IMC Plans Book Team Admagine
Kremena Arabadjieva, Ashley D’Achille, Molly Donovan, Kelvin Medina, Caterine Moure, Megan Mundo
ADV3001Section 2866Fall 2014 Dr. Walter Starr
1 Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………………….4
Situation Analysis………………………………………………………………………………....5
Company Analysis…………………………………………………………………...…....5
Consumer Analysis………………………………………………………………………..7
Market Analysis……………………………………………………………………....….10
Brand Analysis…………………………………………………………………….……..11
Competitive Analysis…………………………………………………………….……....12
SWOT Analysis……………………………………………………………………………....….16
Problems and Opportunities……………………………………………………………………...17
Target Audience Profile……………………………………………………………………….....20
Marketing and Advertising Objectives…………………………………………………….…….20
Perceptual Map………………………………………………………………….……….21
Budget……………………………………………………………………………………….…...21
IMC Strategy…………………………………………………………………………….……….21
Advertising Strategy……………………………………………………………....……..22
Sales Promotion Strategy…………………………………………………………….…..23
Public Relations Strategy…………………………………………………………….…..24
Direct Marketing Strategy…………………………………………………………....…..25
Evaluation………………………………………………………………………………....……..26
References………………………………………………………………………………….…….27
Appendix ASurvey Results……………………………………………………………....……..29
2 Appendix B InDepth Discussion Questions for Wingstop……………………………………..36
3 Executive Summary
Wingstop possesses the most crucial qualities that people look for in a wing restaurant such as high quality, average price, low wait time, convenient location, inviting atmosphere, attentive customer service, and menu variety. The main issues that Wingstop faces are lack of brand awareness and presence among the Gainesville market. Most consumers have heard of the brand name, but a very small percentage have been to Wingstop and tried the product.
The main goal of this campaign is to increase the awareness and traffic of the Gainesville location as well as promote the opening of the new location by February 1, 2015. Admagine recommends appealing to the University of Florida student body, ages 1824, as well as the 25
40 Gainesville population.
In order to target this age group, Admagine will establish a better connection with the
Gainesville community, especially the University of Florida campus and its students. This can be done by creating more awareness on campus through print media, sales promotion, events, student ambassadors, advertising through local television and on campus housing. Wingstop can assimilate itself into the prevalent Gainesville sports culture and create a connection among its products and consumers. Admagine suggests that Wingstop increase its community presence during football games by introducing food trucks and tailgates that can further integrate its marketing personality. These effects should be implemented by February 1, 2015, in time for the
SuperBowl and the grand opening of the new Wingstop location.
4 Situation Analysis
Company Analysis
Then and Today: Wingstop History
The first Wingstop was opened in 1994 in Garland, Texas with a mission statement no different than that of today: to provide quality products with superior customer service at an exceptional value—everyday. The company saw early success, and began offering franchises as early as 1997. Today, there are more than 660 Wingstop restaurants across the globe.
On a local level, Gainesville currently has one Wingstop location, situated at 4310 SW 20th Ave.
The store operates from 11 am to 11 pm Sundays through Thursdays, and 11 am to 12 am on
Fridays and Saturdays. Seventy percent of the business is carryout, but the Gainesville location also has the capacity to seat 28 for dinein experiences. In the upcoming year, Stan Given, owner of the Wingstop franchise in Gainesville, plans to open up a second location at Main Street and
16th Avenue.
Daily Operating Activities
Wingstop is situated within the fastcasual dining market. The national chain is well known for its quality wings and customer service, though brand awareness is a major issue in
Gainesville. Though residents are aware of the brand, many are unaware that there is a local location. Consumers instead turn to the chain’s direct and indirect competitors for convenient meals.
The company has often found that stores located in mixedethnicity areas perform better than those located in homogenous areas. This is a strength of the Gainesville restaurant, as there is a wide variety of students and other residents who live nearby. Since many people commute into
5 Gainesville for work, Wingstop may also target traveling audiences on their way home. This includes university professors, faculty and staff, and employees of assorted local businesses.
Ownership and Revenue
Headquartered in Richardson, Texas, Wingstop has hundreds of franchises spread across the country. It operates as a subsidiary of privateequity firm Roark Capital Group. Depending on the location, most stores earn a median annual income of $45,000$80,000 when operating within the optimum range. The average Wingstop had weekly sales of $18,700 in 2014. The
Gainesville location sells approximately $14,000 of products weekly, having lower sales than many of the other locations.
Products Offered
Wingstop offers a menu designed to appeal to a wide variety of consumers. Everything offered is cooked to order, never frozen, and made from scratch, separating them from other fastcasual dining competitors. Wingstop provides onlineordering, dinein and takeout service and catering for events. The company’s development of innovative products while maintaining emphasis on quality is one of the chain’s major strengths.
