International Marketing - Essay Example

?International Marketing Table of Contents International Marketing Table of Contents 2 Market Feasibility Study 3 Segmentation and Target Market 4 Demographical Segmentation 4 Geographical Segmentation 5 Socioeconomics 7 Psychographic 7 Behavior 8 Marketing Mix 9 Product Strategy 9 Place 9 Price 10 Promotion 10 Recommendations 12 References 13 Market Feasibility Study The juice market of the USA is based on health platform. The liberalization and exclusion of tariff barriers had boosted juice exports in the USA. Several varieties of fruit juices are available in the USA. The USA fruit juice industry is considered as ‘multimillion dollar business’ and has a global presence. In the year 2000, almost 44% of fruits were devoted to juice industry and the business is even expected to grow in future. Among all the juices, orange juice is the most accepted one which covers almost 60% of the juices. The people of the USA prefer to maintain their health and thus choose vitamin, mineral and other nutrients drink as their healthy diet (Thor and Savitry 2001). Source: (Thor and Savitry 2001). Segmentation and Target Market For developing any business, market segmentation is the vital element which can manage the target customers. In the juice business, the target customers will be divided according to geographical, demographical, socioeconomics and psychographic variables (Croft 1994). Demographical Segmentation Boost Juice will focus on every age groups of customer but the primary targets of Boost Juice would be fitness conscious middle-age customers, young customers and teenagers. The first segment is predominantly the adult customers. These types of customers are adequately health conscious and they fall under the age group of 25–32 years. They are not much price sensitive and are always ready to pay the solicited price. These types of customers normally spend above average and do not prefer to bargain much. The second category consists of those customers who are very much health conscious. These customers fall under the age group of 18–25 years. They prefer healthy, nutritious and less calorie drinks. They want to control their cholesterol and fat. These customers are dieters and fitness professionals. The third demographic segmentation is young teenage customers of the age group between 14 to 18 years. These types of customers are not health conscious and prefer taste to health. These customers are in between adult and child age group and thus they prefer to consume adult drink without sacrificing the taste (Pania et al 2006). Geographical Segmentation The second type of segmentation is geographical segmentation. Based on geography, the target market will be segmented in two ways, one will be region-wise and other will be area-wise. The region-wise segmentation will be further divided into two sub segmentations. The first segmentation will be Northeast region of the US. The reason for choosing Northeast region is because of the fact that juice consumption of orange was large in that region according to data of 2001. The people of Northeast region prefer orange drink more than other regions of the US. Per Capita Consumption of Orange in 2001 Source: (Pollack, Lin and Allshouse 2003) The second segmentation will be the south region. The reason for choosing this region is that the per capita consumption of apple juice was highest out there according to 2001 data. It had been observed that people of south region prefer apple juice more than other regions. Per Capita Consumption of Apple in 2001 Source: (Perez, Lin and Allshouse 2001) In case of area-wise segmentation, the market is divided into three sub segments: metropolitan, sub urban and rural. The first target market will be concentrated on sub urban areas of the US. The reason for choosing sub urban areas is that almost 47% of people reside in sub urban areas and the rest 53% people live in metropolitan and rural areas. So demand for processed fruit products is higher in the sub urban areas. The second target customer will be the people of metropolitan areas. The reason is that the residents of metropolitan areas have strong preference of juice products after the people of sub urban areas (Perez, Lin and Allshouse 2001). Demand of different fruit products Area Population Juice Dried Sauce Dessert Other Metropolitan 31.8 38.6 38.3 29.3 28.7 31.7 Suburban 47 46.3 47.4 52.1 51.4 44.8 Rural 27.2 15.1 14.3 18.6 19.9 23.5 Source: (Perez, Lin and Allshouse 2001). Socioeconomics The third segmentation of Boost Juice would be based on socioeconomic segmentation. The income of people is another factor which can influence the purchasing pattern of fruit juice products. The higher income can lead to higher