History of Georgetown Cupcake - Essay Example

?Georgetown Cupcake The Table of Contents Introduction 3 History of Georgetown Cupcake 3 The Market Scenario of Georgetown 4 Marketing Plan Design 6 The Product Line of Georgetown Cupcake 7 Marketing Strategies 10 Marketing Plan Design 11 Conclusion 14 References 15 Introduction The paper intends to provide an overview of an American bakery company, i.e. Georgetown Cupcake’s current status in the market, their history, along with the products and services they offer to satisfy the needs of the customers. The study also analyses the marketing strategies of Georgetown Cupcake. The study further concentrates on the weaknesses and threats of this organization with the intention to develop an effective market plan. History of Georgetown Cupcake Georgetown Cupcake was established by the two sisters, named Katherine Kallins and Sophie LaMontagne in Georgetown, Washington DC. These sisters are very passionate about preparing the cupcakes and designing them beautifully to turn them as artful and delicious as well. Both the sisters were encouraged and inspired by their grandmother to commence Georgetown Cupcake and hence they established it on February 2008 as decade’s first and the single cupcakery (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”). Georgetown Cupcake maintains a healthy relationship with their community participating in most of the events in their neighborhood. Georgetown Cupcake also supports the national charitable organizations and the local charitable organizations too. They have already earned sustainable goodwill in the US market as their products are also loved and praised by their consumers. Thus, the organization has also earned substantial customer satisfaction within its short-term performance (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”). They have donated more than 10,000 pieces of cupcakes to charitable organizations and other charitable causes. Georgetown Cupcake assists the government in reducing the unemployment rate to an extent. They offer various facilities and benefits to the employees serving them with health insurance amenities, paid vacations and sick leaves, along with invitations to special occasions and events. Georgetown Cupcake also praises and gives awards to the employees on the basis of their performance and tends to encourage and motivates them for their better contribution to the productivity of the organization (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”). The Market Scenario of Georgetown In Georgetown, Georgetown Cupcake faces competition from other well known bakery organizations. Some of the major competitors in its target market are Baker and Wired, Georgetown Scoops and Sprinkles. The community of Georgetown is observed to be enthusiastic cake lovers. At times, experts have also observed that the bakery market dominates other junk food markets. Moreover, the product seems to be cost effective to the consumers as well as easily available as stated by the residents of the Georgetown. Besides, another reason behind the growth of the market is that a standard cake consumes thirty five to forty minutes to be baked, whereas the cupcakes consume hardly ten to fifteen minutes to be baked. On the similar context, according to the bakers, the standard cakes requires a certain span of time, i.e. at least one hour to be decorated for final presentation, whereas cupcakes take only 20 minutes to be made consumable (Key, “Cupcake-Mania Sweeping the Streets of Georgetown”). Georgetown Cupcake has already acquired a large market share than the other competitors. For instance, in US, a huge amount of customers await in the queues in front of the shop to purchase the cupcakes. Georgetown Cupcake is well reputed as DC cupcakes among tourists visiting the city. However, Georgetown Cupcakes can also be observed to possess certain advantages along with few disadvantages in relation to its organizational operations. For instance, one of the competitors of the organization, i.e. Georgetown Scoops claims that they bake the best cupcakes in town. They have also applied a marketing strategy for stimulating the customers’ interests on cupcakes by offering various types of rebates. They also provide the customers with fresh baked cupcakes (Key, “Cupcake-Mania Sweeping the Streets of Georgetown”). Other products provided by the Georgetown Scoops are “gourmet ice creams and coffee” which are also claimed to be the best and unique in town. Furthermore, another competitor of Georgetown Cupcake is Sprinkles which is also a major player in the same market although the organization is new to the market of Georgetown. According to the founder of the Sprinkles, Candace Nelson, “they bake their