Running Heading: El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment Marketing Plan Student: Elizabeth Maidment Professor: Dr. Karen Mountain Course: Marketing Management (MKT 500) Date: Saturday, July 19, 2014 1 El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 2 Company Introduction Welcome to EL's Hell Fire Kitchen! We are a restaurant in Murfreesboro, TN that is dedicated to all things hot and spicy. We like to refer to our cooking as \"Melting your Face.\" We specialize in a product called \"Hot Chicken.\" This is a Nashville specialty that combines cyanine pepper and some secret ingredients. We also offer several unique menu items (all with a kick) and some hard to find canned or pickled items for our local chili heads. EL's Hell Fire Chicken wasn't created for the faint of heart or faint of tongue! We have a captured audience near to our location from the Middle Tennessee State University. Our target market segment would be 20 - 24 year olds looking for something spicy to prove their culinary chops. We run monthly contests (with prizes) to entice the crowds and post the results on our Facebook page. We have seen a 20% increase in sales over a 5 year period and are able increase our market shares for our shareholders by 3%. We are a family owned and run restaurant located at 536 N Thompson Lane in beautiful Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We specialize in extremely hot and spicy food. We currently employ 2 full-time and 3 part-time employees. Elizabeth Maidment, owner and operator, will be in charge of all functions of the restaurant. This will include cooking, cleaning, advertizing, promotions and vision of the restaurant. She manages the daily operations and serves as head cook and financial advisor. She is in charge of marketing events and promotional contests. Elizabeth writes a daily tweet on Twitter about what the menu item of the day will be and keep up the company's Facebook page. Rodney Rounds is the business manager. His duties include hiring, promoting and managing the staff. He is in charge of scheduling and staffing the restaurant and also is in charge of inventory. There are 3 part-time employees that assist with customer requests, cleaning and prepping food. Detailed Environmental Analysis Competitive Forces Murfreesboro has an estimated 450 restaurants to choose from. There are no restaurants dedicated only to hot and spicy food. As a college town, there are several hot wing restaurants. Some of the national chains are Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Zone and Hooters. There are also several local restaurants that offer hot wings such as Slick Pig BBQ, Kirkenburts BBQ and 3 Brothers Brew house. Our major competitor is Buffalo Wild Wings. They are a restaurant dedicated to wings, beer and sports. Started in 1982, they currently have 14 different flavors of hot wings that are spicy. [ CITATION Buf14 \\l 1033 ] They offer several other menu items that you can put the hot and spicy sauce on, but the flavors do not change and the items are all protein based. We differentiate our business by offering several different menu items that are hot and spicy such as spicy fried mac and cheese balls, spicy hot dogs and sausages and spicy chocolate ice cream. Economic Forces The number of food and beverage establishments declined in the United States from 149,000 - 147,000 from 2002 - 2007 according to the Statistical Abstract of the United States El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 3 Table 756, P.499.[ CITATION Sta \\l 1033 ] It is expensive to own and run any business. With a business that has perishable items, such as food it is difficult to predict your inventory. According to American Fact Finder, Murfreesboro Tennessee's median income is $61,304. Our target market of 20 - 24 year olds make up 7.5% of the population. [ CITATION USC13 \\l 1033 ] According to the 2010 census, the population of Murfreesboro is 109,172 residents. That an increase from the 2000 census from 68,816. The unemployment rate is 8.6%. Of course if your customers don't have a job or an income they won't be very good customers. Political Forces Politics in Murfreesboro are at a high pitch. We are currently in an election year and many candidates are attempting to influence the vote. One of the trends that we see is politicians giving interviews at local restaurants. This can be a vital boost to the establishment if the politician is in good standing. But if you are on the other side of the camp from this politician as a customer you may not want to contribute to that establishment's success. Legal and Regulatory Forces There are several licenses, permits, fees and inspections that must be maintained to establish a restaurant in Murfressboro, TN. One thing that is unique to the town is its historical buildings. This plays a role in where you are able to set up a restaurant and what types of food you are able to serve. Selling alcohol is still outlawed in some counties in Tennessee. It is important to get all the information about where and what you are legal to sell before attempting to set up any type of business. Technology Forces Social Media can play a vital role in the success or failure of a