Digital Marketing and Slice

This essay explores the marketing strategies of the brand Slice in the digital and social media platforms. It discusses the background of PepsiCo, the parent company, and evaluates the competency of the brand in the market. The essay also includes recommendations for the brand.

Running head: DIGITAL MARKETING AND SLICE
Digital Marketing and Slice
Name of the University:
Name of the Student:
Author Note:

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Digital Marketing and Slice
Executive Summary:
Digital and Social media Marketing is one of the most effective ways of marketing strategies
and are increasingly incorporated by the business houses. It does not only enable the
organisations to reach to and expand its customer base but also enable them to be competent
in this extremely competitive market. Therefore in the following essay the marketing
strategies of the brand Slice has been presented. The report starts with introducing the
concepts of Digital and Social media marketing and gradually goes towards the background
of PepsiCo, the parent company and the brand itself. Further, the paper focuses upon the
competency of the brand in the market and concludes upon evaluating its representation over
the digital media. Lastly, the paper also includes certain recommendations for the brand.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
Table of Contents
Introduction:-..............................................................................................................................1
Introduction:...........................................................................................................................1
Importance of Digital and social Media Marketing:..............................................................2
Problem Statement:................................................................................................................4
Discussion:-................................................................................................................................4
PepsiCo and Slice:..................................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis of Slice:.......................................................................................................5
PESTEL Analysis:.................................................................................................................8
Sentiment Analysis:.............................................................................................................12
Communication Processes:..................................................................................................12
Digital Strategy:...................................................................................................................12
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................13
Recommendation:....................................................................................................................13
References:...............................................................................................................................14

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Digital Marketing and Slice
Introduction:-
Introduction:
The term Digital Marketing refers to the promotion of products by the modes of
electronic media that is promotioning or marketing of the products and services with the use
of digital channels to the consumers or customers are known as the digital media. The
primary notion of this is to promote the brands and reach to the consumers. The modes of
digital media include, essentially, the online channels and the social media, also it is done
through the mobile phones through SMS and display advertising (Opreana, & Vinerean,
2015). However, digital marketing does not only refer to the processes of media marketing or
online marketing, it also incorporates the need and notion of innovative ways of marketing
and promoting of the products and services. The business houses must come up with newer
approaches to reach to the customers (Holliman, & Rowley., 2014). The social media
marketing is the most effective way of doing digital media marketing. The meaning of social
media marketing is using the social networks and platforms to promote, market and spread
awareness of a particular product. This essentially includes three major aspects, represent
itself in the social media platform, advertising and promoting particular products and services
with the usage of social media and lastly, encouraging customer feedbacks and increasing
customer base through advertisements over the social media platform. It is a form of online
marketing done on the parts of the business houses. The objective of the organisations while
conducting social media marketing is to promote and create brand awareness as well as
service and product awareness. The products that are marketed online, are usually targeted to
certain groups. The business houses tailor the promotions of certain products and services in
a queer way that they reach and appeal to a particular segment of the society (Chaffey, &
Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). The social media marketing enables and requires from the business
houses to promote their products on an innovative and unprecedented way that they appeal to

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Digital Marketing and Slice
the customers. Moreover, the products must have a fresh outlook so that it makes a
compulsion on the customers to get that.
Importance of Digital and social Media Marketing:
The concept of digital media marketing came into being in the late 1990s and early 2000s,
with the onset or introduction of the concept Globalisation and Computers. The exercise of
globalisation introduced the concept of all the world is a large society and everyone is
connected together. This further introduced the concept and practice of digital media
marketing through the usage of internet and social media and paved for the newer ways to
market and promote. It opened up newer ways to reach to the customers (Tiago, & Veríssimo,
2014). However, more and more business houses are now seen to incorporate this digital
marketing approach into their marketing strategies, and with time it is now seen, that the
organisations must include such approaches into their strategies, since it has certain benefits
and perks of its own. Firstly, more and more people are now seen to be having more than
three social media accounts. This is true for about more than half of the world population, and
among them almost 75% people are on Facebook and about 37% people are on Twitter
(Tuten & Solomon, 2017). Therefore, this enables the organisations to reach their customers
in various ways through various modes, but if evaluated, then it can be seen that an
insignificant percentage of business houses are using this mode of marketing properly and
actively. Secondly, digital media marketing has proved to be effective and fruitful for the
small businesses (Sajid, 2016). Since this kind of media marketing is cost effective and
innovative in orientation, and enables them to reach to and increase their customer base. In a
recent study, it is observed that in past five years a number of companies have been
introduced themselves on the social media and a number of small organisations have
expanded themselves through the same. Thirdly, the ways of media marketing has enabled
the small business houses to compete with the giant business organisations on the same

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Digital Marketing and Slice
platform. Previously, it was seen that the giant business organisation would come to the town
with their reputation and resources and would tear down or incorporate the small businesses
of the place. But, with the introduction of digital media marketing the small businesses can
also fight and stick to the ground along with the bigger business houses. It also has helped the
business houses to cut down their advertisement budget. Further, digital media marketing has
also enabled the organisations to focus on a more saturated customer base. That is, along with
helping to increase the consumer base with the usage of social media, the business
corporations are also targeting particular segments of the customer base. The corporate
houses tailor their advertisement strategies in a different way over different social media to
appeal and capture the different segments of the society. For example, a business house has
been seen to have promotioning and advertising differently over Facebook and Instagram.
The basic understanding of such conduct is that, Facebook is used by people from all kind s
of social sectors but Instagram is used by a particular segments of the society who are
economically at a better positioning. Therefore, such modes of social media enable the
business houses to understand the challenges, requirements, educational and economic level
and buying behaviour of the consumers and plan their strategies accordingly. Another
important aspect of Digital media marketing is that is has the best ROI, that is Return of
Investment. It is accounted that one can get a 3800% return, that is $38 revenue for each $1
spent (Felix, Rauschnabel, & Hinsch, 2017). This kind of return of investment cannot be
provided by any other forms of advertisement campaigns. Therefore, it can be said that the
incorporation of media marketing has revolutionised and revamped the marketing and
advertising strategies of the corporate houses and has enabled them to not only to compete in
the market in a more effective and active way, but also to reduce their budget and increase
their customer base (Constantinides, 2014).

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Digital Marketing and Slice
Problem Statement:
In the following essay the modes and ways and needs of Digital media marketing for
the advertisement and promotioning of Slice, a product from the PepsiCo, is evaluated and
understood.
Discussion:-
PepsiCo and Slice:
PepsiCo is one of the largest American Beverage Industry with its product base
spread among more than 200 countries across the world, with a unique product lining
including both beverages and foods. Established in 1893 with the name Brad’s Drink, and
renamed as Pepsi Cola in 1898, as they merged with Frito Lay Inc., with a daunting history
and background (church, 2014). The company got bankrupted during the time of Great
Depression and from there, it again, became one of the largest food and beverage brand of the
world. PepsiCo has 22 eminent beverage items yet and all of them are marketed in an active
and effective way. The product that this essay will be focusing upon is the Slice.
Slice was introduced in the market in 1984 and saw its popularity among the kids of
90s as being the orange soda. It is a line of fruit flavoured beverage with the flavour of
Mango that was discontinued by the company by the end of 2000. Again it was reintroduced
in the market by the Canadian New Slice ventures with trademarks acquiring from the Pepsi
and was launched in other countries like India, in 2008 and it is now marketed under the
name Tropicana slice. Initially, Slice was a big success, providing a great competition to the
Minute Made Orange Pulp of Coca Cola product and to Sunkist of Cadbury Schweppes, but
after a certain point of time it was faced with downfall with reduced shares in the consecutive
years. Gradually, the producers changed it outlook and incorporated other favours in the
product line. Later, in 2000, the whole product line of the lime flavour was change into Sierra

