Marketing: Kudler Fine Foods

Marketing: Kudler Fine Foods

Marketing is matching consumersпÑ--Ð... needs and wants with a company's product then maintaining the relationship between the company and the consumer (Kerin, Hartley, Burkowitz, & Rudelius, 2006, ch 1). Kudler Fine Foods (KFF) must utilize all aspects to be successful in determining who to offer these services to and what services to offer. Market research, controlling market factors, technology, and integration of KFFпÑ--Ð...s organic produce are all areas that will have be considered when deciding how to get the best results.

Relative Value of Market Research

Prior to introducing a new product to a market, it is a good idea to perform market research. Market research is the gathering and analyzing of data and information to define the problems and opportunities associated with introduction of the new product (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 8). KFF already has customer surveys to help determine opportunities, but they also plan to implement a system where they can track customer purchases, and to perform studies on market size and opportunities, food marketing trends, and services benchmarking (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007, Sales & MarketingпÑ--Ð...Marketing Overview).

The two pieces of market research that KFF already has is two customers surveys performed in 2006 and 2007. These surveys are a way for KFF to collect data as part of its market research. This type of data collection is using a questionnaire with fixed alternative questions that give respondents a chance to rate areas on a semantic differential scale, or a scale that use short descriptive adjectives, instead of numbers for rating (Kerin et al, 2006, ch 8). The questionnaire by KFF asks 10 questions with a scale that ranges from пÑ--Ð...Strongly AgreeпÑ--Ð... to пÑ--Ð...Strongly Disagree.пÑ--Ð... The value of these two surveys is potentially high, as they give KFF a direct view of how customers feel about its products and services. In particular, KFF can analyze how well they are using the пÑ--Ð...Four PsпÑ--Ð... with certain questions, such as the customerпÑ--Ð...s overall satisfaction with convenience (place), value (price), and selection (product) (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 1). The results of these surveys can be used to determine how a customer will react to the introduction of new services. In this case, the new service would be catering.

In order for the surveys to be of high value for KFFпÑ--Ð...s marketing research, other data collection and research methods will have to be used. The surveys only offer a small piece of what KFF needs to improve or maintain to satisfy customers. KFF has already budgeted for studies that will help the marketing team better understand how the market will react to the addition of a catering service (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 8). Benchmarking other business that provide catering services, analyzing trends in the food market, and determine the market size and opportunities, combined with the surveys KFF has already taken, will give the marketing team a better idea of what particular items to serve, what KFF should expect to charge for these services, how best to promote the new catering service, and how to get those services to the customer.

Marketing Mix Components

The marketing mix is the factors that make up the issues that must be addressed by KFFпÑ--Ð...s marketing team. Both controllable and uncontrollable factors make up the marketing mix. Uncontrollable, or environmental, factors can be placed into five groups: social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 1). For KFF, these factors may include other specialty food catering services in the area, economic stresses in the area reducing the desire for catering services, and regulations for food handling.

The marketing mix also includes controllable factors, or the пÑ--Ð...Four Ps.пÑ--Ð... These factors include product, price, place, and promotion (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 1). Product is the service or good desired by a target group of consumers, price is the cost of the product to a customer, place is how the product is transferred to the customer, promotion is how the customer and the seller communicate about the product. KFF will need to focus on these four factors for their marketing strategy.

Product

KFF will need to determine the particular catering services to provide to its customers. By utilizing market research, the marketing team can determine the target group for its services, then what that target group needs or desires (Kerin et al., 2006, ch 1). The product itself will be able to satisfy the customer while using products that KFF already offers.

KFF has plans to offer cooking classes at its stores (Apollo Group, Inc., 2007, Sales & MarketingпÑ--Ð...Sales Plan). The reaction from customers at the foods presented in these classes will help KFF decide what kind of foods to serve. Using data of other local caterers to see what they serve and how that has helped their success. For example, according to statistics taken in Tucson, Arizona, in 2007, southwest type foods, such as barbeque and Mexican, are what almost all the top caterers in the area serve (Caterers, 2007). A report such as the one done in Tucson, for the cities in which KFF has its stores, would help it determine what foods would be most popular in that area.

Price

Prices will also have to be determined by market research. Prices will have to be based on what customers in the target market are willing to pay, how much the services will cost KFF, and the size of the event being catered. For example, looking at statistics for catering in Tucson, Arizona, the price per person, in general, ranged from $7 - $10 for parties of less than 50, but jumped to $50 - $75 per person when the party size exceeded 5,000 (Catering, 2007). Per person pricing may not always be appropriate, however. KFF may need to consider charging per event as unforeseen costs may be incurred such as lighting or fire permits (Catering, n.d.)

Pricing will also have to reflect in-store prices. One of the important aspects of marketing is building a relationship with the customers (Kerin et al., 2006). The customers will want to feel they can trust KFF by being charged reasonable prices. By already knowing what KFF charges for its products, the customer will have an expectation of price based on what and the amount that is being served.

The surveys given in 2006 and 2007, the cooking classes offered, and the frequent shopper program that KFF plans to implement will all