Marketing Strategy example Assessment 3 Part 2 – Marketing Strategy Sample Marketing Plan H2Coco Marketing objectives Brand equity and market share are used to set marketing objectives for H2Coco. Specifically, this marketing plan aims to: • educate 80% of the target market in Australia about the nutritious benefits of coconut water by December 2015; • increase brand awareness of H2Coco among 70% of the target market in Australia by December 2015; • persuade 30% of the target market in Australia to consider H2Coco as the first coconut water brand choice by December 2015; • increase market share by 40 per cent in the Australian coconut water product category by December 2015; • achieve sales volume of 10 000 000 units by December 2015 by working with retail partners. Marketing mix strategy Product strategy H2Coco’s core product is a coconut water beverage. It was one of the first brands to launch into the Australian market. Having such a hold in the market, the company will endeavour to supply pure coconut water, along with other potential coconut products, as it continues to grow as a brand through building its product portfolio. H2Coco’s expected product is the taste and health benefits of coconut water. H2Coco contains a complex blend of vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants, enzymes, health-enhancing growth hormones and other phytonutrients. As its electrolyte content is similar to the human plasma, it has gained international acclaim in being the only natural sports drink, where it has proven superior to commercial sports drinks. Coconut water’s unique nutritional profile gives it the power to balance body chemistry, slow the ageing process and boost your metabolism so you burn more calories. H2Coco: • is 100 per cent natural • has no added sugar • has no preservatives or additives • has no cholesterol • is fat free • has more potassium than a whole banana • has 15 times more potassium than most sports drinks • has great taste, and is not made from concentrate • contains 5 essential electrolytes • is gluten free. The augmented product of H2Coco is its premium packaging and product purity. All products are bottled and manufactured at its source in the Philippines from young green coconuts in their natural state into ‘grab and go’ Tetra packs. This packaging means that the creation of a product can be as pure as possible, reflecting the real taste of a coconut and retaining all the health benefits, while staying fresh without the need of preservatives. H2Coco is available in the following varieties: • H2Coco Pure Coconut Water • H2Coco Pure Coconut Water (Organic Certified) • H2Coco Pure Coconut Water with Pineapple • H2Coco Pure Coconut Water with Pomegranate and Acai. The H2Coco Pure Coconut Water range includes: • 330 mL Tetra Pak (single packs) • ‘The Cluster Pak’ (4 packs) • 5 L Cask. According to Elliot et al. (2014), augmented product features enable marketers to differentiate their offerings. The high product purity is how H2Coco compete effectively against its competitors because its product purity is higher than its competitors which helps H2Coco to communicate a premium image. The potential product of H2Coco coconut water is to be used for skin care. Price strategy a. Pricing objectives The primary pricing objectives for H2Coco is to position the brand as a premium coconut water brand among the target market. Long-term prosperity is the secondary pricing objective. Long-term prosperity pricing enables business to achieve ongoing survival in the competition (Elliot, Rundle-Thiele & Waller, 2014). b. Pricing methods Prestige pricing method is used to achieving its positioning objective. H2Coco offers four different varieties of the coconut water. The Pure, Pineapple and Pomegranate and Acai are all priced at RRP$2.95 for 330 mL; and the Organic flavour is priced higher at RRP$3.20. The carton is priced at RRP$35.40. According to Elliot et al. (2014), some customers are motivated by higher prices believing that higher prices reflect higher quality. As the product is healthy and is a new range, the price is set higher to communicate premium quality. Throughout the year, H2Coco will also consider using seasonal discounts such as after Christmas shopping season to sustain its sales throughout the year. Seasonal discounts aims at smoothing sales outside the peak selling period (Elliot et al., 2014). c. Competition considerations The competition type for coconut water product category in Australia is monopolistic. Monopolistic competition situation is where there are numerous brands offering similar products (Elliot et