Through: University Department
In my research, I sought to interview a restaurant owner since I have developed interest in the hotel industry. The major concern that made me interview this particular restaurant is the fact that despite its strategic location and reliable services that I received when I visited the restaurant, I have notice that this restaurant was not popular among many people. Every person that I asked about it explained that they have never heard about it despite living in the same neighborhood.
I interviewed the owner of Hot and Spicy Kabob Grill restaurant located in Brea Mall, Brea, CA. I asked the owner of the restaurant about how he used the marketing activities and how useful those activities were, and the reason behind his restaurant being unpopular. In the latter regard, I also asked if he used any advertisement methods such as social media to inform the public about the existence of his restaurant. My questioned were guided by several restaurants that have successfully used social media advertising such as Sunda, a Chicago eatery (2013); Pinkberry, a frozen Yoghurt chain (2013); Chipotle, a Mexican-style fast food; Tao, a New York fast food (2013); and the Burger King, a well reputed restaurant (2013). The aforementioned restaurants have implemented several social media advertising such as Facebook, Twitter,, and Google+ among several other important sites, which have greatly served in their advantage (LEE, 2011).
In his response, the owner of the hotel shocked me. He said that he did not have any web site or social media accounts. He shared his location with (Potato corner) so that he relied on them in advertising. Despite the increasing use of social media with several handset devices with the internet surfing capabilities at reduced rates, the owner of Hot and Spicy Kabob Grill still ignored such reputable sources, and did not realize that his restaurant was not operating to the maximum of its potential. Sharing his location with an interactive Potato Corner should have increased his reliability on such advertisements models.
The importance of advertisement for this project is to increase popularity (Friel, 2012). After conducting my assessment on the population that frequent the Hot and Spicy Kabob Grill, I found out that most of the guests are young population, who are mostly students and identified with most interactive social media (Awais, Samin, & Bilal, 2012), the cost of this form of advertising is also cheap (Smith, 2010). The population around the location of the restaurant also comprises majorly the youth (US Census Bureau, 2012). Advertising links property, product, or service owners with the potential customers through creating awareness of existence (Insight, 2012). It also ensures that the customers have the relevant and accurate information about the product such as the price and its availability (Shields, 2012). Additionally, advertising would be very important, especially for Hot and Spicy Kabob Grill since its location next to the Potato corner offers some competition – advertisement ensures that the product or service owner stays ahead of competition at all times. Therefore, in my assessment of the restaurant, its industry and the possible means of advertisement, I believe that the internet is the most appropriate place for conducting its advertisements since most people frequent the social sites for most of their needs.
References
Sunda. 110 W Illinois St, Chicago, IL 60654-2706 (Near North Side). Accessed 21 November 2013 http://www.sundachicago.com/
Pinkberry. Products. Accessed 21 November http://www.pinkberry.com/products
Chipotle. Products. Accessed 21 November http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/Default.aspx?type=default
Burger King. . Products Accessed 21 November http://www.bk.com/
Akrani G. (April 4, 2013). Importance of Advertising - Why Advertising is Important? Kalyan Blog. Retrieved from http://kalyan-city.blogspot.com/2013/01/importance-of-advertising-why.html
Smith, T. (2010). Googling a Trademark: A Comparative Look at Keyword Use in Internet Advertising. Texas International Law Journal, 46(1), 231-256.
Shields, M. (2012). How Ads Could Ruin Zynga And Why They (Probably) Won't. (cover story). Adweek, 53(9), 20.
LEE, E. (2011). For Facebook's top ad exec, 'people are the operating system'. Advertising Age, 82(9), 16-17.
United States Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/
Insight: Advertising - Creativity in business - The importance of a creative corporate culture. (2012). Campaign Asia-Pacific, 14.
Friel, A. (2012). Managing Risk from Advertising and Sales Promotions. Intellectual Property & Technology Law Journal, 24(2), 3-7.
Awais, M., Samin, T., & Bilal, M. (2012). Valuable Internet Advertising and Customer Satisfaction Cycle (VIACSC). International Journal Of Computer Science Issues (IJCSI), 9(1), 375-380.
