Internet marketing plan bath and body works (1)

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Bath & Body WorksMKTG 450 MWF 9:00-9:50am

Savanna Brown

Jessica Tuvell

Stephanie McKinley

Courtney Woodhouse

Emmyrose Khan

April 13, 2012

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Executive Summary

Overall, Bath & Body Works scores a B+ on the web marketing effectiveness of their internet site. They have a beautiful homepage that is simple yet professional looking. Customers can instantly see the latest promotions and the site is easy to navigate. On the other hand the social media aspect of the site is lacking. They only have a link to Facebook, email, and mobile alert signups which are all located at the bottom of the site. Not only is Facebook the only social media platform they utilize but they are not maintaining it very well.

In this paper we examined two main competitors for Bath & Body Works which are The Body Shop and Crabtree & Evelyn. Both competitors scored an A- for the web marketing effectiveness of their internet sites as opposed to Bath & Body Works B+. All three sites have very attractive homepages and are easy to navigate. They all also have similar uses of social media but both competitors are performing a little better in this area. The Body Shop has links to Facebook , Twitter, and email signup all located at the bottom of their site but they maintain them well. Crabtree & Evelyn has links to Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and email signup which they also seem to maintain well.

After analyzing the competitors Bath & Body Works has come up with an internet marketing plan strategy in which we propose two online marketing objectives and three marketing actions to meet our objectives. Our first objective is to build a long-term relationship with current customers through interactive techniques. Our second objective is to increase sales by 5% from new customers and 5% from current customers in the next 12 months. To achieve our first objective of building a long-term relationship with current customers we would like to implement two marketing actions which are an email newsletter to add to our existing email signup and to add a blog to our site. To achieve the second objective of increasing sales from new and existing customers we plan to go beyond just mobile alerts and create a mobile site making it easier to purchase products from mobile phones.

Bath & Body Works has also devised an internet marketing action plan to carry out the marketing actions discussed above. We would start with the email newsletter and blog because they are relatively simple to add to what we are currently doing with hardly any cost involved. The company already sends emails to its customers so the newsletter would just require some additional time for research. To create the blog we would have to compensate someone to create and maintain it. Next, we would have to hire a professional to create a mobile site and someone to maintain it. For the benefit to our company these are pretty simple and cost effective actions to take.

To summarize, Bath & Body Works needs to improve email and social media aspects of their website to remain competitive in today’s internet landscape. We’ve presented an actionable plan that is cost effective and simple to execute.

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Table of Contents

Bath & Body Works.....................................................................................................................................1

Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................2

Table of Contents........................................................................................................................................3

Section 1- Industry Overview.......................................................................................................................4

Section 2- Business Overview......................................................................................................................5

Section 3- Competitive Analysis.................................................................................................................12

Section 4- Internet Marketing Plan Strategy.............................................................................................19

Section 5- Internet Marketing Action Plan................................................................................................23

Section 6- Works Cited..............................................................................................................................24

Appendix...................................................................................................................................................26

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Section 1- Industry OverviewIt is clear that the beauty and personal care industry has shown a noticeable increase

within the past couple of years. It was reported on Euromonitor. com, “after a slight decline in beauty and personal care sales in 2009, demand increased in 2010 as the US economy started to show signs of improvement. Consumers reigned in their spending in 2009 due to a weak housing market and high unemployment levels. While the unemployment rate remained high in 2010, consumer confidence did rise during the year. Americans slowly returned to stores and resumed their traditional gift-giving habits in 2010. This boosted sales of discretionary products such as fragrances.” According to BusinessWeek reports, Bath and Body Works’ sales results for the fourth quarter and full year of 2012 totaled $ 1,127.9 million compared to $ 1,080.9 million a year before, for the quarter and $2,674.3 million compared to $ 2,515.2 million a year ago for the full year. While stores sales’ percentages have doubled.

With Limited Brand Inc. being a major player in specialty retailing, with stores such as Victoria’s Secret and Bath and Body Works, it is evident that Bath and Body Works is a primary contributor to the rising number in sales, being that it’s company, along with its affiliate Victoria’s Secret are responsible for 84% of the Limited Brand’s net sales.

United States beauty and personal care market is expected to show continual growth in discretionary spending. Three primary trends the personal care industry will be partaking in will be anti-aging products, organic ingredients, and male grooming. Research states, “In 2015, a rise in employment levels will lead to more disposable income to spend on beauty. Anti-aging skin care is expected to experience good growth, as baby boomers will drive growth in anti-aging products as they seek to look as young as they feel. Sales of male-specific bath and shower products and skin care are expected to continue growing due to the immaturity of these niches, and increasing comfort with grooming regimens among younger American men. Body wash/shower gel, liquid soap, and sun care are also expected to do well.”

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Section 2- Business OverviewBath & Body Works is a division of the Limited Brands Inc. that provides personal care

and beauty products. The company was founded in 1990 and is based in Reynoldsburg, Ohio. However, the company operates several hundred retail stores across the United States and Canada. Although, the primary target market is women, the company does also provide products for men and children. It offers a large array of products such as, hand soaps, scented lotions/creams, sanitizers, body soaps and gels. It also offers beauty products including lip gloss, make-up, shampoos, hair brushes, nail care, nail polish, alongside must needed accessories like, blankets, cosmetic bags, eye masks, slippers, loungewear, and home and candle products.

