Spring 2015 Campaign

Nicole Chabot, Erika Joseph, Daniel Ross, Megan Smith, and Gautier Villette

Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................................................1

Situation Analysis...........................................................................................2

Customer Demographics.................................................................................4

Past Communication Efforts............................................................................5

Primary Research............................................................................................6

SWOT Analysis................................................................................................8

Goals and Objectives.....................................................................................13

Key Publics...................................................................................................14

Key Messages................................................................................................16

Strategies and Tactics...................................................................................17

Calendar.......................................................................................................18

Evaluation Plan............................................................................................24

Executive Summary......................................................................................26

Introduction

Humanit Boutique is owned and operated by Erin Smith, a former communication major and Western Carolina Uni-versity graduate. Humanit Boutique opened in Bryson City, North Carolina in 2010 and has since expanded to downtown Sylva, North Carolina in September of 2013. Hu-manit Boutique provides customers in both locations with trendy and affordable womens apparel. Items in the store range from articles of clothing to shoes and accessories. No item in the store exceeds over $100.00 in price. Humanit Boutiques slogan of Shop with your heart on your sleeve lets customers give back with every purchase. Ten percent of all profits go to support one local and one international organization, New Century Scholars and Heart for Africa. New Century Scholars allows local students to complete an Associates Degree at Southwestern Community College by funding their tuition. Heart for Africa works to provide a better quality of life for those in Swaziland, Africa.

Our team was charged with undertaking rebranding re-sponsibilities for Humanit Boutique. This included a pos-sible new spelling of the name, new logo, and color scheme. To do this, we conducted focus groups in order to deter-mine public opinion of the possible changes. Erin will de-cide if she wants to move forth with rebranding once the information from the focus groups is analyzed. They provid-ed us with many opinions on the rebranding for Humanit Boutique, and it also brought forth many new questions. An additional task we will be working on is brand awareness for the boutique.

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Situation Analysis

Industry Information:

The industrys North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 448120 Apparel stores, womens and girls clothing The market for womens clothing stores industry is still strong. Despite de-clining mall traffic and competition from thriving superstore retailers, reve-nue is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 2.5% over the five years to 2015, reaching $47.9 billion. Disposable income and consumer sentiment are on the rise, contributing to the continued growth of the industrys most prominent stores, high-end boutique retailers. While price-conscious con-sumers among lower-to-middle income households are important to industry sales, the willingness of higher-income consumers to spend on luxury cloth-ing and accessories has been the main driver behind this industry in the five

years following the recession.

Industry competition is expected to rise, as more enterprises enter the indus-try and Internet sales continue to gain an edge in womens clothing. Many companies that were traditionally store-only businesses have responded to external competition by opening online stores that complement their brick-and-mortar establishments and attracting more customers through social media. The rise of mobile technology is expected to sustain this trend in the future. As consumers experience better financial conditions that favor non-essential purchases, growth in revenue for new and existing industry players is expected to continue.

Major target segments:Although adult women are not always the purchasers of industry items, they are the intended market and are typically the recipient of womens clothing. The following are household income brackets and their proportion of wom-ens clothing expenditures (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2013). These reflect all retailers, including businesses outside the industry.

Households earning between $20,000 and 50,000, and between $51,000 and $70,000

While these ranges of income levels combined make up a large amount of consumers and include middle-income households, together they only ac-

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count for 25.5% of all revenue from womens clothing expenditures. Con-sumers within these brackets will shop at industry retailers on occasion, but are likely to look for better prices on apparel at alternative retailers for the

majority of clothing purchases.

Households earning between $71,000 and $80,000

Consumers within this bracket account for an estimated 20.7% of industry expenditures. Only a $10,000 increase in annual income from the previous bracket accounts for a significant share of the market. This margin rep-resents more disposable income that can be spent on non-essential goods

including designer clothing and accessories.