conscious about dietary and it can increase the consumption of low fat juice. The target market of Boost Juice will be those customers whose average income is 65000 USD per annum. It has been seen that the socioeconomic differences of juice consumption is negligible in case of male customers but in case of female customers the socioeconomic factor affects the consumption of juice products. Thus, the consumption of juice of the females belonging to higher socio economic groups is more than those belonging to low social economic groups (Lindstrom et al. 2001). Psychographic The fourth segmentation of Boost Juice is psychographic segmentation. The life style of people affects the consumption of juice products. The primary target customers, based on this factor, of Boost Juice are those who had less leisure time i.e. professional people of high income group. As these types of customers work for long hours therefore the opportunity cost of time is much higher for these customers. For this reason, these customers prefer expedient food which can save more time. These types of customers pay high price for convenient food (SADC Trade 2004). Behavior The target market of Boost Juice will be also chosen on the basis of behavior of the customers regarding juice products. According to behavior, the market is segmented by three variables. The first segment would be consisting of health conscious customers. These types of customers prefer healthier food. They normally avoid the soft drink products and demand juice products as substitutes. The second segment would be of those customers who prefer convenience product with good packaging. The third segmentation would be taste conscious customers. For these customers taste is an essential factor and the primary reason for consuming juice products (Pania et al. 2006). Marketing Mix A proper marketing mix plan is an important succession of Boost Juice in the US market. Product Strategy Boost Juice is aimed to provide better quality products to different types of customers. The products of Boost Juice will give full satisfaction to the customers. The product mix of Boost Juice includes Low-fat Smoothies, Boosters, Crushes, and Juices which is targeted to different market segmentation. For example the Super Smoothies products are suitable for ordinary middle class customer with regular tedious job. The Booster is for those customers who have limited time to spend aside regular work activities. For positioning the brand, the company can use customer awareness programs with the help of various media like television, magazine or radio. In the juice industry new product development had influential trend. Introduction of innovative product can enhance the demand of Boost Juice products (Boost Juice 2011). Place The Boost Juice product will be introduced in the US. It will be distributed in both retail outlet as well as the own stores of Boost Juice. As Boost Juice is an international company, so it had to manage dealer in most of the major cities in the US. Through effective distribution the products of Boost Juice will be available to majority of metropolitan and sub urban areas of the US. For effective operation the company would have to arrange big warehouses for proper inventory management. Whenever an order is acquired from a dealer, the company must supply the products on time from the nearby warehouse (Maqbool 2011) Price Boost Juice had many types of juice products which are available in different sizes, for example, 650 ml, 450 ml, 350 ml and 30 ml for different customers. Boost Juice would have to fix the price which is suitable for consumers and also profitable for the company. Boost Juice must implement value based strategy for pricing, because it can eliminate the limitation of ‘cost – plus pricing’ strategy where real revenue per sale units is lower. The prices of other competitive products are also needed to be considered before fixing the price of different products. There will be many competitors for Boost Juice products. So, for immediately attracting the customers, Boost Juice can use penetration pricing i.e. setting up of prices of some popular selling products low. It can help to get a suitable market share in the US beverage market. As Boost Juice is an international player it has good competitive power over setting the price (Boost Juice Bars 2011). Promotion Various promotional strategies can be used to reach the target customer segment. For brand promotion Boost Juice had developed loyalty program for the customer namely VIBE Club. The customers who are provided the Vibe Card of Boost can receive special monthly gifts in term of free product or discount on purchase. This card will allow the members to receive free juice products on