Marketing Strategy
EcoShelves' Targeting
Geographical target
Research shows that a strong correlation exists between people’s revenue and the amount they spend on sustainable food. Due to this fact that, we have chosen to target the citizens of the most prosperous municipality of the city.
As one can see on this figure, the municipalities with the largest revenue per captia are located in the southern regions of Brussels. The highest average revenue per capita in the Brussels-Capital Region is earned by people living in Watermael-Boitsfort. The 24,600 people in this municipality have an average revenue of 22,624 euros per year which is higher than the average revenue of a person living in Brussels-Capital Region of 18,526 euros.
Furthermore, the citizens of our target township are deeply concerned by environmental issues. An obvious example to illustrate this point is the fact that the political party “Ecolo” was elected in the local election of 2012. This has again a positive impact on the ecological mentality of the people living there thanks to leading political parties which are proactive in enhancing the everyday life to create the most durable township possible. Many inhabitants, among others the mayor, were absolutely seduced by our idea to build a vertical farm in Watermael-Boitsfort.
The durable fruit and vegetable market of Watermael-Boitsfort can be estimated by taking a proportion of the global market value of Brussels-Capital Region of 13.5 Million euros. This amount needs to be diminished proportionally to the number of people living in the municipality and increased by a proportion of the two average revenues per capita. The market in Watermael-Boitsfort accounts for 356 thousand euros.
After targeting a geographic segment, we need to analyse our twelve segments to select those with the most potential. We examine different buying behaviour such as the willingness of people to buy products without a label, the flexibility, the price sensibility and their vision of the future.
For the psychographic segmentation we have chosen to target the consumers who buy sustainable fruit and vegetables because it’s healthier. As a matter of fact, we can satisfy the needs and wants of this segment due to the fact that our product is naturally grown without pesticides. Secondly, we target the people of the market who are concerned by environmental issues and who want to support local producers. Their needs will be met due to the fact that we produce in Brussels and we use a significant lower quantity of water to produce our fruit and vegetables.
In this two segments we target the consumers who are the most flexible to be ready to change their behaviour and buy food which is grown by a new type of agriculture. The socio-demographic groups which have at the same time a high absolute value today and a high growth potential during the next years are the young consumers without children who currently spend less on sustainable food but who are ready to change their habits and who are the consumers of tomorrow. We can have a similar discussion about families with children. When children consume from a young age on fruits and vegetables from a vertical farm they are going to be used to it in the future and they are also the consumers of tomorrow. Besides this fact, families spend currently the most money on durable food. The largest part of their revenue is spent by people living in small households of maximal two persons.
We can eventually quantify our potential target market by taking the proportions we have calculated at the stage of socio-demographic and psychographic segmentation. The total value of our target market is 193 thousand euros.
In conclusion, the consumers we target are part of one geographic, two psychographic and three socio-demographic segments.
"Voilà un projet intéressant parce que, en fait, très novateur. On parle beaucoup d’agriculture urbaine, et, à Watermael-Boitsfort, cette agriculture est très présente étant donné la faible densité d’habitat et la sociologie de la commune. Mais votre projet est encore bien plus « urbain » puisque strictement hors sol."
Olivier Deleuze, Mayor of Watermael-Boisfort, Green Party
[Here is an interesant project because, actualy, realy innovative. We often talk about urban agriculture and, in Watermael-Boitsfort, this agriculture is realy present because of the low density of housing and the sociology of the municipality. But your project is even more "urban" since it is of grounds.]
The geographical targeted market is Watermael-Boitsfort and it accounts for 356 thousand euros.
Targets in our 12 segments
The total value of our target market is 193 thousand euros.
Profiles of the target consumers
Targets sensitive to health
People without kids under 40 years old
Name: Elodie
Age: 31
Marital status: in a relationship, no children
Profession: primary school teacher
“I like to take care of my health. I go to the fitness club twice a week at least and during summer holiday I like to go hiking. When I buy fruit and vegetables, I always choose organic food which is grown without using pesticides. I also like to cook with healthy ingredients for my boyfriend and myself. I like the concept of EcoShelves because they don’t only offer healthy food but also use less water and there is no need to transport the fruit and vegetables.”
“My health is the most precious thing I own!”
People without kids above 40 years old:
Name: Sylvain
Age: 51
Marital status: single, no children
Profession: fishing accessories shop owner
“Today, lots of unhealthy chemicals are added to most of the food in supermarkets. I really like to know what I eat and don’t want to harm my body unnecessarily with chemicals. Therefor I buy organic food. I try to be as healthy as possible and I eat 5 fruit and vegetables every day. EcoShelves is a shop where I know that the food is produced there, so I know where it comes from. It reassures me that they don’t need to use all these chemicals to protect the food during their travel to the store.”
“I only eat food which I know is healthy!”
Families:
Name: Benoit
Age: 37
Marital status: married, 2 children
Profession: Product manager
“My wife and I give importance to physical exercises and a healthy nutrition. I want my children to learn from a young age that local and organic fruits and vegetables are better for their health. I like the fact that EcoShelves produces food locally and with 80% less water.”
“We have only one health. I want to show my daughters that you should take care of it!”
Targets sensitive to the environment
People without kids under 40 years old
Name: Alara
Age: 28
Marital status: single, no children
Profession: art student
“I try to always buy organic eco-friendly foods, but sometimes I don’t have enough money to do so. I think that it’s a pity that non eco-friendly food is on the market right now. There shouldn’t be the choice between low cost and damageable or more expensive and durable. If every person in Brussels would pay attention and buy sustainable food, the prices would shrink. That’s how I see the future. I think that it’s great that EcoShelves offers durable food. Above all, I like the fact that the production only needs 20% of the water traditional agriculture would use to produce the same amount of fruits and vegetables.”
“It’s normal to buy eco-friendly food! There shouldn’t be anything else on the market!”
People without kids above 40 years old
Name: Catherine
Age: 56
Marital status: married, no children
Profession: Bio-chemist
“I am affected by the issues our world faces today. A scarcity of water in this century is a serious threat. Therefore, I want to actively participate by reducing my water consumption. Another issue in my township is in growing needs of housing. The community kitchen garden will disappear during the next month and there is less and less space for fields, even small ones. EcoShelves is a company that understands these problems and is involved in finding solutions to problems in Brussels but also in the whole world. That’s why I would like to buy my fruits and vegetables there.”
“I want to actively participate to the solution of urban issues”
Families:
Name: Marianne
Age: 43
Marital status: married, 2 children
Profession: Astro-physicien
“I buy fruits and vegetables only from local producers. By doing so, I want to reduce my carbon footprint because the food doesn’t need to be transported around the whole world. At the same time I want to encourage Belgian farmers. I hope that my children understand that we have only one earth and will also be eco-friendly during their life. The fruits and vegetables EcoShelves produces are not transported at all. You can’t do it any better.”
“I want to leave a healthy earth to my children!”