Innocent - Marketing Planning - Essay Example

The growth in the sales of the company has been increasing over the years as the below graph shows the increasing sales of the products offered by Innocent Drinks.
The important points in the above two graphs are that the customers of the company, as well as revenues, are increasing at an increasing rate, therefore it can be predicted that the demand for the product and revenues would further increase in the years to come.
• Innocent Drink has been able to make a mark in the market and establish its goodwill and it has also helped the company in increasing the consumption of smoothies. At the time when the company started its business, only 20 smoothies were sold and this figure has increased up to 420,479 smoothies’ every day which is a considerable achievement.

Increasing sales, revenues and consumption of smoothies indicate that the quality of products offered by the company has been remarkable because of which Innocent Drinks are able to achieve a lot. Products offered by the company are made up of natural fruits and the quality management team makes sure that the fruits are fresh so that the quality of the products is maintained.
• Company has been very responsible as it has been paying back to the society by being involved in many charity work.
Weaknesses
• Limited number of products offered by the company is one of the weaknesses of the company as customers do not have sufficient options so they could move to different products of competing firms.
• The products can be imitated by other firms.
Opportunities
• There are several opportunities for the company to expand its brand into different international markets.
• With the growing demand for the product, Innocent Drinks can capitalize on major shares of the market.
• Company can further improve their products by identifying what changes their customers are looking for.
Threats
• Innocent Drinks has threats from existing competitors as well as threats from new entrants.
• Imitation of the products offered by Innocent Drink is another threat.
PART 3 - COMPETITORS ANALYSIS
Product Life Cycle
The product life cycle is defined as the stage of the product as the life of the product increases, it moves from growth stage to maturity stage and then it starts declining (Kotler, 2009). Smoothies are at present during the growth stage of the product lifecycle (Innocent). Products offered by Innocent Drinks are also at present in the growth stage and the increasing demand for smoothies represents further growth of the product.

As the products offered by the company are still growing and generating a substantial amount of revenues for Innocent Drinks. The market, as well as the company, is growing at the moment however a major portion of the industry has been captured by Innocent Drinks with approximately 71% of the total market share. At a time when the market growth rate would decline, then Innocent Drinks can be considered as a cash cow.
Perceptual mapping shows that the products offered by Innocent Drinks are considered as of high quality and at the same time the prices of these products are believed to be relatively higher than the prices of competitors. Although some competitors are offering it at a lower price, then the quality of products offered by these competitors is a question mark thus Innocent Drink is able to provide quality products at a relatively higher price.
According to Ansoff Matrix the products offered by Innocent Drinks are new products and these new products have been entered into the new markets therefore product development has been the strategy that has been used by the company. The marketing objective of the company should be to create awareness and attract more customers.
PART 5 - MARKETING MIX RECOMMENDATIONS
Some of the recommendations for Innocent Drink are as follows;
Product
As a new product has been introduced by Innocent Drink therefore it is important that the product meets the preferences of customers and therefore Innocent Drink should conduct a survey and take feedback from the target market about the quality and price of the product. If there any suggestions then the company should welcome them with the intention of improving the quality of products.
Promotion
When a new product is introduced in the market then it is important for the company to make the target market aware of the offerings of the company (East, Vanhuele, & Wright, 2008). By creating awareness about the product, its benefits and important characteristics that might influence the target market to buy their products, the company could improve its sales.
Price
The price of the products is relatively higher than some of the competitors however because of higher quality, consumers should be able to pay a little more amount.