Small-Town Café Communication Plan Prepared by: Spencer Bjorklund Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Professional Communication program at Weber State University April 22, 2014 Small-Town Café Communication Business Plan MPC Final Project: 2013-2014 This project is a communication business plan for a startup cafe in the small town of Mountain Green, Utah. The name of the cafe is Aspen Grill and the reason for Mountain Green to be the host site of the café is because it nestled in a small town 15 minutes from a ski resort and recreational reservoir as well as 10 minutes up Weber Canyon from one of the largest cities in Utah; Ogden. Mountain Green currently offers no dining options besides gas-station food and it is the gateway for a large number of locals and tourists to access Snowbasin Resort. The unique communication situation is that there is currently no sit-down dining option in Mountain Green. The goal was to assess through research and data the probability that a café could thrive in this community. A brand and communication marketing plan was also designed. The main communication questions this project addresses are:  What type of communication is needed to determine the café’s potential?  How do I communicate to customers through visual and electronic channels what this café can become? The food industry is saturated and according to a research study, nearly 60 percent of all restaurants fail within three years – fail means in this article that the restaurant closed or was purchased by new ownership. The author of this article also noted that although the 60 percent sounds high, it is on par with cross-industry averages for new business. (Miller, 2007, businessweek.com) Mountain Green is unique because it doesn’t have another option for locals to dine. There is no true competition for a sit-down dining experience. How would I brand the Aspen Grill with potential customers and keep them returning? This project consisted of two elements for a business plan of starting a small-town café. The first element is audience research and data analysis. The second element is the creation of the café brand, look, and feel. There are many important communication aspects to these two elements, allowing a better understanding of whom and how to communicate a successful small-town café scenario. Following are two elements that helped me communicate my purpose and answer the questions stated at the beginning. The first element was research and data analysis for customer preferences and the second element was designing a logo, creating a brand, and an online presence. Element 1: Research I decided to research three different audience segments. One segment involved the local community and in theory, the most stable of customers. The next segment included tourists and customers who see the café as a dining destination and are willing to make an effort to eat there. The last segment was research of the tourists and recreation enthusiasts who utilize Snowbasin Resort. This group will shed light on the mindset of those who spend the day recreating close to the café’s potential location. The local community is the heart of the business. I hope to gain a loyal following of routine diners from local neighborhoods who love the food and will frequent the café. This group includes those families who live close to the café – within a 10-mile radius. Mountain Green has no dining options currently and the radius I’ve chosen to research lies within this town’s borders. I did not count the cities that are located more than a 10-minute drive from Mountain Green. A focus group was conducted with 10 local community neighbors ranging from 15 to 43 years old. Focus group protocol was established with ground rules, having them fill out a short survey, and gathering demographic information. An ice-breaker was held to get to know everyone and questions were open-ended and non-leading to gauge response and feelings from this group. The focus group activity lasted nearly two hours and included food and drinks. The next research participants were the tourists and those who may possibly go out of their way to visit the café. This group is the recreation group such as bikers, skiers, boaters, and hikers. Mountain Green is a hub to many great activities and this café would serve the tourists who are enjoying the outdoors throughout all seasons. Because data was collected during the winter months, the focus was on those potential customers involved with winter sports – namely skiing and snowboarding. This research came from spending an afternoon at the base of the mountain resort, which allowed me to interview nearly 40 skiers and snowboarders. It was surprising to see some interesting facts of how many people either look or do not look for food at a restaurant after a day on the slopes. Finally, the destination eaters included those in the neighboring cities who will come to the café not just because it’s on the way to a ski resort or reservoir, but rather because the food, ambiance or experience is worth it for them to drive a given distance to dine. A brief and telling survey was created and