Marketing Plan For Eleby Designs

Hand-crafted artisanal wood furnishings company

GOAL

Creation of a Marketing Plan for Eleby Designs aiming to provide focus and direction on how to understand it's market, broaden it's reach and customer base as well as give tools on how to craft compelling messages to increase exposure and sales.

Eleby Designs is a company owned by James Eleby a formerly incarcerated man who reinvented himself and found his passion in woodworking. He specializes in hand-crafted artisanal wood furnishings, particularly custom tables. All made from 100% reclaimed materials. Eleby Designs offers custom made furniture for individuals or businesses with specifications and brand identity as well as repair and restoration services.

Value Proposition

Handmade
Sustainability
Brand Story

“I don’t even see this as work because I enjoy doing it so much. Every table I do, I want to make it better than the last. My passion for this is stronger than anything"

- James Eleby

Video: Upworthy (2016)

James was part of The Refoundry, an initiative who trains formerly incarcerated people to repurpose discarded materials into home furnishings and incubates participants into their own businesses.

Opportunity

The metal and wood fabrication manufacturing sector has undergone robust growth over the past four years. 89 new wood fabrication companies were established between 2010 and 2015. In 2016, this sector ranked the third largest in New York City. The demand in this sector is driven by the high end, luxury market, ex. affluent homes, restaurants, and businesses for custom furnishings in various capacities.

Market Analysis

Market research was conducted to gain insights into the market environment, size and competitors. The analysis and assumptions made here will focus on New York City for the first year plan.

Eleby Designs operates within the ‘Metal and wood fabrication’ sector in the manufacturing industry. According to Center for an Urban Future (CUF), there are approx. 5,752 manufacturing companies in New York city (July, 2016). Out of those, approx. 520 companies operate within the metal and wood fabrication sector. These companies account for 6,980 jobs, with an average 13.4 employees per organization (July, 2016).

Source: Center for an Urban Future (CUF) — Source: *Center for an Urban Future (CUF)*

Competitors in New York City

The direct competitors of Eleby Designs include small wood fabrication companies, furniture manufacturers, designers and artisans. There are approximately 150 companies registered in furniture and furnishings category within Made in NYC organization (Made in NYC, 2016), 19 existing tenants in the wood category at Brooklyn Navy Yard (Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, 2016), and 6 furniture and salvage vendors at the Brooklyn Flea (Brooklyn Flea, 2016).

Industry Trends

Market Positioning

Segmentation and Targeting

Segments of the market are categorized as groups of customers with similar needs, these are segmented by geographic, demographic and psychosocial strata. The following analysis has focused on demographic and behavioral segmentation, in which we present the three core consumer groups Eleby Designs should gear their marketing efforts towards.