freaky weasel marketing plan

8/8/2019 Freaky Weasel Marketing Plan

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Freaky Weasel - Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

The aim of this marketing plan is to overlook the re-launching of an already existing brand, Freaky

Weasel from an events company, to a world-wide online clothing retailer and e-commerce website.

The aim is to allocate the correct marketing strategy campaign and set it in place considering the

types of promotion and advertising that can be done in the first two years of the new venture, in

order to create a sustainable competitive advantage for the brand and obtain the highest possible

revenue with which to keep the company fluid until the website becomes established.

This plan gives a look at the existing company, what its achievements are, but also focuses on its

targets and how these are to be reached; taking into account the customers, the competitors, and

the business environment at the present and future. Objectives both for marketing and finance are

laid down, and then methods of achieving these are investigated looking at the marketing mix for

Freaky Weasel, looking at strategy development and implementation and taking into account the

companies budget.

Background Situation

- Company Analysis

Freaky Weasel is a company based in Peterlee; a small town in County Durham, UK; which

provides entertainment to the youths in the local community via live music events held in

the East Durham Area.

The company began as Sounds Alive, founded by students of East Durh am College. It was a

small get together for locals with a love of music, hosted in a small room of the college.

After around 2 years of growth, seeing the original audience to the night change from

students to school age teenagers with an equal love for mu sic, two of the founding

members left the company, which then became re -named and re-branded Freaky Weasel,

and other changes to the event then began to take place.

The event was designed to be one the one of the biggest music events in the local area,succeeding to attract between 800 and 1000 youths and music lovers a month , the gigs

became more professional, and by January 2009, a new venue needed to be found when

EDC moved to a new premises, which did not have the capacity to hold the events followe rs

who continued to turn up in their droves each month. The age of attendees dropped to

younger teens, and further need for change to the event became apparent. By mid 2009 the



event re-located to Peterlee Leisure Centre where monthly events are still host ed, attracting

an audience of around 500 14 17year old (on average) teens each gig.

Subsequently to the success of Freaky Weasel, there became apparent demand for more

popular music events for those less interested in the bands, and hence the Dance ni ght,

Cathedral was born (first tested in 2008/9 then successfully relaunched in the summer2010), with live dancers and upbeat popular music, attracting yet another crowd of youths

to the events under the Freaky Weasel brand. Cathedral attracted over 500 teens from the

East Durham area on its re-launch in 2010, the growth of the night is forecasted to be rapid

as word within social networking sites appears to be spreading fast rousing even more

interest amongst local youths.

Currently in 2010, the company is looking for expansion, aiming to create a nationwide

interest in the Freaky Weasel brand and selling the event structure and business model to

other venues around the UK, as a means of providing live music events to other

communities and passing on the original company values.

Another method of expanding the brand and creating wider customer interest, which will be

implemented first, this is a Freaky Weasel e-commerce site /online store in order to sell

products online to the current audience, but natio nally and worldwide. This will be carried

out via drop shipping, which is a much safer method of entering a new market as it

imposes less risks in an unfamiliar market to the company. The reason for targeting the

clothing industry, is that it is a new expansion of the brand name and will allow it to be seen

and heard of in a market that may have completely dismissed it previously .

Current marketing for Freaky Weasel is done using the social networking websites,

Facebook, Youtube, Twitter and Myspace, as well as the currently being developed and

about to expand: www.freakyweasel.co.uk. Other methods include posters posted locally

around East Durham area, but more importantly, within the local schools where the target

market (14 17year olds) spend 5 days of their normal week, word of mouth amongst

attendees of the gigs themselves is also vital, hence each gig must be spot on to ensure

good feedback is obtained and the company receives good press. Local newspapers are

also given information regarding the events in order to reach potential customers who may

not see the other forms of advertising.

- Customer Analysis

The customers of Freaky Weasel are aged between 14 and 17 years, and attend schools in

and around Peterlee, East Durham. They all have an interest in music in common, be it the

rock/ pop feel of Freaky Weasel itself, or the Dance/ RnB vibes of the new sister night

Cathedral.



