Assignment 2 – Part B: Your Marketing Plan (240 pts)

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MarketingPlanforOzoneSoftDrinksCompany.docx
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Running Head: MARKETING PLAN FOR OZONE SOFT DRINKS COMPANY 1

Marketing Plan for Ozone Soft Drinks Company

Gregory G. Finney

Professor Randall Orner

MKT500

Date

Marketing Plan for Ozone Soft Drinks Company

Company Introduction

Ozone Soft Drinks Company majorly deals with the production, distribution, and selling of flavored soft drinks to retailers as well as wholesalers and the general public across the Florida state. The company is a public limited company that was started twenty years ago and has grown to obtain a substantial market share of the total population in Florida. The company recently started bottling and selling of clean drinking water as part of its business operations. The headquarters of the company is located in the city of Miami which includes a number of offices for the various managers and other staff members, a factory and a warehouse. Other offices and warehouses are strategically located all around the state.

The main objective of the company at present is to increase profitability and have a more commanding share of the market. This has necessitated the development of the marketing plan. In the market plan, the mission of the company is clearly explained along with both short-term and long-term goals developed for the next five years. Several metrics were also chosen to facilitate the evaluation of the goals as to what extent they have been achieved. An environmental analysis was conducted and various factors surrounding the business are highlighted within this market plan. A SWOT analysis was also carried out to determine various internal and external factors that affect the company and how to work around these factors in order to benefit the company. The entire marketing plan was thus developed and is ready for implementation.

Mission Statement

The mission of the company is motivated by the need and desire to satisfy the people's thirst and ensure they remain hydrated for healthy purposes. This is attained by the company in its own effective and efficient way. The mission is a driving force towards most of the company's strategies and operations. Thus, the mission statement of the Ozone Soft Drinks Company reads; to provide the best refreshing drinks and ensures a healthy society while impacting lives and building trust among people.

Short-Term and Long-Term Goals

The Ozone Soft Drinks Company developed some short terms goals within the next one year that are geared towards achieving some of the long terms goals and the overall company mission. In order to ensure accountability and proper evaluation, several metrics were determined to aid in the analysis of specific goals over time.

The first short-term goal developed was to enhance and ensure online presence both in terms of sales, marketing as well as consumer interactions. The company noted that its use of online spaces for business purposes was still limited. Hence the company came up with the goal in order to interact with customers via social media sites and build connections. This was seen to be an effective way of advertising, marketing and also interacting with customers in the modern age (Grossnickle, 2001). The metrics put in place to measure this goal was company's website visits, social media responses, and communication from other users as well as new users and retention rates of the users. The second short-term goal was to increase a pool of highly qualified and talented personnel to run activities in the company. This was seen as an essential tool in order to achieve high-quality operations, products and expansion in the future. The goal also entailed retaining such useful employees in order to ensure continuous and sustainable production while building a range of required experience and expertise. The metrics decided upon to measure this goal included a number of employees, retention, and satisfaction of employees and also qualitative and quantitative performance of employees. The third short-term goal of the company entailed increasing sales of the company products especially the new product that is the clean drinking water. This goal was necessary to achieve expansion in the long term as well as to ensure profitability which is among the main objectives of the company. The goal was devised to be attained by more aggressive advertisement and marketing as well as an expansion of the customer base. The metric devised for this goal was the number of sales per duration of time. The fourth short-term goal was to ensure that the company engaged in several community programs and social involvement as a way of giving back to the society. The company endeavored to accomplish activities such as sports sponsorships, career talks in colleges, environmental conservation activities and disaster management activities. This goal was seen as a way of building the company's brand and enhances its reputation while improving the lives of people and adding value to society in general. The metric for this goal was the number of community programs initiated by the company as well as sponsorships.

The first long-term goal was to increase the general profitability of the company by 40% by ensuring increased profit margins over the period of five years. This goal was designed to be achieved by meeting some of the short-term goals and ensuring sustainable performance. The appropriate metrics chosen to measure this goal were the net profits and asset values. The second-long term goal developed was to improve the market share of the company by 40% by the end of five years. This goal entailed expansion of the company in terms of sales, operations and the customer base in order to emerge as the leading soft drinks producer in the region. The metrics used to measure this goal include a number of customers, customer retention, and sales volumes. The third long terms goal of the company entailed building a pleasing reputation and a strong brand by the sustainable high quality of products and presence. The company developed this goal as a scheme to be able to expand its impact and ensure it emerges as a leader in the industry. The goal also ensures sustainability and value addition to the society. The metrics chosen to measure this goal include a number of positive customer reviews, profit margins and general acceptability of the company in the public domain.

Environmental Analysis

1. Competitive forces. Competition within the soft drinks industry in the region seems to be so tight due to many entities in the market and hence plenty of alternatives for the customers. The industry is also affected by the entrance of new players in the market especially small-scale businesses that increase competition with the already existing brands. The issues of many players within the industry also led to the improvement of consumers' bargaining power and hence ensuring prices are tightly fixed (Porter, 1979). However, Ozone Soft Drinks Company has an edge in the competitive market due to its relatively large size and longevity in the market.

