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Professor Randell Orner

July 30, 2017

Marketing Plan

Introduction

Formed back in 1944 the Veezy Company has its headquarters in Houston, Texas, United States. Currently, the company is third in rank in terms of brand value after Google Inc and Apple Inc. Over the years, Veezy has grown to be a multinational corporation having its route in almost every part of the globe. The organization deals with the marketing, retailing, and manufacturing of alcoholic drinks. In the United States, which has one of the largest manufacturing plants, Veezy is operating under the name Veezy American Distillers Limited and its products are available in every state in the country. In the Global market, Veezy is the market leader in the distilled alcohol drinks industry as it holds approximately 40% as per the recent statistics. The direct competitor of the company is Eps Distillers who hold a significant 19% share of the distilled alcoholic drinks industry. This is a clear indication that Eps stands nowhere close to Veezy in terms of the international market.

Environmental (PESTLE) Analysis

The external environment of an organization consists of two areas namely the micro and macro environment. The macro environment of Veezy consists of uncontrollable external factors that influence the organization's performance, decision making, as well as strategies. These factors are political, economic, social, legal, and technological. Under these factors, come the environmental forces, corporate social responsibility, and demographics. Under the microenvironment, the factors that have an effect on the business operations include competition, customers, market trends, suppliers, and market structure (Harrison, 2013). Studying the macro environment of Veezy allows one to identify the potential threats and opportunities for the organization, which are not in control of the business.

Political Factors

Development in political environments has a very strong effect on the marketing decisions made by any organization. Political factors include rules and policies, pressure groups, and government agencies. With implemented rules and regulations, the government intervenes with the operations or functions of the company (Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2006). The management of the organization has to make sure that they adhere to the set rules and regulations in every decision that they make. While formulating the various policies related to the environment, monetary, fiscal, and recruitments the management must be in adherence with the political factors.

Veezy being an alcoholic beverage organization, it falls under the category of Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA is a United States government recognized agency whose primary role is to monitor and cross check the ingredients used in the manufacturing of the alcoholic drinks. Therefore, Veezy has to make sure that its ingredients and processes meet the FDA guideline prior to approval. Apart from meeting the FDA guidelines, other political factors that the organization needs to adhere to are the rules and regulations of export, import, as well as income tax. The organization should also consider political crisis such as political violence and protests that result in fluctuations in demand that makes it difficult for the organization to penetrate in countries faced with a crisis (Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2006).

Economic Factors

These are the economic indicators of a nation like currency exchange rate, fluctuation rates, and interest rates. These factors play a significant role in defining the price and sales of the product as well as the purchasing power of the customers. Njanja et al., (2012) posits that economic factors differ with the country and hence whenever an organization enters into a country, it has to make sure that its operations are in congruence with the country’s economic factors.

In order for the Veezy Company to enter into a new market, it has to consider the purchasing power of a country that depends on its economic growth. The company deals with 40 types of currencies and with the constant fluctuations in the currency rates, the organization’s exports are affected worldwide. Interest rates also have an effect on the company since in countries faced with inflation, the company has to pay its workers higher wages thus increasing the price of its commodities, which consequently leads to higher product prices.

Socio-cultural Factors

This involves trends related to demographic, environmental, cultural, and seasonal aspects of a region. For example, during festive seasons or in cold countries like Russia, people prefer taking alcoholic beverages. Being a B2c type of organization, the Veezy Company has a direct relationship with its consumers and therefore, it is very precise in analyzing the traditions and culture of a country before it enters. The threat that the company is facing is the competition by traditional brews in Africa and Asia as well as the ban of alcoholic beverages in most Muslim states.

Technological Factors

Technology plays a very critical role in the beverage industry when it comes to the production of the different drinks, filling of bottles, packaging, and distribution of products. Technological advances in the company allow it to provide its consumers with drinks in different bottles or packages. In addition, the technology assists the company in producing colorful, stylish bottles that make its product appealing to its end users.

Environmental Factors

The accessibility of water affects Veezy since water is necessary for the development of alcoholic drinks. Lack of access to clean water is a major challenge for the organization and the continued climatic changes are a sign of future problems for the organization. It is prudent to note that the company has to adhere to the environmental laws when manufacturing its products since if anything is amiss, it can adversely affect their distribution or completely bring its production to a halt.

