused in their brand.  

Weaknesses 

Revenue is very dependent upon US markets.

Revenue is very dependent upon tourism industry.

They are a single location independent resort.

They have high prices.

No All-inclusive packages offered.

Opportunities

Opportunity to focus on the environmentally friendly aspect of the hotel and really cater towards that trend.

Independent operation allows for upgrades staying within the mission statement of keeping the hotel as close to Rockefeller’s dream as possible.  

Growth in the luxury Caribbean resort industry.

Tourist incentives are being offered by the United States Territories and the United States Government.

Threats 

Luxury hotel competition is increasing in the Caribbean.

Luxury chain hotels offer better prices.

All-inclusive resorts and packages are a growing trend.

Strengths

- Ideal location on National Park Lands.

There is no threat of another luxury resort or hotel being built near Caneel Bay because it is surrounded by National Park Lands. The nearest center for development that luxury resorts or hotels could build at would be in Cruz Bay.

- Diverse activity options for all ages.

With fine dining options, multiple beaches, tennis courts, massage, complimentary water sports activity options, Turtle Town for children and a teen center, the options are endless for attracting all ages of clients. This is also a strength for attracting the family demographic of their target market, so it can be an enjoyable vacation for everyone.

- Great brand equity.

Very well known and reputable brand that is known as one of the top luxury resorts in the Caribbean. In recent years Caneel Bay has been listed on the top resort lists for Travel + Leisure: World’s Best Awards - Top 20 Family Travel, U.S. News & World Report: Best Hotels in the Caribbean, Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards: Top Caribbean Resort List, and many more. They are well known for their low-key luxury and well known for being a place to unplug and reconnect.

- Environmentally focused in their brand.

There are strong connections to keeping things as close to how they were when Rockefeller first opened Caneel Bay. Leaving the environment as the main focus for the beauty of the resort, and leaving the environment as unspoiled and natural as possible is key for connecting with the strong environmentally friendly trends that are emerging today.

Weaknesses

- Revenue is very dependent upon United States Markets.

Being highly reliant upon many United States geographical locations for producing much of it’s target market clientele, Caneel Bay is very dependent upon how the economical market is acting at the time in the United States. With the market recently hitting a very low point for the first time in a long time, revenue at Caneel Bay showed that trend and now that the economy is building back up again, revenue has increased back to normal amounts, approximately $2,400,000 in the year 2015 (Zoom Company Information, 2015).

- Revenue is very dependent upon tourism industry.

Connected again to the United States Economic status, Caneel Bay’s revenue is very dependent upon tourism status for the year as their main source of revenue is the accommodation of guests. They are closed for the off season, from June until November typically so they rely on the most popular tourism season for the Caribbean region as well.

- They are a single location independent resort.

Being an independent resort, not part of any chain, means that they only have one source to rely on for their revenue.

- They have high prices.

Their starting rate for rooms is around $500 per night, the average starting rate for luxury resort rooms elsewhere in the Caribbean is around $290 per night (Hotel Price Index, n.d.).

- No All-inclusive packages are offered.

One of the new emerging trends in the resort industry is all-inclusive packages. Caneel Bay does not offer any which sets them off the trend list.

Opportunities

- Opportunity to focus on the environmentally friendly aspect of the hotel and really cater towards that trend.

They currently use wind power for a few things, recycling, rainwater as much of their water supply, and they use locally sourced foods and materials as much as possible. There is room for more environmentally friendly improvements though to decrease their carbon footprint by using more wind power for electricity generation, and other environmentally friendly aspects that could draw in more interest.

- Independent operation allows for upgrades staying within the mission statement of keeping the hotel as close to Rockefeller’s dream as possible.  

Caneel Bay recently did a revamp in 2016 that allowed them to redo their guest rooms and improve several aspects of the resort but they kept with the trend of doing everything on as much of an environmentally friendly aspect as possible. Their independent operation would allow them to keep creating programs and updating as needed with keeping with Rockefeller’s dream.

- Growth in the luxury Caribbean resort industry.

The luxury Caribbean resort industry is beginning to boom again after the United States Economy has improved over the last several years. With increasing growth, is the opportunity to promote Caneel Bay’s brand and attract more customers.

- Tourist incentives are being offered by the United States Territories and the United States Government.

Recently the United States Territories has put out an offer to anyone traveling within the year 2017 to any United States Territories destinations to receive $300 to spend at that destination in celebration of the centennial year (Walansky, 2016). Tourism incentives such as this one are being offered more regularly now, something that Caneel Bay should take as an opportunity to increase brand awareness and client activity.

Threats

- Luxury hotel competition is increasing in the Caribbean.

The amount of luxury hotels has grown within the Caribbean region in recent years, providing a threat to preexisting resorts. Making sure that Caneel Bay stands out amongst the competition is something that must be kept at the forefront of the marketing efforts for the company.