broadcast to nearly 150 participants who gave plenty of great data to understand habits, preferences, and expectations of the general public who neither live in Mountain Green nor are included in the tourist category. This allowed for a large-scale picture of how locals from other cities view having a restaurant in Mountain Green. Element 2: Branding The branding of the café includes the name, logo, color scheme, fonts, design, look and feel. The logo and name must match well with the culture of Mountain Green and communicate a message. I chose the name Aspen Grill because it is an easy name to remember and pronounce. Aspen trees are native to this area and are trees that spread via the roots and can grow into a large family which support each other. The vision for this café is that it will act as an Aspen and grow to surround and support the community as a place for food, celebration, or relaxation. The colors for the café are earth tones including greens and yellows. The design incorporates the Aspen tree and its leaves along with a simple font. I have also secured a website name and social media handles for future café promotion. Three graphic designers were contracted to design a logo for the cafe. Each designer was given a basic outline to what the logo should represent. These instructions included information such as its purpose, that it must incorporate the Aspen tree, and have earthy tones. I also asked that the tree be placed between the words aspen and grill. Once the logos were created I surveyed 20 total family and friends to discover what each logo conveyed to them and to find the logo that fit the café best. Aspen Grill Focus Group | Mountain Green | 10.9.13 I spent an evening with a resident in Mountain Green who invited eight individuals to join in a focus group regarding bringing a café to the community. For the setting we used a home in a 10-15 year-old neighborhood in Mountain Green. I used a digital recorder to capture the comments and later went back to listen to the recording and write down exactly what was said so as not to miss any information. I setup chairs in their living room in a circle with plenty of room for people to sit comfortably. As a means to thank those who participated I provided pizza and drinks. I meant to keep the meeting to an hour at most, but from the time the first person arrived to when they all departed I had spent nearly two hours. This was because some came later than others and I lost them on tangents a few times. Participants My local contact found 10 residents, which comprised a diverse group willing to assist in the focus group. I capped the focus group at 10 to avoid the number being too many and further distract those whose attention I needed. I didn’t want to go below 10 because I wanted enough diversity to get many ideas and opinions. Demographics Focus group questions and answers: I selected 11 questions to ask the focus group. My goal wasn’t to get through each question, but instead guide the direction of the conversations to gather as much information as I could about bringing a café to Mountain Green. I did not get to each question exactly; however I feel that they were all answered in one way or another. I came prepared to ask these questions in the most sensible order that I could imagine, although the conversation did not allow me to follow this guideline exactly. (See questions in Appendix A) Below are the answers I received from the focus group participants. This data is important because it came from leaders and citizens of the community who understand the environment and culture of Mountain Green and live there day to day without a current café. Is the local community receptive to a café and why? There will be construction workers here for the next 20 years, and they are hungry. Boaters, bikers and hikers are everywhere – lots of bikers, and don’t forget the skiers.  Two teenagers  Four males  Six females  Average age of resident was 33  Average time living in Mountain Green is seven years  Three residents have other family in Mountain Green You will get a lot of local families who have baseball games and soccer games each night of the week and we need somewhere that we can meet up and eat. What are some positives to having a café in Mountain Green? All the teenagers have to go down the canyon or up to Morgan to work. It would be awesome to get our kids a place to work in Mountain Green. There are no teenage job options in Mountain Green. Nobody delivers up here. We need a place to eat that’s close. What types of food would you like to see served? I would expect gourmet burgers. Salads are a must. You need a pizza, sandwich burger place that can be mobile. There are a lot of people here who want diversity. No Chinese. Definitely soups and salads with a menu to fit the seasons. Where would the prime location be for a café and why? Your largest hurdle is getting the land. As close to Trappers Loop as possible. I wouldn’t go as far east as the fire station if you can help that. What audience should the café be most tailored to? Definitely a family-friendly location, but it can’t be a dirty place, it needs to