Marketing Mix Assignment` PDF

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Summary

Brand analysis and new product opportunity....

Description

The following market analysis will focus on the brand ‘Vodka Cruiser’. This brand represents a ready to drink vodka beverage sold in Australia since 2000 which comes in a wide range of flavours and colours. Vodka Cruiser is owned by parent company Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd which also holds a wide range of other alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages within their product portfolio.

Market Overview The Ready to Drink Mixed Spirit (RTD) industry within Australia generates $1.1billion in revenue yearly, with 1.1% annual growth on average, and with predicted growth of 1.5% on average annually between 2020 and 2025 (Reeve 2020). The RTD industry has a somewhat competitive market share with the top three companies holding roughly 49% of market share (Reeve 2020). Within the previous decade there have been setbacks including the Alcopops tax which resulted in decreased revenues (alcopops reference, Reeve 2020) and a decline in alcohol consumption per capita (Reeve 2020). Despite these setbacks and the existing market share, companies have emphasised innovation and come up with new products to remain competitive (Reeve 2020). Vodka Cruiser is an iconic alcoholic beverage, owned by Asahi Holdings (Australia) Pty Ltd which also holds a wide range of other alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages within their product portfolio. Asahi Holdings currently maintains 15% market share. Recent performance within the RTD industry has been poor, attributed to an influx of new products and flavours leading to increased competition (Reeve 2020). Asahi’s performance within the Australian RTD market has been underperforming however revenue has been predicted to grow at an annualised 1.7% to a total revenue of $158.3 million. Marketing Mix Product The product ‘Vodka Cruiser’ is a bright coloured alcoholic mixed soft drink beverage with an alcohol content of around 5%. They have been referred to as ‘alcopops’ and are available in 17 flavours. The beverages typically come in 275ml bottles and are available in 4, 12 and 24 packs. The core benefit of the product is the consumption of a flavoured alcoholic beverage with a moderate alcohol content and is widely consumed as a ‘pre-drink’ before enjoying an evening out. The slogan ‘Where vodka goes to get ready’ has reinforced this core benefit with respondents from an empiric analysis of the brands perception (Jones, ACU). The actual products are the bottles, the packaging and the beverage itself. The soft drink style beverage is seen as a drink for younger people which is also reinforced by its lower alcohol content.

The augmented product is the ability to recycle or return the empty bottles at collection centres for a set cost per bottle. Additionally, there are guidelines provided within the packaging of Vodka Cruisers around the responsible consumption of alcohol, designed to foster and support healthy consumption habits and behaviours. Price Vodka Cruisers retail for circa $70 for a 24 pack, $19 for a 4 pack and $6.50 for an individual beverage (BWS 2020) Place Vodka Cruisers are sold at all bars and nightclubs around Australia individually. Retailers include BWS, Dan Murphys, LiquourLand and boutique alcohol resellers. Online purchasing through major retailers is also prevalent. With the onset of delivery on demand from companies such as Jimmy Brings, marked up retail Vodka Cruisers are often sold in this manner. Promotions Vodka Cruiser primary is involved in online promotions through reductions in purchase price for regular retail consumers along with ad-hoc, event driven promotions. An example of one of these ad-hoc promotions is the Casetify promotion which encourages the purchase of 12 beverages with a ‘Casetify’ product as a bonus gift when purchasing. Casetify has a strong social media presence, prominent among influencers (Casetify, 2020). Micro environment Vodka Cruiser has a strong social media presence that has come under scrutiny for being targeted towards minors and encouraging underage drinking. With an increase in social media use over the last several years and the surge in influencer marketing, Vodka Cruiser is faced with a situation of ensuring it complies with government regulations around marketing towards minors and increasing scrutiny from food and drug associations (VAADA, 2020). Any potential changes to government legislation that enforces marketing practices online can potentially influence and have a large impact on the performance of Vodka Cruiser, given the reduction in non-digital marketing opportunities presented by the onset of COVID-19 lockdowns (SM 2020).

Macro environment Discretionary household income With the onset of COVID-19 and the ensuing recession, there has been a decrease in discretionary household income. Identified as one of the key external drivers for the RTD market, any reduction in discretionary household income is likely to have a flow-on effect towards reducing the rate of purchase among households (ABC, 2020).

