an imc campaign for pizzaexpress in hong kong...

An IMC Campaign for PizzaExpress

in Hong Kong 2006

NG Tsz Lok

A Project

Submitted

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements

For the Degree of

Master of Communication

Supervisor: Mr. Peter LAM

School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University

Hong Kong

July 2006

An IMC campaign for Pizza Express in Hong Kong 2006

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Acknowledgement

I would like to express my sincere thanks to my dissertation supervisor, Mr. Peter

LAM, for he devoted his valuable time in providing guidance for me to complete this

campaign proposal. His professional opinions enriched the content of this proposal in

theoretical studies, and the situation in the real business. The feasibility of this

proposal is therefore greatly enhanced by his kind helps.

________________________ NG Tsz Lok

M. A. in Comminication School of Communication

Hong Kong Baptist University Date: 3rd July,2006


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Abstract

This proposal presents a new Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) campaign

of PizzaExpress in Hong Kong. It is an attempt in employing the marketing

communication theories to the real practices. The main theme of this campaign is to

push up the social awareness and create a positive and pizza expert image of

PizzaExpress. The launched period will last until July 2007 starting from August

2006. The key elements of this campaign include advertisings, promotions, PR

activities, and evaluations. More than just a business plan or a communication

campaign, the proposal also gives the critical views on current IMC theories.

A situational analysis about PizzaExpress will following the introductory section and

gives an overview of the catering industry in Hong Kong and the evaluation of

PizzaExpress in Hong Kong. After that, the objects of this campaign will be shown in

chapter 4. Follow is the strategies that will be used in this campaign. The proposal

ends with a budget estimation and a simple conclusion. Some extra, and related

information used in this proposal will be pub in the Appendices section.


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CHAPTER 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY....................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2. SITUATION ANALYSIS.......................................................................................... 8

2.1. COMPANY ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 8

2.1.1. Company Background...................................................................................................... 8

2.1.2. PizzaExpress in Hong Kong............................................................................................. 9

2.1.3. What PizzaExpress Provides.......................................................................................... 10

2.1.4. Pizza Express’s Menu..................................................................................................... 10

2.1.5. Communication Programs of PizzaExpress ................................................................... 10

2.2. CONSUMER ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................... 13

2.2.1. The Target Consumers of the Campaign........................................................................ 13

2.2.2. Eating Habit of Target Consumers................................................................................. 14

2.2.3. Motivation of Eating Outside......................................................................................... 14

2.2.4. Expectations when Eating Outside ................................................................................ 14

2.3. MARKET ANALYSIS ............................................................................................................. 15

2.3.1. Overview of Hong Kong Catering Industry ................................................................... 15

2.3.2. Diversified eating style .................................................................................................. 16

2.4. BRAND ANALYSIS................................................................................................................ 17

2.4.1. Low Brand Awareness in Hong Kong ............................................................................ 18

2.4.2. Perceptions about the Brand.......................................................................................... 18

2.4.3. Catering Services in PizzaExpress................................................................................. 18

2.5. COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS...................................................................................................... 19

2.5.1. Pizza Hut........................................................................................................................ 20

2.5.2. Spaghetti House ............................................................................................................. 21

2.5.3. Pizza Box ....................................................................................................................... 23

2.5.4. California Pizza Kitchen................................................................................................ 24

CHAPTER 3. SWOT ANALYSIS .................................................................................................. 26

3.1. STRENGTHS ......................................................................................................................... 26


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3.2. WEAKNESSES ...................................................................................................................... 26

3.3. OPPORTUNITIES ................................................................................................................... 27

3.4. THREATS ............................................................................................................................. 27

CHAPTER 4. OBJECTIVES ......................................................................................................... 28

4.1. FUNCTION OF SETTING OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................... 28

4.2. THE DAGMAR APPROACH................................................................................................. 28

4.3. OBJECTIVE OF THE CAMPAIGN............................................................................................. 29

4.3.1. Increasing the Recognition Brand Awareness................................................................ 29

4.3.2. Create Brand Attitude .................................................................................................... 29

4.3.3. Increase the Recall Brand Awareness............................................................................ 30

4.3.4. Build up Wild Range of Business Partners .................................................................... 31

CHAPTER 5. INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (IMC) CAMPAIGN

STRATEGY OVERVIEW .................................................................................................................. 33

5.1. IDENTIFYING THE USE OF IMC ............................................................................................ 33

5.2. THE IMC TOOLS USED ........................................................................................................ 34

5.2.1. Advertising..................................................................................................................... 34

5.2.2. Interactive/Internet Marketing....................................................................................... 34

5.2.3. Sales Promotion............................................................................................................. 35

5.3. PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS .................................................................................... 36

CHAPTER 6. ADVERTISING STRATEGIES OVERVIEW ..................................................... 37

6.1. BUS ADVERTISING (CAR BODY, WITH WHEEL).................................................................. 37

6.2. PRINT ADVERTISING .......................................................................................................... 39

CHAPTER 7. INTERACTIVE/INTERNET MARKETING STRATEGIES OVERVIEW ..... 40

7.1. ONLINE MEMBERSHIPS ..................................................................................................... 40

7.2. INFORMATIVE WEB SITE ................................................................................................... 41

7.3. ONLINE FEEDBACK SURVEYS............................................................................................ 42

CHAPTER 8. SALES PROMOTION STRATEGIES OVERVIEW .......................................... 44


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8.1. PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM WITH FITNESS CLUB (TO) ..................................................... 44

8.2. PROMOTIONAL PROGRAM WITH CREDIT CARD COMPANY (TO) .................................... 46

8.3. MONTHLY LUCKY DRAW (CO).......................................................................................... 46

8.4. BIRTHDAY PIZZA (CO)....................................................................................................... 47

8.5. MINI PIZZA BUFFET........................................................................................................... 48

CHAPTER 9. PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS STRATEGIES OVERVIEW.......... 49

9.1. PRESS RELEASE ................................................................................................................. 49

9.2. DONATION .......................................................................................................................... 50

9.3. EVENT SPONSORSHIPS ....................................................................................................... 51

9.4. MEDIAS SPONSORSHIPS ..................................................................................................... 52

9.5. REPAY FOR SUPPORTING SOCIETY (好心有好報) ............................................................. 52

CHAPTER 10. EVALUATION PROGRAM OF THE CAMPAIGN....................................... 54

CHAPTER 11. SCHEDULE AND BUDGETS OF THE CAMPAIGN.................................... 57

11.1. SCHEDULE OF THE CAMPAIGN ............................................................................................. 57

11.2. BUDGETS OF THE CAMPAIGN ............................................................................................... 59

CHAPTER 12. CONCLUSION................................................................................................... 60

REFERENCE ...................................................................................................................................... 61

APPENDICES...................................................................................................................................... 63

APPENDIX 1: ONLINE QUESTIONNAIRE ABOUT PIZZA EXPRESS ......................................................... 63

APPENDIX 2: QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS ABOUT THE ONLINE SURVEY................................................. 69

APPENDIX 3: PROMOTIONAL MIXED OF PIZZAEXPRESS IN THE PAST 5 YEARS ................................... 73

APPENDIX 4: ADVERTISEMENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN ........................................................................... 74


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Chapter 1. Executive Summary

It is shown in Hong Kong economy yearbook (1999-2003) that the average spending

on eating by Hong Kong people was increasing from 2000-2003. Take 2003 as an

example, with the influence of SARS, the total revenue of catering industry in Hong

Kong was over 48 billions Hong Kong dollars. In the past few years, profit was

recorded in many restaurants, especially the brands which were well operated.

On the other hand, the statue of tradition Chinese food was swayed with the

diversification eating habit of Hong Kong people (Hong Kong economy yearbook,

2003). Hong Kong economy yearbook (2003) illustrated that western style food,

including Italian food, started to dominate the sense of taste of Hong Kong people.

PizzaExpress is a well known chain store in UK. In 2001, the first PizzaExpress outlet

opened in Hong Kong. The brands kept on expanding in the past few years. Recently,

there are total 4 successful outlets in HK. (At least 5-6 branches are under planning in

Hong Kong recently)The restaurant provides Italian food style and perfect decoration

to the customers. Positive comments are always realized (www.yahoo.com.hk, 2006;

www.openrice.com, 2006). Thus, from the sense of finance, reputation and the food

taste, PizzaExpress also shows its strength to competitive with the restaurants in Hong

Kong, especially the Italian restaurants and the brands with chain outlets. To

summarize briefly, it is believed that PizzaExpress, a well organized western style

restaurant is able to survive or even be benefited under these market conditions and its

strength.

http://www.yahoo.com.hk,

http://www.openrice.com,


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On be half of an advertiser, PizzaExpress is a new challenger in Hong Kong catering

industry which does not have a solid image, and its publicity is not high enough in

Hong Kong. And in financial sense, PizzaExpress is capable to support an IMC

campaign. Under these terms, opportunities and area are given to advertisers to. And it

is trusted that a well planned campaign can support the future expansion of

PizzaExpress in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Trade Development Council, 2006).

