Fresh Fruit Soda Market Perspectives - Essay Example

Introduction This paper involves the analysis of a product placement process which will utilise elements of marketing to create awareness and promote a soft drink. The soft drink, known as Fresh Fruit Soda is a fizzy drink that is required to penetrate the market in order to become one of the top 5 brands in the next two years. To complete this project, the research will involve an analysis of academic literature and comments from practitioners to provide information about the soft drink industry and its dynamics in the current period. The paper will also present a reflective report about the industry briefing paper. SECTION A: INDUSTRY BRIEFING PAPER This section of the essay will look at the factors that affect the soft drink industry and how Fresh Fruit Soda, the product under review, can be presented onto the market as a low sugar and natural fruit alternative to other soft drinks on the market. Soft Drink Industry The soft drink industry has been viewed as one with major health issues and matters. This is because most of the drinks are said to contain sugar that is bad for the health and bad for the teeth of people who consume them. There is an acidic nature of soft drinks and this leads to the erosion of the enamels of the teeth (Hooper et al, 2007). Thus, consumption of soft drinks without brushing of ones teeth afterwards has major health implications and it leads to the discolouration of the teeth and supports other health problems and issues (Hooper et al, 2007). Therefore soft drinks have major dental consequences and there is the need for some kind of controls to ensure that consumers are protected from negativities and other tooth decay problems that comes with such products. Aspartame is used as a substitute to sugar in most “natural” soft drinks. However, this has proven to be problematic because although aspartame is seen as a healthier substitute for sugar, research has proven otherwise. Laming identifies that aspartame is viewed as a positive substitution for sugar, but they also have their health implications (2006). Due to that, soft drinks with aspartame must disclose the implications of using those products in drink and not tell consumers that they are much better and harmless. In fact such products have their own issues hence consumers must be given the appropriate education rather than the states use of strict rules and regulations. Therefore it can be said that the soft drink industry, although it is a lucrative venture, is hampered by major health and safety concerns about consumers. Aside that, these products are popular amongst consumers and they are used regularly to help consumers to relieve their feeding and eating habits and needs. Dominant Marketing Trends The international food and beverage industry has an association of ten leading global food and non-alcoholic beverage manufacturers. This include the largest manufacturers of soft drinks like PepsiCo, Nestle an others. They identify that there are four specific commitments with the advertising and promotion of fizzy drinks like what Fresh Fruit Soda seeks to produce and this include: 1. Marketing and advertising to children; 2. Consumer nutrition information; 3. The promotion of active, healthy lifestyles for individuals in communities and workplace; 4. Collaborative public-private partnerships (Voute et al, 2012) These are the main elements and aspects of the soft drink industry that a firm must be conscious of. This is because they come with some kinds of legal and moral requirements and expectations that a firm ought to be sensitive to and deal with. Consumer Behaviour Prevost et al (1997) studied the trends in the consumption of foods by British people between the 1980s and the 1990s. They identify that young adults of the 1990s consumed more soft drinks due to the fact that they consume more fast foods and other urban oriented meals. Thus, the consumption of soft drinks came up as a natural consequence of this. However, towards the 21st century, differences in the consumption of soft drink came up. This include the fact that more people now consume huge quantities of soft drinks and due to the fact that soft drinks do not satisfy hunger, they lead to obesity amongst consumers (Harper et al, 2007). Therefore it is conclusive that the past 30 years has seen an upsurge in the availability and consumption of soft drinks which have proven to have various health consequences for consumers. Households in the UK and other Western European nations have a high availability of soft drinks (Naska et al, 2010). High availability of soft drinks correlates with low consumption of plant foods and milk and high availability of meat and milk products (Naska et al, 2010). This shows that there is a strong case of poor dietary habits in relation to the mainstream consumption of soft drinks and non-alcoholic beverages. Factors that affect Demand There is a fundamental question of what causes people to consume soft drinks rather than other products. Hattersley et al (2008) identify that there are various environmental cues, intrinsic qualities and other personal health beliefs that guide the way people demand and use soft drinks. However, advertising plays a significant role in shaping the views and opinions of consumers towards a given soft drink brand (Beder et al, 2010). This is because advertising to sections of the population directly appeals to the conscience and beliefs of consumers. And this leads to major selections of specific soft drinks. Case Study: Growth of Soft Drink Brands (Coca Cola V Pepsi) & Perrier There are various soft drinks on the market. However, the most popular brands are Coca Cola and Pepsi. Coca Cola started as a medicine in the 1800s and it was sold in pharmacy shops (Louis and Harvey, 2010). However, in the 1900s, Coca Cola positioned itself as a soft drink and the company used its bottling expertise to focus solely on the soft drink aspect of its promotions. Coca Cola targeted family sentiments and the desires and expectations of families and small groups. This included young people of families and with time, they grew their brand and made the brand extremely strong. Pepsi Cola on