Week 8 EOC: Creative Content

For my creative content, I will release two things. The first will be the logo. This can be crucial to the company because the customers that choose to drink the sodas straight from the cans rather than in a mixed drink, could be driven away by a logo that represents the company badly. I will also be presenting an Adobe Photoshop image of the cans with the logo. A different colored can will represent each flavor.

Week 10 EOC: Under Control

To be entirely ready to turn in all of my work on Thursday I need to work on some things.  The first part is my twitter status. I currently have fifty four tweets. To be ready for Thursday, I need seventy seven total tweets, which means that I have about twenty more tweets to post before the beginning of class on Thursday. Next, I need twenty quotes from the textbook before Thursday. Currently, I have around six quotes. Fourteen more quotes from the textbook are needed. Next thing that needs to be done is my Creative Content. I have finished the logo, but I feel it needs a little bit more work and also I must finish my Photoshop image of the can with the logo. Everything about the layout of my Twitter and Blogger accounts is already done, so that is one less thing that I should fix. Out of the ten steps to the marketing plan, I have four that are ready. I need to work on my SWOT Analysis, Objectives, Marketing Strategy, Distribution, Product, and Implementation portions of the plan.

Week 9 EOC: Social Media

There are three social media mediums that will be essential to this company's success. The first will be Facebook. The company shall have a fan page on Facebook. It will give out information and be used as way to keep a relationship with the fans. The fans shall feel free to post comments, pictures, etc about the product. Twitter will be in use to update followers on changes and promotions, as well as a way to gauge how well the company is doing. It too, will be used to create relationships with customers in real time. The last social media site that will be used is YouTube.  YouTube can be used to spread the word on the product through viral videos that will be meaningful and connect with the customer. An additional idea for the YouTube channel is to show monthly videos on how to use these products to make non-alcoholic versions of out most popular mixed drinks.

Implementation, Evaluation, Control

Bold Soda will be sold locally, only in Las Vegas and Henderson at first. Once it becomes more well-known through word of mouth, we will begin to expand to different districts in the state.

"Through implementation, the company turns the plans into actions. Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed." Armstrong & Kotler.

"Marketing implementation-The process that turns marketing strategies and plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives." 

Armstrong & Kotler.

Price

I will set the price of my product at $3.98. To come up with this price, I will base this price on what value the customer gives the product. I will also take the customers' needs into account.

"In the narrowest sense, price is the amount of money charged for a product or service. More broadly, price is the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service. "
 Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

"Customer perceptions of the product’s value set the ceiling for prices. If customers perceive that the price is greater than the product’s value, they will not buy the product. Product costs set the floor for prices. If the company prices the product below its costs, company profits will suffer. In setting its price between these two extremes, the company must consider a number of other internal and external factors, including competitors’ strategies and prices, the company’s overall marketing strategy and mix, and the nature of the market and demand."
  Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

Objective 1 Identify the three major pricing strategies and discuss the importance of understanding customer-value perceptions, company costs, and competitor strategies when setting prices. (pp 275–280) A price is the sum of all the values that customers give up in order to gain the benefits of having or using a product or service. The three major pricing strategies include customer value-based pricing, cost-based pricing, and competition-based pricing. Good pricing begins with a complete understanding of the value that a product or service creates for customers and setting a price that captures that value. The price the company charges will fall somewhere between one that is too high to produce any demand and one that is too low to produce a profit. Customer perceptions of the product’s value set the ceiling for prices. If customers perceive that the price is greater than the product’s value, they will not buy the product. At the other extreme, company and product costs set the floor for prices. If the company prices the product below its costs, its profits will suffer. Between these two extremes, consumers will base their judgments of a product’s value on the prices that competitors charge for similar products. Thus, in setting prices, companies need to consider all three factors: customer perceived value, costs, and competitor’s pricing strategies. 

Promotion

To promote this product, the company will do several things. First, free samples of Bold Soda will be offered at the nightclubs as well as a limited amount through Facebook or Twitter. Small surveys will be conducted to test which flavors are most popular and what things could be changed, etc. Once the product reaches a bit more popularity, a YouTube video contest for a one-moth supply of the soda as well as a spot in a TV commercial will commence. Customers will have a chance to be involved with the product and show their own creativity and loyalty. Instructional videos on the non-alcoholic versions of the mixed drinks will also be offered.

"Marketers can choose from two basic promotion mix strategies—push promotion or pull promotion... A push strategy involves “pushing” the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward channel members to induce them to carry the product and to promote it to final consumers...Using a pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer promotion) toward final consumers to induce them to buy the product."
Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

"Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it. Ford Motor Company spends more than $2 billion each year on U.S. advertising to tell consumers about the company and its many products. Dealership salespeople assist potential buyers and persuade them that Ford is the best car for them. Ford and its dealers offer special promotions—sales, cash rebates, low-financing rates—as added purchase incentives." Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

Distribution

These drinks will begin to be distributed at clubs and bars in Las Vegas. Because of the non-alcoholic and non-artificial content of Bold, when more recognition is gained, we may try to find a way to sell in the previously mentioned clubs and bars, as well as stores that are more health-oriented, such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, maybe some Farmer's markets in the Henderson area if possible. Slowly, the brand will build and we will expand to do the same in different districts and regions until the drink is recognized nationwide.

