Marketing Dept. 5 Case Study for Principles of Marketing Let them eat cake! Safa's After spending 15 years as a Human Sweet Resources Manager at a large Omani Sensations government organisation, Safa decided she would like to be her own boss and do something more creative. Inspired by the very positive feedback about her delicious cakes from her work colleagues and her large family, Safa decided to supplement her retirement income by setting up a small commercial kitchen from her family home in Muscat. She set up her business in the summer of 2019. Within her first year of business Safa managed a turnover of 10,000 OMR. Around one- third of her salary as an HR Manager! The key to her success has been her hard work and her passion for using only the best ingredients such as Fairtrade cocoa and sugar, free-range eggs, locally sourced flour and cinnamon and organically grown citrus fruits: all reflecting her interest in healthy living and protecting the environment. "Being sensitive to the well-being of all creatures and my fellow-Omanis is very important to me," comments Safa, "I am very aware of what Omani women are looking for when they buy baked goods and that is proving to be critically important to my success. For example, if I am making a cake to celebrate a family event I make sure I get to know the client and understand what's important to her family so that I can put all of creativity and my heart into what I am baking for them." Safa's product range varies from bite-sized mini cupcakes and syrup-drenched luqaimat (which are currently under pressure from the many and growing home baking businesses) through to specialty celebration cakes: for example, wedding cakes taking many hours to decorate with sugar roses and delicate icing designs which sell for up to 300 OMR. Marketing Dept. Safa's Sweet Sensations (SSS) mission statement is "To connect communities together by the inspiration and happiness of real food". SSS uses a variety of distribution channels to reach consumers. Safa has set up an attractive website, and has a regular stand at the Oman Bride Show every winter at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre. Corporate events such as the Mother, Baby & Child Show and Muscat International Jewellery Exhibition are also on Safa's roster. She has even supplied baked goods to other businesses, on the recommendations of her friends, for events and milestone celebrations. Despite this growing B2B side of her business, Safa's most in-demand products include the supply of smaller orders to friends and their friends. This revenue source has often helped her with cash-flow problems when she has needed to buy increasingly expensive equipment such as a new double oven to increase her production capacity and a larger dishwasher. Safa's production and her sales have also been given a major boost recently by an advertorial (a paid for feature in an editorial section of a magazine which gives a product endorsement) in the glamourous Bride & Groom (Oman) magazine. Included in the magical black and white-themed double spread of the February 2020 issue of the magazine was a photo of one of Safa's newly-introduced line of wedding cupcakes (pictured) which has proved to be in- demand amongst brides-to-be readers. The Bride & Groom (Oman) editor commented, "Safa's products are, quite simply, an affordable luxury any wedding planner should have on their list as a must!" Let them eat cake indeed. Now that she has established a healthy (B2C and B2B) baking business that fulfills her needs for creativity and for extending her already extensive business skills, Safa is thinking about which direction to take her business in. She is considering her plans for growing SSS over the next 12 months. She knows there are several interesting opportunities in the market, but she needs a clear action plan. Looking at the data she has been informally gathering over the past year she is wondering how to use it, first to identify profitable market segments and second to establish her small bakery as a "first choice" provider