cupcakes with some high quality and the most purest and healthy ingredients”. Another competitor, Bake and Wired serves their customers with quick services which also act as a marketing strategy to reward the organization with higher customer satisfaction. Bake and Wired designs their cupcakes as ‘Miniature Cakes’ which are also known as ‘cakes in cup’. Another reason behind the preference of the Bake and Wired is that they offer the cupcakes at a larger shape to its customers (Key, A. “Cupcake-Mania Sweeping the Streets of Georgetown”). With reference to the findings, it can be stated that the market players in Georgetown concentrate on implementing aggressive marketing strategies which can emerge as a disadvantage for Georgetown Cupcake, being a very new player. Marketing Plan Design Georgetown Cupcake follows a very efficient marketing plan in order to maintain and increase their current market share with the virtues of quality performance in the near future. Their marketing plan focuses on different aspects such as, designing attractive as well as informative website to maintain its reach to a large customer base. They have also furnished the offered menu in their website, which in turn helps the customers to select among the wide variety of the products offered. The customers can take their own time to go through each and every flavor of cupcakes in order to select their preferred ones among the available options. This turns out to be quite preferable for the customers of Georgetown Cupcake retail shop (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”). Another marketing plan applied by Georgetown Cupcake is concentrated on assisting the customer to conveniently place an order through the organizational website. Such a facility has increased the probability to receive the maximum order. Georgetown Cupcake collects order from all over US which in turn helps them in attracting the customers from almost every sector of the target market. Georgetown Cupcake’s another effective marketing plan is its catering service. Georgetown Cupcake also provides catering services when required throughout the year. They provide endless possibilities to celebrate the special occasions like birthdays, anniversaries, and special treats. They mostly receive the catering orders from the wedding celebrators (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”). Including these marketing tactics, Georgetown Cupcake also hosts many popular shows to maximize their brand recognition and brand loyalty in the targeted market. Georgetown Cupcake has recently promoted their brand in the magazines like Touch Weekly, OK Magazine, Food and Wine Magazine, New York Magazine, Star Magazine and Recipe. One of the major marketing strategies implemented by them to attract the potential customer was the establishment of a new logo of Georgetown Cupcake. Moreover, they have scaled their beautiful logo in the t-shirts, napkins, and menus offered to the customers as their branding and advertising strategy (Hudson, “How to Use a Great Logo: Georgetown Cupcake”). The Product Line of Georgetown Cupcake In order to provide maximum satisfaction to the customers and expand or diversify their operations, Georgetown Cupcake offers a wide range of products in multiple flavors and designs. The basic reason behind the attainment of superior customer satisfaction is the exciting menu that Georgetown Cupcake offers to its customers with due consideration to their changing preferences (Georgetown Cupcake, “Georgetown Cupcake”). A comprehensive brief description of the wide range of products served by the organization has been presented in the discussion below. Notably, the products offered by Georgetown Cupcake are divided in two groups. For instance, the menu varies on the basis of the months in a year and the days in a week. The organization also offers special flavored cupcakes for occasions such as Christmas, Easter and other similar festivals performed all round the year (Georgetown Cupcake. “Georgetown Cupcake”). The products with the respective flavors which are offered by Georgetown Cupcake on a regular basis include Gulten–free Lava Cludge, Sunshine, Chocolate Birthday, Chocolate Ganache, Chocolate and Vanilla, Milk Chocolate Birthday, Red Velvet, Vanilla, Vanilla Birthday, Vanilla and Chocolate, Baby Pink, Baby Blue, Bubblegum Pink, Sulsan-G-Komen. The menu chart varies for each day in a week offering some special flavors on the basis of the preferences of the customers and their varied frame of mind of each day. The diversity in the menu chart on the basis of week days offered by the organization currently can be apparently observed from the table given below: Week Days Menu