Marketing Plan

Bacardi-Cola: Marketing Plan

Table of Contents

Introduction ....................................................................................................3

History ..........................................................................................................5

Product Description.......................................................................................... 7

SWOTT Analysis............................................................................................. 8

Market Research.............................................................................................. 9

Segmentation .................................................................................................11

Target Market ................................................................................................15

Differentiation ................................................................................................17

Positioning....................................................................................................17

Stage of the Product Life Cycle............................................................................18

Marketing Mix ...............................................................................................20

Product ...............................................................................................20

Place.................................................................................................. 23

Price ..................................................................................................23

Promotion............................................................................................ 26

Budget..........................................................................................................31

Controls....................................................................................................... 32

Conclusion....................................................................................................34

References.................................................................................................... 35

Introduction

Marketer Corporation has been recruited by Bacardi Corporation to help them design a new product in the ready to drink (RTD) and flavored alcoholic beverages (FAB) market. New competitive drinks from rival companies like Smirnoff (Smirnoff Ice), Stolichnaya (Mikes Hard Lemonade), and Skyy (Skyy Blue) has challenged Bacardi's (Bacardi Silver) strong market share in the United Kingdom and the United States. Bacardi wishes to increase their market share in the Caribbean and the rest of Europe by introducing a new product that could be used as their new signature product in the RTD and/or FAB market. Bacardi will use the help of Coca-Cola Company for the distribution and bottling and use some of the ingredients in this new innovative product called Bacardi-Cola.

This new product has very interesting attributes, for example: being the highest alcohol per volume ready to drink beverage while maintaining a zero sugar and zero carbohydrates feature. The beverage will be based on a mixture of Bacardi Rum and Coca-Cola Zero and will be bottled in clear twelve-ounce plastic and crystal bottles.

This paper will identify some of the segmentation criteria that will impact the target market selection. Geographical, demographical, physiographical, and behavioral segmentations have been established for consumers. A business-to-business segmentation has also been used to identify possible organizational buyers. Target consumers have been identified as adults from eighteen to fifty years, with a strong social and nightlife, as well as likes for outdoor activities such as beach and sports amenities. Consumers will be influenced by many factors to buy our product. Price and taste are among these factors, but we think that branding the name of Bacardi and Coca-Cola will be the most influential of all. Bacardi and Coca-Cola are the main strengths of this product. Using their already established distribution multi-channels, consumers will easily find Bacardi-Cola in their nearest amenity store.

Pricing and promotion are very important parts of the marketing strategies and tactics of companies like Bacardi Corporation and Coca-Cola Company. Both are part of the marketing mix which is part of the action plan of the marketing strategies of a company. A leveled effort combing pricing and promotional objectives and strategies should produce profitable results. These objectives and strategies should be reevaluated during the life cycle of the project and consumer adaptation process. A combination of low production and distribution costs, introduction prices, and special design discounts focused on a sales-oriented objective will be used to obtain the desired market share. A generous markup price will produce the pricing flexibility needed to contend internal and external factors through the product life cycle.A push-pull promotional strategy will be enforced through the distribution channel. All three basic promotional methods (personal selling, mass selling, and sales promotion) will be used. Advertising and promotion objectives will focus on targeting identified consumers and to promote the attributes of our product. Bacardi-Cola's path through the product life cycle has been established. The factors that will influence its movement have been identified, as well as some of the tactics that will be used during the different stages.

Using the uniqueness and innovative attributes of Bacardi-Cola's and Bacardi and Coca-Cola's world acknowledged branding, differentiation and positioning strategies were established. Using as a base the past experience of Bacardi Silver (a similar Bacardi product) sales where forecasted and a sales oriented budget was develop. Control mechanisms like focal groups where also establish.

Bacardi-Cola: Marketing Plan