2. Economic forces. Soft drinks may be considered basic commodities; however, the industry is often hit hard during economic recessions. During recessions, most customers would reduce their spending on commodities that are not very basic, and this affects a portion of the market in terms of soft drinks. Other factors that are affected include raw materials such as sugar and preservatives whose supply may fall and rise due to other economic factors.

3. Political forces. The political divides and perceptions have an effect on the soft drinks industry by diminishing or augmenting sales of a particular brand associated with or aligned to a particular political movement or against a particular political movement. Malicious political attacks on particular brands are also possible. However, in the recent past, the effect of the political forces has been more or less negligible.

4. Legal forces. These forces include all the rules and regulations set forth by the government in order to regulate businesses as a whole and also specific businesses. The soft drinks industry, being part of the food industry, is regulated in terms of the nutritional value of the soft drinks and limitation on the kind of preservatives that can be used. Certain safety standards in terms of health are also set to ensure the production, storage, and distribution of edible products are not harmful. Other regulations also determine the general operations of factories in terms of reduction of pollution and ethical operations. Also, there are regulations on fair competition within the industry and fair treatment of employees.

5. Technological forces. These forces are present in the industry to improve on production and conduction of business. Technological advancement has improved machinery and operations within factory hence efficient production. Technology has also brought about easy channels of communication, advertising and marketing in general hence more effective business (Golden & Wasil, 1987). However, with the technological advancement, competition has become stiffer due to the opportunities that open up.

6. Socio-cultural forces. In the region that the company is operating, has been fairly receptive to soft drinks and consumers have developed a natural preference for soft drinks in part due to the weather. Social media presence in current has also made possible to reach out to customers online which is cheaper (Grossnickle, 2001).

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

One of the outstanding strengths of the Ozone Soft Drinks Company is its substantial market share in the region. This is as a result of longevity in the industry and presents such a strong position of the company in the market.

The company has a relatively healthy cash flow and also a large capital base to enable expansion and funding further opportunities. The company has considerably large turnovers due to its size and market share.

The company has several factories with large manufacturing ability to enable the production of large volumes of soft drinks as well as bottling. The company also has reliable assets in terms of warehouses for storage and also efficient transport facilities.

Weakness

The company lacks a consistent and highly skilled employee base that can adequately ensure high-quality production. This arises due to poaching of employees by competitors and unsatisfied employees.

The company has a poor organizational structure that does not adapt to changes in the business world. The structure of the organization is hierarchical and limits the interaction of senior and junior employees and hence there is no open communication. Some of the employees within the company especially junior employees are not fully aware of some of the company objectives and strategies.

The company also suffers from a poor brand image of its products due to a negative perception by part of the public. The company has been slow to build a pleasing and attractive brand.

Opportunities

New technologies offer opportunities inefficient manufacturing and production. Computer-aided design tools and control systems incorporating the use of computers ensure optimal consumption of raw materials and fuel as well as reduce redundancies. Such techniques also ensure high quality and quantity production (Ryding, 2010).

There exist untapped specific market needs within certain populations and areas within the greater region of Florida. Most soft drinks in the market at present are geared towards the general population but could be specialized to fit a specific population such as the senior citizens or young population. Other areas are also relatively having higher population figures that the number of products in circulation. Due to the company's sheer size, there is the opportunity of merging with other soft drink companies or taking over of smaller entities in the market (Porter, 1979).

Threats

1. One of the threats facing the company is unprecedented legal legislation and regulations. Laws formulated by the governing authorities could limit the company's operations and profitability (Posner, 1974).

2. Economic factors such as recession and raw materials availability and competition factors could also be detrimental to the company in the future (Posner, 1974).

3. Technological aspects that favor the competitors of Ozone Soft Drinks Company could render it weaker and ineffective in the market. New technologies which are cheaper could also make it possible for new entrances in the market (Porter, 1979).

Business Needs Analysis

The business needs of the company entail the recommendations on what should be done in relation to the findings in the SWOT analysis. One of the things the company needs to implement is taking advantage of its strengths to ensure growth. The company can use its huge resources to expand and invest more capital. Secondly, the company needs to change its organizational structure and also ensure employees are highly trained and possess high-quality skills. This would also entail improving their outlook on a company as well as the brand. Another need that should be met by the company is an adoption of modern and more efficient methods and machinery for manufacturing and production. Finally, the company needs to explore new markets and products, initiate mergers and/ or take over in order to remain competitive and expand.

Sources

Golden, B. L., & Wasil, E. A. (1987). OR Practice—Computerized Vehicle Routing in the Soft Drink Industry. Operations research, 35(1), 6-17.

Grossnickle, J. (2001). The handbook of online marketing research: knowing your customer using the Net. McGraw-Hill, Inc.

Posner, R. A. (1974). Theories of economic regulation.

Ryding, D. (2010). The impact of new technologies on customer satisfaction and business to business customer relationships: Evidence from the soft drinks industry. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 17(3), 224-228.

Porter, M. E. (1979). How competitive forces shape strategy. Strategic Planning: Readings, 102-117.

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