Company Report of Kaki Lima Restaurant

Executive Summary

This report aims at analyzing the various environmental elements surrounding Kaki Lima’s operations, evaluating its current digital marketing practices, and offering viable recommendations that may help improve the firm’s current marketing strategies. The report finds that Kaki Lima’s existing marketing tools incorporate digital marketing systems, such as social media and websites. Other marketing systems include Google My Business and Online Reviews. Based on the evaluation of the customer experience and existing marketing tools, the report recommends that Kaki Lima should incorporate influencer marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), content marketing, mobile marketing, and public relations to enhance its marketing strategy the awareness and visibility of its brand.

Company Report of Kaki Lima Restaurant

Introduction

Kaki Lima Melbourne is an Indonesian restaurant that provides a variety of Indonesian cuisine. Despite being known for its famous dishes, an analysis of Kaki Lima’s activities reveals that significant market changes in marketing exist, which the firm ought to keep pace with, to help target and reach potential customers in the industry. Therefore, this report analyzes the three environments of the company, macro, micro, and meso, and offers recommendations to Kaki Lima’s management on viable digital marketing strategies, such as the use of SEO, influencers, content marketing, mobile marketing, and public relations to help enhance the restaurant’s potential of communicating its value to potential customers and remaining competitive in the industry.

Macro Environment

Legal

The digital marketing laws that govern the industry exist, which Kaki Lima must conform to, to avoid costly legal penalties. Notably, the Australian Consumer Law requires marketers to refrain from misleading advertisements about products and services of an organization (“Advertising and selling,” 2007). Therefore, the restaurant’s marketing team should conduct thorough investigations about the firm to ensure that the message displayed to the public is honest and avoid the hefty penalties that would result from failure.

Additionally, copyright issues that govern digital marketing exist, which influence Kaki Lima’s use of digital platforms. The Copyrights Act offers automatic protection of creative works by prohibiting the reproduction of exact work by others (Bouchoux, 2008). Therefore, the firm’s marketing team should be keen on the material they use in their digital platform to avoid the utilization of music or designs that are already copyrighted.

Political

Besides adhering to the legal elements, Kaki Lima must be keen on Australia’s political climate and avoid taking political sides in its digital marketing practices. Notably, for a while now, there has been an international political clash in Australia, in which it is alleged that the Chinese government is secretly trying to engage in political activity in Australia (Cave, 2019). Schmitz (2018) also adds that analysts claim that China’s Community Party has infiltrated Chinese-Australian associations. Amidst the current political clashes, it would be ideal for Kaki Lima to remain neutral about the political issues in their digital platforms to avoid triggering negative emotions among prospective consumers who hold different views about the matter.

Environmental

Today, consumers are more interested and aware of the firm’s interaction with the environment than was the case years ago, thanks to the development of the digital platforms. As the literature suggests, the way consumers spend their money sends a message about the type of food system they would like to be a part of (Higgins-Desbiolles, Wijesinghe & Moskwa, 2015). Therefore, to choose dining points based on a review of the restaurants’ involvement in environmentally friendly practices, the growing power of consumers can influence Kaki Lima to indulge in environmentally sustainable practices such as disposing of the restaurant waste effectively.

Demographics

Gradual and cumulative changes in population structure and distribution continue to be experienced in Melbourne, bearing a significant impact on Kaki Lima’s activities. Studies reveal that, in general, Australia’s population change has been dynamic compared to other OECD countries, with 20% of its people constituting of migrants (Hugo, 2013). Due to the existing population dynamism, restaurants can sell their delicacies to people of cultural diversity. Furthermore, research shows that Melbourne has gained a reputation as a multi-cultural and sophisticated city in recent years, thus attracting visitors to its food and sporting activities (Goodman, 2018). Therefore, the marketing team of Kaki Lima must ensure that the firm remains visible to prospective domestic and international consumers visiting Melbourne.

Meso Environment

Figure 1: Porters Five

Micro Environment

Customer

The digital era is on the rise, both in Australia and other parts of the world, and it has a significant effect on how firms such as Kaki Lima indulge in marketing practices. Notably, Granwal (2019) asserts that the rate of internet use in Australia has drastically increased over the past few years, with 14.7 million people reported to have subscribed to the Internet in 2018. This trend among consumers implies that firms such as Kaki Lima ought to adopt digitized marketing strategies to keep pace with the Internet and tech-savvy consumers.