In this proposal, a one year IMC campaign of PizzaExpress will be illustrated. Firstly, a

situation analysis of the project will be presented. Then, the strategies used in the

campaign will be discussed in detail with some literary. And lastly, the summary of the

campaign and the future plan after the campaign will be drawn in the conclusion.


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Chapter 2. Situation Analysis

The situation analysis consists of the background information that will be used to

develop the campaign. The information here is well organized, structured, detailed

and focused. As this stage, all information will be divided into separated areas. It

helps to split up the work so that certain areas are not overlooked (Parente, 2004).

2.1. Company Analysis

It is usually more efficient to focus first on the company’s problems and opportunities

because a firm simply may not want to proceed in certain directions, regardless of

what consumers might want. The company analysis will consist of some basic ideas

of what the company is concerned with and what it represents. A good company

analysis provides a benchmark to keep the advertisers fro going off on a tangent,

pursuing opportunities the company will never consider (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch,

2004)

2.1.1. Company Background

The history of PizzaExpress began in 1948 when company

founder Mr. Peter Boizot MBE tasted his first pizza in

Florence. After returning to London in the 1960s, he realized

the lack of a big name of pizza in UK. The first PizzaExpress

restaurant was then set up in Wardour Street, in London Soho

in 1967. Year after year, more restaurants continued to open to

meet the hunger of Britons, even the people in the world, eager to taste authentic Italian

pizza. PizzaExpress was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1993. As


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one of the most successful private restaurant businesses in the world, three years later,

the restaurants, which were franchised, were bought back to give the Company greater

control in ensuring the brand went from strength to strength. This has led to the total of

330 restaurants in the UK and another 42 restaurants in other 13 countries, and it serves

16 million customers a year.

2.1.2. PizzaExpress in Hong Kong

A PizzaExpress franchise owned and operated under license by

PizzaExpress (Hong Kong) Limited. In 2001 Hong Kong's first

PizzaExpress restaurant opened its doors in Central's Soho

district. A year after the restaurant's opening by the escalator in

Soho, director and general manager of PizzaExpress

(Hong Kong) Limited Adrien Ellul planned an aggressive

expansion for the chain in Hong Kong. The gospel of

authentic Italian pizza had spread further with other

branches in Taikoo Shing, in Wan Chai's Three Pacific

Place building and in Tsim Sha Tsui Ashley Road in the past 5 years. And they are all

successful branches, significant profit was recorded. But in this stage, the coming 4-5

years, it is believed that only 5-6 outlets are planning to open (Hong Kong Trade

Development Council, 2006). It may be because of the total number of target

consumer in Hong Kong (adults who enjoy Italian pizza and perfect eating

environment) is limited. Also, the next “station” of PizzaExpress should be the

Mainland China.


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2.1.3. What PizzaExpress Provides

PizzaExpress is the perfect venue where to catch up with friends,

listen to cool jazz, talk business, or celebrate special occasions.

Above all, PizzaExpress is an elegant pizzeria serving the “best

pizza” in Hong Kong.

2.1.4. Pizza Express’s Menu

It is believed that “Pizza” is the main course of PizzaExpress. There are about 20

standard choices of pizza for the customers, which is about 50% of food choice in

PizzaExpress. They are all Italian style pizza (“thin”

pizza) which is made by olive oil, simple ingredients

and special sauces. The prices are around $100 each

(about 30cm diameter). Wines (20 choices, prices

depend on the brand of wine) and Desserts (10 choices,

about $40 -$50 each) are also the recommended specialty of PizzaExpress. Beside

these, the restaurants also provide antipizze (10

choices), insalata (10 choices), pasta (5

choices), and bianche (2 choices). It is

estimated that the average personal spending in

the restaurants is about $100-$120.

2.1.5. Communication Programs of PizzaExpress

In the past 5 years, PizzaExpress communicated with the Hong Kong public mainly

by the following programs:


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Fund Raising Activities

Since 2001 PizzaExpress has supported The Matilda

Sedan Chair Race Charities Fund (MSCRC Fund), who

distributes their donations to needy local charities, by

collecting money on behalf of customers who order the

Soho Pizza. Whenever a customer orders the Soho

Pizza, $5 is donated on their behalf to the MSCRC

Fund. Over the past five years the total has amounted to

more than $140,000. This scheme has proven so

successful that in 2002 PizzaExpress reached out to help the Chi Heng Foundation, a

group that sponsors the education of children in China that have been orphaned by

AIDS by using Peking Duck Pizza. So far, $44,000 has been raised.

School of PizzaExpress

Pupils, mainly below secondary, were

invited to visit the restaurants. During the

visit the pupils were guided by

experienced school leaders through the

running of a modern restaurant. The chefs

of the restaurant then taught them how to

make their own individual pizza. The

whole experience helps to bridge the gap between classroom theories and 'real life' as

the visit touches on subjects such as numeracy, geography, design, hygiene, food

technology, health and safety……


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Recipes from the Kitchen of PizzaExpress

“Recipes from the Kitchen of PizzaExpress” is

a cookbook published by Boxtree and available

at PizzaExpress restaurant for HK$138.

Customers can share the PizzaExpress

experience at home with it. The book shares the

expertise PizzaExpress have built up over the

past four decades, such as demystifying the

pizza-making process, inspiring pasta dishes, healthy salads (and the secret

ingredients of PizzaExpress famous salad), desserts and even wine suggestions to

accompany the meal.

Joint Promotional Programs

Joint promotional program was held

between PizzaExpress and MI Club. MI

Club is a promotion company who provides

an exclusive dining and shopping privilege

to their existing members. Another short

term promotion with Taxi was held in 2003.

The taxi fee, below $50 and the bill is over

$200, would be returned by the restaurant if

the customers travel to the restaurant by taxi.


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Print Advertising

Print advertisings were used in 2003 only. They were

mainly used to support the taxi promotion and the open

of Quarry Bay branch. The advertisements ran 3

months continuously in 1-2 monthly magazine(s). The

content was mainly feature style. It is estimated that

the totally rate is about $120,000. (App. 3)

2.2. Consumer Analysis

In the twenty first century, the marketing and advertising task will be far more

complex and competitive those 10 to 15 years ago. More than ever, marketing and

advertising people need to understand consumers (Engel et. al, 1994). Under

Parente’s (2004) suggestion, the consumer analysis will be divided into the following

5 parts:

2.2.1. The Target Consumers of the Campaign

In this campaign, the target consumer is the group of adult, 18-40, who works, studies,

or lives in the commercial area of Hong Kong. It is because:

ü The age group is chosen because they are the frequent consumers of Hong Kong

restaurants (Hong Kong Catering Industry Association, 2001).

ü From the mini survey, it is find that there is a positive relationship between the

travel habit and the brand awareness of PizzaExpress, x2 (1, N=80) = 7.092, p<0.05,

and the consuming intention to PizzaExpress of consumer, x2 (1, N=80) = 7.092,

p<0.05 (App. 2).

ü In financial sense, the chosen group can financially support themselves to enjoy


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PizzaExpress’ service, which is relatively high.

2.2.2. Eating Habit of Target Consumers

From the research of Hong Kong Catering Industry Association (2001), it was found

that Hong Kong people eat in restaurants (Chinese and non Chinese style, not fast

food shop) 5 times a week. They spend about $500 in the restaurants a week. A

similar result is found in the mini-survey (Appendix 2) of this campaign. 60% of the

target consumers reported that they spend over $80 eating outside 3 times a week. It

was also found in the mini survey that Italian food is in their list during eating outside.

And 80% of the respondents will eat outside with Italian food once a week.

2.2.3. Motivation of Eating Outside

The bright and clear economic condition of Hong Kong stimulated the expenditure of

the consumers. Also, the highly competitive environment of catering industry in Hong

Kong enhanced the quality of food and lowered the price of food in Hong Kong.

Superadding to the huge number and the diversification of the restaurants in Hong

Kong, eating outside may be faster, cheaper, and more convenient for Hong Kong

consumers (Hong Kong economy yearbook, 2000 & 2003). The data in Hong Kong

economy yearbook (2000) also indicated that Hong Kong people are the champion, 3

times of the running up, of eating outside in the world.

2.2.4. Expectations when Eating Outside

It is found in the mini-survey that people were looking for taste of food (100%),

restaurant decoration (100%), eating environment (81%), service quality (76%), and

the location for gathering (55%) when they spent over $80 eating outside. The result


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is much different to that of normal eating condition (without the condition of

spending over $80). In normal situation, quantity of food (79%), taste of food (72%),

fast serving (64%), and eating environment (52%) are the main considerations of the

consumers. From the data above, it is found that the quality of food, eating

environment, service quality and the suitability of being a location of gathering are

the most important considerations when running the restaurants which serve middle

class customers.

