M.C IMC PLAN Corona Extra PDF

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IMC plan for corona beer ...

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Marketing Communications Assessment 2: IMC Plan Stage 1: Client Campaign Planning & Integrated Communication (Creative) Brief

1.0 Executive Summary:

2.0 Current Situation Analysis 2.1 Background Research and Analysis Corona Extra is a pale lager which is a product of Corona beer produced by the Mexican brewery Cerveceria Modelo. The beer was first brewed in 1925 and is considered to be one of the world’s top beer brands, internationally recognised and sold in over 180 countries. The drink has become iconic when it comes to beer consumption due to its one-of-a-kind taste along with its distinct colour and bottle design. Most commonly sold in a clear bottle, the beer has an alcohol percentage of 4.6% and it is frequently associated with a lime wedge pushed into the bottle’s neck (Corona, 2020). Corona has an approachable, fun-loving, easy-going, confident, smart and timeless personality, which creates a brand persona many consumers can relate to and aspire to be like. A key communication strategy of the brand has always been on encouraging consumers to spend more time outside, which is emphasised heavily in their Australian campaigns, where they often capture their products in an outdoor landscape, inviting their consumers to enjoy their drink outside in the sunshine. Corona Extra is priced at around $5 per bottle which is slightly costlier than other beers. This is due to the company exclusively producing the beer at only one brewery in Mexico, resulting in expensive distribution costs (REFERENCE). In 2004, Corona released its first product extension, Coronita Extra which is the same beer as Corona Extra, just in a smaller bottle. Corona identified consumers' need of wanting a smaller sized beer as this meant they were able to enjoy the full beer cold rather than drinking from the full sized bottle and the beer being room temperature by the end. Then, in 2018 as the mid-strength beer market was quickly increasing, Corona introduced Corona Ligera which is a mid-strength pale-lager (REFERENCE). Both line extensions were created due to newfound consumer needs, and as a result all the varieties are targeted at different types of audiences. The beer was first produced and distributed in a bottle but as consumers started to move away from bottles and towards cans Corona started offering the beer in a can. This helped Corona expand their target audience as more alcoholic drinkers were choosing to drink only from cans. In Australia, Corona was sold by Carlton & United Breweries, which was owned by SAB until 2017 when it was bought out by ABI Australia. ABI Australia is parented by Belgium-based, multinational brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev), which is the world’s largest beer producer. Currently, ABI Australia currently holds 44.1% of the beer manufacturing market which has been on a steady incline since 2014 (IBIS,2020). in Australia brewing over 20 varieties of well known beer brands. Corona Extra is a pale-lager and in 2019, pale-lager was 78% of all beer consumed in Australia. In 2019, it was also the second most popular beer consumed by volume, holding 6.1% of the marker share just behind XXXX Gold who holds 7%. (Passport, 2020) Corona is associated with risk-taking and pushing the social and political boundaries with what beer companies are supposed to do. Hosting Corona Sunset Sessions over the summer was a marketing strategy the brand successfully used to attract more than 5,000 consumers, which only has increased consumers’ love for the beer even more.