Freaky Weasel and Cathedral currently provide entertainment to an average of 400 600

youths per event.

Each attendee pays £5 per event, on the door, in exchange for entertainment from the DJ,

hired in bands, dance troops and to enjoy a general social event which is safely ran and

monitored with efficient security measures. There is nothing like this event in the local areaand this creates a value for the brand amongst its young customers.

- Competitor Analysis

In a sense, the company Freaky Weasel is very lucky as it is a one of a kind event within the

community where it is currently ran.

However, one competitor is a night called Projekt Sensation (Projekt for short) a local

night, also held in the leisure centre where Freaky Weasel itself is held, however, it hosts to

an audience which is similar, and different to Freaky Weasels in ma ny ways.

Projekt is also a music night, however, it focuses on a style known as Rave and MCing,

which in general attracts a much narrower fraction of the market. The night is charged on

the door at £3 per customer, which is cheaper than Freaky Weasel, however, there is a

difference in the age group targeted 11 18 as opposed to 14 - 17, and the attendance rate

seems erratic month to month, sometimes a handful of attendees and others up to around

100 150/ 200 attendees a month.

Other competition to Freaky Weasel could be gigs hosted in the local area if they target

under 18s, and school discos/ proms, however these are usually held on different nights to

those on which Freaky Weasel is held and do not seem to impose much of a problem.

- P. E. S. T. L. E. Analysis

A PESTLE analysis; this looks at the Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and

Environmental aspects of a business; is a very useful way to understand the current

situation of Freaky Weasel as a company, this will be followed up wit h a SWOT analysis to

further assess the individual companys situation.

Political Freaky Weasel is funded by East Durham College, the company relies on this, and

therefore if pending government cuts that currently face the UK have an impact on the

spending of EDC then this may have a knock on impact on the business. However, currently,

this is only a threat, and may not occur.

Economic Currently the growth of Freaky Weasel is steady, interest amongst year groups

at school becomes more rapid as they approach the age when they are eligible to attend the

events. Cathedral iws the newest event, this is expected to have a faster growth rate as the



band scene is dying out slightly lately and this hosts an event with a more popular music

choice in the current UK charts.

The door fee is £5 in order to attend the events, this has been the case for about 3 years, up

to now this has not been hit by inflation however economic change with the new

government could pose a threat to this and force the need to inflate t he price consideringthe age of the current customers, this would need to be considered carefully before it could

be implemented..

Social Freaky Weasel is an organised youth event and therefore has heady social

responsibility to maintain a good reputat ion within the local community. The event is

advertised within schools and therefore it must be ran responsibly to ensure there are no

ethical dilemmas.

Currently the night is ran in a safe environment with ample staff/ security staff to be held

accountable for the safety of the in-taken number of youths. The local police are kept

informed of the events and goings on, this keeps a good repertoire between the local

authorities and the school/ EDC and the event itself. The attendees themselves therefore

feel they are in a secure, fun place and their parents/ guardians can rest assured the events

are above-board and worth the £5 entry fee.

Students of EDC are given the opportunity to work at these events. This creates a value

amongst the college students as it gives them responsibility and a small paid job for each

event they work, which will be of use if they need a reference to work in the future, or just

to note work on their CVs.

Technological Technologically, Freaky Weasel must be up to date with the cur rent onlinetrends in social networking (which most school age youths aged 14 17 years use) in order

to target them in marketing campaigns, but also to allow them to interact online giving their

views and feelings about the events, and tagging themselves in videos and photos taken at

the events, giving them a sense of community/ participation before and after the gigs

themselves.

Legal Freaky Weasel must keep up to date with legal policies and legislations regarding

working with 14 17year olds/ trading laws and regulations and live music regulations. Also,

regarding online advertising using social websites, the user terms and conditions must be

followed.