2.3. Market Analysis

The basic purpose of the market analysis is to determine the geographic areas that

warrant special attention, either because they are problems or because they are most

likely to respond favorably to the company’s market communication program

(Parente, 2004).

2.3.1. Overview of Hong Kong Catering Industry

The Hong Kong catering industry mainly included Chinese restaurants, non-Chinese

restaurants, and fast food shop (Hong Kong economy yearbook, 2003). With

reference to the data of Hong Kong economy yearbook (2003), at the beginning of

2004, after SARS, there were in total 10,264 restaurants in Hong Kong. 4,380 of them

were Chinese restaurant, 3,389 of them were non-Chinese restaurant, and 1,446 of

them were fast food shop. The industry occupies 167,962 of the Hong Kong labour

force. The total revenue from catering industry was about $4.8 billion. In normal, the

well managed restaurants, especially chain stores, were easier to survive in Hong

Kong.


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2.3.2. Diversified eating style

It was shown in Hong Kong economy yearbook (2003) that western style started to

dominate the catering industry of Hong Kong when compared with the past few years.

It is not a fortuitous result. Many data from the Hong Kong economy can reflect the

trend in an indirect way.

The import rate of rice and olive oil

From the data presented in Hong Kong economy yearbook (2000-2003); it was found

that the total import rate of rice has been decreasing since 1980s. The average intake of

rice, or related product, per person decreases from 78 kg in 1980s to 48 kg 2000s. And

it is believed that the diversification of food in Hong Kong is the main reason of the

decreasing trend (Hong Kong economy yearbook, 2003).

On the other hand, the import rate and selling price of olive oil, one representative of

western style food, keeps on increasing significantly. Eating healthier should be the

main reason for the phenomenon (Hong Kong economy yearbook, 2000-2003).

These statistical data imply that the sense of taste of Hong Kong people is changing, or

changed, from traditional Chinese style to diversification style.

The revenue from catering industry in Hong Kong

After the economy downturn of Hong Kong since 1997, the total revenue from the

catering industry maintains at a certain level, about 5.5 billions Hong Kong dollars.

The totally revenue from Chinese restaurant keeps on dropping from 2001 (3%) to

2002 (8%). The dropping was mainly due to the management strategies of the


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restaurant. Facing the economy downturn, many promotional programs were

implemented. The revenue was then affected. Oppositely, the revenue from other non

Chinese restaurants remained steady under the same economy condition. It is trust that

Chinese style food is not able to full fill the demand of Hong Kong people (Hong Kong

economy yearbook, 2000-2003).

Numbers of restaurants in Hong Kong

From 1999-2002, the total number of Chinese restaurant remained nearly unchanged,

about 4,000. But the number of non-Chinese Restaurant increased continuous in the

period of time. The number increased about 250 per year. Thus the sense of diversified

eating style of Hong Kong people is shown (Hong Kong economy year ook,

2000-2003).

2.4. Brand Analysis

In the brand analysis, the basic questions address how the aspects of the product

match up with consumers’ needs, wants, problems, and interests. Perception can be

more important than reality. It is up to the analyst to determine both what a brand is

and how it is perceived. There is often a difference between the external and internal

perception of the brand. Companies may think they understand how consumers think

and feel about their brand, but testing often proves otherwise (Pink, 1998).

After reference with the result of the mini survey and the online forums

(www.yahoo.com.hk, 2006; www.openrice.com, 2006), the following conclusions

about PizzaExpress can be drawn:

http://www.yahoo.com.hk,

http://www.openrice.com,


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2.4.1. Low Brand Awareness in Hong Kong

In the mini survey, only 35% of the respondents, target consumers, know

PizzaExpress. And only 50% of them have ever tried PizzaExpress. Haphazardly,

about 70% of them (respondents who know PizzaExpress) work, study, or live in the

commercial area where a PizzaExpress is nearby.

2.4.2. Perceptions about the Brand

It was found that PizzaExpress gives the following perceptions to their customers

(people who know the brand):

ü High class, for adult only

ü Serving “real” Italian pizza.

ü A location for gathering, having fun

ü Comfortable environment

2.4.3. Catering Services in PizzaExpress

The catering services, food quality, eating environment, and services, were widely

praised in online forums, especially the pizzas in the restaurants. Also, in the mini

survey, the rating on the quality of food, eating environment and the services are 4,

4.2, and 4 (out of 5) respectively and most of the respondents in the mini survey

mentions that PizzaExpress can specify itself from other Italian restaurants in Hong

Kong because the food taste and eating environment are totally different with other

Italian restaurants in Hong Kong. So, it is believed that the business style of

PizzaExpress is accepted by the consumers.

On the other hand, many visitors (50% in mini survey) thought that the price of


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PizzaExpress is acceptable. And it would be a more attractive choice if the price can

be lowered. Moreover, take away service with delivery is preferred (mini survey).

2.5. Competitive Analysis

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) mentioned that in developing the firm’s marketing

strategies and plans for its products and services, the manager must carefully analyze

the competition to be faced in the marketplace. To begin the competitive analysis,

firstly, it is important to identify the options consumers consider in their purchasing

decisions. These options include buying products that directly compete with each

other in the same generic category and products that only indirectly compete with

each other because they are in different categories (Parente, 2004).

To do a thorough competitive analysis, rival companies of PizzaExpress are

understood in depth. Because of the huge number of indirect competitors, restaurants

in Hong Kong, only direct competitors, some Italian restaurants in Hong Kong, will

be analyzed.


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2.5.1. Pizza Hut

Company Profile

ü Started business in 1958 at USA

ü Branches in over 40 countries

ü In 1981, started business in Hong Kong

ü Franchise store of Jardine Matheson & Co.

ü Over 61 branches in Hong Kong

Positioning in Hong Kong

ü Contemporary casual dining ambience

ü Uncomprising product quality that not only

appeals to consumers' taste, but also to their sight and

smell

ü Maniacal customer service

ü Creative product news

ü Value for money

ü Strengthen our position as a world class food

delivery leader in Hong Kong for pizza centered food

service occasion

Competitive Power

ü Competitive price

ü High level of media coverage

ü Strong financial strength


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ü Variety of food

ü Many branches in Hong Kong

ü Mature delivery services and team

Theme of the Newest

Comm. Program

ü Innovation the New Buzzword at Pizza Hut, 2006

ü Shawn Yu (余文樂), 2006

Comm. Programs have

been held

ü TVC advertising

ü Radio advertising

ü Print Advertising (magazine, wall, and public

vehicles)

ü Charity or educational visits

ü Joint promotion (media, banks, telecom, Hong

Kong Tourism Board and financial group)

ü Web pages

Average Media Spending

per Year ü $820,000,000

2.5.2. Spaghetti House

Company Profile

ü Started business at Hong Kong in 1979

ü a wholly-owned subsidiary of the CAFE DE

CORAL GROUP

ü 25 outlets in Hong Kong


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ü Outlets mainly locate in commercial area

Positioning in Hong Kong ü Variety of food, European style

ü Image of a European casual dining restaurant

Competitive Power

ü High level of media coverage

ü Strong financial strength

ü Variety of food

ü Many outlets in Hong Kong

ü Comfortable decoration of branches

Theme of the Newest

Comm. Program ü Perfect style of spaghetti (意粉教父), 2006

Comm. Programs have

been held

ü TVC advertising

ü Radio advertising


vehicles)


ü Joint promotion (media, banks, Airport Authority

Hong Kong)

ü Online membership and web pages


per Year ü $13,000,000


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2.5.3. Pizza Box

Company Profile


ü The exclusive franchisee of Domino's Pizza in

Hong Kong & Macau before 2003

ü Launched its own brand and franchise stores in

2003

ü 9 branches in Hong Kong

ü Provide delivery services only

Positioning in Hong Kong

ü Variety of food

ü Reliable delivery services

ü Provide 100% of satisfaction to all stakeholders

Competitive Power

ü Competitive price

ü Mature delivery service

ü Refreshment services

Theme of the Newest

Comm. Program

ü Delivery Expert, since 1985

Comm. Programs have

been held


vehicles)



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ü Joint promotion (media, hotel groups, and

catering groups)

ü Web pages


per Year ü $800,000

2.5.4. California Pizza Kitchen

Company Profile

ü Started business at USA in 1985

ü 180 branches in 27 states


ü Launches its own franchise stores

ü 3 branches in Hong Kong

Positioning in Hong Kong ü Variety of food, American style

ü Creative design of food

Competitive Power

ü Creative design of food

ü Variety of food

Theme of the Newest

Comm. Program

ü 只有感受，才能享受！, 2006


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Comm. Programs have

been held

ü Print Advertising (magazine, and wall)


ü Fund raising

ü (Joint) promotion (media)

ü Web pages


per Year ü $210,000


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Chapter 3. SWOT Analysis

SWOT is a common way to process the information we collect. It emphasis is often

on the company. Typically, there are 4 major sections in a SWOT analysis: Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (Parente, 2004). Strengths are firm’s

resources and capabilities that can be used a basis for developing a competitive

advantage. Weaknesses can be treated as the absence of certain strengths.

