Strategic Marketing Plan for Beverage Retailer

Contents
1.Executive summary 3
2.Branding 4
3.Marketing plan 4
4. Competitive strategy 8
5. Goals and SMART objectives 8
6. Advertising and marketing 9
7. Returns on investment 9
8. Key performance indicator 9
9. Budget 10
10 References 12
Executive summary
Background
Second cup coffee is a leading retailer specializing in hot and cold beverages, especially coffee and quick snacks. The retailer has expanded to more than 300 cafes all over Canada from a kiosk that was founded in 1975 by Tom Culligan and Frank O`Dea. The second cup has improved from physical retailing to an online application where customers earn reward points after using the mobile application. Second cup’s mission is to ensure continuous growth through innovation and commitment to quality.

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The target market for the Second cup is millennials with high income and willing to spend on high-quality coffee. People who like quick snacks are also part of our target market. The company has been able to open more than 300 cafes all over the country. Total profit in the year 2019-2020 was $14 million a good proportion being made out of online sales. The covid-19 has really affected us due to government rules and regulations which only allow the sale of take away foods by all hotels and restaurants.
Second cup coffee would require $ 5 million funding in the recovery period from the covid-19 effects. The funds will be used to renovate cafes, buy coffee making and vending machines as well as paying off suppliers. The funds will be sourced from banks, partners as well as other financial institutions. The second cup coffee has employed up to 19,000 employees in the country in its various fields as baristas, attendants, suppliers and various technicians. In the future we hope to become one of most vibrant coffee retailers not just nationally but also internationally the likes of java.
Branding
Layout – Second cup coffee uses similar layout for all its branches countrywide. This makes it easily identified by all its customers as well as standing out of their customers.
Social media posts – the company posts on various social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter twice a day.
Posters – the company has put posters at strategic places where there is traffic.
Marketing plan
Target market/persona

Demographics
Name – James Brown
Age – 28
Gender – Male
Nationality – Canadian
Location – Kitchener
Psychographics
Hobbies – playing football, swimming, computer games and cycling.
Market analysis
SWOT analysis
Strengths
The strengths of the Second Cup coffee are that they have a wide range of products that increase its customer base.
Vibrant online and media adverts enable the coffee dealer to increase market visibility.
Specialization has led to improved brand identity.
Strong financial position hence enabling it to diversify its investment.
Quality of the products have been known to improve over time which has enabled customer retention and loyalty.
Weaknesses
Poor waste management such improper disposal of coffee cups.
The company’s weaknesses include a shortage of top-notch baristas.
Shortage of funds which has affected the company`s financial position.
Inadequate investment in research.
Opportunities
The opportunities are social media platforms have lowered the advertising costs.
Coffee consumption is very high during the cold season.
Increasing global presence has made the coffee out let gain popularity.
Population growth in various localities has promoted business growth.
Change in consumer behaviors has promoted consumption of coffee among the population.
Threats
The company is threatened by aggressive competition from its competitors both direct and indirect competitors.
A shortage of skilled labor in their area of specialization.
The covid-19 pandemic has affected the existence of many businesses.
Competitive strategy
Second cup coffee Co faces stiff competition from its competitors such as star bucks and costa coffee. The company has put in place competitive strategies to ensure that it remains competitive and relevant. Customer satisfaction and high-quality coffee, the company has also introduced coffee-flavored caffeine make the company outstanding among its competitors. Prices have been regulated in all branches to fit the consumer’s purchasing power in all branches; discounts have also been introduced as a customer attraction strategy. All of the branches are strategically located and have a similar layout for easy identification by customers. The online platform has also gone a long way in making sales where families or individuals at home or work order in bulk at their convenience.
Goals and SMART objectives
Goals
Increase sales by at least 17% in the financial year 2020-2021 this will enable the company surpass last years sales and go a long way in economic recovery of the company.
Open up cafes at the local universities where the is a wide target market. This is underway and will be executed once physical learning resumes after the pandemic, every main campus will have a Second cup coffee branch in the school or just within its vicinity.
Smart objectives and tactics
1. To increase the total sales by 17% by the end of the year 2020-2021.
Tactics
This will be achieved though radical advertisement to reach out to our customers.
Have discounts and give a ways to enhance customer loyalty.
Improving the service delivery.
2. Reduce the service delivery time from the average 4.5 minutes to 2 minutes in the next six months, this in effort to reduce the time that the spends from getting in the café to the time he/she is fully served.
Tactics
Increasing the number of employees especially attendants.
Proper arrangement of the cafes in terms of the layout for easy movement of employees as they move about serving customer.
3. Open up 18 new branches in or within universities within the next two years.
Tactics
Advertise among university students informing them of the plan.
Carry out thorough research to establish the needs and wants of the students.
4. Increasing social media visibility by increasing the number of followers twitter from 54k to 100k, Instagram from 44k to 70k, within the next one year.
Tactics
Post engaging post which are humorous, entertaining and educative.
Partner with celebrities and media influencers to promote our social media accounts.
Engage our followers by responding to their questions and issues.
Advertising and marketing

The marketing budget has reduced over the years thanks to the social media platform, on this note as discussed earlier the company plans to increase its social media followers. The company plans to major on online marketing due to its cost effectiveness as well as the ability to reach many people. Other forms of advertising such as newspapers, magazines, television and radio.
Return on investment (ROI)
Advertisements-we shall pay $0.8 per like on Instagram to all our influencers who advertise our products. It is estimated that only half of the people who view a post react to it, so if a post gets 10k likes it is estimated that it has been viewed by 20k people. Analysis also suggests that only 20% of the people buy the product after viewing it.
Key performance indicators (KPIs)
Sales – increase in sales indicate positive response from the customer. The number of sales is expected to increase after the campaigns as market visibility increased. Sales are a key KPI because if indicates the response from the customers.
Social media insights – response from followers on social media platform are indicators of market visibility. The freedom on these platform enables the customers to express themselves without any fear. Positive responses is a good indicator of progress made while negative or no responses means there is still room for improvement.
Service time – with the investments made the service time will reduce hence customers will take a short time before they are served. This will be a game changer to the customer service as delayed orders makes a customer dissatisfied with the service delivery.
Budget

Assigned – $7,000
Proposed – $7,650
Contingency – $650
Total = $8,300

Conclusion
The marketing plan if successful will go a long way not only in enabling the business overcome the covid-19 pandemic but also put the company in the global market. The strategic marketing plan is not expected to yield overnight but its benefits will be seen in the long run. It is considered that for you to survive in the long run you must survive in the short run. The success of this plan does not only rely on Second cup coffee head but on each and every branch.
Even with all the effort without cooperation from employees the strategic marketing plan is doomed to fail hence they must be motivated accordingly. It is important to emphasize on the use of online platforms in marketing, the pandemic has really changed the way of doing business. If businesses are to survive the effects of the pandemic, they must emphasize on the use of online platforms in marketing their products.
References
Chernev, (2018). Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press.
Quebec restaurant (Second cup coffee) sold https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/second-cup-1.5905290
Bookman, S. (2014). Brands and urban life: Specialty coffee, consumers, and the co-creation of urban café sociality. Space and culture.
Yücel, Yılmaz, Çubuk, Orhan, Şimşek. (2015). Coffee tasting experiment from the neuromarketing perspective. In The 2015 WEI International Academic Conference.
Robin, (2016). Sheldon Wolin’s the Reason I Began Drinking Coffee. The Good Society.