Marketing Strategy of Innocent Drinks Essay

1 IntroductionEvery organization needs to throw a port a marketplace strategy so that they know who atomic tele mobilize number 18 their competitors, which market they need to tar redeem, do they mother resources to compete in that market and what strategies they need to adopt to impinge on competitive position in the indus furnish. The most burning(prenominal) thing is with the do oneself of selling, attach to is suitable to rush mint aw atomic number 18 of its intersection. This report foc offices on how the comp what ever bleak imbibitions scramed their marketing strategy in harm of denounce status and marketing commix and with the booster of attire analysis, what win actions they contri neverthelesse take to h old on their market sh atomic number 18.2 necessitous Drinks2.1 visiblenessAfter starting the heapiness in 1998 in a br other(a)ly way, needy drinks have become a very established commemorate now. necessitous has become ten years old this year. It is now the largest beguiler vane in UK and the fourth largest overall. The party has achieved a sale of over degree centigradem pounds within a span of ten years and it has now some 250 employees. The family has won m distributively awards from the year they have started. Its main competitors argon Tropi hatfula and testify label brands which ar still quite behind in terms of market sh ar.2.2 Company w ars straightforward drinks has a openhanded losele of mountains of harvestings which they cl aspire to be do up of pure and fresh crop and which ar free from any kind of preservatives. Their crossings include smoothies, yogurt drinks, thickies, kids smoothies (taking throwaway of those fruits which children uniform the most), pure fruit squeezes. Their fruits argon lendable in several(predicate) sizes and shapes. The connection developed their logo required for a brand in an unconventional manner and now it is famous as dude.3 merchandise strateg y and analysis3.1 Marketing objectivesThe bon ton has highlighted the importance of their smoothie by injecting in peoples mind that drinking smoothie is part of their wellnessy lifestyle. The phoners objectives atomic number 18 that their product should be delicious, healthy and sustainable and their flock is to shake up world healthy by providing their products.3.2 AnalysisPeople atomic number 18 becoming much health conscious and that is what the gratis(p) highlighted among its consumers to increase its customer base and loyalty. 95% of our marketing strategy is what goes in the store, as verbalize by Reed. The familiarity is non employ latest marketing strategies, they are upbeat with the fact that their customers are happy. The company has restricted its marketing and stigmatization to its packaging. The company didnt involve in heavy ads in the beginning, kinda they do their product as a mean to communicate with their consumers. The owners were in favor of p rint to advertise their product so they had it on the four-in-hand sides which impart move eachwhere in the UK. free has a intermixture of both(prenominal) market orientation and product orientation. Developing a substance abuser friendly website, publishing a book, inviting people to visit the companys headquarter, banana tree tree telephone where customers hind end give suggestions and view are put across signs of market oriented company.Secondly, they are quality conscious. They consider their product a fruit and non do of fruits and that is what they want to see in the eyeball of their customer. The prices of their product are high but they goodify it on the substructure of quality by saying that preservatives and c erstntration reduces the cost and they want the stovepipe thing for their consumers. But the companys over confidence regarding its product organism the stovepipe and healthy one may divert its circumspection from customer needs and demands. Be slip t he competitors may come with aforesaid(prenominal) nutritional determine but infract gustation, it flock because be a bane to a company. The company has a marketing team which isinvolved in analysing competition and come up with modernistic musical themes regarding the products and strategies. And there is a intercourse team besides which make an effective converse link with its consumers by website, impudents and feed stomach.3.2.1 Brand strategy and positioningBranding creates repute for the product and it influences everyone directly or indirectly. Innocent made their brand stand come turn up of the closet from the crowd by adopting innovative ways of marketing and that was their beginning in differentiating their product from their competitors Brand name is very critical and it should be concordant with what the company is trying to deliver and how it wants to be perceived by customers. By establishing brand name as irreproachable, the company is trying to get hold of the message of macrocosm pure. Branding has been effectively use as a strategic tool for marketing by unsophisticated smoothies and that helps the company to prevail its share in the market or in precludeing its competitive position. Innocent has developed its brand pic by providing excellent merriment, by being genuine, healthy and socially responsible in the eyeball of their consumers and once the image is developed, they were able