restaurant, especially if it is not a major chain restaurant. There are many websites that assist consumers by having other consumers write reviews. These are websites such as Trip Advisor, Yelp, Zagat, Urban spoon and Open Table. When a customer gives you a great review, it is free advertising for the restaurant. But when you get a bad review, this is the negative publicity that no restaurant wants or needs. Customers are fickle and you can't please everyone all the time. In a case study done by the First Monday Journal in April of 2014, on Yelp.com alone there were almost 900,000 reviews from 6,548 restaurants. [ CITATION Jur14 \\l 1033 ] Technology can also be used as a marketing tool. You can sign up for a free account on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and My Space. These are websites where you can post menu items and have interactions with customers even if they are not directly in your store. A service that you can provide customers is the use of wi-fi. This is another way to get customers in the door. Social Cultural Forces In order to have a successful business, you must know your audience. We are an ever changing culture in the United States. It is important to be aware and sensitive to other cultures with who we share our society. Using terminology that does not offend your customers can be difficult if you are not aware of the culture. There are other segments of the population to El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 4 consider as well. Something that appeals to one age group may not appeal to another or to male verses a female. In the 37130 zip code there are 2 target markets that are predominate. Based on Nielson's PRIZM software, the lifestyles of these markets are described below: Lower Mid Middle Age w/o Kids Affordable housing, abundant entry-level jobs, and a thriving singles scene--all have given rise to the Boomtown Singles segment in fast-growing satellite cities. Single and working-class, these residents pursue active lifestyles amid sprawling apartment complexes, bars, convenience stores, and laundromats. Upper Mid Middle Age w/o Kids Widely scattered across the nation's suburbs, the residents of Home Sweet Home tend to be upper-middle-class married couples living in mid-sized homes without children. The adults in the segment, mostly under 55, have gone to college and hold professional and white-collar jobs. With their upper-middle-class incomes and small families, these folks have fashioned comfortable lifestyles, filling their homes with exercise equipment, TV sets, and pets. Target Market 4Ps, 5Cs and STP The overall population of Murfreesboro is depicted by the table below from the American Factfinder. However this is an unsegmented look at the population. To be successful we have paired down this population to 2 demographic groups. Our primary target market is the college aged segment. Population Estimates by Age 2012 Murfreesboro city, Tennessee Estimate SEX AND AGE Total population Percen t 109,172 Male Female 53,639 55,533 109,17 2 49.1% 50.9% Under 5 years 5 to 9 years 10 to 14 years 15 to 19 years 20 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 59 years 7,468 7,034 6,568 8,657 14,665 19,606 14,143 12,436 4,571 6.8% 6.4% 6.0% 7.9% 13.4% 18.0% 13.0% 11.4% 4.2% El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 60 to 64 years 65 to 74 years 75 to 84 years 85 years and over Median age (years) RACE One race White Black or African American American Indian and Alaska Native Asian Hispanic or Latino (of any race) 5 4,463 5,680 2,580 1,301 29.3 4.1% 5.2% 2.4% 1.2% (X) 38,606 32,529 4,662 22 96.8% 81.5% 11.7% 0.1% 1,098 39,889 2.8% 39,889 Source: Factfinder2.census.gov [ CITATION USC13 \\l 1033 ] , This target market is congruent with the primary residents of the zip code for 536 N Thompson Lane, our location. This is a strip mall that is located close to the busy corner of Medical Center Parkway and Thompson Lane. This is the only place in Murfreesboro where you can find some of our unique products. EL's Hell Fire Kitchen targeted customers are population segments of males and females from 20 - 24 years old. Murfreesboro Tennessee Population Information in Zip Code 37130 The price is important for this segment. College students don't generally have a lot of money and everything on our menu is under $20.00 with most items averaging around $5.00. We also offer monthly contests and promotions to encourage targeted customers to come to our restaurant. Come check out our \"Wall of Flame!\" Our most popular contest is the \"Fried Ghost Pepper Challenge!\" This is targeted to very specific customers who want to \"Melt their Face.\" We actually have them sign a waiver before they are able to compete in the challenge. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 6 Murfreesboro Tennessee Income Information in Zip Code 37130 2014 Nielsen PRIZM Segmentation System, The Nielsen Company, MyBestSegments retrieved 08/14/2014 https://segmentationsolutions.nielsen.com/mybestsegments/. They are Middle Tennessee State University students. Their attitude towards the product is a challenge! Because they are at an impressionable age, they may want to impress their peers or a potential mate. They are also interested in fame and glory. Having their picture posted in a public place is appealing to them. They are cash conscious and have several choices on our vast menu. Our company is known for having the hottest food in town. What we do well is combine heat with flavor. Not all companies can be successful at this. If we are successful in this location, we would like to start expanding to other locations, preferably in towns with universities or high schools. The context of the environment is a stable economy. Murfreesboro is growing! We are using Facebook and Twitter to get the word out about our restaurant. Many of our customers have posted 5-star reviews on websites such as Yelp.com and TripAdvisor.com. We are collaborators with different food distribution companies such as Sysco, Royal foods and GFS stores. Even though there are over 450 restaurants to choose from in the Murfreesboro area, our competitors don't have the spicy southern style that makes our restaurant unique. Kirkenburt's BBQ won \"Best Buffalo Wings in Murfreesboro\" in 2013. We plan on taking that title away from them this year by positioning the quality of our products. We also have the largest selection of hot and spicy products than any other restaurant in Murfreesboro. Secondary Market 4Ps, 5Cs and STP The secondary market that we are targeting is made up of several segments. These customers would be on the fringe of our target market. Their demographics would be an older part of the population or a very young part of the population. Perhaps some of them have medical issues that wouldn't allow them to eat things that are hot and spicy. They could also be too young to understand the concept of eating hot and spicy foods. We have products that they would be able to eat with very little spice in them such as fried chicken with just a little kick. They would also enjoy our low prices on these menu items. We offer a meal plan promotion for students and a frequent flyer card for non-students. These customers would be few and far El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 7 between, so it would not be very economically wise for the company to put much money into marketing for them. Murfreesboro Tennessee Household Information in Zip Code 37130 2014 Nielsen PRIZM Segmentation System, The Nielsen Company, MyBestSegments retrieved 08/14/2014 https://segmentationsolutions.nielsen.com/mybestsegments/. Short Term and Long Term Goals Our short term goals are as follows: - We would like to be the first restaurant that our targeted customer market thinks of when it comes to value and late night food. To do this, we will stay open until 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 4 am Friday and Saturday. - We would like to have a televised \"Ghost Pepper Eating\" contest to promote our company by June 2015. We will partner with the local television news station to create a segment on the nightly news. - We would like to collect email addresses of our customers and create a mailing list. We will put a mailing list signup sheet at the counter and on the website to do this. - We will like to be featured on a Travel Channel or Food Network show for hot and spicy food. We can do this by encouraging our customer to contact these organizations and rave about their experience. We will measure our performance based off of the following benchmarks: - We would like to see our late night sales increase from 25% to 50% of revenue by the end of 2014. This can be accomplished by increasing flyers to the student areas on the Middle Tennessee State University campus. - We would like to increase website visitors by 75% in our target market by June 2015. We will partner with Google.com and Ask.com to be the number one search item with the key words \"Murfreesboro, hot, food and spicy.\" - By June 2015 we would like to have an increase in menu downloads from our website by 60%. We will partner with Menus.com to be the number one search item with the key words \"Murfreesboro, hot, food and spicy.\" Our long term goals are as follows: - By June of 2019 we would like to have 50% of the target market eating in our restaurant instead of our competitors. This can be accomplished by increasing our online presence with more Twitter tweets and interactions with Facebook. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment - 8 During 2019 we would like to open a second location in an additional college town. The location is to be named later We would like to have regular appearances on Food Network shows, highlighting us as the premier spicy food locale. By 2019 we should be exploring co-branding opportunities for bottled sauces and frozen foods for retail sale. S.W.O.T Analysis Strengths: - We provide a unique dining experience for the adventurous diner. We are the only restaurant in Murfreesboro dedicated to spicy food. - Our pricing structure is low. Menu items range from $20.00 to $3.00 with most items averaging around $5.00. - We are the only non fast food option that is open until 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 4 am Friday and Saturday. - We offer promotions and contests to get customers in the door and utilize technology to promote these to our customers. Weaknesses: - We have