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Affinity Bridals Introduction to Marketing Indianola High School 1304 E. First Street Indianola, IA 50125 Ashley Jensen Emma Thompson
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................. 1
Description ......................................................................................................................... 2-3
Objectives Campaign ........................................................................................................ 3-4
Identification of Target Markets
Primary Markets ..................................................................................................... 4
Secondary Markets .................................................................................................. 5
Advertising Media Necessary for the Campaign
Instagram ................................................................................................................. 5
Twitter ................................................................................................................... 6-7
Pinterest .................................................................................................................... 7
Advertising Media Selection
Newspaper ............................................................................................................. 7-8
Radio ......................................................................................................................... 8
T.V Commercials ..................................................................................................... 9
Advertising Schedule ...................................................................................................... 9-10
Promotion Schedule ........................................................................................................... 11
Budget ................................................................................................................................. 12
Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 12
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I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
About Affinity
Affinity is a local bridal shop located in downtown square in Indianola, Iowa. The bridal shop is
known for its quality dresses, accessories, and men’s wear at discounted prices from big name
companies. In addition they also do personal fittings and alterations on all dresses. Their mission
is to fit each and every one of our brides with a gown that is as unique and beautiful as she is.
Campaign Objective
Increase local customer loyalty
Increase local awareness of the store
Make social media presence more known
Increase revenue by 5%
Target Markets:
Primary Target Market
Women
Ages 19-50
In a relationship or married
Middle to high income
Individuals planning their wedding
Individuals who value having a traditional
wedding ceremony
In or around 20 miles of the Indianola,
Iowa area
Secondary Target Markets
Girls
Ages 14-18
Familial middle to high income
No children
Unmarried
Individuals seeking quality party attire
Individuals who value obtaining a
unique dress from a smaller dealer
In or around 20 miles of Indianola,
Iowa
Advertising Activities
We will advertise Affinity’s through the area paper, The Record Herald, as well as the Ottumwa
paper. Our main focus of this campaign is to target the inactivity of the social media accounts to
appeal to a bigger market.
We will be creating different offers and putting different contests on depending on the months/ time
of year. During the prom months we will be offering deals that appeal to more of this market than the
bridal market. However during “primetime” wedding season which is considered June through the
month of December we will be offering strictly bridal related offers and contests.
Budget
We are limited to a small budget but will have it be a very beneficial one. Affinity is a smaller
business so making a bigger profit will be made easier by keeping our budget lower. All areas of
social media accounts are free to uphold and maintain, not counting different monthly coupon or
discount contests. The newspaper ads themselves will cost about $1,450 annually. The budget for
television and radio is going to be about $2,340. The overall budget will be $3,790.
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ll. DESCRIPTION
Affinity Bridals is a small, locally owned bridal shop and formal event wear boutique
located in downtown Indianola, Iowa. The business location is on the Indianola town square, the
main portion of Indianola. They are open Tuesday through Fridays 9am to 6pm, Saturday 9am to
5pm, but closed Sundays and Mondays. Affinity has been in business in the same successful
location for over 20 years, and changed their name from Party Palisades to Affinity Bridals to
better market themselves to their customers. Linda Hayes is the owner of this operation.
Affinity is a high-priced, high-quality service store. The business is well-known locally;
however, they do not have many marketing or advertising campaigns. The majority of their
business actually comes from out of town, the ratio being about 70 out of town customers to 30
local customers. As of right now they have advertisements in the local paper, town newsletter,
their website, and a Facebook page. They also pay to be included near the top of search results
on popular search engines and are becoming increasingly involved with various social media
websites. During Prom and in the summer months they have radio and television commercials.
Affinity strives to equip women and girls of all ages with a wide range of formal wear
including bridal gowns, flower girl dresses, prom dresses, and homecoming dresses. Affinity
seeks to provide these products and services in a relaxed, personal setting. They believe firmly in
exemplary customer service and do everything in their power to ensure their customers walk
away from their store feeling beautiful. They also donate a portion of their profits to local breast
cancer support on almost every dress sold. This is a cause that is very near and dear to their heart
and they have done multiple contests on Facebook in order to raise awareness and have given
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prizes to the winners. They also offer formal men’s wear, accessories, and high quality
alterations and customizations.
