Case Study: Ruth's Chris Steak House SWOT Analysis & Marketing

This case study presents a SWOT analysis of Ruth's Chris Steak House, a well-established global brand with restaurants in over 100 locations. The company's strengths include a strong brand image, unique high-quality beef, and private dining options. Weaknesses include limited lunch service and a lack of advanced promotional techniques. Opportunities lie in expanding the menu, targeting a broader customer base, and leveraging online delivery services. Threats include the rise of fast food and health-conscious consumers. The analysis suggests including lunch service, modernizing advertising, and adapting to changing consumer preferences to maintain a competitive edge. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar solved assignments and study resources.

Running head: GLOBAL MARKETING
Global Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1GLOBAL MARKETING
Table of Contents
SWOT Analysis...............................................................................................................................2
Strengths......................................................................................................................................2
Weaknesses..................................................................................................................................3
Opportunities...............................................................................................................................3
Threats.........................................................................................................................................3
Key implication of SWOT analysis.................................................................................................4
Reference List..................................................................................................................................6

2GLOBAL MARKETING
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
The image of the company is well established on a global scale, as it has restaurants in
more than 100 locations. The company also provides facilities to the customers who want to
reserve the area so that they can come and dine at a later period. The restaurant also offers
beverages in its menu so that it can attract the customers who would like to have a drink with the
food that they have ordered (Espinosa, Monahan & Ortinau, 2016).
The company also provides the option of presenting ‘Gift Cards’ to the customers so that
they can gift the coupons to the near and dear ones. The use of these cards are a tool of
promotion for the company, as the customers who have visited the restaurant can communicate
with others regarding the quality of food that is provided by the company. It will also act as a
means of advertising platform for the company through word-of-mouth communication. The
company also provides its customers with a private dining session for which they have separate
rooms. This allows the restaurants to cater to all kinds of customers who are looking for a private
space while having their meals (Dalbor & Lee, 2017).
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for the company is that the food that they serve to
the customers is not readily available in other restaurants. The company uses the best quality of
beef that is present in the United States and is meant for the purpose of exporting to other
countries. They also use the beef that is produced in the Australia, as it meets the standard of the
meat that is present in the US. This helps the company in providing the best quality of meat to its
customers so that they can have a better experience with food. The company also maintains a
low scale of economy with the food that they are offering to its customers, as the target market

3GLOBAL MARKETING
for the company are those people who have a higher level of disposable income (Ashley,
Gillespie & Noble, 2016).
Weaknesses
One of the major disadvantages for the company is that they only cater to the customers
who are coming for the purpose of dinner. The restaurant does not provide the option of lunch
for the customers, which attracts less number of people. Due to the lack of the advanced
promotional techniques, which will help the company to be advertised in the market, the
recalling of the brand among its customers is very less (Dupont, 2014).
Opportunities
The company needs to provide a variety of menu for its lunch and dinner services so that
it can attract a major number of customers towards the restaurant. This will also help the
company in increasing its rate of profits as well. The company also needs to change its target
market as well so that it can attract the middle class customers and provide them with a fine
dining experience as well. Most of the restaurants have diversified their business by partnering
with online delivery services so that customers can also order food and enjoy it within their level
of comfort. This will also help the company in increasing its sales as well. To reach the
customers in a better manner, the company needs to increase its promotional activities
thoroughly so that the customers can be attracted in an efficient manner (Fertel, 2015).
Threats
In the modern world the economy is fast paced, which does not provide time for the
people to enjoy a meal for a consistent period of time. The surge in the fast food joints has
helped the customers in satisfying their demand for hunger at a faster pace. The families who

4GLOBAL MARKETING
have children will be avoiding the restaurants due to the presence of beverage in its menu. This
will eliminate some of the potential customers who want to have an experience with fine dining.
The customers of the modern times like to have their meals based on the nutritional content that
is available within the food. This is due to the fact that they want to stay healthy so that they can
work in an efficient manner (Tonsor & Schroeder, 2017).
Key implication of SWOT analysis
The inclusion of lunch within the restaurant will help in attracting the office customers
within the company, as the break that they get from the respective organizations where they are
working will help in increasing the sales of the company as well. The lunch menu needs to be set
by the company in such a manner that the meal can be completed by the customers within a span
of half an hour and ensuring that the quality of the food is also maintained by them (Dixon,
Miscuraca & Koutroumanus, 2018). This will result in attracting large number of customers for
the company so that they can have an experience in the fine dining section as well. The company
has 92 restaurants in the US, which shows that the prosperity of the company is positive in
nature. Some of the restaurants are present in front of the best organizations that can come for a
quick lunch within the restaurant. The rate of growth on a global scale in 5.31 percent for the
company, which can be increased by including the lunch section within their menu as well, as the
customers can enjoy a lunch meal as well (Suarez, 2015).
The use of the modern methods of advertising will help the company in gaining a
competitive advantage over the rival companies that are present in the market such as Palm,
Morton’s and Fleming’s (Dupont, 2014). The use of promotional activities like putting up
hoardings and banners will help in attracting a large number of customers towards the company.

5GLOBAL MARKETING
This will also result in increasing the recalling capacity among the customers regarding the brand
as well (Dalbor & Lee, 2017).

6GLOBAL MARKETING
Reference List
Ashley, C., Gillespie, E. A., & Noble, S. M. (2016). The effect of loyalty program fees on
program perceptions and engagement. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 964-973.
Dalbor, M. C., & Lee, S. (2017). An examination of restaurant firm financing and the cost of
borrowing. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 20(2), 163-176.
Dixon, D. P., Miscuraca, J. A., & Koutroumanis, D. A. (2018). Looking Strategically to the
Future of Restaurants: Casual Dining or Fast Casual?. Entrepreneurship Education and
Pedagogy, 1(1), 102-117.
Dupont, A. M. (2014). An examination of chain restaurants exterior colors and logo colors.
Espinosa, J. A., Monahan, L., & Ortinau, D. J. (2016). Understanding the Strengths and
Weaknesses of a Firm’s Overall Restaurant Brand Image: An Importance Performance
Analysis. In Celebrating America’s Pastimes: Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and
Marketing? (pp. 625-626). Springer, Cham.
Fertel, R. (2015). The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak: A New Orleans Family Memoir.
Univ. Press of Mississippi.
Suarez, N. (2015). Are Customers Ready for Tablet-Based Menus? An Analysis of the Innovation
Characteristics that Influence the Intentions to Adopt Tablet-Based Menus. University of
South Florida.
Tonsor, G. T., & Schroeder, T. C. (2017). Creating and Assessing Candidate Food Service and
Retail Beef Demand Indices.