I have been commissioned to write a marketing plan for a Bakery.
Introduction
I have been commissioned to write a marketing plan for a Bakery. This is because in my local area, which is Billericay, has a couple of bakeries in the high street, but both are fairly small and the demand for cakes is fairly high, so I think Billericay high street would benefit from another cake shop. This shop not only specialises in cakes, but it also sells and sandwiches and cold drinks.
In order for this new business to do well though, a marketing plan needs to be drawn up which highlights exactly how the business is to be promoted, and what it is going to specialise in, and how it will try to meet the publics' demands and get more custom than the other bakeries in Billericay high street.
The business environment in this area is fairly lively, because lots of people go down the high street daily. The shops in the highs street are all easily accessible so that won't be a problem.
Action Plan
Time
Intended Action
Resources Available
Problems and Adjustments Made
25th October
Consider lines of enquiry
Myself
26th October
Compile a questionnaire
Computer
27th October
Choose a sample of 50 people and do questionnaire
Myself
28th October
Process this data
Computer
st November
Draw up tables and graphs
Computer
3th November
Hand in research section
Myself
5th November
Consider different promotional strategies for my business
Myself
Local Area
Business Studies Textbook
6th November
Write the above up
Computer
20th November
Hand in Marketing Techniques
Myself
20th December
Conclude the obtained evidence
Computer
27th December
Write up the Marketing Strategy
Computer
Business Studies Textbook
8th January
Hand in the above two sections
Myself
22nd January
Final Deadline!!!
Myself
Research
Obviously, before the actual marketing plan can be written up, some research must be undertaken. This is necessary because it would be pointless just writing up the marketing plan without any knowledge of the business environment in my area. The idea of the research to find out peoples' opinions on the services that the business is to offer, and what they like in that type of business. This is basically the Market Research part of any good business just starting up. The research I shall do is in the form of finding out about products and prices and then a a simple, multiple-choice questionnaire, the results of which will give a good idea of the range of products to be sold, the price at which they are to be sold, and the necessary advertising to aid their sale.
I did some desk research on prices of anther bakery in Billericay by going on the website. I found the following:
Product
Price
Chocolate Swiss Roll
£2.50
Large Cookie
75p
Cup Cakes
40p each
Cream Doughnut
65p
Jam Doughnut
50p
Large Chocolate Muffin
95p
Fruit Tart
85p
Chocolate Eclair
70p
Jam and Cream Scones
65p
Danish Pastry
70p
Apple Turnover
80p
Birthday Cakes
From £4
Sponge Cake
99p
Gingerbread Man
£1.50
After finding this out, I decided to do some research of my own, and find out what people think of these products, and the prices at which they are sold.
The questionnaire, as mentioned earlier, is a multiple-choice questionnaire. The questions contained in it will be to do with what people like in their products, how much people are willing to pay for products and other such questions. The answers obtained will be used write the marketing plan, as they will cover all of the 4 Ps, except promotion (Product, Price and Place). Promotion will be discussed ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
After finding this out, I decided to do some research of my own, and find out what people think of these products, and the prices at which they are sold.
The questionnaire, as mentioned earlier, is a multiple-choice questionnaire. The questions contained in it will be to do with what people like in their products, how much people are willing to pay for products and other such questions. The answers obtained will be used write the marketing plan, as they will cover all of the 4 Ps, except promotion (Product, Price and Place). Promotion will be discussed later on, as I couldn't really think of a way to ask people about promotion. A copy of the questionnaire will appear on the next page.
Business Studies Questionnaire
Please could you fill in the following questionnaire for my GCSE Business Studies coursework by simply putting a tick in the boxes that apply to you:
) If you went into a bakery, how much would you be willing to spend on yourself?
Less than £1 [ ]
£1 - £2 [ ]
£2 - £3 [ ]
£3 - £4 [ ]
£4 - £5 [ ]
More than £5 [ ]
2) What is your preferred type of cake?
Chocolate [ ]
Fruit [ ]
Jam [ ]
Sponge [ ]
Cream [ ]
3) Have you used any of the other bakeries in the high street?
Yes [ ]
No [ ]
4) If the above answer was yes, what do you think of their products?
