ARA Timepieces

"For The Creative Professionals"

Founder: Aatara Johnson

Unique Selling Position

Ara Timepieces is a watch-making company that found the balance between the classic, luxury timepiece and a fashion-based watch.
- The brand incorporates natural elements such as wood, bamboo, cotton and precious stones.
We also donate a portion of our "Creators to Creatives" collection sales to a scholarship fund that is given to students who are pursuing a Bachelors in Arts or a Bachelors in Fine Art at an accredited university.

The Future

Through creative and resourceful processes provide customers products that are crafted from different elements of nature.

We want to establish our company with strong core values in Social Responsibility and Corporate Sustainability by aligning with existing initiatives.

Creating an environment that promotes creativity, positivity and unity. Treating one another with respect and taking pride in the significant contributions that come from working with a diverse group of individuals and their ideas.

Mission Statement

Vision

Culture

Market Research

U.S. retail sales in 2014 was $5.27 trillion; retail jewelry stores accumulated $33.6 billion of those sales. (Census Bureau)
The U.S. jewelry market produced between 50-60 billion and watches equated up to 13% of the sales (Miller, 2013)
Jewelry sales increased from $26.33 billion in 2010 to $33.61 billion by the end of 2014

E-Commerce Market Research

In 2014, 162.6 million U.S. consumers shopped online and spent on average $2,500 (eMarketer, 2014)
The e-commerce buyer has a projection of 5% - 6% increase for 2018 (eMarketer, 2014)
Accessories fell into the top 3 online shopping categories; totaling 54% of adults making those purchases (Source: harrisinteractive.com)

Target Audience

Gender: Male and Female
Age: 25 - 38 Years Old
Status: Middle Class
Locations: Urban Cities (Brooklyn, Houston, Miami, San Francisco, Atlanta, Seattle)
Hobbies: Concerts, Festivals, Art Galleries, Fashion Events, Sports

Customer Profile: Noah Willis

Noah Willis is 25 years old and is recently engaged. He is a Junior Communication Agent for Jameson Marketing Inc. in Long Island, New York. He has an approximate discretionary income of $12,500 a year. Noah realized after a year of working at the office that majority of his colleagues wear high-end watches. He wants to be taken more seriously and get a promotion within the next year. Noah is now on the market to buy a new watch that is can fit his professional work life but merge into his day-to-day life.

Customer Profile: Lindsay Ackerson

Lindsay Ackerson is a 31 year old single living in San Francisco, California. She is a Director of Photography a.k.a. cinematographer and spends a great deal of time traveling around the world for different projects. Her discretionary income is approximately $22,000 a year. Lindsay is a timepiece collector and wishes to add a new piece to her collection that will be less ostentatious than the watches in her collection currently for traveling. However, she does not want to sacrifice the quality of the timepiece and she desires a watch that will show her more creative side.

Customer Profile: Blake Strickland

Blake Strickland was born and raised in the Metro Atlanta area and recently turned 37 years old. Blake owns a successful architect firm working with big name companies throughout the U.S. that is based in Marietta, Georgia. Alone his discretionary income is $36,200 a year but combined with his wife discretionary income they average approximately $54,000 a year. Their 6th wedding anniversary is approaching in the next two months and Blake wishes to buy them watching watches.

S.W.O.T Analysis

Movado is a well-known and respected watch brand, that focuses on simplistic, classy and modern design. My advantage over Movado is that Ara watches will infuse creativity and color to contemporary designs. They will showcase individuals love for art and business in one timepiece.

Although Shinola is a newer brand they have capitalized a good portion of the market share. We have similar target audiences, but they are often over-priced due to the fact they are American Made. I will compete by having a lower starting price.

In order to compete with Larsson and Jennings I will put an emphasize on the philanthropy aspect of the brand.

Competitive Analysis

Male & Females

25 - 37 Years Old

College Graduates

Working Professionals

Middle & Upper-Middle Class

Independent Thinkers

Innovators

Appreciation of The Arts

Facebook Ads

Internet Advertising

Print Publications:

- Modern Luxury (Manhattan, Houston, Dallas, San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Atlantan)

- Creative Loafing

- Ville Magazine

- MODE Magazine

- Esquire

- VMAN

Creating a Community Blog

Monthly Email Marketing Campaigns

Implementing Customer Feedback Surveys

Target

Customer

Reaching

Them

Retaining

Them

Marketing Plan

Highlighting quality differences between our products verses another. Aggressively seek out new niches in the market that have not been tapped by the existing companies.

A brand story is made of more than content and a narrative. Our story isn't just what we tell people it's also what they believe about us based on the signals we send as a brand.

Advertisements run for a shorter period of time in concentrated forms. The biggest advantage is the saving of funds because the ads only run at the peak time when the product demand is high.

Offensive Approach

Push Brand Story

Burst Advertisements

Promotional Strategy

Start-up Cost

Start-up cost: $80,000 utilizing a business loan
- Domain Set-up; estimated $170
- Graphic and Web Design; $240
- Equipment; $3,100
- B2B Services; $4,700
- Cost of Goods; $51,000

Start-up Spreadsheet

12-Month Financial Plan

2017 Calendar Year
- Average sale price is $450; Cost of Good Sold is $167
  - Planned Yearly Units Sold is 1,140
- Initial spending will start around $9,000 for the 1st three months, then decrease to 3,000 - 5,000.
  - After the holidays Ara will triple it's promotional efforts to capitalize on the holiday spending habits of consumers.