The Labatt Brewing Co as a Well Known Brand - Coursework Example

The Labatt Brewing Co as a Well Known Brand The Labatt Brewing Co. is a well know brand that is responsible for several high end quality beers that individuals have grown to love. Our goal in this advertising plan is to detail the best approach to introducing a seasonal beer into the north eastern corridor within the U.S. and the bordering parts of Canada. We feel as if a seasonal beer will not only increase our profit margins but allow our company to claim a much larger share of the high end seasonal brews. This plan therefore analyzes not only the risk associated with implementing the plan but also the promotional and advertising strategies required to ensure the successful implementation of the product. Introducing new products to a market requires a major push upon its entry phase in order build brand awareness. More importantly, we believe that it is important to build brand representation within the arenas of purchase specifically in terms of point of purchase marketing. Introduction In this analysis I start with a discussion of the objectives and strategic decisions of the company. A brief summary is that it is our intention to become a major competitor in the high end seasonal beer sales. Therefore the strategic decisions that allow us to accomplish those ends involve the distribution of marketing resources in a manner that best optimizes our brand equity and awareness. Recent studies have found that marketers employ different strategies to create and increase brand awareness for high- and low-involvement products (Radder 2008, 232-243). But, repetition and frequency are the primary means through which advertisers accomplish such ends. This is done to impress the brand name upon the consumer consciousness and make the feel comfortable with the brand. The anticipated goal here is that consumers will keep the brand in their evoked set when making a purchasing decision. This increases the probability that the brand will be purchased. The researched used to justify this analysis involves the use of blind taste tests with beer. The research indicated that drinkers of beer found were scattered in their selections of beer in the blind study but when the brand name was available, subjects were increasingly likely to give their preferred brand a higher rating. Nedungadi and Hutchinson further this anaylsis in “The Prototypicality of Brands” by stating the following., we identify our target market as well as their buying trends. This is critical to the development of the marketing and promotional mix that is tailored to ensuring that those individuals become most aware of our brand. Our product is good enough to build brand loyalty, therefore it is essential to ensure that the target audience is enticed to purchase the product at least once. Our message with this new product is simple, “fall is better with it”. Fall is inclusive of sporting events, outdoor trips and social gatherings. Our message is that this drink embodies the spirit of all that is fall. This is crucial when considering how consumers perceive brands as opposed to how companies deliver the message of their brand image. Consumers at times cognitively organize brands into categories which make it increasingly difficult for brands to compete with juggernauts such as Coca-Cola because they have seemingly captured their own market (Nedungadi 2005, 498-503). Furthermore, research in psychology and consumer behavior in terms of the information processing paradigm have analyzed the “strength of association” between concepts and has demonstrated the importance that variables including frequency and recent exposure have in impacting the brands strength of association. This becomes important when consumers attempt to retrieve information when given relevant cues (Nedungadi 2005, 498-503). Objectives and Strategic Decisions Therefore it is important for firms to identify and fulfill the factors that individuals use as brand association factors. These factors are: 1. Popularity 2. Management 3. Logo 4. Escape 5. Vicarious Achievement 6. Nostalgia 7. Pride 8. Affect Of the eight factors, five are key signals predictive of consumer loyalty (escape, nostalgia, pride, logo, and affect). Furthermore, evidence indicates that intense experiences with brands are the internal link to consumer loyalty and even extreme levels of loyalty. This consumer devotion can in cases create consumer connections that reach a level of loyalty that can overcome poor product performance, scandals, negative publicity, price shocks, and lack of promotional efforts (Pimentel 2004, 1-45). In fact, more evidence indicates that communities dominate brands. “The power of the brands and the abuses by marketing have created a vacuum for a counterbalance, and digitally connected communities, the blogosphere, gamers, and especially the always-on connectedness of those on mobile phone networks, are emerging as the counterforce to redress the balance (Ahonen 2005).” This dynamic is signaling an end to the traditional method of advertising and is forcing organizations to seek out new methods of advertising that addresses the interactive community-oriented engagement style of marketing. The goal of our promotional strategy will focus on increasing consumer loyalty. We will have to create unique experiences when consumers have the opportunity to interact with our product. This includes creating a unique experience with our promotion programs at professional sporting events and in store point of purchase marketing. Target Market Our beer is priced on the high end therefore our target market will be affluent beer connoisseurs. This is true for a few reasons: 1. Our beer is a seasonal product which means that individuals will not be able to access the beer year round. Therefore, the development of a market will be contested by the fact that individuals do not always have access to it. 2. Connoisseurs are more likely to try seasonal beers and follow them because they can more likely recall the taste of beers as they are more concerned about quality rather that effects. 