Mediaboss Marketing

February 08, 2020

NEW YORK Remember the ethereal pale blue Prada dress Lupita Nyongo wore the night she won an Oscar in 2014? How about Glenn Closes moment in gold at last years Oscars in shimmering Carolina Herrera with the long, liquid cape?

In a sea of red carpets, both are among top talent who got to keep their fancy duds.

How a red carpet moment comes together, and what happens to the clothes after, can be a peculiar affair that heavily depends on who you are and what your relationship happens to be with the designer in question. A designers decision to gift or not to gift often comes after the big night is over and its time for stylists to pack em up and ship em back.

Theyre delighted if the designer says, Oh, please keep it. I made that just for her. She should have it, said stylist Emily Sanchez, who has dressed Laura Linney and Sutton Foster, among others. If a designer feels theyre going to want something back immediately, theyre pretty transparent about it.

Many gowns live out their days in a designers archives, to be lent out to museums or for other special events, such as the Christian Siriano tuxedo gown Billy Porter wore at last years Oscars and recently put on again for Sesame Street. Far rarer is a celebrity buying them instead.

For Oprah, we have dresses custom made and pay for them, so she keeps hers, said Adam Glassman, creative director of O, The Oprah magazine.

These days, Sanchez said, most nominees are offered bespoke.

Thats sort of like the big honor. Typically you get to work with the designer directly. Its such a huge press opportunity so designers are pretty excited to do that, she said. If you won, you probably want the dress, but I think everyone who goes to one of these events is fully prepared to give the dress back at the end of the day.

Coming at the end of the awards season, the Oscars are a mad scramble for fresh looks after an exhausting cycle of red carpets, parties and other appearances. There are fewer nominees to dress, along with presenters.

Stylist Micaela Erlanger, who has worked with Nyongo, Meryl Streep and others, said the Oscars are a mix of custom, couture or never-worn runway looks, the latter sometimes with modifications to the silhouette or color. Generally, Erlanger strives for custom.

Its the end of the season so you kind of have to resort to custom. So much has already been through the circuit. By the Oscars, Ive probably seen every dress out there, she said.

When it comes to gifting, every brand is different, Erlanger said.

Some brands want to keep them for their own archives. The brand decides that and the client is happy either way, she said. Id say its 50-50. If someone wins in a dress, generally speaking the brands are more inclined to give that as a gift because its very sentimental.

For the Oscars this year, shes dressing Sigourney Weaver for the show and Diane Kruger for the Vanity Fair after-party.

Stylist Chloe Hartstein will be dressing presenter Chris Rock for the Oscars. She worked with two nominees, Close and Melissa McCarthy, last year.

Keeping the clothes isnt automatic for nominees, including those who win, Hartstein said.

Its a Cinderella moment where you wear it and then the next morning Im there bright and early to grab it and pack it up and send it to Paris or wherever it needs to be. But there are moments where youre lucky enough to keep them, she said.

With many thousands of dollars of work and materials at stake, along with long hours of labor, some designers are more generous than others.

Jennifer Lopez kept her original Versace jungle dress of green silk chiffon that was the talk of the 2000 Grammys. Prior to Lopez making the dress with the plunging neckline among the most famous of all time, it was a runway piece that had been featured in a Versace ad campaign and was worn by Geri Halliwell and Donatella, the latter to the 1999 Met Gala.

Versace made duplicates for museum display, including the Grammy Museum, and Lopez wore a reimagined version for the Versace show at last Septembers Milan Fashion Week.

Close enjoyed a slew of custom pieces last year with her nominations for The Wife. She was gifted a black velvet cape look by Armani Prive from the Golden Globes after she won for best actress in a drama. She was also gifted the white crystal Ralph Lauren suit she wore when she won a Screen Actors Guild award for the same film.