- Luxury chain hotels offer better prices.

Many of the luxury hotels being built in the Caribbean are part of large chains, such as Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, Hilton, and others of that nature. These luxury hotels are able to offer all-inclusive packages, and lowered rates because of their massive size and multiple chain locations, offering a threat to Caneel Bay’s clientele.

- All-inclusive resorts and packages are a growing trend.

The trend of all-inclusive resorts and packages has increased exponentially in previous years as a growing trend. From 2010 to 2012 there was a 6% increase in United States travelers staying at all-inclusive resorts (Hetter, 2014). Caneel Bay is not one of those all-inclusive resorts which could potentially harm their clientele intake.

The current luxury resort and hotel industry is very dependent upon the tourism industry in the Caribbean. A new idea that was brought to the industry in recent years is that of corporate environmental responsibility. Caneel Bay falls under the category of meeting this idea with it’s smaller size, environmentally friendly initiatives it takes, plus eco-friendly programs it offers as well. The tourism industry is a major factor in Caribbean economics, “Providing over 18% of regional gross domestic product (and more than 50% in several individual nations), approximately 16% of employment, and 25% of foreign exchange earnings, tourism is a major economic driver in the Caribbean”  (UNECLAC 2006). The tourism industry is affective of the luxury resort industry in Caneel Bay’s case because many of their employees are locals, or commuters from St. Thomas. The idea of green and sustainable hospitality is something that has been in the background for awhile now. With the economic downturn in the United States in 2008, the idea became more prominent in company’s minds because of the idea of being economically and environmentally friendly all at once. “In a recent survey by AAA (www.aaa.com), for example, travelers ranked eco-friendly or green programs among the top 10 most desirable hotel features” (Miller, pp.150-154, 2008). Caneel Bay has been considered one of the more environmentally friendly resorts of the Caribbean, with patrons that have returned for that factor alone. “According to a nationwide poll by BBMG (www.bbmg.com), conducted in September 2007, 74% of consumers always or sometimes patronize companies that demonstrate they are good for people on the planet; 17% always do so” (Miller, pp.150-154, 2008).

In looking directly at the Caribbean resort industry, there has been steady upwards growth in the industry continually since the United States economic fall in 2008. According to Parris E. Jordan, “The Caribbean hotel market has shown steady improvements in average rate, occupancy and RevPAR since 2010” (Jordan, 2015). In 2013 luxury hotel occupancy was at 74.6%, which was increased 1.8% from 2012 (Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, pp. 382-391, 2014). The industry occupancy statistics have continued to rise yearly, allowing some financial room for growth within the industry in the form of building. The building of several new resorts that tend to be all-inclusive on other Caribbean islands is what has created a competition aspect for Caneel Bay to work against.

The hospitality industry has also seen a continual steady stream of family travel in recent years. The United States Travel Association reports that 24% of all travel includes children, of which 87% of those trips are for leisure (Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, pp. 278-283, 2013). These are important factors for Caneel Bay to consider because one of their large target market demographics is that of families. The fact that children are a huge part of the industry statistics in recent years shows that Caneel Bay’s continued operation of children and youth programs and promotion of those will be key for continuing to keep their family target market. According to the Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, “Kids’ programs are popular with family travelers; nearly 60% of family travelers use children’s services offered on the road” (Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, pp. 278-283, 2013).

References

Change to 40-Year Lease for Caneel Seeks To Enable Upgrade for Resort. (2014, March 12). Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/change-to-40-year-lease-for-caneel-seeks-to-enable-upgrade-for-resort/

CHAPTER 40: FAMILY TRAVEL. (2013). Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, 278-283.

Chapter 62: HOTELS & RESORTS: SEGMENTATION. (2014). Travel & Tourism Market Research Handbook, 382-391.

From Tainos to Rockefeller, Storied History of Caneel Bay Resort. (2010, March 28). Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.stjohntradewindsnews.com/from-tainos-to-rockefeller-storied-history-of-caneel-bay-resort/

Hetter , K. (2014 , February 7). In defense of the all-inclusive resort. Retrieved January 12, 2017, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/06/travel/escape-debate-all-inclusive-resorts/

Hotel Price Index. (n.d.). Retrieved January 12, 2017, from http://www.hotel-price-index.com/2014/spring/#p11

Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines Industry Profile: the United States. (2015). Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines Industry Profile: United States, 1-39.

Jordan, P. E. (2015). Trending Issues and Challenges Facing Caribbean Hospitality Development. HVS Global Hospitality Report, 1-3.

