Business Plan

The power of marketing for a business cannot be underestimated as it helps the business to gain the attention of potential customers. Unlike sales, marketing is focused on exchange for value, while sales involves convincing customers to buy the products sold by the company. Marketing tends to place much of its focus on customers through building of a relationship. Through sharing of information pertaining to the value of the company’s products and services, marketing, therefore, becomes an important aspect of relational management in a business. For a business to succeed and realize the power of marketing, it must come up with a detailed marketing plan that lays a framework, which will be followed by the objectives of the business through its marketing.

For this new company – Smoothie Giant, being in operation over a period of six months requires the business to carry out an intensive marketing campaign in order to establish a good environment that can help it establish a scenario which can be utilized in selling its product to customers. With the existence of different brands of smoothies and juices in the market, the introduction of a new chain requires the business to be well versed with marketing trends that will help it win the attention of customers. Branding, selection of marketing channels, and dealing with competition are some of the most important things Smoothie Giant should be focused on. There exists a myriad of ways through which Smoothie Giant can be marketed as explained through the analysis in the marketing plan for the business.

Target Market

Having a defined target market is important for a company in marketing as this helps it to fine-tune both the products and the marketing strategies used to ensure the targeted market is reached with ease. With a target population, it is also possible to have the products made to meet the specific needs of the given population in the market. For the smoothies and juices sold by Smoothie Giant, they are mainly directed to the young, working adults, between 18 and 35. The population is essentially a working population, with busy, exhausting schedules so, therefore the smoothies can help keep their body’s replenished – a meal on the go. According to a research study, this target market provides an ideal market for fresh smoothies. The population is energetic and very active and there is a need to replenish energy after various activities. The young adult target market is associated with massive consumption of nonalcoholic beverages, otherwise known as energy drinks. Smoothie Giant will focus on replacing energy drinks with a more natural and fresh drink.

Another important characteristic of this target market by the Smoothie Giant is this group forms a significant share of the overall population. With this in mind, the population offers a significantly large market for this type of product. Also, due to their projected increase in population, the market offers a prospect for expansion of business territories in manufacturing and distributing of Smoothie Giant.  With a population of more than 8 million people, Virginia offers the ideal location for the business (US Census Bureau, 2010). The business will be located more specifically in Prince William County; this county has a high population of the young, working adult population giving Smoothie Giant the best reach of a wider market for the products sold.

Market Competition              

Understanding the competition that exists in a market is crucial, as it aids the business in devising ways to deal with the competition that already exists in a market or an anticipated competition. Understanding of the competitors also helps in identifying their weaknesses that make the market to be unsatisfied, and hence, show a market gap. In many instances, businesses can fail in the market without having an adequate understanding of the nature of the competitors that exist in the market. Without the prerequisite knowledge of the market layer, trial and error strategies become the norm of the business. With all needed information regarding the competitors in the market, a business is able to learn to which superior strategies it can implement to deal with the threat of competition as posed by the existing competitor in the market.

Smoothie and juice beverage businesses often face stiff competition from other ventures dealing in the same line of products. For this reason, the success of Smoothie Giant will be highly determined by the implementation of both marketing strategies in the selling of the business brand, as well as, the implementation of measures that can give a competitive business advantage; this may include cost leadership, differentiation and value added on the products. With the existence of corporations such as Tropical Smoothie, Jamba Juice, and other local businesses selling the same types of products, Smoothie Giant is anticipating to face a tough competition. Smoothie Giant needs to identify the gaps in the marketing structure and the quality of goods and services offered by these companies. With Tropical Smoothie taking a significant share of market in the US according to 2018 data, this means that the business will have an uphill task in selling and creation of a brand image in a market that is already dominated (QSR, 2018).

In order for Smoothie Giant to thrive in such an environment, it is important to make the products sold be unique in terms of value and pricing. To attain this, Smoothie Giant products will be fortified with nutrient and natural ingredients that are health-friendly. Smoothie Giant plans to utilize local farmers and growers to obtain the ingredients needed in order to create the products to be sold. The use of local farmers and growers will also become a selling point. Helping the farmers and local growers with their sales is a commitment to the community that Smoothie Giant can key in on. On the matter pertaining pricing of the product, the product sold will be affordable to ensure that everyone within the target market can afford these products. To attain low pricing, the business will have to employ optimum production techniques in order to reduce the overheads for the company. This is important in ensuring that the business is able to compete favorably with the existing companies. Smoothie Giant will have to keep an evolving menu when using local farmers and growers. Not all fruit will be available locally, during certain months. The menu of Smoothie Giant will change as the seasons change. This is another marketing factor the business can hone in on. The changing menu allows for new smoothies to be introduced every so often. Branding is another important concept that this company intends to employ; this comes with different packaging of the drinks to create a brand image that is distinct from the others.

Smoothie Giant’s Message 

The content in the marketing message is crucial for the purpose of convincing the customers in relishing the value that is in the products sold by the company. Incorporation of the five Fs in important when composing the marketing message. For the products sold by Smoothie Giant, regarding functions, the product helps in replenishing the bodies with fresh fruit and in a healthy nature. For finance, the product affects the finances of the target population as purchasing smoothies versus unnatural energy enhancing drinks can save on medical costs down the road. Also, regarding finances, Smoothie Giant will have to rely on an initial bank loan for startup costs. This can be an initial burden if sales do not pan out as expected. Regarding freedom, the products are ready for purchase and adaptable to be stored on a myriad of conditions. On the feeling’s aspect, the product will help the consumer feel energetic and happy when they get replenished. The future of Smoothie Giant guarantees even better products as it seeks to match more developing needs of the people. Helping people to save on finances and make more healthy decisions is one of the attracting messages that customers will find. The messages will be created and spread via internet with the business slogan “Smoothie Giant – Delightful and Delicious Smoothies.”

 Marketing vehicles

Identification of the method of marketing for the Smoothie Giant’s products are determined by various factors, such as the nature of the products and the target population. For this product, Smoothie Giant seeks to incorporate a series of measures, although the internet will form the main marketing vehicle for the products. Social media marketing offers a business with a large audience. The target population for the company is essentially made up of the young population that is social media friendly and therefore the use of Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram advertising offers the ideal marketing of the products sold. A short video and short messages pertaining to the values of the products sold with catchy phrases will form the basis of the marketing for the company’s product. This will be integrated with the packaging that will be used by the company to distinguish the products made. The employees will wear uniforms that highlight the values of the products sold, and this will also serve as a marketing strategy.

In summary, the marketing for this business seeks to ensure that there is a concrete relationship between the targeted customers for the products sold. The use of social media marketing will see the company have a wider reach of the market. In order to deal with the already existing competition posed by the existing firms in the industry, the company will apply a combination of strategies such as branding and product differentiation in order to ensure that the product sold to customer meet their needs and also provide other health benefits that may not be readily available in the products sold by the competitors.

References

US Census Bureau. 2010. American Fact Finder. Retrieved from https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml

QSR. 2018. Growing Tropical Smoothie Café. Retrieved from https://www.qsrmagazine.com/news/growing-tropical-smoothie-cafe-reports-stellar-2018