Export marketing plan, Assignments of Marketing

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DECEMBER 3RD, 2019

REPÈRE BORÉAL

Presented by:

Export

Marketing

Plan

Presented to For the course International Marketing MRK- 3102 Faculté des Sciences de l’administration

Executive Summary The main goals of this exporting marketing plan are to develop a thought-out plan to expand and increase Repère Boréal’s presence on the international scene. This can be done through the purchase of a piece of land outside of Canada, the development of this land according to the current business model, the promotion of the brand within this new market and the marketing of the destinations internationally. More precisely, for the new location, a marketing entry strategy will be developed, and this will be followed by a marketing campaign in France. The sector for the new location must offer a full nature experience, be close to a small town, provide access to various outdoor activities, and be big enough for the implementation of 50 dwellings. Thus, we discovered the city of Conway which is in New Hampshire. Its proximity to Quebec, already established business routines with our province and beautiful landscapes make its travel and tourism Industries an ideal fit. The marketing entry strategy requires slight modification regarding product and branding. The brand name should be changed as the location will not be in a French-speaking territory. On the same note, the naming of the dwellings must no longer be in Innu since this Native American tribe is not present in the new territory. Hence, it shall be translated into the language of the Native American tribe presents in this state. It is also recommended that the model of the Maikan be kept and new dwellings resembling treehouses be created. The services offered at the Quebec location will also be offered in New Hampshire. However, there will be some added to the list. The main activities will remain in Quebec. Nonetheless, the company's tenacity to strive towards sustainability bring the need to take into consideration the transportation options. Therefore, a marriage between transportation by truck and thereon making up for their emissions of CO2 is the best option. The strategies for promotion will remain similar to those for the Quebec location. Consequently, families and couples who enjoy the outdoors will be targeted to experience nature and relax. The company’s presence will remain on social media as we will continue with the current approach of guiding customers to be ambassadors and offering giveaways. A travel Expo will be added to the mix as it raises awareness for the brand and can attract potential customers. There will also be a collaboration with a ski resort near the location in New Hampshire and a possible association with tiny houses. Table of Content Context and Objectives 3 Proposed Location 4 Market Overview 5 Market Entry Strategy 7 Product and Branding 7 Marketing Channels 8 Pricing 9 Promotion 9 Action Plan and Budget 12 Marketing Campaign in France 13 Bibliography 14 Appendix 17

