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A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in
Management from the NOVA – School of Business and Economics. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!MARKETING PLAN FOR BOOK-A-COOK !!!
Elisa Maria Bolm #1774 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A Project carried out on the Management course, under the supervision of: Prof. Victor Centeno !!!!
January 2015
!Index !
!
Abstract 3
Executive Summary 4
Research Methodology 5
Situational Analysis 5
External Audit 5
Context 5
Customers 7
Competitors 8
Internal Audit 10
Company 10
Collaborators & Complementers 11
SWOT Analysis 12
The Opportunity 12
Marketing Strategy 13
Segmentation 13
Targeting 14
Positioning 14
Objectives 14
Issues 16
Marketing Mix 17
Product/Service 17
Price 18
Promotion 19
Place 22
Budget 22
Controls 23
Conclusion & Recommendations 24
Bibliography 25
Appendix 26
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I. Abstract !This thesis studies the marketing plan for the new brand Book-a-Cook. Book-a-Cook is
an online platform connecting well-to-do urban Germans with professional chefs that
prepare meals at consumer's homes. By analyzing the external and internal audit, it was
possible to develop an appropriate strategy to launch the service in Germany. The main
goals are stimulating demand and creating a strong brand in order to establish a
successful business model. A quantitative research was made to identify potential
customers, their needs and how Book-a-Cook can satisfy them.
!Keywords: Marketing Plan, Germany, Restaurant Industry
!!!!!!!
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!II. Executive Summary The goal of this work is to create a strategic marketing plan for the implementation of
the new online service platform “Book-a-Cook“ in Germany. Book-a-Cook is an online
dinner platform connecting well-to-do Germans with professional chefs that prepare,
cook and serve a dinner at the consumer’s home. The platform is user-friendly and
transparent with an appealing design and secure payment options.
The €22.9 billion restaurant market lacks a personalised service satisfying
individual consumer needs. The concept of high quality and fully customised meals
cooked by professional cooks in the personal atmosphere of one’s own home represents
a huge opportunity. Combined with the fact that chefs are generally dissatisfied with
their normal work compensation, a tremendous opportunity for a private chef rental
service is given for the supply side as well.
The goal is to capture €700k in revenues in the first year, €2.5 million in the
second year and over €4 million in the third year. The main objective is to create a
strong brand that is directly recognised as a professional home cooking service. Since
our service is offered over an online platform, our marketing activities take place
mainly online as well. In order to create brand awareness and to educate consumers, we
focus on content marketing and social media advertising campaigns.
In the first year, we launch our service in Berlin to test our business model and
adapt it to the needs of our consumers if needed, while reaching a large percentage of
our target group. In the second year we expand our service to the biggest German cities
next to Berlin: Hamburg, Munich and Cologne. At the end of year 5 we offer the service
in every German city with more than 100k habitants.
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III. Research Methodology !A quantitative research was conducted in the form of an online survey with structured
questions (multiple choice, scales) with the purpose of identifying potential customers,
their needs and how Book-a-Cook could satisfy them (Complementary Appendix). The
survey was answered by 59 participants. Furthermore, a quantitative research for chefs
was conducted in order to assess their willingness to participate in such a project. The
survey was created online with structured questions (multiple choice, scales) and was
answered by 17 chefs (Complementary Appendix). Complementary, a representative
study by WSI-Lohnspiegel with 1079 chefs was accessed. 1
IV. Situational Analysis !A. External Audit
Context There are several trends influencing Book-a-Cook.
Increasing internet usage
A constant increase in internet usage can be observed over the last years. In 2001, 37%
of the german population used the internet on a regularly basis. This number has
increased to 76,5% in 2013. 2
The restaurant market is a billion € market and constantly increasing
In 2012, there were 75.240 restaurants with a combined annual revenue of over €22.9
billion. This number constantly increased over 10 years, starting with €18.5 billion in 3
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" http://www.lohnspiegel.de/dateien/Koeche.pdf1
" http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13070/umfrage/entwicklung-der-internetnutzung-in-2
deutschland-seit-2001/
" http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/275544/umfrage/umsatz-der-steuerpflichtigen-restaurants-in-3
deutschland/
2002 assuming a further increase in the future. The restaurant market can be categorised
into regular meals (lunch etc.), with the purpose of satisfying one’s hunger, and social
meals, which next to satisfying hunger have social function, e.g. to spend time with
friends or family. The market growth can be ascribed mainly to the increase of ‚social’
restaurant visits, enabled by an stable economy.
Personalisation of products
There is a recent trend towards the personalisation of products. Consumers are looking
for fully customised products in order to satisfy their individual needs. „Consumers 4
today don’t want run-of-the mill products, they want something that is unique and
reflects their personality.“ Customisation adds additional value for customers and 5
enables businesses to claim a higher price.
Chefs receive low salary while exercising an exhausting occupation
In 2013, the professional group of chefs in Germany counted 443.296 members. On 6
average a chef earns €2.047 per month. A study of the WSI-Lohnspiegel with 1079 7 8
respondents showed that the average satisfaction level regarding the salary is 2,3 on a
scale from 1-5. The study also reveals that the prospect for promotion and salary rises
are limited: Chefs with working experience >20 years earn on average €2.306 monthly,
only 20,04% more than young workers with working experience <5 years (€1.921
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" http://www.forbes.com/sites/baininsights/2013/11/05/having-it-their-way-the-big-opportunity-in-4
personalized-products/
" http://www.businessinsider.com/trends-that-will-shape-retail-in-2014-2013-12?IR=T#ixzz3NTxzussn5
" http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/243044/umfrage/anzahl-der-beschaeftigten-koeche-in-6
deutschland/
" http://www.lohnspiegel.de/dateien/Koeche.pdf7
" http://www.lohnspiegel.de/dateien/Koeche.pdf8
monthly). Furthermore, fewer than 50% of the respondents receive additional payments.
