MKTG 3740 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Family Owned, Famously Made

Presented By: Artbox Marketing Communications

Breanna Moore, Laura Kenat, Taylor Davis, Anna Salvaggio

Table of Contents

1.Overview
.
page 3
2.Category Information (SWOT)
.. page 5
3.Segmentation
. page
10
4.Targeting
..
page 13
5.Positioning

page 15
6.Media

.. page 17
7.Campaign Executions
page 21
Advertising
o
Print Ad
page 21
o
Outdoor Board
... page 22
2

TV Spot

. page
23
o
Transit Advertising
page 26
Non-Traditional
o
Social Media
. page 27
8.References

page 29

Overview
Mike and Denise Busley were two driven parents, in their forties, living in San
Diego. Both had successful jobs in defense and medical sales that would soon have the
dream of Grand Traverse Pie Company. The couple knew there was something missing in
their lives and wanted careers they could be passionate about. The family visited a small
pie shop in Julian California and immediately fell in love with the cozy feel and the
friendly idea of a pie store. The couple had never owned a business or even baked a pie at
this point in their life but quickly learned everything they needed to know about the
industry. The family left their life as they knew it, picked up and moved to Traverse City.
Grand Traverse Pie Company now has fourteen locations in Michigan including
their new development with the Portage location. Denise is a graduate of Portage
Northern High School and is excited to be connected back with this Kalamazoo
community. In an open gathering, Busley explained the energy she feels in the
community and told others she was thrilled to be back.
As pie makers, Grand Traverse Pie Company prides itself on using the land as
defined by the seasons we experience here in Michigan. Using whatever fruits may be in
season brings the company back to its roots and to the people of the city. The goal of the
company is to recreate memories with the pies they make for their customers along with
working with as many Michigan suppliers as possible when producing their product and
spreading the love of pie. Although this company has started out small, it has grown into
a lifestyle. Grand Traverse Pie Companys reason for being has expanded from just

opening a pie company and producing what they love to sharing the love of pie with
others and being able to recreate these memories for its visitors as well.

Category Information
Strengths

There are not many restaurants in Kalamazoo who offer mostly

Michigan-made products. Grand Traverse Pie Company focuses
on obtaining as many of their resources as they can from
Michigan only. For example, their coffee is from Water Street
Coffee Joint of Kalamazoo and their ice cream is from Sherman
Ice Cream Co., of South Haven. This gives them more of a local
advantage over the other, more common, chains such as Panera

and Big Apple Bagels.

Grand Traverse Pie Company offers a wide variety of food and
drink options, all of which are homemade right in their own

kitchen.
Co-owner, Denise Busley, is a native of Portage, Michigan
therefore she knows the Portage and Kalamazoo area inside and
out. This gives her a competitive advantage because she is
familiar with community demographics and trends. The
competing larger restaurant chains are ran based on corporate
policies which might not fit quite as well with this group of

people.
The location of Grand Traverse Pie Company is in a college town.
Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Valley Community
College and Kalamazoo College are a few of the schools located
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in this city. This is an advantage for Grand Traverse Pie Company

because students are a large portion of the population. Knowing
this information, Grand Traverse Pie Company competes in the

market by keeping affordable prices to attract these consumers.

Grand Traverse Pie Company is currently serving Michigan in 15
different locations across the state.

Weaknesses

Many customers have heard of all the big competing chains such
as Tim Hortons, Panera, Big Apple Bagel, etc., but Grand
Traverse Pie Company is not as well known. Many have not heard
of or tried Grand Traverse Pie Company, so they are going to
need to make themselves stand out to get customers into the
restaurant and build their brand by building consumer

awareness.
The different seasons affect the different kinds of products that
Grand Traverse Pie Company uses for their recipes. Some of
these ingredients include blueberries, cherries, apples and all of
sorts of other fresh fruit that they use for each of their signatures
pies.

Opportunities

Grand Traverse Pie Company has the opportunity to promote

itself as a Michigan-based company which local consumers have
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identified as being an important factor when making their

purchasing decisions.
Opening another store gives Grand Traverse Pie Company the
opportunity to tap into an additional market and demographic of
potential customers. Grand Traverse Pie Company could
potentially expand to numerous other locations across the

nation.
Connecting with consumers via Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest,
YouTube, and Twitter spreads the word about Grand Traverse Pie
Companys food options, competitive edge and promotions. This
gives the business the chance to connect with its consumers
almost immediately at any time of day or night. Grand Traverse
Pie Company can spend more time connecting with their niche
market and making their customers feel at home through
exceptional service and communication.

