Olive Garden Extended Service Marketing

Introduction

The corona virus disease epidemic of 2019 (COVID-19) has had a significant impact on worldwide
economics. Various businesses are dealing with a variety of problems, all of which result in some level of
loss. In particular, businesses are dealing with a slew of issues, including a drop in demand, chain
management interruptions, cancellation of manufactured exports, raw material shortages, and
transportation interruptions, to name a few. Nonetheless, it is abundantly evident that the COVID-19
epidemic is having a huge impact on companies all around the world. It has transformed itself with its
economic effects and is anticipated to continue affecting every generation's living style, financial
decisions and consumer behavior. While the intensity of the epidemic differs more by area and by the
society of Australia, almost every state governments has physically implemented distancing orders by
restricting dining services from the restaurants. This study gives an assessment of the Australian
restaurant Olive Garden's economic repercussions, opportunities and threats, and reactions to the early
stages of the COVID-19 epidemic. COVID-19 has compelled many restaurant companies – big and small –
to make modifications in their style of operation. The biggest impact is generally seen by small firms.
They don't normally have a specialist safety specialist. Otherwise the owner or management will be
responsible for the safety of the workplace.

Opportunities and threats created by the current Covid-19 crisis

Some of the most significant changes generated by the COVID-19 epidemic have been noticed in the
Olive Garden. Olive Garden seeks chances to enhance the earnings of them such as the development of
the provision of various forms of food and drink. Using healthy eating trends, they may have more
organic meals or salads on their menu. It can provide a chance for growth to find strategies to produce
increased traffic at sluggish times, like as in current epidemic. Here are some of the opportunities and
challenges that the global epidemic has produced, particularly for the restaurant business.

Opportunities

i. Meal Aggregator sites: Meals marketplaces have created a smooth experience in the browsing
of meals, place an order, and make deliveries. These services opened eateries for a broader
public. Restaurant companies who used this chance now serve the amount of clients they could
normally serve several times.
ii. State stimulation: Individuals began getting a lengthy stimulus check at the beginning of the
pandemic year. The entry of real wealth into the hands of individuals has brought about a boom
in the operations of restaurants. But that is just an indirect advantage.
iii. Employment Opportunity: Numerous individuals lose their jobs as a result of the economic
slump that triggered the epidemic; unemployment has reached record levels. There is a great
deal more job seekers than the amount of employment. This has led to eateries available for
employment now being able to recruit staff at a lower cost.
iv. Digital change: From schooling to medical attention, everything has transitioned to online
platforms. There is no exception to restaurant industry. And here is this trend to remain. For
 restaurant owners to start with the creation and use of the digital space for expansion would
thus be a sensible thing.

Threats

i. Lockdown actions: More than 55 per cent of the restaurants are permanently shuttered as a
consequence of lockdown actions, according to an article on Forbes 1. Some companies including
Olive Garden had to shutter their doors because of the crisis. Catering facilities of the Olive
Garden are closed to guests.
ii. Social distancing Norms: The Government of Australia has ordered that restaurants can continue
operating inside at restricted capacity. The seating capacity restriction guarantees proper social
distance. However, restarting the entire company to a fourth of its capacity is untenable. Olive
garden restaurants therefore choose to stay closed rather than open at a capacity of 25 percent.
iii. Governmental assistance: The restaurant business would have difficulty rebounding without
government backing or support. However, in many situations, compensation if any has indeed
been late, insufficient, or impossible to disburse for such small and medium-sized businesses.
iv. COVID-19 Worries: The imminent ambiguity with regard to the course of the epidemic and the
absence of control agencies has caused anxiety and fear amongst individuals. These difficulties
are further complicated by misrepresentation or lack of knowledge. Owners of restaurants
cannot have a major effect on this mentality. As long as there remains this fog of uncertainty,
people are not open enough just to make a difference while visiting restaurants.

Olive Garden Restaurant has shuttered its dining rooms and transferred all its services with other
significant businesses. There's never been a ceasefire in so many restaurants; some will never again be
reopened. They are also not in danger of being subjected to a certain amount of local food. Since the
beginning of COVID-19 there has nonetheless been a shortage of cleaning supplies, soap and sanitizers.
The average client finds them difficult. Restaurants have found what they require even more
challenging. Resources indicate that approximately one quarter of clients is only comfortable patronizing
a sitting-down restaurant when their societies have improved significantly their opportunity to verify,
detect and segregate the COVID-19 cases. Some 18 percent of customers are comfortable only when
their location has few COVID-19 cases and they can only try, trace and insulate COVID-19 situations. 2

Extended marketing mix components

The extended marketing mix (7P's) is a set of seven marketing ingredients that attempt to work together
to fulfill a marketing strategy's goals. As part of a complete marketing strategy, a marketing mix contains
several areas of concentration. Instead of fixing a single message, efficient marketing affects a wide
variety of sectors. 3 Marketing managers can use different techniques to each of the seven Ps depending
on the sector and the objective of the marketing plan. Many companies struggle to alter their approach,
1
https://pestleanalysis.com/swot-analysis-for-restaurants/
2
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19368623.2020.1788231
3
https://www.noop.com.au/marketing-mix-definition/
as that the corona virus epidemic has proven, while others showcase smart and decisive response. . The
expanded marketing mix is often possible for product and services since it is crucial for companies to
describe their marketing mixes today as processes, people and physical evidence. Marketing cannot,
however, merely depend on computer corporate situations, but should go farther for its brand and
division. Marketers should identify distinct difficulties consumers, the brand as well as the marketing
organisation, and define actions to be taken in each circumstance.