only 5 employees. If anyone gets sick, it is hard to cover the shift for that employee. - We currently use an outdated system to take orders and keep track of inventory. - We have limited seating in the restaurant. There are 10 tables and 4 booths for customer seating. - Customers may not want to eat items that are hot and spicy. We lose this part of the market based on our concept. Opportunity: - We have the opportunity to gain part of the health food market by offering healthy choices and nutritional information on our menus. Spicy food can increase your metabolism. - We have the opportunity to gain another part of the market by offering delivery options to our customers. - We have the opportunity to increase our lunch sales by offering lunch specials and catering options for businesses and parties. - We have the opportunity to increase traffic to our website by offering incentives for multiple visits and downloads. Threats: - Competitors in our area are offering more hot and spicy options on their menus. \"Hot Chicken\" is a Nashville Original and very popular in the surrounding areas. - New restaurants opening in the area are also a threat. There is usually higher customer traffic to new restaurants in Murfreesboro. - Consistently rising prices on supplies for the restaurant may result in an increase in our prices. - Local and federal laws for minimum wages may also increase and result in an increase in our prices. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 9 References Bureau, U. C. (n.d.). American Fact Finder. Retrieved 2013, from United States Census Bureau: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml? pid=ACS_12_5YR_DP05 Jurasky, D., Chahuneau, V., Routledge, B. R., & Smith, N. A. (2014). Narrative framing of consumer sentiment in online restaurant reviews. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago . Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website-Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website: http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/index.aspx?nid=515 States, S. A. (n.d.). Statistical Abstract of the United States. Retrieved from census.gov: http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/business.pdf Wings, B. W. (2014). Buffalo Wild Wings Menu. Retrieved from Buffalo Wild Wings Menu: http://www.buffalowildwings.com/menu/wings Running Heading: El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 1 Mark Plan eting Student: Elizabeth Maidment Professor: Dr. Karen Mountain Course: Marketing Management (MKT 500) Date: Saturday, July 19, 2014 Branding Strategy- Name, Logo, Slogan and Product Extension EL's Hell Fire Kitchen is a local, family owned restaurant. We are located in Murfreesboro, TN. We only serve items on our menu that are hot and spicy! We cater to college students, foodies and chili heads. If you are looking for something different for lunch, dinner or that after hour's meal, this is the place to go. We have extended hours on the weekends to cater to those individuals who have had an evening of fun and frivolity and need to have some food that will get them focused! We have several different contests to help anyone who isn't quite sure El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 2 they can handle the spice. We also have a tasting bar for all of our different levels of heat. This will allow the customer to get a good idea of what they are getting themselves into. There is one exception; our \"Atomic Bomb\" spice is not on the tasting bar. In fact, you have to sign a waiver to be able to taste this spice! We do not recommend that anyone who has heart problems, pregnant or has digestive problems to attempt to taste this spice. Even if you are fully capable to enjoy this spice, know that you do so at your own risk! Remember our slogan is \"Come beat the heat!\" Here is our logo: EL's Hell Fire Kitchen is in the franchising business. Our product extension plan is to expand several different restaurants into different towns and states. We are currently working on a store in the area of Knoxville, TN near the University of Tennessee campus. We are open to other franchise locations. Come visit us on the web at www.beattheheat.com. We have information on how you can be the next franchisee! Brand Strategy EL's Hell Fire Kitchen uses a secret combination of spices to get your palate watering. We do things a little different from our competition! First, we never freeze anything. Everything El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 3 that you put in your face is fresh. This includes our spices! We roast and dry our spices ourselves. This gives us the ability to decide how hot we are going to make our vittles. Second, we are dedicated to only having items on the menu with spice. You may go to a restaurant that has one or two hot dishes on their menu, but when you come to our kitchen everything on the menu is spicy! This includes drink items as well. You can have our Mexican hot chocolate or our habanero chocolate shake. We also have desserts that have a kick. From our jalapeno cheesecake to our chocolate dipped ghost peppers. Develop a Marketing Strategy with Execution Timeframes EL's Hell Fire Kitchen will develop a marketing strategy