CREATING A MARKETING PLAN PART II
November 23, 2015
Let’s take a look at what we call … the food service industry. Customers already know the value of food … they eat several times a day. Now the task at hand is to get people to buy food from your company. There’s where the marketing problem for food service companies becomes crystal clear.
If you sell burgers … a customer want to know… why … they should buy burgers from you. It’s the “Why” factor that companies are struggling with everyday!
Remember: Marketing is by definition the way to … get people motivated … to buy products or services (they understand) from your company.
If a company can answer the most fundamental question of “Why” buy from us … their cash registers will be full. At this point, you must now see the problem most companies have and why CEOs stay up nights trying to get the answer to the question “Why” … why buy from us.
For a moment, ask yourself … Why do I buy food from a particular company? “What are my reasons for buying from company “A” rather than company “B”? Company executives are for the most part struggling with the answers to those questions.
Take the 3 largest “burger companies” – McDonalds, Burger King and Wendy’s. Did you notice, only one has “Burger” in it’s name. They instant “connect” with every customer every time … as in “Let’s go to Burger King” and not just any burger place, the “King” of burgers.
With a name like Burger King, the customer connects quickly … But that is not enough to get people to show up at the door, walk or drive-thru and place an order.
Even though they are “one up” on the other two in naming, there has to be more to create the “Want To” attitude in the customer. So we have 3 domain names here: McDonalds dot com, BurgerKing dot com and Wendys dot com … all relating to “fast food” and quick service.
There is where the similarity ends. All three have their own way to market to customers and the competition is tough. Herein lies the best of marketing lessons. Whoever can keep the “burning fire” inside fully “bright” will win this ongoing battle of burger supremacy.
Since customers have been heard saying the beef “probably came off the same cow”, shows some marketing efforts aren’t getting through to all customers. So “Burger Companies” want to get you, the customer, into the door … and they have to some extent.
Oh, by the way, the beef does not “come off the same cow”. However, it is still beef or is it? A Marketing Plan could emphasize the differences as well as what’s in the meat they sell or at least help customers see the value of their products. Information about their suppliers could also be included in the marketing.
One of the best “Marketing” techniques ever used was the “Dollar Menu” promotions. When the “Dollar Menu” came out that was the “jackpot” … or so it seemed at the time.
Marketing to customers was easy, “Just come in and order from our Dollar Menu” was the implication behind the “Dollar Menu” promotions. There was a problem lurking in the shadows that many executives didn’t see coming. Those customers would get older, want more for their money and still only want to pay a dollar. What a task that would become.
Those little children with the “H…y meal” would become adults and those “cheap toys” would lose the appeal. Those parents would become seniors and a quick burger would not have the attraction it once had. In other words, times change and businesses have to change their marketing.
A business can not fall for the outdated belief that customers are loyal to their brand all of the time and will keep coming to their stores no matter what happens. They have to implement a Marketing Plan that works.
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