Opportunities refer to the new opportunities for profit and growth from the external

environment. And threats are presented from the changes in the external environment.

A SWOT analysis of PizzaExpress Hong Kong Limited will be drawn in this part.

3.1. Strengths

ü The food is being praised by the customers

ü After five years of operation, a better understanding of Hong Kong consumers

ü A worldwide brand and listed company

ü Unique food, especially pizza

ü Provide alcohol drinks

ü Financial strengths of expanding business

3.2. Weaknesses

ü The price is comparatively high

ü Lack of business partners, such as media groups, financial group….. in Hong

Kong

ü Lack of branches in Hong Kong


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ü Delivery service is not perfect

ü Brand awareness in Hong Kong is low

ü Not a member of local catering group

3.3. Opportunities

ü Market information can be obtained easily

ü Well developed information technology

ü Diversified eating habit of Hong Kong people

ü Hong Kong people always eat outside

ü Hong Kong people are willing to spend more on high quality food

ü Eating environment is the consideration of Hong Kong consumers

ü Italian restaurants are listed by Hong Kong consumers

3.4. Threats

ü The market trend can be changed easily

ü Diversified eating habit of Hong Kong people

ü High level of competitions, primary (Italian restaurants) and secondary (other

restaurants)

ü The prices of rental, material, advertising…... in Hong Kong are high


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Chapter 4. Objectives

4.1. Function of setting objectives

An objective is the desired end of an action what one expects to accomplish (Parente,

2004). With reference to Aaker et al. (1992), it was found that objectives serve several

functions in modern management. One function is to operate as communication and

coordination devices between the client, the agency account executive, the creative

team, copywriters, radio specialists, media buyers and the research specialists.

Secondly, objectives provide a criterion for decision making. If 2 alternative

campaigns are generated, one must be selected. Rather than relying on an executive’s

esthetic judgment, he or should be able to turn to the objective and select the criterion

that will most readily achieve it. And lastly, setting objectives make the campaign

evaluative. At the end of the campaign, that pre-selected measure is employed to

evaluate the success of the campaign and such success is increasingly how

advertising agencies are getting compensated.

4.2. The DAGMAR Approach

The approach, DAGMAR, in advertising with communication task is applied during

setting the communication objectives of this campaign (Aaker et.al 1992; Parente,

2004). In Parente (2004)’s explanation on DAGMAR approach, there are totally 5

steps in the approach. They are: Unawareness à Awareness à Comprehension and

Image à Attitude à Action. They discuss psychological constructs which exist

within consumer’s minds. And it is suggested the brand or the organization have to

climb these steps, so that the acceptance from the public can be gained through

communication task. Many worked examples, especially the brands with low brand


- 29 -

awareness, of DAGMAR approach were found in Aaker et.al’s (1992) findings.

4.3. Objective of the Campaign

With reference to the DAGMAR approach, 4 ordered objectives are set:

4.3.1. Increasing the Recognition Brand Awareness

Recognition brand awareness is when the awareness of the brand reminds you of the

category need (Elliott & Percy, 2005). In simply, you see the package or related visual

elements, and recognize the brand. Elliott & Percy (2005) explained that the reason

for selecting brand recognition as a communication objective is that consumers buy

the brand because they recognize it at the point of purchase.

It was found in the mini survey that the recognition or even the visual brand

awareness of PizzaExpress in Hong Kong was relatively low within the target

consumers group. In order to increase the purchase intention of the target consumers,

it is needed to increase the (visual) recognition brand awareness of the brand in Hong

Kong (Elliott & Percy, 2005). And it is trusted that, after the one year campaign, the

recognition brand awareness of PizzaExpress will be increased from 35% (from

mini survey) to 60%.

4.3.2. Create Brand Attitude

Besides the brand awareness, brand attitude must always be a communication

objective. If there is no brand attitude present among the targets consumers, there is

very likelihood it will want to buy the brand, since there must be something about the

brands that lead a person to purchase one rather than another (Elliott & Percy, 2005).


- 30 -

Ajzen & Fishbein (1975) treated brand attitudes as the understanding a person in

terms of how he evaluates a particular brand and its ability to satisfy what the

consumer is looking for in the brand. And they divided the brand attitudes into 4 main

elements. They are motivation that drives someone’s behavior, brief of the brand,

cognitive and affective components of the brands, other briefs (emotional) about the

brands/ products, and the relative concept of the brand.

With reference to the data from the mini survey and the web, the strongest brand

attitudes are the taste of the pizza of the brands, and the decoration of the restaurants.

In this campaign, the sense will be consolidated. Also, the sense of environmental

friendly and being the citizen of Hong Kong would be introduced since these themes

enhances the positive image of the brand (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004). In

concluded, the following brand attitudes would be introduced in the campaign:

ü Pizza Expert

ü Perfect Gathering Venue

ü Environmental Friendly

ü Be a Hong Kong Citizen

4.3.3. Increase the Recall Brand Awareness

“Recall brand awareness is when the category need occurs and you must

remember brands that will satisfy that need. When recall awareness is

required, the brand is not present.” (Elliott & Percy, 2005)

Elliott & Percy (2005) also stated that the first recalled brands will usually get the

business, because if the brands are not in customers’ list, it has very little

likelihood of being purchased. They explained the motivation (the principle of


- 31 -

memory) begins with the psychological principle Encoding Specificity, by the

psychologist Endell Tulving. Tulving (1983) described the principle that,

something to be retrieved from human’s memory, there must be a match or a

linked between the information encoded at the time of learning and the

information available when it is retrieved from his memory. Of course, the

principle is also at work with recognition brand awareness (Elliott & Percy,

2005).

From the mini survey, the recall brand awareness is relatively low when

comparing with its competitors, Pizza Hut, Pizza Express, and Spaghetti House.

Only 5% of respondent can recall the brand (Question 9). In order to coordinate

the confirmed future expands of the brand in Hong Kong, it is essential to

increase the recall brand awareness, so that the purchase power of the customers

on the brand can be increased. Under estimation, it is believed that the recall

brand awareness will be increased to 50% within the target group of

customers.

4.3.4. Build up Wild Range of Business Partners

Joint promotion enhances obtaining distribution and support fro new products,

maintain support for established products, and gain a priority for certain brands in

terms of display support, shelf position and advertising and other promotional

support (Parente, 2004).

To make the budget used more effectively, several joint promotion programs will

be held in the campaign. The financial group, keep fit center and some


- 32 -

restaurants would be chosen as the joint target. The joint experience enhances

the future development of the brand in the future since a brand cannot survive by

its own. The relationships with its various constituencies and publics carry a more

important role of a business (Parente, 2004).


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Chapter 5. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Campaign

Strategy Overview

5.1. Identifying the use of IMC

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) mentioned that, in the past few centuries,

mass-media dominated the promotional function in most companies. However, many

companies started to recognize the importance of IMC. They also illustrated several

number of factors underlie the move toward IMC by the markets, as well as the

advertising or marketing agencies. And they explained the trend is mainly based on

the rapid changing environment with respect to consumers, technology, and media.

And with reference to Parente (2004), IMC is a management concept that is designed

to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion,

public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than

permitting each to work in isolation. This approach seeks to have the company’s

entire marketing and promotional activities project a consistent, unified image to the

marketplace. Also, it also helps the companies identifying, communicating and

building relationships with their customers as well as other stakeholders such as

employees, suppliers, investors, interest groups and the general public. According to

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004), there are total six tools in IMC. They are:

ü Advertising

ü Direct Marketing

ü Interactive/Internet Marketing

ü Sales Promotion


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ü Publicity/Public Relations

ü Personal Selling

5.2. The IMC Tools Used

In this campaign, bases on the brand’s category, only Advertising, Interactive/Internet

Marketing, Sales Promotion and Publicity/Public Relations strategies would be used.

5.2.1. Advertising

Advertising was defined as the non-personal

presentation of the most persuasive possible

selling message to the right prospects for the

product or service by identified sponsor

(Jefkins, 1994).With the combination of

creativity, marketing research and economic media buying, advertising can achieve

the desired results within an acceptable budget. Many advertisings campaign cost

millions of pounds, but that relates to the size of the market and the volume of sales

required maintaining constant output of a factory’s production capacity (Jefkins,

1994).

5.2.2. Interactive/Internet Marketing

Interactive/Internet Marketing is a two-way communication

process in nature. It allows a back-and-forth flow of

information whereby users can participate in and modify the

form and content of the information they receive in real time.


