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Environmental Scan of Kudler Fine Foods

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Kudler Fine Foods is a local upscale specialty food store located in the San Diego metropolitan area. The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). Each store has approximately 16,000 s.f. of retail space located in a fashionable shopping center. The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported foodstuffs and divided into the following departments. Kudler Fine Foods has experienced significant growth and is now focused on expanding the services, improving the efficiency of its operations and increasing the consumer purchase cycle as a means to increasing the loyalty and profitability of its consumers. Within the next 12 months, Kudler plans to increase customer loyalty by offering added high-margin services, leveraging the firm's better understanding of customer purchase patterns, and providing more efficient operations. Profitability will also be increased by cost reductions accomplished through supplier partnering programs. New customers will be acquired through social network marketing and word of mouth. Public relations campaigns are a frequent output of public relations planning. Because campaigns are usually designed to accomplish unique objectives, they must be planned using non-routine procedures (Lattimore, 2004). The PR campaign will affect the marketing function of Kudler Fine Foods by generating more consumer prospects for the company. Kudler will need more publicity to reach the goal of increasing profitability. Publicity is one aspect of public relations. Both involve the same goal of drawing attention to the aforementioned company. Marketing or publicity consists of media interests and actual coverage, such as a news story, radio interview. This in turn promotes customer awareness. Getting the public to discuss Kudler Fine Foods is the ultimate goal of PR. When consumers grow aware of what Kudler is selling and what the company stands for, consumers will be able to relate to the company on many levels. Publicity can come and go, but with a solid PR campaign Kudler Fine Foods will be able to connect with the targeted consumer based audience over the long haul. If a public relations campaign is correctly researched and planned, its elements will interact to produce an effect that is much greater than the sum of the response to the individual messages. If the marketing mix is not right, the elements of the PR campaign combined, no matter how individually excellent, may fall short of the goal or objective. Therefore, it is important to measure the cumulative impact of public relations campaign, keeping in mind the goals developed in the planning phase. This can be done only after the campaign has been in progress long enough to achieve some results. Effects are generally attitudinal, although they can also be behavioral if one campaign goal is to maintain or increase favorable attitudes toward an organization among members of certain publics.

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Solution Summary

Kudler Fine Foods is a local upscale specialty food store located in the San Diego metropolitan area. The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). Each store has approximately 16,000 s.f. of retail space located in a fashionable shopping center. The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported foodstuffs and divided into the following departments. Kudler Fine Foods has experienced significant growth and is now focused on expanding the services, improving the efficiency of its operations and increasing the consumer purchase cycle as a means to increasing the loyalty and profitability of its consumers. Within the next 12 months, Kudler plans to increase customer loyalty by offering added high-margin services, leveraging the firm's better understanding of customer purchase patterns, and providing more efficient operations. Profitability will also be increased by cost reductions accomplished through supplier partnering programs. New customers will be acquired through social network marketing and word of mouth. Public relations campaigns are a frequent output of public relations planning. Because campaigns are usually designed to accomplish unique objectives, they must be planned using non-routine procedures (Lattimore, 2004).

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Kudler Fine Foods is a local upscale specialty food store located in the San Diego metropolitan area. The company has three locations (La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas). Each store has approximately 16,000 s.f. of retail space located in a fashionable shopping center. The stores are stocked with the very best domestic and imported foodstuffs and divided into the following departments. Kudler Fine Foods has experienced significant growth and is now focused on expanding the services, improving the efficiency of its operations and increasing the consumer purchase cycle as a means to increasing the loyalty and profitability of its consumers. Within the next 12 months, Kudler plans to increase customer loyalty by offering added high-margin services, leveraging the firm's better understanding of customer purchase patterns, and providing more efficient operations. Profitability will also be increased by cost reductions accomplished through supplier partnering programs. New customers will be acquired through social network marketing and word of mouth. Public relations campaigns are a frequent output of public relations planning. Because campaigns are usually designed to accomplish unique objectives, they must be planned using non-routine procedures (Lattimore, 2004). The PR campaign will affect the marketing function of Kudler Fine Foods by generating more consumer prospects for the company. Kudler will need more publicity to reach the goal of increasing profitability. Publicity is one aspect of public relations. Both involve the same goal of drawing attention to the aforementioned company. Marketing or publicity consists of media interests and actual coverage, such as a news story, radio interview. This in turn promotes customer awareness. Getting the public to discuss Kudler Fine Foods is the ultimate goal of PR. When consumers grow aware of what Kudler is selling and what the company stands for, consumers will be able to relate to the company on many levels. Publicity can come and go, but with a solid PR campaign Kudler Fine Foods will be able to connect with the targeted consumer based audience over the long haul. If a public relations campaign is correctly researched and planned, its elements will interact to produce an effect that is much greater than the sum of the response to the individual messages. If the marketing mix is not right, the elements of the PR campaign combined, no matter how individually excellent, may fall short of the goal or objective. Therefore, it is important to measure the cumulative impact of public relations campaign, keeping in mind the goals developed in the planning phase. This can be done only after the campaign has been in progress long enough to achieve some results. Effects are generally attitudinal, although they can also be behavioral if one campaign goal is to maintain or increase favorable attitudes toward an organization among members of certain publics.

