Individual Reflective Report-

Carlton & United Breweries

Marketing Management and Planning GSBS6005

Universtity of Newcastle Lecturer: Dr. Sonia Vilches-Montero

Author Student No.:

Klaus Raming 3192581

 

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Table of Contents

1. INTRODUCTION  ........................................................................................................................................  3  

2. MARKETING OBJECTIVES  ..................................................................................................................  3  2.1 CURRENT SITUATION ........................................................................................................ 3 2.2 OBJECTIVES ..................................................................................................................... 4

3. TARGET MARKETING AND POSITIONING  ....................................................................................  4  3.1 TARGET MARKETS ............................................................................................................ 4 3.2 POSITIONING .................................................................................................................... 5

4. MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES  .........................................................................................................  6  4.1 PRODUCT STRATEGY ....................................................................................................... 7 4.2 PRICE STRATEGY ............................................................................................................. 8 4.3 PROMOTION STRATEGY .................................................................................................... 8 4.4 DISTRIBUTION STRATEGY ................................................................................................. 9

5. CONCLUSION  ..........................................................................................................................................  10  

6. REFERENCES  ..........................................................................................................................................  11  

7. APPENDICES  ...........................................................................................................................................  13  APPENDIX 1: FEMALE FAVOURITE COLOUR (HALLOCK, 2003) ................................................. 13 APPENDIX 2: ADVERTISEMENT EXAMPLES OF CUB (CUB, 2014) ........................................... 14

Table of Figures Figure 1: Segmentation …………………………………………………………………….6

Figure 2: Perceptual map: Focus on price and female-friendliness …………………...7

Figure 3: New product definition……………………………………………………………8

Figure 4: Consistency of the marketing strategy………………………………………..11

 

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1. Introduction This report is based on the findings of the situational analysis of Carlton United

Breweries (CUB) and elaborates a marketing plan to sustain and enhance the

competitive advantage of the company. The analysis identified two main issues that

should be addressed by CUB. The company has to acquire new brands to defend its

market share and to focus more on females, as they are an underrepresented group

of the beer market. The acquisition of new firms is part of the strategic management

process of CUB and will therefore not be addressed in this report. This paper deals

with the second issue and works out an adequate marketing strategy, as marketing

towards women appears to offer CUB the greatest future potential.

Firstly, based on the current situation of the company, marketing objectives for the

forthcoming 12 months are stated. Secondly, the report indicates which segments the

company should target and how CUB should position its products. Subsequently, a

marketing mix is developed in order to meet the objectives. Following that, the report

will be concluded with a discussion about how the marketing plan will help and assist

CUB.

2. Marketing Objectives 2.1 Current Situation CUB is currently one of the key players within the Australian beer industry, as it is

part of Fosters Group, owned by SABMiller. According to IBISWorld (2014), Fosters

Group holds 39.4% of the market share for sold and produced beer in Australia.

However, the Australian beer industry has experienced a decline in volume of sales

and revenue over the last years. In addition, the forecast for this particular market

expects a further decrease (Marketline, 2013). Moreover, although CUB is a key

player in the beer industry, it has to face strong competition and to focus on

defending its market share. The situational analyses identified two main issues that

CUB has to address to enhance its competitive advantage. Firstly, CUB has to

acquire new brands to prevent larger firms from getting a further foot in the door.

Secondly, the company has to lay its focus more towards women, as they offer CUB

the opportunity to boost its beer sales (Joseph, 2012). Studies found out that 85% of

all consumer purchases are made by women. In addition, 75% of women are doing

the regular household shopping (Istvanova, 2013).

 

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The following marketing plan is developed on basis of the second identified issue, as

it appears to offer CUB the greatest marketing potential over the next years.

2.2 Objectives Regarding the current situation of CUB and the identified issues, the first step in the

development of this marketing plan is to define the objectives that the company

should strive for within the forthcoming 12 months. S.M.A.R.T goal setting criteria

were used as a framework for working out the following objectives that will help CUB

to enhance its marketing situation:

• Establishing a social media campaign via facebook and turning conversation

into sales. In average, women are spending 40% more time on social

networks than men (Istvanova, 2013). The aim is to inform women about

existing and new products. Furthermore, it should offer them a platform to

exchange their experiences and become a useful source of creative ideas

linked to the product of beer. The page should have at least 10.000 likes.