al., 2014). Major Coconut water brands in Australia include Nudie Coconut Water, Vita Coco, Coconut Essence, and Kokomo. In this competition situation, it’s suggested that brands should seek to differentiate themselves and to compete on non-price basis (Elliot et al., 2014). So H2Coco should work on differentiating itself so that the brand could sustain its price level during competition. Distribution strategy Selective distribution will be used to distribute H2Coco products. Selective distribution is used when products are distributed through chosen market intermediaries (Elliot et al., 2014). H2Coco Pure Coconut Water is a convenience product with mass-market appeal; however, with the aim of a medium intensity level of distribution H2Coco focuses on a selection of several distribution channels to gain customer reach, including IGA, Coles and Woolworths grocery outlets. Additionally, the product is distributed to more niche locations, like Boost Juice bars and City Convenience, and smaller independent vendors across Australia and New Zealand, including cafes, gyms and grocers. Promotion strategy 1. a. Promotion objectives • to raise awareness of H2Coco’s new range of coconut water in the coconut water beverage category among the 80% of the target market by December 2015. • to build a healthy and trendy brand image for H2Coco among its target market. • to increase brand preference among 30% of the target market by December 2015. • to generate positive publicity about H2Coco among Australian consumers through public relations. 1. b. Promotion Mix Advertising, public relations, and sales promotions will be used to promote H2Coco. This marketing plan builds on the theme ‘H2Coco Pure Plus’ and emphasises the advantages of the coconut water drink. The primary message will be that H2Coco is a trendy and healthy energy drink for those with active lifestyles. c. Advertising Media choices i. Broadcast media (radio) Southern Cross Austereo will be used to advertise regularly through 2Day FM networks. This is because Austereo has been found to capture 44.5 per cent of the important demographic in Australian metropolitan areas. Radio is an effective advertising tool to be selective in targeting geographically towards young, busy audiences who will be close to the event. ii. Print media (magazines) It has been found that magazine readers are more likely to experience an enhanced brand recall along with reading in a ‘less hurried pace’ and comprehending the advertisement (Belch and Belch 2012). Factors such as clutter, noise and competing advertisements, however, will need to be considered. Pacific Magazines will be used for advertisements in Men’s Health and Women’s Health. iii. Digital media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pintrest have been found to enable consumers to become more engaged with brands; and are powerful in ‘passing along’ the benefits of the product and creating consumer-generated marketing by giving followers the opportunity to speak (i.e. through hashtags on Instagram). These accounts will enable viewers to be more engaged in the campaign through asking questions, commenting, re-posting, sharing and promoting the launch of new products to their contacts. H2Coco will work with Google Adwords to manage their online presence and advertise effectively on Google search engine. d. Public relations H2Coco focuses highly on product endorsement by celebrities, such as using Lara Bingle as the official ambassador. She publicly promotes and advocates the product range via public relations tactics, including public events and interviews in newspaper and magazines such as Sydney Morning Herald and New Idea. Kyle Sandilands and the Stafford Brothers are also advocators of H2Coco. Public relations promotions and giveaways are used to generate awareness and earn media around the product. H2Coco heavily aligned its brand with summer by hosting a ‘Summer Pic’ competition on Bondi Beach, encouraging consumers to take a photo and post it on Facebook and Instragram (tagging H2Coco) to go in the running to win a prize pack. Public relations events will be run based around the H2Coco ambassadors. Press releases will be aimed to generate interest and newsworthy publicity to relevant media. Press releases to be sent include: Smoothie lookbook • ‘Summer Pic’ competition • 4-pack launch (world first) • 5 L cask launch (world first) e. Sales promotion Free samples will be distributed through retailers at points of sale. Sales promotions offer extra value to consumers to increase sales. Free samples provide consumers the opportunity to experience the