...CASE 1 –Build a Bear, Build a memory- Synopsis: Build a Bear was founded by Maxine Clark in hard times. Where the internet was in its early phases of development, this era was a bad time to come with this type of business idea and as a matter of fact, Maxine Clark was criticized for this business idea. But nearly a decade later this company was considered as one of the hottest five retailers. The company hit number 25 on Business Week´s Hot Growth list of fast expanding small companies and Maxine Clark won Fast Company´s Customer-Centered Leader award. After being the president of Payless shoe store and resigning in 1996 (Selk, 2015), Maxine Clark´s Build a Bear first store opened in 1997 in Saint Louis Missouri. By 2007 it had sold over 50 million customer-made teddy bears and registered sales of $474 million. Clark’s inspiration came from her 10 year old friend Katie. She argued why she couldn´t find the stuffed toy she wanted and that it was so easy to make (Build a Bear, 2015); and so the inspiration came. Currently, there are over 400 stores in the USA, UK, Puerto Rico, Canada and franchises in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Australia, Mexico and Africa, with more than 125 million Bears living around the world. They are also diversifying the product, not only teddy bears. Now customers can build dinosaurs (Build a Dino), dolls (Friends 2B Made) and Build a Bear at the Zoo where customers can decide in a variety of more than animals. (Build a Bear) Nowadays the current...
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...Brooke-Lyn Somogyi Build a Bear Assignment #1 1. Give examples of needs, wants and demands that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these three concepts. Customers demonstrate a need to learn and be entertained. When creating a bear you need to follow instructions on how to make it properly. Hopefully, making the bear keeps you happy. Everyone needs to be entertained, without fun our world will be a place filled with miserable minds and corruption. Being entertained helps people have a more cheerful spirit. The customers need to be entertained but wants to have fun with and create an experience with the people at build-a-bear workshop. With that, they need to learn, but want to learn how to build a bear. Since the customers are able to afford what they want, they are able to satisfy their demand for the entire build-a-bear experience. 2. In detail, describe all facets of Build-A-Bear’s products. What is being exchanged in a Build-A –Bear transaction? In order to assemble a bear, the customer needs to go through seven steps. First, the customer chooses an animal that he or she prefers. Second, you have the opportunity to actually bring the hand-picked stuffed animal to life by stuffing it. Third, you get to customize the bear. You can insert a voice box to add sound or you can leave it without any sound, and then stitch the animal together. Once your have it filled with stuffing and its all stitched up then you dress it. Just the way you...
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...The customers of Build-A-Bear Workshop are preteens from all over the world. The customers demonstrate a social need and the need to learn. In fulfilling a social need, this company offers entertainment to its customers and it also allows them to learn to follow instructions and how to assemble a bear. Everyone needs to be entertained, without fun our world will be a place filled with miserable minds and corruption. Being entertained helps children to have a more cheerful spirit and learning helps them to feel successful and to grow. The customers need to be entertained but wants to have fun with and create an experience with the people at build-a-bear workshop. In addition, they need to learn, but want to learn how to build a bear. They find the Build-A-Bear workshop and experience to be appealing and interesting and wish to be a part of it. Because the customers are able to afford what they want, they are able to satisfy their demand for the entire build-a-bear experience. Build a bear actions are certainly satisfying the needs, wants, and demands of the customers. This company has assessed the needs of the customers and has created their products around those needs. 2. In detail, describe all facets of Build-A-Bear’s product. What is being exchanged in a Build-A-Bear transaction? In order to assemble a bear, the customer can visit a total of seven work stations. First of all, the customer chooses an animal that he or she prefers. Afterwards, the child has the opportunity...
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...Build-A-Bear: Build-A-Memory In the late 1990s, it was all about the dot-com. While venture capital poured into the high-tech sector and the stock prices of dot-com startups rose rapidly, the performance of traditional companies paled in comparison. This era seemed like a very bad time to start a chain of brick-and mortar mall stores selling stuffed animals. Indeed, when Maxine Clark founded Build-A-Bear Workshop in 1996, many critics thought that she was making a very poor business decision. But as the company nears the end of its first decade, it has more cheerleaders than naysayers. In 2005, one retail consultancy named Build-A-Bear one of the five hottest retailers. The company hit number 25 on BusinessWeek’s Hot Growth list of fast-expanding small companies. And founder and CEO Maxine Clark won Fast Company’s Customer-Centered Leader Award. How does a small startup company achieve such accolades? THE PRODUCT On paper, it all looks simple. Maxine Clark opened the first company store in 1996. Since then, the company has opened more than 370 stores and has custom-made tens of millions of teddy bears and other stuffed animals. Annual revenues reached $474 million for 2007 and are growing at a steady and predictable 15 percent annually. After going public November of 2004, the company stock price soared 56 percent in just two years. Annual sales per square foot are $600, roughly double the average for U.S. mall stores. In fact, Build-A-Bear...
