The purpose of this report is to develop the first phase of an integrated marketing communication plan for the new themed restaurant ‘ Avatar World Sdn Bhd’ which is scheduled to be opened in June 2011 in Klang, Malaysia. The plan will be prepared for a period of one year.
‘ Avatar World’ will be a themed restaurant centered around the concept of James Cameron’s blockbuster movie ‘ Avatar’ which came out in 2009 and since then became the highest-grossing film of all time worldwide (Campbell, 2010). Malaysia was chosen to launch ‘ Avatar World’ because it was likewise touched by the Avatar hype as Malaysians of mostly all ages flocked the movie theaters to watch Avatar which was shown for more than three months due to its unprecedented popularity.
‘ Avatar World’ will be the first restaurant in Malaysia and around the world with the blockbuster movie theme ‘ Avatar’. Millions of Avatar fans have exclaimed disappointment after watching the movie of not having access to a place similar to ‘ Pandora’.
The image the company wants consumers to associate with the restaurant is a place where they can escape into the vivid world of ‘ Pandora’ where they can enjoy good quality food and at the same time feel like they are in a fictional place where they can relax, enjoy and forget their worries.
The layout of ‘ Avatar World’ will depict the fictional universe of ‘ Pandora’ where indigenous blue-striped skin species live. The deco of ‘ Avatar World’ will be based on the flora and fauna of the rainforest of ‘ Pandora’, having as main features the big tree of life in the movie and dining tables centered around it, human-size statues of ‘ Avatar’ characters and bioluminescent plants and fauna which light up in the dark.
Avatar World is aimed at middle class and high class consumers and will serve Westernised food including seafood, steaks and pastas.
2. 0 Situational Analysis
2. 1 Environmental Analysis
2. 1. 1 Socio-cultural
Malaysia’s population is growing at an average of 2. 3% per year and reached 28. 6 million in 2010, an increase of 10. 5 million in 2 decades. The median age is also gradually rising. It was 25. 3 in 2010, 1. 3 years greater than in 2004 (Euromonitor, 2011). Consumers’ busy lifestyles, mostly due to the growing urbanisation trend have led to the popularity of home and office delivery. To attract more customers and expand their business, more customer foodservice restaurants now offer delivery services like Nando’s, Kenny Rogers Roasters as from 2009 (Euromonitor International, 2010).
Despite Malaysia being a predominantly Muslim country, the growth in wine sales and alcoholic beverages is expected to increase significantly over the next few years. Red wine sales are exected to grow from 4. 7 million litres in 2009 to 6. 4 million litres in 2012. The obesity rate is also increasing in Malaysia; the percentage of the population aged 15 and above who are obese grew by 20. 8% from 2004 to 2009. Therefore, Malaysians are now increasingly looking for healthy alternatives when buying food from outside (Euromonitor International, 2011). Moreover, more Malaysians are now dining outside during the month of Ramadaan and are looking for restaurants offering halaal food and special Ramadaan offerings (Euromonitor International, 2011).
Nowadays, an increasing number of people are staying single in Malaysia and restaurants claim that lone diners are on the rise. Therefore restaurants are learning to better accommodate them by providing them with reading materials, seating them away from large groups and training waiting staff to watch their body language to identify if they wish to be spoken to or left alone (Euromonitor, 2011).
2. 1. 2 Political
Restaurants having an annual sales turnover of taxable services exceeding RM 300, 000 are liable to pay the service tax (Trade Chakra, 2008). Small and Medium Enterprises are subject to a corporate tax of 20% for the first RM 500, 000 of their taxable income and 25% of their taxable income above RM 500, 000 (Trade Chakra, 2008). Restaurants seeking to serve halaal food must make sure they comply with the trade description 1972 (Use Use of Expression “ Halal” Order 1975 and the Marking of Food Order 1975). If a manufacturer or foodservice operator uses the halal expression and logo and its products are found to be non-halaal, they will be penalised (Halal Malaysia, 2011).
