Building your marketing plan/ week 2 - Assignment Example

Marketing Plan Marketing Plan for Italian and Mexican Restaurant 3/11 [Type the company [Type the Contents Contents Identification of Trends 2Social and Economic 2Technological Factors 2Competitive Forces 2Regulatory Trends 2Consumer Analysis 3Market Size 4References 6Identification of TrendsSocial and EconomicIt has been observed that the young professionals and working families tend to avoid cooking in home due to time constraints issues. Increasing family commitments, work requirements as well as strong social preferences to dine out, therefore, seem to be the trends which will continue to dominate the market segment.

It is, however, important to understand that with the current economic situation in place where the overall disposable income has decreased and unemployment level increased, customers may shy away from eating out and rather prefer to save on food related expenses too.Technological FactorsThough food business may not be directly affected by the technology, however, the use of social networking websites may help to boost the business. Such websites can be of great help in spreading the word of mouth, they can also increase the overall competition as too many businesses may be marketed by the users themselves.

Competitive ForcesSince the overall entry and exit barriers are low due to low capital requirements to enter into the business, there may be a relatively higher number of competitors entering and existing in the market at the same time. It is, however, important that quality of the food offered at reasonable prices can really work as the differentiation factor to withstand the competition.Regulatory TrendsSince food is directly consumed by the customers, the issues like quality control and health related matters may attract regulatory attention.

Restaurants, therefore, will have to maintain a certain level of hygiene and health standards in order to continue to comply with regulatory environment.Consumer AnalysisThe proposed product will be aimed at young people and working families who look for ready to eat Mexican and Italian food offered at affordable prices. The overall market segment, therefore, will be based upon two separate groups of customers, i.e. youngsters and professional individuals maintaining any kind of relationship.

This segment of the business is growing as increasing pressures to maintain their jobs and balance time between work and family may force such individuals to buy food from outside to save time. Similarly, youngsters who earn will also be our target market because of their mobile life style. Since our food menu will be offered at relatively affordable prices, both these segments of the business are our target market.Market SizeSource: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pie_chart_of_US_population_by_state.

pngMost of US population is an urban population, therefore giving a very large pool of customers to serve the Italian and Mexican food in the urban areas. 67% of US population is within the age range of 15-64 years, thus making it one of the largest chunks of the overall population to be served (CIA World Factbook, 2012). Further, the overall income levels for the age 25+ years is over $20,000 per year, suggesting that our target market has enough purchasing power to afford eating food from outside.

It is also critical to note that a larger segment of population resides within our target market, offering a very good opportunity to our business to cater to the needs of this segment.ReferencesCIA World Factbook. (2012). USA. Retrieved March 09, 2012, from CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html