Marketing Plan for a New Restaurant - Case Study Example

"Marketing Plan for a New Restaurant" The Challenge: There are many hotels and restaurants around the world which have established a good reputation;hence it is a difficult task to introduce a new hotel service with distinguishing features. The well known restaurants and hotel chains cause a big threat to the newly opened restaurant. The restaurant and hotel industry has been developing day by day. Increasing competition and rising number of hotel visitors have made it more difficult for the hotel management to manage the quality of food, environment and innovations in their business. The main aim of hotel and restaurant industries is to maximize their profits. However, the competition has made it difficult to maintain their position in the market. Due to more and more new investments in this sector, the existing hotels are in danger to lack behind in innovations and creative utilization of resources. The new techniques to manage the operations and the use of new machinery which reduces the labor cost are difficult to be adopted due to the existing managed workforce and working environment. The hotel industry has now reached to a highly competitive stage and all restaurants are adopting the branded restaurant concept in order to meet the requirements of continuous innovations and creative approach (Casper, 1995). It has also been observed during the research that restaurants and famous hotels are working in collaboration to maximize their returns for example, the partnership of Marriott and Pizza Hut, Holiday Inn and TGI Friday's etc (Boone, 1997). This paper would further discuss the aspects which are required to be considered before starting a new restaurant and a marketing plan to be followed for a successful launch of a new restaurant. Situation Analysis: Restaurants have become an integral part of most of the people around the world. The working population prefer having their breakfasts and lunches in the restaurants. Owing to this importance given by the people to the hotels, more and more people are involving in this sector. It can be evaluated from the current findings that hotels are highly profitable and money-making. It can be true but not necessarily. The successful running of a hotel is not as easy as it seems to be. There are many factors which require to be achieved flawlessly. Increasing competition means increasing risk to the business from the competitors. Any new product, package or creative advertisement may grab the attention of a large number of customers. Hence more and more finance is required to be spent on innovative techniques. The uniqueness and brand name attract most of the customers (Tepeci, 1999). However, it is not an easy task to create a brand name. In food service businesses the development of brand name has been increasing. A number of food chains have increased their business in the international market. The globalization of food chains has resulted in strong development of brand identity for the travelers and local visitors (Wexler, 1994). These food chains have become successful in winning the satisfaction of their customers all around the world. These international food chains conduct surveys and researches to find out the likings and demands of the people living in a particular region. They ensure that the quality of food and tastes is according to their demand (Davis, Lockwood & Stone, 1998). They also consider the cultural and religious aspects of people and give special attention to things which are against their religion or culture (for example, the use of alcohol in Muslim countries). Hence we can say that the evaluation of the demand of people and their opinions are of paramount importance in successful running of a hotel. The first goal of our restaurant is to create a distinguishing identity and become popular because of its unique presentation and high quality food. The second goal is to provide customers with an environment where they can enjoy the food without any kind of disturbance. The last goal is to maximize profits without harming the quality or reputation of the hotel. To attain the success of hotel food courts, it is necessary to evaluate the weaknesses. To find out the weaknesses of the restaurants different techniques may be used. These techniques may involve the use of surveys, comment cards, suggestions and complaints. There is a need to train the staff to tolerate any behaviors from the customer. Customer service department should always be available to record the complaints and suggestions. The complaints and suggestions should not be ignored but they should be considered important as it is impossible to run the business successfully without satisfying its customers (Riley, 2005). Customer Analysis Before creating a marketing plan, it is important to identify the targeted audience. Since it is understood that hotel and food chains these days are the centre of attention for male and female, young and adults, children and old-aged, hence a marketing plan should not ignore any of these. Marketing can be done via television, radio, magazines, web, banners etc. However, the most successful marketing techniques these days are the use of television and internet. However, if the business is associated with services which are of particular interest of businessmen, it would be appropriate to use business magazines and banners near commercial buildings to gather more customers. Selected Marketing Strategy: Marketing