look clean. More like a Taggerts instead of a Steph’s or a Burger Barn. You’ll have to consider the tourists too; like the ski, bike, and hike crowds. Breakfast, lunch or dinner if you had to choose two? I would never get breakfast here. Lunch and dinner is a must! You could do a small breakfast menu for the ski traffic. Compared to other restaurants what do you expect this to be like? I love a place like Zupas but I hate having to go through the Zupas line. My favorite place is Café Rio and if it was like that I’d be there every night. You have to make this a destination restaurant like Taggerts. It’s packed all the time and their food is not that great. It’s really not good at all. It would potentially need to be something like a Taggerts where people do go out of their way. I see this being more like a Snowbasin joint – nicer atmosphere, not like a Burger Barn. Make sure there is outdoor seating. Slackwater grill in Ogden is awesome. Something like that has good food, pizzas, and healthy food too. Would you like to see the café more than just an eatery and what would that be? E.g. green space, park, movie nights, reception capabilities, etc… Love the movie night idea. I’d like to see it like a place I know in Teton Village in Wyoming where there is a park next to it where people can get food and eat out there in the park. It’s always packed, even in the shoulder seasons of fall and spring. What type of service do you expect? Sit down and served or order and seat yourself? As far as service we would like to have the option of both someone waiting on you and just to pick up and go. I do like to have the option of sit down and not have to pay a tip. You’d definitely need a conference or reception room and servers for big groups and parties. Conclusion Based on the data from the focus group, I see a strong need for a café in this community. Although, it is only one focus group, I feel that they speak for many in the community who look forward to something sustainable that can provide the opportunities they want for them and their families. I wasn’t surprised by much in the focus group and the remarks I heard reflected my previous research and thoughts. An audience that I had not taken into account included the construction workers. Mountain Green is booming with homes and development in the surrounding area and there are construction workers up there without an option other than a gas station. With the future development goals of both Mountain Green and neighboring Snowbasin Resort there will be hungry construction workers within ten minutes of the desired café location for the next forty years barring economic hurdles. Aspen Grill Survey Results | Snowbasin | 1.18.14 I spent an afternoon from 11:30am – 1:30pm at Snowbasin Resort surveying skiers and snowboarders at the base of the mountain between the Needles and John Paul chair lifts where much of the ski traffic merges. I requested and received access from Snowbasin resort to conduct the survey. I surveyed 38 people throughout the two hours – 23 males and 15 females. I used printed surveys on a clipboard and one sheet per person or group. This allowed me to ask questions and have organized answers without having to hand something to someone with gloves or other ski gear getting in the way. The next few pages tell the visual story of the data I gathered: (See survey and questions in Appendix B) Gender Females: 15 Males: 23 Females Males Age The majority of those surveyed were between 31-40 years old, with the lowest participants less than 20 and above 50 years old. Residence Those surveyed came from all over the nation, however the overwhelming majority were from the Ogden area, which is where I was hoping to get the most responses from. The pie chart below doesn’t have every city included, just those with the most responses. 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 <20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 Ogden, UT Layton, UT Kaysville, UT Syracuse, UT Park City, UT Roseville, CA How often do they visit Snowbasin I inquired from each person how often they visit Snowbasin to ski, snowboard, or recreate. This response provides data on the flow of traffic up to the resort and how often respondents may pass the restaurant’s location. Travel route This information is very important because it told me that from the small number I surveyed most of them are driving through Mountain Green to access the resort, which means possibly more traffic for the restaurant. I found that 29 of the participants drove through Mountain Green compared to 9 coming from the North passage. Weekly Annually Monthly Mtn Green Ogden Canyon Apres ski dining The numbers show that not that many people seek out a place to eat after a day on the slopes. I found that 63 percent rarely (almost never) ate out after skiing compared to the 37 percent who often (more than half the time) went to a restaurant or fast food location. Deciding factors whether to eat This data helps me understand what two components are most important to customers finishing up their time on the mountain when deciding whether to eat. Often Rarely 