Marketing Plan:

Marketing Plan:

Crushendo Juices at WineMakers West

Table of Contents

The New Paradigm 4

New Product 5

Market Evaluation 6

SWOTT ANALYSIS 8

Target Market 9

Factors of Influence 11

Product Attributes 13

Product Positioning and Differentiation 15

Strategy 16

Tactics & Tools 18

Product Life Cycle 20

Marketing Mix Summary 21

Budget 22

Monitoring and Control 23

Conclusion 24

References 26

Marketing Plan:

Crushendo Juices at WineMakers West

Fermentation is a basic process that occurs naturally, every day. The fermentation of grapes into wine is also a basic process: put grapes into a bucket, and fairly soon the yeast that grows naturally on the skins of the grapes will begin fermenting the sugars in the grapes, turning the juice into wine. It does not get much more simple than that, but over the years, that age-old process of making wine has come to be perceived as a rarefied art form. It is true that some grapes do make better wines than others, and that an odd strain of yeast can bring a different flavor, but the abundant crops of pure varietal grapes and the availability of cultured wine yeasts make it possible for any person to make their own wine. The truth of the matter is that people have been making their own wine for millennia, and it is only in the last century that most wine drinkers were able to purchase wines that came from a large winery. Most wines, as well as beers for that matter, were made at home or by a local tavern.

Despite this fact, the vast majority of wine drinkers seem to be unwilling to believe that a wine not made by a nationally recognized winery can be worth drinking, much less worthy of awards. The truth is that homemade wines that have been made from pre-packaged juice kits have won awards at national and international tasting competitions. An increased popularity of wine in the American market coupled with the expanded awareness of the health benefits of wine make the wine industry one of the faster growing sectors in the beverage industry (Edwards, 2005).

As a relatively new business, WineMakers West not only faces the challenge of convincing the public of its own stability and credibility, but it also has to educate the public and convince the average consumer that the product is credible as well. In order to do that effectively, the company must identify what segment of the market will be receptive to the concept, and what are the best methods to use in addressing those market segments. The Crushendo wines that are currently being introduced by the company will enhance the company's general message, and, at the same time, will require some special consideration so that they can be utilized on focused market segments.

As a relatively new business, WineMakers West not only faces the challenge of convincing the public of its own stability and credibility, but it also has to educate the public and convince the average consumer that the product is credible as well. In order to do that effectively, the company must identify what segment of the market will be receptive to the concept, and what are the best methods to use in addressing those market segments. The Crushendo wines that are currently being introduced by the company will enhance the company's general message, and, at the same time, will require some special consideration so that they can be utilized on focused market segments.

The New Paradigm

Los Angeles is, at over $290 million per year, the single largest wine purchasing market in the country (ACNielsen, 2003). If a company could get just one percent of that market, it would be assured a healthy income. There are other interesting benefits to the Los Angeles market: consumers have a higher than average amount of discretionary income, and consumer purchase decisions are quite often image-based. All a person has to do is open any newspaper in the Los Angeles area and examine the plethora of ads for cosmetic surgery, exfoliation, body shaping, hair extensions, and balding cures to know that the idea of personal image plays a big role in the consumer's consciousness. The wine kit industry does play into this, since a great part of the allure is found in the consumers' ability to put anything they want on the label of their bottle of wine.

WineMakers West was incorporated for the purpose of exploring how an expansion-based paradigm for the retail winemaking industry would work. The first step was to outline the store concept. It would be important for stores to be designed to appeal to a more contemporary clientele. They would have to be process and product based, not personality based, and they would have to operate under a set of guidelines and procedures that could be duplicated across multiple stores with staff that had little or no prior knowledge of winemaking.

New Product

Wines are generally made from the grape species Vitus Vinifera, as opposed to the Vitus Labrusca grapes that are native to the Americas, because they have an optimal balance of flavor and sugars. What many people do not know is that, if one squeezes a vinifera grape it will produce a clear juice. As an example, although pinot noir is commonly known as a grape that produces a fine red wine, it is also the primary grape used in making Champagne. Many of the colors and flavors that we normally associate with red wines are derived from the skins that are left in contact with the juice during the first 3-7 days of fermentation.

Until recently, none of the wines made at WineMakers West had ever experienced fermentation "on the skins." The juices used by the facility are purchased from a winery that has developed a method of adding the enzymes that yeast normally creates during fermentation and subjecting the must (must is the product of crushed grapes that includes the juice, the skin, and the meat of the grapes), to a vacuum. The vacuum chamber provides the catalyst that the enzymes normally get from the fermentation process. Although this process produces some outstanding