Past Successes and Future Growth
The company has seen growing success since its inception in 1994, with over 2 billion wings sold to date. The company boasts continuous increasing sales, with 2013 marking the tenth consecutive year of comparable samestore sales growth. In 2012 alone, samestore sales increased by 13.70 percent from the preceding year, attributed to a mix of an increase of transactions, higher pricing, and an increase in catering services (Wingstop Restaurants, inc.,
2013). Wingstop has also been recognized within the industry and has received numerous
6 awards, elevating its status as a fast casual dining establishment. In 2006, Wingstop was recognized as the Wing King at the National Buffalo Wing Festival, where the brand was also chosen as Favorite Restaurant at the same festival in 2005. Entrepreneur Magazine has also ranked Wingstop as the number one chicken wing franchise consecutively in 2004 and 2005, and the company was listed in the Top 10 Best Franchise Deal by QSR magazine in 2011. This recognition has built a positive image for Wingstop, giving it a favorable place in the market.
The company’s brand equity and top reputation will continue to be invaluable in upcoming periods.
These internal trends are further supported by external trends. Fastcasual dining eateries are seeing an increase in traffic growth, with an 8 percent increase in 2013 according to the NPD
Group. This was the largest sector growth in the restaurant industry, eclipsing that of fastfood giants and highend restaurants. Wingstop will likely benefit from this pattern, along with the generalized trend of consumers spending more disposable income on outofhome dining. The company continues to expand on this success, with plans to build around 80 new restaurants in
2014 (Alva, 2013).
Consumer Analysis
Research shows that there is an interesting variety of consumers in the Gainesville market such as college students, young adult graduates, and middleage families. Most research was done on the college student segment with the representation of four separate ethnicities:
Caucasian, Latino, Asian, and African American. The age range represented in the survey results was 1827, with the majority being female. 56% of participants go out to eat about 23 times a week, but only 11% of the surveyed population eat wings casually. The brand awareness is
7 strong among respondents, but 70% have never been to the restaurant. Those that do go to
Wingstop go less than once a month. According to our research, consumers rated Wingstop as an overall average restaurant on the following criteria: quality, price, wait time, location, atmosphere, customer service, and menu variety.
Seventyeight percent of respondents claim to mainly eat wings at parties and sporting events. This research shows that it is crucial to appeal to those consumers who are extroverted opinion leaders who take initiative to host parties and plan get togethers for large groups of people. Gainesville is a bustling sports marketplace, where a lot of people love to watch sporting events with friends, therefore it is important to integrate into that culture. This segment of sports lovers tend to watch programs such as ESPN, SEC Network, and Cox Sports television,
(Appendix B). This segment’s blog choice is as follows: Bleacher Report, Alligator Army, and
Swamp Nation, (Appendix B). Some of their favorite activities are tailgating before games and playing sports.
Research shows that college students tend to be very big on convenience and fast service due to hectic school schedules. Ninetytwo percent of consumers do not want to wait over 15 minutes to receive their wings. Although convenience is highly valued, wing delivery is considered a relatively unimportant criteria when choosing a wing restaurant because many consumers fear that the wings will get soggy if they are in the car for too long. College students are also very priceconscious and like to look for the best deals.
Wingstop’s current location may be convenient for those students living in The Estates,
Canopy, Cabana, The Pavilion and Spyglass apartments, but very inconvenient to those who live closer to campus, downtown and off of Archer road. Those students that live on the east side of
8 Gainesville have a larger, more convenient amount of restaurant substitutes. This target lives on campus and apartment complexes such as 2nd Ave Centre, The Continuum, Arlington Square, and Royal Villages, (Appendix B). All of these residential areas are close to other restaurants that serve wings such as Mother’s, Wing Zone, and Big Lou’s. This segment of the population spends a majority of their time in the downtown or midtown area. They enjoy going to live music shows, bars, and clubs in the nearby area. This segment enjoys going to study in coffee shops such as Maude’s, Volta, and Starbucks, (Appendix B). Many times, downtown residents do not feel a need to leave the east side of Gainesville because they are situated in the most bustling part of the city. Special circumstances, such as grocery shopping on Archer, is when they leave their niche location. Generally, students in downtown and on campus use the buses or walk to get to most nearby places, (Appendix B). Many students only use their cars when driving to businesses that are more than 15 minutes away, such as the mall.
The students that live on Archer road also have many ways of commuting around the city such as riding buses, scooters, and driving cars, (Appendix B). All of the general plazas are located within a reasonable distance from each other, and they provide many wing substitutes for the consumer. Some of these substitutes include Pizza Hut, Zaxby’s, and Publix, which are located conveniently on Archer road. These students generally stay on the Archer road strip, unless they have class or go downtown to experience the nightlife. These students live near a movie theater, which is one of the only entertainment options within the Archer area, (Appendix
B).