2. 1. 3 Economic
Real GDP in Malaysia is expected to grow by 5. 3% in 2011 after an increase of 6. 7% in 2010 (Euromonitor, 2011). Malaysia’s economy is in the midst of a strong recovery. Malaysia experienced a modest recession in 2009 but staged a strong recovery in 2010. Growth of the real value of private final consumption has slowed in recent years but remains healthy. Real growth of 6. 5% was recorded in 2010 and gains of 5. 3% are expected in 2011. The annual rate of inflation is expected to reach an average of 3% by 2014 after increasing by 1. 6% from 2009 to 2010 (Euromonitor, 2011).
From 2009 to 2014, competition within full-service restaurants is expected to intensify. Hence each player will continue to race for high-traffic locations like popular shopping malls in urban areas and unique stand-alone outlets. Each player is also expected to introduce more promotions such as coupons, set meals and credit card promotions to maintain sales. Asian full-service restaurants are expected to continue dominating from 2009 to 2014. However, increased sophistication of urban consumers is likely to drive demand for more contemporary cuisines like Western and Japanese. Prices charged by restaurants are likely to increase slowly from 2009 to 2014 as operational costs increase along with rising tariffs and higher rental prices (Euromonitor International, 2010).
2. 1. 4 Opportunities
Avatar World can offer delivery services to meet the demands of consumers’ with a busy lifestyle who have limited time and are looking for convenience
Avatar World can have a varied wine and alcoholic beverage menu which will attract wine and alcoholic drink lovers since sales of these alcoholic drinks are expected to increase.
Offer healthy menu items as the obesity rate in Malaysia is high and consumers now look for healthy alternatives like grilled food and salads.
Have a Special Ramadaan menu during ramadaan to cater for the increasing number of muslims dining outside during Ramadaan
Attempt to lure single people who are on the rise in Malaysia by offering them a specialised service which willmake them feel comfortable.
2. 1. 5 Threats
The inflation rate is expected to rise by 2014 which implies falling disposable income for the consumer and falling demand for eating outside which may affect Avatar World’s revenue.
The intensifying competition within full-service restaurants will lead to more aggressive advertising campaigns and use of promotional tools by each player, especially strong players. Therefore, it will be difficult for Avatar World to survive in its initial years, having a limited budget for advertising and sales promotion.
From 2009 to 2014, Asian restaurants are expected to continue dominating as a vast majority of Malaysians prefer local cuisine.
From 2009 to 2014, the cost of operating a restaurant is expected to increase which may affect Avatar World’s profitability.
2. 2 Brief review of direct and indirect competitors
Avatar World’s main direct competitors are Bubba Gump, Tbowl, Fullhouse, Garden and Borneo Rainforest. These are themed restaurants based in Klang Valley. Its indirect competitors include other full-service restaurants like T. G. I Fridays, Manhattan Fish Market and Ole-Ole Bali.
Table 1 below shows the company’s five direct competitors and their characteristics. For the purpose of this plan, more emphasis will be laid on Avatar World’s outstanding competitor which is Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. Bubba Gump is a seafood restaurant inspired by a movie which came out in 1994 named ‘ Forrest Gump’. In the movie, Forrest Gump, the main actor opened a successful shrimp restaurant named ‘ Bubba Gump’. Bubba Gump Shrimp Company was first opened in California in 1996 and now has 33 restaurants operating worldwide (official website).
Bubba Gump is Avatar World’s major competitor because the restaurant is also based on a movie theme and the movie ‘ Forrest Gump’ was a commercial success and became the top grossing film in North America when it was released in 1994.
The brand personality of Bubba Gump can be largely inferred from the personality of ‘ Forrest Gump’ who was the protagonist of the movie ‘ Forrest Gump’. Aaker’s five factor model representing the personality dimensions for brands will be used to identify the restaurant’s brand personality. Bubba Gump represents excitement and competence.
Excitement has four facets: daring, spirited, imaginative and up-to-date. Excitement can be justified by Bubba Gump’s innovative menus with shrimps in all its forms: barbecued, pan fried, boiled, baked. Bubba Gump is also up-to-date as it is planning to introduce a new line of frozen Bubba Gump food which will be available in supermarkets (Maehle & Supphellen, 2010).
