Burger Hut Marketing Communication

Question: Discuss about the Burger Hut Marketing Communication. Answer: Market Analysis Burger and fast food industry is one of the largest revenue generating industry in the world and contributed over $570 billion to the global economy in the year 2016 (Sena, 2017). According to the market researchers, the estimated growth of the industry is 2.5% for another few years (Sena, 2017). Burger King is one of the most popular fast food restaurant chains, which entertains millions of visitors everyday. The chain has established its brand image by providing high quality and affordable food to the customers. It was founded in the year 1954 and today is the second largest fast food hamburger chain across the world. Burger King has 35 operating restaurants in Singapore (Burger King, 2016). The menu of Burger King includes beef burgers, chicken and fish burgers, breakfast burgers and beverages. Chicken and fish burgers also include variety of burgers such as mushroom swiss tendergrill chicken, long chicken, tendercrisp chicken, fish n crisp and other fish burgers. Beef burgers include whopper, double whopper with cheese, double mushroom swiss and other beef burgers. Burger Kings secret recipe formula has attracted large consumer base. Another major player of the industry is McDonalds, which is also one of the largest fast food restaurant chains across the globe. McDonalds began its operations in Singapore in the year 1979 and has established over 120 restaurants crowded with millions of customers. MacDonalds provide superb range of fulfilling scrumptious burgers. Its burgers rang include Big Mac, Cheeseburger, Hamburger, McChicken, McDouble, McSpicy, Double McSpicy, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double cheeseburger and McChicken n Cheese burger (McDonalds, 2015). McDonalds attracts and retains its clients through its quick and quality services. Pestle Analysis PESTEL analysis would help to understand the market factors for burger and fast food industry. Political Factors Political factors help to determine the performance of the industry. The industry has consistent support from the Singapore government which would support the Burger Hut to run its operations smoothly. The political stability of the country would contribute towards the growth and development of the company (Weizhen, 2015). Economic Factors The economic factors of the country have a direct impact on the macro-environment of the company. Burger Hut has an opportunity to expand its operations globally from the expanding international trade agreements of the country (IE Singapore, 2017). The stable economic of the country would promote the growth of the company. Further, the growing economy of the developing countries paves the way for the expansion of market in developing countries. Socio-cultural Factors Singapore is a diverse country which is an opportunity for Burger Hut to introduce its innovative products into the market. Though the consumers have become more health conscious which could threaten the demand of burger because of its unhealthiness, yet, company has an opportunity to create innovative products which imbibe the healthfulness. The country has increasing concerns for animal rights advocacy which would again be a threatening element (Tan, 2014). This issue could also be addressed by modifying the existing supply chain and demonstrating the concerns on animal rights and welfare. Technological Factors The emerging technology paves way for new business opportunities. Burger Hut could incorporate the latest technology within its system to execute its operations effectively. The company also has the scope to target mobile users through mobile application. Further, Burger Hut could also invest into research and development activities to offer innovative products to the customers. Environmental Factors The changing climate could reduce the stability of the supply chain system, though this could also enhance sustainability of the company (National Environment Agency, 2017). The company could target customers who promote low-carbon lifestyles. Legal Factors The company would have to take care of the external regulatory factors which are governed by the country. Burger Hut would have the opportunity to expand its network through the support of countrys international trade agreements (IE Singapore, 2017). Further, the company would also be able to improve its operational activities in the process of following environmental protection laws. Smart Objectives SMART objective helps to design marketing goals which are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound (Steffans, 2015). A specific goal sets the limit of the goal which can be easily accomplished. A measurable goal helps to set concrete criteria which can be measured once the goal has been achieved. Achievable goal helps to figure out whether the achievable goal is attainable or not. A realistic goal gives the direction and time bound goal helps to achieve the goals within the time frame. SMART Objectives: To launch breakfast burger meal in the current fiscal year after research and analysis. To increase the sales of the company by 20 percent at the end of current fiscal year. The above two goals are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time bound. The first goal clearly defines the purpose and the time frame for the activity which is current fiscal year. The second goal is also specific with the figure 20 percent sales which would be measured at the end of the current fiscal year. Marketing Communication Strategy and Implementation Tactics Marketing communication is the strategy which is deployed by the companies to communicate their