865 Westminster St, Providence, RI 02903

2014 Marketing Plan Group 2

4/15/2014

By : Daniel Cappiello, William Ehalt,

Jarred DiFazio, Matthew Brown,

Todd Nigro

RESTAURANT DESCRIPTION

The Classic Café is a quaint diner located in

Federal Hill district of West Providence. Located

on the corner of Winter Street and Westminster

Street, the Classic Café has a fairly active area

for foot traffic. Local colleges surround this area,

including Johnson & Whales, RISDI, Brown, and

Providence College. Conforming to the urban

image of the area, the external image of the

diner is fairly stereotypical: windows running

from ceiling to floor to provide customers a view

of outside activity, neon signs advertising

products inside, and a clear view of available

seating. Internally, the café reflects an image of a 50’s-60’s diner with atmospherics such as posters from

the area placed on walls and table tops to keep uniformity in the café’s ambiance. The layout of the

restaurant is somewhat unique: when first walking in, the dining area appears to be very long and

narrow, but there is a deceiving amount of space to accommodate anywhere between 30-35 guests.

Given the layout, location, and retro feel at the Classic

Café, the uniqueness factor is one should be emphasized

through marketing practices.

True to their name, The Classic Café offers a breakfast

menu one would expect to be offered. Ranging from

eggs cooked to order, omelets, pancakes, breakfast

sandwiches and an assortment of other breakfast

favorites. Favorably, the menu has a “fun” feel to it,

such as the “Kiss My Hash” option, an omelet made

with corn beef. Such examples like this appeal to guests

humor appeal, and allows for the Classic Café to further

position themselves as a fun and classic retro in

the minds of potential consumers.

Their lunch menu is fairly predictable, as one would also expect. Between burgers, sandwiches

and wraps, classic melts, soups and salads, and kids’ meals, there are plenty of quality food options to

choose from. The prices of these options range from approximately $6 to $11, with the median price

being approximately $8.50. These prices are fair for the quality and portions of meals served, and it

appears that guests are more than satisfied with their experience eating at the Classic Café.

SWOT ANALYSIS

ANALYSIS OF TARGET MARKETThe Classic Café has a broad variety of target segments. Upon visiting the café, it was immediately

evident that the restaurant attracts a diverse group of ethnic guests. Aside from ethnicity, the spread of

age demographic was fairly broad as well, ranging from what seemed to be college students, to business

men, to the more elderly people. Located in such a

highly populated area of college students and

businessmen, the restaurant seems to appeal to

those who need a substantial meal, whether it be

breakfast or lunch, to get through a busy and hectic

day. As for the elderly clientele, it seems that they

prefer the café as a place to spend time enjoying a

nice meal and a few cups of coffee in the company

of others doing the same. With this diverse range of

guests frequenting the café, the menu must appeal

to the needs to each segment. Broken down below

describes each segment evident as guests whom eat

at the café, as well as what appeals are believed to

be prevalent in each respective segment.

College Students - The accessibility of the Classic

Café to college students in the Federal hill area

permit for students to quickly get to the location

with minimal effort navigating Providence. Within

simple driving, or walking distance in some cases,

the convenience of location is a major appeal to this

category. Also, with larger portions at fairer prices,

college students will be attracted to the “biggest

bang for their buck”. Lastly, given that this

demographic is comprised of many “artsy” type of

people attending liberal arts schools in the area, the

unique ambiance of the 50’s-60’s diner could be

another appeal to escape the boring and ordinary dining hall or fast food services along the strip.

Generally, students at these universities are not paying for their education or their cost of living all on

their own - most have help from their parents. Considering this, they are more likely to be willing to

spend disposable income on appealing meals, such as those at Classic Café.

Businessmen and Local Workers - This segment include those who are employed in the surrounding

area and are in positions to leave their places of work for lunch break. Oftentimes, these people either

work in close proximity to the café so the convenience factor of walking is evident again. Also, these

people are usually adults with steady streams of income. They tend to fall into routines, and so a café

serving coffee and a substantive breakfast or breakfast snack could easily become a staple of their

morning/afternoon routine.

Bohemian/Local Residents - This segment include those who are recent college graduates who still live

in the area. Usually they are young urban business professionals, averaging age around 28 years old.

Having most likely resided in this area of Providence for a handful of years, these people are familiar

with the area and are susceptible to becoming repeat customers and build brand loyalty at the Classic

Café.