Legal Factors

Legal factors are the laws related to consumer health and safety, discrimination, and employment. As a United States based company, Veezy has to follow the rules and regulations of the USA such as the Food Safety Act. Apart from this, the firm has to adhere with environmental acts such as pollution checks and waste disposal. In addition, Veezy has to keep a check on rules and regulations related to sales, promotion, and advertising. If it fails to follow or adhere to these legal laws, the company’s brand will be affected adversely.

Target Market

The target audience of Veezy products is the young adults aged between 21 to 35 years. Its products are affordable and available in various sizes thus making them appealing to this age group. The company also supports the liberal culture that exists among the American youth and therefore making it a favorable drink for them. However, for the organization to be able to maintain its target market, it has to implement well-developed marketing strategies and planning since they are the cornerstone of its success (Brooksbank, Garland, & Werder, 2012). The strategic steps applied by the organization include STP (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning), 5Cs (Customer, Company, Competitors, Collaborations, Context), and 4Ps (Product, Promotion, Place, Price).

5Cs

By using the 5Cs, stakeholders can have a more informed perspective of the company (Asadi, 2013). In terms of the company, Veezy owns different alcoholic brands and people are familiar with this organization from the radio, the internet, television, and newspaper advertisements. For the customers, the firm has offered their products to many places and therefore, it is easier for customers to purchase them from any part of the world. In addition, information concerning its products is available for the customers. The context part refers to the ways in which Veezy has managed to assess macro environmental issues like policies, market trends, and social changes. In terms of collaborators, this organization has numerous distributors and depots spread across the globe. Lastly, Veezy has many competitors across the globe but their main competitor remains to be Eps Distillers. However, with its effective strategy, the organization has managed to curb competition.

STP

Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning (STP) assists the organization in identifying the targets for its business. Concerning segmentation, the company has utilized a multi-segment target market that is inclusive of demographic segmentation, psychographics segmentations, and geographic segmentations. As mentioned earlier, the organization only targets young adults who they are sure that they appreciate their products because of the quality and price. Obviously, the Veezy Company has positioned itself in the distilled alcohol market in the world and they are constantly challenging their position by coming up with different flavors of their products.

4Ps

In terms of products, the company has the widest type of alcoholic drinks that include vodka, rum, gin and much more. Veezy sells its products in approximately 150 countries. Though its pricing differs with the geographic and market segment, Veezy products are always affordable. The company sells its products in supermarkets, liquor stores, entertainment clubs and other adult social events. In order to attract and retain its customers, the company uses various promotion strategies that include advertising in magazines, sports events, television, and the internet.

Main Objectives

The short-term objective of the company is to invest in the latest technology that will allow it to reduce its carbon footprint by considerably reducing its carbon emissions. The long-term objectives on the other hand involve the organization establishing a sustainable manufacturing operation where it will use minimum water in the production of each liter of its product. To measure the success of the objectives, it is proper to schedule the measurement process. To achieve this, the company can assign quarterly dates and targets for the short-term goals and yearly targets for the long-term goals. During this period, the organization can monitor how their efforts are influencing their overall performance. They can do this by evaluating their growth in market share as compared to that of Eps Distillers who are their major competitors and their overall increase in their market share. These two factors will enable the company to tell whether its objectives are materializing and if they have a positive effect on their operations.

SWOT ANALYSIS

References

Asadi, A. (2013). The Golden Rules of Practical Marketing: What Every Business Owner Must Know. AuthorHouse.

Brooksbank, R., Garland, R., & Werder, W. (2012). Strategic marketing practices as drivers of successful business performance in British, Australian and New Zealand golf clubs. European Sport Management Quarterly, 12(5), 457-475.

Harrison, A. (2013). Business environment in a global context. Oxford University Press

Njanja, L., Pellisier, R., & Ogutu, M. (2012). The Effect of External Environment on Internal Management Strategy. International Journal Of Business & Management, 7(3), 194-205.

Vrontis, D., & Thrassou, A. (2006). Situation analysis and strategic planning: An empirical case study in the UK beverage industry. Innovative marketing, 2(2), 134-151.