MSP FOLIO OF WEEKLY EXERCISES
MAJOR STUDIO PROJECT
ALEXANDRA METH
T A B L E OF C ON T EN T S
2 Project Schedule 4 Product Pitch 10 Market Research 12 WOW Naming Exercise 14 Business Model Canvas 16 Styling Mood Board 18 Business Plan 22 Venture Summary 28 Campaign 36 Press Release 38 Testing
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Project Schedule
Work Period
Feb/Mar 27th -
Task/Assesment
1
3rd
March 6th -
10th
2
13th -
3
17th
April
20th -
4
24th
27th -
31st
5
3rd -
6
7th
10th -
14th
BREAK
17th -
Due Date
May 21st
24th -
PUBLIC H O L I D AY
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28th
1st -
8
5th
8th -
12th
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15th -
May/Jun 19th
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22nd -
26th
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29th - 2nd
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Exercise 1 - Gantt Chart Exercise 2 - 3 Product Pitch Exercise 2 - Market Research Exercise 3 - WOW Naming Exercise 4 - Business Model Canvas Product Development Critique Exercise 5 - Styling Mood Board Exercise 6 - Business Plan Exercise 7 - Venture Summary Branding Critique Exercise 8 - IMM Strategy Exercise 9 - Press Release Exercise 10 - Testing Folio of Weekly Exercises Final Critique Final Submission
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Product Pitch
PRODUCT CONCEPT 1 Product Redesign
A range of natural lifestyle products that are made using converted plastic materials. Dinnerware, cutlery and drinkware ideal for camping, outdoor dining and kids.
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PRODUCT CONCEPT 2 Gift Packaging
A range of gift packaging products that compliment the contents of the package through minimal, not overly branded designs. Those that appreciate good design can often spend hours trapsing around shopping centres, walking in and out of stores in an attempt to find wrapping paper, gift bags or cards that are aesthetically pleasing. These products will place value on colours and patterns, inspired by art, fashion and nature and designed with quality fabrics, materials and paper mediums.
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PRODUCT CONCEPT 3 Recipe Books
A recipe book series. Each with minimal design, blank pages, relevant images and content for each book in the series. Ideal for writing homemade, shared and adapted recipes. Possible editions: cooking with seafood, cooking with meat, cooking with vegetables, cooking for two, cooking for families, cooking for gatherings.
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02
Market Research
GENDER Male / 32.5% Female / 67.5% AGE 13-18 / 4.17% 18-24 / 8.33% 25-34 / 50% 35-44 / 29.17% 45-54 / 8.33% STYLE Molded / 26% Organic Shape / 74%
COLOUR Blue / 22% Black / 4% Brown / 35% Natural / 16% Mixture / 23% TYPE Cup / 8.5% Bowl / 19% Plate / 22% Spoon / 20% Pourer / 15.5% Coasters / 15%
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03
WOW Naming Exercise
Playful / Fare + Folk, Mögel Technical / Affinity, Villa + Vessel Random / Poke, Granuaille, Mohe Metaphoric / Halycon, Vessel, Uchi Acronym / TGT (The Gathering Table) Descriptive / Table, Together, Gather, Magnolia Conjoined / Nordictable, Rouundhouse, Mothermade Origin / Main Range, Bangalow, Shokki, Telopia Avenue Invented / Koa, Raine, Pikta, Pico, Moku, Fostah, Vesl Chosen Name: Vesl Metaphoric / ceramics & home > ‘vessel’ Simple / Memorable / Timeless
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Business Model Canvas
KEY PARTNERS
CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS
Picasso Ceramics: Clay Glazing Materials, Firing Australia Post: Packaging Squarespace
Face-to-face, Community and Dedicated Personal Assistance Online Presence with Website, Email and Social Media
KEY ACTIVITES
CHANNELS
Fixed Costs: Website, Rent, Salaries Key Activites: Postage, Firing Tools REVENUE STREAMS Paid through Website (Squarespace), in Studio or at Markets. Varying prices for each item.
Production: Clay, Glazing, Firing, Packaging, Thank-you Note Platform: Website KEY RESOURCES Building (Studio) Vehicle (Van) Human Resources: Makers, Marketing/Social
Awareness: Instagram Purchase: Website, Studio, Markets Delivery: Australia Post or Local Delivery Afer Sales: Information on care, Thankyou Note CUSTOMER SEGMENTS Niche Market: Attracts a Slow Lifestyle, Valuing Food, Relationships and Home. Adults/Married/Families/Home owners
Customers currently pay $20-50 currently on similar items. Placing value on the process, time and intricate work that is placed into each item. Customers willing to pay for value.