core message with the market (Fill Hughes, 2008). The core message could be about the product or service description to create awareness among the consumer base. Marketing communication has numerous tools which include advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations, direct marketing, interactive marketing, branding and positioning. Advertising Advertising is one of the tools of marketing communication which is commonly used by the companies to market and sell their product in the market by sponsoring an open message in the public. Advertising could involve audio or visual form of communication. With the emerging technology, advertising has also adopted various forms which include online marketing, newspaper ads, radio advertising, television advertising, flyers and door hangers. Advertising can be further classified into traditional advertising and digital advertising. Traditional advertising uses the old methods of marketing communication such as newspaper ads, radio, flyers, billboards etc (Ang, 2014). On the other hand, digital marketing makes use of technological resources such as internet and mobile to promote the product or services. Online marketing is one of the tools of digital marketing, which focuses on the concrete message instead of plain advertising. It helps to build the image of the company by making the business online where huge base of consumer can access the information (Ryan, 2014). Few of the methods of online promotion are illustrated below: Website Development In todays changing global business context, every company maintains a website in order to build its reputation and increase the reach ability of target audience. This is due to the increasing usage of internet and mobile applications which has enabled customers to look for the information of products and services online (Ryan, 2014). Big players such as Burger King, McDonalds have developed their website and have build great reputation in terms of branding and positioning. Burger Hut also needs to develop its website in order to develop its credibility and authenticity. All the relevant information of the company would be displayed such as about us, product menu, location, contact details and other required information. (Source: Burger King, 2016). The template above describes the layout of the website which has been taken from Burger King. Email Marketing Email marketing is one of the commonly used strategies to attract the target audience by sending newsletters, discount coupons and other attractive emails. (Source: Behance, 2017). The above email marketing campaign is one of the advertising done by McDonalds. Email marketing campaign targets the customers who have opted to receive promotional emails, which implies that they would be interested to use the offer as well (Chaffey, 2012). Burger Hut needs to develop email marketing campaign for its new products and target its potential customers. For instance, strategy could be used to develop the image of healthy burger in the minds of consumers. Online Display Ads This is one of the prominent methods deployed by companies to promote their products. With the increasing usage of the internet, customer have begun to explore things online which makes web browser such as Google, Yahoo, Bing etc., a platform to advertise. Companies can display their ads online and market the products and services online. (Source: Lutz, 2015). The above online ad is one of the promotion activity conducted by Burger King. Burger Hut also needs to create online promotions for launching its new products in the market. The online ad must be able to create awareness of the new product and create a resonance effect in the minds of consumer. Personal Selling and Sales Promotion Personal selling is another commonly deployed method of marketing communication in which company hires sales force to have face to face interaction with the customer (Yeshin, 2012). Burger Hut could promote its new products through personal selling and sales promotion. The employed front staff of the company would play a significant role in the process. The customers have a direct connection with the front staff of the restaurant and front staff has the authority to convince the customer through persuasiveness. The front staff could suggest or recommend the consumer to buy the newly launched product of Burger Hut. They have a great opportunity to bring leads for the new product by convincing the existing customers. Customers tend to get influenced by the front staffs recommendations and suggestions. The front staff acts as a source of sales promotion for the company and has the authority to direct the customer towards the latest products. Public Relations, Direct Marketing, Interactive Marketing, Branding Positioning Public relations is a method which is used by the companies to build mutual beneficial relationship with the audience. Companies deploy PR specialist who can convince the audience to build their customer base. The job of the PR is to maintain a healthy relationship between the customer and organization to enhance the reputation of company. The process can include various methods such as press releases, writing speeches and pitches, conducting events for the public, market survey, blogging on the web, social media promotions and other online activities (Wynne, 2016). Burger King conducted Peace One Day campaign to create a connection with the people. The PR campaign delivered the message that if Burger King and McDonalds would stop fighting the war, they could make a bigger difference in the world. The visual ad demonstrated that both the companies could maintain friendly business relation with each other to work with