Very good [ ]
Good [ ]
Average [ ]
Fairly poor [ ]
Poor [ ]
Very poor [ ]
5) If question 3 was a yes, what do you think of their prices?
Very good [ ]
Good [ ]
Average [ ]
Fairly poor [ ]
Poor [ ]
Very poor [ ]
6) How often do you purchase cakes?
Daily [ ] Fortnightly [ ]
Weekly [ ] Other [ ]
I did the questionnaire with 50 people in the high street between the hours of 11 and 12. After doing it, the following results were obtained:
)
If you went to a bakery, how much would you be willing to spend?
Number of responses out of 50
Percentage
Less than £1
9
8%
£1 - £2
26
52%
£2 - £3
6
2%
£3 - £4
3
6%
£4 - £5
4
8%
More than £5
2
4%
2)
What is your preferred type of cake?
Number of responses out of 50
Percentage
Chocolate
23
46%
Fruit
5
0%
Jam
9
8%
Sponge
7
4%
Cream
6
2%
3) Have you used any of the other bakeries in the high street?
Yes - 42 (84%)
No - 8 (16%)
4)
If the above answer was yes, what do you think of their products?
Number of responses out of 42
Percentage
Very good
0
24%
Good
27
64%
Average
3
7%
Fairly poor
2
5%
Poor
0
0%
Very poor
0
0%
5)
If the above answer was yes, what do you think of their Prices?
Number of responses out of 42
Percentage
Very good
5
2%
Good
2
5%
Average
35
83%
Fairly poor
0
0%
Poor
0
0%
Very poor
0
0%
[Graph on next page]
6)
How often do you purchase cakes?
Number of responses out of 50
Percentage
Daily
5
0%
Weekly
31
62%
Fortnightly
4
8%
Other
0
20%
These are the results obtained by my research. It shows that people clearly like cakes, but aren't willing to spend that much on them. People seem to like the products and prices at rival bakeries, so this will have to be solved in the actual plan. The favourite type of cake is clearly chocolate. If a wider range of people were asked the questions, maybe the result would've been different, but the results obtained are fine.
Analysis of Marketing Techniques
There are a number of different techniques that can be used to promote a business, and the following table will outline the mains ones, and also include advantages and disadvantages of each.
Type of Media
Advantages of this Media
Disadvantages of this Media
General Suitability for this Business
Television
Lots of people watch television so the business will be known about widely.
The business and the products it offers can actually be seen by people this way.
Advertising space on television is very costly, and is really not necessary for a small business like a bakery.
Advertising on television is really not very suitable for this business, because it's a fairly small business in a fairly small town, so doesn't need to be broadcast nationally.
Newspapers
Almost everyone buys a newspaper, so the existence of the business can be revealed to many people.
Most people buy the main newspapers such as the Daily Mail or the Times, and advertising in these is fairly pointless as the business is only situated in a small area, and those papers are national. It would also be fairly costly.
Advertising in newspapers is a fairly good idea, but it can only really be done in local papers in the area of the business, like Billericay in this case. A good bet would be the Billericay and Wickford Gazette.
Posters
Posters can be put in the most convenient place for advertising the business, and can be easily seen.
They can catch peoples' eyes, and easily let them know of the business when they are already near it.
The posters need to be designed very carefully to be eye catching, but informative.
The cost of producing lots of posters will probably be fairly high.
Posters would be a very good method of advertising, as they are very convenient, and can let people know lots of information about the business easily.
Radio
In the morning, people tend to listen to the radio more often than watch television, so they can be told about the business then.
Also, most people listen to the radio in the car, so this can get the message across easily.
Adverts can only really be broadcast on a local radio station, as it's kind of pointless broadcasting on a large radio station, like Capital FM, as it is listened to much more extensively in the London area.
The radio would be a good bet, but only if the advert is broadcast on a local station, such as Essex FM in this case.
The products that the business sells will be decided, for the most part, by the questionnaire that was done earlier. Like a normal bakery, it will also deal in plain loaves of bread, a few sandwiches and soft drinks. But the main focus will be on cakes. The results of the questionnaire will influence the types of cakes sold.