This year at the Golden Globes, Close was a presenter and wore a royal blue custom gown by Armani Prive. It, too, was gifted. The Oscar de la Renta caftan she wore to the Screen Actors Guild awards wasnt custom and went back after she presented there.

She has a beautiful relationship with Mr. Armani. Shes been wearing the brand forever, Hartstein said. With Glenn last season, its a discussion we had throughout the process.

Close has a keen interest in fashion, amassing personal looks but also costumes from her films and other projects throughout her nearly 40-year career. She donated her costume collection to Indiana University in 2017.

Actress Kaitlyn Dever, who wore a soft pink strapless Miu Miu gown to the British Academy Film Awards, said her red carpet strategy is with sustainability in mind.

I borrow them, Dever said on Sundays BAFTA red carpet. Im trying to be more green in every aspect of my life. Im really trying in all areas. I think if you just try a little bit at least, that does something.

Saoirse Ronan, whos nominated for best actress at the upcoming Oscars, said her black Gucci gown at the BAFTAs included repurposed fabric. Does she get to keep it?

No, they usually go back, said Ronan and several others at the British awards show.

Jaclyn Alexandra Cohen, the fashion and accessories editor for Harpers Bazaar, said designers more often than not hold on to gowns.

Whether theyre pulled from the runway or created custom for a celebrity, most gowns we see at award shows are returned to the house and kept in the designers archive, she said. Many of these one-of-a-kind dresses will go down in fashion history as iconic looks.

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How risky is that virus? Your mind may mislead - Wilkes Barre Times-Leader

Reports about the consumerist boom brought on by the novel coronavirus are everywhere. Yes, people are stocking up on things like hand sanitizers, face masks, and household disinfectants, in addition to washing their hands more often (which could lead them to buy more soap), but Covid-19 which has infected more than 100,000 people worldwide and poses a threat to human lives, especially in cities where outbreaks are rampant could, despite appearances, be really bad for business.

Empty store shelves and TikToks of frantic stockpiling aside, most businesses and brands are primed to lose revenue. On top of that, this will undoubtedly affect workers, especially those in the service industry who are less likely to have paid time off if theyre sick.

As Voxs Matthew Yglesias wrote of the stock markets recent meltdown, Markets [were] down because events abroad imply bad business conditions are coming in the near future. Covid-19 doesnt have to get significantly worse in the US to impede the economy (although health officials say its likely that more cases will emerge). If people start going out less or if the government encourages social distancing to reduce the likelihood of an outbreak, thats going to hurt companies across many sectors from mom-and-pop restaurants and film distributors to major airlines and the alcohol industry. (Corona beer might have a marketing dilemma on its hands, but the spirits business is more worried about how coronavirus will stall imports and alcohol production.)

Then theres the issue of the global supply chain. Financial analysts have predicted a ripple effect from supply chain disruption, which would slow down the production of familiar American goods, from Diet Coke to iPhones to Baby Yoda toys. The scope of a supply chain disruption has yet to be determined because, as Elisabeth Braw pointed out in Foreign Policy, no CEO actually knows his or her companies complete supply chain, adding that the suppliers have suppliers of their own, who may, in turn, even have a third layer of suppliers. To put it simply, if a business relies on a coronavirus-impacted country for production or has a significant overseas customer base, the outbreak could have a substantial negative impact on its sales and manufacturing.

For years, experts have said that modern life has put us more at risk of a global outbreak, due to increased urbanization and population growth. The outlook isnt great for most companies at this point in the short or long run. Sequoia Capital, Silicon Valleys biggest venture capital firm, has declared the disease the black swan of 2020 (In business-speak, black swan refers to a rare, unforeseen event that carries potentially severe consequences).

As the global spread of coronavirus continues, a handful of brands appear to be, at least in the short term, uniquely profiting from Americans disease and quarantine preparation, such as antiseptic labels, medical suppliers, canned food brands, and at-home entertainment companies. Meanwhile, conventions, sporting events, concerts, movie theaters, and basically any place where people congregate are taking hits and thats just the beginning of the fallout.