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 Food/Location Cost/Food Cost/Location Location/Time Food/Time Cost/Time Favorite après-ski meal This data pointed out which foods are most desirable to those enjoying the mountain and what food they crave after skiing or snowboarding. Conclusion After conducting this survey I discovered that tourists and those who recreate close to Mountain Green do have personal habits and preferences for dining after skiing at the resort. It confirms a few interesting details for me. One fact is that not everyone stopped to eat after recreating and most people chose to drive home afterward and find food at their home. Another interesting fact is that all are very cognizant of their food choices close to the resort. There are many that stay after skiing and eat at the Snowbasin restaurant because they know of no other location between the resort and their home. Some people I interviewed make it a habit to stop by the gas station in Mountain Green to buy a drink and a quick snack since it’s the only option they have between the resort and the larger populated city where most live. Apparently the majority of those interviewed expressed 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 their desire for comfort, or “greasy food” such as hamburgers, fries, burritos and other grilled or fried foods after a day on the slopes. My goal for the café is to create gourmet burgers and Mexican food that can be a healthy option. The majority of participants were in the 30 – 40 year age range, which also falls in line with most small-family age groups. This is a group that will look for dining options that are affordable, family friendly, and not too far out of the way. It’s not surprising to see that food type and location are two major factors in deciding where to spend their dining dollars. Aspen Grill Survey Results | General Public Feb. 22 – Feb. 28, 2014 This survey was the most telling for me about the overall food habits and preferences of most people. I surveyed nearly 150 people over the space of one week through a link that took participants to a Google form I created. The form was comprised of 11 questions created to gather the general public’s dining habits and preferences. The survey received 146 participants – pretty evenly split between male and female. There were 69 males to 77 females who took the survey, which was disseminated via email and social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. I first reached out to contacts through personal email and then posted the survey on Facebook where I updated my request for participants three times throughout the week. I also asked others to share the link with their friends. I currently have more than 700 Twitter followers that I broadcast it to and also asked a local Twitter master in the food sector, @slcfoodie, to retweet it for more participants. I don’t know the numbers of where the traffic was driven from, but I feel good with the 146 total participants. I feel that I received a good gauge of diverse interests and styles. I received participation from five countries, 14 states and 63 cities. (Survey questions in Appendix C) Gender Females: 77 Males: 69 Age Once again, the majority of those surveyed were between 31-40 years old, with the lowest less than 20 years old. Male Female 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 <20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 >60 City Although this doesn’t show all of the cities that participated, it paints a good picture of the habits locally and how many participated along the Wasatch Front, which will be my main clientele. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 Clearfield, UT Fruit Heights, UT Holladay, UT Queen creek , AZ Riverton, UT South Weber, UT Cottonwood Heights, UT Magna, UT Murray, UT Phoenix, AZ Midvale, UT West Jordan, UT Layton, UT Ogden, UT South Jordan, UT Sandy, UT Salt Lake City, UT State This is a graph to show the other states who participated in this survey. Although this wouldn’t be my main clientele this is good for me to see out-of-state choices for tourist advertising options. Countries All were from the United States except four which were comprised of Denmark, Germany, Australia and England. 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 United States Germany Denmark England Australia Favorite meals at a restaurant This question meant to find out what people wanted to eat most while going to a restaurant. As is the case with the Snowbasin survey, this group preferred Mexican and American food above other options. I used this data to tailor the café menu to both segments. Favorite meal time Next I wanted to find out what their favorite meal time was during the day, to help narrow down hours for the restaurant. Dinner was the most popular followed by lunch and breakfast last. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 Dinner Lunch Breakfast Dining frequency This data shows how often people dine other than for fast food. This includes chains, just not a restaurant with a drive thru. Average spend This data shows what the average costs are for one person while eating at a restaurant – what they expect to pay for example. Few times per week Few times per month Once per week Once per month Once every few months Daily $11 - $20 $5 - $10 >$20 Travel time to get desired food This data revealed how far customers may be willing to travel for a worthwhile dining experience. This tells me if Mountain Green is too far for most people even if they love the food. What I found out is that the majority of people are OK traveling 20 minutes to find a good meal and this is great information for this scenario because Mountain Green sits less than 20 minutes from very high populations, such as Ogden and Layton. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes 30 minutes 1 hour Deciding factors of where to eat I wanted to measure the top factors involved in a person’s decision on where to eat like with the Snowbasin survey and the data shows that food type and cost are most important above other factors. Elements of the dining experience I wanted to find out which optional elements would be most important to the customer. Although it is a general population survey and not tailored to Mountain Green, the data still represents those that are willing to drive to the location. Most people wanted a peaceful and quiet experience and to be waited on. 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Peace & Quiet Server Music Meeting Space TV - Sporting Events Live Bands Wi-Fi Bar Dining ambiance This scale gives information about the type of dining ambiance most people want to experience. The family environment captured 50 percent of the responses, while sports bar was the least popular option. Conclusion This survey held the largest number of participants. After reviewing the responses from these 146 participants I felt confirmed in my efforts to bring a café to Mountain Green as I had with my previous surveys and focus group activities. People will travel for good food and a comfortable dining experience. This survey gave me a glimpse into general preferences like how most people are comfortable with a travel time close to 20 minutes, that most prefer Mexican or American grill food, and that they want a family-friendly atmosphere, not a sports-bar scene. Although this was a broad survey it still gave me vital information that is helpful in beginning a café in a small town like Mountain Green. Family Cafe Fine dining Lounge Sports bar Literature Review | Branding Your brand is the first impression and is what can build or destroy the client’s decision to pursue further any business opportunities. Branding is about messaging and an important piece of the overall dialogue you have with your clients. “Your marketing messages must capture your audience’s attention and compel them to action.” (Black, 2013, Mashable.com) Personally I see the brand of my café as the important piece of a dynamic marketing puzzle that will tell a story with a glance. Finding the right branding voice for me is difficult and frustrating. The voice of the cafe must convey a feeling of comfort, country, relaxation, escape, and food. The brand voice is the “heart and soul of communications. Once you have an idea of what you’re going for, it can be helpful to find other brands who have similar voices.” (Honeysett, 2013, Mashable.com) Some brands I look up to for being fresh and natural, such as Chipotle, even draw criticism from people for their tactics. “We’re reminded that Chipotle is a ‘giant corporation,’ tugging at our heartstrings with oppressed bovines not because of a genuine interest in sustainability or animal welfare but to make us buy burritos” (Fishburne, 2013, Alltop.com). People can spin any story, but this is proof that if you feel strong enough about your cause then you should tout it no matter the opposing opinions. As is the case with most business, there is branded content that works and some branded content that doesn’t work. The type of branded content that would work best with a small-town café is something I haven’t considered much; however, I do know that the content needs to be better than the quality, which means that one shouldn’t focus too much time and effort on quality, just be sure to have worthwhile content available to keep people intrigued. The quality will come with time. “Branded content frequently lacks strategy, focus, and accountability, three factors that can hobble the impact of content marketing.” (Fishburne, 2013, Alltop.com) Marketing is ever-changing and the customer-centric world we live in is increasingly engaging with social media. When creating a brand that can be marketed “it is important to ‘confront reality,’ adding, ‘Marketers tend to be optimists, but you know, hope is not a strategy.’” (Elliott, 2013, NYtimes.com) I must be realistic in marketing a café in a new town and understand that I need a clear strategy; there is a strategy to be had, which will take work, not just hope. Managing the café reputation online will be an important aspect to its success. What people believe is often what is posted on friend’s pages, not what they personally experience. Kermit Patterson says in a New York Times article that “referrals from