SEEDS Student Reports 1 UBC Social, Ecological Economic Development Studies (SEEDS) Student Reports UBC Farm Marketing Plan Proposal Courtney Briggs Jessica Bell Natalie Farrell Kelly Ko Kellie Li Melinda Wong Emi Yamada University of British Columbia COMM 468 November 2009 Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.” 1 WELCOMING WESBROOK Marketing Plan for the: Prepared for Monday, November 30th, 2009 By: Courtney Briggs Jessica Bell Natalie Farrell Kelly Ko Kellie Li Melinda Wong Emi Yamada 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY UBC Farm has had an over 40 year long history with the University of British Columbia (UBC), and is a 24 hectare farm that helps bring synergy between land, food and the community. Providing educational facilities, fresh organic produce, and serving as a model for sustainable urban agriculture, UBC Farm aims to act as an intermediary that helps those within the UBC community take advantage of the surrounding ecology. However, with its minimal revenue and limited budget, the Farm is struggling to stay top-of-mind for local consumers. With more than 75% of the 2000 residential living units still awaiting residents in Wesbrook Village, it is an opportune time to establish UBC Farm as a reliable organic food source to its neighbouring residents. To better understand how we can market UBC Farm to consumers within the area, we surveyed a number of existing residences through interviews in front of Save-On-Foods in Wesbrook, as well as online through the University Neighbourhood Association (UNA) weekly e-blasts. Through the market research conducted, we identified three main issues facing UBC Farm: 1. Uncertainty of what is available at the Farm 2. Lack of awareness of the Farm’s location 3. Hassle of getting to the Farm to purchase produce To address these issues, we have proposed three recommendations that will help UBC Farm create greater awareness of the Farm, and increase interest to their Farmer’s Market. Marketing the UBC Farm to Consumers: To distribute an array of marketing communication materials in high-traffic locations within close proximity to the Farm. These marketing materials include a revised pamphlet used for outreach purposes, fun fact cards, posters, postcards, monthly bulletins, UNA E-Blast newsletters, and new signage. Leverage UBC Farm’s Community Feeling: To increase participation and interaction with residences in the Wesbrook community. We recommend UBC Farm develop a monthly recipe contest using ingredients in season from the Farm. The winning recipe will be included in a UBC Farm Cook Book produced and sold at the end of the year. It would also be exciting for the Farm to host a Community Day where food is served and arts & craft vendors are invited – thus establishing a greater connection with residences and local businesses. Increase Accessibility to UBC Farm’s Produce: To seek a partnership with UBC Bike Co-op to implement a delivery service, allowing the Farm to capture a larger customer base. Other ways to address the inconvenience faced by consumers would be to initiate a pre-order for pickup service, provide a community shuttle, promote “all day long” produce sale, and to sell UBC Farm produce in grocery stores such as Save-On-Foods. Although we understand UBC Farm’s limitations in terms of its finite budget and resources, effective marketing through the communication methods recommended will be imperative to keeping UBC Farm top-of-mind for consumers and to increase its revenue base. These recommendations should be implemented on an urgent timeframe as once Wesbrook 3 Village residents develop regular routines, it will be more difficult to change consumer’s perceptions of the UBC Farm. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary………………………………………………………………………….p. 2 Company Overview………………………………………………………………………….p. 4 Situation Analysis……………………………………………………………………………p. 4 Objectives……………………………………………………………………………………p. 4 UBC Farm SWOT Analysis………………………………………………………………….p. 5 Competitive Environment…………………………………………………………………....p. 7 Consumer Insights……………………………………………………………………………p. 8 Recommendations i. Marketing the UBC Farm to Consumers……………………………………..p.13 ii. Leverage UBC Farm’s Community Feeling……………………………….…p.16 iii. Increase Accessibility to UBC Farm………………………………………….p.18 iv. Alternative Revenue Option: Sponsorship and Grants……………………….p.20 Monitors and Controls………………………………………………………………….…….p.22 Contingency Plan……………………………………………………………………………..p.23 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………p.24 5 COMPANY OVERVIEW The University of British Columbia Farm (UBC Farm) is a unique learning centre for visitors to live and value the connection between land, food and the community. It is committed to the creation of new paradigms of sustainable and healthy communities that are fully integrated with their surrounding ecology. The UBC Farm is much more than a simple agricultural centre, it is a model for sustainable urban agriculture, a research site for sustainable food production and sustainable education, a source of fresh and local produce, and is a hub for community and service learning. The UBC Farm’s primary source of revenues are generated from supplying restaurants with fresh produce and its weekly farm markets, as such, it is part of the grocery category. The UBC Farm’s geographic location allows it access to the large population that resides on UBC Campus of approximately 44,982 enrolled students and 13,622 employed staff and faculty members who account for $2.2Billion in annual spending on the UBC campus and surrounding area1 . SITUATION ANALYSIS UBC Farm must grow its revenue base if it intends to expand and position itself as the global leader in sustainability through transformative learning, innovative interdisciplinary research and socially responsible community engagement. UBC Farm has identified an opportunity to increase its awareness and penetration through building relationships with the inhabitants of Wesbrook Village, a 2000 residential unit2 living community adjacent to the Farm that is near the end of its development. UBC Farm is the only Farmer’s Market on campus, and with the encroachment of big food industry players like Save-On-Foods, UBC Farm needs to establish itself as a top-of-mind organic source of food for residents during operating hours of its Farmer’s Market. OBJECTIVES The objectives of the following Marketing Report is to draw consumers to the Farm from the Wesbrook Community while effectively allocating UBC Farm’s finite financial and staff- time resources. The outcomes that this Marketing Plan hopes to achieve are: • Increase community engagement relating to on site farm programming such as: Increase the percentage of consumers who have medium-high understanding of the UBC Farm (location, services, educational programs) by 5% in 1 year. Increasing attendance at outreach events, Farmer’s Market, and community participation in organizing farm promotions by +15% in 2 years. Increase customer loyalty (repeat visit) by +10% in 3 years. • Increase private donations from the residents of the Wesbrook Village Community by 5% in 1 year. • Increase Farmer’s Market revenues by +5-10% in 2 years. 