Case Scenario: Coffee Shop
A small business is in the initial stages of collecting data for the opening of a new coffee shop. It is necessary for this new venture to conduct research into the potential of attracting customers. The research involves a survey and the collection of data. The target demographics are business professionals and college students ranging in age from 17 to 55. A survey has been created that asks several questions about the habits of potential customers. It is important to administer this survey to target demographic to ensure that the data is true and accurate. The data collected from this survey will be used to gauge the viability of this new business opportunity.
The preliminary research has shown that there is a strong market in the US for coffee and gourmet coffee houses in the local area. Management believes that the best locations for coffee shops are in mall areas, around college campuses, densely populated office parks, and in suburban areas. This new venture will specialize in cappuccino, regular or decaf coffee, and various types of teas and cocoas as well as various baked goods that are normally purchased along with coffees. Scouting a location plays a vital role in the successful operation of any business. Research will be constructed to find out possible revenue that can be made on a monthly basis, top selling features, peak times, number of employees needed to run the business, etc...
The public relations (PR) campaign must be constructed in an ethical and culturally sensitive manner. The campaign must be kept positive and focused on the new business and not make negative or disparaging remarks about competitors. There are some local coffee companies in the region of the new store and there is a strong sense of loyalty to these brands by the local community. Any negative remarks about these companies and/or their products will likely create a negative response toward our company and product. Likewise, the campaign should steer clear of racial or cultural references that may be considered derogatory by the local population.
The campaign should be built around the following guidelines formulated from the International Association of Business Communicators' Code of Ethics for Professional Communicators (International, n.d.). The communication should be honest, candid, and accurate; it should be sensitive to cultural values and beliefs, be legal, and provide appropriate credit for all work belonging to others.
Before taking immediate action, PR must conduct research to help determine the problem. Many business owners at one time or another have encountered some type of negative experience. One must be aware that when launching a business one will encounter many challenges. When this takes place management must find ways to overcome the many challenges they face. This organization will rely on the professional skills of public relations specialists.
"Campaigns are a frequent output of public relations planning" (Baskin, 2004, p.14). The elements of planning play a vital role with the study of public relations. The elements are as follows: establishing goals in relation to the mission statement, determining the present situation, determining threats and opportunities to reach goals, reaching and selecting the target audiences, developing a theme for the program or campaign, developing the objectives for the plan or campaign, creating strategies to accomplish the objectives, developing tactics to implement strategies, creating evaluation techniques, developing a budget, working out a timetable, and assigning personnel (Baskin, 2004).
Scouting a location plays a vital role in the successful operation of any business. In an article managed and produced by Nation's Restaurant News, founder, chairman, CEO of Raising Canes, Todd Graves, "plans to establish a "pillar" of stores on or near college campuses based on the success of his original LSU location." (King, 2003) Some years ago Graves hired a restaurant design firm, Hospitality Services Inc., to come up with an expansion projects. Graves based his decision on the successful operation of his first location. Today, one can say that Todd Graves has definitely succeeded in his line of business. Raising Canes locations are located throughout the state of Louisiana. Management can begin operations by opening a coffee shop on or near a college campus or mall area and expand after evaluating and analyzing the operation of the first location.
"Strategies may be the most difficult of the terms to define in the planning process" (Baskin, 2004, p. 25) "Strategies can refer to the type or emphasis of a message, the way we want to approach a task, or a variety of things" (Baskin, 2004, p.25).
Improving and increasing is the primary focus. PR is responsible for finding ways to increase awareness of this business. Public relations can help boost sales at this newly developed Starbucks by doing a number of things. This coffee shop must provide a strong corporate message to the media. Starbucks must develop a media campaign to publicize the coffee shop. Publicity is also important. The organization may consider using media such as: radio, newspaper, etc...
However, information has to be carefully chosen. An enormous amount of information is located on the World Wide Web; therefore, selecting the right keywords played an important role in locating helpful information. During the opening of this location the public will be made aware of this through the marketing team and new business promotion through the new media, broadcasting, and outside calls to the general public. It is necessary for this new venture to conduct research into the potential of attracting customers. The research involves surveys and the collection of data that will be submitted to potential clients and different vendors that will be in need or our service. Menu will be done in order to promote sales through catering. There will be free delivery within a five miles radius and anything over this will be charged $25 delivery fee. The delivery time will range from 6:30am - 9:00pm, Monday- Sunday.
Missing conclusion; provide a brief summary paragraph addressing the paper's discussion points.
Team, good start be careful. This paper looks more like an outline of a marketing plan for a business opening rather than a PR campaign. The intent of the paper was to specifically discuss the following points.
1) What is the issue the campaign will address? (How will this business single itself from the competition and make the message media worthy. I.e. all organic products? A celebrity owner? State of the art furniture?)
2) What is the message of the campaign (one idea)
3) Who is the target audience
4) How will the campaign communicate its message to the selected audience
References
International Association of Business Communicators. (n.d.). Code of ethics for professional communicators. Retrieved December 13, 2006