The restaurant has a great reputation from providing consistent food for over 10 years, attracting many customers on weekends and a above-average number during the week. The manager claims no marketing is needed due to sufficient business, but this is false - maintaining a good reputation through quality food is a form of marketing that builds customer loyalty and attracts new customers through word-of-mouth, capturing value.

1. A restaurant has a great reputation as the result of providing consistent food for over
ten years. The restaurant is full every weekend and has above-average business
during the week. The manager claims that they do not practive marketing because
they do not need marketing; they have more than enough business now. Is it true that
this restaurant does not practice marketing?
A: This is false. The hotel is able to market through their reputation. Marketing is the
'proces by which companies create value for customers and society, resulting in strong
customer relationships that capture value from the customers in return.' By upholding
their reputation of providing consistent food for over 10 years, they are securing returning
customers and new customers by word of mouth.
Illustrate how a hotel, restaurant, or theater can deal with the intangibility,
inseparability, variability, and perishability of the service it provides. Give specific
examples.
We decided to look at hotels for this question:
· Intangibility- "services cannot be seen, tasted, felt, heard, or smelled before they are
purchased" For a hotel we decided that this could be a number of items, such as: the
room, the spa, the pool, the game room, the lobby. Overall the whole complex, because if
you are booking online you do not see the physical room you are staying in until you get
there.A hotel could allow you to visit a similar hotel before you get to the you are staying
at and see exactly what your hotel room will be like and all the extra services it comes
with.
· Inseparability- "that customers are part of the product" For a hotel definition we looked
at the Brand name of the hotel/company, the option of paying with a travelers checks,
and finally how hotel customers must know how to use the phone system. To explain
more about the travelers checks the book talks about an example with a guest trying to
use the movie system but wont work because they did not establish credit. So to fix this if
a guest pays with cash for the room the front desk should ask if they would like to put
down a deposit for anything they might charge, such as in-room movies.
· Variability- " Services are highly variable. Their quality depends on who provides them
and when and where they are provided." For a hotel we decided to look at the 5W's
(Who, What, Where, When, Why), room service, training, good hiring, and standardize
the service performance. A way that a hotel could reduce variability is by having
employees go through on-going training. This will allow employees to continue learning
more about their job and be able to enhance their customer service skills.
· Perishability- " Services cannot be stored" For a hotel example we decided on the
biggest one, unsold hotel rooms. If they aren't being used they aren't making money! A
great resource used is hotwire.com. Using hotwire they can put there unsold rooms on
there to try to get some more customers and so the rooms do not go to waste.

2. How was the McDonald's concept changed since the 1960s? What environmental
forces were behind these changes? How will the McDonald's concept change in the
next decade, given the new forces operating in the environment?
The McDonald's concept has changed very drastically since the 1960's. Originally the
restaurant was all about quick casual service and not at all health conscious. Now
because of the bigger focus on being healthy many people started to flock to more
healthy and fresh fast-causal restaurants like Panera and Baja Fresh. In reaction to the
changing consumer needs McDonald's launched a program in 2003 called "Plan to Win."
In this plan the company halted rapid expansion and focused money and efforts to
redoing current restaurants. The redesigned McDonald's are a cleaner more simple and
modern atmosphere with live plants and flat screen televisions. The menu was redone by
a former Four Seasons Chef who added healthier options. New add campaigns
emphasized eating right and staying active. In the future McDonald's will become even
healthier, cleaner, and more innovative using new technology that will help employees
increase productivity and preparation time.