1 (UBC Public Affairs) 2 Also within close proximity: Sauder School of Business MBA House, Hawthorn Place and Hampton Place 6 SWOT ANALYSIS Strengths UBC Farm appeals to many different consumer and educational needs due its multi- purpose nature: it is a research centre, a source of fresh and local produce, and a center for community learning. UBC Farm is one of a few farms on an urban campus in North America that demonstrates the possibility of local agriculture in urban areas and is researching methods for which other urban communities to replicate.3 The UBC Farm is the only remaining working farm in Vancouver and is a strong supporter of the ten-mile diet. The Farm’s excellent quality local produce allows it to charge a premium to Vancouver organic-produce consumers. Regardless of demographic differences, all UBC Farm customers are bound by their common commitment to sustainable living and supporting local initiatives. The UBC Farm’s current success is due to its high quality, fresh, organic produce that it offers to sustainability-focused consumers. Weaknesses UBC Farm’s extremely small budget is a limiting factor in its continued growth. Budget constrains severely impact areas that are necessary for the Farm’s vitality. This results in low knowledge (location, services educational programs) of the Farm in the surrounding community and a lack of resources (individuals to help run and service the Farm). This lack of adequate resources to effectively run UBC Farm forces the Farm to rely heavily on volunteers, which creates variability in the work force. The variability that arises from operating primarily on a volunteer basis leads to unsteady output and constant concern to ensure enough volunteers are present when it is necessary to harvest crops. To date, UBC Farm has invested in a very limited amount of marketing to the surrounding UBC Community, resulting in fragmented ideas of basic facts such as the location of the actual farm and the value-added services the Farm provides. In addition, lack of adequate signage directing consumers to the farm also contributes to the Farm’s lack of knowledge. In order to leverage the potential growth due to the Wesbrook development, the UBC Farm must weigh the short-term cost of marketing versus the long-term benefits of capturing this segment. Without the increase in profit that this community is capable of generating, the UBC Farm will face greater challenges in the future attempting to grow in size or customer base. UBC Farm does not conduct itself as a business as much as it should, but rather as purely an educational facility. While education and research is the Farm’s primary objective, running the Farm with more of a business mind-set may help the Farm identify future issues in terms of its revenue and marketing. For example, no data is currently collected regarding the number of customers that attend the UBC Farmer’s Market, how much each customer spends, or the number of new customers on average the UBC Farm draws, all of which prevent the farm from generating forecasts for future demand. As a result, this lack of record keeping leads to challenges when attempting to assess the Farm’s performance and analyze where or how the Farm could improve. Subsequently, the UBC Farm currently faces the threat of bankruptcy due it its limited distribution, lack of awareness, and encroachment of competitors onto the UBC campus. These 3 www.ams.ubc.ca/clubs/friendsubcfarm/Site/Home 7 factors all contribute to the Farm’s inability to generate enough revenue to cover its costs. In recent years, the Farm has focused on surviving on a year-to-year basis, which has immobilized it from implement a long-term plan on how to generate enough revenue to reach its lofty goals of being the global leader on urban sustainability and agriculture. UBC Farm will be unable to grow and reach its fullest potential without further investment or an increase in its revenue stream. Opportunities UBC Farm has identified an opportunity to increase awareness and penetration within Wesbrook Village as the community nears the end of its development phase. With an influx of 2000 new high-end residential units into a community minutes away from the UBC Farm there is a tremendous potential for the UBC Farm to pursue interaction and build relationships with the inhabitants of Wesbrook Place. With hundreds of residents already residing in the new development, and several thousand more to come, UBC Farm has an unprecedented opportunity to attract its new neighbours to its Farmer’s Market and educational operations in order to grow its revenues. In addition, the residents of this new community will have higher disposable incomes as many of the have been classified as prestigious and luxurious. In addition, increased social consciousness and sustainability-concerns is a consumer touch point that the UBC Farm could leverage with the Wesbrook community as it is positioning as a local leader in ecological and biodiverse farming practices. The recently opened Save-On-Foods is seen as both a potential threat and an opportunity for potential partnership. The opening of such a large grocery store is a fantastic opportunity for the Farm to establish a symbiotic relationship, where Save-On-Foods can build its reputation as a supporter of local initiatives and the UBC Farm can gains a new client. Threats The University of British Columbia’s desire to reclaim the farm and forestland for development purposes is the largest threat that UBC Farm faces, if this were to occur, the UBC Farm and its 40 years of carefully cultivated, biodiverse soil would cease to exist. The encroachment of large grocery competitors into the Wesbrook community such as the recently opened Save-On-Foods is another threat, as UBC Farm must now compete with the convenience that Save-On-Foods offers its customers (wider variety of consumer products, groceries, meat and ready-made food, longer hours of operation) as well as its wide selection of organic produce. While the UBC Farm hopes to establish a symbiotic relationship with this grocery store, there is no guarantee that Save-On-Foods will be willing to sacrifice profit to help local initiatives. The UBC Farm also faces substantial competition from other weekly farmers’ markets located within the Vancouver Lower Mainland and organic produce stores who have similar pricing strategies to UBC Farm such as Capers and Whole Foods. However, most are well established, have a larger advertising budget at their disposable, and are typically located in high- traffic areas thereby generating higher awareness. 8 COMPETITVE ENVIRONMENT Given the UBC Farm’s limited budget, low resources, and increased development within the surrounding areas, UBC Farm faces stiff competition in three key areas: 1. Organic Produce 2. Educational Purposes 3. Research 1. Organic Produce There is a moderate intensity of rivalry concerning organic produce given the close proximity of UBC Farm to the Kitsilano Farmer’s Market as well as the newly opened Save-On- Foods that also offers organic produce. Many residences in the Wesbrook community have also mentioned their willingness to travel to the Richmond Farmer’s Market for better variety in their purchases. The Vancouver’s Farmers Market association also runs four summer markets every weekend and twice-monthly winter markets (November – April) and may pose as high competition to the Farm; however, majority do not offer organic produce thus allowing UBC Farm to gain a stronger competitive position. The barriers to entry are quite high as there is a high initial investment to produce organically with low yield, as well as a certification process that may be difficult to attain. The bargaining power of consumers are quite low as those willing to pay a premium for organic produce are usually not very price sensitive. The bargaining power of suppliers is high as they are the sole producers of the goods. The substitute to organic produce is non-organic produce, thus is subjective to each individual and how strongly they feel about purchasing organically. 2. Educational Purposes There is a low intensity of rivalry with providing on-site agricultural resources as UBC Farm is the only working farmland within the city of Vancouver, as well as the most developed within Canada. On an international perspective, other farmlands equivalent to UBC Farm would be UC Santa Cruz and UC Davis. Other facilities or educators that may enter are low due to its high startup cost in money, resources and time. International speaking, there are many countries that are interested in organic farming but are far below the level that Canada provides; thus allowing UBC Farm to expand their knowledge to these individuals. Locally, only those within close proximity to the farm would be interested in attending further educational activities at the Farm. Educators needed to run these programs are low in supply and require specific knowledge that may not be easy to attain. A substitute to attending these sessions would be one’s personal learning without a site visit. 