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...Build-A-Bear Assignment January 28th/14 000263038 Kerry Helgason 1) Needs are of felt deprivation. There are the basic physical needs which include food, clothing, warmth and safety, social needs for affection and to feel that you belong; and the individuals need for knowledge and expression. Examples of this at Build-A-Bear would be: Entertainment- it is so much fun to pick out the bear and the whole process can take quite a while. Individual choice- you get to make the bear who you want it to be Self-expression- you can express yourself through how you build your bear Wants are the human needs shaped by culture and individual personality. Examples of this at Build-A-Bear would be: When you walk into the Build-A-Bear and see how a child’s face lights up. As they pick out an unstuffed bear and continue down the assembly line. From there they will stuff the bear, add a voice box, spa treatments, dress them and name them and finally creating the bear that they want. Demands are wants for specific products backed the ability to pay. Build-A-Bear helps customers put their ideas into practise. These ideas are demands of customers. These demands could include buying the accessories for the bears such as skateboards, sequined purses, or Mascot bears. 2) The items being exchanged in Build-A-bear are: Option to build the bear Picking out the bear Stuffing the bear Spa Treatments Dressing the bears Naming them The experience of waiting in line to...
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...that are being served. One company many people would not expect to be on The Fortune 100 list is Build-A-Bear Workshop. For the fifth consecutive year, Build-A-Bear Workshop has been named one of Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” and is the only toy retailer on this year’s list. Build-A-Bear scored 62 out of 100 on the list. A woman named Maxine Clark founded Build-A-Bear Workshop in 1997. She is considered one of the true innovators in the retail industry. In an interview for CNN, Clark stated: “In 1997, I withdrew $750,000 from my retirement account to get Build-a-Bear Workshop off the ground. That covered startup costs and the building of the first prototype store. I also secured a bank line of credit for inventory and working capital, with my house as collateral. I knew I wanted to build a multimillion-dollar business with hundreds of units, and I realized I didn't have the ready cash to fund that growth. I knew I'd have to partner with outside investors.” While building the first Build-A-Bear store, there was a story posted in the St. Louis Business Journal about the concept. Through this article, it caught the eye of Barney Ebsworth, who owned a private investment firm with his partner Wayne Smith, They bought in 20% for $4.5 million, therefore Clark had enough money for several years and she did not even open her first store yet! The first Build-A-Bear Workshop opened in the St. Louis Galleria, in which lines were out the door! Clark stated, “In the...
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...Build-A-Bear Build-A-Bear 1) Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate social and individual needs. They feel the need for belonging and affection, and for self expression. They demonstrate their wants as wanting to create a new friend that they will be able to share their affection with and in return, through their imagination, reciprocate that affection and sense of belonging. The customers ability to personalize the bear from the very beginning, including choosing from more than 20 stuffed animals. Dressing the bear in personalized accessories, and naming the bear is an example of the customers wants to express themselves. Because all of this is attainable through a relatively low monetary cost to value and satisfaction ratio the customers wants become demands. 2) During a Build-A-Bear transaction a lot more is exchanged than just a product for money. The entire process of building your own customized bear allows you to fulfill your wants and needs of the product and creates a lasting memory and in return you build a strong relationship with Build-A-Bear where you become a profitable and loyal customer to the company. 3) The marketing concept best describes the approach used by Build-A-Bear workshop. This is achieved by allowing the customer to choose exactly which product is best for them. Because the bear is completely customizable Build-A-Bear doesn't need to try and find the right customer for their product the customer can simply create the right product for themselves...
