The Situational Environment Assessment Answer

Executive Summary 

Zambrero is a company of food chain industry and provides Mexican food. The business wants to expand by opening a new Australian Mexican fast food Franchise. Being a marketing manager of the business, I have developed the report in order to open a new franchise near the Massey Albany Campus. Further the report includes the situational, competitor and company environment which will help in understanding the impact of the environment on our business and what strategies we will make in order to adjust in the new environment. The report will help in understanding the competitive advantage of our business. Further, the recommendations are also given with respect to product, price, place and promotion.

?    Introduction 

Zambrero is a Mexican company of food chain industry. The company was established in 2005 by Dr. Sam Prince in Australia. The company has more than 100 restaurants across the various countries like Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Ireland. Zambrero is committed in order to tackle the hunger of the world with the help of its program i.e. Plate 4 Plate. A customer who will purchase at the restaurant, a plate food is donated to the one who is in need of it. The company is able to do this with the help of an international agency of relief hunger i.e. Stop Hunger. The agency distributes food to the various countries which are not able to get satisfactory nutrition through the various feeding programs at the school. The menu of the Zambrero is healthy which includes tacos, burritos, nachos, etc. and all these are made of innovative ideas and fresh ingredients (Zambrero.co.nz, 2016). Further, the report includes the marketing strategy for the Albany franchise which is going to establish in New Zealand.

?    The Situational Environment

?     Demand and Demand Trends 

The demand of Australian Mexican food near the campus of Massey Albany is very high as there is no restaurant near the campus which provides only Mexican food and the survey was conducted in order to know the response of the residents near the campus towards the Mexican food, the result showed that more the 75 percent people like Mexican food but they don’t have any nearby restaurant which provides Mexican food (Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. 2012).. The survey showed that the young generation is more attracted towards the Mexican food. The franchise will be able to get huge benefits in future as the Mexican food is very much in demand.

?     Social and Cultural Factors 

The location near the campus of Massey Albany consists multi-cultural people as the campus has various local and non-resident students and there are many commuters and local residents. There are various social and cultural factors which will impact our business positively, but most importantly lifestyle of the people will impact us (Pavlou et al., 2015). As people are in a hurry and they, don't have much time to waste in consuming food because of their busy schedule, so they want healthy and light food as they are health conscious. The franchise will succeed in satisfying the needs of the customers because it provides the food which is exactly same to the needs of the customers in that particular location.

?     Demographics 

We will be mainly focusing on the various group of people like local business workers, students, commuters and the local residents and the demographics which we have considered for this target group are age and geographic area (Rosenbloom, B. 2012).  As a result, the consumers of average age 32 in the location near the campus of Massey Albany likes Mexican food as it is healthy and light to consume with the minimum cost and the meals can be taken away as well.

?     Economic and Business Conditions 

There are many restaurants near the selected location for the franchise. But the prices of food are very high, and a person cannot afford meals from those restaurants on a regular basis. The economic and business conditions of that geographic area will impact our business positively as we have to keep the prices of the meals affordable (Nemecek et al., 2016). The economic conditions are not great, and there are chances that the conditions will improve in future. But at this point in time, we have to keep the prices affordable.
Technology 
The various companies use the modern and new equipment including the food companies as they use new food processing equipment which provides meals of high quality and the meals are hygienic to eat. The equipment requires less manual power, and there is no need to look after the processing (Bigliardi, B., & Galati, F. 2013). Therefore, we can use the new food processing equipment according to the technology which is being used in that country in order to provide the best quality of meals to the customers.

     1.6 Current Political/Legal/Regulatory Factors 
The rules and regulations are very strict in New Zealand for the food industry. As the quality of food is tested before giving to the customers. It is difficult to get a license in order to run a company, especially in a food industry. But we can get the desired zone in order to run our business and open a new restaurant. There are some additional taxes which are required in order to deliver the products to the consumers which the company has to pay to the government (Smith et al., 2014). Therefore, we can easily get fit into the political, legal and regulatory environment of the country as we will provide the best quality of food to the consumers with the fresh ingredients.

