The Coop Marketing Research
Yvonne Lopez
MKTG500
3/4/13 (Revised)
The Coop: Market Research
The article starts off with an overview of The Chicken Coop. Daryl Buckmeister is the CEO and first started the company in 1974. Since the beginning it has had an annual 10% increase in sales. He is a “hands on” kind of man and believes that the success of the company is due to his “stay in touch” with the customer basis technique. His top two managers believe that they need to invest in a “more systematic market research to address quality and customer satisfaction needs” and each advocated for different approaches. Anita McMichael was for a Quality Inspection Program (QIP) through which "quality inspectors disguised as customer would be send to selected stores. She also proposed a controlled taste test comparing the company's food items with those of the competition. Trevor Wallace was for a three prong approach of a focus group, Brand Image Monitoring Survey (BIMS) that could serve as a pilot for a continuous brand-tracking program and Customer Experience Study (CES), in which customers would be paid to visit The Coop (and possibly the competition), without having any knowledge of which company had hired them (Page 1-2). Buckmeister is faced with the following decisions: (1) whether to invest in market research, and if so, (2) how much money to spend and (3) which programs to fund.
Company Background
Buckmeister started the company in 1974 at the age of 27 in Boxborough, MA. It was originally called The Chicken Grille and was renamed The Chicken Coop. Their philosophy is “We are Chicken.” Their second store was in Andover, MA. By 1985 there were a total of 24 restaurants and grew over the years to have up to 76 stores. As the company expanded, Buckmeister still stayed heavily involved in the developmental aspects of each restaurant. The Coop sought to provide high levels of service, cleanliness, and value which Buckmeister believed is what customers looked for in a family restaurant and targeted
MKTG500
3/4/13 (Revised)
The Coop: Market Research
The article starts off with an overview of The Chicken Coop. Daryl Buckmeister is the CEO and first started the company in 1974. Since the beginning it has had an annual 10% increase in sales. He is a “hands on” kind of man and believes that the success of the company is due to his “stay in touch” with the customer basis technique. His top two managers believe that they need to invest in a “more systematic market research to address quality and customer satisfaction needs” and each advocated for different approaches. Anita McMichael was for a Quality Inspection Program (QIP) through which "quality inspectors disguised as customer would be send to selected stores. She also proposed a controlled taste test comparing the company's food items with those of the competition. Trevor Wallace was for a three prong approach of a focus group, Brand Image Monitoring Survey (BIMS) that could serve as a pilot for a continuous brand-tracking program and Customer Experience Study (CES), in which customers would be paid to visit The Coop (and possibly the competition), without having any knowledge of which company had hired them (Page 1-2). Buckmeister is faced with the following decisions: (1) whether to invest in market research, and if so, (2) how much money to spend and (3) which programs to fund.
Company Background
Buckmeister started the company in 1974 at the age of 27 in Boxborough, MA. It was originally called The Chicken Grille and was renamed The Chicken Coop. Their philosophy is “We are Chicken.” Their second store was in Andover, MA. By 1985 there were a total of 24 restaurants and grew over the years to have up to 76 stores. As the company expanded, Buckmeister still stayed heavily involved in the developmental aspects of each restaurant. The Coop sought to provide high levels of service, cleanliness, and value which Buckmeister believed is what customers looked for in a family restaurant and targeted