mix provides the marketing managers to implement a policy which facilitates the business. It includes the research of market and customers and consists of the following important factors: Product: Since the new business involves great risks and great profits and it all depends on the marketing criterion that is used to grab the attention of people. It is important to get the attention of people in order to a successful running of the new hotel. The distinguishing feature of a product or service can easily answer the questions in the customers' mind. In case of our business, the main concern of the customers' is to have a high quality, tasty and delicious meal with a soothing and peaceful environment. The hotel we are planning to open is mapped with a wide area where people can enjoy their meal without disruptions from other people and may have enough privacy to continue with their important discussions. Moreover, the quality of food provided must be of premium standard as due to the competition, substandard quality would create a great harm to the reputation of the hotel. The aim of our hotel is to provide people with a wide variety of cuisines. In this way the hotel will be able to satisfy people having different tastes in one place. The quality of food needs not be compromised in order to avail discounts from the suppliers or by buying cheap materials. Experienced chefs are required to be appointed so that the quality and taste of food remains the same every time the customer demands for some particular dish. The menu of the restaurant also carries a great importance in paving the way of business to the success. The menu should include a variety of cuisines so that every customer may avail the food according to his taste (World hospitality, 2000). The menus of the hotel restaurant are changed after a predetermined time period to attract customers and provide them with new tastes. The newness of the food and change in the tastes may appeal the customer visit the restaurant again. Price: It is also important to calculate the price which is suitable for the products and services we provide. If we offer high prices for the substandard or normal services we provide, people will be motivated to choose an alternative. However, if there are some distinguishing features of our hotel, people may avoid choosing other places and will be motivated to pay a higher price. Since hotel industry has grown a lot and people have a wide variety of choices, it is probable that they will not agree to pay higher prices for a newly opened hotel products. In order to cope up with this problem, the management must consider the 'price skimming' policy. The prices should be kept low in the start and must be raised when it captures the attention of a wide number of people and proves itself as a competitive food provider. Another consideration is to provide people with a mix of high and low process on different products. Since our hotel aims to provide people with a wide range of cuisines, it is possible to include some items which cost really low and may be an inviting factor for youngsters and those with low income. Moreover, it is also a recommendation to provide people with discounts on the purchase of a certain amount. Similarly, people may be provided with food packages which include a number of foodstuffs with a comparatively low price. This way, the hotel will be able to increase its sales as customers normally try to avail discounts on such packages rather than paying for individual products. While taking a decision about the price of our services and products it is important to remember that people often think that 'high quality' is associated with 'high prices'. If the people around have firm believe in this concept, it is not a smart decision to keep low prices. However, the use of discount techniques and special offers may still be very helpful to increase the overall profitability. Place: The place where the service or product is available is also important. For instance, if a bookshop with all facilities and varieties of books, novels, magazines etc. is opened on the highway, it is foolish to think that people may like shopping from that shop. Hence, it is important to choose the right place for the right product and ensure its availability on the right time. For a restaurant, a successful point may be somewhere near offices, malls and universities. Most of the people working in offices do not go home for their lunches. Similarly, students take their meals after spending a tiring day at college or school. Moreover, people who are doing shopping may like to have some refreshment stuff or fast food to boost up their energy level. However, if the restaurant is in the middle of the market and such a commercial area, people may find it difficult to reach there, due to traffic and crowd. The decision of choosing a right place is difficult and requires a lot of research on a particular area before opting for it. The interior and exterior of the hotel are the aspects which clearly give the first impression to the customers. Hence, the look of the building should be unique, creative and inviting. Not only the look of the hotel should be appealing but there should be a proper cleanliness system adopted by the management in all aspects, be it the furniture, floor, bathroom, kitchen, utensils or the waiting room. Promotion: It is somehow the important 'P' of the market mix. Without a successful means of marketing it is useless to start a business having