Charlie & Wolf

Market

Target market

Charlie & Wolf has 2 main target markets:

1. The Parents: C&W as a brand will target active parents with children aged 2-10 years, promoting its values, ethos and knowledge to parents offering a wider set of services on top of the applications through the 'parent portal'.

2. Children & Parents: C&W will target its apps and eBooks at children aged 2-10 years and their parents, encouraging them to engage with the brand through the multiple platforms and activities.

• Primary launch market is the UK and secondary is USA/Australia.

• C&W is targeting health conscious parents or parents who want their children to be more interested in what they are eating, through reading, games and learning.

• C&W will initially be targeting families/parents who own Apple mobile devices in order to access the mobile app through Apple iStore.

• C&W will also aim our marketing efforts towards families/parents who have purchased reading tablets and eBooks for their children, as well as those who are looking to make the switch from hard copy to electronic.

• Parents who purchase ‘healthy’ foods and seek recipes/inspiration for family friendly meals.

• Parents who are online via community groups, forums, blogs.

• Children aged 2-10 years who like ice cream, cupcakes, playing games, puzzles, painting and reading.

• Children who want to help Mum and Dad in the kitchen.

Characteristics of target market

C&W conducted an online survey in March 2014 with 104 parents from the UK, U.S. and Australia; a combined total of 228 children. Some of the findings concluded that:

• 92% of parents would like their children to be more involved in what they are eating and where it comes from.
• 90% of parents would be interested in an app that educated children about healthy eating.

Disney UK surveyed 2,000 UK parents who own an app-enabled device, finding that ‘more than 1/3 of parents now see apps as integral to family life’.

2 in 5 parents spend up to £10 each month on apps, meaning UK families could be spending an estimated £132 million a year. According to a study by PlayCollective/Digital Book World, 67% of U.S. children aged 2-13 are now reading eBooks, 85% of those children e-read at least once a week.

The average monthly sales figure for children/young adults’ eBooks in 2011 was 3.9 million; in 2012 that monthly figure had increased to 22.6 million. (AAP, 2012).

Marketing strategy

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMISATION (SEO):

Targeting key search words, link building, website and content optimisation.

ADVERTISING: C&W will advertise on social media sites, selected ‘Mum blogger’ websites, health food store websites, selected health food/children bloggers.

PUBLIC RELATIONS:

A PR company will target key publications and create lists of potential ambassadors/influencers that C&W can reach out to.

SEEDING INFLUENCERS:

C&W will send out uniquely branded merchandise to selected influential people in order to create engagement with the brand.

SOCIAL MEDIA:

C&W will have a strong social presence and create constant engagement across all social media platforms, strategically following key industry and influential people/parents.
It will use social media to communicate with its consumers and inform of interesting articles, photos and updates.

BRAND AMBASSADORS:

C&W aims to enlist influential parents within its key markets to become brand ambassadors, sharing the C&W philosophy of healthy eating and education with their friends, family, following and parent/learning groups.

PARTNERSHIPS:

C&W is looking to form partnerships with a number of children’s event companies and selected healthy food/drink brands.

COMPETITIONS:

C&W plans to create online competitions specifically targeted around school holidays, which engage with its current users and encourage new users/followers. The prizes for the competitions will allow the children to become involved with the next C&W story, as well as personalised GICC merchandise.

Competition strategy

The main point of difference for C&W is via what it aims to achieve through its books and apps, healthy kids with an interest in their lifestyles and cooking. C&W is not just providing an app/eBook we are providing parents and children with educational tools that take them through their childhood development.

• By releasing a minimum of 3 stories and 2 games within 1 app we aim to provide the users with more value than most storybook/game apps currently on the market.

• The technology platform we are building allows us to add new stories and games to the app as an update, so instead of having to drive our current users to download a new app, we create an update and notify them via the app that a new story/game is available for purchase.

• The platform and structure we build will be able to be re-used as a framework for future apps/ebooks, reducing the cost of development significantly.

• We have a talented team and are looking to collaborate with a number of individuals/companies/authors/illustrators going forward to produce the best possible stories and game experiences.

• C&W is providing its users with a 'freemium' pricing experience, so that they are able to read and play with the first book completely free. This is in the belief that 15% of users who download the app will go on to make an in-app purchase to access the games world or books 2/3. Pricing will remain competitive and be evaluated regularly, as well as providing promotional incentives for users.

• Regular evaluation of our apps/books through surveys, Q&A’s on the parent portal, analysing social media data and online tools such as ReviewForDev’s and Promoter.

• C&W isn’t just motivated by profit; we want to make a positive difference to how people enjoy their lives.