marketing strategy plan

Marketing Plan: Backcountry Babysitting

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Backcountry Babysitting

“Adventure Babysitting: more than just a day care”

Carly Hammond Danica Sommer Eric Rae MKT7300 Jay Mclaren April 16, 2013


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April 16, 2013 Dear Jay Mclaren, Enclosed is the strategic marketing plan for Backcountry Babysitting for your review and consideration. Backcountry babysitting is a collaborative service with various partners that allow our company to expand into parks and recreation throughout the Sarnia region. We provide childcare to inner city kids with the goal of introducing new skills, experiences and education of the outdoors! Our company is on the brink of expansion and is ready to provide any additional information you may require. The interest and consideration you have shown, on behalf of Backcountry Babysitting, is acknowledged and greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Carly Hammond Danica Sommer Eric Rae


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Table of Contents About Backcountry Babysitting

Mission Statement 4

Corporate Statement 4

Current Market Situation 4 Marketing Plan The Product 5 SWOT Analysis 5 Customer Analysis and Target Market 6 Customer Survey 7 External Analysis 8 Marketing Strategy Product Strategies 10 Promotion Strategies 10 Price Strategies 12 Place Strategies 13 Implementation and Control Schedule 15


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About Backcountry Babysitting Mission Statement Deliver safe, fun, active entertainment for your children while you are taking time off from parenting, worry-‐free. Dedicated to eco-‐friendly, leave-‐no-‐trace-‐principles as well as enthusiastic delivery of outdoor educative material about local plants, animals, and wilderness practices. This is a pilot project to discover potential for growth in the Lambton-‐Kent region. Corporate Strategy Statement

Structure of the Company Currently, our small business only consists of 3 employees. We operate from our own homes, using nothing more than our smart phones and laptops. As far as standings go, Danica Sommer is the owner, Trip-‐Leader, Advisor of Promotions, and outdoor adventure educator. Carly Hammond is responsible for the website design and finances, while Eric Rae is responsible for advertising, including the creation and maintenance of social media presence. Corporate Goals Backcountry Babysitting aims to be recognized throughout Lambton-‐County. We hope to establish a positive reputation for ourselves as trip leaders, outdoor-‐educators and childcare professionals, taking into consideration the fears, likes, dislikes, and dreams of our children and their parents to create the best experiences possible. In a county where the influence of “Chemical Valley” is so prevalent, expanding the environmental awareness in these children at a young age, it may help to preserve the wildlife of this delicate community. Current Market Situation Going off of 2011 Statistics Canada information there is on average 1.1 children per coupled families and 1.5 for single families. Children continue to be conceived with divorce rates growing at an exponential rate. Looking at statistics, this increases the number of children with only one parent to care for them, also increasing the need to hire childcare services as time goes by.


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Marketing Plan The Product As a unique and more personal form compared to traditional day care, we have much to offer as a new form of services. Our programs are educational, create environmental awareness in children at a young age, and are, most importantly, fun. It also is a great alternative seeing that most traditional day care is spent indoors, in front of TV’s and handheld video games. SWOT Analysis

Strengths (Internal) Weaknesses (Internal)

- People won’t stop having kids; parents

always need babysitters - Certified owner/employees - Male and female allowed - New, original business - Optimal environment/facilities for outdoor

activities; waterfront, Pinery is nearby, nature trails, animal farm, etc.

- Allotted time may not be substantial for

activities planned - Potential age gaps between kids - Not primary source of income

Solutions may include - Specializing programs for short visits - Having older children help younger

children in order to keep them challenged - Planning schedule ahead of time in order to

notify customers when available

Opportunities (External) Threats (External)

- Kids learn about the outdoor environment - Promotes environmental awareness in

children who live in a city setting

- Potential growth into a summer camp type business if there is an increasing demand in the community

- Weather conditions - Competition with regular, conventional

babysitters ($$$) - Families already having babysitters

(comfortable with current situation) - Trust issues - Conflicting schedules of parents

Solutions may include - Having indoor activities prepared just in

case - Adjust price based on interest and demand - Have a free meet and greet session with

each and every parent before services


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Customer Analysis and Target Market Our primary target customers are young to middle-‐aged parents who earn $45,000.00+/yr. This would most likely place their children in the 4-‐12 age range; the average ages both needing babysitting and appropriate for most activities. They are likely employed full time, which is why they would require childcare. They must have an appreciation for the outdoors which is why they are interested in our services of environmental education and actives.