The study also shows that the average stress level of a chef is 3,8 (scale from 1-5).
Professionals can exercise a secondary job as freelancer
By german law professionals can exercise a secondary job on a freelance basis without
additional health insurance obligations, as long as the secondary job does not exceed the
working hours or salary of the main job. They can work as freelancer with the use of an
income tax card.
Customers Restaurant visitors can be divided into two types: people who eat out simply to fulfil
their bodily need (regular meals) and those who aim for a social purpose as well, such
as meeting with friends or family (social meals). We consider this second group as our
target customers, thus excluding people who visit restaurants for regular meals.
The survey conducted revealed that 74,6% perceive the impersonal atmosphere
as a disturbing factor when visiting a restaurant. Another 47,5% indicated the feeling of
pressure from other people waiting for a free table as disturbing. The main reasons for
organising a dinner at one’s own place is the personal atmosphere (79,7%) and the
opportunity of sitting together until late at night (67,8%). Drawbacks include the
pressure for the dinner to be perfect (61%), lack of time for the preparation (50,8%), a
dislike of cleaning up afterwards (44,1%), feelings of stress and responsibility (39%) or
that one does not like to cook for a large number of people (30,5%).
Further, we could identify that our consumers are internet affine professionals,
with an age ranging between 30 and 60 years living in German urban areas with an
annual salary >40.000€ per year and a higher education level.
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Book-a-Cook targets people that are looking for a fully personalised dinner
service in an intimate atmosphere at home. Instead of cooking themselves, either due to
lack of skills, time or feeling not comfortable of cooking for many people, they are
looking for a solution to arrange a dinner-party without cooking, preparing and cleaning
themselves. They look for an alternative to a stressful and impersonal restaurant visit in
order to socialise with friends and family on their own environment, with extraordinary
food and service. The following table illustrates the demographic/psychographic profile
of our customers.
Table 1: Demographic/psychographic profile of customers
Competitors There are several competitors Book-a-Cook has to deal with (Appendix 1).
Restaurants: We consider upscale restaurants as our main competitor. We
compete with these types of restaurants with an average price of 25-50€ per main dish
(Appendix 2) since these are restaurants our target group would choose to have dinner
with their friends to celebrate a special occasion. High-end, exclusive Michelin-star
restaurants are not considered as competition. People go there for the overall experience
Characteristics Target Group
Gender Men and women
Income Annual salary of >40.000€
Age Between 30 and 60
Occupation Professionals
Education Higher education
Family status All family status
Geographic region Urban area in Germany
Lifestyle • Looking for personalization • Affinity for exclusive food and service (food lovers) • Socializing (being with friends) • Internet affine
Cooking behavior Either don’t like to cook (due to lack of skills/time) or like to cook in general (but not for large group of people)
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(atmosphere, service, food). Regarding upscale restaurants, Book-a-Cook positions
itself as a premium product with a higher price. The point of difference is that the chef
comes to our customer’s home and prepares a highly customised dinner in the
customer’s personal kitchen.
kitchensurfing.com: Kitchensurfing is a platform that connects chefs with people
looking for a private dinner party. Kitchensurfing was founded in 2012 and operates in
several cities in the United States. In Germany their service is offered only in Berlin.
The company does not focus on the german market and only possesses limited resources
in Germany: The german website is not entirely translated and also the german
customer service lacks people and specialism. Book-a-Cook could have a strong
advantage with a strategic marketing plan focused on creating a strong brand in the
german market. Furthermore, Book-a-Cook has a multi-step selection process of chefs,
an appealing website design(professional photos of chefs and menus) and offers an
exclusive insurance for every dinner. An multichannel customer service via Live-Chat,
Telephone and Email is offered to our customers. For our chefs, we offer specialised
support, ongoing training and equipment (cook’s jacket, crockery).
People that cook themselves: Since our target group mainly consists of people
that do not know how to cook or do not feel comfortable when cooking for a large
number of people, people that enjoy cooking for friends/family are not considered as
direct competitors.
Event Caterers: Event caterers offer their service for groups of >10 people, with
food generally being served in buffet form. In contrast to event caterers, Book-a-Cook
offers a fully customised service in an intimate setting at home.
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Chefs with own websites: There are few chefs in Germany who have their own
website through which they offer dinner services at their clients’ home. We consider
these chefs as potential collaborators working for Book-a-Cook rather than as
competitors. We aim to convince them to work for us, providing professional marketing,
customer service, fair cancellation policies, a free personal liability insurance, training
and equipment.
B. Internal Audit
Company Book-a-Cook is a new company to be founded in January 2015 in Berlin, Germany. The
CEO, Elisa Bolm, is completing her Master’s degree in Management at Nova School of
Business and Economics in Lisbon. She is responsible for the general management and
marketing activities. Furthermore, in the first year the team will consist of a human
resource manager, a marketing intern, a professional chef, two customer support agents
and a photographer.
