1. Is Cadbury a marketing-oriented firm? -I believe that Cadbury is more a selling-oriented firm than a marketing-oriented one. Still we can see some market-oriented factors in their procedures. I believe that Cadbury is a selling-oriented company since they follow the concept that holds that consumers and businesses, if left alone, will ordinarily not buy enough of the organization¡¦s products. The organization must, therefore, undertake an aggressive selling and promotion effort. Cadbury is part of an industry in which competitors are involved in which all the competitors are involved in extensive advertising and promotional activities. Consumers are bombarded with TV commercials, newspapers, ads, direct mail, and other activities.

        Also we can see the pattern of the selling concept, which is: Factory "žÂ± Products "žÂ± Selling & Promotion "žÂ± Profits through sales volume We can see how Cadbury follows this pattern. They first manufacture a product. Then they use intensive selling and promotion in order to generate profits throughout sales volume. Selling is preoccupied with the seller¡¦s needs to convert his product into cash. Marketing focuses in the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer by means of the product and the whole cluster of things associated with creating, delivering, and finally consuming it. Cadbury is not primarily focused in the consumer. They are focused in sales. In the soft drink business all of the competitors are focused in the cash their products generate. Their products don¡¦t differ greatly from each other and that¡¦s why need an intensive advertising and selling campaign.

        As part of the marketing orientation, which pattern is: Target Market "žÂ± Customer needs "žÂ± Integrated Marketing "žÂ± Profits through customer satisfaction We can see that Cadbury has tried to establish specific target markets for some of their products but not for all. We can assume that it has been successful in this task with the Schweppes product but not as successful with the Crush products whose target market has changed greatly through the years. They don¡¦t seem to focus on the customer needs. They are practicing currently integrated marketing (between concentrate producers and bottlers), but before they weren¡¦t doing this. They are just practicing this in order to increase the sales volumes of their products. They are not trying to generate profits through their customer¡¦s satisfaction. They are generating profits through intensive selling efforts.

        Cadbury has achieved its status through a consistent marketing investment of its products. We can see an example of this with Schweppes. They have invested greatly in the Schweppes brand name and extensions to different beverages. An important factor is that the company is so focused on selling that they don¡¦t create most of its products. They acquire brands throughout the world, each with an established customer franchise. They try to buy brands that well sell a lot. Brands that are profitable not even thinking if the consumers need this product. Cadbury follows the industry trends of heavy investments in advertising, selling and promotion. Their main focus is sales.

2.Analyze the current marketing strategy for Crush. What are their strengths and weaknesses? -An organization¡¦s marketing strategy is designed to provide a total integration of efforts that focus on achieving the marketing objectives. The marketing strategy involves selecting one or more target markets and developing a marketing mix (product, price, promotion, distribution) that satisfies the needs and wants of members of that target market. The marketing strategy must (1) fit the needs and purposes of the selected target market, (2) be realistic, given the

organization¡¦ available resources and environment, and (3) be consistent with the organization¡¦s mission, goals, and objectives.

        In order to evaluate a company¡¦s marketing strategy it is important to analyze its strengths and weaknesses before determining how was their strategic plan working. When we evaluate Crush¡¦s status we see the following:         Strengths:         "žYCrush belongs to Cadbury Schweppes PLC, the world¡¦s finest soft drink maker.

        "žYOrange Crush accounted for almost 2/3 of total Crush case volume.

        "žYNew bottling agreements for the mid 1990¡¦s allowed Crush to be sold in supermarkets.

        "žYCrush brand has high name awareness in the markets served by existing and new bottlers.

        Weaknesses:         "žYNot even in the top 10 soft drink brands in the U.S. market share.

        "žYLowest market share of the top 4 brands of orange carbonated soft drink brand.

        "žYCrush and Sunkist spent less on advertising and used fewer advertising vehicles than its competitors.

        "žYLowest market coverage of orange category sales potential (62%) among competitors.

        "žYCrush bottling network had gradually eroded in the 1980¡¦s.

        "žYNot a well-defined target market.

        "žYThere hasn¡¦t been a clear positioning statement developed for Crush.

        Based on all these points, we can see that their current strategy is quite incomplete and can be considered poor. The Crush line (specifically Orange Crush) has more weaknesses than strengths. In a good marketing strategy you will see a well-defined target market. We can see how Crush¡¦s target market has changed since 1954 from being an all-family drink and in 1989 targeting all teens 13-29. They neither clear objectives nor a concrete budget developed. Their positioning statement, another fundamental component of the marketing strategy, isn¡¦t clear at all. It has changed year after year, creating with this confusion on the image that wants Crush to represent. Evaluating each of the parts of the marketing mix I observed the following: Product         The brand is recognized and they are doing the right thing emphasizing the Orange Crush in the Crush line because it is the one with the highest volume of sales of the line.

