A Marketing Hook, Line, & Sinker: The Anchor Fish & Chips

Abstract

The Anchor Fish & Chips is a popular restaurant and food truck located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This article focuses in on the company’s many successes and improvement opportunities within their marketing. Discussed within this is: the four Ps of marketing (product, price, promotion, and place), a marketing plan with improvement suggestions, and a conclusion of the overall company. Feel free to check out their website for a deep sea look at The Anchor Fish & Chips: http://www.theanchorfishandchips.com

Introduction

            The Anchor Fish & Chips (lovingly called The Anchor, by locals) is a classical restaurant that prides itself on being authentic, simple and delicious. It is a local favorite around the city of Minneapolis. The company has a first come first serve, no reservations, policy. Because of the popularity of their restaurant, The Anchor decided to try their hand at implementing a food truck. The results were astronomical. Their food truck lines are just as significant as their wait line at the restaurant itself. 

Marketing 4 Ps: Product, Price, Promotion, and Place

            Marketing is at the heart of a company’s success. As you push your business to grow, with it you should see your company’s marketing thrive alongside. There are four key Ps of marketing: product, price, promotion, and place. It is important to incapsulate each of these into your company’s vision for what you want it to develop into. Let’s review The Anchor’s implementation of marketing’s key four Ps! 

Product

            Talk about that food! The Anchor is known for its classic fish and chips meal, although this isn’t to say that they do not have other meal items. They focus in on “the real deal” when it comes to their food. Everything is made with simple ingredients. The classic fish and chips feature a signature large single filet of cod (quite impressive in size), which is lightly battered and softly sprinkled with sea salt. It is left simple, so as not to lose that genuine taste. The chips included are hand cut potato fries that are deep-fried and lightly sprinkled with sea salt. A small dish of tartar sauce accompanies your basket on the side. 

Price

            The cost of this catch is not as much of a whale of a tail as you might think. The Anchor is sure to offer you a price that is very competitive with other local cuisines. The amount of food you get with your meal, makes its average pricing seem extremely reasonable. All the meals on the menu are right around $11.00, give or take a few bucks. 

            When comparing the same items on the restaurant menu and the food truck menu, you will notice a slight increase in cost ($0.25-$0.50). This shows a strategy with using the tactic of skim pricing. Skim pricing is when the cost of an item is higher until the demand goes up and then the price is lowered over time. A company can lower its price because it has more of a steady income that allows cost per meal to be decreased without severally damaging the company’s profits. It may seem a bit opposite of supply and demand, but it is a strategic move to attract new customers who are price sensitive. Here we can see that the restaurant already has a high flow of consumers in its stationary location, so lowering the price can attract new customers, and please already existing customers. With the food truck, there is less of a guarantee sale; in order to achieve sales that turn a profit, prices must be slightly higher until popularity in production can reduce it. This also might not be achievable, because a food truck has its limitations on storing and producing large amounts of food. It does not have the same capabilities as a restaurant with a full kitchen and storage/freezer room. 

Promotion

            The food is not the only attraction here. We can see a service that incorporates a seaworthy adventure. Their logo is a classical anchor with an old English sailor style font embellishing their name. They have a classic black and white image going for them; almost resembling a pirate feel without the cartoon affect coming into play. Their slogan, “The Real Deal” can be seen in big white letters on the front of their food truck, as well as throughout their marketing on their website.

            When viewing The Anchor’s website, you will see a simple five-tab layout with the straightforward basic information you might want. The first tab introduces you to their company and it gives you a taste of “the real deal” attitude they have. The second tab talks about the menu and its different options for breakfast and lunch/dinner. The third tab talks about their food truck; where it is, where it's going, and what is on the menu. The fourth tab is a product tab where they advertise an adult liquor that they create and sell at local bars and stores. Finally, on the fifth tab is a contact and information tab; creating an easy way to find out what the hours are and a simple form for requesting additional information. 

Place(ment)

            Although the location of The Anchor in the bustling city of Minneapolis is wonderful, more and more individuals are reviewing websites for a quality “place” validation. It is now in the norm for people to look up a company’s website to see if it is somewhere, they would like to go. An up to date website tells potential consumers that you care about keeping your presence and information maintained; if you care about your online presence, you are more than likely going to care about your in-person presence. 

            The Anchor has a very clean and straightforward website with simple links that are easy to navigate. It is easy to see the company’s sales focus. From there website you can clearly see the costs of their products and services. You can even book a food truck for catering at your next event. It is clear and has a direct feel for what their company image is. 

Marketing Plan

            There are a few marketing items that The Anchor could invest in. First there isn't a clothing or souvenir item. They have a very cool logo. This is an opportunity to get free advertisement out into the world. Strategically, getting some soft cotton T-shirts, slapping their logo on it, and then selling them close to at cost. This shouldn’t be an item to really make money from, but instead a plan to get awareness out there. 

            Their food truck offers an excellent opportunity to bulk up their social media content. Have a hashtag contest! See the food truck, take a photo with it, post it with the hashtag (#TheRealDeal, #TheAnchorMPLS), and win a free fish and chips meal! This is a prime opportunity to get more individuals to see your business. The primary platforms would be Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. The Anchor has all three of these, but they are all kind of miss matched in content. This small contest would be easy enough for millennial and generation Z to participate in and the prize is just enough to make you want to give it a go. 

            The overall budget for this would be quite small. Simply paying whatever their social media coordinator/graphic designer (it’s a small company so they are probably the same person) cost per hour and sending out an email to their employees to spread the word of mouth about the campaign. You could even order a couple of magnetic stickers with your hashtag and contest rules on the side of your truck. Overall, this hashtag campaign shouldn't cost more than $100.00. (The T-shirts and merchandise are not included in this promotional campaign.) 

            In conclusion, The Anchor Fish & Chips is a wonderful establishment that services its customers by both restaurant and food truck. Its food is quite a delight and offers a classic quality within simplicity of food. Their website is clear, direct and simple as well. It every much represents the company and its values. As far as other platforms, social media, they do have the opportunity for improvement. Reviews on these platforms are critical to a company’s continuous growth. It is baffling that their social media does not reflect the same cultural presence as their website, restaurant, and food truck. 

            In the end, there is always room to improve, and another fish to fry. 

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References

Strauss, J., & Frost, R. (2009). E-Marketing (7th ed.). New York, NY: Pearson Education.

The Anchor Fish & Chips. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.theanchorfishandchips.com/