Case study of Great Lakes Corporation

Analysis of external environment External environment has a great impact on the operation of any business. This is due to the fact that no business can operate in isolation or can survive without the environment (Michael, 1979). The resources that a business uses in its production also come from the external environment. What needs to be noted is that the external environment is non controllable by the organizations managers. Any business must therefore scan the external environment carefully in order to ensure its survival in the long run (Aguilar, 1967).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Case study of Great Lakes Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The management of great lakes therefore has the important role of critically examining the uncontrollable environment and develops appropriate strategies that will make the business prosper. The external environments consist of the social, technological, econ omic, environmental and political environment. Great Lakes Corporation has to examine each of the components of the external environment and anticipate the effects it can have on the business. To begin with, the demographic environment deals with the population and the population’s characteristics. Moreover products that great lakes produce have varying effects on the population. For instance, the lead gasoline that is produced by great link subsidiary octet had different effects for the different population structures. While it resulted into brain problem to the children, the leaded gasoline also caused respiratory problems to the elderly and the general degradation of the air. The management therefore has to look into ways of mitigating the effect of its products on the different population groups. The second factor to be considered in the scanning of the external environment is the technological factors. The current business environment is characterized by fast changing te chnology and if a business fails to adopt the changes in technology, then it has to realize the threat to its going concern concept (Kotler, 2006). The product, leaded gasoline that is being produced by Great Lakes may be rendered useless if the cars that use the products are faced off with the adoption of modern cars. This is already exhibited by the reduced market of the company’s products in countries with new products and production methods. Again, it has reduced the international perspective of the business. Failure to develop the current technology will further reduce the company’s income. Another component of the external environment is the economic environment. This environment determines the returns the business will have on its operations. It includes the inflation rates, the economic growth rates and the cost of funds.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More All forms of business, small or big, international or local are affected by the economic environment (Kozami, 2002). Great Lakes Corporation will have to evaluate the economic environment for the purpose of expanding its activities in other region and terminate its operations in markets that have declining sales and increased level of risk. The decision makers of great lakes therefore have to make decisions that will reduce the business activities in developed countries that have changed the products and curtailed the demand for the company’s products. In the case study, the economic legislations that were instated e.g. the reduction of the excise tax on ethanol may reduce the costs of substitute products of the Great Lakes Corporation which may as a result reduce the turnover of the company. In addition the geographical coverage will be a factor to consider in the operations of a business. The company must realize that the wide geographical market in which it operates will determine the operations cost and the strategies in the different region. Wide environment means diverse culture and beliefs that may have an impact on the market of the company’s products. Great Lakes Company has to realize the different needs to their targeted market especially the countries at different level of development (Aguilar, 1967). The wide geographical operational area as well means that Great Lakes marketing strategies and promotional message have to take note of all their stakeholders. Distribution channel of the corporation will be affected by large environment coverage. The business may be forced to open branches in the different regions to ensure efficiency and effectiveness which will reduce shortages that may arise from longer supply periods. Finally the political environment must be assessed. Politics determines the rules and regulations that will be formulated to guide the conduct of business. If the laid down regulations are not adhered to, the busines s may find itself with multiple suit cases that may affect the going concern of the business. Great lakes will be affected by the political environment majorly on the environmental regulations. From the case study, it is evident that regulations are being formulated to ban the production of lead gasoline due to the adverse environmental impact. This has already been made possible in the developed nations like the US. However the developing nations still rely on the use of lead gasoline. Great Lakes management must ensure that they move to take steps that will cushion the business from losses should the same regulations be adopted by the developing nations.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Case study of Great Lakes Corporation specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, Great lakes must also realize that the business has a corporate responsibility to the community in which it operates. This implies that the organi zation should not wait for regulations that prohibit the use of lead gasoline by the developing and under developed countries. Rather, it should move ahead and mitigate the cost of not being environment compliant. It is therefore irrational for the Corporation to go against its own policies on employees and community safety standards for the sake of maximizing returns. The business needs to move ahead and make the necessary and desired changes without necessarily waiting for set rules. It’s ironical for the company to inform the users of its chemicals the dangers they face and do no more. A trade off must be made on the level of return and the effect of the company’s operation on the community (Porter, 1998). Five forces model analysis The five forces model developed by Porter can be used to analyze a market with respect to the chances of survival of an individual firm. The model by porter explains the five forces that influence the performance in an industry. These fo rces include the threat of new entrants, bargaining power of suppliers, buyer’s power, threat of substitutes and the rivalry