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Digital Marketing and Slice
Mist and the orange flavoured soda was discontinued. Later in the year 2005, Tropicana
introduced the Slice Orange, as a twisted drink under the name Tropicana Slice. However,
Tropicana is also owned by the PepsiCo. After the reintroduction of the beverage Pepsi again
trued to include the product under the mother company under the name Slice One and
invested heavily on the marketing with the collaboration with Walmart and including
celebrities for the promotioning and advertising (Caloyeras et al., 2014). However, it was
discontinued in the US from an unknown time and is still doing business in some of the third
world countries like India and Pakistan of its Mango flavour but under the name of Tropicana
Slice. At the initial level the product got really popular for having a fresh taste and being
different than the other carbonated beverages. However, with time, the product could not
continue its position and the company had to discontinue the product. Even now, Slice has
not been able to take back its old popularity and market position. According to the
researchers and market experts the product could have marketed better in a better and
effective way with a better outlook and a fresh taste. Also they are of the opinion that the
company must include effective ways of digital and social media marketing to promote the
product.
SWOT Analysis of Slice:
Review of the internal Strengths, Weaknesses and external Opportunities and Threats
of any organisation or product to evaluate its position and competency in the market is known
as the SWOT analysis. It includes the internal and external factors of any company or product
or industry. It enables the evaluator to review the organisation’s position with the help fact
based data of an organisation or its products and services. Therefore, a SWOT analysis of the
mentioned product is presented.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
The Strengths (S) of the product as evaluated are-
 Lice has strong brand awareness and brand positioning since Pepsi being the mother
company.
 Slice had a good start and popularity of history is taken into account.
 Slice has got a series of prominent celebrities as its brand ambassadors which helps in
its brand positioning in the market.
 Slice comes in various packages adhering to the varied requirements of the consumers
and this includes the ‘fridge bottle pack’ that is very popular among the consumers.
 Slice, wen re-launched or reintroduced in the market it got an amazing popularity and
selling position and became one of the fastest selling beverage.
 Since, Pepsi is the mother company of the product and came under the name of
Tropicana, when re-launched, which has an extremely good market positioning, Slice
has good distribution circle with good numbers of stakeholders and distributors which
contribute to its accessibility and availability.
 Lastly, the products of the brand are supported and marketed by the Parent companies
which adds to its value and positioning in the market (Smith, 2013).
The Weaknesses (W) of the brand are-
 One of the major weakness of the brand is that it has a huge competition in the
market and one of the major competition is Frooti, from the Parle Agro. Both of
the products has the support of big brands, almost similar taste of Mango, though
a different colour, where Lice is more of orange in colour. Parle is a little yellow
in colour. More importantly, both of the brands have an intense chemistry with
eminent celebrity brand ambassadors that improve their market positioning
(Smith, 2013).

