Marketing Case

As a sixteen year old high school student, I was a waitress at a locally owned Mexican food restaurant. Although this restaurant was not a popular food chain like On the Border, it was convenient and had good food. Despite the convenience and good food, it was just the type of place that could easily be overlooked, because there were many other restaurants in the area. I was simply looking for a job that could keep gas in my car and the latest fashions in my closet. I had no understanding how important the five C's are to a business. Now that I look back on that experience, I truly see understanding these components as apart of the overall marketing strategy were critical even at a local restaurant.

Throughout the first two weeks of my employment, I began analyzing the internal and external workings of the restaurant. I had a motive to understand the dynamics. My ability to earn additional income through tipping meant I had to start with understanding the first "C", the customer. The most obvious reason the customers came to the restaurant was for good food. I also noticed people came to enjoy imported beers and tequilas. The restaurant offered brands from several Latin and South American countries. They also used fresh and homemade products. At the time, I really did not understand the attractiveness. I recall hearing some of the patrons say how they loved visiting because they knew all food consumed would be of highest quality. Last, the customers came for the family oriented experience. Every single customer was treated like a family member. They really made their customers feel unique and special.

Further into my analysis, I began to think about what types of things on the outside influenced and lead people into the restaurant. The articles I read this week call it analyzing the context. Of course, I had no idea of this concept at the time of my employment. I did seek to understand what type of customers frequently visited. There were people of all ages, races, genders, and income levels coming to the restaurant daily. It was very consistent with the demographics of the neighborhood. It did not appear the restaurant was trying to single out anyone. As I look back, I am sure the owners purposely picked the location as they wanted to attract all. The economic environment around the restaurant had families that ranged from low to middle income, thus the restaurant offered a comparable price in the range of low to moderate.

My next analysis was looking at the company itself. At sixteen, I did not spend time trying to understand the restaurant's business model. Despite this, I had to understand how it made money. It was simple. They sold food and alcoholic beverages. They did not offer the lowest price in the community, but were comparable to other restaurants in the area. Their business model was more niche driven. They wanted to focus solely on customers in the community and customize their food and service to those individuals in the neighborhood. They literally wanted to offer something very different. The difference came from what was previously mentioned. They offered fresh and homemade products, imported beers and tequila from several different countries, and they had exceptional customer service by offering a family oriented environment. Apart of their niche was getting to know almost every customer by name. They even had drinks and dishes named after some of their more frequent customers. They were not interested in having customers hanging out the doors and people waiting in long lines. They were more interested in getting intimate with their customers