One of the primary ways, in which, Bath & Body Works segments its market online is through demographics. The demographic segment variable most important to Bath & Body Works is gender. Bath & Body Works offers a variety of products that target consumers of beauty and cosmetics products. Statistics show that online female usage has risen by 12% over the past 10yrs. It is apparent that more and more time is spent searching for satisfactory products and brands recognized by bloggers and social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. To reach out to the important demographic markets Bath & Body Works has incorporated social media into practice for promotion. By doing so, they are able to reach a large number of Tweens and Millennial. Reaching these two markets helps the company produce a brand name that is reputable and well recognized thus creating a “buzz.” However, the company does include a category of products dedicated to brands that have a long standing history, such as C.O. Bigelow established in 1838 , this category helps to tie in the baby boomer generation, for those who are more familiar with an older brand. The integrated social media also ties into Bath & Body Works Mobile alert which provides updates on new products and promotions.

It is clear that Bath & Body Works employs an online multi-segment marketing strategy. By targeting mainly the female gender it allows the company to specify marketing strategies that reach and impact female buyers, whether with graphics or contrasting colors, the combination of home and beauty products targets not only demographic segments but psychographic segments, as well. Offering hundreds of different fragrances and easy to use beauty products helps to address all types of personalities and likes.

The Internet Specific differentiation strategy that Bath & Body Works uses is the site environment/atmospheric strategy, which allows customers to visit a positive site environment to search and purchase products, easily adding value to the customer experience. With the use of value added content, such as, updated information, images, multimedia, and interactive elements gets the customer to come back, thus building a relationship. To capture the customer's attention Bath & Body Works begins with the homepage by providing a well-established site intro which clearly highlights 1-3 products with visually appealing images.

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Having this effective homepage to catch the attention of the customer, in addition to having user friendly navigation, contributes to the view of additional pages leading off of the homepage. However, one way in which the company can improve is through the uses of user generated content. Although, Bath & Body Works integrates social media, such as Facebook, mobile alerts, and emails, and provides customer ratings and reviews, to differentiate the company it should include and invite more customers to upload more content. With the rapid growth of social media, Bath & Body works should also incorporate blogs, YouTube videos, and twitter posts. By doing so, the company will demonstrate the importance of the customers relationship with the products and brand.

The positioning strategy that should be the primary focus is product benefits. Ways in which the company can demonstrate the basic benefits of the products could be through attributes, branding, support services, and labeling. The attributes will pertain to assuring the quality of the product is up to customer standards and includes some sort of online-mass customization and user personalization, which will help in customer relationship management and community building. Branding will consist of the Bath & Body Works brand name. Support services will include the 100% guarantee for returned items, Customer service, and the shipping and handling of products in a timely manner.

MCAT for Bath & Body Works

Home Page & Basic Website Usability

-Home Page utilizes appropriate company tagline – 4On the top left corner, one can find the company name, which is Bath & Body Works. There is nothing under Bath & Body Works that describes what it is that the company does, such as a slogan.

-Home Page makes use of site introduction – 5The introduction is done through graphic work showing what are good deals. They show their new featured item at the middle center of the website. They have a theme, which is fruit market by saying “fresh picked Market: Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap 5 for $15 or 7 for $20” “Save up to $18.50”. On top of that shows a free shipping deal for first time online shoppers. “Free shipping on your first order of $25 or more.” “Try us today!” On the bottom of the site introduction, one can find text and graphic links that show the value of company through deals and pictures. Bath & Body Works wants to show customers that they have body care products that no other companies have, products match the seasons, body products are in everyone’s price range, and products are mix and match.

-Basic Navigation is readily understood - 5Since Bath & Body Works is a division of Limited Brands, Inc., the basic navigation is a different set up. The links to online store, the contact us page, an FAQ page, and an About us page can be found on the footer of the website in the column called Corporate Info. Corporate Info includes the following: About Us, Employment, Corporate Sales, and Store Locator. The FAQ page can be found in the Help section under Customer Service. The horizontal navigation has the following: Category, Fragrance, Brand, Online

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Exclusives, What’s New, and Sale. This navigation is more for the deals and products. Most of the company information can be found on the footer and on the Corporate Website.

-Home Page integrates into the company’s social media efforts – 3You can get connected with Bath & Body Works through E-mail, mobile alerts, and Facebook. Facebook and Mobile text are links where the site will direct people where to go. Mobile link will send one to a section where one will type his/her first and last name, mobile number, email, address, city, state, zip code, and birthday. At the bottom, one can find a statement saying, “You are agreeing to receive text messages from Bath and Body Works…” The E-mail has a text bar where people can send their E-mails. These social media should have been on the top right corner under the Shopping Bag section. It is easier for people to see it because the focal point goes from the center of the site to the top right side.

-Home Page contains basic contact information – 5The contact information can be found on the footer of the site under Customer Service. When one clicks on the Contact Us link, one will be directed to an automatic email layout asking for his/her Name, E-mail Address, Phone Number, Order Number (if he/she purchased something), Subject, and Questions and Comments. Underneath that, one will find the Customer Service Department phone number, which is 1-800-756-5005. On the left side of the page, one can find a vertical navigation. One of the links will help one find stores. If one wants the address to Bath & Body Works, then one has to go to the corporate website (Limited Brands, Inc.) One can click Employment link and then click the “Learn more about retail management and home office opportunities” link. From there, the address can be found on the bottom left corner. This is the only difficult part of the contact information. The address of the company should be in the contact section page.

-Home Page contains link to privacy statement – 5The Privacy Policy link can be found on the bottom right corner of the website. When one clicks the link, it opens with an introduction of privacy and security.

-Home Page contains copyright notice – 5Yes it does. It says Copyright 2012 Bath & Body Works Direct, Inc. All Right Reserved.

