Week 6 Assignment - Excel Sheet

Chardae Sledge

Strayer University

BUS 599

Prof. Andrea Banto and Prof. Adrian Allen

Feb 9, 2019

Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy

Every business uses its mechanisms to control substantial market share in its area of operation. Having proper marketing plan and strategy dictates how successful the company can be as compared to other companies which operate in similar or the same category of items. Virgin Mary Company, is one of the leading non-alcoholic beverages companies in the Illinois States which is applying various marketing strategies and plans to outdo most of other leading beverages companies such as cola drinks companies. In surpassing our competitors, our company majors on its customers, competitors, the message, it gives to its clients and competent marketing vehicles for its promotions.

Target Market

Since Virgin Mary drink is one of the leading non-alcoholic beverages which are intruding into the beverages market, there are specific customers which our company always target. Our leading target group is the young adults who are in the romantic age and love visiting social places such as bars and restaurants since these are significant areas where we make our supplies to. Around Illinois City, there are close to 5 million youths who reside in around the city. This number is boosted by the local universities and colleges which have their branches around the city. Our company looks onto this composition of the population and deduces that it can have a good share of the market since it equally operates on the slogan of love going by the name of our beverage drink which we produce. Interestingly, amongst the mature adults, there are other groups of people whom we equally target based on their association with bars and restaurants around the city. This group equally constitute close to 1.5 million people.

Market Competition

Because of the existence of any non-alcoholic beverage brands around Illinois City, it is factual that we do face stiff competition amongst from these groups. Nevertheless, there are some groups of beverages producers which we do not consider much as our strong challengers, though there is a few which give us run for our money. Our crucial competitors are the Coca-Cola Company and Cocktail beverages. These two companies are old companies around the city and have a substantial number of loyal clients who are difficult to the porch. Equally, these two companies have robust marketing tools over many other companies which makes them always to be a threat to upcoming beverage companies.

In competition, there is an excellent need for leaving no chances to your competitors, and this is what we intend to do. As a basis of outdoing both Coca-Cola and Cocktail beverage companies, there is a need for employing competent marketing tools which be more smarter than the ones which are used by other competitors. One way of doing this is through checking on the pricing, marketing styles and above all our relations with our employees, suppliers, and customers. Because the said two companies have various ways of outdoing other companies in the market, our company will also use marketing friendly techniques to outdo them. For instance, we have direct contact with most of our customers, and we will be flexible in our pricing to cater to the changing economic situations witnessed in the United States in general.

Company Message

As a company, our marketing message is “love for virgin marry is the love we share.” This statement has made our product to be known by many people beyond Illinois City. The statement cum marketing message has caused several people to love our brand and always yearn to have a taste of it, and this has made us penetrate deep into the market outdoing several of our competitors. Our 5 F’s which are used in the management of our company include; Focus which we put on our goals and objectives, flavor which is the secret ingredients we use on our drinks, foresight that is our plan for the worst, flexibility that is how we plan for the changes and lastly, fun for our marketing styles and operations.

Marketing Vehicles

Because marketing is one of the strategies of reaching potential clients, our company plans to use specific tools of marketing as a basis for building our product brand. Majorly we will use social media platform and TVs ads to market our brand. Our choice of social media platform (Facebook, Twitter) is based on the number of our target group who are members of these mainstreams. Most the youths are Facebook and Twitter addicts and using these platforms makes us reach the majority of our target very confidently. Equally, when using of TVs platform to advertise our brands will equally make us achieve some of our other clients who might be not much inclined in social media but do watch television. Using these two marketing vehicles makes us reach all our target group in equal measure.

Both Coca-Cola and Cocktail companies have used these platforms for marketing their brands and based on the returns; they have effectively realized a substantial number of customers. Coca-Cola for instance boost of significant followers on Twitter which seemingly adds up to the name of the clients in real-life. Therefore, I believe using these platforms will make our company to effectively gain much in the beverage market not only in Illinois where we currently operate but also in other States in America.

References

Lieberman, A., & Esgate, P. (2014). The definitive guide to entertainment marketing: Bringing the moguls, the media, and the magic to the world. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: FT Press.

McMillan, S. (2008). The successful trainer's guide to marketing. San Diego, CA: IDEA.