Week 10 EOC: What are the benefits vs. the features?

My brand of vodka, Elysian Vodka, has many benefits and features. One feature that it has is that it is made from supple grapes imported from France. The benefit of this feature is that the grapes give it a unique sweet taste that is different from other brands. Another feature is that it is made with natural fresh artesian water imported from the Fijian islands. This feature also adds to the benefit of the vodka's unique taste. Our vodka is also distilled a total of 6 times. The benefit to this feature is that it is free from virtually all impurities, which helps give it a smooth lasting finish. An additional feature of our vodka is that it is adorned with gold flakes inside the bottle. The benefit of this is that it enhances the luxurious appeal of the brand and helps mark it as superior quality, premium vodka brand. The gold flakes also helps make the brand stand out as it is unique and will attract people to buy it because of this feature. 

Implement Evaluation Control

Once a marketing plan has been completed, it then needs to be implemented. “Marketing implementation is the process that turns marketing plans into marketing actions in order to accomplish strategic marketing objectives.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 57) We would implement the steps in our marketing strategy by forming teams within the company to accomplish each task. We would work with our makers to ensure that quality ingredients are being used, then work with designers and advertising people to put out the ads to promote our product, then work with vendors and desired distributors to get our product out to our target customers. According to Armstrong and Kotler, it is also important to establish control after the implementation of the marketing plan. “Control consists of measuring and evaluating the results of marketing activities and taking corrective action where needed.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 55) After about 6 months of implementing our initial marketing plan, we will evaluate our results and numbers and decide on what changes to make. If our marketing plan is going well and desired results are occurring, then we will continue to implement the marketing plan. However if we do not see an increase in sales or we are not meeting our desired goals, then we would figure out where the problems are occurring, whether it be in the product, price, distribution, or promotion, and make changes accordingly.

Price

“Price is the amount of money customers must pay to obtain the product.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 54) Since our product is a luxury, super premium brand, our selling price would be based at $70.00 USD. Although it is a bit of a steep price for a bottle of vodka, it must be taken into consideration that our vodka of superior quality. It  is made from the finest grapes imported from France, as well as fresh natural artesian water imported from Fiji. It is then distilled multiple times, 6 to be exact, to eliminate all impurities and give it a smooth lasting finish. Our vodka is then adorned with gold flakes inside the bottle. Therefore, our customers are really paying for luxury and quality.

Promotion

“Promotion means activities that communicate the merits of the product and persuade target customers to buy it.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 54) For Elysian Vodka, our promotion would be using visually appealing ads with creative taglines to get target customers interested and intrigued about our product. An example of one of these ads can be seen below. 

Distribution

“Place includes company activities that make the product available to target consumers.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 54) For our company, we would be distributing our product in high-end bars, clubs, and restaurants, as well as specialty liquor stores. Since our product is a super premium quality, luxury brand, we would only distribute it to places that fit our target market and limit the number of places that carry our product to further set the tone that our product is superior and a special occasion within itself to take part in our product.

Product

The marketing mix is an important part of any marketing strategy. The marketing mix is a set of marketing tools that includes product, price, place, and promotion. This mix is manipulated to produce a desired response from a target market. According to Armstrong and Kotler, “an effective marketing program blends all of the marketing mix elements into an integrated marketing program designed to achieve the company’s marketing objectives by delivering value to consumers.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 54) The first component of the marketing mix is product. “Product means the goods-and-services combination the company offers to the target market.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 54) In our case, our product is vodka. Our vodka is made from all natural ingredients that include grapes from France and artesian water from the Fijian islands. It is also distilled multiple times to get rid of all impurities and provide a smooth finish.

Target Market Strategy

According to Armstrong and Kotler, “to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace, companies need to be customer centered.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 50) Therefore, it is important for a company to evaluate each potential target market and decide on which one will be the most receptive to the product. The first step to this is market segmentation. This involves “dividing a market into distinct groups of buyers who have different needs, characteristics, or behaviors, and who might require separate products or marketing programs.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 50) Then after the market is divided into different groups, these groups become market segments. “A market segment consists of consumers who respond in a similar way to a given set of marketing efforts.” (Marketing: An Introduction, Armstrong and Kotler, p. 50) For Elysian Vodka, since we sell a super premium, luxury brand, our target market would be older people (35 years old and up), who have sophisticated tastes and a social lifestyle, as well as a moderate to higher income level.