Need Your Help for my Marketing Project. (Discussion)

[amira84]

Marketing project for Course BUS162 @ North Island College, Vancouver Island.


hi everyone,

I am studying Marketing this semester and I have to do a project for my course. This project requires me to have an open ended discussion with a focus group and develop a questionnaire and marketing insights from that discussion. Since I don't have any physical friends (LOL @ me), I have fallen very very very very behind in my project because I did not know where to go for discussion. but it just struck me today that I could have this discussion right here in our SC forum.

I will greatly appreciate your insights about my questions. People from BC are very encouraged to take part in this discussion because it is a Vancouver Island based project. But others are welcome too because I see that we don't have a lot of BC people coming to this side of SC.

So.....what about my project?
My project is a catering company. my company will provide South Indian food to its customers. and besides food, my company can also provide South Indian style cutlery/dishes, decorations and dance performances based on what and how much a customer wants. so instead of providing food only, its a South Indian experience customers can have in their parties instead of actually going to South India.
my catering company will provide its services for 2 types of customers. Businesses and personal parties.
Businesses: my company will provide services for businesses for their meetings, annual parties and other big events.
personal: company will provide services for personal parties, for example, birthday parties, anniversaries, weddings etc.


so I want to know about your likes/dislikes about it. honest opinion!
usually how big are your parties?
do you prefer to cook food for yourself or do you hire a catering company?
what price per plate is preferable for you considering you are ordering food only?
how much are you willing to pay per plate if you want my company to provide South Indian style experience for you? (cutlery, dishes, decorations, dance performance)
when you hire a catering company for your parties, do you hold these parties at your home or do you rent a bigger space for that party?

I will add more questions to this list at night and will write those new added questions in different color so that you know something has been added. please share your experiences about your own personal parties when you held one. what were your preferences for choosing a catering company? what were you looking for in a catering company and why did you choose that particular company over other companies.


I will read your comments at night once I am done with my computer assignment.
thanks a lot for your input. :

[Andit]

Hi Amira!

Not sure if I can help, but I'll try.

In terms of pricing, recently at bff's Dad's funeral, the reception in the church hall after the funeral cost approx $15 per person (sandwiches, fruit & veggie & cheese trays, juice and pop). Dinners usually run approx $25 per person, depending on the venue. Halls run $220+.

I've worked on the condo Xmas party for several years. We get 60-80 neighbours attending. Our budget is usually $500 for food (hors d'oeuvres type snacks) and $300 for wine (a 6-pack of beer and a couple of cases of pop are included in this). We plate the food (ok, so my friend and I end up doing all the work - we found by asking for help, it took us longer to supervise and explain than doing it ourselves) and I usually end up in the party room kitchen for the first half of the party cooking up President's Choice frozen appy snacks (PC products work best for us in terms of price, quality and ease). In addition to hot appetizers, we have a cheese board, smoked salmon, charcuterie board (we started this last year and it was a hit). We tried fruit & veggie trays in the past, but they were barely touched, so it was a waste. We also have chocolate-covered strawberries that come out near the end of the party - it's an incentive for those who stay and help with clean up, although more than one person grabs one to go. There's a core group of half a dozen or so folks that stay to the bitter end cleaning up, well, polishing off the food and the wine.

One of the years I wasn't involved, the folks in charge used a catering company for the party - it cost considerably more and the food was meh (too fancy fussy for us plebs ). No entertainment was involved, although for some insane reason, they thought a waiter would be a good idea.

The first time I was involved, my friend and I did hors d'oeuvres at 7pm and a light buffet dinner at 9pm for nearly 80 folks for $200. Way too much work (we cooked for weeks ahead of time to save on costs). Food was great, people loved it, but still we got folks complaining. Sheesh.

I've worked for companies where they would hire folks to bring the authentic flavours (food, dishes, entertainment) of exotic places to the event. Unfortunately, I was never involved with the specific aspects, so I have no idea about price points.

