Banquet hall design and functions

¶ … marketing plan for a banquet hall in North Carolina named Torchelle's. The writer provides an overview of the hall as well as marketing objectives and strategies including a competitor analysis.

The concept of Torchelle's was derived from the idea that a banquet hall should offer something for every budget. People who want to marry, hold family reunions and other celebrations or simply get together because they enjoy a good time should be able to find an affordable venue to do that in. The Greensboro, North Carolina area has several advantages over larger metropolitan areas including New York and Philadelphia in that it is a more cost friendly place to live and entertain while at the same time offering an array of local activities to keep visitor interest up. With this combination of lower cost to operate business and sights to attract visitors it is a perfect back drop for large family reunions or company functions. Wedding parties from local ceremonies will benefit from a banquet hall that offers a variety of pricing plans for everybody's taste.

One of the most important things that can be done to insure success of Torchelle's is to design a well thought out marketing plan that will dovetail with the area's economy and resident culture.

Marketing Plan

The targeted market for Torchelle's is going to be an adult audience with a primary focus on adults between 25-65 years of age.

Mission Statement

The mission of Torchelle's is to provide quality banquet hall services to the general public that will be suitable by a broad spectrum of financial abilities.

The niche market is going to be the adults who have active lifestyles. They will typically be employed full time out of the home therefore not have time or desire to provide a large party atmosphere in their homes. They will find the need to connect on a semi-annual or annual basis with several large groups including business affairs, holiday parties and family reunions. The target niche market will include several different types of groups as potential users of Torchelle's.

One group will be the corporate client.

The coroporate client will have a larger budget ability than the private individual or family will have, therefore the marketing plan for this group will include guidance for catering and other suggestions to make the event go more smoothly. Torchelle's will also have a secondary focus on the group that cannot necessarily afford a large catered affair but will want to rent and use a banquet hall and provide their own food, music and other needed elements for their events.

The corporate market will be divided into the size of the company to place them into advertising groups for revenue purposes.

Services

The services offered by Torchelle's will include several options. For the full service plan the 15 employees will work together to provide event guests with food, drinks, dancing and entertainment.

The full bar will be an open bar and the tables will be decorated with theme colors as chosen by the group renting the facility.

Torchelle's will provide in season plants and flowers as well and will provide all linens,

The full service will use the services of all 15 Torchelle employee's who will be expected to clock in one hour before the event and clock out two hours after the event when they have completed the clean up.

Torchelle's employs one event coordinator whose primary responsibility will be to overse the events that are scheduled on the full service calendar.

The partial service program at Torchelle's will provide food, carbonated beverages, iced tea and coffee but no alcohol. In addition there will be dinnerware that is of high quality but not fine china. The entertainment will be located, hired and supervised by the people renting the hall.

The event coordinator will be available to ask for advice or for recommendations to florists and others in the area that will be able to help with the event but will not oversee the event, plan it or coordinate it.

The third package that Torchelle offers is an economy package. This is a package in which the hall is provided, with clean up services. The people who rent the hall will be able to bring in their own food and beverages and entertainment. The event coordinator will not be available with this package.

Marketing and promotional strategies

While Torchelle's will depend on word of mouth from satisfied patrons to market the company, it will also use a combination of direct marketing techniques and media outlets.

Direct marketing will involve a bulk drop shipment of fliers reminding the area residents and workers what Torchelle's provides. It will include all three packages and will be sent on a quarterly basis.

Direct marketing will be drop shipped into a different area each quarter so the business has the chance to saturate the area with advertising without overwhelming the customers. It provides a good customer base and at the same time allows people who may not need a banquet hall now, to remember Torchelle's when the need does arise in the future.

The direct selling approach will include coupons for 10% off each of the pricing packages if the hall is booked within 10 days of receiving the coupon, even if the event is months away.

Torchelle's will advertise on a weekly basis in the local newspaper. In addition twice a year Torchelle's will hold benefit events that will provide an opportunity for the media to cover the events and provide advertising through the stories that they write about the banquet facility and its involvement with charity events.

Torchelle's employs one account executive and that person's primary responsibility is to go out and approach corporations with information about Torchelle's ability to handle their banquet and meeting needs.