happy clients are traditionally the best source of new business — and online forums are powerful word-of-mouth.” (Patterson, 2013, NYTimes.com) Obviously I will need customers who have a great experience to help create a positive online impression. When creating a brand, my online reputation is a very important step to gaining a root in the community. Worth noting is that the relationship between customer’s experiences and my online reputation are interchangeable. It can’t be created just by online marketing or social media without some people having a direct experience in the café. Tom Kuntz with the New York Times notes that it is often the silly research that can generate valuable nuggets of information. Silly research provides “hype-rich side dishes, and they can yield gravy.” (Kuntz, 2013, NYTimes.com) This angle gives me an opportunity to think of fun and nontraditional methods to conduct research. I haven’t conducted any silly research with this project, but the article suggests a “huh” and “duh” research tactic. A “huh” hypothesis would look something like this: Mountain views while eating make people eat more. A “duh” hypothesis to research would look like this: The more a person eats the fuller they become. I wanted to know how viable a restaurant business is and what the failure rate looked like. After reading around I found that there is a 60 percent failure rate; failure in this source is defined as a restaurant that has closed or been bought out within three years of inception. This percent may seem high but is in line with other cross-industry startups. “Whether failure rates overstate or understate the odds, no one disputes the conventional wisdom that making it in the restaurant industry is no cakewalk.” (Miller, 2007, businessweek.com) When discovering the proper brand for this café, I have to first understand who I am as a brand, because my decisions and personal brand will affect the café’s brand. In researching personal brand I learned that “marketing requires a decision at every turn – from pricing to distribution to packaging to product taste tests to social media activity” (Joseph, 2013, Entrepreneur.com). The same holds true for me personally. Any and all of my decisions communicate messages to customers. A café in a small town is possibly one of the last things that people would think about when discussing YouTube video presence. However, making a brand and a message that can be disseminated through the medium of video-king YouTube is one more way that this small-town café can become not just a local diner, but a destination eatery. Adweek’s Mike Shields proves the power generated from viral videos with statistics like GoPro hitting 7.81 million views in a week, including 187 thousand likes and nearly as many shares (Shields, 2013, Adweek.com) Having the right brand not only catches the view of hungry passersby, but can help with your online presence with social media. John Bonini with Social Media Examiner explains the advantage of Twitter’s new lead generation cards saying “There are 500 million tweets sent every day. That’s a lot of noise to compete with. Enter Twitter’s lead generation cards” (Bonini, 2013, Socialmediaexaminer.com). When creating a destination café, the right brand and strategy to reach those within the reach of the restaurant amongst the noise will prove extremely valuable and we see that there are many tools to achieve that online, if done correctly. Content marketing is now brand publishing and according to adpulp.com editor David Burn, “Great content exists to tell a story. For sure, but that story better build the brand and grow the client’s business, or it’s just more fluff. Or worse, it’s smelly brown stuff stuck to the brand’s shoe” (Burn, 2013, Adpulp.com). In order for my brand to speak and move client’s to come to my café, my content is the food and my publishing is sharing that love of the food appropriately. In creating an influential marketing piece in a brand, one must feel inspired and have a passion for that creation. I appreciate the tip: “the best inspiration might come simply from observing whatever happens to be around you – no matter how ordinary.” (Bhargava, 2013, Rohitbhargava.com) Sometimes the best inspiration to create an inspiring brand is to take in the surroundings of that brand and simply incorporate it. Possibly the best move I can make to get my brand recognized within a community is to be there first in everyone’s mind promoting and engaging with others. “I have to admit that positioning is a more likely choice to be the true ‘fifth P’ of marketing.” (Bhargava, 2013, Rohitbhargava.com) What I’ve learned from this is that by positioning my brand of the café by being first in people’s mind and also by telling a story that connects, the success of public relations will spread and possibly launch the café into a destination. Literature Review | Research The research needed to find answers to make this adventure kick off is of utmost importance. When planning to start up a café in a small town, adequate questions and methods will ensure success and confidence. “Studies that produce speedy results but