A Mix of Stored-Centred and Online Distribution Centres - Assignment Example

?Branding Bevret’s target segment is the end users as well as the wholesalers and distributors, along with the distribution channels such as pubs andrestaurants. However, the end consumers matter the most. Branding should leave a long-lasting impression on the minds of the consumers. Branding involves the logo, the tagline, packaging, the website, and promotion materials – the message through all of these should be consistent because the brand carries a promise. Brand differentiation occurs through psychographic variables (Mitchell and Amioku, 1985). Based on psychographic variables, BEVRET offers a drink not just to quench thirst but as a lifestyle beverage. Thus the beverage should be promoted as a drink that stirs imagination. The tagline for the brand should be Drink fresh; Live life! Or, we love to see you live! This is meant to attract people who want to really live and not just exist! Brands are sold through feelings and the brand should be able to create an emotional link between the consumer and the brand (Moorthi, 2004). The logo should be trendy and carry the flavor of the new age and be futuristic. It should feature in all points of communication. Since most popular brands in Europe have been selling for a long time, BEVRET should create a point of differentiation in packaging. This differentiation is essential as the product will sit on the shelf with probably ten other products. It should use neon colors in packaging because color is the first touch point with the customer. Color influences emotion and the first point of interaction is shaped by color. About 60-80% of the purchase decision is based on product color (Markowitz, 2010). Neon colors are bright and attract immediate attention. Apart from color, packaging should also focus on the container in which beer is sold. If the container can be made of a material that can be used to drink beer as well, small package containing one serving of beer, it would serve multi-purpose, benefit the customer, benefit the environment and also be cost-effective for the company. To enhance branding, BEVRET should have strong activity on the social media. Europeans are sport lovers and hence sponsorship of sports can enhance brand value. In addition, as the social media is the most popular promotional tool, BEVRET should invite online discussions on short documentaries created on sports personalities. Its tagline and logo should be included in all its mails that go viral. The tagline should become the point of identification for the brand. In addition, the brand should associate with leading restaurants and pubs, and participate in events such as Valentine’s Day. Promotion material can take the form of messages made viral through the social media. The events should be promoted through the social media and special beer offers should be made for those purchasing coupons through the social media. Promotional brochures should also be placed at all convenience stores, at the local gyms, pubs and social clubs. These brochures can carry limited validity coupons as a market entry strategy, offering discounts. Initially for the first few months, the company can distribute free t-shirts with BEVRET logo and tagline with a certain amount of purchases. Pricing Pricing decision includes profit margins, discounts, margin for retailers and wholesalers. It also has to be based on product demand and competitor pricing. Competition is high and the beer market is concentrated and hence the pricing has to consider competition pricing. When the brand value increases, pricing can be increased but initially to capture a sizeable market, pricing should be kept low. At the same time, discounts can be offered in markets closer to breweries as the transportation costs would be low or negligible. Within Europe beer prices differ across regions and countries. The variation in prices can be considerable and these variations occur because of cost variations as well as the ability of the brewers to price discriminate (EconomicsOnline, 2011). If certain necessary conditions are met, price discrimination is an effective profit maximizing strategy. The brewer should attempt to identify the sub-markets and keep them separate. Discriminative prices are more effective when the company has monopoly in each sector. Generally it is not difficult to price discriminate between different types of consumers. Differential pricing should be implemented depending upon the season. Differential pricing would also depend upon the different categories of beer, depending upon the demand. To enhance sales of new products, bundled offers would help. When a certain number of old or popular product is purchased, one free can, of new category of beer should be offered. This strategy boosts sales in both old and new product category. Good pricing influences sales but more than pricing, people are attracted by discounts (Penton Publishing, 2006). Therefore, discounts should be a regular feature. For every social occasion, during events, on purchase of a certain number of beer cans, discounts should be made available. Discount coupons could also be distributed bundled with allied products with limited validity. Distribution Distribution includes market coverage, logistics and the service. Today there are several channels of distribution such as mobile phones and through the internet. Social media has become an important channel as well. Consumer preferences are very important; the product should be available at points convenient to the customer. Each market will normally have two or three major brand houses or distributors, who carry several brands. The market place could also have micro-distributors that focus on one or two brands or distributors that specialize in wine and beer distribution. Most distributors offer high level of service and are highly competitive. Within the retail trade they would have excellent contacts including contacts with the chain stores. However, since these distributors would be selling more than one brand, the decision on distributor should be selective. Distributor should be decided based on who can put up the most POS (point-of-sale) material, best shelf positioning, product knowledge, market knowledge, and good sales staff (McCormick, 2012). More important than the qualifications of the distributor, the comfort factor in working with a distributor is important. Beer should also be distributed through restaurants and pubs, through retail chains and convenience stores. Beer is also sold extensively through gyms and clubs. Hence, arrangements with clubs should be made by the distributors. Convenience stores should be the core channel for distributing beer and hence the company should dedicate significant resources to help develop quality recommendations for the convenience retailer. Creative promotions such as in-store display will help increase sales and encourage traffic. Consumers can now shop across multiple channels such as physical stores, web and mobile with equal ease, and with enhanced convenience and flexibility (Persaud and Azhar, 2012). While distribution through physical stores is common, distribution for online stores and the logistics have to be focused upon because fulfilling online orders is an entirely different business than a distribution centre that serves physical stores (McCurry, 2011). The distribution centres for online stores should have easy access to major markets and must also have easy access to an Interstate highway. This should be easily accessible both by the suppliers delivering goods at these distribution centres and also by the vendors reaching the good to the end consumers. Online distribution centres require trained and skilled staff as the delivery quantities are small compared to store-focused centres. Moreover, these centres require more space than the traditional distribution centres. Thus a mix of stored-centred and online distribution centres would be considered an effective distribution strategy. However, at the store-centred distributors the staff has to be well trained in product but this is not required in the case of online distribution centres where the focus would be prompt deliveries. References EconomicsOnline. (2011) Brewing. Available from http://www.economicsonline.co.uk/Business_economics/Brewing.html [Accessed May 18, 2013] Markowitz, E. (2010) How to Choose the Right Colors for Your Brand. Available from http://www.inc.com/guides/2010/10/how-to-choose-the-right-colors-for-your-brand.html [Accessed May 18, 2013] McCormick, T. (2012) A short course in distribution basics. BeerWeek. Available from http://www.probrewer.com/resources/library/distribution101.php [Accessed May 18, 2013] McCurry, JW. (2011) Points of Advantage. Logistics & Distribution. Available from http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2011/sep/logistics-and-distribution.cfm [Accessed May 18, 2013] Mitchell, IS. and Amioku, TO. (1985) Brand Preference Factors in Patronage and Consumption of Nigerian Beer. COLUMBIA JOURNAL OF WORLD BUSINESS, 55-69 Moorthi, YLR. (2004) Branding Principles–Application to Business-to-Business Branding. Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, 11 (3), 79-102 Penton Publishing. (March, 2006) Brewing a beer strategy. Convenience Store Decisions, 16 Persaud, A. and Azhar I. (2012) Innovative mobile marketing via smartphones Are consumers ready? 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