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8B11A035
Teaching Note
SUSHILICIOUS: STANDING OUT IN A CROWDED FIELD
Ken Mark wrote this teaching note under the supervision of Professors Dante Pirouz and Raymond Pirouz as an aid to instructors in
the classroom use of the case Sushilicious: Standing Out in a Crowded Field, No. 9B11A035. This teaching note should not be
used in any way that would prejudice the future use of the case.
Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation prohibits any form of reproduction, storage or transmittal without its written permission.
Reproduction of this material is not covered under authorization by any reproduction rights organization. To order copies or request
permission to reproduce materials, contact Ivey Publishing, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation, c/o Richard Ivey School of
Business, The University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 3K7; phone (519) 661-3208; fax (519) 661-3882; e-
mail: cases@ivey.uwo.ca.
Copyright © 2012, Richard Ivey School of Business Foundation Version: 2012-02-02
CASE SYNOPSIS
Daniel Woo, founder of Sushilicious, a new sushi restaurant in Irvine, California, was thinking about how
to make his second year in the business even more successful. Woo had defied the odds, building a
successful sushi restaurant in the same location where a traditional sushi restaurant had recently closed its
doors. Harnessing a combination of social media tools to promote Sushilicious, Woo had been able to
achieve 80 per cent utilization rates and turned a profit in his first year. His current objective is to grow the
customer base for his restaurant using a limited marketing budget. He wonders how he can build upon his
current communications strategy of focusing strictly on maintaining his social media presence. Even
though his low-cost, new-media approach has produced a steady stream of foot traffic as well as online
word-of-mouth, Woo would like to see increased traffic on Mondays and Tuesdays. He is also considering
the possibility that he has maxed out his online reach and may need to branch out his marketing efforts to
include some form(s) of traditional media.
CASE OBJECTIVE
There are several topics that can be discussed with this case:
1. Impact of new media marketing on traditional notions of location-based marketing
2. Social media for relationship marketing
3. Customer experience and brand voice
4. New media marketing mix within the overall marketing mix
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ASSIGNMENT QUESTIONS
1. What are Daniel Woo’s key challenges as he looks to make Sushilicious a success?
2. How well has Woo used the various new media marketing tools to his advantage?
3. What are Woo’s challenges in February 2011?
4. Given Woo’s limited resources, what should his marketing plan look like for the next growth phase?
Board Content
Ideas for What to Put on the Boards
1. Location, location, location! The class could have a useful discussion about Woo’s choice of location,
given that this attribute is key for restaurants that tend to benefit greatly from foot traffic and, in
particular, that this poor location created an opportunity for a greater focus on social media to pick up
Key Topics of Discussion
The following topics should be addressed as part of the overall case discussion:
1. Impact of new media marketing on traditional notions of location (location based marketing could be
woven in).
2. Social media for relationship marketing. How does social media take relationship marketing to a new
level?
3. Customer experience and brand voice. What are the challenges of extending a real-world customer
experience into the online world? What are the challenges of articulating a brand voice consistently
over time across various channels?
4. New media marketing mix. What is it, how can it vary based on marketing goals, and what are the
related execution and maintenance challenges?
5. Overall marketing mix. New media marketing doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it is (and should be treated
like) part of a larger overall marketing effort. How can new generation marketers look beyond the
technological divide and think more holistically about the entire marketing cycle, from offline to
online.
SUGGESTED ANSWERS
1. What are Daniel Woo’s key challenges as he looks to make Sushilicious a success?
Woo’s biggest challenge stems from the fact that his restaurant is located in a strip mall with little walk-by
traffic. In this case, Sushilicious’s problem was made clear by the fact that a sushi restaurant had just
closed down in the same location that Woo had chosen for his new concept. Second, Sushilicious
2. How well has Woo used the various new media marketing tools to his advantage?
The case lists the various marketing tools that Woo encountered. He focused his attention on two main
tools: Facebook and Twitter. Sushilicious’s Facebook content was targeted at females aged 18 to 24, and
Twitter was used to reach out to young professionals aged 21 and older. Woo soon discovered how to
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customer experience, taking cues from Apple Inc.’s stores and revamping the traditional sushi menu to
focus on a core set of dishes. Unlike a traditional sushi restaurant, Woo was not looking to provide clients
3. What are Woo’s challenges in February 2011?
Sushilicious is doing well. It has a utilization rate of 80 per cent, and it is profitable. Woo has two key
issues at the moment.
First, utilization on Mondays and Tuesdays is low, but those might be slow days for restaurants in general.
Here are some questions that students can discuss:
4. Given Woo’s limited resources, what should his marketing plan look like for the next growth
phase?
Woo has stated that his current plan is to look at delivering flyers to Irvine households. Concurrently, Woo
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Debrief/Key Take-Aways
The debrief can take a few forms depending on how the case discussion is managed. If in-class exercises
are conducted, student presentations can lead into the debrief, which can be more dynamic, depending on
