Food Marketing: Developing a Marketing Strategy for V Energy Drink in Australia

This report discusses the development of a food marketing strategy for V Energy Drink in Australia. It analyzes the industry and product, targeted market segments, consumers’ buying behaviors and decision making process, marketing mix, and marketing activities and strategies to influence consumer decision making process.

Running head: FOOD MARKETING
Food marketing
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

1
FOOD MARKETING
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of industry and product.....................................................................................................3
Targeted market segments...............................................................................................................6
Consumers’ buying behaviors and decision making process..........................................................7
Marketing mix...............................................................................................................................10
Marketing activities and strategies to influence consumer decision making process....................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................14
References......................................................................................................................................14

2
FOOD MARKETING
Introduction
The report is prepared to discuss about the development of a food marketing strategy for
a particular branded product within the food and beverage industry of Australia. The branded
product chosen here is the V Energy Drink in Australia introduced by Frucor. The purpose of the
report is to identify the key market segments where the product can be successful along with the
factors contributing to the influencing of consumer buying behaviors. To manage this, it will be
important to analyze the industry and target market segments, identify the buying behaviors and
decision making by consumers, conduct the marketing mix and manage the marketing activities,
which will assist in developing the most effective marketing strategies required to make the
product successful in the marketplace within the emerging food sector in Australia through
obtaining of knowledge and information regarding the consumers’ buying decisions
(frucorsuntory.com 2018).
Analysis of industry and product
The food sector in Australia is quote large and it has helped in making the energy drinks
companies survive in the killer competitive environment with much ease and effectiveness.
Frucor, also known as the Frucor Suntory is a leading Australasian drinks company and has been
a market leader in delivering good quality energy drinks all over Australia and New Zealand.
The Sports drink sector in Australia has been categorized into Liquid Ready to Drink and the
market segments are divided into regular and sugar free. Based on various researches and
surveys, it has been found that the total volume of sales for the sports and energy drinks has
increased by more than 12 percent in the past few years, which shows consistent growth until

3
FOOD MARKETING
now (Kelly et al. 2015). Due to this, the unit process has also increased to A$6.83 per liter for the
energy drinks and the production units have also focused on effective marketing strategies and
techniques to foster promotional activities and advertisements for enhancing the sales revenue.
Figure: Energy drink market size (Kelly et al. 2015)

4
FOOD MARKETING
Figure: General environment of energy drinks industry (Hair Jr and Lukas 2014)
V Energy drink has been produced by the Australasian beverage manufacturer named
Frucor and it has been a success with market share over 45 percent IN Australia and 60 percent
in New Zealand. With a broader customer base of sports drinks when compared with the energy
drinks sector and the demands remaining confined to the young adults, the market share for V is
not more than 50 percent in Australia. V is available in different sizes and has been introduced in
the market to target the young adults for ensuring that they feel energetic and refreshed,
furthermore remain satisfied with the consumption of this drink (Pulker, Scott and Pollard 2018).
The product will further be successful once more innovative marketing approaches and strategies
will be implemented to raise awareness among people and improve the brand image and
reputation, furthermore attract more clients and influence their consumer buying behaviors and

5
FOOD MARKETING
decisions. The key components of the product are carbonated water, caffeine, taurine, caramel
coloring, B vitamins and Guarana extract that are healthy for consumption and thus has been
considered as a major energy drink to boost energy and make clients feel refreshed at the same
time too (Hair Jr and Lukas 2014).
Figure: V Energy drink (Hair Jr and Lukas 2014)
Targeted market segments
The market trends are based on the different market segments consisting of the young
adults and matured individuals. The market segments are targeted through proper identification
of the geographic, demographic, psychographic and behavioral segments for understanding the
consumers’ buying behaviors regarding their choice for the energy drink, considering the fact
that the energy drinks sector was dominated by Red Bull at a time. V energy drink is the market
leader in energy rinks and thus it these different segments will be targeted and then the right
marketing strategy shall be implemented for generating higher revenue in business (Freeman et
al. 2014).

6
FOOD MARKETING
Demographic
The demographic segments include the various components like age, gender, income or
background of the individuals that can influence their buying behaviors. The young generation
consumers are mainly targeted by the company while the older generation, also known as the
baby boomers will be more focused on consuming some other beverage items like coffee or tea
rather than having the energy drink (Nikolova and Inman 2018). Thus, more focus has been on
the young male individuals who want to feel refreshed and energized while the marketing to
female individuals by producing low calorie and low sugar energy drinks.
Geographic
The segmentation of market will be done based on various parts of the world where the
products will be available along with the assessment of market density and market size
(Hemmerling, Hamm and Spiller 2015). V Energy drinks manage geographic segmentation
through advertisements and promotional activities for the urban locations having higher density.
Psychographic
The individuals associated closely with sports activities and athletes are more interested
in the energy drinks to feel vitalized and at the same time, gain the required amount of energy to
carry out the activities much easily. It will assist the young adults to feel energized and consider
it as a new trend before going to gym and sweat it out (Hanssens et al. 2014).

