11/10/2015

On Friday, we had our first group meeting in which we decided a team name, target customer and which local companies to target for donations.

We decided to base our theme around the idea of a collegiate team and this is what the logo will be based around. This sits well with the theme of the products and will link well with the target customer of 'freshers'.

During this meeting we also delegated jobs to each team member, giving them something to bring to the next group session, the notes below explain this in more detail:

Alex- Create group logo and target Nandos, any local nail bars and Shakeaway 

Chloe- Target all smaller clubs and restaurants in Bedford Place  and Cake-cetera

Bethan- Target local gyms, including The Gym as well as Sprinkles and any local dessert bars, also in charge of creating social media pages for the team

Sam- Targeting all local fast food and restaurants for donations including Handmade Burger Co. Pizza GoGo and Varsity

Grace- Target any of the larger clubs e.g. Oceana and also target River Island and other fashion retailers

The group plan to come together again next week to discuss their findings and begin putting together promotional material, this including posts for the social media pages. 

12/10/2015

Today I finished creating the group's logo, ready for next week in case of any changes that need to be made. I have tried to incorporate the collegiate theme as much as possible and make the logo seem like a collegiate badge.

I also looked at ways of contacting businesses for donations and started creating a template email for the group to use. However I will run this past the rest of the group and gain their input before finalizing this.

21/10/2015

The past week has been very productive ans the group have been able to secure some freebies with local businesses.

After having emailed various companies we have manages to gain:

• A meal for four people at Vodka Revolution
• Bags, a meal for four and discount vouchers for Orange rooms
• A goodie bag and discount vouchers from Motel Rocks
• Free entry vouchers for Oceana 

These items will all be used as incentives to buy for our customers, giving us a competitive advantage over our competitors. 

We have also managed to set up social media pages for Instagram, Twitter and Facebook and we have subtly started promoting ourselves and our brand. 

We plan to meet up on Friday this week and discuss our next movements as a group.

6/11/2015

Today we had another group meeting to decide where to go from the current situation. We planned to pick all free products up from local businesses on Tuesday 17^th November. This will also be the day we sort out the float for the Big Sell Off, as well as fixtures and mannequins. This will ensure the group are absolutely ready for trade on the 25^th. We will also be going to a wholesaler to buy sweets as incentive to give to passers-by of the stall.

The group have also decided to create some posters that will go up around the university to promote Solent Reds during the week leading up to the Big Sell Off. These will detail the locations and times of trade for the group so customers are aware of how to get the products.

We also decided to begin revealing the prizes for and giveaways within the next week. This will be done through social media and will allow Solent Reds to create a ‘buzz’ around the brand and the products.

We also found out this week that there will be additional products added to the range as Israr has managed to get another range of products. Although this will be a broken range, the group will be able to determine the margin on these products and so may be able to make more profit from them. Each group will be able to chose an unknown parcel from this range in the style of a ‘lucky dip’ to make it fair for everyone.

7/11/2015

Today I created the signup sheet for the prize draw Solent Reds will be holding during the Big Sell Off. All customers of the stall will be able to enter a competition to win one of these prizes:

·         A Treatz voucher for £20

·         A Motel Rocks Goodie Bag

·         A meal for 4 at Vodka Revolution

·         A Free gym membership

·         A vodka table for 4 at Orange Rooms

To sign up for one of these, customers must give us their name, email address and phone number on the signup sheet I have created. The group will then pick winners for each of these products at the end of the big sell off. I have included the names and logos of each of these businesses on the signup sheet to ensure customers are aware of these brands, as well as to act as promotion. 

8/11/2015

Today the marketing team sat down together to schedule some social media posts using Hootsuite, which will allow us to plan and analyse the traffic of social media posts. In doing this we will be able to test which times are optimum for our target market to read and interact with social media posts, therefore making the most of our social media channels.

We decided to stick to one post a day on both Twitter and Facebook for this week, to ease the customers into our brand and allow them to understand what we are offering. The posts mainly consist of revealing the prizes for the prize draw and promoting the businesses we have teamed up with. The aim of this is to gain brand trust with customers and we associate Solent Reds with existing and established brands within the local area.

On all Tweets and Facebook posts, we included the #SolentReds hash tag, ensuring the campaign remains consistent and relative to the brand. 