People

It is, without a doubt, the most crucial component of the expanded marketing mix. People, the five P,
are increasingly included in the marketing mix for both products and services. This is because executives
understand that a company cannot succeed without the appropriate people in the proper positions. The
component focuses on the company owner and employees involved in the implementation of the
project. It is the individuals who represent the company's ideals to the customer, as well as employee-
customer interactions. The Company's recruiting, education, work wear, scripts, queue system,
complaint handling and other interpersonal relationships should provide guidance on this area. The
individuals who manage them from off the forefront of Sales to both the Chief Executive are dependent
upon all firms. 4It is vital to have the appropriate personnel as they are just as important as the
products/services that you give to your organization. There will be a competent cook who prepares
amazing and delightful dishes in one Olive Garden restaurant as well as an ordinary cook who prepares
ordinary meals in another. The favorite restaurant is probably to also have a cook and also servicing
servers who they adore and who customers exclusively give orders to. As a result, the proper individuals
make a significant difference in the company.

Corona virus is a human issue by its own nature. And the problems involved will be solved by the efforts
of humans. That is why olive garden personnel have a critical and valued role to perform. They may
need to improve their sales methods or learn new methods like telesales to replace silent cable systems
to aid the eatery. Customer complaint management skills may need to be acquired. Sustaining
employees with motivation, motivation, enthusiasm and a focus on the client may make a significant
difference. 5Helping restaurant personnel to adopt this approach makes food sales, retains clients and
maintains business trading more possible.

Processes

The process aspect in marketing management refers to the methods, mechanisms, and working process
that go into delivering the service. Preparation, reporting, and monitoring are all important aspects of
service marketing operations. The process aspects include the production of key performance indicators,
blue printing, and the compilation of manual systems. 6The service is normally given with the client
present, thus the manner in which it is supplied is once again a factor in the price the client pays. A
service roadmap may be created to illustrate how the whole process will indeed be done, from
4
https://www.marketing91.com/extended-marketing-mix/
5
https://www.businessgrowthhub.com/coronavirus/resources/2020/07/marketing-your-business-in-a-pandemic
6
https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---the-marketing-mix---from-4-p-s-
to-7-p-s
customers who visit the restaurant to customers who leave the restaurant and clear their table. 7The
restaurant managers try to guarantee the message is followed by a service policy statement.

Companies are a swarm and frequently complicated of several activities. But they are important for
ensuring a systematic approach across the value chain of a company. A helpful strategy is to track the
production and delivery project from the initial contact to actual completion in order to better
understand Olive Garden's operations. Wear the COVID-19 glasses and try to discover the pinches or
pieces that are now no longer functional. There are obviously questions concerning regions to prevent
possible infections, the safety of the customer resulting from the completion procedure or even the
item.8

Physical evidence

The environment in which the service is delivered is referred to as this factor in service marketing. This is
everything your visitors see it when they interact with the company, as well as the real goods that help
you deliver services. The physical evidence includes anything from signage to furniture to equipment to
access product labels to architectural spaces and physical environment. Although the majority of the
money for which consumers pay is immaterial, almost everything services have physical aspects. A
barber shop, for example, would give their customer a finished hairstyle, whereas an insurance firm
would provide them printed paperwork. 9By this interpretation, even if the content is not physically
produced, customers are still getting a physical item. Physical evidence refers to the tangible features
that a corporation adds to an otherwise ethereal product in order to set itself apart from the
competition. So, in the case of an olive garden restaurant, the restaurant may be made to be a cheap
restaurant by using only the minimal minimum of furnishings and employing the minimum necessary of
staff. Alternatively, it might be a high-end restaurant that, if consuming drinks, maintains a bar, adds
decent lighting and ambience, plays nice music, serves unique food, has nice silverware, and so on.

So when the new lockout starts to lift and additional facilities and restaurants begin to operate, other
problems arise. Olive Garden needs to understand how their businesses can enable a safe shopping or
working environment, in the areas of design, point of purchase, personnel training, management
consulting, usage of PPE or signage. Olive Garden Restaurant has to evaluate its influence on consumers
and workers with its physical delivery methodology. Customers would like to know that they are
protected and may follow the guidelines on social distance. They'll be looking for clear indications about
how they may physically connect with a company in a risk-free manner that ensures they can eat food
with safety and truly enjoy their purchases. 10

Conclusion

7
https://www.marketing91.com/extended-marketing-mix/
8
https://www.businessgrowthhub.com/coronavirus/resources/2020/07/marketing-your-business-in-a-pandemic
9
https://www.professionalacademy.com/blogs-and-advice/marketing-theories---the-marketing-mix---from-4-p-s-
to-7-p-s
10
https://www.businessgrowthhub.com/coronavirus/resources/2020/07/marketing-your-business-in-a-pandemic
The Covid-19 issue and its widespread has effected in almost every business. Our report emphasizes that
no response is given, and brands move in both directions as a result of the epidemic in the nation
continues to influence life. The greatest weakness impedes the restaurant sector is running the
enterprise, while keeping employees and customers safe from COVID-19. However unlike safety
precautions, which are completely controlled by restaurant owners, hoteliers have no influence over
restrictions imposed by the government to paralyze the restaurant sector. These safety rules are
perhaps the greatest threat for restaurants. The mood of COVID-19 nevertheless has changed people's
relationships with eateries. In total, the restaurant business has been completely revamped under
COVID-19. Trends formed in online space will probably remain even in the after-pandemic age. Thus, in
this environment it is important to react to these trends to maintain profitability.