Final Marketing Plan: Creative Content

I have prepared and photographed my Cuban Stuffed Nachos. I used a Canon DSLR with a telephoto lens. I lit the shot using limo studio white lights. Preparation and plating took about 3 hours, but I am happy with the product. This creative content was able to identify with my interests in photography and culinary.

Week 10 EOC: Road Map to Success

Week 10 EOC: Road Map to Success

                Working on any project can be very time consuming and can take a toll of you physically and mentally, especially when you are dealing with a large workload. Just imagining all the work you have to do can turn you off to the idea of getting started. I know that for my marketing class I have a ton of assignments and a major project to get finished by next week. When I have a ton of work to do I like to break things down and kind of make a list of what I need to do and start with the easiest thing. I mean a start is a start and when you can get at least something completed it makes any more progress easier to move on to. Basically, here is a list of the top ten things I have to have complete and ready by next week for my final class. I have arranged the tasks from hardest to easiest, in my opinion.

1. Final marketing plan

2. Creative content

3. Phileas Fog adventure story

4. Swot analysis

5. Business mission statement

6. Quotes

7. Read textbook chapters

8. Missing EOC’s

9. Proper blog set up

10. Proper Twitter set up

                In order to achieve these goals I have already began brainstorming and drafting many segments of my final marketing plan and compiling a resource of quotes to choose from to support my research and plan. I have bought the ingredients to prepare the food and own all the equipment needed to complete my creative content photograph as well as record a radio commercial. My Phileas Fog story is in the works right now. I am caught up on most of my EOC’s and only have 2 chapters left of the book to read. My blog is set up almost perfect and I have all of the tweets that I need for the class but just need to have my profile set up properly. In all honesty I was kind of worried about how I was going to handle my work this week and the beginning of my post, but now, I feel pretty confident about how I am going to complete everything.

Week 9 EOC: My Creative Content

Week 9 EOC: My Creative Content

                Nothing draws people to good food like good looking food. Everybody can understand that a first impression, or first “image” is everything. This concept becomes extremely relevant when discussing restaurant and food type products. Most businesses try to provide enough customer satisfaction so after you come through the door needing something, you keep coming back. When it comes to food, a picture can be the way of getting a customer to show up that first time. A good representation of your product can take you a long way. For example, take the fast food giant McDonalds. Advertisement after advertisement McDonalds manages to release outstanding visual representations of their food and we all know that McDonalds does NOT taste or look how it does in the commercial, but we keep going back.

                For this project I will be preparing a serving of my Cuban Stuffed Nachos and trying to accomplish a professional, quality looking picture of my food. I will be using my home oven and ingredients to prepare my dish as best I can. For the photograph itself I will be using a Canon Sl1 DSLR camera with a wide angle and/or telephoto lens. (depending on which I prefer) The image will be lit in front of a green or white screen using Limo studio lighting equipment, or if quality can be improved, the food will be photographed in one of the light boxes at school. I will use Photoshop to edit and help correct and bring my final photograph to the quality I am seeking.

                For this project I am also considering, but not completely committed to creating a radio commercial for Phileas Fog’s Cuban Stuffed Nachos. The commercial will run either 15 seconds or 30 seconds long. I will record voice of the commercial using an akg 420 multi pattern condenser microphone. The signal will be processed by a Scarlett 2i2 audio interface into the software, Pro Tools, where the commercial will be edited to perfection. I will compose/perform a live Spanish classical guitar piece as background music for the commercial as well to make it complete. Again, the radio commercial may not be definite. I may provide solely the picture if the commercial can’t be created, provide the commercial if the picture can’t be created, or provide both. I’d just like to make sure I have some viable options for my creative content.