- 35 -

The advances in technology and the developments have led the communication

through interactive media. Usually, the interactive media includes Internet,

CD-ROMs, kiosks, television…… (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004)

5.2.3. Sales Promotion

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) defined sales

promotion as the marketing activities which provide

extra value or incentives to the sales force, the

distributors, or the ultimate consumer and the sales

can be stimulated immediately. With reference to their findings, there are 2 main

categories of sales promotion. They are Customer-Oriented (CO) and Trade-Oriented

(TO).

They mentioned that CO is targeted to the ultimate

users of services or products. And the strategy, such as,

coupon, sampling, premiums, rebates, contests,

sweepstakes… enhances the immediate purchase

power of consumers and, thus, the short term sales can

be stimulated. For the TO sales promotion, the main

target is the marketing intermediaries, such as

wholesalers, distributors, retailers…In this sense,

promotional and merchandising allowances, price deals, sales contests… would be

used as tools, so that the sales of both parties can be increased.


- 36 -

5.3. Publicity and Public Relations

Publicity referred to non-personal communications regarding an organization product,

services, or idea not directly paid for or run

under identified sponsorship. It normally

comes in the form of news story, editorial, or

announcement about an organization and/or its

products and services by releasing news,

holding press conferences, publishing feature articles and photographs…… (G. E.

Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004)

According to G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004), public relations usually has a

broader objective than publicity, and it was defined as the management function

which measures the public attitudes, identifies the policies and procedures of the

organizations with reference to the public interest, and relative program of action to

earn public understanding and acceptance would

be held. From their findings, in normal, public

relations will be presented in the form of special

publications, participation of community

activities, fund-raising, and sponsorship of

events……As a result the image of the organization can be created, and reinforced.


- 37 -

Chapter 6. Advertising Strategies Overview

With reference to the internal strength of PizzaExpress, it is trusted that the direct

promotional budget of the company is limited. As a result, in this campaign,

advertising will not be used widely, since the advertising fee in Hong Kong is

relatively expensive when compare with other countries.

In this campaign, advertising (not include the joint promotional program) are mainly

used to create the recognition brand awareness of the public and push up the visiting

rate of the PizzaExpress web site.

6.1. Bus Advertising (Car body, with wheel)

According to Elliott and Percy (2004),

when recognition brand awareness is the

communication objective, the good visual

content is more important than the time

for processing. They also mentioned that

the exposure of the advertisements should

be appeared as closely as possible to point of purchase. And it is a good way to

create social awareness by big pictures. Also, Parente (2004) stated that an

attention-getting device can make the advertisements more memorable. With these

senses, bus, one of the most popular public transportation, is chosen as the

advertising media, attention-getting device, in the campaign since media exposure of

the advertising can be maintained by its points of arrival in commercial area. It is


- 38 -

trusted that social impact can be created if innovative design is used. Also, the

comparatively lower cost. The high media cost is also the barrier of choosing other

media.

Intention

ü Create recognition brand awareness of PizzaExpress within the

target group

ü Bring out brand attitude – PizzaExpress = Pizza Expert

ü Enhances the visiting rate of the web site

Message (s)

ü PizzaExpress logo

ü PizzaExpress Web page address

ü PizzaExpert

Activity (s) ü Bus body (with wheels) advertising will be used

Tactic (s)

ü Wheels will be used as the advertising media which is a new

media in Hong Kong and it is physically possible

ü To keep the sense of innovative, only 3 months of

advertisement will be placed and it is trusted that the target

recognition brand awareness rate can be reached after these 3

months

ü Pizza and the brand logo would be the main visual content of

the advertisement

ü Advertising will be focused on Hong Kong Island, since most

of the PizzaExpress outlets located in Hong Kong Island

ü Advertisements will be put on 30 buses, 10 cross harbour and

20 Hong Kong Island

ü The recognition brand awareness will be evaluated after 3


- 39 -

months. If the effect is significant, Kowloon buses would be used

also (coordinate with the business expands of PizzaExpress).

6.2. Print Advertising

Print advertising is only used to support the promotional program, since the print

media is expensive. Also, print media can reach the target group, especially small

group, more effectively (Reid and King, 2005).

Intention ü Push up the sales of the company within the period

Message (s) ü Basic information of the activities

ü Bring out the main theme of the activities

Activity (s) ü Advertisements will be put in publish medias

ü Poster at restaurants and business partners’ shops

Tactic (s)

ü 2 monthly magazines (used before) will be selected: Hong

Kong Magazine & Hong Kong Business

ü 1 page of advertisement will be put in magazines within the

month of the activities

ü For TO promotional programs, sharing of media spending

would be applied


- 40 -

Chapter 7. Interactive/Internet Marketing Strategies Overview

The recent web site of PizzaExpress is an informative web site. It provides the basic

information of the company, such as the history, and the menu…… No interactive

function can be found in the web page.

In this campaign, the function of the web pages will be modified. More interactive

functions will be implemented into the web page. These functions would be mainly

used to support the memberships, promotional programs, feedback collections, and

image reinforcement of PizzaExpress.

7.1. Online Memberships

Memberships program, not online based, was held in the previous years. It is trusted

that the company did communicate with its members regularly. The function of the

membership club is to retain the customers and at the same time, educate them to become the

PizzaExpress fan. It is important for a company to contact the customers directly. In this

sense, a 2 way communication channel has to be established (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch,

2004).

In this campaign, the membership will be modified to an online membership.

Convenience for joining can be provided if online based program is used. Also, the

online function helps to collect or spread the information faster, more directly and

more environmental friendy.

Intention ü Build up an effective 2 way communication channels to

PizzaExpress customers


- 41 -

ü Build up a pool of regular customers who are willing to

participate the activities which are organized by the company, such

as focus group discussion, taste testing……

Message (s) ü A fun and worthy membership

Activity (s) ü Online application

Tactic (s)

ü Target to adults only

ü Monthly newsletter will be sent to all members by e mail

ü 10% off for all members

ü Qualify to fill in some surveys (to gain more special offers)

ü Qualify for joining some member based promotional programs

and PR activities (will be discussed later)

7.2. Informative Web Site

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) mentioned that an attractive web site should be

creative, effective marketing and continual updated, otherwise, visitors would not go

to the website frequently.

As shown in PizzaExpress web site, only the

basic information of the company is

demonstrated. No marketing information and

up-to-dated information about the company are

shown. So it is planned that the web site will

be upgraded and updated frequently.

Intention ü Support all marketing, and PR activities

ü Maintain the visiting rate of the web site


- 42 -

Message (s) ü Up-to-dated information about the information

Activity (s) ü Frequent updating of the web site

Tactic (s) ü All promotional information will be posted

ü More press releases will be pasted

7.3. Online Feedback Surveys

Creating a valuable campaign is very important for campaign

practitioners. The feedbacks enhance the improvements of

future campaign. Also, for catering industry, the business is

highly relies on its services, including food, so feedbacks

collection from the customers is encouraged (Paisley, 2000).

Intention ü Feedbacks of different activities and the services of the

restaurants can be abundantly collects

Message (s) ü Get fun for giving feedbacks

Activity (s)

ü Feedbacks corners is created on the web site

ü Special coupons will be given to the feedback collections

participants

Tactic (s)

ü Promote the feedback collection in the restaurants or through

email for the members

ü Different coupons will be given to different feedbacks

collection participants

ü In order to create the sense of dignity of the membership, more

discount will be given to the participated members


- 43 -

ü Members will be invited to join some focus group discussions


- 44 -

Chapter 8. Sales Promotion Strategies Overview

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) illustrated that over the past decade, marketers have

been allocating more of their efforts to sales promotion. And they had found that a

steady increase in the use of sales promotion techniques to influence consumers’

purchase behavior. In this campaign, also, Sales promotion strategies, TO and CO,

will be widely used.

Besides pushing up the sales of the restaurants, the sales promotion strategies also

build up business relationships between PizzaExpress and other company, encourage

trial in PizzaExpress and gain cheaper (or even free) media exposures (G. E. Belch &

M. A. Belch, 2004).

8.1. Promotional Program with Fitness Club (TO)

1 Fitness Club, such as California, Physical… in Hong Kong will be invited to join

the promotional program. Fitness club is chosen because:

i. Target to same group of customers

Fitness clubs target to the group who can financially support themselves

(Average spending per month is ~$450). And with

reference to the location of the fitness clubs, it is trusted

that the group in the commercial area is also their target

customers.

On the other hand, from the result of the mini survey, the

intention of joining the fitness club is high (70%) within


- 45 -

the target age group of customers was shown. The main purchasing barrier of

the group is only the high monthly fee of the fitness club.

ii. Promote the Less-Heavy Pizza Image

It was proved that the PizzaExpress’s pizzas are

comparatively low calorie content. By using the

business positioning of the fitness club (Healthy),

the sense of less heavy pizza will be promoted.

