Cadbury Beverages, Inc.

1.0 Executive Summary

In October 1989, Cadbury Beverages, Inc. has acquired soft drink brand from Procter & Gamble. Afterwards in January 1990, Cadbury marketing team decided to re-launch the Crush soft drink brand. A marketing plan was strategically developed to achieve the target of the company. The objective of this marketing plan is to re-launch the Crush brand through improved market coverage. With the effort of the marketing team, the company had identified three (3) main issues that were immediately noticeable which are affecting the current coverage and sales of the Crush soft drink brand in the market. These issues became the secondary objective of this marketing plan which will be discussed further in this study. A strategy was developed based on these issues in order to achieve the primary objective of re-launching the brand through improved market coverage. The issues are stated as follow:-

1. The need to revive the cooperation and bottling network for the Crush brand.

2. The need to establish and build base brand positioning which is in-line with the brand equity.

3. The need to develop a new advertising and promotion program.

By having the issues arranged in such a manner, it gives an easier understanding of the current situation that is affecting the company's brand. It started with the primary objective of improving market coverage. With wider market coverage, the brand is able to broaden its horizons and reach for more customers in the market. The strategy to achieve this is through an improved network and cooperates with the bottler of Crush brand. Through a better networking with these bottlers, Cadbury Beverages is able to increase its output capacity in order to supply to a wider market. Moreover, improving bottler network also gives an opportunity for the company's product to reach a broader area due to the exclusive right of the bottlers to distribute the products.

2.0 Identified issues

The executives of Cadbury Beverages, Inc. must find a strategy to refresh the Crush brand and to restructure the market of the soft drink. There are three (3) main issues with the re-launching of the Crush brand.

1. How to revive the cooperation and bottling network for the Crush brand?

2. How to establish and build base brand positioning which is in-line with the brand equity?

3. How to develop a new advertising and promotion program?

3.0 Strategic focus and plan

In January 1990 the marketing executives at Cadbury Beverages began the task of re-launching the Crush brand, which was purchased from Procter & Gamble in October 1989. A marketing plan was strategically developed to achieve the target of the company. The main objective of this marketing plan is to re-launch the Crush brand through improved market coverage. The second objective of this marketing plan is that the company wants to tackle the three (3) issues that have been identified affecting the current coverage and sales of Crush soft drink in the market.

4.0 Situational analysis

4.1 Company analysis: Cadbury beverages, Inc. business.

Cadbury Beverages is the beverage division of Cadbury Schweppes, a major soft drink and confectionary marketer. In 1989, they had worldwide sales of 4.6 billion dollar. Schweppes was the world's first soft drink maker and the third largest soft drink marketer after Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola. In 1969, Schweppes merged with Cadbury in year 1989 and Cadbury Schweppes was on of the world's largest multinational firms. Beverages accounted for 60 percent of the company worldwide sales and confectionery for 40 percent. Cadbury Beverages is the fourth largest soft drink marketer in the United States, with a market share of 3.4 percent and become the market leader in some specific soft drinks category.

SWOT analysis for Cadbury Beverages

Strengths

* Large amount of business knowledge and experience.

* 4th largest marketer in the United States.

* Already established and well-known name brand.

* Focus specifically on the orange-flavored Crush.

Weaknesses

* Low market share in the carbonated beverage market.

* Limited relationships in the bottling network.

* Fairly low advertising and promotion expenditures.

* Low marketing of the diet variety.

* Risk of cannibalization if positioning with Sunkist.

Opportunities

* Large assortment of media channels.

* Increase in total sales for diet drinks.

* Increase in consumption of carbonated beverages.

Threats

* Great amount of competition.

* Heavy advertising expenses.

* Soft drink purchases unplanned.

* Healthier orange-flavored beverages.

4.2 Industry analysis: Soda Soft Drink Market Industry in United States

There are three major players which are all very important in the production and distribution of carbonated soft drinks. They are concentrate producers, bottlers and retail outlets. There are over 40 concentrate producers that dominate this industry. They are Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Dr Pepper/Seven Up. The bottlers convert the basic flavor in carbonated soft drinks then package the drink in bottles or cans and in turn sell specific brands of the concentrate producers. Franchised bottlers' package and distribute in a defined area and are only allowed to represent non-competitive brands. Retails channels include supermarkets, convenience stores, vending machines, fountain services and small retail outlets.

4.3 Competition analysis: Competition in the soft drinks market

The major competitors for soft drink industry are Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola and Dr Pepper/Seven Up. Revenues are