The Darden Restaurant is a multi-brand restaurant operator. They have over 1,800 restaurants that include Olive Garden, Red Lobster, and LongHorn Steakhouse. The chains make more than $7 billion a year in revenues making Darden Restaurants the largest full service operation in the US. This is due in part to the success from targeting different customers through distinct restaurant formats. Darden has created a successful marketing mix based on the 4Ps. In terms of price, there is much variety depending on the type of restaurant. For a casual restaurant it is generally between $15 to $20 a plate and the fine dining is about $30 to $40 a plate. The pricing is fairly priced for most places. Darden offers a very diverse range of food …show more content…

These different types of niches allow for a set of differentiations that create a competitive advantage.
Besides creating a niche market for customers, Darden has also worked hard to identify their services and image. They have been able to standardize by sharing the same technology to pace cooking and predict dinner traffic. Furthermore, Darden maintains an attitude of independence and individuality to protect each chain’s loyal consumers.
Darden has been able to position their restaurants to satisfy the needs of the consumers. The different brands work together to effectively satisfy the needs allowing for maximum competitive advantage. Being more than a family at Olive Garden, experiencing the taste of the west at Long Horn, or savoring the satisfying taste of wood-grilled seafood at Red Lobster all contribute to the success that Darden has created.
Although Darden’s efforts to standardize across brands have given it success it could lead to a potential backfire. Too much standardization can lead to redundancy in dining experiences. If what works well in one restaurant is applied to another, than the special feature and uniqueness will be lost. In addition, by doing the same thing at each restaurant, there is a risk that the market can get to saturated with similar products. There is no such thing as a one size fits all scheme that will work for every chain, so even though the standardization is effective now, making sure the