Taylor Hopkins

2014

1.

Strengthing Customer Relationships One Carving at a Time

Table of Contents1 Introduction………………………………………………………………….........1

2 Mission…………………………………………………………………………...2

2.1 Goals……………………………………………………………………...3

3 Core Competencies………………………………………………………………4

4 SWOT Analysis…………………………………………………………………...5

4.1 SWOT Description……………………………………………………..5-9

5 Competition……………………………………………………………………9-10

6 Target Market…...……………………………………………………………10-11

7 Marketing Mix…………………………………………………………………..11

7.1 Product Strategy……………………………………………………..11-12

7.2 Distribution Strategy………………………………………………….…12

7.3 Promotional Strategy………………………………………………...12-13

7.4 Pricing Strategy …………………………………………………......13-14

8. Conclusion………………………………………………………………………14

About The Author:Taylor Hopkins will be graduating from

Morehead State University December of

2015 with a major in Agribusiness and a

minor in Strategic Communications. Her

dream to one day be a territory manager

for a hunting company such as Mossy

Oak. For further information you can

contact her by phone at: (937)-515-6391

or by email at: tnhopkins@moreheadstate.edu

Introduciton

The STIHL Professional Carving Team began in 1989. It has been growing strong for 25 years now. What first began as a two member team, has grown to a current seven members. Chuck Schepflin was the founder with the additional members of Michael Hopkins, Dan Scheweiger, Michael Pace, Michael Sullivan, Taylor Hopkins, and Tiffany Hopkins. The team is sponsored by STIHL Power Equipment and has been since they were founded. The STIHL Professional Carving Team is based out of Cincinnati, Ohio. The team also travels around the Midwest creating and selling unique, one-of-a-kind artwork. They can be seen at multiple locations and events including Cabela’s, Bass Pro, Lumberjack Shows, and much more.

These members of the team carve artwork into different types of wood with a chainsaw. These carvings include items such as bears, eagles, benches, and custom ordered requests. They also will sell accessories such as STIHL hats and shirts at the events. The team is well known across the Midwest and takes pride into what they do. They have started to pass down their talent to younger generation and is currently trying to promote more and increase revenue.

Through this marketing mix, you will see the exciting plans and goals that the team has for the next five years. You will be able to see their strengths, weaknesses, and much more. The marketing plan was created by Taylor Hopkins to help the team see their downfalls and perks and to help the team succeed and create more profit. The STIHL Professional Carving Team is interested in increasing their customer base now that carving has become more known throughout American and customers are depending it more than ever. The team decided that it was time to consider improvement. As well, there is more competition now then there ever has been so the team is looking for new ideas to help them promote their business and succeed overall. The STIHL Professional Carving Team hopes to excel financially and through

STIHL Pro Carving Team 1

marketing to allow have high end products while keep them high quality and unique.

1. Mission

To capture and covey the value of the sculpture for its beauty, appeal, and individuality for the satisfaction of the consumers.

1.1 Goals

STIHL Professional Carving Team has quite a few goals that they would like to accomplish to help promote the business and to increase revenue. In the next five years, the STIHL Pro. Carving Team would like to accomplish these following:

Financial Goals

1. Increase revenue by at least 50 percent.

2. Introduce new products and product lines while expanding distribution.

Nonfinancial Goals

1. Pass down the hobby to younger generation to ensure that the company will continue to grow for years on.

2. Enhance and learn new designs that will keep the company up to date with other competitors.

3. Develop a successful website that will broaden the familiarity of the team and promote sales growth.

4. Increase advertising and marketing of their products.

5. Enter new geographic markets and expand outside of the Midwest.

STIHL Pro Carving Team 2

2. Core Competency

The STIHL Professional Carving Teams seeks to use its core competencies to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, in which competitors cannot provide the same value to consumers that this team offers.