between competitors (Porter, 1998). The level with which a firms management scans the environment in respect to these factors will influence its long term survival. The management of Great Lakes Chemical Corporation is justified in their aim to scan the industry and increase their market share and control by reducing the competitors’ penetration. Each of these factors is analyzed below. An analysis of the threat of new entrant is minimal in this market. This can be attributed to the fact that the industry is viewed by investors as being highly risky given the legislation that are being promulgated. Further, the industry may attract few entrants because of the poisonous effects of the leaded additive products getting known to many users (Porter, 1998). The level of awareness influence the customers purchase option and selection criteria. The likel ihood of the adverse effects of lead gasoline being known by the targeted market will thus reduce the possibilities of new entrants. Secondly, buyer’s power is important in the scanning of competition level in an industry. Buyers are the users of a product and ignorance of the buyers need preference changes is mandatory for a business success.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The level of increased awareness of information, buying volume, sensitivity to prices and the availability of substitutes determines the power of customers (Michael, 1979). In this respect, great lakes has a challenge of ensuring that their products remain in demand considering that the substitutes that are environmental friendly are being introduced. In fact this has led to the reduced operations and demand in the developing countries. The adoption and passing of regulation that ban the use of lead in the developing countries must then be anticipated and precautionary measures taken to ensure operations. Similarly, buyers are likely to increase their power with the increase in substitutes and differentiated products hence reducing their purchase level and increasing their bargaining power. The third concept in the porter’s model is the power of suppliers. Supplies are the entities that are charged with the duty of supplying the company with the factors of production. The pow er of suppliers is enhanced with factors like the number, the demand for their supplies and the possibilities of the firms in the industry switching to other production areas (Porter, 1998). The idea of reduction of number of firms in the lead industry and the size of great lakes will reduce the power of suppliers. If suppliers have a high bargaining power then they may demand heavy payments for their supplies which will result into the shrinking of the profits. In this area, Great Lakes enjoy the low suppliers’ power which therefore makes it possible to operate in a cost efficient manner. Moreover, the fact that the business is operated and has many suppliers is advantageous to the company. The company as well enjoy the availability of close substitutes that can enable it have a significant influence on the suppliers. Further the threats of substitute’s product must also be looked into. Substitutes are products that serve the same purpose but are of different qualitie s. The threat of substitutes depends on the availability of close products that can replace the corporation products (Michael, 1979). In the chemical industry, there are very many substitutes that are likely to cause threat to the company’s products. The strength that the company still relies on is the fact that the developing countries still lack the capacity of using other non leaded products. The many different types of products that are being produced by the company will assist in the diversification of the risk of dependence on one or few products. Great lakes subsidiaries will also enable it smooth its returns. It can thus be concluded the company does not suffers so much ion the threat of substitutes. The final concept in the forces model is the rivalry threat. Rivalry threat is affected by the factors as the barrier to exit, growth prospects in the industry, brand identity brand switching cost among others. An industry that exhibit high rivalry is considered volatile and risky. The chemical industry faces a bigger challenge given that more advanced products are being produced and the market for Great Lakes largest product, leaded gasoline, is shrinking. The prospect of growth is almost zero as most legislation is aimed at banning the use of leaded additive products. Therefore it is necessary for the company managers to incorporate new products and ensure they maintain their competitive advantage in the market characterized by increasing number of competitors. From the above analysis can be said that the industry is not attractive. An industry is attractive when it has a high profit prospects, manageable level of competition, favorable legislation and market growth ability (Kotler, 2006). The industry is also unattractive given that the level of competition is likely to increase heavily and reduce the turnover. Investors who have the objective of maximizing the shareholders wealth will therefore avoid the lead additive industry. Great Lakes compe titors Great Lakes Corporation was generally considered to have few competitors. This may not reflect the true picture and cannot be a premise used to justify the business continued ability and strength. The current environment is drastically changing and these must be taken into account as there are likely to be invisible and immediate competitors (Kozami, 2002). The immediate competitors of great lakes are the chemical industries that produce substitutes in the developed countries. The market expansion of these companies into the market dominated by great lakes would mean a reduction of the company’s turnover. The management of Great lakes has to ensure that they increase the loyalty of their customers and make the switch cost high. This would bar the company’s target market from switching into the competitors area. The immediate competitors’ may also be other companies which are also located in other territories of the developing nations providing similar pro ducts. Impending competitors of great lakes are the new firms that are likely to enter into the market and produce substitute products. We can therefore assert that the business might not experience many impending competitors in the lead additive sector. It however faces the competition of other firms which are aiming at entering the industry. Great Lakes will however stands a better position than those of competitors because the company enjoys economies of scale production. This will thus reduce the overhead cost and make the company to be a low cost producer. Cost is one of the strategies that a business adopts in seeking for competitive advantage. Another reason as to why Great Lakes Corporation will enjoy market lead is the