Marketing Communication Strategy of Innocent Drinks - Essay Example

Marketing Communication Strategy of Innocent Drinks Introduction Marketing Communication strategies used by the companies usually provide them with competitive advantage in the international market and it also attracts the customers to purchase the new products launched by the companies (Beverland and Luxton, 2005). The rise of competition in the international market forces the companies to adopt various strategies in order to create brand awareness among the customers. However, this paper is all about the discussion regarding the marketing communication strategies undertaken by the managers of the company named, Innocent Drinks in London (Brown, 2010). The company had a net employee turnover of around £1.8 million in 2000 and has increased to around £141 million by 2009 (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). The company has been successful in setting up its brand position in the international market by supplying quality products to the customers (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). By conducting this study, the researcher has the aim to analyse the effectiveness of the strategies used by Innocent Drinks. It also offers the scope to understand the importance of using such innovative strategies by the company and the impact it has on the target customers. Objectives and Target Customers of Innocent Drinks Innocent Drinks aims at making smoothies and fruit juices for the health conscious customers for kids as well as adults. The company provides pure health drinks without adding sugar or preservatives and these are preferred by most of the customers (De Pelsmacker, Geuens and Van den Bergh, 2013). Innocent Drinks The company has created a huge customer base in the international market. However, the customers often prefer health drinks at low cost that would be according to their budget. The company has targeted the kids for their business in order to make them choose the products (Ogilvy, 2004). The drinks that are made out of fruits also look attractive to the parents who feel that their kids should remain healthy. Since the target customers for Innocent Drinks are the children and their parents, hence, the company pays attention to the packaging of the drinks in order to make them look delicious and attractive (Wells, Moriarty and Burnett, 2011). There are other popular brands of bottled water that gives strong competition to Innocent Drinks. Evian and Volvic are the popular brands producing bottled water, but study says that Innocent Drinks captures the large portion of the market. According to the researcher, the customers who are loyal to the company may not be willing to switch to some other brand and the company would have the opportunity to enjoy monopoly power by attracting new customers to the market (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). The company aims at creating a strong reputation in the international market and hence it adopts various strategies in order to make the customers satisfied with their fruit drinks and beverages. In order to inform the customers about the new products that the company launches in the international market, the company aims at undertaking Corporate Social Responsibilities indicating a pollution free production (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). Types of Marketing Strategies used by Innocent Drinks The marketing strategies of Innocent Drinks would comprise of the Marketing Mix involving the four P’s that is Product, Price, Place and Promotion that the company needs to consider in developing the strategies. According to the researcher a successful marketing mix involves selling the right product at the appropriate place and using appropriate promotion strategy (Chen and Xie, 2008). Product The core product of Innocent drinks constitutes Innocent water that is needed to quench the thirst of the consumers. The product line followed by Innocent Drinks involves Orange Juices and Smoothies as well as other fruit drinks meant to satisfy the demands of the young kids in the international market (Villarejo-Ramos and Sanchez-Franco, 2005). If the company serves quality products it would satisfy the parents as well and they would be contented that their kids are provided with healthy beverages. Special packaging techniques are used by the company in order to make the Innocent water bottles look pure and safe for drinking. Price The price of the products manufactured by Innocent Drinks is fixed by the company depending on the price fixed by the rivals in the international market. The company usually aims at setting a low price for its fruit juices in order to attract large number of customers towards its products (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). However, there are cases when the customers may think that the product is of low quality since the price is low. Hence, the company may face a dilemma in setting the price of the product as it has to maintain a price lower than competitor’s price. Figure 1: Product Marketing Mix for Innocent Drinks Company (Source: Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011) Promotion Promotion helps the company to penetrate into the international market as it creates brand awareness among the customers. The children get attracted to the television advertisement and the colourful leaflets that the company distributes in front of schools and other educational institutions. The company promotes its products by providing attractive stickers along with the packaged fruit juices that instigates the children to purchase more fruit juices in order to collect more stickers (Reid, Luxton and Mavondo, 2005). Colours often attract the kids towards the products and so, Innocent Drinks decorates its packaging materials with colourful characters that are appreciated by the children. On the contrary, the brand logo used by the company is mainly designed to attract the children towards fruit juices and smoothies. Place The company aims at gaining brand awareness in the international market and therefore, it has set up its outlets in the most populated areas of the UK. Innocent Drinks faces huge competition in the international market and so, it plans to open up large number outlets in order to expand its business to other parts of the world (Barwise and Farley, 2005). Location of the shop plays a key role in the sales of the company’s products among the target customers. Innocent Drinks identifies the target market for its products and plans to set up its outlets in that market in order to increase the company’s sales and profit level. Critical analysis of the promotional tools used by Innocent Drinks The company has been successful in setting up its business in the international market and the growth rate of the company has increased to around 63% in 2006-2008 and the company enjoys a competitive