Planet Shrimp Essay

Recommendation
Working with upscale specialty restaurants would be the best strategy for Planet Shrimp at its current level of production. Again, since Planet Shrimp is a new and growing company, its primary goal is working towards its strategic vision, so the alignment with strategic vision is rated the most highly. Restaurants with existing passion for sustainability and local fare is strongly aligned with Planet Shrimp’s strategic vision and will leverage the brand reputation. It will be the most feasible and cost-effective strategy because there are fewer locations. There are already several restaurants in Toronto that are interested in sourcing shrimp locally and sustainably (Appendix E) Planet Shrimp should supply these restaurants especially

because their consumer demographic has a higher willingness-to-pay for premium products. Planet Shrimp’s brand can easily align with the brands of these restaurants, thereby creating relationships where both parties benefit. In this situation, Planet Shrimp and other shrimp will not be able to live on the same menu because it would dilute the brand message and create confusion for the consumer. It is best advised to partner with restaurants who are creating Ocean Wise recommended menus and dishes.
Although there is a potential opportunity for larger chains in the upper casual restaurants to champion Planet Shrimp in order to capitalize on market share (strategy #1), Planet Shrimp should avoid the risk of not being able to meet their demand as they are just starting out.

These foodservice chains are not likely to support and pay for higher quality shrimp that may eat into their margins simply. With a larger network of locations, especially in different provinces, it would be difficult for chains to source from Planet Shrimp because they likely operate by economies of scale (sourcing all seafood from one or two suppliers). Despite how some foodservice chains like Earls are practicing sustainability, sustainability is not their main unique selling point. By including Planet Shrimp on these menus, it may weaken their brand message. By focusing on smaller specialty restaurants, Planet Shrimp can ensure measured but steady

growth.
Tactical Plan
Tactical Marketing Plan
As a new company, Planet Shrimp must allocate its limited financial assets wisely, even though they have the potential to turn a significant profit over the next year (Appendix I). The tactical plan supplements the strategic plan, which consists of a multichannel marketing system to reach the two customer segments. Planet Shrimp’s tactical marketing plan consists of a customer-driven marketing strategy, beginning with segmenting the market, selecting the target segments, and developing the positioning for each segment. Since Planet Shrimp is targeting a similar demographic within both the grocery store and restaurant channels, marketing tactics may overlap. In this scenario, employing the push strategy is likely to be more effective in both channels because farmed shrimp is a new product and not well-established in the current marketplace. Since current consumers are not familiar with the product, they will not know to ask for it if they do not know it exists.
Implementation
Analyze the Market
First, Planet Shrimp should conduct a thorough analysis of the marketplace to determine which companies have similar brand values. The most viable partners within the restaurant segment should include chefs who value sustainability-sourced ingredients and are willing to pay a premium for clean, local shrimp. Since Planet Shrimp has limited assets, it should focus on a concentrated market segment; that is, higher-end restaurants and grocery stores. Planet Shrimp should create partnerships with restaurants that are partnered with Ocean Wise, and follow through with Ocean Wise products throughout their menu. One example includes Rob Gentile, chef and co-owner of Buca, Bar Buca and Buca Yorkville restaurants. He is willing to buy the best product even at a higher cost because he believes in quality and has expressed interest in working with shrimp farming in Ontario (Mintz, 2015). Chefs like Gentile and Ned Bell are prime examples of market players who would be interested in helping Planet Shrimp grow.

