Advertising Scheme for Dr. Thunder - Term Paper Example

? Dr Thunder: Advertising Scheme Dr Thunder: Advertising Scheme Introduction There are multi-factorial scenarios, which have an impact on the marketing strategies for a brand. In case of off-brands, it becomes critical for the organization to closely monitor the market environment and develop a marketing strategy that helps the off-brand to compete with established national and international brands. In this report, marketing strategy for Dr. Thunder is presented which would help the brand to acclaim nationwide promotion. Dr. Thunder is a soft drink brand offered by Wal-Mart in its stores. As the brand is cheap therefore there are less number of factors to be considered by customers at the time of purchase. In this sense, Dr. Thunder can be asserted as being a low-involvement brand. There have been no major advertising campaigns run by Wal-Mart to market Dr. Thunder as a brand. For this reason, the recommended marketing strategy is a newly developed. The reason behind developing a new marketing strategy for Dr. Thunder is to highlight the subliminal attraction of the brand, as the brand name is similar to internationally popular Dr. Pepper. Market Size, Performance and Growth From the review of U.S Census on the size of the market segment to which the marketing campaign of Dr. Thunder would target, it has been found that the marketing campaign would target around 3 million Americans. Over the past 10 years, it has been noticed that the target market segment has grown for about 7.7% (United States Census Bureau, 2013). Moreover, the target segment would expand by another 8.9% in the coming ten years. Upon understanding the dynamics of soft drink industry in USA, it is found that the following three factors have an impact on the consumer behavior of this industry: 1. The top most influential factor in this regard is health concerns amongst consumer circles. Consumers perceive that carbonated or fizzy drinks have wrong affects on their health and thus avoid drinking soft drinks at all or usually purchase these drinks. 2. Size and design of the packaging also influences consumer behavior. If a soft drink is offered in a glass bottle, it is not possible for customers to take it home or travel along with a bottled soft drink. On the other hand, a canned or plastic bottled soft drink would be seen as facilitating and thus consumers would prefer to purchase it. 3. Lastly, the soft drink industry in the world is perceived as the most competent and saturated industry. Presence of single handedly market share sweeping companies like Pepsi and Coca Cola makes it difficult for other brands to survive in the market (Mise, Nair, Odera, & Ogutu, 2013). Reference Group and Diffusion of the Marketing Campaign Soft drink brands are usually more popular amongst younger target audience. For this reason, it can be asserted that the most influential reference group for Dr. Thunder would be the social circle of teenagers. As the majority of the US population is comprised by young generation, and the social circle of young audience is identified as the most influential reference group, it can be suggested that a marketing strategy focused on targeting a younger audience would achieve the quickest diffusion rate. Moreover, adopting a deterministic model would help Wal-Mart to the state of acceptance by a particular segment of buyers of Dr. Thunder and overcome the flaws in production and marketing strategies. The diffusion determinants pertaining to Dr. Thunder are the perceived health advantages to customers, low riskiness in purchase, easy to use packaging of the drink and ability to quench thirst (Saha & Theingi, 2009). Diffusion Enhancement Strategy To enhance the diffusion rate for Dr. Thunder, the marketing strategy would primarily target college and school students. Moreover, the target audience belonging to the age bracket of 25-30 years would also be focused in the marketing strategy. To attract the attention of the target audience, concerts and sports festivals would be sponsored by Dr. Thunder. Moreover, advertisements will be published in fashion, sports and youth magazines. Bill boards and hoardings would also placed near colleges and universities throughout the country. Characteristics of the Product The major characteristics of Dr. Thunder, which will be highlighted in the marketing campaign, would be the unique taste of the soft drink. Moreover, the facilitating packaging of the soft drink, cheap price and ability of drink to quench thirst of t he buyers would be prominently highlighted in print and electronic marketing campaign. Promotion Focused Marketing Campaign In the presence of Pepsi and Coca Cola in United States’ soft drink market, it would be nearly impossible for Dr. Thunder to have an immediate positive impact on consumer behavior. For this reason, the brand will have to create awareness amongst the target audience first, and then go on to establish itself as a competent soft drink brand. In this regard, promotion based marketing strategy would help Wal-Mart to establish Dr. Thunder’s identity amongst not only the loyal customer base of Wal-Mart itself, but also amongst the other soft drink customer segments in the country. Customers’ Involvement in Purchasing Decision Dr. Thunder will be offered to the target market on a cheaper price. For this reason, the customers would not want to spend a significant amount of time on learning why they need to purchase Dr. Thunder and not any other soft drink brand. In this regard, it can be suggested that the marketers of Dr. Thunder should focus on developing advertising and promotional campaigns that educate target audience about the product. This aim can be achieved by including testimonials from sports celebrities about the taste and ability of soft drink to quench thirst and refresh them during sporting events (Kotabe & Helsen, 1998). Impact of Lifestyle on Consumer Behavior In soft drink industry, the customers’ behavior varies with the level of customers’ involvement in sporting activities and their food habits. As soft drinks are used to remove thirst, refresh and help in digesting foods, the consumer behavior would also fluctuate. If a person is relying too much on fast food, his/her soft drink intake will be high. In this regard, it can be suggested that a lifestyle including eating junk food, hectic work schedule, and tight academic and co-curricular activity schedule would increase the demand for soft drinks. Effectiveness of the Campaign The proposed campaign is expected to increase the sales of Dr. Thunder by a significant 38%, whereas the customer base for Dr. Thunder is expected to increase by 45%. This is because, the current sales and customer base comprises of Wal-Mart’s loyal customer base only. By implementing the proposed marketing plan, Wal-Mart will be successful in creating nationwide awareness about its soft drink brand and expand the customer base to non-Wal-Mart’s customers. In addition, being the first promotion based marketing campaign for Dr. Thunder, the outcome would help Wal-Mart to assess the potential of Dr. Thunder in becoming a national brand. The success of the marketing campaign would also ensure that Dr. Thunder is capable of competing on higher grounds with international brands like Pepsi and Coca Cola. Moreover, the campaign will also be effective in gathering valuable data about customers’ preferences and desires from a soft drink brand like Dr. Thunder. The findings of this research would help the company to design its future marketing strategies keeping in view the implications of the research work. Conclusion In this report, a marketing campaign was proposed. The proposed marketing strategy would help Wal-Mart not only to create awareness about Dr. Thunder and establish it as a national brand, but also strengthen the corporate image and market presence of Wal-Mart as a parent brand of Dr. Thunder. Reference List Kotabe, M., & Helsen, K. (1998). Global marketing management. Temple University. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Mise, J. K., Nair, C., Odera, O., & Ogutu, M. (2013). Determinants of Brand Loyalty and Product Quality of Soft Drink Consumers. Asian Journal of Business and Management , 1 (1\), 8-13. Saha, G. C., & Theingi. (2009). Service quality, satisfaction, and behavioural intentions: A study of low-cost airline carriers in Thailand. Managing Service Quality , 19 (3), 350-372. United States Census Bureau. (2013, July 1). 2012 National Population Projections: Summary Tables. Retrieved November 24, 2013, from www.census.gov: http://www.census.gov/population/projections/data/national/2012/summarytables.html Read More