Italian Restaurant Marketing: A Case Study in Strategy and Planning

This case study explores the development of a marketing strategy and plan for 'My Favorite Italian' restaurant, owned by Roberto, Christina, Michaele, and Philippe. The restaurant, known for its authentic Italian cuisine, aims to revamp its business and open a café. A marketing consultant guides the owners through the process, emphasizing the importance of the marketing concept, customer satisfaction, and alignment with Italian family values. The case study analyzes the restaurant's current situation using COMP factors (Customers, Organization, Market, Product) and identifies key marketing objectives across financial, strategic, and communication domains. It also delves into mega-marketing concepts such as the buyer decision process, total product, and circle of satisfaction, ultimately leading to the creation of an effective marketing strategy for the restaurant's transformation and expansion.

Running head: MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
Marketing Strategy and Plan
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
My Favorite Italian
Restaurant
I have been a marketing consultant for
more than 10 years now. Within the
course of these 10 years I have helped
many small and medium business in
remodeling and revamping their
business. Recently I had the
opportunity to guide the owners of an
Italian restaurant of the town. The
restaurant is quite popular. The
restaurant is positioned in a strip mall.
The establishment type and position of
the restaurant enable the patrons to
access the restaurant late at night. The
restaurant serves authentic Italian food
and most of the patrons are extremely
satisfied with their service. When the
business started, Roberto and his wife
Cristina were the sole owners of the
restaurant. Their parents had major
contribution on the opening of the
restaurant. They contributed a
substantial amount of money when the
Roberto and Christina opened the
restaurant and they were able to buy
the space for opening the restaurant
rather than lease it. They wanted to
acknowledge the help that they
received from Roberto’s father and for
that they had invited his two younger
brothers, Michaele and Philippe to
work for the restaurant initially. They
worked for two years and when they
had proved that they were capable
enough, Roberto and Christina offered
them a share of 25% each. Now these
four, Roberto, Christina, Michaele and
Philippe, are the joint owner of the
restaurant. They have their own
segments to work on. Roberto is the
visionary and decision maker.
Christina is more on innovation and
changes that are needed. Philippe
manages the customers and Michaele
is the head chef. Business for them
was going well and Roberto and
Christina had taken a much deserved
holiday in Europe. Upon their return,

2MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
they brought back many ideas to
improve their business. Christina was
planning to buy a space nearby for her
café and bakery to add another layer
to their business. As they proposed
that they revamp their existing
business and invest in the new café,
many ideas surfaced from all the four
owners. Each of them proposed their
own suggestions; Roberto proposed to
change the windows and sign boards
that are there outside, Philippe wants
to change the clutter accumulated and
he and Michaele wants the menu to
change, Christina wants to change the
interior. They make many other
suggestions that would make the
appearance of the restaurant more
upbeat without hurting the image of an
Italian restaurant. They were having
repeated discussions regarding what
could be done. It is during this time
that I learned about their struggle
regarding the revamp. After listening to
their problems what I realized was that
they needed proper planning and
execution strategy to make the
changes effectively. They needed to
change some of their existing strategy
to able to meet the expenses that they
will be investing for the whole project
(Fanning, Activity: The Italian
Restaurant).
In any business, marketing is one of
the key factors that decide whether a
business, product or service is going to
succeed or fail. The basic concept of
marketing is about the needs and
wants of the consumers. To make any
business venture successful, they
should satisfy the consumers.
Successful marketers use a strategy of
listening, learning and adapting
according to the needs and wants of
the market. Any business must be
based on one of the three basic
business concepts, namely, the
product concept, where the product
that the business is offering is the
center, the selling concept where

3MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
organization overstate the product to
make sale and the marketing concept
where satisfaction for both the seller
and the consumer is concentrated.
The marketing concept is said to be
the most optimum of these concepts.
For Roberto and Christina, they have
concentrated on the marketing concept
from the beginning. They have served
authentic Italian cuisine and gave the
customers an authentic Italian
experience as well.
Image 1: Satisfaction Circle
Source: Fanning (2019)
They have always kept the needs and
satisfaction of their customers at the
forefront of their mind. The changes
that they are thinking to implement are
customer oriented as well. Introducing
a new menu that is easy to read, new
windows to give a more Italian feel,
more food options that are
contemporary are all parts of that.
This idea shapes the marketing
philosophy for Roberto and Christina.
The values that drives their business is
mostly the Italian family values. The
restaurant is run by the family
members. The starting and the
establishment of the restaurant
happened mainly due to Roberto’s
father’s principle of not paying rent.
They have strived to keep the values
related to their family and culture intact
while running the restaurant. The main
stages of a marketing philosophy are,
communication, planning,
implementation and control.
Developing an effective marketing
philosophy is essential for any
organization if they plan to remain in
the market. It includes the main ideas
on which the business runs, the

4MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
segments of customers that the
business targets, the products that
they develop to satisfy the customers
and their ability to match customer
needs with their offered product or
service. From the discussion that
Roberto, Christina, Michaele and
Philippe have many innovative ideas
but they lack the proper path to
channelize them and turn them into
something substantial. While
developing a marketing philosophy it is
essential that the marketers consider
the loyalty of the consumers. Some
organizations might think that the
organizational interest may be lost. It is
a completely wrong concept as it has
been seen that organizations that
focus on the consumers automatically
fulfill organizational objectives. In this
regard, Roberto and Christina need to
explore their existing business
situation by considering the COMP
factors related to the restaurant. The
COMP factors that they need to
consider are Customers- who are the
customers that they are serving, which
customer segment are they targeting,
what needs, wants and desires do they
have regarding the restaurant;
Organization- the needs and wants of
the establishment financially and
strategically; market- a overall idea of
the market the demand and supply
overview and their competitors, and
product- the services and products that
they are offering to the consumers in
total. This is the starting phase of
every planning process and it will help
Roberto and Christina to acquire a
clear perspective about their business
situation, their desires and the
changes that are necessary to remodel
the business.
What started with some changes
regarding the existing business
became a full-fledged transformation
for the restaurant. The ideas that came
up in the discussion with Roberto and
Christina were enough to facilitate

5MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
substantial organizational change.
They even wanted to open a café that
would satisfy the customers who want
early meals. When another guest that
was there with me suggested them
that they should also open during the
day for lunch, it seemed like an
appealing idea. Lunch after all, was a
regular affair and the quality of food
that they offered was sure to make the
restaurant full every single day during
those hours. As a marketing
practitioner, I had to consider 9
objectives before I could come up with
a marketing strategy that would benefit
them. These 9 objectives are
categorized into three basic objectives,
financial marketing objectives,
strategic marketing objectives and
communication marketing objectives.
The three financial objectives that
must be considered are the increase of
revenue, reduction of cost and building
value for the enterprise. Increasing the
revenue of the organization is not
similar to increasing sales volume,
reduction in cost means that the actual
production and distribution cost
decreases with the increase in their
sales and value building comprises of
projecting the business as a long term
investment and create a strong
business perspective. In case of
Roberto’s restaurant I realized that
opening a new café, extending the
time limits of the opening hours all will
contribute positively to the enterprise.
The initial cost will increase as the
restaurant will need money for the
revamp, the café will have to be
bought and prepared, new menus and
staff has to be appointed and many
such things were needed to be done
that required a substantial amount of
money. In the long run, though, it will
contribute to their turnover as more
customers will come if they open for
lunch, the café will provide light
refreshments to people who do not
want to wait during busy hours and

6MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
more loyal customers means more
positive marketing. The three strategic
objectives that I had to consider were,
product leadership, customer intimacy
and operational excellence. Product
leadership refers to the uniqueness of
the product. For every organization it is
important to create products or
services that are different than what
their competitors are offering. For the
restaurant, the authentic Italian food
that they offer along with ambience is
their Unique Selling Point. Customer
intimacy is referred to the desire
needs, dreams and wants of the
consumers. It also refers to building a
good relationship with the customers.
In a community where Roberto lives,
the relationship that they build with the
customers are always close and
personal. I and the pother patrons that
were having dinner that day were all
their customers still they were willing to
help them out to achieve their dreams.
As far as operational excellence is
concerned, Roberto, Christina and the
two brothers have managed to create
a niche of their own where no other
competitor emerged. Communication
objective is extremely important as this
decides how the product or service is
being marketed. The first objective is
attracting people that will be beneficial
for the business and the second is
retaining them to your business. Hiring
efficient staffs and keeping the loyal
customers satisfied is one of the main
challenges that businesses might face.
For the successful running of an
enterprise, keeping a good relationship
with the staffs, patrons, suppliers and
other people of the society is
extremely important. This is the third
objective that a marketer has to
consider. It should be kept in mind that
all relationships in the market are
synergistic and sustainable. Each of
the sectors grow with the help of other
and vice versa. Without exercising this,

7MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
a business venture cannot remain
successful for long.
While talking with Roberto and
Christina about their restaurant and
the dreams that they have regarding it
as well as the café that Christina wants
to open, a long list of ideas came
about. All of them had their own
suggestions and all of them seemed
valid from their point of views. The
main challenge remained the
segregation of the great ideas, ideas
that would make substantial changes
to the business without hurting the
philosophy and values of this family
business. From the very beginning,
Roberto has been considered as the
unnamed boss there and in most
cases his decision prevailed. He was a
visionary and loved what he did.
Through our discussion it was
becoming clear that the only thing that
Roberto lacked is direction. He needed
to be directed towards a sustainable
but effective method of marketing. As I
had taken the responsibility to guide
him in that sector, I had to dive deep
into their scenario and analyze that
with the help of the mega-marketing
concepts that will eventually lead to
the creation of an effective marketing
process for them. The three mega
marketing concepts that I had to
consider are the buyer decision
process, the total product and the
circle of satisfaction. The buyer
decision process can be considered as
the though process and decision
making depending on that thought
process when a customer or a
consumer makes a purchase. There
are three phases of thought that a
buyer conducts. The first one is the
purchase behavior where the buyer
search the market for the desired
products, evaluates them according to
the criterion and price, makes estimate
which one of the offered products will
suit his need and them select that
seems to be the most optimum option

8MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
for him. This decision making is largely
influenced by popularity, word-of-
mouth and advertisements. The
second phase of decision process
happens during the delivery of the
product. Where they assess and start
using the product. The initial
experience of the product creates an
impression on the buyer’s mind. After
the purchase as they use the product
or the service that they have chosen
they create an opinion of that product
in their mind depending on their
personal experience. They assess the
product and decide whether the buy
was worth it or not. This process is the
post purchase behavior where the
buyers have a complete idea about the
product or service and can make an
informed decision whether to buy the
product or service again or to opt for
another option available in the market.
The idea of total product is extremely
relevant. In many cases it has been
seen that managers or owners do not
have the idea that it is the product or
service that they provide is the totality
of what they offer to the market. The
total product has three parts. The first
one is the product considerations
which indicates the nature of the
offered product, what the consumer
considers before they buy any product,
what the producer keeps in mind while
designing that product and such.
These consideration help the
marketers to determine the target
segment of the consumers, whether
the product has been developed for
the whole market or there are any
particular portions that will be
interested in the market. The product
layer, the second part of total product
refers to the core, expectation and
augmentation of the product. When a
producer designs and develop a
product they do so with some core
values and ideas that is the central of
the product. The producer have some
expectations regarding the product

9MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
and they add some characteristics to
the product that distinguishes it from
the other similar products available in
the market. The considerations of
these layers are important because
they provide guidance in determining
the marketing strategy that one should
adopt. The product components are
the qualities or characteristics that help
in the construction of the product.
There are six components that create
the totality of the product, goods
services, ideas, experiences, people
and places. The goods are the
products that are offered in the market,
services are the services that
consumers can avail from the market,
ideas are the information that the
consumers need before they make a
decision to buy a product from the
market, the feelings and emotions that
the consumer feel constitutes the
experiences, people denotes to the
human resource that are involved to
make the product or service available
in the market and place implies the
location where the process of buying
takes place. The third concept of mega
marketing is the circle of satisfaction.
This component has major impact in
deciding whether a product, service or
business will stay long term in the
market. This component is related to
the interaction that take place between
the organization and the consumer.
This process works like a bridge that
influences the buyer decision process
and the total product of the enterprise.
These three aspects are inter-related
to each other a holistic approach to
these concepts give a marketer a clear
idea and objective to create a
marketing process planning. For the
restaurant and the café all these
aspects are extremely relevant. The
major components that make the
restaurant one of a kind. The goods
and services that they offer are homely
and have the feel of a warm Italian
restaurant. The customer experience

10MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
is generally extremely satisfying. The
hosts are warm and take care of the
people’s needs. The interior and
lighting of the restaurant has special
contribution in making the restaurant a
successful one. The new ideas that
have been proposed by the owners
are also likely to give the restaurant a
more modern and sophisticated edge
without destroying the authentic Italian
experience.
Image 2: the place
Source: Fanning (2019)
The new café that Christina wants to
buy is also innovative. This will add
another layer to their business and
products. The customers will increase
and no one will have to go somewhere
else if the restaurant is full. They will
be able to enjoy their food and
hospitality all day long. Being placed
close to one another it will be easy to
manage and operate together, they will
even be able to serve their restaurant
food at the café if the pressure
becomes too high. The dominant
product component for the enterprise
is the food and ambience of the
restaurant which implies the product
and service that they offer to their
patrons. In order to keep the whole
experience an authentic Italian
experience, the owners need to
concentrate on the ambience of the
place, the food quality, the menu
selection and music that will give the
restaurant a complete Italian feel.
After much considerations of all these
ideas and aspects I suggested them
that the CADDIE process and design
thinking process of marketing planning
and process would be most beneficial
to them. The CADDIE process will be
especially helpful for the revamp of the

11MARKETING STRATEGY AND PLAN
restaurant and design thinking strategy
will be effective to set up the new café
for Christina. The CADDIE process
involves Collect, Analyze, Design,
Develop, Implement and Evaluate. The
first two stages are the initial process
where information are collected and
analyzed. For both the businesses,
Roberto and Christina should conduct
a thorough research of the market to
determine what strategy they should
adopt. For research, two types of
research can be conducted, one is As
needed marketing research and
Everyday marketing research.
Marketing practitioners engage in both
type of marketing. Every marketing is
like a routine job for them whereas
they might conduct As needed
marketing research if they think that
the situation that has risen is out of
ordinary and requires special attention
and consideration. Data collection can
be of two types, primary and
secondary. The primary data are
generally collected through survey and
interviews concerning a specific
problem. The secondary data are
already available data that are relevant
for the business. These information
are then analyzed to determine the
kind of products and services that
might become successful in the
targeted market. This is the most
elaborative and time consuming of all
the process and create the backbone
of the planning. The market,
organization and the customers need
to be audited and all of their buying
habits, considerations and practices
need to be analyzed. The market
should be analyzed using the Porter’s
five forces and SWOT analysis. This
will give the marketers a detailed idea
about the strengths and weaknesses
of the enterprise and decide the
opportunities and threats that they will
have to consider to make an effective
business plan.