Victoria runs a store that sells sustainable clothing and household items called The Victorious Home. Business has been strong and she is looking to expand from her brick-and-mortar store on Queen Street West in Toronto to more e-commerce so that she can reach a bigger audience. Along with this, Victoria will launch a new line of candles as part of her product offering, which I something she currently does not have on offer.

Typically her customers have found her by word of mouth and she has a high percentage of repeat customers who appreciate the quality and sustainable value of her products. By ramping up her e-commerce business, Victoria estimates that she will be able to at least double her sales within six months...but knows that it will take some work to reach a new audience. She has never done e-commerce before and her only on-line presence is a simple website with some photos of the store, location, contact info and hours. She also has an Instagram account that features her products which has 2,000 followers.

The typical target for Victoria’s store are 25 – 45 years old, with about 70% female and 30% male. They tend to live right in Toronto, either downtown or in the surrounding neighbourhoods. They value sustainable and high quality products and are willing to pay a premium for them.

Victoria has just hired you to help ramp up her on-line presence, reach a broader audience and support the launch of her candle product line. She will need a strong website, social media guidance and some marketing/advertising tactics in order to grow her business as she intends to.

TOTAL MARKS /52

Brand strategies Victoria is trying to figure out what marketing strategies she should deploy based on where she is on the marketing life cycle.	/11
First state the stage Victoria’s brand is in. Second, what would Victoria’s Marketing Objectives be at this stage and third list four key strategies she should focus on.	/7
Victoria is also considering launching a new line of candles as she increases her e-commerce business given the market interest in this product line. For this part of the business, list four special characteristics that she could highlight as part of her marketing efforts.	/4

Products, Services and Brands Victoria wants to expand to candles but is looking for more ideas.	/5
List 2-3 other possible brand extensions that could make sense here for Victoria to expand her business and her customer base and briefly explain why they are worth considering.	/5

Brand Development While Victoria has an established look and feels for The Victorious Home, she does need help refining its position in the market as she looks to expand her audience and become more digital.	/8
Write what you think would be an appropriate positioning statement for Victoria’s store.	/4
As Victoria looks for growth opportunities for the brand, explain to her what the difference is between and a line extension and brand extension.	/4

Pricing The Victorious Home products are generally higher priced given their high quality and sustainability. They are not mass-produced products which is something that appeals to her customers. She wants your opinion if this is the right pricing strategy for her new line of candles.	/8
Explain to Victoria what are the differences between the price floor and the price ceiling.	/2
There are two main strategies you can price a new product. First state what the two strategies are, and second recommend and rationalize which one would be better for Victoria’s new line of candles.	/4
Should Victoria consider a loyalty program of any sort to justify the costs of her products? Why or why not?	/2

Promotional Mix In determining where she should place her money to support her online store launch, Victoria wants to understand her marketing choices.	/10
Victoria knows she has options in promotional mix tools to launch her online store. She is looking to you to outline what the best tools would be for launching this to a wider online market. She has a $50,000 budget. Pick two of these tools and explain the advantages and disadvantages for each.	/6
In trying to understand where she places her advertising messages explain what the difference is between reach and frequency.	/4

Digital Marketing Outside of the paid promotions outlined above, there are other tactics that can be deployed digitally at no or low cost that would support her goals.	/10
Organic social media can be effective in building a connection with customers and potential customers. Outline what you would recommend to Victoria in order to build her presence on social media and what channels might work best for her.	/4
E-mail marketing is cost-effective and allows for updates to be sent to customers who subscribe. What are some considerations for Victoria as she thinks about launching an e-mail marketing campaign? List 2-4 bullets.	/6

• Read the case carefully below and take some time to plan out how you are going to format and write out your answers
• Enter your answers on this word document in the boxes.
• Use Bullet Points to answer below each question to keep your thoughts in order.

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

1 You must have a brand website It seems like an easy decision isnt that so A central website where ... View the full answer