3. Research Purposes There is a low intensity of rivalry with farm research as there are very few competitors in this field in North America during the present time. The barriers to entry in this field are high due to the minimal resources available to perform studies given limited working farmlands available in Canada. The demand for valuable research regarding topics that focuses on organic produce and organic farming will likely increase due to an increase in interest on sustainability. This topic is becoming increasingly relevant, thus likely encouraging more students and professionals to perform further research and projects. A substitute to research performed at UBC Farm will be research performed at other universities or institutions. 9 CONSUMER INSIGHTS Purpose of Survey Between November 7th and November 16th, 74 paper and online surveys were conducted to residents of the Wesbrook community. A copy of the survey can be found in Appendix I. Paper surveys were distributed throughout the Wesbrook neighborhood including: in front of the Wesbrook Save-On-Foods and Wesbrook Blenz coffee shop, as well as the Old Barn Community Center. The online version of the survey was distributed through the University Neighborhood Association residences’ weekly e-Blast newsletter. Overall, 21 paper surveys were collected and 53 surveys were answered online. The purpose of the survey was to get a deeper understanding of the general perception of farmer’s markets, and more specifically, the Wesbrook community residents’ perception of UBC Farm and what activities were preferred by visitors of the Farm. The survey was divided into two sections: the first focused on the general perceptions of farmer’s markets, and the second targeted at understanding the particular preferences of respondents based on whether they have or have not visited the UBC Farm. Survey Demographics A total of 74 surveys were conducted to 22 males and 52 females, with ages ranging from 15 to 55+ years old. Of these 74, 20 were students at UBC, 20 were belonged to UBC Faculty and other positions around UBC and 34 simply were residents surrounding the Wesbrook community and worked elsewhere. While many of the respondents resided within the Wesbrook community, however 3 stated they reside in Hampton Place and 2 in Hawthorn Place. 10 Majority of the people who responded to our survey were also the ones within their household to typically purchase the groceries. This number may have resulted in this way because it was in the middle of the day as we conducted our paper surveys, and those found walking the Wesbrook neighborhood during the day may not need to go to work and so would have the time to go grocery shopping during the day. From the data, 55% of students have visited the UBC Farm, as well as 75% if they were UBC faculty or other staff and 83% if they just lived near the Wesbrook community. Overall this agrees with the trend in our survey being that 46% of the people surveyed only lived within the Wesbrook neighborhood and are also over 55 years old. These individuals may naturally have more inclination, time and interest to visit the UBC Farm as well as the higher level of disposable income required to make purchases at Farmer’s Markets. 11 Key Findings I: Awareness vs Penetration vs Customer Retention Of the 74 residences surveyed, 71 people are aware of the UBC Farm’s existence, however only 53 of them had continued to visit the farm. More critically was that only 5 from the original population of 74 have returned to visit the Farm. In other words, UBC Farm has an awareness rate of 95.95%, a penetration rate of 71.62% and a customer retention rate of 6.76%. From these statistics, we can conclude that UBC Farm does have a sufficient level of exposure, however they fail to communicate enough incentives for residences to visit or return to the Farm. 12 Key Finding II: Reasons Against Visiting the Farm 57 reasons were collected when asked “What would dissuade you to visit the UBC Farm and why would you not attend a Farmer’s Market”. This question was open for all respondents to answer and many respondents listed more than one reason why they would not attend a Farmer’s Market in general. The four largest factors are: Hard to Get to, Time Consuming, Expensive and Limited Variety. As long as the UBC Farm can combat these preassumptions of the UBC Farm, UBC Farm can increase attendance to their Farmer’s Markets. Key Findings III: Perceptions of Farmer’s Markets in General 13 Positive Associations Negative Associations - Access to fresh and organic produce - Shows support to local farmers - Great community feeling - A good outing - Has high variety - A place to learn tips from Farmers - Time Consuming - Hard to Get to - Expensive - Has Limited Variety - Inconvenient Timing - Hard to Find Parking - Cash Only - Bad Weather Many people have very strong positive perceptions of Farmer’s Markets; the strongest being: Access to Fresh and Organic Produce, Shows Support to Local Farmers, Great Community Feeling and A Good Outing. Based on this data, the UBC Farm can leverage the Farm as well as their Farmer’s Market on these positive associations to offset the negative ones. The two strongest negative associations, Time Consuming and Hard to Get to, can be tackled by educating residents of Wesbrook that the UBC Farm is, in fact, very close to the Wesbrook community To further our findings, we matched the associations above to the average perception of Farmer’s Markets compared to local supermarket (Question 6 in Appendix I). PERCEPTIONS OF FARMER’S MARKETS # of People who Chose 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Total Median Conclusion Cheap/Expensive 1 1 6 7 17 13 7 52 5 More expensive Fresh/Not Fresh 34 11 4 1 1 0 1 52 1 Very Fresh Convenient/Hassel 6 3 11 16 9 6 1 52 4 Indifferent Plentiful/Limited 1 3 1 18 11 13 5 52 4 More Limited Variety Organic/Non Organic 26 13 6 6 0 1 0 52 1 Very Organic The information collected here supports our finding above. Farmer’s Markets in general are perceived that to offer very fresh and organic produce, however are more expensive and may have a more limited variety. 14 RECOMMENDATIONS I. Marketing the UBC Farm to Consumers Problem Definition From the data collected, it is apparent that many residences of, and surrounding, the Wesbrook community have very limited information in respect to the UBC Farm. In particular, most have a limited knowledge as to the actual location of the Farm, a severe limiting factor in successfully attracting customers to the Farm. While 95.5% of respondents were aware of the UBC Farm, 14.86% of respondents stated that they had a general idea of the location of the Farm, while 1.35% stated the wrong location, and 10.81% were completely unaware where the Farm was located. Of the 95.5% respondents that stated they were aware of the UBC Farm Farmer’s Market, 21% of respondents stated that they chose not to attend the due to limited knowledge of products offered as well as issues with convenience in terms of location, parking, long wait times and limited variety. Currently, most of the UBC Farm’s information can be found on their website (http://www.landfood.ubc.ca/ubcfarm/). However, unless consumers were previously aware of the farm’s existence, very few will enter the website. Pamphlets printed by the UBC Farm are hard to locate and are not prominently displayed, and thusly are typically missed by the majority of Wesbrook community members. In addition, pamphlets circulated by UBC Farm are often too filled with academic jargon or include too much information, making the pamphlet daunting to read for the average consumer who may be glancing quickly at the pamphlet to obtain more information. Overall, there is a need to increase general knowledge and engagement of the UBC Farm by the Wesbrook community. Strategy In efforts to increase general knowledge and engagement of the UBC Farm by the Wesbrook community, we recommend to diversify the UBC Farm’s communication material and reestablish the ethos of the farm to make it more approachable. Several problems were identified which we hope the increased general knowledge of the UBC Farm will address: 1. High Awareness and Penetration; Low Repeat Customers Of our sample population, 71 of 74 responded that they have heard of the UBC Farm. UBC Farm’s penetration (visited once) is also high, of those who were aware of the Farm, 53 have visited the farm yielding a 74.65% penetration rate. However, respondents also expressed that the UBC Farm is time consuming, hard to get to, have limited produce and is expensive; therefore, decreasing their likelihood on returning as compared to visiting other Farmer’s Markets such as the one in Kitsilano more frequently. From our survey, only 5 respondents have returned to the Farm, leaving the UBC Farm with a customer retention rate of only 6.76%. One respondent expressed that the UBC Farm must find a way to be “a real first choice for UBC residents” in order to increase attendance and support. 