Red Lobster 
Thales Brito
3/2/15
BUS152-A
Case Write Up #1- Red Lobster
Established in 1968, Red Lobster’s focus was bringing seafood to costumers at a price where they could afford. Since then, Red Lobster has continued to serve mainstream costumers who didn’t want to spend too much money on seafood while going out to eat. In 2009, it held a 43% market share among casual dining seafood restaurants without much competition from other similar seafood restaurant chains. Kim Lopdrup, president of Red Lobster, saw that the company was struggling and needed to update. Red Lobster needed to change positioning in 2004 from being a “dated chain that served cheap, frozen, mass-produced seafood” to “approachable, fresh seafood”. In order to present this new value proposition, Lopdrup developed the three-phased plan that involved 1. Operational improvements, 2. Major menu changes and 3. Remodeling of the restaurants.
4 P’s
Product- More frequently updated menu ( Today’s Fresh Fish Menu)
Price- Higher price point on fresh fish daily
Promotion- Time promotions to counter balance the seasonality of business
Place- Remodeling of its 700 restaurant chains( Remodeling+Maintenance 350 M)
Television ads clearly reflect the repositioning envisioned in 2004 by showing wood fire grilled lobsters and shrimp. Focus groups showed Lopdrup that costumers viewed “fresh” as being as close to its natural state as possible. By adding wood fire grilled items to the menu and displaying ads on TV with those items, costumers could change their perception of Red Lobster and now see that they were serving “fresh” seafood. Wood fire grilled items were also the most preferred type of seafood items by costumers so by introducing these new menu options, Red Lobster brought “fresh” to its menu.
The most effective Phase of the re-positioning plan was phase 2 by re-positioning around freshness. What set Red Lobster apart from other seafood restaurants was its ability to bring quality seafood to people that
3/2/15
BUS152-A
Case Write Up #1- Red Lobster
Established in 1968, Red Lobster’s focus was bringing seafood to costumers at a price where they could afford. Since then, Red Lobster has continued to serve mainstream costumers who didn’t want to spend too much money on seafood while going out to eat. In 2009, it held a 43% market share among casual dining seafood restaurants without much competition from other similar seafood restaurant chains. Kim Lopdrup, president of Red Lobster, saw that the company was struggling and needed to update. Red Lobster needed to change positioning in 2004 from being a “dated chain that served cheap, frozen, mass-produced seafood” to “approachable, fresh seafood”. In order to present this new value proposition, Lopdrup developed the three-phased plan that involved 1. Operational improvements, 2. Major menu changes and 3. Remodeling of the restaurants.
4 P’s
Product- More frequently updated menu ( Today’s Fresh Fish Menu)
Price- Higher price point on fresh fish daily
Promotion- Time promotions to counter balance the seasonality of business
Place- Remodeling of its 700 restaurant chains( Remodeling+Maintenance 350 M)
Television ads clearly reflect the repositioning envisioned in 2004 by showing wood fire grilled lobsters and shrimp. Focus groups showed Lopdrup that costumers viewed “fresh” as being as close to its natural state as possible. By adding wood fire grilled items to the menu and displaying ads on TV with those items, costumers could change their perception of Red Lobster and now see that they were serving “fresh” seafood. Wood fire grilled items were also the most preferred type of seafood items by costumers so by introducing these new menu options, Red Lobster brought “fresh” to its menu.
The most effective Phase of the re-positioning plan was phase 2 by re-positioning around freshness. What set Red Lobster apart from other seafood restaurants was its ability to bring quality seafood to people that