Marketing Plan Assignment: The Gourmet Kitchen Case Study for Strategic Growth in Event Catering

Marketing Plan

Due Date: 21/07/25 (4 pm)

Length: 4000 words plus relevant illustrations (detailed tables, diagrams, frameworks etc. to be included in appendices)

You are required to develop and submit a written marketing plan for a product, service or company. You should choose a company facing a current or impending strategic marketing challenge e.g. new start-up with no marketing plan, new product/service launch, new strategy required for existing company/product due to changed economic conditions. You may not duplicate an action plan that has already been implemented by the company or one that is currently being implemented to such an extent that the information contained in your report is already publicly available. The point of the assignment is to give you the opportunity to act as a consultant to the organisation you have selected.

Many smaller firms lack resources for marketing and may appreciate an offer to help with marketing planning. Suggestions for possible firms include your Intra placement company, local businesses or companies sourced through your personal networks. The business pages of newspapers are also good sources for information, particularly on small firm’s marketing activities. You are free to choose a firm from whatever sector in which you are interested but you should consider how your choice of company/sector might be useful to you in the future.

Company: The Gourmet Kitchen (Event catering service)

Founder/owner: Liam Prendiville
Founded: 2013
Website: www.thegourmetkitchen.ie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gourmetkitchen99/about/?_rdr
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gourmetkitchen9/?hl=en

Marketing Plan Template

1. Terms Of Reference
The terms of reference state the objectives of the marketing planning exercise and its coverage.

2. Executive Summary
The executive summary describes the report’s major findings and recommendations. It is designed to provide a busy reader with the major issues contained in the report. The executive summary allows the reader to gain insight to key outcomes without having to read all of the report. Bullet-points can be used to present the key points in the executive summary.

3. Business Mission
The business mission is a broadly defined, enduring statement of purpose that distinguishes a business from others of its type.

It should state “what business is the company in?” and “what business does it want to be in?”. It may include the markets being served, the customer needs being satisfied, and the technology used.

A mission statement can dramatically affect the range of a firm’s marketing activities by narrowing or broadening the competitive playing field.

4. External Marketing Audit
A marketing audit is a systematic examination of a business marketing environment, objectives, strategies and activities, with a view to identifying key strategic issues, problem areas, and opportunities. It provides the basis upon which a plan of action to improve marketing performance can be built.

The external marketing audit focuses on:
• Macroenvironment
• The market
• Competition
• Customers

Note that information may not be available on all of the areas listed under each topic. For each section, report the information (using analytical frameworks where helpful) and then analyse the implication for the company.

Macroenvironment
The macroenvironment consists of broad environmental issues that impinge on the business. You may wish to analyse it using the following headings:
Economic
Socio-Cultural
Technological
Political/Legal
Ecological

Not every heading may be used; if it is not likely to impact the company, leave it out. For every event, state its likely impact on the company and the resulting implications.

The Market
The market consists of analyses of market size, growth rates and trends.

Customers
Customer analysis includes:

• Who they are, what choice criteria they use, how they rate competitive offerings and how the market is segmented.
• Buyer persona
• Customer journey map

Competition
Competitor analysis examines:

• Who are the competitors to the company (actual and potential)?
• What are their objectives and strategies, strengths and weaknesses, market shares, size and profitability?

Summarise key information in a table comparing the company and main competitor(s) across key criteria

5. Internal Marketing Audit
The internal marketing audit focuses on the activities and performance of the company in the light of the external marketing environment:

It should cover an evaluation of the following four sections:
• Operating Results
• Strategic Issues Analysis
• Marketing Mix Effectiveness
• Marketing structure and systems

Note that the information may not be available on all of the issues listed under each topic.

Operating Results
This covers operating results for sales, market share, profit margins and costs.

Strategic Issues Analysis
Strategic issues analysis will answer the following questions:

• What are our current marketing objectives?
• How do we currently segment the market?
• What is our competitive advantage (if any)?
• What are our core competencies?
• How are our products positioned in the marketplace?
• How are products placed in terms of market attractiveness and company strength (portfolio analysis)?

Each answer will be evaluated to produce strengths and weaknesses

Marketing Mix Effectiveness
Each element of the marketing mix (product, promotion, price and place) will be evaluated in the light of the external marketing environmental analysis.

Marketing Structures and Systems
The marketing structures and systems of the company will be evaluated to identify what exists and its effectiveness. Marketing structures include marketing organization, marketing training, and intra and interdepartmental communication. Marketing systems include marketing information systems, the marketing planning system and the marketing control systems.

6. SWOT Analysis and key issues
A SWOT Analysis is a structured approach to evaluating the strategic position of a business by identifying its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. It provides a simple method of synthesizing the results of the marketing audit by summarizing the company’s strengths and weaknesses as they relate to external opportunities and threats. Strengths and weaknesses will derive from the internal marketing audit analysis. Opportunities and threats will derive from the external marketing audit analysis.

Conclude this section with a brief list of key issues which your plan will address.

7. Marketing Objectives
As a result of the marketing audit and SWOT analysis, relevant marketing objectives will be set. Two types of objectives need to be considered: strategic thrust and strategic objectives (see the next two sections).

Strategic Thrust
Strategic thrust defines which products to sell in which markets. The options are existing products in existing markets (market penetration or expansion), new/related products for existing markets (product development), existing products in new/related markets (market development) and new/related products for new/related markets (entry into new markets).

Strategic Objectives
Strategic objectives for products need to be set. These objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-oriented).

8. Core Strategy
Core marketing strategy involves the achievement of marketing objectives through the determination of target markets, the setting of competitor targets and the creation of a competitive advantage (see the next three sections).

Target Markets
A choice of target market(s) has to be made. A target market is a group of consumers/organizations (segment) that the company wishes to aim its offering and communications at. It defines where the company wishes to compete. For each target segment, a positioning strategy should be chosen and a brand positioning statement should be outlined.

Competitor Targets
Besides targeting consumers/organizations, the company will choose competitor targets. Weak competitors may be viewed as easy prey and resources channelled to attack them. The choice of target market may define competitor targets and be influenced by them: market segments with weak competitors may be attractive targets.

Competitive Advantage
A competitive advantage is a clear performance differential over competitors on factors that are important to target consumers/organizations. This provides the basis of how the company competes. Major success is dependent on the company creating a competitive advantage by being better (e.g. superior quality or service), being faster at anticipating or responding to customer needs than competitors, or being closer by establishing close long-term relationships with customers.

9. Marketing Recommendations

Make three recommendations for the company which must link to the findings from the analysis and objectives set in section 7.

Recommendations can be operational (e.g. CRM system), sales-related (sales plan) and marketing-related (digital marketing campaign, brand strategy, new product development, pricing/distribution strategy etc.)

10. Organization and Implementation
A marketing plan needs a marketing organization to implement it. Reorganization may mean the establishment of a new marketing structures (e.g. brand management) or the creation of a marketing department for the first time.

Consideration should also be given to implementation issues. These focus on who is responsible for various activities, how the strategy should be carried out, where things will happen, and when action will take place.

This section should include an action plan for each recommendation using the following headings:

Marketing objective Actions required Key metric Responsibility Budget Timeframe