Marketing Case Study: Kudler Fine Foods

Marketing is an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers and for managing customer relationships in ways that benefit the organization and its stakeholders. Marketing affects all individuals, all organizations, all industries, and all countries. (Kerin, 2006, p.22) In this paper I will explain the value of three pieces of marketing research, the components of marketing mix for Kudler new catering service, far as their product, place, price, and promotions. I will also explain how Kudler should determine the products it wants to offer and how they will determine how they will price their products to be relative to other catering companies. I will also explain what term place means, how Kudler will go about promoting their catering service and describe how technology will be used by Kudler in their market, lastly I will explain if Kudler decide to go with catering how that mesh with their decision to contract with organic growers.

Marketing research is an important part of understanding the market and where there is a need for a service. The product and service will have to be targeted to the right people who are in need of the service. The three pieces of market research allow you to specify, identify, and determine the current market. The three pieces of market research are: "Specifying Constraints- The constraints in a decision are the restrictions placed on potential solutions to a problem. Identifying data needed for marketing action- Often marketing research studies wind up collecting a lot of that are interesting but irrelevant for marketing decisions that result into marketing actions. The data should be able to provide manager with information that allows them to make clear choice of action to take for their product. Determine how to collect data- Determining how to collect useful marketing research data is often as important as actually collecting the data. The two key elements in deciding how to collect data are concept and method. Concepts are ideas about a product or service. To find out about consumer reaction to a potential new product, marketing researchers frequently developed a new product concept, that is, a picture or verbal description of a product or service the firm might offer for sale. Methods are the approaches that can be used to collect to solve all or part of a problem." (Kerin, 2006, p.22)

Kudler has a new idea of starting a catering service but before they can start they will have to research the market to determine the right course of action. Kudler will have to define the marketing problem and the opportunity for increased customer satisfaction. The company will have to develop an organized plan to determine the effectiveness of their decision. People today are looking to eat healthier and stay in shape. Consumers have become interest in the quality of their health with today's 54 percent of Americans is considered overweight. ( http://www.fit4free.org/musdevArticle.htm) As people begin to look into other foods the diet of many consumers are now change to foods that are healthier such as organic. This type of change in consumer's diet has allowed companies like Kudler to provide these different types of food options. Before starting the catering service Kudler had decide to contract with local farmers for organic produce. The organic and gourmet food market in the United State has soured through the sky. There are more cooking show and more people cooking healthy than ever before. With this type of increasing market Kudler can began to advertise and market their organic product to their consumers. As organic continue to gain popularity with consumers the sales potential will continue to increase.

To ensure that their decision will be the best action to take for Kudler, the company will have to do research were they provide an atmosphere for customers to try their products and receive feed back. One method that Kudler could use is allowing customers to try their organic produce for free by providing samples. This can give Kudler a chance to introduce their new product and service to gain more customer loyalty. Customer loyalty is what drives a business to be successful, when customers are satisfy they return because of the product and service. Kudler will need to decide what food item and recipes will be their main attraction. The way that Kudler can determine their most popular products is by using there inventory process to track what items are being purchased frequently and more than others. According to what customers are buying, by tracking items in their inventory will tell them what products are doing well and the ones that are not, with this information Kudlers is able to determine what items would be put on their menu to entice customers.

The way that Kudler can determine its price is by knowing the community, competition, the cost of start-up, employees and preparation of meals. Unfortunately, with the quality of product that Kudler is providing the price for their food will be higher than their competition, but if Kudler can appeal to customers about their great quality and began to build loyal customers then they will pay the price because of the great quality. To be competitive in the market Kudler must be aware of the competition and the items and prices of their products and services. One of Kudler's successful strategies is the focus on customer needs; these needs are met by offering an open menu with possible adjustments based on customer requests. With no set menu Kudler will be competitive in the market because they will cater specifically to each customer's needs and their willingness to alter their menu keeps customers happy and coming back for future services. As a part of Kudler's advertising strategy they need to focus on the customer satisfaction aspect and the openness to meeting and exceeding the customer requests received.

Promotion is the key to starting a new business and the right decisions must be made to be successful. Promoting communicate messages to potential customers and clients. Kudler already has a clientele base of customers due to their existing business that willcost them little to no money to advertise to them. With the use of existing customers Kudler will be able to get word out that they have started their catering business. When customers are satisfied with a service or product they will not only come back but began to recommend the services to their friends or anyone they come in contact with. Finding out the needs of potential customers and adding this key message to advertising will draw business. For specific forms of promotion Kudler should use newspapers, in-store fliers, direct mailers to current loyal customers, and advertising over the intercom at each store location. Technology will allow Kudler to be more efficiency, cut cost and labor. Kudler right now is not using technology to its full potential but as business begin to increase this will become important as the business grows and the clientele grows to an unmanageable amount. Organic growers will mesh well with the catering service because of the increasing interest in organic foods.

As Kudler continue to grow they must remember that the most important thing is to continue to satisfy their customers and meeting their needs. As the business grows they will need to upgrade on technology to cut down cost and labor to be more efficient. Kudler can also utilize their existing customer base to advertise their product as well, as customers continue to love the services offered the existing customers will recommend the services to their friends and so on. Marketing is essential for success, research and planning must be done in order to know what course of action to take. After the implementation phase Kudler can review and look back to see what results were achieved and were the processes was most beneficial for the company overall.

References

Kerin, R.A., Hartley, S.W., Berkowitz, E.N., Rudelius, W. (2006) Marketing. [University
Of Phoenix Custom Edition e-Text].New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies.
Kudler Intranet. (2005). July 5, 2008, from
https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/secure/aapd/CIST/VOP/Business/Kudler/KudlerHome002.htm
Gomez-Mejia, L.R. & Balkin, D. B. (2002) Management [University of Phoenix
Custom Edition e-Text] New York: The McGraw-Hill Companies