3. The price of the beer requires a level of affluence for individuals who are more willing to make purchase decisions for a high end product. Affluent individuals are more likely to attend sports events and occupy high end bars. This makes the identification and location of the target market very likely. Moreover, males tend to consume more beer products as well as attend sporting events. Marketing Mix Summary In this section I will discuss the marketing mix for Labatt Seasonal Beer. This seasonal beer will be sold specifically during the fall when various social and sports events are occurring within the Northeastern parts of the United States and parts of Canada. There are various promotions and marketing tactics that will be used to ensure that the product is placed in areas that allow for maximum profit and sales (Keller, 2008). The goal of this seasonal beer is to create a demand for the beer year round which will potentially lead to the development of more seasonal beers. In terms of the short term strategy, the goal is to achieve a great frequency and reach with the advertising campaigns that not only targets our ideal consumers, but converts them from their traditional beer choices to at least try our product once. The key here will be marketing the fact that it is a seasonal beer that can only be accessed during a short period. This is manifested in our slogan, “Make fall last longer.” This slogan will be coupled along side of other statements such as “Make fall taste better,” and “A bottle made for Autumn.” Product Our product is a Seasonal Brew that is capable of capturing a large part of the domestic beer market. The beer taste significantly different from most domestic brands which makes it a unique product. Moreover, the most likely direct competition for this brew will be posed by Sam Adams “Boston Lager” which is also a seasonal brand that makes it appearance during the fall. While beer drinkers tend to have a default beer selection, it is our intention to leverage a marketing campaign that advertises the unique taste of our beer as well as the exclusivity of it. Since our product is only sold in 6 packs our goal is to target retailers in order to maximize their profit from the distribution of our product due to the fact that it is priced just above some of the more nationalized competitors such as Budwieser and BudLight. Place We intend to distribute this beer specifically in New York, New Jersey and the easter parts of Canada that border those states. This region has a very dense population and is easily accessible in terms of advertising opportunities. There are many events and sponsorship opportunities in this area which makes it a primary market for the introduction of a new seasonal beer. Moreover, there are several professional sports teams located in this area which means there are a lot of opportunities to sell massive quantities at singular events. Price As indicated earlier in the problem definition, competition within the beer industry is growing. Therefore the introduction of a new beer means that we will be met with several entry barriers. In order to overcome many of these barriers we intend to keep the price as low as possible. We anticipate pricing the beer around $1.50 per bottle. This is critical to competing with the leading brands in the market. Since it is expected that the leading brands are known to be cheaper, our strategy is not to produce the cheapest beer on the market. In fact, this may be counter-intuitive to the production of a seasonal lager. Consumers should expect to pay more for a better beer. Moreover, we found that individuals more willing to try our beer are the beer connoisseurs. This means that they are willing to pay a little more for a better beer. Additionally, since our beer is only sold in 6 packs we anticipate that we will remain competitive by having our product priced right around $10 for consumers. This means that we will be able to remain competitive by having a modestly expensive beer that consumers enjoy. Promotion Our promotional strategy will be event driven. We anticipate that our beers will be sold at events and therefore we will invest in point of purchase marketing. We will attempt to place stands in stores and at events that promote our beer. Consumers are cluttered with a plethora of choices when shopping for beer which means that our point of purchase marketing strategy may have a leg to stand on. For example, we will place banners in sports stadiums by vendors who are selling our products. Moreover, free product giveaways such as coasters, cups, and cozies will help market our products and encourage consumers to purchase. Maintaing brand awareness during the fall season will be key to ensuring that consumers immediately recognize our beer brand when attempting to make a purchase decision. One way for companies to access better marketing tactics is to focus on product placement (Wells, 2009). For the most part, companies that are spending money on product placement tend to place their products in movies, but modern technology has made accessing video games increasingly relevant (Nelson 2002, 80-92). This provides opportunity for our firm. But this placement becomes meaningless without the use of brand symbols that are easily recallable by consumers (MacInnis 2009, 601-608). One specific study suggests that “facilitation from symbols that portrayed a product category pictorially and as interacting with a high benefit from brand name (Nelson 2002, 80-92).” This is useful for accomplishing recognition memory. This makes the brand adaptive allowing firms to pursue other categories in the future (MacInnis 2009, 601-608). This could be because high brand awareness means that consumers are more likely to accept the message delivered in ads by such brands. Moreover high brand awareness leads to higher brand attitudes and consumers are more likely to purchase products they see in ads. Attitudes are highest when companies serve prevention oriented messages. This means that it is important for companies to dedicate a portion of their revenue to their advertising campaigns. Advertising is modeled as a dynamic investment