Gregg Roth/CEO

Our Fictional Character
Despite a difficult economy, Donna decided
to move ahead with her planned custom
cupcake business. “With the economy in a
downturn, I like the idea of making comfort
food– right here in my own neighborhood.
I don’t think there’s anything better than
walking into a room that smells like fresh
baked cupcakes.”
After a three-month search Donna found
a small downtown space with a commercial
kitchen that was just the right size for her
cupcake business. Donna had a $20,000
“start-up” bank account to help launch her
small business, which she named “Donna’s”.
She designed her store so that the scent
of baked goods wafted from the kitchen
into the retail space, decorated the store in
flavorful colors and installed several tall glass
bakery cases where she could showcase her
decorative cupcakes and any other enticing
items that came out of her kitchen.
Donna announced her store’s Grand
Opening in local newspapers and distributed
fliers at parking garages, school events and
at grocery stores. The first weekend, crowds
of sweet-toothed customers swooped in and
bought everything she could bake. However,
Donna knew that to keep customers knocking
down her doors, she would need help
spreading the word about her delicious
products. “After all,” she explained “I know
how to bake great cupcakes….but marketing?
Not so much!”
Donna turned to the team at Peerless
Media Group who worked with her to design
a cohesive marketing program. The Creative
Team at Peerless created a multi-tiered plan
that Donna could implement as she grew
financially; by designing the program all at
once, she was assured that her message and
the look of her marketing would be consistent.
One of the first components was to write
and distribute a press release to county-wide
food and catering publications as well
as event/party organizers. Next, Peerless
suggested she wrap her new VW bug with
“Donna’s” signage so that everywhere she
drove, people would think of her store. They
also suggested she take quarter page ads in
Business Matters magazine because (a) they
knew it was an excellent publication with a
great reach and (b) they knew the publisher
would insert a write-up about her business
sometime this year.
When it is financially feasible, Peerless is
planning to shoot a video loop that Donna
can run in the store on closed circuit TV so
that customers can learn more about Donna
and her products. They are also considering
other print, radio and television advertising
for the future.
“I have been pretty overwhelmed” says
Donna, “but everyone at Peerless has been
wonderful. I have full confidence in their
team and with their help, I can relax and do
what I do best – bake the best cupcakes in the
county. Wait! Make that the best cupcakes in
the state!”
Member News:
Spencer Bank Business Holds Seminar
Small business owners from Northern New Jersey were invited
to Spencer’s “Protecting Your Business in the Electronic Age - Small
Business Seminar” on June 19th at the Royal Manor in Garfield.
Anthony M. Rainone, Esq. from Brach Eichler LLC led the seminar
which covered several topics including common electronic threats,
best practices to protect a company’s critical information and specific
legal issues that all business owners should know about protecting
their business information. John Fitzpatrick, Senior Vice President,
Retail Banking, said “We were pleased to host more than 100 business
professionals at this seminar. Many of them expressed appreciation
for this educational session and feel better prepared to protect their
electronic intellectual properties.”
10 June 2012 | business matters