Cycological
Marketing & Launch Proposal
The Official Lodge of
Living Stones
Centenary Collector's Edition
Prepared for Porchway Masonic · by Cycological Marketing Agency · 31 July 2026
Porchway Masonic × Cycological
Contents
What we'll cover
01
Executive summary
The commercial target and how we get there
02
Market opportunity
TAM / SAM / SOM and pricing position
03
Who we're selling to
Priority personas and what moves them
04
Our approach
Three research-gated phases, Aug 2026 – Jan 2027
05
Marketing strategy
Channels, content, and the €400/month media plan
06
Website & commerce platform
Current site vs. recommended migration to Shopify
07
Deeper research findings
US duty relief & production benchmarking
08
Fees & next steps
€350/month management + ad spend, timeline
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Executive Summary
A precision campaign, not a mass-market launch
600
sets in the fixed centenary print run
(500 standard · 75 signed · 25 archive)
290
sets — six-month base-case forecast
(£53,650 gross revenue)
500–575
sets — full-campaign objective
(up to £92,500+ gross revenue)
€750
total monthly investment
(€350 management + €400 media)
The edition sits above ordinary Masonic publishing (£10–£45) but within credible range of signed Folio Society
collector editions (£150–£300). The core risk is not insufficient demand — the addressable audience across six
territories is 1.1–1.17 million active Freemasons — it is reaching a fragmented, high-affinity minority with a
premium, non-essential purchase.
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Market Opportunity
From 1.1M Freemasons to a realistic 300–600 sets
Addressable audience, by layer
Where the campaign actually plays
- Core TAM: 1.10–1.17M active Freemasons across UK, US, Ireland, Canada, Australia, NZ
- SAM: 120,000–190,000 high-affinity prospects — scholars, collectors, lodge officers, institutions
- Recommended target: 500 standard-equivalent sales — just 0.3% of the midpoint SAM
- Geographic mix: UK 45% · US 30% · Ireland 8% · Canada 7% · Australia 7% · NZ 3%
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Pricing & Competitive Position
£185 sits between everyday Masonic books and fine-press collector editions
£28
Standard Masonic books
£88
Facsimiles & multi-volume
£185
Porchway Centenary Edition
£163
Folio Society signed (entry)
£390
Folio Society numbered (upper)
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Porchway Masonic × Cycological
Who We're Selling To
Ranked by expected propensity to purchase
Masonic scholar
Very high
Editorial authority, provenance, exclusive commentary
Collector
Very high
Numbering, scarcity, slipcase, signatures
Lodge education officer
High
Study-circle utility, mentoring, long-term library value
Institutional buyer
High (qualified)
Preservation, archive value, institutional prestige
Gift buyer
Medium–high
Installation, retirement, birthday, recognition
Developing Freemason (25–44)
Medium
Personal development, guided learning, price-sensitive
Messaging discipline: heritage, scholarship, preservation and craftsmanship outperform conspicuous "luxury" language with this audience.