-Home Page includes a site search (that works) – 5It is found on the top left corner of the site, and it works. One can type in the search bar anything he/she wants such as “purple”, and items relating to purple will show up. When one is on the Search Result page, one can narrow his/her options by showing only the following: Narrow by Price, Narrow by Fragrance or Color, or Brand. Also, one can sort items by the following: Newest Products, Top Sellers, Price: Highest to Lowest, and Price Lowest to Highest. Can choose how many items per page. 12, 48, and view all. The search results show products with current sales, for example: Moisturizing Hand Soap, Fresh Lavender $5.00 5 for $15 or 7 for $20: Mix & Match.

-Home Page includes a link to a site map – 5The site map can be located in the footer section of the site. It is under the Useful Links section.

-Home Page includes non-flash navigation option (if they use flash) – 5They use non-flash navigation option and a little bit of flash navigation option. The non-flash navigation is located on horizontal navigation (text link). It can be found on the site introduction; it is text and graphic link. Vertical navigation for the company information is also non-flash navigation. The flash

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navigation is located on the top right corner. It flashes the following sale items: Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap, Wallflowers and Scentportables.

-Page is HTML 4.0 valid (# of errors) – 3The result from the validator tool shows that there is 190 errors with 18 warning(s). The encoding is iso-8859-1. The doctype is HTML5. The root element is html.

-Contrasting colors are used – 5They use contrast and complementary colors. They use spring color palettes such as green, red, yellow, and orange. The background is a picture of clouds, while the rest of the theme goes with spring market colors. The flash navigation on the top right corner should have been a darker green because the lime green is not noticeable behind the white background.

-Text is a readable size – 5Yes, the text font is Helvetica and with an 8.5pt (in the footer section) and larger in different sections. The site introduction and company tagline uses different fonts, different sizes, and different colors.

-Page is usable in non-IE browser – 5I used Google Chrome and Safari.

Content

-Content is scannable – 5All of the links and graphics are needed (it is not cluttered) on the website. The site all comes together for the spring theme. The text and graphic links show what are the current deals with prices. When one clicks on the link, it will lead the customer to see more similar products. From there, the customer can click on the product and get more details about it. It is scannable because the site is simple where customers can figure out what is going on by a glance.

-Content is written in an action oriented style – 3As stated from before, Bath & Body Works is a division of Limited Brands, Inc. Most of the specific facts, features, benefits, and promises are on the Limited Brands website. This website caters to online shopping more than anything else. The Limited Brand website offers content information such as the following: Investors: Annual Report, Stock Information, and Responsibility. Benefits Information: Savings & Retirement, Health & Welfare Benefits, Lifestyle, Social Media Policy. Career Opportunities: Customer Care Centers: Design, Finance, and Marketing. College Programs, Community, Product Information, Labor Practices, Press Releases, and Environment. The Bath & Body Works should have a link to the Press Releases of Limited Brands Inc. It helps customers know what is happening with the company: awards and news. Bath & Body Works needs to have news (press release) about their own division. It is hard to find information about the company unless a customer does research on the websites. There should be a tiny link leading to Limited Brands Inc. website.

-Content is relevant and useful – 5For a home and beauty product company, they offer a lot of value added on the website. They offer items that you might like based on previous clicks on items. They give first time online customers free shipping on items of $25 or more. They show what have deals such as 5 for $15 Hand Soap. The website has Online Exclusives, which means customers can get the products or deal only on the website. They

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have navigation for Sales and What’s New. Another important value add that the website offers are Ratings and Reviews: Customers can read what other customers say about the product.

-Content is interactive – 4The Ratings and Reviews are updated by customers. For example, Juniper Breeze Body Splash has been reviewed by a customer on March 2, 2012. Customers update the Facebook page constantly, but the company does not update it often. Other customers reply to customers questions or comments. Bath & Body Works needs to do the same. Customers are interacting with other customers, but not with the company as much. It would be nice if the company answers the customers’ questions instead of other customers always answering it. They email and text their customers when a deal, holiday, or new item come out, so they are always updated. From there, customers can let their friends know and post their feelings on the Bath & Body Works Facebook page.

-Content is updated regularly – 5Customers can easily see that the website is updated, along with Facebook. The layout, such as graphics, is updated with the current season and holiday. There are different sales and deals going on. The copyright date is 2012. The dates on the Rating and Reviews are noticeable, along with Facebook comments.

-New content is readily identifiable – 5Customers can’t miss it. On the horizontal navigation, there is a link to What’s New. They have graphic links to what is new with brief details. On the bottom, they offer a section call We Recommend. On the right side, there is a vertical navigation for the following: New Collections: Fresh Picked Favorites!, Best of Lemon, Signature Collection, Candles and Wallflowers and More Home Fragrance. New Fragrances: Aruba Coconut, Bahama Fizz, Bail Mango, Mango Mai Tai, and Market Peach. Special Savings: Buy 3, Get 2 Free Signature Body Care, 2 for $5 Mini Candles, and Buy 2, Get 1 Free Lip.

-Old content is appropriately archived – 4On the footer section, customers can find Discontinued Fragrances under Useful Links. They are retired scents, but they can still available only online everyday. This should be in a different location than Useful Links because it is not noticeable for customers.

-Content is branded where appropriate – 5Yes, it is branded appropriately. The Brand can be found on the graphic links and some of the products. For example, Bath & Body Works Signature Collection: Moisturizing Conditioner Black Raspberry Vanilla. Customers brand their content for the company more than the company does on Facebook: “Bath and Body Works ROCKS!”, “Wearing Country Chic today <3” and “Bath & Body Works: Fresh- picked happiness… just for you. <3” On Facebook, the company needs to post more for the customers to see: Upcoming to the holidays, Deals, and Contests.