In the midst of the growing coronavirus threat, American has quickly focused on a new enemy: germs. Hand sanitizer, cleaning wipes, and other disinfectant products are flying off shelves, according to several news reports. The Environmental Protection Agency released a list of antimicrobial products in early March that are effective against Covid-19, which includes Lysol, Clorox, and Purell branded items, but for weeks, people have been scrambling to stockpile household goods. Shares for Clorox were also on the rise in late February alongside two drugmakers developing potential treatments for the disease, Bloomberg reported.

A Clorox spokesperson told Vox in an email that the company has increased production of disinfecting products based on increased customer interest in its wipes. Purell is also seeing a spike in demand, a spokesperson confirmed, adding that it has experienced several demand surges in the past during other outbreaks, and this is on the higher end of the spectrum but not unprecedented.

Hand sanitizer, in all its antiseptic glory, has turned into something of a holy grail product, as Sabrina Maddeaux wrote for The Goods. Here are some eye-opening stats she pointed out: Consumer demand for hand sanitizer has grown by 1,400 percent from December to January; local Walmarts, pharmacies, and Bath & Body Works are sold out; and packs of Purell bottles on Amazon are either unavailable or marked for hundreds of dollars. (Gojo, Purells parent company, said that it does not set retail prices to consumers but feels strongly that there is no place for price gouging.)

As demand for these products soar, household cleaning brands are either vaguely referring to coronavirus or steering clear of mentioning it at all. Companies are aware they should be cautious, Adweek reported, as the Food and Drug Administration is hyper-aware of any product advertising that isnt backed by a clinical study. These brands dont need more demand creation, Allen Adamson, founder of the marketing firm Metaforce, told Adweek. Theyre already having to run factories 24/7 to keep up with demand.

The restaurant industry at large is bracing for declining sales and a pivot to delivery options in the coming weeks, as more people are choosing, or being forced, to eat at home. It is going to fundamentally shift the attitudes that the majority of Americans have toward that convenience, Alex Garden, CEO of the food technology company Zume Inc., said at a restaurant conference in early March. Even Starbucks has predicted a sales drop from its China-based franchises, and has stopped allowing customers to use personal cups.

Chinese food businesses especially restaurants in Chinatowns across the country have been on the frontlines of a sales decline, as tourism from China has slowed significantly. Xenophobia, racism, and general concerns about the coronavirus have also hurt Chinese restaurants, and as Eater reported, owners say misinformation and baseless fears circulating on social media have contributed to the drop in customers. The New York Times reported in February that New York Citys three main Chinatowns have experienced a 50 to 70 percent drop in business, according to local workers and owners.

From San Francisco to Philadelphia, foot traffic has also declined in these cultural hubs, leading some restaurants to start offering delivery options, in the hopes of appealing to stay-at-home customers.

MarketWatch, and certainly the restaurant industry, is predicting that demand for food and grocery delivery will grow if the outbreak takes a turn for the worse. Thats good news for the likes of GrubHub, InstaCart, and UberEats but not necessarily for service workers, the people who cook, serve, and deliver food, who often work without paid sick leave. Drivers for Uber and Lyft, who are independent contractors, have reportedly been scrubbing down their cars inch by inch, the Washington Post reported. American delivery companies, including Instacart and Postmates, have introduced a program of contactless delivery, which was first implemented in Wuhan to reduce risks. Food couriers will drop off orders at a persons front door or a location they requested in advance to minimize human contact.

Meanwhile, grocery stores across the country are seeing a spike in sales, and nonperishable food brands like Campbell are benefiting from the bump, as shoppers stock up on their pandemic pantries. Campbell is treating the growth in demand as it would a storm or a natural disaster, the Wall Street Journal reported, in case of any port or factory closures. As the coronavirus case count in the US grows, people are increasingly worried theyll have to self-quarantine for a brief period, and have been buying up staple foods and cases of water. (If a person in your household is sick, drinking water from a bottle is more sanitary than from a cup or a reusable water bottle thats less frequently washed.)