(July 2016). Zoom Company Information, Retrieved from www.lexisnexis.com/hottopics/lnacademic

McCallan, B. (n.d.). The Legacy of Laurance Rockefeller. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://theaposition.com/brianmccallen/golf/personalities/588/the-legacy-of-laurance-rockefeller

Miller, R. K., & Washington, K. (2008). CHAPTER 24: GREEN & SUSTAINABLE HOSPITALITY. In , Hotels & Resorts (pp. 150-154). Richard K. Miller & Associates.

Myers, G. N. (2013, September 04). Caneel Bay Resort no longer a Rosewood property. Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://www.travelweekly.com/Travel-News/Hotel-News/Caneel-Bay-Resort-no-longer-a-Rosewood-property

PRIBEANU, G. (2015). ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE-SOURCE OF HOSPITALITY. Agricultural Management / Lucrari Stiintifice Seria I, Management Agricol, 17(4), 57-63.

Shah, K. (2011). Strategic organizational drivers of corporate environmental responsibility in the Caribbean hotel industry. Policy Sciences, 44(4), 321-344. doi:10.1007/s11077-011-9130-x  

USVI Times . (2010, July). Retrieved January 10, 2017, from http://usvimarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/newsletters/V4aUSVITimes_JulyAug2010.pdf

Verma, Y., & Jain, V. (2015). How Experiential Marketing is used in Indian Luxury Hotels?. Romanian Journal Of Marketing, (1), 2-11.

Walansky, A. (2016, December 28). Why Is This Dreamy Island Destination Paying Tourists $300 to Visit? Retrieved January 12, 2017, from http://www.bravotv.com/below-deck/blogs/why-is-this-dreamy-island-destination-paying-tourists-300-to-visit

[phennigar-blog]

“Ultimately, everyone who gets close to yours going to see inside your closet on its worst day, and their reaction to that is what will tell you if you’re going to make it or not. You can’t live an entire life secured by Spanx.” - Lauren Graham 

[phennigar-blog]

This is my inspirational photo of the week. Part of one of our assignments for our final was to create a visual image of our Mastery Journey. I originally thought about doing a mountain and showing me climbing the mountain, but then I found this great road photo. I always have been attracted to sunsets so using this photo to show the sunset at the light at the end of the road of my journey was appropriate. 

[phennigar-blog]

Mastery Journey Timeline Goals and Strategies

MDL 510 Mastery: Personal Development and Leadership

Goal: Develop a better idea of what becoming a master at something means. Strategy: Read Robert Greene’s Mastery Goal: Finish each assignment on time. Strategy: Set aside “grad school time - 2-4 hours per day” on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Goal: Find leaders or innovative people in Internet Marketing that will be helpful to follow or take courses from during my Internet Marketing education. Strategy: Begin networking online and connecting to fellow students, people in the professional world on LinkedIn, follow Twitter accounts that pertain to Internet Marketing professionals, and follow blogs and bloggers in the Internet Marketing world.

MAR 510 Internet Marketing Fundamentals

Goal: Get a better understanding for all aspects of internet marketing. Strategy: Read all assigned readings and search for one extra article or video per week to build my knowledge. Goal: Begin to play with learning and understanding coding for websites. Strategy: Find tutorial videos on lynda.com or elsewhere to start watching, then start implementing some of that into a new website I begin to design for my own personal marketing business. Goal: Figure out how mobile marketing fits into the internet marketing world. Strategy: Take the Mobile Marketing Fundamentals course by Michael Becker on lynda.com

MAR 632 Digital Storytelling and Branding

Goal: I would like to apply any knowledge I gain in this class to my own currently existing personal businesses, Green Gate Equine Services and Green Gate Publication. Strategy: Write weekly on my own personal blogs on both websites to better establish my personal branding and play with storytelling. Goal: Try not to procrastinate on weekly projects. Strategy: Set my timeline for weekly work so that I finish work by Friday night that way I can have the weekend to play with completing the previous strategy I listed. Goal: Learn more about how video content is impacting Digital Storytelling and Branding. Strategy: Take the course, Branding Fundamentals with Drew Boyd on lynda.com and take the course Final Cut Pro X 10.3 Essential Training by Ashley Kennedy on lynda.com so that I can begin to practice with video content.

IMK 591 Internet Consumer Behavior and Analysis

Goal: Take knowledge I gain each week through this class to look at businesses I am interested in and try to identify how successful their marketing campaigns are doing.   Strategy: Pick one business (i.e. SmartPak, Dover Saddlery, etc.) and marketing campaign per week, analyze their efforts and write a blog post on my Tumblr with my analysis and suggestions of what I would have done differently. Goal: Become more involved in my response posts for my discussion boards. Strategy: Try to respond to any responses on my own post, or respond to more than one or two other student’s posts each week. Goal: Gain more insight on consumer behavior. Strategy: Take the course, Understanding Consumer Behavior with Drew Boyd on lynda.com.

