Sam & Spike’s Diner Promotional Plan

Sam & Spike’s Diner Promotional Plan

Introduction

Sam & Spike’s Diner is a locally owned restaurant that is soon to be opened. The restaurant has a specialty in offering lunch, dinner, and breakfast and gives the flair and feel of Dinner in the 1950’s. Additionally, the restaurant also has an outdoor eating area where the customers in their car can be served by waitresses on roller-skates. The location of the restaurant will be near Ulmerton corner in Largo. The pricing of the items in the restaurant will be moderate and other modes of payments that will be accepted other than cash include MasterCard and Visa.

This document will act as a promotion plan for Sam & Spike’s Diner restaurant. A promotion plan provides the strategies of attracting hungry customers to a restaurant. The plan will contain the strategies that the restaurant will use to market its products. It will also be detailed enough. The promotional plan will help in launching the restaurant successfully into the new market. The plan will be instrumental in executing the strategies of marketing and in ensuring the objectives are met. The promotional plan will, therefore, be an integral part of the restaurant launch.

Promotional Objectives

Create awareness – Since the restaurant is new and will be offering new products, this is one of the major objectives of the promotional plan. The initiative promotion efforts will focus on creating an identity (Types of Promotion Objectives, 2018). In this situation specifically, the focus of the promotion will be to ensure the customers get the message and to inform the market about the restaurant and what it is offering.

Create Interest – It can be a challenge to move a customer form product awareness to make a purchase. For customers or business to make a purchase, they must first realize that they have a need. The promotion will focus on creating messages that convince the customers that a need exists. While this is one of the marketing hallmarks, promotion appeals to the customers from basic human characteristics such as emotions, humor, and fear.

Provide information – The promotion will target to inform the customers of the place and process of purchase. The information aims to inform the customers what products are being offered and may be used in product positioning. In that regard, the promotion will directly compare the restaurant’s products with those of the competitors. This enables the customers to mentally differentiate the products from those of competitors.

Entice trial – The promotion will be structured in such a way as to drive customers to make purchases. Since the customers have not made any purchase of the restaurant products previously, the promotions will direct them to try the product (Types of Promotion Objectives, 2018). This can be done by offering free meals on the day of launching to have the customers have a taste and feel of the restaurant and its products.

Building traffic – This objective aims to increase the website traffic of the restaurant. This will be done by enabling discounted online purchases and package purchases such as a business dinner package.

Customer Identification and Description

Every restaurant attracts certain customers in their target market, for instance, research on the beach attracts people who like eating fish and are well off. A burger joint that has a drive-up window, on the other hand, will attract people in a hurry to get to work or an appointment. Every group that the restaurant targets should see different promotional message types. The aim of this is to make them feel that the restaurant has offering for the food that they prefer. Proper identification of the target is a critical aspect of the promotional plan.

There are many reasons and arguments present for organizations and businesses to carry out customer identification and analysis. A good number of organizations are the victims who believe that they know and understand their customers because their interaction with them happens on a daily basis (ADBASE, 2018). The reality is not always the same as can be seen in how business is caught unawares when the major sectors in the market decline. To this extent, the promotional plan identifies the targeted customers, the services and products that they may desire, and how.

The restaurant business premise projects to serve between 80 and 100 customers on a daily basis. The likely customers to purchase from the restaurant are business persons, executives, families, and organization employees. Due to the old-school look and feel of the restaurant, it will attract elderly persons between fifty and seventy years old. It will also attract young couples and old couples who are looking for the old-fashioned experience. The restaurant will aim to hook the customers through the customer services that will be exceptional. The restaurant cuisine is also intended to make the customers come for more. The workers who are late for work will be able to be served in their cars as they rush to work. Most of such purchases are foreseen to be in the morning.

According to Gomez (2013), most of the decisions to purchase a product are due to habit than loyalty to the brand. Because of this, the restaurant will offer lunch Prix fix at competitively low costs to purchase the products to be a habit. There are some wayward customers who make purchases due to their variety-seeking nature. Such customer who makes it to the restaurant will receive five-star treatment to make them always come back for more. However, the promotion will focus on families, couples, individual adults, business executives, and office workers.

