Create an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Review the video, \"How to Cr

Question

Create an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Review the video, "How to Create an Integrated Marketing Communications Plan and the Case Study". Create the Business Description portion of the Marketing Communications Plan using the business and information presented in the case study. Marketing Case Study Marketing Communications Plan Template Meet the following requirements: •In 400-600 words, provide a description of the business and the challenges it is facing. •In 400-600 words, explain the areas of the Marketing Communications plan that will need to be evaluated and/or changed from the current situation of the business.

Case Study

The information in the Case Study is used each week when writing the individual sections of the Marketing Communications Plan.

One of your neighbors has just inherited a restaurant in a small town about 75 miles away. They’ve never owned or operated a business before, and know very little about marketing or the restaurant business. They now have a Marketing Plan, but need help with the Marketing Communications Plan.

General Restaurant Information Provided by Your Neighbors:

They want to keep the “family’s” restaurant as a legacy to their family members who left it to them. However, they will need to make money immediately in order to replace the income they lost when they quit their jobs to run the restaurant.

The restaurant has been losing sales/profits over the past few years. Family members have had some health issues (and have since passed away) and have not had the time to manage the restaurant effectively. For the past few months, the Chef and some of the servers have been keeping the restaurant open.

The restaurant has a good reputation in the small community. The town has a population of 6,000 people. It is in a good location (right off an interstate) and does additional sales catering to local businesses in the area. Over-the-road semi-drivers say it is the best cup of coffee in town and town’s people know that you can always find the local sheriff and highway patrol officers eating there. People are allowed to smoke at their tables and some people have stopped eating there because of the smoke in the dining room. Also, you can see serving staff smoking between orders.

The restaurant has a good menu. It has a lunch menu and a dinner menu. They open at 11:00 am and they close at 7:00 pm CST seven days a week except major holidays. They have daily “specials”. For instance, on Monday it is meatloaf, Tuesday; roast beef, Wednesday; turkey breast, Thursday; pot pies, and Friday; fish. The restaurant is famous for its homemade pie menu. The Chef makes 15 varieties of homemade pies daily. Customers can also order pies for holidays. People have asked to order pies online and pick them up at the store…but so far no online sales exist.

The restaurant is in the low to mid-price range. But due to changes in the local community demographic may need to update/expand the menu. Baby boomers are leaving the area and are being replaced by Generation X individuals and their young families. When eating there, you will see a wide range of customers from older truck drivers to young families, and even teenagers on a date.

The chef has been with the restaurant for over 25 years and has done a good job but is thinking about retiring in the next 3 years. He believes in the local food movement and buys produce from local farmers. The serving staff is composed of women (most in their late 60s) who call each customer by the name “honey” and have been with the restaurant for years. It is a well known secret that their grandchildren come by each day for a soda pop and pie (most times they leave without paying).

The restaurant is located next to an interstate exit and is the only “family” style restaurant in a 20 mile radius. However, there are a McDonalds, Subway and Sonic Drive-in restaurants located nearby. McDonalds, Subway, and Sonic offer special deals throughout the week…for instance, McDonalds runs Shamrock Shakes in March, Subway offers $5.00 foot long sandwiches, and Sonic has happy hour soft drinks each day. The family restaurant has relied exclusively on word of mouth advertising, but do support a local little league baseball team each summer which costs them $500.

The name of the restaurant is The Family Diner. While they are not open to changing the name, they are willing to review any changes to the brand and logo that might help the business. Right now, the logo is simply the name of the diner underlined in Veranda font using a light blue color.

The new owners are younger and while they want to maintain the legacy of the family, they are computer-savvy. There has been talk of starting a web site and using social media, but those steps have not been taken.

There are no loyalty programs or special promotions except for the daily specials.

Sales (revenue) for last year were $900,000, which is a 15% share of the market. The other eating and drinking establishments in the area spend approximately $500,000 a year (total for all) in advertising.

Explanation / Answer

Introduction

Jones (2010) states, that “Strategy has been defined as “the science of winning.” In today’s environment, the failure to include quality as a strategic initiative may expose an organization to risk.” An effective and distinctive set of corporate strategies, which includes: mission, goals, and vision statements, sets a business apart from its competitors and provides a competitive advantage. Contribution of strategic planning in increasing profits, adding new clients and new services is needed in our new business Family Restaurant. (Freidig, 2004). They want to keep the “family’s” restaurant as a legacy to their family members who left it to them. However, they will need to make money immediately in order to replace the income they lost when they quit their jobs to run the restaurant.

Line of Business

Located in California, Family Restaurant is a growing company, which provides their customers with the high quality products. Family Restaurant has been providing upscale specialty foods since 1998. KFF successfully has integrated convenient locations with a helpful and knowledgeable staff.

Family Restaurant stores offer a fresh bakery, and high quality produce, meats, seafood, specialty dairy products, and a large variety of wines. Kathy Family Restaurant is founder and manager of the company. Her goal is to expand the company’s business, which will ensure the long term profitability.

Mission statement

           Family Restaurant mission is to provide customers with the ultimate shopping experience. Our stores provide an excellent assortment of fresh, organic products, and prepared food items, which will satisfy all your household and culinary needs. We can plan your perfect dinner, including assortments of various wines. We would also be happy to plan and cater your party needs.