The Proposed Location Jonathan Galarneau sees the location as one of the most essential factors to Repère Boréal’s success. Therefore, there are certain demands the new place in the U.S. should meet. First, the location has to allow the company to offer an experience that permits its visitors to fully enjoy the many beauties of nature. Thus, the area in nature looked for was to be undisturbed, soothing and alluring. However, this does not mean that it should be entirely off the grid. A nice picturesque village offering restaurants, cafes, culture and various activities within a 20-minutes drive would be ideal. Lastly, accessibility to different outdoor activities such as skiing, hiking or adds value for customers. (J. Galarneau, in class presentation, September 17, 2019) Thus, the search was reduced to the state of New Hampshire. Its many benefits made it an appealing choice for this type of business. First, the state is close to Canada, which can facilitate managerial activities for the owners. Furthermore, Canada is New Hampshire’s second biggest trading partner, which results in established routines, knowledge and mutually grown trust. This could simplify Repère Boréal’s expansion to the U.S. (Workman, 2019) Additionally, due to the close proximity, New Hampshire’s nature resembles Quebec’s landscape. Therefore, a location in New Hampshire could offer similar environmental values as the existing location in Quebec. Ergo, there would not be much adaptation or alterations to do regarding the structure of the products or the habits of the managers and marketing methods. While cultivating more information on this area, Conway, New Hampshire came out as a winning location for the new Repère Boréal. Conway has roughly 10k residents and is located in Carroll County, as shown in table 2. (Statistical Atlas, 2018a) The town is conveniently located near the southeastern edge of the White Mountain National Forest, which is very popular amongst outdoor fans and offers a vast variety of activities such as climbing, hiking or skiing. The landscape of the White Mountain National Forest is characterized by hardwood forests, alpine peaks, breathtaking views and clear mountain lakes. Some impressions can be found in table 3. (USDA Forest Service, n.d.) Moreover, Conway lake offers a public beach and the possibilities to swim, boat, canoe and fish (The Crazy Tourist, n.d.). Furthermore, Carroll county offers the necessary infrastructure and entertainment opportunities, as the tourism and hospitality industry are the county’s third biggest employer, as shown in table 4a and b (Statistical Atlas, 2018b). Visitors can find many of welcoming cafes and enjoyable restaurants in this town. There is even a family-theme park nearby, which offers a great opportunity for families to spend a day (Storyland, 2019). This is particularly interesting since families represent one of Repère Boréal’s targeted customer segments (Marcotte, 2019). Moreover, the fact that there are several microbreweries in the area adds value to the location and offers an interesting activity for the couples (Brew NH, n.d.). To conclude, Conway and the surrounding area offer Repère Boréal’s customers a variety of leisure and recreational activities. Another important advantage of Conway as Repère Boréal’s new location is the town’s proximity to Boston and Portland. This well-located weekend-getaway a is given the chance to attract around 760’000 residents if we combine these two major cities. (World Population Review, 2019a &b) Table 5a & b show the respective travel times to Conway (Google Maps, n.d. - a & b). To further specify our proposal, we looked into available land in the area and found the offer shown in table 6 as an example. The 110 acres would offer enough space for the aspired 50 dwellings and an additional central building. Furthermore, the price of $250’000 USD seems quite reasonable. (Haine, n.d.)

Market Overview New Hampshire’s population is among the most independent and self-reliant in Northern America. Needless to say, its spirit of independence is well represented in the state’s phrase which is “Live Free or Die”. The Granite State’s residents are concerned about their land. As a matter of fact, they maintain some of the most intense conservation programs in the country. The bounty of nature makes the state unique. Indeed, it offers breathtaking landscapes such as abundant forests, mountains, lakes, making it a perfect destination for outdoor activities (iExplore, n.d.). Even if New Hampshire’s population is getting older, tourism remains important for the state’s economy (Encyclopedia, 2019). Many tourists come to New Hampshire to enjoy nature and wildlife. The state’s proximity to northeastern population centers has indeed increased growth in tourism (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2019). Every year, more than 39 million visitors come to visit New Hampshire. The travel and tourism industry in New Hampshire employ 68’000 people and makes up a 5.5 Billion $USD market. (AP News, 2018)

Market Entry Strategy Product and Branding The name Repère Boréal has its meaning in French, but when it comes to its translation to English or other languages, it loses its meaning. Thus, we recommend modifying the name to something in English before opening a new location in New Hampshire as it would make the brand more meaningful for the customers in the U.S., the population of Conway and the future partners. The new name should be in the same spirit as “Repère Boréal”: “Repère” meaning landmark and little shelters depending on the spelling and “Boréal” making reference to the forest in Les Éboulements. Considering that the new location in Conway would be close to the White Mountain National Forest and keeping the idea of “Repère”, we came up with “The White Mountain Glade”. However, it is important that people associate the new location with the one in Charlevoix and they should know it’s the same company. Therefore, the final name for the location in New Hampshire would be “The White Mountain Glade by Repère Boréal”. Another issue regarding the exportation in the USA is the Innu names that are given to the dwellings. Indeed, the Innu nation lives in the eastern portion of the Quebec-Labrador Peninsula (Heritage Newfounland & Labrador, 1997). Since they are not established in the United States, keeping these names for the cabins creates a loss of meaning associated to their essence. However, another Native American tribe has a lot of history in that state and some of them still live there: the Abenaki (Infoplease, n.d.). Therefore, Repère Boréal could continue their approach of naming the cabins based on local Native American tribes and use the Abenaki language (New Hampshire Folklife, 2014). However, to avoid cultural appropriation and bad relationships with the tribe, Repère Boréal should reach out to them before using their heritage. Asking for their approval and showing interest in their culture is meant to symbolize the respect that the company has towards the tribe. The new branch could then integrate some activities about the Abenaki in its new location in order to raise awareness of their story. For instance, there could be books customers could rent and some conferences once in a while with the Abenaki as guest speakers. Repère Boréal is not interested in a patent to protect the design of their cabins, more precisely the Maikan (Jonathan Galarneau, in class presentation, November 26th, 2019). They could protect their trademark (the name Repère Boréal and the logo) by registering it in Canada and the United States because they will be present in both countries. The company is not ready to invest $6,000 to $8, CAD - $3,000 to $4,000 CAD by country in this type of protection (Marcotte, G, 2019). However, it could be interesting to do so within 3 years. The company should only register the trademark “Repère Boréal”, as the name of each sites will probably vary to be adapted its location. “Repère Boréal”, on the contrary, will appear in every name, as in “The White Mountain Glade by Repère Boréal”. Repère Boréal wants to export its Maikan cabins in the new location as it is their original, smallest and most known model (Galarneau, 2019). It is also the easiest one to ship and install. The company also wants this type of smaller dwelling in the new location since their competitors are equipped with larger ones such as the Mashk and the Utapi. It is recommended that they keep only one type of cabin without running water and toilets. Therefore, Repère Boréal should develop another one, similar to the Shipship and include a small bathroom and running water. Moreover, since there are a lot of trees on the new land and that the company does not want to cut trees to put cabins, it could be interesting to develop tree houses such as the one in Table 9. Finally, since New Hampshire energy sources are mainly non-

renewable and polluting as it can be seen in Table 10 , Repère Boréal could add solar panels to their cabins to provide them with electricity. As mentioned previously, the current services and accommodations provided by Repère Boréal include a sauna zone, heated pools, hot tubs, private campfires beside all dwellings, a pet-friendly environment and yoga classes. A rooftop terrace, massages and meals that can be bought at the main area. In addition to these services and accommodations, our recommendation for the new location would be to offer a few more services. Indeed, the new land would be larger and would be conducive to expand their activities. First of all, as mentioned above, the company could do some activities that allow clients to get to know the Abenaki tribe. In a spirit of a relaxing activity, they could offer the material and a space for clients to paint. Similarly, for relaxation and environment purposes, Repère Boréal could develop a garden area where clients could do some gardening and pick up the vegetables. Marketing Channels Repère Boréal still wants to control everything about operations and marketing. In terms of logistics, the company will keep its main activities in Canada such as the production, warehousing and inventory control. They will still build the accommodations in their warehouse in Quebec using local materials because it helps the local economy and means less administrational effort. The company’s main value is sustainability, which is why everything they do should have as little of an impact on the environment as possible. Therefore, the mode of transport used to ship the cabins to the USA have the smallest environmental impact possible. However, eco-friendly transportation option remains scarce. As Conway is six hours away from Les Eboulements and given the size and heaviness of the cabins to be transported, the best transportation mode for the company is by trucks (special transport). Repère Boréal will then have the option of making up for their CO 2 emissions.