Implementation, Evaluation, & Control

Final Market Plan: Implementation, Evaluation, and Control

So this is where it really matters. Implementation, evaluation, and control, or basically, how would this work out in the real world and how we would be motivated to achieve our goals and success. In order to reach our high standards of success Phileas Fogg will implement extremely tight supply channels and customer relationships in order to provide the highest profit, steadiest product/workflow, and dependable service model. We will have meetings with our intermediaries very often and will cut those not pulling their wait or working up to Phileas Fogg's standards. We will not have some half-ran saloon disrespected and putting a damper on our designer brand. Phileas Fogg will stay up to date on social media and advertisements that identify with our target demographic. Basically "instead of throwing more one-way commercial messages at ad-weary consumers," (Pg. 142) we're going to try to reach out to people and be more involved with their daily lives and conversation.

I had my Cuban Stuffed Nachos prepared and I had a few of my friends who work at a bar, and even the bar manager, try my food. They all enjoyed it and said it tasted very good, it had a nice savory flavor that a lot of bar foods and snacks are loved for. I agreed that it would be nice alongside a drink because the heavy salt content would encourage a customer to buy more drinks.  They even asked if I would mind if they decided to put it on their menu. I took this as a sign of a good idea actually working out.

Price

Final Marketing Plan: Price

             “Price is the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service.” (Pg 275). Cuban Stuffed Nachos are planned to be sold at a set price of $6.99 for a regular bag of containing around 35 stuffed nachos, or a serving for about 3 people, to the restaurants we supply. We suggest that restaurants serve that same portion as a share-able appetizer. We also suggest the idea that they could be sold as an add on to a meal or drink as a side. Maybe to be included in a platter with other foods because they aren’t messy. Also because they come in decent sized pieces, restaurants may be able to sell them in the same fashion some places sell wings; a different price for a different set amount of pieces. Bulk orders of bags of nachos will be offered at discounted prices relating to the amount of the order. 

Promotion

Final Marketing Plan: Promotion

            How are we going to get people to want the product? What steps can we take to ensure that people will be seeking out the stuffed nachos. “Consumers usually face a broad array of products and services that might satisfy a given need. How do they choose among these many market offerings?” (pg 7). It is important as well that we acknowledge that there is competition in the bar snack food market. Phileas Fogg boasts the position of having access to the highest quality ingredients from around the world to be offered at your local bar for cheap price. These dishes have been simplified and refined into a designer cuisine suitable for luxurious events and locations. Cuban Stuffed Nachos will be promoted as a great, easy to share bar snack or appetizer with a little exotic flavor to help enhance the experience and conversation. 

"Retailers are always searching for new marketing strategies to attract and hold customers.” Pg 352). Phileas Fogg will always be deeply involved with their customers and their opinions and interests in the product in order to always adapt and reflect a steady position in marketing trends. 

Distribution

Final Marketing Plan: Distribution

            Many companies struggle if they do not have a proper plan in place to distribute their products and goods. You need to know how you are going to get the food from where it is produced to the restaurants you supply and then to their customers without any lost quality or product. You can’t just trust anyone to sell your product though. “Between intensive and exclusive distribution lies selective distribution—the use of more than one, but fewer than all, of the intermediaries who are willing to carry a company’s products.” (Pg 324). By utilizing selective distribution Phileas Fogg will be able to work closely and form strong relationships with the companies that sell our product in order to ensure the highest possible customer satisfaction. If a company isn’t handling our product well enough we will be able to cut them off before we come to a loss. It will be important that “when selecting intermediaries, the company should determine what characteristics distinguish the better ones.” (Pg 325). Our company will only provide our products where the resellers work as hard as we do to ensure the highest quality and customer satisfaction through the practice of selective distribution.

Product

Final Marketing Plan: Product

            The most important and constantly perfected part of any corporation that offers services or goods is obviously the product or good itself. What is a product? What is Phileas Fogg’s product? “We define a product as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need.” (Pg 208). The product must be able to retain a value as well as provide an experience that will help a customer return.

