Marketing Plan

Executive Summary

This marketing plan is for a franchise branch of Dunn Bros Coffee located off of Hwy 169 in the city of Elk River.

Dunn Bros is one of the fastest growing local small franchises in Minnesota. Founded in 1987 by Ed Dunn who opened a store on Grand Avenue in St. Paul. Skip Fay and Chris Eilers, two local owners, bought the rights to sell Dunn Bros franchises in 1998.

Dunn Bros prides itself on providing a community atmosphere in their stores that are open and offering great tasting fresh cup of coffee to the coffee drinker who "truly appreciates a good cup of coffee".

The marketing goal is to promote the health benefits of drinking coffee on a daily basis. We want to make the consumer aware of the benefits and increase sales by 3% and profits by 2% for the year 2005 in the Dunn Bros franchise located in Elk River, Minnesota.

Dunn Bros will attempt to increase consumer awareness in the health benefits of drinking coffee by promoting through a variety of advertising, personal selling, sales promotions, public relations and direct communication.

To promote, Dunn Bros plans to print brochures with health benefit information for the consumer to read at the location or take with them. Dunn Bros plans to update their billboard advertisement along Hwy 169 between Zimmerman and Elk River with the added slogan of advertisement of "A Great Cup of Coffee a Day Keeps the Doctor Away".

Upon arriving at the store, Dunn Bros' greeters will pitch the statement of the health benefits of drinking coffee and give the customer a brochure to take with them upon leaving the store.

Dunn Bros also plans to promote the health benefits of drinking coffee to the local fitness centers in the Elk River area by leaving brochures for the fitness center members to review.

The Elk River Star News will offer discount coupons in their paper for 10% off of a cup of coffee or specialty drink and every other week there will be a $1.00 off coupon for a cup of coffee with a lunch or breakfast menu item.

This marketing plan will be launched to other franchises upon the monitoring of the sales and traffic flow in the store of Elk River. We should be able to tell upon the first two months of promoting the health benefits of drinking coffee whether it has sparked an interest in the consumers.

I. Current Marketing Situation

Company

Dunn Bros Coffee, per www.Dunnbros.com , is a coffee house establishment that was founded in 1987 by Ed Dunn. Dunn Bros Coffee delivers fresh roasted, quality coffee to you, with prompt, friendly service in a clean, comfortable environment. Dunn Bros prides itself for the fresh roasted aroma of coffee beans that fills its establishments and creates a real, appreciated, consumer noticeable value that results in dedicated customers. Their customer base is for coffee drinkers who "truly appreciate a good cup of coffee".

Dunn Bros coffee has developed a sophisticated franchise system that provides its owners with the control and flexibility to roast their own coffee. Since 1987, when the first Dunn Bros Coffee opened up on Grand Avenue in Minnesota, Dunn Bros has become the fastest growing coffee retailer in the Minnesota.

Product/Service

Fresh daily roasted coffee at a reasonable price is what Dunn Bros strives to provide their customers. A comfortable atmosphere provides a place where the customer can work, meet, relax or enjoy a conversation with a friend. Freshly brewed coffee, expresso drinks, frozen coffee drinks, specialty teas and other beverages, along with assorted bakery, lunch and desert items make this a place to go and relax anytime of the day.

Target Market

The target market is aimed at health conscious consumers in the cities of Elk River and Zimmerman. The goal for Dunn Bros is to educate current coffee drinkers in regards to the health benefits of drinking coffee. Dunn Bros wants to have a chain reaction happen through their customers. Through advertising and providing helpful educational health tips on the benefits of coffee drinking regular customers will increase their coffee consumption and new customers will come in and try Dunn Bros for a great tasting cup of coffee.

Demographics:

Per the ESRI Business Information Solutions product report from the website of http://redlandsarcweb.esri.com the population of Zimmerman and Elk River is a mix tapestry of Gen X, Baby Boomers and Urban escapees. The Gen X are young affluent families with young children, Baby boomers are the blue collar workers with children age 6 - 17 years old and the Urban escapees are primarily families with children, college-educated and professionally employed, that have elected to commute to maintain their semi-rural lifestyle.

The median household income is 61,200, and the median home value, 168,000, which is high compared to the U.S nationally.

Elk River and Zimmerman's population consists of the largest population between the ages of 20 to 55 years of age. Educational backgrounds are similar with the majority of the population in the two cities having some college but no degree.

Geographic Characteristics:

Dunn Bros Coffee is located off of Hwy 169 on the edge of the City of Elk River and just nine miles from the City of Zimmerman. It is located on a corner of a busy intersection with hundreds of thousands of cars passing with traffic on a daily basis. Dunn Bros is easily accessible to both cities and off the main highway makes it easily accessible for out-of-towners heading up North or coming back from being up North.

The residents of Elk River and Zimmerman are commuters who drive to work with an average travel time of 30 minutes. It's a perfect opportunity to stop in off the highway for a cup of coffee.

Psychographic Characteristics:

"Up and Coming Families" and "Sophisticated Squires" was described for most of Elk River and Zimmerman residents per the ESRI - business report through www.eribis.com.

Up and coming families described these residents as the youngest of the family market. They are more Gen X than Baby Boomers. These are young affluent families with young children.

Sophisticated Squires enjoy country living in new home developments at lower cost values. These urban escapees are primarily families with children, college-educated and professionally employed. These residents have elected to commute to maintain their semi-rural lifestyle.

The