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Digital Marketing and Slice
 Another major weakness of the brand is that though it comes under the name of
Tropicana, it is not a health drink, it is just a fruit flavoured beverage, whereas,
this parent company of the brand is essentially known for its health drinks.
 Another weak point of the brand is that it has bad history, unlike the other brands.
Slice has a history of launching, discontinuity and re-launching. More
importantly, Slice got discontinued by PepsiCo in the USA, where it was launched
for the first time, rather it is now doing business, especially in the third world
countries (Smith, 2013). This is a negative market positioning for the company.
The points of Opportunity of the brand are-
 The major point of opportunity for the brand is that there is seen to been
increasing a behaviour shift among the consumers from the carbonated drinks to
NCSD.
 The advertisement policies incorporating the celebrities is another point of
opportunity for the brand.
 The parent brands provide the brand a strong brand equity and which can also help
them in launching more flavours (Rothaermal, 2015).
The threats that the brand is exposed to are-
 The main competitors of the brand are Frooti and Maaza who have much
bigger customer base and bigger market share.
 Slice is just a fun drink, without any health benefit, and the substitute of this
mango drink from the same parent brand, Tropicana, has health benefits.
 Slice, presently, has no other flavours but its substitutes have other fresh and
variant flavours. This is making the market positioning for the brand much
difficult.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
 Lastly, the brand is too much dependant on its parent companies for
advertising. It is a strong as well as point of threat for the company regarding
its market position.
The strong competitors of the brand are therefor, Frooti, Maaza, Tropicana and Real
juices.
To understand the market position of the company better, further a PESTEL analysis of the
same is presented in the following.
PESTEL Analysis:
PESTEL analysis includes the external and internal Political (P), Economic (E),
Social (S), Technological (T), Ethical (E) and Legal (L) factors that influence and
impact the company or its process of business (Rothaermal, 2015). The political,
social, economic and legal factors have a huge impact on the business processes of the
brand.
 Political factors: Australia has a stable political background with a
constitutional monarchy system and also has a democratic form of government
which results into sustainable political system. This has proved to be
contributing positively for the business of Slice in the country.
 Firstly, the stable political system helps in the sound way of
conducting business all over the country.
 Secondly, since the inclusion of the Free Trade policies within the
strategy of the government, there is seen to be a steady and progressive
growth in the trade both internally and externally. This again, has
proved to be a positive factor for the expansion and growth of the
company.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
 Thirdly, another major point is that the country has an affiliation with
Common Wealth of Nations and League of Nations. Therefore, this has
provided the brand with the opportunity to reach the countries enlisted
in the same and expand its customer base (Kingsnorth, 2019).
Thus, the political stability has provisioned and contributes positively for
the sustainability of the brand.
 Economic: The second element of PESTEL is the economic factors. It is the
13th largest economy of the world with a rate of $1.530 trillion. This thus
establishes the fact that it has one of the most stable economy in the world.
 Secondly, the individual per capita income of the continent is second in
the world, poised right after Sweden.
 Thirdly, the country has low rate of income tax, corporate tax,
subsidies and other similar kind of tariffs which enable s the business
organisations to conduct a business easily. The borrowing rate of the
country or the rate of bank loans of the country is quite low, lower than
the other countries.
 Next, the country has a low rate of unemployment, as low as, 4.1%,
this gives the leverage for the organisations and the brand to acquire
more human labour into the workforce.
 Lastly, the continent is the house of a number of giant business
organisations like, Woolworths, Westfarmers and the like. These
business houses pay a good amount of tax for the social and

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Digital Marketing and Slice
economical progression of the country and paves way for other brands
to explore (Kingsnorth, 2019).
All these have contributed positively towards the growth and expansion of
the business of the brand. The low rate of tariffs has enabled the company
to expand internally. Moreover, until recently, Australia had a Direct
Foreign Investment Policy, and the inclusion and expansion of the brand
Slice is one of the outcome of that. Therefore, all these factors have
evidently contributed positively towards the expansion and growth of
Slice.
 Social Factors: The next element of the analysis is the social factors. A lot of
factors contribute to the progression of the brand in the country.
 Firstly, since the population of the country has the second highest rate
of per capita income, therefore, the consumers have the provision to
consume more which increases the selling position of the product.
 Secondly, the multicultural population of the country has a tendency to
explore and try out newer and various kind of products. Further, the
people have knack for consuming aerated drinks.
 The overconsumption of sugar and carbonated drinks affect our health
heavily with increasing rates of diabetes, and oral problems among the
population. This jeopardize the health index of the country (Chaffey &
Smith, 2013).
Therefore, the brand has a provision and opportunity to grow and expand
is business across the country.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
 Technological Factors: The next element of the analysis is the technological
factors. Australia, being one of the most technologically advanced and sound
country, it provides opportunities to its organisations and brands to expand and
develop with the help of the advanced technologies. The advancement in the
technological factors helps for the brand to develop and acquire newer bottling
strategies, and automation in the processes of manufacturing (Chaffey &
Smith, 2013).
 Environmental Factors: The environmental factors pose high threats to the
brand. The consumption of aerated drink affects the environment and the
people in a number of ways.
 Firstly, since the country is a signatory member of the Paris agreement,
therefore it requires to reduce the emission of pollutants up to 2.1%.
Since, the manufacturing of the aerated drink involves emission of the
pollutants at a high degree, the brand is poised with great threats.
 Secondly, packaging and using plastics as a bottling material, also
poses a threat to the market position of the brand. However, since
Australia is the first country to practise the use of recycling bottles, it
can be said that the rate of threat is decreased to some extent.
 Lastly, the country is faced with certain pertinent environmental
policies which results in checking up with the organisations and
business houses on the same. Therefore, the brand must include and
consider all these environmental policies into its business strategies to
do away with the environmental threats that it is posed with.
 Legal Factors: Australia is a country that follows a number of laws. Firstly, the
Fare Work law of 2009 taken by the nation that ensures that all the business