Out of the 59 survey respondents, 48 people stated that quality of wings was significant.
Although students consider quality an important aspect, research has shown that young
9 professional adults are not as price sensitive as college students and that they are willing to pay more for a quality product. This is especially true among the older population living in
Gainesville, such as the young professional adults and families. The older population live in suburban parts of Gainesville such as Tioga and neighborhoods near the mall, (Appendix B).
They enjoy going to places in Tioga Town Sqaure such as World of Beer and Blue Highway
Pizza because much of the older population wants a classier alternative to downtown and midtown, (Appendix B). The young professionals of Gainesville are more likely to watch CNN,
ESPN, and Fox, (Appendix B).
Consumers like the diversity in available wing flavors and consider the following to be the best Wingstop tastes: Mild, Garlic Parmesan and BBQ. Atomic and Hot were the least popular wing flavors among consumers. This can be seen in the following chart:
All of the represented ethnicities had similar attitudes towards chicken wings and there was not a significant correlation between specific ethnicities and wing flavor preferences.
Since college students are one of the largest segments, it is crucial to understand where and how they consume information. According to Pew Research, this segment is very
10 technologically savvy and they spend a large amount of time on the internet, whether it be accessed through their phones, laptops, or tablets.
http://www.pewinternet.org/2011/07/19/collegestudentsandtechnology/
Market Analysis
The rise of quickservice restaurants dedicated to serving chicken wings is a relatively new concept, with franchises starting to appear in the 1980s. Chicken wing franchises specialize in chicken wing products and sauces, but also sell a variety of other items such as chicken strips, chicken sandwiches, and side items like French fries. Some of the top chicken wing franchises in
Gainesville are Wingzone, Wingstop, and Wing House.
Chicken wings are in demand all year long, with their sales increasing 50% during football season and more than doubling during the Super Bowl (Brox, 2012). Chicken wings are one of the most popular food items ordered during televised sporting events. The city of
Gainesville has a prominent sports culture, since it is home to the many Florida Gators sports
11 teams. Because of the abundance of sporting events in town, Gainesville remains a popular location for chicken wing sellers. Chicken wings are usually low in cost, so disposable income is not the biggest factor in determining sales. Since Gainesville has a high population of young students with low disposable income, the demand for fast food such as chicken wings is high.
Chicken wing franchises must depend on marketing and advertising of their product with a focus on taste, flavors, and other unique qualities in order to differentiate themselves from their competition.
Chicken wing franchises have been growing at a rate of 4.1% a year since 2008 and are expected to continue growing (Pagliery, 2013). The market for chicken wings is expanding past specialty chains and into other restaurants and chains as well, with eateries such as Pizza Hut,
Domino’s, and McDonald’s boasting chicken wings on their menus. Gainesville boasts multiple locations of these fastfood restaurants, as well as other restaurants who are now serving wings, such as Gator’s Dockside and Sweet Mel’s. Over one third of all chain eateries now offer wings, and according to market research firm Mintel, the presence of chicken wings on menus has increased over 19% since 2009 (Tsu, 2012).
Brand Analysis
With a convenient location at the intersection of SW 20th Avenue and SW 43 Street,
Wingstop’s Gainesville location is at the end of a long road of apartments and a short ride from
Archer Road, the main road by the University of Florida campus. Fiftysix percent of survey respondents said that a “good location” for a wing restaurant was “important” to them (Appendix
A). Wingstop’s business model emphasizes that quality is of utmost importance and Wingstop does not deliver because the time it takes to deliver would diminish the quality of the wings.
12 Seventysix percent of survey respondents said that “quality” was “very important” and fiftyseven stated that having the choice of “delivery” was “unimportant.”
Therefore, the data collected parallels the consumer’s wants with the options available with Wingstop. However, there is a lack of awareness of the potential consumers with these features. Wingstop’s brand awareness lacks in the Gainesville area.
Research shows that Wingstop is not chosen as a top place to have wings in Gainesville.
It ranked 8th on the list of top choices that come to mind to have wings across survey respondents. Out of those surveyed, seventyeight percent said they “never go to Wingstop” and
Wingstop had “average” ratings across the board when it came to specific features such as the atmosphere of the restaurant, the menu variety, and wait time for the customers.
Overall, Wingstop offers what research shows the target audience in Gainesville would like out of a restaurant specializing in chicken wings, Admagine’s analysis recognizes that brand awareness needs to grow.
Competitive Analysis
Wingstop has many competitors. The main direct competitors include Wing Zone and
Zaxby’s. These are considered direct competitors because they are fast paced restaurants that serve chicken. Although Buffalo Wild Wings is considered a major direct competitor nationwide, their lack of presence in Gainesville does not make them competition to Stan Given’s location.
