Implementation Evaluation Control

The book defines Marketing Implementation as, "The process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. Having a marketing plan is one thing, acting on it is another thing. "Control helps management assess results after the plan is implemented, identify any problems or performance variations, and initiate corrective action. "Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. You'll never get it perfect on the first try, acknowledging that will help in the long run. Reform and trial and error is key for all businesses. "Attitude: A person’s consistently favorable or unfavorable evaluations, feelings, and tendencies toward an object or idea." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. Not only is the attitudes of the customers important but also the attitudes of the employees. Knowing the attitudes of the customers towards your business will give you a sense of how they perceive and react to your business and the experience they have. But also the attitude of the employees, not only does it effect the customer service but it also effects the feel of the business. These things are all interrelated. After you have a marketing plan you must then implement it. Once it's been implemented then control comes in to evaluate it. If there is anything that needs to be fixed or reformed. And attitude is a factor throughout the entire marketing plan and implementation.      

Price

The book states that, "Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 54. Price is a self-explanatory word. But it is something important to a business. A business must carefully think about price. While the main goal of a business should not making money, it is necessary to continue the business. "Thus, whereas marketers see themselves as selling products, customers see themselves as buying value or solutions to their problems. And customers are interested in more than just the price; they are interested in the total costs of obtaining, using, and disposing of a product. Customers want the product and service to be as conveniently available as possible." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 55. When a customer considers a price they don't simply think of the numbers behind the materials that went into the product, it's about the overall experience. The customer service, the atmosphere, what it all gives to the customers.
Below is an example of what my food truck's menu could look like as well as a rough estimate of what the pricing could be.

Promotion

Promotion mix (or marketing communications mix) is defined as, "The specific blend of promotion tools that the company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. No matter what the business is you need to promote yourself. To both bring in new customers and keep old ones coming back. "Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 54. For my food truck the main way we promote ourself is through the customers. When a customer comes and purchases food from the truck and they enjoy it enough to use our social media voting to have the truck return to their area they are at the same time promoting the truck. The best way to be promoted os through word of mouth, which nowadays is on social media. In the example of a Twitter post that shows the social media voting below, we see that any of the followers of the person would see that Poultry in Motion is a recommended place to eat. "The company designs promotion programs that communicate the value proposition to target consumers and persuade them to act on the market offering." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 31. People are more likely to try a new place that is recommended by a friend or family than an ad on t.v.

Distribution

The book defines Marketing logistics (or physical distribution) as, "Planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of materials, final goods, and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. My food truck will have to distribute the food it serves, it's product. The physical distribution is the food in its packaging or containers that is then handed to the customers after payment. "Integrated logistics management: The logistics concept that emphasizes teamwork, both inside the company and among all the marketing channel organizations, to maximize the performance of the entire distribution system." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. A goal of the truck for the distribution is doing so in a timely manner. Being efficient in the producing the product to be able to distribute the customers quickly after ordering. Because the customers come to the food truck for the convenience of it. That includes the convenience of the food being quickly distributed.

Product

A product is, "Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. The product of the food truck is the food. That is what the customers purchase. The main incentive to first come to the truck and then to entice the customers to continue to return. The product is the building block of the business. First have a great product that appeal to a good target market, then build upon that. "Smart marketers look beyond the attributes of the products and services they sell. By orchestrating several services and products, they create brand experiences for consumers." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 7. A business goes beyond a product or service. The product is important, of course, but just having a great product won't bring in customers, no matter how great it is. A business needs to give a great experience to customers. My food truck Poultry in Motion will give just that. Through great customer service and the use of social media will set us apart and continue to bring customers back.

Target Market Strategy

Target Market is defined as, "A set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. For my food truck the target market is people who enjoy the meal of a chicken sandwich when hungry, the convenience of a food truck and the experience of it all. A Marketing Strategy is, "The marketing logic by which the company hopes to create customer value and achieve profitable customer relationships." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. The marketing strategy of my food truck is through the use of social media. Allowing customers to vote on when and where the food truck goes gives the customers a feeling of control. But most importantly they feel they have a say in it all. Makes the customers feel almost apart of the Poultry in Motion "family". Because they are contributing to the decisions of the food truck, they have the say in something major, it appeals to the customers of the truck, whether they know it or not.
Below is an edited photo to give an example of what the food truck could look like.

