The Beard Bard

The marketing plan for the startup, The Beard Bard, will
outline the strategies that the company will implement in
order to succeed in a media-driven world. The Beard Bard is
a local small business that produces affordable beard
products for the well-groomed man.

The Beard Bard

@thebeardbardco
The Beard Bard is a local small business that specializes in creating small batch quality beard

products. Balms and oils help keep a beard healthy and moisturized, at the Beard Bard that is

the number one priority. Using responsibly sourced high quality ingredients, The Beard Bard

strives to only provide the best products to its customers.

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths: Handmade by owner; more attention to detail when produced in small batches.

Weaknesses: The Company is still small; due to the small size, it won’t be able to handle large

volume when the time comes. The company only has one customer, men.

Opportunities: Beards are a current trend; people are more likely to support small/family

business.

Threats: Retail stores like Target have more convenience for grooming accessories; difficultly

getting recognition through social media and word of mouth is slow.

Environmental Analysis: The average age in Cuyahoga County is about 40 years old, which is

within the target market for the beard products; and males take up 47.7% of the population.

Marketing Objective: Increase sales by 40% in one calendar year

Target Market: Men with beards, aged 25-55; geographic location of Greater Cleveland area

with room to expand; behaviorisms of on-trend, well-groomed men.

Porters’ 5 Competitive Forces

Threat of new entrants: Threat of new entrants is high, due to supplies to make balms and oils

is very low, the overhead on a single tin of balm is easily over 70%.

There are new artisans daily within the beauty market; many of them sell on Etsy.com, which

charges substantial fees. Others produce enough supply to create a store on Amazon.com,

which expands the customer base considerably.

Substitute products: Due to low cost of ingredients, substitute products are inevitable. The

quality of the product declines rapidly, however, when lesser quality ingredients are used. It is

easy, yet not recommended to cut corners with these products.

Many folks who are buying beard grooming products already shy away from generic brands, as

they often make lower-quality products.

Rivalry: Rivalry is high in this artisan market due to the high overhead, and simple ingredients.

Besides big-box stores, like Target and Walmart, The Beard Bard’s primary rivalry is other

artisans.

Bargaining power of Buyers: Bargaining power of customer is low at the consumer level; the

cost per-item is set, due to no bulk pricing.

Giving discounts to consumers for a few items is not going to help the company grow

financially. Once a consumer receives a discount, they’ll expect it in the future.

Bargaining power of Suppliers: Suppliers have a high power, as the quality ingredients used to

make the balms and oils are few and far in-between.

If one supplier decides to discontinue a needed ingredient, other suppliers will raise their prices

due to the demand.

Product Strategy

The Beard Bard is currently in its introduction stage of its life cycle as a business. Here, they are

creating a customer base, creating business relationships with local small businesses, and

building a brand reputation. The reputation that The Beard Bard wishes to develop is one of

dedication to quality ingredients. By generating this reputation, customers will know that The

Beard Bard takes what they do seriously, which means that the products that they apply to

their skin are not going to affect them negatively. The classification of The Beard Bard’s

products is ones of specialties; this is a niche market, and one that has only started to grow in

the past few years.

Global Strategy

The Beard Bard would consider expanding to Canada, on an international scale. The choice of

Canada is simple, they already have a stable economy, the proximity of the county, lower

language barrier, and the climate of weather is also a factor. It would be favorable to create

partnerships with smaller businesses in Canada to ship out product to, such as boutiques and or

barber shops in higher- populated cities such as Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary,
Winnipeg, and Saskatoon. By placing our brand in walk-in shops such as these, they will see that

The Beard Bard is small, handmade product.

Pricing | Distribution | Promotion

The Beard Bard’s pricing objective is product quality, with a pricing strategy of penetration, the

actual price of balms and oils will be $10 per 2 oz.

The distribution channel that they chose is a direct channel, The Beard Bard is the producer of

the products; they will be selecting selective distribution. The hours of operations will be 9

a.m.-4 p.m. EST Monday through Friday, however will have a strong online presence, so there

will also be a 24/7 availability, with a delayed response. Customer service will be available

through E-mail and telephone, for placing orders or general inquiries.

The Beard Bard will offer quarterly two-week promotions in-line with relevant holidays, offering

“Gentleman’s Specials” which will deduct 20% from orders of two items or more.

Advertisements will be primarily on social media, and online news sources; advertisements will

be seen starting three days before the beginning of the sale, through the end of the sale.

The Beard Bard’s ultimate marketing objective is to increase sales by 40% in one calendar year.

By measuring sales monthly, The Beard Bard will strive to reach a goal of 20 units sold per

month. By monitoring the goal, this will allow The Beard Bard to forecast sales for the

remaining quarters of the year, thus keeping ingredients fresh for new inventory for new sales.
The Beard Bard’s ultimate marketing objective is to increase sales by 40% in one calendar year.

By measuring sales monthly, The Beard Bard will strive to reach a goal of 20 units sold per

month. By monitoring the goal, this will allow The Beard Bard to forecast sales for the

remaining quarters of the year, thus keeping ingredients fresh for new inventory for new sales.
 | References |

“Cuyahoga County, Ohio (OH).” Cuyahoga County, Ohio Detailed Profile - Houses, Real Estate,

Cost of Living, Wages, Work, Agriculture, Ancestries, and More, www.city-

data.com/county/Cuyahoga_County-OH.html.

“List of Cities in Canada.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 30 Nov. 2019,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Canada.