Question

It is February 1, 2020 and you have been contacted by the owners of a proposed new restaurant in Columbus. This restaurant will be located on a piece of land near the Bradley Park area. The restaurant will emphasize fresh Mediterranean cuisine. The restaurant is the idea of two individuals that formerly worked for the Red Lobster’s Restaurant chain. The grand opening will be on April 2, 2020. The restaurant owners are aware of your expertise in small business and have asked you to develop an advertising plan for them.   They have agreed to pay you

$ 3,500 for this project, plus your reasonable business expenses.

            Using a budget accompanied by a narrative description, develop an advertising plan in outline form to present to the owners of the business. The owners are limited to only $ 8,000 for promotion and advertising until the company starts operations. From that point, the business will have to generate additional money for advertising from new sales. Please ensure that they know how their money will be used and why you believe your plan will attract customers.

The following information is to be used to determine your expenses:

Daily Newspapers: $600 for a quarter page ad on Sunday (20% of residents read the Ledger~Enquirer).

Television: Local affiliates will sell 30 second spots during the news for $ 10,000 per advertisement. Local cable companies will sell 30 second spots for $ 200.00 on ESPN.

Radio: A Rate Card for radio advertisements is not available for your analysis. For planning purposes, you can use the following rates:

Morning drive time (M - F; 6:00 - 10:00 am): $ 60 per day or five days for $ 180.00.

Evening drive time (M - F; 4:00 - 7:00 pm): $ 50 per day or five days for $ 130.00.

All other times: $ 20.00 per individual spot.

Magazines: N/A - no regional magazines are feasible as they cost $ 4,500 per monthly advertisement.

Billboards: Local billboards can be secured for a monthly package deal of $1,800 for three sites on I-185 north of Columbus or a package deal for $800 for two locations on Veterans Parkway. You must buy the package deal. You cannot buy individual billboards.

Direct Mail: A letter with two enclosed pieces of paper will cost you $ 0.75 per person to mail bulk rate.

Flyers: Flyers can be printed by the local print shop for $ 0.045 per sheet.

Student Newspaper: The student newspaper sells ad space at $150.00 for a quarter page ad. It has only 3,000 readers.

Other more creative, “boot-strapping” promotional techniques can be considered in your plan, but you must explain them.

Media	January	February	March	Total
Radio
Saber
Ledger~Enquirer
Billboards
Flyers
Direct Mail
Website
Article in paper
Bootstrapping
Total

Answer 1

The following is the breakdown of the advertisement budget, spread across 3 months.

Radio: During the evening most of the office going people drive back towards home, they are most likely thinking about food on their way back. Since working class people form the majority of the target audience, it is vital that this segment is tapped. The evening slot of 4 to 7 pm on the radio should be booked. Since it would cost ...$1560 for 3 months

Ledger - Enquirer: Since 20% of the residents read the Ledger - Enquirer, it would be vital to tap into that audience. Typically the last 3 Sundays in March should be used to promote through this medium. A total of 3 Sundays would incurr a cost of $1800.

Billboards: Billboards are a very effective way of advertising local businesses, however they should be used only when the business gets closer to starting operations. Thus, the both the slots should be booked for the month of March, which would cost $2600

Flyers: Flyers should be circulated door to door a week before the restaurant begins operations, since the Bradley Park neighbourhood houses a population of around 33,000 people, which would roughly make up around 10000 houses. These houses should be provided with flyers 3 times within the week, which would cost approxiamtely $1350.

Direct Mail: Direct mailer should be provided to approxiamtely 700 households a week before commencing operations, these should encompass all the affluent hoseholds in the neighbourhood. The cost incurred would be around $575.

Thus, the total cost incurred for advertising would be $7880 during the 3 months preceding the restaurant's opening.