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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Situational Analysis

SWOT Analysis………………………………………........3

PEST Analysis……………………………………………..4

PORTER Analysis…………………………………………5

Brand Personality Assessment……………………………..6

Competitive Analysis………………………………………7

Marketing Research

Survey Information…………………………………………8

Research Analysis…………………………………………..9

Brand Strategy and Objectives

Objectives…………………………………………………..9

Target Market………………………………………………10

Product Positioning………………………………………...11

Marketing Tactics

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan………………11

Public Relations Plan………………………………………13

Distribution Plan…………………………………………...16

Pricing Plan………………………………………………...16

Appendix…………………………………………………………17

Limitations……………………………………………………….18

Bibliography……………………………………………………..19

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SWOT Analysis

Strengths: Vitaminwater is composed of vitamins as well as other ingredients for it’s taste.

Vitamins in this water are designed to replenish your body with nutrients you lack and has many beneficial vitamins when working out. Many people that want to eat healthy

switch to this in order to take less calories into their diet. Also the drink comes in many different flavors appealing to variety of people.

Vitaminwater has different product lines such as XXX water and Energy drink type. This makes the consumer of the drink able to get the type that satisfies his or her needs

depending on the different types of case. For example if someone needs a quick pick me up he or she might chose to drink the energy type over the one that recovers vitamins lost while working out.

It is the fastest growing bottle brand in the market today. Also the overall design of the

bottle makes it very appealing to the eye of the consumer. Due to being linked with Coca-Cola they have a strong force backing them up.

Weaknesses:

Some people may look at this product and call it unhealthy as it has been criticized in the past before. Some information indicates that vitaminwater is not always a product that is marketed in the right demographic areas.

One hundred percent juice products have threatened the vitaminwater product due to the

fact that it is guaranteed one is getting vitamins and nutrients. Consumers see this as a healthy alternative to the so called “soft drink”.

Advertising was not always done to capture the vitaminwater target market. As well as the price per bottle is very high. In todays economy many people do not want to pay a

high price when they can get something for less money. Some vitamins in the water are easy to get through a healthy diet. There are many calories in the drink for a water that is so similar to water.

Opportunities:

Healthy Market: Americans have become more health conscious over the past decade. Nearly 34.9% of American adults are obese, 21% of adolescents and 12% of children.

Due to this more people are looking for healthy alternatives such as, vitaminwater, to drink instead of soda.

Target Market: The Target market is ages 15-30, an age group that is looking for healthly and energizing drinks to consume.

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Society’s response to health drinks: Society includes schools, sports arenas and

restaurants. They are offering healthier options as alternatives to soft drinks.

Threats: Any other sports drinks (Gatorade, Powerade, Sobe Lifewater, etc.)

Company is owned by Coca-Cola- vitaminwater could be cut if Coca-Cola decides to put funds other ways

Diabetes groups- Vitamin Water is very high in sugar Water is a threat- why not drink water and take a multivitamin? 20 oz bottles are very big and bulky- lots of plastic- environmentalists may call out

vitaminwater

PEST Analysis Political The political environment for vitaminwater is mostly centered on ecological and environmental issues. As a company, we care about the amount of dangerous gases and any other forms of waste that our company is putting into the planet. With that being said, we are going to try to minimize this with the use of safe forms of making plastic. Also, we are trying to make fare wages for anyone that is working for our company, directly or indirectly. Economic One of our market orientation is market and trade cycles. Also, we are worried about international trade and monetary issues. With this being said, we will make sure that we are able gain money in international trade and not lose money when looking at the currency exchange. This will help to determine whether or not we should invest in these markets. This will allow us to increase profit in the overseas market. Social Due to vitaminwater being produced and headquartered in the United States, and the population being over 316 million, including the third largest population growth, we are marketing to those people ages eighteen to twenty-four. We are doing this through celebrity endorsements. Also, we are using media and social media to showcase our product. Technological The United States is one of the most technologically advanced countries. With this being said, we will make sure to use this to our advantage. We would be able to use

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this to make the production of our product easier and faster. This means that deliveries will be fast and come in great quantities and less time. This will help to decrease our production cost.

PORTER Analysis

Threats of Substitution

The Coca-Cola industry has some threats that could damage their market. The vitaminwater has a threat of substitution by water, juices and energy drinks. This due to less calories and what is believed to be a healthy alternative. As a customer shopping for

what to buy, one will see aisles full of different types of drinks. Some will have carbonated beverages along with sport drinks others will have will have water, energy

drinks, and juices. The customer has hundreds to choose from all coming from different brands. Most of these drinks are around the same price, leading the buyer to choose whichever one he or she likes best.

There’s a smaller market that can say they have vitamins in their water that are necessary for your body. This market is less competitive, with this being said the profit

margin is larger due to a fewer amount of competitors. In today’s market there are more competitors making the profit margin less and harder to attain.

