Situation- Mario’s Italian Restaurant is a new restaurant that has recently opened in Overland Park, Ks. The restaurant is currently experiencing difficult times financially. The restaurant is slow and the owner believes it is due to the smaller size and somewhat hidden location. The other restaurants in the area are self-standing. In other words, they are not attached to any other business and are closer to the road. Mario’s Italian Restaurant, on the other hand, is located further off the road in a strip mall. The strip mall is placed behind the self-standing restaurants. Also, Mario’s is on the side of the strip mall. The only individuals who drive past the front of the business are the individuals who live in the subdivision behind the strip mall. Thus, Mario’s does not have the street advertising that other restaurants in the area have.
The restaurant is placed between a pet store and a realty office. The pet store is one of the largest in the area and attracts people from all over the greater metropolitan area. Prior to Mario’s occupying the business space, the location was a tanning salon. When other restaurants in the area open up, they generally pick locations that were previously restaurants. This is due to the fact the building is already set up to operate as a restaurant. However, these restaurants also get business from individuals who were customers of the previous store. Mario’s owner believes the restaurant will not survive unless he starts to attract new customers.
Objective- The owner has contacted me in order to develop a public relations campaign to help him create awareness of his restaurant. His goal is to increase reservations by 20 percent over the next three months.
Target Audience- Since Mario’s is next to a popular pet store that attracts people from all over the Kansas City metro area, the target market will be the greater Kansas City metro area. Given the preference of BBQ in the area, there are approximately 100 Italian restaurants throughout the greater Kansas City area.
Mario’s restaurant strives to give customers a high class feeling at an affordable price. Overland Park is considered one of the higher income areas throughout the metro. This area is only increasing in size and money. Thus, while marketing will exist throughout the greater Kansas City area, the money for marketing and advertising techniques will be mainly allocated in the Overland Park area.
Currently, the main customers are middle aged married adults. Children are welcome in the restaurant. Given the large amounts of growing families in the area, making restaurants children friendly is a main importance. Thus, children will also be considered part of the target audience. However, advertising will be mainly aimed towards their parents.
Strategies- The idea that the owner wants to promote for the restaurant is a family friendly restaurant that offers fine dining at an affordable price. The restaurant owner wants to keep up with the luxury the other local restaurants offer. However, he wants the main importance to be with family. We have come up with the slogan, “Where the Families Go” in order to create the idea the restaurant is a family driven restaurant. The slogan indicates that this is an establishment where families go in order to enjoy a nice Italian meal together. The slogan “Where the Families Go” will be used on all advertising in order to promote the family based Italian restaurant that is virtually unheard of throughout the Overland Park area.
Tactics- The main goal is to promote awareness of the restaurant throughout the community. This is the main obstacle that is hurting the restaurant. Since it is basically hidden, the restaurant has not gotten enough visibility to compete with the other established restaurants in the area. The restaurant has been open for almost one year. The owner is a popular individual throughout the Overland Park area. Thus, the majority of the restaurant’s business has received has been family members, friends, and acquaintances of the owner. The owner wants a more diverse customer base that does not consist of individuals he knows or acquaintances he has. The following consists of the events in the Public Relations campaign that will be conducted in order to increase awareness of Mario’s Italian Restaurant.
There are two main events that will happen throughout the next three months. These two events are very important in order to get the family friendly feeling the owner is looking for. These two events are Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. These two days are approximately one month apart. However, each event will have similar advertising and marketing ideas. Our first two tactics will be to use these two events to gain awareness of the restaurant as well as a larger customer base.
Mother’s Day is the first event the restaurant will use in order to gain awareness. For Mother’s Day, promotional strategies will be used in order to gain the most customers on that given day. Mother’s Day is one of the busiest days in the restaurant industry. Since the majority of women still holds the gender role of cooking or food preparation, Mother’s Day is one day these women are able to step out of the kitchen and enjoy a meal with their families. The owner has decided to create a 15 percent discount for individuals who eat in the restaurant on both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. Thus, advertising for both days must include the discount in order to grab the attention of consumers. The same advertising plan and objective will be used for Father’s Day. However, Father’s Day is typically not as busy as Mother’s Day in the restaurant industry. All print ads will start running prior to Mother’s Day and will specifically be designed to encourage individuals to dine at the restaurant on those two given days.
In order to promote both of these events, promotional flyers will be handed out. These flyers will also give information regarding the location of the restaurant, popular items the restaurant offers, and the information regarding the discount. Since the majority of the known restaurants throughout the area are generally full on these two days, especially Mother’s Day, these days are the restaurant’s ability to really gain the most customers they can. Also, signs will be placed at every corner of the square mile shopping center the restaurant is located. These signs will be simply signs designed to sustain weather for the day. In other words, these signs will be cheaply made. These signs will state, “Mario’s Italian Restaurant, Now Opened, Located by the pet store”. This will help gain awareness on those two given days. Since the restaurant is using these two days as the main methods to create awareness, the owner decided he would like to distribute 500 flyers throughout the Kansas City area. Thus, it will cost $50 to produce the flyers and the owner is willing to spend $300 in order to properly distribute them. Altogether, the owner is going to be spending $350 on the flyers.