large market share mainly in the developing countries. Large market enables the company to either segment or standardize their production as a strategic way of gaining competitive advantage (Kotler, 2006). If this is well exploited, great lakes will manage to survive in the market. The major competitive disadvantage that Great Lakes Corporation is likely to face is in the legislative sector. The fact that the company produces leaded gasoline in its octet subsidiary that accounts for about 50% of the company’s earnings is a great threat to the future returns. The environmental campaigns on the need to ban the lead products due to their nature of causing pollution might likely lead to the termination of some of the operations of the company’s plants. This might result into reduction of the turnover and result into huge losses. The management of Great Lakes Chemical Corporation must thus have other plans of adopting new products that are ethically desired and that are within the legal framework. If not well incorporated, the competitors will gain a competitive edge and ensure the failure of great lakes. Capabilities of great lakes A look at the operation of the company reveal the potential it has that can be ventured into. Th e first option that the company can pursue is to start the process of switching to the production of unleaded additives. This is highly possible given the financial resources and the good performance of the company in the precious period. The financial capability can also be deduced from the fact that the company is an international organization and therefore makes high turnover (Aguilar, 1967). Great Lakes Corporation is as well capable of diversifying its operations to cover for the risk that may arise from the legal and other environmental changes. Diversification reduces the risk of loss and increases the return a business derives from its operation. It increases the customer base of the business. The large variety of chemicals produced by great lakes will enable it derive its income from different markets. In addition, the diverse use of the company’s products as fire suppressors, household cleaners and water treatment products will enable great lakes Corporation to shif t its resources should the octet subsidiary faces operational challenges. Another option that is available to Great Lakes is to form alliances with other firms if it has to quit from the lead additive products. An alliance enables the parties to share the risks and resources including the quality management and to increase their operation size (Kozami, 2002). If the company is able to identify capable strategic partners, it will increase its ability to penetrate in the market and reduce the losses likely to be experienced in the event of shuts down of the lead production subsidiaries. It will also be feasible for the firm to reduce the costs required in shifting into new operations and make it produce more advanced products. Finally, the management of Great Lakes Corporation can decide to dispose off the risky proportion of its business and use the proceeds in new attractive areas. What needs to be considered here is that the acquirer firms may decide to buy the plants at a low cost . A cost return trade off must thus be made for the company to make the required decision (Porter, 1998). Conclusion In conclusion, it is important for any business that aims at furthering its operation and increasing its market share to continuously scan its environment. Through environment scanning, a business will be in a position to identify its competitor and develop strategies that ensure better performance (Porter, 1998). An organization that fails to conduct proper scanning of the environment will be make unpopular decisions and lose its grip in the industry. Scanning therefore requires a management with conceptual skills rather than technical skills. The environmental, technical, legal, economic and demographics scanning is therefore called for. The corporation must also adopt the internal scanning techniques that will enable it scan its internal environment and realize its potential. This will reveal factors like the quality of management, financial capability and motivati on of the employees. Reference List Aguilar, F. J. (1967). Scanning the business environment. Columbia: Macmillan. Kotler, P. (2006). Marketing Management (2 ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall. Kozami, A. (2002). Business policy and strategic management (2 ed.). India: Tata McGraw-Hill Education. Michael, P. E. (1979, May). How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy. Harvard Business Review . Porter, M. E. (1998). Competitive advantage: creating and sustaining superior performance : with a new introduction. Havard: Simon and Schuster. This report on Case study of Great Lakes Corporation was written and submitted by user Dominick Wright to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

African Slave Trade essays

African Slave Trade essays There are three documents that explain the African Slave Trade. Document seven, The Life of Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, The African, is a primary memoir written by Olaudah in1789. Equiano wrote this document to describe his life in Africa and explain what it was like being a slave. This document, which was written for people involved in the English antislavery movement and anyone else who wanted to know about his experiences as a slave, relates to the slave trade from Africa and the sugar plantations in the West Indies. Both the document and the text talk about Equianos life as a slave and some of what he went through. Document eight, Commerce, Slavery, and Religion in North Africa, is a primary memoir written by a member of a caravan headed by a Tuareg guide called Cheggeun in 1860. This document, which was written for General E. Daumas, a French officer serving in Algeria, explains trade, slavery, and religion in North Africa. This document relates to the Atlantic trade syste m in sub-Saharan Africa. Both the text and the document explain the tasks that African slaves performed in Islam. They also talk about how Muslims were like Christians in that they saw no reason for trading slaves. Document nine, Slavery and the Slave Trade of Brazil, is a primary memoir written by Thomas Nelson in 1846. His purpose for writing it was to describe the conditions of the Africans he came into contact with while aboard slave ships. This document, which was written for people who wanted to know about the Africans aboard the slave ships, connects to the eighteenth-century. The document and the text both tell a little of what the slaves endured. They discuss several diseases such as dysentery and malaria, which took the lives of many slaves.These documents are similar in that they are all primary memoirs written to explain the African Slave Trade and discuss the ...