Message Description and Branding

The slogan at Sam & Spike’s Diner Restaurant “An experience to keep you coming back” focuses on giving the customers services more than merely a restaurant. The restaurant features an old-fashioned look and feel. It features an astounding European menu coupled closely with American influence and has an atmosphere that is cozy. Whether you are in a hurry or have time in your hands, the restaurant has something for you. The restaurant menu has specialties from different cuisines. A wide variety of clientele will be appealed to by the restaurant. Apart from the regular menu, there is also an offering that will be offered.

At some point, during the day, whatever you do, young to dine. After a busy day, the restaurant offers a place to dine. Close attention is paid to branding to make the restaurant memorable to the visitors’ eyes. For the customers to come, they must be able to remember every detail. The details of the restaurant and the loge will be connected in a unique style and will be everywhere – glasses, cutlery, paper bags, cups, business cards, and menu among others (How to Make a Promotion Plan for a Restaurant, 2018). Whether the customers eat their food in the restaurant or buy takeaway food, the customers will have the prime design of the restaurant in their eyesight.

Advertising Strategies

Due to the fierce competition in the restaurant industry, Sam & Spike’s Diner restaurant will use numerous advertising strategies to get attention from hungry customers online.

Photos that are a foodie

This is arguably one for the best ways of promoting a restaurant online. It uses high-quality photos of the foods being offered. These pictures will be placed strategically on the restaurant’s website and spread all across the social media websites. Such pictures focus on attracting hungry eyes.

Loyalty programs

The restaurant will consider partnering with online food applications to be part of the promotion strategy. Partnership with such applications encourages customers to visit the restaurant and check the offerings. The applications will also incorporate offers for first-time visitors at discounted prices for a given number of times. The loyalty programs will make customers feel appreciated and they will be more likely to purchase from the restaurant again.

Ads that are Geo-targeted

Because most restaurant only targets consumers in their local environment, it shows that most people look for good meal offerings close to home. The geo-targeted ads will give the restaurant more value and will make the efforts of online marketing The ads that are geo-targeted will save the business money because only the users in and around the restaurant and city radius will see the ads. This eliminates the clicks that are not relevant which may cost the business additional costs.

Email Newsletter

Email newsletters offer a good way of reaching the customers who leave their contact details or those who subscribe to the newsletters. The newsletters will be sent only once a month because customers prefer inboxes that is less flooded. The newsletters will give the restaurant a chance to share special discounts, discuss new menu items, and celebrate a significant milestone. The newsletter will follow a template that will be designed by one of the website developers of the website.

Monitoring presence on social media

In today’s world, social media marketing strategies are an undeniable force. It is not enough to drop pamphlets and delivery menus under doorways. For the restaurant to fare above or at par with the rest, it will establish a strong social media presence as part of the promotional plan. Due to the competitive nature of the food industry, the restaurant would wither and die if it ignored social media promotion. The first step will be to create Facebook and Twitter accounts to enable the sharing of photos of new dishes, exclusive coupons, and promoting the staff. Keeping up activity on the account is the other half of the job. The restaurant will use freely available social media tools to keep the customers engaged.

Outreach to Food Bloggers

One of the promotional objectives was generating traffic to the restaurant website, and it might not be easy. In that regard, the restaurant will invite food bloggers to the restaurant to get a try on the meal. They will be greeted by a free appetizer at the door and followed closely by a free meal (Top Restaurant Sales Techniques, 2018). Afterward, they will be politely asked if they would be willing to review the restaurant and share their experience with their followers online. Some bloggers have large numbers of followers, getting their reviews can have huge promotional benefits.