As with a reduction in willingness to spend on non-essential items, the rate at which consumers will likely be purchasing Vodka Cruisers will reduce, which is likely to impact the forecasted growth for the 2020 period. Additionally, the reduction of discretionary household income means there is less financial opportunity to be engaged in the hospitality venue space, which represents 12% of the 1.1billion annual revenue within the RTD industry (Reeve, 2020). With less access to this key major market, there is an expectation in a reduction of revenue across the RTD industry moving into 2021 with no growth predicted due to the government enforced venue closures (Reeve, 2020).

Positioning Map

Vodka Cruiser is placed as a relatively low alcohol, mid tier drink based on the above positioning map. Pricing is similar to a Midori beverage with the same alcohol content, approximately 1 standard drink per beverage unit (Dan Murphys, 2020). The perception towards Vodka Cruiser

is that it is an affordable beverage that is not perceived as being too highly skewed towards the budget category. Considering it’s substantially lower alcohol content per unit, the value is higher based on the number of standard drinks a consumer will receive per 4 or 12 pack compared to Jim Beam or Woodstock. Whilst being slightly more premium than the aforementioned, it stays south of more premium products such as the Ruski and Smirnoff Double Black to maintain its affordability amongst younger consumers (Reeve, 2020).

Persona

Suzi is representative of 18-21 year olds that are finishing high school and shifting into university or the workforce. She is motivated by beverage cost, the venue that she is at when consuming said beverage and within which circle of friends she is consuming the beverage with. Whilst consuming a beverage in a social setting is an accepted practice, Suzi has been looking to reduce her alcohol intake due to an increased focus on health (Reeve, 2020). Suzi also

enjoys consuming wines and has had ciders on occasion, and would as easily consume a sweet cider as a pre-mixed drink (Reeve, 2020). When Suzi is in company she perceives as more sophisticated, she will elect to drink Smirnoff Double Blacks, to improve others perception of her in that setting (Reeve, 2020). Being new to the workforce, Suzi is focussed on spending money on things such as staples and saving rather than purchasing alcohol (Reeve, 2020). She is often frustrated by the increasing cost of alcohol which renders its accessibility for people like her and in her immediate social circle, limited. Product placement often finds its way into the daily communications between her and her social circle, through food and beverage image sharing on platforms such as Pinterest and Instagram. Triggering need The target market for Vodka Cruisers are young people who leverage alcohol and alcohol as a means of socialisation, either at a friends home or at a hospitality venue. There is a series of needs that Vodka Cruiser plays a role in fulfilling. The main motivator for alcohol consumption amongst this segment has been reported as social motives (Kuntsche et al, 2020). With the heavy influence that social media marketing plays on this demographic, Vodka Cruiser has positioned itself heavily as a drink that’s represented as cool, mid-range and fun. In a sense, accessorising the Vodka Cruiser as something to be seen in your hand in social occasions.

Conclusion This report considers micro and macro-environmental factors in addition to the wider Ready To Drink market status quo. Vodka Cruiser has surfaced as a brand that connects with young people and satisfies a series of needs specific to this target market. The ever evolving market of Ready To Drink beverages continues to evolve, especially with the onset of venue closures and market restrictions on alcohol consumption. With this in mind, to remain relevant, Vodka Cruiser will need to adopt a user-centric approach to continue meeting the core needs that their target market currently have.

Deck Intro Positioning Map Gap in the market Persona New product proposal Positioning statement and USP Marketing mix (PPPP) Ref

https://bws.com.au/product/742130/vodka-cruiser-pure-pineapple-275ml https://marketing-insider.eu/three-levels-of-product/ https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/159249077.pdf ACU https://www.vodkacruiserpromotions.com.au/CASETiFY/faqs https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-02/australian-recession-confirmed-as-economy-shrinks-in -june-qtr/12619950 ABC 2020 https://www.smartcompany.com.au/marketing/advertising/watchdog-orders-take-vodka-cruiser-a d-accusations-using-highly-childish-model-promote-alcohol/ SM 2020 https://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=4667eed1-2b37-4406-ab6c-1b2e14eba6bc&su bId=401217 (VAADA 2020) https://www.danmurphys.com.au/product/DM_901306/midori-illusion-275ml Dan Murphys 2020 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7664266_Why_do_young_people_drink_A_review_of_ drinking_motives

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