advantage over its rivals (Aaker and Biel, 2013). SWOT Analysis Strengths The company has a large market share that is; it captures around 80% of the market. It maintains a friendly as well as ethical brand image that is information about the company is available to the customers regarding the products. The smoothies manufactured by the company are demanded by the customers in the international market and as a result Innocent Drinks has enough opportunity to grow (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). Figure 2: SWOT Analysis for Innocent Drinks Company (Source: Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011) Weakness The study shows that the prices fixed by the company are rigid due to the increase in production cost. On the other hand, if the company decrease the prices to a greater extent, the customers may be doubtful regarding the quality of the products supplied by the company (Grunig, 2006). The company has to keep pace with the prices set by the rivals in order to enjoy a competitive advantage. Opportunities The parents are growing more health conscious and they prefer to feed their child with a healthy diet comprising of fruit beverages as a part of their diet. Since the target customers for the company comprise children and their parents, so the company has a strong opportunity to flourish in the international market. Threats The company is likely to face a huge competition from the other competitors such as Evian and Volvic who manufactures water bottles. These competitors have the tendency to lower the price of their products and grab the market. The recession plays a key role in reducing the consumer confidence and they would switch to some other low cost brands and the company might lose its sales (Aaker and Biel, 2013). Elements of Promotional Mix undertaken by Innocent Drinks The managers of the company undertake the promotional techniques in order to increase the customer base of the company and spread information regarding the new product that is to be launched in the market. Nonetheless, the study says that Innocent Drinks uses various tools for promoting its new range of fruit juice and beverages. The first techniques that the company uses is that of the advertising which creates an impact in the minds of the customers especially the children and they wish to purchase the drink from the supermarket (Aaker and Biel, 2013). The company prefers to advertise its products in television and also in the children’s magazine with colourful pictures that are mostly related to the kids’ favourite cartoon characters (Aaker and Biel, 2013). The next strategy that the company uses is that of the sales promotion in which the company provides discounts on the fruit juices and the smoothies. Hence, the parents get attracted towards purchasing these products at low cost. Further, the company also guarantees a refund policy in case there are issues related to the quality of the beverages. The third strategy is related to the personal selling where the sales executives interact with the customers at the brand outlets and try to maintain a customer relationship management so that the customer develop a brand loyalty for the products (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). The ultimate strategy that the company uses is that of public relations where the company communicates its vision through media and also collects the feedback of the customers that would contribute to the future growth of the company (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). According to the Ansoff Matrix, the company is successful in its market penetration as it has no sugar and water concentrates and it is purely made of fresh fruits (Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011). Figure 3: Ansoff Matrix for Innocent Drinks Company (Source: Arens, Weigold and Arens, 2011) Conclusion The study has been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing communication techniques used by Innocent Drinks in order to attract the target customers. According to the researcher, the target customers for the company are the kids and their parents and so the company uses colourful packaging techniques in order to make the beverages look attractive. The company tries to maintain quality in the fruit juices and smoothies and offers them at low prices in order to capture a large market share. However, the company faces a huge competition in the international market, but it uses various promotional tools and techniques to create brand awareness among the customers, therefore the loyal customers are expected to purchase products from Innocent Drinks. Nonetheless, the company faces difficulty in the various promotional techniques that it uses. For example, the effectiveness of advertising depends on the media that is chosen and the impact that it creates on the minds of the children as well as the adults. Further, the sales promotion techniques used by Innocent drinks may reduce the brand image of the company and the buyers may feel reluctant to purchase from its brand outlets. The promotional strategies used by the company also affect the psychology of the customers and hence the study suggests that the company is careful about the techniques it uses for creating brand awareness. Recommendation In order to overcome the challenges that Innocent Drinks faces related to the promotional techniques used by the company, it is highly recommended that it considers the ethical issues related to the advertising and sales promotion. The advertisements that are meant for the children should not create any sort of mental pressure on them and it must reveal full and relevant information regarding the products. Further, if the company adopts personal selling techniques, then it must make sure that the sales executive hired by the company has full information regarding the products that the company sells. It is the duty of the sales executive to guide the parents regarding the appropriate health drinks and other products sold by the company that is suitable for the children. The company further needs to carry out a quality check up since the fruit drinks are meant for the children. A business research carried out by the company would be helpful in providing valuable idea regarding the market trends and the strategies that can be adopted to capture a large market share. Further, the promotional techniques that are used by the company must be unique and there should not be any sort of similarity with techniques used by the competitors. The logo used by the company should also be made attractive compared to the competitors as it is another important element that draws the attention of the target customers towards the products sold by the company. Reference List Aaker, D. A. and Biel, A., 2013. Brand equity & advertising: advertisings role in building strong brands. 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