Solution Marketing Plan: Your Company has just developed a new sports drink that is in a container, which will

keep it cool for up to 6 hours. Develop a marketing plan for this product and then write a paper discussing how you would market the product. This is a 2-part assignment. Deliverable #1 = Develop a marketing plan for this product. NOTE: Not a full-fledged plan, but an outline that addresses all the key elements of a marketing plan with a short oratory for that section. Deliverable #2 = Write a paper discussing how you would market the product. Marketing Plan !. Executive Summary Cool It! Is a sports drink, which replaces electrolytes in a unique, innovative package, delivering a quality drink at a cool temperature? This product will be rolled out nationally in the next three months through our network of beverage distributors and major retail customers. In addition, we will partner with sports teams to gain awareness and credibility for our product. Furthermore we will capitalize on the unique ability of Cool It! to deliver cold beverages for aid to the military and aid communities. II. The Challenge: Cool It! is an electrolyte replacement drink with a specially designed, patented container that keeps the product cool for up to six hours. Our goal is to market this product throughout the United States in major retailers, and to achieve 1% of sales the sports drink market category within the first year, ultimately gaining 15% of the sports drink category within five years. This would amount to 30 million dollars. The sports drink market is growing at a rate of 28% per year. III. Situation Analysis: As stated, our goal is to gain 1% of market share within the first year, 15% of market share within 5 years. This is aggressive but attainable based on our share of market in beverages. Energy drinks have experienced growth in the US from 2004 to 2009 (http://guayaki.com/images/uploads/pages/File/ENERGY%20DRINKS%20UI.pdf) however energy drinks have begun to carve into market share. Currently sports drinks are estimated at a $3 billion dollar segment of the beverage market. Our focus is on obtaining distribution throughout the major retail chains in the United States, procuring shelf space, displays, and exposure. In addition we plan to partner with major sports team to publicize the product. Our company culture as a leading beverage manufacturer will aid in gaining visibility, distribution and promoting this product.

Strengths include our wide network of retailers, our relationship with door-to-door beverage distributors, and our powerful company reputation. Weakness includes our ability to keep up with production based on use of new supply network with package manufacturing. Market share: We currently enjoy a 30% market share in the beverage category with our varied line of soft drinks and bottled water. We are well placed to add a product extension. Customer Analysis: Currently our company has products in major retailers including Costco, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club and all major drug and supermarket chains. We are represented with our complete line in 80% of the stores across the company. In addition we have beverage distributors positioned throughout the nation to distribute the product. Cool It! Will dovetail into the category, with its' container as a catch for retailers to add it, in spite of the crowded category of sports drinks. In addition this product will allow us to gain entry into the military and aid organization network, and further our connections with the sport world. Competitor Analysis: Market position: Our major competitors are strong and include Gatorade (Pepsi Co), PowerAde (Coca Cola) and All Sport (Pepsi Cola). In addition, there are crossovers from other beverage categories including bottled water and some competition from private label manufacturers. Strengths include market placement and brand awareness. Weaknesses are standard packaging and lack of unique packaging. Market share: Gatorade 75%, Powerade 20%. Collaborators: We will utilize our beverage distributor network to gain access into smaller stores, mom and pop locations. Climate: The political and legal environment appears to be amendable to this product. Economically the beverage will be well received as a low price option for consumers wishing to quench their thirst with a unique cooled product. Social and cultural environment is well positioned for our product. Sports drinks continue to grow at a steady rate. Cool It! is a uniquely differentiated product that will enlarge the category. Technologically Cool It! will dominate the category as well as taking some market share from other drinks due to its' unique packaging. SWOT Analysis: Strengths include price point, unique packaging, quality product, and strength of distribution channels. Weakness will be ability to keep up with production

Opportunities: market width and depth is varied through different channels. Threats other competitors duplicating packaging.

