NEW BUSINESS IN THE BERKSHIRES: PLUM MARKET RESEARCH
Plum Market Research helps organizations and businesses better understand how they perform in local marketplaces. Through the collection and analysis of data, Plum Market Research is able to report specific performance indicators for companies in comparison with like organizations. These reports open a window to the bigger picture of overall economic activity and aid in the growth of creativity and development in the Berkshires.
MASS MoCA, Berkshire Museum, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Museum, Tanglewood, Norman Rockwell Museum are a few of the many organizations taking advantage of the services of Plum Market Research provides.
“Finally, we have confidential, real-time, quantitative data to help us understand the cultural arts market and compare our performance and position to other museums in this dynamic local marketplace,” said Stuart A. Chase, Executive Director of the Berkshire Museum. Plum will soon announce subscribers in the restaurant and lod
ging industries.
“Performance market research is not a new concept” Woller says. “We have taken a demonstrated and highly successful business model and applied it to industries we know would benefit, particularly here in the Berkshires, as well as in national markets. The hardest sales for any start-up business are always the first ones, and we are pleased that the Berkshires premier cultural institutions see the value in participating.”
The monthly reports provide participants with a way to answer fundamental questions about their business and industry. For example, a museum can better understand their position in the local marketplace in relationship to their peers by looking at performance indicators such as total visits, group visits, membership, visit revenue and average daily admission fee. A restaurant report informs owners about their average daily seat turnover, customers served, average daily check size and revenue generated per available seat for both dinner and banquet service in relationship to restaurants in their competitive set, a group of up to five like restaurants. Each monthly report compares the subscriber to their competitive or comparative set for various time periods. No one business sees any other businesses’ raw data. Plum is the confidential, third party aggregator of the information ensuring the validity, reliability and security of the information.
Another benefit of participation is the option to purchase summary reports detailing market activity across industry sectors. These reports open a window to the bigger picture of overall economic activity in the Berkshires tourism and creative economies. “In the long term, we’ll have a very good snap shot of how particular segments of the Berkshire economy perform, and be able to spot trends and compare them to statewide, regional and national performance and economic indicators,” says Woller.
David Rooney, President of the Berkshire Economic Development Corporation, and Michael Supranowicz, President of the Berkshire Chamber of Commerce, concur. Both have said they are being asked for this type of information all the time by existing Berkshire businesses and companies considering relocating or starting new businesses in the area. Rooney said that “having this information gives the Berkshires a competitive advantage in promoting the area.”
Nearly all of the new subscribers are interested in how other Berkshire industries are performing. Stoll mentioned that “the Berkshires cultural organizations want to know how the lodging and restaurant industries are performing and to see trend information.” Likewise, Bruce Finn, General Manager, at the Red Lion Inn looks forward to “getting trend reports on admissions at museums and seat occupancy rates at the performing art venues.” “What’s clear is that no one wants to rely on hearsay anymore, and Plum can provide a number of informative reports in real time for organizational captains with the desire to make data driven decisions,” says Woller.
The linchpin of the business is proprietary software Plum developed with the help of a local technology firm. The software was designed to handle up to three hundred customers. After that, the company will build out a web based platform where customers will be able to securely log in to Plum’s server and input their data and generate reports automatically.
To date, the firm has invested approximately $20,000 in start up costs, excluding the thousands of research and development hours both Stoll and Woller have put into the business. Basic subscriptions start at $575 which is very inexpensive for the benefit of participating. Woller said “one of the benefits of our market research model is that it spreads the cost out among many participants. If one company wanted to undertake this kind of market research on their own, it would cost tens of thousands of dollars.”
Woller and Stoll have already been talking with other tourist destinations throughout the State who want to compare their tourist economies to the Berkshires. Plum eventually envisions being able to compare the Berkshires to other scenic, culturally rich destinations like Saratoga, NY, and Santa Fe, NM.
Still, the primary benefit for subscribers is to determine and understand their position in the LOCAL marketplace in comparison to their peers. It’s far more important for a restaurant to gauge how well they are doing against other similar local restaurants, rather than rely on a national survey of restaurants. Alternatively, wouldn’t it be interesting to know that of the 125,000 seats available at performing art venues in the month of July in the Berkshires, that 72% were occupied and that was a 2.1 percent increase (or decrease) over the prior year?
Former Massachusetts Congressman and Speaker of the House Thomas “Tip” O’Neill quipped that “all politics is local.” Woller and Stoll couldn’t agree more… for Berkshire cultural institutions, restaurants and small inns and bed and breakfasts – all business is local.