Households earning between $81,000 and $100,000

Consumers within this income bracket comprise the second largest market segment, representing an estimated 22.9% of total revenue from womens clothing sales. Fashion trends and brands play an important role in pur-chases made by these consumers. Consumers with more expendable income hold strong purchasing power because they have the option to compare products across luxury and non-luxury brands. Most have well-established careers with steady incomes, and consequently spend a higher proportion of their discretionary income on clothing.

Households earning more than $100,000

This segment of consumers accounts for the largest proportion of the market at an estimated 30.9%. Many of the consumers within this bracket are 35 and up, which is the intended age group for customers of the industrys ma-jor players. These customers have grown up valuing brand recognition and spend a high proportion of their income on discretionary clothing and acces-sories. This segment is expected to increase within the greater economy, and

will continue to provide revenue growth for this industry.

Situation Analysis

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Customer Demographics

According to the 2013 Census American Community Survey, Jackson and Swain counties, where the two Humanit Boutique stores are located, count-ed 22,662 females over 18 years old and 20,977 households.

The most important targets in these areas are households with annual in-comes within $15k and $75k.

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Past Communication Efforts

Humanit Boutique uses social media such as Facebook and Instagram to communicate with its customer and prospects, showcasing the stores col-lection and new arrivals arranged in possible outfits. The Facebook page has 3,561 likes and the Instagram account has 850 followers as of Feb. 3, 2015. The boutique also has a Twitter account with 221 followers.

A website is in preparation to launch the online store, along with a Pinterest account linked to store items.

The Pew Research Center published demographics of key social networking platforms in January 2015 showing that:

77% of adult women using Internet use Facebook; 29% use Insta-gram; 21% use Twitter; and 42% use Pinterest. Instagram and Twitter are clearly used in majority by a younger gen-eration (18 to 29 years old), while a majority of Facebook users are between the 18 to 49 years old and Pinterest users are between 18 and 64 years old. The typical Facebook user: female between 18 and 49 years old, with some college experience, and from urban or suburban area. The typical Instagram user: female between 18 and 29 years old, with some college experience and with $50k or less in annual income. Typical Twitter user: female between 18 and 29 years old, and from urban or suburban area. The typical Pinterest user: female between 18 and 64 years old, with a college degree; with $50+k in annual income and from a suburban and rural area.

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Primary Research: Focus Groups

On January 28, 2015 our team conducted two focus groups for Hu-manit Boutique. Each session was broken down into three major sections: Aesthetics, Shopping Habits, and Communication. Both groups provided feedback and information regarding specific questions under these subhead-ings.

Group One:

This group was comprised of a range of ages from 19-50. The discussion among the group brought up many different points stemming from the three conversation topics. This is a summary of the things discussed: There was emphasis from this group on viewing shopping as a social event. The group commented on the prices being somewhat high at Humanit Boutique, and that when they were socially shopping they were generally looking for clothes in the $15-$20 range though they stated that jeans were an exception if they fit well. However when asked if lowering the prices at Humanit Bou-tique would draw them in to the store more frequently they stated that low-ering the prices might take away from shop having a one of a kind boutique quality. Dealing with drawing these individuals into the store more frequent-ly the group said this: Advertised sales was something they said would bring them in more often, and that they would be willing to sign up for email no-tifications. There was also a push from the group towards instagram adver-tising as well as pinterest and that seeing things from the shop in these so-cial media outlets would make them more aware of things happening at the store. When asked about the logo change, the group was highly against the change in spelling, and stated that the loss of the accent mark above the let-ter e in the spelling of Humanit Boutique makes the store seem less femi-nine. The group collectively liked the original spelling of the word much more

than the proposed new spelling.