Intention

ü Push up the sales (including trial) of both companies

ü Increase the recognition brand awareness within the target

group

ü Create the less-heavy pizza image

ü Increase the number of member in both companies

Message (s) ü Keep fit with delicious

Activity (s) ü Allowances will be given to companies visitors

Tactic (s)

ü 5% change of each meal in PizzaExpress will be directly used

to compensate the monthly fee in the fitness clubs. (Max. $80 per

month)

ü Only PizzaExpress member can enjoy the joint promotion

ü The fitness club is responsible for all (or at least 70%) media

spending of the program

ü More club will be cooperated if positive result is gained in this

program

ü Posters will be put in PizzaExpress restaurants


- 46 -

8.2. Promotional Program with Credit Card Company (TO)

All card users are the group with (or potentially

with) stable income. The target customers of

PizzaExpress are included in this group also. So it is

valuable to cooperate with card company.

Moreover, the advertising spending can be well control since the spending is based

on the sales of company (in most case).

Intention

ü Push up the sales of the companies

ü Increase the recognition brand awareness within the target

group

Message (s) ü Using credit card in PizzaExpress, you will have discount

Activity (s) ü Providing discount to card user

Tactic (s)

ü 15% off discount will be provide to the card users

ü Steady media coverage should be provided by the card

company (corresponding to steady business of PizzaExpress)

ü Related notices will be put in PizzaExpress restaurants

8.3. Monthly Lucky Draw (CO)

It is the activity for PizzaExpress member only. The membership

based activities can enhance the dignity of the membership.

Also, the monthly newsletter will be checked more detail by the

customers since premium will be provided (Jefkins, 1994).

Since the prizes is the food of PizzaExpress, it is trusted that this

scheme will push up the sales, or even the whole business of the company although


- 47 -

the relative spending on the prizes is high (Jefkins, 1994).

Intention

ü Increasing the reading rate of the monthly newsletter

ü Increase the sales of the company

ü Create the sense of Pizza Expert

Message (s) ü Answer a simple question to win a free pizza

Activity (s) ü Promote the lucky draw by monthly newsletter

Tactic (s)

ü Members will be ask to answer a simple question about the

content of newsletter for joining the monthly lucky draw

ü All participants will receive a free soft drink in the month

ü A free pizza will be given to the lucky draw winners

ü 10% of the participants will be selected as the winners each

month

ü Promotional advertising will be put in PizzaExpress web page

8.4. Birthday Pizza (CO)

Celebration of birthday always holds in restaurant. Such

type of celebrating activities is surely welcome in

PizzaExpress. To show the sense of welcoming, Birthday

Pizza Program will be held.

Intention ü Create the image – PizzaExpress is a place for celebrating

Message (s) ü Having fun in Birthday

Activity (s) ü Free food will be given to the customers

Tactic (s) ü 1 free pizza will be given to each birthday person


- 48 -

ü 1 free soft drink will be given to each participants of the

“party”

ü Promotional advertising will be put in homepages and monthly

newsletter

ü Notice will be put in PizzaExpress restaurants

8.5. Mini Pizza Buffet

Event marketing is a type of promotion where a themed

activity is developed for the purpose of creating

experiences for consumers and promoting a product as

well as service (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004).

The Mini Pizza buffer is a short term (23 and 24 of Dec.)

promotional program. It will only be organized again if positive feedbacks are

obtained.

Intention

ü Create the image of pizza expert

ü Push up the sales of company during Christmas

ü Develop the diversify of the business

ü Create the image of celebrating

Message (s) ü Having party in PizzaExpress

Activity (s) ü Buffet in the restaurant during Christmas

Tactic (s)

ü Advertising will be put in magazines

ü Discount will be given to early booking customers

ü Pizza, mini in size, will be treat as the main source of the buffet


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Chapter 9. Publicity and Public Relations Strategies Overview

Publicity takes a reactive role in the market communication program. It involves

elements which are controllable (Press release and the management of information)

and uncontrollable (information from the media). Bu using publicity, credibility, news

value, significant word-of-month communications, and a perception of being

endorsed by the media would be gained (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004).

G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch (2004) proved that the role of public relations is becoming

more and more important in many organizations. And they also found that public

relations is always treated as the supporting system/department in an organization by

providing a value-added customer service, building brand-to-customer bonds,

increasing the credibility of the company, and building the image of the organization.

9.1. Press Release

Press Release from PizzaExpress in magazines and newspaper would be used as the

supporting media of some PR activities.

With reference to Jefkins (1994), Press release can create in-depth coverage and

permanence which are not easily found in radio or television advertising. Also, the

press release can cover various subjects, including some statistic information which

can show the success of the company in certain extents.

On the other hand, all releases will be put in specific publish medias since wastage

would be found if the idea of the advertising can not reach to the target group

effectively (Reid and King, 2005).


- 50 -

Intention

ü Support the PR activities

ü Gain public awareness

ü Create the brand images

Message (s)

ü Detail explanations of the activities

ü Bring out the main theme of the activities

ü Future plan of the company

Activity (s) ü Advertising with feature article will be put in publish media.

Tactic (s)

ü Advertising will be put as soon as possible after each activities

ü 2 monthly magazines (used before) will be selected: Hong

Kong Magazine & Hong Kong Business

ü 2 pages of spacing will be bought after the month of the

activities

9.2. Donation

Being the citizen of Hong Kong, and profitable

company in Hong Kong, it is need to support the

charity groups, so that positive image and some free

media can be gained.

Intention

ü Gain public awareness and positive image

ü Gain free media

ü Push up the sales of pizza

Message (s) ü Buying pizza to help the charity groups

Activity (s) ü Donation to charity groups seasonally


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Tactic (s)

ü $5 from the charge of meal will be donated to charity groups

for every pizza order

ü Half of the services change will be put into the fund of

PizzaExpress, which is used to sponsor the charity activities

9.3. Event Sponsorships

Many marketers are attracted to event sponsorship because it gets their company

name in front of consumers, focus to the target segments, and support promotional

programs (G. E. Belch & M. A. Belch, 2004).

Intention

ü Create positive image of the company

ü Build up positive relationships with different parties

ü Gain free media

ü Build up the diversity business

Message (s) ü PizzaExpress always support charity

ü PizzaExpress always support having fun during meal

Activity (s) ü Sponsor the catering service of activities

ü Sponsor the spending of the activities

Tactic (s)

ü Cooperate with the charity groups to organize charity activities,

such as some visiting, tree planting…

ü Sponsor some parties in charity groups, such as birthday party

in orphanages, parties in social services centers…

ü Sponsor the catering service of other organization’s charity

activities or parties (Especially the media group)

ü At lease 6 events will be sponsored to charity groups, 6 events


- 52 -

will be sponsored to other organizations

9.4. Medias Sponsorships

To show the image of Pizza Expert, the “Kitchen

Corner” of Headline Daily (part of main content)

will be sponsored Headline Daily is chosen

because its distributing points are mostly in

commercial area which can reach to the target

customers of PizzaExpress more effectively.

Also, sponsor the main content is cheaper than pasting the advertisements in the

media (with reference to the rate card of the media).

Intention ü Create the image of pizza expert

Message (s) ü Cook teaching

Activity (s) ü Sponsor the main content of the newspaper

Tactic (s)

ü Sponsor the Kitchen Corner every 2 weeks

ü Steps for cooking Italian food, mainly pizza, will be put in the

corner

ü Some information about Italian food, such as the gradients,

history…will be put in the corner

9.5. Repay for Supporting society (好心有好報)

Support to the charity should be praised. The program is used to support the sense.

Intention ü Create positive image of the company


- 53 -

ü Create social awareness

Message (s) ü Repay for Supporting Charity (好心有好報)

Activity (s) ü Giving prizes, soft drinks, to the customers

Tactic (s)

ü A free drink will be given to the customers who can show the

sense of support the society

ü Supporting the society include: flag buying, using own

shopping bags, using handkerchiefs, recycling……


- 54 -

Chapter 10. Evaluation Program of the Campaign

Evaluation is the critical factor in marketing success. It gives business some means of

control over the tremendous sums of money spent on marketing communications.

Also, a thorough and accurate evaluation strengthens the morale of the internal and

external people working on the campaign (Burneet, 1993).

According to Parente (2004), there are 4 (at least) stages of a campaign during which

it is common to use some type of evaluative testing. These concepts will be applied

into this campaign also.

i. At the beginning of the creative process (Concept Testing)

The testing is designed to estimate (not evaluate) the effectiveness of the strategies.

