Marketing student improves Manawatū business

A Palmerston North restaurateur has taken business advice from a Massey student who says his marketing methods will increase revenue by 25 per cent in a year.

Reuben Prier, who is studying a Bachelor of Business Studies in finance and marketing, has produced a marketing plan for The Gallery Restaurant as part of a paper.

The 300-level paper, which he studied by distance learning, gets students to come up with a $10,000 marketing plan for a firm or not-for-profit assigned by Massey.

Mr Prier, who is the paper’s top student, presented his plan to the restaurant’s owner Niels Van Uffelen who says it exceeded his expectations.

The plan proposed marketing and communication strategies and tactics, including a web application for customers to order their food online before they arrive, guerrilla marketing and branded evenings, to help the organisation improve its brand awareness by 25 per cent and increase revenue by 15 to 25 per cent.

“I’m a bit of a foodie and one day I’d like to open my own restaurant so this gave me a real insight into the restaurant business,” Mr Prier says. “I’d be pleased if Niels was to implement some of those strategies sustainably.”

Mr Prier says the restaurant’s main weakness is inaccurate brand representation, with many people thinking the restaurant was too expensive.

However, he says what people didn’t know is the restaurant has two price points – a premium menu and a quality value menu.

Mr Van Uffelen says he will implement many of the strategies and tactics proposed in the plan.

“I can only but benefit from this,” he says. “I’ve tried doing these sorts of things in the past but this way it gives you an outside perspective.”

He is hopeful the new strategies will increase revenue by 25 per cent.

“It definitely could be accomplished if I followed everything he has given me but with the economy the way it is, it’s really hard to meet those targets. If I look back now I wished I had put money aside and had this done earlier.”

Lecturer Pam Feetham, who teaches the paper, says Mr Prier’s plan was professional and well thought out.