The STIHL Professional Carving Team has developed core competencies in

(1) Having a large variety in the artwork that they create

(2) Having STIHL sponsor their team, thus allowing them to have a high quality, branded product that is recognizable to most customers

(3) Having multiple members with up to 25 years of experience that allows the team to have a reliable reputation with retailers and customers.

The team plans to expand their core competencies by reaching out to new geographic markets and reaching out different customers through the internet.

The STIHL Professional Carving Team believes that with strong sponsors, strong retailer’s support, years of experience, and the availability of the highest quality of wood and products, they are able to create a sustainable competitive advantage over their other competitors.

STIHL Pro Carving Team 3

3. SWOT Analysis

3.1 SWOT DescriptionThe STIHL Professional Carving Team has many Strengths and Opportunities. However, with strengths and opportunities comes weaknesses and threats as well, thus making up the SWOT Analysis.

The STIHL Professional Carving Team’s strengths are qualities that allows the team to excel in the carving industry. The big strength that the team has is their many years of experience. The team has 25 years of carving

STIHL Pro Carving Team 4

experience. This is a big strength because many of the other competitors out there are young and new in the carving industry. Years of experience has helped the team in perfecting and understanding the carvings and to keep up with the ongoing change of trends and styles. Another strength is that they are sponsored by the bestest chainsaw company in the World: STIHL. Since the team is sponsored by STIHL, it gives the team free equipment from STIHL themselves but also allows customers to connect to the team. Many customers will use STIHL as a talking point which will then lead into a sale of a carving. STIHL is so well known that people know immediately who the team is. Also, STIHL has a great reputation of lasting forever, so since the team is sponsored by STIHL, the carvings also carry that same reputation.

Since the team has a numerous amount of carvers, it allows multiple events to be booked at once and this allows the team to further promote the business. Many carvers come by themselves to different shows, or even Carving teams, like the ECHO carving team only consist of three guys that travel together for the most part. The STIHL Pro. Carving Team has seven to eight members at a time that are located in all different parts of the Midwest. One weekend, a member will go up to Cabela’s in Michigan while another member will go to the Cabela’s in Kentucky; thus, expanding profit and promotion. IT also helps the team with having two woman on their team. Here in today’s society, there are very few woman in the carving industry. Since STIHL has two woman, young woman at that, the team attracts many more customers due to the diversity. Customers are amazed to see that woman are carving as well.

STIHL Pro. Carving Team has a few weaknesses with their job. One weakness is that the team is really only carving around local areas in the Midwest. They have stayed local for all these years and have not reached out further. One of the team’s goals is to fix this weakness and travel to further places so they can become more successful and create more revenue. There other weakness is that carving is only a hobby to majority

STIHL Pro Carving Team 5

of the STIHL carving members. Many of the members have jobs outside of this company and they are only able to carve on their free time. This is another reason why they have not reached out to further states and company outside of the Midwest. However, customers are getting tired of seeing the carvings around the Midwest and new states would equal a fresh and exciting customer base.

STIHL has many opportunities that would allow the team to grow exponentially. One opportunity that I have already mentioned is being able to travel further than the Midwest to go to shows and events to reach out to newer customers. Another opportunity is creating a website that will allow the team to post upcoming events, show products online, or even sell the products online if they wish. Furthermore, they could take special orders from their website and have history about their team on the website so that they can promote their team’s values, beliefs, and background to customers all around the United States. Currently, the team only has a Facebook page so they are not reaching out to much to social media and the internet users. The website and even other social media sites will allow the team to reach to more, newer, and different customers.

Lastly, the STIHL Pro. Carving Team does have a few threats that they must be cautious of in their success. One threat is that with a fast changing world like ours, trends go out of style so quickly. There is a chance that carvings will go out of style and become less popular and demanding. This could cause an issue for the team if they cannot find some way to keep the carvings interesting. Also, if carvers do adapt to the new world, then there will be newer and more unique carvings out there and STIHL carving team will have to keep up with the other carvers if this becomes the case. They may have to make these elaborate carvings that other carvers may be able to do. The team also will need to make sure that they make time for carving since it is just their hobby or “second job”. If they stop carving as much then it could cause the team to go out of date and lose their customers.

