Understanding Market Trends and Customer Needs

The provided content discusses practices, research, and policies related to marketing. It includes a range of academic sources that cover topics such as the service-dominant logic of marketing, principles and practice of marketing, services marketing, international marketing, interactive advertising, destination marketing, relationship marketing, and integrated marketing communications. The content also includes online resources, including PESTLE analysis and an example of how Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc. conducted market research to improve their product and services.

MARKETING

TABLE OF CONTENTS
2. INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................3
3. Situation Analysis........................................................................................................................3
4. Objectives....................................................................................................................................5
5. STRATEGY.................................................................................................................................6
6. Marketing mix..............................................................................................................................9
7. IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL..................................................................................10
8. REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................13
8. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................15

2. INTRODUCTION
Marketing can be defined as a form of communication between customer and
organization with the aim to sell services and products (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). In
order words, it is the key aspect of communicating the product’s value to the target buyers.
Present report is about Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc. (AQC) which is US based
agricultural co-operative firm (Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc., 2014). It was founded three
cranberry growers from New Jersey and Massachusetts. Further, it was in the year 1974 when
grapefruit growers from Florida joined the corporation. In 1981 it became the best selling
brand for bottled juice and canned category. For the given case, it was found that cited firm
is not performing the operations effectively. This report covers development of marketing
plan which will help AQC to operate its business operations suitably. Further, it also includes
different marketing models which help in developing effective marketing plan.
3. Situation Analysis
PESTLE analysis:
Political factor: Government has a great impact over the change in policies like
Fiscal policy, tax policies. This has high impact over the business operations of AQC. When
the rate of policies increases then organization has to make changes in their prices of the
product (De Vries, Gensler and Leeflang, 2012). When the rate of these policies increases,
then the price of the product also increases. For example, if the rate of fiscal policies
increases by 10%, then the price of the product will also increase in such way that
organization do not face loss. For example, if tax rates increase 2% then the firm raises the
price and tax rates are controlled by government so that developments can be done within the
country.
Economic factor: It includes inflation rate, interest rate, economic growth pattern
these are economic factor which has direct impact over the firm. However, in the year 2014,
the fruit sector UK was performing effectively. In this context, cited firm reduced the value
of product by 1.6% and sales raised by 2.2%. This occurred because the purchasing power of
customers raised and they were able to purchase more.
Social factor: Moreover, changes in customer’s tastes and preferences take place
frequently and it is important for AQC to make changes according to the requirements of
service users. In this context, firm should develop the juice product by keeping factors like
income of people, lifestyle, attitude into consideration (PESTLE analysis. 2013). People are
understanding the importance of health and the scope for health drinks are raising so cited

firm has high opportunity in this area. For example, people how have health related issues,
then they will make use of products which provide them with health benefits.
Technological factor: Organization should make use of new technology or
innovations as it will help them to provide better services to their customers. If AQC make
use of updated of new technology and this way they are aiming at increasing their sale. In this
context, cited firm will make use of Juice Processing plant which will include fruit washer,
inspection conveyor, pulper, pulp collection tank, mixing up sugar and packaging. With the
help of these technologies firm will develop their health product.
Legal factors: There are laws developed by government of different countries which
has to be followed by every organization (Lovelock, Patterson and Wirtz, 2014). It includes
laws related to safety, consumer protection, which needs to be abided by AQC. In this context
it is important for the firm to make use of Health and safety act 1974 so that they will be able
to make protect employees health. Further, competition law highly affects acquisitions and
mergers. As per the case, it occurred in the year 2007 with Coco-Cola.
Environmental factors: In addition to this, AQC should keep in mind that the
products should not get affected by weather, climate, natural hazard. In this context, people
are health conscious and in products get spoiled because of climatic change so it is important
that organization make appropriate steps. Firm should make preclusion so that the product
may not get affected by these factors.
Porters five forces:
There are many stakeholders because of which organization achieve their goals and
objectives. Following are the stakeholders of AQC:
Customers: These are the one because of which organization gets to know whether
they are gaining profit or facing losses (Wernerfelt, 2014). AQC focus on providing their
customers with high quality services. Age group of 15 to 24 (Adults and teenagers) and 40 to
55 (Old age). In this context, it can be stated that the consumption of juice fruit among
women is higher than men (Shimp and Andrews, 2013). With this respect, consumption by
male is 32.6% and by women is 39.1%. Further, the lowest penetration is of the age group
from 65 and above. However, the highest penetration for juice fruit is among 20 to 40.
Suppliers: AQC have suppliers who help the firm to make supply the goods
according to customers demand. Good relationship should be maintained so that materials
required for developing the product can be received on time (Pavlou and Stewart, 2015).
Further, there are about 3 suppliers which are helpful enough to provide the materials in
preparing fruit juice. One of the supplier (ABC)will provide the ingredients like mango,