The business model is the following: We offer a platform with a portfolio of
professional cooks, providing marketing, customer support and insurance. The selected
chefs work on a freelance basis and are paid for every dinner they cook. They receive
55% of the total booking amount as salary and an additional 15% for the ingredients.
They take care of the shopping, preparation, cooking, serving and cleaning. Book-a-
Cooks receives the remaining 29,16% of the booking, assuming an average payment
service fee of 0,84% of the booking amount . 9
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" Paypal and debit entry are offered as payment methods. Paypal requires a service fee of 1,5% + €0,35 of 9
each booking, debit entry is free of charge. We assume that 50% of the consumers pay by Paypal, the other 50% by debit entry,
Collaborators & Complementers Book-a-Cook’s success strongly depends on the service delivered by the chefs. It has to
be ensured that the chefs are reliable, professional and responsible. Therefore the
recruitment process comprises several steps. The first step is to send a CV, availability
per week, criminal record certificate and recommendations of prior employers. After a
pre-selection, these chefs are invited for an interview. Selection criteria for the interview
are working experience (>5 years), availability (minimum 1x per week, preferable
Friday/Saturday/Sunday) and a clean criminal record certificate. The interview is
conducted by a service agent and our professional chef, who checks the presence of
personal traits required for this job (openness, communication skills, ability to work on
one’s own). The last step of the selection process is to check whether the candidate has
the required cooking skills. The selected chefs are invited for a sample cooking to
demonstrate their skills. Our chef surveils the performance and quality of the meal.
Candidates that meet all the requirements are accepted to become part of Book-a-Cook.
With each chef, our chef develops two menus to be offered on the website and which
can be further adapted to individual customers.
Table 2: Recruitment process of chefs
Since Book-a-Cook is an online platform, trust and safety are the most important
principles that have to be ensured. By receiving the online quality seal of the prestigious
brand TÜV, which stands for safety, reliability and impartiality, we want to
communicate a high safety and trust standard.
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V. SWOT Analysis
!VI. The Opportunity We could identify the following opportunity: in these times of online networks and
impersonal communication via Whatsapp or Facebook, people like socialising with
friends or family in restaurants (social meals). At the same time, a trend for
personalisation is emerging. People are looking for fully customised products that
satisfy their individual needs. Combining these two trends, we see a large market
potential for Book-a-Cook: A personalised premium service where customer needs are
central. Where, what and whenever they want. Our service offers an alternative to an
impersonal, stressed restaurant dinner, because people prefer socialising with friends in
a personal atmosphere (indicated by 61,8% of the survey participants).
These main trends can be combined with the job dissatisfaction of chefs. They
exercise an highly exhausting job which they are not compensated in a satisfactory
manner. The survey conducted with 17 chefs revealed that 88% would cook for people
at their home to earn more money (76%) and to work closer together with guests (82%).
The market potential is estimated to be 1.3 billion € per year, assuming that the
average price per dinner is 200€ and is purchased on average once per year.
+ -
Internal Strengths • First mover advantage • Portfolio of professional chefs • All-round customer service (Live-Chat,
Email, Telephone) • Insurance for every booking • User-friendly and secure website • Strong brand
Weaknesses • Success depends on service delivered by
chefs • High marketing costs due to education of
consumers (scepticism due to trust, safety and legal issues)
• Education of chefs needed - administrational issues and questions
External Opportunities • Trend for personalization • Restaurant market (social meals) is
constantly increasing • Current job dissatisfaction of chefs • Trend towards online services
Threats • Chefs take business on their own • Legal restrictions in the future • New entry
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Table 3: Market potential (Germany) 10
!VII.Marketing Strategy
A. Segmentation With the survey conducted, we could identify the following segments:
Segment A (Food Lovers) are people that don't know how to cook, but value
good food and service and enjoy going to restaurants with friends or family. They are
looking for a way to organise a dinner party at their own place, in a personal
atmosphere, with great food.
Segment B (Overstressed) are people that like to cook in general, but are too
busy to prepare and cook for people themselves. Either they have a busy job or they
have small children. They don't have time to organise a dinner party, but would like to
invite friends at home.
Segment C (Epicures) are people that enjoy cooking, but feel uncomfortable
and stressed when cooking for a large number of people. They are looking for a way to
enjoy the evening with friends instead of being in the kitchen.
Total German Population 1) 80.770.000
Living in urban areas 2) 78,30 %
30-60 years 3) 43,09 %
Income >40.000€ 4) 30,00 %
Would book such a service 5) 78,57 %
Target Group 6.423.420
Average # of purchases per year 1
Average Price per purchase (4 persons à 50€) 200 €
Total Market Volume 1.284.684.081 €
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" 1)http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2861/umfrage/entwicklung-der-gesamtbevoelkerung-10
deutschlands/
2) http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/152879/umfrage/in-staedten-lebende-bevoelkerung-in-deutschland-und-weltweit/ 3)http://www.bpb.de/wissen/X39RH6,0,0,Bev%F6lkerung_nach_Altersgruppen_und_Geschlecht.html 4)5) See survey
Segment D (Cooking Enthusiasts) are people that enjoy cooking for other
people. They are passionate about cooking and inviting friends or family for dinner in
order to deliver a great experience. They would book a professional cook in order to
have an inspiration for their own cooking style.