2. Uncertainty of the Farm’s Location Despite being close neighbors to the UBC Farm, many are under the impression that the farm is much farther than it is. Respondents who have not visited the farm were questioned if they knew the location of the farm. Of the 23 responses, 47.82% were able to locate the farm to as near Wesbrook Village and 8.70% believed the UBC Farm is situated close to the UBC Botanical Gardens; these people also noted that they do not visit the farm because they perceive 15 it to be too far away and in an inconvenient location. Alternatively, the respondents who would be interested in visiting the farm are unaware of how to get there. Directions on how to reach the UBC Farm are clearly outlined on the UBC Farm website, however the direct link is hard to locate. Furthermore, an average person will not possess a natural impulse to enter the UBC Farm’s website, and may forget to search for the address if they were not constantly exposed to something that would remind them. The goal would be to have easy-to-access information for people interested in the UBC Farm as well as to increase exposure of the Farm within the Wesbrook community. 3. Uncertainty of Products Available at the Farmers’ Market One of the stated reasons that would dissuade visitors to the UBC Farm included the uncertainty of the products available at the Farmer’s Market. Taking all other reasons into consideration, the uncertainty of products factor resulted in respondents believing there is a limited varieties of produce offered, accounting to 22.22%. The UBC Farm website offers to send a weekly update to those interested which will include information including updates on upcoming events held at the Farm as well as a list of produce available at the weekly Farmer’s Market. However, while the UBC Farm’s website may contain a lot of valuable information, it is hard for people to feel compelled to visit the UBC Farm’s website and sign up for the service. If residents of the Wesbrook community were able to access this information regularly, they will realize that they can support local farmers and purchase fresh local produce without traveling to markets as far as the Richmond or Kitsilano Farm Markets. Bulletins can be posted where there tends to be high traffic and a high concentration of people who would see them selves attending the Farmer’s Market. 4. False Impressions Farmer’s markets regularly have a positive impression of offering extremely fresh produce. Unfortunately, it also holds the false impression that farmer’s market offers less variety and sells the produce they have at a premium. Data has shown that 5% of the people surveyed are dissuaded to visit the farm because they believe the farm only holds very limited produce, and 3% believe that good products are sold very early on in the morning and the farm does not have enough supply to sell for the remaining hours of the market. The UBC Farm has since tackled this problem by making its products available throughout the day, furthermore, the Farm insists they have enough supply to satisfy customers visiting during any opening market hours. Consumers believe that the UBC Farm is quite cumbersome and is considered disorganized compared to many other Farmer’s Markets. Comments related to this issue include 3% of respondents also believing that the line-up to pay for products is too long and state that finding produce that they desire is hard. Finally, many consumers are not fully aware of the amenities that the UBC Farm offers. The UBC Farm is open to visitors who simply want a close area where they can retreat and enjoy the surrounding ecology. UBC Farm’s close proximity Wesbrook community allows residents to enjoy a fun outing or a picnic with friends while getting to know and support local farmers, and is one of the Farm’s unique selling propositions. This type of messaging should be made clear in UBC Farm’s marketing communication. Of the 53 who have visited the farm, 43.40% believe that the amenities offered at the UBC Farm are one of the key factors that first attracted them to visit. Furthermore, 54.72% view the amenities offered at UBC Farm as one of their top three favourite things to do, along with attending the UBC Farmer’s Market and Farm Socials and Festivals. 16 By tackling these main issues, UBC Farm can change consumer perceptions of its distance to Wesbrook Village and incentivize consumers to visit the Farm more often. In efforts to help UBC Farm reestablish their existence and make a prominent mark in the Wesbrook area, we have proposed five actionable marketing initiatives: Pamphlets: To be used for outreach purposes in educating people within the community about what the Farm offers. This new pamphlet is presented in a clear, simple, and attractive format that allows the general public to get a better understanding of all the opportunities that are available at the Farm without having to read a lot of text. If interest is sparked, they are able to visit the listed websites to find out more information. Based on the template we have presented, please photocopy as many colour copies as deemed necessary (we have budged about 300) and bring it along to any external events for UBC Farm. It may also be useful to display a handful of these pamphlets during farm social events such as the farmers markets to increase knowledge of the other amenities offered at the farm. Please note: The pamphlet presented in our project (Appendix II) includes information that we have recommended UBC Farm to implement and is not solely based on UBC Farm’s current offerings. This information can be taken out if the created template would still like to be used. Fact Cards: The purpose of the fact cards is to create a fun, low involvement marketing tool to increase overall awareness of UBC Farm, and more specifically the Farmer’s Market. The document is presented in a 2x2 matrix but is meant to be distributed individually in small singular rave cards (cut out each square). The two documents are to be photocopied double sided with similar colours back to back. With these fact cards, mass marketing by distributing these cards in their array of colours and sayings should be displayed in high traffic locations of UBC Farm’s target audience (ie. on campus at UBC, the lobbies of campus residence, Wesbrook residences, Blenz coffee shop in South Campus, Save on Foods, and other businesses being built). A mass distribution of these fact cards will be a ‘in your face’ approach to act as a small reminder of the close proximity to the Farm, and to create interest for them to learn more from the UBC Farm website. Posters & Postcards: Similar to the fact cards, the posters and postcards created are used to create further awareness of the UBC Farmer’s Market, providing more information about the dates, times and location. It is still low involvement as well as catchy with the title ‘100 Mile Diet, Try the 1 Mile Diet’ which pokes fun at people’s eating fads. These can be distributed in a number of different areas to attract target consumers. The front and back of the postcard is presented and is to be photocopied back to back on cardstock paper (preferably glossy). The posters can be duplicated in colour copies. These should be implemented only during the times of the farmer’s market between the months of June to September. Monthly Bulletins: Monthly bulletins that let the community know which produces are going to be available at the upcoming farmer’s market will be updated on an ongoing basis during the months of the markets. This is because many consumers view the uncertainty or lack of knowledge as to what produce they can expect to see that the UBC Farm Farmer’s Market to be a reason they choose to not visit due to its