Marketing strategy- Pricing and Positioning
Marketing strategy
Proper pricing and positioning of the Sobe power fruit drink assist the company to concentrate its resources on the available opportunities with the goal of increasing sales and attaining competitive advantage. Since the needs of the customers are well understood in the industry the company concentrates on ensuring that the product satisfy’s the customers through providing a market oriented strategy. Though the target market; teens and mid youth is as easier evidenced concentrates on the product they are also price sensitive. Therefore the company pricing and positioning concentrates on proper formulation, evaluation and set objectives (Moore, 1991).
Product Positioning
The Sobe fruit drink marketing strategies has assisted in differentiating it from other competitor drinks. The drinks marketing position is mainly use of personal selling and advertising which has resulted to great levels of product differentiation (Michael, 2008). For instance, after the initial months after the drink was launched the company, the company developed new products such as lemon and strawberry Sobe fruit drink. This ensured that the product gained new popularity and clients were able to have a wider range of selection. A year later, Sobe fruit drink underwent another significant innovation which increased both sales and profit levels. The new pricing strategy was focused on the opportunity identified on the target market that the population of both teens and youth who were the main customers continued to increases. The company decided to embrace new use of a vending machine which allowed making sales though use of SMS messaging. With the new marketing strategy the company could reach more clients easily and other hand clients could attain the drink faster and at their convenient. In the recent past the Sobe power punch has continued to embrace continuous innovation, new packaging idea the Fridge Pack has brought another new image on the product. The fridge pack is not only attractive to the eyes of the target market but also price sensitive. This is because it consists of cans packed 2 by 6 which are cheaper than single cans but essential to the company since it encourages the clients to purchase more.
Product pricing
The price of Sobe Fruit Flavored is priced according to the brand and the size. Though the price of the drinks is mainly set by retail stores, convenient stores and besides petrol stations who sell the drinks most convenient stores and petrol stations prices are usually fixed. However, all these retail sellers use pricing methods and pricing strategies to sell the drink. The pricing method pays attention to competition based pricing since it relates to the price of sodas who are the main source of competition. For instance, the price of the fruit drink is set slightly below the price of Coca-Cola products in that when the price of a coke can is $1.68 the price of the Sobe fruit drink is $1.60. In addition, the pricing strategy is also psychologically based, this means that discounts pricing is set during sale periods and special occasions (Levi, 2007). The price of the fruit punch reduces during the festive period to attract more sales since the number of clients is also quite high at the time. A pack of 18 cans of Sobe fruit drink fridge cans of 375ml are increased to contain 400 ml during the festive period, by so doing, the target market finds it a free festive token. With that analysis the current success of Sobe fruit favored drink is mainly as a result of use of advertising and personal selling that are market oriented as well as pricing strategies that aim at attaining a competitive advantage.
References
Michael, B. (2008) The Strategic Marketing Plan Audit
Richard, L. and Mark, S. (2007) Simmons, Mark, Punk Marketing, New York : Harper Collins,
Moore, G. (1991) Crossing the Chasm, HarperCollins Publishers.
Levi, K. (2007) “Differentiate or Diminish: The Art and Necessity of Business Positioning”, (March 2013), p.9
Originally posted 2015-03-14 10:16:53.