STIHL Pro Carving Team 6

The SWOT Analysis needs to be considered and qualities will have to change to keep up with this society that we live in to keep a customer base that will bring in high profits.

4. CompetitorsThere are many, many competitors in the carving industry that makes it an aggressive market. Since this is a hobby that doesn’t require an education nor degree, many people have picked up the ability through self-learning. There are big competitors, such as The Echo Carving Team, and other local competitors that travel alone, as a solo event. The Echo Carving Team offers a website where you can find samples and contact information. They have won awards and contests. They also travel around the country selling their artwork. Local competitors usually are individuals who chainsaw carve for a living which makes them more available and attentive. They have more time to work on bigger artwork and are willing to try the unique requests that customers demand. The only downfall to these individuals is less work can be accomplished because they only have themselves working on requests and attending events in the area, where the STIHL Pro Carving Team has multiple members to handle much more volume.

While these individuals may seem like strong competitors to the STIHL Professional Carving Team, none offer the detailed and outstanding carvings. Their advantage over other competitors is the fact that they have more than 25 years of experience. They have learned the ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ when it comes to the fine art of chainsaw carving. They have learned over the decades that the best types of wood to use are Cedar and Catalpa because they tend to last longer and crack less, and the Cedar smells good as bonus. They also have found that sealing the carving with

STIHL Pro Carving Team 7

SPAR Varnish, a finish that was used on old sail boots, allows the carving to last longer and withstand harsh weather.

The STIHL Professional Carving Team also has affordable prices that will trump their competition as well as provide with superb quality. Customers can easily buy a chainsaw carving from the team without having to worry about the price because they can be guaranteed that they are getting a great deal.

5. Target Market

The STIHL Professional Carving Team can be put into segments a few different ways. The interesting quality about the team is the fact that they are able to reach out to almost everyone; however, the individuals usually are outdoorsmen or unique collectors, based on the events they attend. The STIHL Professional Carving Team offers a uniqueness that expands to many different demographic, geographic, and psychographics.

When the team travels, the frequent retailers include Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops. These retailers tend to attract the men and woman who love the outdoors. They also are the ones who would love to have the opportunity to buy artwork that is made out of wood because the outdoors is where the customers spend their extra time. The outdoorsmen and woman love that they have something that can relate to them and that is also unique. They can be of any age since the team offers a variety of carvings and accessories that is attractive to any age or gender.

The STIHL Professional carving team also tends to attract the individuals who love to buy and collect unique artwork or items. Chainsaw carvings is not an item that everyone has. It also is a product that the consumer can customize themselves. Not one carving is the exact same, making the product unique. Customers can also add signage for a small fee that will

STIHL Pro Carving Team 8

include their last name or special message. These small details and additions can make it a great buy for collectors.

The STIHL Professional Carving Team is able to attract to many different demographic, but when it comes to geographic, they usually rely on the outdoorsmen and unique collectors who live in the Midwest but are planning on reaching out to others across the country in the future. As for psychographics, they can rely on individuals who love the outdoors and who are looking for that product that is different and unique than the objects that are sold at local store.

6. Marketing MixThe following discussion outlines some of the details of the proposed marketing mix for The STIHL Professional Carving Team:

6.1 Product StrategySTIHL Professional Carving Team currently offers a high quality of unique wood carvings, such as eagles, bears, logos, lighthouses, etc. They will also do some custom carvings depending on the request. They all come with the signature on the wood carving of the artist. The team has been carving for around 25 years so they have done experiments to see what tends to sell the most and have found that bears are their best sellers. They have tried many other carvings that have succeeded or failed. They now are able to sell carvings that they know will sell based on years of experimenting. Over the next five years, the team needs to ensure that they are selling carvings that are up-to-date with the latest trends, since trends tend to change so quickly. This will allow the carvings to stay fresh and prevent it from becoming out of date and diluted in the market.