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Primary Research: Focus Groups

Group Two:

This group was comprised of a less diverse age range; all of the participants were between the ages of 18-25. Among the things discussed were these: This group also talked about social shopping and how they shopped more frequently in groups. Some of this group said they were frequent online shoppers and some said that they had to try on their outfits in the store in order to know if they would buy. The only exception to this again was pants, which the group agreed on having to try on before purchasing. The group talked about Old Navy and American Eagle being favorite stores to shop at, and that the group wishes they could shop at stores like J. Crew, but that the prices are too high. They commented on liking the clothes in Humanit Boutique, but that the prices are too high for everyday shopping. Some of the group said they didnt even know the store existed in small town place like Sylva, and that now that they knew the store was there that they would be more inclined to stop by. In terms of what would have drawn them in sooner or what draws the group into a store they said seeing their friends modeling clothes from Humanit Boutique made the store more attractive to them. This group also hit on social media, instagram being the most fre-quently visited for this group. The environment in the store was something the group collectively liked, there was a comment about liking the earthy and relaxed feel. One difference in this group from the first group was this younger group really liked the idea of the store giving back to charities, while the first group was more skeptical of where their money was going. Towards the end the group said that if there were special events at the store that they would be more likely to stop in the store.

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S.W.O.T. Analysis

Strengths

Location. With any retail establishment, a key component in generating a successful business is location. Humanit Boutiques location is a strength they can lean upon. Humanit Boutique is located on the main strip in downtown Sylva, North Carolina. The strip is a central passageway between WCU, Sylva, Franklin, and Atlanta. Humanit Boutiques neighbors, other local retail stores, are a great resource to help bring in traffic from locals, tourists, college students, and those just passing through.

Store Appearance. One thing that sets Humanit Boutique apart from its competitors is the unique experience incorporated through all aspects of the store, including its appearance. It begins with the store front. Mannequins are stylishly outfitted and surrounded by staged seasonal decorations, invit-ing in visitors from the streets. The inside of the store is themed with shabby chic dcor which reflects the owners unique personal taste. Their clean and spacious flow, along with offering a boutique feel, also make for easy, com-fortable shopping. Erin also changes the arrangement of store furniture to keep customers on their toes. It creates the idea that there is something new and refreshing about Humanit Boutique each time you walk in. This works in Humanit Boutiques advantage because it gives Humanit Boutique a

special edge.

Up to date. Another strength that works in Humanit Boutiques favor is it features clothing and apparel that are up to date with the latest trends. See-ing that the major target audience, college students, thrives off of trendy and up to date clothing, it is imperative that Humanit Boutique consciously pla-cates to such and audience. The owner, Erin, makes sure to circulate differ-ent pieces of clothing and accessories in the store as the style trends change. Because of this, customers can always expect to find something stylish when they shop at Humanit Boutique.

Unique Experience. A major strength of Humanit Boutique is what it has to offer, is its unique shopping experience. While it does embody a typical womens boutique, the stores moral backbone, which is grounded in their mission statement, Shop with your heart on your sleeve sets it apart from

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the rest. Where else in the Western North Carolina area can you buy and give back to a good cause simultaneously? The store also prides itself in pleasing the customer. Erin tailors the stores inventory to suit the tastes and styles of her customers. Not many stores can offer such an experience.

Weaknesses

Pricey clothes. One factor that poses as a major threat to Humanit Bou-tique are its prices. While the products are of good quality, some customers feel they still are not worth the price. Sylva, the town in which Humanit Boutique is based, is located in Jackson County North Carolina, one of the poorest counties in North Carolina. That being said, a lot of families dont have enough revenue coming in where they can willingly spend money on a $50 shirt. Also, taking into consideration that college students, the main target audience, does not tend to have a lot of extra income either. They want trendy, but for a low price, which might cause them to look elsewhere. (ie. Forever 21, H&M)

Traffic Flow. Business for Humanit Boutique typically thrives during the late summer and fall months as college students and late vacationers re-turn to the area. However, as the weather changes, so does customer traffic flow. The winter months are slower. This is because most college students go home for Christmas break, and its harder to go out into the cold weath-er to shop, as opposed to the comfort of your home computer. The summer months are also a weakness, because most students go home for the sum-mer, therefore a major buyer is temporarily lost.

Opportunities

Build Awareness. A major opportunity we have along with developing Hu-manit Boutique as a brand, is to raise awareness. A big part of what is holding Humanit Boutique back is the fact that very few know that it exists, especially those within its proposed main target audience, college students. Seizing this strategic opportunity will not only open doors, but also lead to other beneficial opportunities for Humanit Boutique. By cultivating knowl-edge of the store amongst all projected target audiences, we can generate a consistent customer base which would only aid in demographic research or breakdowns for further store improvement.