B. Targeting Book-a-Cook targets people from segment A, B and C. Book-a-Cook is a premium
product designed for people that enjoy good food and like being with friends, but don't
cook themselves due to lack of skills or time. They want to enjoy the evening without
the stress of preparing, cooking, serving and cleaning. Book-a-Cook targets these
people since a private cook is an added value for them, allowing for a premium price.
We do not target Segment D, because people that enjoy cooking for other people would
not book such a service since they prefer to cook for their guests themselves.
C. Positioning Book-a-Cook is an online platform for dinner services (Frame of reference) that
connects well-to-do urban Germans (Target Group) with professional chefs. It stands
out from its competition by offering personalised restaurant quality experience in the
comfort of one’s own home (Point of Difference) because the dinner is prepared and
served by a professional chef at the clients residence (Reason Why).
D. Objectives The main short-term objective is to create awareness and to stimulate demand. In the
first year, we launch Book-a-Cook in Berlin. Assuming a penetration rate of 1%, we
estimate our sales in the first year to be €700k by having over 3k bookings delivered by
around 60 chefs. We project to exceed 300k website visitors in year 1, assuming a
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conversion rate of 1%. Furthermore, we estimate to collect 10k Facebook likes and 5k 11
Twitter followers.
In the second year, the service will be launched in Hamburg, Munich and
Cologne, assuming a penetration rate of 1% (2% in Berlin). We predict our revenues to
exceed €2 million, serving around 11k dinners delivered by more than 200 chefs. In
year 3, we launch Book-a-Cook also in Düsseldorf, Frankfurt a.M., Dortmund, Stuttgart
and Essen, assuming a penetration rate of 1% (3% in Berlin, 2% in Hamburg, Munich
and Cologne). We estimate our revenues to exceed €4 million by serving 20k dinners.
The main long-term objective is to establish a well-known brand that stands for
great service, professionalism and exclusivity. We want to create a brand that is directly
associated with chef home cooking. At the end of year 5, we aim to offer the service in
every German city with >100k habitants (Appendix 9). We pursue to establish a loyal
user base with returning customers. In terms of revenues we aim to exceed €12 million
in year 5, serving around 63k bookings delivered by more than 1.2k chefs. We assume
to improve our conversion rate to 1,5% in year 4 and 5, resulting in more than 4 million
website visitors in year 5. Moreover, we estimate to have 200k Facebook Likes and
120k Twitter Followers. Furthermore, we want to decrease the CAC of €8 in year 1 to
€4 in year 5, profiting from our brand image and strategic inbound marketing.
KPI Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Revenue 685.625 € 2.213.641 € 4.354.789 € 7.798.974 € 12.751.508 €
Penetration Rate 1 % 2 % 3 % 4 % 5 %
Number of Bookings 3.428 11.068 21.774 38.995 63.758
Number of chefs 66 213 419 750 1.226
KPI
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" Conversion rate is „the percentage of visitors who take a desired action. The desired action can take 11
many forms […]. Examples include sales of products, membership registrations, newsletter subscriptions […].“ (http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/conversion_rate/)
Table 4: Objectives for Year 1-5
E. Issues The following table illustrates several issues Book-a-Cook has to deal with, their impact
and the probability that they occur, as well as an appropriate strategy to solve them.
Conversion Rate 1 % 1 % 1 % 1,5 % 1,5 %
Number of Website Visitors 342.800 1.106.800 2.177.400 2.599.667 4.250.533
Number of Facebook Likes 10.000 30.000 60.000 120.000 200.000
Number of Twitter Follower 5.000 15.000 30.000 60.000 120.000
Number of Newsletter subscribers 857 2.767 5.444 9.749 15.940
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) 7,82 € 7,18 € 6,10 € 4,85 € 3,99 €
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5KPI
Issue Likelihood to Occur
Impact Solution
Skepticism of Consumers (safety, trust and ease of use concerns)
Low/Medium
High • Marketing focus: education of consumers • Build user-friendly website (uniform listings, easy
booking process, secure payment) • TÜV security seal • Customer Support via Live-Chat, Telephone, Email • Well-selected chefs (background check) • Insurance for every booking
Bad Quality of Meals
Low High • Ensure that service offered by the chefs meets high quality standards
• Multistep selection process of chefs • Only chefs with good reviews are retained • Ongoing Training & surveillance of chefs
Chefs undertake the business on their own
Medium High • Create added value for both chefs and consumers Consumers: • Customer service • Insurance • Well-selected chefs • Cancellation policies Chefs: • Free personal liability insurance • More reviews=better ranking=more bookings • Utilities (personalized cook’s jacket, dishes are provided) • Ongoing training (workshops, skills seminar) • Be part of Book-a-Cook network (exchange with other
cooks) • Cancellation polices (in case consumer cancels dinner,
refund for food expenses and time)
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Table 5: Potential issues and solutions
VIII.Marketing Mix A. Product/Service
Book-a-Cook is a platform providing professional chefs that cook at our customer’s
home. The philosophy is not only to provide a high class dinner cooked by a
professional in a personal atmosphere, but also to deliver an extraordinary and
unforgettable social experience. We want to merge the intimate atmosphere of a home
dinner party with the ease of walking into and food quality of a restaurant.