inconvenience. These bulletins will be displayed in common areas of UNA and campus residences, at Old Barn Community Centre, as well as local restaurants, community centres and coffee shops within the Kitsilano and Dunbar locations. E-Blasts: Work with Ralph Wells – UNA’s Sustainability Manager, to insert a small blurb on the UNA residence’s weekly e-Blast newsletter about once a month with updates on the Farm’s ongoing discussions, social events, festivals, and farmer market specials, and fun recipes with seasonal produce that you can purchase at the Farm. 17 Signage: Based on the descriptions we have provided, UBC Farm needs to create and implement more and larger signage of the Farm’s location. Confirmatory signage along the path from the entrance to South Campus towards the farm should be put up to ensure farm-goers that they are indeed heading in the right direction and the destination is coming up shortly. The current single (and hidden) signage for UBC Farm does not promote the farm’s presence and causes many farm-goers to feel lost. Caveats and Limitations of Implementation While increasing the Wesbrook community’s exposure to information of the UBC Farm may familiarize them with the Farm’s location as well as events and products offered, it would be hard to gauge if this will directly translate to increased visits to the Farm. From the survey, 11% also express that UBC Farm’s Farmer’s Market is time consuming and inconvenient, stating that the Farmer’s Market not a “one stop shop”, and therefore would rather shop at the nearby Save-on-Foods. II. Leverage UBC Farm’s Community Feeling Problem Definition The challenge UBC Farm faces is one that they must find a way to connect with the residents of the Wesbrook community and supply them with a reason and need to visit UBC Farm and the market. Many of this can be addressed by giving them up to date information and by remaining on the top of their minds. Until UBC Farm communicates its relevance to consumers, it cannot hope to increase interaction of the community to the extent where community members would help organize fundraisers for the Farm. Community members will need to buy-in to the idea of the farm first before they will begin to initiative their own fundraisers for the UBC Farm, and this process may take a few years until this particular objective can come to fruition. Furthermore, customer retention rates will not increase until the Wesbrook community feels engaged with the UBC Farm. UBC Farm should look into offering the community additional opportunities to interact with the UBC Farm, and drive them to the UBC Farm’s website where most of their details and information is written. Analysis of survey results illustrates that over 40% of those respondents who have visited the UBC Farm for purposes other than school have did so because they felt strongly towards the superior produce, the community feeling and supporting local farmers. It is important for UBC Farm to leverage these factors in order to best communicate its relevance to Wesbrook and surrounding developments and thus increase consumer interaction. Strategy In efforts to increase the interaction between Wesbrook community members and the UBC Farm, several campaigns could be implemented: 1. Monthly Contest. In order to increase participation at the farmers market, it is recommended that the UBC farm develop a monthly contest where local residents create culinary dishes or baked goods using ingredients sourced from the farm. These dishes can be tasted at the Saturday farmer’s 18 market by a judge and those attending the market. The winning recipe would be featured in the community newspaper along with information about the farm and its daily activities. The published article will not only increase brand awareness among the Wesbrook community but it will also encourage local residents to participate in the competition and visit the farm. The winner of the contest would also be able to sell his or her creation at the market which would also increase selection and variety. These competitions will also add as an additional source of revenue since a portion of the sales of the dish would be put towards the Farm. 2. UBC Farm Cook Book. The UBC farm community and the Wesbrook community could work together to create a yearly UBC farm cook book. These recipes could come from a combination of Wesbrook residents, UBC farm volunteers, workers and supporters. The winning recipes that were picked from the local competition could also be published in the cook book. These recipes should feature a product that is produced and sold at the farm in order to promote the variety of items that the UBC farm sells. These cookbooks could be added to the baskets of produce that are distributed to Wesbrook, as well as published on their UBC Farm website. In order to minimize the marketing budget, the cook books should be distributed by online methods as much as possible. Even though each of the cook books are estimated to cost $1.8 each, the farm should front the cost of these cook books to show the subscribers that their investments are valued and appreciated. Such a cost of $1.8/cook book is minimal compared to the value of the relationships of the subscriber and the amount of money they donate to the farm. 3. Eating Local. Eating locally has increased in popularity in the recent years and the UBC Farm should take advantage of this trend by promoting the local diet. 26% of the surveyed respondents associated access to fresh and organic produce to Farmers Markets. Furthermore, 11% associated purchasing produce at local Farmer’s Markets also shows support to local farmers, which is regarded as an important factor to Farmer’s Markets. Since the farm is so close in proximity to many of the residents on campus, especially, the Wesbrook community, they should promote each of their items as ‘local’ as much as possible whenever they have an opportunity to sell their produce outside of the farm. The UBC farm could create an ‘eat local’ group that is comprised of members that come from different parts of the UBC community who’s goal is to eat as much local food as possible every year. These meeting could take place on a monthly basis in order to support each other, socialize with community members and discuss and the success and challenges of eating a local diet year round. One person from the group should create a blog where they discuss their daily experiences with eating a local diet and some tips that would help others who are going through similar challenges. This blog should be published on the UBC farm website but accessible through a variety social media means like Facebook and Twitter. The UBC farm could write an article that focuses on the local diet that could be published in the community newspaper. Such an article should feature seasonal produce that are available at the farm and provide the necessary links to access the ‘eat local’ blog, and UBC farm website. 4. Community Day. Although UBC Farm currently celebrates Farmade, it is recommended that UBC Farm partake in an expansion of this celebration in directly include the Wesbrook Community by sponsoring a Community Day along Wesbrook Mall. 9% of the respondents associating the UBC Farm as a place that holds a great community feeling. Yhe initial event it should be kept small, although in following years it may expand to something larger to include all of UBC and should take place on a Saturday to ensure the largest number of visitors. It is also important to 19 keep the Community Day central to the community (ie. Wesbrook Mall) to ensure to attract as many community members as possible. (See Appendix III for a more in-depth description of what the event would entail.) Caveats and Limitations of Implementation There are a few disadvantages to this strategy. The time commitment (see implementation plan, Appendix IV) and cost (see budget, Appendix V) of a community day would be the biggest challenges. Time commitment from staff members is something that UBC Farm has very little of, but the longterm benefit would far outweigh the costs of the short term time-commitment. In addition, UBC Farm could chose to hire an industrious intern to spearhead the Community Day event. III. Increase Accessibility to UBC Farm