Competitive Rivalry

Owned by Coca-Cola- Coca-Cola may advertise Coke and Diet Coke (colas) over the vitaminwater; funding may be less because cola takes priority. Coca-Cola also has caffeine, and non-coffee drinkers may be attracted to the “unhealthy” cola option over

vitaminwater, which is caffeine free, although some flavors advertise that they have energy boosters in them.

Sobe Lifewater- Coke and Pepsi have always had a head to head rivalry. When one company develops one type of product, the other fights back automatically. In the

case of vitaminwater, Pepsi has it’s Sobe Lifewater, although Pepsi promotes Sobe Lifewater much less than Coca-Cola promotes vitaminwater.

Propel- Gatorade has also fired back with their version of a “healthy” vitamin filled drink. Propel is a vitamin infused water and has zero calories. This is a huge rival,

as it has 0 calories, compared to vitaminwater’s 120 calories. Although it is not advertised and stocked as much as vitaminwater, it is definitely a huge competitor, as it is viewed as “healthy.”

Power of Customers

Potential:

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- Poor Flavor Quality- the change of sweeteners earlier in the year made customers

raise questions about the taste profile of vitaminwater. “The mix of sugar and stevia a low calorie sweeter known for it’s metallic after taste.” The viability of the brand comes into question, will the market be sustained when customers

where it down? What was the loss to market share during the change, where many consumers stopped buying at all. Negative feedback on vitaminwater’s Facebook

page led to a reversal of the formulas change, but the damage done to the brand in the eye of the consumer is nearly impossible to reverse.

- Price Point- vitaminwater’s high price point ranging from 30.99 to 46.99 (24

packs-16.9 oz $30.99 $46.99 20 oz) for more specialty lines creates a large problem when trying to maintain repeat customers and acquire new customers. With the majority of vitaminwater drinkers being under 25, and the massively

high unemployment rate in this age bracket the price point becomes a real issue with a lot of both loyal and prospective customers.

- Vitaminwater Health Negatives- with over 120 calories per bottle of triple X, the

health benefits come into question in consumers minds. The artificial sweeteners have been exposed to consumers who are becoming more health conscious. Vitaminwater isn’t a top choice in health conscious consumers minds anymore,

dyes, artificial flavors and other factors have scared away top market consumers.

Power of Suppliers

Coca-Cola, the owner of vitaminwater and the second largest bottler in the U.S., is a superpower and controls it’s suppliers. The suppliers are expected to provide the

company with materials including ingredients, packaging, and machinery as well as goods and services. The bargaining power of it’s suppliers is low because it is very common and easy to find the raw ingredients that make up vitaminwater (water, sugar,

glucose, citric acid, salt, etc). Coca-Cola also has the resources to find the best prices and resources. Coca-Cola’s mission statement states it’s commitment to supplier diversity and

has specific supplier guiding principles outlining what they expect of their suppliers including responsible, environmental and workplace policies and procedures.

Brand Personality Assessment

When looking at the brand personality (Kotler and Armstrong pg 147) one can see why the product of vitaminwater is so popular and the attitude of the brand for consumers is outstanding. This product allows consumers with insight into Coca-Cola’s

product of vitaminwater while also competing with products such as Mio, and creates a long-term brand that gives back to consumers.

Healthy Coca-cola’s vitaminwater is a healthy alternative to any other sport drinks that is

currently trending (Kotler and Armstrong pg 27) at this time period. When drinking this

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water one is able to consume his or her daily vitamins and still have a low calorie intake. The combination of ingredients allows the consumer to feel that it is a healthy alternative

to any other drink due to it’s zero calorie option this helps with public relations (Kotler and Armstrong pg 451)

Satisfaction The ability to have a drink that both satisfies the people and a pleasing product

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 210) that is looking to lose weight and the people that are looking for a refreshing drink is what makes this product so compatible in the industry.

The mixture of different fruits and fruit juices allows the combination to excite your taste buds.

Ease of Transporting Vitaminwater is easy for anyone to take with him or her on the go. The company

allows one to either take the drops and use them in a water bottle in order to drink on the go and for ease of use. Also the bottles are small enough where one can put them in a bag and take them on the go. Also due to the drops and reusable bottles this helps our goal of

environmentalism (Kotler and Armstrong pg 592)

Competitive Analysis Internal Competitors

PowerAde- From a consumption perspective PowerAde is a top consumed sports drink that Coca-Cola sells. According to the case the amount of people who drink

PowerAde in a 7 day period is 17.42 million. PowerAde’s sales have been increasing every year since 2010 and it’s total sales in 2013 were $528 million which is about $12 million more than vitaminwater. The cause of this growth is because of the product

concept (Kotler and Armstrong pg 10), they created PowerAde Zero. PowerAde’s

growth by brand also increased 10.4% in 2012 through 2013. PowerAde’s brand has also increased sales more than Gatorade. It is going to be difficult to drive sales away from PowerAde given it’s brand loyalty and such a well known sports drink.

