The Better Drinks Co Limited: Manufacturing And Marketing Of Drinks

Strengths

Drinks industry has grown at much faster speed when compared with any other food industry. The Better Drinks Co Limited is dealing in the business of manufacturing and marketing of drinks. It product range consists of juices such as orange juices, apple, grapefruit, raspberry, cranberry, lemon sodas, mango, black current, water and superfood. These drinks are available in all the parts of the world. Company was established in the year 1999 (Better Drinks, 2018). It is a firm from New Zealand and working as a subsidiary of Asahi Holding. Three friends launched this company named Simon Neal, Marc Ellis and Stefan Lepionka. The working name of the company is Charlie’s Group Limited. In the start company was only in the business of selling Orange juices later it expanded to other product range in the year 2001. The Vision of the company is to spread little good all around the world by the help of great tasting juices from high quality stuffs. Its mission statements suggest that company will become one of the best organisations that deal in the business of Drinks.

It is an analysis that suggests about the strengths and weaknesses of the company alongside with the threats and opportunities available in front of the company.

Strengths

• Company has wide varieties of products available with the firm. This helps them in gaining the attention of people that loves fruit juices from different sections of the society.
• They have their own farms from where they avail their raw materials from hence maintain the quality of their products.
• Utilisation of advanced technology has been their priority and currently they have moved towards automation that helps in fast and accurate manufacturing and processing of the juices.
• They maintain a high nutritional value in their products which helps them in new market in an appropriate manner. This is the reason that they have a huge fan base in certain areas (Bloomberg, 2018).
• Their strategies related to gaining competitive advantage over the rivals have helped them in reaching to larger numbers of customers at minimum cost.

Weaknesses

• Outside the Australian sub-continent company has a poor brand image. This is an issue for the company as the population in this region is also less hence improving the sales margin could be a problem for the company.
• They do not have any effective marketing campaign hence their advertisements is not so much appealing. This is the place where they lag behind their competitors.
• Company is not using the online mediums for selling their products at higher levels. This reduces the chances of sales.
• Company’s distribution channel is also limited hence restricting its capacity to increase their maximum numbers of customers.

Opportunities

• Company has huge amount of opportunities outside New Zealand especially in the Asian Region. The major benefit of increasing the business in this region is that there is no monopoly of any company in this region. This region has highly dense cities hence company can extend their market share but they will have to add large numbers of distributors in their group.
• This firm can begin selling its products through online mediums. It is seen that purchasing behaviour of people have changed and they prefer to buy products through online sites rather than going in the stores and purchasing products.
• This company can add more numbers of partners in the new market so as to increase their capabilities in dealing with the business of food and beverages. There are larger numbers of small scale fruit Juice Company have emerged in different parts of the world which can be added by the company in their pool of suppliers.

Threats

• The competition in the industry had gone to the cut-throat level. Both small and big scale competitors are coming up in different regions of the world. This is increasing the expansion chances of the company.
• Global economy is facing many types of crisis and which has reduced the purchasing power of people has removed and hence Juices like products are not highly welcomed.
• There is a change in the global environment conditions and hence has degraded the production of the fruits. The quality and quantity of the fruits have also been reduced hence availability of higher quality raw materials is also reduced.

For analysing the internal situation of the company there are certain factors that need to be analysed. It is seen that fruit juice industry is gaining higher profits but the competition in the industry has reduced the market share of various companies. Some of the factors that need to be analysed are:

• Bargaining power of buyers: Due to presence of large amount of companies in the industry, it is seen that bargaining power of customers are increasing as the options available to them are also large. There are many small companies that are offering products of high quality at lower cost. The freshness is also maintained within the organisation. With the supplier from Asian region, it is seen that companies are availing high quality raw materials at lower cost. This is enabling the firms to reduce their prices and hence benefitting customers.
• Bargaining power of suppliers: There are large amount of suppliers that are available with the company. Many small scale farmers are also forming a cooperative where they are selling their raw materials to the company (Ferreira, Morabito & Rangel, 2010). This increase in the supplier base has reduced their bargaining power. It is also seen that The Better Drinks Company is producing their own fruits and hence the bargaining power of suppliers is further reduced. Overall the suppliers and the company have good relationship with each other.
• Threat of new entrants: Since the investments in setting up the production unit are moderate hence the more investors are trying to indulge their money in these industries. It is also found that companies of both small and large scale are emerging in different parts of the world. The margins of profits are also going to attract investors. Taking the assistance of internet mediums these companies could increase their sale. On the other side the competition is very high and there are many big brands in the industry hence this threat remains on the moderate side.
• Threat of competition: With large numbers of competitors available in the market, the threat of competition has gone to cut-throat level. In such a high amount of competitive market The Better Drinks Company had to make plans for succeeding in the market. Many big companies have adopted the cost reduction strategy hence they have reduced the prices of their products. This has raised the threat of competition to much higher levels.
• Threat of substitution: Threat of substitution is on the higher side as there are many products available in the market. There are fruit meals that are available in the industry. Company will have to increase their product range so that companies do not reduce them. Innovation in the drink industry has further increased the chances of substitution.

Company is following the strategy of new product development and following this strategy company is aiming to bring new products in different drinks segments. It is suggested that company brings a high quality energy drink that is having flavours of different fruits. This product is available in all sizes and all the prices. Company must utilise cans for selling their products. The new products must be capable of checking several health issues. These products must be made of fresh fruits and should have longer lifetime before it gets expired.