Functional Online Menu

Customers like searching for products online before visiting a restaurant. The restaurant will, therefore, now make the users have a hard time finding the menu. An accurate and high-quality menu that is easy to read and is up to date will be created and availed online. There are free and paid tools that the restaurant will be able to use to make the menu available. The menu will be published on the restaurant’s website because this is often the first piece of information-hungry customers look for when they visit the site. The online menu is so important that the other promotional strategies would not have much use if it were absent. If the restaurant does not have an online menu, customers will basically look elsewhere.

Discounts and Coupons

The restaurant will provide discounts and coupons as a way of bringing customers back to the restaurant, and attracting new customers. The new email newsletter subscribers will be offered a free dish.

Mobile Advertisements

Google has predicted that half of the clicks on their advertisements will come from mobile. Mobile ads are a great way for restaurants to target potential customers because users are always on the move while looking from the best places of dining. Apart from the mobile ads being cheaper than desktop ads, impressive conversion rates are also witnessed in mobile ads than any other online advertisements. The flexibility of the mobile ads from Google will be a great way for the restaurant to allow targeting and customization of the ads. For instance, around dinner time the ads will be increased and targeted to the users in the restaurant’s locality since this is the time when users are looking for fast foods on their phones.

Online Reservations

For a restaurant like Sam & Spike’s Diner, online reservation tools must be implemented. Such tools enable the customer to book reservations online, or through phone calls. Patrons prefer it when life is made easier for them. The online reservation tools will also help to track and reward loyal customers.

Sales promotion

Up-selling

The waiters will make simple and appropriate suggestions to customers to make the meals better and increase the guest check. The waiters will be well-trained to know their menu and prices. This will enable them to increase the guest check by several dollars and at the same time, they will improve their overall dining experience. For instance, if a waiter orders a dish priced at $5, the additional toppings of $2, the waiter may suggest a super deluxe which is $10. The patron who asks for a cola is offered a large one.

Down-selling

Although the target of the restaurant is to make more sales, sometimes the best way to do so can be to downsell. This will be applied to the patrons who want an alternative that is more economical. The waiters will be able to see that a patron is reluctant to make an order on the premium menu items. For example, when a customer seems reluctant to order a $20 filet mignon entree and is considering ordering a chicken dish worth $8, the waiter will suggest an alternative to filet that costs less.

Promotion specials

Another way the restaurant intends to feel the dining room is to label the dishes that customers covet as “limited time only.” These meals will be on offer or be available seasonally. When the customers see that, they will know it will be available for a limited time and they are likely to take advantage of the offer while it exists.

Events and Promotions

When surveyed, people reported that they would rather spend money on experiences that on things. Because of this Sam & Spike’s Diner will hold events with delicious food and libations as a good start. Because people value a nice experience, the restaurant event will hold events that are memorable and unforgettable filled with delicious food and drinks. The events will be made exclusive. Most of those who attend food and drink events want some sort of special dining that is small and secretive. The more exclusive the opening is the more special those who will attend feel.

The events will be made special through better VIP experiences. Those who go to festivals are willing to pay more to get the exclusive experience and festival access. This will be made possible by the creation of custom VIP packages early bird discounts and other standard price variations. The venue where the events will be held will be memorable. The events will be held in spaces that are non-traditional such as vineyards or warehouses. The focus is on creating an unforgettable day.

Public Relations

These are the activities intended to create a good image of Sam & Spike’s Diner to the general public. This will ensure that the relationship between the brand and the public is good and, therefore attracting new customers to the organization. The Sam & Spike’s Diner will form a team whose purpose will be to organize events that will see Sam & Spike’s Diner engage in communal activities and hence creating a positive image of the organization to the public. This team will have the mandate to perform the functions discussed below.

News releases

The team will have the responsibility to ensure that the news about Sam & Spike’s Diner reaches the potential customers. This will ensure that the customers are informed of the activities and plans of the organization hence feeling part of it (Top Restaurant Sales Techniques, 2018). It will encourage customer involvement in the organization’s activities which will strengthen the bond between the public and the organization hence attracting customers. Ensuring that the public is informed of Sam & Spike’s Diner activities will also make the activities a success

Arranging interviews

The team will work closely with the media to arrange interviews for Sam & Spike’s Diner spokespeople. This will give the spokespeople a chance to market the organization to the public. The team will also act as the spokespeople of Sam & Spike’s Diner giving the public important information about the organization. This will give the public a chance to better understand the goals of the organization hence feeling accommodated. This will likely attract more people to the organization.