Dasani- After collecting primary data (Kotler and Armstrong pg 108). Dasani has the second largest sales in the United States at $920 million which is $360 million

more than vitaminwater. Dasani being one of the top most consumed water drink has also now come out with Dasani Sparkling with different flavors, it has good packaging

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 233), and it is a $726 million segment that is growing. With the new Dasani Sparkling Coca-Cola uses unit pricing (Kotler and Armstrong pg 235). Sparkling comes in convenient packaging, sizes, and prices that vitaminwater will have

to compete with.

External Competitors Gatorade- Sales of Gatorade proves that it is the leading sports drink. Gatorade

focuses (Kotler and Armstrong pg 535) on sports players. With $1.87 billion sales it

shows that Gatorade is consumed by 40.11 million people. In terms of overall beverage consumption in sales it is second behind private labels. Although Gatorade only

increased it’s sales by 3.2% that is a large increase considering the amount of money sales Pepsi brings in with Gatorade. Gatorade actually cut it’s real baseline price (Kotler

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and Armstrong pg 290) by about 33% after the sweetener switch although they saw no increase in baseline consumption. Although Gatorade has good customer intimacy

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 535), it is a sports drink with all the different types of Gatorade in the G series and G2 it will be difficult for anyone to beat Gatorade and has good brand

equity (Kotler and Armstrong pg 244). SoBe Life Water- Sales of SoBe Life Water’s leading product is up 85% in the

past year, while overall sales of bottled water are down 5%. PepsiCo has been trying to

get SoBe Life Water out there ever since they purchased it for $370 million. Making this new drink became a challenge for Pepsi when Coca-Cola bought Glacéau vitaminwater

in 2007 for $4.1 billion. In order to up it’s sales Pepsi used smart prospecting (Kotler and Armstrong pg 475) it lowered it’s cost to $1.18 with different unit sizes using

territorial sales (Kotler and Armstrong pg 465). Pepsi also dropped prices in order to have better production concept (Kotler and Armstrong pg 9). SoBe Life water's small

share of the bottled water nearly doubled to 3.8 percent in the market. This is just a small part of Pepsi’s company and it continues to increase throughout the years which are bad for vitaminwater sales because SoBe Life Water is said to carry vitamins, same as vitaminwater.

Survey information

Research was compiled through various methods, the primary data (Kotler and

Armstrong) was gathered through a survey. The Survey was written by group members

assigned to the title of market researcher. These survey’s were distributed exclusively through Qualtrics. The Survey (Kotler and Armstrong) consisted of a base of 70

questions compiled by senior market researchers. This survey has revealed crucial information about key elements necessary for expansion of market share. Not only expansion this information will also prove to be crucial in continued success of the

vitaminwater Brand.

The Survey way taken by over 700 individuals, the data was then processed and

concentrated for analysis. From this data more detailed and refined information was

pulled. Consumption rates are at about 3.71 bottles of flavored water’s a week. Leading the pack in brand recognition vitaminwater (1) Gatorade (2) Sobe Lifewater

(3) PowerAde (4). PowerAde being the laggard of the group, a close market competitor of vitaminwater. Vitaminwater however lacked in Area’s of taste as well as Ability to

satisfy health concerns. Over 65% of the people that took the survey saw themselves as

health conscious individuals. This puts an emphasis on raising the imagine of the health positives of the brand (Kotler and Armstrong pg 482) to the market (Kotler and Armstrong pg 7) and increasing product quality.

The purpose of the secondary data (Kotler and Armstrong pg 657) was to establish an understanding of the nature of the product (Kotler and Armstrong) as well as the competition. A second Survey was published with a total of 99 questions, as well as

267 responses. The demographic breakdown is as follows the sample is 53% male and 47% female respondents. As follows the age breakdown 84% Ages (18-24) 11% Ages

(30-39) and 5% Ages (40-50). Age groups (0-12) as well as (13-17) where nullified as

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they received minimal response rates. This data revealed a lot about the people interested in the survey. Showing to a Predominantly younger crowd.

Consumption patterns where shown displayed in the information. Within this 18-

24 group many said the majority of vitaminwater they consumed was from a bottle (94%). The majority of the vitaminwater consumed at home as supposed to work. The

beverage was also not consumed alone; overwhelming it was consumed with a snack

(68%) Followed by Home Cooked Meal (21%) and Fast Food (11%) This is a key insight in the channel of distribution (Kotler and Armstrong) and from the product reaches our target market. Vitaminwater is being consumed with quick snacks through out the day

mostly in bottle form.