Other direct competitors include Gator’s Dockside and Wing House. These competitors differ from WingStop in that they serve chicken wings, but it is not their main menu item. The menu’s at these restaurants are much more diverse and the feel of the restaurant is different as well.
Wingstop is seen by most as a pickup or takeout place whereas these popular competitor’s
13 restaurants encourage you to watch a game and hang out with friends. Places such as Domino’s and Pizza Hut can be considered indirect competitors of WingStop because of their offerings.
Wings are not what these restaurants are known for. Direct competitors for Domino’s and Pizza
Hut would be other pizza restaurants. They are considered an indirect competitor because they offer wings. The most important competitors in this category are Wing Zone, Zaxby’s, and
Domino’s. The three are similar to Wingstop regarding price and are top competitors because of their location.
Wing Zone is a main competitor of Wingstop. Founded in Gainesville Florida by two
University of Florida students, Wing Zone has a wide local fanbase. Their main slogans include, “We Deliver Amazing Flavor” and “What’s your Flavor?” (Wing Zone Company Info).
Their menu consists of wings, chicken tenders, sandwiches, shrimp, salads and desserts. They have more options than Wingstop as well as more flavors. As of this year, Wing Zone has 17 flavors to choose from, including new additions like BBQ Bacon Nirvana and Cinnamon Maple
(Wing ZoneMenu). They call the flavor options “Flavor Zone” and encourage their customers to
Flavor Fuze. Flavor seems to be a large component of Wing Zone’s message to consumers. They recently transformed their brand to become “All About Flavor” (Wing ZoneCompany Info).
Wing Zone also has a strong presence on social media and has their own app.
Zaxby’s is a major restaurant chain and very popular to Gainesville residents. Their website is very professional and easy to navigate. It offers information on the nutrition and allergens of their foods as well as ways to become a member of their different “Zax’s” clubs.
Zaxby’s is pushing into the Gainesville market by offering events almost every night at major
Zaxby’s locations such as the one located on Archer Road. An example of an event is every
14 Monday night is Family Night in which you are able to purchase four meal deals and 6 cookies for $20 from 5:00pm8:00pm (Zaxby’s About Us). They offer items on their menus such as
“Zappetizers, Fingerz and Zalads”. Zaxby’s also offers 9 flavors of wings (Zaxby’sThe Menu).
Zaxby’s is trying to target sports fans with recent commercials that claim they are the “Official
Chicken of Sports Fanz”. A main ploy and customer recognition for Zaxby’s is their use of
“Z’s”. Zaxby’s has strong media presence and good brand equity. Zaxby’s is working toward becoming a household name by creating more brand awareness, particularly through television
(Butler, C).
Domino’s is a competitor that is very popular with the Gainesville market and a major pizza chain known all over the world. Of the top three competitors, Domino’s has the largest following on social media nationally. The franchisee owner of Domino’s in Gainesville, Freddie
Wehbe, has won almost every important company award and has made a substantial profit with the four Gainesville locations alone (Who’s Who: Freddie Wehbe). “D omino's has the largest market share in pizza delivery and no other brand or company delivers more pizza in Gainesville than Domino's (Gator Domino’s: About Us)”. D omino’s is also a proud sponsor of the
University of Florida. The Gainesville market was recently used to test Domino’s newest desserts, which did very well. Domino’s is not only quick, but also convenient. Unlike
Wingstop’s one location, Domino’s has many locations all around Gainesville, including one right by the current Wingstop location. Domino’s offers pizza, sandwiches, pastas, wings and breads (Dominos General Menu). Domino’s is familiar and convenient to consumers. It also has an easy to use website and delivery that makes it simple for customers to purchase items such as wings.
15 Positioning
Wingstop is currently positioned as having quality wings. They are the “Wing Experts” with over 600 restaurants in over 34 states. The theme for their restaurant is aviation. The mission statement is “we provide quality products with superior customer service at an exceptional value every day." When comparing Wingstop to its competitors, Wingstop is able to surpass and compete against the other brands by showing that:
● Everything they serve is cooked to order and cooked from scratch. You will never eat
frozen wings when you eat at Wingstop.
● Wingstop’s taste “raves in reviews” according to their website. Flavor and taste is a very
important quality to most consumers.
● Wingstop offers great deals such as 60 cent boneless wings on Mondays and Tuesdays.
● Wingstop currently has 10 years in the same store sale increase. Each year, they seem to
be getting better and better.
● A new Wingstop location is opening in Gainesville and will be able to seat 49 guests
compared to its current locations 28. This gives Wingstop potential for an increase in
dinein customers. The current dinein rate is 30%.
● Wingstop has a great website that is navigable and easy to read. You can also order food
online or via the Wingstop app.
● Their national spokesperson is NFL player Troy Aikman. Aikman was the first pick of
the 1989 NFL draft, a three time Super Bowl Champion and was inducted into the Hall of
Fame in 2006.