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...Build-A-Bear Assignment Question #1: Give examples of needs, wants and demands that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these three concepts. Needs: Needs are defined as states of felt deprivation. They include basic physical needs (food, shelter, warmth, etc.), social needs (affection and a sense of belonging) and individual needs (knowledge and self-expression). These needs are a part of the human makeup; they are not created by marketers. The Build-A-Bear customers are mainly children and all children have a need of entertainment, love & affection, comfort and a sense that they belong. Build-A-Bear fulfills these needs by offering an experience that provides them with entertainment, creates a new friend for them to love & bring comfort and by joining the Build-A-Bear “Club” they get a sense of belonging. Wants: Wants are defined as the form needs take when shaped by culture and individual personality. In Build-A-Bears case children want the opportunity to personalize their new friend based on their individual preferences. Starting from the “Choose Me” station, where they can select the type of stuffed animal, thru to the “Name Me” station, the children have control, giving them a sense of individual satisfaction. Culture shapes the sense of belonging need into a want by influencing the children to want to belong to the “Build-A-Bear Club”. Other children who have shared the experience already belong making the new customers want to as well...
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...Examples of needs, wants, and demands that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these concepts. What are the implications of each on Build-A-Bear actions. Needs: Understanding needs as states of felt deprivation, not created by marketers but basic parts of the human makeup, we can say that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate the individual need of self-expression, authenticity, creativity, empowerment, choice, individuality, freedom. They also demonstrate the underlying need that people have to entertain themselves. Wants: Although Build-A-Bearclients need to find a way to self-express and entertain themselves, they want to “step into a (...) genuine fantasy world organized around a child-friendly assembly line comprised of clearly labeled work stations”, where they can choose unstuffed animals from a bin, stuff them, include voice boxes, stitch them, dress them, name them, and even receive a birth certificate for their creation. This example is aligned with the idea that wants are the form human needs take as shaped by culture and individual personality. Demands: Giving their wants and resources, Build-A-Bear customers demand specific products that add up to the most valuable and satisfaction. Among the most relevant examples we can mention are both new store locations and accessories. “Mini-scooters, Hello Kitty bears, mascot bears at professional sport venues, and sequined purses” are also specific ideas that were interpreted as customers´...
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...Question 1) Give examples of needs, wants and demand that build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these three concepts. The needs that customers are that they want to feel like they belong and buying that special friend that is just like them, or that created gives them that sense of belonging. The wants are that the customer wants to be involved in the process giving them that feel good feeling. The demands are that the customer has some say in what the store offers as they have the opportunity to be a voice through the “virtual advisory board”; as well they are buying the product which puts demands on what the marketplace offers. Question 2) In detail, describe all facets of Build-A-Bear’s product. What is being exchanged in a Build-A-Bear transaction? There are many facets to the Build-A-Bear product. The customer gets the opportunity to be involved in the whole process “choose me”- picking out what animal or bear they want. “Hear me” – deciding what goes in the animal, song, animal noise etc. “Stuff me “– stuffing the animal. Stitch me” – stitching the animal closed. “Fluff me” “Dress me” “Name me” – fluffing picking out the outfit to dress and naming the animal. Finally the “take me home” phase where the customer has a finished product. They are deciding every step what they want and are a part of it all. It is very customer orientated and involves the customer help them feel like they are getting a great experience. Question 3) Which...
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...Build-A-Bear Case Incident Marketing 120- Learning Outcome 1 Assignment #1 1. Needs are described as states if felt deprivation. A few needs of BAB customers are the need for entertainment, the need for individual choice and the need for variety. Wants are described as the form human needs take as shaped by culture and individual personality. Some BAB wants are interactive entertainment and the variety of accessories and types of bears you can get. Demands are described as human wants that are backed by buying power. These demands would include sports related outfits, mini-scooters and Hello Kitty bears. 2. Facets would include: a. Building the bear- making the bear, choosing the outfits, naming the bear, crossing your heart b. They say waiting in line is part of the fun c. Customizing everything about your product The customers are exchanging their money and their time for the teddy bear and the time used to customize it. 3. The best marketing management strategies is the Marketing Concept. Maxine Clark has connected with her customers to determine the wants and needs of the market and uses those wants and needs to determine what the next step is. She goes to shops at least once a week to talk to her customers and stay connected. 4. BAB offers customers an interactive and personalized experience that fulfills their needs, wants and demands. The customer opinions are taken very seriously and into consideration by Maxine Clark. She utilizes...