apple, sugar. Second supplier (XYZ) would provide the materials which are used for
packaging. Third supplier (DFG) would help in providing new technology. ABC is selected
as they are near to the firm that is AQC and this will be helpful in reducing the cost materials.
Other two suppliers are selected as they provide the materials at low cost.
Competitors analysis:
There are many competitors for cranberry and AQC. In this context, there are two
type of competitors and they are direct and indirect competitors. It includes manufacturers
which provide refreshment drinks and it includes industry like Pepsi Co. and Coco-Cola.
Organization which produce different fruit juice and this fall under direct competitor
like Super Fruit Juice which is being dominated by cranberries juices. Company like Coca-
Cola has high customer base in Canada which helps in raising the profitability. However, the
main competitors of ACQ are Innocent, Tropicana and Naked. They sell similar products and
they have many product range. Further, they also provide their products at high quality. In
addition to this, they maintain their stands at international level.
Threat of substitute: There are many organizations which provide similar products.
Further, in this context, it is essential that firm make changes in their services so that they can
compete effectively.
Threat of new entry: The ability of people to enter into this market is very high. The
investment in order to enter this market is very low.
Following is the SWOT analysis of AQC:
Table 1: SWOT analysis of AQC
Strengths:  Its been 80 years of services provided to customers.
 Owned by 630 cranberry and 46 grapefruit farmers
 Leading North American producer of bottled juices
and juice drinks
 High product range.
 Innovative packaging
Weaknesses:  Lack of employees coordination
 Over production in the year 2000 resulted the price of product
to fall (Sheth and Sisodia, 2015).
Opportunities:  Increased awareness towards health.
 Governments efforts to make people aware regarding their

health
 Market expansion.
 Development of new product range like cereals and snack
bars.
Threats:  Easy entry to market.
 High competition.
 Increasing competition.
Marketing orientation:
Marketing orientation can be defined as process which aims at understanding of
customer’s desires, requirements and needs. Accordingly, they develop product and services
which satisfy them. In this context, there are mainly four factors involved which are as
follows: Market orientation: For every organization, it essential to have target audience to
whom product will be delivered (Balmer, 2013). According to this factor, firm should
aim at understanding the requirements of their target customers. Production orientation: AQC should understand the demand for health juice.
Accordingly, they should supply so that customers could be satisfied and profit could
be earned (Spiller, Fitzsimons and McClelland, 2013). Product orientation: AQC should provide their products at high quality so that
customers can be attracted.
 Sales orientation: This factor aims at selling the product according to the demand and
does not focus on quality of product (De Andrade, Hastings and Angus, 2013).
4. Objectives
 TO increase the sales by 30% in UK and US for Cranberry Mixed Juice Drinksone
in US and UK market.
5. STRATEGY
Segmentation:
Segmentation can be defined as a process in which target audiences are divided into
subsets. This makes the distribution and targeting customers more easy and effective. In this
context, it is very essential for AQC to identify their target audience and market. Further,
market research should be conducted which will help in determining the needs and

requirements of the customers and accordingly product should be developed (Hunt and
Madhavaram, 2014). In accordance with the case, cited firm provides juice and non-juice
products which are canned and bottled. There are many types segmentation which are as
follows: Demographic segmentation: According to this type of segmentation, the products
and services are divided on the basis of gender, age, income. Geographic segmentation: This type of segmentation is done when organization
expand its business in new market (Wernerfelt, 2014).
 Psycho-graphic segmentation: In this segmentation, division is done on the basis of
lifestyle, attitude, personality.
As it was stated above, AQC develops is a health juices which are mainly marketed to
markets like the UK and US. In addition to this, they sell dried cranberries which are sold
under the brand name ‘Crantanas’. Further, according to the market research done by AQC,
they make use demographic segmentation as it was found that people at the age of 20 to 40
years are the most potential customers. In this context, cited firm focuses on this age group
and attract customers (Sheth, Parvatiyar and Sinha, 2015) and all the people who are
sportsmen will be selected and product will be focused on this group. Moreover, they develop
products which are of low calorie and available in different tastes like apple and mango. (Pike
and Page 2014). In addition to this, it has also aimed at attracting sports men and women. In
this context, they have come up with new product which helps in increasing their sales. These
products will be helpful for sports people to restore their fluids and energy.
Targeting:
Targeting can be determined as people who are been targeted by the organization.
This makes it easy to develop path through which firm can achieve their goals and objectives
(Achrol and Kotler, 2012).
There are many benefits through targeting like it increases the profitability, sales,
customer base. By understanding the needs and requirements of their target customers, firm
will be able to satisfy their service users effectively (Ding, Eliashberg and Stremersch, 2014).
In this context, AQC will make use of demographic segmentation and the target audience will
be sportsmen and sports women. And that also age group of 20 to 40 (Adults and teenagers)
and 65 and above (Old age). In accordance with the selected group differentiated targeting
strategy is being selected as two different age groups are taken. As according to the survey
done it was found that this age group is very potential customer of AQC. With this respect,

