Discussion 7 – Tools for Managing Social Media (PO7, PO8, CO2, CO4, CO5, ILO.SK5, BIS1, IS4, IS1)

This last discussion culminates the value of social media with respect to the entrepreneur’s investment in it. Numerous studies have pointed out that almost ALL Fortune 500 companies invest in social media. While it is still a struggle to make sense of the data, the overall value has not gone unnoticed. Currently, the standard is the 10/90 rule. 10% of the budget for social media should be spent on tools and 90% on people (smart people that can run all the numbers).

For this discussion , consider the following scenario and given a budget, determine how you would spend your available capital on social media. You may present this in a bulleted list.

Scenario:

You own a chain restaurant. While the national chain restaurant, (we will use Applebee’s for this final discussion project) has disposable income, the casual dining experience is losing excitement on the market place. Waiter services have gone out the window, and the Chipotle’s of the world are taking over. The consumer wants control of their meal in every way.

Although Applebee’s is not failing, they need to modify their menu, quality, and experience to meet the current eaters of today. Their market is the ’30 something’ parents with children on a budget yet eats out 1-2x per week. Assuming they have done all of the above (modified their menu, improved quality, and experience), how will we let the world know to come back to Applebee’s?

Your task:

You have $450k to “re-brand” Applebee’s to appeal to these consumers (’30 something parents with children with some disposable income). Now, you do not have to use the 10/90 rule, however you need to determine how much money you feel should be spent on the following:

Web Analytic Vendor
Banner, Pop-Up, Pop-under ads
Televisions and Radio Marketing
Billboards
Online Commercials
Online community pages
Any search engine marketing or optimization you might think will help
Other loyalty, Promotions that might rebrand the company
Your 1st goal is to retain 35% of their current customers within 2 years (when you choose to spend your money think of how you will do this).

Your second goal is to increase market share by 11% in 2 years.

You MUST do some research on Applebee’s and other competitors in order to fully understand the company you are working with here and their background as a leader in the casual dining market. I would suggest looking for any stats you can find on the company to help you evaluate and critique the company to its fullest, such as how many current consumers they have, how many are repeat customers, what percentage of market share they have in the casual dining industry, what percentage their competitors have, etc.