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...BACKGROUND & UPDATING Build a bear was founded in 1996, in a really hard context for companies in United States, even more for new companies that were trying to come up with something new or in this case for something creative. It was hard at the beginning, but three years later it was recognized as one of the hottest retailers in United States, people also got proud of how a small company could grow up so fast and also to get in the bests companies for customers. Build a Bear was opened by first time in 1996, having after that over more than 200 companies around United States; right now it has even more than 400 companies around the world in four different countries (United States, UK (United Kingdom, Puerto Rico, and Canada), they also give the chance to make it possible for creating a store by starting at least with 5 million dollars (it depends of the country, but that is the minimum capital people have to start with), it doesn’t mean it will be a sub franchising or something similar, they still be the total owners of the store making the country as a new point of the brand. The idea came up in a really particular situation between Maxine Clark and her friend. She was only 10 years old when she was trying to get a bear toy from the store with her friend, but her friend couldn’t find the one she liked it, and then she said it should be a great idea about making her own teddy bear, it was the moment when Maxine went even deeper, and she got a creative and also a pretty...
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...Give examples of needs, wants, and demands that Build-A-Bear customers demonstrate, differentiating each of these three concepts. What are the implications of each on Build-A-Bear’s actions? Answer: Why children like staffed animals? Why children like Teddy bear over other staffed animal? The answer of the above two question will give you the answer “what is the needs and wants of Build-A-Bear customers?” as well. First of all, children like to play. They always wish to play with those animals and superheroes that they see in the Television screen and other media especially in cartoons. As Build-A-Bear’s customers are almost children, their need is to play. Now, come to the second question, it focuses of a specific toy renowned as “Teddy Bear”. If you think deeply about the question, you will surely find something irrelevant. You may question, who have told you that all the children throughout the world like Teddy bear? Yes you are right, and the difference between needs and wants is embedded into your question. Most of the children of western country like Teddy bear, but from our perspective as an inhabitant of a third world country, the situation is much different. The reason behind it is want – the form of human needs shaped by culture, habits and individual personality. As children of western countries are familiar with the animal teddy bear physically their want is to play with the animal and that’s why Teddy bear is a renowned staffed animal in those countries...
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...Build a bear case • 1 – Needs are basic needs that the human is deprived from and cannot live without it including physical needs. So teddy bears is one of the needs for the children. They love playing with a teddy bear so Build-A-Bear workshops for needing a bear impresses children. Wants are the form human needs take as they are shaped by culture and individual personality. The company achieved such success from the experience of participating in the creation of personalized entertainment. A Build-A-Bear store organized around a child-friendly environment.This process attracts the customers specially the children. Finally, demands are human wants backed up by purchasing power. .A Build-A-Bear store organized their store as a child-friendly environment the children and parents love to shop here. The price of toys starts as low as $10 and average $25.So it becomes their demand to shopping there. 3-there are five alternative concepts under which organizations design and carry out their marketing strategies: the production concept, product concept, selling concept, marketing concept, and social marketing concept. The concepts that best describe Build-A-Bear workshop is first the product concept holds that consumers will favor products that offer the most quality, performance, and features and that the organization should therefore devote its energy to making continuous product improvements as Build-A-bear workshop doing which is focusing on the product's features and...
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...describes Build-A-Bear Workshop? Of the four marketing management orientations, market orientation is the one the best describes the Build-A-Bear Workshop. The Build-A-Bear Workshop has achieved vast success and great performance mainly due to their knowing and understanding of customer needs and wants. Clark takes every opportunity she gets to interact with the customers and to get to know them personally by assisting frontline associates with customer interactions. She even puts customer ideas into action to retain and grow her customer base. Clark herself believes her success comes from her mentality of “never forgetting what it’s like to be a customer.” 5. Discuss in detail the value that Build-A-Bear creates for its customers. Build-A-Bear offers more to customers than just a toy, they offer an experience that seems to fill the wants and needs of the customer very well. They involve the customer in every aspect of production, which doesn’t only empower the customer through choosing their own designs, but also adds another level of entertainment value. The multi-staged process of creating the bear is essential to the value of Build-A-Bear. While there is always the actual cost of the bear, cost of waiting in line, et cetera; the experience is their focus for creating value. 6. Is Build-A-Bear likely to be successful in continuing to build customer relationships? Why or why not? Yes, I believe Build-A-Bear is likely to be successful in continuing to build customer relationships...
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