Federal Bailout Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Federal Bailout - Research Paper Example With these higher unemployment numbers and the fear amongst those in the banking industry, more and more restrictions were placed upon the opportunity to guarantee new credit to consumers, while the already issued credit lines were at risk of being defaulted on. As a way to intervene in the matter, the federal government would seek to purchase existing debt from major banks, in the hopes of creating more room for new growth. Like anything else the government seeks to do, their plan for the banking industry would have its supporters, along with its vocal naysayers. With a considerable amount at stake going into the Presidential election of 2008, it would become important for both candidates to respond in their own ways, to the legislation that was being proposed by their fellow elected representatives and such legislation, that would be signed into law by the very man that each candidate was hoping to replace come November 2008. At the beginning of debate towards the end of the third quarter in 2008, the initial proposers of such action, would be then-Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and current Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. This action would see support from both men, the White House, along with both Presidential candidates and the Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill. Considerable opposition to the plan itself, would come from many Republicans, who felt it would be too much government control. In this case, â€Å"The first proposal for a sweeping bailout of financial institutions came at the height of the panic in mid-September, 2008. Mr. Paulson, with the backing of Mr. Bernanke, asked Congress for $700 billion to use to buy up mortgage-backed securities whose value had dropped sharply or had become impossible to sell, in what he called the Trouble Asset Relief Program, or TARP. As originally outlined, the

Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Design - Essay Example Additionally, many in sales management trust that if one has not been in the channels selling, they cannot possibly scheme an operative sales training program. It is worth noting that while there is some certainty to both of these sentiments, non-selling HR experts can design actual sales training programs. Designing sales training program entails more than inquiring using standard questions about flaws in the sales team. The role of â€Å"internal advisor† will have to be assumed by the HR manager. Furthermore, coordination with the sales management team will be essential to cultivate a relevant and nourishing sales training program. Finally, any training program should present the skills required to be fruitful in a particular job occupation. The difficulty of the sales job, however, can make the skills characterisation more problematic. Accurately and plainly outlining which sales skills should be the attention of the training takes cautious assessment using the steps prese nted here (Chapman 45). Instructional Goals 1. Ensure proper functioning of the sales team. 2. Give a backbone for new sales recruit to know how the sales department functions and their expectations. 3. Encourage proper use of time while in the sales team since time is money. 4. Encourage the adoption of this department in the companies that have not adopted it yet. 5. Assess the skills obtained by the sales representatives. Testing Strategies The primary instructional methods to be used will be lectures. These lectures will compose appropriate videos that mimic a sales situation. The instructors will then provide a method of how to counter such situations when and if they occur. Deliberations between the sales agents will be highly fortified because in a sales job, the exchange of ideas is vibrant. Moreover, questions will be invited to the instructors in areas that the representatives will not have understood. With this, it will go a long way to ensure that the training was unders tood comprehensively hence successful. As a final task, a test will be given to the representatives to gauge their level of understanding. Sample Test: While given a certain situation, the sales representatives participating in this training will be required to give their thought of it. Moreover, how one can circumvent such a situation in the future will be required to be stated. Learning Units of Instructions Modules – The training will occur as a seminar. It will last for eight hours and will be divided into parts for better comprehension by the sales representatives. FIRST SESSION: 1. Identification – 5 minutes a) Each sales representatives will be handed a questionnaire. This questionnaire will capture personal information regarding each representative. b) A game that will ease the participants’ tension will also be played. Objective: questionnaire will capture personal information and the game will pass time to make sure information from all the participant s has been clearly captured. 2. Introduction of the instructors and the modes of teaching to be used – 15 minutes. a) Each instructor will fully introduce themselves and module they are to teach. Objective: To familiarize with the instructors. SECOND SESSION: 3. First lecture commences – One and Half hours. It will encompass a) Definition of sales, goals of sales and roles. b) Know the direction of the sales role. c) Know the focus of the selling, whether direct or

The One That Works Best Essay Example for Free

