Marketing Plan for AUP Coffee - Case Study Example

Full s the Paper is due] Marketing Plan for AUP Coffee Current Market Analysis In France, drinking coffee is a laid-back activity. There aren’t many places, except for Paris perhaps, where you can get a coffee “to go” the American way. Usually, in this country, people buy their cup of coffee and linger at the bar, meeting up with friends, chatting with the waiter, or reading some book or perhaps a newspaper. When drinking coffee in France, one usually gets a small piece of dark chocolate or a small biscuit. This afternoon coffee will get the French going until eight o’ clock, when it is time for the French to have dinner. In France, generally, coffee is taken as either black or with milk. There are no choices of almond, chocolate, hazelnut, etc... However, it is when Starbucks Coffee entered the market in 2004, that the French’s “coffee culture” slowly changed from roadside cafés with white porcelain cups, to “on the go” coffee in white plastic cups. Also, small cafés in Paris such as Columbus cafe has introduced the need of coffee in a person’s daily routine. It is especially among young people that drinking coffee has become something of a fad, and frequenting cafés is something they fancy. Although it is the young professionals, and university students who enjoy drinking coffee, quite a number of the older members of the French community too, drinks coffee – however in the more traditional way of having it either black or with milk. AUP Coffee is a newly invented brand of coffee that is aimed at joining the competitive coffee market of France. It is developed as an instant, processed coffee product. Convenience is very much taken into consideration since everything today is fast-paced and considered “to go”. As humans, it is natural for us to try a thing or two that is new. If it’s good, we share the thought. If it’s bad, we still share the thought – plus a lot of criticism. France’s market of today is simply a “trial and error” type of market, meaning the consumers try a new product that looks promising, and the product’s reputation can take it from there. With the ever growing competition in the market, especially of food and beverages, products have become a fad – something like fashion, only the classics (simple and functional) lasts for decades or more. Being a small name in the industry, AUP Coffee will be competing with giants such as Starbucks, established locals such as Columbus Cafe (in Paris), and other coffee shops who, through the years, have established their reputation as household names. Target Market Being a coffee aficionado isn’t such a very popular trend in France in the past years, it is the new generation that AUP Coffee will target for their product. Young professionals and university students’ lifestyles have differed from that of their parents and other members of the previous generation. These are the people who are 18-25 years old. In this age category, we expect to see college students, fresh graduates, and young professionals. College students go about their daily life in a routine manner, which includes home, school, mall, and home again. These students have a number of schoolwork to complete, reports to hand in every two weeks, and probably even research papers that would take up most of their waking time – and even steal some of their sleeping time. Aside from such busy schedules gained from school, they squeeze in some hours for friends, malls, clubbing, and entertainment. With this market, the power of caffeine to keep them up in the wee hours of morning (finishing their reports, etc...) would be appealing. Fresh graduates, on the other hand, are doing their best to land themselves a job that could bring stability to their future, and would therefore be working hard, putting their best foot forward. Now what more could bring up performance with an alert mind powered by some coffee – not just coffee, but instant, within their reach, inexpensive, coffee! And with the young professionals, these are the people who are enjoying their salaries as singles, and splurging on things they want, in other words, shopping, travelling, etc... However, they are also saving up, and may spend for things they fancy, but would not feel the same way for perishable items such as food and beverages. These are the people who enjoy hanging out with friends, comparing notes as to what products or brands are good, and which are rubbish. Young professionals are those who are also working hard in their current job positions, which were acquired a few years back. These people are those with quite a busy lifestyle – a mixture of work, socializations, and most of the time, romantic relationships. Technically, these are the active, “on the go” people whose income may range from €288.00 (for students as their allowance) to €5,850.00 per month. With a cup of coffee, usually at €2.00 – €4.00, students, as well as young professionals may opt for something more inexpensive. AUP Coffee would definitely hit a mark on these young busy bees, as young professionals of this generation certainly need some boosting to keep up with their lifestyles. Marketing & Product Distribution How would AUP Coffee then stand out among the competition? Primarily, a person’s first impression lasts. How the product is advertised, how the package looks like will be the person’s initial judgement of the product. Advertisement of the product should be catchy and attractive especially in marketing with the younger members of the community. One of the toughest challenges that a marketer has to face is the marketing and distribution of the product. In this busy world, full of competition, how could one successfully make his product visible, and most importantly, be purchased by the consumers? With creativity and resourcefulness, this challenge may well be overcome. In the marketing of AUP Coffee, we should take note that the product is going to be marketed only in France, and not internationally. With this in mind, it would be quite costly at this point to advertise online. Perhaps, as the product grows, an online visibility would be beneficial, since that people nowadays, especially those who belong to the younger generation frequently surf the internet, do their shopping online, and some even makes it a big part of their daily activities. It is also essential that we consider its target market, which is the 18-25 years old age group. These people frequent the shopping malls, parks, fitness centres, movie theatres, restaurants, cafés, and sometimes, clubs. And of course, they are present in their university school campus, as well as their work places. With these in mind, we can now formulate our marketing scheme. AUP Coffee’s