Week 10 EOC: Promotion Without Discounting

I’m going to be promoting my restaurant by offering coupons and discounts!

Nah, I’m kidding. I was already hoping that the uniqueness of my restaurant would offer the experience to the customers that I am trying to give them. It is at least unique to the local area since Las Vegas is lacking a place to go out to enjoy a vegan meal. I have preached before about how I don’t want people believing that my vegan bar and restaurant is only for people who live a vegan lifestyle. My restaurant caters towards absolutely everyone, and if it is okay to say, I would prefer people who are NOT vegan to eat at my restaurant. That is the entire purpose of it: to promote the idea of veganism. So if someone was to come in and had no idea what the concept of veganism was, they would get a vegan experience by merely ordering something from the menu. The place would show that you don’t have to include animal products to enjoy a meal out or even at home (since maybe the restaurant could inspire some folks into attempting a vegan meal at home). That is also where the idea of offering a menu with dishes that traditionally have animal products in them, are given a vegan spin comes from.

So since veganism is such a foreign idea to Las Vegas, when a customer is engaging in a vegan act just by eating something should already be an experience itself. To up the ante for the experience, that is where the bar comes in. Serving alcohol can be for anyone (unless they are underage of course) regardless of what type of diet they live by. 

Week 9 EOC: Three Great Mission Statements

Michael Sherman's mission statement is the one I found to be the best so far. I like how it infers towards the local community. His bar really sounds like its giving back to the people by offering a theme and setting of the bar to be Caribbean and when we think of the Caribbean we think of a place to relax and cool off since we live in the dry desert. The bar sounds like a fun experience for locals to hang out at.

Kattie Gomez's "The Bean Break" sounds like it has a similar objective for their mission statement: something for everyone. I always like place or product that can offer something for all kinds of people. However, what I am confused about is where they are talking about the "creative entertainment," when initially describing their coffee shop since it sounds like a place to lounge and kick back. It was mentioned that older people probably wouldn't like the entertainment,  so it makes it sound like it may not be such a stress-free and mellow environment if its going to appeal more to a younger crowd (15-25). I think it is a mistake to point out something that someone could not like about the restaurant.

Jose Mayorga's was great. You can already imagine the sort of experience you would get at his bar just by reading it. A stadium experience sounds very intense but at the same time, it could be very heated in some situations since we all know how aggressive football fans can be.

What I looked into the mission statement were on how detail their were about the experience they are going to offer. All of these mission statements I found to fall into this quote, which is the basis of a good mission statement. "A company’s mission should not be stated as making more sales or profits—profits are only a reward for creating value for customers. Instead, the mission should focus on customers and the customer experience the company seeks to create."

Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

I am planning to manage and do all of the creative content of the bar. I would really like for the bar to be as visually appealing as possible. The creative content would include the logo (which is first), the layout, the colors, and menu. I am capable of taking the photo of the place of the bar and later opening the photo into Photoshop and adding the logo onto the building. Although I am not a graphic, I am pretty savvy when it comes to Photoshop since I am a photographer. I also know some pretty good resources for some tips and tricks in Photoshop and I am a fast learner.

Next is that I thought about somehow accessing the inside of the place to make a layout of the bar, but if not, I will sketch up some sort of blueprint. Then, the menu is something I would like to work on and spend most of my time on since it’s the most important factor next to the beer. I would like for my top seller to be a meal that traditionally uses meat, like a veggie burger or a veggie BLT. I am planning to come up with a great veggie burger recipe, try it out and after some trial & error, maybe offer free samples of it to draw in people and advertise my bar. I am thinking that most people still eat meat because of taste preferences, but offering a menu that has traditional meat recipes will cater to these omnivores and not just vegetarians/vegans.  The last thing I want people thinking about my bar is that it is just for non-meat eaters, which is absolutely untrue. My bar is for everyone. Maybe I would somehow mention that when advertising.

Another good idea I would like to do is design and website for it. If I weren’t a photography major, my other choice would have been web designing. I used to make web layouts when I was either thirteen or fourteen years old for a hobby. I am also current taking basic Web Scripting class this quarter so the information I’m learning from that class would be very helpful. For the content of the website would include pictures of what some of the menu items look like, like the veggie burger, since that meal I would like to be the most successful.

Finished! I have a logo included into my website which I had someone make for me.

Go to Verdura Bar & Restaurant website

Implementation Evaluation Control

Of course what would be of a restaurant if there were no customers? The concept of veganism is about eating what is right and the support of animal rights. Animals do not have a voice of their own and we are the ones who can speak up for them; vegans are the voice of the voiceless (sounds noble, doesn’t it?) The Verdura Bar and Restaurant wants to connect with its customers as much as possible, by relating to each other based from our dietary choices. If the customer and the restaurant understand each other, it is bound that a good long-term and deep relationship will ensue. How we establish a relationship with our customers is on a personal level. The restaurant likes to partake into events that promotes and supports animal rights, such as adoption events for animals that are in need. So by doing this, local adoption centers and other animal lovers will provide the proof of how good of a reputation we have.  Having outside association will spread our good deed for animal rights and hopefully others who are not vegan understand our views on how we as humans should treat animals. “Many managers think that “doing things right” (implementation) is as important as, or even more important than, “doing the right things” (strategy). The fact is that both are critical to success, and companies can gain competitive advantages through effective implementation.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 57) All of this event plannings and gatherings may seem like a lot of work for one person, but that is sort of the idea behind it. If we can get as many people involved, maybe more people will understand the word of veganism and hopefully become vegan themselves. Then as vegans, they are most likely to turn out to become activists and get more involved with whatever rights they are fighting for. Together as vegans, it can happen. “If the company is very small, one person might do all of the research, selling, advertising, customer service, and other marketing work. As the company expands, a marketing department emerges to plan and carry out marketing activities.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 58)