S.W.O.T. Analysis

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Showcase the Experience. Once we take advantage of building awareness of Humanit Boutique, the next step would be to showcase the Humanit Bou-tique experience, which was earlier described as one of Humanit Boutiques strengths. By properly showcasing and marketing this experience we could make it into a foundation for Humanit Boutique, something custom-ers know they will get every time they walk into a Humanit Boutique store. This will be valuable especially if Erin plans to expand and open more stores.

Declining Mall Traffic. While the new, trendy stores at the Asheville Mall pose a threat for Humanit Boutique, the number of people shopping at malls is declining. Women shoppers want to look for unique clothing that they wont see everyone else wearing. Shoppers can find this unique and lim-ited clothing at Humanit Boutique.

customer base which would only aid in demographic research or breakdowns for further store improvement.

Showcase the Experience. Once we take advantage of building awareness of Humanit Boutique, the next step would be to showcase the Humanit Bou-tique experience, which was earlier described as one of Humanit Boutiques strengths. By properly showcasing and marketing this experience we could make it into a foundation for Humanit Boutique, something custom-ers know they will get every time they walk into a Humanit Boutique store. This will be valuable especially if Erin plans to expand and open more stores.

Declining Mall Traffic. While the new, trendy stores at the Asheville Mall pose a threat for Humanit Boutique, the number of people shopping at malls is declining. Women shoppers want to look for unique clothing that they wont see everyone else wearing. Shoppers can find this unique and lim-ited clothing at Humanit Boutique.

Threats

Asheville Mall and Online Shopping. As an alternative to shopping at Hu-manit Boutique, the Asheville Mall and online shopping also pose threats. When purchasing from Humanit Boutique, not only are you paying for your item, but you are also paying for convenience, a luxury many people within

S.W.O.T. Analysis

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S.W.O.T. Analysis

Humanit Boutiques main target audience cannot afford. Therefore, driv-ing 45 minutes to Asheville becomes a more time consuming, but affordable option. The Asheville Mall offers variety for a slimmer wallet. The addition of H&M to the Asheville Mall might give customers more incentive to make the trip to Asheville.Along with the Asheville Mall, online shopping is another option, which is even more convenient. There are millions of stores online that offer the same items or different items from Humanit Boutique for a cheaper price. Upon comparing these factors, some customers might be willing pay the extra shipping and handling fee.

Core Problem and Opportunity A core problem for Humanit Boutique is awareness. Our opportunity presented is to create awareness in the community of the boutiques exis-tence and all that it has to offer.

Primary AudienceWestern Carolina University and Southwestern Community College students, ages 18-24

College students make up a large portion of the population in both Cullo-whee and Sylva, North Carolina. Their vast representation throughout these two cities makes them a big influencer and key public for Humanit Bou-tique.

Our focus groups mainly consisted of women in this age range, and many had never heard of or shopped at Humanit Boutique before. For this reason, local college campuses are an untapped market. By using these campuses as a primary audience, we are more likely to promote and teach students about Humanit Boutique.

Primary AudienceLocal women residing in surrounding towns (moms, grandmothers, etc), ages 30-40+

Our focus groups contained a few women in this age range and their insights

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S.W.O.T. Analysis

provided us with a better look as to why older women may not be inclined to stop in or shop at Humanite Boutique. Generally, these women are more established financially and have extra spending money to shop for clothes. This makes them a primary audience for Humanit Boutique because we can identify ways to provide a better shop-ping experience for these women at the boutique. By word of mouth, these women can help us promote and spread the word of the boutique after they see that despite their age, Humanit Boutiques clothes and accessories can look great on them too.

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Goals and Objectives

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Goal: Build brand awareness: Increase Humanit Boutiques reputation among target audienc es. Expand clientele

Objective: To increase awareness of college students in Jackson County, abou what Humanit Boutique has to offer. To have shoppers embrace the shop with your heart on your sleeve mindset. To increase the number of people in Jackson and Swain County shop ping at Humanit Boutique.