The name „Book-a-Cook“ was chosen due to its easy understanding of the
concept. The fact that it rhymes makes it catchy and memorable. An english expression
was chosen with the future internationalisation strategy in mind. The logo has an
appealing design showing a chef’s hat, a knife and a fork. (Appendix 3)
The website is designed as followed: On the first site, customers can search for a
suitable chef for their individual purpose. They select the city, date, number of persons,
type of food and price per person. A list of all suitable and available cooks ranked by
number of reviews and overall customer satisfaction appears. Each chef has a profile
presenting himself, his cooking style, specialities and sample meals. Moreover,
customers can review the chefs after the dinner. These reviews become part of the
Not enough registrations of chefs
Low Medium • Identify reasons for low registration rate (skepticism of new concept, lack of time or payoff issues)
• Customer service LiveChat, Telephone and Email to support chefs with their issues
• Establish a „Refer a cook program“ - for each cook that is recommended = bonus
• Work close together with Association of Chefs in Germany
• Improve communication of benefits for chefsNew competitor
High Low • Establish strong brand and loyal customer base • Retain chefs by offering incentives (free insurance, fair
bonus, support)
Issue Likelihood to Occur
Impact Solution
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profile. When booking a cook, consumers are asked to complete a checklist for the
kitchen facilities so that the chef knows exactly what he has to bring with him to the
cooking event. It is also possible to chat with the chef before booking in order to clarify
doubts or request modifications of the menus. The booking is completed by a secure
payment via Paypal or debit entry.
Our mission is to deliver a unique and unforgettable experience, both on social
and culinary level. We want to create a strong brand that consumers directly associate to
home cooking service. The brand wheel is illustrated in Appendix 4.
B. Price To develop an appropriate pricing strategy, we estimated our costs, compared
competitor prices and studied the customer’s willingness to pay.
The estimated costs per dinner include costs for ingredients, labor costs for the
chef and payment service fees. In a traditional restaurant, food and labor costs are both
around 25% of the total price (Appendix 5). A main dish in a competitive upscale 12
restaurant is priced on average at 40€, meaning that food and labor costs are both
around 10€.
Our strategy is to offer comparable menus, but with a premium price. Book-a-
Cook delivers added value to the customer. Since the chefs come to the customer’s
house to cook exclusively for him, the price should clearly be higher than a comparable
restaurant dinner. In the survey, the 42 participants (already filtered by our target group)
were willing to pay on average 65,15% more than for a normal restaurant dinner.
Therefore we consider to charge around €70 for a comparable meal priced at €40 in an
upscale restaurant. This price appears reasonable for the service delivered, since the
�18
" http://smallbusiness.chron.com/food-service-industry-labor-cost-standards-13911.html12
chef needs to buy the ingredients, prepare the dinner and travels to the client’s home.
The price for dinners on weekends and holidays is considered to be higher than for
dinners during the week. Book-a-Cook dinners start at minimum price of 160€ for 2
people. The price can go up unlimited, depending on the number of people, level of
exclusivity and customisation of the menus (Table 7). We assume an average price of
200€ for a three-course dinner for 4 people (50€ per person).
Table 7: Price list
C. Promotion !Due to the introduction phase of the service, education of consumers and stimulation of
demand are key. The aim is to create a strong brand that is immediately associated to a
home cooking service. Since Book-a-Cook is an online service, we focus on online
marketing. Appendix 6 illustrates milestones of promotion activities.
Online Marketing
We consider Content Marketing as our main strategy. „Content marketing is a
marketing technique of creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent
content to attract and acquire a clearly defined audience - with the objective of driving
profitable customer action.“ Since Book-a-Cook is a new type of service we have to 13
create interesting content designed for our target group in order to attract website
visitors and convert them into customers. The blog topics include food trends, recipes,
< 2 Persons
< 4 Persons
< 8 Persons
< 12 Persons
< 15 Persons
> 20 Persons
Minimum Price p.Person 80,00 € 40,00 € 30,00 € 25,00 € 20,00 € 15,00 €
Average Price p.Person 100,00 € 50,00 € 40,00 € 35,00 € 30,00 € 25,00 €
Maximum Price Person unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited
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" http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/13
restaurants and indoor design. By publishing our blog articles on social media channels
(FB, Twitter, google+, Instagram), we can reach our target group since 73,5% of it is
active on social media . Moreover, we establish partnerships with influential food and 14
design blogs in Germany. By doing so, we can publish our articles for free on their
blogs and reach a high number of people. In return, we publish free and valuable articles
written by our partners on our own blog.
Furthermore, the goal is to build an effective search engine optimisation
program (SEO) in order to achieve a high ranking in search engine queries. SEO is the
process of improving the traffic to a website from search engines via organic (unpaid)
search results. A good ranking is crucial, because „[…] the earlier a site is presented in 15
the search results, the more searchers will visit that site.“ To get organic search results 16
and thus a higher ranking on search engines, we develop an appropriate strategy. One
part of the SEO strategy is the content creation on our blog. The other part are linkings,
back-links etc., that have to be supervised and renewed on a regular basis by a
developer. Focusing on Inbound Marketing, we can effectively lower our CAC. 17
Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is a type of online marketing that seeks to
promote websites in order to increase their visibility in search engines through the
bidding on paid search listings. The two most relevant SEM types are Google Adwords
and Facebook Advertisements. Through Google Adwords we can reach potential
customers that are looking specifically for keywords like “Mietkoch“ (eng. rent cook),
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" http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/social-media/social-media-use-by-age-group/14
� http://www.dealerspan.com/themes/corp/tpl/content/services/SEO_Learning_Center.pdf15
� http://www.dealerspan.com/themes/corp/tpl/content/services/SEO_Learning_Center.pdf16
� http://trackmaven.com/marketing-dictionary/customer-acquisition-cost/17
“Koch zuhause“ (eng. cook at home), “privater Koch“ (eng. private chef). Since these
keywords have only a limited number of searches at the moment, which is due to the
unfamiliarity with this type of service, in the first year we focus mainly on Content
Marketing. However, to reach all the customers that look for these keywords, we set a
relatively small budget for the first year, increasing it annually due to the renown of the
service and potential competitors. Advertising on Facebook is effective since one can
exactly specify the target audience. Facebook offers specific advertisement target
groups, selecting the gender, age, education level, interests and geographic location of
people we want to reach.
