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Red Lobster

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The Red lobster’s mission statement states that “Here at Red Lobster we’re passionate about serving our guests great seafood. It’s why we go the extra mile to bring you the best dining experience possible. Our fishermen take pride in catching only the highest quality seafood, and the freshest fish. Our grill master’s expertly perfect flavors, cooking seafood and steak over a wood fire grill. And our servers pull out all the stops to make every dining experience feel extra special. It’s our passion. It’s our pride. Because at Red Lobster, we Sea Food Differently.”
This is a very good mission statement seeing that it identifies most of the policies that a mission statement should provide. It states how the employees will deal with the customers by saying “…our servers pull out all the stops to make every dining experience feel extra special. It also states its competitive advantage by identifying that their suppliers catch the freshest fish they can. Also, that they have master chefs cooking the best meal for their customers as well. Red lobster said that “Our top priority is to always serve our guests the highest-quality seafood.” (http://www.redlobster.com/our_quality_story/our_commitment_to_quality/) and with fresh food and master chefs this will most definitely last them for a long time.
Target Markets
Red lobster isn’t trying to be the world’s fanciest seafood restaurant, but more of the world’s best overall seafood restaurant. Their target market is that of a middle income level class and up. They want customers that want to go out to dinner with their spouse or family and have a special experience. They want their customers to feel like that have to dress and act appropriately when they come into Red lobster to dine in. They don’t want to make their meals unaffordable but want to uphold class and excellence at the same time. Red lobster is the world’s largest casual dining seafood restaurant which shows the type of market that they want to adhere to.
What they do best
What Red lobster does best is provide great quality and freshness to their customers. Their key advantage is their fresh food and the fact that they are the largest overnight shipper of fresh fish in the seafood industry. Red lobsters cost leadership is appropriate, they are focused on addressing affordability considerations of current guests. (http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDFArchive/dri2011.pdf 17)
The way that they differentiate themselves is by the freshness of their food that they supply for their customers. They feel that the secret to great seafood is quality and freshness. They stated that throughout the years since they opened in 1968 the one thing that has never changed is their relentless pursuit of quality and above all freshness. (http://www.redlobster.com/our_quality_story/our_history/). And their focus is to serve delicious, freshly prepared seafood in a relaxing, seaside atmosphere. (https://www.redlobster.com/press/fact_sheet/)
SWOT Analysis: Strengths: One of red lobsters major strengths is their service, from what I hear from the customers. One customer in Murrieta, CA stated that “the main reason I felt compelled to yelp was the customer service. Our server was Chris and he was awesome! Friendly and attentive.” (http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-lobster-chula-vista#query:red%20lobster%20restaurant Rochelle O. 10/19/2011). Another one of the strengths is their freshness of food. The fact they are the largest overnight shipper of fresh fish in the seafood industry states that alone. | Weaknesses: Their weakness is actually their “master” chefs. The customers that have been to more than one Red lobster restaurant don’t feel that their foods are consistent enough. One customer in New Orleans said that “The food was so bad that they didn’t even finish their meal” even though she had been to other Red lobsters that had better food. ( 4/30/2011 sarah R.) | Opportunities: | Threats: |

Intermal External

NOTE: Use tables to list your points. Then, make sure to explain them. Always use data/examples to support your point. A business document without data is of no value. To obtain good data/examples, you have to conduct extensive research about the firm. For instance, if customer service is a weakness, you can find numerous examples of bad customer service from consumer review sites such as Urban spoon, Yelp.com and citysearch.com. Similarly, if consumer spending is a threat, find sources that substantiate your point. Cite the sources. Comment [P1]: Always use section headings in your report. Don’t just provide a blob of text.
Marketing
Variables
Major
Strength
Minor
Strength
Neutral Minor
Weakness
Major
Weakness
Hi Med Low
1. External environment analysis– opportunities and threats
Every business is affected by external environmental forces. For example, increase in number of competitors, new technologies, economic recession, change in demographics, etc. What are the most significant changes that you believe will affect this chain’s business in the next two to five years? Explain why.
2. Internal environment analysis– strengths and weaknesses
What are your strengths (resources, employees, products & services). How will they help you take advantage of the above mentioned opportunities? What are your weaknesses and how will you overcome them using your strengths? What needs to be fixed?

Services Characteristics
Intangibility
Red Lobster combats intangibility by creating a memorable and enjoyable casual dining experience for every customer that walks in the door. They are able to accomplish this by maximizing tangible evidence to try and influence how the customer feels about their experience with Red Lobster. For instance, Red Lobster has made a commitment to update 700 restaurants to a more contemporary “Bar Harbor Design” by 2014 (http://www.redlobster.com/bar_harbor/default.asp). Customers who enjoy the new décor will likely have a better opinion of their dining experience which helps to reduce intangibility. Service and food quality are also a very important part of providing customers with something tangible to hold onto during a meal. Red Lobster places an emphasis on customer service by encouraging employees to always provide the highest level of service during employee training. Levels of service are monitored through various customer surveys which are available both at the physical location and online (http://www.redlobster.com/contact_us/). Meal quality is something that is likely to have the greatest influence on a customer’s overall dining experience. Red Lobster places an emphasis on acquiring the freshest sea food available to use in its recipes so that customers will be satisfied with their meals.
Variability
With over 700 locations, Red Lobster has the potential to have varying levels in service to customers. Red Lobster deals with the inevitable variability problem by training hourly and management employees to better serve customers. According to Fortune Magazine, hourly employees receive an average of 63 hours of professional training annually to help ensure that there is a unified emphasis on excellent customer service (http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/99.html). Company-wide emphases on customer service characteristics help ensure that each and every customer enjoys a unified experience at Red Lobster.

Inseparability
Red Lobster uses its website to educate costumers about recipes and the advantages of using wood fire grilling (http://www.redlobster.com/kitchen/). Educating customers in this manner helps them become a vital part in the coproduction process. A customer with a greater level of knowledge about the menu will make a more informed decision on what to order and therefore have a more enjoyable dining experience. Red Lobster also utilizes a marketing tool that they call “Today’s Fresh Fish Menu” which displays new fresh sea food items on a daily basis (http://www.redlobster.com/menus/fresh_fish/). This communication allows customers to gain empowerment in the customer decision making process.
Perishability
Red Lobster uses it’s “Fresh Catch Club” to encourage customers to come in and take advantage of special offers and events (http://www.redlobster.com/club/). Encouraging customers to come in by offering them incentives helps fill up tables therefore lowering the effect that perishability can have on Red Lobster.
Product Expansion/New Product Development
Darden would be best suited following a market development strategy and a market penetration strategy. Red Lobster’s American operations have become oversaturated and are not gaining many new customers. Red Lobster could benefit from developing markets by expanding operations overseas to become a global company. Red Lobster already has several locations in Canada, but expanding into new territories will allows Red Lobster to gain new customers and grow the business. The expansion should begin in Asia where the menu could be changed to meet local tastes. Darden and Red Lobster in particular are already experts in supply chain management in the acquisition of fresh high quality seafood. They could utilize this competitive advantage to gain new customers and increase operating income throughout the Darden organization. Red Lobster could also benefit from a market penetration strategy through stimulating purchases from existing customers. Red Lobster should embark on an aggressive advertising campaign that highlights the healthy nature of seafood and the various benefits customers could gain from eating Red Lobster seafood. Market Penetration: Advertising the healthy nature of Red Lobster’s seafood products will appeal to health minded consumers and encourage them to eat Red Lobster more frequently because of the perceived benefits. Stimulating customers to come in will be favorable for Darden’s bottom line, which is to increase sales and expand their customer base. | Market Development: Expanding into Asian markets will allow red Lobster to capitalize on an untouched market. Utilization of Red Lobsters superior supply chain management system will allow them to provide fresh local fish to consumers prepared in a way that is aligned with what consumers in Asia are accustomed to. Expanding into international markets will allow Darden to experience sustainable growth. |
Existing Target Market New Target Market

http://www.darden.com/restaurants/redlobster/ http://www.redlobster.com/our_quality_story/ http://www.redlobster.com/our_quality_story/our_commitment_to_quality/ http://www.redlobster.com/our_quality_story/our_history/ https://www.redlobster.com/press/fact_sheet/ http://www.annualreports.com/HostedData/AnnualReports/PDFArchive/dri2011.pdf http://www.yelp.com/biz/red-lobster-metairie#query:red%20lobster%20restaurant

References
Fortune Magazine (2012) Fortune’s Best 100 Companies to Work For 2012. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/snapshots/99.html
Red Lobster (2012) New Bar Harbor design. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.redlobster.com/bar_harbor/
Red Lobster (2012) Contact Us. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.redlobster.com/contact_us/
Red Lobster (2012) Chef’s Kitchen. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.redlobster.com/kitchen/
Red Lobster (2012) Today’s Fresh Fish. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.redlobster.com/menus/fresh_fish/
Red Lobster (2012) Join the Club. Retrieved February 3, 2012, from http://www.redlobster.com/club/

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