7
FOOD MARKETING
Figure: Market segmentation (Hanssens et al. 2014)
Consumers’ buying behaviors and decision making process
For a particular branded product like V Energy Drink in Australia, the factors that
influence the consumer buying behaviors and decisions are important to be assessed. It can help
in analyzing the ways individuals can make a particular purchase and how their behaviors will
likely get influenced. Thus, the consumer buying behaviors or decision making prices are related
to the processes of selection, purchase, consumption and later making a post purchase decision
too considering the satisfaction level achieved by them. The cultural factors including the
personal values and beliefs regarding the energy drink, their personal needs can vary from people
to people. Due to this, it is important for the marketers to analyze the culture within the different
groups and regions, furthermore assess whether the local culture is adopted or not to understand

8
FOOD MARKETING
the buying behaviors of customers (Lovelock and Patterson 2015). The social factors include
reference groups who might have specified about the positives of the product and even the
family members are responsible for influencing the buying decision making. The personal
factors include the level of income achieved, lifestyle behaviors and economic situation and
occupation. The Maslow’s hierarchy of needs illustrates the need of customers to buy a specific
product, i.e., V Energy drink (Sultan, Wong and Sigala 2018).
Figure: Maslow’s hierarchy of needs model (Sultan, Wong and Sigala 2018)
The five major steps related to the buying behaviors and decisions made by customers are stated
in the diagram below.

9
FOOD MARKETING
Figure: Consumer buying decision process (Robinson, Getz and Dolnicar 2018)
Identification of problem- The purchasing process starts with the consumer identifying the
problem and understanding the need to purchase something that can resolve the issue. The V
Energy drink is marketed to people who need to boost their energy level and those who may feel
stressed out at certain times.
Search for information- The identification of problem is followed by finding out the solutions
to overcome the problem and gain higher satisfaction level. The information about the product
can be obtained from families, friends who may have tried the product or from commercial
advertisements and from social media platforms where the product has been advertised
(Robinson, Getz and Dolnicar 2018).

10
FOOD MARKETING
Evaluating alternatives- The alternatives are evaluated and checked whether it will be able to
fulfill their needs and preferences or not.
Purchasing decision- Finally, the purchasing decision will be made through assessment of
functional risks associated with the product performance, and whether the product has been value
for money or not to keep them satisfied as a whole (von Meyer-Höfer, von der Wense and Spiller
2015).
Post purchase behavior- Making a decision about whether the product can be purchased later
again or not based on the clients’ needs and requirements being fulfilled after purchase.
Marketing mix
The marketing mix elements are products, price, place and promotions done for
marketing the V Energy Drink in Australia.
Product- V Energy Drink is the market leader in energy drinks in Australia and can even be
considered as the best produced by Frucor. The signature design consisting of the green color is
recognizable easily from the other energy drinks and it has been a craze among the customers
because of its typical mix of taurine, caffeine, B vitamins and other energy boosters along with
carbonated water. The most important thing that sets the product apart from other energy drinks
is the Guarana (Casado, Rundle-Thiele and Dietrich 2017). It is good for the athletes and
sportspersons and cannot create any such notable health or safety risks in spite of the higher level
of energy produced in body after consuming the energy drink.

11
FOOD MARKETING
Price- The prices are friendly, which can also make customers feel attracted towards the brand
and choose it from the wide range of other energy drinks available in the market. The product is
targeted at the young adults and students, due to which fair prices are set, though based on the
sales channels used. The energy drink price starts from $6 and can increase along with additional
discounts provided on the higher price range products, which has created convenience for the
clients to make purchases.
Place – The product is made available in all over Australia and New Zealand. V Eneregy drink is
accessible to the customers by mak9ng it available at convenience stores and at the retail
companies like Woolworths, Wesfarmers to boost the sales and increase profit level (Dolnicar,
Grün and Leisch 2018).
Promotion- Few popular athletes have endorsed the brand, which has created craze among the
clients and this has been an effective promotional strategy. The additional discounts offered on
the products along with the involvement of social media platforms have further helped in
promoting the brand product and create larger customer base.

12
FOOD MARKETING
Figure: Market segmentation based on the mix components (Dolnicar, Grün and Leisch
2018)
Marketing activities and strategies to influence consumer decision making process
For the past few years, the total volume sales has increased to more than 20 percent for
the energy drinks introduced by Frucor and the same will be possible with its ongoing marketing
efforts prioritized on enhancing awareness among people regarding the new brand product
named V Energy. The key market segment consists of the young adults who are aware of the
energy drink product and has been avid buyers of the brand products of Frucor, Australia. The

