markeketing mix

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Marketing 4Ps for Great Lakes Brewery Company

In marketing, 4Ps which include: product, price, promotion and place are instrumental in facilitating the marketing process. These factors must be taken into consideration before the product is launched into the market. These 4 Ps distinguish a product making it unique and different from those of the competitors. In a way they are product differentiation factors. The 4 Ps have been used extensively by most of the companies including branding companies, web designers and marketing companies. It is imperative to note that we also as the Great Lakes Brewery Company are using it to tap the potentials in our new non-alcoholic beverage product which will strategically be priced, promoted and availed in places where consumers can access it (Al-Azzam, 2016).

Product

Product is the first element of the 4 Ps of the marketing mix. A product is usually a service provided to the consumers and that satisfies their needs or helps in fulfilling their desire requirements. It is vital to have a good understanding of your product or the service you are providing to your customers. Important is that one must know what makes his or her product unique. The Great Lakes Brewery Company is not an exception in this case and we must understand our new product specifically its inherent uniqueness. Worth noting is that our newly introduced non-alcoholic drink must be evaluated in terms of who our target consumers are and putting into consideration their taste preference. Knowing this makes the product unique in addressing the specific niche needs of the consumers who prefer non-alcoholic drinks to alcoholic drinks.

Moreover, we have to rebrand our non-alcoholic drink to match the new face required by the customers. This is absolutely necessary as it enables firms to come up with a product that attracts many consumers hence achieving our key marketing goal which is selling the non-alcoholic drink. Our firm too should also consider releasing different brands for the same non-alcoholic drink to cater for the different customers’ needs including but not limited to women, children and the old people in the society. This will make sure that the non-alcoholic drink product has a wider market share due to the big target population. It is good to make a comparison of our non-alcoholic drink with other non-alcoholic beers produced by other companies in order to ensure that our non-alcoholic product meets the required standards ingredient-wise and taste-wise hence being able to compete successfully in the market.

Price

Great Lakes Brewery Company should be very keen in determining the price of the product because once fixed it will affect the profit margin of the product, marketing strategy and demand of the non-alcoholic beverage. These impacts can be positive or negative depending on the set price. The price set should be relative to what our consumers are willing to pay because his is the main determinant of demand. Since the non-alcoholic drink is the first of its king from Great Lakes Brewery Company, setting a lower competitive price that counters that of the competitors will be critical in determining the sales volumes. Further, the different brands of the non-alcoholic drink should be priced differently in relation to the different niches’ of target population income level.

Promotion

Sales are never achieved devoid of promotion. Promotion is one of the 4 Ps of the marketing strategy that the Great Lakes Brewery Company should adopt in making sure that it succeeds in marketing its non-alcoholic drink product given the high and intense competition in the market. Promotion takes the different forms of advertisements that will place the product in a better position to be bought by consumers. Promotion in this case will include elements like: advertising, video marketing, social media marketing, public relations, email marketing, search engine marketing just to mention a few promotional methods that will help in persuading and luring the distributors, wholesalers, retailers and consumers into purchasing more units of the non-alcoholic drink than the ones which they normally buy in the normal circumstances (Kumar, 2016).

Creating awareness of the non-alcoholic drinks by quoting the benefits to be derived is key in selling. Without promotions Great Lakes Brewery Company may not be able to achieve its target sales. However, upon advertisements sales are bound to increase exponentially. It is imperative to note that after getting the product and fixing the prices of the different brands of the non-alcoholic drink, the other step in facilitating its marketing is promotion of the product so that it reaches its potential and available consumers. Promotion will take into consideration the various methods which the marketing agencies disseminate information about the non-alcoholic drink product (Kumar, 2016). Additionally, the Great Lakes Breweries Company should be willing to give or offer discounts that persuade the traders to buy more of these products and makes sure that all the brands of their new product have been spread to all the target regions harboring the target consumers.

To increase awareness of the product the Great Lakes Breweries Company should arrange for trade promotions with agents country wide to make sure that the non-alcoholic drink product is well promoted across the countries despite the possible barrier that are to be encountered. The purpose of promoting the product is to stimulate the agents to be willing to sell this product and not any other (Tapp & Spotswood, 2013). It should also aim at accelerating and hastening the release of the new product for distribution as quickly as possible and also in large amounts for distribution hence flowing to the consumers.

During the promotion the great lakes Company should take the opportunity to selecting the agents that they will be working with it in order to achieve their goals easily. The agents to be selected by the company are the ones who will meet the set target sales volumes during the promotion period. They will form the right crew for distributing the new product. This process of promotion should continue for some time. Credit cards for product orders should be provided for agents throughout the country and the sales should be conducted in cash. It should also purpose in strengthening the agents country-wide given the stiff competition. The company should also consider promoting the non-alcoholic drink through the social media referrals. Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter should be priority social media platforms of facilitating interaction among the potential clients (Kumar, 2016).

Place

Marketing is always about having the right product having the right price at the right place where consumers can easily access the product. The new non-alcoholic drink product should be availed to the markets so that consumers can purchase it. Distribution channels should be clear-cut. Additionally, the right time for making the distribution should be factored in as high demand for drinks most of a time rhyme with weekends, celebrations and holidays. Moreover, hot weather leads to high demand for drinks hence Great Lakes Brewery Company should be aware of this and know when to bring their product to the market in large quantities. It is also important to determine the best places for selling the non-alcoholic drink in order to be able to convert potential customers in to actual customers (Kumar, 2016). These days even in places where actual transaction does not take place like the web, the potential customers are involve and converted.

In conclusion, when applying the 4 Ps of marketing mix in marketing the new non-alcoholic drink, the Great Lakes Breweries Company should consider the consumers tastes and preferences. The non-alcoholic drink should be unique so as to differentiate it from other non-alcoholic drink products in the market availed by competing firms. In order, to ensure that the non-alcoholic drink successfully penetrates the market, the price set should be competitive, promotion must take course and the drink should be availed in places where end consumers will access. Finally, the Great Lakes Breweries Company should determine how it will be interacting with its customers. This can be done through the social media, through organizing rallies and promotions. It should also organize for sports marketing for public participation in social activities where by massive number of people will participate. They can also arrange for a marathon relay where people will participate and interact consequently selling the non-alcoholic drinks.

References

Al-Azzam, A. F. M. (2016). A Study of the Impact of Marketing Mix for Attracting Medical Tourism in Jordan. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 8(1), 139.

Kumar, M. V. (2016). Influence of 4Ps on consumer behavior in motor cycle industry with special reference to hero Honda Bajaj and TVS companies.

Tapp, A., & Spotswood, F. (2013). From the 4Ps to COM-SM: reconfiguring the social marketing mix. Journal of Social Marketing, 3(3), 206-222.