Research Analysis

The research through the survey and other venues has proven to be an asset. We have found that the age group consuming the product is 18-24. Brand equity/recognition

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 244) is one of the stronger points identified with the product.

Working with this brand recognition to develop a product campaign (Kotler and Armstrong) designed around the re-vitalization of the brand. With focus on millenial’s

(Kotler and Armstrong) culture and values in mind, a campaign can be devised and delivered. Loyalty to the brand being a possible risk that must be dealt with. The lack of association with positive health effects and the product leads to a disconnect in loyalty in

the brand. Significant findings revealed that taste in certain product lines was an important factor driving customer satisfaction (Kotler and Armstrong pg 653). The most

loyal customers enjoying aspects of Taste (Kotler and Armstrong) followed by accessibility followed by price. Brand Equity (Kotler and Armstrong pg 245) due to taste was strong, the price point being lower than boutique brands in the market. They

where concerned mainly with the health of the products. High sugar content and questionable sweeteners have questioned viability. Vitaminwater still remains one of

the most recognized and enjoyed beverages on market.

Brand Strategy and Objectives:

Objectives Objectives are split up by: Health, Price and Expansion. Health has become an

important topic in recent years. Beverages now being released produced with cane sugar

show that the consumer has become increasingly health conscious. As supposed to previous generations, now even beverages aren’t safe from scrutiny. The origina l

sweetener formula being a combination of cane sugar and crystalline fructose the switch to Stevia and sugar cane was a move that wasn’t successful. This unsuccessful change was due to the flavor produced by the Stevia. This caused controversy and drove some

away from the brand; with a new change well researched the market could expand. Parents not buying vitaminwater for children out of health concerns with a new and

healthier sweetener option could be more inclined to not give to their children or consume themselves. Instead of using a Crystalline Fructose sweetener, that is directly

linked to diabetes and a whole host of other health issues. A change in this portion of the

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formula to a healthy and satisfying sweetener could be used to sway the minds of consumers who feel vitaminwater does not offer health benefits.

The Price point of vitaminwater currently allows for it to be competitive with other beverages such as PowerAde and the more boutique brand beverages like Vitacoco. It

also keeps vitaminwater out of the cannibalization (Kotler and Armstrong pg 635) range with Coke. The margins being a lot higher on Coca-Cola the price of

vitaminwater should not shrink. There is room however for a price increase, the

margins are slim per sale of bulk vitaminwater. Expansion in a single bottle sale market would have a positive effect on the bottom line. Distribution channels (Kotler and

Armstrong pg 341) not yet opened up should be opened for vitaminwater. With

increase of per unit sales with smaller pallet orders comes a higher margin on each pallet sent out. Vitaminwater in Wal-Mart is viable because of expose to the market. Profit

isn’t being turned on sales in bulk to Wal-Mart but a necessary evil is derived. The exposure through Wal-Mart is massive and vital to the continued success of the brand.

Expansion being another key to further successes, with a young target market new generations will be exposed and captured introducing Vitaminwater fountains into middle

schools could be of endless reward. Advertising (Kotler and Armstrong) and targeting an even younger generation, one younger than the target could ensure for a brighter tomorrow. The target market should be peppered with advertisements. Aimed at the

consumers drinking 4-5 a month moving them to the 5-15 bracket. The ones consuming 5-15 a month moving them to the 30+ a month bracket. 20% of the market is where the

majority of the sales of vitaminwater are made. If this could now be expanded to the top 30% there would be pressure taken off the bringing in of new customers. The top

consumer hasn’t yet reached it’s capacity of bottle consumption. Many consuming 4-5 could be swayed to consume more if changes where made in marketing strategy (Kotler

and Armstrong). Target Market

Out of the customer market (Kotler and Armstrong pg 136), vitaminwater’s re-

launch campaign is targeting people ranging from 18-24 years of age, which was chosen through the use of marketing management (Kotler and Armstrong pg 8). This target market was discovered for our campaign, primarily using demographic segmentation

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 194) through the use of age. In addition, our primary target

market (Kotler and Armstrong pg 203) was also chosen based off the firms survey data

and the sales volume decline of people ranging from 15-29 years of age. Our secondary target market based on behavioral segmentation (Kotler and Armstrong pg 198) of the products loyalists would be people ranging from 30-39 years old. In our primary data

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 18) which was survey research, (Kotler and Armstrong pg 110) out of our 700 respondents, 84% were 18-24 years of age, showing that this age

group currently consumes an average of 3.71 bottles of flavored water a week. Our marketing plan will be targeting these millennials (Kotler and Armstrong pg 13) in a geographic segmentation (Kotler and Armstrong pg 193) of the United States. Our

survey data also showed that 65% of the survey respondents consider themselves health

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conscious. In a consumer behavior (Kotler and Armstrong pg 134) research firm, The NPD Group, found that millennials, more than any other demographic (Kotler and

