¶ … Marketing
As the decision to sell the cookies and the search for the bakery have been completed, one has to think about the customer marketing channels to be used in approaching the clientele. A first appropriate channel in the given situation is word of mouth. Considering that my friends have enjoyed the cookies, they are likely to praise and buy them from the bakery. The main advantage of this channel is that it does not imply expenses. Another channel could be the media. This approach would however be limited as the marketing budget is reduced. As such, the media channel could materialize in an advertisement in the local paper. The ad could advertise both the cookie and the bakery and the costs of hosting the ad in the paper would be shared with the bakery. Then, a third channel that could be used materializes in the distribution of fliers. This is also cost effective and has the ability to reach a wide palette of potential customers. Finally, the last channel is the bakery itself, which could offer promotional sales on the cookies. For this method to succeed, the personnel at the bakery need to be polite and able to complete sales.
The first channel will draw my friends and their acquaintances to the store. The second and third channels will draw strangers to the store by raising their interest and curiosity. Ultimately, the quality of the services offered by the staff at the bakery will play the role of having the buyers come back and repurchase the cookies. Consequently then, the bakery used as a customer marketing channel will play the most important role. Provided that the buyers enjoy the taste of the cookies, the bakery personnel will be in charge of making the purchase experience a pleasant one. They must be able to turn the occasional buyer into a loyal customer. Also, their major role is given by their capability to interact with the customer and retrieve useful feedback, such as 'some buyers would like the cookies with vanilla flavor, rather than rum.' The ability to offer feedback would create opportunities for further product diversification.
Reference:
Melville, a., February 24, 2004, a More Holistic Approach to Customer Marketing, TMC Net, http://www.tmcnet.com/tmcnet/articles/2004/022404cp.html. Ast accessed on November 3, 2008