Linda Hayes, owner and operator of Affinity, says that she took one look around the
square and realized that there was nowhere in or near Indianola to get event wear. Despite having
no prior experience, Linda quickly took action and began researching the industry and her
location. She has researched other party and event dress stores and distributors near to Indianola.
Thus far, Linda has started and maintained a successful store, and created a name for herself and
her business despite the immense competition in the formal wear field. The service at Affinity is
not just based on the base of trying to make the sale, but instead is based on genuine interest in
the customer. Keeping up to date with past customers to ensure satisfaction is just one of the
ways Affinity Bridals has maintained exemplary customer service.
SWOT (Internal and External Analysis)
Internal Strengths
o High service quality
o Easily accessible location
o Wide variety of quality products
External Opportunities
o High cost expectation for quality products in their field, customer flow is
consistent
Internal Weaknesses
o Local presence is lacking, advertisements are ineffective
External Threats
o Competition is strong, local opinion is biased towards out of town boutiques and
department stores, young demographics find products expensive.
III. OBJECTIVE(S) OF THE CAMPAIGN
The overarching goal of Affinity’s campaign is to expand their advertising into more media
types, giving them the potential for growth as a business. Affinity has been active in different
media areas for advertising but has failed to utilize all of the media options available to reach
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their full media potential. We plan activate a successful business Pinterest, Twitter, and
Instagram.
Our campaign objectives are as follows:
Increase local customer loyalty/ increase local awareness of the store
Expand to more social medias and make social media presence more known by
increasing followers by 25%
Increase revenue by 5%
IV. IDENTIFICATION OF THE TARGET MARKET
A. Primary markets
Trying to keep the older market that Affinity normally appeals to while trying to maintain active
in the events for youth/teens, listed below are the specific target markets.
Demographic: Women
Ages 19-50
In a relationship or married
Middle to high income
Psychographic: Values having a traditional wedding ceremony
Interested in planning their wedding
Planning wedding activities involving shopping for various bridal party
outfits and accessories
Geographic: In or around 20 miles of the Indianola, Iowa area
B. Secondary markets
Demographic: Girls
Ages 14-18
Familial middle to high income
No children
Unmarried
Psychographic: Seeking high quality party attire
Interested in the ‘perfect’ prom dress/homecoming dress
Values obtaining a unique dress from a smaller dealer
Geographic: In or around 20 miles of Indianola, Iowa
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“Say yes to the Dress”
V. LIST OF ADVERTISING MEDIA SELECTION NECESSARY FOR THE
CAMPAIGN
Sales Promotion Activities:
First, Affinity must establish a successful page by adding
various pictures of products and happy customers to establish a connection with potential and
existing customers. Affinity should also follow other bridal accounts and potential customers in
order to gain a successful account. Then, after establishing the relationship and creating a strong
follower network, begin by offering opportunities for discounts, gift certificates or free products
by creating contests and sweepstakes. One such contest might be to have followers post pictures
with a the hash tag Say Yes to the Dress including something in the description telling what they
love most about their fiancée or what about themselves makes them feel beautiful. Staff
determines the winner and a discount of the staff’s choice is rewarded for use on the winning
customer’s next purchase. During the months of August through September one bride is chosen
each month for a 5% discount or special item of the month.
Advertising through Twitter does not have to be expensive. Begin by establishing a
successful page by adding tweets about the store, various causes they support or tweets about
happy customers. Be sure to follow local businesses, customers and organizations. After
establishing a successful customer base, begin to offer contests or sweepstakes. For instance the
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wedding photo with the most likes or re-tweets will be the recipient of a gift certificate in the
amount of the staff’s choice available for use on any item or purchase of their choosing in store.
