MARKETING PLAN (Lucozade Sport) - Essay Example

? MARKETING PLAN Contents Introduction 3 Market and development of strategy 3 Outline of the product 3 Market analysis 4 Analysis 4 Industry analysis & Company Analysis 5 Competitor analysis 6 Implementation 6 Marketing objectives 6 Marketing Mix Strategies 7 Reference 9 Introduction The paper talks about the marketing plan of sports drink category and the brand chosen to discus in the marketing plan is Lucozade and the product is Lucozade Sport. An overview of the product is discussed along with the current market trends in the sport drink sector. It has been analyzed that the sports drink sector in New Zealand is estimated to grow at a CAGR rate of 5% in the next five years providing advantage to the sports drinks companies to expand and develop the product and target more number of sectors such as female segment and also the older segment. With a quest to stay healthy and fit individuals are ready to spend more on health drinks and sports drinks which will boost up their energy. Market description and development of strategy Outline of the product The sports drink market is presently experiencing a growth stage and analyzing the trend product from sport drink category has been chosen. Lucozade Sports is one of the leading sport drinks in UK and also plays a vital role in New Zealand in managing lifestyles of the people. Whether on the gym or field or track the Lucozade sport aims to deliver right kind of fuel before exercise, during exercise and also after exercise. The Lucozade sport is proven to enhance the physical endurance and thus has been scientifically developed to contain carbohydrates, glucose, electrolytes, fluid which helps to fuel muscles and also maintain hydration. The Lucozade sport is therefore marketed to people who aim to pursue an active lifestyle and therefore has become the choice for footballers, athletes, runners and for people who loves sports, exercise and physical activity. Lucozade has been regarded as drink of choice for many people since its launch as unique isotonic sports drink. The product chosen is Lucozade Sport which is particular made for people who tends to maintain the same level of performance during exercise. It has been founded that just with 2% decrease in the body weight due to sweating can eventually lead to drop in the performance of athletes. The electrolytes in Lucozade sport thus replaces mineral and salt which gets lost during sweating and plays an essential role in the process of maintaining fluid balance. Lucozade is owned and controlled by GSK which is leading healthcare and pharmaceutical companies (Lucozade, 2011). Market analysis According to reports by Markets and Markets, there seems to be demand for sports as well as energy beverages as it is predicted to grow at a yearly growth rate of 10% till 2016. This growth is fuelled by increasing health awareness among consumers who are eager to combat fatigue with energy bossing drinks. The industry players are also diversifying the product portfolio with products such as diet drinks and also sugar free drinks targeting the female segment along with the health conscious consumers (ReportLinker, 2013). Customer Analysis As per data provided in Morgan database, the non alcoholic beverages market in New Zealand has undergone serious changes where the total consumption of non alcoholic consumption amounted to about 95% and has varied in minor percentage such as total non-alcoholic consumption in 2011 showed 93.90% as compared to 95% in 2008 and 2010. Women are the largest customer for non alcoholic beverages as compared to men where total consumption of female was 6919 in 2010 and men amounted to 4201 in the same year. Further it was founded that the age group of 35 to 49 were the highest consumers of non alcoholic beverages followed by the age group of 50-64 with 2943 un weighted consumption. In the year 2011, the picture remained the same with women dominating the non alcoholic beverage market and highest consumption being in the age group of 50-64 and 35-49 years of age group. In case of sport drink category, New Zealand is a also a booming market and it has been founded that in 2010 almost 111, 20 consumers consumed sports drink out of which 6919 were the women and 4201 were men and the consumption pattern was high with the age group of 35 to 49 years and 50 to 69 years with 3010 and 2943 respectively. Thus out of the total consumers about 10.20% were likely to consume sports drinks such as Lucozade or Gatorade. In 2011, the total consumption percentage slightly increased and amounted to 10.40% out of which men comprised of 13.95 and females by 7.10%. Industry analysis & Company Analysis The sports drinks sector experienced off-trade sales growth of about 13% in the year 2011 as compared to previous years. This growth in demand was not only due to demand for leading brands but due to an increase in the number of various other cheaper brands and products which highly appealed to the consumers of the sports drink category. The NEW ZEALAND sports and energy market spends about 640 million litres (NZJBA, 2013). GSK remains to be the market leader in sports and energy drink in 2011 in New Zealand accounting