Marketing Plan and Sales Strategy and Marketing Budget

This assignment consists of two sections: a marketing plan and sales strategy and a marketing budget. Note: You must submit both sections as separate files for the completion of this assignment.

For the first 6 months your company is in business—to give you time to perfect your product and to learn from actual customers—you will start marketing and selling in your own community, a radius of 25 miles from where you live. 

For most non-alcoholic beverages, marketing (as opposed to the actual product itself) is key to success. Cola drinks, for example, are fairly undifferentiated, as are many energy drinks, juices, bottled water, and the like. Companies producing these types of beverages differentiate themselves and attract market share through marketing and brand awareness—both of which are critical to success. 

Write the3–5-page marketing plan and sales strategy section of your business plan, in which you do the following:

1.Define your company’s target market.

1.Analyze the types of consumers who will be drinking your beverage in demographic terms (i.e., age, education level, income, gender, ethnic group, etc.). Outline the demographic information for your company specified on the worksheet in the course text (p. 107 | Demographic Description). 

2.Support your analysis with actual data on the size of the demographic groups in your local community (nearby zipcodes). 

2.Assess your company’s market competition.

0.Use the factors listed in the course text graphic (p. 123 | Assess the Competition) to assess your company’s market competition.

1.Defend your plan to differentiate yourself from the competition using the information detailed on the worksheet in the text (p. 131 | Market Share Distribution).

3.Clarify your company’s message using the information provided on the worksheet in the text (p. 160 | The Five F’s). Create a marketing slogan/tagline for your product. 

4.Identify the marketing vehicles you plan to use to build your company’s brand. Justify the key reasons why they will be effective.  

oHints: If you plan to use online marketing tactics, refer to the worksheet in the text (p.171 | Online Marketing Tactics) to aid your response. Remember that even if you’re selling through grocery stores, you need to build your brand and social media is a major part of that in regard to beverages .Some of the marketing tactics that beverage companies use include sampling in grocery stores, building a following on social media, sponsoring events, and exhibiting at trade shows attended by retailers. You will use a combination of these tactics. For example, if you decide to give out samples in grocery stores, promote your sampling on your social media networks and those of the grocery store.

Section 2 uses the “Business Plan Financials” MS Excel template (see: Required Course Files in Week 1). Use the Business Plan Financials Guide (see: Required Course Files in Week 1) to support your development of the marketing budget.

1.Complete the “Marketing Budget” worksheet for your company. 

a.Begin in the current year and complete a marketing budget for the first year of your business. The information you enter in the marketing budget spreadsheet will flow through to your “Income Statement” in the “Business Plan Financials.”

b.Leave the number at zero (0) for any marketing vehicles you do not intend to use. 

c.Remember that all marketing activities involve costs. If social media represents a significant portion of your marketing, assume you will incur costs of advertising and these should be reflected on your budget. Even if a social media site charges nothing to use it, you will need to use company resources to manage the site, pay someone to execute your social media marketing campaigns, and most likely pay for ads on that site.

d.Do not leave the “Marketing Budget” blank assuming you will not have any marketing costs. 

The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are as follows:

a.Recommend effective business strategies based on an analysis of domestic and global operating environments, market dynamics, and internal capabilities. 

b.Produce a comprehensive business plan.