in a brand’s stocks of awareness and perceived quality and we ask how such an investment changes brand awareness and quality perceptions (Bharadwaj 2011, 74). Our goal will to attempt to identify where our competitors such as Sam Adams are advertising most heavily and attempt to engage in counter advertising. This will help us by placing our brand alongside of already recognizable brands and hopefully consumers will associate our brand with the competitors and consequentially grant our brand more legitimacy. Packaging Our beer will only be sold in 6 packs directly to retailers or in single bottles at sporting events. Since we are delivering a high end product, our goal is to develop a label that reflects the importance of our brand. Our package is directly reflective of the product that consumer anticipate tasting therefore our goal is to use fall colors on the package but in a method that stands out (Shimp, 2007). We will consult marketing firms to identify what the best colors are for the packing that entice consumers to purchase our product. Distribution Our product will be sold either by six pack or single bottle pending on the venue. We intend to place our beer in local bars that attract a more sophisticated audience. This is necessary because our beer is a high end product. Additionally we will place our beer in gas stations that are in high income areas due to the fact that our target consumers are clustered in those communities and hence most likely to use such stores. Moreover, we will target professional events and concerts for the distribution of our beer. If there is a problem getting our beer on the product stand we will leverage our marketing budget to get our beer placed. This is an effective strategy because we get both the point of purchase marketing as well as the beer distributed. Slogan Our slogan is “Make Fall Last Longer!” This slogan is representative of the seasonal component of the beer and will be leveraged to induce feelings of nostalgia when engaging in campaigns that require the use of the “theatre of the mind” i.e. radio. Media In terms of the media that will be used for this campaign, our goal is to receive the maximum amount of frequency possible while target high earning consumers within our designated markets. First we will develop a T.V. commercial that will be promoted both online and on T.V. this dual promotion of the commercial will be beneficial because it helps us achieve a desirable frequency of 3 or greater. T.V. becomes especially important during games for individuals who are drinking in bars where our product is sold. Therefore we will attempt to buy advertising space on sports channels on game day while target bar districts. Moreover, we will produce a radio ad and place on radio station formats whose demographics match our target market. Finally, facebook provides a very cheap and inexpensive method for targeting users with ads. We will utilize their ad platform to promote our beer. By diversifying our media presence we can achieve a desirable frequency that gives our marketing strategy a higher probability of activating consumers to purchase our product. Advertising Strategy Our goal is to use our slogan “Make fall last longer”, and construct a campaign that incorporates all 3 of the media that we will be using. We intend to first create the TV commercial in a manner that is consistent with the spirit of the slogan. Since our target market is affluent males, our TV commercial will be drawn in to attract that market. By having an “epic build” in the background music, we’ll be able to portray the level of importance that this product demands (Belch, 2009). In order to avoid being cliche we will not use sex to sell the product but rather construct situations where individuals will be found drinking our beer. This requires the use of imagery that portrays feelings of fall and affluence. Once the TV commercial is run often on channels such as MSNBC and CNN that attract affluent individuals, we will then begin to integrate the radio campaign. This will allow us to increase the frequency at which targeted individuals are exposed to the advertisement, but furthermore, it will give some aid to the theatre of the mind that we will have to create. Individuals will be able to recall images from the TV commercial when listening to the advertisement individuals will be able to evoke images of affluence and fall. This is done in an effort to not only increase the frequency of the ad, but additionally to ensure that individuals recall the information when exposed to the brand image. Finally, we’ll use the internet to increase individuals’ familiarity with the brand image. This is important because it allows individuals to identify the brand associated with the slogan. By advertising on facebook, we are able to target a specific age group residing in specific zip codes. A 3 pronged advertising platform allows us to reach a large market frequently, while targeting affluent males (Russel, 2005). Conclusion The introduction of our seasonal beverage to the N.E. United States market requires a focus on the creation of consumer loyalty. Introducing new brands to individuals requires a massive campaign that not only makes them aware of the brand, but it must also attempt entice individuals to purchase. Because the product is priced above average, it is unlikely that the mainstream will build a trend off of this seasonal product. But what is likely is that affluent individuals will become loyal to this brand as it is representative of quality production. Our beer will be the embodiment of affluence and a preference for quality. References Ahonen, T.T., 2005. Communities Dominate Brands: Business and Marketing Challenges for the 21st Century, Futuretext. Available at: http://books.google.com/books?id=GYq-AAAACAAJ&dq=Communities+Dominate+Brands:+Business+and+Marketing+Challenges+for+the+21st+Century&hl=en&ei=tKFmTcbHFMiG4QbGwdCwCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAA. Belch, George and Belch, Michael, (2009) Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. 8th Edition. 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