-Online store contains subcategory and product detail pages – 5On the horizontal navigation, the products can be divided by Category, Fragrance, and Brand: For the Body: Bath & Shower, Lotions & Creams, Personal Fragrance, Anti-Bacterial & Soaps, Hand Sanitizers, Face Care, Aromatherapy, Spa & Treatments, Lip, Accessories, Men’s, Travel, Gifts, and Online Exclusives. For the Home: Candles, Wallflowers, Home Fragrance, and Gifts. Fragrance: Exotic, Floral, Fresh, Fruit & Citrus, Gourmet, and Woody. Brand: Bath & Body Works Signature Collection, Slatkin & Co., Anti-Bacterial, Bath & Body Works Classics, Aromatherapy, Patricia Wexier M.D., True Blue Spa, C.O. Bigelow, Liplicious, Bath & Body Works Accessories, and Victoria’s Secret PINK.

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-Site includes About Us information – 4They list a good amount of the information that we discussed in class. They have history, type of business, market coverage, and number of employees.There are more details on the Limited Brands About Us website such as revenues, name and titles of employees, fact sheet, and beliefs. Most of the information is found on Limited Brands because most companies usually put all information together.

-Site includes Contact Us page – 4They Contact Information includes an email layout where people post questions and comments and the Customer Service Department phone number. There is a store locator link where people can find a store near them. It will show the store phone number, distance from the customer, address, and link for the map directions. It does not include the store hours like it should. Also, the headquarters’ address can be found on the Limited Brands website. It should also be included in the Bath & Body Works Contact Us information . The Limited Brands also offers their Twitter link next to their address.

-FAQ’s are likely frequently asked and organized appropriately - 4They offer Retail Store FAQs in the Corporate Information section.The question on the FAQ’s look like question that most people would ask such as return policy and policy regarding animal testing. They did not do the Q: and A: to show the difference, bit the did the question in bold and answers not in bold. They use anchor tags as well. They do not have a Online Retail FAQs, but the information can be found under Customer Service such as: Payment options, Shipping & Returns, Gift Services, and Shopping.

Inbound Links

-Links work – 5

-Links are obvious – 5

-Link includes description/context – 5They use basic titles for the text links; majority of the links do not need descriptions. Items that need descriptions would be the products, which already have it when one clicks on the link.

Analysis & Recommendations

-Identify & discuss the single best feature of this site from the customer’s perspectiveThe homepage is done so well that it can make customers want to buy items right away; it is simple, yet professional looking. The theme goes great along with the upcoming season, and customers can instantly take note that there are great deals. It is not hard to find items that the want through the navigation option and search bar. Everything is there for the customer to see; no research required.

-Identify & discuss the single worst feature of this site from the customer’s perspectiveThere are two things that Bath & Body Works should change: Add a link to Limited Brands Inc because people will find the website to Limited Brands only if they are looking for a career with Limited Brands or Bath & Body Works and giving that link, it will help customers find what they need faster such as address, fact sheet, company information, etc.; and communicate with customers more via Facebook because customers get answers from other customers, but customers want answers from the main source (not second source), and it will show that Bath & Body Works is friendly and willing to help out.

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-Overall, based on all the features you’ve analyzed, grade the web marketing effectiveness of this site using the scale “A” to “F” and defend your analysisB+. Being part of a division of a company, Bath & Body Works primary purpose for the website is to sell products online. They are integrating to social media via Facebook. As people see, the company’s Facebook is always being updated by customers’ questions, comments, feelings, purchases, and advice. They need to work on communicating with the customers. Customers might think that the company is neglecting them (need to keep loyal customer coming back). The website could highlight what they do for the community or foundations that they support. One can only find this through Limited Brands through the search engine.

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Section 3- Competitive AnalysisThe Body Shop

The Body Shop is one of Bath & Body Work’s direct competitors. The company originated in England in 1976, so it has been around longer than Bath & Body Works (TheBodyShop.com). There are over 2,500 stores worldwide, and they claim to be the “original, natural and ethical beauty brand”. As stated on their website, The Body Shop’s competitive advantage is truly that they have five core values which they translate into all of their products: “support community trade, defend human rights, against animal testing, activate self-esteem, and protect our planet” (TheBodyShop.com). The Body Shop is owned by L'Oréal.

Their product lines are very similar to those of Bath & Body Works, but they also carry products that Bath & Body Works does not sell, such as makeup and hair products. They sell figt sets, body and bath products such as lotions or soaps, items for skin care, fragrances, items for the home, men’s products, and more.

MCAT Analysis of The Body Shop

Homepage & Basic Website Usability

See Appendix for screen shot of the competitor’s homepage.

-Home page utilizes appropriate company tagline – 3Although no tagline or slogan is visible from the home page, there is a prominent logo in the upper left hand corner of the page.

-Home page makes use of site introduction – 3There are not any sentences explaining the value of the company on the homepage. However, there is a prominent image which highlights some of The Body Shop’s products that are currently being promoted, as well as smaller images to the right where products are 2 for $10, 3 for $30, etc.

-Basic navigation is readily understood – 5The website has two main navigation bars. There is one, which is horizontal across the top of the home page which holds some of The Body Shop’s main product lines, such as ‘Gifts’, ‘Body’, ‘Bath’, ‘Skin Care’, and more. Then there is another smaller navigation bar at the very bottom of the home page which contains links where customers can learn more about the company, such as ‘About Us’, ‘Affiliates’, ‘Careers’, and ‘Contact Us’, to name a few.