The One That Works Best Essay There are a lot of factors that influence how one grasps information. Each and every person is unique in their ability, interest and background knowledge and it is safe to assume that there is a preferred style of learning that works best for them. The common styles of learning are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic but a style can be determines in further depth through many different evaluations. I have learned a few things about myself and my own personal learning style which I will share with you in this essay. There are three basic learning styles which are visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. Visual learners retain information best through visual aids such as graphs, pictures, films and demonstrations. Auditory learners absorb the most from hearing the material through lectures or oral discussions. The last of the three is Kinesthetic learners who learns best through physical demonstrations rather than seeing or hearing. Based on the completion of Learning Style Inventory (Bixler, 2010), I have determined I am a Kinesthetic learner also known as a tactile learner. My preference of learning is through a hands-on method. When I reflect on my study habits I found that this is true. I retain information better through moving, doing or touching. How can I make this learning style work best for me? I can make studying a more physical task. Instead of sitting down and reading I could stand, or snack while listening to lectures. Playing music in the background is something I often do and is also a useful habit to acquire for kinesthetic learners. One of the down falls of being a tactile learner is that I am easily distracted but allowing myself frequent study breaks will help with staying on track with any assignment. Through the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire (Felder Soloman, n.d.), I have determined that I am not only a well-rounded learner but I also have very strong learning preferences that may affect my grasp on content. My results reflected that I am an active learner. I use a â€Å"Let’s try it out and see how it works,† study mentality. The questionnaire also reflected that when it comes to sensing and intuition I am a little bit of both. I like learning facts as well as theories. I have discovered through this questionnaire that  I am also well rounded when it comes to being a visual and verbal learner. Visual and verbal learning is the primary method of learning in today’s school system. I believe I reflected being fairly balanced in both because this is the learning style I’ve known based on the teaching style offered. Last, the questionnaire showed me that I am a sequential learner as well as a global learner. This result is accurate because different topics require a different way to complete or learn them whether it is step by step or absorbing bits and pieces to get the big picture. I have always known that I learned things better through hands-on experience. After taking both evaluations I realized I actually prefer many different learning styles but I am predominately a kinesthetic or active learner. I am sure this has changed many time based on my situation. Understanding what style works best for me is the first step in success. Being a physical learner will make taking online classes a bit difficult because online learning isn’t a hands-on kind of learning environment. My style may change throughout this course based on the situation or I will adapt my current learning style to somehow work with this environment. Throughout life we evolve and adapt to the different situations we are put in. This type of evolution occurs when it comes to our learning styles. As learners we adapt to the learning environment because it is more likely that our learning style will change before the teaching style changes. Every individual has a preferred learning style that works best for them based on their current situation. Each and every one of us is different and every different person has a different situation from the other which brings us to the conclusion that everyone has a different learning style. References Bixler, B. (2010). Learning style inventory. Retrieved from http://www.personal.psu.edu/bxb11/LSI/LSI.htm Felder, R. M., Soloman, B. A. (n.d.). Index of learning styles. Retrieved from http://www.engr.ncsu.edu/learningstyles/ilsweb.html Reiner, C. Willingham, D. (2010). The myth of learning styles. Retrieved from http://www.changemag.org/Archives/Back%20Issues/September-October%202010/the-myth-of-learning-full.html

Minimum Wage Legislation Essay -- Minimum Wage Essays

Minimum Wage Legislation I am going to pose the question to you the students of Sir Sandford Fleming College, do you really want the minimum wage legislation left in affect? As college students you are not benefiting or gaining anything from minimum wage legislation. The minimum wage legislation requires all employees to be paid at least some fixed given dollar amount per hour. This sounds good, but it isn't all that it seems! Minimum wage is an example of government intervention. The government has put a minimum on the dollar amount that employers can pay their employees. Unfortunately when we implement solutions like the minimum wage, it is too late to actually fix the problem, so in most cases it has effects that we cannot foresee as it is a reaction instead of a prevention method. Minimum wage actually helps very few people. The only ones that benefit from minimum wage are those unskilled workers who are currently employed. Minimum wage restricts employment opportunities for the young, unexperienced, and those people with educational disadvantages. They will continue to find themselves handicapped in the job market as long as the minimum wage legislation remains in affect. In society today the demand for "unskilled" workers is low and the supply is high, therefore there is a surplus of unskilled workers in the job market. The effect of a surplus drives down an individuals reservation wage, as they are willing to do and take anything for work. Minimum wage only makes