During the slow wedding seasons of February through April is when the prime time for
prom season is. We can focus instead on the accessory and formal event wear portion. We
suggest that the owners take this into account and focus on this. A suggestion for a contest
incentive would be perhaps offering a discount on accessories with the purchase of any formal
dress. Most teenagers are always looking for discounts around these times, anything to help save
them a little money on these expensive events. A 10% discount on any accessory item with the
purchase of a prom/homecoming dress, all you have to do is post a picture of you in your
homecoming/prom dress and tag Affinity in the post to receive the discount.
However, during the main times for wedding sales which falls from the beginning of June
through December switch into more of a wedding targeted discounts. Brides are always worried
about trying to maintain a low budget. An appealing discount on good quality items will sure to
catch their eye. Switch the same discount being used for prom season but into wedding based.
Perhaps with every bridesmaid or wedding dress purchase a 10% discount for the bride on bridal
accessories or alterations will be available. All the bride has to do is post a picture of her in her
wedding dress on Twitter and tweet/tag Affinity in order to receive the discount.
It is important to be sure to maintain the fact that savings is key! Affinity has clearly put the
savings into the bride’s budget, or the customer in general’s budget. Trying to compete with high
dollar businesses is what separates them. They are a smaller store which helps with discounts and
cheaper prices. Brides have come back to the store informing them that their help and genuine
interest was amazing and they would love to come back in the future. Through the Twitter
account we will make the difference in prices known and promote the lower price options that
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separate them from the competition. The same dresses at Staceys and Davids Bridal are some of
the same dresses that Affinity offers yet at a much lower price. In one instance a bride paid 250
dollars less for the same veil at Affinity than at Davids Bridal or Staceys.
Using Pinterest is an excellent way to get customers interested in your store. By
incorporating products that are available in the store with trends and themes that are popular
online, brides can easily envision ways to incorporate Affinity’s products into their wedding.
Again, establish a strong follower network, follow potential customers to easily access their
wants and interests, follow designers and distributors that have products in your store, and
follow competition to keep track of trends. Be sure to advertise your social media efforts both
In-store and in all other ads. No one can follow you if they don’t know you have an account. For
the most amounts of re-pins and tags a 5% discount can be put towards their total purchase
through the months of August through December. Or perhaps hold a contest where brides make a
board titles “Affinity Bridals Dream Wedding” and have them pin pictures that portray their
dream wedding. Have them incorporate pins of products from Affinity Bridals and pins from
Affinity’s Pinterest page. Then choose the customer with the most creative or classic or bold
wedding idea and give them a discount on the purchase of a dress they have pinned in their
board.
Advertising Media Selection:
Newspaper
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Affinity will be already marketed in papers such as the Des Moines Register running 1
small ¼ page ads twice every month for 5 months at $145 a month. We will run a total of ten
(10) ¼ ads for a total of $1,450. We will start this up around December for the whimsical brides
that dream of a snowy wonderland wedding. We will continue the advertising in the spring but
switch the ads more into the Prom market aspect of it. As prom season is happening these ads
will run through the beginning of the month of February until the beginning of April.
Radio
Integrating the radio in with people’s daily commute times will be one of the biggest
advertising changes. A 30 second ad on a very popular station 107.5 will be a key factor in our
campaign. The ad will cost an average of $31 dollars per ad , and the ad will be 2 times per day.
We will have one ad during morning commute time and during everyone’s commute time on
their way home. This is a very popular radio frequency and will help spread the word to a vast
variety of people. We are going to run the ads at the very start of the prom season, it will be
costing about $1,240.
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TV Commercials
Television will be integrated into one of our main resources. Television ads will start
right around the big launch of their twitter page. We will continue through their main selling
seasons of June, August, September, October, and December. We will be continuing to run the
50-100 ads that are 30sec -1 min long per month on Channel 5 KCWI. Customers; especially
brides said that they are looking for great bridal deals right around this time. The lump sum for
radio advertising and television commercials comes out to be about $1,100. With changing the
ads to fit the time of year it will help us reach that particular part of the market rather than
wasting money on off month advertisements.
