Assignment 4 - Business Plan - Final

Hi Alita - This is a very well-thought out paper, and I really enjoyed reading it. You earned a grade of A (93%). You worked through the questions in this assignment in a meaningful way, with detailed support and thoughtful analysis. Please review my feedback below.

Great work outlining the demographic description of the target market. The target market must be definable (what the customers have in common), meaningful (how it relates to the decision to purchase), sizable (large enough to support your business) and reachable (be able to market to these individuals). You also provided specific data illustrating how many customers you will have in your zip code or nearby zip codes that meet the description you provided. This is helpful because you will know how many potential customers you have in this area and whether this is enough to sustain your business. The more you know about your target market, the more likely you are to design an effective marketing strategy to nudge these customers to buy, which is the ultimate goal.

You are missing part of the response to question 3: company message. You must have a slogan for your company and then you must clarify your company message using the 5 F's - page 160 in the text. Great work completing the marketing budget for your company. You may need to adjust these numbers as you complete the entire business financials document and as you develop your business plan. It is critical that you attach a number to all the marketing activities you planned to determine how much you need to spend. You can revise this section as you develop your plan just make sure it is a reflection of the information you have in the current version of the plan.

SWEET BLEND MARKETING PLAN

Alita Heckstall

Assignment 2 Bus 599 Strategic Management

Dr. Andrea Banto

Strayer University

August 4th, 2019

The non alcoholic beverage business in the United states has overseen continuous growth over the past 10 years .This means that even new companies entering the business can edge out some revenues from the business despite the fact that there are already giants in the industry for example Cola Company.

Target Market

The main target market for the products will be people falling between ages 25 to 54 years. This is mainly because according to the American fact finder statistics of San Francisco, California, the largest population falls between age groups 25 to 34, 35 to 44 and 45 to 54 years with the populations estimated to be 198,732, 137,258 and 116,387 respectively (Factfinder, 2017). This is mainly because most working class groups normally fall within these age groups meaning that the income disparities are likely to influence the consumer behaviour within this target market positively.

There have also been higher education levels within this age groups hence they are more concerned about the health benefits of the beverages they consume. According to population survey of California, the largest consumers of the non alcoholic beverage drinks are aged between 35-55 years from all ethnic groups found in there (Statisticalatlas, 2019). This can mainly be associated with the increased income levels in the age group and also changes in lifestyle to more healthy practices.

Competition Assessment

Red Bull

Strengths

Strong financial position: Due to the strong financial position, the company has been able to adapt effectively to the changing consumer behaviour by for example diversifying its products. Strong Leadership: This has been facilitated by its owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, who is full of innovative ideas and experience in dealing with multiple obstacles (Dudovskiy, 2016).

Customer Loyalty: This has mainly been supported by their advertising campaign which has positioned the product as the ultimate energy drinks for sporting activities.

Strong Brand name: The Company has established a strong brand name in California which over time through vigorous advertising campaign with an emphasis on sporting events.

Weaknesses

High prices of products: Most red bull products are priced above the $2.1 which makes its affordability hard for the locals as compared to other drinks.

Limited Range of Products: Changing consumer behaviour towards more healthy products low in sugar and caffeine and has affected the company since most of its products fall into this category.

Negative Customer perception: Most of its products have been rated as being unhealthy due to the high concentration of caffeine and sugar thus changing consumer towards the products..

Opportunities

Enhancing the nutritional balance of the products: The Company has been producing sugar free products for example the Purple Edition Sugar Free Acai Berry Energy Drink among others.

Engaging in product diversification: The Company has been diversifying its products portfolio to include more fruity products such as the coconut edition and tropical punch energy drinks.

Increasing presence in media: Through egaming the company has been able to get to the target niche of the young and vibrous gamers (Digital Surgeons, 2018)

Threats

Further intensifying competition: There has been an influx in the number of players in the non beverage industry for example the cola company which is a giant with huge financial potential thus providing a challenge in all areas from marketing to reduction in the customer loyalty.

Negative health effects of products: The high sugar and caffeine in the products have made health experts regard the products as unhealthy thus changing the consumer behaviour.