Competence includes three facets: reliable, intelligent and successful. Bubba Gump’s success is represented by its wide chain of 33 restaurants currently operating worldwide. It is also famous around the world for its unique shrimps and has also won awards for its baby back ribs and drink menu. Bubba Gump can also be described as reliable as it offers services like planning its customers’corporate and social events profesionally (Maehle & Supphellen, 2010).
Bubba Gump uses rational message appeal to promote its two restaurants in Malaysia. Its print media promotions portray big and appealing pictures of special menus, promotional menus and menus offered for special occasions like Ramadaan or Christmas. Bubba Gump also uses social appeal in its television advertisements showing a group of young people enjoying a good meal at the restaurant and saying ‘ We love it’. Humour appeal has also been used by the restaurant in a commercial where the main actor of ‘ Forrest Gump’ associates the restaurant with the one in the movie and also talks in a funny way and does some funny acts.
2. 2. 1 Table 1: Avatar World’s five direct competitors and their characteristics
Competitors
Themes
Locations
Target market
Bubba Gump Shrimp Company
Based on the movie Forrest Gump
Sunway
Mutiara Damansara
Upper middle class to High class
Tbowl Concept Restaurant
Toilet
Penang
Sunway
Lower to upper middle class
Fullhouse Lifestyle Store and Cafe
Complete House
Kuala Lumpur
Damansara
Sunway
Lower to upper middle class
Borneo Rainforest Cafe
Rainforest in Borneo island
Sunway
Upper middle class to high class
Garden Lifestyle Store and Cafe
Garden
Utama
Mutiara Damansara
Mid Valley
Sunway
Lower middle class- Upper middle class.
2. 3 Consumer Analysis
2. 3. 1 Demographic Profiles
2. 3. 1. 1 Age and gender and marital status
The consumers of Avatar World are likely to be both males and females and include children under 12, adolescents aged 12-18, young adults of 12-30, adults aged 30-60 and old people aged 60-75. This is because Avatar fans are both males and females of mostly all ages. They are likely to be single, married, divorced, widowed or living together.
2. 3. 1. 2 Income and Occupation
Avatar World’s customers are likely to be from the Lower middle income group, the higher middle income group and the high income group. The restaurant will have meals ranging from affordable to expensive. They are most likely to be white and blue collar workers and professionals.
2. 3. 2 Psychological profiles
2. 3. 2. 1 Motivations (needs)
Customers of Avatar World are likely to come to the restaurant to enjoy good food and enjoy dining in a pleasant environment.
2. 3. 2. 2 Openness to experience and Dogmatism
Consumers’ openness to experience and level of dogmatism will affect their choice of restaurants. Dogmatism is the degree to which a person can react to relevant information on its own merits, unencumbered by irrelevant factors in the situation. A highly dogmatic person is likely to be less receptive to new products (Blake, Perloff, Heslin, 1970). Consumers who are open to experience and low in dogmatism will be the first ones to try the restaurant as Avatar is an innovative theme for a restaurant and Avatar World will be the first one around the world with this theme. It is therefore important to make a good impression on them as they will be the ones to persuade the more dogmatic consumers to eat at the restaurant.
2. 3. 3 Psychographic profiles: Lifestyle
Products are said to be the building blocks of lifestyles. Customers define their lifestyles by the consumption choices they make in a variety of product categories (Lin, 2002).
The customers of Avatar World are likely to enjoy dining outside as a treat for the family. They like to go out and have fun. They are movie lovers who enjoy going to the cinema or watching movies at home. They have most likely seen the movie Avatar and are fans of the movie. They also enjoy eating in restaurants with westernised menu items like steaks and seafood.
