Mission Statement

The Target Market for my product is really just anyone who likes to have fun, but with a new twist. Social Drinkers, who usually like to sip on a nice refreshing beverage at a bar or club. Maybe even people who are throwing a big party and want to serve something a little exotic. There’s really no limit, except for minors of course. There in lies the problem in the industry, trying to promote your product, without promoting the consumption of it.
So what kind of product do I have? I have a consumer product. “We need to know about product classifications because business and consumer product classifications because business and consumer products are marketed differently. They are marketed to different target markets and tend to use different distribution, promotion, and pricing strategies. (MKTG, Lamb, Hair, McDaniel pg 131, chp 9).
The type of consumer product is hard to classifiy because it falls under a lot of different categories. But the category that Victoria Falls Vodka falls into is the Specialty Product category. You would think that maybe it would be considered an unsought product, but the way that it is going to be promoted, advertised, andwhat stores and public places would carry the item, I consider it to be a Specialty item. Mostly the big variety liquor stores or specialty stores that have an extensive selection in the liquor department, will carry it. Also it will be available in clubs. When it comes to the financial resources, there is a lot to consider. Besides the funds needed for manufacturing and shipping, because the prodct is made over seas, then shipped here, I have to be concerned about promotion funds. I have to rely mostly on free publicity and maybe buying a page or two fo the city papers to get my product out there.

External Marketing Environment

External Marketing Environment
This is a part of marketing that everybody has to be concerned about. “ The goal in gathering environmental data is to identify future market opportunities and threats” (MKTG Lamb, pg 33 Chp3) . The main points are demographics, economics, and all of the competition.
Since Victoria Springs Vodka is an alcoholic beverage, of course I’m not going to spotlight on the Tweens. That would be illegal and morally wrong. So the people making the purchases are Generation X, and Y, hopefully even some baby boomers. With people under Generation Y, there are strengths and weaknesses present. Since this generation is the most diverse when it comes to the different mixes of races it is more likely that with the right promotion, my product will be consumed by a wide variety of races, instead of just the main ones. Also, people my age are very opinionated and are not afraid to express themselves. So it could be a good or a bad thing, about the word of mouth about your product, i.e. when they tell their friends, have you heard of this, have you tasted this, what you think of it and so on. And now with the use of the internet rising their opinion is able to get out to the masses a lot faster through blogs, myspace, etc. The major one is through twitter, where you can send one message and everybody and their mother wil hear about it.
Generation X and Baby boomers are less likely to buy the product as much, because they focus more on their families and their spending habits go according to their lifestyle. Younger people are more likely to go out to clubs and stuff than older people, and that is usually the main motivation in buying a drink. Older people tend to buy drinks when they have social gatherings or maybe as a niche. But the positive side to that is “ Baby boomers are likely to be vigorous consumers in the future, and even though hidstorically, consumers lock in brand preferances by the age of 40, todays over-50 crowd is just as likely- and in some cases more likely- as younger generations to try different brands within product category. (MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg 36, Chp 3).
On my approach of who I’m targeting I’m using and undifferentiated targeting strategy because everybody who consumes alcohol is a potential target. But usually when it comes to alcohol there ends up being gender segmentation because ads and club promoters etc, focus on women. Statistics do say that women are the major consumers of alcohol, because men tend to buy more beer.

External opportunities

“External Stimuli are influences from an outside source such as someone’s recommendation of a new restaurant, the design of the package or an advertisement on television or radio.” (MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg 64, chp5) .Basically what that is saying, is that normally people aren’t just going to crave alcohol like they crave a soda, they usually have to have a reason for wanting alcohol, like whatever activities they are going to engage in, or the time of day it is. That is just one of the factors that influence people to purchase items. One of the biggest influences is culture. That is one of the reason’s why my Vodka is unique. It’s because it’s inspired by my country Zimbabwe. The ingredients of the fruits that it’s made with, to the Springs of Victoria Falls that it is grained and fermented with. There are 28 different countries that have produced one or more different brands of Vodka, my country is going be the 29th. Does this mean that I’m necessarily targeting Africans or African American’s, no. Nevertheless they are a big target, especially here in Las Vegas. They probably would be the majority at first to buy the product, especially out of curiosity. But then again there are a lot of liquor’s that make a killing off of African American sales alone. I don’t have any exact facts but, from what I experienced a lot of African Americans tend to bend more to cognacs more than other types of liquor, and that usually is Hennessey. When I’m at the clubs, most of them are drinking dark liquors more than other ones. That’s not to say they don’t drink anything else, but that is more of their preference. As a promotional strategy for my product I can have a special sale on February, black history month. It would be very popular becauseit already has the African theme so it would work very well with the occasion. “Not only are companies designing products and services for the African American market, they are also targeting promotional activities to reach this group of consumers” (MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg 64, chp 3)
“One of the primary benefits of advertising is its ability to communicate to a large number of people at one time.” (MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniels, pg 212, Chp 14) To do that is easy and hard at the same time. The easy part is all the media that is available to get your message out to the masses. The hard thing is to make your message unique so that it stands out from everybody else, especially when it’s a different variation of a product that is already in effect.

