Strategic marketing plan
SITUATION ANALYSIS – INTERNAL CAPABILITIES
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SITUATION ANALYSIS – INTERNAL CAPABILITIESJayne to read over Virgin Cola has decided to brand its carbonated soft drink as an Organic Soft Drink to be distributed through specialty stores such as Thomas Dux, Harris Farm, Fratelli Fresh and other niche delicatessen styled stores. This branding strategy will help distinguish Virgin Cola as a brand, giving it a point-of-difference and setting it aside from the major players Pepsi and Coca-Cola. The Virgin Group’s on a company level is one of great power as its products range across several industry sectors. The Virgin Group’s brand name is one of its biggest assets, this is partly due to the strong association the brand has with Director, Sir Richard Branson. Sir Richard Branson acts as an unofficial endorsee for the company’s brand, values and business approach. The Virgin Group has products in Lifestyle, Media and Mobile, Money, Music, People and Planet as well as travel; this diverse portfolio strengthens the overall brand recognition of the company as the company is exposed to a plethora of consumers across these different segments. The re-launch of Virgin Cola in Australia will align with the Virgin Groups pre-existing values and cultures established through the brands other product lines. The carbonated soft drink beverage is going to align especially with the People/Planet values of the company. Virgin Pepsi is going to be an organic cola produced with fair trade ingredients and the product will be bottled in recycled materials. These aspects of the product not only reinforce the Virgin Groups mission and culture but it also acts as a point-of-difference and aligns with current trends stimulating an influx in health concern and societal search for healthier substitutes for the household goods in which consumers love. In order for Virgin Group to name Virgin Cola as a ‘Fair Trade’ product, it needs to meet certain requirements set out by the Fair Trade Body. These requirements include:
The meeting of these requirements and the attainment of the Fair Trade title/logo not only will be a distinguishing factor which can be used in advertising but it will also enforce the ethics of the company behind it (The Virgin Group). This will give Virgin Cola a competitive advantage over the market leaders Pepsi and Coca-Cola as they do not attain such certification and because movements like Fair Trade are becoming increasingly popular in today’s societal environment. This movement into Fair Trade will earn Virgin Cola first mover advantage and will lead to Virgin Cola being a market leader in the environmentally sustainable products for carbonated soft drinks. On a competitive scale, the marketing of the Virgin Cola as being a product with superior environmental sustainability status will stimulate attention from major competition Coca-Cola. Virgins positioning strategy to publicizing the brand Virgin will trigger this focus and it’s product as being a market leader for environmental sustainability innovation. This is because Coca-Cola is currently in the stages of developing a ‘PlantBottle’ of it’s own with a similar branding strategy. Coca-Cola is a global brand that also draws from its strong brand recognition as a main driver in the competitive dominance in the marketplace. Coca-Cola as a brand as an extremely high level of consumer recognition with branding strategies aimed at evoking fun ‘summer-time’ memories and experience with friends. This branding strategy is successful because it appeals to consumer’s emotive stimuli, evoking memories of fun and then associating Coca-Cola as a brand to such memories. Coca-Cola’s ‘PlantBottle’ will be made of a material known as PET plastic, the bottle will contain 30% materials from Brazilian sugar cane and molasses. The goal is to make the PlantBottle 100% recyclable137. Virgin Cola’s market entry will beat Coca-Cola into the market and therefore enjoy the first mover advantage and access to economies of sale. However this move does bear some risk, Coca-Cola is now given the opportunity to watch Virgin Cola and analyze the overall consumer response to the product, and build features into their ‘PlantBottle’ which will better satisfy unmet consumer expectations and to build/learn off Virgins mistakes. A the main capability in which this branding strategy gives The Virgin Group to other competitors is it separates them from immediately competing against the markets larger players Coca-Cola and Pepsi, placing it in a sub-category niche within the carbonated soft drink category. This niche provides a less volatile market place, which will be easier to dominate off the brand name alone. Once the niche market is dominated by Virgin Cola the company can then decide to start defusing the beverage out into the mass-market. Another capability in which The Virgin Group will enjoy includes tax concessions, these concessions can be granted to make up for loss of potential income incurred through adopting sustainable production methods and avoiding mass production. Partnerships or alliances set up with recycling companies will also grant the Virgin Group additional capabilities as distribution of raw materials and finished goods will be maintained at little or no cost. Apart from the production capabilities in which The Virgin Group will enjoy on the production side of operations, the sales/retail side will also inherit capabilities vital to growing market share. The ‘natural’ and organic attribute of the product will enable the beverage to move across product lines and allow it to be kept in the consideration group for healthier substitutes such as performance drinks, juices and bottled water. Another capability on Virgins sales side of the business is that the Virgin Cola beverage will be competition in a much less volatile market. Avoiding in the first instance direct competition with both Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Jess: I did not have time to thoroughly read through this section so please have someone do it before Sunday for errors etc. Review:Jess: please complete (refer to project guideline). Implications:Jess: please complete (refer to project guideline). *
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