target market is young people, people who are “on the go”. It is then important that AUP Coffee must first be visible in the market, for the consumers to notice it – in other words, advertising is essential. There are a number of ways to advertise this product, and all of which are reasonable in cost, and practical in nature. AUP Coffee can be advertised in the following ways: vehicle wraps, adhesive vinyl, promotional freebies in universities. Vehicle wraps is a new trend introduced to the field of advertising a few years back. Vehicles, such as cars, buses, vans, trailers, delivery vans, and so on, are transformed into colourful, vibrant, eye-catching moving billboards. Even double-decked buses can be wrapped with such. This is an inexpensive way to advertise a product, as it is the most practical approach in advertising for small businesses in Europe, and Northern America. The wrap employs state-of-the-art digital printing technology for bright colors, vivid detail, and outstanding durability. Typically, vehicle graphics last 3 to 7 years outdoors—all while helping to protect the factory paint underneath! Adhesive vinyl is also very popular, as well as practical, inexpensive ways to market a product. Adhesive vinyl can be used in a lot of ways. It can be used an advertising banners on the side of buses, banner signs hanging in some places, and can be applied to nearly anything, even painted concrete. Since billboards are quite costly for a newly invented coffee brand, adhesive vinyl would do the trick in increasing its visibility to the public eye, generating awareness, and trigger a desire to buy and try the new product. This advertising method is usually for the adventurous individuals, as well as for the curious ones. How about the cautious ones, then? Promotional freebies are for the people in the target market whose personalities fall under “cautious”. In introducing a new product in the market, it is quite common to have “testers”. Take a new wine product for example, they would have trial tasting of their wine, usually in supermarkets, or where people go to buy such products. With this concept in mind, AUP Coffee can have give out samples of their products as a promotional strategy in getting their products visible to the public eye, especially that of their target market. Inside the university campuses, students would fancy getting freebies, especially those that are new, and at the same time useful to them. In the marketing and distribution of the product, it is important to make the consumers aware how the product, AUP Coffee is differentiated from its competition. As part of its marketing, it should be understood that it is different in a way that it offers the same taste, the same quantity, and the same quality, as the others in its range of competition, but has an edge when it comes to its price – it is cheaper. Considering AUP Coffee’s target market, their financial capacity is somewhere between low and average. Unless they let their parents buy for them, it is deemed to be a burden to them to be spending so much for coffee. AUP Coffee will offer the same quantity – as this is an important aspect in the salability of a product, and of course the quality, which will keep the product’s reputation in the high, or otherwise. It may not be as good as the best coffee brands out there, but it has an edge over the other products in its range of competition in the market. Marketing Budget Considering that AUP Coffee is a newly invented brand of coffee, its marketing budget is deemed to be practical, and reasonable. For the marketing and distribution strategies mentioned earlier, they are the most cost-effective options in increasing the product’s visibility. Vehicle wraps’ cost may range from €648.00 - €5,044.00, depending on the vehicle size. Vehicles the size of a smart car may be €648.00, that of a VW Beetle at €864, those resembling the size of a Ford Transit Connect at €1,008.00, a Mwb Transit at €1,225.00, a Mercedes CL600 at €1,441.00, and a double-decker bus at €5,044.00. Cost may also vary from partial wraps to total wraps. A fully wrapped van may cost €1,441.00 to €2,161.00, depending, again, on the size of the vehicle being wrapped. However, with its durability of 3 to 7 years, withstanding the heat and rain, as well as snow and winds, this moving billboard would be a very practical, cost-effective investment to the marketing of the product, which in our case, is AUP Coffee. Adhesive vinyl, too, is another cost-effective strategy in the advertising of the product. With its characteristic, it can be placed indoors, or even outdoors, with similar durability as that of vehicle wraps. Adhesive vinyls, which can be applied even to painted concrete, are usually placed in outdoor walls of stores, or theatres, when announcing a show or concert. The cost of such also depends on the size, and is however, way cheaper compared to those of vehicle wraps. For example, a 22 x 28 poster would cost about €22. However, for this to be effective, a number of this should be placed at different parts of the city, usually malls, parks, etc... For the promotional freebies, the cost of this would depend on the manpower hired, and the number of products given out. For the manpower, these are simply promotional people who go around, approaching people and introducing the new product, as well as convincing them to try it, and perhaps buy it, adding some information about the product as to why it is more preferable compared to the other products in the market. Promotional people are usually paid by the hour, and would usually cost about €6.21 an hour. However, for some established companies, they usually send their employees to do such tasks, and therefore would not spend on extra manpower, but rather utilize the manpower they already have, and thus not changing their payroll. AUP Coffee will then be giving out a number of its products, for free. This too, will be under the marketing budget. As a result, the product will gain more visibility in the public eye, as well as offer more information about the product to those curious individuals because those advertising it are people, rather than billboards. Promotional people can answer questions about the product, as well as convince the people to buy it, using wit and flowery words. Billboards can only do so much with its colours, design, and catchy tag lines. It is however, more beneficial for the product to have it advertised by a medium with a brain. Hence, the marketing budget for AUP Coffee is a bit heavy upon starting, but are long-term investments, lasting for 3 to 7 years until it is replaced. This makes it cost-effective, as it exposes the product to the public, but at a minimal cost. Read More