Armstrong pg 194), make conscious nutritional choices to improve their sense of health and wellbeing (Market for Functional Foods Report, August 2012). This generation being

raised online, have always had access to more health and wellness information than any other past generation. Evident through our data and our target markets cultural

environment (Kotler and Armstrong pg 88), 18-24 year olds have shown a preference for

natural food and beverages, and a marked interest in consuming beverages that increase their energy and wellness. According to a recent Nielsen survey, YouTube is the top

place to watch content, as rated by millennials, ahead of Facebook and ESPN. Also, A recent comScore report found that 18-24 year olds spend 64% of their online time using smartphones and tablets. Therefore, because our primary target market was raised in the

digital age (Kotler and Armstrong pg 23) and online marketing is the fastest growing, 18-24 year olds are in fact the most susceptible to advertising (Kotler and Armstrong pg

407) of vitaminwater via YouTube and other online media content on the internet (Kotler and Armstrong pg 25).

Product Positioning

We would like to position our product as refreshing to our consumers. Nothing is better than a nice cold vitaminwater after a tough day on the basketball court. And, the nice thing is that the drink can be purchased at most local convenience and grocery

stores, and gas stations pre-refrigerated. You may be drenched in sweat from head to toe after your hard work is complete, but the vitaminwater is going to make everything

better. The drink will replenish your tired body with various vitamins and minerals, such as Vitamin C for your immune system and Vitamins B6 and B12 for an energy boost! Best thing is, there are a wide variety of flavors to choose from. Certainly, there is a mix

of flavors appealing to your taste buds!

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Over the years, vitaminwater’s target market has greatly changed. First, the

company tried to use comedy to draw in consumers, eventually getting into some issues when the company used the words “that blows” in a Facebook post. Humor continued to

be used, but instead was focused at the college student target market. Teaming up with “collegehumor.com,” vitaminwater was doing the best it could to get into as many colleges and universities as possible (Facebook). Today’s current target market, after

looking at demography (Kotler and Armstrong pg 74), using the #hydratethehustle campaign, focuses on positioning (Kotler and Armstrong pg 53) towards the African

American crowd, especially male buyers (Kotler and Armstrong pg 172) from 18-30 years old. Many non-mainstream Hip Hop, rap, and R&B artists are now sponsored by vitaminwater, including performers such as Ab-Soul, Jhene Aiko, and Trey Songz

(Tumblr). Videos on the Facebook page and Tumblr blog (Kotler and Armstrong pg 505) of vitaminwater contain stories of these entertainers, and how they

#hydratethehustle (Facebook, Tumblr).

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Wanting to build off of this target market, while at the same time trying to appeal to people of different age groups, ethnicities, and gender (the overall consumer market

(Kotler and Armstrong pg 136), our group has decided to, using a pull strategy (Kotler and Armstrong pg 423), have vitaminwater sponsor an event marketing (Kotler and

Armstrong pg 482) concert tour at ten various colleges throughout the country, with rappers Chance the Rapper, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, and Jay Z. We have chosen these

specific artists for certain reasons for our advertising objective (Kotler and Armstrong pg 435). First off, Chance the Rapper is from Chicago, which can help vitaminwater

appeal to the Midwest, as Chance’s biggest fan base is from this area, especially his hometown. Chance is an unsigned, upcoming rapper, and is expected to have a career

breakout with his upcoming album (Billboard). Even better is the price he charges per show, at just $35,000, leaving a grand total of $350,000 for the whole tour (Complex).

Chance primarily has a target market (Kotler and Armstrong pg 7) of males ages 17-22. Rapper Drake may be considered the most popular artist in the media world currently. A very recognizable and respected artist, many people like to make jokes about Drake,

causing his name to pop up on various social media networks. This is good publicity, which is what vitaminwater needs. Drake also probably has the best target market out

of any of the rappers, as he is popular with both the Caucasian and African American crowd (PopMatters). Age groups from 12-40 like his music, both male and female,

equally. Geographical areas of the country most known to listen to Drake’s music are the whole East coast, although he is quite popular in other parts, as well. Drake charges a hefty price at $500,000 per show, giving him a grand total of $5,000,000 (Complex).

