7-2 Project Submission

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Reilly 1 Meghan Reilly Dr. Bellflower Organizational Branding 19 Feb 2024 Project Submission Milestone One: Brand Evaluation Pasta Amore is a “restaurant franchise that is looking to rebrand to be seen as more health conscious, sustainable, and modern” (SNHU, 2024). We are working for a communication consulting firm and have a contract with the franchise. We are asked to create both special brand elements and provide some guidance in regard to the building and maintenance of the brand. We have also been asked to plan a new brand strategy and present it to organizational leaders for review. Current Customer Analysis: By looking at the data in the case study, it can be said that there are strengths, weaknesses, and areas of opportunity of the current brand and customer base. The case study gives us a good gist of what are the most satisfied and least satisfied characteristics of the franchise right off the bat. The most satisfied characteristics are “Cost, quality of service, family-friendly dining, taste, and reliability” (SNHU, 2024). The least satisfied characteristics are “Ability to meet dietary preferences, healthy options, atmosphere, sustainability, and convenience” (SNHU, 2024). One thing that is for sure is that the franchise has a lot of work to do to meet its customers’ needs. The most important “weakness” would be the ability to meet dietary preferences. There seems to be some sort of need or desire of the consumers to meet those preferences and healthy options. Another thing to note is the age of the customers.

Reilly 2 According to the case study, “50% of respondents were aged 35 to 54” (SNHU, 2024). I don’t see this as a bad thing because it allows the franchise an opportunity to increase their customer base and attract more people of different ages. New Target Audience Analysis: For the new target audience analysis, it would be important to look at the New Target Audience Segmentation data in the case study. According to the data, Pasta Amore is looking to “target up and coming, growing neighborhoods, and retired people” (SNHU, 2024). Something important to note about the up and coming and growing neighborhoods is that they have very similar age ranges. You could almost say that they are overlapping. The up and coming has a “range of 25 to 44 and growing neighborhoods has a range of 25 to 45” (SNHU, 2024). On the other hand, the retired section has an “age range of 55+” (SNHU, 2024). Something to take into consideration is feedback from the consumers. Customers have shown their appreciation for the delicious food and portions given and the Italian food being real and authentic. They have also shown appreciation for the low costs of the food and knowing that the menu in each location is the same. The downsides or negative feedback given is “they want to see more vegan and vegetarian options, more sustainable practices, and updates to menus and decor” (SNHU, 2024). I think that if Pasta Amore can find ways to correct the constructive feedback given by the customers, they will be able to widen their reach to their new target audiences. Competitive Analysis: According to the case study, “the primary competitors for Pasta Amore consisted of regional and national restaurant chains such as Olive Garden, Carrabba’s, and Uno, all of which catered to a similar audience, had a similar price point, and were able to offer similar experiences at various locations” (SNHU, 2024). These competitors have recently increased to local restaurants that appreciate or value the aspects of “sustainability, farm-to-table ingredients,

Reilly 3 and items on the menu that are healthy for diet preferences” (SNHU, 2024). I think that there are a few things that are going to be vital for the success of rebranding Pasta Amore. These few things include matching the environment or feel of a local, family made restaurant, keeping in mind the health preferences, keeping the costs of the menu items low, and sustaining a family friendly nature. I also believe that all of this will open up the opportunity for curb-side pickup and delivery as well. Brand Equity Analysis: As we have discussed before, Pasta Amore’s current customer base has shown their appreciation for the large portion sizes, delicious food, and low competitive prices. They have also really appreciated that the menus at each location are the same and the consistency of the taste in the food. I think it’s very important that Pasta Amore takes the feedback that the customers give and make all the necessary changes. If changes aren’t made, they aren’t going to have much success and lose customers instead of gain. By looking at the case study alone, you can easily identify trends of the feedback from the customers. There has been the expanding of the menu and having continued sustainability, and updating the menus and decor to give it more of a Italian restaurant feel. Communication Practices: Pasta Amore has already been using communication practices to reach their target audience. The case study says that they have been using “social media, free local newspapers, paid newspapers, company website/blog, and billboards” (SNHU, 2024). I think that they should continue to use the free local newspapers as they have already reached one of the new target audiences: retirees. The paid newspapers, I think, you could do away with because they sort of overlap with the free ones. They also already reach the target audience that has already been established. Taking this approach will help Pasta Amore save money to use down the line to help accomplish their mission to rebrand the company. When reading over the