The term homebody economy was invoked by The Goods reporter Kaitlyn Tiffany in 2018 to describe the phenomenon of (generally) young women who like to stay at home, lounge in bed, and do what society likes to call Netflix and chill. That demographic of the stay-at-homers, at least in 2020, has changed, as people of all ages and genders are encouraged to rest up if they feel ill. While the broader market is tumbling, stocks for the homebody economy, which include the video-conferencing service Zoom, the fitness equipment maker Peloton, and technology companies like Netflix, are rising, Yahoo Finance reported.

The stock market is forward-looking, Yglesias wrote. In other words, stocks fall not because bad things have happened to companies but because there is good reason to believe that bad things will happen in the future. Rising stocks might not be an accurate indicator of how these companies will perform in the long run (or if people are buying more Netflix subscriptions), but it does reveal that investors think Zooms, Netflixs, or Pelotons short-term outlook is bright and profitable.

Then, of course, there are the e-commerce sites and delivery providers. Amazon, the largest virtual marketplace in the US, is a company thats arguably poised to benefit the most from the pandemic. Its workers arent. According to data Vox received from Helium 10, a software suite for Amazon sellers, nine of the top 10 keywords being searched on Amazon.com are coronavirus-related. Shoppers are mostly searching for N95 respirators, medical face masks, and hand sanitizer. Recodes Jason Del Rey also found that in Amazons health and household category as of March 5, top items included a three-pack of anti-dust masks, Clorox and Lysol Wipes, and immune support gummies.

As more and more people stay home, theyre likely turning to Amazon to order whatever they need because, well, the e-commerce giant can get it to their front door in a day (if they have Prime), although the service appears to be overwhelmed with orders and is experiencing delivery delays. Speedy delivery is terrible for the environment and burdens warehouse and delivery workers, but when the world is on the verge of a pandemic, the cost of one-day shipping seems to be a problem most shoppers wouldnt prioritize. Amazon is also actively working to stop scams and prevent merchants from price-gouging, but the cost of high-demand items is still increasing marginally.

People are clearly hesitant to leave their house not to mention their city as the outbreak threatens to disrupt everything from conferences to major sporting events. Faced with the spread of a contagious disease, people are grappling with the safety of crowded events, and its increasingly looking like few people want to take the risk.

Since January, airlines have been suspending routes left and right, offering fee waivers for trip changes and cancellations. The International Air Transport Association said airlines are set to lose anywhere from $63 billion to $113 billion in revenue if Covid-19 continues, a prediction that suggests the outbreak could disrupt the industry as significantly as the 9/11 terror attacks or the Great Recession.

Film releases have been pushed back, musicians and performers are scrapping concerts and tours, and major cultural events, like the Cannes Film Festival, are at risk of being canceled. A series of high-profile companies, including Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, and Apple, have cancelled or withdrew from major tech conferences, signaling how high-profile companies are not willing to risk employees well-being. On Friday afternoon, Austins mayor, Steve Adler, announced the SXSW festival had been canceled by executive order, bringing the direct economic loss of major tech events to over $1 billion.

The 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games are months away, but the International Olympic Committee is preparing for the possibility of a fan-free Olympics. Within recent months, sporting events without fans have grown increasingly common. The New York Times reported that the World Health Organization has begun discussing screening measures for the Olympics, in addition to a worst-case scenario without any fans present just athletes, sports officials, and broadcasters. In addition, qualifying events for the Games have already been postponed or canceled, which further complicates the process of selecting athletes who will get to compete.

At this rate, the coronavirus outbreak looks like it could upend the most basic aspects of our daily lives. Americans are commuting, eating, and interacting with one another differently. Still, the disease wont affect everyone equally, although our futures are intertwined. As Elizabeth Spiers wrote at the Daily Beast, For those with means, the virus is primarily a market disruption, and a threat to the economy and by extension, their wealth. For those without, the crisis is existential and immediate.