Next comes Compton’s own, Kendrick Lamar. He is not as mainstream as a guy like Drake, but is very popular, especially after his diss to twelve other rappers in one of his

verses. Lamar is viewed as the most lyrically advanced rapper right now. His target market comes from the West Coast, as he does call “Cali” his home. In this area, he is well known in inner cities, with a huge African American appeal, both males and

females. His age groups range from 16-30. However, his other big, and more lucrative target market is college students (UndertheGun). Lamar charges $125,000 per show,

bringing his paycheck to a cool $1.25 million at the end of the tour (Complex). Last but not least is Jay-Z. Beyoncé’s hubby is a great marketing tool, as he has been performing for two generations of people. Hova was born and raised in Brooklyn, and has the whole

country on lock. Jay has fans everywhere, hence why him and his wife took such an extensive tour this past year. Target market includes all races, although the market for

African Americans is definitely larger by some (Ibtimes). Age groups include those from 16-40, both males and females. Jay-Z racks up a tab of $10,000,000, asking a smooth $1,000,000 per show (Complex). In the end, the total cost of the tour adds up to $16.6

million of the $20 million advertising budget (Kotler and Armstrong pg 437). Tour stops will include University of Michigan, University of Connecticut, University of

Miami (FL), New York University, University of Southern California, Boston University, Syracuse University, Rutgers University, Arizona State University, and University of Maryland. Vitaminwater beverages will be sold at each concert, along with mixed

drinks containing alcohol and vitaminwater, something most people would not

normally think to mix with alcohol. Of course, other Coca-Cola products will be sold, as Coke supersedes over vitaminwater, although the headline drink will be vitaminwater.

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With the remaining $3.4 million, vitaminwater will place our custom-made

commercial ads, with an execution style (Kotler and Armstrong pg 440) of using rappers from the concert, into the Big Bang Theory, the show to get the highest ad rates after

NFL games. A thirty second commercial costs $326,260 (Adweek). Vitaminwater can run ten commercials with this, doing one per show, for ten shows. In terms of music,

Pandora is popping with users, with over 65 million users per month (Cnet). The music providing service attracts a wide variety of users to a wide variety of music. Because of

this, vitaminwater is going to invest $5,000,000 into 250,139,087 video, oral, and visual advertising (Kotler and Armstrong pg 434) on Pandora (Will Ranahan). This will

give us some form of direct marketing (Kotler and Armstrong pg 494) to directly interact with customers by bringing them to the vitaminwater website if they click on the banner. The concert, commercials, and Pandora ads make up our advertising strategy

(Kotler and Armstrong 438). In terms of return on advertising investment (Kotler and Armstrong pg 447), vitaminwater is hoping that, with it’s promotion, sales can be

drastically increased. Ideally, the company is looking to bounce back and become recognizable brand in the sports drink category.

Public Relations Plan

vitaminwater Concert Series The Coca-Cola Company has announced that vitaminwater will sponsor a concert

series at various colleges in the spring of 2015 as part of it’s Public Relations (Kotler

and Armstrong pg 450) Plan. These concerts will feature famous artists; Jay-Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper. All of these artists have diverse ethnic groups

and varying age groups, the most being Jay-Z. They each are popular for college age students and will attract their age group and fans to the vitaminwater brand. Having our concert series at colleges narrowcasts (Kotler and Armstrong pg 450) to the specific

target market because we are exclusively showing it to them, our primary market. These college students will also become buzz marketers (Kotler and Armstrong pg 417) for the

vitaminwater brand, using word-of-mouth-influence (Kotler and Armstrong pg 416) by sharing stories to all their friends, family, and neighbors to increase consumer share.

These concerts will take place at ten colleges chosen by vitaminwater. It will

start at University of Southern California and continue to Arizona State University, University of Michigan, University of Miami (FL), University of Maryland, Rutgers

University, University of Connecticut, Syracuse University, Boston University and finally end at New York University. Throughout the concerts vitaminwater will sell it’s drinks and advertise for the Instagram contest. The concerts will take place during late

March and April. The last concert will be held at NYU on April 25th, 2015.

Instagram Contest Vitaminwater has decided to participate in a promotional contest as another part

of it’s advertising strategy (Kotler and Armstrong pg 437). It is going to give

consumers the chance to win $10,000 to a college education fund. To enter into the concert and get the chance to win this prize he or she will have to purchase a

vitaminwater that has a new packaging (Kotler and Armstrong pg 233). The inside of the cap of the new bottle will reveal if that bottle was a winner. Vitaminwater has also

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decided to hold an Instagram contest that will correlate with the cap contest. In the contest each contestant must post a creative and artistic picture of vitaminwater. Each

picture will count as a purchase of a bottle of vitaminwater and enter the consumer in the chance to win the college fund. The picture must show the vitaminwater bottle in a

unique, fun and captive way. In their caption he or she must use the hash tag #VitaminWaterContest. This hash tag will help bring awareness of the cap contest throughout Instagram. Contestants’ photos should be a depiction of the greatness of

vitaminwater and all of it’s benefits. Vitaminwater is hoping to sell more bottles in the hopes that many consumers will put forth the effort to win the contest. These special

bottles will only be sold in large college towns and in large cities. This will be advertised throughout the concert series at the concerts and on all of vitaminwater’s social media sources. The winner of the contest will be announced on April 26th, following the last

concert. Vitaminwater is using the Instagram contest as a societal marketing (Kotler and Armstrong pg 598) principle, making it’s decisions based on the consumers’, the

overall company and society. Vitaminwater is using a pull strategy (Kotler and Armstrong pg 423), spending a lot on consumer advertising and promotion to induce final consumers to buy product.