The testing tends to somewhat exploratory in nature, although tentative ideas and

concepts have been developed, such as the product names, slogans, campaign

themes……The information obtained from the testing is generally used to firm up

message strategies and the next step in the campaign is to execute the strategies. In

this campaign, focus groups discussion and one-on-one interviews will be held on

before the execution of the strategies. In order to save the budgets, and make an

accurate results, concept test for each elements of the campaign will be held

frequently when the memberships of PizzaExpress is built up.

ii. In the middle and at the end of the creative process (copy testing)

Copy testing is used to predict the effectiveness of an advertisement or a campaign. It

also helps understanding the advertisement or campaign so it can be developed


- 55 -

further. In most case, in this campaign also, focus group discussion will be held when

all the idea and visual elements are built up.

iii. While the advertising is appearing in the media (concurrent testing)

There are two basic types: tracking studies, and coincidental studies. Tracking studies

are often the major part of concurrent testing, or even in marketing communication

campaign, in this campaign also. Tracking studies work best when they are part of an

ongoing information-gathering system. The basic idea behind tracking is to keep in

close contact with what consumers are thinking, feeling, and doing. Usually,

awareness, attitude, communication playback, reported product usage, and product

satisfaction are usually the information that the companies interested in. On the other

hand, coincidental studies are designed to evaluate advertising and media usage by

using some simple interviews or survey.

Since the web site of PizzaExpress will be well developed, the concurrent testing will

be mainly carried out by internet. Also, feedback forms will be collected in

PizzaExpress restaurants. But it is not encouraged, since disturbance will be caused to

the customers.

iv. After the advertising/campaign has appeared in the public (posttesting)

It is important for the companies to have a thorough understanding of which aspects

of the campaign have gone well, which should be replaced or improved, and which

should be avoided in the future. These understandings extend to the people working

on the campaign. Recognition, recall, attitudes and awareness, sales, and enquiries are

always evaluated in posttesting.


- 56 -

The 4 elements mentioned above will be tested after the campaign, especially the

recognition, recall, and the awareness, which are the main objectives of the campaign.

They will be tested and measured by using survey, and some experimental testings.


- 57 -

Chapter 11. Schedule and Budgets of the Campaign

11.1. Schedule of the Campaign

The campaign will last for 1 year. It will be started from August 2006 to July 2007.

The first 2 months will be used for preparation. The most important work in this stage

is to build up an attractive and functional web site of PizzaExpress, since the tactics

(marketing or evualations) are highly relied on the web site. Also it is also very

important to have a copy testing to test about the effectiveness of the advertising

strategies because in this campaign, one of the most expensive spending is the media.

After the preparation stage, all tactics mentioned in the previous chapters will be held

with the reference to the DAGMAR Approach, which had been discussed in chapter 4

of the proposal. In most period, the elements will be held in the same time and

support each other. And for some short term strategies, if the positive result is

significantly shown in the posttest followed, the strategies would be repeated in the

later stage. The detailed scheduling of the campaign will be presented by the

following charts


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11.2. Budgets of the Campaign

It is estimated that the campaign cost about 1.5 million Hong Kong dollars, and half

of the cost is based on the sales of the company. The detail of the cost will be

presented in the following table.

Item Unit Price Duration Frequency

(per month)

Total Price

Bus Advertising (Island) $2,500/month 3 months 20 $150,000

Bus Advertising (Cross Harbour) $4,000/month 3 months 10 $120,000

Print advertising $35,000/time 1 month 7 $245,000 Web site build up

(include membership maintain)

$150,000 / / $150,000

Promotion with Fitness club $80 7 months 500 $280,000

Promotion with Card Company $100,000/year 7 months / $100,000

Birthday Pizza $100/time 10 months 15 $15,000 Donation $5/pizza 10months 10000 $50,000

Events Sponsor $100,000 / 12 $120,000 Media Sponsor $5,000 10 months 4 $200,000

Repay for Supporting society (好心有好報) $5 12 months 300 $18,000

Total: $1,448,000 Table 11.b: Budgets of the campaign


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Chapter 12. Conclusion

PizzaExpress has entered the Hong Kong market for about 5 years. However, keen

competitions rise by the competitors, so the competitive power of PizzaExpress

became low and forces PizzaExpress to be outstanding.

It is found that Hong Kong customers do not perceive a clear image towards

PizzaExpress. It is time for PizzaExpress to re-establish its position in the market and

reinforce its solid image towards consumers.

With the analysis of situation, demarcation of the problems and opportunities, target

market and objectives, a whole set of 1 year integrated marketing communication

strategy of 2006 -2207, such as advertising and public relations strategies, are designed

for addressing the target markets of the PizzaExpress. It is expected that after launching

of campaign and with the campaign evaluation, the campaign objectives are found to

be obtained successfully, with the raise of awareness of the company, the attitudes and

perception of consumers will be changed to positive and also the key message

PizzaExpress = Pizza Expert is built in all consumers’ mind.


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Reference

A market hungry for brand-name pizza (2005). Retrieved July 1 2006, from Hong

Kong Trade Development Council database.

Aaker, D.A., Batra, R. & Myers, J.G. (1992). Advertising Management (4th Edition).

New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Internation, Inc.

Ajizen, I. & Fishbein, M. (1975). Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Behavior: An

Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, Mass: Addison-Wesley

Belch, G.E. & Belch M.A. (2004). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated

Marketing Communications Perspective (6th Edition). USA: McGraw-Hill.

Burnett, J.J. (1993). Promotion Management. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Economic Information & Agency. (1999-2003). Hong Kong economy yearbook

(1999-2003). Economic Information & Agency

Elliott, R. & Percy L. (2005). Strategic Advertising Management (2nd Edition). UK:

Oxford University

Engel, J.F., Kinnear, T.C. & Warshaw, M.R. (1994). Promotional Strategy: Managing

the Marketing Communication Process (8th Edition). Burr Ridge


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Hong Kong Catering Industry Association. (2001). 全面禁煙建議: 香港飲食及酒店

業面對的問題. Hong Kong

Jefkins, F. (1994). Advertising (3rd Edition). Singapore: Pitman

King W.K .& Reid L.N, (2005). Local Advertisers Say Cost Less Important Than

Media Effects. Newspaper Research Journal.thens: Spring 2005

Vol.26, Iss. 2/3; pg. 27

Parente, D. (2004). Advertising Campaign Strategy (3rd edition). USA: South-Western,

Thomson.

Pink, D.H. (1998). Metaohor Marketing. pp214-229

Tulving, E. (1983). Elements of Episodic Memory. UK: Oxford University

Paisley, W. J. (2000). Public Communication Campaigns. In Ronald E. R. & Charles K.

A.(2000), Public Communication Campaigns. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage

Publications


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Appendices

Appendix 1: Online Questionnaire about Pizza Express

A. Eating Habit 1. The eating style of Hong Kong people, especially age of 18- age of 40, is:

l Chinese style l Western style l Diversified style

_____________________________________________________________________ 2. How many time(s) will you spend about or over $80 on eating outside in group?

l 1 time a week l 2 times a week l 3 times a week l More than 3 times a week l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 3. Normally, which of the following matter(s) will be under your consideration

when you eat outside? l Taste of food l Quantity of food (Make you full?) l Nutrition of the food l Restaurant Decoration l Eating environment (Crowd? Noisy?) l Service quality l Location for gathering l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 4. When you spend about or over $80 for a meal, which of the following matter(s)

will be under your consideration when you eat outside? l Taste of food l Quantity of food (Make you full?) l Nutrition of the food l Restaurant Decoration l Eating environment (Crowd? Noisy?) l Service quality l Location for gathering l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 5. Is the Italian food in your menu of eating when you eat outside in group?

l Yes l No

If “No” is chosen, please go to Q9


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_____________________________________________________________________ 6. How many time(s) do you eat Italian food outside?

l 1 time a week l 2 times a week l 3 times a week l More than 3 times a week l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 7. To continuous, how much, in average, do you spend in each time?

l $0-$50 l $51-$100 l $101-$150 l Over $150

_____________________________________________________________________ 8. To continuous, the reason(s) for resorting (光顧) the Italian Restaurant is/are?

l Taste of food l Quantity of food (Make you full?) l Nutrition of the food l Restaurant Decoration l Eating environment (Crowd? Noisy?) l Service quality l Location for gathering l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ B. About PizzaExpress 9. Which brand(s) do you know?

l Pizza Hut l Spaghetti House l PizzaExpress l Pizza Box l Italian Tomato l California Pizza Kitchen

_____________________________________________________________________ 10. To continuous, any other Italian restaurant you can raise out? If “ PizzaExpress” was not chosen in Q9, please go to Q20 _____________________________________________________________________ 11. The image(s) of PizzaExpress is/are?

l High class, for adult only l Serving “real” Italian food l A location for gathering, having fun l Comfortable environment


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l Others _____________________________________________________________________ 12. Have you ever tried PizzaExpress?

l Yes l No

If No is chosen, please go to Q19 _____________________________________________________________________ 13. The rating on the food of PizzaExpress is? (1=very bad, 5=very good) 1 2 3 4 5 _____________________________________________________________________ 14. The rating on the eating environment of PizzaExpress restaurants is? (1=very bad,

5=very good) 1 2 3 4 5 _____________________________________________________________________ 15. The rating on the quality of service provided at PizzaExpress restaurants is?