to attract the customers. It is because of brand and its perceived value that consumers are loyal and committed to the Innocent products and they do not look for any substitutes (Ginden, 1993).Customers overly perceive it less risky in demoraliseing a brand product with which they are emotionally attached. It is to a greater extent important for products like straightforward drinks which the customers have to consume and which has direct stir on their health and body. For keeping a brand alive, it is very important to go for heavy pr omotions and advertisements and innocent drinks have used their resources very affectively in promotion (OMalley, 1991). Innocent drinks have withal taken a move to stay in touch with its consumers by make a family section. It is a method of communication and reminding the consumers near the products and too to get feed tooshie from customers.The company is using family branding polity as all of its products use the company name. This reduces the cost of having different brand policies for different products. The chance upon to positioning is to make it important in the eyes of consumer that you are incomplete with forbidden the product and on thebasis of this, innocent smoothies has unbroken their customers intact with them. Innocent smoothie is considered a bounteousness brand by its consumers as they relate high cost and high quality with the product as compared to its competitors. The following figure is as perception of customers close Innocent drinks.3.2.2 Marketing m ixTo make the product successful, company needs not only the products but a mixture of elements which is anticipateed marketing mix. The marketing mix is usually designed with the help of marketing research and it is also ground on judgment. Every element of marketing mix compliment distributively other so efficient integration is required to make it successful. Innocent company has used the marketing mix quite efficiently and effectively. yieldInnocent produces fresh and healthy drinks for its customers. The company has a lot of product range including juices, smoothies, thickies, veg. pots and some of their drinks target specific customers as drinks for the kids. The drinks are available in different sizes and in different packings. Their main concentre is to keep things inhering and they are also very much conscious about the fruits and the uprises from where it comes. Innocent smoothies distinguish themselves from other brands on the basis of purity and being 100% natural without preservatives, concentrates and colorings. The company has also described the negative consequences of parsimoniousness and that a product loses its quality, taste and nutritional value and it is put one overe unspoilt to reduce cost and making more money.The company makes its drinks with little deoxycytidine monophosphate impact. Same is the case with the recycling. Most of their packing is 100% recyclable and they are making efforts to use minimum material and that too with little nose candy footprint. Some people are also fascinated from the product just because of the labeling and packaging. Labeling helps in promoting a brand and provides useful information about the product. So innocent drinks made their labeling very different and the kind of which can beguile and make people to give a second look at it. Innocent drinks is enjoying product width from smoothies to veg. pots as well as product length in terms of different flavors which are available toconsumers an d that has real helped the company to maintain its market share and a nurseion against the oc up-to-the-minute un indisputablety occurred in the economic milieu.PriceThere are number of factors that can have an impact on the price. The company is charging high prices as compared to its competitors and still has the largest market share. It has been possible only because of the brand name and positioning. Since the company justifies its high cost with the high quality they are providing to its consumers, so their prices are also at premium level. People paying a premium price because now they have an emotional attachment developed with the brand But since the economic crunch has affected everyone so people are becoming more price sensitive and that is the reason that innocent drinks has illogical some market share this year. The company emphasized that it is less dearly-won to purchase innocent smoothie than to buy fruit and make it at your own.PromotionInnocent is carrying ou t various activities to create awareness about the product among the new or potential consumers and to remind and convince the current purchasers to go for the product. The company uses different methods of promotion from advertisement to personnel selling. They have strikee advertizing and sales promotion very effectively. Innocent has used different approach for its marketing by targeting consumers of different products with different advertisements and campaigns. Website is endlessly an effective method to communicate, promote and making relationship with the consumers. Banana phone is used to get feedback from the customers.Customers are allowed to visit their offices. This strategy is used to develop real relationship with them. Innocent has also taken support from picture commercials and they are using it since 2005. muchover, to make people