Assignment 2: Marketing Plan

This class requires me to create a beverage company. I created a company called Fire Diet and we are launchin" rel="nofollow">ing a Powerful Weight Loss Fruit drin" rel="nofollow">ink called Skin" rel="nofollow">innyPop. Please see the attached document outlin" rel="nofollow">inin" rel="nofollow">ing the company. You can use this in" rel="nofollow">information to contin" rel="nofollow">inue buildin" rel="nofollow">ing on the company’s. ***Please note that NAB means Non-alcoholic Beverage. This assignment requires you to use your imagin" rel="nofollow">ination and also research similar companies. Please answer the followin" rel="nofollow">ing questions and label each answer. This assignment consists of two (2) sections: a marketin" rel="nofollow">ing plan and sales strategy, and a marketin" rel="nofollow">ing budget. Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment. For the first six months your company is in" rel="nofollow">in busin" rel="nofollow">iness—to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers—you will start marketin" rel="nofollow">ing and sellin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in your own community, a radius of twenty-five (25) miles from where you live. For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketin" rel="nofollow">ing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to success. Cola drin" rel="nofollow">inks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drin" rel="nofollow">inks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producin" rel="nofollow">ing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketin" rel="nofollow">ing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success. This is a 2 part assignment. Part 1 is to write a 3 page Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Plan & Sales Strategy section of your busin" rel="nofollow">iness plan, in" rel="nofollow">in which you you answer the followin" rel="nofollow">ing questions: 1. Defin" rel="nofollow">ine your company’s target market. ~ Analyze the types of consumers who will be drin" rel="nofollow">inkin" rel="nofollow">ing your beverage in" rel="nofollow">in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, in" rel="nofollow">income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in" rel="nofollow">in your local community (nearby zip codes). ~ Outlin" rel="nofollow">ine the demographic in" rel="nofollow">information for your company specified on the worksheet in" rel="nofollow">in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description). ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: At American FactFin" rel="nofollow">inder (https://census.gov), you will fin" rel="nofollow">ind demographic in" rel="nofollow">information on potential consumers in" rel="nofollow">in your area. If you are sellin" rel="nofollow">ing through other busin" rel="nofollow">inesses (such as grocery stores), in" rel="nofollow">indicate the number of those busin" rel="nofollow">inesses in" rel="nofollow">in your local area. You will fin" rel="nofollow">ind in" rel="nofollow">information about such busin" rel="nofollow">inesses in" rel="nofollow">in your local area at County Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Patterns (https://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Plan for more research sources. 2. Assess your company’s market competition. ~ Use the factors listed in" rel="nofollow">in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition. ~ Defend your strategy to successfully compete again" rel="nofollow">inst market leaders in" rel="nofollow">in your segment. ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: For example, in" rel="nofollow">in the soft drin" rel="nofollow">ink market, it is in" rel="nofollow">intimidatin" rel="nofollow">ing to try to compete again" rel="nofollow">inst Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in" rel="nofollow">in mature markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market categories, as Red Bull did with energy drin" rel="nofollow">inks. ~ Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition usin" rel="nofollow">ing the in" rel="nofollow">information detailed on the worksheet in" rel="nofollow">in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution). ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: Every busin" rel="nofollow">iness faces competition and the non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market. 3. Clarify your company’s message usin" rel="nofollow">ing the in" rel="nofollow">information provided on the worksheet in" rel="nofollow">in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s). ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: Before you choose your marketin" rel="nofollow">ing vehicles, you must determin" rel="nofollow">ine the message you want to convey through those vehicles. 4. Identify the marketin" rel="nofollow">ing 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. ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: If you plan to use onlin" rel="nofollow">ine marketin" rel="nofollow">ing tactics, refer to the worksheet in" rel="nofollow">in the text (p.171 | Onlin" rel="nofollow">ine Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you’re sellin" rel="nofollow">ing through grocery stores you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in" rel="nofollow">in regard to beverages. Some of the marketin" rel="nofollow">ing tactics that beverage companies use in" rel="nofollow">include: samplin" rel="nofollow">ing in" rel="nofollow">in grocery stores, buildin" rel="nofollow">ing a followin" rel="nofollow">ing on social media, sponsorin" rel="nofollow">ing events, exhibitin" rel="nofollow">ing at trade shows attended by retailers, and so on. You will use a combin" rel="nofollow">ination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in" rel="nofollow">in grocery stores, promote your samplin" rel="nofollow">ing on your social media networks and those of the grocery store. ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: If you are plannin" rel="nofollow">ing to distribute through resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through in" rel="nofollow">industry trade shows or by establishin" rel="nofollow">ing your own sales force. For in" rel="nofollow">information on trade shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (https://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows. Part 2: Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template) Part 2 uses the “Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Plan Fin" rel="nofollow">inancials” MS Excel template. Use the “Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Plan Fin" rel="nofollow">inancials Guide” to support your development of the Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Budget. 1. Complete the Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Budget worksheet for your company in" rel="nofollow">in an excel document. ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: The goal of the marketin" rel="nofollow">ing budget is to help you determin" rel="nofollow">ine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals. ~ Hin" rel="nofollow">ints: When fillin" rel="nofollow">ing out the “Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Budget” worksheet in" rel="nofollow">in the Excel spreadsheet: ~ Begin" rel="nofollow">in in" rel="nofollow">in the current year and complete a marketin" rel="nofollow">ing budget for the first year of your busin" rel="nofollow">iness. The in" rel="nofollow">information you enter in" rel="nofollow">in the marketin" rel="nofollow">ing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income Statement” in" rel="nofollow">in the Busin" rel="nofollow">iness Plan Fin" rel="nofollow">inancials. ~ Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketin" rel="nofollow">ing vehicles you do not in" rel="nofollow">intend to use. ~ Remember that all marketin" rel="nofollow">ing activities in" rel="nofollow">involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketin" rel="nofollow">ing, assume you will have cost of advertisin" rel="nofollow">ing and that should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothin" rel="nofollow">ing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketin" rel="nofollow">ing campaigns, and will most likely pay for ads on that site. ~ Do NOT leave the “Marketin" rel="nofollow">ing Budget” blank, assumin" rel="nofollow">ing you will not have any marketin" rel="nofollow">ing costs. ****Please review the documents that I have attached to help with the paper and excel file.