all that the customer requires. If we decide to launch a desirable product with reasonable price on a suitable place without an effective promotion plan, it is probable that the business will fail because of people's unawareness of the product. In case of hotels, it is the most important factor to introduce the distinguishing features of your business to the people. People are already habitual of visiting other restaurants and fast food chains hence, it is difficult to persuade them on trying a new one. It is important to publicize the restaurant in such a way that people may not be able to ignore its innovative and unique aspects. A successful promotion plan includes wise decision made for the advertisement of the product or service within the range of budgeted funds. Since the place of our restaurant is near universities and offices, it can be a successful decision to use broad banners near the colleges, universities and offices to attract people. Moreover, television may be another successful medium of marketing for a restaurant. A successful promotion strategy also enables the business to promote its product excellence by exposing the uniqueness of the offered products. Restaurant promotion plan may include exposure of the wide variety of products available in a single place. A restaurant with quality food, great variety of cuisines, trained staff, proper cleanliness measures and an inviting look may be successful but not necessarily. A restaurant equipped with all these factors is useless unless people know about it. Marketing is necessary to gain profits and reputation (Davis, Lockwood & Stone, 1998). Proper marketing plan should be adopted to expose the distinctive qualities of the restaurant. If the marketing plan is successful, people would automatically be motivated to move towards it. The medium of marketing should be adopted wisely. Restaurant advertisement should preferably be published in the magazines, newspapers, internet and television. Banners are also an effective tool of marketing (Riley, 2005). People: The staff training is really necessary to retain the existing customers and to attract the new ones. The way the staff behaves with the customers matters a lot. As the competition is increasing the management is concentrating more and more on staff training. Staff behavior and presentation is also one of the key factors to attract customers and hence helps creating the goodwill and brand identity which are the ultimate factors involved in taking the business to the path of success. If the attitude and behavior of staff is not satisfactory and customer's orders are not processed as they required the customer would not prefer to visit that particular hotel again. The increasing interest of people in this industry has made a number of choices available for the customers. These choices have increased the risk of losing customers (Davis, Lockwood & Stone, 1998). The customers may go for some new hotel even on minor mistakes of the staff and it may ruin the reputation of the hotel. The emphasis is placed on staff training because the staff is directly communicating to the customers and they may be a key factor to lose or gain customers by the way they deal with them. Process: Staff training is also required for timely and prompt serving of the customer's order. Moreover, the garnishing and presentation of food also requires great care (World Hospitality, 2000). The factors involved in successful running of the hotel food and beverages operation includes many more factors. However, the important factors which may help running the hotel restaurant business successfully include the proper utilization of resources, customer satisfaction, minimization of costs, high quality food, distinct and flexible menu, proper marketing of the restaurant and experienced staff (Antony, J, Antony & Ghosh, 2004). Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that successful running of the restaurants and hotels are not easy nowadays due to strong competition. The factors which may lead to high profits and customer satisfaction must be adopted. However, consideration should be given to the quality of food. The quality and taste should not be compromised at any cost. Every customer should be treated respectfully. The demands of customers should be fulfilled and suggestions should be taken sincerely. All these aspects should be adopted efficiently in order to achieve and maintain the success of the business. Moreover, the culture, religion and food habits of the region also matters a lot. The people's choice of food should be taken in to account. Bibliography: TEPECI, M. (1999). Increasing brand loyalty in the hospitality industry. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT. 11, 223-229. BOONE, J. M. (1997). Hotel-Restaurant Co-Branding -- A Preliminary Study. The Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly. 38, 34. CASPER, C. (1995). Confirmed reservations. Restaurant Business, Vol. 94 No. 17, pp 109-118 DAVIS, B., LOCKWOOD, A., & STONE, S. (1998). Food and beverage management. Oxford [England], Butterworth-Heinemann. WORLD HOSPITALITY. (2000). Staff relations & training. Seattle, World Hospitality. RILEY, M. (2005). Food and beverage management: A review of change. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 17, 88-93. ANTONY, J., ANTONY, F. J., & GHOSH, S. (2004). Evaluating service quality in a UK hotel chain: a case study. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. 16, 380-384. Read More