Not sure if what I've said is of any help (I'm dealing with a bad cold so may be a little loopy in my thought process ). I know of places that offer such services, so it is definitely a viable business.

If I can help, let me know. I've taken marketing courses in the past (many many years ago) and worked for an ad agency for a while.

Good luck with your assignment.

[amira84]

Thanks a lot for sharing your experiences, Andit. I am so happy that you are also the marketing person here, so I can talk to you freely about my project. Hooe you feel better soon. my son got cold yesterday and he is very sick now.

So about thr project....what i am hearing from you is budget, budget, budget. You are the budget conscious customer who likes to do labor work himself/herself to cut the costs. Price is the deciding factor for you. Right?

Wow. I never thought about "booze" factor for my project. We are a strict no-alcohol culturr and never ordered/bought such things in our life, i have no idea about it. What I am thinking about alcohol is to NOT include it in my project. That will be a PITA for me as i have no idea about costs/license etc.

So let's say your cost is $25 per person. How much are you willing to pay EXTRA to see an ethnic dance performance at the end of your party?
Does it matter to you if food is provided/served in an ethnic style dishes/plates/cutlery? Or are you willing to drop this aspect in order to avoid extra costs?
Do you serve in disposable plates in your parties?


Thanks a lot in advance for your response.

[Andit]

Hi Amira,

These days, the only thing I'm involved with is the condo party, and we don't really have entertainment (one of the neighbours plays DJ and plays either classical or Xmassy music). One year, a friend of mine played her keyboard for a small stipend and first crack at the smoked salmon. I think the most we could go is maybe $50, but since folks come and go, entertainment wouldn't really work for us. Plates are usually rented (we return them dirty so less dishes for us lol), we own the glasses, and we serve finger foods to avoid cutlery.

In terms of pricing, entertainment around here runs $200-$5000 for an evening party. Foodwise $25 per person is considered a good deal. You're right not to focus on booze, most times this is tied in to the venue (has to do with how the licensing is done).

Best way to find out what would work in your neck of the woods, since downtown Toronto prices may be quite different, is to call up a few caterers and get quotes. Also check a few venues to get an idea of pricing. Also contact local ethnic orgs (dance troups, singers, etc) to get an idea of what they charge. That should give you an idea of what the market around you will bear.

[Thatdone]

My husband showed me this today and I was in the Marketing Business. Appetizers run about 6.95 - 8.00 always depending on the amount of people that you have. A sit down dinner would also be dependent on how many people were attending ($25 and up). Business is much different then a personal party because they are usually doing it for a lot of people and it could be an award type of party or a thank you to our staff type of party. If they want the whole experience it can get quite costly with room rentals, dinner, appetizers, liquor and something they will want; rooms available to the people who want to stay at the establishment. My suggestion would be to call a Hotel and get pricing as if you were holding an event, tell them what you want, amt. of people and they will ask you some questions that might help you to determine some of the things that you might want to look into. Ask for their event planning department and they may suggest some companies that you could call for food (if they don't specialize in that type of food) that they work with and even for things such as entertainment. Call companies that special in event rentals, charis, tables, linen, etc. Not sure of the area you are in or I could probably suggest some to call and I am not clear on the actual event. There is so much that will depend on what you spend, but this will give you some good ideas of cost. Good Luck with your project.

[amira84]

Thanks a lot Andit and Thatdone about sharing your Marketing experiences with me. I am working on the questionnaire based on your reviews and it's almost done. Just needs some final touches.

My teacher asked me to gather primary data first by talking to friends (or focus group), develop a survey based on the primary data, THEN i could go hand out my suvey to the public.

I am getting scared now. Based on your replies, it looks like I have a long way to go to finish my project but time is too little now. Actually I dont have enough time to finish projects+assignments.

[Andit]

No need to be scared, I'm sure you'll have the project done in no time.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Would love to see the survey, although I'm not sure how happy your prof would be with a response from a Toronto girl.

