Marketing Strategies That Can Bbe Implemented by The Rockwell Beverage Co - Case Study Example

Marketing Report Name: Course: Professor: Institution: City and State: Date: Marketing Strategy Introduction The present paper seeks to devise appropriate marketing strategies that can be implemented by The Rockwell Beverage Co in order to get a market share for its soft drink- Everyday Sunday newly introduced in the Australian market. Product Product as a marketing strategy is broken down into three distinct parts including the actual product, the core product and the augmented product (McClymont & Jocumsen, 2003). The core product refers to the basic product a customer seeks to purchase and in this case is the soft drink. The actual product, on the other hand, includes the core product and other notable additional features that a customer could be willing to pay for such as brand name, packaging and design. The Rockwell Beverage Company must ensure Everyday Sunday is packaged in cans designed in a way that meets customers’ expectations. The company should design new products in order to offer their customers innovations and a reason to buy Everyday Sunday, as opposed to drinks offered by competitors such as, Coca Cola and Pepsi. Finally, augmented product comprises of additional aspects besides physical factors that add value for customers and as such includes customer service and warranties. The company must consider giving their customer especially wholesalers warranties. In addition, other services such as customer service will enable the company to satisfy customers’ expectations and as such, stand out among the competitors. Clients are normally faced with a great deal of product selection problem particularly where there is a great deal of similar products in the market.  Differentiating Everyday Sunday from other forms of soft drinks by giving it features and qualities not common with competitors’ products gives customers a reason to purchase the newest brand in the market as opposed to rival products that have already established a market share (Katherine, 2012). It is the role of Rockwell Beverage Company marketers to make decisions on how to differentiate Everyday Sunday from the rest of similar soft drinks. This may take the form of designs, packaging, different sizes, special features and prestigious brand name that are not common with the competition. Pricing Pricing is another marketing strategy that The Rockwell Beverage Company can use to increase its market share. Ideally, pricing significantly influences people’s decisions in purchasing, and therefore, critical in determining the business revenues. Nevertheless, the company should set prices neither too low nor too high, but ones that will enable the company recover its costs and make profits. Further, price set by the Rockwell Beverage Company should be consistent with company’s marketing objectives in order to boost its market share, as well as profitability. According to Abbott, Stone & Buttle (2001), such price must allow the upcoming soft drink manufacturer to counter the already established rivals. This could only happen if the prices are affordable in the Australian market. As such, the youths who have been identified as a target market for soft drinks will afford to buy. When introducing their products in the target market, the Rockwell Beverage Company can enter the market as loss leaders by offering their products at a low price. They should also list prices of their soft drinks such that customers are aware of the costs of different sizes. This strategic approach helps in capturing customers’ behavioral trends and motivations to purchase the products (Wai-sum & Kirby, 1999). Nevertheless, extreme care should be taken considering that this approach may tarnish the image of the new brand since some customers may have doubts on the aspect of quality due to discounted price. Promotion Promotion is an element of marketing involving communication with potential customers. Marketing strategies based on promotion seeks to make a product known in the targeted market and involves persuading people to purchase the product. Everyday Sunday is relatively a new product in soft drinks market and through promotion activities such as online marketing, personal selling, advertising and direct marketing can help generate interest about the new product, and as such, be recognized in the wider market (Calvin, 1995). Ideally, it is through promotional activities that marketers can help people develop a desire of buying Everyday Sunday. Nevertheless, the afore mentioned promotional strategies used to communicate the new soft drink to the market have varied strengths and weaknesses, and therefore, it is up to marketers to decide on approached to use as a combination in order to reach a wider customer base. Ideally, different promotional strategies fit at different levels of product life cycle and considering that Everyday Sunday is a new product in the market, marketing strategies such as advertising; sales promotion, public relations and personal selling should be highly utilized. Place The strategy of the marketing mix is largely concerned with product movement from producer to final consumer. In addition, it involves demand chain and channel management. Logistic management involves decisions of using intermediaries to help deliver products to the customers. This is influenced by buyers perception on the product and promotional approaches used. According to Blumberg (1994), channel management concerns the route a product takes to move from the manufacturer to the final consumer. The Rockwell Beverage Company as the producer of Everyday Sunday cannot sell directly to consumers, and therefore, it must use intermediaries including wholesalers and retailers to deliver the soft drink to final consumers. However, the company must be careful about the pricing since with many intermediaries the cost of the drink could end up rising to level high such that the company may lose the cost advantage over competitors. This can be achieved through setting the price at which the drink is to be sold to the final consumer meaning that the profits to the intermediaries are determined well in advance. Undoubtedly, it is advantageous to sell Everyday Sunday through intermediaries since the company can reach a wider market, as opposed to direct selling. Similar approach has proved successful for soft drinks giant- Coca Cola Corporation based in Atlanta. The Coca Cola Corporation produces a syrup concentrate that manufactures coke. Tis syrup is then sold to bottlers such as Coca Cola Amatil in Australia that is licensed to convert this syrup concentrate to soft drinks by adding carbonate. These bottling companies act as wholesalers who in turn sell the bottled coke to retailers with convenient supermarket and stores for the final consumer to purchase. Another strategy that The Rockwell Company could utilize is the intensive channel which involves selling its products through numerous outlets. Ideally, the intensive strategy gives the product a wider exposure which paramount in driving sales (Butler, 1996). However, the company must be careful not to lose control over its product since a large number of product handlers make it difficult to offer product advice. Physical evidence This form of marketing strategy involves giving potential customers an exposure to the product an opposed to promotional materials. Indeed, the customers get an opportunity to view the product and also develop interest to purchase it. Physical evidence is more of product packaging, and as such, it must meet customers’ expectations (Fillis, Johansson & Wagner, 2004). In this vein, the Rockwell Company must ensure that the beverage is packed in appealing containers and also sold in clean places that customers can identify with. It is worth noting that customers are influenced by a whole range of physical aspects including product signage, advertisements and brochures’, furniture and fixtures, business cards, receipts among others. People Having the right labor force is a plus for every company. This is because such people require taking instructions properly, serving the customers appropriately in order to leave a favorable impression with the customers. Undeniably, customers judge a product on the basis of the impression left by the people involved. As such, the Rockwell Beverage Company must ensure that their staffs are properly dressed, polite and courteous to their clients. Additionally, the company must ensure that the work force have the appropriate personal attributes and are consistently trained to enhance efficiency (Ionita, 2012). More importantly, the staff must be good in dealing with customers and have adequate knowledge about the products and the company in general. Similar to other established organizations, the Rockwell Company should consider making a uniform resembling its yellowish brand colors as it has been the case with Coca Cola and Pepsi that have adopted reddish and bluish colors for their staff uniforms. Processes Processes are a significant marketing strategy that involves implementation of effective systems to deliver a good or a service. As such, the element of processes goes beyond the company operation issues, and as such also involves marketing as the customer tend to judge an organization on the basis of how customer friendly and efficient its processes are (Li & Liu, 2013). Therefore, it is the responsibility of marketers to ensure that processes put in place allow the drinks to reach customers in a timely manner and must keep consulting the clients in order to improve of weak areas (Miller, Besser & Sandra, 2010). In this vein, the company must ensure that their clients do not get annoyed due to inconsistencies in delivery of the new product to retailers. Similarly, the company must also avail the different sizes and brand such that a customer can easily access the desired item. As such, the Rockwell Beverage Company must develop processes that allow it to provide Everyday Sunday in a way that satisfactorily meet the customers’ needs. 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