Problem Definition Survey results show that a barrier for visitation to UBC Farm is due to the inconvenience of its location. Most people who have not visited the Farm feel that it is both difficult to get to as well as time consuming. They also believe the long line ups to purchase produce can also be a hassle. Strategy 1. Delivery Service UBC Bike Co-op currently has a partnership with the Kitsilano Farmer’s Market in which the Bike Co-op uses volunteers to deliver fresh produce to consumers by bicycle. As UBC is a university that sponsors many “green” initiatives, and along with the current volunteer support UBC Farm already has, the Farm can also implement a bike program. The Farm may also try to seek a partnership with the Bike Co-op or other UBC AMS clubs such as biking, fitness, or community involvement for extra help. From our survey, most people cited the inconvenience of shopping at the Farm as one of their main deterrents from going to UBC Farm. By implementing a delivery service, UBC Farm will be able to capture a larger customer base. A partnership with delivery volunteers will also forge further community connections. Because factors such as “Time Consuming” and “Hard to Get to” were ranked as the top two negative factors affecting UBC Farm visits with 28% and 26% of the people believing this respectively, consumers will appreciate the added convenience and time-saving, while the UBC Farm will benefit from consistent and regular orders of farm produce. Using this delivery system will also allow the Farm access to the names, addresses and purchase histories of their consumers. The Farm may then use this information for further statistical analysis of their customers, or solicit their regular customers directly by sending them information or surveys with grocery deliveries. Although this service has been successfully offered by the Kits Farmer’s Market, it is by no means a simple service to manage. Firstly, the fact that Kits already offers this service may reduce some of the potential customers for UBC Farm delivery. Secondly, as the Farm already struggles with recruiting ample volunteering services, it may be difficult to find and retain honest and reliable delivery volunteers. The Farm must have a systematic process for ordering, re- ordering, payment, delivery and refund or exchange. The Farm must also be able to meet the demand for all ordered produce within a given week. They must develop an efficient order system which we recommend to be done through email in the short term; but by monitoring 20 growth, could be adapted to an online system. Orders should be prepaid and delivery should be guaranteed within a certain time frame. Lastly, the Farm must have policies for the return or exchange of spoiled or sub-par goods, or goods that were not delivered for whatever reason. 2. Pre-ordering for pick up Customers are able to place an order in advance of the date of pickup. They will pre-pay in order to reserve certain goods on a certain day. This will allow customers to guarantee that they will receive the produce that they want and it will allow for the most efficient allocation of resources by the farm. The Farm may also use this information and perform statistical analysis to determine demand patterns. Customers will appreciate this system as they will be able to ensure they receive certain popular goods (eggs, strawberries, honey, etc.) and will not have to line up in advance of farm hours, deal with crowds, and waste their time waiting. UBC Farm will have guaranteed customers and prepayment for goods. They will be able to organize and allocate goods ahead of time so that things run smoothly when the customers arrive. They will be able to look at order data and determine possible trends that will help them to better prepare for the rest of the season and seasons to come. As with the delivery service option, UBC Farm will need to create a system for order placement and delivery that is both effective and consistent. If the farm chooses to implement either of these recommended tactics, it would make sense to implement both at the same time. UBC Farm can save costs by creating a system for pre-ordering goods, where pick-up or delivery is simply one more option for consumers in the check-out process. Together, these options will capture the unmet needs of many consumers and offer consumers the most convenient method of completing the transaction. 3. Community shuttle We suggest UBC Farm appeal to Translink and attempt to obtain a community shuttle from the UBC Bus Loop to UBC Farm at designated times on Saturdays during the months of the Farmer’s Market. Adding to the route of the Hampton Place or Marine Drive Shuttle buses could successfully achieve this. The shuttle will also make a number of stops going south along Wesbrook Mall. This will help alleviate many consumers’ concerns as to how they are to get to and from the Farm, and aides in the creation of a caring community dynamic. 4. Better directions to the Farm; Improved parking facilities Consumer knowledge about the Farm, and in particular its location, is very limited. To combat this problem of sufficient knowledge, UBC Farm needs to install new signage. Potential customers should have a clear understanding of where the Farm is located and how they can get there from the Wesbrook Village entrance. The criteria for signage would be: large, easy to read, gives clear directions, logically placed and appealing. Plans for the most effective layout of signage must be made, then sign templates should be produced and finally signs must be printed and installed. In conjunction with installing new signage, UBC Farm may want to investigate ways in which to improve and increase their parking facilities through clearly marked parking spaces. 5. Bring the Farmer’s Market to where the Consumers Are Convenience is a driver for consumers when purchasing their produce. Because of freshness concerns, consumers will often buy produce on their way home from work, or complete quick grocery runs to purchase items as needed. To improve sales volumes, UBC Farm could operate a kiosk or produce table closer to the Wesbrook community that would be available at least once or twice per week during the months of market operation, given that the weather permits it. For many consumers, Saturday mornings may not be convenient for 21 shopping, by increasing opportunities for consumers to purchase Farm goods, UBC Farm will ensure a greater customer base and more frequent purchases. By having a presence in the commercial area of Wesbrook, the Farm will more firmly establish its presence and garner a place in consumer’s schema resulting in better brand recall. Through a continued presence in the Wesbrook community, the Farm can expect to build strategic awareness and establish brand preference in the consumers of this area. Although this recommendation will be one of the most effective solutions, it will also be one of the most time-intensive and expensive options for the Farm. The Farm must have a license to operative a kiosk there. Additionally, the Farm will have to employ staff to stock and maintain the space and to sell goods to consumers. The Farm will also need to have enough produce to be able to stock the space regularly. The space will need regular upkeep and will require a regular float, cash system and daily financial records. However, due to UBC Farm’s status as a non-for-profit, and many of the relationships built, we believe the operating costs for this idea will be able to be heavily negotiated down. 6. Partnership with Save-On-Foods A partnership with Save-On-Foods would be a substantial accomplishment for UBC Farm. By having this association, the Farm would benefit from larger and more regular orders, increased exposure to consumers, and experience in dealing with a large retail organization. If products were noticeably branded as coming from UBC Farm, this may also encourage consumers to specifically seek out Farm products within the Save-On-Foods store or to visit the Farm. As Save-On-Foods is a much larger organization than the Farm, this will allow UBC Farm to face a large amount of buyer power. The relative benefit of this recommendation will depend on what the Farm is able to negotiate with