Law suits: In 2014 the company was forced to pay $13 to the customers that had purchased the product within the last 12 years because of the fake marketing strategy, “it will give you wings” (Hamblin, 2014).

Monster Energy

Strengths

Strong Brand name: Since its establishment, the California based energy drink has gained a huge brand identity among new and existing customers.

Huge online audience: As one of its advertising strategies, the company has been able to attain a strong online presence through the formation of Monster Army.

Strong Customer loyalty. This has been facilitated through the high customer value and presence it has struggled to build since its establishment through distributors.

Reasonable Pricing: The Company’s products have been twice as cheap as Red bull’s price which has increased the number of customers purchasing the product over Red bull.

Weaknesses

Customer perception: Due to its low prices the product has mostly been associated with low income users hence affecting the products performance in the high-end market.

Marketting Limitations: Its marketing is limited to extreme sports hence most users are likely to be extreme sports performers than the common users.

High Sugar contents in products: The Company’s products have been associates with higher sugar levels than most coca cola products.

Limited products range: There has been a limited options provided by the company for customer in regards to their products. An example of this would be fruit juice products.

Opportunities

Online channels: The Company can leverage the large online presence it has built to conduct data analytics from customers so as to be able to improve on its products.

Provision of a variety of products for clients: The products can range from vegetable to fruit juices that are more healthy and readily acceptable by the new target market needs..

Threats

Change in consumer behavior: More people have reduced their consumption of the company’s products due to the high caffeine and sugar contents of the products.

High Competition: The heightened competition from already established beverage companies has reduced the revenue generated from the company’s customers.

Counterfeit products: This has been a threat to the company’s brand because some products are cheap and of low quality thus loosing originality.

Marketing Strategy

The company is going to mainly concentrate on pure fruit juices hence the slogan of the company will be “pure healthy juices for your health”. This will position the company as healthy juices manufacturer where it will concentrate on production of pure juices with natural sugars and no caffeine. This will differentiate the company’s products from the competition.

The marketing will also be facilitated by vigorous online marketing campaign through the retailers and our own websites. There has been a steady increase in the use of internet and especially social media which stands at 223 million in 2019 (Baer, 2019). This provides the company with an opportunity to reach out to more people through the use of Google ad sense and social media platforms like Facebook. This is expected to drive a number of potential customers from the vast pool of users into trying out the juices.

Marketing Vehicles

This however has to be approached carefully since the presentation can work against or in support of the company’s objectives. Another channel of marketing its products is use celebrities for marketing itself on the internet. Additionally, this business uses high-quality services to lure their clients to them. For instance, they offer free delivery services to their clients near our stores, which helps them have many loyal customers.

The company will also offer the service of Sweet Blend experience which comes in splendid treatments of service and the cool places in towns to enjoy the drink. Additionally, Sweet Blend offers a cool place for relaxing after a tiring journey with cool music and limited noise.

Sweet Blend plans to use a variety of means to inform the target community about their products as well as persuade them to choose the Sweet Blend experience. The promotion strategy would be necessary for making our customers see the uniqueness in our products. Sweet Blend plans to use an advertisement to promote their brand of products.

The company shall mount billboards in strategic places with pictures of some products offered by the company and text about the location of the restaurant. The company will also make advertisements on most visited websites in California informing the public about the Sweet Blend experience.

Distribution

The main distribution will be done through distributors who have been in the industry for long and have a good customer relations and image. An example of this is the California Beverage Systems Company which has been distributing beverages and other food related products for large companies like Coca Cola (Calbev, 2019). This will make sure that the company reaches the customers in time. Such distributors will be attracted through official launching of the product which will create brand awareness among the target market. This will be in an effort to reduce the cost of distribution like fuel and labour costs by the use of already existing distribution channels.

The distribution is also expected to be facilitated by the availability of huge and renowned retail chains in the market. An example of this is the Rainbow Grocery and Amazon Go grocery store which already has a huge customer base. This will mainly be done through the physical sampling of the company’s products which will be done either for free or at the cost price of the products. The quality in the products offered as perceived by the customers will predetermine the feedback from clients.

References

Baer .J (2019, June 6). Social Media Usage Statistics for 2019 Reveal Surprising Shifts. Retrieved from https://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-research/social-media-usage-statistics/