"Next, the company must decide where to launch the new product—in a single location, a region, the national market, or the international market. Few companies have the confidence, capital, and capacity to launch new products into full national or international distribution right away."
Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing.

"Marketing logistics (or physical distribution)
Planning, implementing, and controlling the physical flow of materials, final goods, and related information from points of origin to points of consumption to meet customer requirements at a profit."

Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing.

Product

The product is Bold Soda. This soda is a drink that is not artificially sweetened and only uses natural ingredients. It promotes being healthy but can also be mixed with different alcohols for a little more fun. All of the flavors are carbonated. The flavors are Crazy Piña, Lively Ginger, and Brazen Lime. All of the flavors have fun names that customers will enjoy saying, along with simply delightful, fruity tastes. The ginger ale is made of real ginger and is caffeine free. The Crazy Piña will be perfect to mix with vodka. Brazen Lime will be great in a mixed drink or by itself, as all of the flavors will.

"In all, to create successful new products, a company must understand its consumers, markets, and competitors and develop products that deliver superior value to customers. It must carry out strong new-product planning and set up a systematic, customer-driven new-product development process for finding and growing new products."

Armstrong and Kotler.

"We define a product as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. Products include more than just tangible objects, such as cars, computers, or cell phones. Broadly defined, “products” also include services, events, persons, places, organizations, ideas, or mixes of these. Throughout this text, we use the term product broadly to include any or all of these entities. Thus, an Apple iPhone, a Toyota Camry, and a Caffé Mocha at Starbucks are products. But so are a trip to Las Vegas, Fidelity online investment services, and advice from your family doctor." 

Marketing. Armstrong and Kotler. Pg 209.

Targeting Marketing Strategy

Our customer is a person who enjoys the nightlife or stressed out from the pressures of life and wants to go to a bar for a good time. They are young, or younger than forty, and frequent the bar or nightclub scene. They can be health-conscious. The target market lives in Las Vegas or Henderson, Nevada. They are technologically savvy and know their way around every social media network. If the product later goes to organic markets like Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, the market will change to some older people as well. 

"Good marketing companies know that they cannot serve all customers in every way. Instead, they need to focus their resources on the customers they can serve best and most profitably." 

Armstrong & Kotler. Pg 31.

"To design a winning marketing strategy, the marketing manager must answer two important questions: What customers will we serve (what’s our target market)? and How can we serve these customers best (what’s our value proposition)?" 

Armstrong & Kotler. Pg 9.

SWOT Analysis

Some of Bold Soda's strengths are its simple flavors and natural ingredients that indicate a healthier alternative. A big weakness with this brand is that it is not yet known. Nobody has heard of this product yet, especially not the potential customers. The fact that this product presents a healthy alternative but with a delightful taste, creates great opportunity.  We will also have opportunities to become partners with alcohol brands for the mixed drinks. Bold Soda's biggest threats are the big, established brands- such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi brand products.

""The goal of SWOT analysis is to match the company strengths to attractive opportunities in the environment, while eliminating or overcoming the weaknesses and minimizing the threats." Marketing: An Introduction. Pg. 56.

"Managing the marketing function begins with a complete analysis of the company’s situation. The marketer should conduct a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T). "
Armstrong & Kotler. Marketing. Pg 55.

Objectives

The Objectives for Bold Soda and the company are to become established and well known. We sell high quality drinks that are all-natural, and will use that to become known as a healthier alternative to other sodas. These can be mixed for the bar-goers, and also be the perfect drink for the designated driver or anybody who only came for the atmosphere. Only the freshest fruit that pass the test on taste will be allowed to be in the ingredients for the sodas. If we do this, the taste will exceed what the customer likes, and slowly we will build up some customer loyalty.

"Profits can be improved by increasing sales or reducing costs. Sales can be increased by improving the company’s share of domestic and international markets."

Armstrong and Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg 43.

"This broad mission leads to a hierarchy of objectives, including business objectives and marketing objectives.........Profits can be improved by increasing sales or reducing costs. Sales can be increased by improving the company’s share of domestic and international markets. These goals then become the company’s current marketing objectives." 

Armstrong and Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction. Pg 43.

Week 7 EOC: Business Mission Statement

We make, distribute, and sell high quality, caffeinated beverages that do not use artificial flavors. Our business is delighting an building relationships with the customers that consume our beverages. Our customer is a person who enjoys the nightlife or stressed out from the pressures of life and wants to go to a bar for a good time. We offer something for everyone. Our consumers value high quality and natural flavors, and that is what is our company will deliver. Each of our three flavors can satisfy in a mixed alcoholic drink, or even by itself. Our business is local, and will work at building real, meaningful relationships with people all over the region. What we deliver is an escape. Dare to escape with Bold.