Promotion

A very effective way is with television commercials. I would have a television commercial and find a famous big name celebrity, most likely a hip hop star, to play in the commercial. And just by him drinking alone will help promote the product. “Message execution is the way an advertisement portrays it’s information. (MKTG Lamb, Hair, Mcdaniel pg 230)Like for example, the drink Hypnotiq wasn’t really popular when it first came out, until R. Kelly had it in his video’s and said it in his party songs. Then everybody wanted to go to the club and drink Hypnotiq.
The internet has sites like blogspot.com and myspace. Facebook, twitter, etc. to get out to the masses. “Blogging alters the marketing communication process for the promotional elements that rely on mass communication- advertising, public relations, and sales promotions-by moving them away from impersonal, indirect communication toward a personalized, direct communication model. (MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniel, pg217 chp14). That could make or break your product, because if it doesn’t taste good, then word could get out about it and people will leave it on the shelves. At the same time, just out of curiosity people will buzz about it and it would reach more ears n spread like the game telephone.
Persuading peole to buy you product over another is a big part of advertising. In my case, I have to show people what makes my vodka different from the thousands of other ones out there. What makes mine unique is the fact that when you drink it, you taste three different fropical fruit flavors, that are authentic to my country because of the ingredients. “Persuasive promotion is designed to stimulate a purchase or an action.” MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniel pg218).
The benefits of Victoria Springs Vodka is that it gives you a refreshing taste and makes you feel like you are under the sprinkles of the Victoria Falls. It will taste good and just go with any occasion that you feel like drinking it. “A benefit is what consumers will receive or achieve by using the product. MKTG Lamb, Hair, McDaniels, pg 230).

Eoc week 10

My favorite store that I like to go to is Best Buy. The reason why I love that store is because I love electronics. The only other store that offered electronics like best buy was Circuit City, but they went out of business. Even if they were still in business I still would go to Best Buy because they have a wider range of electronics. Also
Best Buy has bigger departments than any other Electronic store. For example, they have an excellent selection of music cd’s. I’m a big lover of Hip Hop music. You can basically call me a connoisseur of Hip Hop music. I don’t really listen to any mainstream rap so I go for old and semi new “underground” or independent artists. Other Electronic stores don’t carry those cd’s. Also Best Buy’s prices for cd’s are $14.99 or cheaper.
One of the main reason why I love Best Buy is that when I walk into the store, I feel like a little kid walking in a toy store. There are tons of gadgets and video games and electronics that you can play with. You can test out almost all the products before you even purchase them. I like that about the stores. Also I have a lot of knowledge about a lot of products so I go there to pick the brains of all the employees that work there. I always walk out the store saying “I already knew all that, but I just didn’t know the technical way to approach it.

My Marketing Plan Ideas

What i'm planning on doing is a kind of infomercial/ commercial of my product with a power point presentation. My product is Victoria Springs Vodka, made form Victoria Falls In zimbabwe. I already got an idea for a design for the vodka bottle. It is going to be a bottle shaped just like the Zimbabwean bird that is on our flag. Its One side is going to be see through, then the back is going to have a picture of the Victoria falls on the inside, kinda like Parrot Bay liquor or Fuji water. I plan on designing the bottle using photo shop.
I still have not came up with the perfect sales pitch, but once I have all the pertinent information needed and research for the project I will be able to come up with one. My main focus though is on the cultural aspect of the vodka.

