Marketing Plan for Chick-fil-A

This marketing plan outlines the expansion of Chick-fil-A's franchise in the UK. It includes a macro and micro environmental analysis, SMART objectives, and segmentation, targeting, and positioning strategies.

Creation of a
Marketing Plan for
Chick-fil-A

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MARKETING PLAN......................................................................................................................1
Overview of the company......................................................................................................1
Products and Services offered by Organisation......................................................................1
Executive Summary................................................................................................................2
Mission and Vision.................................................................................................................2
Macro Environmental Analysis..............................................................................................3
Micro Environmental Analysis...............................................................................................5
SMART Objectives................................................................................................................7
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning...............................................................................7
Competitor Analysis...............................................................................................................7
Marketing Strategy.................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is an important component of each and every business enterprise
encompassing activities such as advertising, promotion, public relations etc. All of these are
cumulatively aimed at creation of strong relations with customers and communication the vision
of organisation to them. For this purpose, one of the most effective ways adopted by companies
in the modern era is development of a marketing plan. This plan seeks to place the offerings of
an organisation among the target audience after carefully scanning the micro as well as macro
environment of business. With this, the entity is able to inflate its reach amidst people and
improve its global market position.
The present project consists of a marketing plan made for Chick-fil-A which is one of the
largest fast food chains within the confines of America. The average income earned by its outlet
is more than that of any other fast food giant within US. The management of this entity is
planning to expand the franchise within United Kingdom as a part of its market expansion. The
report consists of micro and macro environmental analysis, SMART marketing objectives, STP
and perceptual map. Also, it consists of competitor analysis along with marketing strategy
devised by way of marketing mix.
MARKETING PLAN
Overview of the company
Chick-fil-A is recognised to be one of the biggest American chain restaurants within fast
food industry, having its specialisation as chicken sandwich. This organisation has its
headquarters situated within Georgia, USA. The fast food giant operates by way of its 2300
outlets spread across the territory of US alone. Out of the 50 states which constitute USA, Chick-
fila-A is present in 47 and is about to open a store in 48th state named Hawaii. This restaurant
offers food and beverage items for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Also, it provides customers with
the option of personalisation for special kind of events.
Products and Services offered by Organisation
The menu of Chick-fil-A consists of chicken sandwiches, chicken nuggets, chick-n-strips,
salads and breakfast meals. The restaurant capitalises upon its specialisation in preparation of
chicken dishes and emphasizes upon actual white meat chicken. The corporate strategy of this
corporation has always been to stipulate a simple menu for customers and shift its focus on
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provision of effective as well as timely customer service. The entity has never been reluctant on
expansion of its menu options to gain the attention of people but to enhance the quality of its
chicken sandwich in order to leverage its specialisation. The “A” in the name of restaurant is for
top quality of chicken used to make food items. The leading position of Chick-fil-A within the
confines of fast food industry of US owes to the focal point of entity being excellent customer
services.
Executive Summary
Looking upon the success of Chick-fil-A within the confines of America, the
management of this entity is opening a new outlet in United Kingdom. The expansion is being
carried out with a view to expand the market share of company across the global confines. The
entity would be leveraging upon its skilled human resource team, specialisation in chicken items
(especially chicken sandwich) and other resources available with the company to build extensive
brand image in UK.
Mission and Vision
Mission:
The mission statement of Chick-fil-A is “To be the best quick service restaurant across
the globe at gaining customer satisfaction and retaining them”
The emphasis hereby is placed upon the leading position that the firm intends to attain in
food & beverage sector. The focus is on redefining the brand as well as its services to meet the
never ending needs and preferences of customers as well as to outshine the rivals pertaining to
concerned sector.
Vision:
The vision statement laid down by Chick-fil-A is “To glorify God by being an honest
custodian of all that is entrusted to us and to exert affirmative influence upon everyone who
comes in contact with Chick-fil-A.”
The vision of the entity encompasses religious values as well as principles to improve its
services for the betterment of company and customers. The statement portrays the way in which
the fast food giant views itself as the steward for consumers as well as society along with its
intention to provide services of best quality.
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Macro Environmental Analysis
Chick-fil-A is planning to expand the franchise operations within the confines of United
Kingdom. To facilitate this in an effective manner, the management of this entity is conducting a
macro environmental analysis of UK as it will provide assistance to the fast food giant in
leveraging the market opportunities and overcoming the threats in a timely manner. For scanning
the external environment, PESTLE Analysis is undertaken by the organisation.