Threats
Well-established and well-known similar chain restaurants such
as Panera, Corner Bakery, Big Apple Bagel, etc., are Grand
Traverse Pie Companys main competitors.
The poor economy and unemployment rate can hinder people
from going out to eat and spending money in restaurants.

 There have been a number of businesses closing in the

Portage/Kalamazoo area which gives consumers a negative
perception of the economy.

Direct Competition
Grand Traverse Pie Companys direct competition is with other
local companies and chains such as Panera, Big Apple Bagel, Tim
Hortons, and Corner Bakery that all serve breakfast, lunch and baked
treats in the local Kalamazoo/Portage area. Also, other coffee places
such as Biggby, Water Street and Starbucks are in direct competition
with them.
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Grand Traverse Pie Company needs to build its reputation in the

area to take the customers from its direct competition and make it
stand out from the rest. Grand Traverse Pie Company has a wider
range of food items on their menu and a larger dining room for
comfortable seating to accommodate more customers than its
competitors on busy days.

Indirect Competition
The Kalamazoo/Portage community is filled with an abundance of
different types of restaurants and eaterys. Grand Traverse Pie
Companys indirect competition is other food companies who dont sell
the exact same products, but do sell food in general that can be close
substitutes for Grand Traverse Pie Companys offerings. Businesses
such as: Olive Garden, Subway, Qdoba, and other restaurants along
Westnedge Avenue and in the area are examples of this indirect
competition.
When customers are thinking about going out to eat, they have a
large array of options to choose from in this local community. Indirect
competition is just as important as direct competition because every
business is competing for customers to come into their brick and
mortar locations to eat and spend money. In the end, every customer
that Grand Traverse Pie Company can steal from other restaurants that

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they are not in direct competition with, is the potential for another
customer that was not originally in their target market

11

Segmentation
Segmentation is the breakdown of markets, in this case
consumer markets, to target more directly the consumers that we want
to attract to our business. In this situation with Grand Traverse Pie
Company, we are focusing on communities in Kalamazoo that will
enjoy our menu options and favor our prices. The main group in which
we will market our restaurant is to senior citizens.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Senior Citizens (ages 60+)

Genders: Both
Race: Any
Incomes: Upper, Middle and Lower Class
Education: Any
Occupation: Any

GEOGRAPHICS

Kalamazoo County and surrounding areas

Cities: Kalamazoo, Portage, Mattawan, Parchment, Oshtemo, Paw
Paw, Schoolcraft, Vicksburg, Lawton, Scotts, Plainwell, Galesburg,
Augusta, Richmond, and Gobles

PSYCHOGRAPHICS

12

Activities: Most people in Kalamazoo are Catholic or Christian so

we could approach members of faith based organizations and
churches throughout the local areas. Some other activities may
include bingo clubs, bowling teams, dance classes and other

things that senior citizens may do throughout their day.

Interests: Many citizens of Kalamazoo County are also members
of Knights of Columbus Halls, Country Clubs, and Unions, so we
can market to the membership based groups and attract that

customer base.
Opinions: Most of Southwest Michigan is a Republican or rightwing opinioned area, therefore we would advertise

conservatively.
Personality Profile: We are triggering Family-oriented groups of
senior citizens who practice some sort of faith, participate in
activities with people who have the same interests and would
could to our restaurant during any time of the day.

BENEFITS

A few of the many benefits that our customers would receive

from coming to our restaurant include money savings, fresh food
and generous hours of operation. We will offer our customers low
prices therefore making their wallets more full. Our Michiganmade menu will be popular to this class of people because the

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older generation tends to favor Michigan-made products more

than the younger population.

Intangible benefits that our customers would receive are the
benefits of coming to eat at our store. We have a family
environment with a warm and welcoming feel. We make our
customers feel like they belong and feel comfortable before,
during, and after their dining experience. We want our restaurant
to be a stress reliever for people in order to help them unwind,
relax, have fun, and take a break from busy life and hectic
schedules. Our service and waiting staff will help in executing
this plan.