Monday Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Mint, Cinnamon, Honey Banana, Toffee Crunch Tuesday Coconut, Lemon Blossom, Maple, Mocha, Salted Caramel Wednesday Carrot, Chocolate Coconut, Chocolate Hazelnut, Cookies And Creme, Lemon Berry Thursday Chocolate Banana, Chocolate PB Swirl, Coconut, Key Lime, Pumpkin Space Friday Chocolate Hazelnut, Chocolate PB Chip, Coconut, Lava Fudge, Lemon Blossom Saturday Coconut, Key Lime And Multi Cookies, Multi Cookies And Creme, PB Fudge, Salted Caramel Sunday Carrot, Chocolate Coconut, Lava Fudge, BP Fudge, Strawberry Source: (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”) The organization also offers different menus according to the changes in the seasons and festive moods of the customers, on the basis of twelve month in a year. The seasonal product offerings along with their daily products can be well identified from the chart represented below: Months Menu January Chocolate Salted Caramel, Strawberry Champagne February Strawberry Lava Fudge, Strawberry, Valentine’s Cupcakes March Irish Cream, Mint Cookies And Creme, St. Patrick’s Cupcakes April Cherry Blossom, Humming Bird, Easter Cupcakes May Ferman Chocolate Fudge, Hibiscus Mango, Mother’s Day Cupcakes, Memorial Day Cupcakes June Orange Blossom, White Chocolate Raspberry, Father’s Day Cupcakes July Minet Julep, Strawberry, 4th of July Cupcakes August Banana Split, Blueberry Cheesecakes September Caramel Apple, Apple Cinnamon, Labor Day Cupcakes October Maple Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Spice, Halloween Cupcakes November Caramel Apple, Pumpkin Spice, Election Cupcakes, Thanks Giving Cupcakes December Chocolate Egg Nog, White Chocolate Peppermint, Chocolate Peppermint, Gingerbread Source: (Georgetown Cupcake, “The Cupcake Sisters”) Marketing Strategies Georgetown Cupcake has already attained a large market share in the bakery industry of Washington D.C. Its major marketing strategies are mostly concerned with brand positioning and innovation with the purpose of retaining the valuable customers as well as attracting fresh customer base. With this concern, the organization provides significant consideration to the role played by media as a powerful weapon to reach the maximum number of customers. The marketing strategies in relation to promotion of the products largely focus on the social media in order to capture the domestic market. It is also helpful in building and maintaining the good relationship with the customers. Social websites such as Twitter and Facebook also play a vital role in increasing the brand value of the customers. They can also explain their goals and target markets to the viewer through the site as a customer relationship marketing strategy (SlideShare Inc. “Georgetown Cupcake Shops: Social Media Strategies”). Georgetown Cupcake should also focus on their contribution to charitable institutions till date to create goodwill in the community. It is worth mentioning that the organization offers a wide range of products, differing in terms of flavors, prices and designs although the focus of the marketing strategy is concentrated on a particular product line, i.e. cupcakes. However, such a strategy to gain customer satisfaction has a demerit as well. For instance, some of the well crafted and flavored cupcakes are available only in special occasions or seasons such as Blueberry Cheesecakes in August and Lemon Blossom only on Monday and Friday. A particular group of customers may prefer to eat only a particular cupcake which is offered by the organization only in particular events and thus shall have to wait for their consumption. This in turn can hamper the customer satisfaction to an extent (Pride & Ferrell, “Foundations of Marketing”). The marketing strategies adopted by the organization also have significant attributes in rewarding the company with competitive advantages. For instance, advertisement through social media is a very cost effective tool. Among the bakers in the Georgetown Washington DC, there are only few bakeries that are availing the advantage of social marketing through FaceBook and Twitter currently. Hence, the company gains a competitive advantage in promoting the products online having a better influence on the customers. Georgetown Cupcake has also gained enough popularity in the local market by hosting shows on television. Along with this, the advertisements on televisions and social websites have enabled them to reach the tourists or global customers as well (SlideShare Inc. “Georgetown Cupcake Shops: Social Media Strategies”). Marketing Plan Design Focusing on the increased demand of cupcakes during festive seasons, Georgetown Cupcake offers a wide range of seasonal and occasional products which have assisted them in creating a beneficial market space in the region. It is worth mentioning that a strong marketing plan can assist organizations in terms of profit maximization and increase the sales. The best marketing plan for Georgetown Cupcake can be observed to be concentrated on persuading the customers and in turn attracting them to make further dealings offering them with high quality products on a regular basis. This tends to be highly beneficial in the bakery industry as the product mostly deals with the refreshing moods of the potential customers (United States International Trade Commission, “Bakery Products”). Moreover, use of delicious flavors like cinnamon, vanilla, chocolate, coconut, etc. as its ingredients have also helped the organization to differentiate their products from that of the competitors and thus attain competitive advantages. In this context, it shall be suggestible to plan for organizing events, especially in the period of holidays where they can promote their products and mention their special offerings to the potential customers. Moreover, they can also telecast the same shows in the local channels or upload the videos in the websites and accelerate their promotional strategies through social media (United States International Trade Commission, “Bakery Products”). They can also offer pre-packed holiday gifts and readymade special birthday gifts to the customers. Availability of these readymade products can save time and worries of the customers and build up a space in their heart and mind generating better brand loyalty. Other than this, Georgetown Cupcake should also perform special promotions of their retail shop to enjoy the enhancement in the sales and profit maximization. It has been noted that many organizations experience massive growth in their goodwill by hosting their organization in any popular television channel. The organizations when host a popular show and moreover in a popular channel, it can earn the public attention on a high scale which in turn generates high publicity and wide press coverage (United States International Trade Commission, “Bakery Products”). Georgetown Cupcake can also promote the products by organizing contests and different game shows. It will generate awareness regarding the products among the potential customers and thus reward higher brand recognition. The other advantageous marketing tool would be stimulating the customers towards Georgetown Cupcake by offering rebates. The organization can also offer calendars to the buyers and even non buyers to increase the awareness among the targeted customers (United States International Trade Commission, “Bakery Products”). However, in today’s era, pricing also creates a significant impact on the customers. Thus, the pricing strategies undertaken by the organization should be focused on the affordability and preferences of the customers targeted. Moreover, the organization should also consider its diversification strategies in terms of variety of products in a single line, i.e. cupcakes. In this context, it shall be beneficial for the company to expand its operations to other bakery products rather than adding extensions to the available product range (Pride & Ferrell, “Foundations of Marketing”). Conclusion With reference to the above facts, it can be concluded that Georgetown Cupcake since its formation has been gradually dominating the market possessing significant goodwill in the customers’ mind. They have been leading the market smoothly and thus proving to be quite competitive to overcome the challenges caused due to the presence of competitors like Bake and Wired, Sprinkles, the Georgetown Scoops, and others. Although the company focuses on an effective marketing strategic alliance, there are few disadvantages of the strategies which should be considered. These include, extensive widening of product ranges which can be uncontrollable in the long-term as well as can also increase the operational and marketing costs. Thus, the company requires focusing and if required, then reconsidering its marketing strategies from a long-term perspective. References Georgetown Cupcake. “The Cupcake Sisters”. November 03, 2011, 2011. Georgetown Cupcake, 2011. Georgetown Cupcake. “Georgetown Cupcake”. November 03, 2011. The Healthy Newspaper, 2011. Hudson, J. “How To Use a Great Logo: Georgetown Cupcake”. November 03, 2011. Cross and Crown, 2011. Key, A. “Cupcake-Mania Sweeping the Streets of Georgetown”. November 03, 2011. George Town Patch, 2011. Pride, W. M. & Ferrell, O. C. Foundations of Marketing Cengage Learning. SlideShare Inc. “Georgetown Cupcake Shops: Social Media Strategies”. November 03, 2011. Slide Share, 2011. United States International Trade Commission. Bakery Products DIANE Publishing. Read More