• Establishing a call centre to give customers the opportunity to inform

themselves about the products as well as to offer them a contact point to co-

create the brand. Using qualitative surveys, the customer satisfaction should

be improved by 10%.

• Making Hugh Jackman to CUB’s new testimonial to target the

underrepresented group of women. A survey of the Reader’s Digest Magazine

in 2014 ranked Hugh Jackman under the top five most trusted people in

Australia (Flynn, 2014). Furthermore, he represents a sex symbol and attracts

women. Adding a hot guy into a campaign mesmerizes the female audience

(Istvanova, 2013).

3. Target Marketing and Positioning 3.1 Target Markets The next step in this marketing plan is to work out and justify potential segments that

CUB should target. The aim is to assess the attractiveness of each segment and to

find out which one will offer CUB the greatest potential. The results of segmentation

 

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and targeting are the company’s target markets (Solomon, Hughes, Chitty, Marshall

& Stuart, 2014). The following table indicates recommended segments, which are

based on the conducted market segmentation of the situational analyses of CUB:

Figure 1: Segmentation

CUB follows a differentiated targeting strategy. That means they are producing

different kind of drinks to target several customer groups (Salomon et al., 2014).

Segment 2 and Segment 5 are identified as CUB’s main target groups. These two

groups encompass the conservative, masculine, working class beer drinker in rural

areas as well as middle-aged men and women in urban areas, which love drinking

during socializing. However, due to the changes in the Australian drinking culture and

the increasing alcohol consumption of women (Pennay, Lubman & Frei, 2014), the

biggest marketing potential for CUB can be seen in Segment 1. This segment targets

18 to 39 year old emancipated and open-minded women in urban areas with an

income of $50.000 to $70.000. The objective is to sell beer, low carb beer and cider

to that specific group.

3.2 Positioning Based on CUB’s identified target markets, the next step in this process is to develop

a positioning strategy. The current positioning strategy of CUB and the other key

players in the Australian beer market for the main target groups, Segment 2 and

Segment 5, are quite similar. That is mainly because they offer basically the same

product variety with same quality and same prices. However, CUB failed to focus on

 

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women, especially for the product beer. Figure 2 illustrates the current positioning of

Segment 1 within the market.

Figure 2: Perceptual map: Focus on price and female-friendliness

It shows that while the products cider and low carb beer are addressing women’s

needs, the product beer is not appealing to them. Thus, it is expected that a product

repositioning with a vertical shift towards female friendliness will open great business

potential for CUB. The repositioning will be achieved by changing women’s beliefs

and implementing the former defined and justified objectives: Launching a social

media campaign and discussion platform via facebook, establishment of a call centre

and making Hugh Jackman, an Australian actor and sex symbol to CUB’s new

testimonial.

4. Marketing Mix Strategies In the following a marketing mix is tailored to CUB’s Segment 1. The aim is to work

out adequate actions and tactics in order to reposition the product beer more towards

women and to meet the defined objectives. The marketing mix strategies are

developed by focusing on four elements - product, price, promotion and distribution

(Solomon et al., 2014).

 

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4.1 Product Strategy The product beer is tangible and can be classified as a convenience product.

Meaning that most customers buy beer without putting much effort into it

(Businessdictionary, 2014). Beer is relatively inexpensive and highly available on the

market. However, there is a need for CUB to define the product new to market it to

that special customer group, which is shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3: New product definition

The core product is a beer that gives women the feeling that it is brewed especially

for them. The attributes to deliver the benefits of the core product are changes in

design, colour of the packaging and a new slogan.