Competitors

Unlike before, several digital changes occur in the catering and foodservice industry, compelling firms to adopt digital strategies to keep up with competitors’ trends. For example, Muhitin (2019) observes that several technology applications currently exist in the restaurant industry, including Front of House and Back of House applications. Notably, the majority of the industrial participants in Melbourne, such as Kedai Satay, are tremendously incorporating digitalized marketing strategies in their business approach; thus, Kaki Lima should do the same to remain visible and competitive in the industry.

Supplier and Intermediaries

The ongoing digital trends are gradually changing the role of intermediaries in the catering and foodservice industry. The majority of the brands partner with logistics companies such as UberEats to create convenience in their delivery channels. Therefore, Kaki Lima utilizes online ordering platforms by partnering with UberEats to help support the firm’s overall digital marketing strategy.

Current Marketing Strategies

Digital Marketing

Social Media. Kaki Lima uses social media to connect with its consumers. Notably, the business has a considerable presence in social networking sites such as Instagram. The active presence of the firm on social networking sites enables it to interact with the consumers, solicit feedback, and develop ways of enhancing the latter’s satisfaction.

Google My Business. Kaki Lima utilizes Google My Business digital tool to enhance its visibility among prospective consumers. The marketing tool provides firms with free business profiles to connect with customers across Google Search Maps (“Engage with Customers,” n.d.). Similarly, Kaki Lima enjoys this free marketing tool in which it posts its information, which helps enhance its visibility and connectivity with consumers.

Websites. Kaki Lima also utilizes its website as an essential marketing tool for its business. Notably, scholars observe that websites are rich in information; they provide detailed data on products and services offered by a company (Salehi, Abdollahbeigi, Langroudi, A., & Salehi, 2012). Therefore, the comprehensiveness of the website is used by Kaki Lima to market its services to prospective consumers.

Key Areas where Customer’s Experience Can be Improved Using Digital Technologies and Digital Touch Points

Figure 2: Customer Journey

Figure 2 is a visual representation of Kaki Lima’s Customer journey, which illustrates the customer’s experience with the firm. Based on the analysis of Kaki Lima’s current digital marketing approach, it is evident that the critical areas in the customer experience that can be improved are awareness and loyalty. Notably, new digital marketing approaches should be incorporated into the business strategy to enhance its visibility and loyalty among consumers, which will eventually translate to increased visits to the restaurant.

Recommended Action Plan

Using an Influencer

In today’s highly competitive business environment, influencer marketing has become an essential digital tool in enhancing consumer’s awareness about products and services. Kostic, Ivanovic, and Okanovic (2018) argue that this tool is currently ranked as the leading trend in marketing, probably because of its capacity to leverage famous people in promoting the growth of organizations. Influencer marketing involves the use of selected influencers, often celebrities, to promote a branded content to the influencer’s followers and the brand’s overall target consumers (Lou & Yuan, 2019). Similarly, Kaki Lima may use Australian celebrities, such as Nicole Kidman, who has a substantial social media following of more than six million users on Instagram, to create awareness about the restaurant within and outside Melbourne.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

As noted, the majority of consumers rely on Internet searches to decide what to purchase, and even the best places to dine. An SEO may help Kaki Lima enhance its visibility and build loyalty among consumers who conduct searches through Google. Notably, the SEO works by creating the advancement of website pages using target keywords in the title, snippets, and URL (Bhandari & Bansal, 2018). Scholars indicate that based on prior observation of consumer behavior, “clients are more likely to click on sites recorded on the first page of results” (Bhandari & Bansal, 2018, p. 27). Therefore, an SEO may help Kaki Lima pull traffic to its site, hence enhancing its visibility among consumers.

An SEO may assist Kaki Lima to improve its customer experience digital touchpoints by enhancing awareness and loyalty. Notably, by pulling traffic to its website, Kaki Lima may increase awareness about its food and services to potential consumers, who may be enticed to visit the restaurant. Also, the SEO may help Kaki Lima boost customer loyalty, since every time a customer searches for a dining spot in Melbourne, they may be redirected to the firm’s website, thus increasing their inclination to visit the restaurant.