IMK 541 Web Design and Usability

Goal: Learn coding, HTML, JavaScript, etc. Strategy: Find videos and tutorials on how to begin understanding and implementing this in website development. Take the course, JavaScript for Web Designers by Joe Chellman on lynda.com. Goal: Connect with another student doing web design at Full Sail. Strategy: Become more active on SchoolsApp and potentially in a school club regarding web design to network and meet other students that might be in that field of work. Goal: Become better at developing websites, change and edit my own business websites and finish creating my personal marketing business website. Strategy: Take the course on Creating a Responsive Web Design with Chris Converse on lynda.com.

IMK 521 New Media Marketing

Goal: I would like to get better at using some social media sites for internet marketing such as, Periscope, and Pinterest. Strategy: Play with creating a Pinterest and Periscope account for each of the businesses I’m working for at the moment and practice creating content for those social media sites. Goal: I would like to learn how location based technologies play into new media marketing. Strategy: Search for articles, videos and tutorials on this subject and try to implement things I learn into my own marketing strategies. Goal: I would like to become more effective in my social media marketing for businesses I work for and for my own businesses. Strategy: Take the course, Social Media Marketing for Small Business with Martin Waxman on lynda.com.

IMK 511 Advanced Internet Marketing Strategies

Goal: Learn how to create a logical set of strategies for a company’s internet marketing. Strategy: Read all my assigned reading for this class and research other company’s marketing strategies they have used in the past with success. Goal: I would like to be better at setting SMART goals for developing internet marketing strategies. Strategy: Do more research during this class on how SMART goals play such a major part in developing good strategies, and practice creating SMART goals for each business I work with and my own. Goal: I would like to get better at branding and be very fluent in it so I can implement it into any marketing strategies for businesses I work with or for my own. Strategy: Take the course, Advanced Branding with Brad Batesole on lynda.com.

IMK 621 Advanced Search Engine Optimization

Goal: Understand better what exactly SEO is. Strategy: Complete each class reading. Goal: Learn what differentiates a good SEO marketing from bad. Strategy: Find people who are SEO gurus in internet marketing and try to connect with them either via Twitter or LinkedIn to ask questions about what they feel makes good SEO marketing versus what they might recommend not to do. Goal: Learn the search part of SEO and what drives it. Strategy: Take the course, Advanced SEO: Search Factors with Brad Batesole on lynda.com.

IMK 641 Strategic Internet Public Relations

Goal: Understand how a publicist plays a role in internet public relations and learn how to become my own publicist for my businesses. Strategy: Research how publicists play roles in all public relations for all types of businesses. Goal: Learn how to develop a positive public relations strategy for a business. Strategy: Try to outline a positive public relations strategy for each business I work for and for my own businesses. Goal: Understand basic public relations in businesses. Strategy: Take the course, Public Relations Fundamentals with Deirdre Breakenridge on lynda.com.

IMK 661 Web Analytics and Optimization

Goal: Get more fluent in using and understanding metrics tools. Strategy: Take time to be more active in researching and understanding Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, and HootSuite. Goal: Learn about what other metrics and analytics tools internet marketers are using. Strategy: Start a discussion on the LinkedIn group, Social Media Marketing, or ask questions to other internet marketers privately about what analytics tools they use and why they like them best. Goal: Learn at least one new analytics tool to use. Strategy: Take the course, Up and Running with Adobe Reports and Analytics with David Boothe on lynda.com.

IMK 671 Internet and the Law

Goal: Learn how the law plays into internet marketing. Strategy: Complete all readings in the class and do any extra research necessary to finish all assignments thoroughly to help me learn all I can about the law in the field of mastery I intend to work in. Goal: Understand copyright issues in internet marketing. Strategy: Research cases of copyright infringement in the internet marketing world to familiarize myself better with the laws. Goal: Learn more about copy writing law, trademark law and online publishing laws. Strategy: Take the course, Rights of Publicity: A Deeper Dive by Dana Robinson on lynda.com.

IMK 691 Internet Marketing Campaign Development

Goal: Understand what makes a great internet marketing campaign. Strategy: Research case studies of other businesses internet marketing campaigns to see what makes good versus bad campaigns. Goal: To be able to create a great internet marketing campaign for my own businesses, businesses I work with, and also create a marketing campaign for a business I would be interested in working for in the future. Strategy: Apply anything I learn in this course, along with everything I’ve learned from previous courses to creating a campaign for my own businesses and any I am working for at the tie of this course. I will also choose a business I would like to work for, most likely either Tryon International Equestrian Center, Caneel Bay Resort, or a Caribbean travel company, to develop a social media marketing strategy and campaign for them to practice everything I have learned. Goal: Learn how to create and implement mobile marketing strategies into my campaigns. Strategy: Take the course, Mobile Marketing Strategy with Noah Elkin on lynda.com.