Writing speeches

The PR team will be responsible for researching on the interests of the public and ensuring that it is covered by the company’s spokespeople in their speeches. They will be involved in writing the speeches to ascertain that crucial public issues are handled. This will increase the customer confidence in the organization hence making a strong customer bond. It will also make the customers feel valued by the organization which is good for the progress of Sam & Spike’s Diner.

Preparing press conferences

The team will select the most appropriate time and venue for the press conferences. They will then ensure that the customers and the press are aware of the press conferences and the matters to be addressed. They will prepare the Sam & Spike’s Diner leaders for the press conference to ensure that they give the responses that meet the public expectation. This will provide the platform for interaction between the organization’s management and the public which increases the public confidence in the organization.

Direct marketing

The organization will design ways to communicate to potential customers directly. This may involve sending customers direct messages about the organization’s products. Direct messages can be sent through emails, cell phone texting, newspapers, and online marketing. These messages sent to the customers will be personalized so that the customers feel valued and recognized (Top Restaurant Sales Techniques, 2018). The marketing team will be responsible for ensuring that the best way of communicating with the customers is established. The messages will also have to be regulated as they may be naissance to some customers.

Interactive marketing

The Sam & Spike’s Diner marketing team will study the customer behavior and patterns then design a way of reacting to this pattern as a marketing strategy. Research shows that this type of marketing is more effective than other marketing strategies hence it is believed that it will have a greater impact on the brand establishment of Sam & Spike’s Diner. The customers will be enticed by the opinion that the organization is making efforts to meet their personal preferences. The marketing team will carry out detailed research to establish customer behavior and preferences. The methods that will be applied in the direct marketing have been discussed below.

Interactive storytelling

This may involve mixed media elements that convey the information about the organization to the public. The mixed media elements may involve the use of animations to tell a story that passes the relevant information to the customer. In the case of Sam & Spike’s Diner, this will involve using short videos on the organization’s website to convey important messages. This is a more interactive way of passing information to the customers as opposed to the traditional long-text advertisement.

Personalized content

Advanced technology will be used to gather detailed information about the target customers which will be used to develop personalized messages to them. This may involve messages that refer to the customers by their names. Research reveals that customers tend to relate more to personalized messages than general messages. This will also reveal the consumption pattern of the customers hence marketing to them the products that best suit them. This will reduce the cost of sending marketing messages to customers who don’t associate with various products.

Layered information

The marketing team will educate the customers about the brand. This will involve giving the customers bits of information from time to time, increasing the layers of the information given to the consumers each time hence layered information (ADBASE, 2018). The consumers will be educated about the goals of the organization and its operations. Customers who are educated about a brand will tend to associate more with the brand.

Two-way interaction

This marketing strategy will give a consumer room to participate in the marketing activities. This will ensure that a consumer is an active party in the marketing of the brand. This may involve the use of quizzes where either the users will be required to respond to or ask questions. The organization will also organize communal events that will encourage the users to engage in the organization’s events.

Word of mouth

This will involve Sam & Spike’s Diner encouraging their customers to spread the word about their services to other individuals. The encouragement can be in the form of offering incentives to the customers who encourage new customers to come (ADBASE, 2018). This can be determined by asking a new customer about where they got the information about the services at the firm. The company will also come up with membership clubs that will bond members to Sam & Spike’s Diner.

Personal selling

The promotion team at Sam & Spike’s Diner will hire specialists who will look to meet the potential customers face to face to entice them to buy the organization’s products. These specialists will aim at encouraging the customers to accept the products through their attitude towards the product, their appearance, and special knowledge. This will entice the customers to accept the new idea brought to the market by Sam & Spike’s Diner.