PESTLE
This is an effective framework that is applied by business entities across the globe with a
view to gain comprehensibility of certain factors pertaining to the environment in which it carries
out its operations. The aspects constituting this framework are explained in context of UK, the
new target market for Chick-fil-A, as follows:-
Variable Construct
Political  The politically stable and strong state of UK would foster the
growth of restaurant operations of Chick-fil-A.
 The European, local and central government have laid down a
number of grants and schemes such as Better Broadband Subsidy
Scheme, Better Business Finance, Innovate UK and many more,
the advantage of which can be availed by Chick-fil-A (Finance
and support for your business, 2019).
 Terrorist attacks, international war, political instability, changes in
rules and regulations are some of the factors that may negatively
impact upon the functioning of Chick-fil-A in UK.
Economical  The developed nature of economy of United Kingdom would act
as opportunity for Chick-fil-A. The respective fast food giant
would be able to capitalise upon the infrastructural development of
this nation and thereby inflate its revenues after the expansion.
 The nature of consumers of UK is price sensitive which may
impact in favour or against Chick-fil-A depending upon the
circumstances.
 British exit from EU (BREXIT) is one of the most significant
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factors that have been negatively impacting upon the operations of
businesses functioning within the confines of UK.
 The disposable income of people pertaining to the respective
country is high, which creates opportunity for the restaurant to
appeal to a large base of customers and satisfy their needs for
retaining them in the long run.
Social  The quantum of individuals stricken by Diabetes in United
Kingdom is 4.7 million as per the reports of 2019 (Number of
people with diabetes reaches 4.7 million, 2019). Further, 1/3rd
people of this place have the issue of Obese (Obesity: Disease or
just plain greed? The number of obese Britons has doubled in 25
years, 2019). Both these diseases tend to build the health
conscious nature of residents of this nation. This decreases the
demand for fast food products within UK, acting as a major threat
for Chick-fil-A.
 The online shopping trend is on a boom nowadays. Thus, the entity
can leverage the option of entering into partnership with food
delivery apps like Uber Eats to reach out to a large base of
audience and enhance its popularity at a rapid pace within UK.
Technological  The technologically advanced state of United Kingdom would
provide opportunity to Chick-fil-A to conduct its operations in an
effective manner by leveraging new technologies to appeal to
people.
 Chick-fil-A would capitalise upon social media marketing which is
one of the most prominent technological trends in today’s modern
era.
 Further, the firm would also leverage influencer marketing so as to
gain the attention of people within the new target market and
satisfy their needs appropriately for their long term retention.
 Online ordering via company’s website is a trend that would work
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in the favour of Chick-fil-A to inflate its revenues and profits in
near future.
Legal  There are a number of laws that need to be followed by Chick-fil-
A to ensure its sustainability within market place of UK for a long
period of time. Such legislations comprise of health and safety
regulations, employment laws, hygiene, food safety and
management etc.
 An incidence of non compliance with any of the laws pertaining to
Food & Beverage sector would result in imposition of fine or
penalty and / or public prosecution.
Environmental  There is a constant pressure inflicted upon the organisations to act
in the interest of environment so as to gain support from public as
well as government. This would lead to an increment in overall
cost of operations.
 Chick-fil-A would invest in CSR activities after expanding into the
market of UK to build a positive image in the minds of customers
and appear to them as an eco-friendly brand.
 Further, the respective fast food giant would make sure that the
carbon footprints are reduced to a large extent through the
utilisation of new technologies as well as sustainable practices.
Micro Environmental Analysis
Apart from macro environmental analysis, it is important for a firm to carry out
examination of internal aspects of company. One of the most effective frameworks undertaken
by companies in this regard is SWOT Analysis.
SWOT
This is an analytical framework that is being applied by management of Chick-fil-A to
gain knowledge of the internal aspects that are advantageous for entity to gain access into UK
market and the ones that need to be enhanced for inflating its competitive edge. The SWOT
analysis of Chick-fil-A is presented as follows:-
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Strengths:
 The biggest strength of the respective fast food organisation is its impeccable customer
services. This provides aid to the entity in retaining its loyal base of customers for long
term.
 The specialization of the entity lies in chicken sandwiches which are best within the Food
& Beverage industry. A large proportion of its customers visit the outlet daily just to have
this item.
 The ambiance of the outlets of Chick-fil-A is warm as well as captivating for customers
as many vibrant colours are used in interiors. The walls of outlets even contain pictures of
staff members.
 Chick-fil-A pays compensation to its employees more than the industry average. Also,
the entity provides the individuals with career advancement opportunities which motivate
them to a great extent.
 The restaurant outlets of Chick-fil-A do not operate on the premise of self service and
emphasize on serving customers through attendants. This is done with a view to develop
healthy relation with customers and to ensure that they do not any kind of issue within the
organisational premises.
