Marketing plan Title: Introducing a new meal- "Charley's Box"

Course Title/ Number: Marketing Management / C8

Name and Date: Tishta Bachoo/ 07.12. 2013
Name of Instructor: Mr. Vasenden Dorasami

Executive Summary
It is the beginning of a new era that the fast food industry has gradually breakthrough the
Mauritian lifestyle. Due to the globalisation process, many fast food franchises are now
available in Mauritius. Today these products form part of our lifestyle and culture. People

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rely on their convenience to enhance their lives and productivity. But in the fast and
increasing competitive business environment of today, the right marketing approach is
necessary to deal with competitors. The ability to develop effective marketing strategy
enables the firm to become more responsive and adaptable to the market. With the the growth
of fast foods in Mauritius, the first Charley's store was introduced at Trianon in the year 2013
to cater for customer needs. The restaurant features sandwiches such as the Philly Cheese
steak, Chicken Teriyaki, Buffalo Chicken, and recently offered the Chicken Chipotle, Spicy
Asian BBQ, South Philly and the Southwest Chicken sandwiches during limited time offers.
Charley's also serves salads, fries, and lemonade. Charley's is an extremely innovative
company with unique menu items and its products are manufactured within international
norms and quality to provide the maximum satisfaction to its customers. The products sold
are Halal guaranteed. Thus, whatever someones belief and culture, he or she can eat at
Charley's. The rational of developing marketing strategies is to respond to the increasing high
demand in fast food and to eventually increase the market share of Charley's. Charley's main
and direct competitor is Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC). Charley's is relatively new on the
Mauritian market and KFC has already positioned itself in the mind of customers since it was
launched in Mauritius in 1983.
The marketing plan is for the launching of a new meal named "Charley's Box". It will be a
complete meal in a box containing a drink, a sandwich, salad and dessert, as per the
customer's choice. This meal is specifically designed for the time-strapped families, whitecollar busy people and the teenagers. Charley's Box will be introduced in the market with the
help of various promotional advertisements. A SWOT analysis has been carried out to see the
outlet's strength, weakness, opportunities and threats. Then, the goals and objectives have
been explained. A Product Portfolio has further explained the management of Charley's
product lines. The STP process has been used to divide the specific segmented and targeted
market and with the use of the marketing mix elements, Charley's positioning strategies are
implemented. Assumptions made in this particular study are that the company: is financially
stable, operates in an oligopoly market, has a research and development team in place and
that Charleys is a socially responsible company.

Table of Contents

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Situation Analysis.......................................................................................................................4
External Environment Analysis..............................................................................................4
Context analysis with Pestel model....................................................................................4
Competitor Analysis [Porters Five Forces]............................................................................5
Customer Environment Analysis............................................................................................5
Segmentation......................................................................................................................6
Target markets.....................................................................................................................6
Positioning..........................................................................................................................7
Internal Environment Analysis...............................................................................................8
SWOT Analysis..................................................................................................................8
BCG Product Portfolio Matrix............................................................................................8
The Ansoff Growth Matrix.................................................................................................9
Elements of Market and Marketing Research..........................................................................11
Issues Analysis.........................................................................................................................13
Goals and Objectives................................................................................................................14
Marketing Strategy Statements................................................................................................15
Target market definition.......................................................................................................15
Strategy statement................................................................................................................15
Proposition statement with reference to the 7ps of marketing...........................................16
Accessibility statement with reference to the 7ps of marketing........................................17
Communication Statement...................................................................................................17
Marketing Implementation.......................................................................................................19
Marketing Budget.....................................................................................................................20
Control......................................................................................................................................20
Contingency Planning..........................................................................................................21
References................................................................................................................................23

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Situation Analysis
External Environment Analysis
This is a systematic collection and evaluation of past and present economical, political,
social, and technological data, aimed at the identification of internal and external forces that
may influence Charley's performance and choice of strategies. It also assesses Charleys
current and future strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.
Context analysis with Pestel model

Figure 1: PESTEL MODEL

Competitor Analysis [Porters Five Forces]

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No organisation can afford to ignore their competitors. It is very common for marketing
managers to monitor the activities of their competitors, what they are doing to improve? And
so on. Charley's beats its competitors through the revision of its marketing strategy all the
time. The major competitor of Charley's is KFC.

Figure 2: PORTER MODEL

Customer Environment Analysis

The nature of the buying behaviour is complex.