IV. Market Segmentation: Segment 1: General Market Percent of sales: 60% Interested in novelty, latest fad, ability to enjoy cold beverage Would use product at school, work, and during recreation Support via supply in major retailers Reach market through social networking, displays in retailers, television ads, and partnerships with sports teams Price sensitivity is high due to extensive competitive products Segment 2: Athletes- professional and amateur Percent of sales: 30% Interested in electrolyte replacement drink that is effective and cool Would use product to replace energy as exercising and remain hydrated Support through distribution in sport shops, and marketing Reach market through advertising at athletic events, contacting team offices, selling management of professional teams. No price sensitivity Segment 3: Government and Aid Organizations Percent of sales: 10% Interested in cool hydration Would use product to offer cool hydration to those in service of country or those affected by disaster Support through excellent service and distribution Reach market through contacts within organizations Some price sensitivity V. Alternative Marketing Strategies There is a large alternative market available globally in warmer climates including the Middle East and Africa. Initially however, we wish to position the product within the US and later expand worldwide. VI. Selected Marketing Strategy:

Product: Cool It! has a clever brand name, is high quality, scientifically sound electrolyte replacement drink with an innovative cooling package. Price: Cool It! will be priced competitively to enable us to immediately gain market share through trial. In addition, we will coupon the product and offer distributors and large retailers discounts based on quantity buys and displays. We will stick to our standard payment terms. Distribution: Our channels of distribution will be through our network of soda and beer distributors as well as our direct large retail chains. We will market this product nationally. Promotion: Cool It! will be advertised through Facebook, Twitter, and viral YouTube campaigns. In addition we will do some radio advertisements and partner with sports teams in major markets. Our budget will be primarily focused on athletic partnerships. VII. Short & Long Term Projections As a result of these strategies we anticipate gaining an initial 1% share of the sports drink market within the first year, escalating to 15% within five years through product extension and further market saturation. VIII: Conclusion: Market size margin, break even (You will want to decide how in depth to go here). http://www.quickmba.com/marketing/plan/ http://www.cbc.ca/health/fitness-blog/2006/11/cracking_the_sports_drink_mark.html http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Financial-Industry/Sports-drinks-suffer-sales-volume-slump-in-US Marketing Plan: Cool It! is a quality sports drink packaged in an innovative package that keeps the product cool for up to 6 hours. We are entering the $3 billion sports drink category with this product with the aggressive goal of capturing 1% market share of the category within the first year, and 15% market share after five years. As such we will need to take advantage of our current distribution network and our relationship with major retailers to quickly and efficiently gain market distribution. It is crucial to maximize our marketing efforts with the innovative packaging as well as play off our product name Cool It! through our advertisement and product placement activities. In order to do this the company has decided to initiate an aggressive marketing plan by distributing the product into all major retailers. We will offer quantity purchase buys to encourage displays, give slotting

allowances to retailers and offer eye-catching point of purchase materials to attract consumer sales. In addition, we will have our network of beverage distributors offer smaller scale opportunities for mom and pop locations, and smaller chains. Our product will be priced competitively since it will be entering into a crowded field of competitors. We will offer the product at a price competitive with the existing brands; however, add additional value through our unique packaging and couponing activity. We will do this to allow us to preserve product margins in the long run. We will tie in the distribution of the product with our aggressive marketing campaign. Marketing sports drink through athletic partnerships is problematic due to Gatorades dominance of partnerships with teams across the country. We have decided to forgo trying to upset these partnerships but instead focus on unique, cool athletes and develop our brand based on the character and image of a certain type of competitor. We are anticipating a close partnership with athletes whom must keep cool under pressure and who participate in hot, grueling sports where proper refreshment in key. We have been fortunate to partner with athletic superstars Roy Halladay and Drew Brees to represent Cool It! Eventually we will expand our stable of athletes but initially we have chosen these men to showcase our brands based on their athletic prowess in addition to their "cool" demeanor under pressure. Our marketing campaign will begin immediately with the roll out of product. We will feature both athletes prominently in the campaign. Although some traditional advertising will be executed primarily we plan on dominating social media. We have chosen this avenue in part to further capitalize on the "cool" factor of our product. All marketing and advertising will prominently feature our specially designed logo and icy blue color combination. We will utilize the visual aspect of these cooling features to further convey our uniqueness to the consumer. We will do guerrilla marketing with local sports teams, encouraging youth to "cool it" with our cool new drink. In addition, we've partnered with the YMCA to host several "Cool it! Play Fair!" seminars to encourage fair play among youth athletes. Our thrust in this campaign will be teaching youth and their coaches the importance of taking a minute to cool off (with a Cool It!) instead of getting overinvested in the game. To this end we'll be encouraging youth fitness (thus gaining exposure to families) and helping to build brand awareness. We will offer incentives to youth to tell us their story of keeping cool despite the pressures of the game by offering t-shirts and caps to the best stories/videos submitted. We will be liberal with distributing these materials to help us advertise the product. We'll offer tie ins in the market place with sports teams but most importantly we plan to get our target market of 18 to 34 year olds to show and tell us how they "cool it" with encouragement through Facebook and YouTube and Twitter interaction. Initially we will post videos showing Drew Brees and Roy Halladay cooling it in a traditional manner after a long day, and then show them REALLY cooling it with the Cool It! product and a great deal of happiness. Then each athlete will face the camera and ask the viewer to send in their coolest video or tweet and show us how they cool off. We'll not only show the cleverest contributions on YouTube but we'll also be doing compilations of the videos to get people talking about our products. We'll also try to popularize the slogan "Cool It" through our athletes and marketing campaign.