this fact more severe, as it increases the supply of workers. Minimum wage increases the cost of doing business, and unfortunately in today's economic conditions employers are not able to pass on the extra costs to the consumer. Minimum wage is not helping workers, it is hurting businesses, and to maintain any profit, and follow legislation companies have to cut labour costs somehow. Companies are being forced to take other alternatives because of higher labour costs for unskilled workers. Businesses are forced to: 1. Cut back current employees hours 2. Not hire any more employees &n... ... should be rated and fluctuated by these categories. Unfortunately minimum wage disregards all of this. Regardless of your education, skills, effort, you can still receive minimum wage. Minimum wage is a fixed dollar amount that is paid for many jobs that can not even be compared. Most of these jobs should have different pay rates, especially when the degree of skill is higher, but they don't. The government keeps increasing minimum wage, and making it tougher on businesses and at the same time discouraging unskilled workers from bettering themselves, and for what. The economy is not booming, and even with increasing minimum wage rates the economy is not seeing any extra money being put back into circulation. As well, the higher minimum wage rate keeps raising the level of unemployment. I feel that if we put the burden on the people of Ontario to be and do the best they can that we would not need minimum wage. The skills that we could produce would be widely demanded, so it would be to the benefit of many other unskilled minimum wage earners to support the abolishment of minimum wage legislation. You could receive better wages, and at the same time decrease the unemployment rate.

Marketing Strategy of Innocent Drinks Essay

1: Introduction Every organization needs to have a marketing strategy so that they know who are their competitors, which market they need to target, do they have resources to compete in that market and what strategies they need to adopt to gain competitive position in the industry. The most important thing is with the help of marketing, company is able to make people aware of its product. This report focuses on how the company innocent drinks developed their marketing strategy in terms of brand positioning and marketing mix and with the help of SWOT analysis, what further actions they can take to maintain their market share. 2: Innocent Drinks 2.1: Profile After starting the business in 1998 in a friendly way, innocent drinks have become a very established brand now. Innocent has become ten years old this year. It is now the largest smoothie brand in UK and the fourth largest overall. The company has achieved a sale of over 100m pounds within a span of ten years and it has now around 250 employees. The company has won many awards from the year they have started. Its main competitors are Tropicana and own label brands which are still quite behind in terms of market share. 2.2: Company products Innocent drinks has a long range of products which they claim to be made up of pure and fresh fruit and which are free from any kind of preservatives. Their products include smoothies, yogurt drinks, thickies, kids smoothies (taking account of those fruits which children like the most), pure fruit squeezes. Their products are available in different sizes and shapes. The  company developed their logo required for a brand in an unconventional manner and now it is famous as dude. 3: Marketing strategy and analysis 3.1: Marketing objectives The company has highlighted the importance of their smoothie by injecting in peoples mind that drinking smoothie is part of their healthy lifestyle. The company’s objectives are that their product should be delicious, healthy and sustainable and their vision is to make world healthy by providing their products. 3.2: Analysis People are becoming more health conscious and that is what the Innocent highlighted among its consumers to increase its customer base and loyalty. â€Å"95% of our marketing strategy is what goes in the bottle,† as said by Reed. The company is not using latest marketing strategies, they are upbeat with the fact that their customers are happy. The company has restricted its marketing and branding to its packaging. The company didn’t involve in heavy advertisements in the beginning, instead they use their product as a mean to communicate with their consumers. The owners were in favor of print to advertise their product so they had it on the bus sides which will move everywhere in the UK. Innocent has a mixture of both market orientation and product orientation. Developing a user friendly website, publishing a book, inviting people to visit the company’s headquarter, banana telephone where customers can give suggestions and view are clear signs of market oriented co mpany. Secondly, they are quality conscious. They consider their product a fruit and not made of fruits and that is what they want to see in the eyes of their customer. The prices of their product are high but they justify it on the basis of quality by saying that preservatives and concentration reduces the cost and they want the best thing for their consumers. But the company’s over confidence regarding its product being the best and healthy one may divert its attention from customer needs and demands. Because the competitors may come with same nutritional values but better taste, it can then be a threat to a company. The company has a marketing team which is  involved in analysing competition and come up with new ideas regarding the products and strategies. And there is a communication team also which make an effective communication link with its consumers by website, news and feedback. 