Week 10 EOC: What Are The Benefits VS. The Features

Features are the obvious things you expect out of a product. With lipstick, you expect it will change your lip color. Hair dye changes your hair color. A Lamborghini gets you from point A to point B, but so does a Jeep. The difference is in the benefits. The benefit of lipstick is it can give you that boost of confidence you might need. The benefit of hair dye is expressing you in a different way. The benefit of a Lamborghini is you can arrive in style and it shows you have money. The benefit of a Jeep could be style or maybe that person just may have a love for the outdoors and going wheeling. With a food truck the features are pretty obvious. A food truck is portable. A food truck gives people affordable food just about anywhere. The benefits on the other hand are the fact that my truck gives a new experience. Or it could bring someone nostalgia. For me hot dogs are a classic. I’ve grown up eating them. Bacon wrapped hot dogs on the other hand are fairly new to me. Eating a bacon wrapped hot dog brings me back to those summer nights that meant so much to me. I always go back to sitting around a bonfire with great friends, amazing food, good music, and fun times. Those summer nights were what I lived for. Now being in the city, I never get to do that kind of stuff anymore. I miss it and bacon wrapped hot dogs bring me back to some of the best times of my life. I want people to have this experience. I want my hot dogs to bring happiness out from deep inside. I want them to remind people of simpler, better times, to make people smile.

Week 9 EOC: Three Great Mission Statements

First, was Taylor Stewart’s “Poultry in Motion aims to serve healthy, affordable, local food on-the-go. But most importantly Poultry in Motion serves quality; quality food, services and experiences.” This is a good mission statement because she clearly defines the goals of her organization. It tells people exactly what they are going to expect. Healthy, local, affordable food: a well defined mission statement. "A clear mission statement acts as an “invisible hand” that guides people in the organization." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg39.


Second, was Steffen Orozco’s “Orozco’s is a mobile food truck company dedicated to giving the quintessential Mexican experience through value and authenticity. We are proud of our heritage and aim to offer all types of customers a taste of our culture.” His mission statement clearly defines that his goal is to offer a truly authentic Mexican experience, not an American twist on Mexican food. It will not be food from Taco Bell, it will be food from hard working locals. You can expect the food to be fresh and taste like they spent the entire day working on your meal. Even though they did not, in fact they probably will only spend about 10 minutes to produce your meal, it will feel that they have spent hours on your food.


Last but not least, Ricardo Carrera’s “We are committed to keeping the fun going and to create an environment where absolute guest satisfaction is our highest priority. We were born having fun, we can’t just help entertaining guests and showing them a great time.” He makes it clear that his number one goal is to leave customers happy. He wants his customers to leave with a smile on their face. He does not want them to have a boring meal. Every part of it will be entertaining.

Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

I am going to create my food truck concept in Photoshop. I am going to find a high resolution picture online and Photoshop my ideas into it. I am going to add a logo, a menu, and color concept to the truck. I would also like to make this kind of like a poster for the truck. I know that my company will be called Hot-Dog-O-Rama but I haven’t quite figured out the exact colors. I am planning on adding in what I would like the environment to look like around my food truck. Things like what they table set up would be and how the outside of the truck would look like. I want to create a comfortable, relaxing atmosphere. When I eat greasy food I like to take my time and relax for a few minutes after eating. I like to allow the food to settle before going somewhere. I want to create an atmosphere for people to do that. I want to keep the theme very American carnival. I would like to kind of pick fun at the American stereotype of carnivals and the odd food combinations seen there, like bacon and hot dogs. I would like to show this is my photo shopped pictured of the food truck. I want to accomplish this by the use of color and choice of fonts. I want the entire composite to look welcoming and fun. I would also like it to be recognizable as a carnival themed truck. I am hoping to be able to make some of the items on the menu and then photograph them. This would be my career related creative content. I can then incorporate these images into a menu design. I would also like to feature some of those images on the truck itself.

Final Project: Implementation Evaluation Control

We want our customers to have a great experience. We also want to be successful. Everything from the promotions, to the prices, to the way we distribute things affects our customers. We need to make sure that every one of our ideas will work and are successful. This is known as marketing implementation, which is defined as; “The process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. One of the main things we need is control. As a business owner I need to know everything going on. From where we are getting our supplies, to how an employee is interacting with customers, to how the food is made. I need to know everything going on. Without this control I will not know where the problems are and how I can fix them. "Controls help management assess results after the plan is implemented, identify any problems or performance variations, and initiate corrective action. " Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. One thing we want is a positive attitude between all aspects.

