Product Selection
In this assignment we shall consider iced tea as our product of study. This selection was resolved upon after a keen scrutiny on the product market of iced tea. Foremost, the beverage sector is also thought to be a very lucrative investment with guaranteed demand of products. It was revealed that there has been an increased demand of iced tea due to the need for people to change into a new brand of tea. Most consumers are pleased with the convenience that the product provides since it is a ready to drink tea which does not need to be prepared from the house. Secondly, the processing process involved in the production of the product was found to be quite cheap since the blending process requires a single machine with the addition of icing equipment. Thus, the development of the project would be a cost minimizing prospect and hence would accrue more income to the investor. Thirdly, the acquisition of the product would be an easy course due to the fact that tea is a readily available product. This would therefore imply that the supply value chain would be very efficient thus enhancing a proper distribution of the product (Mital, 2008).
The brand product was widely accepted by most of the consumers because the production of the product was enhanced to ensure the making of premium quality iced tea. The encouraging feedback from the customers could be attributed to the reason that iced tea has been a new and highly demanded product due to the handiness that it offers to the consumer. This new product has been developed with a variety of features which make it appealing to the consumers (Hasted, 2013). To begin with, one feature that the product possesses is a blend of supreme quality tea which has been enhanced to offer a refreshing taste. It was observed that most consumers of iced tea seek to find a product that has a great taste plus high quality blending. Furthermore, the product has the feature of being a low cost brand in the market. A market study was done to find out the prevailing market prices of the current iced tea brands. The product price was set at a lower level than the competing brands. Therefore, the brand offers affordable prices to the consumers. Thirdly, the product is endowed with a unique feature of providing a variety of flavors ranging from mint to chamomile.
Hence, the consumers can choose their refreshing flavor from the diverse tastes that the brand offers. Lastly, the product is also endowed with a feature of being packed in very appealing and funky containers which can be carried publicly by the consumers. Thus, the consumer’s needs of having an attractively packed iced tea bottle are well catered for by the new product. The product was displayed in a very alluring manner so as to attract the consumer’s attention in the stores. Our brand was lucky to get a display space in the drinks and beverage segment of the store. This was believed to be a very strategic location which would increase the probability of attracting a huge number of beverage consumers. Displaying the product in the shelves of the store was done manually but it followed a particular sequence. The sequence of display was based on the flavor type as well as the quantity of the product. This provided a meticulous and colorful display which could be easily noticed by the consumers in the store. However, to enhance the display of the product, some printed flyers which depicted the various brands and flavors that the product were also attached along with the products so as to increase the chances of being spotted by the shoppers.
Lastly, the company hired an employee who was supposed to provide information about the product to the customers. The employee was provided with clothing attires which were fitted with visual images detailing the various product brands offered. This was meant to promote the display of the product. The merchandising function of the product was accorded to a single person who was meant to oversee the process. The company was interested in offering an appropriate visual merchandising to the product in order to promote its display in the stores. The merchandiser of the product was responsible to perform the various activities that would enhance the merchandise in the stores. To begin with, the merchandiser was required to formulate the most suitable store layout that would work with the new product. In addition, the merchandising person was also tasked with developing excellent graphic signage for the product bottling so as to improve the appeal of the product to the consumers. Lastly, the merchandiser would also be expected to come up with a paramount merchandising style for iced tea product in the existing stores (Holt, 2004).
It was also asserted earlier that the brand name was fixed so as to resemble the name of the store and this element of the product improves its ability of being obtained by the consumers. The flavors offered by the brand provide a perceived relationship with the product. The flavors available are believed to be the most preferred in tea and thus this can easily influence the consumer’s choice of the product as a result of the brand features. Hence, the brand is fabricated in a given way so as to positively influence the product. It is also evident that the store has other products which are sold under the brand name. Some of these products include; fruit juice, coffee and sodas. However, there exists a large difference in the way that these overall brands are managed as compared to the product. This is as a result of the active processes involved in the enhancement of the brand so as to increase its superiority in the store as match up to other products (Hestad, 2013). The enhancement of the brand also leads to increased customer satisfaction which is the goal of the brand so as to improve its sales revenue. The brand also differs with other products due to the fact that it has been differentiated into a variety of flavors so as to capture a diverse market of consumers. These are some of the contrasting elements in terms of management that are portrayed in the overall brand and not in the product.
References
Hestad, M. (2013). Branding and product design: An integrated perspective. Burlington, VT: Gower.
Holt, D. (2004). How brands become icons: The principles of cultural branding. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Mital, A. (2008). Product development: A structured approach to consumer product development, design, and manufacture. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Butterworth-Heinemann.
