Sports drink

protelos

Hi there,
Firstly love this forum. Great place!!!

So I have a dilemma,

I don’t really need advice in terms of covering the all the angle, costs , pitfalls etc…I am looking for input in terms of marketing strategy.

There are two of us living in south America, we have decided to bring a sports/carbonated drink home to firstly Ireland and then the UK and EU after that all going well.

We have got rights etc, done the costing and a huge amount of market research (I know it is a HUGELY competitve market etc…) We have not taking this decision to get into a market lightly.

The issue is from the warehouse to the end user our thinking is polar opposites. We have got some good funding which will cover the first shipment if not the second, and a good pool for marketing.

One of us wants to go big, TV, sports endorsements. Talk to Tesco etc with no territory sales.


The other wants to grow more organically. Get involved with GAA teams, soccer teams, etc… get into smaller shops, blast promotions at events etc yet not going to big…

There is no middle ground in terms of this everything one says is appreciated by the other but is the total opposite of the vision.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Obviously we will agree on using the current mediums like FB, Twitter, youtube to best bring brand awareness. But it is the above issues that are causing an issue. Would people thing a third party marketing company would be a option.

Thanks

Peterdalkey

Tough market and you have not addressed here as to what your product USP is and given the players in this space, it would need to be a killer one. How can a product that contains mostly water have such a margin that it could be economically shipped halfway around the world. Even Pepsico and Coca-Cola can't do that. I think the basic business model needs some serious work and evaluation before trying to decide on marketing techniques and channels.

protelos

Peter,
Thank you for your response. I' ll give up then... And leave it to the rest! As I stated I have not underestimated the market or neglected any of the issues. In my one post I didnt have room for my full 37 page business plan or my scrutinized costings from a very very experienced accountant.

The product is killer but product isn't the be all and end all of the retail product.

Like I stated I have not underestimated the task ahead hence why the marketing plan needs to be flawless. In the plan one version was used. The more organic one.

We have 3/4 excellent areas that we think we can capture.
Il keep plugging away anyway!
Thanks

jimmii

This isn't really the place to get the answers you are after really. There is a marketing forum but you would be better off approaching an advertising agency and they are likely to have a better idea of what approach is going to work best for the product.

Dazzler88

protelos wrote: »

Peter,
Thank you for your response. I' ll give up then... And leave it to the rest

I wouldn't be to harsh on Peter. What he is asking you is what makes your products different to others in the market? Are you reselling someone else's product here or are you producing the product in South America and shipping it here, if its Yes to the 2nd one, why not produce it here?

I do a lot of sport, GAA, Soccer, Boxing and Running, why should I buy your product?

Peterdalkey

I was not trying to bust your chops at all. I noted you said you had funding for 1 or maybe 2 containers of product, this would not represent significant sum in my book. So what a "goodly pool" for marketing might mean is anyone's guess but to make any impact as a consumer brand, something in the six figures is kick off money.
As to taking advice, accountants are perfect for financial advice, I would look elsewhere for specific business development/market opportunity advice or assessment.

Peterdalkey

Noname type sports drinks example: Lidl Sportiva isotonic sports drink < €0.70 per litre in 500ml size.

How much is the marketing budget?

Iwernia

Get a mouthful of this for your marketing:)

Bandara

Your going to need 200k for marketing to even make a small splash if your launching countrywide

Also from your first 2 containers of stock your going to give half or more of it away free just to get it in shelves

You come into me and ask me to stock your product, providing I like the product, am comfortable dealing with you, and have the space to justify the product, I am not paying you for the first delivery. I'm doing you a favour letting your product sit on my shelves. First delivery is free, if it sells a bottle a within the first month then you've got a chance of me putting it into my other stores, the first delivery there will need to be foc as well. (Also I'll want full returns on ood stock)

The other option you may go with is getting listed with the central billing suppliers, Musgraves, BWG etc, then you get the in to over a thousand cstores and are setup on CB. It's just not worth the hassle to deal with anyone that's not on CB, I couldn't be bothered writing chqs, it's time consuming.

Good luck with it

RUDOLF289

protelos wrote: »

Hi there,
Firstly love this forum. Great place!!!

So I have a dilemma,

I don’t really need advice in terms of covering the all the angle, costs , pitfalls etc…I am looking for input in terms of marketing strategy.

There are two of us living in south America, we have decided to bring a sports/carbonated drink home to firstly Ireland and then the UK and EU after that all going well.

We have got rights etc, done the costing and a huge amount of market research (I know it is a HUGELY competitve market etc…) We have not taking this decision to get into a market lightly.

The issue is from the warehouse to the end user our thinking is polar opposites. We have got some good funding which will cover the first shipment if not the second, and a good pool for marketing.

One of us wants to go big, TV, sports endorsements. Talk to Tesco etc with no territory sales.


The other wants to grow more organically. Get involved with GAA teams, soccer teams, etc… get into smaller shops, blast promotions at events etc yet not going to big…

There is no middle ground in terms of this everything one says is appreciated by the other but is the total opposite of the vision.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Obviously we will agree on using the current mediums like FB, Twitter, youtube to best bring brand awareness. But it is the above issues that are causing an issue. Would people thing a third party marketing company would be a option.

Thanks

Hello protelos,

Can't say I am an expert when it comes to the drinks industry. My concern would be that dealing with the large multiples, like Tesco, Dunnes etc will ;

1) eat into your margins, even for a "killer product" creating a premium brand through the multiples is a considerable challenge
2) destroy your cash flow, the multiples will take a significant amount of credit (60/90 days is probably the norm)

The advantage may be that you deliver to a central distribution point (possibly in container quantities) and don't have to worry about the distribution.

The alternative might be to import the product in concentrate form and reach agreements with bottling companies. That is how Pepsi, Cocal Cola, Cadbury Scheppes etc do it. They rarely - if any time - ship retail product. Also, what is the shelf life of your product? Will it stand a 35/45 day transit time from origin and still have sufficient shelf life left ? What would be the impact on the quality of the finished product if it was subjected to significant changes in temperatures?

I know somebody senior in Pepsi and their challenge is in the supply chain, e.g. protecting their product (concentrate) from significant fluctuations in temperature from the manufacturing plant to the bottler. Not being an expert, my concern would be that if you ship finished product, quality may be affected if you come from a warm to a cold to a warm climate. You may need refrigerated containers, at a significant increase in transportation costs.

Best of luck getting your product to market, whichever route you decide to go.

Cheers,
Rudolf289

Voltex

OP...marketing is key to your product. But be clever.
Clayton Christensen is a Prof. Business admin in Harvard. The video is a great example of how to market a product at a specific potential.

Dazzler88

Iwernia wrote: »

Get a mouthful of this for your marketing:)

And who do you think is behind that drink. Yes you guessed it Richard Branson. I still laugh everytime I see them cans in the shop.