The wealthy are preparing differently, moving to safe homes abroad and flying private jets, while lower-income people dependent on the nature of their jobs, health care plans (if they have one), and living situations are more constrained to their day-to-day realities.

Already, public health, business, travel, and even the entertainment industry have felt the outbreaks ripple effects. A handful of brands and products might briefly benefit from Americans new purchasing habits as they buckle down for the worst, but theres so much we still dont know about the coronavirus and its potential economic fallout, for China and the rest of the world.

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Clorox, Netflix, and Campbell are benefiting from the coronavirus. Most companies arent. - Vox.com

Wander Beauty, like many other beauty brands, often seeks out customer feedback for its product development process. But with its latest eyeshadow palette launch, the brand took a more in-depth approach by co-creating it directly with consumers.

The brands new Wanderess Escape palette is the first eyeshadow palette that will remain in the companys assortment; previous products were special editions. After prolonged requests from customers, Wander Beauty opted to make a permanent version by soliciting customers for help. It began the process at the end of April 2019 with an NYC pop-up where customers were asked to bring photos and other pieces of inspiration to create a large-scale mood board through June. The brand also created a dedicated email and landing page to receive additional suggestions between April and July, before ultimately narrowing down the shades to 10. The company drove to the page in social posts. Wander Beauty sells through Sephora, Nordstrom and Birchbox, and approximately 50% of its sales are DTC. It grew its net revenue by over 100% between 2018 and 2019, said Divya Gugnani, Wander Beauty co-founder and CEO.

Social media has changed the game for brands because you have direct communication with your customer any time you want, said Lindsay Ellingson, Wander Beauty co-founder and creative director. Why not use the data we have and our conversations with them in our product development? Instead of hiring an influencer or celebrity [for product collaborations], we believe in co-creating with customers.

The companys core DTC customers are between 25 and 54 years old, and concentrated in New York, California, Texas and Florida. On average, the brand receives between 300 and 500 direct messages, emails or phone calls a day from shoppers. For the Wanderess palette, the brand received thousands of submissions, said Ellingson, but was uncertain of a final figure. The customer service team compiled submissions into an Excel spreadsheet, and the 10 shades determined were chosen based on a mix of intuition and customer feedback based on past limited-edition palettes. For example, the team knew customers wanted to see more matte shades in the next eyeshadow palette, so four of the 10 shades are matte, said Gugnani.

Being a predominantly DTC brand, we have an even deeper understanding of exactly who our customer is and what products she is responding to, and we get to interact with her daily through the additional customer service channels, Gugnani said. For brands that are retailer-reliant, they only get a filtered snapshot of that additional information.

After narrowing down the 10 shades between August and October 2019, the brand reached back out to its customers via social media to solicit names for the individual shades. The brand has historically surveyed people every week through Instagram polls regarding product names, shades, beauty pain points and more. The company also retains a select group of over 100 women who are frequent customers, makeup artists and influencers to receive products and provide more thorough feedback. This subset of shoppers received the shades between January and February to provide their thoughts on the quality and color of the eyeshadows.

By February, Wander Beauty began working on the marketing materials for Wanderess, which was linked back to the 10 women whose shade suggestions were chosen. Seven of those women came into the office to help film video content, and the other three filmed at home, said Ellingson. Between photos and videos, approximately 30 pieces of content have been created for the latest campaign.

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How Wander Beauty co-created its latest product with customers - Glossy

Starling Bank has signed on as the official banking partner of Team GB ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, a move its brand director says reflects its push beyond early adopters to enter the mainstream market.