3.2.1: Brand strategy and positioning Branding creates value for the product and it influences everyone directly or indirectly. Innocent made their brand stand out from the crowd by adopting innovative ways of marketing and that was their beginning in differentiating their product from their competitors Brand name is very critical and it should be consistent with what the company is trying to deliver and how it wants to be perceived by customers. By establishing brand name as â€Å"innocent†, the company is trying to convey the message of being pure. Branding has been effectively used as a strategic tool for marketing by innocent smoothies and that helps the company to maintain its share in the market or in keeping its competitive position. Innocent has developed its brand image by providing excellent satisfaction, by being genuine, healthy and socially responsible in the eyes of their consumers and once the image is developed, they were able to attract the customers. It is because of brand and its perceived value that consumers are loyal and committed to the Innocent products and they do not look for any substitutes (Ginden, 1993). Customers also perceive it less risky in buying a brand product with which they are emotionally attached. It is more important for products like innocent drinks which the customers have to consume and which has direct impact on their health and body. For keeping a brand alive, it is very important to go for heavy promotions and advertisements and innocent drinks have used their resources very affectively in promotion (O’Malley, 1991). Innocent drinks have also taken a move to stay in touch with its consumers by making a family section. It is a method of communication and reminding the consumers about the products and also to get feedback from customers. The company is using family branding policy as all of its products use the company name. This reduces the cost of having different brand policies for different products. The key to positioning is to make it important in the eyes of consumer that you are incomplete without the product and on the  basis of this, innocent smoothies has kept their customers intact with them. Innocent smoothie is considered a premium brand by its consumers as they relate high cost and high quality with the product as compared to its competitors. The following figure is as perception of customers about Innocent drinks. 3.2.2: Marketing mix To make the product successful, company needs not only the products but a mixture of elements which is called marketing mix. The marketing mix is usually designed with the help of marketing research and it is also based on judgment. Every element of marketing mix compliment each other so efficient integration is required to make it successful. Innocent company has used the marketing mix quite efficiently and effectively. Product: Innocent produces fresh and healthy drinks for its customers. The company has a lot of product range including juices, smoothies, thickies, veg. pots and some of their drinks target specific customers as drinks for the kids. The drinks are available in different sizes and in different packings. Their main focus is to keep things natural and they are also very much conscious about the fruits and the farms from where it comes. Innocent smoothies distinguish themselves from other brands on the basis of purity and being 100% natural without preservatives, concentrates and colorings. The company has also described the negative consequences of concentration and that a product loses its quality, taste and nutritional value and it is done just to reduce cost and making more money. The company makes its drinks with little carbon impact. Same is the case with the recycling. Most of their packing is 100% recyclable and they are making efforts to use minimum material and that too with little carbon footprint. Some people are also fascinated from the product just because of the labeling and packaging. Labeling helps in promoting a brand and provides useful information about the product. So innocent drinks made their labeling very different and the kind of which can amuse and make people to give a second look at it. Innocent drinks is enjoying product width from smoothies to veg. pots as well as product length in terms of different flavors which are available to  consumers and that has really helped the company to maintain its market share and a protection against the current uncertainty occurred in the economic environment. Price: There are number of factors that can have an impact on the price. The company is charging high prices as compared to its competitors and still has the largest market share. It has been possible only because of the brand name and positioning. Since the company justifies its high cost with the high quality they are providing to its consumers, so their prices are also at premium level. People paying a premium price because now they have an emotional attachment developed with the brand But since the economic crunch has affected everyone so people are becoming more price sensitive and that is the reason that innocent drinks has lost some market share this year. The company emphasized that it is less expensive to purchase innocent smoothie than to buy fruit and make it at your own. Promotion: Innocent is carrying out various activities to create awareness about the product among the new or potential consumers and to remind and convince the current purchasers to go for the product. The company uses different methods of promotion from advertisement to personnel selling. They have done advertising and sales promotion very effectively. Innocent has used different approach for its marketing by targeting consumers of different products with different advertisements and campaigns. Website is always an effective method to communicate, promote and making relationship with the consumers. Banana phone