Business
Introduction
Marketing forms an integral part of organizational performance directed towards sustaining its growth and performance within the industry of operation. Organizations inculcate marketing as a tool for ensuring product awareness and capturing extensive markets through varied tools of operation. The tools emanating from marketing principles are crucial for ensuring plausible sales within the business. Thus, this paper will evaluate the marketing aspects of the operation through a case evaluation of Aha Beverage Company.
- Develop the company's branding, pricing, and distribution strategy.
Branding denotes giving a business a distinctive branding that will focus on labeling and product packaging. A distinctive branding approach will denote investment into plausible performance mandate that aims towards generating highly differentiated products for the consumer market.
Pricing strategy
Penetration price strategy
The operational approach towards pricing is inculcated to align the organization to the evident market conditions. As such, pricing within an avenue that meets the market condition is imperative towards sustenance of performance. Thus, from the analysis of Aha, in its venture into the market, it should incorporate a penetration pricing approach. Penetration pricing approach focuses on relaying its products to the consumer market at low price levels to grab a market share in the political environment (Pride & Ferrell 2012). Through an evaluation of the developing market, it is advisable that Aha invests into the penetration pricing approach that focuses on low price points in relinquishing its products to the consumer market. The penetration pricing approach should also aim towards setting an aggressive market venture to the environment of operation.
Distribution strategy
Distribution emanates from investment into diverse approaches that necessitate customer convenience. Thus, from the analysis of Aha, the main distribution approach that the company can inculcate includes:
Intensive distribution approach
Intensive distribution approach focuses on ensuring a wide scale availability of goods and services of the organization. The intensive distribution approach at Aha should focus on the mass market in which it operates. Thus, the inculcation of the intensive distribution approach at Aha should focus on a more mass location of its stores without the inculcation of preference in their operational facet (Pride &Ferrell 2012).
- Provide the following marketing strategy information:
- Classify the company's major competitors as inter- or intra-competitors Categorize the competitors' major strengths and weaknesses
The major competitor in regards to Aha trademark beverage is Pepsi as a major competitor, the main strengths and weaknesses of the competitor is as follows:
Strengths
- The company has a formidable financial strength
- Pepsi has built a proper and reputable name within the beverage industry
Weaknesses
- The company has not sustained a plausible performance within the vitamin water product sector
- Develop the differentiation strategy in relation to the closest competitor.
Product and service differentiation
Product and service differentiation is evident at Aha with extensive investment into highly differentiated service delivery in the various stores. Additionally, the company will invest highly into proper development of extra services towards sustaining revenue yield. An online approach in relay of information will be incorporated for effective communication with a prospective customer.
- Establish whether the company's intention is to be a leader or follower within the industry.
- Assess the level of impact that the salient macro-environmental issues (e.g., legal, technological, social, and economic, etc.) and trends with which the company must contend could potentially have on the company's marketing strategy.
Analysis of the macro environment
Macro environmental factors denote the various issues, not within the controlling facet of the organization. Thus, the inculcation of a PEST analysis is plausible in the analysis of the macro environment. PEST analysis denotes the evaluation of the political, economic, social and technological factors that impact on business operations at Aha.
Political factors
The political environment especially in US is highly plausible for the operational aspect of Aha. From the analysis of the political environment, the government has been investing highly into proper relations with emerging economies towards sustenance of proper trade relations to ensure growth and ventures of organizations into novel markets (Salon 2010).
Economic factors
US trade relations with the EU have become a novel environment for Aha to make proper ventures into the European market. Through the EU, new member states such as Poland have become novel avenues for Aha to ensure successful operations (Porter 2013). New markets pose dynamics in their expansionary mandate.
Social factors
Social factors entail aspects such as culture that impact on the organization. Thus, from the analysis of US, the notion of price sensitive purchase behavior has become evident. The price sensitive behavioral approach will be highly impactful on the product pricing mandate at Aha.
Technological factors
- Discuss the marketing research tools that you used in your marketing strategy.
The various marketing research tools are as follows:
Social media as market research: social media platforms encompass Facebook, MySpace and twitter which may be incorporated in performing market research. Inculcation of social media provides a wider receivership platform which can be incorporated in conducting profiling of consumers.
- Construct an implementation strategy for your hypothetical company in which you specify the essential activities and responsibilities. Include a timetable for completion of each component of your strategy.