2. 3. 4 Benefits sought
Benefits sought can be divided into utilitarian and informational reinforcement. Utilitarian reinforcement refers to the more practical nature of products or services, the benefits received by owning and using a product. Informational reinforcement on the other hand is linked to the branding of a product and its differentiation from other products (Wells, Chang, Oliveira-Castro & Pallister, 2010). Consumers of Avatar World are likely to look for the following benefits:
Utilitarian Reinforcement:
Good quality food
Good and professional service
A wide choice in the menu and halaal food for the muslims especially
Informational:
A pleasant dining environment with a feeling of being in the Avatar movie
A realistic representation of Avatar through colours, sculptures, paintings
Polite and helpful staff ready to attend to any customer need
To be served within one hour after ordering
2. 3. 5 Use-situation
It is important to focus on the conditions under which consumers want a product or brand as it can explain the specific product benefits they look for different situations (Fennell, 1978).
2. 3. 5. 1 Objective
For special events like birthdays, parties or cultural and religious celebrations like Christmas, Hari-Raya.
As a treat for the family and to relax during holidays or weekend
2. 3. 5. 2 Time
For lunch
For Dinner
3. 0 Segmentation
3. 1 Segmenting the market
Based on the consumer analysis carried above, three distinct groups of consumers who are likely to come to Avatar World have been identified. They are: Fine Dining Lovers, Adventure Seekers and Celebrations Lovers.
Fine Dining Lovers: These are consumers mostly aged 30-65 who enjoy going out as a treat for them and the family. They are either married and want a romantic and fictional setting to dine alone together if they have no children or if they have children they enjoy taking their children out to spend a good time with the family. Single consumers or those living together either like going alone to the restaurant or going with their boyfriend or girlfriend on a romantic and unforgettable date. They are experts in the area of fine dining and appreciate good quality food and look for professional service. Most of them are used to dining in upscale restaurants and are experts in judging a restaurant’s food and atmosphere. They like to act like restaurant critics.
Adventure seekers: They like to experiment new places and try new food and visit new restaurants. They usually look for unique items in the menu and are eager to try them. They will be mostly attracted by the Avatar theme and would like to explore the restaurant. They like watching movies and have probably seen the Avatar movie. They may also like going to the cinema and they enjoy fictional movies and settings. They want to achieve their self-actualisation need of feeling like they are in an environment similar to the universe of ‘ Pandora’.
Celebrations Lovers: They are party people who like to enjoy themselves with family and friends. They would mostly go to Avatar World because they feel it is a great place to celebrate their special event. They may want to go to the restaurant to celebrate a birthday or any cultural or religious festival like Chinese New Year, Hari Raya or Christmas. They look for special set meals for large groups and special promotions for different occasions. They want facilities like the restaurant’s ability to provide refined birthday cakes, a birthday set-up and birthday songs for a birthday party. During Ramadaan, the Muslims expect special menus at a discount to break the fast and would usually like dates also.
However, they are likely to be highly dogmatic because they would prefer places which they know and have tried before. They would not want to risk trying a new restaurant only on a specific day fearing that it might not be as good as they thought.
3. 1. 2 Segmentation table
Segmentation Bases
Fine Dining Lovers
Adventure
seekers
Celebrations Lovers
Demographic Segmentation
Age
Gender
Marital Status
Income
Occupation
30-65
Males and females
Single, married
Higher middle-income & high income groups
Professionals, White-collar workers
Under 12, 12-65
Males and females
Single, married
Lower & higher middle income & high income groups
Professionals, White-collar and blue-collar workers
Under 12, 12-55
Males and females
Single, married
Higher middle income & high income groups
Professionals, White-collar workers
Psychological Segmentation
Motivations (needs)
Personality
Ego and physiological needs
Low dogmatism
Physiological and self-actualisation needs
Open to experience
Physiological and social needs
High dogmatism
Psychographic segmentation
Activities
Enjoy fine dining and acting like restaurant critics
Movie-watchers, like to try new restaurants
Enjoy celebrating with friends and family
Use-situational segmentation
Objective
Time
Treat
Dinner
Explore the restaurant
Dinner, Lunch
To celebrate a special event together
Dinner, Lunch
3. 2 Targeting
Avatar World will target only one segement from the three identified consumer segments for its integrated marketing communications campaign. Therefore, the restaurant need to investigate which of these three segments is more effective and profitable to persue. The company needs to evaluate the segments in terms of identification, sufficiency, stability and accessibility.