harmony and bring peace. The campaign advertised one of the popular burgers of the Burger King called Whooper. Similarly, Burger Hut could also adopt any such PR tool to create deeper emotional connection with its audience. Direct marketing is selling the product or services through retail outlets or telephone order (nowadays online orders). A company can use many tools to communicate the message to the customers through mobile text, email, website, fliers and other marketing tools. Burger Hut would need to introduce its new products across all the retail outlets of the country to ensure the customers can buy them at their nearest store. Interactive Marketing deploys two way communication process to facilitate the consumer to connect with the company, for instance, a query raised by a customer on the website. Burger Hut could also introduce interactive marketing to connect with its customers. Branding and Positioning helps to build the image of the company in the minds of the consumers. Branding is one of the key elements of successful marketing for a product and service (Ferrell Hartline, 2013). It gives the company an edge over the competitors (Shankar Carpenter, 2012). After analyzing the marketing strategy of Burger King and McDonalds it can be concluded that both the companies have developed their image and reputation through branding. Burger King has given name to its entire product range which is an ingredient of branding. A name is very helpful to position the product in the minds of the consumers. Therefore, Burger Hut also needs to develop names for the new products and strategically develop the marketing plan for their launch. Positioning Statement: Now enjoy the most scrumptious breakfast meal at Burger Hut. Proposed Evaluation and Control Methods After analyzing the marketing strategies of Burger King and Mcdonalds, an evaluation can be done which would help in the launch of Burger Huts new products. Burger Hut needs to consider few of the parameters as discussed below to ensure effective marketing campaign. Return on Investment: While developing a business strategy, company must consider the investment it would have to make for the project and what would be the estimated results (Lamb, Hair McDaniel, 2011). Burger Hut needs to project the probable sales figure and calculate the return on investment to analyze the profitability. Sales Figures: Burger Hut must keep a track of the sales figure to check whether the overall sales are boosting or declining. This is the fastest and basic method to determine the success of project. Expansion: The efficiency of marketing plan can be analyzed by reviewing the market reach ability of the company. If more and more customers are attracted by the new product then the marketing plan has succeeded. Response of Customer: It is the key element of any marketing plan and must be analyzed to determine the success of the project (Cant, Strydom, Jooste Plessis, 2009). Burger Hut must conduct a survey to analyze the consumer response of the products to take reviews and feedback from the consumers. The survey may be conducted offline or online. Partner Response: The response from the partners helps to evaluate the efficiency of the marketing plan. The partners are the outside team members who can help to evaluate the marketing plan by considering the reviews of the customers. Sales Force: It is wise to take the feedback from the employees of the company to determine the success of the marketing plan. The sales staff for Burger Hut is the front office staff, who are directly linked to the customers. They have already had a real time experience with the customer which makes them understand the requirement if the customers more deeply. From their personal experiences they can share the feedback of the customers which would help the company to determine the efficiency of the marketing plan. In case the feedback is positive, the plan has been proved to be successful and if the feedback is negative then a revision in the plan is required. Response of Competitor: Competitors response proves to be very helpful to determine the success of the plan. If the competitors try to imitate the Burger Hut then the plan has proved to be successful. Sample Print Advertisement: Layout and Copy After thorough research and analysis of the competitors of Burger Hut, a sample layout of print advertisement can be drawn reflecting the objectives of the marketing plan. (Source: Burger King, 2016). The above print ad helps to position the new product launch of Burger Hut and position the product in the minds of consumer by creating resonance effect. Coherent drama is developed through the positioning statement in the ad Now enjoy the most scrumptious breakfast meal at Burger Hut. The resonance effect would remind the consumer of the ad campaign when the consumer would be looking for a breakfast meal. References Ang, L. (2014). Integrated Marketing Communications:A focus on new technologies and advanced theories. Melbourne: Cambridge University Press.Behance. (2017). McDonalds Value Lunch. Behance. Retrieved from: https://www.behance.net/gallery/4574137/McDonalds-Egypt Burger King. (2016). About Us. Burger King. Retrieved from: https://www.burgerking.com.sg/About Cant, M.C., Strydom, J.W., Jooste, C.J., Plessis, P.J. (2009). Marketing Management. Juta and Company Ltd.Chaffey, D. (2012). Total E-Mail Marketing. Burlington: Routledge. Ferrell, O.C., Hartline, M. (2013). Marketing Strategy, Text and Cases. Australia: Cengage Learning. Fill, C., Hughes, G. (2008). Marketing Communications. UK: Routledge IE Singapore. (2017). Singapore Free Trade Agreements. IE Singapore. 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