Content Marketing (Blogging and Article Writing)

In the past few years, content marketing has become the new mode of influencing consumer behavior in the form of blogging and article writing. As observed by Hanifati (2015), blogging is the most popular media to share thoughts, feelings, opinions, and ideas connected to specific events in everyday life. The author also views this form of content marketing as a new type of electronic word-of-mouth (Hanifati, 2016). Notably, through food blogging and article writing, a person can easily create awareness about a brand, such as a new restaurant and share their experience of the eating joint with friends, families, and other parties that have access to the blog. It is worth noting that content marketing is done on various online platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, which implies that this form of digital marketing platform has a broad consumer target. Furthermore, setting up a blog is easy and cheap in terms of financial costs (Krapi, 2017). Therefore, firms can spend the least in this form of marketing and achieve the maximum outcome, depending on how they articulate the content to consumers.

As noted, one of the customer experience areas Kaki Lima should improve on is awareness, which can be achieved through content marketing. Particularly, blogging and article writing about the restaurant and its popular dishes may help Kaki Lima raise awareness and visibility about its operations, especially among social media users. Furthermore, as the literature suggests, food bloggers are often a benchmark for individuals considering whether the restaurants are worthy of being visited or not (Hanifati, 2016). Therefore, content marketing may also help Kaki Lima gain consumer loyalty, as the majority of the individuals are likely to develop the habit of visiting the restaurant based on the positive thoughts, opinions, and experiences shared by others in blogs and articles.

Kaki Lima may have an option to conduct an in-house content marketing or contract the task to well-known food bloggers in Melbourne. Given that visibility is of utmost importance, the restaurant should contract external bloggers since they have a massive following on social media, which implies that the message may spread to a larger target population. Notably, Kaki Lima should seek the services of “Australian Food News” and “The World Loves Melbourne” to create awareness and loyalty for its dishes within Melbourne and across Australia. However, to achieve the desired outcomes, Kaki Lima’s food bloggers should ensure that they have adequate and accurate information about the restaurant’s offerings to avoid misleading information that may eventually be criticized by consumers and consequently taint the restaurant’s image. Nonetheless, every message included in the blogs and articles must be captivating to the consumers.

Public Relations

In the past few years, the use of public relations in marketing has grown exponentially. Initially, public relations was exclusively viewed as a medium of building corporate image among firms; however, the tool is gradually being used as an arsenal in digital marketing. Notably, public relations entails “deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organization and members of the public” (Gurel & Aydin, 2016, p.804). In marketing, public relations may be a deliberate effort to achieve direct revenue by building on a firm’s publicity.

Kaki Lima may use public relations to fix the niches in the customer experience, such as awareness and loyalty. As the literature suggests, a significant fraction of consumers pay attention to culture, localization in the global market, environmental issues, and general welfare in determining where to purchase their products and services (Gurel & Aydin, 2016). This information implies that consumers may be more willing to visit restaurants that consider general environmental effects and consumer welfare in their operations compared to their counterparts. As such, public relations may be an ideal marketing strategy for Kaki Lima to influence consumers to visit the restaurant. Notably, Kaki Lima may choose to upload a You-Tube video on its website about its journey in the industry to create awareness about the roots of its famous dishes, most notably, the “Indonesian Crazy Rice.” The restaurant may also share its involvement in ethical, environmental practices and interaction with its consumers in its public relations message. Use of public relations may help Kaki Lima build on customer loyalty as customers that are attentive to the firm’s involvement in socially responsible practices, and outstanding customer services may be enticed by the message to visit the restaurant and try its advertised delicacies.

Public relations would be a cost-effective marketing strategy for Kaki Lima. The restaurant would only require to record and post videos about its journey in the industry. Kaki Lima may also include some of its loyal customers in the content, to strengthen its message to potential consumers. Notably, it may be likely for consumers to use the opinion and experiences of others in deciding whether or not to dine in the restaurant.

Mobile Marketing (Proximity Marketing)

Today, mobile devices, such as smartphones, are gradually becoming an integral part of people’s lives, thus allowing businesses to utilize mobile marketing in their marketing strategies. According to scholars, mobile marketing is “a set of practices that enable organizations to communicate and engage with their audience in an interactive and relevant manner through any mobile device or network” (Amirkhanpour, Vrontis & Thrassou, 2014, p.256). Notably, in mobile marketing, the marketer sends a personalized message to consumers notifying them about the availability of a product or service in the market.