Another way to gain awareness is to sponsor sports teams. Blue Valley Parks & Rec is the local sports community for youth. These youth teams are always looking for sponsors in order to attend sport tournaments or to purchase equipment. The main advantage of providing these young individuals with these funds is that the restaurant owner has the privilege of placing his business name on their uniforms and any other banner the sports team may use. This is an excellent way of gaining awareness for the restaurant. Once someone sees the name, “Mario’s Italian Restaurant”, they can google it in order to find out more information. The fact that the restaurant’s name includes the word “Italian” can substantially help the restaurant gain awareness through sponsoring youth sports teams. This also helps support the idea that Mario’s is a family restaurant that welcomes children. This is a way of advertising for children, but using the advertising methods to directly advertise to their parents. Sponsoring a sports team for three months is anywhere from $225-$600 depending on the amount of advertising exposure the company wants.
The restaurant currently has both Facebook and Twitter, however, the restaurant will now take more steps in order to make these pages more active in order to gain more awareness. The links to both the restaurant’s Facebook and Twitter page will be located on any handouts, billboards, or ads the restaurant will produce. If the sports team uses a banner or any other large sign, then the Facebook link can be placed below the restaurant’s name. However, putting social media links on uniforms may be an unnecessary expense. The uniforms are too small and may take away from the name of the restaurant. Facebook and Twitter do not have an expense, only time.
Three different methods of print advertising will be used. These advertising methods consist of: newspaper ads, yellow page ads, and a billboard. The newspaper ad will run every Sunday throughout the three month period. The yellow page ad will remain constant throughout the three month period. Furthermore, the billboard will remain up for the three month period. These three basic print methods should increase the amount of awareness of the restaurant throughout the Overland Park area. The owner is willing to spend $2,000 for the yellow page ad. The newspaper advertisement will be through the Overland Park Sun. Ad rates are $14 per ad. Thus, $168 for one ad a week for three months. Lastly, the billboard will be the largest expense. The billboard will cost the company approximate $3,000 (Gaeber).
The yellow page ad will consist of basic business information. The newspaper ads and billboard, on the other hand, will include more information in order to promote awareness. For example, both the newspaper ad and the billboard will contain the slogan, “Where Families Go”. This will help increase the awareness that the restaurant is a family oriented business. Thus, increasing the owner’s desired theme.
The last tactic that will be used is handing out menus. These menus will be mailed to individuals who live within a five mile radius of the restaurant. The menus will also be handed out at functions involving kids. By handing out menus, local consumers will not only become aware that the restaurant exists, they will also be able to see what the restaurant has to offer. Menus will also be handed out in selected area throughout the metro. One of the most beneficial places to hand out menus would be the pet store next door. Since the pet store is in a different industry than the restaurant, the pet store should have no problem helping promote the store next door. The owner is planning on asking the next door pet store owners whether or not they would be willing to place several menus out in order to help promote his restaurant. The pet store owner would also benefit from this. If those consumers become frequent customers of the restaurant, then they may spend more time in the pet store. Thus, increasing sales for the pet store. It will cost the restaurant approximately $.10 to produce each menu. One thousand menus will originally be printed, thus, producing the menus will cost approximately $100. Approximately 250 of these menus will be mailed. Stamps are currently $.47. Thus, mailing will cost the restaurant $117.50. The restaurant will allocate $300 more in order to distribute the other menus. Overall, menu distribution will cost the restaurant $517.50.
Calendar- Our three moths Public Relations campaign period will span from May 1- August 1.
Mother’s Day: 05/08/16
Father’s Day: 06/19/16
Blue Valley Parks & Rec
Billboard: 05/01/16-08/01/16
Facebook & Twitter
Newspaper Ad: Every Sunday throughout the three month period
Yellow Page Ad: 05/01/16-08/01/16
Menus: Will be sent out by mail every Tuesday throughout the three month period
Evaluation- In order to evaluate the campaign, all of the above must be completed. The restaurant was able to create advertising for Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, sponsor a youth sports team, create a billboard and newspaper ads for all under $10,000. The total expense of the Public Relations campaign is $6,635.50. Menu distribution is also included in this monetary amount.
Works Cited
Gaeber. “Cost of Billboard Advertising.” (2016). Web. 27 April 2016. Accessed from http://www.gaebler.com/Billboard-Advertising-Costs.htm.
