Given Quadrantyesnot Yetthe Swot Perform Premarke
| Conduct Pre-Marketing Research |
Status: Scheduled
COMPETENCIES TO MASTER
Overview
Fred and Carrie are the owners of Drip & Dry, a new combination laundromat-coffee bar in Portland, Maine. Now, six months after opening their doors, they have made the exciting decision to expand their food offerings. While coffee is undoubtedly popular and widely consumed, they hope that providing new food options to customers will attract a broader clientele. Their idea is to sell a variety of healthy lunch/dinnertime options, including salads and sandwiches, in order to appeal to mid-afternoon and evening customers. However, before they start offering these new choices, they want to hire you as a marketing consultant. You will conduct research and develop a marketing plan to ensure the launch of their new food offerings will be successful. You will also create a marketing brief to communicate your plan to an external marketing firm that will execute your plan and help Drip & Dry market the new food choices and attract new customers. Lastly, you will review the proposed marketing ideas that come back from the marketing firm to identify and explain any ethical issues that should be considered before implementing their ideas.
Directions
Now that you have a solid grasp of marketing terms and concepts, it is time to return to Carrie and Fred’s request: decide how to best market the new food offerings to Drip & Dry customers.
To inform your marketing plan, you need to conduct pre-marketing research. This research should examine various aspects of Drip & Dry’s existing business as well as the external market conditions that impact the company.
Follow these steps to conduct your research:
- Download the SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) Analysis and Pre-Marketing Research Templates. Then, review the questions included in these documents.
- Read the chapters in the Principles of Marketing text to familiarize yourself with the pre-marketing research process, ways that businesses create and develop offerings, and methods used for marketing those offerings. As you review this resource, focus on the information about marketing small businesses and conducting a SWOT analysis.
- Review the Drip & Dry resources including the business overview, customer surveys, and Fred and Carrie’s preliminary ideas for their food offerings. This information will help you develop a better understanding of the Drip & Dry business. Then, review the resources about Portland, Maine to learn more about the company’s competition and external market conditions.
- Complete the SWOT Analysis Template and Pre-Marketing Research Template, making sure to directly reference information from the Project resources in your answers. Note: You should refer to the information included in these templates when you create a Marketing Plan in the next Project.
DELIVERABLES
- Completed SWOT Analysis TemplateAccepted File Types: .doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf, .txt, .pdf
- Completed Pre-Marketing Research TemplateAccepted File Types: .doc, .docx, .odt, .rtf, .txt, .pdf
Project Resources
These are links to public external resources. Any comments or statements made on these public websites are not representative of College for America.
Pre-marketing Research Template
Download this template as you begin the project. After you have reviewed the resources, complete the template.
SWOT Analysis Template
Download this template as you begin the project. After you have reviewed all of the resources, complete the template.
Drip & Dry Business Overview
Read this resource to develop an understanding of Drip & Dry’s business.
Drip & Dry Customer Survey Responses
Read this survey data to understand Drip & Dry’s existing customers.
Carrie and Fred’s Ideas for New Food Offerings
Read this resource to learn about Carrie and Fred’s ideas for new food offerings and the budget they have allocated for marketing efforts.
Principles of Marketing
Read the following chapters of Principles of Marketing.
These chapters focus on the purpose of pre-marketing research and how businesses can retain current customers and attract new customers.
- Chapter 10 – Gathering and Using Information: Marketing Research and Market Intelligence, pp. 305-308
- Chapter 5 – Market Segmenting, Targeting and Position, pp. 137-147
These chapters explain what businesses must consider as they create, develop and manage offerings:
- Chapter 6 – Creating Offerings, pp. 182-195
- Chapter 7 – Developing and Managing Offerings, pp. 208-220
These chapters explain the types of marketing channels available to businesses, how business leaders select the appropriate channels and key considerations when selecting which media will have the biggest impact on profits.
- Chapter 8.2 – Typical Marketing Channels pp. 245-254
- Chapter 8.4 – Marketing Channel Strategies, pp. 258-264
- Chapter 11.2 – The Promotion (Communication) Mix, pp. 355-367
Principles of Marketing. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Principles%2…
Marketing 101
Read this article to develop an understanding of critical marketing considerations for small businesses.
SWOT Analysis Overview
Review this article to learn how to use a SWOT analysis to analyze the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of a business.
Going Beyond Laundry
Read this article to learn about how laundromats can successfully diversify their offerings. Consider which strategies mentioned in the article might help Carrie and Fred as they plan to offer new food options.
Portland, Maine Census Data
Access this website to research the composition of the resident population in Portland, ME and to learn about Drip & Dry’s current and potential customer base. In particular, examine age brackets and income levels. Also, be sure to click on the link to Portland, ME residents, houses, and apartments details to examine rental and home ownership percentages.
Map of Laundromats in Portland, Maine
Access this map to develop an understanding of the laundromats that are available to Portland, ME residents. In particular, note how many other laundromats are in the city.
Coffee Scene in Portland, Maine
Read this article to develop an understanding of the cafes available to Portland, ME residents.
How to Choose the Right Digital Marketing Model
Read this article to explore the different digital marketing models and digital tools that Carrie and Fred should consider given their customer base.
6 Digital Marketing Strategies You Need to Adopt in 2017
Read this article and identify which digital tools might best help Drip & Dry to expand its customer base and why.
Hacking the U.S. Census for Market Research
Review this resource to learn how Census data can be helpful for business owners.
Skill-Building Resources
These are links to public external resources. Any comments or statements made on these public websites are not representative of College for America.
CfA Citation Guide
This resource helps to explain how citations should be used in CfA Projects including formatting guidelines and where to get help.
Tutor.com: How it Works Guide
Review this resource for information on using Tutor.com, including creating an account, choosing a tutoring subject, and working with a tutor.
Rubric
The Rubric is used to evaluate your Project. Satisfying all of the Rubric criteria shows that you have mastered the project and the relevant competencies.
| Criteria | Mastery? |
|---|---|
| Each quadrant in the SWOT Analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is filled in with details about Drip & Dry that are appropriate for the topic of the given quadrant |
Yes Not Yet |
| The SWOT analysis template accurately captures the internal state of Drip & Dry as well as its external market conditions |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template clearly describes Drip & Dry’s business challenge by explaining the current state of the business |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template clearly describes who Drip & Dry’s customers are, what they need/want, and new potential market segments that Drip & Dry should pursue |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template presents and analyzes potential partners and competitors for Drip & Dry |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template clearly explains the features and benefits of the new product offerings and provides a rationale for which customer segments will be interested in the offerings |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template clearly presents the promotional channels that will most effectively promote the offerings |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template identifies the digital marketing models that Drip & Dry will use to market its offerings and clearly explains why they are the most appropriate choices |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template summarizes the budget that is available to market the offerings and clearly explains how that budget should be allocated to marketing efforts |
Yes Not Yet |
| Pre-Marketing Research Template clearly explains the factors that have led other laundromats to be successful and identifies transferable strategies that Drip & Dry may want to use to expand its offerings and customer base |
Yes Not Yet |
| Any sources of information are cited using APA format, with no major errors |
Yes Not Yet |
| Writing is clear, with no major errors |
Yes Not Yet |