Elderly Residents - these are the people who are retired and still reside in the providence area. Usually

living on fixed incomes, these people like to save money as much as possible - but still enjoy routines of

going out in public. Considering the 50’s-60’s ambiance of the café, this age demographic might also

have nostalgic appeal as they most likely frequented a diner in that actual time period.

Families - families are also a segment of the market that would be attracted to the Classic Café. Many

families who attend church are known to get brunch following mass, and so the classic café is a unique

restaurant with food options for both parents and children in an environment that may entertain

children and allow for adults to eat in peace. Considering the food quality, parents and children alike are

fans of the Café.

PROMOTIONAL PLAN

PICTURE TAKEN FROM GOOGLE IMAGES

“I grew up in this area, in Federal Hill district to be exact, and so I’m pretty familiar with the restaurants around here. Being a current college student, I’m usually really low on money… so whatever food I buy has to be cheap. I always go for the best bang for my buck. A few years ago I came across Classic Café, and decided to give it a shot. Walking in, I was a little hesitant about the food quality – it seemed to me this was just another run of the mill cafes. And I couldn’t have been more wrong. The food quality was outstanding and cooked exactly to order. Since then, the Classic Café has been a staple of my weekend brunches. I don’t think you’ll find better omelets in providence.”

The Advertorial

This is an example of an advertorial that could be posted in popular circulations in the Providence area such as The Providence Phoenix, Providence Journal, and golocalprov.com. The quoted section of the advertorial (which has been re-stated for readers’ ease) gives the ad competitive advantages in many ways. Most considerable of these advantages is a connection to the audience as well as source credibility. A college student, whom happens to be a local native as well as local collegiate student, speaks very highly of the Classic Café and confesses his loyalty to the restaurant as a frequent customer. Considering the survey’s analyzed, the markets targeted, and the overall analysis of restaurant operations, we feel that this type of communication would be effective - and cheap. Advertorials, much like advertisements in local circulations like those mentioned prior, would be an excellent resource to not only direct communication toward a specific market; but also all for this to be done cheaply.

Royalty Card

The introduction of a SmartPhone application for a loyalty program platform. As a team we believe that there is great intrinsic value behind this idea. Conceptually, any guest with a smartphone is eligible for this application (and with the growing trend of smartphone users, this is a market that could easily be tapped). If a guest does not have a smartphone, a rewards card with a “BlackSwipe” scanner will be implemented in place. The idea behind all of this is to tie the dollar amount of the “total” receipt cost to a computerized system. This system will then convert that dollar amount to “Loyalty” points, which the guest can redeem for a multitude of things, including % of meal, free appetizers, etc.

Working on two fronts, this Loyalty Program may seem somewhat hard to implement and maintain. The guests with the loyalty cards are responsible for keeping track of them with their cards. Once cards are scanned by the hosts or servers, the guests will be informed of their balance and asked if they would like to redeem points. At the end of the transaction, a print out of available loyalty points will be available at the bottom of their receipts:

Smartphone Application

The smartphone application, on the other hand, is where the somewhat complicated portion come in. Luckily, most smartphone users are familiar with downloading, using, and maintain application. And this is the beauty in the idea behind integrating this software into a promotional plan - it builds awareness, interaction, feedback, and most important - draw to the restaurant. The app is quite simple at the end of the day:

THE HOME SCREEN

This is an example of what the home screen of the application would look like. As you can see, the left portion is the introduction to the app. Once open, the user has five options: they can either contact the restaurant/get directions, view lunch/breakfast menus, view their loyalty points. Most importantly you can scan the QR code on an iPhone/ Android. The “Scan QR Code” allows the user to open a new page in the app that has the ability to scan a QR code (which is basically a combination of coding designed to be deciphered by a computer program.) The application allows for the code to convert the dollar amount of the receipt to loyalty points. From there, the user (guest) can show their server a redemption page that allows for either % off their bill, a free appetizer etc.

This is an example of what a guests’ receipt would look like with the QR conveniently printed on it. This type of loyalty program far outweighs the traditional cards that have been handed to patrons and lost for years. Since most people now-a-days own smart phones, and every guest gets a receipt, this system will improve the ability to build a reputable Loyalty Program that works and satisfied patrons, encouraging more to do the same.