Assignment 2: Place (Distribution Strategy) and Promotion

WBC Marketing Plan

Student’s Name

University Affiliation

Introduction to Marketing

The Waters Bottling Company (WBC) of Munsonville, NH wants to launch a new water product in the market. This product is unique as it the water is pure, crystal clear and granite filtered, which would be appealing to many potential customers who would purchase the product. The purpose of this paper is to give an in-depth analysis of the marketing strategies that could be implemented by the company in order to ensure that the product is successfully launched and marketed to the identified target market.

The Marketing Mix

Product

As stated in the introductory paragraph, WBC is interested in launching drinking water products in the market. The name of the product should emphasize on the quality of the water being sold to the consumers in order to attract and retain loyal customers. Given the fact that Mr. Waters loves Blues music, the name of the product should be named “Blue Crystals Water.” This product name would appeal to the customers, as they would have an illusion that the water is clear and blue is a color that could be associated with purity.

Promotion

The first step that could be taken by WBC is coming up with a marketing budget. This would ensure that the company is able to keep its marketing expenses below the revenue it projects to gain from selling the water to consumers. The company should consider forming partnerships with event holders in order to make an entry into the consumer market. Satisfied customers will then spread news about the product using word of mouth, which could save WBC a lot of money.

While promoting its products, WBC’s message should be simple in order to attract and retain customers. The company should ensure that its potential customers are made aware of the process that is used to bottle the water. When customers know that the water is pure and of high quality, they would be willing to purchase WBC’s products.

Place

Given the fact that the company is located in Musonville, NH, the city is ideal to house the company’s headquarters as that’s where the source of the water is. The company should consider outsourcing its distribution services to an external company in order to cut down on its operational costs. As the firm expands to other states, the company could then set up regional offices in those states depending on the company’s needs.

Price

The average cost of water is currently retailing at about $1.22 per gallon. This price could vary depending on factors such as the size of the bottle and the brand selling the water. WBC could consider using a low-cost strategy to market its water by setting its prices below its competitors to attract customers. Besides that, the company could also consider using a premium-pricing strategy to generate more sales from its water products. This strategy makes sense as it is in line with the message of quality being communicated to potential customers.

The Marketing Environment

WBC is making an entry into a market that is saturated by other large scale and small-scale competitors. Therefore, WBC has to be on top of its game by ensuring that it takes advantage of the technological resources that are currently available such as big data analytics and digital marketing in order to reach more consumers and understand their needs. Apart from that, the company should always be open to adapting emerging technologies, as it would give the company a competitive edge over its competitors.

Marketing and its relationship with other functional areas of business

Marketing should be integrated across all the other functional areas of the business. This could be achieved by making WBC customer-centric, allowing cross-departmental projects that are aimed at improving the customers’ experiences while using its water products. Therefore, WBC should refrain from using marketing silos by making the marketing department the only functional area that interacts with customers according to (Solomon, Dahl, White, Zaichkowsky & Polegato, 2014).

Strategic Marketing

Planning Process

WBC should work to identify all the factors that could contribute towards its success or failure in the identified market. One of the tools that could be used to help the company plan is a SWOT analysis. This tool could help the company identify its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that could affect its growth (Baker, 2014).

For example, WBC’s strong brand image and the quality of its water products could be considered as one of the company’s key strengths, while competition from existing companies could be considered a weakness and threat. Given the fact that the company plans to expand its market to other states, the company could see it as an opportunity to expand its market and generate more revenue from the sale of its water products.

Strategy

Organizational Levels

The Water Bottle Company should ensure that it treats all its departments as Strategic Business Units as it would help the company scale its operations and meet its objectives. In order for each department to operate like an SBU, they need to ensure that they align their operations to the company’s strategic objectives. This would ensure that all the departments operate within their allocated budgetary allocations and maintain high levels of productivity at the same time.

Goals and Objectives

WBC’s main goal should be to ensure that its water is refreshing and high quality. The water bottle should also be designed in such a manner that it appeals to customers as they tend to get attracted to well-designed products and often-associate great design with quality. Therefore, the company should ensure that it conducts sufficient research before launching its product in the market in order to ensure that the product design aligns with the company’s objectives.

Planning Gap

In order for WBC to effectively plan its marketing and growth strategy, the firm has to ensure that it constantly meets its customers’ needs by either coming up with new products or adapting current products to meet customer needs. The company could focus on growth by making an entry into new markets. Strategies such as horizontal and vertical integration could be used to ensure that WBC scales its operations while reducing the amount of competition it faces from its competitors.

Ethics in Marketing

WBC should ensure that it adheres to the rules and regulations that have been implemented to govern business processes (Babin & Zikmund, 2015). Besides that, the company should ensure that all the employees are made aware of the code of ethics that seeks to protect consumers from fraudulent behavior and breach of privacy. Therefore, the company should implement its marketing strategies in such a manner that the company does not break any laws and regulations set by the state and the federal government.

References

Babin, B. J., & Zikmund, W. G. (2015). Exploring marketing research. Cengage Learning.

Solomon, M. R., Dahl, D. W., White, K., Zaichkowsky, J. L., & Polegato, R. (2014). Consumer behavior: Buying, having, and being (Vol. 10). London: Pearson.

Baker, M. J. (2014). Marketing strategy and management. Macmillan International Higher Education.