aware about their products, the company once made a very big compaign on the telly and it regularly arranges festivals as well. Inn ocent used all the leading newspapers for their advertisement. Online advertising such as on facebook has also been used by innocent as a strategy for promotion.Innocent has also developed everyday relations. The company has been engaged in certain social learns such as giving money to munificence, providing drink for dispossessed etc which are important for gigantic term sustainability of military control and to have a good image in the eyes of your consumers.PlaceIn the beginning, Innocent used the local take a crap for its products but as the popularity of products multiplied, the company gradually gained a long market share. The company has found a unique method of selling and distributing their products using cow vans. Innocent drinks use intensive distribution strategy by placing their product in as umteen places and outlet as possible. The company strategy has been shifted from push to pull as being the largest seller in UK and successful brand name, consumers deman d the product. It is now available in more than 7000 retail outlets including the big names as Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda and coffee shops like Starbucks. exporting has already been started by the company in Europe and Ireland. Children also got great doorway to smoothies later the company made a contract with the company pressing catering services to school. After the investment by the carbon in the company, innocent will now have more distribution convey and will have access to new places as well.3.2.3 SWOT analysisSWOT analysis has been carried out to evaluate where the innocent smoothies is standing(a) with respect to the market position. It also helps innocent to analyze how strength can be used to beg opportunities and how weaknesses can be overcome to reduce possible threats. Strengths * brand name / value already developed * company image * customer loyalty * market leader * distribution channels * investment by coca cola * wide product range and substitutes for breakfa st / fruits Weaknesses * high prices as compared to competitors * lower take up among old people * not popular in evening times * can be made at home and even in cafes and shops Opportunities * new products for evening which fires night sleep * emerging markets showing increase every year in market growth * global expansion Threats * competitors (Tropicana) and products by supermarkets as Tesco * new entrants because of market potential * price sensitive people * creditcrunch can affect demand Why are concentrates so rubbish?We believe that food companies should do everything they can to get food to people in its natural state. A concentrated orangeness juice is OJ that has been turn, then evaporated in a vacuum and then homogenised, resulting in a thick tar. This is then frozen and shipped to countries where it is defrosted, reconstituted with water and has add backs added (to enhance flavour and aroma).The concentration process not only affects the nutritional value of the juic e but also the taste. All the good stuff gets boiled away and youre left with a sugary syrup which then has to have scads of horrid stuff added back afterwards to make it taste like fruit again.Basically, concentrated juice tastes cooked, has virtually no nutritional value and thats why we wont ever use concentrates. It has to be pure fruit for us.How should I look after and store your drinks?Please please please keep our drinks cold. We cant stress that enough. Because we dont use any preservatives or other artificial stuff that competency make them last a position longer, they need to be well cared for. They should be stored between 0-5 C, which, luckily enough, is the temperature of your average fridge. So stick them in the chiller as soon as you get home from the shops, or if youre saving a twat for later, dont intrust it on your desk pop it back in the fridge for a while. Once opened, we reckon our drinks are best sot on the same day, although as previously mentioned you should refrigerate them between sips. If you leave them out of the fridge, they will eventually start to ferment. This is a completely safe, natural process but it agency the smoothie goes fizzy. It normally causes tiny bubbles in the drink. Click here to find out more about fermentation. If you surmise a drink to be fermented, please dispose of the contents of the bottle and contact us at helloinnocentdrinks.co.uk or call the banana phone on 020 8600 3939 with details about the bottle or cartonful and its enjoy by date. So, please do keep our smoothies nice and cold. back to topHow long do they last?Our drinks are made from 100% pure fruit and nothing else. Because we dont use preservatives, stabilisers or additives they generally last about as long as a pint of milk. Please eternally keep them chilled and drink them on the same day you open them. disregard I deflect your smoothies?Our smoothies are made of nothing but whole crushed fruit and pure juices, so its completely sa fe to freeze them. However, we dont authentically recommend it because they taste much better fresh. To be more specific, bananas dont freeze well when they defrost they go brown and a bit slimy. Check out this picture of a fresh banana and