Facebook

As one element of it’s promotion mix (Kotler and Armstrong pg 406) vitaminwater will use it’s current Facebook page in order to share new data about their upcoming concerts. People can like the page in order to receive the information

vitaminwater shares on their homepages. Pictures, links and videos will be posted after each concert advertising people drinking vitaminwater at the concerts. Vitaminwater

will also post pictures and videos of Jay-Z, Drake, Kendrick Lamar and Chance the Rapper on stage and behind the scenes of the concerts. It will use this page to share news about the upcoming concerts including how to purchase tickets, concert locations and

concert times.

Twitter Vitaminwater will use it’s current twitter account, @vitaminwater, to keep people

updated about their concerts, contests and any new features. It will live tweet from the

concerts to keep people updated. It will tweet information about the Instagram contest; posting popular pictures and announcing the winner on April 26th. Vitaminwater will

use the hash tag #VitaminWaterContest when tweeting about the cap contest to draw more attention through twitter. On twitter it will be able to access a large and mixed age and cultural group. Many people in the primary target market use twitter making it a

perfect use of advertising for it’s events and contests.

Instagram Vitaminwater will create a new Instagram account. Here it will post pictures

from concerts, advertisements, contests and commercials. It will share video clips of

concert performances, crowds, behind the scenes and audience members. Commercial clips will also be posted on the Instagram page. When any picture posted for the contest

is thought to be unique fun and captive of the image vitaminwater is striving for, it will be shared on the vitaminwater Instagram with the hash tag #VitaminWaterContest.

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Using the hash tag on the pictures will help it to gain likes and followers. Instagram is a very popular social media site among teenagers and young adults and will be a great

advertising tool for it’s target market. Instagram is a good tool in vitaminwater’s focus

strategy (Kotler and Armstrong pg 535), focusing on the few market segments that use

the app. Commercial

A commercial will be made to advertise vitaminwater, it’s concert series and their Instagram cap contest. It will be advertised (Kotler and Armstrong pg 434) during

the Big Bang Theory on CBS. The viewers of the Big Bang Theory are part of the advertising objective, (Kotler and Armstrong pg 435) those who based on our survey drank the most vitaminwater overlapping with Big Bang Theory being their favorite

show. This commercial will be 30 seconds long showing all the amazing benefits and attributes of vitaminwater. Drake and Chance will star in the commercial. They will be

comparing their vitaminwater Instagrams, arguing over who has the better one and who will get more likes. In the background Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar will be performing their popular single “Pound Cake”. Our advertising budget (Kotler and Armstrong pg

437) allows us to air ten commercials during ten Big Bang Theory episodes. This commercial be will show the innovative marketing (Kotler and Armstrong pg 597)

aspect of vitaminwater, it’s product and marketing improvements from the current plan. Vitamin Water Commercial:

Open: Crowd Cheering for JayZ and Kendrick Lamar on stage with “Bitch, Don’t Kill

My Vibe” on in the background… Drake and Chance the Rapper behind the stage… Drake: Ayy man check out my Vitamin Water Challenge insta pic

(pic of him on stage rapping into a vitamin water bottle-> showing him as an experienced rapper).

Chance: (XXX in hand) hahaha yo check mine out, it’s so much better

(pic of him on stage spraying Vitamin Water Everywhere -> aimed to show him

as a leader).

Focus in on the #VitaminWaterChallenge and #GrabLifeByTheBottlesTour Manager in Background/Stage Crew: Drake your on in 5.

Drake: Watch and learn how the big boys roll

-> runs out on stage AYY USC …starts rapping …. Fade to black post Concert Dates and Schools & the fade to black again with the

Instagram Hashtag and College tuition sweepstakes.

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Pricing Plan

vitaminwater will not greatly change the pricing strategy from what is currently is. The price of vitaminwater, currently stands at an average of $2.00 for an individual

bottle at most grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores and other stores. These types of stores hold 82% of the vitaminwater trademark’s volume and 87% of sales. The price of all vitaminwater products will remain the same to uphold the psychological

pricing (Kotler and Armstrong 319) of the products, labeling them as more expensive health drinks.