people are unlikely to like their Facebook page if they don’t post regularly. Companies run Facebook contests all the time to get build their audience and get more likes. In order to make their location known, Repère Boréal could do a contest to win two nights for two people every three months: in order to win, people have to like the page, tag the person in comment they would love to go with and then share the post. “Fan of the month” could be a creative way to attract people: highlighting fans every month is a great way to encourage them to engage more because it is just human nature to want to receive recognition. The fan of the month would be chosen according to their participation on the page (comments, reposts, etc.) and would be given a 5% promotion for one night. Furthermore, Repère Boréal should contact local influencers. One example is the married couple Anna- Lisa & Porter, known as “recesscity,” on Instagram (the name of their blog is the same) (see table 11). Although there are currently many travel influencers, we have chosen this couple, as they are both successful travel bloggers and live in the Boston area, which we have determined as a target area for our customers. Boston’s residents could read an article written by the couple and want to stay in this new place. We therefore propose that Repère Boréal invites them for a weekend to discover their new location and to share their experiences and thoughts online (Instagram and their blog) with their vast communities. They could also offer a promotional code, granting people who book their stay via a link in the influencer’s online content a discount of 10%. Additionally, Repère Boréal will be present at the following travel related expo in order to present the company, the location and what they have to offer: Boston Globe Travel Show in February 2022. This exhibition takes place in Boston, MA and is the largest travel expo in New England. Attending a trade show as an exhibitor has many advantages: it’s a way to raise awareness of the company, it’s a perfect opportunity to highlight what the company has to offer to existing customers, key customers, and prospective customers. According to Matthes (2018), 56% of trade show attendees travel more than 645 kilometers to attend an exhibition. This shows that in attending the expo, Repère Boréal could reach a big radius of people from inside and outside the Boston area who may be interested in coming to “The White Mountain Glade”.

Since the ski resort “Cranmore Mountain” is located only a few kilometers from Conway, Repère Boréal could collaborate with them in 2022 in order to attract additional customers. As an example, they could organize a discount of 5-10% on the ski passes for the people staying at Repère Boréal. As skiing is a fairly expensive sport, people would be delighted to receive this promotion. In addition, after an intensive day of sport, people like to rest and relax in a quiet, comfortable and cozy place. This corresponds exactly with what Repère Boréal offers. It might also be an interesting idea to put one of Repère Boréal’s cabins (full size) on display within the ski resort to further attract people’s attention. To reach that goal it would be ideal if posters/billboards were posted at strategic points in the ski resort such as the tourist office, ski lift masts, well visited restaurants/shops. The posters would mention the collaboration with the station and show photos of the site which could rise people’s interest in this offer. In addition, miniature models of all the cabins would be placed in the tourist office so that people could get a better idea of them. The tiny house life is a quickly growing movement currently gaining a lot of international attention. It describes the social movement of people downsizing and simplifying the space they live in. (The Tiny Life, 2019) In 2018, a study showed that more than half of the American population would consider living in a house less than 55 square meters big. Moreover, 63% of Millennials are interested in tiny houses. (Bahney, 2018) The benefits of living in a tiny house range from a smaller environmental footprint and financial freedom to a more self-sufficient life. Thus, this trend touches on many of our societies present issues and concerns. The Tiny Life website alone has “thousands and thousands” of monthly visitors. (The Tiny Life, 2019) This shows how much potential lies in the growing interest in this topic. We would therefore propose to make use of this movement. One approach could be to market the new location of Repère Boréal as a way to try out living in a tiny house for people who are interested and looking to make their own experiences. To reach the targeted customers, it could be an interesting approach to partner with blogs/websites such as The Tiny Life and get articles about Repère Boréal published on these respective platforms.

Marketing Campaign in France Action Plan in France on a 2 years range Attracting French and European customers represent the second objective of Repère Boréal. For this reason, we recommend that one of the founders attends the French event called “Le Salon Mondial du Tourisme” in Paris in March 2021. In addition, Repère Boréal could collaborate with Tourisme Charlevoix in 2020 to bring influencers from France to discover the region and its many activities. This would allow the costs of the marketing campaign to be minimized. The influencer we have chosen is Pauline Gandolfini - a Parisian travel blogger that goes by the name of @blondiiebaby on Instagram ( see Table 11 ). Pauline has a broad visibility in France with 95k followers on Instagram. Her main travel companion is her boyfriend and their escapades revolve around nature and unearthing new and unsolicited destinations. This couple represents the target market for Repère Boréal and the core values of these French social media pillars remain similar to those of the brand’s image which make her the ideal partner for this type of campaign. The partnership would include a documentation of her holiday through her social media platform. These would include her discovery of the region and her experience in the cabin. According to what stated above, Pauline Gandolfini will be paid 95$ per post of her visit. We propose to aim for a total of at least three main posts and several stories during her stay. The posts will include one about the cabins, one about an activity of the region and one during a moment in the spas of the estate. In addition, there are two plane tickets from Paris to Montreal (round trip) and a weekend in Charlevoix, it will cost 238$ for two nights and 1500$ for the plane tickets. The total is about 2000$. This cost would be shared with Tourisme Charlevoix. Concerning the event in Paris: in Europe, a 5 square meter stand costs 1000 euros per day. The recommendation is for Repère Boréal to remain at the Expo for a total of four days. Therefore, this activity will cost 4000 euros (5860$). In addition, with the cost of a plane ticket from Montreal to Paris at 750$ and 600$ for a hotel room for four days, this proposal will cost a maximum of 7300$.