9/11/2015

Today the group were able to go to the SSU and pick the Solent Reds range. We were pleased to get the first slot in the shop as it meant we were able to get the first pick of the products. This was a very stressful task and there were so many products to choose from and so much strategy involved. The group were allowed to choose 50 units all together, however due to the products not being a full range, some size options were out of stock and this now means the group do not have full size ranges in some products. Despite this, the group managed to collect a range of products which are suitable for the brand and the target market, this consists of:

·         Navy jumper x 4

·         Burgundy jumper x 6

·         Dark grey jumper x 4

·         Light grey jumper x 3

·         Dark grey tracksuit bottoms x 3

·         Burgundy t shirt x 8

·         Student deal twin pack x 1

·         Sale tracksuit bottoms x 2

·         Navy hoodie x 4

·         Grey hoodie x 5

·         Check jacket x 4

·         Vest  x 4

·         Sweatshirt x 2

These figure display how product numbers are not consistent as a result of incomplete product ranges. Despite this, the group were able to get new products from this seasons range, giving the Solent Reds a competitive advantage during the Sell Off. These have been highlighted in red.

All of the products follow a blue, grey and red colour theme which will allow for easy merchandising during the Big Sell Off. The group plan to colour block these colours to make shopping as easy as possible for the customers and to make the stall as appealing as possible.

From this session the group have also been able to gain better product knowledge and plan how to sell each product. E.g. many of the products are Fair-Trade certified, which will make for a great selling point and competitive advantage. 

10/11/2015

Today I sent an email out to the Solent events team to see if the group could borrow a Southampton Solent table cloth for the pop-up stall. This will tie the brand colours together and make the stall look more presentable, which is something primary research has displayed as very important to the target market. I have also tagged Kimberly Stone into this email as I have previously worked with her during a freshers event. Hopefully as I have included her in the email, the events team will lend the group a table cloth and maybe other Southampton Solent props to strengthen the brand image. 

13/11/2015

Today the group worked out how much float would be needed for the Big Sell Off. We looked into the price points of the range to determine what float and how much we would need. As much of the range falls at .99, the group needs to ensure there will be enough 1ps to account for this. The group also need to account for the products which fall at £12.99 and £14.99 which will require £1 coins and £5 notes. The group came up with the following float requirements, which was then split between the five members of the team to ensure everyone is putting in the same amount. The group plan to also keep some money aside in case the float runs out part way through the sell-off.

·         £30 in £10 notes (3 notes)

·         £1 in 1p coins (1 bag)

·         £10 in £1 coins (1 bag)

·         £20 in £5 notes (4 notes)

o    TOTAL: £61

To split this evenly I split this into 5 equal amounts of £12 and gave each person a list of what they were to bring on the day of the sell-off. Money left at the end will be split between the 5 members of the team, and should reimburse each member by £12.

·         Alex: 1ps, £1 & £10

·         Sam: £10, £1, & £1

·         Chloe: £5, £5, £1, £1

·         Grace: £10, £1, £1

·         Bethan £5, £5, £1, £1

In dividing it in this way, the group will find it easier to collect the total float of £61, as well as minimise the risk of relying on 1 person.

Today I was also able to go to a guest lecture with Cormac Folan (TM Lewin Head of Online Marketing) and gain an insight into what makes successful online marketing and how best to optimise your follower base. 

From this I was able to take that social media can be used for all levels of the marketing funnel: Awareness, consideration, intent, purchase, loyalty and advocacy, which as Cormac stated is very rare.  This is something the group will take into consideration, and aim to cover all of these levels over social media (excluding purchase as the group will not be trading online).

It was also discussed how online marketing is much easier to measure in terms of ROI and customer engagement. This can be measured through websites and programmes such as Google Analytics and Hootsuite which the group will be using to monitor which social media posts will create most customer interaction. 

14/11/2015

Today I began planning ways Solent Reds could promote ourselves and started creating a database of Course Leader contact information. In doing this I planned to create a standardised email to send out to course leaders and senior lectures, asking them to circulate the information on where and when the Solent Reds team would be trading. In doing this the team will be able to get a brand message across to a wider audience, creating a buzz around Solent Reds and potentially driving footfall to the store.

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Next week the group plan to schedule more social media posts to begin heavily promoting the Solent Reds brand, as well as get together and have final meetings about the group structure and how we will work as a team during the Big Sell Off.