around our target market segment; males and females from 20 - 24 years old. They are Middle Tennessee State University students. Their attitude towards our product is a challenge! Promotion EL's Hell Fire Kitchen will start our marketing strategy July 25, 2014. That is approximately one month before the Fall Semester for Middle Tennessee State University. This will help us establish our brand to our customers and create brand awareness: - We will partner with Middle Tennessee State University to include our marketing material in the student orientation guides that are sent to the students one month before the fall semester begins. This material will contain a menu with a \"first time\" coupon attached that will expire on September 25th, our website information and directions to - our location. These same pamphlets will be placed in student centers on the campus starting on August 25th when the semester begins. These areas will include the cafeteria, dorms and at the student center. We will partner with the student newspaper to print these coupons for the first edition that will be delivered on August 30th. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment - 4 We will use our Social Media: Facebook, YouTube, Pintrest, Twitter and www.beattheheat.com to promote our location. On our website we will have a calendar - with upcoming events for August and September that will be published on August 1st. We will promote our first contest that we will be running for the year. To do this, we will partner with the campus radio and television stations. We will conduct an interview at our location and challenge the host or reporter to try our heat levels live on air on August 31st! Once we have sufficiently burned the host/reporter we will initiate a challenge to the students that are viewing/listening to the \"Come beat the heat contest\" on September 5th. Additional promotions within the next 6 months: - After the \"Come beat the heat contest\" on September 5th. We will put up our \"Wall of Flame\" for the year. The first winner will get an honorary spot with their picture and - name framed. The next contest will be on October 31st. We will partner with the local television station and newspaper to do a story on the \"Come beat the heat contest\" and use this as advertising for our next contest. We will continue to partner with the university's television and newspaper to promote the next - contest on October 31st. We will enlarge our market segment by taking our literature to local high schools and bars in the area. We will theme the contest as the \"Ghost Pepper\" contest since this will - be on Halloween October 31st. We will also offer a prize for the best \"spicy costume.\" We will be having our third contest right before the winter break on December 12th. By the time we have this contest, we should have a loyal following of students and bar crowd. Positioning Statement El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 5 There are several restaurants in our area (approximately 450). You can have Greek food, southern soul food, Italian food, Mexican food, French cuisine and even Ethiopian food in Murfreesboro, TN. But there is only one restaurant where you will find a way to heighten your palate and ignite your feast; EL's Hell Fire Kitchen! We are the only restaurant that has a spice in every item on our menu. Other restaurants can offer you one or two menu items that have some spice. Even with those selections, they do not offer the volcano of flavor that you will experience on our menu. We simply ask, \"Can you beat the heat?\" We have several contests throughout the year. Will you be on our \"Wall of Flame\" or on our \"Wall of Shame?\" Perceptual Map Low Quality High Spice High Quality High Spice Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Zone Els Hell Fire Chicken Slick Pig BBQ, Kirkenburts Low Quality LowBBQ 3 Brothers Brew house Spice High Quality Low Spice El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 6 Examine the relevant consumer behavior for your target market. Explain the main reasons why the brand name, logo, slogan, brand extension, as well as the positioning statement and marketing strategy are right for the identified target market \"Increasing guest satisfaction can lead to increased guest loyalty, which ultimately leads to increased revenues and profitability\" [Par10] In other words, if your guest enjoys their experience they will come back to your establishment. Customer can be picky and fickle. What works for one customer may not work for another customer. Understanding your customer's behavior will help you get those customers back in the door. Not everyone wants to eat at Applebee's restaurant. We have chosen our brand strategy to fit into those customers that are looking for something different, something more for dinner. There are several different things that a customer will rate their experience on. There are hard targets and soft targets. \"Hard standards can be counted, timed or observed. Soft standards are opinion based, so we could use the standard of \"was your server friendly and polite?