Kaki Lima may use mobile marketing to fill the gap of awareness identified in the customer journey map. Notably, the restaurant may utilize direct messages sent to consumers’ mobile devices to inform the latter about some of the available dishes on the menu. However, while using mobile marketing, Kaki Lima must adhere to the permission marketing guidelines, whereby customers must be treated respectfully, and consent must be obtained before sending subsequent marketing messages (Gilbreath, 2010). Seeking approval may be essential to prevent infringement of the customer’s privacy. Besides, in the absence of consent, customers may consider marketing messages as nuance and fail to read them, thus countering the intended outcomes of the marketing strategy.

References

“Advertising and selling” (2007). Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Retrieved from https://www.adma.com.au/sites/default/files/media/ACCC-Advertising-and-Selling.pdf

“Engage with customers on Google for free” (n.d.). Google. Retrieved from https://www.google.com/business/

Amirkhanpour, M., Vrontis, D., & Thrassou, A. (2014). Mobile marketing: A contemporary strategic perspective. International Journal of Technology Marketing, 9(3), 252-269. DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2014.063855

Bhandari, R.S., & Bansal, A. (2018). Impact of Search Engine Optimization as a marketing tool. Jindal Journal of Business Research, 7(1), 23-36. doi:10.1177%2F2278682117754016

Bouchoux, D.E. (2008). Intellectual property: The law of trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets for the paralegal (3th ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Cengage Learning.

Cave, D. (2019, May 20). Australia’s China challenge. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/world/australia/australia-china.html

Gilbreath, B. (2010). The next evolution of marketing: Connect with your customers by marketing with meaning. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

Goodman, R. (2018). Melbourne- Growth challenges for a livable city. The Planning Review, 54(1), 6-17. doi:10.1080/02513625.2018.1454661

Granwal, L. (2019, August 23). Internet usage in Australia- Statistics and facts. Statista. Retrieved from https://www.statista.com/topics/5261/internet-usage-in-australia/

Gurel, E., & Aydin, S.I. (2016). Public relations in service marketing. The Journal of International Social Research, 9(45), 803-810. doi: 10.17719/jisr.20164520656

Hanifati, A.N. (2015). The impact of food blogger toward consumer’s attitude and behavior in choosing restaurant. International Journal of Humanities and Management Sciences, 3(3), 149-154. Retrieved from http://www.isaet.org/images/extraimages/P515008.pdf

Higgins-Desbiolles, F., Wijesinghe, G., & Moskwa, E. (2015). A taste of sustainability: Case studies cafes in Australia. Research Gate. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/282331670_A_Taste_of_Sustainability_Case_studies_of_sustainable_cafes_in_Australia

Hugo, G. (2013). The changing demographics of Australia over the last 30 years. Australian Journal on Ageing, 32(s2), 18-27. doi:10.1111/ajag.12113

Kostic, S.C., Ivanovic, A., & Okanovic, M. (2018). Influencer marketing in a social media context. Conference Paper. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332441726_Influencer_marketing_in_a_social_media_context

Krapi, F. (2017). Awareness and effectiveness of corporate blogging in companies in Kosovo. Thesis: Rochester Institute of Technology. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.rit.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=10637&context=theses

Lou, C., & Yuan, S. (2019). Influencer marketing: How message value and credibility affect consumer trust of branded content on social media. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19(1), 58-73. doi:10.1080/15252019.2018.1533501

Muhittin, C. (2019). An analysis of technology applications in the restaurant industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 10(1), 45-72. doi:10.1108/JHTT-12-2017-0141

Salehi, F., Abdollahbeigi, B., Langroudi, A.C., & Salehi, F. (2012). The impact of Website information convenience on E-commerce success of companies. Procedia- Social and Behavioral Sciences, 57(2012), 381-387. doi: 10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.09.1201

Schmitz, R. (2018, October 2). Australia and New Zealand are ground zero for Chinese influence. NPR. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/627249909/australia-and-new-zealand-are-ground-zero-for-chinese-influence

Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:

Turnitin Report

Formatting

Title Page

Citation

Outline

Place an Order