A nice designed bottle looks better on the table than a can of beer and therefore

appeals to women (Byrson, 2008). Currently, CUB focuses mainly on the colours

green (e.g. Victoria Bitter), red (e.g. Carlton Draught) and blue (e.g. Carlton dry)

(Appendix 2). As Hallock (2003) found out that purple appeals particularly to women

(Appendix 1) this colour is chosen for the corporate design of the new product. In

general the new product meets women’s ideas of a lifestyle drink providing them the

added values of design, aesthetics and sexiness while socializing. A strong feminine

brand will be established, which will be later on communicated in all online and offline

communication channels. The chosen powerful yet cheeky slogan: ‘Bubbly was

 

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yesterday- real women drink beer’ will create a rethinking in the community and

appeals to the open-minded target group. Additionally, customer services, such as an

online discussion platform via facebook and a call centre will support the core and

the actual products by providing women opportunities to interact and co-create the

brand. As women tend to be easily distracted and are identified to be discovery-

oriented shoppers (Benko & Pelster, 2013) these augmented products should

facilitate their decision-making processes.

4.2 Price Strategy According to a study of Deutsche Bank the average price for a beer in Australia is the

third highest in the world (Williams, 2013). However, that fact has no impact on

CUB’s price strategy, as the company is mainly competing against national

breweries, with quite similar product prices. It is recommended that CUB tailors its

price strategy around customer satisfaction and image enhancement. Meaning that

on the one hand the price should not be set too high so that it still matches

customers’ expectations. On the other hand the price should not be too low so that it

has no affect on the product’s quality image. Furthermore, the product beer itself can

be determined to be in the maturity phase of the product life cycle (Solomon et al.,

2014) and therefore cannot be sold for a premium price. Thus, the best price strategy

for Segment 1 is obviously penetration pricing. The initial product price has to be low

to appeal immediately to the mass market to gain market share. Subsequently, the

price tactic should be to adjust the price in order to cover the investment costs.

4.3 Promotion Strategy CUB’s current promotion strategy has to change drastically, in order to make its beer

appealing to women. Perceived originally as a male product, the new feminine beer

brand communicates cheekiness, aesthetics and sexiness. It is recommended that

CUB uses persuasive advertising, as it is essential to change the customer`s

perception of the product attributes. Moreover, that kind of advertising will help to

influence women’s buying decisions (Solomon et al., 2014).

The first step towards this goal is to establish a social media campaign via facebook.

CUB still has no adequate facebook presence with less than 1.400 likes (Facebook,

2014). The campaign will on the one hand inform women about the new product and

 

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on the other hand will provide them a platform for discussion and experience

exchange. To gain an interactive facebook community, different raffles will entertain

the crowd. Small beer coolers will be sent to female dominated offices, to strengthen

the idea of a cool, well-deserved CUB after-work beer. These women get the chance

to win trays for the whole team by posting and sharing their after-work-drink photos

with CUB beers on own social media channels. Personalized beer bottles are

planned prizes for other raffles, which will further enhance word of mouth in the

community.

Moreover, to add value to the platform it will also focus on topics in which women are

interested in and provide them with creative ideas linked to the product of beer.

Women will find for example a recipe exchange how to cook with beer, fancy beer

cocktails, CUB related drinking games etc. Additionally, the platform will be used to

organise meet-ups. The aim is that women will convince each other of the product

and become brand ambassadors.

The second part of the promotion strategy encompasses to make Hugh Jackman, the

Australian actor and sex symbol, to CUB’s testimonial. In 2012, 37% of all alcohol

ads used sex to sell (Pappas, 2012), which proofs that sex sells. Hence, it is very

likely that CUB will also prosper from this approach. The campaign should mainly be

advertised in women’s magazines, to reach the right customers. Currently, beer ads

in women’s magazines are very rare (Byrson, 2008) therefore it promises great

potential.

4.4 Distribution Strategy The product distribution of CUB can be determined as very intense. That means they

use a two level channel distribution, with intermediaries such as wholesalers and

retailers. The bargaining power of the wholesalers, like Coles and Woolworth is very

high, due to that CUB is reliant upon to get its products on the shelves. Whereas, the

retailers, such as hotels, bars and small shops have limited power, as there are a lot

of them. However, the longer the distribution channels, the more power CUB loses

over its products. Thus, the distribution strategy of CUB should be changed to a

hybrid channel strategy by adding new channels to the existing ones (Moriarty &

Moran, 1990). Meaning that CUB has to use different market channels to target

 

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different groups (Pondent, 2014). It is recommended to sell the new product directly

to small shops and bars, and to stay away from the big shelves of the wholesalers.

