Final Project: Creative Control

This is a rough draft of what our bottle will look like.

Week 10 EOC: The Benefits Vs. Features.

What does the benefits versus the features actually mean? What would the benefits be and what would the features be? Basically, the features are what people expect from a particular product. take a new car for example, no one car company is going to advertise the fact that it has a windshield, or an engine or even A/C, it would obviously be included. But something like a 100,000 mile warranty or heated/cooled cup holders would be a benefit. Providing your customers with an amazing customer service department could also be a benefit.

With all that out of the way, all vodka contains the same basic elements, water and ethanol. Much like sushi at its very basic is merely seaweed and rice, vodka is simply put, just water and ethanol. These are the most basic features of course. Other features could be the simple fact that it comes in a bottle, or even the fact that almost all vodkas are 80 proof or even that it gets you tipsy.

With that said, the benefits of my person brand of vodka would be the fact that my vodka is a 100 proof beverage. Its made from the best ingredients, it has a particular and unique flavor and overall my companies stance of providing excellent customer service is our main priority, a happy customer will keep coming back for more and more. So in conclusion the benefits of something go way past the features. The unexpected, something that isn't always included. Something new and un-pioneered, or even something done better than the rest could all be examples of benefits.

EOC Week 9: Three Great Mission Statements

After reading through peoples mission statements, i have narrowed my three down to Shyanns Fashion Blog, McCoys Audio Spot and "Fundamentals of Marketing".

I really enjoyed Shyanns it is very professional and it even has some clever puns in it. It gets to the point and really shows what this persons vodka is all about.

McCoys Audio Spot's was also good. It was alot lengthier than Shayanns but it also covered alot more ground. It even went into where the water was taken from and where the ingredients were from. While it didnt have a missiony statement feel. It did cover what the statement was.

Fundementals was good too. Reading through the ones that were actually done showed me that there is a wide market for vodkas. For men and for women. This particualar one was for women. Slender vodka is for the busy woman who cares about her calories. The mission statement was well written and supported by direct quotes.

Overall the ones i read were on spot. Not all of them were as professional as i was hoping but still decent none the less. Our class needs to work hard to catch up on your work!

Final Project: Implementation Evaluation Control

Implementation of our product has begun already, working on the business plan is step one of our journey to being among the top vodka producers in the world. We will being in Las Vegas, then to LA, NY and Miami and work our way inland to provide the best in customer service and product. We are aiming for consumers between the ages of 21 and 37 to drink our product, hence why we are visiting some of the biggest party cities in the Unites States. With the budget we have laid out for ourselves we feel we are completely prepared for any sudden changes that will occur with our product, for instance price fluctuations in ethanol or any other of our ingredients or any other consumer or client issues that may arise.

Final Project: Marketing Mix

Product: As stated before our brand name is Pikané. We filter our vodka through black diamonds five times to achieve our signature smoothness. Our Style is elegance but at a cheaper price than most premiere vodkas. Our quality is top notch. We get only the freshest and best ingredients to use in our beverage. From the best hot springs to the best quality ginger and cinnamon in Poland. Safety is a big deal to us, we print "Please Drink Responsibly" and "Never Drink and Drive" on every bottle. Our two packages options will include the single bottle by itself, or an optional box with our logo printed on it. These two products will sell for the same price.

Our warranty is simple, if you are not completely satisfied with the product we are serving you can send it to us and we will refund it for you no questions asked. And as for accessories, somewhere down the line (hopefully within six months) we will have shot glasses and tumblers available for purchase.

Pricing: Each bottle of our beverage cost between $10 and $20 to produce (dependent on ginger crops/costs and cinnamon production). We will sell our beverage to the clients for $59 dollars a bottle in all of our markets. From LA to Miami and everywhere in between. When buying 50 or more bottles straight from our distribution center we will sell them to the consumer for $39 a piece, or $1,950 for a case of 50. While we are selling our product for that price, our suggested retail price is $79. This gets us our sales and our stores get their sales as well. With any company price flexibility will be handled by the owner and myself in a private discussion. No seasonal pricing will be in place. Our prices are firm all throughout the year. We also will provide a NET14 for our best customers, which essentially means that we deliver our product and collect within 14 days.