Promotion budget estimates and deadlines

Key promotion channels

• Messaging and branding the Sam & Spike’s Diner products
• Loyalty offers to the customers
• Geo-targeted online marketing with high-quality online photos
• Direct mailing of potential customers
• Establishing a social media presence and enticing food bloggers
• Event hosting
• Hiring marketing specialists

Deadlines

October 1, 2018- October 15, 2018 (Brand establishment)

The company will hire branding specialists who will develop a strong brand for the organization and attach the message to all the company’s packages. The team is expected to have established a strong brand in a period of two weeks.

October 16, 2018- October 30, 2018 (Online presence)

The company will hire online specialists who will be responsible for identifying online media for advertisement. The team will design messages to be posted on the online platform together with attractive photos and short videos. They will also come up with the social media platform where Sam & Spike’s Diner will interact with the potential customers. The team is expected to have built a strong online presence in two weeks period.

October 16, 2018- October 30, 2018 (Messaging the potential customers)

The online marketing team will send emails and messages to the individuals who will have responded to the company’s online activity. These emails will be personalized and will look to create a relationship between Sam & Spike’s Diner and the potential customers. They will also ensure that they gather enough information about the potential customers.

November 2, 2018 (grand launching event)

Sam & Spike’s Diner will host a mega event that will mark its official lounge. The company will invite key personality to the event to make it colorful. All the potential customers whose information will be gathered by the online marketing team will be invited through emails and text messages. The event will be advertised in the local media and public rallies.

Estimated promotion budget

Channel	estimated cost
Branding	$25000
online presence establishment	$25000
Messaging of the potential customers	$50000
the grand launching event	$100000
Other promotion activities                   $50000
Total cost	$250000

Expected results

The company is expected to attract between 50- 70 customers per day through the above-discussed activities in the first week of its operation. The customers will then be used to reach new customers as one of the marketing strategies of the company.

Conclusion

This marketing plan is a vital tool for the startup of Sam & Spike’s Diner as it lays out a clear plan on how the company intends to set up a new market. Most startup organizations struggle in the market because they lack a clear market plan. This plan will save the company the struggle in the market as they will simply have to implement the plan to establish a strong presence among the customers.

References

ADBASE | Blog | How to Create a Promotional Plan. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.adbase.com/Blog/Marketing-Planning/PromotionalPlan

How to Make a Promotion Plan for a Restaurant. (2018). Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/make-promotion-plan-restaurant-70414.html

Top Restaurant Sales Techniques. (2018). Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/top-restaurant-sales-techniques-21408.html

Types of Promotion Objectives – KnowThis.com. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.knowthis.com/promotion-decisions/types-of-promotion-objectives/

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Students will have a Final Project due the Tuesday of Week 8 – NOT Sunday!! Students MUST start this project in Week 1. Please note this is not a team project, and students are expected to allocate a few hours EACH week to this project.

The objective of this project is for students to develop a Promotional Plan for a soon-to-open, locally-owned restaurant named “Sam & Spike’s Diner,” which specializes in breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with the feel and flair of a 1950s Diner, including an outdoor eating area where customers can stay in their car and be served by a waitress on roller-skates. It will be conveniently located in Largo, near the corner of Ulmerton and 19. It is moderately priced, will serve alcohol, and will accept Visa & MasterCard.

Students will need to submit one deliverable for this final project, which will be a 12-16-page promotional plan. Students will need to define the objectives in detail, which include – at a minimum – creating awareness, enticing trial, and building traffic.

There is not a formal template to follow for this project, as students have “Creative Freedom” and thus are expected to build their own outline as part of this learning exercise. Students should incorporate what has been learned in the course material, concepts from the text, and student research of other promotional plans. As a gauge, the budget for this “Grand Opening” promotional plan is $250,000. Students should consider the following tools when building the promotional plan: 1) Advertising, 2) Sales Promotion, 3) Events and Experiences, 4) PR, 5) Direct Marketing, 6) Interactive Marketing, 7) Word-of-mouth, 8) Personal Selling. Remember, detail and caliber count for grading!