OBJECTIVE
Chocolate Journeys aims to be an informative yet appealing and user-friendly website about the world history of chocolate. Chocolate Journeys seeks to appeal to visitors with any degree of interest in chocolate, world culture, or history. The website will feature countries representing various world regions, detailing chocolate’s historical impact in each country from the time of chocolate’s first appearance there up to the present. The content on chocolate’s world history will relate to social science topics and provide a unique way to examine humanity and society. Written material will be presented in an accessible and easily navigable manner, while visual aesthetic and special features will simultaneously make Chocolate Journeys an enjoyable website to explore.
DEVELOPMENT
Chocolate Journeys has a five-stage development timeline that is expected to progress over thirty weeks before Stage 5, which is ongoing. However, a pilot version of the website is expected to be completed by June 6th, 2008.
Stage 1 involves the initial creative process and workings for Chocolate Journeys. Stage 2 begins content compilation, domain creation, and initial fund seeking. Stage 3 intensifies the research process for content compilation, finalizes the creation and design of the domain, and begins formal grant fund seeking. Stage 4 involves further content research with visits and consultations in featured countries. It also involves creating the website’s special features section and links section. Stage 5 is the ongoing maintenance stage and is for content updates, special features updates, creating partnerships with related groups and websites, and developing ideas for new content or features.
RESOURCES
Needed resources include domain space, funds to maintain the domain space, technical support from friends familiar with website creation, research tools and materials, funds for research travel and consultation costs, the creator’s time and effort, and any assistant’s time and effort.
The domain costs and research travel costs are the resources requiring monetary support, so funding is expected to come from initial seed investment and grant awards. Grant requests will be made to academic departments, outside foundations, and related non-profit interest groups. The remaining resources will be free, given available resources at the creator’s base in Stanford University. The creator of Chocolate Journeys does not seek to be financially compensated for time spent on Chocolate Journeys.
Research resources are books, magazines, newspapers, Internet content, personal interviews, and travel to featured countries and locations.
MAINTENANCE
Any previous historical content will be updated should new studies and findings emerge. The website’s historical timeline for content extends to the present; accordingly, information will be added every three weeks to reflect current states and changes involving chocolate around the world. Changes involving chocolate around the world will reflect cultural and sociological change. This includes occurrences in cultural trends, art, science and technology, economics and trade, politics, communication, and other aspects of the world’s societies.
The website’s multimedia and special features section will be updated every week, with ideas including new videos, new topics in the chat forum, and ongoing contests for visitors.
At Development Stage 5, ideas for expansion will be ongoing. Expansion would involve content creation for new featured countries, but possibilities are limitless.
MARKET ANALYSIS:
TARGET MARKET
Chocolate Journeys targets English-speaking visitors with any degree of interest in chocolate, world travel and culture, or history. It is anticipated that curiosity in at least one of these areas will attract a steady stream of traffic to the website. Chocolate Journeys does not aim to be a highly commercial, mainstream business endeavor; it seeks traffic on a smaller, low-key scale.
COMPETITION
Chocolate Journeys is unique in its combination of chocolate, culture, and history because of its equal focus on all three areas of interest. Similar competitor websites tend to skew focus, in ways such as placing emphasis on a particular interest or marketing another product like chocolate. Chocolate Journeys will adhere to its objective with minimal distraction from other interests. Chocolate Journeys also places special attention on its international focus in chocolate history, more so than competitors whose overview of chocolate history drifts incoherently from country to country. Chocolate Journeys individually profiles all featured countries, and provides information on current affairs involving chocolate as well.
Overall, competitors effectively balance informational content and user-friendly appeal, as this website intends to do; to surpass competitors, this website will do the same in a superior manner. Chocolate Journeys will improve on content quality, special features, layout and navigation, and connectivity and related resources.
ADVERTISING AND PARTNERSHIPS
Advertising is a primary concern for Chocolate Journeys. This website does not rely on commercial advertising, given its unique specialization that does not particularly cater to mainstream interest. Relying on grant money from non-profit interest groups does not translate to substantial potential for mass advertising.
Chocolate Journeys will make itself available to as many search engines as possible, under as many relevant keywords as possible. Chocolate Journeys will also seek partnerships with educational foundations, interest groups involved with chocolate, world culture, or history, and museums. Through such partnerships, Chocolate Journeys and its partners could mutually link one another on their respective domains. Chocolate Journeys may also seek partnerships with interested chocolate vendors, should expansion take that direction during Development Stage 5.
RISKS AND ANTICIPATED SHORTCOMINGS
Risks and anticipated shortcomings fall within three realms: website development and logistics, content, and website appeal.
Problems in development and logistics involve dependency on unguaranteed grant funding and technical support from friends.
Problems in content concern topic scope and perspective. History involves many disciplines and perspectives, so there is difficulty in providing a comprehensive and thorough collection of information on chocolate history around the world. Moreover, the information for Chocolate Journeys will be compiled and filtered with Western perspectives, so there is potential for alienating visitors who also speak different languages and are of differing cultural perspectives.
Problems in website appeal involve drawing interest and catering to visitor tastes. Attracting visitors to a website of a more academic, less commercial website such as this is a challenge. Chocolate Journeys does not particularly target commercial advertising to reach a mainstream market. No products are offered beyond the historical content and features. Even with sufficient visitor traffic, the website must tread a fine line between scholarly presentation of information and appealing, user-friendly appeal. Visitors tend to lose interest quickly, so the lack of frequent updates for fresh content is another issue to address.