benefits and features of the product without making purchase commitments (Elliot, et al., 2014). During the product launch, retailers will provide free H2Coco coconut water to shoppers to increase the brand awareness among the target market. Implementation a. Budget The primary concern with designing the budget for this marketing plan is to ensure that the amount that needs to be spent to achieve objectives is realistic relative to the amount that H2Coco is able and willing to outlay because it is a small company. The budget for this campaign is $300 000. Table 2 outlines the promotion budget for H2Coco. Table 2: Budget for 2014 Production Media Total Print Magazine advertisements 10 000 40 000 50 000 Magazine competitions 5 000 20 000 25 000 Radio Radio advertisements 50 000 50 000 Sponsorship Event 20 000 25 000 45 000 Point of sale Display 10 000 25 000 35 000 Samples 10 000 Incentives 20 000 Social media Maintaining social media sites 50 000 50 000 Google Adwords 20 000 20 000 Contingency 10 000 Total 300 000 NOTE: The above figures have been changed for privacy reasons. b. Schedule Tactic Jan Feb Mar. Apr. May Jun. Jul. Aug. Sep. Oct. Nov. Dec. Print Magazine ads Magazine comps Radio Radio ads Sponsorship Event Point of sale Display Samples Incentives Social media Maintaining social media Google Adwords Evaluation In order to effectively evaluate the ‘H2Coco Pure Plus’ campaign, both pre- and post-campaign launch feedback will be considered. Marketing, sales and communications objectives will be tested allowing for revisions in activities to be made before, during and after the campaign to maximise the campaign’s effectiveness and achieve the objectives. a. Campaign monitoring Media vehicles will be regularly monitored to allow for optimisations to drive more effective activities. The online sites will be measured on their ability to drive clicks to the H2Coco home page by referring to click-through rates. Any site that appears to be significantly lagging in performance will be discontinued, and media spend will be optimised towards best performing sites. Likewise, regular monitoring will allow the campaign to improve, with heavier weighting being allocated towards those creative executions that are proving to be stronger drivers of sales than others. Focus groups will also be used during the ‘H2Coco Pure Plus’ campaign to gauge the awareness of the product, brand and slogan, and any changes in attitudes that might be significant for future campaigns. Conclusion This report sets out the proposed marketing plan that H2Coco will be implementing for its ‘H2Coco Pure Plus’ campaign. As outlined in the report, the target market consists of two market segments: women between the ages of 16 and 25 who are active with a higher disposable income; and males between 18 and 30 who care about their health and fitness. The sales objective is to achieve sales of 10 000 000 units. Promotion activities will include magazine and radio advertising, sponsorship, point-of-sale material and online activities. By the end of this campaign, the objective is to increase market share by 50 per cent and raise awareness of the H2Coco brand name. Finally, with changing economic, competitor, consumer and media trends, it is strongly recommended to regularly monitor the external environment to allow for contingency strategies and ultimately ensure the marketing plan provides H2Coco with the best possible sustainable market growth. References • AANA (2010), Food & Beverages Advertising & Marketing Communications Code, Retrieved 27 July, 2015 from www.aana.com.au • Alave, K. (2012). Coconut water sales jump 260%’. Inquirer Business, Retrieved 31 May, 2015 from www.business.inquirer.net • Belch, G. & Belch, M. (2012), Advertising and promotion: an integrated marketing communications perspective. 9th edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin: New York. • Browne, K. (2012) Is coconut water healthy. Choice. Retrieved 21 August, 2015 from www.choice.com.au • Elliot, G., Rundle-Thiele, S. & Waller, D (2014), Marketing (3rd edn.), Australia: Wiley • Freeman, D. (2012), personal communication. Sydney. • Moffatt, M. (2013). Tariffs: the economic effect of tariffs. Retrieved 22nd May, 2015 from www.economics.about.com • Mumbrella (2011). Blue Marlin creates brand design for new Schweppes drink Kokomo, Mumbrella. Retrieved 1 September, 2015 from www.mumbrella.com.au • Reserve Bank of Australia. (2013). Economic update. Retrieved 3 September, 2015 from www.rba.gov.au • Rovell, D. (2012). Is coconut water headed for a boom or bust? CNBC. Retrieved 17 April, 2015 www.cnbc.com