one thats defrosted. We know which we would rather drink.If you do decide to freeze one of our smoothies, please make sure you defrost it in the fridge so it stays chilled at all times and note that this might take as long as 3 days. You should also drink it on the day of defrosting.What is love?Baby dont hurt me, dont hurt me, no more.Do you have any drinks that dont strike banana?Our kiwis, apples & limes smoothie (also available in 1 litre cartons) and yoghurt, vanilla bean & honey thickie are both completely banana free.argon your products organic?No theyre not organic. We want to minimise pesticide and other agrochemical usage on our fruit, and this is one of the requirements of both the rain forest Alliance and also the innocent minimum standards for our fruit growers. two sets of standards also ban the use of any of the dirty dozen pesticides as listed by the Pesticide Action Net give. To learn the safety of our drinks we conduct free-living tests on our ingredients, at anaccredited laboratory, throughout the harvest calender. Of the test results with anything being notice at all, these detections fall well within the Maximum Residue spring (MRL) that you are allowed. Each year our policy will be reviewed and testing procedures will be updated.And what about all of those moldable bottles?Since January 2008, all our smoothie recipes are in 100% recycled PET* plastic.Weve been working on this project for quite a while. In 2003 we started using bottles made from 25% recycled plastic and in 2006 improved it to 50% recycled. All the time, people told us that it would be impossible to get to 100%, but we time-tested and tried and tried again. And now were here. 100%. It means a 20% decline in materials (weve ma de the bottle lighter) and a 55% carbon lessening in terms of the bottles manufacture. Its a big touchstone for a little company. Were very proud.*PET stands for polyethylene terephthalate. Clear plastic, in other words, said our Stu, who knows about these things.So can I recycle your plastic bottles and tetra pak cartons? Weve got a whole section on our website dedicated to this. You can check it out here. back to top be your products adapted for vegans?Smoothies Were afraid as we cant indorsement that our drinks are shellac varnish free, due to the small chance that tiny marrows of shellac do make it into our drinks, we cant class our drinks as being suitable for vegans. Thickies no (they agree dairy produce and honey).Are your products suitable for pregnant women?Yes. Although weve heard that some of them prefer coal.Can infants and children drink your products?Infants low 12 months shouldnt drink our vanilla and honey bean thickies. The nutriment Standards Agency say s that honey should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism. Infantilebotulism occurs when honey tempers Clostridium botulinus spores, which infect the infant gut that then produces the toxin. This is not a riddle for anyone aged more than 12 months. Regarding children in general, our smoothies, thickies and juices are OK they contain nothing but crushed and juiced fruit (and low-fat bio yoghurt in the thickies), so the health properties should be welcome for kids who quite like sweets and crisps too. But it should be noted that our smoothies and juices contain a large amount of naturally occurring fruit sugars. For this reason you can add water to dilute them if you like.The FSA also recommends that for children, you should try to keep fruit juice to mealtimes. In general, look on the ingredients display board and check the amount of fruit in each bottle. If it seems like a reasonable amount of fruit, then it will be OK. If you dont usu ally give your child this much fruit, then adjust the amount accordingly. We make a range of drinks specifically for children which you can find out about here. Theyve got less bits in them, as children seem to prefer their smoothies that way.Do you think I should dye my hair?No. Ive always thought that blonde suited you.Why do you always use apples, oranges and bananas in your smoothies? These three fruits are a bit like the sodium chloride and pepper of the fruit world, except there are three of them. We use them for natural sweetness (apples), natural sharpness (oranges) and natural thickness (bananas). It defeat using artificial stuff.So why dont you call your mangoes and passion fruits smoothie apples, mangoes and passion fruits? We name our smoothies according to whichever flavours you can taste the most. So we feel if we were to start calling the smoothies apples, mangoes and passion fruits, it would be a bit misleading, as what you really taste when you take a penchant ar e the mangoes and passion fruits. All of the ingredients are printed in full on the label, so its not like were trying to be sneaky or anything.Do your products contain nuts?Our veg pots may contain traces of nuts but our smoothies and juices contain no nuts whatsoever (which keeps the squirrels happy).Are your drinks GM-free?Yes they are.How do you make sure your fruit is from ethical sources?Our ultimate aim is that we are proud of every piece of fruit that we use. We want to buy our fruit from farms that look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards, that detail our expectations for all the relevant social and environmental issues. We are in the process of rolling out these standards with our suppliers, and will work together with them to implement the agreed action plans. We feel that it is really important to understand the issues relevant to each country, and the pressures faced by our farmers, so we are mee ting with more and more of our growers. As our fruit comes from all over the world this is a huge task, but one to which we are passionately committed.We know that there is no point recreating the wheel so we also work with established international accreditation organizations such as the rainforest Alliance. We rootage met them at a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and were so impressed with the work they do, that we now only buy banana from Rainforest Alliance approved plantations. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It not only looks at farm workers rights and wellbeing, but also protects ecosystems on the farms, which encourages bio diversity. We believe this sustainable approach is the best one. A well run farm with motivated workers means better quality fruit and better productivity, which means we get nicer fruit and the farms are more profit able.Are you going to move all your fruit to Rainforest Alliance approved sources? No, it just isnt applicable for certain countries and certain fruits, like those that we source from the UK. But as the Rainforest Alliance expands into new certification territory, like pineapple, well be keen to keep on building our relationship with them. As they develop new standards for newfruits, we will prize their suitability for our growers. Whilst we dont like to boast, it turns out they quite hold the work we do and they showed their gratitude last year with this rather fetching trophy. alfresco of the world of fruit they certify all sort of things including coffee, cocoa and forestry. think out more here www.rainforest-alliance.org back to topWhy dont you buy fairtrade fruit?We take the ethics of our supply drawing string incredibly seriously and took great care to find the best independent certification scheme that matched our values, and suited our needs the best. becomingtrades primary focus is on the prices paid to the farmers and social issues for small farms and cooperatives. Its a great scheme but we felt that Rainforest Alliance looked at a broader spectrum of issues (both social and environmental), which we thought was a better fit with our own ethos. Also, the Fair Trade scheme predominantly certifies cooperative and and family run small holdings not all of our fruit is available from these types of farms, so Fairtrade isnt always applicable to our growers. Articles like this one from The Observer Food Monthly debate the key differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade (this ones about coffee).What is the innocent foundation?The innocent foundation is a grant giving charity that was set up in July 2004 with the idea of bringing nature and communities nigher together for mutual benefit. innocent donate 10% of our profits each year to charity, primarily to the innocent foundation, which funds rural development projects in the countries whe re our fruit comes from. Find out more here.Do your drinks actually contain shiny trumpets/pebbles/cricket pavilions/small churches? No.Can I have some free drinks for my event please?We get lots and lots of requests for our drinks and as much as wed love to help everyone out, it would just be impossible. Instead, we give any excessdrinks we have to the homeless through the charity, Fareshare. You can find out a bit more about the good work they do here.Okay. But its for charity. Does that make any difference?Generally, we feel its better to be able to offer a significant amount of support to one cause rather than a little backing to lots of different ones. With that in mind, every year we donate 10% of our annual profits to the innocent foundation. Its remit is to fund Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work to bring nature and communities closer together. You can see a bit more about the projects we support at www.innocentfoundation.org. Hope that all makes sense.Im runnin g a battle of Marathon/ climbing Everest/ shaving off all my chin hair for charity. Can you sponsor me please? Again, whilst we applaud anyone who gives up their time to sit in a bath of baked beans or run further than the receding shop to raise money for charity but if we sponsored everyone who wrote to us, wed be living off beans and no toast. Instead, we make sure that we give something back to the countries where we buy our fruit, via the innocent foundation.Can I borrow your car?The plenty has gone funny, the fan belts shot and there are no windows. Plus Ive forgotten where Ive parked it. confer us a fiver.No.4 Conclusions and Recommendations4.1 ConclusionInnocents success has been made possible just because of effective and innovative way of marketing which they adopted. Innocent used every kind of channel, big or small in carrying out its promotion. They used every kind of that marketing strategy in which low cost was involved but its impact washigh. The company updates the website and labels regularly. Innocent changed the label quite frequently to maintain the anxiety of its consumers Innocent made the customers loyal by doing little things but they made huge difference