-Home page integrates into the company's social media efforts – 2 Though there are links to The Body Shop’s Facebook and Twitter accounts, they are very small and not easy to find on the home page. They should be placed higher up on their page so that visitors don’t have to do a lot of searching to find them. There is also a box where customers can enter their e-mail address for newsletters to be sent to them.

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-Home page contains basic contact information – 0There is no contact information at the bottom of the homepage such as the company's name, address, or e-mail address. To find this information, customers would have to click on the ‘Contact Us’ link at the bottom of the home page.

-Home page contains link to privacy statement – 5This is located on the bottom navigation bar of the home page.

-Home page contains copyright notice – 5

-Home page includes a site search (that works) – 5

-Home page includes a link to a site map – 5This is also located on the bottom navigation bar on the home page.

-Home page includes a non-flash navigation option (if they use flash) – N/AIt appears that The Body Shop uses very minimal or no flash on their home page, so this option is not necessary.

-Page is HTML 4.0 valid (# of errors) – 16 errors, 4 warnings.

-Contrasting colors are used - 5

-Text is a readable size – 5-Page is usable in non-IE browser – 5The page was checked in both Safari and Firefox.

Content

-Content is scannable – 5It meets best practices: certain elements are emphasized by using colored, larger, or bolded text, the page is not cluttered with unnecessary information, and graphics are used that are related to the company and display their products in a positive manner.

-Content is written in an action oriented style – 5On the ‘Company’ page (which is located under ‘About Us’), The Body Shop emphasizes not that they have the best products around, but that they use natural products and care about the environment instead. This allows the customer to read it without getting a pushy or salesman-like feel and may be more comfortable purchasing from this company. They also highlight some of their accomplishments, for example, being the first international cosmetics brand to be recognized under the Humane Cosmetics Standard for their Against Animal Testing policy.

-Content is relevant and useful – 5There is value-added content featured on their website which would make a customer come back beyond the initial visit to the website. For example, there promotions featured on the home page, such as ‘Take $20 off any $60 purchase’ and ‘Free Shipping on Orders over $50’. Some of these

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promotions end on specified dates, so if a customer regularly purchases from The Body Shop, they would want to visit the site often for the most recent sales.

-Content is interactive – 5The Body Shop updates on their Facebook page frequently, posting a variety of things such as scavenger hunts, current campaigns they have created (such as the Love Your Body campaign, which is also their customer loyalty program), and even videos highlighting some of the people they co-op with for products which also benefits local communities. On their Twitter page, the post about some of the things they post on Facebook, but also ask their followers other questions, such as “Our philosophy is that looking good stems directly from feeling good. What do you feel good about today?” which could also give them opportunities to talk about their products.

-Content is updated regularly – 5As mentioned above, the company is definitely updating their Facebook and using it regularly. The Body Shop also has a page solely for their current promotions, which seems to be updated whenever there are new sales going on. This page is located under their ‘About Us’ link on the home page.

-New content is readily identifiable – 3Though they devote a page to highlighting current promotions, it would be hard to find from simply glancing over the home page. A directly link may be more helpful for those customers who are interested in the current sales.

-Old content is appropriately archived – N/AThere is no evidence of The Body Shop archiving their content or news publicly for customers to see, or having a media center where this information could be stored.-Content is branded where appropriate – 5

-Online store contains subcategory and product detail pages – 5When you click on a product line (such as ‘Gifts’), The Body Shop does a great job of listing each product category on that particular page (such as ‘Gifts for Him’, ‘Gifts for Her’, ‘Gifts under $10’, etc.) The website also has product detail pages when you click an item where you can get a description and more information on the product.

-Site includes About Us information – 5As mentioned in some of the previous sections, The Body Shop’s ‘About Us’ link actually contains many sub-pages (such as ‘About The Body Shop’, ‘Our Company’, ‘History’, etc.) This is helpful if a customer is looking for something specific as they don’t have to read a lot of unnecessary information. The only information that is not provided on this page are things such as revenue, # of employees, and market coverage.

-Site includes Contact Us page – 5The "Contact Us" page is helpful because it has e-mail addresses specific to whatever it is you are inquiring about. This is likely to save time for both the customer and the employees responding to the e-mails. There is also a 1-800 number that you can call.

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-FAQ's are likely frequently asked and organized appropriately – 5The FAQ's are organized with anchor tags so that visitors don't have to read through each question and can instead look at the links at the top of the page for the question they are curious about.Inbound Links

-Links work – 5-Links are obvious - 5

-Link includes descriptions/context – 5The links include keywords so that someone would be able to easily tell where that page will lead to if they click on it.


-The single best feature about The Body Shop’s website is the ease in using the navigation. For example, if you have never shopped at this store before, it is very easy to get more information about these products, as each product line has a page with their best sellers. There is also a huge variety of gift sets in which they bundle together products to make for a great overall package. Their emphasis on the environment and being eco-friendly is also another advantage that I think they highlight well on their website.

-The single worst feature of The Body Shop’s website is probably the placement of some of their links. For example, they do a great job of using their social media and interacting with customers, but the links are so small on the homepage it is easy to overlook that they are even there. They also highlight one or two promotions on their home page which is great, but they don’t mention that there is an entire list of promotions that are currently going on. If you want that information as a customer, you really have to dig for it and it is not made easy on their part.

