Marketing

This page describes the marketing and advertising tools and means I have used and explored. It also gives an indication of expenses, income and profit.

Packaging

 For packaging I decided to use small envelopes. These are not new, but they give a vintage impression that fits in well with my hipster bow ties.


To personalize them a bit more, I stamped them with a home made eraser stamp. This is not the most precise font designs as it is easy to accidentally cut away parts of the design.But with more work and practice, I hope to develop this to be a vintage, but professional package.

 How it works:
  • Write words in the desired size on a piece of paper. Use a soft pencil, preferably a 6B pencil. (If you want to use printed words, go over it with the pencil.)
  • Turn the wording around so that the penciled side is against the eraser.
  • Go over the words on the back of the paper, so that the wording rubs off on the eraser.
  • The words are now in reverse on the stamp.

  •  Use an enty cutter  to cut away the rubber (about 2 mm) so that the words are elevated.

  • And finally, Stamp.
(Process learned from author Lesley Krige. Also seen in her book, Keurige Kaartjies. page 88)

 Advertising

 Advertising is also a daunting experience. I am not a sales person by nature and hate the idea of forcing any product or project on the people around me. Whether they are family, friends, or unknown clients.

But without advertising and getting work out there, a business will become stagnant. And as such, different avenues of advertising need to be explored.

These are the advertising tools I used in this project.
The blog I found quite easy to use, as blogger is simple and well layed out. It is also a useful way of keeping people informed about what you are currently busy with, learning, or your own reflection about your work. It also allows people to see this as you continue.


We started to develop a website on MyVigo.co where websites can be launched at an affordable price per month. This will be helpful as a designer with my own business. For now I am still trying to figure out how to manage the site. It is not launched yet, but have a look anyway. (Bow Tie Design)

The facebook page can be seen here: Bow Tie Design on Facebook

  I found this easy to work with and a good means to inform and advertise. I don't specifically like that the first people to see the page are family and friends (however they are the best to begin with) as I do not want anyone to feel obligated to support my business. But facebook is still a good means of informing and advertising through social media.

 With the facebook page I realized there may be practical implications. With a market, items are sold off hand, but using online marketing, there is room for miscommunication. And to get the purchased item to the person may provide further challenges. But this method is still worth exploring.

Word of Mouth advertising worked well. Since this work is for university studies, I had the opportunity to tell people what project I am currently busy with. This would then spread from them to others.

Venues

We had arranged to go sell at the Observatory Station Market. Unfortunately, due to rainy weather, we had to cancel. But just to see what our stalls would look like, we set up tables in our classroom. 


 We also have the opportunity to go to the Avant Garden Market on Saturday, 13 September, where a few class mates and I will play our hand at selling our products.



Target Market

Initially, I developed the woven bow tie with the hipster culture in mind. But the bow tie is not limited to this culture and can be appreciated by anyone with a flare for something slightly different, colourful and artistic.

Expenses
At this stage my expenses added to about R220.

Income
Up to now I've sold (during the past two weeks) 10 bow ties (R390 income). And have altogether made 28 bow ties. I've sold the first 10 simply with word of mouth marketing. I hope a market at the Avant Garden will present an even greater opportunity for sales to the general public.

 Profit 
At this stage the profit is about R170. (If all expenses are subtracted at this stage).

Contribution
About 33% of the income will be given to Bovlei Akademie.
Reflection

 This is a rather new experience. I have worked in a shop before, but selling my own hand made product is rather new and daunting. I know that criticism as well as good feedback can be expected (and has already been given), but this is something that will be there as long as I am a designer working in the industry, and especially as one producing my own products. Also, knowing whether or not your product will sell is difficult to determine in advance. In some regards this is a test and trial run. But all in all I have found this to be a good experience. 

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