their birthdays. The good public relation is another strategy of Boost which differentiates the company from other rivals. Customers are allowed to provide feedback if they are unsatisfied with the services and products of Boost Juice. This strategy can help to develop one–to–one marketing relationship with customers. For publicity promotion Boost Juice had organized several programs. In the year 2006–2007, it had co–operated with Red Cross Society where the blood donors had given free Boost Vouchers. In the period 2007–2008 Boost Juice had donated finance to Wildlife Warrior, a green organization which provides education and shelter to injured people (Boost Juice Bars 2009). For sales promotion Boost Juice provided many seasonal offers for example in the year 2007, it had introduced ‘Charismas Gift Pack’ for customers. This pack includes many gift accessories for customer like cooler bag, drink bottle, voucher, etc. For advertising promotion Boost Juice had created magazine in the year 2007 named ‘Boost Life Magazine’. Through this magazine a customer can know about its products and upgrade themselves with knowledge on health, fashion and nutrition (Boost Juice Bars 2009). In the year 2010 Boost Juice had created television advertising to promote the brand. The advertising strategies of Boost include point–of–sale (Boost Juice 2010). Recommendations Nowadays the awareness of health and demand of convenience food is increasing rapidly. The purchasing power of people in the US is also high compared to other countries. In juice market there are varieties of products, so Boost Juice will confront strong competition in the US market. In order to sustain in the US market and make profit, the company must 1. Produce innovative products and packaging, as it is one of the major factors of success in any new market. 2. Boost Juice should launch product by targeting the older generation of the US. As the numbers of aged people are increasing in the US and Boost Juice is popular for making juice drinks with healthier ingredients like vitamin A, C, E and protein, it will be profitable to target aged customer segment. 3. There are various customers who are not aware of the benefits of Boost Juice products. By developing awareness programme Boost Juice should generate brand awareness among the customers and influence them to accept nutritional products. 4. For younger customer market Boost Juice can offer less expensive drink which can influence them to buy Boost products. References Boost Juice Bars. 2011. Facts and Figures. http://www.boostjuicebars.com/docs/9463%20-%20nutritional%20factsfigures.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Boost Juice Bars. 2009. Study Kits. http://www.boostjuicebars.com/docs/BBB_Study%20Kit2008_updated.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Boost Juice. 2010. Boost the Way You Feel. http://www.adnews.com.au/campaign/boost-the-way-you-feel (Accessed May 16, 2011). Boost Juice. 2011. Low Fat Smoothies. http://www.boostjuicebars.com.au/#/home/our-menu (Accessed May 16, 2011). Croft, Michael J. 1994. Market Segmentation: A Step-By-Step Guide To Profitable New Business. UK: Routledge. Lindstrom, Martin, Bert1l S. Hanson, Elisabet Wirfalt and Per-Olof Ostergren. 2001. Socioeconomic Differences in The Consumption of Vegetables, Fruit and Fruit Juices. http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/content/11/1/51.full.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Maqbool, Muhammad Humayun. 2011. Marketing Report. http://www.scribd.com/doc/8440586/Marketing-Report-on-Fruit-Juices-Murree-Brewery (Accessed May 16, 2011). Pania, Natiasha, Turgut Tezir, Lynn Raposo, Shilpi Kapur and Abhishek Mandal. 2006. Marketing Plan For Tropicana Pomlife. http://tezir.com/marketing/marketing%20_Library/1_marketing_management/assignment/PomLife.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Pollack, Sushan L., Biing-Hwan Lin and Jane Allshouse. 2011. Characteristics of U.S. Orange Consumption. “Economic Research Service”. http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/fts/aug03/fts30501/fts30501.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Perez, Agnes, Biing-Hwan Lin and Jane Allshouse. 2001. Demographic Profile of Apple Consumption in The United States. “Economic Research Service”. http://www.ers.usda.gov/Publications/FTS/Sep01/AppleCons.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). SADC Trade. 2004. Trade Information Brief. http://www.sadctrade.org/files/TIBFruitLongOptimised.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Thor, Eric and Aninditta Savitry. 2001. Assessing Trends in the U.S. Fruit Juice Market. http://cnas.tamu.edu/publications/powerpoint/papers/thor.pdf (Accessed May 16, 2011). Read More