Jamie Oliver Case Study
Jamie’s Italian Job
The brief
Words: Sarah Genzer and Griselda Zhou
31 March 2011
In the last ten years, Jamie Oliver has become an international household name. In the UK, it is almost impossible not to see or hear Jamie Oliver in the news, television, online or in print. Today, the influential celebrity chef’s empire is worth nearly £65 million. After extremely successful ventures in television, home cookware, books, and restaurants, Oliver recently has branched out and developed a new restaurant chain. Jamie’s Italian has proven to be a prosperous strategic move. It recently won the Restaurant Chain of the Year award, at the 2010 R200 Awards, and the managing director, Simon Blagden, won the Best Individual award at the 2011 Retailers’ Retailer of the Year Awards. Also, at this year’s RRY Awards, Jamie’s Italian won the Best Concept Award and Oliver was named Investor of the Year (Charity, 2011). Since its debut in 2008, Jamie’s Italian has shown risky but promising figures. The turnover in its first year was £3.74m and experienced growth of 418% to £19.4m for its second year (see Figure 1). However, in its first year £ the restaurant had a loss of £924,341, which was attributed on the investment required to open the first three restaurants. Jamie Oliver Group predicts “a substantial increase in profits” in 2011 (Quinn, 2011). It is Figure 1 estimated that the turnover will be £70m. Companies House released a statement about Jamie’s Italian, “The directors are highly focused on ensuring that all new investments achieve excellent returns on investment. [They] adopt a rigorous approach to the capital investment appraisal of all new sites. This includes a detailed financial evaluation as well as demographic, competitor and market analysis” (Tryhorn, 2009). Oliver’s ambitious approach in introducing the restaurant to the world will surely help gain admirers.
The strategy
The marketing strategy for Jamie’s Italian is unique for its kind. Unlike many of
The brief
Words: Sarah Genzer and Griselda Zhou
31 March 2011
In the last ten years, Jamie Oliver has become an international household name. In the UK, it is almost impossible not to see or hear Jamie Oliver in the news, television, online or in print. Today, the influential celebrity chef’s empire is worth nearly £65 million. After extremely successful ventures in television, home cookware, books, and restaurants, Oliver recently has branched out and developed a new restaurant chain. Jamie’s Italian has proven to be a prosperous strategic move. It recently won the Restaurant Chain of the Year award, at the 2010 R200 Awards, and the managing director, Simon Blagden, won the Best Individual award at the 2011 Retailers’ Retailer of the Year Awards. Also, at this year’s RRY Awards, Jamie’s Italian won the Best Concept Award and Oliver was named Investor of the Year (Charity, 2011). Since its debut in 2008, Jamie’s Italian has shown risky but promising figures. The turnover in its first year was £3.74m and experienced growth of 418% to £19.4m for its second year (see Figure 1). However, in its first year £ the restaurant had a loss of £924,341, which was attributed on the investment required to open the first three restaurants. Jamie Oliver Group predicts “a substantial increase in profits” in 2011 (Quinn, 2011). It is Figure 1 estimated that the turnover will be £70m. Companies House released a statement about Jamie’s Italian, “The directors are highly focused on ensuring that all new investments achieve excellent returns on investment. [They] adopt a rigorous approach to the capital investment appraisal of all new sites. This includes a detailed financial evaluation as well as demographic, competitor and market analysis” (Tryhorn, 2009). Oliver’s ambitious approach in introducing the restaurant to the world will surely help gain admirers.
The strategy
The marketing strategy for Jamie’s Italian is unique for its kind. Unlike many of
References: Charity, P., (2011) Jamie 's Italian set for £70m turnover. [online] 13 January 2011. Available at: http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Trends-Reports/Jamie-s-Italian-set-for70m-turnover [Accessed 19 March 2011]. Jamie Oliver.com., (2011) Jamie’s Italian. [online]. Available at: http://www.jamieoliver.com/italian/ [Accessed 12 March 2011]. Kühn, K., (2007) Jamie Oliver to launch new high-street restaurant group. [online] 8 October 2007. Available at: http://www.caterersearch.com/Articles/2007/ 10/08/316517/jamie-oliver-to-launch-new-high-street-restaurant-group.htm [Accessed 19 March 2011]. Quinn, J., (2011) Jamie Oliver plans £100m float of Italian restaurant chain. The Telegraph. [online] 6 March 2011. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance /newsbysector/retailandconsumer/8363730/Jamie-Oliver-plans-100m-float-of-Italianrestaurant-chain.html [Accessed 12 March 2011]. TradeArabia News Service., (2010) Jamie’s Italian restaurant opens in Dubai. [online] 20 September 2010. Available at: http://www.tradearabia.com/news/FOOD_186011.html [Accessed 27 March 2011]. Tryhorn, C., (2009) Jamie Oliver 's companies almost double profit. The Guardian. [online] 5 August 2009. Available at: http://gu.com/p/29zgh [Accessed 12 March 2011].