In terms of identification, fine dining lovers will be easier to target as it will be easier for the company to obtain data on this segment based on observable and identifiable variables like the performance of fine dining restaurants in Klang Valley.
In terms of sufficiency, consumer expenditure per capita in Malaysia rose by 45. 8% from 1997 to 2007 and grew by 10. 2% in 1997. From 1997 to 2007, spending on food grew by 13% in real terms (Euromonitor, 2008). Therefore fine dining lovers will be a viable segment as Malaysians now spend more on food.
In terms of stability, consumer foodservice in Malaysia is expected to sustain its positive performance in 2011mainly due to growing sophistication and affluence amongst customers. As the economy is expected to improve in 2011, consumers are expected to trade-up to premium restaurants offering more expensive food and drinks (Euromonitor, 2010). As consumers’ disposable income increases, they are likely to patronise fine dining restaurants more frequently.
In terms of accessibility, fine dining lovers will be easy to access in an economical way. They can be informed about Avatar World through the company’s website where they can also see its pictures. The company can also advertise in food and dining sections of local magazines and in local newspapers. Compared to adventure seekers and celebrations lovers, it would be easier to reach fine dining lovers through affordable media like newspapers or social networking websites like Facebook.
Therefore, it is advisable for the company to choose fine dining lovers as its primary target market because it satisfies all the criterias of an effective segment and it will be more profitable to persue in terms of size and potential compared to the other segments.
3. 3 Positioning
Positioning for Avatar World is the position the new restaurant aims to have in consumers’ minds relative to its competitors. The positioning strategy recommended to market Avatar World is positioning by product attributes and benefits. This strategy sets the brand apart from competitors on the basis of the specific characteristics or benefits or salient attributes offered (Belch, Belch, Kerr & Powell, 2009).
This strategy has been chosen because Avatar World has a very unique product attribute which is its Avatar theme. None of its competitors have such a theme or any other theme based on a fictional movie. Using this positioning strategy, Avatar will be able to differentiate itself more efficiently from its competitors by emphasizing its unique setting based on the movie; a seeting based on ‘ Pandora’. This strategy will most likely attract the attention of fine dining lovers who like to dine in a pleasant and sophisticated atmosphere. Avatar World can also emphasise its high quality food and service to attract its target market by specifying their special menus and extra services.
4. 0 Communication Objectives
4. 1 Communications Objectives
4. 1. 1 Cognitive Path
To create awareness of our brand ‘ Avatar World’ and our restaurant among 70% of fine dining lovers within 6months from launch.
It is important to create awareness of Avatar World among its target market because consumers do not know about this new restaurant and this new brand name and they nee to be familiarised with the restaurant’s concept and to know why it is called Avatar World.
To educate and inform 55% of fine dining lovers about Avatar World restaurant within 6months.
It is important to let fine dining lovers know about Avatar World in terms of its menu items, prices, services and location.
4. 1. 2 Affective Path
To instil liking and fondness for Avatar World restaurant among 40% of fine dining lovers within 5months.
It is important to make a good impression on fine dining lovers and make them feel comfortable, happy and relaxed while dining at our restaurant.
To instil preferences for Avatar World Restaurant among 30% of fine dining lovers within 3months.
It is important to ignite preference among fine dining lovers for Avatar World over other competing restaurants based on its unique offerings and benefits such as its ‘ Avatar’ theme, good quality food and service.
4. 2 Behavioural Objectives
4. 2. 1 Behavioural Pathway
To encourage trial of Avatar Restaurant among 20% of fine dining lovers within 6 months.
It is important to convince fine dining lovers to try ‘ Avatar World’ to get a first-hand experience about the restaurant before making a judgement about it.
To encourage eating in Avatar World Restaurant among 8% of fine dining lovers within 6 months.
It is important to encourage traffic at the restaurant and encourage customers to patronise the restaurant again after eating there for the first time.
To retain 3% of loyal customers of Avatar World Restaurant within 8 months.
It is important to try to retain atleast 3% of loyal customers who represent the restaurant’s guaranteed source of income in the future.
