Situation Analysis
Marketing Objectives
Village Surf Shoppe, established in 1969, sells surfing accessories including surfboards, beachwear, and related products. Also offers surfing camps, rentals, and lessons. It’s located in Garden City, South Carolina (within the Myrtle Beach retail trade area). Because it’s been around for 44 years, it is an established name, however, Village Surf Shoppe is looking to increase sales by 20% using a budget of $200,000. To properly allot this budget, it’s necessary to understand that the shop’s peak selling period is April through September and that sales decline considerably during the winter months (as surfing is a seasonal sport). Some marketing techniques that have been used in the past include: • Word-‐of-‐mouth • Guerilla marketing • Personal selling • Village Surf Shoppe stickers and t-‐shits used for product awareness
Competition
There are competitors on both the local and national level for Village Surf Shoppe, which are all located in the South and North Carolina areas. Because the Village Surf Shoppe is similar to their competitors (it’s locally owned and offers lessons, rentals, clothing, and accessories), which is why they’re looking to expand into the inland market. They’re also using similar tactics, such as Internet and social media outlets (Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Foursquare). Its competitor’s are: • Waller Bear’s (local) • Surf City and Eternal Wave (local) • Ron Jon Surf Shop (national)
Creative History
Village Surf Shoppe rarely uses traditional adverting methods and their publicity is also limited to local news outlets and national surf magazines has used guerilla marketing as their primary marketing vehicle. To promote product awareness, they pass out stickers— which are often placed on car bumpers, skateboards, schoolbooks, etc.—and t-‐shirts. The shop also hosts events, like sponsoring surf competitions.
Target Audience
Village Surf Shoppe’s main target audience is men and women ages 18-‐24 who lead active, adventurous lifestyles. These men and women are also avid serious surfers and hardcore wave riders. They are heavy consumers of recorded music and they spend considerable amounts of time on the web. They have an income of less than $28,000. Those who frequent the shop like to hang out there, catch some waves, tell stories, and check out new surfboards. Tourists and a growing inland market also comprise Village’s target audience. The inland market is will to drive 1-‐3 hours to the ocean on a regular basis. Popular culture’s coverage of surfing has likely aided the growing market with TV programs like North Shore and
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