Starling is one of the fintech unicorns vying for a share of burgeoning space. As the third-largest neobank behind Revoluts eight million customers, and Monzos 3.3 million, Starling Bank has been pursuing a more affluent audience between 25 to 44 since it launched in 2014. In 2020, it is looking to double its customer base to two million by investing heavily into its marketing and adopting a brand-led approach.

As part of this strategy, the fintech firm now supports Team GB, one of four Olympic Associations in the world run without state backing and instead dependent on commercial partnerships with the likes of Starling Bank, Purple Bricks, Aldi, British Airways and DFS.

Kerrone says: "Team GB is one of the brands Britons are most proud of, behind only the NHS. We are a British born bank, and we choose the company we keep very carefully. Pride in what we do is absolutely key.

"This announcement isnt about just putting the Team GB logo on our marketing materials, or pushing our product features and benefits; its about unifying two proud British brands and celebrating national spirit and a belief in the extraordinary.

"We have first-hand experience of the hard work and dedication it takes to succeed, so feel a genuine connection with our athletes as they prepare for the games."

As part of the deal, more than 350 athletes have been gifted a Starling retail account with 100 deposited. Kerrone is particular about how she defines the deal.

"Were very keen to avoid calling this a sponsorship. Sponsorships often lack authenticity and can seem quite self-serving. At Starling, we were keen to build a partnership portfolio built on meaningful relationships with like-minded brands.

"Throughout the past few months, weve worked incredibly closely with the British Olympic Association team to find out how Starling can genuinely help athletes. The 100 incentive was borne out of those conversations."

There's more activity to come, currently being brainstormed before the games. One such feature coming to the app will be a Team GB medal tracker. Kerrone adds: "There are lots of opportunities for Starling to support the athletes both during but also after the games."

Late last year, the bank acknowledged the need for brand building in its growth strategy and embraced TV advertising.

In 2019, it grew by 500,000 to 900,000 accounts. New avian branding was embraced to help make Starling a household name Rachael Pollard, Starling Bank's head of growth, said at the time. The goal was to accelerate the marketing strategy to "stop being one of banking's best-kept secrets". The brand, she described as a "gangly teenager, was to lean into its Britishness, a clue for what lies ahead with the Team GB partnership.

It has its own Olympic pedigree too. Its chief banking officer Helen Bierton was a former British Olympic archer and knows from personal experience how valuable these partnerships are. "It taught me just how important the support of sponsors is when youre trying to prepare for the Games in the right way, perform to the best of your ability and win medals," she tells The Drum.

For Kerrone the objective is to increase UK brand awareness. "By increasing awareness and trust, more people will consider us as their bank.

"Overall we want to differentiate ourselves - both in what we do, the company we keep and our creative executions. Standing out and being bold about what we believe in is massively important for us as a brand."

From a content perspective, it will look to tell the stories of the athletes, many of whom remain unknown to a wider audience. For Starling, the lion's share of work will run through digital out of home advertising with Team GB partner Ocean outdoor, and on social media with some help from influencers.

Starling's deal with Team GB comes as big events like SXSW and the Six Nations are being cancelled or disrupted by Coronavirus. Toyko 2020 is certainly under threat, with sports federations even floating the idea of the tournament being held behind closed doors.

Of course, any disruption will throw up a myriad of issues for sponsors and Kerrone is monitoring the situation.

"We are speaking daily with our contacts at Team GB, who are keeping us fully up to speed with the situation.

"Should the games be postponed, we would still remain the official bank of Team GB - the timings would just differ. We have contingencies in place from a campaign perspective, but the most important thing is that we are positively supporting our athletes whatever happens."

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What to expect from Starling's Team GB deal: 'We're unifying two proud British brands' - The Drum

write on the money:WITH NATSAI MUSARURWA

In the top three key sections of your business plan is the market analysis. Last week we talked about defining your target market and that information is going to come in handy here. Knowing information about your target market will help tailor your market analysis to only include relevant points instead of just throwing in anything and everything, which is sure to make your potential investors lose interest while reading your plan.