16 SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses
● All items are cooked from scratch and ● Lack of brand awareness and presence
made to order in the Gainesville area
● Diverse selection of flavors of wings ● Limited geographic presence—one
● Wingstop is a nationwide established local location
brand ● Lack of delivery option
● Same store increase in sales for the ● Atmosphere not fit for target market
past 10 years
Opportunities Threats
● Utilize the college campus to promote ● Close location of the competition such
sales as WingZone and Dominos to campus
● Student ambassadors to increase brand ● The convenience of their competitors
awareness and wordofmouth in terms of delivery, more menu items
advertising and lower price
● Increase brand awareness with food ● Competitors have a more of a sports
trucks at special events such as bar atmosphere
gameday tailgates and Gator Growl ● Growing trend of health conscious
● Position the brand for more large party individuals
occasions by offering catering services
17 Problems and Opportunities
Problems
The main problem that Wingstop faces is brand awareness among the University of
Florida student population and local residents of Gainesville. Research shows that thirtyseven percent of survey respondents had never heard of Wingstop and seventy percent of people had never been.
The WingStop location can be inconvenient for people residing in the east part of
Gainesville such as those students living on campus and downtown. This lack of oncampus presence can keep students from traveling to the current and future Wingstop locations.
Their lack of a delivery option can also put competitors like Domino’s and WingZone in a better position for consumer choice. Wingstop also competes with sports bars such as Wing
House and Gator’s Dockside in the Gainesville area. Because Wingstop is not a sports themed restaurant and focuses on aviation, it is an unlikely choice for males to watch games or matches.
Opportunities
Wingstop has many opportunities to increase brand awareness and brand presence throughout the Gainesville community. Through IMC strategies in sales promotion, advertising, public relations and direct marketing, Wingstop will be able to grow within the Gainesville market.
One of the main opportunities that Wingstop has is to increase brand presence among the college student population. This can be done by employing UF student ambassadors that can serve as a liaison between the student population and Wingstop. These ambassadors can set up a booth in free speech zones, such as Turlington. There they can survey the population and hand
18 out Wingstop promotional items and print media. The Gainesville market outside of the student population, including families and young professionals, can also be made more aware of the quality of Wingstop product. Research has show that this segment of the market is more sensitive to the preparation and end quality of products. Wingstop can promote that their wings are cooked to order and never frozen, and all of their products are made from scratch. Wingstop can use this emphasis on quality to differentiate themselves from the competition, especially among these consumers.
The inconvenient location can be solved through brand presence on campus and targeting those apartment complexes and population surrounding the current location. We can market to them by sending the student ambassadors to the apartment complexes in order to promote the brand. These ambassadors can pass out samples to the residents. Wingstop can also put up signs around the area to let the surrounding population know they are there.
Since Gainesville is home to the University of Florida, culture is largely centered around sporting events, many residents throw or attend game day events, (visitgainesville.com,
University Sports). The sports fans who do not throw parties often attend sports bars to watch the games, eat wings, and drink beer. Wingstop can target both of these markets by extending the new location to have more of a sports bar feel and offer catering to residents who prefer to host their own events.
Wingstop’s lack of delivery option makes it difficult to compete with some of its major competitors. By expanding delivery, Wingstop could reach a wider scope of people such as consumers living on campus or on the east side of Gainesville.
Target Audience Profile
19 The target audience for the Gainesville location should be males between the ages of
1824, who are involved and love sports. For the target profile, it is important to understand that the overall view of Wingstop and customers of Wingstop between the ages of 1824 are consistent regardless of race or ethnicity. Wings are either comfort food or used for big events with an emphasis on sports for these customers and they are looking for quality. Since this target audience are students, they are price sensitive and require a short wait time for wings. A secondary target audience can be males and females between the ages of 2534, again regardless of race or ethnicity. This age group are young individuals starting their career to those with entrylevel jobs in the city of Gainesville, (Appendix B). This age group is not as price sensitive and can afford the prices that are listed, because they are paying for quality wings, (Appendix B).
Marketing and Advertising Objectives
The main goal for Wingstop is to increase brand awareness in the Gainesville community to establish itself as one of the top chicken wing restaurants. The marketing objective is to increase sales by six percent within the next 12 months. The advertising objective is to increase awareness in the target market by seventeen percent and current restaurant traffic by twenty percent, in time for the grand opening of the new store. Tactics to achieve these objectives will include placing Wingstop in local ads, a larger presence in print and digital media, affiliating
Wingstop with sports on campus, having a presence at campus sporting events, and combining in social media with a focus on the University of Florida.
Perceptual Map
The following is a perceptual map of where Wingstop lies in reference to perceived quality and visibility to the customer in the community, compared to a direct and
20 indirect competitor in the area. The desired position is to be higher on the visibility scale and continue to be higher on the perceived quality scale.