firm would aim at understanding their target audience and will be able to achieve their
desired goals and objectives.
Positioning:
Customers buying behaviour can be determined as the reason because of which
service users tend to buy the product. With this respect AQC should be able to prove their
product according to demand of service users (Majaro, 2013). In this context, organization
will focus on providing their customers with health drink. For example all the sport people
are conscious about their health and so health drink will be developed with the help of which
sports people will be attracted.
Moreover, AQC can be made use of cans which can be recycled and should avoid
using plastics. In today's world, most of the firms deliver their products in plastics. If AQC
would not make use of plastics, then they will get competitive advantages. In addition to this,
organization should be able to focus on develop attractive packaging of their products are it is
very helpful in attracting customers and in increasing the sales. There are many organizations
which provide similar products and it is important to make comparison and select an
appropriate pricing strategy which helps in attracting service users (Jobber and Ellis-
Chadwick, 2012). There are four main factors because of which customers buying behaviour
is affected, which are as follows:
Personal factor: These are the common factors which affects the customer's. It
includes age, gender, salary, life style. These factors have great impact over the buying
behaviour of customer's. For example, salary highly affects the buying behaviour of
customers as sport people are highly health conscious and the product should be of affordable
rate.
Social factors: It includes factors like status, family, surrounding. Mainly Service
users get affected by the people who have used the product once. For example, the rate of
Illustration 1: Logo of
the product

obesity is high in recent years and so families are concern about their health and so they will
prefer to buy health products. So parents prefer to provide their children's with health juice.
Psychological factor: It includes factors like attitude, motivation; interest of the
customers towards goods (Lovelock, Patterson and Wirtz, 2014). This factor is mainly
affected when organization make use of promotional tools effectively. When people are
provided with health juice, then they develop a feeling that it would help maintain their health
and raise their energy level.
6. Marketing mix
AQC is among the top organizations which provide health juices. According to the
case, it has been in the business for about 80 years. Following are the four element of
marketing mix which should be used by AQC:
Product: Main product which is developed by AQC is health juice. Currently it has
also introduced non-drinking segment. It has developed product with different flavours like
mix juice, cranberry juice. As the product will be provide in two different favours they are
apple and mango so the ingredients used will be apple, sugar, cucumber, mango. Product will
be targeted to 20 to 40 and which are sports people. The product will be beneficial to them as
it will be helpful to boost up the customer mind and body, he/she will feel energetic. The
colour will be of red and yellow. This product is chosen because the rate of health juice
drinkers are increasing and this is type of opportunity which firm have through this. (Sheth
and Sisodia, 2015). On the other hand, non-drinking segment includes energy bars, sauces,
low calorie drinks.
Price: Cited firm has provided their product at low price which will be helpful in
attract customers effectively (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). There are many pricing
strategies which can be used by cited firm and can increase their profitability. Cited
organization will make use of market penetration for Cranberry Mixed Juice Drinks (Majaro,

