Marketing plan for Kingsway Plan LTD

BMKT-161 |Sukhy, Natasha, Bryan, Kit, Nik, Jun

Executive Summary

COMPANY OVERVIEW

SITUATION ANALYSIS

Environment Scan
1) Economic
The economic environment shows an increase in the confidence in the current housing market with comparison to previous years which places upward pressure on the demand for new building projects and renovations. A gradual decline in the recession impacts this increase based on the disposable income of consumers.

2) Political
Tax break for renovations of up to $1350 are available form the government along with low interest rates which show the political environment to be actively seeking new housing starts and new projects starts critic to the design industry. On a negative note the Architect Act critically restricts the size of KP services and how they do business.

Competitive Environment
The following are the main competitors in our main regions of focus. Showing the different services they provide with the price range.

Name of Company
Services provided
Located In
Pricing
Design Marque
– computer aided residential designs

-custom and stock  plans

-stock plans

-blue printing

-misc
West Vancouver

BC Mountain Homes
-custom home plans

– renovation plans

-stock plans

-blue printing

-misc

-steel detailing

-computer aided drafting
West Vancouver

Musson Cattell Mackey
-architecture

– planning/ design

-interior design

-misc

-steel detailing

Vancouver

Apex Design Group
-Interior Design

– 3D computer modeling

-architectural renderings

-Virtual reality

– FENG SHUI
Burnaby

Industry Environment

Technology Environment
Currently in the market there are 3-D Computer applications available that show customers exactly what a project

will look like to help them visualize the building.  It could save the customer thousands of dollars because they can see the changes now instead of when the construction is already done and they have the ability to try different concepts at their convenience.

Consumer Environment
The following table refers to the demographic statistics of our major geographical focus regions (West Vancouver/North Vancouver) as compared with other current exponential growth regions(Burnaby/Coquitlam).  It also depicts the statistical number of houses actually owned.

Areas
Population
Median Family Income
Dwellings- owned

2001
2007
% Change
2001
2007
%Change
2007
2008
% Change
North Vancouver
82310
82562
0.3
$76 525
$90 772
18.6
22 945
24 275
5.8
West Vancouver

Burnably
193,954
202,799
4.56
$ 50 188
$ 50 205
0.03
1 017 485
1 145 045
12.5
Coquitlam
112 890
114 565
1.48
59 051
59 294
.41

The North Vancouver and West Vancouver regions were chosen as marketing focus areas because even though they are home to a smaller population, these regions possess the greatest average family income and discretionary income potential.

Regulatory Environment
– Each municipality has its own building codes, permit requirements, and regulations.
Ex: snow loads allowed, energy codes, soil and seismic conditions, Etc.
– In addition, Consumers may have to obtain permits or inspections from local government agencies before and during construction.
– All these requirements impact the business because it slows down the development process and limits the amount of work that can be done.
– new tax breaks available for homeowners on renovations from now till summer 2010

Financial Environment
Figure 1: West Vancouver housing start permits

Industry
North Vancouver
British Columbia

2001
2007
% change
% change

Construction
2170
2590
19.4
39.9

New housing Developments
338
254
5.92

SWOT Analysis

Strengths
-established business presence (experience)

is an officially registered legal entity (established 1958)

-quality work not an issue (qualifications needed are present)
-general lower prices to competitors
-high percentage income come from contract/commercial jobs (75%)
-good business ethics, promote quality over quantity (no rush jobs or drastic efforts to cut corners)
-location  North Vancouver
-demand for these services are present

– Experienced in both residential and commercial architectural designs.
-The ability to design floor plans for companies that are not local, using current technology to provide this service.
– create high customer loyalty through added value services (i.e. mobility)

-word of mouth referrals

-low interest rates for loans currently available

Weakness
– long standing business presence in Vancouver/Burnaby area (major areas where huge populations exist) has currently moved to North Vancouver

-New location of the company represents a critical obstacle in potential sales and decreases the client base (many clients are unwilling to commute to the new location).