Figure 3: BUYING BEHAVIOUR

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Segmentation
Charley's has divided the market into distinct groups of customers with different demands,
tastes and behaviour who require separate products or marketing mix. In Mauritius, the niche
marketing is being used for particular classes of people. Market segmentation has been made
on the following bases:
Geographic
Geographic segmentation of Charley's is worldwide. This year, it got established in
Mauritius. The first store was opened in Shoprite, Trianon, the second one at Bagatelle and
the third one at Riche Terre mall. These places have been targeted because they are very
commonly visited by families, the younger generation. Moreover, these malls are surrounded
by offices which mean that workers go there for lunch.

Demographic
Charley's general market segment is the younger generation and those who work. However,
they segment upper class, upper middle class and lower middle class family as well.
Charley's focuses on people under every age group.
Psychographic
Charley's psychographic segmentation includes people having good attitude about food sense
and those who want to have a good time with their friends and family. It serves all types of
personalities by continuously offering variety in its menu.
Behavioural
This divides buyers into groups based on their taste, class, the price they want to pay and also
the quality. Charley's provide convenience, high quality food, rapid and friendly service.

Target markets
Charley's

has

successfully

used

differentiated

market

segmentation

strategy.

Charley's intends to cater a wide customer base. Management wants everyone to feel
welcome and entertained. The groups identified as target segments that contribute to
Charleys growth projection are illustrated in figure 4.

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15%
30%

Business people

15%

Teenagers/Students
Family with kids
Couples
40%

Figure 4: MARKET PROFILE

This particular market segment of 25-45 years old, have disposable income, and seeks
upscale, trendy, and comfortable restaurant options which are offered by Charley's. These are
the types of people who visit other restaurants and bars in the area. They are most likely to
spend more on experiences they perceive. They are also the most open to trying something
new, food wise, and will embrace Charley's new meal.

Positioning
Charley's provides high value offering at affordable prices. Charley's has made its products
more nutritious than other fast food outlets. This is due to the huge sum spent on Research &
Development. The price of the new meal will be very affordable, taking into consideration,
the average pocket money of teenagers.

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Internal Environment Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Figure 5: SWOT ANALYSIS

BCG Product Portfolio Matrix

Figure 6: PRODUCT PORTFOLIO

Star
The star product of Charley's is the Gourmet Fries. It has a high market share and brings in
high revenue. But it also has high developmental expenditure involved. The profit therefore
is generally not very high in this product. Charley's is trying to make this product a cash
cow as well, by reducing the expenditure.

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Question Mark
Charley's will launch the new product in the market with the brand name Charley's Box. As it
will be a new product it comes in the category of the Question Mark in the BCG Matrix. It
has a low market share thus brings low revenue. Charley's should advertise a lot to popularize
this product so that everyone gets to know about it. This will increase expenses and will
initially not bring much revenue to the company and instead might be cash drain for
Charley's. However, if good strategies are used, Charley's Box might shift to
either the star or even cash cow at a later stage.
Cash cow
Charley's Philly Chicken is the most successful product of the company. It has the highest
market share amongst all the other products. It has superior demand in the market and brings
in huge sales revenue. The development and other expenses are also low and thus this product
is a cash surplus for the company.
Dog
Charley's Philly Veggie comes under this category. Although Charley's had launched this
product much earlier, it has still failed to become a success. It has a low demand for this meal
because of Charley's is not well known for its vegetarian meals. Also many people do not
prefer to eat out in a place where it makes mostly non veg meals. It has a low market share
and although low on expenditure (as company does not spend on its promotion),
it does not bring in much revenue as demand is low.

The Ansoff Growth Matrix

This is a way to create growth strategies for corporations based on markets and products.
There are there are four possible combinations:

Marketing penetration - This growth strategy uses current products and current
markets with the goal to increase market share.

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Market development - This growth strategy uses existing products to capture new
markets.

Product development - This growth strategy uses new products in the existing market.

Diversification - This strategy creates completely new opportunities for the company
by creating new products and new markets.

A company should decide which strategy to use based on the strengths and weaknesses of the
company and its competitors. Charley's has an existing market and now planning to introduce
a new product. Therefore, the below combinations are crucial to focus on:

New Product Development

This process has two parallel paths: one involves the idea generation, product design, and
detail engineering; the other involves market research and marketing analysis. Charley's is
developing the new product under the brand name "Charley's Box" because the company's
believes that its strength lies with the customers.

Market Penetration

The best way for Charley's to achieve this is by gaining the customers of competitors. Other
ways include attracting non-users of Charley's product or convincing current clients to use
more of its product. After the development of Charley's Box, management can decide upon
introducing Free Delivery Services, Drive through or even implementation of an online
ordering system whereby customers can order and receive their meals within 30 minutes. The
new product is mainly targeting the younger generation and working class. It is assumed that
these groups of people are very technological advanced and will find it more convenient to
actually order online. Charley's can also provide WI-FI services to its customers especially
for the working class and teenagers who can check their e-mails while having lunch.

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Elements of Market and Marketing Research

The market research will give accurate information about the requirement of the target group,
making it possible to create a well thought out marketing mix to win customer loyalty. In all
its markets, Charley's faces competition from other businesses. Additionally, economic, legal
and technological changes, social factors, the retail environment and many other elements
affect Charley's success in the market. In order to succeed in the competitive market,
Charleys needs to undertake some marketing research.

Figure 7: PURPOSE OF MARKET RESEARCH

Market research will identify the above mentioned factors and anticipate how they will affect
people's willingness to buy. As the economy and social attitudes change, so do buying
patterns. Charley's needs to identify whether the number of target customers is either growing
or shrinking and whether their buying habits will change in the future.

Figure 8: MARKET RESEARCH

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Market research considers everything that affects buying decisions. These buying decisions
can often be affected by wider factors than just the product itself. Psychological factors are
important, e.g. what image does the product give or how the consumer feels when purchasing
it. These additional psychological factors are significantly important to the customer. They
can be even more important than the products' physical benefits. Through marketing,
Charley's will be able to establish a prominent position in the minds of customers. This is
known as branding.
Meeting the needs of key audiences
There are a limited number of customers in the market. To build long-term business, it is
essential to retain people once they have become customers. Customers are not all the same.
Market research will also identify different types of customers who will be visiting Charleys.

Customer Profile
A parent with two children
Children
A business Customer
Teenagers

Reason
Visits Charley's to give the children a treat.
Want to visit Charley's as it is a fun place to eat.
Visits Charley's during the day as service is quick; the food
tastes great and can be eaten in the car without affecting a
busy work schedule.
They are attracted by the affordable menu, and the Wi-Fi
access which will be available at Charley's.

These examples represent just a few of Charley's possible customer profiles. Each has
different reasons for coming to

Figure 9: NEEDS OF KEY AUDIENCE

Charley's. Using this type of information, Charley's can tailor communication to the needs of
specific groups. It is their needs that determine the types of products and services offered,
prices charged, promotions created and where restaurants are located. In order to create a
marketing strategy that will enable the needs of the key market to be met, the strengths and
weaknesses of the organisation must first be identified and analysed.
The analysis will examine the following parts of the companys business:

The companys products and how appropriate they are for the future

The quality of employees and how well trained they are to offer the best service to
customers

The systems and how well they function in providing customer satisfaction e.g.
marketing databases and restaurant systems

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The financial resources available for marketing. Once the strengths and weaknesses
are determined, they are combined with the opportunities and threats in the market
place.

Issues Analysis
Issue 1: Cultural diversity
There are many different religions, traditions, festivals, and cultures in Mauritius. Each
Mauritian has a different background and origin. Mauritius population is very rich and
diverse. Various cultural groups provide guidelines regarding acceptable foods, food
combinations, eating patterns, and eating behaviours. Compliance with these guidelines
creates a sense of identity and belonging for the individual.
Decision 1
Understanding the religions basic tenets and practices, will allow the company to comply
with Mauritian norms and values, associated behaviour in government, politics, business,
public life, family life, and social life. Knowing the spiritual barometer of Mauritius will help
the company to establish successful relations in a respectful manner and to avoid potential
costly social blunders with Mauritian.
Issue 2: Mauritius health conscious society
Fast food is considered in Mauritius as unhealthy which contribute to obesity and diabetes.

Decision 2
Charley's Sub should extend nutritious and health-conscious menu offered across the Fresh &
Healthy Brands family with a whole new approach to grilled items. The company should
promote their low fat values across their menu in their advertising campaign.
Issue 3: Facing fierce competition with well established fast foods
Charleys sub is operating in a very competitive market. Companies like KFC, MC Donald,
Nandos, pizza hut, Debonair dominate the fast food market share.

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Decision 3
To gain market share the Charleys sub should differentiate its product from competitors and
proposed a relatively low price to the customers.

Goals and Objectives

Profitability Goal: To remain profitable and financially healthy company

Profitability Objective:
1. To achieve a 25% return on capital employed by August 2014.
2. Increase productivity of employees by 20% through training and customer feedback
by September 2014.
Market Share Goal: Increase our company market share in the fast food industry,
Market Share Objective:
1. To increase our market share by 25 % by December 2014 by means of value-added
incentive.
2. Increase customer satisfaction by 50 % before April 2014.
3. To offer the lowest meal package in the fast food industry by 2014.
Promotional Goal: To create awareness for the company and its products and services.
Promotional Objective:
1. Increase customer awareness (Charleys Sub new healthy menu) by 50 % by
December 2014.
2. Increase customer loyalty through rewards system by 20 % by November 2014.
Growth Goal: To expand the company business throughout the island.
Growth Objective:
1. To realize an annual growth rate of 10.25% greater than the previous year.
2. To recruit 10 qualified staffs by November 2014.
3. Open at least 3 more outlets by October 2014 to be more accessible for customers
around the island.

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Branding Goal: To build awareness of our brand, while constantly maintaining and
protecting its integrity.
Branding Objective:
1. To make charley sub the preferred brand of 18-25 year people in Mauritius by
November 2014.
2. Establish a corporate image of the company in the Mauritius community by December
2014.
3. To develop and make used of environmental friendly packaging (No plastic) by
March 2014.

Marketing Strategy Statements

Target market definition

In demographic segment, Charley's main target is the youngsters and the working class adults
ranging from 25 years to 40 years as they are the ones who spend a lot in eating out. The two
services provided by Charley's are as follows:
Dine in is for those who love to have good times with their friends and age fellows and some
families.
Take away is for those who dont get their food for home. Customers can order on phone and
can come pick up the order after some minutes. This is more appropriate for the working
class.

Strategy statement
We provide a unique customer experience
Provide customers with value for money either high quality products or services in a very
clean and friendly environment.
We operate our business ethically

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Sound ethics is good business. At Charleys, we hold ourselves and conduct our business to
the highest possible standards of fairness, honesty and integrity. We are individually
accountable and collectively responsible.

We are committed to our people

Attracting and developing the best talent for our business, stretching our people and
developing a "can do" attitude. Charleys provide opportunity, recognize talent, and develop
leaders. We believe that a diverse team of well-trained individuals working together in an
environment that fosters respect and drives high levels of engagement is essential to our
continued success.
We give back to our communities
We help our customers build better communities by supporting charities institution, religious
festival and leverage our size, scope and resources to help make Mauritius a better place. We
are committed to sustainable business practices and are determined to conduct our operations
in a manner that does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs.
We strive continually to improve
We consider charleys as a learning fast food company that is green and growing which
anticipates and responds to changing customer, employee, system and community needs
through constant evolution and innovation.

Proposition statement with reference to the 7ps of marketing

Product: Provide high quality service/product (healthy only) and maintain long term
relationship with customers.
Price: Provide and maintain the moderate meal price in the fast food market. This way
Charley's can attain large market share.
Place: Outlets are very evenly spread throughout Mauritius. Charleys does not offer home
delivery but its outlets are very readily accessible in famous shopping complex.
Promotion: Advertising is conducted on radio, in cinema, online and by means of magazine
to ensure informations are delivered to our target market.

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People: Continuously train people and motivate them through rewards system to promote
high quality service/delivery. The employees at Charleys have a unique standard uniform.
Process: By means of open kitchen, charleys allow its customers to see the ingredients
being used, and to judge the hygienic standards at the outlet.
Physical evidence: Provide a clean, friendly and unique environment

Accessibility statement with reference to the 7ps of marketing

Product: All the ingredients used in the preparation and cooking process should be clearly
displayed on menu cards.
Price: Each product price must be clearly displayed and communicated to the customers.
Place: The address and opening hours of all the outlets should be displayed on the company
website and brochures.
Promotion: Price, conditions, place must be clearly stated through the promotion campaign.
People: Charleys mission, objectives, policy, standards must be communicated to their
employees.
Process: As charleys makes use of open kitchen, appropriate safety cooking conditions and
code of conduct must be communicated to all the employees.
Physical evidence: A good appearance of Charleys outlets Staff should be wearing clean
uniform, staff courtesy and greetings, staff responsiveness.

The restaurant should be

comfortable and have enough seating capacity and dining space.

Communication Statement
Charleys will like to communicate its commitment in providing healthy menu at affordable
price to the Mauritius society. Charleys will use creative advertising campaigns and will pay
media to deliver their message to the target market.
Point of Purchase Material and standard uniform
It has mass coverage mainly to Charleys existing customers. Point of purchase material will
target our audience of 18 to 40 years old. Hats and shirts will be distributed to employees.
Both of the aforementioned will have as main theme the company logo associated with a
healthy message.

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Website and Smartphone application

Charleys will implement a user friendly and highly interactive website to promote the
healthy menu. Charleys will also provide a free mobile application that will connect
customers with the website and its Facebook or LinkedIn page so that they can interact and
share opinion. Our target audience will have the opportunity to use the mobile application to
further learn about the healthy menu product line.
Online marketing
Wide internet banner will be displayed on the orange and defimedia website, which are
lifestyle, high traffic site that are mainly visited by women and men of 18 to 44 years old.
Mobile Marketing through SMS PUSH strategy
Mobile is an important way to reach consumers, who increasingly have their Smartphones
and tablets within their reach 24-hours a day. Charley's will use SMS push strategy to
communicate their promotions and new healthy menus on a monthly basis.
Bus shelters and radio campaign
Posters will be placed on bus shelters to capture customers attention because it has a high
visibility to every segment. The majority of people listen to the radio during morning hours
while they are on the way to their work, school and university. Radio campaign will be put in
place through radio+ which is highly rated and considered as premium in their music
option. Broadcasters need to constantly reference charleys as a healthy fast food provider
will make constant references to Nutrition and Balance products.

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Marketing Implementation

Figure 10 : Action to achieve goal

Other actions to be carried out by Charleys

Initiate television ad campaign for the new meal
Initiate Charley's bag design contest
Organize free in store tastings for the new meal
Develop Daily Deal site offering that will require email list registration

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Marketing Budget
In order to compete with the large marketing budgets of competitors, Charley's will increase
its marketing budget as shown in the table below.

Figure 11: MARKETING BUDGET

Control
To measure and evaluate the success of the marketing objectives, Charleys will use metrics
analysis tools to keep an eye on customer engagement, lead generation and sales data.
Customer Relationship Management and industry-standard metrics will be implemented to
manage Charleys customers and lead for online campaigns. Google analytic will be used on
the company website to analyse visitor traffic and will provide a complete picture of the
audience and their needs, wherever they are along the path to purchase. Management will

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also monitor and analyse sales result during specific time frames by tracking the ROI of instore and offline marketing efforts. Furthermore Charleys control process will consist of
annual plan control, profitability control, efficiency control and strategic control.

Contingency Planning
Charleys should put more emphasis on having a contingency plan in place. For instance, if
its main supplier suddenly goes bankrupt? Its entire sales force gets food poisoning? Or
Charleys staff fall sick on a peak time. These things can all cause confusion and disorder if
Charleys have not prepared for them properly. Contingency planning is a key part of this
preparation. It's about preparing for events such as the loss of data, people, customers, and
suppliers, and other disruptive unknowns. That's why it is important to make contingency
planning a normal part of the way Charleys works.

Risk Assessment
The need for contingency planning emerges from a thorough analysis of the risks that
Charleys faces. It's also useful in thinking about new projects. For instance, what happens if
the meal Charleys Box doesn't go as expected? This is when the contingency plan comes in
need. Charleys might be faced with the following risks:

RISKS
If location is
1 damaged by natural
disaster
If a competing Grill
shop is opened
2 nearby

PLANS
Move operations to a different
location
Start an aggressive advertising
campaign

Reduce prices so as to get more

customers, hence gaining back
3 Losing market share
the market share. Innovate, and
improve the product quality.
Invest in new resources or
services that help Charley's
4 Charley's Box fails
manage it well. Otherwise,
invest in another product or
service.
5 Loses physical
Charley's owner to lay off
location due to a
workers and to stop ordering
fire
materials and equipment to be

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back on the pre-disaster level.

After Addressing Charleys critical business functions and analysing the threats and risks,
Charleys should estimate a likelihood of its occurring. Only then, a contingency planning
should be the next focus. In order to maintain the process, the plan should be communicated
to everyone at Charleys.

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<http://www.craignabat.com/marketing_promotion.html>
'Restaurants must vary marketing plans' 1988, Marketing News, 22, 6, p. 46, Business Source
Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 4 December 2013.
Smith, S 2013, Business & Entrepreneurship, Target Market Segment Strategy,
Azcentral.com. Available from: < http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/target-market-segmentstrategy-10945.html>
Seese, M 2010, Scrappy Business Contingency Planning : How To Bullet-Proof Your
Business And Laugh At Volcanoes, Tornadoes, Locust Plagues And Hard Drive Crashes,
Cupertino, CA: Happy About, eBook Academic Collection (EBSCOhost), EBSCOhost,
viewed 5 December 2013.

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