About nine servings of the soft drink were sold each day. Sales for that first year added up to a total of about $50. The funny thing was that it cost John Pemberton over $70 in expanses, so the first year of sales were a loss.
Until 1905, the soft drink, marketed as a tonic, contained extracts of cocaine as well as the caffeine-rich kola nut.
By the late 1890s, Coca-Cola was one of America's most popular fountain drinks. With another Atlanta pharmacist, Asa Griggs Candler, at the helm, the Coca-Cola Company increased syrup sales by over 4000% between 1890 and 1900. Advertising was an important factor in Pemberton and Chandler's success and by the turn of the century, the drink was sold across the United States and Canada. Around the same time, the company began selling syrup to independent bottling companies licensed to sell the drink. Even today, the US soft drink industry is organized on this principle.
Until the 1960s, both small town and big city dwellers enjoyed carbonated beverages at the local soda fountain or ice cream saloon. Often housed in the drug store, the soda fountain counter served as a meeting place for people of all ages. Often combined with lunch counters, the soda fountain declined in popularity as commercial ice cream, bottled soft drinks, and fast food restaurants came to the fore.
Today, products of the Coca Cola Company are consumed at the rate of more than one billion drinks per day.
Burn is a new energy produced by drinks manufactures ‘Coca Cola’ it is been set out to penetrate the current drinks market which is being dominated by ‘Red Bull’. However I will also create a niche market by marketing ‘Burn’ to the female population as my research tell me that the female population does not consume many energy drinks and I feel ‘Burn’ can change this.
Marketing Plan
As of 2001 the energy drinks market was worth over £750 million this is showing a growth, which is still grow as there are still unsaturated markets such as women’s energy drinks. In addition, energy drinks are not a widely distributed as other drinks such as coca cola and I feel with ‘Burn’ I should address this by distributing it with coca cola.
My target is mainly just to give Burn an image which means it can drunk at any time of day and not necessarily as an energy drink also I will aim to sponsor sporting events such as extreme sports and other sports such as basketball. I will also aim Burn more towards the female market as from my research shows that not too many women drinks energy drinks.
Product
Burn is
Burn will be produced in 250ml cans with the same shape can as Red Bull is this because it will provide easy shipment and my research shows that the public are happy with the current size of the can. However I feel Burn should also be produced in a bigger as well for those people who wish to drink solely as a soft drink.
Place
I feel Burn should be produced in a European country such as Spain as it will easy to transport the product across Europe but also ship it over to America as well.
I will stock Burn in the following places:
- Local corner shops
- Supermarkets
- Online shops
- Sports centres
- In vending machines with coca cola
- Pubs and clubs
Price
From my research I can see that the customers feel the price for energy drinks is too high so I will introduce Burn under a penetration pricing strategy. This means Burn will priced cheaper than its competitors for the first 5 months and will then rise slightly and then rise slightly again after the next 5 months.
I have chosen this strategy as I feel Burn is entering a competitive market and this is the best policy to attract customers to the product so Burn can reach its aims for the first year.
Promotion
Burn will be marketed on television adverts, billboard posters and by sponsorship of events, teams, and athletes.
The sponsored events will include:
- UK basketball championships
- Athletics events
- Extreme sports events all over the world.
The teams Burn could sponsor include:
- London Towers (Basketball)
- Football side such as Southampton etc.
The athletes sponsored include:
- Extreme athletes such as Tony Hawk
- Athletes such as Dwain Chambers
Burn could also look towards other sports people to endorse the product.
Market Objectives
- Take 10% of the market share by the end of year 1.
Take 20% of the market share by the end of year 2.
- Have sales of £75 million by year 3
- Gain brand recognition
- Gain brand loyalty from customers