-home based business office may give an impression of a lack of professionalism
-sales approach may be ineffective against certain customer types
-not enough quality testimonials on website
-continuous difficulty in keeping costs/expenses down
-low percentage of income comes from residential projects (25%)
-website (initial intro to company) lacks visual appeal-needs updating and a little more flair-”it’s all in the presentation”
-lack of multiple marketing/advertising strategies
-difficulty dealing with certain customer demographics

-A limited marketing budget to develop main priority of company awareness

Opportunities
-networking to build  more relationships with city officials, contractors and developers so as to increase referrals for new clientele
-networking at home shows and conventions to increase referral contacts and promote direct consumer contacts

-entering a new community (North Shore) for developing larger-sized homes, therefore maximizing sales revenues as opposed to designing ‘Vancouver specials’ which generate minimal sales revenue.

-establishing a new target market for North Shore focusing our client base around the new office location as North Shore has consumers with more discretionary income

Threats
-bylaws, tax rates, rules/regulations that are currently in effect are constantly being adjusted and every city has its own rules
-current economic recession may discourage ‘extra expenses’ for some customer types
-customer perspectives of low cost and time efficiency versus quality
-in lower mainland competition for market share is abundant
-unsatisfied past customers badmouthing the business
-excessive time lost due to window shoppers

– recession  reduces company’s budget

 -recession reduces consumer budgets for new homes

Core Competencies
– extensive knowledge of bylaws and codes throughout the lower mainland and background in-home inspection combined with design knowledge of small home construction
– mobility (willing to meet customer at location/site)
– commercial tenant improvement design experience (i.e. Waves coffee)
– significant resources (access to engineers, architects, contractors and other design/builders, suppliers)
– competitive pricing

TARGET MARKETS

·         Contractors

·         design/builders

·         architects

·         engineers

Our target markets are a referral market defined by:

·         demographics of  the clientele of the above including:

o     income

o    career type

o    buying behaviours

o    geographic location

·         demographics of small businesses for tenant improvements:

o    geographic location

o    size revenue levels

o    number of employees

MARKETING STRATEGY
-online website interactive
– ads in newspaper
– radio advertisement ( A.M. radio)
– marketing – referral links from affiliated websites
– distribute company flyers every 2-3 months in major zones
– change name (psychology factor) for search engines (name comes up first alphabetically)
– after rebates to referrals – incentives for word of mouth marketing

Price
– per square foot
– hourly rate
– free consultation
Product
-design service plus permit drawing for residential custom designs and commercial contract jobs
Promotion
– company logo/ number on work vehicle ( truck)
– testimonials ( more available online)
-referral methods need to be explored (ex waves coffee)
Place
– home office/ business  office in future
– online website offers appointment set-up forwarded to mobile device

IMPLEMENTING AND EVALUATING MARKETING PLAN

Checklist: Implement and Evaluating the Marketing Plan

Time Frame
Strategies and Tactics
Frequency
Year 1
2008
Year 2
2009
Year 3
2010

DATABASE
Evaluate business coming  from each region
annually
1st quarter
1st quarter
1st quarter

RESEARCH
Call clients who dropped us , determine why
annually
2nd quarter
2nd quarter
2nd quarter
Survey suppliers to determine satisfactions
annually
3rd quarter
3rd quarter
3rd quarter

PROMOTION
Advertisings Tactics:

Advertise in industry magazine
3 times per year
2nd , 3rd, 4th quarter
2nd , 3rd, 4th quarter
2nd , 3rd, 4th quarter
Generate media coverage
Ongoing
1st-4th quarter
1st-4th quarter
1st-4th quarter
Direct Marketing:

Mail introductory letter to 150 new clients
annually
1st quarter
1st quarter
1st quater
Send postcard-style holiday cards to clients on data base
annually
4th quarter (Dec)
4th quarter (Dec)
4th quarter (Dec)
Trade Show:

Generate list of trade show with potential for display
Ongoing
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
Website:

Monitor and track website visits
Ongoing
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
Respond to emails
Ongoing
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
Monitor competitors websites
Ongoing
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter
1st – 4th quarter

CONTINGENCY  PLANS / PROBLEMS
– current sales presentation techniques could be lacking
– unsatisfied customers spreading bad word of mouth
– pricing strategy implementation ineffective
– losing valuable resources due to ineffective marketing strategies
– zoning by laws/ regulation updates could affect advertising campaign