2.2 External research and analysis Macro Environmental factors analysis Demographic: Corona beer is an alcoholic beverage brand owned by the company AB inBev which markets its drinks to the age groups of 18-25, 25-35, 35-45 (AB inBEV, 2019). Although the drink is marketed to a variety of age groups, the brand aims to target both to the male and female population, as stated in the AB inBEV 2019 annual report. Younger generations have grown to normalise binge drinking at social get togethers such as parties. It is believed that 17% of australian adolescents are reported binge drinking on a monthly basis as they are more at risk to the influence of alcohol due to their underdeveloped brains (Moderik, elsevier, 2014). Older generations are more at risk when it comes to the consumption of alcohol but younger generations partake in risky alcohol involved situations but with age the central nervous system struggles to tolerate alcohol; hence why the recommended standard drinks adults are to have is 4 drinks, if it is over 14, in australia the individual would be classified as an alcoholic. (australian department of health,2020). Economic The covid-19 pandemic in 2020, has impacted the economy hard, sending the australian economy in a technical recession. The pandemic has resulted in businesses shutting down, individuals losing their jobs along with fluctuating rise and fall of goods and services purchased as perceived needs and wants change throughout the time individuals are spending most of their time in isolation at home as ordered by Australian government and health authorities (vic.gov.au/coronavirus,2020). In the attempt of minimising the risk of transmitting covid-19 between staff members with each other, businesses such as Corona extra cooperation, had to minimise staff employed on shifts saving the business money by avoiding employing an unnecessary amount of employees given the circumstance but it also cost the business as laid off workers meant after this year the business is most likely going to have to hire new employees as old employees may refuse to come back to work due to a lack of stability they previously had working at the Corona factory. Unemployed workers were left with government assistance funds, these funds became discretionary income. As a result of the pandemic real household discretionary incomes have decreased by -.9% and unemployment rates have sky-rocketed to 6.8% (Australian Bureau statistics) . As beer is seen as a non-essential good, this means that consumers have less money to spend on beer and other similar products. Article ‘Corona extra sales haven’t been hurt’ (Goldstein, 2020) coronas extra beer sales were not heavily nor obviously impacted but their share prices spiked downwards as the investors sold their stocks linking with corona beer. In the first half of the year Corona extra beer had a loss in sales but the loss in sales weren’t extremely noticeable, this data has been stated in the article but has yet to be published, the data available to suggest the stated claim in the article is the rise and fall of corona beer stocks. It has been estimated that $14 billion dollars of australian money is spent on alcohol, the estimated spending on alcohol is roughly close to the amount of money Australian consumers spend on groceries (IBIS,2020).

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/it-seems-like-corona-sales-havent-been-hurt-by-its-name-11596127 100 https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2020/04/24/australia-deflation-coronavirus-recovery/

https://www.comparethemarket.com.au/blog/health/the-cost-of-drinking/#:~:text=It's%20estimated%20t hat%20Australians%20spend,on%20booze%20a%20little%20perspective. https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia/latest-re lease Political There is no known new law to be affecting Corona at the moment however In Australia the legal drinking age is 18 years or older and individuals selling alcoholic beverages to consumers are to be over the age of 18 years as well (australian government department of health,2019); Although drinking under the age of 18 is considered legal if parental guardian consent has been provided and that the minor is under the influence of alcohol under responsible adult supervision, such a law exist in australia due to the cultural diversity in which certain religions and nationalities implement social drinking at a young age as part of their culture (National drug and research centre australia, 2018). Early in the year of 2020 around february Corona beer company faced social dilemmas with the growing rumour that their drink gave consumers Covid 19 as the brand name “Corona” sounded like the coronavirus, this lead to government funded World health organisation to step in and explain to consumers that Brand corona had no correlation to treating or insinuating the corona virus to its consumers, this was addressed on the mythbuster section on their site in regards to 2020 myth related to alcohol(World health organisation,2020) , they mention that drinking alcohol does not prevent you from catching the virus and drinking corona beer will not give you the novel virus as well. Due to popular wide spread of the brand name, corona has benefited from government agencies, organisations and individual societies by having these organisations vouch for the brand ensuring to the people, the potential consumers that coronavirus is not correlated with catching covid-19. Socio-Cultural Corona beer having certain negative impacts on beliefs or stereotypes in china and america, wide spread rumour that corona beer gives people coronavirus eventually spread to Australia. Australia's beer drinking culture is arguably one of the biggest parts of australian culture as it is strongly connected to social situations, with 79% of australians consuming 6-10 standard drinks on a single occasion (Willis,2019). When it comes to which alcoholic option Australians prefer between wine and beer, data suggest that 39% of Australian consumers prefer beer over the 36.4% who prefer wine (Johnson, Daily mail,2019). Factors that affect society’s basic values, preferences and behavior e.g. Corona beers new stelzer product received backlash on its ad which captioned “coming soon offshore” this received backlash as it was believed to be “poor taste” and “bad timing” due to the add being referenced with the coronavirus which is believed to have come from china. Corona beer brand reached out to consumers stating that they had good intentions but their campaign was agreeably poor timing, though the brand is aware by the mis interpretations of the ads, the brand still refuses to change the ad thus still going along with the same ad. In recent years, people have started consuming more non-alcoholic beers and lighter beers such as people are shifting their values to be more health conscious. (DrinkWise, 2017) found that “personal health/lifestyle factors and a focus on moderation are influencing this decision”. This has seen an overall decrease in the amount of beer consumed in the last year. Beer consumption dropped from 38.2% to 37.6% (Roy Morgan, 2020) Consumers are also becoming more conscious about the environment and purchasing products that are sustainable or support sustainable practices and charities. It can be seen that consumers are willing to spend more money on products that have been made sustainably. (Harvard Business Review, 2019) found that In one survey 65% of participants said they want to buy purpose-driven brands that advocate sustainability.

