Bonefish Grill is mostly open for dinner though recently it is opening for brunch on weekends. It specializes in fresh fish and wood-grilled food. In some markets, the company is experimenting with lunch service with special items not found during dinner. The special items change from time to time so that there is always something new for the customers. The only problem is that customers have a perception that our services are expensive. It is good to note that Red Robster, our main competitor is $3.00 higher than Bonefish on average, but the customers still view us as expensive. The objective here is to change the perspective of the customers by informing them about our services. This is aiming at doubling the annual sales, which stood at $622 million in the year 2014 (Hutton, J. G. 1996). We are hoping that this Integrated Marketing Communication campaign will help change the behavior of the customers so that they can dine with more often.

The campaign is targeting all kind of customers from old people to children. However, a closer attention will be paid to the married couples. Married couples are the ideal clients for the campaign given that we have a kids menu in place. We are seeking to encourage couples who like to have dinner out regularly together with the kids. The message to pass to the audience is that our services are great at a lower price. The perception that we are expensive has to be eroded from the mind of the audience. We have to create a desire in the minds and hearts of the audience so that they can be interested in trying our menu. The message should be very persuasive and have the ability to create awareness widely to all sorts of people. Quality and price are the key variables to be concentrated on in the campaign.

Currently, Bonefish Grill is the country’s second largest seafood chain after Red Lobster. However, the target audiences view our brand as expensive though our check average is $3.00 lower as compared to Red Robster. The audience has the perception that our services are expensive even though many have never been to our restaurants. This is attributed mostly to lack of information on the side of the audiences. This information has to be made available to them so that they can know more about Bonefish Grill. This will help us to achieve the set objective.

We are seeking to change the perception of the audience from expensive to relatively cheap with a higher quality. The most persuasive idea to portray to the audience is that we are the best in the market in terms of prices and quality of services. We also need to show the audience that our restaurants are all over so that they can trust our brand. The creative guidelines to consider are the restaurant logo and corporate colors. Some people especially women are very considerate of appealing colors. The restaurant logo should also be appealing and eye-catching to attract the attention of the audience (Schultz, 1996).

The principal creative guideline is attracting attention and creating awareness from that attention. It will be profitable to deliver the message at around 7 pm to 9 pm. At this time, most of the people are usually at home mostly relaxing. For example, most people watch television at night after a hard day’s work. Portraying a picture of a delicious dish might be very appealing to such people and make them want to know more. We can also deliver the message during the lunch hours when most of the working people are out for lunch. The development of the campaign message should take a maximum of one month to be delivered in around three months.

The message is to be delivered in public places where everybody can access it. Besides, posters are to be placed in public utilities and recreational facilities. More concentration will be in places where people congregate on their day-to-day business. In my view, print media will provide the best communication mix. Big posters in public places will always capture the attention of the audience as compared to an audio advert on the television or radio. If we place billboards and posters all over the recreational facilities in this country, we are likely to capture many people. The campaign budget will be set using a percentage of the last year’s annual sales. The percentage should be between 2% to 10% (Percy, 2008). This means that the budget ranges from $12.44 million to $64.4 million. If it is below the 2% mark, well and good but we cannot allow it to be above the 10% mark.

In general, changing the perception of the audience is our main objective. Make the audience feel that our brand is relatively cheap as compared to others. The aim is to be creative and come up with a universal message to reach out to all kind of people and create a desire in them. This desire will drive them into trying our restaurants. The message is to be delivered in public places where everybody can access it. In addition, we also need to show the audience that our restaurants are all over so that they can trust our brand. This campaign has the aim of doubling the annual sales, which stood at $622 million in the year 2014. This means that it should be seriously taken.

References

Hutton, J. G. (1996). Integrated marketing communications and the evolution of marketing thought. Journal of Business Research, 37(3), 155-162.

Percy, L. (2008). Strategic integrated marketing communication: Theory and practice. Amsterdam: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Schultz, D. E. (1996). The inevitability of integrated communications. Journal of Business Research, 37(3), 139-146.

 
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