Situation or SWOT Analysis

A SWOT analysis is defined as, "An overall evaluation of the company’s strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T)." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. P. 55. The book goes on to explain each factor. "Strengths include internal capabilities, resources, positive situational factors that may help the company to serve its customers and achieve its objectives. Weaknesses include internal limitations and negative situational factors that may interfere with the company’s performance. Opportunities are favorable factors or trends in the external environment that the company may be able to exploit to its advantage. And threats are unfavorable external factors or trends that may present challenges to performance." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. P. 55. For my food truck, "Poultry in Motion" it's strengths would be the use of social media. It sets us apart from other food truck businesses as well as gives us an edge in the social media world. A weakness may be because we are a food truck the seating is outside, that may dissuade people from wanting to come, or if the weather becomes undesirable to be out in. Opportunities for the truck come with our use of social media. It presents us with opportunities to go to places where the truck is desired. As well because we are a food truck and mobile, we have the opportunity to venture to other areas and bring in more customers that can, in turn, want to bring the truck back. Threats would be other food trucks. If there are other food trucks that decide to adopt our method of using social media it can hurt our opportunities.     

Objectives

The book defines objectives(and issue) as, "The company’s objectives should be defined in specific terms so management can measure progress and plan corrective action if needed to stay on track. This section describes any major issues that might affect the company’s marketing strategy and implementation." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. G10. Having objectives gives the company or business guidelines to follow and to goals to strive for. It's a way to check the performance of the business and the employees. "The company needs to turn its mission into detailed supporting objectives for each level of management. Each manager should have objectives and be responsible for reaching them." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 41. This is saying that having different goals for each level in the business is a way to help each level move at the pace that they are capable. For my food truck Poultry in Motion, a main objective of ours is to have amazing customer service. Always keeping the customers happy is key.

Business Mission Statement

In the book by Armstrong and Kotler on Marketing define a mission statement as: "A statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. Poultry in Motion aims to serve healthy, affordable, local food on- the-go. But most importantly Poultry in Motion serves quality; quality food, service and experiences.  In my mission statement I make it clear that my food truck serves healthy affordable food, and of course because it's a food truck it's on-the-go food. But I also try to convey that even though it's a food truck customers still get quality food. The truck using organic and hormone-free ingredients. As well as quality service. It is something extremely important to the truck that all servers and employees give excellent service and are so that customers want to return. And a quality experience which is the whole on their time at the truck. the food and service as well as the atmosphere the truck gives make for a quality experience. The aforementioned book also states that "a clear mission statement acts as an 'invisible hand' that guides people in the organization." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing. pg 39.  The mission statement not only defines what the business is to the consumers, but to those that are employed, to the company. Gives them the standard of the business, what is expected.   

Week 7 EOC: The Pitch

Everybody loves a good food truck. What's not to love? Quick and delicious food, moves around to different locations, good prices, etc. Well because food trucks are mobile and many of them like to change location, they often use social media to let people know where they will be; whether it's a concert, a park or a parking lot. For my food truck, "Poultry in Motion",  we will serve a variety of chicken sandwiches along with a side of fries and our specialty smoothies. Naturally we will provide seating areas for customers to enjoy their food, as well as play fun, easy-going background music. We will also be a food truck that changes location and use social media to announce where we will be that weekend, or day. But when you purchase food from our truck you'll receive a code on the food wrappings that can be used to bring the truck back to their area or a specific place in town. The customers go to the website or onto the food truck's app, plug in the code and that will allow them to submit a vote. The more they buy from the truck them more opportunities they have to bring the truck back. There will be certain dates that customers can vote to bring the truck to them on those dates. Those who enjoy the truck will be motivated to vote, which also gives the truck feedback. It's as if the customers are taking a survey, we see where the truck is most popular and will make the most profit. This gives the customers a sense of control. And because the truck moves around it becomes something more "rare", if you will, more exciting when the truck is in your neighborhood or even town. It becomes something they don't want to miss.