Key Publics

Primary AudienceWestern Carolina University and Southwestern Community College stu-dents, ages 18-24

College students make up a large portion of the population in both Cullo-whee and Sylva, North Carolina. Their vast representation throughout these two cities makes them a big influencer and key public for Humanit Bou-tique.

Our focus groups mainly consisted of women in this age range, and many had never heard of or shopped at Humanit Boutique before. For this reason, local college campuses are an untapped market. By using these campuses as a primary audience, we are more likely to promote and teach students about Humanit Boutique.

Primary AudienceLocal women residing in surrounding towns (moms, grandmothers, etc), ages 30-40+

Our focus groups contained a few women in this age range and their insights provided us with a better look as to why older women may not be inclined to stop in or shop at Humanite Boutique. Generally, these women are more established financially and have extra spending money to shop for clothes. This makes them a primary audience for Humanit Boutique because we can identify ways to provide a better shop-ping experience for these women at the boutique. By word of mouth, these women can help us promote and spread the word of the boutique after they see that despite their age, Humanit Boutiques clothes and accessories can look great on them too.

Secondary AudienceSmoky Mountain High School and other local high schools students, ages 15-18

While this audience is not as large or widespread as a college audience, local high school girls have a fashionable clothing boutique right in their home-town that they may not even know about. While we are targeting high school aged girls, we are also hitting upper class families through this audience be-

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cause these girls are more than likely still reliant on their parents for finan-cial support. This means that they are influencers in the community because we can get them and their moms into the store. By highlighting shopping as a social outing for mothers and their daughters we can show both a primary and secondary audience that Humanit Boutique is a great place to shop. For this reason, a push for Humanit Boutique in the local teenage popula-tion could result in a drive of sales for the boutique.

Key Publics

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Humanit Boutique sells womens clothing and is in a convenient locationConveying the message to our primary audience that Humanit Boutique is a womens clothing store will open many doors for us. A large portion of our primary audience does not know what Humanit Boutique is or where it is located. By showing our audience what Humanit Boutique has to offer and that the location of the store is much closer than driving an hour to the Asheville Mall, we can convey the message of convenience.

Humanit Boutique offers trendy selections that you wont see EVERYONE wearingOur primary research shows that women want to wear clothing that they wont see everyone else in town wearing. The clothing and accessories at Humanit Boutique are unique because they limit the number and sizes of certain pieces. This offers the consumer with clothing that wont be seen all over town. It adds a special element to their clothes.

Shop with your Heart on your Sleeve at Humanit BoutiqueShopping at Humanit Boutique is more than just buying fashionable clothes. When you shop at Humanit Boutique, a portion of all purchases goes back to two charities, Heart for Africa and New Century Scholars.

Humanit Boutiques clothes are not just for college students!Our primary research shows that some women may feel skeptical about wearing clothes from Humanit Boutique because of their age. By showing our audiences that Humanit Boutiques clothing and accessories can look great on anyone, we can convey that Humanit Boutique is a great shopping destination for all women.

Key Messages

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Goal: To build brand awareness for Humanit Boutique by increasing Hu-manit Boutiques reputation among target audiences and expanding clien-tele.

Objective 1: To increase awareness among college students in Jackson Coun-ty about what Humanit Boutique has to offer.

Objective 2: To have shoppers embrace the shop with your heart on your sleeve mindset

Objective 3: To increase the number of people in Jackson and Swain County, who shop at Humanit Boutique. (identify each by target public)

Strategy 1: Brand ambassador program Tactic 1: Recruit 5 students from WCU (have each ambassador recruit one person during the semester) Tactic 2: Train them about Humanit boutique Tactic 3: Give them materials and incentives Tactic 4: Launch brand ambassador program Tactic 5: Evaluate the strategy

Strategy 2: Social media Tactic 1: Create pinterest account and presence Tactic 2: Instagram and Facebook contests Tactic 3: Evaluate strategy