\" [PNe14] These hard targets are things like; how long it took to get seated at a table, was the food cooked properly, was the bill correct and was the restaurant clean. Soft targets are things like was the server polite, did the manager handle your issue properly and was the menu diversified. Knowing what your customers want will help get them back in the door. But being able to pinpoint everything a customer wants is impossible. That's why the strategy of a restaurant needs to be to cater to a mass market instead of the individual. This is where soft targets come into play and are most effective. You may have a menu for the masses, but the server or manager gives you a unique experience. However there is more to creating a desirable restaurant than just having a smoothly run operation. An atmosphere that the target market wants to participate in is needed for repeat business. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment Our customers are the fun loving, experience seekers of the college campuses. By building interactive contests our guests will challenge each other as well as spread the word to other heat seeking customers. The promotions will make our food affordable, and the late night atmosphere will fit in with their night life. Our name \"EL's Hell Fire Kitchen\" and our \"Come Beat the Heat\" challenges spark a sense of throwing caution to the wind. It is this type of participatory experience that college students seek. Expanding to other college campuses will allow for challenges between colleges, upping the fun ante. Company's Mission Statement and Introduction Mission Statement: Our mission is to create a unique dining experience for our customers by igniting their senses with spice in an exciting atmosphere charged with heat. Company Introduction: Welcome to EL's Hell Fire Kitchen! We are a family owned and operated restaurant located at 536 N Thompson Lane in beautiful Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We specialize in extremely hot and spicy food to melt your face. All of our menu items are fresh, never frozen and carry a unique heat. We have bi-monthly contests to test the degree of endurance of our patrons. If you come \"Beat the Heat,\" you can be immortalized on our \"Wall of Flame.\" But be weary, if you do not complete the competition you will end up on our \"Wall of Shame.\" Our hours of operation are 10 am - 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 10 am - 4 am Friday and Saturday. \"Come Beat the Heat!\" 7 El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 8 References Bureau, U. C. (n.d.). American Fact Finder. Retrieved 2013, from United States Census Bureau: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml? pid=ACS_12_5YR_DP05 Jurasky, D., Chahuneau, V., Routledge, B. R., & Smith, N. A. (2014). Narrative framing of consumer sentiment in online restaurant reviews. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago . Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website-Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website: http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/index.aspx?nid=515 National Resaurant Association. (2014, June 30). Retrieved from National Resaurant Association website: http://show.restaurant.org/Connect/Blog/June-2014/Restaurant-Performance-Index-Rises-toHighest-Leve P.Neil. (2014, February 20). Wordpress.com. Retrieved from Wordpress.com: http://pneil52.wordpress.com/ Parsa, H., Gregory, A., Self, J. T., & Dutta, K. (2010). CONSUMERS' WILLINGNESS TO PAY and to Patronize According to Major Restaurant Attributes. THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, 1 - 10. States, S. A. (n.d.). Statistical Abstract of the United States. Retrieved from census.gov: http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/business.pdf Wings, B. W. (2014). Buffalo Wild Wings Menu. Retrieved from Buffalo Wild Wings Menu: http://www.buffalowildwings.com/menu/wings/ Running Heading: El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 1 Mark Plan eting Student: Elizabeth Maidment Professor: Dr. Karen Mountain Course: Marketing Management (MKT 500) Date: Saturday, July 19, 2014 Branding Strategy- Name, Logo, Slogan and Product Extension EL's Hell Fire Kitchen is a local, family owned restaurant. We are located in Murfreesboro, TN. We only serve items on our menu that are hot and spicy! We cater to college students, foodies and chili heads. If you are looking for something different for lunch, dinner or that after hour's meal, this is the place to go. We have extended hours on the weekends to cater to those individuals who have had an evening of fun and frivolity and need to have some food that will get them focused! We have several different contests to help anyone who isn't quite sure El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 2 they can handle the spice. We also have a tasting bar for all of our different levels of heat. This will allow the customer to get a good idea of what they are getting themselves into. There is one exception; our \"Atomic Bomb\" spice is not on the tasting bar. In fact, you have to sign a waiver to be able to taste this spice! We do not recommend that anyone who has heart problems, pregnant or has digestive problems to attempt to taste this spice. Even if you are fully capable to enjoy this spice, know that you do so at your own risk! Remember our slogan is \"Come beat the heat!