Assignment 4: Business Plan--Final

Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

Gregory Finney

Strayer University

BUS 599

Dr. Andrea Banto and Dr. Cynthia Parmenter

October 31, 2019

Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

Target Market

Fizzy Bottles sells non-alcoholic carbonated drinks. The market for non-alcoholic beverages is relatively large. Almost all people fit into the targeted market for the products of this business. The following is a detailed description of the characteristics of the target market to which Fizzy Bottles will be selling its products.

Demographic Description

The target consumer of Fizzy Bottles is a male or female between the ages of 16 and 35. The typical person who would purchase these drinks belongs to the middle class and earning between $25,000 and $50,000. The racial/ethnic composition of the target market includes white, black, Hispanic, and Asian consumers. The product targets people with an education range of a high school diploma to a college degree.

Geographical Description

The sale of Fizzy Bottles will initially be limited to the United States. The company will first begin selling within Dallas and its environs. The company will target the Dallas metropolitan area and a100 square mile radius around the city. This being an urban region, it is likely to include the targeted demographics. The intention is to grow the business later to target Asia-Pacific, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. However, the capacity of the company is still limited. Therefore, in its initial stages, the company will sell its products in the local markets.

Lifestyle

This business targets young and youthful people who are concerned about health and fitness. One of the major concerns with many carbonated drinks is the health aspect. Many carbonated beverages in the market contain some components viewed as unhealthy such as caffeine and too much sugar. Fizzy drinks target young people who care about the elements of the beverages they purchase. Such people tend to consider the nutritional components of the edible products that they buy. The company will make its drinks with healthy ingredients that will be acceptable to this market.

Psychographic

Psychographic segmentation differentiates the target markets based on their shared beliefs, values, behaviors, and personality traits (Goyat, 2011; Larsen, 2010). Fizzy Bottles seeks to capture the psychographic market of people who love trends. The leading age group targeted, is young and fun. People who follow the trends. In this age of social media, as long as trendsetters present Fizzy Bottles as a trendy drink, then the target market will likely want to join the trend. Thus, the business seeks to show the target market that it is fun and refreshing to drink a Fizzy Bottles flavor.

Purchasing Patterns

The young and fun people tend to buy things that they consider cool frequently. If the drinks are trendy, the target market will most likely be buying it more than once in a day. The availability of the Fizzy Bottles at local stores will make it easier for them to purchase the products at such a high frequency.

Buyer Sensitivity

Buyer sensitivity describes how certain aspects of a product, such as price, quality, or packaging, cause changes in consumers' behaviors (Danes & Lindsey-Mullikin, 2012). For this product, the buyers will likely be price sensitive. There is a specific range of pricing for most non-alcoholic drinks in the market. Making Fizzy Bottles too cheap would make them seem to be of poor quality while setting high prices might discourage buyers from getting the drinks.

Market Competition

Fizzy Bottle faces competition from several companies already established in the entire U.S. market. Three of the leading competing companies include Coca-Cola Company, PepsiCo, and Keurig's Dr. Pepper. These competitors have a broad portfolio of products; hence, Fizzy Drinks will only be competing with some of its products. For Coca-Cola, Fizzy will be competing with the range of Fanta drink flavors since this company also offers fruity flavors of carbonated drinks. For PepsiCo, the company will be competing with the carbonated drinks with the brand name Pepsi. Lastly, the company will be competing with the brand Dr. Pepper, which is also a line of carbonated beverages. The following table analyses the current state of competition in the market.

Competitor	% of total revenue	% of total units sold	Trend of Market Share
Fanta (Coca-Cola)	47	36	Decreasing
Pepsi	42	56	Increasing
Dr. Pepper	11	8	Increasing

Fizzy Bottles will differentiate itself from the above companies by providing unique flavors that are not available in the United States. The Fizzy flavors will include a mixture of unique Caribbean-derived characteristics, which will stand out in a market of familiar flavors produced by the competitors.

Company Message

Functions: Fizzy bottles offers customers a variety of delicious flavors of carbonated drinks. These dinks will leave the customers feeling refreshed and cool.

Finances: The drinks will retail at an affordable cost that will leave the customers' finances unaffected. The customers will get refreshed at a price that is affordable for almost anyone.

Freedom: The customers can access the coolness of Fizzy Bottles from any retail stores near them. The company will stock its products at all retail stores in Dallas and its environs.

Feelings: Drinking Fizzy Bottles will leave the customer feeling cool and trendy. This is a new product designed specifically for millennials. Drinking this product will make the customer feel like they are a part of the popular community.

Future: Consumers will stay connected with Fizzy Bottles for a long time. Any customer needing to contact our company's customer service or wants to give feedback can reach the company through its Fizzy Bottles social media pages.

Slogan: Drink Fizzy, Stay Cool, Stay Refreshed

Marketing Vehicles

Social Networking

Fizzy will have social media pages on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. These are three of the most used social networking sites. On these sites, the company will directly interact with the targeted consumers, engage them, and provide information on the products. The reason for selecting this marketing vehicle is the targeted age range. The targeted market consists of millennials, who are frequent users of social media. A significant percentage of people in this generation use social media as their primary source of information (Sago, 2010). Additionally, social networking is a cost-effective marketing vehicle because it reaches millions of people at a time with relatively low costs invested.

Online Marketing

The business will pay for online pop-up advertisements. For example, the company will pay for sponsorships on other sites. For instance, a person may need to watch a Fizzy ad before watching a YouTube video. They may also see a print ad of the drinks when using another website. Online advertising helps to increase awareness of a business (Matthews et al., 2016). Being a new drink in the market, the marketing plan will be focused on increasing Fizzy Bottle visibility so that more people can learn about it. Increased brand awareness will likely increase sales.

Sampling

The company will give out small bottle samples of Fizzy at department stores. The business will set up a stand at stores such as Walmart and Costco, where customers will get a chance to test out the free samples. This strategy is essential to get people to try out the new and unique flavors of Fizzy Bottles. This is a new product in the market; thus, sampling of our product will help to develop the customers' trust in the product.

Advertising Specialties

The company will develop Fizzy branded caps, t-shirts, and sweaters. The company will give these to customers who purchase the drinks during the promotion. When customers use these branded items, they will be helping to spread awareness about Fizzy Bottles. Additionally, the company will be building relationships with customers by issuing gifts.

Print Media

The marketing will also involve the use of print advertisements in magazines and newspapers. Readers of these publications will get to see the news on new flavors that the business has developed. This is a strategy to increase awareness of the brand and convincing buyers to try out the new drink in the market.

References

Danes, J. E., & Lindsey-Mullikin, J. (2012). Expected product price as a function of factors of price sensitivity. Journal of Product & Brand Management, 21(4), 293-300.

Goyat, S. (2011). The basis of market segmentation: a critical review of literature. European Journal of Business and Management, 3(9), 45-54.

Larsen, N. (2010). Market Segmentation. Aarhus School of Business.

Mathews, S., Bianchi, C., Perks, K. J., Healy, M., & Wickramasekera, R. (2016). Internet marketing capabilities and international market growth. International Business Review, 25(4), 820-830.

Sago, B. (2010). The influence of social media message sources on millennial generation consumers. International Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications, 2(2).