 "Few leaders actually get the point of forging a mission with real grit and meaning. [Mission statements] have largely devolved into fat-headed jargon. Almost no one can figure out what they mean. [So companies] sort of ignore them or gussy up a vague package deal along the lines of: “our mission is to be the best fill-in-the-blank company in our industry.” [Instead, Welch advises, CEOs should] make a choice about how your company will win. Don’t mince words! Remember Nike’s old mission, “Crush Reebok”? That’s directionally correct. And Google’s mission statement isn’t something namby-pamby like “To be the world’s best search engine.” It’s “To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” That’s simultaneously inspirational, achievable, and completely graspable." Armstrong & Kotler (2011). Marketing: An Introduction, 10th Ed. Prentice Hall Publishing.

“A Mission Statement is a statement of the organization’s purpose—what it wants to accomplish in the larger environment.” 
Armstrong & Kotler Pg. 39

Week 7: The Pitch

"During the presentation step of the selling process, the salesperson tells the “value story” to the buyer, showing how the company’s offer solves the customer’s problems. The customer-solution approach fits better with today’s relationship marketing focus than does a hard-sell or glad-handing approach. Buyers today want answers, not smiles; results, not razzle-dazzle. Moreover, they don’t want just products. More than ever in today’s economic climate, buyers want to know how those products will add value to their businesses. They want salespeople who listen to their concerns, understand their needs, and respond with the right products and services." (Armstrong and Kotler. Marketing). Taking all of this into account, I will begin my own presentation without so much of the "razzle-dazzle". The company's product is named Bold Soda. Bold Sodas are fizzy, often carbonated, drinks that can easily be mixed with alcohol in bars for delicious, satisfying drinks that offer an escape from daily life. There are three flavors: Crazy Piña, Lively Ginger, and Brazen Lime. All of the drinks will be made of natural flavors, nothing artificial.



"To reach that consumer, Conill devised a campaign that catered to El Jefe’s penchant for the national Mexican sport of charreadas (Mexican-style rodeos). The pitch: The Tundra is as tough as the guy who gets behind the wheel.Conill’s campaign for Lexus, couldn’t be more different. For Lexus, the agency targeted the luxury market in Miami, reaching out to affluent Hispanics who appreciate refinement, art, and culture with a campaign that centered on art and design. The result was a brightly displayed Lexus print campaign placed in local Hispanic lifestyle magazines that helped move Lexus from the fourth-ranked player in the Miami luxury car market to market leader in only 18 months."

Gary Armstrong and Philip Kotler. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

"During the presentation step of the selling process, the salesperson tells the “value story” to the buyer, showing how the company’s offer solves the customer’s problems. The customer-solution approach fits better with today’s relationship marketing focus than does a hard-sell or glad-handing approach. Buyers today want answers, not smiles; results, not razzle-dazzle. Moreover, they don’t want just products. More than ever in today’s economic climate, buyers want to know how those products will add value to their businesses. They want salespeople who listen to their concerns, understand their needs, and respond with the right products and services." (Armstrong and Kotler. Marketing)

Week 6 EOC : Me Times Three

There are three things that I possess that I would say helps define me.

http://www.gordonsjewelers.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12453564

The first thing that I would say helps define who I am is my wedding ring. My ring is partly my engagement ring and then the wedding ring that interlocks. It is beautiful, and I feel like the design and the size is perfect for me, but that is not why it helps define me. This ring symbolizes me and my husband's love for each other. It is a culmination of all of the struggles that we went through to get to that point on that evening in February where we could finally make it official. It is curved, and then the bands meet in the middle, which is a great way to describe our relationship, coming united from two different worlds. I don't wear at work because I am afraid that it will get hit by something, but I always feel "naked," for the lack of a better term, without it on my second finger from the left.

http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Phantom-Opera-George-Perry/dp/0805006575

If somebody asked me what possessions I would first save in case of a fire, I would respond with this book, photos and my wedding ring (although I'd likely already be wearing the ring). The Phantom of the Opera is my favorite musical. I have, using this book, learned the entire play and all of the songs. I can correct a wrong lyric, which can (and often does) drive others crazy.The book was bought by my mother when she first took me to see the show when I was eight years old. The musical is what inspired me to begin singing. Chorus and singing were, until very recently, a huge part of my life.

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-LUMIX-DMC-ZS6-DIGITAL-CAMERA/dp/B003NYRMGA

My digital camera is very important to me. It was the first thing I bought when I earned a few paychecks at my first job ever. I already owned a little purple Nikon but I had noticed the quality of the pictures was greatly diminishing. I saw this camera online and fell in love with it. First,  I saved up, did tons of research, and ended up deciding on this great little point-and-shoot. I bought it off the display at Costco and have never regretted it. It documents most of the important moments in my life. I love taking pictures and I love being able to document my family and friends' lives with me. Friends will get annoyed and call me the paparazzi  but later they come to appreciate that someone took the time to record these things.