Moreover, a flyer has also been produced for the group which will be given out to all passes by and will detail the whereabouts and times of trade for the group, this increasing customer awareness on how to get Solent Reds products, also driving footfall to the stall. This has been based heavily around Solent Reds branding and focuses on the opportunity for customers to receive ‘giveaways’, highlighting the incentives to buy.

17/11/2015

Today I created the poster for Solent Reds which will be put up in various places around the university to promote the group and our products from about a week before. I have made this in exactly the same format as the leaflet to promote brand recognition and consistency. This will allow passers-by who receive a flyer to relate it back to the posters they will have seen around the university.

18/11/2015

Today has been very productive and the group have worked together to devise a plan for next week’s Big Sell Off.

To start with we went and picked our locations for the Sell Off and this was done by picking them from a hat. The group got the following location for trade:

Day 1: Andrews Building

Day 2: SM Building

Day 3: Student Union

In addition to this, the group felt it best to try and secure some other locations to trade, allowing the products to become more accessible. We decided to email the Canteen to gain permission to sell over lunch time as this will be a high footfall area. The canteen also agreed to promote Solent Reds  From this we secured the spot for both Thursday and Friday. In addition to this, we also spoke to the Library manager to discuss trading just outside the Library, which he gave up permission to do.

After this the group had a meeting to discuss how to organise ourselves best for next week’s trading. I wrote a list of things to do and we went through this as a group and delegated tasks to relevant team members:

·         Sam- print all promotional material including flyers and posters

·         Grace- research Google Analytics and how to use this for social media channels

·         Chloe- Set up Ebay account for the group to trade online

·         Bethan- Take pictures of the stock for range plans and promotion

·         Me- carry on creating  social media content and promote the team as much as possible

In doing this, each member of the group has something to bring with them for the next meeting (Friday 20^th November).

In preparation for my own tasks, I began creating social media content using Hootsuit to schedule posts on both Twitter and Facebook to promote Solent Reds as well as the brands we have collaborated with and how these collaborations will benefit the customer. To promote the group further I also create a ‘pin’ on the Solent Portal notice board detailing the groups locations and times of trade. This will allow any browsers to see the post and gain knowledge on where we will be based.

Furthermore, myself and Bethan also began emailing Course Leaders of the university to ask them to circulate Solent Reds trading times and locations. In doing this a wider audience will be reached, informing customers of what we have to offer.  This was then matched by emailing the university radio and asking for promotion on this channel also. The groups aim is to target as many people at the university as possible and therefore the maximum amount of promotional channels has been used.

To end the day I created the group’s sales sheets for the BSO. To do this I based it on the one Israr had sent us, however made it simpler and easier to use for the group. This will allow us to quickly record any sales we make, allowing us to see how much stock we have left and if we have reached our sales targets. 

The group plan to meet on Friday to finalise plans for next week’s selling.

19/11/2015

Today I created a Facebook event for Solent Reds detailing the groups times and locations of trade. All members of the team were added to this as ‘admin’ so we could all invite people we know and promote the event. We will also post updates on this event so followers can get notifications from the Solent Reds team. 

20/11/2015

Today myself, Sam and Chloe put posters up around the university to advertise the Solent Reds stall. To do this we first had to consult the marketing department where we were able to get the posters stamped and verified.
 We placed these in areas relevant to the groups static locations to ensure customers who pass through the area are aware e.g.:
- Inside the Library
- Outside the canteen
- In the SM building
- In the Student Union
- In the JM building
- In the HC building entrance

All of these areas are high footfall areas which are near selling locations for the group.

Moreover, the group also received their extra products from the broken range. These would be sold at a discounted price to add to the group's sales and allow us to  price them accordingly. We got the following products:

- 7 pairs of green joggers (£3)
- 1 pair of purple joggers (£3)
- 1 green hoodie (£7)
- 2 red t-shirts (£2)
- 3 green t-shirts (£2)
- 1 purple t-shirt (£2)

These all has minimum prices shown in the brackets however, we felt it best to price these more strategically to give customers the idea they are getting more for their money. The following prices were given to each product:

-Green joggers £6
-Purple joggers £6
-Green hoodie £15
-Red t-shirt £6
-Purple t-shirt £6
-Green t-shirt £6

All of these products excluding the hoodie will be priced at 2 for £10, allowing customers to get more for their money at the same time as the group making more sales.
The hoodie has been priced in this way as a result of the high quality and exclusivity. No other groups have this product and so the group can capitalize on its rarity.