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BACKCOUNTRY BABYSITTING Customer Survey

This survey is being conducted by Backcountry Babysitting to determine whether or not there will be an interest and/or demand for our services in the Lambton-Kent region. If you could take a few minutes of your time to fill this out, it would be greatly appreciated. First, if you could tell us a little bit about yourself. Simply check left of the answer the best describes you.

Your Age Under 25 26-35 36-45 46+ Marital Status Single Married Family Status No Children Number of Children Education High School College University or higher Income Under $30k $30k-$60k $60K+ City of Residence: __________________________________________________

How often do you find yourself in need of a babysitter while your kids aren’t in school?

Daily Weekends Weekdays Monthly

Is outdoor education is included in your child’s school curriculum?

Yes No I don’t know

Are you an advocate for outdoor education?

Yes No I don’t know

Has your family ever been on an outdoor-adventure trip? (Ex. Camping)

Yes No

Do your children have an interest in nature?

Yes No

Have your kids ever been to a summer/day camp?

Yes No

Choose 5 activities you are most interested in your child to participate in and rank them from 1 to 5, 1 being top choice.

Canoeing Hiking Camping

Swimming Yoga Leave-No-Trace Principles

Interpretation Leaf ID Astronomy

Biking Arts & Crafts

Are there any other activities you would like to see offered by our company? Please explain. ___________________________________________________________________________________

How interested are you in a babysitting service of this kind? Please explain.

___________________________________________________________________________________ Thank you for participating.


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External Analysis Competitive Forces Backcountry Babysitting faces two main forms of competition: established childcare facilities and in house daycares. Not having regular availability throughout the week is also viewed as a setback, however, what we lack in availability we make up for in experience! Our service is unique to any other in the area in terms of the focus, activities and education we offer. Our grand opener, the BBQ, allows parents to see first hand what it is we have to offer that sets us aside from everyday childcare. As a result of our sporadic schedule, it is important to make positive relationships with our competition so we can refer our clients to them when we are not available, which could in turn increase our opportunities if backed by established childcare facilities. Economic Forces In house daycare is a rather affordable option for families while established daycares are often slightly more expensive. We plan to match the average cost of an established facility plus cost of additional activities in order to provide a relatively affordable, alternative experience. Political Forces As it stands, there would be no impact on our company from current or future municipal leaders. Legal and Regulatory Forces We require a 1:4 instructor to children ratio in order to ensure their safety during various activities. Parents will be required to sign a waiver assuming the risks of our outdoor education programs as well as any waivers for any additional activities we run through partner companies. Technological Forces An outdoor childcare business is heavily based around communication with parents, partner companies, co-‐workers and, most importantly, our children. As for the latter, technology is not required. To maintain contact with the afore mentioned groups, it is crucial to have a cell phone for immediate verbal communication as well as a maintained email for less urgent conversations to take place. We intend to host a website as our main form of marketing but will also be relying on mouth-‐to-‐mouth communication from parents who have had positive experiences with us. In terms of safety, every instructor will be required to have a walkie-‐talkie on them at all times as well as a cell phone and handheld GPS while doing actives in forests and on trails.


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Sociocultural Forces Demographic diversity does not impact our company in negative ways as the second baby boom only increases the number of children that will require childcare. Statistically, there are currently more single parent homes, which means there is more ample opportunities to recruit more children over the summer. They will not have school but their parent still has a job. Health issues are a concern as our company is based around outdoor activities. Complications such as heart problems, breathing problems and allergies would be most prevalent but would easily be dealt with through identification in our induction forms as well as having a communication device on hand at all times as well as a first aid kit. We as a company have an emphasis on educating children on the importance of the environment and will do our best to practice leave no trace principles as frequently as possible. We are the next era of childcare.


