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Buying and Merchandising Business Operations Research Event Indianola DECA Chapter Melanie Willis Indianola High School 1304 East Second Avenue Indianola, Iowa 50125 Melanie Willis 1/14/2015
Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary ................................................................................... 1
II. Introduction ........................................................................................... 2-4
Description of the business ...................................................................................................... 2
Description of the community ................................................................................................. 3
Description of the business’ current target market ................................................................. 4
III. Research Methods used in the study ...................................................... 4-7
Description and rationale of research methodologies used to conduct the research study 4-5
Process used to conduct the select research methods .......................................................... 5-7
IV. Findings and Conclusions of the study .................................................8-10
Findings of the research study ............................................................................................. 8-9
Conclusions based on the findings ...................................................................................... 9-10
V. Proposed strategic plan ...................................................................... 10-13
Objectives and rationale of the proposed plan ................................................................... 10-11
Proposed activities and timelines ....................................................................................... 11-13
Proposed metrics or key performance indicators to measure plan effectiveness .................. 13
VI. Proposed Budget ...................................................................................... 14
VII. Bibliography ............................................................................................ 15
VIII. Appendix ............................................................................................. 16-19
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This market research project will be focusing on increasing the amount of Baby Boomer customers existing at salon One Eighty. Over the past four years, the primary target market has been Millennials. My goal is to create events that draw Baby Boomers in, as well as continue to entertain the current customers. I also plan to adjust the marketing techniques in order to adapt to the needs of the older generation.
Research Methods Used in the Study
I sought to develop a thorough understanding of One Eighty’s goals, marketing, internal operations, and their external environment. Research is critical in order to perfect the proposed plan; therefore, I used a variety of sources to collect data: Secondary Research:
Collected statistics from QuickFacts.com Received a better understanding of the salon industry through many reliable
websites Primary Research:
Categorized information from One Eighty and its competitors’ websites Interviewed One Eighty’s owner, Jill Brommel Conducted a survey with over 150 respondents Consulted a focus group of 8 existing Baby Boomer customers
Findings and Conclusions of the Study
After collecting a mass amount of information from my research, I organized my findings in a detailed SWOT analysis. The major conclusions are as follows:
Strengths- variety of services, unique products Weaknesses- newer business, modern marketing Opportunities- location, varied services Threats- many other salons in Indianola, modern style
Proposed Strategic Plan
One Eighty has an amazing team of employees, astounding variety of services, and loyal customers that help it thrive. However, it is essential that the business’ clientele increases. The idea is to have as many Baby Boomers in the new clientele as possible. In order to do so, I have came up with a couple promotional activities that should draw the older generation into the salon.
Proposed Budget
Considering One Eighty is a local business, I kept the expenses minimal. The main cost will when the salon adjusts the advertising to be geared to the older generation, as well. Other costs will revolve around the events being hosted.
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II. INTRODUCTION
Description of the Business:
This market research project’s major focus will be on the operations of One
Eighty Salon and Day Spa, a young business currently targeting primarily Millennials.
The salon itself is modern, but the services and
products are that of which all ages could benefit
from. The products are very unique and the services
are all over the board. The proposed goal is to begin
to aim the marketing towards the Baby Boomers generation.
One Eighty was opened on January 8, 2011 and is owned by a young
entrepreneur, Jill Brommel. Jill attended massage therapy, esthetician(skin care),
cosmetology, and nail technology school. All of this extensive education was important
in order to offer many services and products to her clients. Jill’s salon is now recognized
as one of the most friendly and successful salons within Indianola.
Jill’s current focus is on building up each of her employee’s clientele. It is a
common known fact that salon customers stay loyal to a certain stylist if they are
satisfied. So this is a very important goal. She believes that this will benefit the business
as a whole. The primary goal for my project is to ensure that a majority of the new
clientele is from the generation of Baby Boomers.
As the salon industry is a competitive one, One Eighty must keep up with the
trends within the market. This includes offering a wide variety of services, events, and
products. The business will revitalize it’s current marketing efforts and evaluate their
existing customers by generations.
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Description of the Community:
The economic aspect of Indianola is rapidly increasing. It’s booming economy
consists of many businesses including the following: boutiques, bookstores, restaurants,
and nightlife facilities. Indianola is recognized as a
family-friendly small town with a lot to offer. One of its
biggest strengths is the private college, Simpson, residing
within Indianola.
The geographics of the business are well beyond
ideal. The area of Indianola is only 11.25 square miles, but only about 10 miles away
from Des Moines, Iowa’s state capital. The salon is located on the south side of
Indianola town square, right across the street from the courthouse. Near the location are
coffeehouses, a movie theater, bakeries, bookstores, and more. Just down the street is a
large residential neighborhood of condominiums and apartments.
The demographic information for Indianola was obtained through census.gov.
