This assignment consists
of two (2) sections: a marketing plan and sales strategy, and a marketing
budget.Note:You must submit both
sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.
For the first six (6)
months your company is in business—to give you time to perfect your product and
to learn from actual customers—you will start marketing and selling in your own
community, a radius of twenty-five (25) miles from where you live.
For most non-alcoholic
beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to
success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many
energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these
types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through
marketing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success.
Section
1: Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)
Write the three to five
(3-5) page Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy section of your business plan,
in which you:
1.
Define your company’s
target market.
a.
Analyze the types of
consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age,
education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Support your analysis
with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community
(nearby zip codes).
b.
Outline the
demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the
course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description).Click here for help
accessing a specific page number in your eBook.
§ Hints:At American FactFinder (http://census.gov), you will find demographic information on potential consumers
in your area. If you are selling through other businesses (such as grocery
stores), indicate the number of those businesses in your local area. You will
find information about such businesses in your local area at County Business
Patterns (http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful
Business Planfor more research
sources.
2.
Assess your company’s
market competition.
a.
Use the factors listed
in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.
b.
Defend your strategy
to successfully compete against market leaders in your segment.
§ Hints:For example, in the soft drink market, it is
intimidating to try to compete against Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in mature
markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market
categories, as Red Bull did with energy drinks.
c.
Defend your plan to
differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on
the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).
§ Hints:Every business faces competition and the
non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market.
3.
Clarify your company’s
message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s).
o
§ Hints:Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you
must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.
4.
Identify the marketing
vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons
why they will be effective. Provide examples of other non-alcoholic beverage
companies that use these tactics effectively.
o
§ Hints:If you plan to use online marketing tactics,
refer to the worksheet in the text (p.171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if
you’re selling through grocery stores you need to build your brand and social
media is a major part of that in regard to beverages. Some of the marketing
tactics that beverage companies use include: sampling in grocery stores,
building a following on social media, sponsoring events, exhibiting at trade
shows attended by retailers, and so on. You will use a combination of these
tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores,
promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery
store.
o
§ Hints:If you are planning to distribute through
resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through industry
trade shows or by establishing your own sales force. For information on trade
shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (http://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows.
5.
Format your assignment
according to these formatting requirements:
a.
Cite the resources you
have used to complete the exercise. Note:There is no minimum requirement for the number
of resources used in the exercise.
b.
Be typed, double
spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all
sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your
professor for any additional instructions.
c.
Include a cover page
containing the title of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s
name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are
not included in the required page length.
Section
2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)
Section 2 uses the
“Business Plan Financials” MS Excel template (see: Course Required Files in
Week 1). Use the “Business Plan Financials Guide” (see: Course Required Files
in Week 1) to support your development of the Marketing Budget.
6.
Complete the Marketing
Budget worksheet for your company.
o
§ Hints:The goal of the marketing budget is to help
you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your
sales goals.
§ Hints: When filling out the “Marketing Budget”
worksheet in the Excel spreadsheet:
o Begin in the current year and complete a
marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter
in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income
Statement” in the Business Plan Financials.
o Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing
vehicles you do not intend to use.
o Remember that all marketing activities involve
costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing,
assume you will have cost of advertising and that should be reflected on your
budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to
use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social
media marketing campaigns, and will most likely pay for ads on that site.
o Do NOT leave the “Marketing Budget” blank,
assuming you will not have any marketing costs.
The specific course
learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
·
Recommend effective
business strategies based on an analysis of domestic and global operating
environments, market dynamics, and internal capabilities.
·
Analyze competitive
positions including foreign market entry and the resulting impact on business
strategy.
·
Use technology and
information resources to research issues in strategic management.
·
Write clearly and
concisely about strategic management using proper writing mechanics.