Technological forces As modern day society advances, technology has enabled users to have consumer power as the users have become consumers. With big platforms such as Facebook, consumers are able to voice their opinions of brands such as Corona beer. With the use of social media, rumours can easily be spread along with reviews and ratings being easily accessible. This results in brands reputations being damaged while providing the business with additional primary information straight from their consumers. With the use of social media, not only can brands receive primary information but the brand name has been used to create trending jokes and rumour at the beginning of the crisis providing corona extra cooperation with more exposure to the media which ultimately provides a good opportunity to reach potential consumers(llayda,Università Ca' Foscari Venezia,Social media effecting brand reputation). Sharing content related to the brand enabled Corona can have both negative and positive impacts, either way, social media content shared related to the brand enables it to reach the potential consumers further than regular marketing strategies that had may not have been noticed could. Mexican Corona beer corporation has come up with an innovative eco friendly form of packaging for their canned products by creating a canned product that is stackable to one another using a screw mechanism designed into the top and bottom of their cans, Corona is calling these can fit packs as they lock up to 10 cans securely and fit together almost seamlessly to form a tube. In doing so, Corona Extra beer consumers can create their desired packs by simplifying screwing the cans together, which results in no additional waste, such as cardboard or plastic but simply just tin cans twisted onto each other (COTW campaigns of the world,2019). Legal: The australian government sector of australian trade and investment commission, implements legislations to protect consumers, the environment and the community as well as to ensure the stability and structure of fair trading as well as competition(austrade.gov.au,2020). These laws are enforced by the australian competition and consumer commission. Australian consumer laws provide regulations on contract terms deemed unfair, rights and guarantees of consumers, product safety laws to ensure that consumers and businesses are not taken advantage of. When it comes to running a business, there are certain legal requirements for certain businesses to have environmental licenses or permits to sell particular goods and services (business.gov.au,2020). Businesses such as Corona extra cooperation, would be required to attain a producers licence, this licence provides them with authorisation to supply their on alcoholic products to other licence holders e.g. Dan Murphy, an alcoholic beverage distributor franchise. With this licence the brand is able to supply their own alcoholic products at their own premises for take away sale, supply liquor for consumption on their premises, deliver their one packaged products to costumes and sell their one alcoholic products an additional retail premises ( ABLIS business.gov.au) Environmental: The alcohol industry is known to use vegetation such as grain, potatoes, rice, sugar cane and more, as the only way to attain the vegetation used to produce alcohol, the business must tend to the plants and in doing so they may have to use fertilizer and other products that over time contaminate the soil which eventually leads to further contamination of soil once the potentially high in iron soil is dumped into other areas in order for the business to re-grow its crops with new soil (gasco, environmental research and public health, 2018). Environmental management and business section of business.gov.au aims to implement regulations in order to reduce the energy consumption of both consumers and businesses (white,Habib,Harsity, Sage journals,2019). That water usage is more efficient and that managing waste is more effective and well regulated (Australian trade and investment commission,2020) Environmental laws