Similarly, specialty grocery stores are likely to attract a similar demographic to those who dine at upscale specialty restaurants. There are a number of players in the market like Goodness Me! and Hooked Inc., that are likely to adopt Planet Shrimp and its values into their current business. Moreover, these innovative stores offer experiential opportunities such as cooking classes to further involve their consumers (“Hooked Inc.”, n.d.). Like Planet Shrimp, these companies have unique selling points that allow them to price their products at a premium and create a platform in which to discuss sustainable seafood. By analyzing the market for viable partners, Planet Shrimp will ensure that their goals and objectives in both the short-term and long-term are understood. This process should take approximately 3 months; thorough analysis is imperative to the Planet Shrimp marketing plan because of they are new to the market.
Target Select Businesses for Partnership Development
Once Planet Shrimp decides which companies they want to partner with, they should begin to define their unique selling points with one another to ensure that brand values are aligned. This means selectively targeting the players in the restaurant and retail grocery segments they want to work with at the beginning of their business. It is imperative that Planet Shrimp positions its brand with compatible companies that are willing to leverage Planet Shrimps’ brand name while it is still in the introduction stage of the product lifecycle. In other words, these companies will be the innovators and the early adopters in the innovation adoption lifecycle.

In addition to strategizing with businesses that value clean, sustainable shrimp, it would also be beneficial for Planet Shrimp to be affiliated with organizations that value locally sourced food as well.

This gives them an extra sense of credibility because they are acknowledging not only the environmental elements of sustainability in being chemical and waste-free in their production process but also the social and economic elements in contributing to the local economy. Examples include partnering with the ‘Feast On’ program that recognize businesses and purveyors committed to ensuring local Ontario fare in restaurants. By becoming a program partner, Planet Shrimp could be listed on their website as a “Preferred Purveyor”, which would leverage the brand significantly free of charge (Podgorski, 2016). Ocean Wise is also partnered with ‘Feast On’. This step should not take very long as there are a select few players in the market which align to Planet Shrimp’s values of locally-sourced and sustainable, clean

shrimp.
Implement Selling Plan
After entering the market and assessing the interest of these target segments, Planet Shrimp should monitor the feedback from individual retail consumers, chefs and those who frequent their restaurants. To effectively promote their product, Planet Shrimp should employ some of the five types of promotional tactics in integrated marketing communications: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and direct marketing. Advertising could consist of unpaid promotion through identified sponsors. For example, ‘Ocean Wise’ endorsing Planet Shrimp on their website as a reputable sustainable seafood source. Personal selling could be most effective by the company’s sales force to make sales and build customer relationships. However, aggressively selling the product before the consumers fully understand the Planet Shrimp values and concept may result in a poorly constructed brand image and cannibalization of the market. Instead, using a brand ambassador could be perceived as a more appropriate way of telling the Planet Shrimp story before creating convincing arguments to sell it. Brand ambassadors would be less costly; most brand ambassadors in Toronto are paid between $11-$13 an hour, whereas an experienced salesperson can cost upwards of $60,000 annually (approximately $30 an hour) (Glassdoor, n.d.). Part of personal selling could include a free sample period where brand ambassadors give several pounds of shrimp to restaurants in the target segment and monitor their responses for two to three weeks. In retail grocery stores, sampling at the point-of-purchase has been shown to have a significant increase in sales quantity (Wu, 2010). Those who enjoy the product may then be driven to order more shrimp and share their experiences with their networks. This should be implemented for 2 weeks at the minimum.
Additionally, public relations, such as interviews and press releases with local news stations, could boost the Planet Shrimp image through obtaining favourable publicity and building a strong brand image. Public relations is arguably more effective than advertising because it is more believable and has a better reach to prospective buyers especially from an objective third party, whereas advertising is more static, impersonal and has the potential to seem biased. Similar to personal selling, direct marketing consists of driving connections with carefully targeted consumers to obtain responses and cultivate relationships. An example of this includes directly emailing prospective Planet Shrimp buyers through an email “sign-up for newsletters” box on the Planet Shrimp website. These tactics, aside from sales promotion, is relatively cost-effective. As Planet Shrimp lacks a large marketing budget, they should do as much of their marketing in-house. Once the company is able to turn a significant profit, they should look into more costly manners of expanding reach (i.e. through Search Engine Optimization) (“Online Kickstart”, n.d.). The process of implementation should last for 6 months to allow for consumers to become familiar with the Planet Shrimp product.