The face shop

Résumé du document

The Face Shop is a cosmetics brand that started in Korea, featuring a wide range of all-natural products at affordable prices. The Face Shop has been expanding globally, with franchises in places like Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong. This expansion has now hit British Columbia, as The Face Shop currently has four stores in the Lower Mainland. Our overall goal in this marketing plan is to help The Face Shop succeed in Vancouver by adapting its Korean-dominated marketing strategies and tactics to better suit the Canadian market.

We have proposed a set of strategies and tactics that are very different from what The Face Shop has done in the past. It is imperative that The Face Shop drastically change from the status quo, as the current marketing strategies are greatly restricting the growth of the company to new segments in Vancouver.

Currently, The Face Shop customers are predominantly of Asian descent. This is because people who shop at The Face Shop are those who know of the brand from places like Korea or Hong Kong, where The Face Shop has a much larger market presence than in Vancouver. For these customers, the current marketing tactics may work well. However, in order to develop the company, The Face Shop needs to increase its target market to include a wider range of customers. The Face Shop must expand its target market to include people of all ethnicities and backgrounds, and should better target the male segment of the population.

In order to do this, we have proposed a set of five strategies with a variety of tactics to make these strategies successful. The first strategy is to practice Total Customer Care. Employees should be aware of The Face Shop products in more detail, to the point where they would be able to provide accurate consultations to anyone who walks in the stores. The second strategy is to add a comprehensive online catalogue to the Canadian website, along with the ability to shop online. We want The Face Shop's products to be as accessible as possible, and by increasing the distribution channels, we hope to achieve this goal.

Increasing brand recognition is vital for The Face Shop's success in Vancouver, which leads to our third strategy. The tactics for this strategy include using personal marketing, strategic placement of The Face Shop products, and sponsoring events that associate well with The Face Shop image. As the product is visible in the market, people will start to know about The Face Shop and will have more experience with the cosmetics brand. Another strategy for The Face Shop would be to target the male segment of the population. This can be done by co-packaging female products with male trial-size versions. The final strategy is to better promote the "Natural Story" image that The Face Shop tries to convey. The all-natural aspect of The Face Shop brand should be a major selling feature, as it provides customers with a benefit that most other cosmetics do not have. This will help distinguish our product in the marketplace and promote the worldwide company vision.

Extraits

[...] by capturing a larger target market segment and satisfying customer needs. One objective of this plan is to increase profits by 20% in one year. The other objective is to add one more distribution channel in one year. Target market TheFaceShop should focus on three target market segments. These three target market segments are regular female purchasers, grasshoppers, and forward looking customers. The regular female purchasers have potential in increasing profits, especially given the fact that they are already familiar with TheFaceShop products and its attributes. [...]

[...] For example, “Cosmetic and fragrances” retail store sales in Canada increased from 1852.9 million in year 2001 to $ 2132.1 million in year 2006”[xii]. In 2001, its sale was almost at the bottom among 27 of selected commodities, but in 2006, it rose to the 5th largest sales. As well, according to the survey on “spending patterns in Canada”, conducted by Statistics Canada, consumption on personal care products from 2004 to 2005 increased by 22% and particularly in B.C. [xiii]. This clearly shows strong performance and potential growth in the cosmetic industry in Canada. [...]

[...] Also, in terms of marketing and sales strategy, the improvement in computer technology allows companies to choose different marketing strategies; some of the examples would be home shopping sales, Internet banner advertisement, or Internet sales etc. These methods all can be effective in its sales performance. Customer analysis A. The Existing Canadian Customers Many customers are immigrants from Asia, mostly Korean, that are already familiar with or loyal to the brand and its products. These customers constitute over 80% of each shop's sales. Peak sales seasons occur during Christmas time, which includes Boxing Day and New Years Eve, and Easter to Spring Break. [...]

[...] The winter season does not promote lots of people into clubs. Gay Pride participation: Lead up to Gay Pride during July and ending beginning of August. Strategy: to promote the “natural story” of thefaceshop Tactic Yoga Sponsorship with Lululemon Co-marketing In order to target forward-looking customers who are conscious of the ingredients in products, TheFaceShop needs to establish itself as the leading provider of natural products. Forward-looking customers are naturally associated with the well-being of the body, mind, and soul. It is their life style. [...]

[...] TheFaceShop ranks in the bottom amongst these competitors by market share. In terms of service, it still holds a fairly low placing because of their lack of training for salespersons which gives it a poor reputation as opposed to MAC for example which has a very small market share in Canada but is held in much higher esteem. Their products would hold a fairly high placing though because of their first-mover status in natural approach which is valued greatly in the market today. [...]