?    The Competitor Environment

The indirect competitor is Merchant Bar as it provides snacks and alcohol to the customers but doesn't provide proper meals to the customers. The restaurant also has space in order to host the Christmas, New Year or Birthday parties. The ambiance of the restaurant is mesmerizing. The restaurant is having an experience of eight years, and it has a great business value and competitive advantage as it hosts a numerous number of parties. The restaurant focuses on the staff as they believe the important resource in order to succeed in a business and they hire a person who is very friendly, pleasant and calm in nature so that they can interact with the customers more and satisfy their desires. The marketing channels which the business uses is internet marketing as they use social media in order to create awareness among people and they even get feedback from the customers to improve further. They put new offers and discounts online, and this helps the customers to know that what the restaurant is offering at present. The next marketing channel is food supplier. The restaurant believes in supplying a product of good quality because this will help the business to retain the customers. The present marketing communication strategy of the business is the advertisement through text messaging. As people are technology savvy and they have access to mobile phones, the business informs the people about their services by sending them texts. This helps in creating awareness among people about the restaurant and its services (Themerchantbar.co.nz, 2016).
The direct competitor is Mama Loco as it provides the Mexican food as well along with other cuisine and it also has bar. The restaurant is designed according to the present lifestyle of people of New Zealand. The business has a great competitive edge and provides various type of Mexican meals with the fresh ingredients. The business is existing from last seven years and is further planning to expand in other locations of New Zealand. The business believes that the staff is an important resource for any company in order to retain the customers. The marketing channels which the business uses are promotional ideas and the advertisement. the restaurant provides a card which contains the name of the business and the services they provide in effective manners so that more customers can be attracted and they provides the cards to the customers when they are leaving the restaurant. The business also does the advertising through newspapers as they write a column whenever new service is added, or they are providing any discount or during the time of new schemes. The marketing strategy which the business uses is email marketing strategy and the word of mouth marketing strategy. The business communicates with the customers by sending them an email about the new services and offers and replies their queries via email only. And the word of mouth communication strategy helps the business to get a new customer as the existing customers share their views and experience to their closed ones and they will definitely give a try and comes to the restaurant (Mama Loco, 2016).

?       3. The Company Environment

3.1 Overall Strategy 
Our business will be targeting the population of local students as our location will be near the campus of Massey Albany, we will be targeting the local business workers and the commuters as there is a ride bus station near the campus and we will also be targeting the local residents of that particular location but we don’t have any particular target age group and we will keep the prices of the products affordable. Our motive behind this is to help the people who don't have access to the adequate nutrients, and by doing this we will be able to help this, further, this will also work as the biggest advantage for our business in order to attract more people as there is no other restaurant which is contributing to the social cause. The resources which we will be focusing on are friendly, calm and composed staff, the ambiance of the restaurant and the comfortable furniture which will help the customers to relax and the equipment of food processing. We have an experience of 15 years. The products which we will be having on our menu are a burrito, chips and dip, quesadilla, chikito, nachos, power bowl, hard taco, dos capas and the soft taco. 

3.2 Marketing Channels and Communication Strategies 

Our business will use internet marketing as social media will be the communication strategy for our business. We will put the videos of our ambiance and the services which we provide and how the fresh ingredients are being used in the meals in order to attract customers (Armstrong et al., 2012). We will also create a page on the Facebook through which the customers will be able to get information about the contribution which we do for the people who doesn’t have access to the adequate nutrients and the customers will also get the information about our restaurants across the various locations of Thailand, New Zealand, etc. we will interact with the people through the social media.

3.3 SWOT Analysis 

?    The Strengths of our business are:
?    Our business has an experience of 15 years in the food and restaurant industry.
?    Our business has various franchises across the countries.
?    We also have a franchise in other location of New Zealand.
?    We have a tie up with Stop hunger which is an international relief agency, and we also contribute to the social cause which further helps in developing nations.
?    The Weaknesses of our business are:
?    The benefits of the employees and the owners slightly maximize the financial risk.
?    In spite of many years of experience, the managers believe in assumptions that somehow limits the amount of return.
?    The Opportunities for our business are:
?    Growth in the population of students and the business workers.
?    Lack of competition in the same locality as there is only one direct competitor.
?    The maximizing popularity of the various restaurants which serves food of high and best quality to the consumers.
?    The Threats of our business are:
?    Strict rules and regulations for the entrants in order to open a restaurant.
?    The pressure of recession as it minimizes the amount which is available for the credit and the unsecured lines.
?    The scope of the renovation of a building is limited because of regulatory measures.