2013). The price of the product will be £2.90 for 900ml bottle in which manufacturing cost
will be £1.00 (it includes direct material cost, direct labour cost and direct expenses cost).
Indirect cost includes £0.99 (it includes staffs salary and office expenses), marketing
expenses £0.50 (it includes print media and electronic media) and other expenses include
£0.41 and £0.50 will be the profit which gained from each unit sold. This price is been
identified by analysing the cost incurred in making it and by comparing it with competitors
price.
Place: Distribution can be defined as a process through which organization make their
product and services available to their customers (Pike and Page, 2014). The product will be
sold at two different market that is UK and US. Both market has high opportunity and it will
be helpful in attracting customers. Product will be sold offline at all retail store and in online
people do not prefer to buy health juice(Pavlou and Stewart, 2015). With this, it can be stated
that AQC will use selective distribution and product will be provided to Gerber, Tesco, 7-
Eleven, etc. These are the retail stores in which mainly used by people to purchase grocery
products. In addition to this, the rate of people who prefer to buy health juice are also high in
these retails and that is the reason because of which these retails are selected. This strategy
will help in make their product available to their target audience effectively.
Promotion: Positioning can be determined as a process with the help of which
organization focus on making their brand at distinct position (Sheth and Sisodia, 2015). This
is a process through which customers can be attracted. Firm has focused on their packaging
which has enabled them to attract their target audience (Hunt and Madhavaram, 2014). In
accordance with case, it is essential for AQC to make use of promotional activities so that
they will be able to increase their profitability (Jobber and Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). In this
context, tools with the help of which advertisement could be conveyed to target audience are
as follows:
Television: This one of the best tools which organization can make use of. Many
customers can be easily attracted (Lovelock, Patterson and Wirtz, 2014). With this respect,
organization should be able to provide information about the feature, benefits so that
customers develop trust and confidence towards the product. In this context, advertisement
agency will be contacted and they will help in making the product advertise in television. The
advertisement will be shown at 6 P.M to 10 P.M. the most as this is the time when youths
(including sports people) prefer to watch T.V.
Newspaper: Even this is an important source in which service users can be attracted.
With this respect, USA Today and The New York will be used for promotion at USA as the

readers of this newspaper is very high compared with any other newspaper and this will be
helpful in providing proper information to customers regarding the product. On the other
hand, Daily Mail and Daily Mirror will be used for advertisement in UK as the reader of this
is very high compared with other newspapers. These newspapers are most preferred and
mostly read newspapers in these markets. Person involved in print media will be consulted
and he will enable to have contact with these newspapers.
Social media: There are many social websites like Facebook, Twitter with the help of
which firm will be able to attract their target audience. Both Facebook and Twitter have
maximum people who have accounts in it and more specifically these social sites are mainly
used by youths and the product is focused on youths (Sport people). So these two social sites
are selected and it will enable to attract customers.
7. IMPLEMENTATION AND CONTROL
Product development:
For any organization, it is essential to develop strategies with the help of which they
will be able to attain competitive advantages. In this context, AQC will focus Cranberry
Mixed Juice Drinksone which is a health drink and will be helpful to satisfy the customers of
UK and US. In this context, following are the steps which should be followed by the
organization in order to establish their business in UK and US market:
Market research: Organization should make research so that they would get to know
the customer's requirement and their expectations. There are many firms which provide
similar services to customers (Burgess and Steenkamp, 2013). However, it is important that
needs and requirements should be analysed so that they will be able to achieve their
Illustration 2: Cranberry Mixed Juice Drinksone in UK and US

objectives. Research should be conducted so that appropriate strategies can be used for
attracting customers.
Modifications: Tastes and preference of people at different markets differ. Firm
should make changes in the product according to the expectations of customers at different
markets. With this respect, AQC should focus on their quality of product and can also make
improvement on their packaging pattern. In this way, they will be able to improve their
position of product in the minds of service users (De Andrade, Hastings and Angus, 2013).
Through this, cited firm will be able to increase their share and profitability for Cranberry
Mixed Juice Drinks. Further, they should also invest on designing and packaging which will
help in attracting customers.
Develop strategies: In accordance with the case, cited firm will make use of different
strategies in order to increase their customer’s base by promoting their products (Hunt and
Madhavaram, 2014). Moreover, with the help of differentiation strategy, AQC aims at
developing unique image in the minds of service users and their competitors. In today's
world, customers are health conscious (Shimp and Andrews, 2013). With this respect, firm
will make use of tools like television, newspaper, social websites in such a way that they can
provide information regarding the features, ingredients used, benefits of using it. of
Cranberry Mixed Juice Drinks. This will help in developing confidence and trust among
customers towards the product.
Requirement of resources: In order to implement the strategies, it is important for the
firm to get resources with the help of which product can be developed. In addition to this,
firm should make advantage of it and make use of sources through which they will be able to
provide high quality products (Wernerfelt, 2014). In this context, AQC has made long term
strategic alliance with Coca Cola and are providing their cranberry juice under the name of
AQC.
Gantt chart:
Activities/weeks 11th July
to 17th
July
18th July
to 24th
July
25th
July to
31st
July
1st Aug
to 7th
Aug
8th July
to 14th
Aug
15th
Aug to
21st
Aug
22nd
Aug to
28th
Aug
Market research
Marketing testing