Budget
This IMC Strategy was created with no limit regarding budget. However, it is kept within a realistic dollar amount given the resources of our client.
IMC Strategy
Our research showed the Gainesville market to have a varied population ranging from college students to middleaged families. Most of our research involved college students. With the University of Florida being a short drive or bus ride from the current Wingstop location, there is much potential in this market, Through our IMC Strategy Admagine plans to focus on brand awareness and presence throughout Gainesville. Advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing are the core ways to get Wingstop’s message out. Once
Gainesville residents learn about the freshness and flavor of Wingstop’s highquality wings,
Wingstop will be able to grow their fanbase and profit. With a new store opening in February
21 2015, just in time for the SuperBowl, now is the prime time to capture the attention of college students and sports fans.
Advertising Strategy
The advertising strategy is how we are going to reach our goal of increasing awareness of
Wingstop in the target market. One way to do this is to include instadium signage during
University of Florida athletic events, with football games in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium being the most preferable. The stadium seats 88,548, with attendance usually exceeding capacity.
Basketball, another popular college sport where large groups of people get together to watch the games both in stadium and on television is also a popular choice for instadium signage at the
Stephen C. O’Connell Center. The stadium seats 11,548, with attendance also usually exceeding capacity. Having these signs placed on the screen boards in both of these stadiums would increase awareness in these sports fans who live in the area, and people watching the game at home, which usually average around 1.2 million viewers, could see glimpses of the ads and be enticed to try Wingstop in the future.
In addition, a single location traditional billboard can be placed near the new location at the corner of 16th Avenue and Main Street for its grand opening. The size would be a poster panel, which is usually 12’x25’. This size is typical for offhighway and suburban areas. The panel would also have the recommended righthand read typical for Wingstop billboards. For those in the area who did not know that this Wingstop was opening, the giant billboard would provide them with the news as well as the location. A location right on North Main Street approaching 16th Avenue would fit well, as the road is an area with high traffic.
Sales Promotion Strategy
22 The goal of the Sales Promotion strategy is to encourage the target market to visit
Wingstop and try the products through the use of free samples, promotional merchandise, continuity incentives and contests.
Free samples of wings can be given out during the Wingstop football tailgates to increase students’ awareness of the brand. In addition to free wing samples, Wingstop can distribute promotional koozies at football tailgates to increase brand presence among the gator fans. The koozies can be orange with blue text that conveys the brand name, website link, and phone number.
To further encourage loyal customers, Admagine suggests using continuity incentives such as stamp cards or loyalty cards. Stamp cards allow the consumer to get a stamp every time they order a meal from Wingstop, and once customers have visited the store at least seven times, they can get five free wings or an order of french fries. A loyalty card would function the same way except rewards would be more random and can range from a free drink to free wings.
Admagine knows that Wingstop is a noncouponing brand, and therefore believes that continuity incentives are a way to appeal to priceconscious college students without using coupons to compromise quality.
Finally Admagine suggests the use of contests to get consumers involved with the brand.
Wingstop can give away prizes, such as free gift cards or promotional merchandise, to whichever consumer brainstorms the most creative and delicious wing flavor. In order to enter the contest, consumers would have to share their ideas on social media with the Wingstop hashtag. This will enable interaction among the brand and consumers while also promoting the brand on social media.
23 Public Relations Strategy
The goal of the public relations’ strategy is to aid in building brand awareness and to bring attention to the opening of the new location. Wingstop’s major issue in Gainesville is that very little of the population knows about the company, and of those that do, the majority of opinions are neutral or negative.
The new location on 16th Avenue is set to have its grand opening on February 1, 2015, the date of the Super Bowl. In order to attract new customers and bring excitement to the opening, Wingstop can host a Wing Party involving free wing samples, games and prize wheels.
Prizes can include Wing Cards for future visits, promotional items like koozies and special grand opening exclusive tshirts. Consumers who want to supply their own parties with Wingstop wings can get a discounted price that applies only to Super Bowl Sunday. The party will be announced through social media outlets that are personalized to support the Gainesville community. A press release detailing the company’s national growth plans for 2015 may also be released, with a focus centered around the new Gainesville location. Social media can also be used after the opening to promote awareness with fun pictures from the Wing Party.
Some of the biggest events that involve the entire Gainesville community are the Gator
Football games. Much of the local economy is based around the University of Florida, with a heavy emphasis on athletics. Admagine recommends that we take use of this opportunity to create a connection in the minds of the consumers between Wingstop and Gator pride. Wingstop may also use these earlier events to distribute materials advertising the February 1 opening.
Wingstop can host Win Big with Wingstop events on gamedays, setting up a tent similar to the ones that many tailgaters use and recognize. Tactics employed will include Wingstop
24 representatives giving out free samples of wings and special offers for later visits.
Representatives will engage fans with interactive activities to build rapport for the brand.