Final Project: Price

Our biggest goal is of course to succeed. We want to reach our daily goals. We want to stay in budget yet also increase profit. I do not want my company to be breaking even. That is no fun. I want my company to succeed. To reach this goal I need fair prics for my customers, but I also need those prices to reflect what I pay for food. In the book price is defined; "Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 54. I do not want to over price items or under price these items. If I over price my products, customers will not come back. If I under price it, I will have to lower the quality of my products so that I do more than just breaking even. The price affects not only my customers but also my employees. If I cannot afford to pay my employees they are not going to want to work.

People also are willing to pay more for a good quality product. Our customers are not just buying a product. They are buying the quality, the experience, and the memories. Customers do not simply pay for just a product. They pay for much more. "Thus, whereas marketers see themselves as selling products, customers see themselves as buying value or solutions to their problems. And customers are interested in more than just the price; they are interested in the total costs of obtaining, using, and disposing of a product. Customers want the product and service to be as conveniently available as possible." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 55.

Final Project: Distribution

At Hot-Dog-O-Rama our goal with distribution is to work with the best suppliers and the best employees. This is called marketing logistics also known as physical distribution. This is defined as; "Planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of materials, final goods, and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. I want to ensure top quality products delivered in a timely manner. I want to deliver quality food in a timely manner. From the moment the food is delivered to the moment we hand you your food, we want that food to maintain fresh and in upstanding quality. This is our physical demand from employees and suppliers.

One of our main concerns will be with employees. My employees will not only be employees but also a team. For us to maintain a great distribution system, we need amazing teamwork and a great team. This is called integrated logistics management, which is defined as; "The logistics concept that emphasizes teamwork, both inside the company and among all the marketing channel organizations, to maximize the performance of the entire distribution system." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. This is more of the mindset I will expect from every employee and distributor. I want every employee to understand the importance of teamwork and fun.

Final Project: Promotion

First of all promotion is defined on the book as; "Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 54. We want our customers to know who we are. We want our customers to want to buy our food, We want our customers to know what they are walking into. I would have eye-catching flyers, logos, menus, etc. But I would also love to have some connections with local radio stations to help advertise where we are located that day. Having a bunch of different ways for promotion is called a promotion mix or marketing communications mix “The specific blend of promotion tools that the company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. Our company will hire graphic designers and have them create an amazing experience. I would also love to help advertise our friendly family atmosphere through our flyers, menus, and advertisements. "The company designs promotion programs that communicate the value proposition to target consumers and persuade them to act on the market offering." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 31

Final Project: Product

Our product is pretty straightforward. Our product is hot dogs, different forms of potatoes, and a drink. Our product is food, but our product is also an experience. We want our customers to be happy. They are hungry, so we want to fill them up. They have fussy kids, well we sell kid friendly food. You wanna try something new? We got you. Product in the book is defined as; “Anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary.

We have to look beyond just about product though. Yeah, we are selling hot dogs, but we are also selling an experience. Our experience is fast, affordable, family friendly food. We want every one of our customers too not only enjoy our food, but we want them to come back. We want our customers to leave happy We want those picky kids to be satisfied with our food. Hot dogs are a classic. They can get boring for some people. So we want to offer options. Some people hate the standard ketchup and mustard others love it. Some people are just in the mood for a chilidog. Maybe someone wants to try something new. We can offer that. Some children are like me, and love trying new food. I love bacon wrapped hot dogs. I also love lots of sauerkraut and mustard. "Smart marketers look beyond the attributes of the products and services they sell. By orchestrating several services and products, they create brand experiences for consumers." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg 7.

Final Project: Target Market Strategy

In the book target market is described as; “A set of buyers sharing common needs or characteristics that the company decides to serve." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Glossary. My target market is families, food junkies, hungry construction workers, and tourists from downtown. “After a company has decided which market segments to enter, it must decide how it will differentiate its market offering for each targeted segment and what positions it wants to occupy in those segments. A product’s position is the place the product occupies relative to competitors’ products in consumers’ minds. Marketers want to develop unique market positions for their products. If a product is perceived to be exactly like others on the market, consumers would have no reason to buy it.” Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th ED. Prentice Hall Publishing. Pg. 52. I want families to enjoy the atmosphere. I want those picky kids to leave happy. But I also want people who love food to come and enjoy my hot dogs. I want those people who want to try something new to come. With the amount of construction going on right now, I want those workers to have a hot meal. But I would also love to get the tourists in this town. With the amount of tourists here, I feel it would be a great idea. Tourists generally come to a new place to experience the culture. Food trucks are part of our culture. In America, we eat fatty foods. I can give people fatty foods that are not over processed. I can give the tourists a new experience.