Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Essay

Boston Beer Company Mission statement is to “seek long-term profitable growth by offering the highest quality product to the U.S. beer drinker”

GBBC’s competitive advantage was product differentiation of both its restaurant and beer. The beer had a good brand image because it was fresh and high quality compared to the alternatives available in the market. The restaurant served only home brewed beer that gave it a premium perception. The restaurant was German style, moderately priced dinning and high quality and served trendy cuisines. GBBC chose the restaurant location strategically and modified the restaurant, while keeping the basic idea intact, to meet the preferences of local customers.

In regards to business-level strategies and overall cost leadership, Anheuser-Busch is the undeniable industry leader when it comes to beer sales. Even if Anheuser-Busch beers aren 't the cheapest, they still are bought for their quality and Anheuser-Busch has gained tremendous market share for this. As for their focus, Anheuser-Busch focuses on a broad segment of customers producing a variety of beers for a variety of budgets to suit all personalities ' needs. Their differentiation factor is that even though Anheuser-Busch produces such cheaper beers as Budweiser and Bud Light, they also produce premium, more expensive beers like Bare Knuckle Stout and Shock Top Belgian White. Anheuser-Busch produces over 100 different brands of beer and

- The recent market position of Samuel Adams beer is very strong, as well as growth prospects.

When entering the Canadian market, Guo faced multiple problems that halted the process. These problems included; high duties and taxes, non-Chinese Canadian consumers not knowing Yanjing’s products, and Canadian prices compared to the Chinese market prices. Although there are many present problems with selling this beer in Canada, immigrant entrepreneurs can avail services and are able to stay in the market. As long as one stays vigilant and was willing to take high risks, the success in importation of beer to Canada could be achieved.

The Boston Beer Company is currently the largest craft beer company in the United States, however, the craft beer industry is growing in an otherwise shrinking market increasing the amount of serious competition that The Boston Beer Company is facing.

Several attempts have been made by Boston Beer Company to continue on a growth streak but not all attempts have been successful. The main goals for Boston Beer Company are to increase revenue and continue growing in the industry. Boston Beer Company has had trouble growing as barriers of entry are low and competition is high. Even though the market has seen a slight upturn, however Boston Beer’s founder Jim Koch elaborates on the company’s dissatisfaction, “We are disappointed with our depletion trends in 2016, which have remained weak so far in 2017. These trends are affected by the general softening of the craft-beer category and cider category and a more challenging retail environment with a lot of new options for our drinkers”. (https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/02/22/boston-beer-finds-growth-the-hard-way.aspx)

The problems in the market is that sales and market share has declined slightly over the past years and in the past 12 months the competition has increased, new brands has entranced the market. However on the beer market the big and well-known brands are controlling the market, and consumer often tend to choose a brand they recognize. Therefore it is important that the brand is identifiable to the public (Marketline 2015, p. 21). This

The beer industry can be considered a monopoly since large national brewers maintain economies of scale in brewing, better distribution tactics, spend heavily on advertisement, and create barriers of entry for other smaller brands.

As a company[s main mission to be the greatest beer in the world, they have achieved competitive strategies to be able to protect their business-level strategies; Sprinkler Expansion strategy, Aggressive Marketing Strategy and Consumer Responsiveness Approach.

By 1980 Anheuser-Busch, Miller Brewing, Pabst, and Stroh’s were the main four that made up nearly 80% of the market. By the mid-nineties it was down to three major players: Coors, Miller, and Anheuser-Busch. The beer industry includes packaging manufacturers, shipping companies, agriculture, and other businesses who depend on brewing. The American brewing industry employs approximately 1.66 million Americans today. There are generally three tiers of beer suppliers in the United States: domestic giants like Anheuser-Busch and Miller, importers, and craft brewers.

• The demand of American beer has been increased in Europe, Asia and South America.

Several facts are changing in today’s marketing communications. Owing to the growing numbers of alternative communication media and promotion, marketing communication does not just primarily focus on advertising and promotion. Organizations and entrepreneurs begin moving toward the process of integrated marketing communication (IMC), which has emerged as a new concept and the major communication development in marketing in the 21th century. More and more companies adopt IMC to convey a consistent message about their brand and products to derive competitive advantage and brand value. In addition, IMC has developed into a beneficial strategy for companies to reach more customers as well as build good customer relationships. Smith et al.

Due to recent advances in technology, communication, and transportation, companies are no longer confined to just one country to market and sell their products in. This has presented many companies with global opportunities. China, one of the fastest growing countries in regard to economy and population, presents a very appealing market to businesses looking to expand. China has a growing middle class that no longer has to be as price sensitive (Barton, Chen, Yin, 2013), and this is good news for American companies that have a strong brand name and do not necessarily rely on a cheap price to sell their goods. China is also experiencing an increased demand for biscuits and crackers, but many people are also becoming more health-conscious (“Entering the Biscuit Market in China: There is Still a Chance,” 2014). These presents Nabisco, a strong brand name in the United States, the perfect opportunity to expand their graham cracker line into China.

Also, Yue Sai’s products can’t compete with brands with larger marketing budgets and distribution channels in marketing scale. In order to compensate for this disadvantage, Yue Sai needs to shrewdly utilize its product’s influence on Chinese consumer behavior. For example, using an expensive Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM) known for its natural medicinal properties will imprint a positive image in Chinese consumers. Since TCM is generally believed to be gentle, healthy, and harmless, it will