Groundbreakers Collective Marketing Plan
Project Reference Number: 2012-06
Project Status: Complete
Led by: Emily Bulmer, Director, Groundbreakers Collective
Funder: Enterprising non-profits
Groundbreakers Collective is a social enterprise with a mission to promote the production and consumption of local food at fair value by linking food consumers, producers and social service agencies through agricultural activities and education in the Bulkley Valley. As a social enterprise, Groundbreakers Collective carries out both charitable and business activities. Working with local farmers and consumers, they have developed a community shared agriculture business to increase community access to locally produced foods. They also maintain demonstration gardens and provide educational activities to increase opportunities for hands-on learning about gardening and agriculture.
The need for this project was identified during a business planning phase when it became evident that additional resources beyond those allocated for the business plan were needed in order to develop a reliable marketing and communications strategy. This includes addressing the need for more detailed market information on local food consumption trends.
Although this marketing plan will be specifically designed to promote Groundbreakers Collective’s Harvest Box, growers who supply food to the box will benefit both from the increased market for their products and from the promotion of their farm and products through Harvest Box marketing activities (e.g. producer profiles, links to producers’ websites, etc.)
The objectives of this project are to create a comprehensive marketing plan for Groundbreakers Collective that lays out the outreach, communications and marketing strategies and activities. This will be done through more detailed market research than the business planning resources have allowed for and by identifying potential marketing options and the costs and benefits of each in order to establish marketing priorities, budgets and timeframes.
The project involves:
- Gathering and compiling market information
- Identifying marketing and communication strategies
- Selecting preferred strategies, laying out a budget and timeframe
- Creating a two part document that includes both market research and a marketing plan
- Distributing results of the market research
The project is scheduled to be completed by the end of August 2012.