The town has a population of about 15,100. The median income for a household in the
town is $52,872, as of 2014. The crime rates in Indianola are lower than the average in
the United States, which is helpful to create a positive attitude within the business.
Socioeconomics in Indianola are strictly positive. Des Moines, a very close town,
is commonly voted on as one of the best places to live. Unemployment rates are going
down and education systems are extremely healthy. The small town is recognized as a
great place to raise a family.
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Description of the Business’ Mission and Target Market:
Currently, One Eighty is marketed as a trendy salon that is aimed at younger
customers. Their mission, as stated on their website, is “We want to give our clients
more than just a service here, we want to give them an experience.” One Eighty has done
their best getting involved in community events, most of them steered towards
Millennials. There are currently very few promotional activities.
Primary Target Market:
Demographics Women
Millennials
Psychographics Individuals looking for trendy styles
Individuals who like to support local business’
Geographics Indianola, Iowa
III. RESEARCH METHODS USED IN THE STUDY
Description and rationale of research methodologies selected
to conduct the research study
As the purpose of this project is to evaluate One Eighty’s marketing techniques
and aim them to a new generation, I employed several research methods to conduct
appropriate research. First, a tremendous amount of secondary research was used to get
a better understanding of the current trends within the salon market. I then conducted a
short but thorough survey to accurately determine opinions of current and potential
customers within the community. Furthermore, I began to get personally acquainted
with One Eighty’s owner, Jill Brommel. She was generous enough to answer some
questions through an interview, and gave some helpful feedback. Lastly, a focus group of
existing Baby Boomer customers was consulted on One Eighty’s current marketing
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techniques, appeal to their generation, ways to improve the advertising, and potential
promotional ideas.
Before I could create an adequate survey, I needed to do some research. I took
advantage of the information provided on probeauty.org and got a thorough
understanding of the current trends throuhgout the salon industry. The get a better
localized idea, I travelled into several salons in central Iowa. I appeared as just a
customer, and took note of the services/products they offered, as well as the marketing
they had implemented. Both of these preliminary research methods were very helpful
when choosing my primary methods.
In order to collect objective quantitative data from the market, I set the sample
target at 150 responses of varying demographics across Indianola. The survey idea was
selected as a research tool because of its effectiveness for conveying detailed questions
to a large sample group. I opened the survey up to all demographics in order to get
opinions on how to appeal further to the Baby Boomers. Later, this was more thoroughly
discussed through the method of the focus group. From these methods, I would be able
to determine what I should change to aim towards the new generation. The interview
with the business owner, Jill, would be helpful in order to discuss what she is currently
doing to reach out to the Baby Boomers.
Process used to conduct the selected research methods
Over the span of about 2 months, I conducted extensive research into the thriving
salon industry, the Baby Boomers target market, and also One Eighty’s current
marketing techniques. Furthermore, I analyzed Indianola’s census data on
quickfacts.gov to get a better understanding of the Baby Boomers residing in Indianola.
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Lastly, I examined One Eighty’s competitors in great detail, including the ways that they
are marketing towards Baby Boomers. I aimed to understand what the industry as a
whole was doing, and how One Eighty could compete.
A good amount of my primary research was received through my survey. I
created my survey through Google Docs and distributed it through school
announcements, Facebook, and at the salon itself. In order to create my ten survey
questions, I considered my prior secondary research data, One Eighty’s current
marketing, and overall, what would need to be done to create an effective plan:
Question Justification
What is your gender? This question was designed to help gain some
basic demographic data from each respondent.
How old are you? This question was designed to help gain some
basic demographic data from each respondent, as
well as find out what generation could be targeted
for this project.
What is your income
range?
This question regards demographic information
and also allows us to understand if the target
market is seeking cheap or quality services.
How did you hear
about One Eighty
salon?
This allowed me to receive feedback from the
salons current marketing techniques.
Have you ‘liked’ One
Eighty’s Facebook
page?
The purpose of this question was to get a better
idea of who One Eighty’s marketing techniques
was reaching.
Would you follow One
Eighty on Twitter, if
they had one?
Considering that Twitter is a new social media
site, this question helped to determine if it would
be helpful to even the older generation.
What do you look for
in a day spa?
Here I was aiming to determine in One Eighty
offers all of the services that customers are looking
for.
Do you see One
Eighty’s services as
relaxing, necessary, or
both?
Within this question, I was looking to find out if
the age and opinion on services correlated
whatsoever.
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Would you attend a
“girls day” event at the
spa?
The idea of this question was to propose an idea of
a promotional event and see what the interest in it
revealed.
Have you ever bought
products from the
salon?
This question was designed to analyze the
merchandising of beauty products happening at
One Eighty.