At the moment, vitaminwater is using a promotional pricing (Kotler and Armstong, 321) strategy by allowing mass merchandisers such as Walmart and Target sell individual bottles of vitaminwater for as little as $1.08. These mass merchandisers

have recently been responsible for a total of 18% of vitaminwater’s total volume, and 13% of total dollarsales. While toying with the idea of withdrawing a majority if not all

of vitaminwater’s product mix (Kotler and Armstrong 236) from mass merchandisers such as Walmart, vitaminwater should continue to sell through these stores. Although vitaminwater is not making the highest potential sales by selling through these

marketing intermediaries (Kotler and Armstrong72), it is not the right time to withdraw it’s products until the other channels can support the vitmaminwater’s sales. This new

Marketing strategy is aimed to increase volume sales of all of vitaminwater products so these products can be removed from mass merchandizers to prevent low reference prices (Kotler 319).

Distribution Plan

Based on our projects and our sale goals (Kotler and Armstrong 42) vitaminwater

will channel sales (Kotler and Armstrong351) over the next years will gaining

consumers around the ages of eighteen to twenty-four. Brand Positioning (Kotler and Armstrong 245) is a major point of selling. This will increase profits and will make

vitaminwater better known to the public. This will increase brand recognition and market share. Also the plan is to increase the amount of product consumed by the habitual buyer (Kotler and Armstrong 153). This decision has been made and data has

backed up this idea through the appendix and the research team.

When looking at the date of the sale of vitaminwater one is able to see that the strong point of sales is through stores such as Stop and Shop and Wal-Mart. This is due to having vitaminwater being mostly consumed with a snack this is discovered through

marketing research (Kotler and Armstrong). With this being said we will have vitaminwater bottles in certain sections of the store. Shelf spacing will be a big player in

order to achieve the best profit.

We will make sure that the shelves that are holding our product will store them at

eye level. This will allow the consumer to see the product and has been known through data to increase sales and increase the chances of the consumer (Kotler and Armstrong

pg 591) to buy the product. When looking at where we will sell the product we are

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looking for a store that is severing the middle to upper class. This is due to the fact that we are trying to stop brand cannibalization (Kotler and Armstrong pg 635).

Our tour with Celebrity endorsement (Kotler and Armstrong pg 419) will have

the tour bus with vitaminwater labels all over the bus along with the cap promotion we have been starting for advertising (Kotler and Armstrong pg 358). This will increase the knowledge about what we are promoting and who is promoting us. This will allow people

to understand our standpoint and how we perceive our product. Allowing big name celebrities to stand by our product will allow us to get the attention of our target market

and make us a sustainable marketing (Kotler and Armstrong pg 27) group. While at the consort that we are holding we will be giving away 4.4 million samples of vitaminwater.

Appendix

Vitamin Water Challenge Budget:

Projected Event Expenses: $25 Million

Free Vitamin Water Samples………………………….$4,400,000

Chance the Rapper………$35,000/show………………$350,000

Kendrick Lamar…………$125,000/show……………..$1,250,000

Drake…………………….$500,000/show…………….$5,000,000

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Jay Z……………………..$1,000,000/show…………..$10,000,000

Total………………………………………………………………….$20,000,000

Television Advertisement Expenses

Creation of Ad…………………………………………$1,600,000

Big Bang Theory Ads………………………………..…$3,400,000

Total………………………………………………………………….. $5,000,000

Internet Radio Advertisement Expenses

Pandora…………………………………………………………………$5,000,000

College Tuition Contest Expense……………………………………………. $10,000,000

Total Budget………………………………………………………………….. $40 Million

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Limitations:

The largest limitation we had to overcome was the inconclusive results of our survey. As a group we received only 43 completed results, therefore we had to

disregard out creative questions and use the results of the senior survey, which had 267 results. (Points 10)

The results of the survey did not accurately reflect a diverse population. (Points 10)

Hard to gather information from every age group. (Points 9)

Due to inexperience and trouble finding all data (access to Coke’s income

statement), we could not complete the Pro Forma Profit and Loss Statement. (Points 8)

Contradictive data. (Points 7)

Reliable statistics about the consumers of vitamin water were hard to find outside of the survey and the statistics provided. (Points 7)

Our group had difficulty defining individual group roles. (ie. Which roles are associated with which jobs) (Points 7)

Another shortcoming of our survey was the inability to combine the surveys from other groups in the class, due to missing questions. (Points 7)

Inability to use a focus group. (Points 6)

Lack of information online about the product. (Points 5)

Lack of a rubric. (Points 5)

The project being posed to a college audience. (Points 5)

Limited information provided until halfway through the semester limited our ability to make informed decisions about the project. (Points 5)

The survey was finished late in the semester so there was only a two-week span to persuade as many people as possible to take the survey. (Points 5)

The large amount of survey questions led to a small amount of people actually finishing the survey. (Points 5)

The age range of responses to the survey was limited due to the people who received our survey. (Points 3)

Being freshman severely limited our development of this project, because we had to learn the basics of marketing while completing the project. (Points 3)

Hard to find reliable information on the Internet about Vitamin Water. (Points 3)

Meeting times and schedule clashed led to a difficult time to meet. (Points 2)

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