for them. Innocent was of the view that making their drinks easily handy to customers is very crucial and success of the company depends on it. The innocent also arranged a free event for its customers as a means of giving thanks to its customers for using their products. Innocent always remained active in interacting with its customers. The owners of the company didnt have much idea about how things should be done and no strategic plan was involved in making the brand name, its packaging and process of initiation it but surprisingly their idea was welcomed by the consumers as it was different and something they can amuse or laugh at.Innocent dominance has been affected in 2008 after the introduction of Tropicana in the market. In April 2009, investment by Coca-Cola is seen as a wise step because as a result of decrease in sales, it was necessary to maintain the brand value. Since the company is facing severe competition from rivals such as Tropicana so funding was required to be in the competition. Coke will increase the distribution channels and give access to more markets by making customer aware of the product. Innocents premium positioning is a key advantage and it also has developed a strong connection with its consumers over the passage of time. Brand loyalty is good but they have to look at their prices if they want to sustain their position as people are becoming more price conscious. It is more unvoiced to retain the customers than to attract new customers4.2 RecommendationsInnocent drinks should closely monitor the environment and conduct market research to identify issues as consumer behaviour, competitors strategies which can have an impact on their brand or positioning (OMalley, 1991). This will help the company to be proactive in their appro ach rather than reactive. As the market is becoming more global, there will always modernise new opportunities but also threats as consumers also have access to variety of products from different countries with different tastes and nutritional values so innocent drinks must(prenominal) consider what their consumers want, their preferences if they want to survive and be successful in the long term. SWOT analysis has identified the threats and weaknesses which innocent shouldconsider and the opportunities which they should exploit by using their strengths.There are some strategies which can be adopted by innocent smoothies as market leaders. They should try to expand the market either by market penetration or by exploring new potential markets. Innocent can also try to protect their current market share which has fallen because of Tropicana by introducing new products into its line. More aggressively, they should try to increase their market share by reducing their prices which are quite high currently and by further increasing promotion. Innocent should also make good use of collaboration with the Coke as it can provide the company with lot of distribution channels.Innocent must focus on strategies which help them to attract new consumers and in retaining the alive customers. Different promotional strategies can be adopted. The company can offer discounts, free samples for new customers to try, free gifts, coupons for customer loyalty, tickets for different events etc. innocent should also ensure that its product is available in as many places as possible. They can increase the availability of products on train/bus stations, petrol pumps and a lot more health clubs.Customer satisfaction is very important because that will encourage them to buy the products of the company again and they will also become a source of advertisement by referring the companys product to others as well (Gilson, 1986). It is the least expensive method of advertisement and promotion. Innocent can adopt some defensive strategies against Tropicana as well. Innocent can reduce the prices in the market in which the rivals have sterling(prenominal) share. Secondly, it is good to have information about competitors move in get on with so that appropriate actions can be taken. Diversification can also be done if the markets are becoming more vulnerable.The research has also shown that smoothies are not consumed in later part of the day so the company can make some drinks which are light, easy on stomach and which help the consumers in getting better sleep at night.Innocent should make use of its brand name by entrance new products like ice cream. Sometimes, new products help in compensating the disadvantage of failed products but the company must remain conscious in launching a new product because it is difficult to develop, have to carry out rigorous market research and there are also long lead time involved and if it fails, it will bring bad image to the brand an d will affect the brand equity so the company must use all the processes of product development from idea coevals to commercialization in order to mitigate the risks associated with new products.ReferencesBaines P., Fill C., rogue K.,(2008). Marketing. New York Oxford University Press, Pg 374-382Ginden, R. (1993), The name game, Cheers, pp.59-62.Innocent drinks. http//www.innocentdrinks.co.uk (accessed 02/12/2009) Mintel. http//academic.mintel.com/sinatra/ oxygen academic/my reports/display (accessed 03/12/2009) OMalley, D. (1991), Brand means business, Accountancy, 107, pp.107-8.