Assignment: Marketing Plan
For the first 6 months your company is in business-to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers-you will start marketing and selling in your own community, a radius of 25 miles from where you live.
For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is the key to success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketing and brand awareness-both of which are critical to success.
Section 1: Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)
Write only a 3-5-page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan in which you do the following:
1. Define your company's target market.
a. Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description).
b. Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zip codes).
2. Assess your company's market competition.
a. Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company's market competition.
b. Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).
3. Clarify your company's message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F's). Create a marketing slogan/tagline for your product.
4. Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company's brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective.
Section 2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)
Section 2 uses the "Business Plan Financials" MS Excel template (see: Required Course Files in Week 1). Use the Business Plan Financials Guide (see: Required Course Files in Week 1) to support your development of the marketing budget.
1. Complete the "Marketing Budget" worksheet for your company.
• Begin in the current year and complete a marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your "Income Statement" in the "Business Plan Financials."
• Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing vehicles you do not intend to use.
• Remember that all marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing, assume you will incur costs of advertising and these should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketing campaigns, and most likely pay for ads on that site.
• Do not leave the "Marketing Budget" blank assuming you will not have any marketing costs.
• Do not complete all the rows; only fill in the costs for the marketing vehicles you will actually use. These must match the content you describe in Question 4 Word portion of this assignment.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.
The specific course learning outcome associated with this assignment is:
• Create a marketing plan that identifies a target market, market competition, a company message, and marketing vehicles for a company.