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Targeting
Target segments are the subgroups of people that will be the
focal point of a businesss marketing campaign. The people selected
for the target market are the most important aspect of the businesss
positioning because the company has to be able to provide and cater
to what those individuals need. Allowing the target market to get too
broad can result in the companys advertising and marketing to be
ineffective.
The Kalamazoo area as a whole is accountable for various
different segments in the buyers market. Many people know
Kalamazoo for its college environment. These students are typically on
a budget and try to spend as little money as possible when dining out.
The nearby city of Portage also exemplifies a large array of citizens
that are associated with the Kalamazoo area. Portage embodies many
families and retired adults, as well as students that have chosen to live
farther away from campus. Kalamazoo has the luxury of being able to
market to almost any demographic because of its array of groups and
individuals.
Older adults who choose to dine with their friends and family
would be the ideal market subgroup for Grand Traverse Pie Company.
GTPC can study the actions of the customers who fit into this market
and identify trends. Two groups that Grand Traverse Pie Company
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should be able to recognize after conduction this study is th brand

loyal users and the switchers. Brand loyal users are the consistent and
usual customers. Switches are the customers who choose Grand
Traverse Pie Company over Panera or any other previous competitor
when deciding where to go out to eat.
The general feel of Grand Traverse Pie Company is a homey feel
that currently draws an older crowd. On a typical day around lunch
time, the groups that occupy Grand Traverse Pie Company are older
groups of friends meeting for a bite to eat and staying to enjoy each
others company over coffee. Targeting this specific market can allow
the company to devote most of their advertising and promotional
budgets to a specific area which will maximize their returns. Allowing
the energy to be aimed specifically at one group that will loyally visit
the establishment the most will in turn bring the highest profit to Grand
Traverse Pie Company.
A downfall of selecting this single target market is that there is
another hefty population that is being ignored. This group consists of
all the college students in the community. Grand Traverse Pie Company
should target both segments to cover the majority of the market. By
including this second demographic, GTPC will expand into a
significantly larger group of people. College students account for a
bulky part of the Greater Kalamazoo area and are often the easiest
16

people to target with coupons and low prices. This strategy will be the
most efficient and cost effective way to reach the largest percentage of
the market with the least amount of resources.

17

Positioning
The positioning strategy needs to deliver on the promise of being
excited to be back in the community of Portage where all plans for
Grand Traverse Pie Company were originally created. As seen from the
eye of the consumer, Grand Traverse Pie Company should want to
position their brand as being loyal, trust-worthy, and homey. Allowing
there to be a positive energy toward the customer and excellent
customer service allows Grand Traverse Pie Company to grow
spontaneously. This growth is a result of consumers freely advertising
Grand Traverse Pie Company through word of mouth reflecting on their
positive experiences with the company. Grand Traverse Pie Company
should want to be seen as a place that anyone would want to take their
own family, clients, and friends because of the friendly atmosphere. It
should also be perceived as a place consumers can always rely on to
get what they need for holiday/event desserts and dishes. Grand
Traverse Pie Company should position itself in the market as a place
people can rely on for just a quick lunch or to pick up a pie for an
event. Correct positioning by Grand Traverse Pie Company is
detrimental in order for the business to succeed; and by doing such the
company will gain positive customer awareness and receive high sales
in return.

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The positioning strategy that was chosen to be used was one

that explains how Grand Traverse Pie Company was brought about. The
company started locally and was made famous throughout their
expansion. Our team wanted to really bring it back to Kalamazoo and
allow the customers to feel that they are being taken care of by a
company that is from the same hometown. We feel that college
students and the older demographic in the community of whom we
have chosen as our target markets will feel connected to Grand
Traverse Pie Company on a personal level when we advertise to them
as being local and fresh. This idea will subconsciously be implanted in
the minds of the consumers because after seeing this local and fresh
theme in our advertising they will also be able to experience the local
and fresh foods when visiting the restaurant. Consistent advertising
back up by great quality service and products will be the key to
success for Grand Traverse Pie Company.

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Media
Grand Traverse Pie Company needs to focus on its target market
when deciding which forms of media to use while advertising. Their
target market consists mainly of retired consumers and young families
with a minor emphasis on the student market. In order to create a
successful advertising campaign, we must be sure to conduct market
research on these ideal consumers. Once analyzing the results and
identifying the consumer trends and personalities, we can make
reasonable decisions on how to divide the marketing media budget.
After studying the results of the US Census Bureau, we can
confidently state that our main target market focus should be the
portion of the population above 35 years old. This age range includes
37.11% of the population and if we assume that all children under the
age of 15 are living with their parents, than we are indirectly marketing
another 17.41%. In conclusion, by directing our marketing strategy
towards adults over the age of 35, assuming that the majority of the
children population are living in this demographic, than we will be
marketing efficiently to 54.52% of the Kalamazoo population.
Next, we need to consider our marketing strategy towards
college students in Kalamazoo. We know that all of the colleges and
universities located in Kalamazoo bring a large population of students
into the city. Overall, 26.1 is a young median age statistic for
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Kalamazoo, which proves that we need to stress advertisement to this

demographic. Although low prices and late-night hours seem to catch
the attention of college students the most, Grand Traverse Pie
Company can offer value and membership programs to draw these
consumers in without cutting their profit margins durastically.
After all, we have decided to devote the majority of our media
budget towards consumers over the age of 35 and their families. We
will also make sure to save a logical percentage of this budget to spend
marketing to college students, keeping in mind that we know they will
produce lower profit margins. It will still be worth it for Grand Traverse
Pie Company to have this business because the great quantity will
make up for the lower margins. The following graph shows more
specific details of our overall media mix budget and timing.