Lets start by looking at the purpose of the market analysis. The market analysis is supposed to give investors a full picture of the market you operate in, both at an industry and macro level. This section should inform the investor about any factors that can affect your businesses and their investment, either positively or negatively. The information in the market analysis should give as clear a picture as possible of the potential of your business and also outline some of the potential risks.

There are many ways of doing your market analysis, just make sure the method you choose achieves the above stated purpose. At Amras Communications we like to use the PESTLE Analysis, Porters Five Forces Analysis and a competitor analysis table, the components of which Ill talk about shortly. The reason these are my go-to market analysis tools is because they adequately cover all the factors that need to be considered. So today Im going to go into a bit more detail about these tools, if these arent your methods of choice perhaps you can still pick up a thing or two.

I like to look from the outside in, i.e. look at the macro factors which affect multiple industries first then when I have an understanding of the larger environment, I can make sound deductions about the specific industry. For the macro analysis I use PESTLE.

PESTLE is an acronym for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental. Under each title you look at the factors that are important to your business. With political factors you would assess the political environment of the country or countries you operate in such as stability and policies.

Politics have a cascading effect on the other factors that follow so although you can start anywhere with the PESTLE Analysis it may be helpful to begin here.

Economic factors include GDP, inflation, interest rates, unemployment, etc. These factors give investors an idea of where the country is and where it may be headed. Ive also found that this section helps businesses identify opportunities and gaps within the market. There are a lot of economic factors you can consider, however, as much as you want your investor to be as well informed as possible, only stick to whats relevant.

Now the third set of factors, Social, is where knowing your target market will be most useful. Relevant social factors depend a lot on the demographic characteristics of your customers. Here you would look at aspects such as age distribution, cultural factors, or lifestyle trends that could affect demand for your product or influence how you sell it. Again, remember to only include whats relevant.

Technological factors, which is self-explanatory, looks at technology such as innovations that could boost your business, adoption of technology, penetration rates of technology, etc. With this analytical tool some choose to stop here, making it a PEST analysis. That isnt to say there arent any Legal and Environmental factors to consider but their impact or relevance may be null. Examples of Legal factors, however, include employment or contract laws and Environmental factors include climate conditions.

Whatever tool(s) you decide to use for your macro analysis remember to be specific. If youre talking about inflation, give actual figures, just saying inflation is increasing wont be sufficient. Additionally, when you give this information explain how and why it would affect your business. Dont make the investor have to figure it out.

Now taking a step inwards we have the competitor analysis and Porters Five Forces, which look at the specifics of the industry. I use a table for my competitor analysis which outlines information such as what the company does, their marketing strategy, market share, strengths, weaknesses, etc. This analysis not only helps you see how you rank competitively against other businesses but it can also help you identify gaps that competitors are not filling that you can leverage. Only keep the analysis to five companies at most, even if there are one hundred competitors, and make sure they range in size, location, etc. so your sample is representative.

Building off your competitor analysis, the Porters Five Forces Analysis looks at your industrys environment in the context of competition. The five forces are; degree of competition, threat of new entrants, threat of substitutes, bargaining power of buyers, and bargaining power of suppliers. I like to rank each of these factors from very low to very high but you can use what suits you. I wont go into detail about this analysis tool, as Ive said in previous articles you can find great resources that explain this online. One thing I would like to point out, however, because so many people get it wrong, is that bargaining power of suppliers refers to your suppliers, not you.

This isnt the most exciting section of the business plan to write. A lot of research will be required to properly complete the analysis, but please dont take short cuts, its very important. If you find it a bit overwhelming to do on your own, Amras Communications (hopefully by now you know who we are) also offers market research reports which you can integrate into your business plan.

l If you have any questions or need some guidance on your market analysis, feel free to contact us on +263787722016 or at info@amrascoms.com. We are committed to your success.

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Business plans that win investors (Part 4) - The Zimbabwe Standard