        Pricing         Not giving much importance to pricing is typical in that industry. Soft drinks prices don¡¦t vary more than a couple of cents between brands. Crush price has been kept a market price.

        Distribution         Distribution is an aspect that they definitely have to improve. They did the right thing in focusing their attention and effort in reestablishing the bottling network for the Crush line. They had new bottling agreements and trade relations with 136 bottlers. It is very important for Crush to be in the supermarkets.

        Promotion         Their promotion strategy can be considered poor. Their budget is too low compared to the competition. Promotion is too important in the soft drink industry. They should take advantage of the high name awareness that the brand has. They are using some tools that are good as the ¡§buy 2 get 1 free¡¨ coupons. They should try new advertising vehicles.

        They could improve greatly. The marketing department has to integrate their efforts equally in all the parts of the strategy. If they are trying to restructure a brand they need to be aware of all the time and effort that this takes. Having clear objectives and having a concrete strategy are key factors for good marketing. Positioning is very important. That is the main aspect that they should clear out first in order to be successful with whatever strategy they develop. They have a misguided strategy without a steady objectives base.

3.Design a marketing strategy for Crush for the following years.

        -The basic elements for a marketing strategy are: target market, money (budget), objectives, and positioning.

Crush Marketing Strategy for March 2001-March 2003 "žYTarget Market         -Female purchasers 18-45 with children/young adults in their house.

"žYObjectives         -Increase market share of Orange Crush 8% (8%-16%) in the orange soft drink category in a 2-years period.

        -Increase sales by 8% in 2 years.

        -Increase profitability.

"žYPositioning         -We will have a benefit positioning strategy focusing in the thirst quenching, great tasting, and also in diet benefits.

                 -They should keep their bold user imagery with thirst quenching benefit and diet line.

                 -Message: ¡§Great tasting, thirst-quenching, with or without the calories orange drink¡¨ "žYBudget         Promotion¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K.$4,500,000.00 Distribution¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K 2,000,000.00         Product¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K. 200,000.00         Pricing¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K... 10,000.00 Total¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K¡K $6,710,000.00 "žYMarketing Mix         "žhProduct -Orange Crush is a well-recognized soft drink. Its label, although classic, should be kept the same in order to maintain the loyal customers the product already has. Also, to keep the awareness that is already shown in the researches.

        -Line pruning will be adopted -Cadbury will emphasize in Orange Crush Regular & Diet. The rest of the flavors will be set-aside for a 1-year period while marketing strategies are developed for them.

                          -Brand                                    -The brand will be kept as a manufacturer brand.

                                   -There won¡¦t be any new brand extensions for the next 2 years.

-Line extensions will be considered after 1 year of the activation of the new strategy.

                          -Packaging and Labeling -This aspects will be left the same because they reflect the company¡¦s and the brand¡¦s image. Consumers recognize Crush by their label.

-Crush will be sold in 2 liters, 12 oz. cans, 8 oz. bottles .

        "žhPricing                  -Some changes will be made in the pricing strategy.

                          -Mark-up pricing strategy                                    -Regular ¡V40%                   -Diet-40%         Price         Suggested retail price Case         $5.60         $7.99                            - -Market penetration pricing -At the new relaunching of the Orange Crush the prices will be captive.

                                            -$5.40/ case                           -Discounts                                    -Fixed discounts                                             -1-20 cases ($5.60/case)                                             -21 or more ($5.50/case)                  -The final price of Crush will be below the market price so it will still                  be a value price.

        "žhPromotion -The promotional strategy will be based on the positioning message ¡§great-tasting, thirst quenching, with or without calories orange soft drink.¡¨ -Its main advertising will be targeted to children/young adults since they are the consumers that compare the taste of most soft drinks in the market.

-General promotion will be targeted towards the female purchaser who usually is the one that buys the groceries. Now the product will be distributed in supermarkets.

-We want to build consumer preference for our product and knowledge of it for the purchaser.

-Promotional Mix:         -Advertising: -Print and Broadcast Ads (Network and Cablevision TV commercials, ads in teenage and children magazines)                                    -Posters                   -Billboards                                    -POP displays                                    -Radio advertising          -Sales promotion                                    -Product demonstration at supermarkets                            -Coupons                                    -Rebates                           -Public Relations -Sponsorship (Sponsor games at schools and at minor leagues, sports)                            -Personal Selling -Train sales representatives to present our products to supermarkets.

                 "žhDistribution                  -2-level marketing channel                  Concentrate producer "žÂ±bottler "žÂ±retailer "žÂ±consumer                  -Selective distribution ¡V approximately 136 bottlers around the world                  -The product will be sold in supermarkets, mega stores, convenience stores, and in vending machines.