ask the wrong questions, ask the wrong people, or ask in the wrong way waste resources and time” (O’Hare, 2010, Adage.com). Before launching into this café, my questions must be open-ended and directed appropriately. When conducting research there are important questions that can get you vital information for improving your processes. Christopher Hann from Entrepreneur.com wrote a short piece with the help of a consultant who noted that “"All good relationships are based on the other person's priorities," If my research can ask those powerful questions that take me away from promoting my products and instead focus on the customer’s concerns, it will strengthen my communication and trust with customers (Hann, 2013, Entrepreneur.com). Branding | Logo The logo is an important aspect of the restaurant. It must convey those findings that were discovered within the three customer segment research tasks. From the data we see that customers want something that looks clean and simple, yet conveys a family-friendly atmosphere with healthy and familiar food options. I took a basic concept of a couple of Aspen trees within the name of the logo. I conveyed this message with the three contracted graphic designers who I paid to design logos. Each designer was given the same instructions. The instructions were that the Aspen tree needed to be an element of the logo, the leaves needed to be part of the name, and I also suggested where those leaves and trees should be found within the logo. The examples were very similar in structure, yet the look and feel varied. Once I had those logos I felt best with personally, I put them in front of 20 family and friends to solicit their thoughts on the logo and what they felt it conveyed. I did not lead them into choosing a logo, nor did I alert them to what they were logos for. All understood that it was for a restaurant when they saw the word “grill” in the logo, but then I asked what each thought of when looking at the logos. The logo I chose was the logo with the most positive comments that were in line with the data gathered from the research. (See Appendix D for logos) Website My initial intention was to have a site designed with content ready to push live, however after exceeding my budget of $50 for this project on logo design I decided to create a free WordPress blog site. This gives a glimpse of a basic site to give information and direction to those looking to find the café online. Website: www.aspengrill.wordpress.com Home This page will eventually have a sliding gallery of photos including food, location and people when available. About Contact For the contact page I have included filler information since this café is not functioning yet. Menu This page includes a PDF link to the designed menu. When clicking on the menu PDF below it downloads the full PDF. THE GOODS Chili Dog / 5 Bratwurst / 5 Grilled Cheese / 5 Burger / 6 Philly Cheesesteak / 8 Nachos / 8 SALADS Cobb / 5 Caesar / 5 Wedge / 6 Taco / 7 Asian Chicken / 7 sandwiches pb & j / 5 Veggie / 5 Egg Salad / 7 Roast Beef / 7 BLT / 7 Turkey Avacado / 7 SIDES Soda / 1.5 Salsa & Chips / 3 Fries / 3 Soup / 3 Cottage Cheese w/ fruit / 3 Veggie Platter / 3 Chili Cheese Fries / 5 Social Media Like the website, this effort was to secure the usernames for platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. I used personal email and logins to create a page and profile on these two social media platforms. Facebook | www.facebook.com/aspengrillutah There is a restaurant in Salt Lake City that does a phenomenal job at communicating with their audience and customers. The restaurant is Lucky 13 – A Bar and Grill, and they post pictures of food such as classic menu items or an up-and-coming dish. Lucky 13 connects with followers and because of that they can send event details and communicate the happenings of the restaurant to keep customers involved. This is a screen shot of the Lucky 13 Facebook home page. Here are a couple of screen shots showing how they use their Facebook page to communicate with their community. The first one is from March 19, 2014 and is advertising that it is holding a job fair, who should apply, and how to contact the company. At the bottom of the page you can see that at the time of the screen shot there were 66 people who liked the post and some that have commented or shared it with their Facebook friends. This next screen shot is of one of their posts promoting a creative meal. The photo is of the burger, fries, and a drink while the text describes in detail the ingredients of the burger. Note that it also promotes the local baseball team as a draw to bring more people to the restaurant and build that community of baseball and restaurant fans. This has 63 likes and 8 comments. Though I don’t have content yet, I was able to secure a Facebook page that can be a future destination to drive traffic through, promote menu items and communicate with a customer base. Twitter | @aspengrillutah Twitter is another social media platform to communicate with an audience. This will be used to convey much of the same information as Facebook, but will be more communicative. This