External Environment & Effect on Marketing Operations of the Diner (Research Paper Sample)

Name
Instructor
Course
Date
Marketing
Summary
The Diner restaurant is a chain of restaurants found in London and other different locations in the UK. The Diner forms an important part of the hospitality industry in the UK, and for this reason, the restaurant rates high among the most popular businesses in London. The restaurant specializes in serving breakfast, and it is known by most customers as the ultimate stop point for breakfast at any time of the day. This report will focus on the external environment of The Diner and how this affects the marketing operations of the restaurant. Among some of the key concepts of The Diner that this report will take into consideration are PESTLE analysis, SWOT analysis and the competitor analysis of the restaurant.
Table of contents
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Summary PAGEREF _Toc380642215 \h 1Sector Trends PAGEREF _Toc380642216 \h 2Consumer Trends PAGEREF _Toc380642217 \h 2Demographics PAGEREF _Toc380642218 \h 2The 7 P's of Marketing PAGEREF _Toc380642219 \h 3Product PAGEREF _Toc380642220 \h 3Price PAGEREF _Toc380642221 \h 3Place PAGEREF _Toc380642222 \h 3Promotion PAGEREF _Toc380642223 \h 3People PAGEREF _Toc380642224 \h 3Process PAGEREF _Toc380642225 \h 3Physical Evidence PAGEREF _Toc380642226 \h 4Hospitality Service Characteristics PAGEREF _Toc380642227 \h 4Macro and Micro Environments PAGEREF _Toc380642228 \h 4Levels of Competition PAGEREF _Toc380642229 \h 4Marketing Segmentation PAGEREF _Toc380642230 \h 4Marketing Information Systems PAGEREF _Toc380642231 \h 4Hospitality Marketing Research Activities PAGEREF _Toc380642232 \h 5Sampling PAGEREF _Toc380642233 \h 5Primary and Secondary data PAGEREF _Toc380642234 \h 5The Use of Social Media in Marketing PAGEREF _Toc380642235 \h 5Conclusion PAGEREF _Toc380642236 \h 5Reference List PAGEREF _Toc380642237 \h 7Appendices PAGEREF _Toc380642238 \h 9PESTLE Analysis PAGEREF _Toc380642239 \h 9Political PAGEREF _Toc380642240 \h 9Economic PAGEREF _Toc380642241 \h 9Social PAGEREF _Toc380642242 \h 9Legal PAGEREF _Toc380642243 \h 9Environmental PAGEREF _Toc380642244 \h 9SWOT Analysis PAGEREF _Toc380642245 \h 9Strengths PAGEREF _Toc380642246 \h 9Weaknesses PAGEREF _Toc380642247 \h 10Opportunities PAGEREF _Toc380642248 \h 10Threats PAGEREF _Toc380642249 \h 10A Competitor Analysis of The Diner PAGEREF _Toc380642250 \h 10
Sector Trends
Among the top, most priorities in the hospitality industry in London is getting value for money. The best ways that hotels in London, including The Diner, use to give customers value for their money is by improving their customers' confidence. The Diner does this by integrating hotel management into all aspects of the restaurant including marketing, by offering customers fair deals, and improving its overall operating strategies. Most hotels in the industry resolve to provide good map listings with the provisions of early bookings for any customers who are in search of a good hotel. The Diner also does the same, with a detailed and up to date website, containing the location of the restaurant, its menu, and driving directions for travellers in London (Bullock, 1). Currently, there is a drop in the operations of the booking and reservations office as most bookings in the hospitality industry in London are done online. The Diner has also integrated most of its booking operations with the internet for flexibility and to reach more customers than ever before.
Consumer Trends
The customer trends in the hospitality industry are also changing with the availability of more and more hotels or restaurants to choose. Thus, the best restaurants in the industry are those that take customer service into consideration first before anything else, because the most paramount thing is attracting customers (Brace, 92).
