The Watertower's strategy is based upon targeting and serving:
The Watertower maintains a competitive edge in several significant areas:
We think our value proposition is quite clear and quite easily distinguished from most others in the market. We offer affordable and accessible menu items and entertainment as measured by their inherently natural value, at an affordable price that will encourage regular visits.
The first category of our sales strategy is to establish and maintain a position with our primary constituents: intown Atlanta residents within a 4 mile radius of The Watertower's location. We will depend upon keeping these people happy with our food and beverage products and entertainment options.
Our second strategy is to utilize the downtown hotel/convention business through developing and maintaining close relationships with the planners of upcoming conventions and their respective attendees in order to create a "private function/party" option for corporations visiting Atlanta during the early part of the week, as well as encouraging individual visits by conventioneers later in the week. This strategy will also target the many hotel concierges who are available to promote dining options located within two miles of downtown hotel venues.
Our third strategy targets the more than 500,000 visitors to the Martin Luther King National Historic Site. This segment provides mainly lunch business.
Fourth, the restaurant will target sales to downtown and midtown businesses (particularly law firms) for regular business lunch and dinner entertaining.
Our sales forecast assumes no change in cost of prices, which is a reasonable assumption for the last few years.
We are expecting to increase sales from $2.0 million at the end of 2002, to $2.5 million by the end of 2004. The growth forecast is in line with the restaurants in the area and is tied to the projected increase in population of the immediate area.
The combined sales figures (across all sale items for the restaurant and coffee shop) presume an average of 2.5 "turns" per day for a 155 seat dining room with an average tab of $12.54. The business will be open an average of 26 days per month.
The projections show increases in:
November, resulting from Halloween party planning for Emory University graduate and professional students.
January, based upon corporate Christmas party and New Year's Eve programming.
May, as a result of catering programming scheduled for Emory University Commencement functions.
The accompanying table lists important program milestones, with dates and managers in charge, and budgets for each. The milestone schedule indicates our emphasis on planning for implementation.
What the table doesn't show is the commitment behind it. Our business plan software includes complete provisions for plan-vs.-actual analysis, and we will be holding monthly follow-up meetings to discuss the variance and course corrections.
The most important element of our marketing strategy is the delivery of a quality product. Our food, beverage, newspaper/magazine, and entertainment products must first sell themselves through word of mouth.
Next, the packaging of The Watertower's concept and external messages have to fit our positioning. We offer an upscale feel without a required "pinch" in your wallet. We then communicate this through the free weekly media (Creative Loafing, Southern Voice, and others), radio advertising on particular jazz, acid-jazz, Latin, and dance-oriented music shows, and traditional public radio sponsorships.
Through establishing relationships with the concierges of the local hotels and with the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, we will then attempt to create opportunities for visitors to the city to look forward to experiencing The Watertower.
Specific Sales Programs:
For our most important target market, local residents who crave new and sophisticated dining/entertainment/coffeehouse options, The Watertower satisfies the need for a casual, all-in-one dining and entertainment experience. Unlike our key competition, The Watertower is designed to handle this need from its inception, starting with the general construction of the facility. The general food programming, coupled with the entertainment programming, will offer the customer an experience unlike anything he or she has currently available.
Our food, drinks, and entertainment options are priced to give us an attractive margin while at the same time offering value to the consumer. We want repeat business. We also want the experience to remain fresh. Therein lies why the food, beverages, and musical/entertainment programming will be relatively flexible.
A sample menu is included in an appendix.
**Some supplemental materials are not available for this sample plan.
We will promote our company name and label almost more than the product itself, because to be successful we have to stand for brand-name integrity, excellent menu offerings, and first class entertainment and fun. Therefore, our promotion strategy includes focusing on events and messages that match:
Our marketing program will be handled by Cindy Abel of Real World Communications. With an annual budget of $16,000, and with a milestone beginning in August, Ms. Abel will assist with the initial marketing programs and ongoing efforts to increase the visibility of The Watertower and its offerings.
We depend on our alliances with personnel at Emory University, the Historic District Development Corporation, the Atlanta Executive Network, The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, and local music promoters to generate continuous leads for new sales and promotional opportunities. We need to make sure that the personnel of these allies are especially aware of our support and reciprocation.