After a little over one month, I reached my goal of 150 responses and actually
went above, at 182 replies. This was very helpful in making sure my
sample group represented the actual population. After closing my
survey, I was able to use the tools offered by meta-chart.com to
create several charts to help examine the data (APPENDIX 1.1-2.1).
Concurrent with my survey distribution, I used a focus group to compare my
proposed ideas with existing customers above the age of 51. In order to gather 8
participants, I placed a sign up sheet at the salon, and offered free lunch over the
discussion. We talked about a number of topics related to the salon, as well as my
proposed plans. This focus group was held within the salon on an evening that they were
closed. I assured the individuals that their identities would be kept anonymous, and that
their honest opinions would be expected.
Once I had finished the focus group, I sat down with the salon’s owner, Jill, to
discuss what she was currently doing to increase Baby Boomer customers. We had
previously discussed certain topics through email and phone conversations, but it is
more helpful to have an actual face to face conversation. Many pieces of information
were collected to help establish a better idea of what needs to be done to increase Baby
Boomer customers.
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IV. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS OF THE STUDY
Findings of the research study
Through this study I was able to collect a mass amount of information on One
Eighty’s internal operations, as well as their external environment. This information was
collected through secondary research, as well as all of my primary methods. To organize
my findings, I arranged them in the form of a SWOT analysis.
Strengths
Finding Explanation
Word-of-
mouth appeal
54% of people asked said they heard of One Eighty through
other people. This shows that One Eighty’s image is very
respected in the community
Wide variety
of services
Every person asked was looking for a salon with more than
one service to offer
One Eighty has many employees with different abilities for
services to offer
Unique
products
About 54% of people asked said that they have bought
products from One Eighty
The focus group made many comments about how helpful and
unique One Eighty’s beauty products are.
Weaknesses
Finding Explanation
Newer
business
One Eighty’s name isn’t as well known as other salons,
considering it is newer.
Creates a disadvantage when building a clientele
Useless
website
No marketing is done through the website
Modern
marketing
One Eighty does not advertise through newspaper or mail,
which are two main places to target the older generation.
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Opportunities
Finding Explanation
Great
location
Considering it is in the middle of town, the focus group said
how convenient it is.
The owner, Jill, made comments about how many new
customers get brought in when events are held on the square.
Services
more varied
A lot of competitors around town only offer one category of
beauty services.
One Eighty makes it easy to get all of your needs in one place.
Threats
Finding Explanation
Many salons
in Indianola
There are many other business’ within the same market and
geographic.
Modern style This makes it difficult to bring in the older generation
Conclusions based on the findings
Despite their existing Baby Boomer customers, One Eighty has many strengths
that can provide them with a significant competitive advantage in the salon industry.
With their wide variety of services, great location, and unique products, One Eighty has
the ability to reach a much wider market. The key is to showcase their strengths in front
of the Baby Boomers.
From the findings, I found that the technology and modern appeal of One Eighty
are the initial reasons most Baby Boomers are turned away from the salon. The major
focus will be to convert the current advertising into obsolete marketing in order to
accommodate to the needs of the older generation. They also need to put major effort
into creating events that will draw the new target market in.
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One Eighty has done a great job adjusting quickly to all of the trends occurring in
the salon industry. It is now time to avoid the threat of other salons taking the Baby
Boomer customers, and give them a reason to stop into their salon.
Proposed Target Market:
Demographics Women
Baby Boomers
Psychographics Individuals interested in relaxation services
Individuals looking for decently priced salon services
Geographics Warren County Area
V. PROPOSED STRATEGIC PLAN
Objectives and rationale of the proposed plan:
Through extensive research into the operations of One Eighty, it is clear that
some promotional events must be held in order to draw Baby Boomers into the salon.
The easiest way to draw their attention, will be for existing customers to bring their
elder loved ones into the salon. That is why I have planned two events that will greatly
assist with this goal. The idea of the events are to reach a sample of the older generation
that will practice the word-of-mouth advertising to their family and friends.
One Eighty’s biggest challenge is going to be drawing the attention of the older
generation without the initial help of their existing customers. In order to broaden the
target market, the salon needs to rejuvenate the marketing techniques. That is why I
plan to create advertisements through the newspaper and direct mailing. The events will
be advertised through flyers and Facebook, in order to reach both target markets.
While the salon name is being spoke of around the community, I also want to
emphasize the amount of services offered within One Eighty. It seems as if even existing
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customers aren’t even aware of the variety of services, which is one of One Eighty’s
biggest advantages. That is the reason each of these events will show examples of all
kinds of unique services One Eighty has to offer.