-I would grade the web marketing effectiveness of The Body Shop’s website as an A-. They really do a great job in almost all areas except for the linking problems that were mentioned above. If they fixed those minor issues, there would be virtually no flaws on their website.

Crabtree & Evelyn

Crabtree & Evelyn was founded by Cyrus Harvey in 1972. It started as a family-run business and has evolved into an international company. Crabtree & Evelyn specializes in a variety of fine fragrances in their array of toiletry products including hand care products, foot care products, body wash, lotions, cleansers, bar soap, body treatments, men’s grooming products, lip care, perfume, cologne, body sprays, and home fresheners and fragrances.

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MCAT of Crabtree & Evelyn

Home Page & Basic Website Usability

- Home Page utilizes appropriate company tagline – 0There is no tagline stated.

-Home Page makes use of site introduction – 2There is no site introduction, however, they do identify their products with key words such as bath and body, hands and feet, fragrance, etc.

-Basic Navigation is readily understood – 5Navigation bar is located at the top of the page with clear categories

-Home Page integrates into the company’s social media efforts – 4Facebook, twitter, and youtube are utilized with links at the bottom of the page. These links would be better located at the top.

-Home Page contains basic contact information – 2Only the phone number is listed but there is a “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the page.

-Home Page contains link to privacy statement – 5

-Home Page contains copyright notice – 0There is no copyright notice on the home page.

-Home Page includes a site search (that works) – 5

-Home Page includes a link to a site map – 0

-Home Page includes non-flash navigation option (if they use flash) – 0

-Page is HTML 4.0 valid (# of errors) – 3134 errors and 136 warnings but it is a pretty big site.

-Contrasting colors are used – 5

-Text is a readable size – 5

-Page is usable in non-IE browser – 5 Google Chrome and Internet Explorer were tested and they worked well with the site.

Content

-Content is scannable – 5There is not too much clutter, the navigation is easy to use, and the graphics used are appropriate to promote certain items.

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-Content is written in an action oriented style – 5Phrases such as “Try it for yourself!” and “Learn More!” are used on the site and lots of positive information is given.

-Content is relevant and useful – 4All content on the page is relevant and useful to people seeking information on their body products. There could be more helpful advice perhaps about skin care and other things like that.

-Content is interactive – 5The content on their facebook is very recent and they seem to post something at least every other day.

-Content is updated regularly – 5Content appears to be recent, they have several specials and offers that are advertised that are not out of date.

-New content is readily identifiable – 5New products are being shown on the RSS feed on their home page as well as more ads underneath for particular products.

-Old content is appropriately archived – 5

-Content is branded where appropriate – 5

-Online store contains subcategory and product detail pages – 5There are clear categories and subcategories; when one is clicked on at the top you are taken to the appropriate page and another navigation bar appears on the left that has more detail than the one at the top. The online store is very easy to use.

-Site includes About Us information – 3This site does have an About Us page but it is difficult to find. The tab should be located at the top on the navigation bar but instead it is located at the very bottom of the home page making a little more searching required.

-Site includes Contact Us page – 5The site includes e-mail ability on the website, phone number, and office hours for customer service. There is a separate page for locating stores that is easily accessible from contact us page.

-FAQ’s are likely frequently asked and organized appropriately – 5There is a help page that includes tags to different common questions.

Inbound Links

-Links work – 5-Links are obvious – 5-Link includes description/context – 5All links are clear.

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-Identify & discuss the single best feature of this site from the customer’s perspective.The website is very attractive to the eye. It has a good use of color and it is also very user friendly. It’s easy to find the products that a customer might be looking for and purchase them, and it’s also easy to find store locations and contact them by e-mail or phone.

-Identify & discuss the single worst feature of this site from the customer’s perspective.The home page was missing a few items like the copyright notice, contact information at the bottom, tagline, site introduction, and a flash option. The home page is good, but it could be better.

-Overall, based on all the features you’ve analyzed, grade the web marketing effectiveness of this site using the scale “A” to “F” and defend your analysis. I would give the site an A-. Everything about the site was great except for the few features missing from the home page.

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Section 4- Internet Marketing Plan StrategyE-Mail Marketing Plan

Currently, Bath & Body Works does have an e-mail marketing plan, but it is very limited. On their website, www.bathandbodyworks.com, customers are able to sign up for e-mail messages to "hear about new arrivals, exclusive perks and special offers" (BathandBodyWorks.com). However, the one element where the current e-mails could be improved would be to add more in-depth content such as articles, where customers can learn more information that is relevant to the product lines that Bath & Body Works sells. This would help Bath & Body Works to achieve a goal of “build a long-term relationship with current customers through interactive techniques”, which is one of our goals within our Internet Marketing Plan. An example of how Bath & Body works could do this would be to have an article discussing how to avoid the flu, while promoting their anti-bacterial hand soap. This would be beneficial for many reasons, and would build Bath & Body Work's brand image, as well as encourage the use of social media. This would allow their target market to realize that these products will add value to their lives, instead of simply sending out coupons and promotions.

It is important that best practices for e-mail newsletters are followed so that the messages are effective and do not get flagged as spam by e-mail servers. The first place to start is the ‘to’, ‘from’, and ‘subject’ lines of the e-mail. The ‘to’ line should be individually addressed to the recipient, and the ‘from’ line should clearly identify that the e-mail is coming from Bath & Body Works. It is also helpful if there is an employee’s name and e-mail so customers have someone to get in contact with if they need to, though it is not necessary. The ‘subject’ line should again identify the company’s name in brackets or with a colon, and then include up to seven key words, which give readers and idea of what the newsletter will discuss. In the mock newsletter for Bath & Body Works that has been created (see Appendix), the ‘subject’ line is ‘[Bath & Body Works] Spring Wellness Tips, What’s New, and More!’. This gives the reader just enough information where they can become interested and actually open and read the e-mail.