            Cuban Stuffed Nachos will be a perfect restaurant/bar snack or appetizer. They are easy to share and will not leave a mess behind or make your hands dirty. The product will basically be composed of a small bite sized chip filled with all the elements of a nacho platter. Cheese, spices and other delicious ingredients. Portion size and price can be decided by the restaurant themselves when offered to customers. 

Target Market Strategy

Final Marketing Plan: Target Market Strategy

            This part of a marketing plan can be the most challenging for many companies. “Most companies have moved away from mass marketing and toward target marketing—identifying market segments, selecting one or more of them, and developing products and marketing programs tailored to each.” (Pg 174). Who exactly are we selling are product to, and how are we going to make them want it? Selecting the proper demographic can mean everything to your product, I mean imagine if they opened up a water park in Siberia. Demographics are labeled as “the study of human populations in terms of size, density, location, age, gender, race, occupation, and other statistics.” (Pg  71) I aim to identify with a younger demographic of people. I would wish to launch Cuban Stuffed Nachos as a bar/ club food that friends would be able to share and enjoy together. The nachos could be plated a nice way and served with a side of sauce allowing for optimal look, refinery, and sharing capability.

            “Consumers make many buying decisions every day, and the buying decision is the focal point of the marketer’s effort.” (Pg 137). In order to target this type of demographic Cuban Stuffed Nachos will be advertised in a bar/restaurant type setting with kids around the age of 21 enjoying the food and a nice night out. Before serving, the nachos will be stored in a container with an illustration of the origin of the food as well as a story of Phileas Fogg’s adventure in Cuba, so an enticing advert of a Cuban paradise. “People vary in their emphasis on serving themselves versus serving others. Some people seek personal pleasure, wanting fun, change, and escape” (Pg 89). This kind of advertisement will identify with the younger demographics’ want to travel and want to see the world combined with the idea that eating this food will make them feel as if they were living a Cuban paradise.

            My hope is that men will be willing to buy this food as a simple appetizer to share with friends or for a small snack at the bar or club to share with a woman. Nothing goes better with an alcoholic drink than heavy amounts of salt encouraging more thirst and the likely fact that a customer will spend more time and money at your place of business. 

SWOT Analysis

Final Marketing Plan: SWOT Analysis

            When creating a product or service there are several aspects of your product which need the utmost attention. Companies need to take time in deciding what their strengths are in order to take advantage of the opportunities that may come their way. A business has to analyze the weaknesses as well as the threats that may face them as well. The weakest links need to be identified and fixed, and the threats need to be targeted and shut down. If a company can identify a possible threat, then there is more chance any issue can be avoided and then the company can focus more attention on their strengths and being successful. A strength Phileas Fogg has is knowing that “cultural factors exert a broad and deep influence on consumer behavior”. (Pg 137).

            Cuban Stuffed Nachos and Phileas Fogg’s strengths include offering a valuable experience, brand reputation, media reputation, high brand loyalty, distribution, cleanliness, designer gourmet food quality, culturally friendly, resources and resource areas, and the fact that consumers are drawn towards savory snacks and love to indulge in the delicious broad range of flavors that are loved and easily achievable.

            Phileas Fogg knows that “the marketer’s job does not end when the product is bought.” (Pg 153) We will always follow up on our products and with our suppliers to ensure that customers and everyone involved in the chain of making the food to delivering it is happy.

            Cuban Stuffed Nachos and Phileas Fogg’s weaknesses include an over-reliance on marketing innovations, low variety of dessert like snacks, slightly more expensive than other snacks, and low variety of healthy options.

Cuban Stuffed Nachos and Phileas Fogg’s opportunities include the exposure and demand for exotic experiences and cuisines, an innovation of a snack, chance to expand selectively into other channels, and forming long lasting relationships with supply chains.

Cuban Stuffed Nachos and Phileas Fogg’s threats include that there are already many competitors in the market, an increasing focus on health, competitor’s prices, brands may introduce new variants of my snack, and world events causing issues getting authentic ingredients.