A Business Plan for Awkward Moments
A Business PlanForAwkward MomentsPart II- Industry, Market&Competitive AnalysisPresented byKimberly GuinnSubmitted toProfessor Henry JohnsonOn5/17/15Table of ContentsI. General Environment 3II. Industry Analysis 4III. Porters Five Forces 6IV. Target Market Analysis 7V. Competitive Analysis 10VI. References 12General Environment Physical and Natural EnvironmentAs the world becomes more environmentally conscience, people are starting to look for ways to be eco-friendly, and take care of our natural resources. In looking at the greeting card market, there are signs that eco-friendly considerations are becoming the norm. The popularity in the use of recycled card stock reduces the amount of trees needed to create greeting cards[1], helping to sustain our natural environment. With this trend, there is a great opportunity for AM to advertise their use of recycled card-stock to attract the environmentally conscious customer and encourage recycling.
Demographic Environment Socio-Cultural EnvironmentThe industry trends are moving away from old-fashioned mass market greeting cards and towards high-end, custom designed and unique cards[2].These trends are attracting a younger consumer demographic than ever before [3], resulting in a divergence from traditional messaging, to a more humorous, unusual, witty content. Economic EnvironmentThe 2008-2009 economic recession reduced consumer demand for greeting cards and tightened access to disposable income. Since that time, the global recovery has been slow and relatively weak. As a result, the recession has affected the greeting card industry as consumers had fewer discretionary dollars to spend. Although, as the economy continues to improve, consumers are more likely to spend their discretionary dollars on higher quality luxury cards because of their more distinctive offerings[4]. This is an opportunity AM plans to take full advantage of and the economy recovers.Political/ Legal EnvironmentThere is very little regulation and restrictions within the greeting card industry. Although, in order to protect all intellectually property, AM intends to copyright all in-house designs to keep others from using them, and keep the uniqueness of AM’s offerings. Global EnvironmentUnlike the plateauing US greeting card industry, the global greeting card industry is on the rise. Within the UK alone, the industry has seen a 6.1% growth from 2013-2014[5]. These results indicate a great opportunity to expand within the global market.