Kudler Fine Foods is a local upscale specialty food store located in California. The three stores located in La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas and are approximately 16,000 square feet each. The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported foods. Every is stocked and carries upscale fresh meats and seafood, baked goods, produce, deli, and dairy departments. Getting the most out of each square foot of the three stores will be the focus of Kudler's marketing campaign. The current plan is focusing on several areas; Research, development, and rollout of new programs, Cooking Classes, Frequent buyer points program, Supplier relations program. Before beginning this plan, Kudler will need to perform research.
Marketing ObjectivesKudler Fine Foods has experienced significant growth and wants to expand it's services, improve efficiency of operations, and increase the consumer purchase cycle. The ultimate goal is to increase customer loyalty and profitability of each shopping visit.
SCDC11: JESSE KUDLER + IAN FRASER
English: A schematic illustrating the evolving rel...
Analytické CRMIncrease ServicesTo accomplish these goals, the Kudler marketing department has developed three marketing initiatives that will improve sales and profits as well as reduce costs. First, Kudler plans to increase revenue in each store by holding parties to show people how to prepare specialty foods. To increase customer participation at these parties, the customers will be entered into a contest that allows them to win high-ticket prizes (Kudler Virtual Organization, 2006).
Introduce Frequent Shopping ProgramSecond, Kudler will encourage customer shopping trips and improve loyalty by introducing a loyalty points program. This marketing initiative will track the customer's buying habits and allow Kudler to target to specific customers. Looking at the current information technologies databases, Kudler foods has a system that tracks internal sales data but wants to enhance the system so they can track the demographic information and buying trends of each customer (Kudler Virtual Organization, 2006).
In addition to the aforementioned initiatives, Kudler is planning to integrate a new catering service as a part of their strategic plan. In the process of making this decision, Kudler devised a market survey geared towards understanding their strengths and weaknesses from the customer perspective. To produce an effective market research tool, the information collected must consist of both primary and secondary data. "Primary data are facts and figures that are newly collected for the project while secondary data are internal and external data that have already been collected and exist inside the organization and published data from outside the organization" (Perreault, W.D. & McCarthy, E.J., 2005).
Kudler's management team decided to use a questionnaire approach to collecting internal data for their marketing survey. It does not appear that these questionnaires were of much value in regards to developing a catering service, primarily because the questionnaire asked general questions about such things as store décor and hours. The value of the marketing surveys collected did provide Kudler with good information regarding how customers view their products and pricing and the general customer service experience. By establishing relationships with their customers, the mangers of Kudler's three stores were able to observe the customers' buying habits and obtain information about what other services the customers might utilize. By devising a questionnaire, management is able to see areas in which customers felt the company had room for improvement and which areas the company excelled. Kudler could also use some of the information gathered from the survey to determine the most profitable marketing mix for their organization.
Improve ServiceKudler Fine Foods has decided to use Nordstrom's Department Stores as a benchmark. To help with this initiative, management is developing training programs and developing software that will facilitate the needed customer service training of employees. Studying the company's current capital budget and information systems technology budget, the company will spend $91,715 on new software licenses to improve training (Kudler Virtual Organization, 2005). In addition the company has budgeted $45,000 for a new customer relationship management system or CRM.
Importance of Marketing ResearchIn the next 12 months, Kudler Fine Foods plans to increase their customer loyalty by offering added high-margin services, leveraging the better understanding of their customers purchase patterns, and providing more efficient operations. They will accomplish this through their suppliers of their food and beverages. By partnering and by purchasing larger quantities for bigger discounts. The key to Kudler's success will be about building a long-term, profitable consumer base. Loyal consumers are usually more profitable due to frequent visits. and are often insulated from the marketing efforts of competitors.
Strategies and TacticsDeveloping strategies and tactics is important when developing a IMC. To develop a IMC plan, the company must insure that all marketing initiatives align with the company's mission statement. When selling gourmet foods, it is more important to have the highest quality foods and customer service than it is to have low prices. Kudler must stay focused on this aspect at all times when developing new tactic and strategies as not to succumb to the pressures of the discount shopper.
Demographic and Psychographic InformationBoth psychographic and demographic information will be used to create the marketing strategies for Kudler Fine foods. Demographics measures of characteristics of individuals or households, such as age, sex, place of residence, or family income. Persons who have certain of these characteristics in common are grouped (Perreault, W.D. & McCarthy, E.J., 2005).
Psychographics measure attitudes, beliefs, and lifestyle characteristics. They are usually used in connection with demographics and not alone. Demographics and psychographics are critical to the success of an IMC Campaign.
Competitive Intelligence and AnalysisInformation will come from a variety of sources, both within the organization and external to it. Sales representatives deal on a daily basis with customers - and will hear what the competitors have been doing. They are the business foot soldiers - with the ear to the ground who can forewarn management about impending enemy campaigns. Information can also be found on the Internet itself - most companies are now advertising their services and some specialize in offering information that can be used for competitor research. Among the best are Dunn & Bradstreet D&B, with a database of over 30 million companies worldwide.
Finally, the relevance and importance of each piece of information needs to be interpreted and analyzed - on its own and in conjunction with other information, the other pieces in the jigsaw. This is where information starts to become intelligence. Kudler Fine Foods has found a niche in the market place and must do everything within the organization's powers to continue its growth by providing optimal service and developing customer relationships that promote loyalty.
ReferencesWilliam D. Perreault, Jr. and E. Jerome McCarthy. Basic marketing (2005) McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NYKudler Virtual Organization (2006). Marketing Overview. Retrieved on September 16, 2007 from University of Phoenix, Resource, MKT/431 Marketing Web site: https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Kudler/IT/KudlerITDatabases001.htm