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Reilly 4 communication practices, you can see that the age range of 25 to 35 is not present. I think that Pasta Amore using social media will help reach this specific audience. Brand Recommendations: After reviewing the entire Pasta Amore case study, it’s going to be vital for them to include menu items that are healthy, vegan, and vegetarian, and continue with the sustainability throughout the entire process and brand. Doing all of this will also help them meet the dietary needs of the current customer base and meet the needs of the new target audience as well. Pasta Amore also needs renovate the decor to make it have that Italian restaurant feel. This will help match up the food options with the atmosphere. As far as the communication strategies go, they need to start using social media as they don’t do so yet. Using social media will help them reach out to the 25 to 35 age range that is being left out. Pick out the specific platforms that you think will best reach them and take action. Reaching out to this age range will help with the overall sales of the company and the brand expansion. Milestone Two: Style Guide Mission, Vision, and Values Alignment: I don’t think that the changes to the brand strategy and style guide are going to affect the mission and vision statements of Pasta Amore too much. It’s important that Pasta Amore sticks to their mission and vision statements and live them out to their potential. According to the case study, Pasta Amore’s mission statement is “To provide a warm atmosphere for your family where we can share the traditional cuisines of Italy” (SNHU, 2024). To maintain this mission statement and achieve its goal, the company needs to be thinking of people who are vegetarian and vegan and add more dishes to the menu that are more on the healthy side. Pasta Amore has already received feedback that their dishes don’t meet dietary needs, so adding dishes that meet the needs while still providing a warm atmosphere is vital. Adding those options to the menu, I think, will also help attract or entice a new client base that

Reilly 5 the company needs or has been missing. Another point to note is that these dishes will not go against Pasta Amore’s mission and vision statements because it will show how creative they can get while sticking to the traditional Italian foods. Pasta Amore understanding their existing and new customer base is important because they then will be able to carry out their mission and vision statements and not have to worry about going against them. Pasta Amore’s vision statement and values talk a lot of creativity and the importance of it. Therefore, getting creative with the dishes while still meeting dietary needs and sticking to the traditional Italian foods is just what Pasta Amore needs to do. Leveraging Brand Equity: I think that Pasta Amore has a great opportunity to leverage their brand equity to maintain customer loyalty. One way that they can do this is by using their name to introduce a new product to the target audience. This leveraging will help give the customers (or target audience) a great amount of product information in regard to the new changes to the menu. As we have discussed before, Pasta Amore needs to make the necessary changes to the menu when it comes to meeting dietary needs and thinking of the people that are vegan and vegetarian. Adding items that are vegan and vegetarian without going against the mission and vision statements is crucial. They need to remember that their mission statement is about sharing the traditional cuisines of Italy, so adding just a bit of creativity and spin on the cuisine dishes should be all that is needed. Pasta Amore also needs to make it clear to everyone that it is not their brand that is changing. They are just changing the way they connect with their customers. Brand Identity and Personality: I think that the best way that Pasta Amore can communicate with their consumers is by using their brand personality. You want your consumers (or customers) to feel that you can be relied upon and that they can easily connect with the business. If you make them feel that way, they will most likely become a loyal customer and keep coming

Reilly 6 back in. While a huge part of this process is changing the dishes to meet the needs of your customers, the way the business interacts with their customers plays a big role as well. It’s very important that Pasta Amore is honest with themselves and remain true to who they are during this entire process. The last thing that the company needs is to lose their identity and personality due to all of the changes that are going to be made. According to the case study, one of “Pasta Amore’s values is quality” (SNHU, 2024). With this being said, the vegan and vegetarian dishes that Pasta Amore comes up with need to be of high quality. They also hold a value of conversation which could play into this as well. Pasta Amore should carry out their value of conversation by talking to everyone who walks through your door and make them feel welcomed and appreciated. The customers feeling welcomed and appreciated every time they come through the door will increase your chances of them coming back again and sharing your company with others. When looking at the company’s logo on the case study, you see a bowl of pasta, some type of sauce, and a fork twirling pasta on it. I think that Pasta Amore should keep this logo because it goes perfectly with who they are. They are a company that sells Italian cuisine dishes, so everyone should know what to expect when they visit just by looking at the logo. In regard to the target audience, Pasta Amore is targeting “up and coming (ages 25 to 44), growing neighborhoods (ages 25 to 45), and retired (ages 55+)” (SNHU, 2024). I think it would be a good idea for Pasta Amore to focus on the retired people (55+) because of all of the new changes that are going to be made. If we look at the current customer base, only “25% of respondents were aged 55 to 75” (SNHU, 2024). If Pasta Amore wants to increase their business amongst this audience, I think that using this age range could help them do so and will also help form connections and increase their revenue. I think that Pasta Amore could benefit from the

