Introduction
There are so many and diverse beverage products in the US market that it is almost impossible to come up with a product unique enough to stand out from the rest. This necessitates the shift of innovation from product to marketing regimen as a means for overcoming competition. For Electro-HI Sports Drinks Company to thrive, it requires an innovative, aggressive and effective marketing strategy that takes the right message to the right people. The first components in that matrix, therefore, is the people whom the company targets. The target group for the company is quite diverse due to the contemporary desire for fitness, causing all manner of people to visit sports stadia. However, the main focus for the company of for the younger, robust athletes. The right message for this group relates to both the health and safety attributes of the product. Finally, the marketing vehicles will be dominated by social media from a gorilla marketing approach. This research paper evaluates the marketing stratagem of Electro-HI Sports Drinks Company, as it rolls out its operations.
Electro-HI’s Target Market
Everyone is a target for the intended product as it can be enjoyed as a general beverage. However, a marketing strategy that targets everyone would be both extremely expensive and too vague to be effective (Muske et al, 2015). It is on this basis that the company has focused on a specific target area for the purposes of the initial phase of marketing, as well as a specific target group. Electro-HI initially targets Williamson County in general, and particularly its athletic population within the ages of nineteen to thirty-five years of age. This is the athletic population that frequents gyms, health clubs and sports stadia for exercises on a regular basis. With the general population in the county currently standing at approximately 528,718, the aforementioned description is about 68, 458 people. Of this 44,614 are men while 23,844 are women. About 38% of the target group include students, 42% include working adults with about 20% not working but relatively financially secure. To reach this market Electro-HI intends to use retailers as they are already established on the g round and have the right infrastructure to commence vending immediately. Therefore, for the opportunity cost of sharing the profit margin with these vendors, the company will avoid the massive capital necessary to roll out its own sales infrastructure. Within the 350 sports centers and gyms that Electro-HI is aware of within the county, there are a total of 2,462 outlets capable of stoking the company’s product. Electro-HI hopes to convince at least 70% of these to carry its products which result in 1,723 possible outlets.
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Market Competition
Electro-HI Sports Drinks falls into two categories to wit the general one which is beverages, and the specific one which is energy drinks for sports and active people. Within the major category of beverage, the main competitor involves both the potential customers who may want to bring their own home-brewed energy drinks as well as the two main beverage giants in America Coke and Pepsi (Jurić, 2015). Within the energy drinks for sportsmen, the main competitor is Red Bull as well as other multinationals as well as several local brands just as Electro-HI Sports Drinks. The first competition to wit drinks brought from home can easily be overcome by informing the customers of the potential benefits of Electro-HI Sports Drinks. Multinationals such as Coke, Pepsi, and Red Bull have the benefit of having established brands, great marketing capabilities and/or resources as well as a well-established supply network. However, their popularity is not all positive as they have been in trouble about the quality if their products. Coke and Pepsi have been accused of having too high a calorie count while Red Bull stands accused that its drinks harm athletes (Jurić, 2015). The main competition for Electro-HI Sports Drinks will be the smaller companies that have established drinks similar to the company’s product and focus in the scramble for the market segment that has been left by the multinationals.
Marketing Strategy against the Market Segment Leaders
The market leaders in the beverages segment within the target group are giants while Electro-HI is only a beginner. The giants have exponentially greater strengths that the company thus a show of might will work against the company. However, the market leaders also have weaknesses that are greater that Electro-HI which makes for a remarkable opportunity for establishing a market strategy. This is a strategy focused on weaknesses. Attacking the giants will make the company a target of a war it cannot win. Therefore the strategy lies on advertising the strengths of the product that are directly aided by the weaknesses of the competition. The key to this lies in the health perspective. The target market is dominated by athletes and by their very nature, they happen to be health enthusiast. If Electro-HI focuses on the message of the safety and health benefits of its products, it can use the popularity of the market leaders against them and gain a market niche amongst the target group (Muske et al, 2015).
Differentiation from the Competition
Most beverages are made for a general consumer but can also be used by athletes. When Coke, for example, advertises during a soccer match, its target is the spectators and not the athlete. Therefore, when sports people take this beverage , they are just joining the crowd and taking what the general populace is taking. Electro-HI products are designed, prepared and marketed for the athlete and are therefore developed with the right ingredients and prerequisites to aid the athlete. The athletic members of the community will not be taking a drink made for the general populace as an available option but rather taking a product that is specifically designed for them. This is the essence of the market differentiation.
Company’s Message
The primary message from Electro-HI to its customers is that “this is exactly what you need”. This message carries the underlying narrative that Electro-HI cares enough to have taken the time to understand the customer. After understanding the customer, Electro-HI conducted research in what the customer needs and what product suits the customer best. Once this was established, Electro-HI found out what product can meet the needs of the customer. Finally, Electro-HI ensured that the means of meeting the specific needs of the customer were also safe for the customer.
Market Vehicles
Electro-HI’s market vehicles are classified into two segments, both of which are intertwined. The first is the means to get the customers themselves market the products of the company with the second being the means to get the retailers to stock the products. Instead of beginning with the retailers, Electro-HI will begin with the customers and work the market chain backward . The main marketing tool will be social media through the concept of guerilla marketing. This entails the creation of a storm in the social media within the target area and group that the intended customers cannot ignore. The second phase will be interactive and will entail an efficient interactive strategy that captures the interest of the customers and also gets them talking about the products online and offline (Zimmerman & Ng, 2015). The marketing teams will then collect data about the online buzz regarding Electro-HI products and use it to convince retailers to stock the company’s products. When the retailers realize that the products will be in high demand, they will be eager to stock it.
Conclusion
The totality of the above showcases the marketing path that the company intends to take in order to roll out its products in the market. It gives an analysis of the target market and the instruments to be used in reaching them. These are fitness enthusiasts and athletes within the target area and local retail outlets respectively. The main competition will come from the traditional beverage producers, energy drink companies and also small marketers like Electro-HI. The company has developed proper avenues and strategies to overcome this competition. Finally, Electro-HI intends to harness the power of guerilla marketing from social media platforms to create a buzz that will catapult the company to market success.
References
Jurić, M. (2016). Strategic rivalry in beverage industry (Doctoral dissertation, University of Zagreb. Faculty of Economics and Business. Department of Organization and Management.)
Muske, G., Hancock, C., Reimers-Hild, C., & Dye, A. (2015). Standing Out From the Competition Through Marketing: A Guide for Small Business Owners
Zimmerman, J., & Ng, D. (2015). Social media marketing all-in-one for dummies . John Wiley & Sons
