Marketing in Foodservice Operations

Preface ix Acknowledgments xiii Dedication xv 1 Marketing for Foodservice Operations 1 The Importance of Marketing 2 Who 3 What 4 Where 4 When 5 How 5 The 4 Ps of Marketing 5 Product 6 Place 7 Price 8 Promotion 9 Operators’ Challenges in Marketing Products 11 Quality 11 Quantity 12 Delivery Method 12 Value Perception 13 Operators’ Challenges in Marketing Services 14 Intangibility 15 Inseparability 15 Consistency 16 Limited Capacity 17 2 Target Market Identification 21 The Importance of Target Market Identification 22 Why Target Markets Must Be Identified 23 How Target Markets Are Identified 24 Identifying the Needs of a Target Market 29 Internal Factors Affecting Target Markets 33 Physical Facilities 33 Staff Capabilities 35 External Factors Affecting Target Markets 38 The Economic Environment 38 Legal Requirements 39 Vendor and Product Availability 40 The Competitive Environment 40 The Social Environment 42 Technology 43 3 Creating the Marketing Message 48 The Marketing Message and Importance of Branding 49 The Marketing Message 50 Branding Defined 50 Developing a Unique Brand 51 Product-Focused Branding 54 Service-Focused Branding 54 Factors Affecting Product- Related Messages 55 Product Quality 56 Preparation Method 58 Serving Size 58 Price 59 Convenience 61 Location 62 Service Offering Messages by Type of Operation 64 Non-Commercial Operations 65 Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) 66 Fast Casual Restaurants 66 Casual Service Restaurants 67 Fine Dining/Upscale Restaurants 68 Ghost Operations 69 4 Delivering the Marketing Message 72 Assessing Marketing Channels 73 Marketing Channel Options 73 Assessing New Communication Channels 81 Understanding Buyer Behavior 83 The Four Buyer Types 83 Buyer Behavior 86 Operator Responsibilities in Target Market Messaging 88 Legal Responsibilities 89 Ethical Responsibilities 90 Social Responsibilities 91 5 Creating the Marketing Plan 95 The Need for a Written Marketing Plan 96 Advantages of Developing a Formal Marketing Plan 98 Challenges in Marketing Plan Development 99 Creating the Marketing Plan 101 Identification of Marketing Strategies 104 Identification of Marketing Tactics 106 Creation of Marketing Plan Cost Estimates 108 Implementing the Marketing Plan 109 Determining What Will Be Done 109 Determining When It Will Be Done 110 Determining Who Will Do It 110 Importance of Staff Efforts to Implement Marketing Plans 111 Evaluation of Marketing Plan Results 115 6 The Importance of Price in Marketing Efforts 119 Pricing for Profits 120 The Importance of Pricing 121 The Operator’s View of Price 121 The Guest’s View of Price 122 Factors Affecting Menu Pricing 124 Economic Conditions 124 Local Competition 125 Level of Service 125 Type of Guest 126 Product Quality 126 Portion Size 127 Delivery Method 128 Meal Period 129 Location 129 Bundling 130 Methods of Food and Beverage Pricing 131 Cost-Based Pricing 132 Contribution Margin- Based Pricing 135 Evaluation of Pricing Efforts 137 Menu Engineering 137 Menu Modifications 141 7 The Menu as a Marketing Tool 145 The Importance of the Menu 146 The Menu as a Marketing Tool 147 Types of Menus 147 The Menu Development Team 149 Legal Aspects of Menu Design 149 Creating the Food Menu 151 Identifying Menu Categories 152 Selecting Individual Menu Items 153 Writing Menu Copy 154 Key Factors in Successful Food Menu Design 155 Creating the Beverage Menu 157 Beer Menus 157 Wine Lists 158 Spirit Menus 159 Digital Display Menus 162 On-site Digital Menus 162 On-user Device Digital Menus 163 Special Concerns for Off- Premise Menus 165 Choosing Takeaway Menu Items 166 Packaging Takeaway Menu Items 166 Holding Takeaway Menu Items for Pickup or Delivery 168 8 Importance of the Foodservice Marketing Mix 172 Advertising 173 The Purpose of Advertising 174 Developing the Advertising Message 176 Determining the Best Message Delivery Channel 178 Personal Selling 179 The Goals of In- person Selling 180 On-Premise Personal Selling 181 Off-Premise Personal Selling 182 Promotions 183 The Purpose of Promotions 183 Promotions for All Customers 184 Promotions for Loyal Customers 185 Publicity 187 Initiating Positive Publicity 187 Addressing Negative Publicity 189 Public Relations 191 Media Affiliations and Successful Public Relations 191 Community Relations and Successful Public Relations 192 Employee Relations and Successful Public Relations 193 9 Web- Based Marketing on Proprietary Sites 197 Choosing the Primary Domain Name 198 Choosing the Website Host 201 The Proprietary Website 204 Website Design 206 Website Content 208 Website Traffic Tracking 211 Search Engine Optimization 212 How Search Engines Work 213 Choosing Keywords and Phrases 214 Social Media Sites 216 The Importance of Social Media 216 Posting Content on Social Media Sites 217 10 Web-Based Marketing on Third- Party Sites and Apps 222 The Importance of Local Linkage 223 Marketing on Third-Party-Operated Websites 226 Partnering with Third-Party Delivery Apps 231 Advantages of Third-Party Delivery App Partnerships 232 Disadvantages of Third-Party Delivery App Partnerships 234 Self-Delivery Options 239 11 Marketing Management on User- Generated Content Sites 245 The Importance of User-Generated Content (UGC) Sites 246 Advertising on User-Generated Content (UGC) Sites 247 Popularity of User-Generated Content (UGC) Sites Featuring Guest Reviews 249 Historical Perspective 250 Motivation of Reviewers 252 Improving Scores on User-Generated Content (UGC) Review Sites 255 Increasing the Number of User Reviews 256 Increasing the Scores on User Reviews 259 Responding to Negative User Reviews 261 12 Assessment of Marketing Efforts 266 The Importance of Evaluating Marketing Efforts 267 Assessment of Marketing Strategies 269 Assessment of Marketing Tactics 270 Marketing Evaluation Tools 273 Tools for Financial Evaluations 274 Tools for Nonfinancial Evaluation 281 Preparing Next-Period Marketing Plans 284 SWOT Analysis 284 Setting Next-Period Strategies and Goals 288 Summary 289 Glossary G-1 Index I-1