Marble Slab: a Grand Occasion

Marble Slab Creamery: A Grand Occasion

This report is consistent with our signed Academic Integrity Form on file with the instructor

Trevor Burns

Team #1

November 4, 2013

Critical Issues

* Prior to opening Penny Thomas has not chosen a location to set her Marble Slab Creamery in, which will play major in outlining the remainder of her marketing plan

* A promotional budget of $10,000 is very low for a start-up company, it will be difficult to reach a wide range of individuals with given options, an undefined promotional campaign to an unidentified target market will result in low levels of traffic and a net loss

* The catering option will appear to be cannibalism and might disrupt another Marble Slab Creamery’s sales if implemented, if prices are set lower than other franchisee, company values could be distorted in the customers’ perception.

Analysis & Options

Location

The various locations that Thomas can choose from will depend on who she distinguishes as her primary target market. As each of the potential locations has various demographics the best options to decide upon are either Vaughan (Thornhill) or Oakville as they offer the highest density of population and the lowest leasing options. The primary target that Thomas should attract is families with children as children are the primary decision maker (Dauphin, El Lahga, Fortin, & Lacroix, 2011), the secondary target market should be persons of the Jewish faith as they are the only ‘kosher’ ice-cream retailer of the competition. In the community ‘Thornhill’ there is a Jewish population of over 57% (Bleiwas, 2011) which represents the highest concentration of Jewish culture in the greater Toronto area.

The Beaches does not appeal to be a beneficial option as it was most effected by seasonality; the appealing nature of the beaches is that Marble slab could utilize the clustering method as there are multiple competitors in the Area. The Toronto Annex area has the highest amount of...