Save-On-Foods. However, this partnership is dependent on the Farm’s ability to have the necessary produce available to stock Save-On-Foods. This partnership could be a valuable but tenuous source of income for UBC Farm if Save-On- Foods chooses to stock their produce at irregular intervals and without giving recognition to the UBC Farm brand name. The best-case scenario would encompass a consistent and regular supply deal with Save-On-Foods and clear advertisement of the UBC Farm name on or around the Farm produce. Overall, this option is risky, as it leaves UBC Farm exposed to the changing whims of a giant retailer. Caveats and Limitations of Implementation While the strategies listed abovie will significantly help consumer perceptions of UBC Farm being inconvenient, it will also require a significant amount of time-commitment in order to ensure that the strategies are being properly implemented. In addition, UBC Farm must be careful as to the negotiations it strikes with larger players such as Translink or Save-On-Foods to ensure that it does not become ensnared in corporate liabilities that would remove staffing hours from other important farm activities such as education and research. IV. Alternative Revenue Option: Sponsorship and Grants Since UBC farm has a limited budget, brand sponsorship may be a good way to add additional sources of funding. A donation from businesses in exchange for brand recognition will add to the farm’s marketing budget and consequently, increase their ability to capture and retain more sales since their marketing campaign will be reaching a larger audience. The added benefit of corporate sponsorship is that the UBC farm will also benefit from the additional exposure since the farm logo and organization description will be promoted on the sponsor’s website. The requirements for the farm in exchange for a donation would be logo placements and 22 promoting the sponsor’s materials at their community events. Since the UBC farm has frequent events, such as their farmers markets, festivals and socials, this makes their organization an attractive investment opportunity for sponsors. One corporation in particular that may be attractive to the UBC farm is VanCity4 Another source of revenue that can be used to fund the UBC farm’s marketing campaign is grants. Since the UBC Farm currently receives grants from the government, another option would be to seek this funding from farm associations and other business in the food industry. There are many farming research associations that offer grants to farmers that are practicing sustainable agriculture. For example, Organic Farming Research Foundation , where the company has a reputation of donating to local business and community organizations. The evaluation method of sponsorship opportunities for VanCity are; acting on climate change which involve reducing negative environmental impact, teaching the ability of self reliance, which involve building assets and skills to organization members and lastly, growing a social economy which is defined as supporting the local economy. The UBC farm more than exceeds these 3 requirements and therefore should perform further research with this opportunity. Since the farm’s current objective is to increase exposure in the Wesbrook community, other potential corporate sponsorships could come from Blenz or Save on Foods where the close proximity of the businesses give the farm an advantage since many of the local residents frequently visit those locations. 5 is an organization that offers grants that range from $2,000 to $15,000 to farmers who practice organic farming systems, as well foster improvement in weed management, insect control, crop diseases and soil fertility. They also provide funding for organizations that educate and provide out reach projects on organic farming. Currently, they are offering $20,000 grants for fruit related research. Since the farm is home to many student and faculty research projects that include projects with Agriculture Canada and Land and Food Systems, they are an ideal position to receive funding from such organizations. In addition, grants are available from associations in the food service industry. For example, Island Chefs Collaborative`s6 mission is to increase consumer awareness of the ecological and economic benefits from purchasing locally produced food and encouraging chef’s to incorporate such food items into their menus. They have a Farmer Grant Program that provides grants ranged from $1000-$3000 in order to help farmers develop and improve operations. 4 https://www.vancity.com/ 5 http://ofrf.org/index.html 6 http://www.iccbc.ca/public/islandchefscollaborativefarm.html 23 MONITORS AND CONTROLS Intended Results Through the proposed marketing plan, there will be an increase in overall awareness and participation of UBC Farm. At the current moment, many neighbours to the farm have little to no knowledge of the whereabouts and purpose of the Farm. When implemented, this marketing plan will provide more knowledge about the amenities, produce, and both educational and volunteer activities held at the farm to increase repeat visitors and thus increase their involvement and participation with activities and farm growth. Much like the domino affect, as more marketing occurs, more community members will visit the farm. This will increase revenues for the Farmand provide the resources to grow the farm and its marketing budget, which will then attract more people and the UBC Farm will be able to grow to its full potential. The main goal of this marketing plan is to generate enough revenue to give the farm a sense of financial security and to provide the farm with enough cash flow that they may develop a larger budget for marketing, promotion and growth. Monitors and Controls The most direct measure of effectiveness of the proposed marketing plan will be the increase in customers visiting the farm and taking part in farm activities. Along with an increase in customers, it will be important to measure the revenue and determine the revenue per customer. Another simple way to determine the value of the marketing plan is for staff at the Farmer’s Market (cashiers, helpers etc) to casually ask customers whether or not it’s the first time visiting the farm. If so, probe deeper in how they heard about the farm, and understand their satisfaction with their visit. With this casual means of conversation, it makes the probing less obtrusive and more or a general interest in each customer’s visit. It would also be important to note if the customer has been to the farm before and how often they visit the farm. Another way to measure the effectiveness of the campaign is to get an overall sense of the increased relationship between local businesses in the South Campus area and UBC Farm. By having a greater presence in the Wesbrook area, more businesses such as Blenz, Save on Foods and other developing stores will be more inclined to join in partnerships to help each other out (whether by promoting UBC Farm activities, or using their produce). This will help measure the impact UBC Farm has on the Wesbrook community and its residences. With increased public awareness of the farm, it will be easier to market new services and opportunities at the farm. Visitors may be used to provide concrete feedback based on their experiences actually visiting the farm, whether they make a purchase or not. During all of the events – whether it be Community Day, a cooking competition or a cook book swap – there must be a push to get the community members more involved with the outreach activities and promotions. Once consumer understand the importance and appreciate the valuable learning environment of UBC Farm, they will be more inclined to spread the word and get involved with volunteering and attending events. Another survey on UBC Farm, once all residences in Wesbrook have moved in, can be sent out by the UNA e-blasts that can help evaluate whether or not new residences have a better idea of what is offered at the farm, the exact location of the farm, and whether or not they have visited. Comparing the new data with those completed by us earlier can give us an idea of the increased awareness and usage of the Farm. 24 CONTINGENCY PLAN If UBC Farm finds that its marketing plan is not as successful as planned, necessary steps will be taken to ascertain root causes of inefficacies. Administering additional surveys with residents in Westbrook Village after the community has been fully established may help UBC Farm re-strategize or gain further consumer insights. However, if residents remain unreceptive to UBC Farm, other avenues of distribution in order to increase revenues will be investigated. Examples of distribution strategies include: further supply to local restaurants and food outlets; teaming up with local off-campus farmer’s markets; and/or supplying produce to food outlets within the Westbrook Village area (ie. Blenz et cetera). 