13
FOOD MARKETING
competitive brand positioning will be possible to position the products and services properly in
the market segment and stay ahead of the competitors in business (Arsil et al. 2018). This can
also make the customers aware of amount of energy that they can get and at what price.
To maintain a good brand position, the company has maintained ethical standing by
fulfilling the corporate social responsibilities like sponsoring the Life Education Trust by
allowing the children to access health based education programs and even sponsored Books in
Homes to provide education to all. The targeted demographic segment consists of the audiences
falling in the age group of 18 to 25 and may be going to college, universities or may be focused
on sports activities. To manage proper brand positioning, the company has developed a social
and digital marketing strategy by spending on digital channels and social media platforms like
Facebook, Twitter to evolve and obtain growth. With the immense competition created due to the
emergence of Mother Energy drink and Red Bull, the company has focused on providing
discounts to deliver value for money product, which can create convenience for them to purchase
the product on a consistent manner (Pedersen, Aschemann-Witzel and Thøgersen 2018).
The market positioning and brand positioning will be effective because of its
effectiveness of strategic implementation and involving the marketing of brand products for
establishing a positive brand image within the consumers’ minds within the target market. The
delivery of products and targeting the right consumer segment, i.e., here the demographic market
segment consisting of individuals aged between 18 to 24 will help in positioning the brand
product appropriately. Frucor can use the cost leadership strategy to position itself in the
consumers’ minds and crate positive mindsets by making V Energy drink available at a lower
price compared to its competitors to compete within the marketplace (Hanssens et al. 2014). The

14
FOOD MARKETING
product differentiation will be possible by bringing something unique and innovative so that the
customer can find differentiable product feature and focus on V Energy drink rather than
switching on to some other energy brand (frucorsuntory.com 2018).
Conclusion
The report was prepared to demonstrate the marketing strategy to be followed by Frucor
to market the V Energy drink and ensure generating higher revenue in business along with
competitive advantage. Due to this, the analysis of energy industry and the particular product
was done to focus on the targeted market segments comprising of the individuals aged between
18 to 25 years. The marketing mix elements were assessed along with the implementation of
effective strategies like brand positioning, differentiation and cost leadership strategy to create a
sustainable position and put marketing efforts required to make V Energy drink successful in
Australia.

15
FOOD MARKETING
References
Arsil, P., Li, E., Bruwer, J. and Lyons, G., 2018. Motivation-based segmentation of local food in
urban cities: A decision segmentation analysis approach. British Food Journal, 120(9), pp.2195-
2207.
Casado, F.C., Rundle-Thiele, S. and Dietrich, T., 2017. Segmenting Caregivers to Gain Insights
for Social Marketing Program Design. In Segmentation in Social Marketing (pp. 143-159).
Springer, Singapore.
Dolnicar, S., Grün, B. and Leisch, F., 2018. Market Segmentation Analysis: Understanding It,
Doing It, and Making It Useful. Springer.
Freeman, B., Kelly, B., Baur, L., Chapman, K., Chapman, S., Gill, T. and King, L., 2014. Digital
junk: food and beverage marketing on Facebook. American journal of public health, 104(12),
pp.e56-e64.
frucorsuntory.com. (2018). Welcome to Frucor Suntory - FrucorSuntory. [online] Available at:
https://frucorsuntory.com/ [Accessed 4 Oct. 2018].
Hair Jr, J.F. and Lukas, B., 2014. Marketing research (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education
Australia.
Hanssens, D.M., Pauwels, K.H., Srinivasan, S., Vanhuele, M. and Yildirim, G., 2014. Consumer
attitude metrics for guiding marketing mix decisions. Marketing Science, 33(4), pp.534-550.
Hemmerling, S., Hamm, U. and Spiller, A., 2015. Consumption behaviour regarding organic
food from a marketing perspective—a literature review. Organic Agriculture, 5(4), pp.277-313.

16
FOOD MARKETING
Kelly, B., Vandevijvere, S., Freeman, B. and Jenkin, G., 2015. New media but same old tricks:
food marketing to children in the digital age. Current obesity reports, 4(1), pp.37-45.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
Nikolova, H.D. and Inman, J.J., 2018. Healthy choice: the effect of simplified point-of-sale
nutritional information on consumer food choice behavior. Journal of Marketing Research.4(2),
pp 100-150.
Pedersen, S., Aschemann-Witzel, J. and Thøgersen, J., 2018. Consumers' evaluation of imported
organic food products: The role of geographical distance. Appetite, 130, pp.134-145.
Pulker, C.E., Scott, J.A. and Pollard, C.M., 2018. Ultra-processed family foods in Australia:
nutrition claims, health claims and marketing techniques–CORRIGENDUM. Public health
nutrition, 21(1), pp.253-253.
Robinson, R.N., Getz, D. and Dolnicar, S., 2018. Food tourism subsegments: A data‐driven
analysis. International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(3), pp.367-377.
Sultan, P., Wong, H.Y. and Sigala, M., 2018. Segmenting the Australian organic food consumer
market. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 30(1), pp.163-181.
von Meyer-Höfer, M., von der Wense, V. and Spiller, A., 2015. Characterising convinced
sustainable food consumers. British Food Journal, 117(3), pp.1082-1104.