Today I was also in charge of making an online look book. To do this we took professional images of the collection and watermarked them with the Solent Reds logo. These will be put on Facebook along with product prices, and will also be taken around with the mobile team to show customers the products we have on offer. This will also be done with the additional product range.

25/11/2015

Today was the group’s first day of selling in the Andrews building. The day went really well and the group managed to sell a lot more than what we thought. We manages to make sales of £437.29 when our target was only…

We did however find some problems with day day as we were situated extremely close to another team and we did not have the right props at the start of the day e.g. a mannequin or tables. Despite this, the group worked really well together and managed to get through these issues. Being close to another group did have its problems as some customers mistook the two stalls for one which sometimes caused customer confusion and sometimes lead to a loss in customers.
We did however, come up with an initiative to gain customers before the other team, and this was to go outside the entrance of the Andrews building and give out our flyers with sweets to explain where we were and what we were selling. We did actually make some sales doing this and so this tactic will be used on day 2 and 3 also.

We replenished twice on day 1, after having sold a lot of the pull over jumpers, the group felt it best to replenish on this, specifically in size Medium as this was most popular. We also noticed a large demand for zip up hoodies and jackets, especially as the other team were selling a lot of these and so the on the second replenishment we decided to stock up on some of these.

We also sold a lot of sale items at 2 for £10 which was surprising as we did not think we would have sold any.

The group have also decided to begin selling the MLK T-shirts at the stall and not just online. We decided this as a result of a lack of sales on eBay and noticing the other group had made some sales on these.

At the end of the day the group cashed in the receipts in the SU and the Cash Office and also did some final replenishments for the next day. As we were in the SM building on day 2 it was very important we had enough stock to avoid having to replenish over the park.

Overall the groups strategy of drawing people in with sweets and flyers worked really well and so we planned to use the same tactics the following day.

The group have planned to split up in the morning of day 2 to get the stall ready more efficiently. Most of the group will be going to the SU to collect the products and bring them over the park and I will be going straight to the SM building to set up the stall. This will allow us to get things done quickly and more efficiently.

26/11/2015

Today was the group’s second day of selling and was a lot more problematic and presented more challenges than the previous day as a result of the location:

 The group began at the SM building which proved to be a difficult selling place as a result of the low footfall, however as a group we used our initiative to go back to the main university and start selling in the HC building as we knew they was a high footfall area. Half of the group also went to the canteen to try and sell some products there, however due to another group also being in the canteen we did not make any sales.

Towards the end of the day we realized one of the other teams located in the concourse was closing early and so we decided to use their space for the rest of the day as we found this area to be good for sales and footfall previously. In doing this we made more sales within 2 hours than we had in the whole day! We were all really glad we moved there in the end.

For tomorrow, the group have decided to go back to the HC building instead of the Student Union. Although this will contradict the information on our posters, we know the footfall will be better after observations of the SU. We hope that in doing this we will be able to make more sales, however we will ensure to keep some of the group  up at the SU building to make sure all ground is covered.

Although today proved challenging for the group, we managed to make the most of it and work well as a team to make as many sales as possible. We ended up making sales of £193.92 which, although is lower than yesterday, is still good considering how many times we changed location. Our target for day 2 was...

27/11/2015

Today was the team’s third and final day of selling and went better than expected. We managed to secure the HC spot again as we decided to avoid the SU as other teams had made little, if any sales at all there. 

We made more sales than expected in this spot and sold a lot of the sale items as these were reduced throughout the day. We began selling them at £4 each or 2 for £6 however quickly reduced this to £2 each as we wanted to get as many sales as possible and sell all of the items. This worked and is shown through the increase in sales of these products throughout the day. The SU products also sold really well today with a lot of customers purchasing multiple items leading to bigger sales. 

We did not replenish items today as we wanted to concentrate on selling what we had left and maintain the product mix aesthetic as much as possible.

On this day we also pushed the prize draw and giveaways as much as possible, using them as a buying incentive for customers, again to make as many purchases as possible.

All together we made £381.09 on this day.

At the end of the day we totted up the number of total sales, SU sales and non SU sales and cam up with the following results:

- A total of 68 units were sold

- A total of £1012.30 was made

- £927.80 of this was SU products

- £84.50 of this was non SU products e.g. sale items

Overall the group have worked really well together over the past three days and this shows in the success of sales. Although the experience has been difficult at times, the group pulled together to make the most of situations and gain as many sales as possible.