Case studyMarketing a new coffee shop in exceptional circumstances.Written by Anja SchaeferMother and daughter team, Susan and Claire Parker, had long dreamed of opening a small business together. In November 2020 the moment had come after several months of planning andpreparation, and they opened a small, independent coffee shop in the centre of their home town. The town has approximately 25,000 inhabitants and had grown rapidly in the previous 10 years, thenewcomers mostly being middle class and professional people, many with young families. The town is within daily commuting distance to both London and Birmingham, as well as several medium sizedtowns and cities. It also retains much of its former rural character.The town is currently served by three other coffee shops, which are all part of a chain, and two independent tea rooms, which serve mostly older people. The town centre is normally particularly busy onmarket days, which are on Tuesday and Saturday of each week. This is when coffee and tea shops would normally expect to do a lot of trade.Susan and Claire's coffee shop is located right at the centre of the town's small pedestrianised shopping area, close to the town centre's only full-range supermarket and to the main car park. There arebenches for people to sit in the shopping area as well as by the nearby small river. A popular park is located less than three minutes away and easily accessible on foot, by bicycle, and for wheelchairusers.However, November 2020 was no normal time for opening a business. From the day of opening, Susan and Claire's coffee shop has been operating under some form of restrictions due to the Covid-19pandemic. They have been allowed to be open throughout this time but have only been allowed to offer a take-away service. The town has also been quieter than normal, even on market days, as othershops were closed and not as many people came into town. Yet, business has been good during the first five months, better in fact than Susan and Claire had expected. They are putting this down tothe fact that other food venues, such as pubs and restaurants are either closed or are also only offering take-away. They also think that many of the town's inhabitants have been wanting to supportsmall, independent businesses during the difficult circumstances of the pandemic. Customers also appreciate the friendly yet professional manner of serving and running the business displayed bySusan and Claire. Currently, they do not employ any further staffSusan and Claire feel that they are offering an attractive mix of food and drinks. In addition to the normal coffee and other hot and cold drinks that most coffee shops offer, they offer a small range offreshly baked little cakes, but no pastries or larger pieces of cake. They also offer a lunchtime menu of freshly made sandwiches and toasties. On Fridays and at weekends they also offer an eveningtake-away menu, featuring a small selection of daily changing hot dishes and sides. All drinks and food are currently take-away only. For orders over £20 they also offer a delivery service on their Fridayand weekend evening menuThey have outfitted the coffee shop simply. to reflect both their limited initial budget and their own tastes for clean, simple lines. There is room in the shop for a few small tables and chairs for eating in,however that space has not been used in the months following the opening, due to the lockdown restrictions. Food preparation takes place in a small kitchen behind the part of the shop that isaccessible to customers. Hot drinks are made at the counter, in front of customers.Aware of the existing competition in the town, Susan and Claire have set prices that are similar to those charged by other coffee shops and tea rooms. They do not feel that there is much room toincrease prices. Currently, prices cover their fixed and variable costs. However, they are a little concemed whether they can maintain their prices if their own costs go up, e.g. due to an increase in rentafter the end of lockdown, or higher transportation and handling costs of supplies they are getting from EU countries after Brexit, or if the worldwide price for coffee should go up.So far, Susan and Claire have only engaged in very limited marketing communications. They have taken out an advert in several of the free magazines that serve the town. They are also publicisingtheir coffee shop on local social media pages. Most of their customers notice the coffee shop while strolling through town or learn about it through word of mouth-both traditional and online. Susan andClaire are currently unsure whether they will need to do more paid marketing communications in order to maintain business after the end of lockdown, when customers will have more leisure andconsumption options again.Claire feels strongly that theirs should be a socially and environmentally responsible business. She imports fully compostable take-away cups for their hot drinks and food is wrapped in compostablegrease-proof paper and compostable containers, rather than in plastic containers or wraps. On two occasions, Susan and Claire have also joined other local food outlets, and donated food to agrassroots initiative in the town that has provided free meals to families with children to compensate for the loss of free school meals during the Covid-19 lockdowns. 4. Claire is very interested in strengthening the social and environmental aspects of theirbusiness and has asked you to advise her on this. Explain to her how the societal marketingconcept could apply to their business. What changes could she make to TWO aspects of themarketing mix to strengthen the environmental and social credentials of the business.[Guidance to students:Use concepts from B100 Reading 36 to help you with this answer. Start by explaining what is meantby the societal marketing context. Try to use your own words in doing so and make sure you add areference. Then explain how the societal marketing concept can apply to Susan and Claire's coffeeshop. What would they have to do in order to follow the societal marketing concept?Then recommend changes to TWO aspects of the marketing mix that would allow Claire to improvethe social and environmental performance of their business. You can think about any two aspects ofthe marketing mix. Perhaps more could be done to make the product or the packaging moreenvironmentally friendly. Or perhaps pricing or distribution or any other element of the marketingmix could be adapted to make the business more socially and/or environmentally responsible.You can come up with creative solutions here, if you wish. Your answer needs to be compatible withyour analysis in Q2 and also needs to make sense bearing in mind the nature of Susan and Claire'sbusiness, i.e. a small, independent coffee shop with limited resources.](Approximately 200 words for this question)

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Accepted Answer

Social marketing is advertising that aims to improve society rather than simply promoting a…