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Budget Percentage

5%

9%
24%

11%

13%

12%

Television

Print (Magazine)

Radio

Billboards

Transit

Email

Direct Mail

In-Store (Signage)

Paid Search (Search

Engines, Social Media)

8%

18%

We chose the budget above based on how

expensive/inexpensive each media type is and whether or not that
type of media would be beneficial to our target market.

Media

JA

FE

MA

AP

MAY JUN

Television
Radio
Billboards
Transit
Email

22

JUL

AU

SE

OC

NO

DE

In-Store
Direct
Mail
Paid
Search
We decided to only use television advertising during the summer
because that is the prime time for our natural fruit season and
television advertising is the most expensive. We will have a yearly
Kicking off the Season sale during this time and we expect television
advertisements to greatly help this promotion.
We will advertise over the radio, direct mail and paid searches at
the beginning of the year, during the summer and throughout the
holidays to make sure we stay in touch with and keep our consumers
up-to-date. We are also promoting ourselves as a homely company;
therefore we want to make sure we have consistent and thorough
communication with all of our loyal customers.
We will never stop advertising through billboards, transit, email
and in-store signage because we want to make sure we improve our
brand awareness. We want to always be seen by our consumers to
make sure they do not forget about our company even though we are
new to the city. Billboards and transit advertising are difficult to start
and stop. If our consumers expect and start to identify Grand Traverse
23

Pie Company to be seen on the billboards and through transit than

they will start to look for our company in these ways. In-store signage
is extremely inexpensive to keep up-to-date. It also acts as a good
messenger for consumers while they are inside our restaurants in case
the staff cannot find time to relay all of the memos to each guest.

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Campaign Executions
Advertising

Print Ad

25

o Outdoor Board

26

o TV Spot
(Soft, upbeat music begins to play
as the sun rises over a blueberry
farm)

Welcome to Pure Michigan.

This is where it all begins for Grand

Traverse Pie Companys famous
pies.
27

28

We use only the freshest ingredients

right out of Michigan.

The finished product is something you

wont believe.

(Music continues to play)

(Music continues.)

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(Shows workers at Grand Traverse

Pie
Come
Company
enjoy our
actually
local food,
making the
fresh taste,
blueberry
and great
pies)
experience. Family Owned,
Famously Made.

30

o Transit

31

 Non-Traditional
o Social Media
Topsy is a website that is used to analyze social media. As the graph shows below,
this website searches for posts including specified keywords and compares through a
graph, how often the keywords are being mentioned in consumers posts. By using this
website, we can determine where Grand Traverse Pie Companys stands in terms of social
mentions.
As we can see below, Grand Traverse Pie Company is not talked about very often
by consumers on their social networks. With this data we have decided that we should
spend a portion of our budget advertising through social media. By doing so, we will
establish a name for Grand Traverse Pie Company in the eyes of the consumers. If
consumers see Grand Traverse Pie Company online they will start to recognize the
company brand and be able to relate to it. Consumers will hopefully begin to willingly
talk about Grand Traverse Pie Company as well and tell others about their experience
with the company.

32

Trend Terms / Back to search results

Posts per day

Average %

Total posts

grand traverse pie company

0.10

0.0000

panera

40.27

0.0040

1,208

big apple bagel

2.23

0.0002

67

tim horton's

13.57

0.0014

407

corner bakery

23.03

0.0023

691

33

References

2000, U. C. (2000). Kalamazoo City, Michigan Statistics and Demographics.

Retrieved April 1, 2014, from Area Connect:
http://kalamazoo.areaconnect.com/statistics.htm
O'Guinn/Allen/Semenik. Promo Student Edition. South-Western Cengage
Learning.

Meltwater Icerocket. http://www.icerocket.com/

Schwartz, D. (2013). 12 Types of Advertising Mediums. Retrieved April 1,
2014, from BrandEd: http://brandeducationservices.com/2012/01/31/types-ofrestaurant-advertising-brand-eduction/

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