For any company, it is essential to define marketing objectives before actually doing the marketing. The objectives for the new product of The Better Drinks Company are:

• The Better Drinks Company is aiming to increase the market base of the firm in new countries with the help of this new product. This is attached with increasing the revenue and profit share of the company.
• Company aims to create a new kind of market for itself where they will attract people that are health conscious or are sports freak (Harris, J. L., & Munsell, 2015).
• Company aims to increase the sale of the company through technological mediums and hence doing marketing through this medium only.

In the current marketing environment, it has become essential for the company to make sure that their marketing strategies are in the manner that improves their market share. In achieving marketing objectives the role of the marketing strategy is very much essential. The better the marketing strategy made by the company, the better is the chance of achieving the marketing objectives.

Weaknesses

In any marketing strategy, it is essential to know that for which target segment they are making these strategies (Ramanathan & Muyldermans, 2010). Market segments must be chosen appropriately so as to ensure that firm do not have problems in making strategies that are effective and has the capacity to attract that particular market segment. The segmentation and targeting must be done in an appropriate manner so as to ensure that marketing campaign can achieve greater success. Energy drink market is expanding and people from every section of the society are demanding of such kind of products that is having different fruit flavours. There is a huge scope of targeting large amount of people with the help of this product. Pricing of these products have also been kept on the competitive side and is lower than its competitors. Some of the strategies that have been used by the company on the basis of some variables are:

• Geography: Organisation is planning to target people from different parts of the world from both regional and worldwide level. Company is following both globalised and localised strategy so as to target people in both the regions. The localised strategy is used in terms of the parameters like supply chain management and pricing. On the other hand globalised strategy is used in the areas such as quality and marketing. Company is also planning to do their business in both Urban and rural areas.
• Demographics: Company is targeting people from all age groups. They are targeting people that are both married and bachelors. Company is producing products for all the three incomes groups’ i.e. higher, middle and low income people. Products are available for both men and women from different occupational group including students, professionals and employees. Since the crazes of energy drinks are higher in youngsters hence company has also targeted this segment only.
• Behavioural: In term of behaviour, company has segmented their target market accordingly and accurately. In terms of loyalty, company is targeting people that are both loyal to the company and are switchers. Company is also aiming to attract people that are seeking cost benefits from the products. In personality traits company is segmenting people of both the types that is easy going and careless. Company has used strategies such as offers and lower prices so as to attract these people.
• Psychographic: In terms of Psychographic behaviour firm is focusing on individuals that belong from different social class i.e. lower, middle and working class people. Company has targeted people that are either taking care about their health or the people that is facing certain kind fatigue conditions. Company is aiming to target both mainstream people and strugglers. These individuals are from different kinds of cultures. People who are sport freaks or loves drinking energy drinks are also targeted by the firm. With the help of strategies such as branding and image building, company can attract these people also.

In any marketing the role of the positioning is very much essential. This company has positioned itself as a company that provides unique taste in the energy drinks at competitive prices. Their strategy is to place themselves as a very different company when compared with all their competitors.

This is strategic marketing tool that helps in strengthening the marketing strategy. The marketing mix for The Better Drinks Company is as follows:

• Product: Their new product is an energy drink that is having flavours of different fruits. The products are of higher quality and contain the ingredients from fresh fruits. The products are available in all sizes and have competitive prices.
• Prices: The prices of the products have been kept on the lower side. This might differ slightly according to taxation and the competitiveness in market but still the reasonable prices in the products have been maintained.
• Place: Company is aiming to sell its products through both tradition methods such as stores and big shops and at the same time they are planning to sell their products through online mediums. The online shopping will only be available on the e-commerce websites. The company also aims to open their own shops that are small and provides all the products through it. These online mediums will also be used as a source for collecting the feedbacks based on which they can improve their campaigns.
• Promotions: Company is planning to do its promotions through the help of both traditional and modern day mediums. Marketing must be done in a manner that it is able to reach to maximum possible customers. Company must take use of the social media as there are large numbers of youngsters who are using this medium. This will also play a role of acting as a medium that improves their word of mouth campaign. Company must also take the help of Television and Newspaper for improving the marketing campaign in the local market. 

Conclusion

A conclusion can be drawn from the report that The Better Drinks Company is one of the best companies that deals in the business of selling different types of Fruit Juices. The internal environment of the company is good but needs to work on their strategies. Bargaining power of customers is on the higher side, bargaining power of suppliers is on the lower side. Threat of new entrants, substitution and competition is one the higher side. Company aims to launch energy drinks having different fruits taste. Company is targeting people from all segments of the society at global levels and company must focus on digital strategies so as to make the business successful.

References

Better Drinks, 2018. Welcome to the Better Drinks Co.  Retrieved from: https://betterdrinks.co.nz/#

Bloomberg, 2018. Company Overview of The Better Drinks Co Limited. Retrieved from: https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapid=23775549

Ferreira, D., Morabito, R., & Rangel, S. (2010). Relax and fix heuristics to solve one-stage one-machine lot-scheduling models for small-scale soft drink plants. Computers & Operations Research, 37(4), 684-691.

Harris, J. L., & Munsell, C. R. (2015). Energy drinks and adolescents: what’s the harm?. Nutrition reviews, 73(4), 247-257.

Ramanathan, U., & Muyldermans, L. (2010). Identifying demand factors for promotional planning and forecasting: A case of a soft drink company in the UK. International Journal of Production Economics, 128(2), 538-545.