Most customers seek restaurants that offer value for their money, with the best services possible and the best menus in town. The Diner tries to match up to these customer considerations by offering the unique menus in town. The restaurant also offers affordable deals and discounts to customers as a way of keeping up with the tough competition in the hospitality industry in London.
Demographics
The latest statistics from the hospitality industry in the UK show that the final quarter of 2013 saw an unexpected dip in consumer confidence. This is partly because of an unexpected fall in the economy of the country. This factor also affects The Diner as a drop in the number of customers in the hospitality industry also reflects a drop in the restaurant's revenues. According to the latest Quarterly Briefing Report published by Horizons, consumer confidence is slowly rising, but some customers are still concerned by some irrational factors in the light of the improvement of the economy. By the close of the year 2008, the consumer confidence in the Hospitality industry in the UK was the highest at 75% as compared to the end of 2013 when it was the lowest in the UK history at a mere 10% (Nicholls, 1). This translates to a considerable in the number of customers in the hospitality industry, but The Diner just as other hotels and restaurants is working hard to win back the customers' confidence.
Summary
The Diner restaurant is a chain of restaurants found in London and other different locations in the UK. The Diner forms an important part of the hospitality industry in the UK, and for this reason, the restaurant rates high among the most popular businesses in London. The restaurant specializes in serving breakfast, and it is known by most customers as the ultimate stop point for breakfast at any time of the day. This report will focus on the external environment of The Diner and how this affects the marketing operations of the restaurant. Among some of the key concepts of The Diner that this report will take into consideration are PESTLE analysis, SWOT analysis and the competitor analysis of the restaurant. The Diner deals with the provision of food products, which are fast moving especially in the populous cities, in the UK. The restaurant specializes in serving breakfast which is the most important meal of the day, and other meals, including snacks, dinners and a variety of drinks (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 4).
Price
The Diner also ensures that it gives its customers value for their money by serving the best quality meals and drinks. The Diner also offers fair deals and discounts to its customers as a way of setting the best prices as compared to other restaurants in town.
Place
The Diner is located in a central position, in London where customers can easily access it from different places. In addition, the restaurant also has different branches in other towns where customers far away from London can reach them. These include towns such as Chelsea, Camden, Shoreditch and Convent Garden, among others.
Promotion
The Diner carried out different forms of promotional services to attract customers and let them about new additions to the restaurant's menu. The most common promotional activities in The Diner are advertising, branding, and corporate identity. These promotional services communicate the various features of The Diner's menu, the value that customers get for their money, and the wide variety of delicacies that the restaurant sells (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 5).
People
The Diner seeks to serve all sorts of people from within London and elsewhere in the UK. This also includes tourists from different parts of the world. The Diner has cuisines from different regions of the world including Mexican and Chinese cuisines. This provides a way for The Diner to reach out to all sorts of customers in UK's market. The other branches situated in different parts of the UK also serve to reach out to more and more people (Reid and Bojanic, 17).
Process
The Diner has different processes for reaching out to customers and serving them in the best ways possible. Right from the moment customers walk into the restaurant they are received warmly by the friendly staff in the Diner (Ernest & Young, 13). The customer's orders are usually taken, and their meals served within 15 to 20 minutes; preparation time. Customers are usually informed of this delay, and they have the option of tasting some of the delicious drinks served by The Diner including alcohol milkshakes, fresh juices and plain milk shakes.
Physical Evidence
The physical evidence of The Diner is well available for all customers to see. The restaurant has a well designed and detailed website where customers can obtain information about The Diner. There are different branches of restaurants in different parts of the UK that customers can choose to check out.
Hospitality Service Characteristics
The key characteristics of the hospitality service as presented by the Diner include the continued use of quality-assurance frameworks to improve the quality of services in the hospitality sectors. The Diner also works effortlessly to meet the needs and desires of customers in the Hospitality by offering them nothing than the best food, drinks and services at any time (Learning and Skills Council London East, 7).
Macro and Micro Environments
Among some of the microenvironments in the UK's hospi...