not only enable businesses to perform more ethically but it also has benefits such as; by spending less on materials, water, energy and waste management businesses are able to save money. Consumers are more likely to support a business that cares about its impacts on the surrounding as well as general environment, thus building a positive reputation for the business. Most businesses are impacted by environmental legislations but different particular environment laws will impact the business depending on the business. The Department of Agriculture, water and the environment executes the environment protection and biodiversity conservation act which regulates and monitors how businesses are performing in order to avoid and control pollution that is known to harm the environment(EPA, 2016).

2.3 Competitive analysis: Direct Tooheys Strengths ● Strong brand recognition in Australia

Weakness ● Mainly focused on the market of Australia and New Zealand ● Heavily reliant to do well in Australia and New Zealand or company profits may fall

Opportunities ● Expansion in the Asia Pacific market ● An increase in product varieties

Threats ● Intense competition from market leaders such as Corona and Carlton etc ● Increased awareness regarding the consumption of alcohol and health effects

Indirect Craft beer Stone and wood Strengths ● A different choice for customers that are seeking a new variety of alcohol

Weakness ● Options of products are limited as compared to other alcohol companies

Opportunities ● Expansion outside of Australia ● Product placement in more retail shops

Threats ● Market share can easily be captured by major brewery manufacturers if they were to enter the craft beer industry

Balter

Strengths ● Has a range of traditional beer products ● Provides different alcohol beverages for different moods and alcohol levels ● Available throughout the whole of Australia

Weakness ● Operations are on a scale considerably smaller to major competitors

Opportunities ● Expansion outside of Australia ● An increase in more creative products

Threats ● ● The market share could easily be consumed if not properly managed and having a desire to capture a bigger portion

2.4 Consumer behaviour analysis Who are the consumers of Corona beer? The main consumers of Corona Extra are adults over the age of 18, as that is the legal drinking age in Australia. Of the adults who consume beer, 59% are men compared to only 20% of women. (Roy Morgan,2018). The relative consumption levels between the sexes indicate that beer plays a much more important role in the lives of Australian men than in the lives of Australian women. Overall beer consumption in Australia has decreased by 0.7% in the last 5 years (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2019).

There are 5 different types of beer consumers: 1. Loyalists: who make up the largest segment of consumers with 38% of people identifying themselves as a part of the group. This group of consumers often drink their beer around social and sporting events. 2. Experimenters: This makes up 25% of the population, an up and coming segment who have a passion for beer and are less price sensitive. Usually, these consumers are often trying new craft beers and searching for unique tastes.

3. Aspirers: 15% of beer consumers make up this segment where more ethnic groups are dominant and consume beer that has been imported predominantly. 4. Trend seeker: Makes up 12% of the population and their characteristics consist of organising social events such as beer and food pairing to try and connect groups. 5. Sipper: Lastly, this is the smallest segment, consisting of 10% of people. This group relates to consumers where beer isn’t their first beverage choice and tends to enjoy lighter beers such as pale ales and fruity beers. Women make up a large section of this group. Corona Extra beer consumers fall under the loyalist’s category, mainly where consumers drink it at all social occasions, mainly sporting events, BBQs, at pubs, clubs, festivals, family dinners. The consumption of beer decreases between July-September at around 37.6% compared to the warmer months of January - March where the average proportion of Australians drinking beer is 43% (Roy Morgan, 2015). This is due to the increase in temperatures and the increase of social events based on the weather. Motivations for consumers to purchase. The major motivations for consumers to purchase Corona over other beers would be the price of the product and the quality of the beer. As Corona is a large brewery, they have optimal quality as their machinery is top range which allows for less change inconsistency, it also allows them to charge less for their beers compared to independent breweries as the operational costs are much lower. Consumers also base their purchasing decisions based on the packaging of beer such as the number they come in (4 pack, 6 pack, slabs) and whether the beer is in a can or a bottle...