Vodka Pitch for Marketing Plan

Vodka Pitch for marketing plan.
Victoria Springs Vodka
This vodka comes straight from the springs of the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe. But it's not just any vodka, this Vodka gives an exuberant taste of 3 different Tropical fruits only grown in Zimbabwe. fruits

Firmented from Maize and sugar cane, tree nuts, and grapes

Three flavors of taste: marula, which is a mood enhancer/ muroro, also called the sugar apple/

EOC: Week 7 Biggest Challenge in Marketing

The Biggest Challenge in my Marketing Plan to me is whether some one has made the product before. Especially nowadays people are inventing things that are just variations of other products because there is s much out there, mainly because technology is so advanced. Seldom does anyone come with an original product anymore. So since so many people come up with variations, you think to yourself, "What's the difference between this product and another product?" Basically you have to pitch it differently. But that is easier said than done. Most of the time you just have to use a gimmick or something catchy to attract people to it, because it's not that much different than what the next person has done before you.
The other difficult challenge I think will be pricing the product. There are two ways how that could be difficult. The first way is if you have managed to make an original product, is it a type of product that benefits everybody, selfish product, etc. Then on top of that, if it is original is it something you only want the super rich to buy, because they have the luxury of being able to spend money without blinking an eye and also love to have the new hottest thing. On the other hand is it something you want everyone to be able to buy? Then you gotta think about the economics of it. Will the supply meet the demand if you do make it affordable for everyone.
The Second way pricing could be difficult, is if your product is a variation of another product, then you have to think about the prices of your competition. Are you gonna make it cheaper, more expensive, the same. You have to think about how you want people to spend their money on your product.

EOC Week 7 3's About Me

Create this as a blog post. Build in Word - include the questions. Post it in the first ten minutes of today’s class (it’s time stamped, you know!). Use Three as the tag.

Three Names I have been called: A Genius, Highly Intelligent, Good Friend

Three Jobs I have had in my life (include unpaid if you have to): MArket Research Assoiciate, Technical Support Specialist, Cashier

Three Places I Have Lived: Zimbabwe, Bay Area, Las Vegas

Three TV Shows that I watch: Numb3rs, Law & Order Criminal Intent, Martin



Three places I have been: Jamaica, South Africa, Mexico



People that e-mail me regularly. Elise, My cousin, Shanna Johnson



Three of my favorite foods: Rice, Chicken,



Three cars I have driven: 98 Mustang GT, 85 Buick LeSabre, 96 Nissan Maxima



Three things I am looking forward to: Graduating from School

EOC Week 6: Specialty But Not Specialty Product

Our company AAP, (All Around Products), just came with a new innovative product called the AAH702’s. They’re new top of the line headphone that everyone can use and love. You love music? You love internet? You love TV well now you can get a product that can give you all that and more! The AAH702s are new noise canceling head phones that give the top of the line sound quality. Which is great for the music you love best. But not only that, but these head phones have its own mini screen that slides out and you can watch TV and you can get on the internet. Why use an I-pod to download your music when you can do it right off of your head phones. These headphones are very convenient especially for the people who love always listening to their head phones.
The AAP Company came up with the idea of all around head phones. Our slogan is “Keep Doin What You Doin.” It’s nice, catchy, and straight to the point. They are made with heavy duty plastic with adjustable ear pieces for different size ears, and you can pick whether you want to wear them on your head like traditional headphones or behind your head.

E.O.C. Week 5 What my Classmates think about Advertising vs. Marketing

One of the students in my class states “If a product is marketed well enough then advertising it is done without even having to pay for it.” Basically, she was saying that if enough people go to a certain place all the time, then more people will likely catch on and start going there also. I totally agree, because a big part of advertising a certain product or service is done by word of mouth. For instance, I’m not a big coffee drinker. If I drink coffee, it’s because I need to stay up, not because it tastes good. But then at the job I’m working at, in the morning I catch a lot of people that I work with having Starbuck’s cups or talking about going to Starbucks because they need to stay up. So obviously my curiosity is going to kick in and want to try out their coffee to see if it will keep me up. And how it effects me will determine if I would tell other people about it and so forth. That to me says a lot about advertising.
“When you Market something you will often do a lot of research before you create/release a product, and advertising is just one way of using that research.” I totally agree with that statement, because a company will make a bunch of products under their name, but then sometimes they are not satisfied or they want to encourage more people to but their brand. So they do research and hire maybe a famous person to do a commercial for them to advertise their product to make more people but it. For example, Reebok’s have always been second or third to Nike’s but when Allen Iverson became popular and was endorsing his shoe with Reebok, their sales rocketed, because Iverson was one of the most popular basketball mogul’s at the time.
This next student uses fragrances to exemplify marketing and advertising. She talked about body sprays and deodorants and how men and women want to smell differently, so that makes the advertisements broadcast their products in the medium that would get the maximized profitization for that gender. An example of that, she talks about having a lot of Axe commercials on ESPN because that’s what a lot of men spend their time watching. She states ” Marketing is what the company sells and who they sell to, and how they are going to sell it.” That statement goes with what she is saying. Now I’m not saying I disagree with the statement, but I have a question of my own. When it comes to cologne and perfume, there are different varieties for both genders. Now what is the marketing strategy about women’s perfume with the same name as the men’s cologne? For example, there is a Cool Water for both men and women, Curve, Stetson, and Eternity just to name a few. Now not that I want there to be men’s version’s of women’s perfume, but why aren’t there any?