Also, STIHL Pro Carving Team needs to ensure that they bring in younger generation workers to take up the hobby so that the team will stay in the market after the others have retired. This will also bring in new consumers

STIHL Pro Carving Team 9

because they will be the next generation who may not own a carving already. It will be a new and unique product to them that they will want to own.

6.2 Distribution Strategy

Currently, The STIHL Professional Carving Team is marketed through regional and local specialty in the Midwest area, with their main focus in Ohio and Kentucky. So far, the team has not reached out to any national retailers or shops to carve. However, in the next five years, their goal is to reach out to more Americans across the country. They hope to find individuals who have never seen a carving before and will want to buy the product for its uniqueness. Since they have been going to the same retailers in Ohio and Kentucky, Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops, the stores tend to have frequent regulars who have already bought a carving. These consumers are accustomed to the product and feel they do not need another product. If the team reaches out to new customers, they will be able to reach a whole new market and increase distribution which will then increase sales.

6.3 Promotional Strategy

The STIHL Professional Carving team communicates with customers and retailers about their products a few different ways. Information about the team is available via Facebook, phone calls, emails, newspapers, and in person. The teams main promotional goal is to differentiate from its competitors. The main way is through their newly added Facebook page. Here, is where they keep pictures of their latest carvings, prices, shows, and more.

The company relies contact with retailers and local businesses to allow them to carve at their stores. Carving at stores helps get their name out, build strong relationships, and helps the team demonstrate their unique

STIHL Pro Carving Team 10

talents and products. The team will carve at each business a few times a year. This not only promotes growth in the team’s sales but as well in the businesses because it draws in new customers.

Currently, there is not much sales promotions and advertising being used with the STIHL Professional Carving Team. This is mainly due to the fact they have a product that sells well on any kind of shopping trip. They also do not have the funds or time to convert into promoting and advertising the team. Due to the fact that there is little promotion and advertising happening currently with The STIHL Professional Carving Team, the team has set up some goals that they wish to achieve to help with their sales and promotion. During the next five years, the team wishes to:

• Develop their website online that will allow customers to view their carvings, products, and prices, as well as have information on upcoming shows, and how the customers can contact the carvers to better assist any questions they may have.

• Increase advertising and marketing of their products. They plan to do this by getting their name in magazines, newspapers, billboards, etc. They just want to work on getting their name better known to promote sells.

6.4 Pricing Strategy

The STIHL Professional Carving Team bases everything on their competitors and consumers. They price their carvings at a reasonable price that beyond excels other carvings when it comes to comparing quality to price. The team does not set high prices to lure in only the luxurious and rich, nor do they set the prices low to raise up the number of quantity sold. Instead they set a price that is reasonable. A price that is affordable for the piece of unique artwork that the consumer is receiving and can cherish forever. The team wants the customers to feel comfortable when buying the piece(s) of artwork and know that they are satisfied with everything. Our carvings range anywhere from $20-$2,000, which allows anyone of any

STIHL Pro Carving Team 11

amount of income to be able to afford our pieces. When determining the price of an item, a general $100 per foot is how the price is established for each finished piece. The pricing strategy also makes the carvings a great gift for birthdays, Christmas’, Father’s Day’s, Mother’s Day’s, or “just because” days. Overall, the team’s carvings are priced at a price that is reasonable and affordable compared to their competitors.

7. Conclusion

Overall, The STIHL Professional Carving Team has high potential of succeeding with their five year plan and creating revenue and promoting their business. They need to work on keeping their porducts up to date and to reach out to new members. They also need to create a website to help with their advertising. However, they are already pretty successful and have a product that reaches out to almost all individuals. With time, dedication, and hard work, the team will be able to increase sales, introduce new products and a new website, pass down the hobby, keep up with the current trends while staying true to their believes and values.

STIHL Pro Carving Team 12