Weaknesses:
 Chick-fil-A does not carry out its operations in countries other than USA. Thus, it can be
said the market presence of this entity is restricted.
 The prices of food & beverage items sold by Chick-fil-A are high. Although the prices
are justified looking upon the quality of meals however, it makes the offerings of
company unpopular amidst middle and lower income sections of society.
 The fast food giant does not much come up with innovation in food production
techniques or menu options. This limits the reach of entity among customers.
Opportunities:
 Looking upon the constantly growing health conscious nature of people, Chick-fil-A can
leverage the options of introducing healthy fast food items to the menu. This would
provide aid to the enterprise in appealing to customers affected by diabetes or obese.
 Chick-fil-A can gain access into other countries to build an extensive goodwill across the
globe and thereby enhance its overall market standing.
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Threats
 McDonald’s, Burger King and Subway are the major players in fast food industry which
pose threat to the market position and sustainability of Chick-fil-A at market place.
 There are a number of scandals centring fast food organisation that make use of chicken
as their main ingredient, in relation to quantity and quality of chicken used by them. This
tends to create apprehension in consumer mindsets and a large proportion has even
decided to neglect such outlets.
SMART Objectives
Stipulation of marketing objectives is an important element of marketing plan. While
carrying out expansion within the confines of UK, the management would ensure the attainment
of below mentioned SMART objectives:-
“To increase the revenues of company by 12.5% by the end of 1 year by leveraging
extensive marketing in UK”
“To inflate the market share of entity across by globe by 4.25% by next 6 months by
capitalising upon social media marketing”
“To enhance the profits of corporation by 7.25% within next 1 year by launch of
marketing campaigns in UK”
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
STP model is being applied by the management of Chick-fil-A to determine its target
audience in the confines of United Kingdom.
Segmentation: Chick-fil-A would segment the market geographically as well as
demographically (on the basis of age).
Targeting: The fast food giant would be entering UK and targeting people pertaining to
age group of 22-36 years.
Positioning: Chick-fil-A would position its offerings among citizens of United Kingdom
by making use of social media marketing. The platforms that would be leveraged by the fast food
restaurant would be Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat.
Competitor Analysis
A number of rival companies would serve as direct competition for Chick-fil-A within
UK. In this regard, some of the examples of competitors who would pose risk to the
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sustainability of enterprise are McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Donuts, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Burger
King, Subway, Yum! Brands, Church’s Chicken. All of these are direct rivals for the respective
fast food giant and enhance the risk of substitution for the firm. However, the due emphasis put
upon customer service by the firm and its strong chicken product segment would together prove
to be advantageous to deal with such rivalry in UK.
Marketing Strategy
Marketing strategy can be referred to as the long term as well as forward looking
approach towards planning which is aimed at attainment of competitive advantage by a firm. The
marketing strategy that would be adopted by Chick-fil-A within the confines of United Kingdom
is explained with the help of marketing mix, as follows:-
Element Description
Product Chick-fil-A would be offering the same product range in UK as it offered
in US. However, the firm would add sugar free product range for those
stricken by obese and diabetes looking upon the health conscious nature of
people of the new market.
Place The fast food giant would be entering UK which is an excellent business
location for organisations intending to expand their market share as well as
goodwill. The excellent infrastructural, logistics, supply chain and
communication facilitates makes it a suitable place for doing market
expansion.
Price In the initial phase of setup, the pricing strategy of Chick-fil-A would be to
keep the prices of product moderate so as to be easily affordable for all
sections of society. With the passage of time, the entity would shift to
premium pricing strategy as it offers high quality products and would also
have a range of sugar free products.
Promotion The marketing of Chick-fil-A within the confines of UK would be done by
way of social media platforms as well as launch of effective marketing
campaigns. Both of them would provide aid to the entity in inflating its
overall reach among the customers.
Process The production process of Chick-fil-A would be executed making sure that
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the customers’ needs as well as wants are satisfied.
People The staff within the confines of United Kingdom would be provided with
adequate training opportunities so that they can produce food items as per
the needs and preferences of customers.
Physical
Evidence
The physical evidence would be witnessed in the form of satisfaction that
will be gained from customers post the consumption of food & beverage
items.
CONCLUSION
On the basis of above discussion, it can be said that marketing plan is an effective
strategy that can be used by enterprises to gain the attention of people and carry out market
expansion. Further, it can be acknowledged that environmental scanning is crucial for an entity
trying to gain access into a new market. Further, target audience is determined with the help of
STP analysis. In this relation, marketing strategy is devised by a corporation through the usage of
7 P’s of marketing.
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Obesity: Disease or just plain greed? The number of obese Britons has doubled in 25 years.
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