Marketing Planning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words - 1

Marketing Planning - Essay Example 1.1 Product Introduction Mount Franklin is pure spring water without adding any flavour into the water, which is taken from beneath the ground, travelling through layers of the rock of three natural sources in Australia. In addition to competing with bottled water, Mount Franklin also competes with other non-alcoholic beverages. Despite the presence of competition and substitute products, the market remains attractive due to strong growth in demand, barrier to entry, lack of bargaining power of suppliers, favorable customers’ preference of bottled water over other types of beverages and CCA’s competitive advantage in distribution (Coca-Cola Amatil Ltd., 2003). The objectives of this marketing plan is to improve the market position of Mount Franklin by growing the demand for bottled water and improving Mount Franklin’s image over its competitors. However, there are issues which need to be addressed e.g. cannibalisation of other products produced by CCA and negativ e publicity from overseas. To achieve the stated objective, both offensive and defensive strategies will be discussed. Offensive strategies will be used to grow market share, customer purchase and market demand while defensive strategies will be used to protect current market position. 2. ... These beverages are bottled in plastic, glass or else canned in aluminium for sale to wholesalers and retailers. Mount Franklin spring water is available in many stores such as convenience stores, food court, take away outlets, supermarkets and vending machines. The major players involved in this industry are Coca-Cola Amatil Limited (CCA), Cadbury Schweppes Australia Limited, Berri Limited and Golden Circle Limited (CCA, 2004). In Australia, soft drink industry is a large industry with over $3 billion annual turnover and employs a substantial number of workers as shown in table 1. The major group of consumers who drink the bottled water are young people, singles, and couples especially female aged between 14 to 35 years (Australasian Bottled Water Institute, 2004 a ). In bottled water category, the CCA share has increased from 15% to 35% in the previous 18 months. Per capita consumption of its brands, ‘Mount Franklin’, the market leader, ‘pump’ and ‘N everfail’ has been growing (Australasian Bottled Water Institute, 2004 a ). 2.2 External: Market Analyses Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Rivalry among existing firms The industry could be considered as oligopoly. There are five major companies which account for more than 80% of the market share. Each of the major companies holds more than 1% of the market share and seeks to improve the share position. In addition, there are numerous companies which are local and international companies that compete in this industry. Thus, there is intense rivalry within the industry. Barrier to entry Although there is no regulation that prevents a company from entering soft drink industry, barrier to entry remains significant. Brand awareness is crucial