25 APPENDIX I: SURVEY UBC Farm Survey 1.) Age: (15-24) (25-34) (35-44) (45-54) (55+) 2.) What is your gender: M / F 3.) What is your current status at UBC? __ Student __ Faculty or Other Work __ None; I just live here 3.) Do you typically purchase the groceries in your household? Y / N 4.) Compared to a local supermarket, to what extent do you perceive local farmers market to be.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Cheaper More Expensive Fresh Cold storage Convenient A Hassle Plentiful Limited Variety Organic Non-organic 5.) Why would you or wouldn’t you go to a farmers market? (Please circle would or wouldn’t and explain briefly) 9.) Have you ever heard of the UBC Farm? Y / N 10.) Have you ever visited the UBC Farm? Y / N Based on your answer above, please skip to either the NO section, or the YES section IF YOU ANSWERED NO TO QUESTION 10. 11.) Do you know where the UBC Farm is situated? If so, where? _______________________________________ 12.) What will dissuade you from visiting the UBC Farm? __ Long Lineups __ Price __ Limited Variety 13.) What would attract you to the UBC Farm? __ Fresh Produce __ Educational Activities __ Support in Local Activities __ Amenities (picnic tables, places to relax, park land) __ Access to grow your own produce __ Volunteer Activities IF YOU ANSWERED YES TO QUESTION 10. 11.) What are your favourite activities at the UBC Farm? (Please rank from 1-6; 1 being your favourite) __ The Farmer’s Market __ Volunteering Activities __ Simply enjoying the space __ Amenities (picnic tables, places to relax, park land) __ Educational Activities __ Farm socials & festivals 12.) What first attracted you to the UBC Farm? __ Food Preferences __ Convenience & Location __ Curiosity __ I wanted to support a local organization __ Referral by a friend __ Other: 13.) Would you be interested in having the opportunity to grow your own produce on the farm? Y / N 14.) Do you feel the amenities offered at the UBC Farm are one of the key factors of the UBC Farm? Y / N 26 APPENDIX II: PAMPHLET 27 APPENDIX III: COMMUNITY DAY DESCRIPTION The day could begin in the morning approximately 10 am with a local farmers market and serving of breakfast – pancakes with fresh strawberries and eggs from the farm. There should be face painting for the children. Also an expansion of vendors at this event to include crafts and jams, rather than just food. Mid day the food served should change to that specific to produce of the UBC Farm. There should be a baking competition in this period of time. Throughout the day there should be different activities going on, from a bouncy castle, beer garden to bull riding. There are a lot of local bands that would be interested in playing throughout the afternoon and evening. Booths to get people interested in the different activities that UBC Farm has to offer. In the evening there should be an expansion in the beer garden and multiple bands that are well known and will attract a good crowd of people to celebrate and dance. It is also important to involve the community when putting on an event like this. When doing so UBC Farm must establish relationships with current customers and vendors, the strata at the buildings to see if they have any contributions. The most important relationship is with other businesses. Blenz and Save-on Foods would most likely want to contribute and be involved in the sponsorship of this event. Look at getting donations, discussing different ways for them to be involved. APPENDIX IV: IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Pamphlets (Print and Distribute) Fact Cards (Print and Distribute) Posters and Postcards (Print and Distribute) Bulletins (Monthly) E-Blasts (Monthly) Signage (Print and Install) Community Day Cook Book (Print and Distribute) Pre-Order for Pick-up Develop Online Ordering System Launch Online Ordering System Delivery Service Connect with volunteer bicycle delivery people Launch first deliveries Community Shuttle Develop Proposal for Translink and University Improve Parking Facilities Retail Operations Find and Rent Retail Space Furnish and Equip Retail Space Hire Retail Staff Open and Operate Partnership with Save-On-Foods Ta sk Month Duration (M th ) 28 APPENDIX V: BUDGET We understand the difficulties that UBC Farm has faced in finding resources to implement a strategic marketing plan. Marketing is one of the most often overseen aspects of a business, yet one of the most important. UBC Farm has a product and vision that consumers desire and respect – but you do not have the awareness and customers to reach your maximize potential growth. An investment in this marketing plan will ensure that UBC Farm gains the customer appreciation that it deserves, increases customer awareness and involvement and thus elevates revenues. We have established a budget for implementation of our recommended marketing strategy. Because this budget will increase financial and time commitments we will first evaluate potential avenues to further resource and support the marketing plan. Once relationships have been built with the community marketing costs will decrease as there will be an increase in volunteers and word of mouth promotions. By trying to keep costs low, we have looked at strategies that leverage partnerships with local businesses and the community. Being able to sell produce in stores such as Save-On Foods and Blenz will increase awareness and accessibility while still being low cost. The potential to partner with the UBC Bike Co-op will provide volunteer delivery and ensure that customers concerned with time and accessibility will be able to easily continue to purchase produce at no further cost to the farm. Since UBC farm has a limited budget, the elements of the strategy that will need funding may come from corporate sponsorships or grants as outlined in the document above. Additional Notes about the following budget: a. Signage Based on estimates from comparable projects, the Farm could expect to pay about $1000 for enough signs to properly guide customers to the Farm and to mark designated parking areas. Conversely, the Farm could find a company willing to provide free or discounted signage to the Farm on a charitable basis. b. Retail Space and Operations The cost of retail space would depend upon location and size. Recommended locations include the SUB and the Wesbrook Plaza. The Farm could operate a kiosk on the premises. It will cost about $64 per day to have a single employee operate the store or kiosk. 29 UBC Farm Recommended Marketing Budget Increasing Knowledge Cost Amount Total Cost Colour Pamphlets $ 0.30 300 $ 90.00 Fact Cards $ 0.10 300 $ 30.00 Posters $ 0.30 150 $ 45.00 Postcards $ 0.50 200 $ 100.00 Monthly Bulletin $ 0.05 50 $ 2.50 E-Blast Free $ - Sinage $ 150.00 4 $ 600.00 ** Despite this cost being Total $ 867.50 large, it is an investment For the continuous use of Leveraging Community Environment the very necessary signs Cost Amount Total Cost Cook Book $ 0.15 30 $ 4.50 ** These could be sold Community Day To not only cover costs Advertising $ 0.30 150 $ 45.00 but to make a profit as Bounce Sports $ 300.00 1 $ 300.00 well Game Rentals $ 25.00 3 $ 75.00 Game Supplies $ 20.00 5 $ 100.00 Fence Rentals $ 250.00 1 $ 250.00 Bathroom Rental $ 50.00 4 $ 200.00 Stage for Band $ 150.00 1 $ 150.00 Tables $ 50.00 2 $ 100.00 Beer Garden $ - ** Should be sold at a Total $ 1,220.00 protfit to cover cost Smaller Events would be approximately $500 Increase Convience Cost Amount Total Cost Kiosk Space $64 50 $3,200 Total $3,200 Total Recommended Budget: $ 5,287.50