\" Here is our logo: EL's Hell Fire Kitchen is in the franchising business. Our product extension plan is to expand several different restaurants into different towns and states. We are currently working on a store in the area of Knoxville, TN near the University of Tennessee campus. We are open to other franchise locations. Come visit us on the web at www.beattheheat.com. We have information on how you can be the next franchisee! Brand Strategy EL's Hell Fire Kitchen uses a secret combination of spices to get your palate watering. We do things a little different from our competition! First, we never freeze anything. Everything El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 3 that you put in your face is fresh. This includes our spices! We roast and dry our spices ourselves. This gives us the ability to decide how hot we are going to make our vittles. Second, we are dedicated to only having items on the menu with spice. You may go to a restaurant that has one or two hot dishes on their menu, but when you come to our kitchen everything on the menu is spicy! This includes drink items as well. You can have our Mexican hot chocolate or our habanero chocolate shake. We also have desserts that have a kick. From our jalapeno cheesecake to our chocolate dipped ghost peppers. Develop a Marketing Strategy with Execution Timeframes EL's Hell Fire Kitchen will develop a marketing strategy around our target market segment; males and females from 20 - 24 years old. They are Middle Tennessee State University students. Their attitude towards our product is a challenge! Promotion EL's Hell Fire Kitchen will start our marketing strategy July 25, 2014. That is approximately one month before the Fall Semester for Middle Tennessee State University. This will help us establish our brand to our customers and create brand awareness: - We will partner with Middle Tennessee State University to include our marketing material in the student orientation guides that are sent to the students one month before the fall semester begins. This material will contain a menu with a \"first time\" coupon attached that will expire on September 25th, our website information and directions to - our location. These same pamphlets will be placed in student centers on the campus starting on August 25th when the semester begins. These areas will include the cafeteria, dorms and at the student center. We will partner with the student newspaper to print these coupons for the first edition that will be delivered on August 30th. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment - 4 We will use our Social Media: Facebook, YouTube, Pintrest, Twitter and www.beattheheat.com to promote our location. On our website we will have a calendar - with upcoming events for August and September that will be published on August 1st. We will promote our first contest that we will be running for the year. To do this, we will partner with the campus radio and television stations. We will conduct an interview at our location and challenge the host or reporter to try our heat levels live on air on August 31st! Once we have sufficiently burned the host/reporter we will initiate a challenge to the students that are viewing/listening to the \"Come beat the heat contest\" on September 5th. Additional promotions within the next 6 months: - After the \"Come beat the heat contest\" on September 5th. We will put up our \"Wall of Flame\" for the year. The first winner will get an honorary spot with their picture and - name framed. The next contest will be on October 31st. We will partner with the local television station and newspaper to do a story on the \"Come beat the heat contest\" and use this as advertising for our next contest. We will continue to partner with the university's television and newspaper to promote the next - contest on October 31st. We will enlarge our market segment by taking our literature to local high schools and bars in the area. We will theme the contest as the \"Ghost Pepper\" contest since this will - be on Halloween October 31st. We will also offer a prize for the best \"spicy costume.\" We will be having our third contest right before the winter break on December 12th. By the time we have this contest, we should have a loyal following of students and bar crowd. Positioning Statement El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 5 There are several restaurants in our area (approximately 450). You can have Greek food, southern soul food, Italian food, Mexican food, French cuisine and even Ethiopian food in Murfreesboro, TN. But there is only one restaurant where you will find a way to heighten your palate and ignite your feast; EL's Hell Fire Kitchen! We are the only restaurant that has a spice in every item on our menu. Other restaurants can offer you one or two menu items that have some spice. Even with those selections, they do not offer the volcano of flavor that you will experience on our menu. We simply ask, \"Can you beat the heat?\" We have several contests throughout the year. Will you be on our \"Wall of Flame\" or on our \"Wall of Shame?