There are a number of best practices that should be followed in the masthead of the e-mail. First, it is important that the name of the company and logo (if applicable) are present and prominently displayed when someone first opens the e-mail. The date or issue number of the newsletter should also be displayed. It is important to have any social media that the company has an account on to be displayed at the top of the e-mail as well. It only makes sense- if someone is interested enough about your company to subscribe to your e-mails, they are likely to want to check out your social media sites! On our mock newsletter, the social media buttons are at the very top of the newsletter. Customers shouldn’t have to search to find these.

The best practices for the newsletter footer are simple. The name of the company, address, and copyright statement should be included in the footer of the e-mail. It is also important (and according to U.S. law) to include unsubscribe information and any other messaging options at the bottom of the e-mail as well.

The free, online program called Constant Contact is what we used to develop our mock newsletter. The goal was to keep it simple with relevant information and to tie everything together. Green, yellow, and other pastel colors were chosen to be representative of Spring and being

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environmentally friendly. Contrasting colors were used to specify when a new article or promotions began so that it is easy to read. An emphasis on this issue was placed on upcoming holidays such as Easter, Mother’s Day, and Earth Day, to remind readers these holidays give great opportunities to purchase gifts for loved ones or to by eco-friendly products. Articles were alternated with store promotions from Bath & Body Works, but all of the information was interrelated. At the end of the e-mail, there is also a coupon, which gives customers a call to action, especially if they saw a product they were interested in. We tried to keep it informal, as if the reader was simply talking to a Bath & Body Works employee.

If Bath & Body Works did implement a more in-depth e-mail newsletter, it would be important to check the e-mail for spam to ensure that the customers actually receive the e-mail in their inbox. Our mock newsletter was checked with Lyris Checker to see how it scored, and received a score of 0.516. This means that our message is considered “clean” and likely to be delivered to our recipients. If it would have scored higher than 3.0, it would have likely been sorted into spam or junk mail folders by internet service providers or e-mail servers. We also checked our newsletter in Constant Contact’s spam checker and it also determined that there was little to no risk of being blocked as spam. While creating the newsletter, we kept in mind some of the tips that we learned from class discussions about how to keep your spam score low. We know our HTML formatting was done correctly, because with Constant Contact it does that for you! We also tried to limit the use of capitalization, font choices, and subject line choices, avoiding words like ‘free’, ‘hello’, or ‘guarantee’.

Mobile Marketing Plan

Bath & Body Works does not currently have a mobile website but they do have mobile alerts used to text promotions if the consumer signs up. When accessing their site from a mobile phone their standard internet site is observed. It is too cumbersome to navigate their traditional website on your mobile phone. We decided to create a mobile site utilizing best practices since many consumers now use their mobile devices to shop and search for products. We feel that incorporating a mobile site into our marketing plan will help us meet our objective of increasing sales by 5% from new customers and 5% from current customers in the next 12 months.

The content, design, and navigation best practices will be incorporated into our mobile site (a mock version of the mobile site can be viewed in the appendix). As for the content of the site it is clear and clean, our logo is in the upper left hand corner where it is very visible, the links include contact information and social media links have been integrated. We would name the site m.bathandbodyworks.com. The design is in a simple format and limits images to 2 or 3 so it will load quickly. The images are of the most current promotions that are running and will be updated regularly. We will not use flash since it is not compatible with all mobile web browsers. Finally, the navigation limits the number of accessible links, has a maximum of 1 scroll and 8 pages. Some extras that we included were a search box to make it easier to look up something that is not seen in the links and a shopping cart to make purchases more visible and accessible.

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Our intent was to create a mobile website that was aesthetically pleasing, easy to navigate and simple without compromising the brand or limiting the consumers’ ability to find their favorite products. Mobile phone use has risen considerably since “smart” phones are cheaper and more accessible. It is imperative that our company adapt to the trends and incorporate them into their marketing strategy. It seems that mobile phone use is only going to increase in popularity and with it the growth of mobile shopping which could equate to more profits for our company.

Blog Marketing Plan

Since 2003, Blogging has become popular over the years for people who use the Internet. There are about 77 million users in the United States visiting blogs every month, and it is still expanding. In order to attract more customers, Bath & Body Works plans to launch a blog website that will contain topics that our customers will enjoy. This plan will begin a more personal relationship with the current and prospective customers. One can access the blog through the Bath & Body Works’ website. We would have a corporate blogger; this blogger would be the same person in charge of all the social media for Bath & Body Works in the marketing department. There will be a link tab on the horizontal navigation guide between Facebook and Get Mobile Alerts link tabs. Also, we plan to move the social media links in the upper right hand corner, so customers can see it automatically. The blog will include the links to Facebook, Twitter, Mobile and E-mail updates, and Shop Online on the blog site.

In the blog, one will be able to learn more about beauty tips, makeup tips, healthy eating tips, fitness tips, opportunities for prizes, related articles on the products and company, and other articles on beauty.

For beauty and makeup tips, we will post information on how to get a certain look by using certain products. Also, the blogger will do research on YouTube on finding beauty and makeup video tutorials made by people, also known as vloggers. We will contact the people to get their permission before posting it on the site. These vloggers will get a chance to get themselves known, get more video views, and get a personal relationship with Bath & Body Works.