3.4 Positioning 

The positioning map shows that the business will provide the best quality of products at the affordable prices. 
?      4. Competitive Advantage 
The competitive advantage for our business is that we already have more than 100 restaurants across the various countries like Australia, Thailand, New Zealand and Ireland. And we also have a tie up with the international agency of relief hunger i.e. Stop Hunger. On each purchase of the customer, a plate will be donated to the ones who need it in the developing nations i.e. to the children who don't have access to the adequate nutrients. We also have an experience of 15 years in the food industry, and we know the laws and the various rules in and out. We provide meals at the affordable prices, and the Mexican food is healthy and light to consume. Therefore, this competitive advantage will help us in opening a new franchise near the campus of Massey Albany, and we will succeed in our business. Further, this will help us in maximizing our competitive advantage. 
?     Recommendation 
The key marketing mix strategy which will further help in developing the marketing program effectively in order to target the specific group. The key elements of marketing mix strategy of Zambrero are:
?    Product-
Zambrero is having more than 100 restaurants across various countries and provide Mexican food. The products which we will be having in our menu of the franchise are the burrito, chips and dip, quesadilla, chikito, nachos, power bowl, hard taco, dos capas and the soft taco. 
?    Price-
We will keep the affordable prices so that people can have our meals on a regular basis and if they might lose their job during a recession, then they still are able to have the regular meals. Furthermore, the business will also be doing the social cause so the prices will be affordable for every place so that everyone will be able to contribute.
?    Place-
All the franchises of the Zambrero provide the Mexican food only. The new franchise of the business will be located near the campus of Massey Albany in order to attract the target group i.e. the population of the students, the local business worker, the local residents in that locality and the commuters as there is a major park and ride bus station, Oteha valley.
?    Promotion-
Our business will be doing promotion activities through internet marketing i.e. with the help of social media in order to create awareness among people and interact with them.
?    Conclusion 
The report helped in understanding the situational, competitor and company environment which are very important in order to make a strategy to start a new business. Further, the report helped in understanding the importance of marketing channels and marketing communication strategies in order to communicate with the customers and make them aware about the services and offers which your business provides. Therefore, with the help of the above-given marketing report, the Zambrero will be able to establish a new Australian Mexican fast food franchise in New Zealand.

?     REFERENCES

Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M., & Brennan, R. (2012). Marketing: an introduction. Pearson Prentice-Hall, London.
Bigliardi, B., & Galati, F. (2013). Innovation trends in the food industry: the case of functional foods. Trends in Food Science & Technology, 31(2), 118-129.
Castronovo, C., & Huang, L. (2012). Social media in an alternative marketing communication model. Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, 6(1), 117.
Mama Loco. (2016). Welcome to Mama Loco - Home. [online] Available at: http://www.mamaloco.co.nz/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2016].
Nemecek, T., Jungbluth, N., i Canals, L. M., & Schenck, R. (2016). Environmental impacts of food consumption and nutrition: where are we and what is next?. The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 21(5), 607-620
Pavlou, P. A., & Stewart, D. W. (2015). Interactive Advertising: A New Conceptual Framework Towards Integrating Elements of the Marketing Mix. In New Meanings for Marketing in a New Millennium (pp. 218-222). Springer International Publishing.
Rosenbloom, B. (2012). Marketing channels. Cengage Learning.
Smith, C., Gray, A. R., Fleming, E. A., & Parnell, W. R. (2014). Characteristics of fast-food/takeaway-food and restaurant/cafe-food consumers among New Zealand adults. Public health nutrition, 17(10), 2368-2377.
Themerchantbar.co.nz. (2016). The Merchant Bar & Kitchen | Don McKinnon Drive, Albany, North Shore, Auckland :: Merchant. [online] Available at: http://www.themerchantbar.co.nz/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2016].
Zambrero.co.nz. (2016). Zambrero. [online] Available at: http://zambrero.co.nz/ [Accessed 20 Oct. 2016].