\" Perceptual Map Low Quality High Spice High Quality High Spice Hooters, Buffalo Wild Wings, Wing Zone Els Hell Fire Chicken Slick Pig BBQ, Kirkenburts Low Quality LowBBQ 3 Brothers Brew house Spice High Quality Low Spice El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 6 Examine the relevant consumer behavior for your target market. Explain the main reasons why the brand name, logo, slogan, brand extension, as well as the positioning statement and marketing strategy are right for the identified target market \"Increasing guest satisfaction can lead to increased guest loyalty, which ultimately leads to increased revenues and profitability\" [Par10] In other words, if your guest enjoys their experience they will come back to your establishment. Customer can be picky and fickle. What works for one customer may not work for another customer. Understanding your customer's behavior will help you get those customers back in the door. Not everyone wants to eat at Applebee's restaurant. We have chosen our brand strategy to fit into those customers that are looking for something different, something more for dinner. There are several different things that a customer will rate their experience on. There are hard targets and soft targets. \"Hard standards can be counted, timed or observed. Soft standards are opinion based, so we could use the standard of \"was your server friendly and polite?\" [PNe14] These hard targets are things like; how long it took to get seated at a table, was the food cooked properly, was the bill correct and was the restaurant clean. Soft targets are things like was the server polite, did the manager handle your issue properly and was the menu diversified. Knowing what your customers want will help get them back in the door. But being able to pinpoint everything a customer wants is impossible. That's why the strategy of a restaurant needs to be to cater to a mass market instead of the individual. This is where soft targets come into play and are most effective. You may have a menu for the masses, but the server or manager gives you a unique experience. However there is more to creating a desirable restaurant than just having a smoothly run operation. An atmosphere that the target market wants to participate in is needed for repeat business. El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment Our customers are the fun loving, experience seekers of the college campuses. By building interactive contests our guests will challenge each other as well as spread the word to other heat seeking customers. The promotions will make our food affordable, and the late night atmosphere will fit in with their night life. Our name \"EL's Hell Fire Kitchen\" and our \"Come Beat the Heat\" challenges spark a sense of throwing caution to the wind. It is this type of participatory experience that college students seek. Expanding to other college campuses will allow for challenges between colleges, upping the fun ante. Company's Mission Statement and Introduction Mission Statement: Our mission is to create a unique dining experience for our customers by igniting their senses with spice in an exciting atmosphere charged with heat. Company Introduction: Welcome to EL's Hell Fire Kitchen! We are a family owned and operated restaurant located at 536 N Thompson Lane in beautiful Murfreesboro, Tennessee. We specialize in extremely hot and spicy food to melt your face. All of our menu items are fresh, never frozen and carry a unique heat. We have bi-monthly contests to test the degree of endurance of our patrons. If you come \"Beat the Heat,\" you can be immortalized on our \"Wall of Flame.\" But be weary, if you do not complete the competition you will end up on our \"Wall of Shame.\" Our hours of operation are 10 am - 2 am Sunday through Thursday and 10 am - 4 am Friday and Saturday. \"Come Beat the Heat!\" 7 El's Hell fire Kitchen Elizabeth Maidment 8 References Bureau, U. C. (n.d.). American Fact Finder. Retrieved 2013, from United States Census Bureau: http://factfinder2.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml? pid=ACS_12_5YR_DP05 Jurasky, D., Chahuneau, V., Routledge, B. R., & Smith, N. A. (2014). Narrative framing of consumer sentiment in online restaurant reviews. Chicago: University of Illinois at Chicago . Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website-Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from Murfreesboro, TN - The Official Website: http://www.murfreesborotn.gov/index.aspx?nid=515 National Resaurant Association. (2014, June 30). Retrieved from National Resaurant Association website: http://show.restaurant.org/Connect/Blog/June-2014/Restaurant-Performance-Index-Rises-toHighest-Leve P.Neil. (2014, February 20). Wordpress.com. Retrieved from Wordpress.com: http://pneil52.wordpress.com/ Parsa, H., Gregory, A., Self, J. T., & Dutta, K. (2010). CONSUMERS' WILLINGNESS TO PAY and to Patronize According to Major Restaurant Attributes. THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH JOURNAL, 1 - 10. States, S. A. (n.d.). Statistical Abstract of the United States. Retrieved from census.gov: http://www.census.gov/prod/2011pubs/12statab/business.pdf Wings, B. W. (2014). Buffalo Wild Wings Menu. Retrieved from Buffalo Wild Wings Menu: http://www.buffalowildwings.com/menu/wings/