Environmental Freaky Weasel events are held indoors and therefore do not generally

pollute the lo cal environment with litter. For health and safety purposes, drinks are not

allowed to be brought into the venue, nor are drinks bought inside the venue allowed to be

taken outside and all rubbish collected after a gig pop cans and bottles and sweet

wrappers etc are recycled and disposed in accordance with current government standards.



Noise pollution is also kept to a minimum and generally does not affect the area, the leisure

centre where the events are held is not situated near any housing areas/ or ma in points of

the town where any sound leakage would cause disturbance to the environment.

The gigs begin at 7pm and end promptly at 10pm, there is no music played for any

extenuated period of time before or after each event.

Attendees are asked to leave the premises with respect for the local town and inhabitants

whilst they make their way home. A police presence is also around after each event to make

sure the teenagers act accordingly.

New lighting equipment has recently been purchased that reduces the a mount of power

used on lighting at each event by about 80%.

- SWOT Analysis

After PESTLE analysis that investigates the external environment of a business, a SWOT

analysis is vital to review the internal business environment, and then to derive a marketing

objective for the immediate/ future good of the company.

SWOT looks at the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats that currently face

Freaky weasel as a business.

Strengths

- Freaky Weasels main strength is that it is a one of a kind events company in the

East Durham area.

- The events have a strong and loyal following of 500+ teenagers each month.

- Facebook/ Myspace/ Twitter/ Youtube etc are very popular amongst youngsters

currently and having a huge following locally on these social networkin g sites

provides effective free marketing.

- Cathedral new night with a new feel keeps the company fresh and up to date with

what youths currently want.

Weaknesses

- Shifting interests in the current music charts has res ulted in a smaller following of

the original Freaky Weasel band night (this is currently being subsided by the new

night on the brand, Cathedral).

- Brand is only known locally within East Durham

Opportunities

- Opportunity for the events to be sold as a business model into other counties and

districts around the UK



- Widening the brand name invest into new ventures to get the name heard, music

now days is strongly linked with fashion? Is this a new advantage to target a new

market? So Freaky Weasel is a brand as well as a chain of local events

- Build new night Cathedral up to be as big as the original Freaky Weasel band events

Threats

- The possibility of other youth events being hosted locally (though currently there are

no known plans for this)

- Youths showing up to events drunk and being turned away risk of the social

reputation being damaged/ any youths who get inside the events being under 14 it

is difficult to monitor age so young as there is very limited ID available.

Objectives

Marketing Objective

Freaky Weasels key marketing objectives are:

To launch a marketing campaign to drive Freaky Weasels brand further , from a music

events company, to an e -commerce and online clothing store providing the best value

fashion labels and music products to customers , locally, nationally and inte rnationally:

Therefore launching a laser-focused marketing campaign in a controllable and measurablemarket that will drive customer's toward the company's website.

Also, to keep relations in the infrastructure for the fulfilment of Web-based sales, whilst

developing social applications combining social networking and ecommerce.

Financial Objective

In the initial set up phase, Freaky Weasel will need to generate will need to generate around

£1500 in revenue per year (from year two) in order to keep afloat. Andrew Rogers, thefounder of the company/ website manager needs also to be able to pay himself £1000 per

month, with the future opportunity to take on an administration employee (£500 per

month) once sales have started to generate at a higher rate monthly.

The aim is for the sales from the company to grow month on month, enough to cover

staffing costs and advertising costs.



Marketing Strategy

Target Market Segments

The first market segment targeted by freakyweasel.co.uk (the online e-commerce clothing

store) will be males aged 16 40years. This market will be targeted as 16 is the minimum

age a customer can be to buy online for himself, and the range of products is suitable for up

to age around 40 years, the site currently stocks majoritily m ale clothing and accessories.

The website also stocks a lot of snow sports items and therefore another market segment

would be men and women of any age with an interest in snow sports.

The website will target females aged 16 40 once the new ranges come into stock as there

will be more female products available, however currently this is a small market for the

website.