[amira84]

No need to be scared, I'm sure you'll have the project done in no time.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Would love to see the survey, although I'm not sure how happy your prof would be with a response from a Toronto girl.

Yes, i know my teacher wont take an ontario girl's responses as my discussion because it is strictly a vancouver island based project. Lol.
But i didnt tell her that i talked to ontario people. I just told her that i discussed with my friends and since my friends are budget consious, they will do most of the work themselves to avoid costs. Lol.
I will posts my survey here. (In 1 or 2 days)


Thanks for the encouragement.

[Thatdone]

Good luck and I'm sure you will do fine

And if you are reading this means you are not working on your project LOL

[amira84]

Lol. Yes i am not working on my project right now. You caught me! Yikes! Lol

[DiamondLil]

The last big party I threw was a graduation party - we got the hall at our local restaurant for free (its free for events when the planners spend a certain amount of money, otherwise it would have cost $200) and the cost per plate was about $18-20 per person (meal and coffee/tea/soda - no alcohol was served). We brought in our own appetizers (hubby is Palestinian so we wanted some foods that are "traditional" to his culture) and hired a belly dancer to perform for us. We also brought in our own desserts, but it would have been nice if the cost included some cakes, pies or squares. We also had to decorate the venue too but cleanup was done by the staff.

[beckie.c]

Sounds like a fun project. I work in Market Research, so I love all things focus group and survey related :D

I love the idea. I think creating the whole South Indian experience would set you apart.

In thinking about the type of parties that I would be planning, they would probably be business-related and on the smaller side for a max of 30-40 people. I'm usually given a budget, and then have to create the party to work around that. I would be looking for the catering business I picked to be somewhat flexible in its offerings to fit within my budget. (i.e. options at several price points appetizers and dancers, full meal options, etc.) When I make a decision, the biggest factor is if it will fit within the budget I've been given to work with.

In a professional setting, I'm less likely to want to do the work myself and would instead rely on the business to take care of the details. For example, my last team lunch I organized involved taking orders for meals, placing the orders with the restaurant and then driving across town at lunch to pick up meals for 30 people and bring them back to the office. Lots of work and there was the possibility of errors in order taking plus rushing through traffic to make sure the meals made it hot. It would have been easier to bring in a caterer and probably still fit the budget. I'm also working with co-worker allergies (and gluten-free, lactose-free, etc) so that is an important factor as well.

I haven't used any caterers that also serve alcohol. In my experience that has always been a separate expense. Caterers that I deal with usually provide coffee. At my wedding, in tiny town Saskatchewan, we gave a donation to the lions club and they provided bartenders for the evening. Here, the license is usually purchased by the person who is hosting the event as well, so I don't think you need to worry about that. I think it would be great if you could make recommendations to your clients on bartenders/servers. Anything that helps make my decisions easier is always appreciated.

One of the draw-backs of the venues in my area, is they want you to use their caterers and bartenders. That can make it tough to bring in an outside caterer for a party.

Price per plate in my area is about $20-$30. I personally prefer actual plates to disposable for the environmental benefits, but that likely won't be an influencing factor in my decision.

As a side note, I think this would make a fabulous fundraiser night. I'd pay $50-$75 for a ticket to a Indian entertainment night where there was food and entertainment.

Good luck with your project!!

[amira84]

Very nice ideas from all of you. And i am so glad that most off you have marketing experience as well. That fundraiser dinners caught my eye and i will see if i can include something like this in my project. Maybe, include a goal of offering atleast 1 fundraiser event a year to let the community know about our business. Hmmm.... will see about that.

What's bothering me a lot is that it's just a marketing project. I am doing all the hard work and everything. We are not really going to start this business. So i am doing all this for only a good grade in my course.

There is one Indian restaurant in our town that I will go to and ask questions related to my project. I am very scared that they may pick up my idea and do it themselves. So no money for me, but more money for them. I wish i could "sell" my marketing details and my idea to them. Any help regarding thus problem? Lol