VALUE PROPOSITIONS COST STRUCTURE Practical & Useful items, Inspirational, Expresses a Lifestyle, Brand/Status, Design
Key Resources: Clay, Glazes Value Driven: Focus on Creating Value 14
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Styling Mood Board
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Business Plan
THE BUSINESS Business Name: Vesl Business Structure: Sole Trader ABN: 67 943 303 587 Business Location: Gold Coast Date Established: 13 April 2017 Business Owner: Alexandra Meth Relevant Owner Experience: Bachelor of Digital Media, Graphic Design Products: Handmade Ceramics
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THE MARKET Target Market Who are you selling to: Adults, Families, Homeowners, Slow Lifestyle, Lovers of Food and Objects for the Home. Why would they buy your products: Vesl ceramics are thoughtfully handmade for the home. It inspires people to gather with people they love using beautiful ceramics. Marketing Strategy How do you plan to enter the market: Establishing a local presence at the Burleigh Village Markets, generate interest though posting content on Instagram and inviting people to visit the studio to see the home and heart of Vesl ceramics. How do you intend to attract customers: Engaging people with the brand identity and ethos of Vesl. Represented through every element of each product, packaging and stories presented through social media and the website. How will this work: Identifying the consumer connection points, allowing people to see the process, creating new content and consistentcy across all platforms.
THE FUTURE Vision Statement At Vesl our vision is to inspire you with handmade ceramics pieces that bring you back home. Mission Statement Vesl seeks to engage a community to value family, food and the home with the same integrity and love we use to craft our handmade ceramics. Goals/objectives Short-term: Establishing a brand presence at the local markets as well as online (Instagram, Website). Sell at least 15 items a week. Long-term: Cultivate an establshed customer and community base. Move completely to online and studio sales. Continue partnership with Preemptive Love Coalition. Hold workshops.
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Venture Summary
Vesl Public Disclosure Summary Vesl seeks to engage a community to value family, food and the home with the same integrity and love we use to craft our handmade ceramics. The Japanese inspired brand encourages an ethos of slowing down to invest into what matter most. With an established local presence on the Gold Coast, Australia to an increasing online following; Vesl endeavours to inspire a global movement and lifestyle that draws people closer to home. Each ceramic piece is thoughtfully handmade and guarantees a one-of-a-kind item; with its organic shape and unique colours, it could not possibly be replicated.
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Venture Overview As the brand is first established, Vesl sells only handmade ceramic pieces, including plates, bowls, chopstick holders and spoons. There is certainly the potential of expanding the brand to sell other items such as apparel, botanics or other homewares. A major foreseeable problem at this point in time is generating income with ‘Ready to Ship’ items. The process of making each item is lengthy. It will be extremely important to consider the production time as well as gaining an idea of what volume of items and how often the consumer demand is. It may take a while until Vesl finds its feet in the market. An opportunity however, is that there aren’t many competitors based on the Gold Coast. This gives Vesl the space to establish a good local presence. Other problems that may arise will include figuring out prices as on a global market, Vesl will compete with big companies that are able to obtain products at rock-bottom prices because of the amount of stock they order. If Vesl prices items too lows than this will further delay the process of turing a profit. With this in mind, Vesl is entering a niche market of people whom value the time, thought and care that is put into items such as these. Vesl has a great opportunity to represent and communicate the brand indentity and ethos well to consumers. For instance, people will be able to see first-hand the end environment that each item is made in, by inviting them to step beyond the retail space into the studio.
Target Audience/Market Vesl sells handmade ceramic pieces to adults, families and homeowners from ages 25 upwards. There is a growing community of people who are re-thinking their consumer behaviours. People are buying less and only buying items that they need or simply love as opposed to consuming items which keep up with trends. Ceramics and particularly handmade ceramics are timeless pieces which maintain a high level of quality, distinctiveness whilst still being completely practical. Market research indicated that 50% of people who would be most likely to buy these products were aged 25-34. Following that, 29% of people who were also likely to buy these products aged were 25-44. Vesl appeals to a people whom value the home and all that a home encompasses. Gathering together to eat a meal and spending time with the ones you love. Vesl’s ethos inspires people to slow down and consider creating an environment that contains items which you love and cherish. This market appeals to the increasing arts and craft culture on the Gold Coast. Inspired by places such as Byron Bay an Bungalow who have a beautifully established culture of ‘making’ and ‘creating’; Vesl responds to this growing market and provides the Gold Coast the opportunity to invest and support a business which is made for people and by people.
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Resources There is currently an active website running for which customers can purchase ‘Ready to Ship’ items. Powered by Squarespace, there is a monthly cost of $26. Vesl’s combined retail and studio space is located in Currumbin Waters and is in a shared building, costing $300 in rent per week. Costs to make the items vary from different clay materials, tools and glazes. Resources are purchased from Picasso Ceramics often at discounted prices because of the established relationship with the owner. Other costs include local delivery and postage. At this point, Vesl only posts domestically, keeping costs low. Again costs will vary with the size of the package and the distance of the shipment. Using a personally owned vehicle with shelving units built in the back, Vesl delivers items from the Northern end to the Southern end of the Gold Coast. These costs have been accounted for. Vesl currently has a small team of three people, the owner/maker/retailer: Alexandra meth, another maker/seller: Jake Anderson and the business/marketing manager: Lola Irwanto. Vesl will look at having interns/apprentices in the future.
Development There are a few steps that Vesl will need take to continue developing the brand. This will include getting the word out, establishing a local presence first at the Burleigh Village Markets and building a strong brand identity. Vesl values the process that is behind making each handmade item and endeavours to invite people into the process. Idea and strategies will be implemented to make the brand a community rather than a typical retail ‘business’. These strategies may include blog posts, positing journals, creating videos of the behind the scenes, inviting people into the studio space, holding workshops and have an ongoing partnership with a development organisation. (Preemptive Love Coalition) More than anything Vesl derives value from the items that are made and the people they are made for. Next steps will also include keeping a consistent presence on social media with aims to inspire people, engage with consumers, a physical outlet for processes, content creation and art direction. Vesl will also need to consider the items themselves and what people are needing, and working towards meeting those needs.
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Integrated Media Marketing Strategy
Preemptive Love Coalition Preemptive Love is a global movement of peacemakers changing the way we engage 3 by confronting fear with acts of love. We bring relief to families on the frontline of war in Syria and Iraq, and we empower refugees to rebuild their lives. Preemptive Love Coalition changes the way the world engages polarising conflict by empowering victims and turning them into small business owners, employers, and sustainable sources of revenue and hope for their families and local community. This is a development organisation that aligns with Vesl’s values and ethos; celebrating makers and the household of a maker. Vesl wants to be apart of encouraging a community to help restore hope and diginity to families again.
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BLOG POST
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THANK-YOU NOTE
EMAIL LETTER
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WEBSITE POPUP
VIDEO
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Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 1 July 2017 Alexandra Meth Vesl Ceramics 0404 236 468 alexandra.meth@gmail.com
RESTORING HOPE AND DIGNITY Empowering refugees to rebuild their lives. Vesl and Preemptive Love Coalition are joining forces during the month of July to raise funds for small business owners in the frontline of war in Syria and Iraq to rebuild their lives. It can be easy to feel helpless and overwhelmed when hearing about the world’s most polarising conflicts across Western Asia. Preemptive Love Coalition changes the way we engage with these conflicts by confronting fear with acts of love. “In the face of terror, you can confront fear with preemptive love and remake the world.” As Vesl partners with Preemptive Love Coalition, you too can take action by donating money to restore hope and dignity in the lives of many. Preemptive Love Coalition ensures that each month, “100% of your donation will go toward providing lifesaving heart surgeries, emergency relief, and job empowerment grants to those displaced by violence.” Vesl has created speciality ceramic pieces with which 100% of payments will go directly towards empowering victims and turning them into small business owners, employers, and sustainable sources of revenue and hope for their families and local community. Vesl seeks to engage a community to value family, food and the home with the same integrity and love we use to craft our handmade ceramics. The Japanese inspired brand encourages an ethos of slowing down to invest into what matter most. 36
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Testing
POSITIVES
If our campaign idea were active today, how likely would you be to recommend it to others?
Strong link with the charity Product and campaign relate
Moderately Likely Very Likely
Well thought out
ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
How important is this chosen issue to you?
Think hard about what platforms will reach your target market.
Moderately Important Very Important
Perhaps more engagement with audience. “Unsure if donating 100% is realistic for a business. Unless you are a non-for-profit.�
APPROVE IT TO GO AHEAD AS IS
Extremely Important
Would you personally support our campaign if it was real?
Moderately Likely Very Likely
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