Finally the parents of children ages 0 12 will also be targeted as accessories and clothingfor both boys and girls will be available for sale.

Music fans will also be targeted via the sales of music merchandise, i.e. band t -shirts,

memorabilia, etc.

The current market segments of freaky weasel are teenage male and females aged between 14

and 17, located in the East Durham area. The new market segments targeted still relate to the

music industry via music merchandising, however, the age groups and types of products also

available reach out to a brand new customer base, aiming to expand the brand image.

Differential Advantage

The one main advantage Freaky Wesel will have as an online e-commerce and sales site is

that the company runs as a drop-shipping site, this keeps the companies upfront running

costs down to a minimum. Also, because the drop -shipping is linked with larger companies,

they benefit from this as world-wide shipping is available with products. Currently in the

online shopping market, it is mainly larger retailers that ship worldwide, for a small

company this is a fair advantage over other small online retailers.

Marketing Mix

Product

- The products to be sold via freakyweasel.co.uk will be designer branded fashion and

snow sports items. They are of value to customers as they are genuine branded



items all in original packaging/ with tags etc and are sold at the lowest possible

prices.

Price

- Products are sold at the lowest possible competitive prices. Online discounts and

promotions will be available to create further value to the customers.

Place

- Products are available to be distributed and shipped locally to the company,

nationally within the UK and word -wide.

Promotion

- Advertising will be done in several ways, products to be seen world -wide will be

placed on major online sales sites such as Amazon. The events that FW already host

will be used as a marketing tool to raise awareness of the new company directionwithin the current brand following. Online adverts such as Google ads and Facebook

ads can be used, as well as affiliate programmes, blogs, forums, internet TV and if

enough revenue is obtained then there is a possibility to advertise in newspapers/ or

on radio.

- Marketing materials such as posters, flyers and news-letters, business cards, even

online adverts will be imperative in creating awareness of the brand.

Peo ple

- The site is currently ran by Andrew Rogers, who will be keeping people up to date

with the site and be in charge of the promotions and brand building for the

company.

Process

- The company will be run online and orders shipped to the delivery address provided

by each customer. Customer service s (telephone and the physical shipping process)

are ran by the website provider as the online store is ran via drop -shipping method.

Physical (evidence)

- One form of physical evidence of the company is the website itself, however, for thecustomers to perceive physical evidence, this will be via flyers at gigs, posters,

adverts, and of course on receiving a product shipped from the company and the

invoice with the product.



Strategy Implementation

The correct marketing strategy for www.freakyweasel.co.uk will be vital in order to attain a

competitive advantage in the online fashion (including music merch and snow sports attire/

accessories) retailing industry. In order to maintain the advantage created in the mark eting

process, it is important that customer satisfaction will be at the heart of the project, and

that value is created in order for the customers to feel a desire to purchase the items from

the website itself; after all, creating a need and value amongst the consumers is the goal at

the end of the campaign, as well as obtaining enough revenue to keep the company afloat

(ideally profitable in time).

Target the teens that already attend the gigs via social networking advertising, and flyers/

posters at the events themselves. There could be a possibility of linking the website with the

events themselves via a sponsorship agreement.

Online advertising will be used on websites such as Facebook and Google to raise awareness

of the company and grasp enough customer interest to begin the generation of sales, as

well as attract new people to buy from the company.

Using affiliates to get advertising and sales is also an option, the more people interested in

promoting the business the better so a good percentage rate for each sale obtained by their

help is good to encourage affiliates to support the website. Freaky Weasels rate will be set

at 7% of each sale; this is believed to be a good competitive rate for a small company.

Keeping an eye on/ and feeding into intern et blogs and forums relating to the products (i.e.

snow sports forums and blogs, fashion pages etc) and affiliate schemes of Freaky Weaselwill also be a way to get the company name spread.

Internet TV advertising, newspapers and radio will also be considered once some return has

been made on the company as these can target customers locally, nationally and also world -

wide, if they are situated in the right places at the right times, i.e. an advert for snow sports

attire via internet TV posted on a relevant website.