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Marketing Strategy Product Strategies

There will be different programs planned out and ready for implementation that will be variable based on specific situation. Examples of such are as follows:

A daylong trip to Pinery, an Ontario Park, consisting of an interpretive canoe trip and time at the beach A trip to the local animal farm; could be a couple hours to a day trip Nature-‐walk through Canatara Park with interpretive lessons along the way

Recommendations from customers and prospective customers will be welcomed throughout the summer season and program modifications will be applied as necessary.

Promotion Strategies

As an employee of the local radio station, Danica Sommer is already very involved in the events where the opportunity for promotions is present. All social media networks will be used as a means of advertisement for free. Public relations will be encouraged on these websites as well as on our website. Posters will be distributed online advertising the Grand Opening BBQ at Danica’s residence. This will start a chain of awareness throughout the community due to the fast word of news around the county. Other than these strategies, other online networks will be taken advantage of, such as Kijiji. Money spent on advertising will be kept to a minimum.

An example of a poster advertisement ready for both online and physical

distribution is on the following page.


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Advertisement Here

(printed separately with appropriate header/footer/page number)


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Price Strategies

As stated before, the price for our services will lie in the same price range as an established day care center, plus costs of the actual activity. This roughly equals out to $5/hour per child + cost of program. The cost of program would equal out to the price of entrance of parks, cost of gas, and food. The hourly rate per child will be mostly profit but cover reoccurring costs such as website domain, equipment upkeep, etc.


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Place Strategies

The locations our programs will take place in will be local and always within 1 hour driving distance. These places are present on the following map:

Courtesy of Tourism Sarnia Lambton retrieved from http://www.tourismsarnialambton.com


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There are many locations available and special requests will be considered based on group size, time limit, and weather. The stars mark where the main focus of programs will take place. This includes the Pinery Provincial Park, Grand Bend beaches, camping at Ipperwash Beach, nature walks and beach days in Canatara Park in Sarnia, and all programs will be including information relating to the topics of birding, astronomy, tree I.D., edible wild plants, Leave No Trace, and will increase outdoor experience. Sarnia-‐Lambton is an optimal place to have a business such as this because of the wide spread activities available in such a short distance. The ecosystems found in this county includes, grasslands, marchlands, deciduous forests, and agricultural areas (perfect for horse back riding). There is also a waterfront community, exposing children to the lifestyle of being a fisherman, working on one of the large barges that comes down the St Clair River, or being a sailor. There is much opportunity for education in this county that will help kids get more in touch with where their community comes from and about their environment.


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Implementation and Control Schedule

Implementation and Control Schedule:

What is to be

done?

Who is to do it?

When?

Budget

Required Follow

Up Advertisements Eric Rae Pre-‐Season

Early May

$200 Up-‐keep of Social Media, signage to be posted around Sarnia as well as in surrounding area in Lambton County

Website Design Carly Hammond

Pre-‐Season Early May

$2.99/month (godaddy.com)

Daily follow-‐up, take advantage of Search Engine Optimization

General Equipment Accumulation

Danica Sommer

Pre-‐Season /ongoing – End of Season

~ $650

Equipment may be bought throughout the season when appropriate

Cost of Entrance at Parks,

Conservation areas, etc.

Danica Sommer

Throughout the Season

~ $30/trip

These costs will be included in the cost of participation; addressed as they

come General Equipment includes 4-‐5 of the following

-‐ Child size PFD’s ($30) -‐ Binoculars ($12) -‐ Summer Sleeping Bags ($50)

And 1 of the following

-‐ Whisperlite Stove ($75) -‐ Tent (for kids) (>$200)

All other equipment is already owned and accessible.

marketing strategy plan

Documents

strategic marketing

corporate statement

number of children

place strategies

price strategies

promotion strategies

customer analysis

current market situation