Turundusplaani koostamine (0)

Tallinna Majanduskool
„ Notes on preparing a marketing plan“
Homework 03.05.2012
Liisi Nigul
Turundus II
Tallinn 2012
Toscana Gourmet is a place for family togetherness and will also be the leading gourmet Italian restaurant in Tallinn. The signature line of innovative, premium , pasta and risotto dishes include pesto with smoked salmon , pancetta and peas linguini in an special sauce , and fresh mussels and clams in a marinara sauce. Toscana also serves distinct salads, desserts, and beverages .
Toscana Gourmet will reinvent the Italian food experience for individuals, families , and take out customers with discretionary income by selling high quality , innovative products at a reasonable price , designing tasteful, convenient locations, and providing excellent customer service . 
The basic market need is to offer individuals, families, and take out customers’ fresh, creative , attractive, pasta and risotto dishes, salads and desserts. Toscana uses homemade pasta, fresh vegetables, and premium meats and cheeses. Toscana Gourmet possesses good information about the market and knows a great deal about the needs of our most loyal customers. Toscana’s management is both focused on repeat business as well as gaining new customers, who can then become part of Toscana’s loyal customer family.
Toscana customers share 3 main behavior factors:

• Enjoy a high quality meal without the mess of making it themselves.
  
• When ordering, health concerns in regard to foods  are taken into account .
  
• There is value attributed to the appearance or presentation of food.
  

The market can be segmented into three target populations:

• Individuals: people that dine in by themselves.
  
• Families: a group of people, either friends or a group of relatives dining together.
  
• Take out: people that prefer to eat Toscana's food in their home or at a different location than the actual restaurant.
  

Toscana Gourmet seeks to fulfill the following market needs/benefits that are important to their customers.

• Selection . A wide choice of pasta and salad options.
  
• Accessibility. The customer can gain access  to the restaurant with  minimal waits and can choose the option of dine in or take out. Considering good location in the centre of the city, free parking , and knowledge .
  
• Customer service. The customer will be impressed with the level of  attention that they receive.
  
• Competitive pricing. All products/ services will be competitively priced relative to comparable high-end pasta/Italian restaurants.
  

Market trends
Toscana’s management also pays great attention to present and upcoming market trends. The market trend for restaurants is headed toward a more sophisticated customer. The restaurant patron today is more sophisticated then yesterday in a number of different ways. For example:

• Food quality. The preference for high-quality ingredients is increasing as customers are learning to appreciate the  qualitative differences.
  
• Presentation/appearance. As presentation of an element of the culinary experience becomes more irrelevant, customers are learning to appreciate this aspect of the industry.
  
• Health consciousness . As people in general are more acknowledged of their health, people are requesting more healthy alternatives when they eat out. For example - they recognize that an entree can be quite tasty, and reasonably good for you.
  
• Selection. People are demanding a larger selection of foods; they are no longer accepting a limited menu.
  

SWOT

Strengths

• Strong relationships with vendors that offer high-quality ingredients and fast /frequent delivery schedules.
  
• Excellent staff who are highly trained and very customer attentive.
  
• Great location, in the centre of the city with free parking.
  
• High customer loyalty among repeat customers.
  
• High-quality food offerings that exceed competitors’ offerings in quality, presentation, and price.
  

Weaknesses

• Toscana's name lacks brand equity.
  
• A limited marketing budget to develop brand awareness.
  
• The struggle to continually appear to be cutting edge .
  

Opportunities

• Growing market with a significant percentage of the target market still not aware that Toscana Gourmet exists.
  
• Increasing sales opportunities in take out business.
  

Threats

• Competition from local restaurants that respond to Toscana Gourmet superior offerings.
  
• Other Italian restaurants found in Tallinn.
  
• A slump in the economy reducing customer's disposable income spent on eating out.
  

Objectives

Marketing:

Maintain positive , steady , growth each month .

Generate at least 40,000 € in sales per month.

Experience an increase in new customers who are turned into long- term customers.

Financial:

Double the growth for next year (at least 80, 000 € per month next year).

Continue to decrease the variable costs associated with food production .
Our objectives are rather specific, achievable, realistic and timed . We should work towards making our objectives more measurable (complete the SMART ).
Break- even Analysis
Calculating all our cost , sales and marketing expenses, our costs will not trump our sales. We have a strong financial plan, which has been put together by many advisors and it considers all threats and possible set-backs. We have planned the first two months to be used to get the restaurant up and running . By month three things will get busier. Sales will gradually increase and profitability will be reached by by the beginning of year two.
Positioning
Toscana's will position itself as a reasonably priced, upscale, gourmet Italian restaurant. Local and foreign consumers who appreciate high-quality food will recognize the value and unique offerings of Toscana Gourmet. Customers will be single as well as families, ages 25-50 ( plus the advantage of take out).Toscana's positioning will leverage their competitive edge:

• Product. The product will have the freshest ingredients including homemade pasta, imported cheeses, organic vegetables, and top- shelf meats.  The product will also be developed to excellent presentation; everything will be customer-pleasing.
  
• Service. Customer service will be the priority . All employees will ensure that the customers are having the most pleasant dining experience. All employees will go through an extensive training program and only experienced people will be hired . We prefer employees who have long-term experiences in customer service or restaurant business.
  

Marketing Mix

• Pricing. Toscana's pricing scheme is that the product cost is 45% of the total retail price.
  
• Distribution. Toscana's food will be distributed through a take out model where customers can call in their order and come to the restaurant to pick it up, come into the restaurant, place the take out order and wait for it to be completed, or come in and dine at the restaurant.
  
• Advertising and Promotion . The most successful advertising will be  banner ads and inserts in magazines „Mood“, „Naisteleht“, „Kultuur ja elu“ and in different web- based magazines, such as: Buduaar, Toidutare and Perenaine . We’ll also use Direct mail campaign and pay a lot of attention on our total web development (homepage, facebook ).
  
• Customer Service. Obsessive customer attention is the mantra . Toscana's philosophy is that whatever needs to be done to make the customer happy must occur, even at the expense of short-term profits. The reason for this is that in the long term, this investment will pay off with a loyal customer base that is extremely vocal to their friends with referrals (mouth to mouth publicity is the best ).
  

Marketing Research

During the first phases of the marketing plan development, several focus groups were put together to gain insight into a variety of customers of restaurants. These focus groups provided useful insight into the decisions , and decision making processes and where we should put our focus on our potential client base. One of the additional sources of market research that is dynamic is a feedback mechanism based on a suggestion card system. The suggestion card system has several statements that customers are asked to rate in terms of a given scale (customers can answer the card in the restaurant our on our homepage). There are also several open ended questions that allow the customer to freely offer constructive criticism or praise. Based on the feedback cards we will work hard to improve our service as well as show our commitment to the customers - that their suggestions are valued.
Toscana Gourmet mission is to provide the customer the finest pasta meal and dining experience.  We exist to attract and maintain customers.
Our one clear marketing message is: Our services will exceed the expectations of our customers. 
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