Discuss Marketing Plan and sales Strategy

This assignment consists of two sections: a marketing plan and sales strategy and a marketing budget. Note:You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

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 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 andSales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)

Write the3–5-page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan, in which you do the following:

1. Define your company’s target market.
   1. 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).
   2. Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zipcodes).
      • Hints: At American FactFinder (http://factfinder.census.gov), you will find demographic information on potential consumers in your area. If you are selling through other businesses (such as grocery stores), indicate the number of those businesses in your local area. You will find information about such businesses in your local area at County Business Patterns (http://www.census.gov/econ/cbp/). Check Chapter 2 of Successful Business Plan for more research sources.
2. Assess your company’s market competition.
   1. Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.
   2. Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).
      • Hints: Every business faces competition, and the non-alcoholic beverage market is an especially crowded market.
      • Hints: For example, in the soft drink market, it is intimidating to try to compete against Coke and Pepsi. Newcomers in mature markets typically must pursue niche markets or even create new market categories, as Red Bull did with energy drinks.
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.
   • Hints: Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.
4. Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective.