Squirt Case Study

Gatorade is a flagship brand of PepsiCo and has a commanding 75% market share of the sports nutrition beverage marketplace globally, being sold into 80 different countries according to the latest PepsiCo annual report published in late 2011. Gatorade's success in branding and product marketing has actually expanded the global market for sports nutrition beverages during the late 1990s and into the 21rst century. Recently however the company has faced many channels including product line extensions of the last decade which failed to deliver strong results (Pollack, 1997) and a more critical analysis of their ingredients as many of their beverages are sold in public schools (Tallon, 2009). Despite these challenges however, Gatorade continues to experience strong market share and growth. The intent of this analysis is to evaluate and provide recommendations for each of the four areas of the marketing mix including product, price, promotion and place or distribution.

The soft-drink industry capitalizing on creating the best product. Each product has a different taste, formula, and color to entice the consumer. It is important for the product to remain innovative in order to keep the consumers interested. The suppliers can easily differ, because they do not hold much value or put

Squirt has been exposed to many numbers of Hispanics, those of Mexican descent primarily because of the beverage in Mexico which could be a very beneficial for Squirt in the market in the U.S. by considering there is a very large Mexican population in the United States. In the other side, in California alone there are around 77% of the Hispanic population is of Mexican ancestry. 77% of the 11,000,000, the Hispanic population = 8.47

One of the alternatives for Squirt is to reinforce the marketing strategies. They should consistently advertise their carbonated grapefruit soft drink in United States for long period of time, which will lead to high brand awareness and loyalty. The budget spend on advertising by Squirt is less than the competitors’ budget. Squirt should also use their budget towards making their advertising more appealing to the targeted age group, research and development process to achieve higher quality standard for their product. Also further research and development is recommended by Foote, Cone & Belding to compete with their competitors such as Coca-Cola and

The product will appear custom made for the market segment that we have mentioned. The next step will involve carrying out advertisements, with proper marketing, ad’s, local coupons and advertisements everywhere that sells a soda. The advertisements should be mostly in fashion and entertainment magazines, not to mention facebook advertisements and other social outlets that have pop up ad’s. This is because most of our target clients prefer such magazines as opposed to Wall Street Journal. The next step will involve positioning the product in the market. Customers should be able to access the product with ease and convience. The products should be stocked in shopping malls and departmental stores in the market. Better yet lets construct an

This marketing plan has been designed after a keen analysis of the market and examinations of the marketing research so as to develop products, which satisfy the market needs. The mission of the company is inspiring others through the brands offered. Secondly, the company has an objective of making a difference in the market through the creation of value centered products. The product being marketed is the Waters Bottling Company’s soft drinks.

For more than a century, Coca Cola and PepsiCo have been the major competitors within the soft drink market. By employing various advertising tactics, strategies such as blind taste tests, and reward initiatives for the consumer, they have grown to become oligopolistic rivals. In the soft-drink business, “The Coca-Cola Company” and “PepsiCo, Incorporated” hold most of the market shares in virtually every region of the world. They have brands that the consumers want, whether it be soft-drink brands or in PepsioCo’s case, snacks. With only one soft-drink market, the two competitors have no choice but to increase sales by stealing the other competitor’s clients. This led to the term, the “cola wars” which was first used

Cox believes that attention must be drawn to Squirt 's advertising and promotion plan. Both topics were addressed in a June 2001 presentation by the brand 's advertising agency, Foote, Cone & Belding. Following a review of U.S. Census 2000 statistics, Squirt consumption data, and its own and Dr Pepper/Seven Up research, Foote, Cone & Belding proposed a refinement in Squirt 's target market and positioning which had previously been aimed at 18- 34 year olds. Through research that featured Squirt 's consumption by racial/ethnic group and age relative to carbonated soft drink users, Foote, Cone & Belding recommended that Squirt target a multicultural, 18-24 year old segment in order to tap into this heavy carbonated soft drink user segment. The total sales broken down by racial/ethnic groups can be seen below.

As we all go about our day, we rush to place to place. Around us there are things for sale, people everywhere trying to make money. As we are rushing around, we all tend to get thirsty as we have a thousand things going on. In America we have dozens of choices when it comes to soft drinks, although the two most widely known are Coca-Cola and Pepsi. Many are often stuck between choosing Coke or Pepsi; even though they are slightly different in appearance, taste, and price it makes a world of difference to the customer.

Also soft drink companies diversify business by offering substitutes themselves to shield themselves from competition. Rivalry:

| Weaknesses: * Pays extra payment for new flavor. * More expensive to produce than other sports drinks. * Deciding the segment to target. * How to position the product in the mind of its potential consumers

Hawaiian Punch has much less control over the sale and distribution of the brand in the direct to store network and sold much less in volume, but does receive very high gross margin contribution after marketing. This network accounts for only eighteen percent of total brand sales but contributes forty-one percent of the gross contribution of the brand. The target market is also different from the finished goods network. In the direct to store model the target market is households with children six to seventeen years old, focusing on teenagers. This needs to continue since this category, carbonated soft drinks, is over twenty-eight percent of the total beverage market and has been growing in both volume and market share. By being in this distribution network, it allows for not only additional sales but the ability to target a different market segment, the teenage; who most likely drank Hawaiian Punch from the juice aisle and now will choose it from the carbonated drinks aisle.

Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc. is the company which produces the brand Squirt. “Squirt is a caffeine-free, low sodium carbonated soft drink brand with a distinctive blend of grapefruit juices that gives it a tangy, fresh citrus taste. Squirt is the best selling carbonated grapefruit soft drink brand in the U.S.” (Kerin and Peterson, 2010) Kate Cox, the brand manager responsible for Squirt believes that market targeting and product positioning are key elements in Squirt’s advertising and promotional plan development. This case study will provide a summary and analysis of Dr. Pepper/Seven Up, Inc.’s options and the examination into the company’s strengths, weaknesses, threats, and opportunities.

Marketing executives at Cadbury Beverages, Inc. want to re-launch the following brands: Crush, Hires, and Sun-Drop soft drinks. However, Cadbury has seen several challenges arise in the eve of their next attempt to lead the market. Senior marketing executives decided to focus generally on the Crush brand of fruit flavored carbonated beverages. The key issues that were foreseen by Cadbury executives were the rejuvenation of the bottling network, figuring out brand equity, and develop new positioning. Lastly, there are numerous opportunities available for Crush to take advantage of that which

Market share is an essential feature a company needs in order to remain and survive long term. CoolBurst seems to bear certain unique features which set them apart from their competitors, Thirst Smasher and Drink-Ups. The Atlanta location of its purchasing agents and plant operations enables the company to produce high quality products at a cheaper price, due to the low cost of production materials.