Read the following scenario:

Rosa O’Brian is a classic entrepreneur with a thriving small business. The Key Assignment for this course is a marketing report that proposes objectives, strategies, and tactics that Rosa O’Brian can use to adopt social media and mobility marketing for her growing line of baked goods.

Rosa learned to bake when she was a child. Her mother and grandmother had delicious recipes that had been handed down for several generations. When Rosa started her own family, everyone raved about her cakes and pies and encouraged her to sell them at church and school bake sales. She even entered an apple cobbler at the state fair one summer and won a blue ribbon. When her children went off to college, Rosa entered into an agreement with her friend, Serena, who owns a local restaurant. Serena agreed to feature Rosa’s cakes and pies as dessert items and mention “Rosa’s Pastries” in her menus. Rosa and Serena have had this distribution agreement for more than 10 years. In addition, Rosa sells cakes, pies, and other pastries to several restaurants in towns 15–20 miles away. These restaurants do not compete with Serena and do not use the “Rosa’s Pastries” brand.

About eight years ago, Rosa started selling through a Rosa’s Pastries catalog and on a company Web site. At first, the catalog was mailed to regular customers about two times per year (before the year-end holidays and the spring holidays of Easter and Mother’s Day). Additional names were added to the mailing list from customers who purchased on the Web site, and Rosa rented direct mail lists of consumers who have purchased food products online and through catalogs. Today, the catalog and online sales represent 70% of total sales, and sales through Selena’s and other restaurants are 25%. Rosa also conducts some catering business for local weddings and other celebrations, and this represents 5% of her annual sales.

Rosa believes that she has a great brand and delicious pastries. Rosa’s Pastries has 18 full-time employees today, and Rosa adds part-time help during the busy times of year. She has a solid distribution plan that includes business-to-business (B2B) customers like Serena, and she is using traditional media and the Internet Web site to successfully promote the business. Rosa is concerned that she may be missing out on new media to help grow the business. She also is not sure whether she will need new capital to adopt new media strategies, hire employees, and support the growth plan.

Rosa has heard of social media and even has her own account on a social media site. Rosa also has a smartphone and uses some online apps for banking and navigation when driving to catering assignments; however, she does not really understand or appreciate how social media and mobility marketing could benefit Rosa’s Pastries. Rosa knows that she needs the help of a marketing consultant fluent in these new media. The consultant should understand the marketing processes of evaluating the internal and external environments and describing the characteristics of consumers who use the new media. In addition, the consultant should understand how to integrate social media and mobility marketing with her traditional media of direct marketing using catalogs, an Internet Web site, and personal selling. In summary, Rosa wants a marketing plan that will help her build relationships with her business customers and individual consumers and grow her business.

Assignment Details

Rosa has heard that you are a social media and mobility marketing expert. She is interested in possibly hiring you as a consultant. Present a marketing brief that will convince Rosa that you are knowledgeable about the topics and that you can translate that knowledge into tangible benefits for her business.

Your brief should include the following:

• Define social media and mobility marketing.
• What are the benefits of social media and mobility marketing?
• What are the obstacles of social media and mobility marketing?
• Based on the scenario, perform a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis for the client.
• Provide at least 2 items for each of the four categories of the SWOT analysis.
• Discuss how the client’s traditional media can be adapted to social media and mobility marketing.