Our friendly and courteous staff is available to you, making your shopping or catering arrangements a delightful and unique experience.

Our customers can visit any of our three locations to enjoy a variety of products. You can also view our product selection online and save time.

Our quality of products, service and prices are unbeatable, we will meet your needs, guaranteed.

Vision statement

            Family Restaurant is an out of ordinary store, where customers can enjoy shopping. In five years we will be able to make this experience available for other customers on both coasts of United States. The stores will provide high quality and variety of products and food services. Our spacious stores will assist customers with all their culinary needs. Same high standards of operations will be carried out through all our stores. The profits are expected to increase by 70 percent. Catering and online shopping will save not only time but also money for our customers.

Values statement

           Family Restaurant values every customer and we will do everything to assure their satisfaction. Our stores provide fresh produce which is bought from local farmers. This cooperation assures the freshest product for our stores and helps local economy. Our customers

are able to enjoy fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables. Our knowledgeable staff represents a part of our big family, and we are proud to add a college fund program to our employee services. As a growing company KFF values integrity, professionalism, continual self-improvement, and respect. We are committed to all of our customers, employees, and our business partners. We are proud to hold ourselves accountable to all: customers, employees, and shareholders, by showing our commitment to provide best results, and always striving for the highest quality of performance.

The point is to decide which strategy to implement to accomplish the company’s goals. There are many planning strategies, which can aid in future stability. Choosing the appropriate strategy helps to accomplish the objectives as set out by the organization. The approach affects every part of the organization and all involved in the planning process. After identifying steps to achieve the company’s objectives and by implementing the balanced scorecard will help monitor results. “Strategies must be matched with complementary environments and structures to promote success” (Miller, 1988). There are several generic and grand strategies to choose from. The three generic strategies include cost leadership, differentiation, and focus.

By thinking about how each force affects the company, and by identifying the strength and direction of each force, a company can quickly assess their position.

“Grand strategies often called master or business strategies provide basic direction for strategic actions. They are the basis of coordinated and sustained efforts directed toward achieving long-term business objectives. The 15 principal grand strategies are concentrated growth, market development, product development, innovation, horizontal integration, vertical integration, concentric diversification, conglomerate diversification, turnaround, divestiture, liquidation, bankruptcy, joint ventures, strategic alliances, and consortia” (Pearce & Robinson. 2009).

Differentiation Strategy

A company can set itself apart by offering quality and unique products and superior customer service. A differentiation strategy’s design is to appeal to customer needs and preferences. Family Restaurant ’s convenience by offering a one-stop shop in which customers can purchase quality, premium food products and by offering superior customer service makes it a good fit for this competitive advantage. The company must systematically research customers’ preferences and its competitors to stay ahead of trends or to identify any threats. Risks involved with a differentiation strategy include competitors imitating what a company has already spent the money to establish and implement.

Speed and Technology

            Speed, using modern technology, involves the process of incorporating technology to tasks and duties routinely done by human hands to achieve a faster and more effective outcome. Using technology not only allows any task to finish faster, but it also cuts the costs of the operations.

The Internet is another aspect of speed. Family Restaurant would benefit greatly by upgrading their systems to incorporate and Internet store. This Internet store could consider the fourth store. Family Restaurant could have a website that would link customers from all over the world to their store. People experienced with the internet could go to Family Restaurant s Fine Food’s online store and order the gourmet products desired and have them shipped to their homes. Ordering options could be set in different languages to accommodate variety of customers. People seeking to place catering orders from Family Restaurant could place an order online as well. Gift baskets of fine gourmet foods could be shipped anywhere around the world.  

Additionally, the use of the Internet would increase the speed of day to day operations. Redefining how Family Restaurant operates will increase productivity, efficiency, and revenue.

References:

Lings, I. & Greenley, G. 2010 Internal market orientation and market-oriented behaviors. Journal of Service Management. 21(3), 321-343. Retrieved 7th Oct-2012 from Gale database.  

Miller, D. (1988). Relating Porter’s Business Strategies to Environment and Structure: Analysis and Performance Implications. Academy of Management Journal, 31(2), 280-308. Retrieved from Business Source Complete database.

Pearce, J. A., & Robinson, R. B. (2009). Strategic management: Formulation, implementation, and control (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Piercy, N. (2010) Evolution of strategic sales organizations in business-to-business marketing. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing.25 (5), 349-359.Retrieved 7th Oct-2012

Freidig, D. (2004). Practice Development, Journal of Tax Practice Management . 3(5), 7-37. Retrieved 7th Oct-2012   from Gale database.  

Jones, S. (2010).Quality and Mission: What is Your Strategy? Journal of Health Care Compliance, 12(2), 51-54. Retrieved 7th Oct-2012 from Gale database.  

Shuguang, L.Hayes, K. A.Jun, L.(2010). An agile and diversified supply chain: reducing operational risks. Competitiveness Review.20(3), 222-234. Retrieved 7th Oct-2012 from Gale database.  

University of Phoenix. (2010.Keudler Fine Foods [Computer Simulation]. Retrieved 7th Oct-2012 From University Phoenix, rEsource, Simulation, STR 581-Strategic Planning

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