The pricing of these products is to be done in comparison to other bakeries. The results of the questionnaire will be used to see what people think of the other bakeries' prices, and the prices of this bakery will be made as low as possible, but still remain enough to earn a decent profit.
Conclusions and Marketing Strategy
Looking back at the following chapters, I have drawn the following conclusions up, and these can then be used to design a suitable marketing plan for my bakery. I shall split the plan into four sections, one for each of the 4 Ps (Product, Price, Place and Promotion) for ease of understanding and so the reasons for my choices can be easily seen.
Product
After looking at what products other bakeries sell and the results the questionnaire produced about what people like when they go into a bakery, I have decided that the products that my bakery would sell would be as follows:
Doughnuts
(Chocolate or Jam)
Large Chocolate Cookies
Chocolate Eclairs
Fruit Cakes
Danish Pastries
Gingerbread Men
Birthday Cakes
Normal Loaves of Bread
(White or Brown)
Chocolate Muffins
Cup Cakes
To start with, the number of products available will being like that. While not very extensive, is good to start with. As the business gains more customers and more money, a wider range of products can be developed by seeing what else people tend to like, and providing them with what they want. As the business progresses, further questionnaires could be undertaken to find out about ways in which current products could be improved or used to come up with ideas for new products. But, to start with, only the products in that list will be used.
Price
As with Product, the way the pricing is to be calculated is by looking other bakerys' prices and also looking at the results of the questionnaire. Using the list of product above, the prices that I wish to use are as follows:
Doughnuts
(Chocolate or Jam)
65p each
Large Chocolate Cookies
70p each
Chocolate Eclairs
60p each
Large Fruit Cakes
£1 each
Danish Pastries
70p each
Gingerbread Men
£1 for small
£1.50 for large
Birthday Cakes
From £5 each
Normal Loaves of Bread
(White or Brown)
75p per loaf
Chocolate Muffins
80p each
Cup Cakes
From 40p each
I think that this pricing scheme seems like a fairly good one to use. The prices are similar to, if not better than the prices of the other bakeries in Billericay. All well as these prices, there might be various special offers on products such as buy on, get one free or special prices when a certain number of a product is purchased. This pricing scheme is not set in stone as the business progresses, the pricing can be altered accordingly.
Place
This particular P can't really be sorted out by using the research undertaken, but by looking at the positions of the other bakeries, and which areas are the most populated. The best place for my bakery would be near one end of the high street, because people enter the high street from either one of the ends, and exit out of either one of the ends. That makes this a good place for the bakery because people leaving or entering the high street might like to have a quick snack at that point. For that matter, the middle of the high street would be fairly good, but I think either end would be better. My bakery would need to go at the end which has a bakery furthest away from it, so it isn't too close to a potential rival. Basically, it needs to be where the most people tend to be at one time and a fair distance away from other bakeries, so there are no rivals too close.
Promotion
Considering the fact that the bakery is a fairly small business, no massive advertising campaign can really be done, but that isn't really needed for this business anyway. Billericay is a fairly small area, so a large campaign is not required at all. A television campaign is way too extreme because Billericay is a small place it doesn't need to be broadcast across the country. A radio campaign might be a bit more sensible, but it still isn't really required. The best bet for this bakery would be to put advertisements in local newspapers or magazines because they only apply to this area and they are widely read by people.
The best method, however, would be to use posters I think. These do cost a fair bit to produce, but are generally more effective when used. They can be put anywhere, so can be put where more people are to notice them best. Also, they are more eye-catching then ads in the papers or magazines because they are larger and can be more colourful. They can also give more information than small adverts, due to the fact that they are bigger, obviously.
In general, for this campaign, the best thing to do would be to produce a fair amount of posters, and put these up around place where lots of people go, so they can be easily seen, such as on the walls of Waitrose, the local supermarket. This is where many local people do there shopping, so would be a good bet. Another good bet would be in newsagents, because lots of people go there to buy little snacks, and newspapers and stuff. There should also be ads put in the local papers that get put through letterboxes, such as the Billericay and Wickford Gazette. Everyone gets these local papers, so that would be a great way to let people know about the business.
Matthew Smith 11S Mr Slater
1