Samples of Cool It! will be handed out at major sporting events in hot locations. We will be targeting places where consumers will be hot and this product will be extra refreshing. At the same time we will offer consumers coupons to drive them towards future purchases. In addition, since the product roll out will be completed before the start of summer we plan on having Cool It! teams at our disposal throughout the summer months and delivering trial size samples to subway commuters in New York during days when the temperature is in excess of 85 degrees. We will do this for sampling and brand awareness purposes, and include couponing in our activity. Of course, Cool It! team members will be dressed in logo and icy blue, cool apparel. We plan to extend our partnership with major sports venues by adding Cool It! as a product extension to our current line of beverage offerings at the stadiums and parks and doing extensive advertising within the venues. We want Cool It! to be the product consumers ask for when they are hot and need a beverage but also associate it with sports to differentiate it from other beverages. It will be key for us to tout the benefits of electrolyte replacement on hot days and during sporting or other activities that involve exertion coupled with our self-cooling container. We will point out to the consumer that they need to replace lost electrolytes due to increased sweating and scientifically it is better and more efficient for the body to do so with a beverage that is a cool temperature. To help take market share away from other sports drinks we plan on emphasizing our unique packaging. To do this we will offer the product in areas that will make it even more appealing. In these cases our target consumer is the amateur athlete. We will send Cool It! teams to regional and national sporting events and sponsor top age class athletes in their athletic pursuits. Our target consumers are active 18 to 34 year olds involved in triathlons, mountain biking, and road races so we will target these events and host booths after races for competitors to try the product. We will also host a series of endurance events across the country and feature Cool It! at aid stations for greater brand awareness. We anticipate this exposure to amateur athletes will allow us to have more success in tapping into the sports store distribution channel. Furthermore we have set up an extensive website for the Cool It! sports drink (www.coolit!).com) to showcase the most memorable YouTube videos, highlight our activities around the country, connect Drew Brees and Roy Halladay with our consumers, and give consumers educational information about staying cool. In addition we will offer full disclosure of the drink's ingredients and the manner with which our unique packaging works. Also we will give the scientific reasoning for using an electrolyte replacement beverage and offer training tips for athletes. This part of the campaign will help us gain sales from other beverage categories like juices and water. Furthermore we will offer super trendy "Cool It!" gear for consumers to buy and win through the website. We will also list retailers where Cool It! can be found and work diligently at keeping this list updated. In addition we plan on marketing to the United States military. Cool It! offers the unique components of tasting great, replacing electrolytes, and keeping cool. Although we plan to market only in the United

States initially we will expand globally through this channel of distribution. The United States military would benefit from the qualities and unique packaging of this product. In addition Cool It! would develop a dedicated share of market that will help spread the word about our product and further develop market share upon their return home from active duty. Cool It! will also be marketed to aid organizations such as the American Red Cross, Americares, and the United Nations. It is our intention for Cool It! to be marketed as an electrolyte replacement drink for those in need, particularly since we can offer a cold beverage when refrigeration is not possible. We will present our product to these organizations offering the product at supplemented pricing and offering free transportation to all nationally declared disaster areas. In addition, we are committed to utilizing our employees as volunteers to distribute Cool It! during time of need as a way to give back to our communities and country. Cool It! will be marketed aggressively in new and unique avenues to further cement the freshness of the product in the consumers' mind. We plan to be the beverage of choice when temperatures or tempers get hot. We are targeting different channels of distribution from mass market to individual stores and sports venues. In addition, we are reaching out to a wide demographic but focusing our advertisements on our target market group of 18 to 34 year olds. We need an aggressive campaign to get the word out about our product and capture sales from our competitors and competing beverages. Cool It! is well positioned to reach its' sales goals since it is a quality product, in unique packaging, with a well balanced marketing campaign.