In that regard, convenience, proximity to their work place and speed of preparation services are the most critical elements for the success of the venture with this customer demographic. By the same token, these customers are less likely to be reached by online apps or Twitter and more likely to respond to the mere proximity of the service van to their places of business and physical routes leaving their offices and businesses.
Operational Incorporation of Demographic Characteristics
Just as proximity of service is critical to the success of the venture to university students on campus, it is also crucial to the success of the venture with working non-student professionals employed in businesses within the immediate vicinity of the USC campus. Moreover, because the individuals in this customer demographic will probably prefer to avoid having to actually enter the USC campus to patronize the service van, it would be advisable to situate the vans at the perimeter of the campus during the time period (i.e. approximately 3:00 to 6:00 PM) when services will be in greatest demand by non-student working professionals will want access to convenient food. Luckily, this time period probably coincides with the lowest demand on campus. Meanwhile, it can serve both demographics simultaneously.
Marketing Avenues
Whereas it is anticipated that online marketing will be the principal avenue of marketing to the fulltime university student demographic, it is expected that a different mechanism will provide the most benefit in connection with fulltime non-student employees in the vicinity of the campus. Specifically, in addition to relying on the visual conspicuousness of the service vans situated on the perimeter of the USC campus, the marketing campaign to the non-students in the area should, ideally, include actually providing samples of the fare. In that regard, this marketing initiative should include the distribution of flyers a day or two in advance and then one or more vans should be assigned to park in commercial office parks nearby the USC campus during breakfast and lunch time to distribute free samples. Ideally, this initiative should be scheduled to coincide with a school holiday that...
Because the USC student population is such a diverse community, the service van venture should also incorporate mechanisms to appeal to and maximize patronage among potential customers with preferences for specific international cuisine. Typically, many of these individuals prefer to pack their own homemade snacks and lunches precisely because there are no food service options that cater to international food preferences and they would tremendously appreciate the opportunity of accessible and convenient international cuisine.
Operational Incorporation of Demographic Characteristics
Since preparation of a wide range of authentic high-quality international cuisine could be problematic, especially if it sought to provide multiple different ethnic dishes, it would be advisable to select one or two of the most common and recognizable menu items likely to be appreciated by international customers rather than attempt to maintain to broad a menu at the expense of quality. Training of food preparation personnel would be crucial in this regard because it is anticipated that international customers will not try the fare more than once if it is unsatisfactory.
Marketing Avenues
The principal marketing approach would be to employ outside professional services to translate marketing messages and to disseminate them through the same digital media as the main marketing initiatives. However, it would also be advisable to publish print advertisements of international cuisine specialties in conjunction with discount coupons in the local print media (i.e. foreign language newspapers) typically relied upon by many foreign students and available in the homes of those students who live at home within first-generation immigrant families in the community.