Strategy 3: Dresses and Desserts event at Sylva and Bryson City Stores on March 28 Tactic 1: Ask feedback from participants via survey Tactic 2: Collect Emails for mailing list Tactic 3: Evaluate strategy

Stategies and Tactics

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Strategy 4: Feature Stories Tactic 1: Develop ideas for possible stories Tactic 2: Compile/Research/Begin building relationships with local magazines, newspapers, bloggers, etc. Tactic 3: Write stories Tactic 4: Pitch stories to media outlets by April 2015 Tactic 5: Evaluate media attention and complete strategy by the end of the semester

Stategies and Tactics

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Preparation At the beginning of our campaign, we began by conducting research. We or-ganized a focus group, analyzed a SWOT analysis, and researched industry information to get a better understanding of Humanite Boutique and the industry it thrives in. A major portion of our research came from organizing a focus group at the Humanite Boutique location in Sylva. Our focus group took place inside the store to allow our attendees to experience Humanite Boutique before answer-ing questions about it. We organized our focus group questions in an orderly fashion, touching on three main points for Humanite Boutique: Shopping Habits, Communication, and Aesthetics.

One aspect we could have improved on was planning for potential issues during the setup process. We failed to give ourselves adequate time to recov-er from any issues. We should have arrived earlier than 30 minutes prior to the start of the focus group. It would have allowed us more time to prepare and check any equipment to ensure both sessions began on time. Despite our setup issues, overall our group had a successful project plan and focus group. Next, our SWOT analysis and researched industry information were a great addition to our preparation stage. Both provided us with detailed information on what we should target in the womens fashion industry, as well as local information of residents in Jackson and Swain County. This was important because it helped us to better understand our target audiences.

Implementation

Focus Group: The focus group was a major portion of our project that helped to shape the rest of our campaign. Each session lasted one hour and consist-ed of four females ranging in age from 18-50 years old. About 30 questions were asked in each session.

Email List: We facilitated the use of an ipad at both locations during the dresses and desserts event to collect shoppers emails to start an email list for Humanite Boutique

Evaluation Plan

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Surveys: During the dresses and desserts event we asked shoppers to partic-ipate in a short survey about their shopping experience.

Brand Ambassador Program: So far we have brainstormed thoughts and plans about how to recruit potential brand ambassadors for Humanite Bou-tique. We also laid out requirements and duties for potential ambassadors.

Impact

Our main goal of the focus group was to gain insight into what customers thought of Humanite Boutiques logo, color scheme, and spelling of the word humanite because Erin Smith was almost certain of beginning a rebrand-ing campaign for the boutique.The end result provided valuable information that led us to believe that re-branding was not the best option for Humanite Boutique.

Dresses & Desserts March 28:Humanite Boutique hosts an event every year at the Bryson City store called Dresses & Desserts. This event celebrates the anniversary of the original store opening. This year, with the help of our campaigns group, Erin decided to hold the event in both the Bryson City and Sylva stores. This is the fifth year the Bryson City store has hosted the event, and it is the first year for the Sylva store. For this event we created three question anonymous survey and we set up an ipad in both stores to collect emails. The results are as fol-lows.

Evaluation Plan

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Executive Summary

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The aim of this public relations campaign was to ultimately build brand awareness among target audiences and expand clientele for Humanit Bou-tique. Humanit Boutique is a thriving business in Bryson City and Sylva, North Carolina providing customers with trendy womens apparel, however our research through focus groups revealed that many local women have either never been in the store, or do not frequent the store often. This plan was focused on building brand awareness among the target audiences for Humanit Boutique. These target audiences included local college students aged 18-14, local women residing in surrounding towns (moms, grand-mothers, etc) aged 30-40+, and local high school students aged 15-18. The vast age range in our target audiences created a variety of strategies and tac-tics to establish for the campaign. Through opportunities including writing and pitching news stories, developing a brand ambassador program, collect-ing surveys and emails at the annual Dresses and Desserts event, establish-ing a social media presence on Pinterest, and creating new social media con-tests, we hit all of our target audiences and led a successful campaign.