Marketing sector and has supported to offer in-depth knowledge regarding IMC
Introduction
This study is based on marketing sector and has supported to offer in-depth knowledge regarding IMC while focusing towards the future strategies that can be used for future IMC campaign. For this study purpose, researcher has taken alcohol industry and has taken specific brand, i.e. Budweiser. To make the study, more specific, researcher has selectedthe geographic region that is the UK which has supported to offer in-depth experience and knowledge of media and marketing communications. In this proposal, researcher has given consideration to critically analyse the marketing of the brand while offering the future direction. Moreover, this study demonstrates comprehensive situation analysis and market dynamics. Furthermore, it has also discussed the core competition and the key strengths and weaknesses of the brand. In like manner, it also illustrates comprehension of its branding, positioning and its marketing performance while focusing towards marketing mix elements. Additionally, it also discusses the strategy of the firm which is utilized for the purpose of managing the competition and marketing communications. This study has given huge focus to describe the current industry trends and future trends as well as competitors’ analysis by utilizing various theories, frameworks and concepts.
Industry definition and Parameters
To conduct this study, retail alcoholic industry has taken by the researcher. Alcohol industry is the commercial industry which involves manufacturing, distribution, as well as sale of alcoholic beverages. In the UK, government is focused towards making the alcohol firms involve in CSR to work with the alcohol industry while reducingthe harm towards the society. Lyons,& Britton (2013) depicted that Budweiser is an American-style based pale lager which was produced by Anheuser-Busch andat present, it is the part of the multinational corporation, i.e. Anheuser-Busch InBev.
In the context of the UK, this industry has shown fast growth in the last decade. It has increased the level of competition in this industry (McCambridge, Hawkins, & Holden, 2014). Due to which, alcohol firms of the UK has increased the concern towards integrated marketing communication channels as it remains supportive to increase the presence over social media as well as towards the digital platforms and supports to increase the brand awarenesswhile creating effective marketing communications.
To analyse the market dynamics & trends, there is a need of focussing on opportunities and threats of the industry driving factors. At the same time, for competitor evaluation, there is a need of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the firm. This analysis supports to get the overview of the situation.
External andInternal Factors
External factors:
Opportunities
- Increase in product varieties
- Increased demand
- Customisation
Threats
- Decreasing brand loyalty
- Price sensitivity
- Less trust
- Strict government rules and regulation
Internal factors:
Strengths
- Corporate missions
- Expertise
- Benefits to be acquired
- Communication technology
Weaknesses
- Less focus towards CSR
- Less focus towards advanced technology
Major competitors of Budweiser include Miller lite, Heineken, Carlsberg, Kirin, Asahi and Molson Coors. Miller is the second largest retailer filled with lot of beverages in alcoholic segment. Total acquisition of SAB miller with AB Inbev in UK could take up the 30% total contribution or market potential in the UK beer markets. An AB Inbev offer product with low price and follows American style shopping jointly functioned under SAB miller operations (Budweiser, n.a). More than 600 stores like General Merchandise stores and chainsare operated by AB Inbev in distribution mode. Price roll back program of AB inbev increase the customers number and brand image in the market.
- People with low-income: The cost of Budweiser is low compared to other brands of alcohol and the low income people can be targeted.
- Old age people: People above 50 and 60 can be targeted and they like to have classic alcohol which is light. There are different types of people are more towards the organization and its success.
- People lives in villages: The spending behaviour of village people are lesser compared to urban population for the alcohol but the frequency of purchase will be higher.
According to the views of Huang, &Sarigöllü (2014), marketing mix is the combination of factors,which can be controlled by the firm to influence the purchase of its products while retaining the existing consumers and influencing the target audience.
Marketing Mixof Budweiser
Marketing mix of Budweiser has supported to analyse the opportunities as well as challenges of the firm. This section has supported to understand the perspectives of marketing mix on the basis of 4 Ps.
Figure 1: Marketing Mix 4P’s
(Source: Mintz, &Currim, 2013)
Product: Budweiser is one of the trusted companiesand the products of the firm are beer and lager based alcoholic drinks to its customers. Firm is highly focused towards offering fresh and high quality products to its customers. Its major high selling brands are Budweiser 66 and Budweiser prime(Budweiser,n.a.). Freshness of the products is ensured before supplying the brand anywhere. It offers large choice of size in the context of its main products and it also launches products linked to thesport or cultural activities on a regular basis. It not only provides top quality beers but also offers the products which are not linked to alcohol andis used in the sports.
Price: Budweiser constantly alters their price in order to satisfy the needs and demands of the customers. Product bundle pricing, premium pricing and promotional pricing are strategies’ employed by Budweiser. Several features like match and compare strategy facilitates customers to choose Budweiser in terms like quality, features, easy of shopping products and so on. Budweiser is focused towards utilizing competitive pricing strategy to increase the competitive advantage in the industry (Budweiser,n.a.). The price of a 12 pack is around $7.99 to $8.99 however Budweiser is not dealing in price leadership but it is focused to provide the products inreasonable price.
Place: Budweiser has more than 5000 employees and it is operating in large number of stores in the UK and it is also actively functioningover online and offline stores. Along with AB inbev, Budweiser act successfully in delivering products to customers’ doorstep(Mintz, &Currim, 2013). It is a brand which has an incredible distributive network. It is available at thegrocery store, liquor, store, convenient store, concerts and sport events. It is available to purchase almost at every place in the UK,which has a liquor license.
Promotion: Budweiser sponsorship program allows the company to act successfully along with its suppliers. It enables to add competitive advantage and sustainability of the organization in international environment. This firm is always concern about customers and has designed effective promotional strategy for its target audience, i.e., males who lie between the age criteria of 21 and 34 year (Datta, Ailawadi, & van Heerde, 2017).This target segment is of those customers who are the largest population of beer drinkers. Firm is focused towards changing thelook on a regular basis. For creating brand image,firm useseffective advertising strategy. It has created its great presence over internet and sports events.