Proposed activities and timelines
One Eighty needs to quickly and effectively implement promotional activities and
new marketing techniques in order to reach the Baby Boomer audience. Although the
Millennials are staying intrigued in the salon, it is crucial to get that same engagement
from the Baby Boomers. In order to do so, I have came up with two different events that
One Eighty will host in order to gain some recognition from the Baby Boomers. Brief
advertisemets for the events are as follow:
The events will bring a small profit to the salon, but should provide many new
clients. In the long run, they will benefit the business tremendously. The events take
One Eighty Salon will be hosting a Mother-Daughter Spa Day! This event will
be for Mother’s Day 2015, Saturday, May 9th from 1-4 pm. For both the Mother and
Daughter, it will be a total cost of $50. This will include a Mani/Pedi, hair styled,
make-up artist, tour of all services offered and a snack. To accommodate space, the
maximum amount of people will be 30. Advertising for this event will begin in April,
consisting of flyers and Facebook posts.
One Eighty Salon is hosting is Ladie’s Spa Day! The first Ladies Spa Day will be
held on Sunday, April 19th from 1-4pm. The day will include a 10 minute specific
body part massage, mani OR pedi, hair styled, tour of all services offered, and a
snack. The price of all of this is $30/person. To accommodate space, the maximum
amount of people will be 30. Advertising for this event will begin in March,
consisting of flyers and Facebook posts.
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place in the late spring, so advertising will begin in Feburary. These events will be aimed
towards Baby Boomers, but certainly not limited to them. The idea is that daughters will
bring their older mothers into salon for Mother’s Day and the women will like what they
experience. the This table refers only to the advertising that will be done for the events.
Concurrent with these two events, the form of advertising also needs to be
addressed. I plan to move away from only online advertising and practice some of the
old-fashioned ways. One Eighty will place advertisements in the local newspaper and
begin a direct mailing list. Side note, I decided not to hire a marketing technician due to
the fact that Jill, the salon’s owner, is confident in designing her own advertisements.
After these advertisements begin, the salon employees will start asking new clients how
they heard about the salon. This table refers to the advertisement primarily targeting
Baby Boomers.
Promotion Ladies’ Spa Day Mother-Daughter Day Baby Boomers
Outreach
February Create Ad for Flyer Create Ad for Flyer Create Newspaper
Advertisement
March Handout Flyers
around
community/Post
Facebook Event
Handout Flyers around
community
Begin running
Newspaper ad-
bimonthly for one
year
April Month of Event Post Facebook Event Create Postcard Ad
May Survey for Feedback Month of Event Mail to potential
older customers
June - Survey for Feedback Ask new customers
how they found out
about One Eighty
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Proposed metrics or key performance indicators to measure
plan effectiveness:
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed activities, we will conduct
surveys for customer feedback. This will allow us to get their direct opinions and see
where we can improve. The clientele is already being closely watched to ensure growth is
happening. This will continue until the business feels it no longer needs to increase their
clientele.
To further engage the target market of Baby Boomers and create interest among
the older audiences beyond this specific timeline, the salon will continue a regular
advertisement in the local newspaper. This will keep a steady increase of customers over
51 years old. I will measure this increase by making note of the new clinetle three
months after the final event. This evaluation will occur in August.
In order to ensure that the existing customers become more aware of services
offered at One Eighty, I will establish current data that shows the amount of
appointments for all services as of now. In August, I will get the data once again and
make note of the difference over time. I will also take count of the amount of each
Media Direct Mail Newspaper
February Create design for
postcard
Create design for full page ad
March Create a mailing list Begin running ad- bimonthly for one year
April Send out postcards -
14 Willis
product brand bought from One Eighty and caculate the difference of profit on each one
with the same timeline.
VI. PROPOSED BUDGET
Costs associated with proposed strategies
Considering that One Eighty is a local business, the costs remain modest in order
to maintain a steady profit. The following costs are that of which result from converting
marketing from online to manual.
Media Description Total Cost
Flyers(Staples) Staples 6 cents per full page
(.06 x 500) x 2 events
$60.00
Newspaper Ads Record Herald- Indianola local paper
26 times
$915.00
Postcard Quantity: 500
Standard Size(4.25x6)
Color front- b&w back
$129.00
Total Cost $1,104.00
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VII. BIBLIOGRAPHY
"Graphing/Chartingand General Data Visualization App." Create, Customize and
Download/share. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
"Pricing, Postcard Printing & Mailing, Direct Mail." Pricing, Postcard Printing &
Mailing, Direct Mail. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
The Indianola Record-Herald And Its Companion, Shopper, The Extra, Is Read By More
Than 21,000, Adults Every Month In Warren County. The, and Newspaper Is
Distributed To 6,057 Subscribers On. 2012 Record-Herald (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
"United States Census Bureau." Iowa QuickFacts from the US Census Bureau. N.p., n.d.
Web. 09 Feb. 2015.
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VIII. APPENDIX 1.1
1.2
1.3
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1.4
1.5
18 Willis
1.6
1.7
1.8
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`
1.9
2.1