VI. SCHEDULES OF ALL ADVERTISING PLAN
Advertisement Social Media Newspaper Commercials
January Start creating
Social media pages
Start
creating ads
February Gain followers
starting to switch
into Prom season
specials and ads
The start of
the prom season
advertisements
start running 2
prom ads per month
March Prom month
primetimes: run prom
promotions
Continue
running 2 prom ads
per month
April Post ideas or
suggestions for future
events
Continue
running 2 prom ads
per month
Start creating the
commercials for the
upcoming wedding
season May Off months;
focus on the newest
and latest changing
trends
Start
creating bridal ads
Finish creating
the commercials
for the
approaching
wedding season
Off months;
focus on the upcoming
seasons and showing
50-100 times
Per month wedding
ads
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off Affinity stock July ❀Off months; focus
on the upcoming
seasons
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad August Start changing
out the seasons
fashions to fall
weddings
Start running
Bridal 2 bridal ads
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad September Wedding contests
starting
Continue
running two bridal
ads
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad October Make known that
Affinity is involved
with breast cancer
donations and
awareness
Continue
running 2 bridal
ads
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad
November Continue with
fall wedding seasons
ideas, but start to
move towards winter
promotions
Continue
running 2 bridal
ads
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad
December Winter bridal
promotions
Last month of
running bridal ads
only 1 ad
Continue running
The 50-100 times
Per month wedding
ad
VII. SCHEDULES OF ALL SALES PROMOTION ACTIVITY (IES) PLANNED
Sales
Promotion
Twitter Instagram Pinterest
January Gain followers Gain followers Gain followers
February Prom promotion Gain followers
March Prom promotion
April Prom promotion
May Tweet at the
happy prom
customers/comm
ent about how
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the event went
June Finish
brainstorming
what to look for
on the Instagram
contest
July Start Instagram
5%;1 bride
discount
August Wedding
promotion
Continue
Instagram 5%; I
bride discount
Bridal 5%
discount
September Wedding
promotion
Continue
Instagram 5%; I
bride discount
Bridal 5%
discount
October Wedding
promotion
Continue
Instagram 5%; I
bride discount
Bridal 5%
discount
November Wedding
promotion
Continue
Instagram 5%; I
bride discount
Bridal 5%
discount
December Wedding
promotion
Finish up: last
month of
Bridal 5%
discount
VIII. BUDGET (Detailed projections of actual cost)
The following outlines the advertising media and sales promotion activities that require
money. Many of the planned suggestions are cost based, but ensure high exposure rates.
Advertising Media Description Total Cost
Des Moines Register/Record
Herald
¼ page ad
Black and white
$145 per ad
$1,450
Radio 30 sec ad $1,240
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Station 107.5
$31/ time ran
Run twice a day
Television Commercials 50-100 ads/month
Channel 5 KCWI
30sec-1min
$1,100
IX. STATEMENT OF BENEFITS TO THE CLIENT/ADVERTISER
By promoting the business to the surrounding areas and the community through these marketing
strategies Affinity will gain new and loyal cliental. Helping Affinity get into the social media base that we
are aiming for it will help them gain a whole new market that they have been failing to reach. The current
Facebook page was great, but with utilizing only one form of social media the business was limited with
their publicity and their potential for growth. We believe that this campaign will help the business be able
to grow as a whole and gain satisfied long term customers.
X. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Consultant:
Ashley Noethe. Marketing Teacher. Indianola, Iowa.
Interview:
Linda. Creator/Owner of Affinity Bridals Shop. Indianola, Iowa.
Websites:
Contact Us." Indianola Record Herald. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2014.
"Indianola, Iowa (IA) Income Map, Earnings Map, and Wages Data." Indianola, Iowa (IA) Income Map, Earnings
Map, and Wages Data. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Nov. 2014.
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