The Spice & Tea ExchangeKimberly Cabello

What is the business you have selected?

• The Spice and Tea Exchange started out as a small shop in Saint Augustine, FL. It has grown in the past ten years to have stores nation wide.

• The “trading post” type atmosphere is a home to more than 140 spices (80 exclusive blends), 16 flavored sugars, a multitude of salts from around the world and over 30 teas in each shop.

• Blending spices and bagging teas takes place in store, employees on hand are prepared to offer recipes for whatever you are looking for!

Today:• Comforting• Memorable• Inviting• Knowledgeable• Unique

Future:• Interesting• Festive• Fun• Innovative• Modern

Key Messages and Taglines:• We offer unique, hard to find, and everyday items for

cooking, baking, and more.• We are a one stop shop for your cooking needs• Helping make memories

Brand and Image

• The brand and image TSTE gives out today is one of comfort, pulling you back into the family kitchen growing up, and smells relate well to memories, this is the best place to remember and create memories.

• TSTE needs to create more streamlined social media practices. Currently each franchise is responsible for their stores page but without knowledge of how to run it. They should provide either training or a designated social media person. This could be as simple as hiring a college student for an internship.

Strengths

•Has more options than the grocery store•Employees are prepared with recipes to curious customers•Blends spices and bags teas in house•Has local spices to make each franchise unique•Located in specific neighborhoods known for shopping, less proximity competition•Satisfaction guaranteed on all products

Opportunities

•Partner will local clubs, events, etc. to get more people in the store• Create contests for new products - spice blends and teas• Create a blog, have chefs from well known blogs come up with recipes to help promote•Create an app, what can you cook with what spices

Threats

• There is no “busy season”• Price inflation/deflation• Penzy’s is coming out with a line of cocoa• Certain grocery stores are stocking more hard to find spices

Weaknesses

• Poor social media outreach•Penzy’s Spice Shop is very similar in offerings• Common, everyday spices are higher priced than grocery stores• There are 26 shops nation wide, but many are clustered close to each other near metro areas• There are no promotions to encourage consumer spending

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SWOT ANALYSIS

Demographic/Persona Assessment

Current customers are:

• Nearby cooks and bakers

• Usually live within walking distance

• Young professionals

• Living near a big city in an iconic neighborhood, and want to make their meals for one more fun

• Tourists visiting said iconic neighborhood

• People who have a vacation high and are willing to spend money on uniquely local items

Competitor Assessment• The Spice and Tea Exchange (TSTE) has a few competitors - one being

any local grocery store and the other is Penzy’s Spice Shop.

• Grocery stores are popular because they are more convenient to go to, sometimes cheaper for everyday spices, and offer multiple sizes.

• Penzy’s is similar in layout and the types of spices offered. Except they do not offer tea. Penzy’s does offer many BOGO deals.

Overview of Integrated Campaign Strategy (Social/Digital Objectives and

Goals)• Earn 30% more followers over 6 months on all social media platforms

• Increase foot traffic into store by 50% through use of in store promotions

• Use PPC methods on short terms sales.

• Utilize Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest advertising to reach different customer circles and reach larger audiences than organic searches

• Engage customers by creating contests, featuring their recipes and holding courses in store.

The Mix of Tactics to Achieve Goals

• Facebook - Facebook ads and regular posting

• Instagram - Advertising on Instagram and regular posting

• Pinterest - Regular posting

• Blogging - In house blogging as well as featured bloggers

Facebook Recommendations

• Use Facebook advertising

• Filter in people who like cooking or baking pages

• If someone likes the brand page, find their proximity to advertise the nearest shop’s promotions. If they are not nearby, have online specific promotions.

• Key messages should be to encourage people to make dinner more fun, make family memories around the dinner table, or (if the demographic calls for it) how to make are meals for one are not boring.

• Post before dinner, when people would most likely be looking up recipes for later that night, or on Sundays, before people go shopping to remind them they could use some awesome spices.

• Facebook Organic Postings

• Specific locations can have a social media intern (if they choose to) to manage posting location specific items and engaging customers so owners can focus on in store engagement.

• The key messages will be to get people’s opinion on their favorite recipe, blend, tea, etc.

• These posts should be made primarily on weekdays in the evening when people are relaxing, looking at social media, and more likely to see posts and respond.

Instagram Recommendations

• Instagram should be brand specific and location specific

• Locations will post ‘behind the scenes’, events taking place, photos of recipes, share follower photos

• Brand specific will do the same, as well as sharing various location posts

• The strategy for Instagram is to get maximum consumer engagement. Users and followers are more likely to ‘like’, repost, search through a hashtag, and tag on this medium than Facebook and it is easier to gain that personal exposure than Pinterest is.

• The key message is to show a personal side to the brand and location. Show faces of employees, show customers, show that this brand is more than a bottle of spices

• Instagram posts are good to post throughout the day as the feed does not sort itself or filter content as other platforms do.

Pinterest Recommendations

• Pinterest posts have a longer lifespan so this platform won’t need the timely attention the others do

• The strategy is to post recipes that specifically call for TSTE spice blends, teas, or sugars

• As we grow, expand into posting about causes we support

• Post about fun items to gain a few more likes and followers such as “how to brew the perfect cup of tea” or “what can you use flavored sugar with” just fun click through items.

• Pinterest posts should happen during the day, when people are on breaks and scrolling through and saving things for later. However, this platform allows for the most “reposting” as it can just be moved to the top of the feed and won’t look lazy or odd as it would on other platforms.

Blog Recommendations

• The blog should be managed in house (perhaps the social media intern), but it would be beneficial to have “guest” bloggers who are popular nationally or locally to earn more traffic. The blog should have recipes, info on events, and cooking and baking tips

• The strategy is to have the personal engagement with people who can’t be there in person.

• The key messages will be geared on tips, and showing how interesting your meals can get with some simple spice blends.

• Blogs should be updated at least one time per week on a consistent basis.

Integrated Campaign Calendar

Platform Time Message Target

Facebook Ad

Facebook PostWeekday evenings

Featured recipes

Upcoming events

New Customers

Current customer engagement

Instagram Weekday evening Photos of food, events, or behind the scenes Current and future consumers/followers

Pinterest Early weekdays, or Saturday morning Links to recipes, “how to’s” People looking to try new things

Blog Every Tuesday afternoon More info, putting faces to the brand People who enjoy being involved

with a brand

The Spice and Tea Exchange social tactics, content, and

calendar

Facebook Tactics:Sample Posts

Instagram Tactics:Sample Posts

Pinterest Tactics:Sample Posts

Twitter Tactics:Sample Twitter Posts

Content Calendar - November and December 2016

Blog for The Spice & Tea Exchange:

Click here to open in Google Docs