The implementation strategy within the organization will denote the use of a Grantt chart in regards to the operational approach. Hence, from the analysis of Aha, the implementation strategy is as follows:
- Develop a five (5) year expansion plan that includes future profitability and market share growth. Include necessary graphs to explain your plan.
A SMART 5-year expansion plan for Aha is as follows;
- Specific: increasing customer traffic to their website
- Measurable: revenue yield should be evidenced within the period incorporated in increasing customer traffic
- Attainable: a 10% increase in customer traffic within a yearly basis and ensure a 15% increase in market share in US
- Relevant: customer increase should be construed towards enhancing the marketing play
- Time bound: increase in customer traffic should be within a month
- Specify two (2) social media and / or media tools that you would use as you develop your plan. Justify each of your chosen tools.
- Choose two (2) performance standards, two (2) monetary methods, and two (2) financial controls that you would implement that differ from the standards that you had provided in Assignment 1. Justify your choices.
Performance standards
Performance standards denote ensuring that the performance targets set are met effectively. Hence, from the analysis of Aha include:
- Ensure 100,000 bottles are sold within a month
- Invest into a state of the art production line through a plausible financial investment
Monetary methods
Monetary methods denote the various approaches in evaluating and monetary of the organization include:
Risk management tools
Risk management is imperative for any organization. Thus, to ensure plausible performance, it is advisable that risk analysis prevails within the organization. Through risk assessment, plausible outcomes are bound to prevail.
Project process log
It is imperative that project analysis and evaluation prevails within the organization. Thus, towards sustenance of effective performance, the project process log denotes a proper information relay on the project performance.
Financial controls
Financial control denotes sustaining an effective management of organizational finances and effective utilization. Thus, the two financial control tools include:
Budgets
Budget denotes maintaining clarity in regards to the operations to be undertaken and the targets evident. Accordingly, through the budget, comprehension of the targets set and a proper path of operation is bound to prevail.
Cash flow statement
The cash flow statement is imperative towards information relay on the cash within the organization and how it is used. Through the cash flow statement, the business can track its finances and maintain a more comprehensive and close knot analysis of the finances of the company.
- Assess the potential for your company's overall performance in relation to the marketing plan objectives.
The company has ventured into a plausible performance mandate that focuses on profitability and revenue yield. Thus, from the analysis of the company, an approach towards analysis of the company’s overall performance is as follows.
The dynamic business frontier requires proper evaluative mandate to ascertain the success of a given operational mandate. As such, Lappet (201) emphasizes that the four main avenues for analysis of the effectiveness of the company overall performance is as follows:
- examination of the sales emanated from the campaign undertaken
- imperative towards analyzing the accountability in operation
- evaluation of the campaign effectiveness sustains a quantifiable examination of the campaign and its effectiveness
- measurement of campaign effectiveness is integral towards determining the core competency of the organization regarding the product and services offered
- Suggest the integrated marketing communications that are most relevant for your marketing plan. Relate each marketing communication to your company's advertising strategy.
An integrated marketing communications approach will focus on the inculcation of three advertising strategies. Hence, the analysis is as follows:
- Above the line advertising: Acton (2013 p36-109) avows that above-the-line advertising entails an approach in which market reach is mass-based without emphasis on segmentation. Above the line advertising utilizes mass media approach such as television, billboards radio and so forth which are public based. The focus of the above the line approach is directed towards enhancing awareness and informing customers regarding the product coupled with brand names.
- Below the line advertising: Acton (2013 p36-109) affirms that below-the-line advertising is directed towards a more personal reach to customers through enhancing customer-business relationships. BTL as per Acton (2013 p36-109) is highly unconventional and is construed towards a personalized communicative mandate. Accordingly, the BTL approach emanates from identification of specified target market. Furthermore, BTL is based on promotional tools such as personal sales representatives, targeted mailing emanating from consumer profiling tools intertwined to public relations.
- Through the line advertising: in reference to Acton (2013 p36-109) the aforesaid tactic is a hybrid of above and below the line advertising. Organizations employ the marketing approach which is directed towards targeting specified market coupled with mass market. The technique is aimed towards striking parity between conventional and unconventional methods. As a clear example, a commercial may be directed towards inviting potential consumers to a sampling activity of the product available within the store.
Conclusion
Marketing is highly significant towards ensuring proper growth and performance in regards to various organizations. Thus, from the analysis of Aha, it is imperative it invests into marketing principles to ensure profitability and viable outcomes. Hence, proper investment into marketing is critical towards both local and international dominance as evident above.
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