Customers are not just about looking pretty and smelling pretty with Bath & Body Works products. Our customers crave to look and feel good. In order to acquire our customers and our prospective customers feeling like that, we must implement healthy eating habits and workouts to get the body where it needs to be. We will have our employees featured every month in the blog showcasing their own homemade, healthy recipes. Also, we will have cheap on-the-go lunch recipes that people can make for work, school, and snacks after busy days. In addition, to be fit, people need to workout along with eating healthy. We will demonstrate workouts that can be done at home and workouts that can be done in the gym. Again, we will use YouTube to find certain workout plans or workout moves to get customers to partake in.

People love to win prizes and be a feature in a blog. Once a month, we will choose one of our customers, who purchase our products online, to be our Monthly Valued Customer (MVC). This

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customer will get a prize that will be mailed to them, such as a gift set of products they like (this can be figured out by recent purchases and marketing research). Then, we will e-mail our customer letting them know that they are the winner, and they will be featured on our blog; the feature will have a few questions and answers about them along with a picture of them, and they will answer our questions and send us a picture of themselves. Also, we will snapshot the prize to be put on the blog.

This site can be used to display what is going on with the company such as press release articles. Also, we can feature other blogs and articles that talk about beauty and Bath & Body Works products.

Having a blog site will enhance customers to communicate with us. Along with our posts, customers can like it or reply to them. From there, we can see the trends such as if the posts are relevant to them, interesting to them, and useful to them.

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Section 5- Internet Marketing Action PlanE-mail Marketing Plan

Because Bath & Body Works already has a working e-mail list (and likely software or a designer who creates the current e-mails) and sends them on a regular basis, this would be extremely simple to implement. All they would need to do is spend a little bit of time on a weekly or monthly basis developing stories relevant to whatever products they want to promote, and add it into their current e-mails. This truly would make their e-mails more interesting and not just another ad customers are bombarded with. The additional cost associated with this plan would simply be time to create stories for the e-mails.

Mobile Marketing Plan

We will implement the mobile strategy by working with the research and development department to bolster the mobile division, putting a focused priority on this emerging market. The marketing and graphics departments will play key roles on developing and incorporating the mobile website and getting the word to the consumers. A portion of our social media department would be re-tasked to ensure the mobile site was constantly updated relaying to the consumer the most recent sales. Due to the massive increase in sales of “smart” phones and consumer use, I would expect approximately 20% of our company to engage in this emerging market. This would require a shift in culture to keep the company fresh and reach the millions of consumers who use their phone for most online activities.

Blog Marketing Plan

Making the blog, we will need to do research on blogging, which will be done by the person in charge of the social media in the marketing department section. Also, we need to work more with the graphics department to get the blog up and running with backgrounds and theme changed when the online shop website changes as well. We plan to have 10,300 readers (leaders) on the blog on the first month. From there, we plan on those readers, who are the leaders for trending, to share our blog via their social medias. From there, it will capture interests of trender’s followers indicating an increase of 30% more viewers; it will dramatically increase every month. Blogging does not cost money (minus the prizes), but it will increase our profits.

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Section 6- Works Cited

Bath & Body Works. (n.d.). E-mail. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from Bath & Body Works: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/emailSignup/index.jsp

Bath and Body Works. (2012). Home. Retrieved April 2012, from Bath and Body Works: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/home/index.jsp

Bath and Body Works. (n.d.). Online Exclusives. Retrieved April 2012, from Bath and Body Works: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=12453181

Bath and Body Works. (n.d.). What's New. Retrieved April 2012, from Bath and Body Works: http://www.bathandbodyworks.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=4090262

Bloomberg Businessweek. (2012). Company Overview of Bath and Body Works. Retrieved April 2012, from Bloomberg Businessweek: http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=4166585

Crabtree & Evelyn. (n.d.). Our Story. Retrieved April 10, 2012, from Crabtree & Evelyn: http://www.crabtree-evelyn.com/eng/aboutUs/aboutus.cfm?&var=d&ckey=US

Euromonitor International. (2011, May). Beauty and Personal Care in the US. Retrieved April 2012, from Euromonitor International: http://www.euromonitor.com/beauty-and-personal-care-in-the-us/report

Limited Brands. (n.d.). About Bath and Body Works. Retrieved April 2012, from Limited Brands: http://limitedbrands.com/our_brands/bath_body_works/about.aspx

Limited Brands. (n.d.). Careers. Retrieved April 2012, from Limited Brands: http://www.limitedbrands.jobs/

Limited Brands. (2012, April 5). Press Releases. Retrieved April 2012, from Limited Brands: http://limitedbrands.com/newsroom/press_releases/Press_Releases.aspx

The Body Shop. (n.d.). History. Retrieved April 2012, from The Body Shop: http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/about-us/aboutus_history.aspx

The Body Shop. (n.d.). Our Company. Retrieved April 2012, from The Body Shop: http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/about-us/aboutus_company.aspx

The Martha Stewart Show. (2008, September). Blogging Facts. Retrieved April 2012, from Martha Stewart: http://www.marthastewart.com/268007/blogging-facts?lnc=38f9cf380e1dd010VgnVCM1000005b09a00aRCRD&rsc=showmain_tv_the-martha-stewart-show

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Appendix

Screenshot of Bath & Body Works Homepage:

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Screenshot of The Body Shop’s Homepage:

Screenshot of Crabtree & Evelyn’s homepage:

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Screenshots of mock e-mail newsletter:

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Screenshot of Mobile Site:

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Screenshot of Mock Blog Site: