PIP is a printing and marketing consultancy company that wants to sell Indian handcrafted furniture in the US market. It analyzed the US furniture industry and identified segments of "Design-oriented", "Eye for best", and retirees as its target customers. PIP will launch coffee tables made by Indian artisans priced at $205 each through online retailers. It allocated a $25,000 budget for Facebook, YouTube, and publicity campaigns to promote the cultural story and artisanship of the products to achieve its goal of $1 million in revenue in the first year. Success will be measured based on online visibility, customer satisfaction, and sales volume.

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PIP: Postal Instant Press
I. Current Situation
A. Internal Situation
Postal Instant Press (PIP) is a printing and marketing consultancy company. Its mission is
to make the lives of their customers better by providing the best service for their marketing
necessities. The company has 40 years of experience with network and worldwide affiliates spans
of more than 400 locations (Your Local PIP, n.d.). Their offices are located in twenty two states
in America. Their product offerings include printing and copying, direct marketing, creative
services, mailing services, event marketing, website design, mobile and social media marketing,
packaging, labels, and binding (Your Local PIP, n.d.). As a marketing consultancy company that
provides printing services, they have decided to partner with various companies such as Ricoh,
Xerox, Canon, Konica Minolta, Hewlett Packard, Grimco, 3M, EFI, Advertising Specialties
Institute (ASI), UPS and united states Postal service (Your Local PIP, n.d.). Their services are said
to be tailored to the customer’s needs and have good adaptability toward the change in
circumstances.
After the years of experience and expertise in the local market and global exposure, PIP
looks forward to creating an ecosystem for selling Indian Made Furniture in the US. PIP went
through an exhaustive research about the Indian Hand Crafted Furniture. The cost to PIP including
the shipping and transportation still leaves PIP with a lucrative profit margin. The situation of the
US furniture industry still needs to be examined.
B. External Situation
Due to the broader economic recovery and the improving housing market in the U.S, the
prospect for furniture industry is positive. In 2020, the U.S furniture market is projected to have a
value of $132 million.
Since 2000, the U.S furniture manufacturing industry has largely succumbed to lower-cost
Asian competition. The U.S furniture imports grew faster in 2015 than in the two previous years.
Wooden furniture imports were worth $16.23 billion in 2015. Imports from all major suppliers
increased. The top 3 importing countries are China, Vietnam, and Mexico. In 2015, China’s share
in total imports accounts for 47.3%. Vietnam’s and Mexico’s shares increased to 18.5% and 5%

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respectively. In addition, the three largest furniture companies in the U.S are Ashley Furniture
Home Store, IKEA, and Williams-Sonoma.
For distribution channels, online retail accounts for only 8.7% of the U.S market. Home
furniture and homeware retailers are the leading channel and account for a 60.9% share, while
hypermarkets, supermarkets, and discounters account for a further 13.1% of the market. (See
Exhibit)
In 2014, living room furniture is said to be the most profitable type furniture, comprising about
40% of sales in the U.S market, followed by bedroom furniture at 33%.
C. SWOT Analysis
Strengths and Weaknesses:
The strength of the company mainly lies on its value proposition. It positions itself as a go-
to resource for businesses who need both printing and marketing expertise. Thus, with a wide range
of services, it can cover business projects from start to end. Also, with 40 years of experience, PIP
has been a market leader since 1968. Its numerous awards and recognition proved how it has
maintained good standing in the industry.
However, despite having received awards, PIP still lacks brand visibility in the market.
Global consulting and marketing firms such as IBS and KPMG are still in the lead. Also, PIP’s
customer base is not as strong as its competitors. The company has yet to improve on its publicity
and brand awareness.
Opportunities and Threats:
The outlook for US furniture industry is positive because of the continuous improvement
of their housing market. With a general lack of brand strength for most of the retailers, this
imposes an opportunity for new players to enter the market. One of the market trends to consider
is the forecasted growth of internet retailing. Sales for online retailing for home furnishings are
expected to hit $32 billion by 2018 (Fung Global, 2017). Also, research shows that disruptive
innovations are slowly penetrating the furniture space. These innovations include new design
and assembly ideas, new technology and smart furniture, or new business models. Small start-up
companies may thrive in the market by creating a fresh and unique value proposition.

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However, the furniture industry is becoming less fragmented over time precisely because
of the leading companies who have long established themselves in the market. The growing
presence of IKEA and Ashley Furniture may deter smaller entrants. Also, furniture imports in the
US market are mainly coming from China, Vietnam, and Malaysia. Hence, it might be challenging
for other countries to compete. To be able to contend with these large companies, new entrants
should provide innovative products and unique business models.
II. Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning
Segmentation:
While segmenting the furniture industry it was important to keep in mind peoples' taste and
preference along with their spending capacity and willingness to pay. Based on this, we segmented
the market into the following segments:
 Fresh/Young Homers: These are young couples who are setting up their first home and are
looking for a variety of low priced products.
 Families: In this category, we put families with children that would need durable,
functional and safe furniture.
 Eye for best: These are people who do their homes well as a display of status and prefer
exclusive products.
 Design oriented: These are people who are attracted by the look and style of furniture, and
have an eye for both expensive and budget furniture.
 Favor change: Consumers who like to regularly change their furniture.
 Retirees: They look for either budget income, due to low income or expensive classy
furniture to enjoy their retirement.
To choose our target market we must see which segment best matches our product offering
and where our product will have maximum utility. Also, we must try to ensure that if we choose
multiple segments then they should be homogenous in nature so that they can be addressed
with the same marketing approach.
Targeting:
Targeting is to choose a market group out of the segments, at whom the marketing effort will
focus. While selecting the target market it is important to consider the profit margins, competitors,

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distribution channel, company goals and resources. Out of our segments, we chose to approach the
"Design-oriented", "Eye for best" and "Retirees" who wish to spend lavish retirement. We chose
them because these people appreciate craftsmanship and exclusivity. Our estimated target age
group is 30 years plus. We chose this age group because these people match our product offering
above.
Positioning:
The positioning of the product is very clear. ‘Handcrafted Artsy Wooden Furniture’. We are not
only selling our furniture to our target market but also marketing the unique art of undervalued
Indian artists. We are focusing on not just the furniture but also the story of the craft of the
furniture. This differentiates our product from the competitors. The perception in customer’s mind
towards our brand should be art appreciating, quality-focused brand and towards our furniture
would be something that makes their home culturally rich.
Value Proposition:
We want to give people the furniture plus something to talk about with their friends and
acquaintances about the art of hand-crafted furniture. The art was developed in the Mughal Period
for Indian Royalty but was suppressed in the British India. The artisans have inherited this art of
handicraft from their great grandfathers who served the royalty. We intend to bring the art to the
market of US market. The furniture is not ‘antique’ but ‘unique’. At the same time is affordable
by a large market segment.
III. Objectives
The company plans to achieve a revenue of SGD 1 Million in the first year with the
maximum revenue projected in the last quarter as per the buying trends of American citizens.
Our brand ‘Woodpecker’ wishes to be recognized as a platform that showcases the skill of
talented artisans from India and make that product available to people at affordable prices. The
brand wants to be recognized for offering high quality product. Our furniture holds a story about
its origin and that’s what makes it different from its competition.
We expect to target people who are seekers of traditional art and wish to feel culturally rich. Also,

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we wish to target the NRI’s settled in the states as this furniture will give them nostalgic and close
to home feeling. We understand that while the price might attract some customers, solely art might
attract the other and we want to be able to reach out to both these kinds of customers.
While launching the product, we are only focusing on Coffee Tables as our initial product.
This is because these tables can instantly add glamour to the space and are suitable for all spaces.
The crafted furniture instantly adds a dramatic touch to the space and makes it look more classy
and expensive without costing a fortune. The major societal objective is to uplift the artisans in
India and give them the recognition they deserve.
IV. Marketing Program
a. Product
Living room furniture accounts for 40% of all furniture industry sales. With this being the bulk of
the industry, the group decided to sell a wood carved table for living room use. This product is
hand carved by Indian artisans coming from Saharanpur, India.
Illustration: Saharanpur wood carved table
b. Price
To determine the pricing for the table, competition-based and cost-based pricing were obtained for
comparison.

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Competition-based Pricing
Product Type Dimensions Illustration Retail Price (SGD)
Scandinavian style
reclaimed wood
coffee table
Dimensions:
44 x 16 x 18 in.
313.00
The Newton -
Reclaimed Wood
Coffee Table
Dimensions:
45 x 24 x 18 in.
575.00
Emerald Home
T100-0 Chandler
Cocktail Table,
Wood
Dimensions:
48 x 24 x 18 in.
210.00
Cost-based Pricing
Type Cost (SGD)
Product Cost 60.00
Shipping 16.80
Markup 128.2
Retail Price 205.00
The price floor for the table will be set at 76.80 since this is the overall cost of the product. Any
price sold less than this would be sold at a loss. Competition prices of similar tables range from
210.00 SGD to 575.00 SGD. Since the product to be sold is similar to these tables, a selling retail
price of 205.00 SGD is deemed to be feasible.

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c. Place
The group decided to use online retailing as the means for distribution. Online furniture sales in
the USA has been growing in recent years and is expected to grow at an annual growth rate of
7.8% (Fung Global Retail & Technology, 2017). The table will be sold on these specific online
platforms:
1. Amazon.com
2. Overstock.com
3. Wayfair.com
4. Company website
d. Promotion
We choose YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and Google as our initial promotional channels.
We intend to create our own website to showcase all the products we offer and run a
promotional campaign of the story behind the craft. The video will be posted on Facebook and
YouTube, where we will attach our website link. Our aim is to increase brand awareness and
position our product accurately through online channels. The promotional campaign will be
focusing on the art, quality, story and cultural richness. The videos, website, and product
description on online selling platform will showcase the description of the same.
Illustration: Sample Amazon layout

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Furthermore, we would like to invite travelers for photographers famous on Instagram to
feature our products for publicity.
We also intend to make our customers, member of our community to make them feel valued
and to have more touch points with our customers. Exhibition will showcase artifacts and show
pieces exclusively available for the audience of the exhibition. The members have an option to
bring friends on invitation.
Facebook charge advertisers by the view and starts counting views after a video has played
for three seconds. But due to the hundreds of millions of users of Facebook, we can get
numbers of visitors. YouTube's skippable True View ads are that advertisers are only charged
when the visitor views the entire ad.
Google uses a pay-per-click advertising model. One only pays if someone is searching for
the keyword you have bid on. For our products, we set the keywords as "furniture, hand craft,
Indian furniture, artistic, carved ", etc.
V. Budget
To obtain the financial goal of 1 million SGD, around 5,000 pieces of tables need to be
sold. In order to attain this volume, digital marketing through Facebook and YouTube will be
used. A publicity campaign will also be instituted to gain initial product awareness.
Type Budget (SGD)
Facebook 7,500
YouTube 7,500
Publicity Campaign 5,000
Others 5,000
Total Budget 25,000
VI. Metrics and Implementation Control
Measuring the success of the company's project will be based on three factors: online visibility,
customer satisfaction, and sales volume. The reasons why we chose these factors to determine our

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success is parallel to the mission and vision of PIP, so having the same mission and vision for
Woodpecker is important. Measuring our online visibility can measure the brand name visibility,
which is important to us as of this moment because we just launched Woodpecker. We will
measure our online visibility through Facebook likes, other social platforms, and visits to our
websites. Since the company's mission is to provide the best service, we want to see how the
customers find our products and services through the comments in the social media and letting
them take a survey after product purchase. Sales volume is, obviously, important for our company
as it would alert us if our marketing plan is appropriate for the brand and product.

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REFERENCES:
Fung Global Retail & Technology. (2017). A Deep Dive Into The US Furniture Market. Retrieved
from https://fungglobalretailtech.com/research/deep-dive-us-furniture-market/
Fung Global Retail & Technology. (2017). DEEP DIVE: Global Furniture And Homewares E-
Commerce. Retrieved from https://fungglobalretailtech.com/research/global-furniture-and-
homewares-e-commerce/
Your Local PIP. (n.d.). Retrieved March 01, 2017, from http://www.pip.com/portlandor467/
Aland. M. (2016). How To Advertise on Google and Boost Your Small Business. Retrieved from
http://fitsmallbusiness.com/advertise-on-google/
YCharts. (2017). US Furniture and Home Furnishings Store Sales: 9.059B USD for Jan 2017.
Retrieved from https://ycharts.com/indicators/us_furniture_and_home_furnishings_store_sales

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Exhibits:
Exhibit 1: United States furniture market distribution: % share, by value, 2015
Exhibit 2: Top 10 US Furniture Retailers: Furniture, Bedding and Accessories Sales, 2014

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Exhibit 3: Budget Calculation for Facebook and YouTube
Number of Pieces to be sold - (Financial Goal)/(Price per unit)= $1,000,000/$205=4,878
pieces≈5,000 pieces
Number of viewers to reach - (Number of Pieces to be Sold)/(Online Sales Conversion Rate)=
(4,878 pieces)/0.02=243,900
Budget - Number of viewers to reach*Cost per View=243,900*$0.03=$7,317≈$7,500