E.O.C. Week 4: What is the difference between Marketing and Advertising

Advertising is more of a public service by advertisement. Marketing concentrates more on the customer values and can sometimes focus all their energy on a certain demographic or age group. On the other hand, Advertising might affect different age groups differently depending on the type of ad and/or who’s doing the advertising. For example, Levi’s have a new cut of jeans that have been out for say 6 months, but it wasn’t selling very much. So they paid a high profile music artist like Kanye West to be the spokesperson to advertise and wear that cut of Jeans. They have him do a lot of commercials on television and whenever he’s at awards shows he mentions the type of jeans he’s wearing. Most likely people in their teens up to the late 20’s will probably start wearing their jeans just because it’s Kanye West who’s wearing them. “Many products and services that are integral parts of Americans’ lives today get their initial boost from opinion leaders.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg. 73). In this case, Kanye West is considered a Opinion leader. And in the next few months they become the current trend amongst that age group. Now the other age groups around that, or people who don’t know or care who Kanye West is probably will not really think about buying those type of jeans. Levi’s now have a certain type of customer that buys their product, but only by chance. They couldn’t predict who will start buying their jeans, they just wanted to promote it to get someone to buy it.
Marketing would take a more extensive approach. They would probably do a focus group or come up with surveys on people who have bought the jeans and ask them questions, like are they comfortable compared to other jeans, does it go well with your style of dress, etc. Then off of those answers they would come up with a marketing plan to implement what they are already doing, or a way to improve the product so more people would buy it.

EOC: Week 3: How I buy Stuff

What influences my purchasing decisions is a combination of my personality, my age, and ideal self image. But all of that combined describes my lifestyle and characteristics. I strive to be very individualistic so that I’m perceived as different to everyone else, but not stand out too much that I receive negative attention. On the decision of what clothes to wear, that is probably the one thing most determined by my age and my personality. I like to buy clothes that really catch my eye and also show a grown man’s image. Simultaneously, I try and find items that everyone else is not going to be wearing. Usually when everybody likes a certain thing, instead of attracting me to it, it makes me like it less. Especially these days when everyone likes a certain thing it becomes oversaturated and takes away the quality from the original creation or idea. Then people start to copy and claim the idea as theirs. As a consumer, I like to “protect my identity as an individual, the products I buy and the stores I patronize supports my self image.” (MKTG, Lamb, pg 76).
Earlier I said one of the major decisions about the clothes I wear is based on my age. What I mean by that is, a lot of the trends that people are following or copying, (depends on how you look at it), they are more for the younger people in their late teens to early twenties. For example, a lot of people wear what they call skinny jeans and a small t-shirt, and then they sag their pants. I look at is as I’m too old to be dressing like that, so therefore I’m not going to be looking for those kinds of items when I shop for clothes. I am more of a button up t-shirt kind of guy who wears slim cut pants or some nice and creased dockers.

Week 2 EOC - Me As A Consumer

My demographic that I fall under is African, not African American. My family and I, the exception is my sister, was born in Zimbabwe, Africa. I can’t really speak for other African’s or African American’s, but I take a more of a practical approach to my purchases. I look for the most practical item at the lowest price but get the best results for me. For example, a lot of people have probably watched or heard of shows like MTv Cribs, which showcase famous people’s lifestyle’s and what they own in their homes and often tell you how much they paid for it. Some famous people would show you their cars and say that they paid over 80,000 dollars on their car stero system. How I look at it is, why did you pay that much. Usually you pay that much for power or how loud and powerful you want your system to sound. But then you can’t even use the maximum power that it puts out without getting in trouble by the law. I can pay at the most 4,000 dollars for a system that sounds excellent and I won’t get in trouble by the law.

Another example is in clothing. A lot of people would pay 75 – 100 dollars for their shirt. Basically they are paying for the brand. But the brand is pretty much covered up by another article of clothing that they are wearing. So people won’t even know that you are wearing a name brand unless you tell them and show them that it is whatever brand it is. Me, I’ll get a similar short that looks just as god, pretty much the same quality, but paid 50% less than they did, and look good doing it. That is just a short example of my practical approach to my consumption of products and services.