Question:

For the first six (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 twenty-five (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 & Sales Strategy (MS Word or equivalent)

Write the three 3 page Marketing Plan & Sales Strategy section of your business plan, in which you:

Define your company's target market.

Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zip codes).

Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description).

Hints: At American FactFinder (http://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.

Assess your company's market competition.

Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company's market competition.

Defend your strategy to successfully compete against market leaders in your segment.

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.

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.

Clarify your company's message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F's).

Hints: Before you choose your marketing vehicles, you must determine the message you want to convey through those vehicles.

Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company's brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective.

Provide examples of other non-alcoholic beverage companies that use these tactics effectively.

Hints: If you plan to use online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p.171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you're selling through grocery stores you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in regard to beverages. Some of the marketing tactics that beverage companies use include: sampling in grocery stores, building a following on social media, sponsoring events, exhibiting at trade shows attended by retailers, and so on. You will use a combination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores, promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery store.

Hints: If you are planning to distribute through resellers, describe how you plan to reach them, for example, through industry trade shows or by establishing your own sales force. For information on trade shows, visit the Trade Show News Network (http://www.tsnn.com). You can exhibit or network at these shows.

Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements:

Cite the resources you have used to complete the exercise. Note: There is no minimum requirement for the number of resources used in the exercise.

Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.

Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required page length.

Section 2: Marketing Budget (MS Excel worksheets template)

Section 2 uses the "Business Plan Financials" MS Excel template (see: Course Required Files in Week 1). Use the "Business Plan Financials Guide" (see: Course Required Files in Week 1) to support your development of the Marketing Budget.

Complete the Marketing Budget worksheet for your company.

Hints: The goal of the marketing budget is to help you determine how much it will cost you to reach your market and achieve your sales goals.

Hints: When filling out the "Marketing Budget" worksheet in the Excel spreadsheet:

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 have cost of advertising and that 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 will most likely pay for ads on that site.

Do NOT leave the "Marketing Budget" blank, assuming you will not have any marketing costs.

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:

Recommend effective business strategies based on an analysis of domestic and global operating environments, market dynamics, and internal capabilities.

Analyze competitive positions including foreign market entry and the resulting impact on business strategy.

Use technology and information resources to research issues in strategic management.

Write clearly and concisely about strategic management using proper writing mechanics.