Furthermore, a Refer-a-Friend program will be established. Customers that
invite their friends to use Book-a-Cook get a free Prosecco aperitif for their next dinner.
We project that 10% of all new customers are invited by a friend.
In order to generate more Facebook attention and likes, we establish several
Facebook Contests. Every 3 months, we give away a dinner for 5 people. Participants
have to like our Facebook page, share the photo and comment why they should win.
The one with the most creative reasoning receives the dinner. By commenting and
sharing the photo, we can attract attention and make our service go viral.
In order to install Book-a-Cook to the minds of our consumers, we develop an
effective Email marketing strategy. 3 months after a booking the customer receives an
email with suggestions for his next dinner party. Moreover, a newsletter is sent on a
regular basis in order to inform customers about new chefs and seasonal offers:
christmas dinners in the winter time, barbecues during the summer time. Through Email
marketing we create brand awareness and stimulate repurchases.
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Offline Marketing
PR promotion is needed in order to attract broad attention. This can be achieved by
inviting blogger and magazine representatives (food, lifestyle, design) for a Book-a-
Cook dinner. They write an article about their experience and present our service to
their readers. By inviting local press representatives, we can specifically create attention
in the cities where we launch our service and make Book-a-Cook go viral.
In order to reach a wide range of potential customers, we consider to establish
parcel advertising in year 2. With paketplus.de it is possible to select online shops by
consumer profile (interests, income, age, region) that distribute our flyers in their
parcels. Creating a specific flyer with a QR-Code that can be scanned by a mobile
device (smartphone/tablet) leads people directly to our website. We plan to establish
parcel advertising in the second year firstly after the launch of the App. Furthermore, in
year 2 we can reach a larger target group and reduce flyer production and distribution
costs (minimum 200.000 flyers).
D. Place Book-a-Cook is a service that can be booked online through our website book-a-
cook.de. Additionally, a mobile application will be launched for iPhone, iPad and
Android Advices in year 2. The application will be available for free on the AppStore.
IX. Budget The following P&L was created under several assumptions (Appendix 10). Marketing
expenses are listed and specified in Appendix 7, salaries in Appendix 8.
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Total operating revenues
685.625 € 2.213.641 € 4.354.789 € 7.798.974 € 12.751.508 €
COGS
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Table 8: P&L Year 1-5
!X. Controls To control the effectiveness of our marketing strategy, we establish several measures.
Food 102.844 € 332.046 € 653.218 € 1.169.846 € 1.912.726 €
Chefs 377.094 € 1.217.503 € 2.395.134 € 4.289.436 € 7.013.330 €
Payment Transaction Fee
5.742 € 18.539 € 36.471 € 65.316 € 106.794 €
Total COGS 485.680 € 1.568.088 € 3.084.823 € 5.524.598 € 9.032.850 €
Gross Margin 29,16 % 29,16 % 29,16 % 29,16 % 29,16 %
Investment Costs
Investment Chefs 5.940 € 19.170 € 37.710 € 67.500 € 110.340 €
Website & App Creation
32.500 € 0 0 0 0
Fixed Costs
Office Expenses 6.000 € 14.400 € 14.400 € 24.000 € 24.000 €
Legal & Account 4.800 € 7.200 € 9.600 € 12.000 € 14.400 €
Salaries 155.400 € 274.200 € 333.600 € 393.000 € 452.400 €
Marketing 26.814 € 79.482 € 132.829 € 189.194 € 254.610 €
Server 1.200 € 2.400 € 2.400 € 3.600 € 3.600 €
Website Maintenance 0 € 10.000 € 10.000 € 10.000 € 10.000 €
Software 500 € 500 € 500 € 500 € 500 €
Insurance Chefs 5.940 € 19.170 € 37.710 € 67.500 € 110.340 €
Total Expenses 724.774 € 1.994.610 € 3.663.572 € 6.291.892 € 10.013.040 €
Net Income Before Taxes (EBIT)
-39.148 € 219.031 € 691.216 € 1.507.082 € 2.738.469 €
Income Taxes 0 65.337 € 206.190 € 449.562 € 816.885 €
Net Income -39.148 € 153.694 € 485.026 € 1.057.519 € 1.921.583 €
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
KPI Issue Solution
Revenues Too Low • Identify reasons for low website traffic • Publish more blog articles per week • Adapt blog content to consumers need • Increase SEM budget
Number of Bookings Too Few • Identify reasons for few bookings • Analyze customer feedback via Live-Chat, Telephone &
Email • Increase marketing budgetNumber of chefs Too Few • Identify reasons for low registration rate • Increase communication of benefits for cooks • Establish „Refer a cook“ program
KPI Issue
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Table 9: Controls and Contingency Plan !We constantly analyse our customer feedback to identify weaknesses of our service and
improve/adapt our strategy. By integrating Live-Chat into our website, we can
constantly be close to our consumers and communicate with them.
XI. Conclusion & Recommendations With this strategic marketing plan, we are able to successfully launch Book-a-Cook in
Germany. Having analysed the opportunity, potential issues and an appropriate
contingency plan, we will be able to reach our marketing goals and establish a well-
known and profitable brand. In the future, we aim to extent the product line by offering
private home cooking classes. Furthermore, we launch a premium line for customers
looking for high end meals cooked by an Michelin-starred chef. We intend to
internationalise Book-a-Cook by expanding to Switzerland, Austria and France in
beginning of year 6.
!
Conversion Rate Too Low • Identify reasons for low conversion rate • Analyze customer feedback (Live-Chat, Telephone & Email) • Improve communication of benefits for consumers • Adapt pricing strategy • Improve website structure
Number of Website Visitors
Too Few • Publish more blog articles per week • Add other topics to be covered in articles • Increase advertising budget
Number of Facebook Likes
Too Few • Establish more Facebook contests • Increase Facebook advertisement budget • Publish more blog articles per week
Number of Twitter Follower
Too Few • Establish a twitter contest • Publish more blog articles per week
Number of Newsletter subscribers
Too Few • Analyze feedback from customers (reason for unsubscribe) • Offer discount for newsletter subscription
Customer Lifetime Value
Too Low • Expand product line • Offer more seasonal promotions to attract repurchases • Increase email marketing and brand awareness
Cost of Acquisition Too High • Reduce SEM budget • Focus more Content Marketing and PR (publish more
articles)
SolutionKPI Issue
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XII.Bibliography Bildung, B. (2015). Bevölkerung nach Altersgruppen. [online] bpb.de Available at: http://www.bpb.de/wissen/X39RH6,0,0,Bev%F6lkerung_nach_Altersgruppen_und_Geschlecht.html (Accessed January 3, 2015). !Carlson, N. (2013). Five Global Retail Trends That Will Shape 2014. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/trends-that-will-shape-retail-in-2014-2013-12?IR=T#ixzz3NTxzussn (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Content Marketing Institute, (2015). What Is Content Marketing? [online] Available at: http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/what-is-content-marketing/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Insights, B. (2013). Having It Their Way: The Big Opportunity In Personalized Products. [online] Forbes. Available at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/baininsights/2013/11/05/having-it-their-way-the-big-opportunity-in-personalized-products/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Lohnspiegel.de, (2015). Einkommen von Köchen in Deutschland. [online] Available at: http://www.lohnspiegel.de/main/zusatzinformationen/koechinnen-und-koeche (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Marketing Terms, (2015). Conversion Rate. [online] Available at: http://www.marketingterms.com/dictionary/conversion_rate/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Muller, C. and Woods, R. (1994). An Expanded Restaurant Typology. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 35(3), pp.27-37. !Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project, (2013). Social Media Use by Age Group Over Time. [online] Available at: http://www.pewinternet.org/data-trend/social-media/social-media-use-by-age-group/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !TrackMaven, (2015). Customer Acquisition Cost Definition. [online] Available at: http://trackmaven.com/marketing-dictionary/customer-acquisition-cost/ (Accessed 03 January 3 2015). !Dealerspan, (2015). SEO. [online] Available at: http://www.dealerspan.com/themes/corp/tpl/content/services/SEO_Learning_Center.pdf (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Small Business - chron.com, (2015). Food Service Industry: Labor Cost Standards. [online] Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/food-service-industry-labor-cost-standards-13911.html (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Statista, (2015). Internetnutzung in Deutschland (2001-2013). [online] Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/13070/umfrage/entwicklung-der-internetnutzung-in-deutschland-seit-2001/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Statista, (2015). Anzahl beschäftigter Köche in Deutschland bis 2013. [online] Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/243044/umfrage/anzahl-der-beschaeftigten-koeche-in-deutschland/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Statista, (2015). Umsatz steuerpflichtiger Restaurants in Deutschland. [online] Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/275544/umfrage/umsatz-der-steuerpflichtigen-restaurants-in-deutschland/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Statista, (2015). Entwicklung Gesamtbevölkerung. [online]. Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/2861/umfrage/entwicklung-der-gesamtbevoelkerung-deutschlands/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !Statista, (2015). In Städten lebende Bevölkerung. [online] Available at: http://de.statista.com/statistik/daten/studie/152879/umfrage/in-staedten-lebende-bevoelkerung-in-deutschland-und-weltweit/ (Accessed 03 January 2015). !!!
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XIII.Appendix
!
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Appendix 2: Restaurant Typology by $
Customer Decision Attributes
Price per main dish
Quick Service
Low price!Speed and time savings!Consistency
3-6€
Family/Midscale
Menu mix and choice!Value (price and portion size)!Comfort!Table and counter service
6-15€
Moderate Upscale
Fashion Statement!Ambience!Flexibility of use by key customer groups
15-25€
Upscale Style!Ambience!Service!Dining Experience
25-50€
Michelin Star
Exclusivity !Experience
>50€
Restaurant Dinner
50 %
25 %
25 %
Food Costs Labor CostsOverhead
Book-a-Cook Dinner
0,84 %
29,16 %
55,0 %
15,0 %
Food Costs Chef's Bonus Book-a-Cook Payment Fees
Appendix 5: Price Composition Book-a-Cook Dinner vs. Restaurant Dinner
Appendix 3: Logo Appendix 4: Brand Wheel
Appendix 1: Competitor Map
Source: Muller, C. and Woods, R. (1994)
Appendix 8: Salaries Year 1-5
Year 1!!
Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Support Chef 36.000 € 54.000 € 72.000 € 90.000 € 108.000 €
HR 18.000 € 54.000 € 54.000 € 54.000 € 54.000 €
Customer Support 54.000 € 90.000 € 126.000 € 162.000 € 198.000 €
Marketing 29.400 € 40.200 € 45.600 € 51.000 € 56.400 €
Photographer 18.000 € 36.000 € 36.000 € 36.000 € 36.000 €
Total 155.400 € 274.200 € 333.600 € 393.000 € 452.400 €
Appendix 7: Marketing Expenses Year 1-5
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5
Blog 5.400 € 16.200 € 21.600 € 27.000 € 32.400 €
Google Adwords 2.400 € 7.200 € 14.400 € 28.800 € 43.200 €
Facebook Advertising 12.000 € 36.000 € 60.000 € 72.000 € 84.000 €
Partner Blogs 0 € 0 € 0 € 0 € 0 €
Refer a friend 1) 4.114 € 13.282 € 26.129 € 46.794 € 76.510 €
PR 400 € 800 € 1.200 € 1.600 € 2.000 €
FB Contest 2) (4x im Jahr) 2.000 € 2.000 € 2.000 € 2.000 € 2.000 €
Email Marketing 500 € 1.000 € 1.500 € 2.000 € 2.500 €
Parcel Advertising 0 € 3.000 € 6.000 € 9.000 € 12.000 €
Total 26.814 € 79.482 € 132.829 € 189.194 € 254.610 €
CAC 7,82 € 7,18 € 6,10 € 4,85 € 3,99 €
1) Assuming that 10% of all new customers use this promotion. Costs are 1,5€ per person. Average dinner consists of 4 people. 2) Facebook Contests are organised 4x per year
Appendix 6: Milestones Year 1-3Y1 Y2 Y3
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Website Creation
Website Launch
App Creation
App Launch
Recruiting Chefs
Office
Online Marketing Blog
SEO
Google Adwords
Facebook Advertisment
Refer a Friend
FB Contest
Email Marketing
Offline Marketing PR Marketing
Parcel Advertising
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Appendix 9: Launch Plan Year 1-5
City Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Population
Berlin 3.375.222
Köln 1.024.373
Hamburg 1.734.272
München 1.388.308
Düsseldorf 593.682
Frankfurt a.M 687.775
Stuttgart 597.939
Dortmund 572.087
Essen 566.862
Bremen 546.451
Dresden 525.105
Leipzig 520.838
Hannover 514.137
Nürnberg 495.121
Duisburg 486.816
Bochum 362.213
Wuppertal 342.885
Bielefeld 342.885
Bonn 309.869
Münster 296.599
Gelsenkirchen 257.607
Mönchengladbach 255.087
Aachen 240.086
Krefeld 222.026
Oberhausen 210.005
Hagen 186.243
Solingen 155.316
Leverkusen 159.926
Mannheim 294.627
Augsburg 272.699
Karlsruhe 296.033
Wiesbaden 272.636
Braunschweig 245.798
Chemnitz 241.210
Kiel 239.866
Halle (Saale) 231.440
Magdeburg 229.924
Freiburg im Breisgau
218.043
Lübeck 211.713
Erfurt 203.485
Rostock 202.887
Mainz 202.756
Kassel 192.874
Saarbrücken 176.996
Hamm 176.440
Mülheim a. d. Ruhr
166.654
Ludwigshafen am Rhein
160.179
Potsdam 159.456
Oldenburg 158.658
Osnabrück 155.316
Neuss 151.486
City Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Population
Heidelberg 150.335
Darmstadt 147.925
Paderborn 143.575
Regensburg 138.296
Ingolstadt 127.886
Würzburg 124.577
Wolfsburg 121.758
Fürth 118.358
Ulm 117.977
Heilbronn 117.531
Offenbach am Main
116.945
Göttingen 116.945
Bottrop 116.650
Pforzheim 116.425
Recklinghausen 115.385
Reutlingen 110.681
Koblenz 109.779
Remscheid 109.352
Bergisch Gladbach
109.138
Bremerhaven 108.323
Jena 106.915
Trier 106.544
Erlangen 105.412
Moers 103.504
Appendix 10: Financial Assumptions 1. Food Costs are expected to be 15% of the sales 2. Chefs bonus is 55% of the sales 3. Payment fees are projected to be on average
0,84% (Paypal 1,5%+0,35€ of each booking, debit entry 0% assuming that 50% of consumers pay by Paypal, 50% by debit entry.
4. Each chef is excepted to have 1 dinner per week
5. For every chef an investment of on average 90€ is made (cook’s jacket with logo, dishes)
6. Corporate Tax Rate is 29.83% 7. Website Creation (20.000€) and App Creation
(12.500€) in Year 1 8. Office Expenses are 500€ per month in the
first year, 1200€ in the second and third year, 2000€ per month in the 4th and 5th year
9. Penetration rate is 1% in year 1, 2% in year 2, 3% in year 3, 4% in year 4, 5% in year 5
10. Insurance is 90€ per year per chef 11. Salaries are specified in Appendix 8
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