Place: Our main goal is to be in 75% of the overall market in 5 years. This includes bars, night clubs and liquor stores. Our main big city destinations to penetrate will be Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Miami. These are our main targets and essentially the cities that will rake in the most profit for our company. We will be doing promotions in these cities while also trying to establish business relationships with other clients in other cities around the US.

We will have our distribution warehouse on site and I will have a team of 5 people to run it at first. We will be purchasing 2 distribution trucks for local deliveries and also to take to and from the airport for long distance delivery.

Promotion: Our promotions will begin in Las Vegas. Considering we want a wide array of consumers we will be running promotions in different bars and clubs throughout Vegas. I will be handing out our business cards and talking with the owners of each location at the end of the night to see if they are interested in carrying our product. Or first stop will be The Yard House and The Blue Martini in Town Square. We will take our brand ambassadors and provide free samples and talk with people about our product. After those stops we will stop by Coyote Ugly (NYNY) and Red Square (Mandalay Bay) to do the same promotions. The Ghostbar at the Palms will be one of our final stops. This will be an extravagant place to provide free samples and mingle with potential clients and consumers. Many celebrities visit this bar and that will also get word of mouth and potentially get down into our next city.

Los Angeles will be a big plateau for us. Our team will be visiting Area, Bar 210, Bar Centro and Bar Marmont handing out cards and samples. Once again we will make our presents known and use word of mouth to get our product out into the public. After Los Angeles will will make our way back east to New York. We will be visiting the 40/40 Club which is owned by Jay-Z,then to Bar Celona, Death and Co., Fifty Seven Fifty Seven, and finally Lavo. We then head south into the city of Miami where we visit Amendment XXI, B Bar, Level 25, Mynt and Opium. This will round out our big city penetration and we will then be able to work on getting our product into the smaller cities around the US.

Final Project: Marketing Strategy

Our marketing strategy is to penetrate multiple markets quickly and effectively. While covering a wide range across the United States. We plan on having these goals met and accomplished by December 12th of 2013. I myself will handle the business end of things. I then plan on hiring a small staff of people at first, about 20, to help with advertising, distribution and bottling of the product. This select group of people will help me mold this company into what i know it can be. One of the leading vodkas in the United States. Our starting budget will be at $2 million. With that money, we plan on hiring our employees, purchasing a refurbished distillery, the rare black diamonds and the water and ethanol needed to create our beverage. This will leave us with enough for our POS (Billboards, Website, Posters etc.). We expect to at least double our original budget by the end of our first year in business.

We plan to meet these expectations by bringing in repeat customers while introducing new ones into our company by means of public events and advertising at clubs, bars, and liquor stores within the United States. We will try to sell a majority of our products in our home city of Las Vegas and also Los Angeles, New York and Miami. Overall we plan to be in 75% of all liquor stores, bars and clubs by December of 2016.

Final Project: SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

We are a company built on customer services and customer relations. We don't just sell vodka, we sell happiness. Our main goal is customer service and the customer is always right. On top of having some of the best customer service we also provide one of the finest adult beverages on the planet. We go through many processes to ensure our customers get the best out of their drinks. Our strengths lie within our customers.

Weaknesses:

Our main weakness is the fact that or employee size is limited. We dont have a huge crew, this makes some things hard to accomplish. Our facility size also plays a role in our weaknesses.

Opportunities:

Some of our opportunities are to completely take over vodka sales in the US and abroad. After our first year of sales we plan to move to a much larger plant and to vastly expand the size of our working family. By 2015 we plan to be in at least 20 countries and be at the forefront of vodka sales in the US.

Threats:

Our main threat is other adult beverage companies. With hundreds of companies all producing similar products, keeping on top wont be easy. We will need to continue our great customer care and producing a top quality product to stay on the right path to our goals.