for about 40% of share which belonged to its product Lucozade brand. The company invested ?32million in advertising and marketing for the Lucozade brand in 2011 and recorded sales of ?498million in 2011. The company launched a campaign; “YES campaign” for its brand Lucozade utilized a wide range of media and was proved to be popular among the youth. The campaign run across for all the sub brands of Lucozade such as sports, energy and sports Lite and was targeted to consumers with the age group of 16 to 24 years (Euro Monitor International, 2012). Competitor analysis Lucozade is thus facing stiff competition from many sports drink and one such brand is Gatorade serving line of sport drink and is manufactured by PepsiCo and is the number one sports drink across the globe. The brand has recently expanded to New Zealand market and is determined to compete with other local brands in New Zealand (GSK, 2008). However Gatorade in New Zealand will have to compete with Lucozade sports the leading sports drink in New Zealand market. But the main factors which keep Gatorade unrivalled are the ingredients that it uses to make performance at the highest level. The brand is also taking full advantage of natural products and contains no artificial flavouring and no preservatives (Flynn, 2008). The sports drink sector is thus attracting business and also been able to drive industry expansion. As the sports market tends to reach the saturation point, the regulators are therefore cracking on marketing and other products (Heritage & York Financial Group, 2013). As stated above most of the companies have been trying to target the females and older segment also by introducing new product line like sugar less drinks and other. Implementation Marketing objectives Marketing objectives for Lucozade To stay ahead of its competitor Gatorade and introduce product line with ingredients that would further enhance the sport drink and maintain the current position. The brand can also further broaden its target market and include females and the older segment of the population. Penetrate by about 50% as the sector has been experiencing strong growth rate and hence significant room for growth Secondly increase the profit margin by about 30% in the current year. Marketing Mix Strategies In order to achieve the marketing objectives marketing mix strategies are decided or implemented. Lucozade can extend its product line or modify the present product as it mainly use glucose in order to provide the athletes energy boost and also the ingredients contains caffeine which need to be modified and more natural ingredients should be made use of which will help the product to target the other sectors mainly the females and the older segment. With product extension the brand will be able to penetrate into the market with new product line encouraging more number of consumers to consume Lucozade. In order words, the marketing mix strategies focus mainly on its product line and extension as more number of consumers prefers drinks which are healthy and will boost up energy and a same time without any ill effect. According to the marketing director of GSK introduction of different flavours is an ongoing trend and act as growth driver for the company (Smith, 2012). The athletes were primarily the main consumers of sports drinks but as the market grew and expanded into niche market, the athletes no longer remained to be the only primary consumers and also included the non athletics young people, females and also older people (ReportLinker, 2013). In addition to the product line, the company should send much more in promotional activities are more number of brands is made available in the market giving the consumers wider option to choose from. Thus effective promotional activities will keep the brand in the list of preference by consumers and thereby incur profit and attain the objective of 30% in a given year and brand recognition. Reference NZJBA, 2013. THE JUICE & BEVERAGE INDUSTRY IN NEW ZEALAND. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.nzjba.org.nz/industry.asp> [Accessed 16 Jan. 13] Euro Monitor International, 2012. Sports and Energy Drinks in the United Kingdom. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 8 January 2012] Flynn, J., 2008. Gatorade Finally Comes to the NEW ZEALAND: Is it Better Than Lucozade? [Online]. Available at: < http://voices.yahoo.com/gatorade-finally-comes-New Zealand-better-than-1921920.html> [Accessed 8 January 2013]. GSK, 2008. Lucozade. [Online]. Available at: < http://gsk.co.nz/lucozade.html> [Accessed 8 January 2013] Heritage & York Financial Group, 2013. Energy & Sports Drinks. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.heritageandyork.com/industries-intel/beverages/energy-sports-drinks/> [Accessed 8 January 2013]. Lucozade, 2011. About. [Online]. Available at :< http://www.lucozade.com/> [Accessed 8 January, 2013] ReportLinker, 2013. Sport and Energy Drink Industry: Market Research Reports, Statistics and Analysis. [Online]. Available at: [Accessed 8 January 2013] Smith, L. M. E., 2012. High times for booming energy-drinks sector. [Online]. Available at: < http://www.brandrepublic.com/analysis/1130592/> [Accessed 8 January 2013]. Read More