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Reilly 7 additional information given to them about the retired group of people and reach them in their preferred way which is “print media over digital” (SNHU, 2024). Tagline: A tagline that I think expresses the organization’s mission and personality is “Family, Friends, and Quality Italian Food for All”. I think this tagline aligns with Pasta Amore’s mission and vision statements because it incorporates family, quality, and the changes that are going to be made. The “Quality Italian Food for All'' part of the tagline, I think, is going to help reach those customers who are vegan and vegetarian. It will also help the dietary needs of those people who have them. The “Family” part plays two roles. Pasta Amore already mentions family in their mission statement, so it’s important that it is incorporated in the tagline. Also, we want the tagline to help show or represent the “warm atmosphere for your family” and make everyone feel like they are part of Pasta Amore’s “family”. This would connect back to what we said about making sure that every customer feels welcomed and appreciated. In regard to how the tagline can be incorporated in internal and external messages, Pasta Amore can incorporate many different communication channels to spread messages to their customers. If it is someone’s birthday, they could send out an email with a promotion to help make that person feel special and like family. The family part of the tagline should really be focused on in this part of the process. Send out promotions to those who sign up for newsletters or acquire emails from your customers to send out special messages. Some other ways to incorporate the tagline through internal and external messages is through the company website, flyers, social media platforms, etc. You should do whatever you need to do that is necessary to help increase your revenue and connections with your customers. Visual Brand Elements: After looking at the Pasta Amore Visual Brand Element Concepts document, I think that concept one best reflects the organization’s new direction and extended

Reilly 8 target audience. I think that this concept does the best job at inserting the logo, font, and color palette. According to the document, the font they are using is “Book Antiqua Bold which is used in the majority of branded messages, especially for headers and titles” (SNHU, 2024). As for the logo, they are using the “primary, secondary, and emphasis colors of green, orange, and yellow” (SNHU, 2024). I think the company should swap out orange and yellow with white and red because as we are talking about an Italian restaurant, I think it would be a good idea to use the colors on the Italian flag. Doing so, in my opinion, would help draw in more customers as the colors and type of restaurant would go hand-in-hand.

Reilly 9 Brand Channels: It’s important for all businesses to have some sort of social media presence so that they can connect to consumers online. According to the case study, “Each restaurant location has a Facebook business page where the staff regularly posts and the company does not currently use other social media, but it is open to expanding its reach” (SNHU, 2024). Pasta Amore having a bigger social media presence will help them carry out their mission and vision statements while the new changes are in effect. Five communication channels that I think Pasta Amore could utilize are LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat. For LinkedIn, it can be used to help increase the business specific hours of the day like lunch and dinner time by putting out messages to attract people who are on a break. The other four channels can be used to help get the word out there more about Pasta Amore to get more people dining in their restaurant. Pasta Amore could come up with special types of content to post on each one to entice new customers to come in.

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Reilly 10 References: Bellflower, L. (n.d.). COM 431 Pasta Amore Case Study . Sign in to your account. https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/home Sign in to your account. (n.d.). https://learn.snhu.edu/d2l/le/content/1460245/viewContent/28853186/View SNHU. (n.d.-b). Pasta Amore Visual Brand Element Concepts . https://learn.snhu.edu/content/enforced/1460245-COM-431-R3184-OL-TRAD- UG.24EW3/course_documents/COM%20431%20Pasta%20Amore%20Visual%20Brand %20Element%20Concepts.pdf?ou=1460245

7-2 Project Submission

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