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Our Approach
Three research-gated phases
Spend follows evidence, not assumption
Phase 1
Validate
Aug – Oct 2026
- Finalise positioning & personas
- Waiting-list landing page live
- Lodge & institutional outreach opens
- Low-spend Meta/Google demand test
Phase 2
Build
Oct – Nov 2026
- Reveal slipcase, numbering, signed tier
- Priority paid pre-orders open
- Contributor interviews & previews
- Confirm production quantity
Phase 3
Launch & Optimise
Dec 2026 – Jan 2027
- General sale + centenary launch event
- Retargeting, PR, email conversion
- Dispatch, reviews, photography
- Full-campaign reporting
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Marketing Strategy & Channels
Email and partnerships convert; social and search build the list
| Channel | Role | Benchmark |
|---|
| Email (owned list) | Principal conversion & nurture channel | 35–43% opens · 3–10% sequence conversion |
| Google Search | Capture existing Wilmshurst / Masonic-book intent | £25–£60 purchase CPA |
| Meta — cold | Build awareness & waiting-list audiences | €3–€10 per qualified lead |
| Meta — retargeting | Convert product & video viewers | £20–£50 purchase CPA |
| Lodge & contributor partnerships | Highest-trust referral channel | 5–15% conversion |
| Direct institutional outreach | Multi-set & library orders | 8–15% positive response |
| Organic / YouTube / SEO | Long-term authority, compounding | Slow start, strengthens 6–18 months |
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Monthly Ad Budget
€400 / month — learning and retargeting first
Meta video & waiting list — €180 (45%)
Google Search — €120 (30%)
Meta retargeting — €60 (15%)
Testing reserve — €40 (10%)
Why this split
- €180 Meta: build first-party waiting-list audiences via short-form video
- €120 Google: capture existing Wilmshurst / Masonic-book search intent
- €60 retargeting: convert visitors who didn't convert on first visit
- €40 reserve: test countries, creative and institutional lead forms
- We recommend increasing spend only once cost-per-registration is proven — the larger volume driver is lodge & institutional partnerships, not paid media
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Website & Commerce Platform
We audited the live build behind porchwaymasonic.co.uk directly
Today: current site (content-only)
- Static React front end — no database, no backend
- Each title = one individual Stripe Payment Link
- No cart — can't buy the 5-vol set + signed tier together
- No shipping calculation by country
- No numbered-stock / inventory tracking
- No institutional bundle pricing or discount codes
- Strong for content, SEO and fast iteration
Recommendation: hybrid
- Commerce moves to Shopify: variants, bundles, discount codes, inventory that closes a tier when it sells out
- Current site stays for content pages — history, authors, For Lodges
- Shopify Basic ≈ $29–39/mo + ~2.6–2.9% processing — modest vs. the £92,500 target
- Shopify Markets covers multi-currency & country shipping for 6 territories
- Pre-order app handles waiting-list & staged pre-order mechanics
- Scoped and quoted separately from the €350/month marketing fee
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Deeper Research Findings
Two findings that refine cost and risk since our 31 July report
US import duty: better than first flagged
- Books (HS/HTS 4901) are protected from the 2025 IEEPA tariffs by the Berman Amendment — "informational materials" are exempt
- Correctly classified & declared with the right Chapter 99 code, the standard edition should clear duty-free even post de-minimis
- Slipcase & certificate best declared as packaging, not separately dutiable
- De-risks the US market — 30% of base-case sales — though we still recommend written confirmation from the freight partner
Production cost: assumptions confirmed
- Comparable collector print runs (200–600 units) benchmark at ~£35–£65/unit fully finished — in line with our £45–£75 planning range
- Ordering 10–15% over confirmed quantity for damage/replacement is standard — already reflected in the 25-copy archive allocation
- Fixing specification before quoting avoids the most common source of budget overrun
- Net effect: our margin model is realistic, not optimistic
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Timeline
August 2026 – January 2027
Aug
Confirm spec, validate weight, open priority registration
Sep
Publish history content, lodge outreach, test demand
Oct
Reveal slipcase & numbering, invite institutional reservations
Nov
Priority paid pre-orders, contributor interviews
Dec
General sale, centenary launch event
Jan
Dispatch, reviews, fulfilment review
Three decision gates protect the print run:
1,000–1,500 qualified waiting-list registrations before paid pre-orders open · 150 paid pre-orders before
committing to the full 500–600 print run · 75–100 US orders before bulk US fulfilment.
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Fees & Investment
Six-month engagement, Aug 2026 – Jan 2027
€350 / month
Cycological management fee
Strategy, campaign management, content, reporting, partnership & institutional outreach support
€400 / month
Advertising spend
Google + Meta, passed through at cost with no markup — as confirmed by Porchway
€750 / month
Total monthly investment
Billed monthly in advance. Production, printing, shipping and payment fees remain Porchway's direct costs.
Website & commerce platform work (Section 7 of the written proposal) sits outside this fee and would be scoped separately.
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Next Steps
Let's confirm the plan
- Confirm this proposal and the six-month engagement
- Complete outstanding items from the Client Information Request — production cost, packed weight, edition size, approvers
- Agree access to Porchway's subscriber list, past sales data and existing creative assets
- Decide the Shopify migration path so numbered inventory is live before November pre-orders
- Kick-off session to confirm the Phase 1 landing page and content calendar