Price

Price is definitely important when it comes to running my restaurant! All the time I hear excuses on why people choose to continue to include animal products into their diet and the most popular one seems to be, "Eating healthy costs too much!" Yes, I can empathize with those who use this rebuttal since I have used it before too so once again, not only the vegan restaurant will cater to everyone but it also includes those who still want a healthy animal-free meal without spending big or taking the time to research and learn how to properly follow a vegan diet.  However, the pricing must be set right so it can meet the costumer’s satisfaction and bring in some good revenue. “ If customers perceive that the price is greater than the product’s value, they will not buy the product. Product costs set the floor for prices. If the company prices the product below its costs, company profits will suffer.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 275) The pricing for the vegan restaurant is going to be beneficial for both the restaurant and it’s customers. Wouldn't it be more fair if people who are vegans get the option to go and eat out too, just like those who are not vegans and also do not want to spend a whole lot for one night’s out for a healthy meal? That is what I am attempting to do. However, the customer’s do need to see that the meals that are offered are indeed worth the price they are set at. The restaurant and the costumers both need to meet in the middle on the price so that it benefits everyone in the end. “More and more, marketers have adopted good-value pricing strategies—offering just the right combination of quality and good service at a fair price.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 277) Sorry to say, but since I am not finding Vegas to be trending with the vegan lifestyle, I may be able to manipulate the customers by using their ignorance towards veganism in believing the prices are fair. Not saying that I do not have morals either though.

Promotion

I was already hoping that the uniqueness of my restaurant would offer the experience to the customers that I am trying to give them. It is at least unique to the local area since Las Vegas is lacking a place to go out to enjoy a vegan meal. I have preached before about how I don’t want people believing that my vegan bar and restaurant is only for people who live a vegan lifestyle. My restaurant caters towards absolutely everyone, and if it were okay to say, I would prefer people who are NOT vegan to eat at my restaurant. That is the entire purpose of it: to promote the idea of veganism. So if someone was to come in and had no idea what the concept of veganism was, they would get a vegan experience by merely ordering something from the menu. The place would show that you don’t have to include animal products to enjoy a meal out or even at home (since maybe the restaurant could inspire some folks into attempting a vegan meal at home). That is also where the idea of offering a menu with dishes that traditionally have animal products in them, are given a vegan spin comes from. I have also thought about giving away free samples of some of the things that are offered on the menu. It would be better to try a little taste of it instead of walking into the restaurant and paying for a full meal that you did not end up liking. But that kind of talk is silly since everyone will like it. “Samples are offers of a trial amount of a product. Sampling is the most effective—but most expensive—way to introduce a new product or to create new excitement for an existing one.” (pg. 434)

So since veganism is such a foreign idea to Las Vegas, when a customer is engaging in a vegan act just by eating something should already be an experience itself. To up the ante for the experience, that is where the bar comes in. Serving alcohol can be for anyone (unless they are underage of course) regardless of what type of diet they live by. But if worse were to come, I may have to resort of offering discounts. Hopefully the restaurant can establish a good relationship with the customers so we can offer something like a loyalty card for returning. “In general, however, rather than creating only short-term sales or temporary brand switching, sales promotions should help to reinforce the product’s position and build long-term customer relationships.” (pg. 433)


Finished! I have a logo included into my website which I had someone make for me.

Go to Verdura Bar & Restaurant website

Distribution

As a vegan restaurant, I would like to aim as close as possible in obtaining fresh ingredients. However, we are located in the desert and our best bet in using fresh items would be California, in terms of proximity. I remember hearing that Mexico is also a distributor of produce in the United States so that country could also be a consideration as well. There are local grocery stores that could also have what we need, like Whole Foods. “Marketing success will require building relationships with other company departments, suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competitors, and various publics, which combine to make up the company’s value delivery network.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 67)

But what about the restaurant and how are we involved in distribution for our customers? I guess aesthetically, we would like to distribute the idea of veganism and our products and values will help distribute that concept. We would also distribute the starting point for people to become vegan and hopefully will become inspired. Now… back to reality, I guess we could be about to distribute what we serve by offering a restaurant of course. This would be just a small restaurant to start giving out something different so it’s not like we could rely on retailers to start selling our packaged menu items. “Whereas, large-scale retail chains dominate the U.S. scene, much retailing in other countries is done by many small, independent retailers.” (Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, pg. 502). A few small vegan joints would be an interesting idea, but this is a bar as well. Like in other nations, it depends on the location and population, so small distribution structures are formed so people could walk or use a bike to get there. Las Vegas you kind of have to use a car to get around town and from what I have witnessed, there are many joggers and people on bicycles that get around the area (Green Valley) so I think having one restaurant in town will do great.