That channel should be supported through the facebook platform to inform women

about the locations where the products are available. That strategy will enhance

CUB´s overall marketing strategy as it minimizes the threats of intermediary’s

interferences.

5. Conclusion In conclusion, this marketing plan has been worked out to enhance the marketing

position of CUB, by laying its focus more towards women. The recommended

segment to target middle-aged, open-minded, emancipated women in urban areas

offers CUB a great potential to expand its market share and gain competitive

advantage. The marketing plan assists the company to achieve its defined objectives

and describes in detail how to do it. The following Figure 4 illustrates the consistency

of the marketing strategy.

Figure 4: Consistency of the marketing strategy

Firstly, there is a need to redefine the product to make it more appealing to women.

Secondly, a penetration pricing strategy should be followed. Thirdly, the promotion

strategy has to be improved, by establishing a social media campaign on facebook

and by making a celebrity to CUB’s new testimonial. Last but not least, it is

suggested that the company changes its intensive distribution strategy to a hybrid

channel strategy and to sell the product directly to small shops and bars. The

marketing plan should be used strategically and tactically by the company, as it deals

not only with identified issues that advance the overall company but also with tools

and resources that are used to support the defined mission.

 

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6. References Benko C. & Pelster B. (2013, September). How women decide. Haward Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/2013/09/how-women-decide/ar/1 Businessdictionary. (2014). Convenience Product. Retrieved from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/convenience-product.html Byrson L. (2008, February). Getting women to drink more. Massachusetts’ Beverage Business. Retrieved from http://www.beveragebusiness.com/archives/article.php?cid=1&eid=38&aid=325 CUB (2014). Beer. Retrieved from http://cub.com.au/beer/ Facebook (2014). Carlton United Breweries. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/pages/Carlton-United-Breweries/112361475445379 Flynn H. (2014, July). Trusted People 2014. Readers Digest Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.readersdigest.com.au/trusted-people-2014 Hallock J. (2014). Colour Assignment. Retrieved from http://www.joehallock.com/edu/COM498/preferences.html#favbygender IBISWorld. (2014). IBISWorld Industry Report: Beer Manufacturing in Australia. Retrieved from http://clients1.ibisworld.com/reports/au/industry/default.aspx?entid=116 Istvanova L. (2013, February 18). How to target a female audience in your marketing campaigns. Koozai. Retrieved from http://www.koozai.com/blog/branding/how-to-target-a-female-audience-in-your-marketing-campaigns/ Joseph S. (2012, September 28). Beer should not be gender exclusive. Marketing Week. Retrieved from http://www.marketingweek.co.uk/news/beer-should-not-be-gender-exclusive/4004048.article Marketline. (2013). Marketline Industry Profile: Beer in Australia, 1-32. Moriarty R. T. & Moran U. (November, 1990) Managing Hybrid Marketing Systems. Havard Business Review. Retrieved from http://hbr.org/1990/11/managing-hybrid-marketing-systems/ar/1 Pappas S. (2012, June 6). Sexy Advertising On the Rise. Live Science. Retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/20773-sexy-advertising-increasing.html Pennay, A., Lubman, D. I. & Frei, M. (2014). Alcohol: Prevention, policy and primary care responses. Australian Family Physician,43, 356-361 Pondent C.S. (2014). Explanation of Hybrid Marketing Channels. eHow. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/facts_7571447_explanation-hybrid-marketing-channels.html

 

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Solomon, M. R., Hughes, A., Chitty, B., Marshall, G. & Stuart, E. (2014). Marketing: Real People, Real Choices. Frenchs Forest, Australia: Pearson Australia Williams R. (2013, April 27). Rising price of living in Australia. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/data-point/rising-price-of-living-in-australia-20130426-2ik16.html

 

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7. Appendices Appendix 1: Female favourite colour (Hallock, 2003)

 

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Appendix  2:  Advertisement  examples  of  CUB  (CUB,  2014)