Developing strategies
Evaluation of strategy
Allocation of resources
Implementation
Control
Evaluation
YEAR 1 (£) YEAR 2(£) YEAR 3(£)
Online Advertising 2500 2700 2800
Newspaper Advertising 2600 2700 2900
Radio Advertising 5000 5300 5600
Others 4600 3000 3000
Total 14700 13700 14300
Marketing research will be done in two weeks time and rest will be done according to
the following strategies which are included in the Gantt chart.
KPI (Key Performance indicators): It can be determined as a business metric which
are used to evaluate the factors which help the firm to get successful. In this context, to
understand the performance of the firm, it will make the analysis of sales made, its customers
base, and market share. This way firm will be able to measure its performance for health
drink. Moreover, feedback will be taken with the help of which firm will make improvement
in the issues faced by customers and it will also help to measure the achievement of goal.
Geographic segmentation can be used for attract customers. This will enable to
develop more customers and it will also contribute towards the growth of the firm. There are
many markets around the world in which cited product can be developed.

8. REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Achrol, R. S. and Kotler, P., 2012. Frontiers of the marketing paradigm in the third
millennium. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 40(1). pp.35-52.
Balmer, J. M., 2013. Corporate heritage, corporate heritage marketing, and total corporate
heritage communications: What are they? What of them?. Corporate
Communications: An International Journal. 18(3). pp.290-326.
Burgess, S. M. and Steenkamp, J. B. E., 2013. Editorial: introduction to the special issue on
marketing in emerging markets. International journal of research in marketing. 30(1).
pp.1-3.
De Andrade, M., Hastings, G. and Angus, K., 2013. Promotion of electronic cigarettes:
tobacco marketing reinvented?. BMJ. 347. pp.7473.
De Vries, L., Gensler, S. and Leeflang, P. S., 2012. Popularity of brand posts on brand fan
pages: An investigation of the effects of social media marketing. Journal of
Interactive Marketing. 26(2). pp.83-91.
Ding, M., Eliashberg, J. and Stremersch, S., 2014. Innovation and marketing in the
pharmaceutical industry. Emerging Practices, Research, and Policies. New York:
Spring Science. Print.
Hunt, S. D. and Madhavaram, S., 2014. THE SERVICEDOMINANT LOGIC OF
MARKETING. The Service-dominant Logic of Marketing: Dialog, Debate, and
Directions: Dialog, Debate, and Directions.
Jobber, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2012. Principles and practice of marketing. 7th ed.
McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
Lovelock, C., Patterson, P. G. and Wirtz, J., 2014. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Majaro, S., 2013. International Marketing (RLE International Business): A Strategic
Approach to World Markets. Routledge.
Pavlou, P. A. and Stewart, D. W., 2015. Interactive Advertising: A New Conceptual
Framework Towards Integrating Elements of the Marketing Mix. In New Meanings
for Marketing in a New Millennium (pp. 218-222). Springer International Publishing.
Pike, S. and Page, S. J., 2014. Destination Marketing Organizations and destination
marketing: A narrative analysis of the literature. Tourism Management. 41. pp.202-
227.
Sheth, J. N. and Sisodia, R. S., 2015. Does marketing need reform?: Fresh perspectives on
the future. Routledge.
Sheth, J. N., Parvatiyar, A. and Sinha, M., 2015. The conceptual foundations of relationship
marketing: Review and synthesis. Journal of Economic Sociology= Ekonomicheskaya
sotsiologiya. 16(2). pp.119-149.

Shimp, T. and Andrews, J. C., 2013. Advertising promotion and other aspects of integrated
marketing communications. Cengage Learning.
Spiller, S. A., Fitzsimons, G. J. and McClelland, G. H., 2013. Spotlights, floodlights, and the
magic number zero: Simple effects tests in moderated regression. Journal of
Marketing Research. 50(2). pp.277-288.
Wernerfelt, B., 2014. On the role of the RBV in marketing. Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science. 42(1). pp.22-23.
Online
Atlantic Quench Cranberries Inc. 2014. [Online]. Available through:
<http://www.atlanticcanadacranberries.com/>. [Accessed on 29th March 2016].
PESTLE analysis. 2013. [Online]. Available through: <http://pestleanalysis.com/what-is-
pestle-analysis/>. [Accessed on 29th March 2016].

8. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
From this report, it can be articulated that for any business entity it is very important
to conduct market research so as to know the areas in which they need improvement. This
will also help them to know the needs and requirement of customers and in providing them
product and services which would satisfy them. Price is the main factor which influences the
customers buying behaviour and when new product is introduced, organization should keep
its product at low cost as it would help in attracting customers effectively. Further, employees
are the face of the organization and it is important that they should be monitored.
Accordingly, training should be provided as it will be help in enhancing their skills and
capabilities.