Budgeting

The marketing budget is planned to grow from £100 in November 2010 up to a forecasted £1000 by

December 2011, this will be possible by revenue gained over the year and the marketing campaigns

need to be well underway over the Christmas period as this is a key time in retail as customers spend

more on presents over the festive period.

Aside this the marketing budget will range between £500 to £1000 at different times of the year and

in accordance with market trends and promotions/ offers, etc.



Marketing Materials

Below are some examples of marketing materials used, and to be used by

www.freakyweasel.co.uk:

Online Banners

Online banners would be used as a form of advertising. They would be placed carefully

online in forums/ used by advertisers/ on affiliate web-pages etc and clicked on in order

to go to the online store directly.

Above is Freaky Weasels current online banner. The aim of the banner is to create interest

for people browsing the internet, and hence the banner i s attractive but simple and not

cluttered, showing some of the bigger name brands that are available for sale on the

website itself.

Business Cards



Above is a mock up (low resolution example) of a business card for Freaky Weasels online

clothing store. It is a very simple design and would be made to wallet size (the size of a

credit card). Again the font used is clear and legible, as well as the images are simple and of

a selection of the brands that the company has to offer.

The basic information to contact the company is available on the card, as well as the webaddress to encourage people to go online and visit the store itself.

Business cards would be given to suppliers to the company, taken to events and given out,

and perhaps sent out with the products themselves alongside the order being received as an

encouragement to revisit the website. In cases where the customer is satisfied with their

purchase and the way the company has treat them, a repeat purchase would be a larger

possibility.

Newsletters + Flyers

- Newsletters are a great way of connecting with the customers and communicating to

them what is in stock, what is new to the company, what offers are available and

various other methods for marketing. The website will hopefully build a mailing list

of customers, and perhaps seasonally, monthly, etc, a newsletter could be sent out

to those the company has contact with, this could also go to potential stake holders

in the company.

The newsletter would be informal, and brief, but enough to snap the customers

attention to the current goings on of the company, as detailed above promotions etc.

The format would be by email, and therefore it would be best to keep the look simple

and attractive, like the business card and online-banner shown above.

Many major clothing companies that retail online, i.e. River Island, Tesco and many

others use this method of communicating to their customers. Knowing it is a tried and

tested popular method, Freaky Weasel will be setting a newsletter in place.

- Flyers would be the same format as the newsletters, only a flat postcard size hand

out that could be taken to gigs/ events to promote offers and new product ranges

etc.

Posters

- As noted above, Freaky Weasel as an events company is looking to expand

nationwide (in time and with some well planned and thought out company

expansion), and this is where, in time, posters would come into play at getting the



brand noted at the events themselves as the posters would be being displayed on

the walls.

Posters would have to be a little more eye catching than the online banners as they

would be displayed around an event where they would not necessarily be the key focus

of the night, in order for pe ople to notice them, bright colours and the up to date imagesof popular branded products ought to be used.

Posters are a popular example of advertising, and have been used in advertising almost

every Freaky Weasel event to date. An example of Freaky Weasels posters currently

used that have been effective is shown below the poster used for the clothing website

promotion ought to be designed to a similar format (of course, for a completely

different cause).

(would be A3 size)

Facebook Advertisements

- Facebook adverts are a very current way of marketing and reaching a companys

target customer segments. The content of Facebook Ads is created by the Facebook

account holder by using Facebook Ads wizard. Here you select the age, gender,

location and interests related to the customer segments you wish to target and

create an advert which will appear to only people with the characteristics that you

have selected.



A daily budget (money) is set and the user chooses what times and on what dates the

advert is to be run. An image can be used with the campaign that will appear on

Facebook.

This not only builds brand awareness but it is a way of generating some sales for the

company.

Below is an example (image) of a previous Facebook Ads campaign used by Freaky

Weasel to promote the launch of its sister night and Dance event, Cathedral.

freaky weasel marketing plan

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