the other hand emerged after the 1950s (Louis and Harvey, 2010). It came as a “me too” soft drink and it was a brand that opposed Coca Cola. This is because it had similar features and properties of Coca Cola and it sought to capture the market share that Coca Cola had built. Pepsi sought to use its cost leadership approach to get consumers interested in their brand and also enhance their offerings around the world (Louis and Harvey, 2010). Up till today, the two brands – Coca Cola and Pepsi continue to lead the beverage industry. In the 21st Century when the focus moved from consuming sweet products to the consumption of healthy products, Perrier, a former bottled water that was available in the pharmacies also evolved into a household brand (Michmam et al, 2012). This is because consumers sought to drink water rather than take up sugary products that was bad for their health. Hence, Perrier moved from the pharmacy and gourmet shops and was sold in supermarkets. The sales strategy involved the presentation of their bottled water in different flavours. And they were sold on the same aisle as soft drinks to get informed and health-conscious consumers to choose their products ahead of other sugary products. Possible Product Placement: Communication Mix There are various highlights and possibilities that could be espoused by Fresh Fruit Soda brand in order to become a top brand in the next two years. This include the use of several approaches and methods. 1. Positioning as a Healthy Product: Since Fresh Fruit Soda is meant to be a low-sugar soft drink, there is the need for the product to be presented as a health product. This will enable consumers who have a tendency towards health-consciousness to view it as a good product and as more people move to improved health products, they will become consumers of the product and the market share percentages will tilt towards Fresh Fruit Soda. 2. Education of Consumers (Obesity and Dental Matters): If Fresh Fruit Soda wants to present its brand as a healthy product, there is the need for them to educate consumers to make the right choices. Thus, there is the need for a communication system that will enable the consumers to make the right choices and live a better and a healthier lifestyle. This will include telling them about the fact that sugary soft drinks leads to obesity and causes dental issues and problems. 3. Corporate Social Responsibility – Healthy Living and Exercising: Fresh Fruit Soda must undertake corporate social responsibility activities. This will enable them to help people through exercising and healthy living. 4. Complementary Health Products: Strategic alliances for marketing purposes could be sought. This could include the marketing of Fresh Fruit Soda alongside some healthy products like milks and nuts. Through this, Fresh Fruit Soda can get a collective strength through the identification of methods and partners who can help and assist them in providing the best dietary supplements and products to consumers. SECTION B: REFLECTIONS Basically, the study gave me an insight into the kind of consideration and pointers that a manager needs to take into account before introducing a product. The introduction of a product is not simple nor straightforward. There are many considerations on the market that a manufacturer needs to be careful of in order to attain the right market share and attain consumer confidence. In the soft drink industry, health and perceived social consequences are at the heart of affairs. Therefore, there is the need for a producer to be sensitive of the most dominant matters and features. Once a company identifies those features, there is the need for the company to find ways of reducing risks and problems relating to its products and trying to communicate the advantages and benefits that his product offers in a unique way and manner. During the research, there were numerous sources that were used. Some internet sources like blogs and other informal sources lacked credibility. Therefore they could not be presented. This is because some of their content could not be verified independently. I therefore restricted myself to scientific peer-reviewed journals that provided sources that I could trace online. Also, books provided a fairly credible source of information that I used to deal with my industry briefing. References Beder, S, Varney, W. and Gosden, R. (2010) “This Little Kiddy Went to the Market: The Corporate Capture of Childhood” Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology 4(2) December 2010 pp152 – 155 Harper, A., James, A., Flint, A. and Astrup, A. (2007) “Increased satiety after intake of a chocolate milk drink compared with a carbonated beverage, but no difference in subsequent ad libitum lunch intake” British Journal of Nutrition 97 pp579 – 583 Hattersley, L., Irwin, M, King, L. and Allman-Farinelli, M. (2008) “Determinants and patterns of soft drink consumption in young adults: a qualitative analysis” Public Health Nutrition 12 (10) pp1816 – 1822 Hooper, S.M., Newcombe, R.G., Faller, R., Eversole, S., Addy, M., West, N.X. (2007) “The protective effects of toothpaste against erosion by orange juice: Studies in situ and in vitro.” Journal of Dentistry. Jun2007, Vol. 35 Issue 6, p476-481 Laming, R. (2006) “Who needs Aspartame” New Scientist 190 (2557) Louis, J. C. and Harvey, Z. Y. (2010) The Cola Wars: The Story of the Global Corporate Battle Between Coca Cola and Pepsico New York: Everest House. Michman, R. D., Mazze, E. M. and Greco, A. J. (2012) Lifestyle Marketing Darby, PA: Greenwood Publishing Group. Naska, A., Bountziouka1, V. and Trichopoulou, A. (2010) "Soft drinks: time trends and correlates in twenty-four European countries. A cross-national study using the DAFNE (Data Food Networking) databank” Public Health Nutrition 13(9) pp1346 – 1355 Prevost, T. Y., Whichflow, M. J. and Cox, B. D. (1997) “Longitudinal dietary changes between 1984-5 and 1991-2 in British adults: associations with socio-demographic, lifestyle and health factors” British Journal of Nutrition 78 pp873 – 888 Voute, J, Heughan, A. and Casimiro (2012) “Non-Communicable Diseases and the Food and Beverage Industry” The Lancet 379 (9814) pp410 – 411   Read More