(1=very bad, 5=very good) 1 2 3 4 5 _____________________________________________________________________ 16. Any other comment to PizzaEspress?

l Yes l No

_____________________________________________________________________ 17. Do you think PizzaExpress can specify itself from the Italian restaurants in Hong

Kong? l Yes l No

_____________________________________________________________________ 18. To continuous, why? _____________________________________________________________________ 19. How do you know PizzaExpress? By:

l News related l Print Advertising (magazine and newspaper) l Print Advertising (direct post) l Internet advertising l Friends introduced l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 20. How do you know the Italian restaurants in Hong Kong? By:

l News related


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l TV advertising l Print advertising (magazine and newspaper) l Print advertising (direct post) l Internet advertising l Friends introduced l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ C. Others 21. Are you the member of a gym club?

l Yes l No

_____________________________________________________________________ If No is chosen, please go to Q 23 _____________________________________________________________________ 22. Do you want to join a gym club?

l Yes l No

If No is chosen, please go to Q25 _____________________________________________________________________ 23. The joining fee is the main obstruct of joining a gym club?

l Yes l No

If Yes is chosen, please go to Q25 _____________________________________________________________________ 24. To continuous, why don’t you join a gym club? _____________________________________________________________________ 25. Take away service is important to Italian restaurants?

l Yes l No

_____________________________________________________________________ 26. To continuous, why? _____________________________________________________________________ 27. Take away service with delivery (送遞) is very important to Italian restaurant?

l Yes l No

_____________________________________________________________________ 28. To continuous, why? ____________________________________________________________________


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_ 29. Do you want to try cooking Italian yourself? (All material needed are provided) _____________________________________________________________________ D. Personal Information 29. How old are you?

l Below 18 l 18-25 l 25-32 l Above 32

_____________________________________________________________________ 30. What is your education level?

l Primary l Secondary l Non Degree Tertiary l Degree or above

_____________________________________________________________________ 31. What is your job nature?

l White-collar l Blue-collar l Student with part time job l Student without part time job l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 32. Where do you work/learn?

l Causeway bay and Wan Chai Area l Central l Taikoo Shing l Tsim Sha Tsui l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 33. Where do you live?

l Causeway bay and Wan Chai Area l Central l Taikoo Shing l Tsim Sha Tsui l Others

_____________________________________________________________________ 34. How much do you earn per month?

l $0 l $1-$5000 l $5001-$10000 l $10001-$15000 l $15001-$20000


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l Above$20000 _____________________________________________________________________


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Appendix 2: Quantitative Analysis about the online survey

An internet survey was conducted during May 2006 – June 2006. 80 Hong Kong

residents were invited to participant the survey. They are all in the age group of 18 – 40

with steady income $7,000 - $20,000.

In the survey, they are asked to answer all questions of the questionnaire.

Part A: Eating Habit

ü 90 % of respondents thought diversify was their eating style.

ü In average, for average spending more than $80, 60% of the respondents

mentioned that they would eat outside 3 times a week, 10 % of them would eat outside

more than 3 times a week, 20% of them would eat outside 2 times a week, and 10 % of

them would eat outside 1 time or less than 1 time a week.

ü 60% of the respondents mentioned that Italian food is in their food list. Within the

group, 80% of them mentioned they would eat Italian food at least 1 time a week. And

90% of them would spend over $100 eating Italian food each time.

ü In normal case (not consider the spending), the following factors are the main

considerations of the respondents: taste of food (100%), restaurant decoration (100%),

eating environment (81%), service quality (76%), and the location for gathering (55%)

when they spent over $80 eating outside.

ü In the case of spending over $80, the following factors are the main considerations

of the respondents: quantity of food (79%), taste of food (72%), fast serving (64%), and

eating environment (52%) are the main considerations of the consumers. The result is

similar to that of eating in Italian restaurants.

Part B: About PizzaExpress

ü Within the most popular Italian restaurants in Hong Kong, Pizza Hut and

Spaghetti House have the highest recognition brand awareness (100%) within the

target group. Followed are PizzaBox (60%) and Italian Tomato (50%). The lowest are

PizzaExpress (35%) and California Pizza Kitchen (30%).

ü PizzaExpress gave the image of high class, for adult only (80%), confortable

environment (75%) serving “real” Italian pizza (65%), and a location for gathering, and

having fun (50%) within the group which knows the brand and 60% of them mentioned


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that PizzaExpress could specify itself from other Italian restaurants, especially the

dominators, in Hong Kong based on its food taste and the eating environment.

ü The rating on the quality of food, eating environment and the services are 4, 4.2,

and 4 (out of 5) respectively (For the group which had tried PizzaExpress before).

ü Most of the respondents knew PizzaExpress (the brand) by introduction of friends

and walk in experience. Only 10% of them knew the brand by advertising.

ü All respondents knew the other brand (Italian restaurants) by its advertising and

walk in experience.

ü 50% of the respondents mentioned that PizzaExpress would be a better choice if

the price of food is lower.

Part C & Part D: Others Finding

ü 70% of the respondents showed the intention of join fitness club in Hong Kong

ü Within this group, 90% of people thought the monthly fee of the club is expensive

ü 85% of the respondents though the take away services is important for an Italian

restaurant

ü 70% of the respondents thought that take away service with delivery is important

for an Italian restaurant.

ü Only 20% of respondents showed the intention of cooking Italian (all materials

are provided) himself/herself.

ü The relationship between the traveling location of the respondents and the

recognition brand awareness of PizzaExpress analyzed by SPSS.

Chi-Square

Relationship between the travel location of the survey responds and the

recognition brand awareness of PizzaExpress

Research Hypothesis

There is significant dependence between respondents who always travel to commercial

area (with PizzaExpress outlet) with regard to the recognition brand awareness of Pizza

Express.


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Data analyses (by SPSS) Case Processing Summary

Cases

Valid Missing Total

N Percent N Percent N Percent

Location * Choice 80 100.0% 0 .0% 80 100.0%

Location * Choice Crosstabulation

Count

Choice

1.00 2.00 Total

1.00 23 27 50 Location

2.00 5 25 30

Total 28 52 80

Chi-Square Tests

Value df

Asymp. Sig.

(2-sided)

Exact Sig.

(2-sided)

Exact Sig.

(1-sided)

Pearson Chi-Square 7.092(b) 1 .008

Continuity Correction(a) 5.861 1 .015

Likelihood Ratio 7.563 1 .006

Fisher's Exact Test .009 .007

Linear-by-Linear Association 7.003 1 .008

N of Valid Cases 80

a Computed only for a 2x2 table

b 0 cells (.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 10.50.

Key: Travel Location: 1 = Commercial Area with PizzaExpress outlet, 2: Other Area

Choice: 1 = Know PizzaExpress, 2 = Don’t know PizzaExpress

Result of the Research

The chi-square test detected there is significant dependence between the travel location

of the respondents and the recognition brand awareness of PizzaExpress, x2 (1, N=80)

= 7.092, p<0.05

Implication of the Result

The chi-square test shows the differences between the categories of an independent


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variable with respect to a dependent variable. The greater chi-square value, the smaller

the p value, and in this case, the p value is smaller than 0.05, that means there are 99.2%

probability that the research hypothesis is true.


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Appendix 3: Promotional Mixed of PizzaExpress in the Past 5 years

Campaign

group Thumbnail Publication Date Section

Page

No. Position Size Color Full Rate

PizzaExpress

HK Magazine Apr-18-

2003

Main

Book 11 ROP

1/4

Page

4

Color 5,150

Ad Total HK$: 5,150

Hong Kong

Business

Aug-1-

2003

Main

Book 59 ROP

Full

page

4

Color 29,890

Ad Total HK$: 29,890

Hong Kong

Business

Sep-1-

2003

Main

Book 35 ROP

Full

page

4

Color 29,890


Hong Kong

Business

Oct-1-

2003

Main

Book 63 ROP

Full

page

4

Color 29,890


HK Magazine Oct-3-

2003

Main

Book 23 ROP

1/4

Page

4

Color 6,700

Oct-3-

2003

Main

Book 23 ROP

1/4

Page

4

Color 6,700

Oct-10-

2003

Main

Book 25 ROP

1/4

Page

4

Color 6,700

Oct-10-

2003

Main

Book 25 ROP

1/4

Page

4

Color 6,700


Advertiser Total HK$: 26,800

Campaign Group Total HK$: 121,620


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Appendix 4: Advertisements of the Campaign


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Mini Pizza Buffet 23rd and 24th December, 2006

www.pizzaexpress.com.hk

http://www.pizzaexpress.com.hk

an imc campaign for pizzaexpress in hong kong...

Documents