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• 71.1203479!2d43. Haine, D. R. (n.d.). Property Details for 0 302 Rte. Realtor.com. Retrieved from https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/0- 302 - Rte_Conway_NH_03818_M96064- 71027 Heritage Newfoundland & Labrador. (1997). The Innu. Retrieved from https://www.heritage.nf.ca/articles/aboriginal/innu.php

The Tiny Life. (n.d.). What is the tiny house movement? Retrieved from https://thetinylife.com/what- is-the-tiny-house-movement/ Timberland Campground. (n.d.) Website. Retrieved from https://www.timberlandcampgroundnh.com Tuxbury Tiny House Village. (n.d.). Website. Retrieved from https://www.tuxburytinyhouse.com USDA Forest Service. (n.d.). White Mountain National Forest. Retrieved from https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/whitemountain U.S. Energy Information Administration. (June 20, 2019). New Hampshire. Retrieved from https://www.eia.gov/state/analysis.php?sid=NH WebFX. (n.d.). Influencer Marketing Pricing: How Much Does It Cost in 2019? Retrieved from https://www.webfx.com/digital-marketing-pricing.html Workman, D. (2019). New Hampshire’s Top 10 Exports. World’s Top Exports. Retrieved from http://www.worldstopexports.com/new-hampshires-top- 10 - exports/ World Population Review. (2019a). Boston, Massachusetts Population 2019. Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/boston-population/ World Population Review. (2019b). Portland, Maine Population 2019. Retrieved from http://worldpopulationreview.com/us-cities/portland-me-population/

Appendix Table 1 Current Dwellings of Repère Boréal (Repère Boréal, n.d.; Marcotte, 2019) The MAIKAN (= “wolf” in Innu) is the smallest cabin of Repère Boréal and can accommodate two adults and one child. It offers a queen bed, a kitchenette, a glass and ceramic hotplate, a reservoir of drinking water, a fridge and a small table which can be transformed into a children’s bed. It doesn’t have a bathroom which is why guests staying in the Maikan have to use the showers and toilets in the near sanitary block. Price for one night: up from 119.00 $ CAD The SHIPSHIP (= “duck” in Innu) can accommodate 4 guests. It offers a queen bed, a sofa bed, a kitchenette, with glass and ceramic hot plate, a fridge, electric heating, a composting toilet, reservoir of drinking water, a table which can be transformed in a children’s bed. Like the Maikan, this cabin doesn’t include a full bathroom and guests use the sanitary block nearby. Price for one night: 126 - 159 $ CAD The MASHK (= “bear” in Innu) can accommodate up to 4 guests. The cabin is characterized by its huge fifteen-foot windows, its mezzanine and the rooftop deck. The Mask further offers radiant heated floors, a kitchen, a queen bed, a futon and a complete bathroom. The minimum stay is two nights. Price for one night: 199 - 245 $ CAD The UTAPI (= “raciness” in innu) is the biggest cabin of Repère Boréal and can accommodate 6 people. The cottage is the original chalet built by Simon and Jonathan’s father and has a minimum stay length of two nights. Price for one night: 199 $ CAD

Table 4a & 4b Industries Caroll County (Statistical Atlas, 2018b) Table 5a Portland-Conway (Google Maps, n.d. - a)

Table 5b Boston-Conway (Google Maps, n.d. - b) Table 6 Impressions of Available Land in the Conway Area (Haine, n.d.)