Kudler Fine Foods public relations issues stems from periods of significant growth. In order to keep the existing clients and enhance their shopping perceptions, Kudler Fine Foods has decided to initiate a frequent shopper program, expand services offered such as cooking classes, and obtain more competitive pricing through supplier relation negotiations.

First, the frequent shopper program will enhance the customer perception by establish a sense of belonging to the customers. Next, the additional services will change the customers' perception of Kudler Fine Foods. No longer will it be just a place to buy groceries. Kudler specialty stores will become a social setting where housewives can learn and trade culinary secrets. Finally, the supplier relations will help in two ways. It will increase the value of shopping at Kudler Fine Foods as a bargain due to more competitive pricing. It will also develop supplier relations establishing Kudler Fine Foods as a valuable customer to the distributors.

The target audiences are both the consumers and the suppliers. The consumers will see Kudler Fine Foods in a whole new light. The drudgery of shopping is over, as Kudler Fine Foods will be the new social hang out. The value of being at Kudler Fine Foods will be priceless as friends gather and shop together. The suppliers will see the changes of Kudler Fine Foods, and start viewing them as a larger, more profitable customer. This will put Kudler Fine Foods in a better position to negotiate on the purchasing of product. Their target market and sales organization will concentrate on consumers who enjoy quality specialized products while paying premium price. These consumers targeted for this marketing plan live in high-end zip codes and are accustomed to fine dining. In both circumstances, Kudler Fine Foods increases the value of their public relations. In both cases, Kudler Fine Foods becomes seen as more than they are and are better liked because of it.

There are possible ethical implications of the public relations campaign of Kudler Fine Foods. They could lie within the motives and any shortcuts taken to achieve the results. The motive to make more money is not ethically wrong if a quality product of value is being sold to realize those profits. It would be when a lesser product replaces a better product at the same or higher cost. The implications might not be notice, but the loss of quality would be a lie to the customer. This would all be done for the love of money, without the customer's best interest at heart.

Market research plan

Kudler Fine Foods public relations goals is to increase awareness of their unique products and services through a marketing research plan developed by Marketers and their Public Relation (PR) Strategist to reach the company's desired goal in the next 12 months. Kudler Fine Foods has a good marketing plan for next year's expansion by increasing revenue by 20% by expanding their services, creating frequent shopper programs and increase efficiency while keeping costs down and increase customer base by 12% and increase the knowledge of all employees by 100% regarding their department.

One of the strategies the Public Relations staff is preparing a special event campaign to popularize the new cooking classes featuring famous chefs local and international. The popularity of cooking shows and chef showdowns has increased in number and consumers would enjoy attending cooking classes at a specialty food store famous for its celebrity instructors and cook-offs. This is an excellent marketing tool to generate exposure and generate revenue by increasing customer visits and frequent purchases of the finest breads, wine, cheese, and seafood, cooked or catered to customer needs. Brochures, newspaper ads, radio spots in all languages, TV spots promoting the famous chef at the special event shows, mail distribution of coupons, bring a friend to cooking class membership points are all some to the strategies that will be used by the Public Relations department to generate awareness of this unique opportunity and specialty products.

Kudler Fine Foods "chefs at your door" concept is a perfect way to tap into their loyal customer's friends and families. To taste first-hand the freshest ingredients prepared by renowned chefs from around the world would attract ...

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