means that the conversations happening on Twitter will include the community such as local or regional influencers; customers, vendors, schools and resorts. By becoming part of the conversation on timely and important issues over Twitter the café should be able to establish itself as a knowledgeable friend and resource to the community, whereas Facebook will be more of a platform to drive café-centered initiatives and occurrences. An example of a restaurant that excels with Twitter as a platform to communicate with its community is Chipotle. Here is a screen shot of their front page on their Twitter feed. You can see that with 351,000 followers they have an immediate and effective channel with Twitter to communicate messaging. This next screen shot is an example of a recent post from a Major League Soccer team on April 16, 2014 communicating with the Chipotle community with an image of one of their fans wearing a t-shirt signifying Chipotle and their effort of local, home-grown food. On a local scale I hope to accomplish the same trust and support from the Aspen Grill community. Images I can imagine along these lines involves the local sports teams ranging from little league soccer to high school football. Through sponsorships, well wishes online and product offerings, the goal is to gain a fan base for Aspen Grill. Project Conclusion I feel that a café in the Mountain Green area is a viable option based on the research and data gathered by this project. It became evident that the community wants a dining option locally and that the food needed to include American and Mexican grill items along with a family-friendly atmosphere. The information gathered allowed me to create and tailor a menu to the voices and opinions of three important customer segments. There are not many differences between the three segments such as what a local customer wants compared to a tourist. The one difference I gathered is that tourists and those recreating may not be as inclined to dine at the restaurant as the locals are. In the surveys the data shows that most people don’t go directly to the restaurant after a day of skiing for example. Instead they would rather go to their home or hotel first. I was able to gauge travel habits of those that live within a 30-minute commute of the town, including tourists. Among data gathered from these crowds is that most are willing to drive 20 minutes to eat at a desired restaurant. They also gave information as to what the ambiance should feel and look like. The café branding is a work in progress and although I feel that the logo chosen for this project matches well with the identity of the café, I also feel that changes are inevitable and will be based on further customer surveys and data analysis. This includes color schemes and fonts. The branding must convey a message to consumers of good food and family-friendly service. The message and logo will be used throughout the social media and web advertising to gather and retain a loyal customer base. 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What types of food should be served? 5. Where would the prime location be for a café in Mountain Green and why? 6. What audience segment should the café be tailored to? 7. What are reasonable hours the café should be open? 8. Paint me a picture of what you envision the café to look and feel like? 9. What fears or frustrations might exist if a café came to Mountain Green? 10. What additional elements would make the café successful in Mountain Green? Appendix B Snowbasin Survey | 1.18.14 Gender: Age: Current Residence (City, ST): 1. How often do you ski Snowbasin?  Weekly  Monthly  Annually 2. Which route do you travel to access Snowbasin?  Mountain Green (south)  Ogden Canyon (north) 3. How often do you stop for food when leaving a resort?  Often (most of the time)  Rarely (every now and then) 4. After skiing, which two factors are most important in your dining decision?  Cost  Food  Location  Time 5. What is your ideal meal after skiing? Appendix C Google Survey – General Food Preferences | 10.9.13 1. Gender  Female  Male 2. Age  <15  16-20  21-30  31-40  41-50  51-60  >60 3. City living in currently? 4. How often do you eat at a restaurant?  Daily  Once per week  Few times per week  Once per month  Few times per month  Once every few months 5. Which meal is your favorite when choosing a restaurant?  Breakfast  Lunch  Dinner 6. What is the best estimate to your average spend when eating at a restaurant?  <$10  $10 - $20  >$20 7. What is your favorite food type when eating at a restaurant? (Burgers, Mexican, Sandwiches, Steaks, Sushi, etc...) 8. How far are you willing to travel for food you crave?  10 minutes  15 minutes  20 minutes  30 minutes  1 hour 9. Choose your two most important factors when deciding where to dine.  Cost  Food  Location  Time  Service 10. Select aspects you like to enjoy or experience while at a restaurant.  Wi-Fi  Music  Live bands  TV - sporting events  Meeting space  Peace and quiet  Server  Bar 11. What ambiance do you most enjoy at a restaurant?  Sports bar  Fine dining  Family  Lounge  Cafe Appendix D Logos | *Middle Logo Chosen