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ILSC Business College

MARKET RESEARCH BRIEF

BSBMKG506B


Caterina De Filippo














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Marketing research brief for DA Gardener


To: Dave and Alison Gardener
From: Caterina De Filippo, Marketing graduate, ILSC Brisbane
Date: 13
th
May 2014
Subject: Market Research Proposal

Thank you for inviting us to put in a proposal for conducting Market
Research for DA Garden Supplies.
Enclosed is a brief that will detail a plan that we will undertake to
review the problem your organization has which is narrow the target,
understand how the clients will use the product,explore the market
potential and the competition.
This proposal will provide insight how we intend to understand and
discover the costumers needs, understand the market potential and the
competition.
Market Research finding will provide the company information to
change direction from nursery and garden supplies sales dropping to
increase these sales.

I look forward to receiving your response,

Yours sincerely,

Dott.ssa Caterina De Filippo









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TABLE OF CONTENT




Background 4
Project rationale 4
Draft objectives 5
Research objectives 6
Possible methodology 6
Timing 7
Information sources 7
Relevant legislation 7
Reporting and presentational requirements 8
Budget 9
Conclusion 9


























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Background

D.A. Garden was established in Brisbane in 2001 and has become
very popular in the CBD and the surrounding areas.
It is ideally located in east Brisbane and is the closest nursery to
Brisbane's CBD at a touch over 4 kilometres from the city centre. It offers
a unique blend of services, combining convenience with the elegant charm
of yesteryear, quality dining and beautiful greenery.
It is developed into tree sectors: garden nursery, The Caf and the
landscaping supply.
Although the whole business concept is great, there are areas of the
business that are doing well or are stable like the caf and the landscaping
supply, but their total business net profit has dropped steadily over the last
two years.
This proposed market research will certainly benefit D.A. Garden
Supply because it will provide some future guidance and direction to
identify the issues and change the direction of the current situation.



Project rationale

Market research, which includes social and opinion research, is
the systematic gathering and interpretation of information about individuals
or organizations using statistical and analytical methods and techniques of
the applied social sciences to gain insight or support decision making.
It is a fundamental component of business strategy. It represent the
key factor to maintain an advantage over competitors. It provides relevant
informations to identify and analyze the market need, market size and
competition.
The role of market research is to collect and interpret data because
the company needs more informations so it would make better decisions.
To solve problems as to understand the reasons why the company has a
decrease in sales. Market research allows businesses to make better
decisions about product development, new markets to enter etc. thanks to
operational and strategic decision making.

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In this case a market research will help D.A. Garden understand
the reasons of their business achievements and future planning.


Draft objectives

D.A. Garden Supplies has been in business for over 10 years and
during the last two years their net profit has decreased.
The main objective of the company is to increase their sales and
boost the total business net profit.
To achieve these results, we feel it is necessary to think about
their specific needs and goals. These have been broken into the following
sub-objectives:

Garden Supplies

Current: sales have dropped by 5%, contributing 34% to overall profits.
Goal: increase sales by 5% within 16 months.
Needs: by conducting an internal research by interviewing the owners
and the staff to identity the top products to obtain top profit. And by an
external research which will allow us to identify the costumers
preferences and need in order to gain precise data to be able to create
promotion strategies with the top products.

Nursery

Current: sales have dropped by 5%, contributing 41% to overall profits.
Goal: increase sales by 6% within 16 months.
Needs: Recognize their potential target and create specific strategies for
each market group.

Landscaping

Current: numbers have been flat, contributing 10% to overall profits.
Goal: increase sales by 6% in 16 months.

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Needs: it is essential to understand the market potential and future
development.

Caf

Current: sales have been increasing 2-3% per annum, contributing 15%
to overall profits.
Goal: increase sales by 6% in 16 months.
Needs: it is essential to do an analysis of the competitors.


Research objectives

The main objective is to identify the target market . Most
important, we have to understand their consumer profile. This will give us
main details and a complete profile of age, income and gender. In
addition, in order to be able to create precise and efficient advertising
strategies we will analyze the buying pattern and the costumers needs.


Possible methodology

At this stage we will gather both secondary and primary data
with a formal research. We expect to use both qualitative and quantitative
approach.
We will use the qualitative research to define the problem and
identify variables. The methodology which will be used for this research
will be one to one discussion, focus groups and in-depth interviews.
The quantitative research will be used to obtain descriptive and
precise data. The methodology which will be used for this research is a
survey.






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Timing

The project timeframe will include over a whole year.
Phase 1 will take about 3 months and phase 2 will take about 7 months.



Information sources

The business informations given us by David and Allison have
allowed us to understand the current situation of their company and
their future goals.
We intend to interviewed all the staff members of the company
about their idea and feeling of the business to understand their point of
view.
To sum up, we will gather data within internal and external
interviews and surveys.



Relevant legislation

All small companies have the obligation to follow specifical rules.
For this reason D.A. Garden Supplies needs to comprehend the
Commonwealth State and local governments laws which are states to
regulate the business practices. The information collected can also be
used for bench marking purposeses.
The following legislation will be review in the proposal
Food legislation: food safety standards place obligations on Australian
food businesses to produce food that is safe and suitable to eat.
Employing people legislation: private sector employers and their
employees in all states and territories other data in Western Australia
are now covered by the national workplace relations system
established by a fair work 2009.
Equal employment opportunity & anti-discrimination: in Australia,
national and state laws cover equal employment opportunity and anti-
discrimination in the workplace.

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Trade Practices Act and Fair Trading Laws: to run a business in
Australia the company needs to operate fairly and ethically and that
means working within the confines of the Trade Practices Act as well
as the Fair Trading laws in the respective State and Territory.
The Privacy Act: it is an Australian law which regulates the handling of
personal information about individuals. This includes the collection,
use, storage and disclosure of personal information, and access to
and correction of that information.
Codes of practice: Businesses need to adhere to mandatory
standards under the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (formerly
known as theTrade Practices Act 1974) that covers issues such as
product and consumer safety.
NGISA Code of ethics: the NGISA Inc is a not for profit Association
that aims to provide the Nursery and Garden Industry in South
Australia with professional leadership, technical advice, relevant
training and encourage the profitability of the members.


Reporting requirements

Following this brief, we will present a research proposal. We would
be pleased to have a meeting to discuss this written brief and we will
pursue with the following steps:
A research plan will be developed once this initial proposal is
accepted that will detail reporting, timing and budget
A formal report and two presentation to all stakeholder to report on
finding
A short presentation at the end of phase 1 and the second at the end
of phase 2 with the report.


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Budget

For this project there is a set budget of $15,000 but this amount
will be confirmed in the Research plan. We will develop a detailed
breakdown of the direct cost and staff time in the proposal.


Conclusion

With this brief which has stated the purpose and the intent of the
market research, the owner of D.A. Garden Supply will be informed of
the current situation to be able to take a conscientious decision.
This market resource has the object to collect essential datas that if
interpreted correctly will change positively the current situation of the
company.

Dott.ssa Caterina De Filippo
Marketing Graduate
ILSC Business College
Tel. 0435 060 667
Email: defilippo.cate@gmail.com