Another strategy Wingstop may utilize is to create a Wingstop food truck to provide full service at outdoor events. Food trucks are a popular way to reach new audiences who may not normally go out of their way to try Wingstop, and the truck itself serves as a form of brand exposure. Many local venues host events, such as the Food Truck Rally at the High Dive, that would be prime locations for Wingstop to engage consumers.
Direct Marketing Strategy
Wingstop will be able to communicate directly with both their current and potential consumers through direct marketing. Admagine wants to increase brand awareness for Wingstop and can do so through text blasts, social media and flyers. They currently have an Email Club in which you receive a free large seasoned fresh cut fries on your birthday and can stay up to date as a firsthand Wing Expert. Wingstop has tremendous growth opportunity within direct marketing. As an alternative or addition to the Email Club, Wingstop can activate a text messaging system in which loyal customers are able to sign up for deals that they receive via their cell phone.
Wingstop also needs a stronger social media base. The Wingstop national brand has about 555,000 Facebook Fans and 71,000 Twitter followers. Wingstop’s brand awareness is apparent, but not at it’s full potential. With these, they should use their celebrity spokesman Troy
Aikman, a hit with their current target market, more frequently. Wingstop is also all about making their items fresh and from scratch. They should stress this within their social media and make it something that they are truly known for.
25 In the Gainesville market, social media should focus on the Gators. Wingstop should post pictures of themselves supporting the Gators at gameday tailgates. Gainesville’s new Wingstop location is also opening on Super Bowl Sunday, 2015. Through social media, we can promote this opening through Facebook events, Instagram photos, and Twitter posts. This way, we can be sure that the Gainesville population is aware of the incoming presence of Wingstop.
To increase brand awareness in the Gainesville area, Wingstop can start passing out flyers at the University of Florida as well as densely populated areas around town. At the
University of Florida, Wingstop can flyer in Turlington Plaza. Here, they have the ability to promote their awareness to over 50,000 students. Throughout Gainesville, a major event is the
Union Street Farmers Market that occurs every Wednesday from 4:00pm7:00pm. They can also promote themselves at major festivals, fairs and in the downtown area.
Evaluation
The main objectives for the Gainesville Wingstop location are to increase brand awareness by 17% and current restaurant traffic by 20%. According to our research, 63% of those surveyed have heard of Wingstop but only 30% have visited the restaurant. To measure the increase in awareness after the campaign, Admagine will record any changes in social media activity and administer a second survey. These goals are to be accomplished by February 1,
2015, the date of the Super Bowl and the new location opening.
This increase in awareness is possible through different IMC outlets such as the distribution of flyers and samples for students on the University of Florida campus in populated places like Turlington Plaza and the formation of groups like student ambassadors that will advocate for the brand. Admagine will
26 expand social media presence by creating online events for occasions like tailgating in which the community can join and invite their friends online.
Admagine can also work towards increasing awareness and traffic for the new location opening. This can be done through social media and advertisements placed around Gainesville.
Through this campaign, the hired student ambassadors and Wingstop can work together to bring diverse crowds to the grand opening on February 1, 2015. This awareness can be measured and tracked by comparing transactions at the current WingStop location to future transactions at the new location.
Currently, WingStop’s Gainesville location makes about $16,220/week. This is a 14% increase from the previous year. In the year 2015, WingStop wants to increase sales by 6% or
$50,000. This would be an increase of $4,000/month or $1,000/week. To measure both the increase of sales and store traffic we can track transactions from both locations.
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Appendix A- Survey Results
1. What is your ethnicity? Caucasian 28 people Hispanic 20 people Asian 6 Indian2 African American1 Egyptian1
2. Male or Female? Male 19 people Female 45 people
3. What is your age? 18 (4 people) 19 (12 people) 20 (20 people) 21 (18 people) 22 (5 people) 23 (1 person) 27 (1 person)
29 4. How often do you go out to eat? Never 0% (0 people) Less than once a month 3% (2 people) Once a month 2% (1 person) 23 times a month 10% (6 people) Once a week 21% (13 people) 23 times a week 56% (35 people) Daily 10% (6 people)
5. Do you like chicken wings? Yes 81% (51 people) No 19% (12 people)
6. During which of the following occasions would you most likely eat wings? Party 34% (21 people) Sporting event 44% (27 people) Dinner with friends 11% (7 people) I eat wings casually 11% (7 people)
7. How often do you eat wings? Never 17% (11 people) Less than once a month 52% (33 people) Once a month 21% (13 people) 23 times a month 10% (6 people) Once a week 0% (0 people) 23 times a week 0% (0 people) Daily 0% (0 people)
8. Would you prefer to dine in or get your wings to go? Dine In 21% (13 people) To Go 19% (12 people) It depends on the situation 60% (37 people)
9. How important is wing delivery to you? Very important 13% (8 people) Neither important nor unimportant 59% (37 people) Unimportant 29% (18 people)
