- STRATEGIES
FOR IMPROVEMENT?
To improve this
area, the sub sections of marketing need to be dealt with separately. Below I
have identified some strategies for improvement in each area:
-Product
To improve
their product, which is the food at Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice I would advise them to perhaps fire their
current chef and hire an experienced chef who has previous work experience at a
reputed fish and chips place in Britain. An advantage of this would be that the
new chef will be able to make food that tastes like it does back home with good
flavor thus resolving the complains stated that they lacked from my research
which stated the food lacked taste (see appendix G, E). Although, a
disadvantage would be that if they fire the current chef, morale may lower in
the business as the employees would be afraid that they might lose their jobs.
Alternatively, if Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice do not wish to take such drastic measures they could sign their chefs
up for some cooking classes so that food can be improved upon, this would have
significant advantages; firstly, in comparison to my first suggestion this is
less extreme, secondly, it would also increase morale as the chef would be
happy to gain more experience. Although, this could have disadvantages; they
chef could feel insulted and thus his morale could actually lower and another
disadvantage of this is that it will definitely add to the businesses
expenses. Also, I think they need to start sourcing their food from
another company as many complain the food is not fresh. The advantage of this
will be that they will have resolved the complains of the food not seeming
fresh, however a disadvantage would be that a disturbance in trade and change
of suppliers may actually lead them having to increase prices to cover costs,
which some may not be willing to pay and thus Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice may lose some customers in the short
term, but in the long term it would be beneficial. Moreover, they also need to
improve on their range of food, they simply need to do this by adding more
variety to their menu, perhaps they could look at some of the competitor’s
menus and borrow their ideas, and also they could take a suggestion from their
customer and expand their drink variety (see appendix A13). The advantage of
this would be that they will become the dominant competitor and will be able to
steal customers from their direct competitor, however as a result of Rock ‘N’
Sole Plaice doing this
they would have increased competition, which may result in their competitor
fighting back and thus improving their marketing functions too which would
affect negatively on Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice. Lastly, they also need to improve
their food packaging, by paying attention to detail, perhaps they could use
environmentally friendly packaging as one customer suggested (see appendix 15).
An advantage of this would be that they would be becoming
an ethical company and could establish themselves as environmentally friendly
to gather more customers, although a disadvantage of this would be the high
cost to use environmentally friendly packaging.
-Price
Although, pricing was
generally rated positively, it still has space for improvement. For instance,
although they have taken into account their target market of students by
providing a student menu, it still seems like 40% people do not feel it is
affordable (see appendix A8). However, I do understand if they lower their
prices more they would probably not be able to afford to be in business
anymore, therefore I would suggest that they start giving small promotions to
students such as giving 10% off if the customer presents a valid student ID or
giving out cards where if you collect a certain amount of points you will be
able to a discount or free meal. An advantage of this would be that it would
motivate customers to eat more often at Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice thus build customer relationships and as a result help reach the
owner’s aim to increase revenue by 5% this year (see appendix F7). Although, a
disadvantage of this would be that they would be losing on its full potential
revenue as they are giving discounts and free meals, however I think this extra
expenses would be balanced by the numerous customers this strategy would
attract.
-Promotion
In regards to the
marketing function, this area is the one that could be improve significantly
and have the most impact on marketing. Firstly, they need to start advertising
in magazines such as Timeout or newspapers such as 7DAYS or even a popular
radio among students such as Virgin Radio. An advantage of this would be that
they would be able to establishing themselves and attract more customers, although
a disadvantage would be the high cost of advertising, which will add to their
expenses in the short term. Alternatively, if they do want to take a cheaper
option they could place advertisement in school newspapers of its surrounding
schools (see appendix H1); an advantage of this would be that it will reach its
ideal target market of students and perhaps their families too and it would be
cheaper than my first recommendation, what’s more is that each of these schools
have approximately 1000 students and therefore if it places advertisements on
each of the seven surrounding schools newspaper Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice would be exposing itself up to potentially 7000 students. However, a
disadvantage would still be the costs and also that its reach would be limited
within the school families only. In addition to this, they could improve on
promotion by sponsoring events in schools such as International Day or Sporting
events, where they could sponsor the food for Britain stalls, an advantage
again would be the exposure to more customers however a disadvantage would be
that again their reach would be limited within the school families only and
also some parents may object to this for ethical reasons. Lastly, I think in
order to reach their target market efficiently Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice need to
increase their social network strategy by firstly opening a Twitter account and
also by promoting this new Twitter account and their current Facebook account
on a large scale in the café by perhaps dedicating a chalkboard just to
advertise their social networks. An advantage of this would be that by
interaction through social networking could cause an increase in their customer
base by encouraging people to share their pages and interacting with customers
to create better customer relationships. The only disadvantage would be that
they would need to get someone experienced to manage these accounts, as it can
be very time consuming and perhaps complicated.
-Location/Place
Even though the
location appeared to be a slight problem, as 10% voted it not suitable (see
appendix A9) I think any changes would be too expensive and risky for a
business to do in only their second year of business. Therefore, I think Rock
‘N’ Sole Plaice need to start taking full advantage of their location
by using the promotion strategies I have mentioned above. However, instead of
changing its location I think they should expand their café, an advantage would
be that by increasing the number of tables inside and reducing the number
outside, they will be taking advantage of the space they have available and
discarding complains of it being cramped. Alternatively, a disadvantage
would be the cost to rebuild infrastructure to expand. Regarding the actual
interior, they should put up a more noticeable sign of Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice by increasing its size and using brighter colors than just plain white
as its background and adding a splash of color inside the café. The advantage
of doing this will be that the ambiance would be improved, as Rock ‘N’ Sole Plaice would appear
more appealing and noticeable. However, a disadvantage of this would be the
cost to redecorate which will add to their expenses in the short term.