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Digital Marketing and Slice
houses must follow and practice this regulation. Added to this, there are other
rules and regulations like the Employment Regulation policy, Business
Regulation policy, Consumer laws, Quality regulation policies and the like
which are needed to be followed and practised by all the organisations and
business houses. Now, the point of argument is that if the brand has to follow
all these regulations and laws in a proper manner then, it will increase the cost
of the company and will reduce the revenue of the company which is a point
of threat for the brand (Dozier, Grunig & Grunig, 2013).
Therefore, according to the PESTLE analysis, the company has more provisions to thrive and
expand within the continent if it includes proper business strategies.
Sentiment Analysis:
Next to view the sentiment analysis, it can be said that the digital advertisements of
Slice has a Freudian approach to it. It trends to and tries to appeal to the public in a particular
way. This further, restricts the band to appeal to all the segments of the society. Most
importantly, the drink is much popular among the kids and the teenagers for its mango
flavour, but the company is not considering that point into its marketing strategy which is
restricting its customer base (Balakrishnan, 2015). Further, it is creating a negative impact
upon the society for portraying the advertisement in such a seductive manner. Furthermore,
the portrayal of women in the advertisement in such a seductive manner is also placed against
the issue of women empowerment and gender portrayal.
Communication Processes:
The organisation has a strong weakness of completely depending upon the
stakeholders and the distributors of the parent company which is again restricting its reach

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Digital Marketing and Slice
and distributions. They are depending and trying to reach to the customers through the
communicators and distributors of the parent brands (Ali & Hossain, 2014).
Digital Strategy:
Slice has, as viewed in the past, a poor form of digital marketing. It does not use the
social media platform effectively. The digital representation of the brand is insignificant and
the not worth mentioning. It does not have any social media campaign as done by its
competitive brands (David & David, 2013). It only includes retail marketing strategy, but the
social media marketing or the digital media marketing, which is an important part of
marketing strategy for any organisation in today’s date is not adhered by the organisation.
Conclusion:
As a concluding factor, it can be stated that the brand, in order to uplift and reinstate
its position on the market, it must be focusing upon the digital media marketing strategy. It
must consider the planning and strategies of the other brands or its competitors and must act
accordingly.
Recommendation:
Basing upon the evaluation of the brand the following recommendations can be made.
 The brand must incorporate innovative and effective digital and social media
marketing policies into its marketing strategies.
 The brand must try to use the advanced technologies that are available in the
country.
 It must recognise its customer base and come up with newer and innovative
strategies to appeal them.

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Digital Marketing and Slice
 It must also consider and act upon is bottling strategies and change the
outlooks of the bottles.
 Lastly, the brand must consider the environmental issues and try to expand its
own communication line of distributing its products.
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