10. What are your favorite wing flavors?
30 Mild 66% (41 people) Hot 31% (19 people) Atomic 6% (4 people) Garlic Parmesan 40% (25 people) Cajun 11% (7 people) Mango Habanero 8% (5 people) Teriyaki 34% (21 people) Lemon Pepper 26% (16 people) Hawiian 10% (6 people) BBQ 48% (30 people) Other 6% (4 people)
11. How long do you expect to wait for wings? 510 minutes 18% (11 people) 1015 minutes 74% (46 people) 1520 minutes 8% (5 people)
12. How important is each of the following characteristics for a good wing restaurant?
# Question Unimportant Important Very Total Mean Important Responses
1 Quality 2 12 45 59 2.73
2 Low price 4 36 19 59 2.25
3 Low wait 9 42 8 59 1.98 time
4 Delivery 34 20 5 59 1.51
5 Good 16 33 10 59 1.90 location
6 Good 7 35 17 59 2.17 atmosphere
7 Friendly 3 34 21 58 2.31 staff
31 8 Variety of 7 34 17 58 2.17 menu
13. What is the first place you think to go when you want to eat wings? Buffalo Wild Wings Wing Zone Player’s Grille Grocery Store Wing House Beef O’Brady’s Mother’s Pub Wingstop Wings n Things Hooters Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza Gators Dockside Long Doggers Duffy’s Wings Plus Pizza Hut Biff Burger Dominos Applebee’s TGI Friday’s Outback Steakhouse
14. What other wing restaurants do you consider when you want to eat wings? Domino’s Papa John’s Wingstop Wing Plus Wing Zone Beef O’Brady’s Hooters TGI Friday’s Sports Grill Gators Dockside California Chicken Grill
32 Publix Ale House The Coop The Swamp Restaurant Buffalo Wild Wings Park Avenue Big Lou’s Hurricane Wings Applebee’s Wing House Wings n Things Anthony’s Coal Fire Pizza Pizza Hut Jersey Wings Chili’s Bar and Grill
15. How far would you be willing to travel to buy wings? 510 minutes 63% (39 people) 1020 minutes 29% (18 people) 2030 minutes 8% (5 people) More than 30 minutes 0% (0 people)
16. How important is it that the wings are never frozen? Very Important 32% (20 people) Neither Important nor Unimportant 60% (37 people) Very Unimportant 8% (5 people)
17. Have you ever been to Wingstop? Yes 30% (19 people) No 70% (44 people)
18. Have you heard of Wingstop? Yes 63% (40 people) No 37% (23 people)
19. How often do you go to Wingstop? Never 78% (49 people) Less than Once a Month 19% (12 people) Once a Month 3% (2 people)
33 23 Times a Month 0% (0 people) Once a Week 0% (0 people) 23 times a week 0% (0 people) Daily 0% (0 people)
20. How would you rate Wingstop on the following characteristics?
# Question Very Poor Average Good Very Total Mean poor Good Responses
1 Quality 1 3 21 9 2 36 3.22
2 Price 1 3 23 8 0 35 3.09
3 Wait time 1 2 22 10 0 35 3.17
4 Location 1 3 18 11 2 35 3.29
5 Atmospher 2 2 24 7 0 35 3.03 e
6 Customer 1 2 22 9 1 35 3.20 service
7 Menu 1 1 20 11 2 35 3.34 variety
21. What is the first word that comes to your mind when you hear the word chicken wings? Food BBQ Boomer’s Nice Fatty Hot Football Buffalo Delicious Party Bone Messy
34 Sports Poultry Blue Cheese Mild Tasty Spicy Saucy Yum Game Day Honey Mustard Sports Bar Crispy Work Orange Sauce Flight Boneless Wings Garlic Parmesan Chicken American Savory Good
22. What is the first word that comes to your mind when you think of Wingstop? Ripoff Chicken Sports Sketchy Wings I have never heard of it Restaurant Greasy Wing Place Never again Yum Chicken Wings Flavors Nothing Bar
35 Delicious Cheap Food Expensive Slow
Appendix B-In-Depth Discussion Questions for Wingstop
1. What are the first restaurants you think of when you think of wings? 2. Where do you buy your wings? 3. Why do you buy them from there? 4. What do you look for in a good wing place? 5. What is the best character trait about Wingstop? 6. What is the worse character trait about Wingstop? 7. Do you order anything else at wing restaurants besides wings? 8. How many wings would you order? 9. How often to do you go out to eat? 10. Does it make a difference to you if they were frozen or never frozen wings? 11. What activities do you like to do in your free time? 12. What are some of your favorite TV channels, and readings? 13. What part of Gainesville do you reside in? 14. What is your choice of transportation?
36