is used to get feedback from the customers. Customers are allowed to visit their offices. This strategy is used to develop strong relationship with them. Innocent has also taken support from television commercials and they are using it since 2005. Moreover, to make people aware about their products, the company once made a very big compaign on the television and it regularly arranges festivals as well. Innocent used all the leading newspapers for their advertisement. Online advertising such as on facebook has also been used by innocent as a strategy for promotion. Innocent has also developed public relations. The company has been engaged in certain social projects such as giving money to charity, providing drink for homeless etc which are important for long term sustainability of business and to have a good image in the eyes of your consumers. Place: In the beginning, Innocent used the local shop for its products but as the popularity of products multiplied, the company gradually gained a great market share. The company has found a unique method of selling and distributing their products using cow vans. Innocent drinks use intensive distribution strategy by placing their product in as many places and outlet as possible. The company strategy has been shifted from push to pull as being the largest seller in UK and successful brand name, consumers demand the product. It is now available in more than 7000 retail outlets including the big names as Sainsbury, Tesco, Asda and coffee shops like Starbucks. Export has already been started by the company in Europe and Ireland. Children also got greater access to smoothies after the company made a contract with the company offering catering services to school. After the investment by the coke in the company, innocent will now have more distribution channels and will have access to new places as well. 3.2.3: SWOT analysis SWOT analysis has been carried out to evaluate where the innocent smoothies is standing with respect to the market position. It also helps innocent to analyze how strength can be used to exploit opportunities and how weaknesses can be overcome to avoid possible threats. Strengths * brand name / value already developed * company image * customer loyalty * market leader * distribution channels * investment by coca cola * wide product range and substitutes for breakfast / fruits| Weaknesses * high prices as compared to competitors * lower take up among old people * not popular in evening times * can be made at home and even in cafes and shops| Opportunities * new products for evening which enhances night sleep * emerging markets showing increase every year in market growth * global expansion| Threats * competitors (Tropicana) and products by supermarkets as Tesco * new entrants because of market potential * price sensitive people * credit  crunch can affect demand | Why are concentrates so rubbish? We believe that food companies should do everything they can to get food to people in its natural state. A concentrated orange juice is OJ that has been boiled, then evaporated in a vacuum and then homogenised, resulting in a thick tar. This is then frozen and shipped to countries where it is defrosted, reconstituted with water and has ‘add backs’ added (to enhance flavour and aroma). The concentration process not only affects the nutritional value of the juice but also the taste. All the good stuff gets boiled away and you’re left with a sugary syrup which then has to have lots of horrid stuff added back afterwards to make it taste like fruit again. Basically, concentrated juice tastes cooked, has virtually no nutritional value and that’s why we won’t ever use concentrates. It has to be pure fruit for us. How should I look after and store your drinks? Please please please keep our drinks cold. We can’t stress that enough. Because we don’t use any preservatives or other artificial stuff that might make them last a bit longer, they need to be well cared for. They should be stored between 0-5 ° C, which, luckily enough, is the temperature of your average fridge. So stick them in the chiller as soon as you get home from the shops, or if you’re saving a bit for later, don’t leave it on your desk – pop it back in the fridge for a while. Once opened, we reckon our drinks are best drunk on the same day, although as previously mentioned you should refrigerate them between sips. If you leave them out of the fridge, they will eventually start to ferment. This is a completely safe, natural process but it means the smoothie goes fizzy. It normally causes tiny bubbles in the drink. Click here to find out more about fermentation. If you suspect a drink to be fermented, please dispose of the contents of the bo ttle and contact us at hello@innocentdrinks.co.uk or call the banana phone on 020 8600 3939 with details about the bottle or carton and its enjoy by date. So, please do keep our smoothies nice and cold. ^ back to top How long do they last? Our drinks are made from 100% pure fruit and nothing else. Because we don’t use preservatives, stabilisers or additives they generally last about as long as a pint of milk. Please always keep them chilled and drink them on the same day you open them. Can I freeze your smoothies? Our smoothies are made of nothing but whole crushed fruit and pure juices, so it’s completely safe to freeze them. However, we don’t really recommend it because they taste much better fresh. To be more specific, bananas don’t freeze well; when they defrost they go brown and a bit slimy. Check out this picture of a fresh banana and one that’s defrosted. We know which we would rather drink. If you do decide to freeze one of our smoothies, please make sure you defrost it in the fridge so it stays chilled at all times and note that this might take as long as 3 days. You should also drink it on the day of defrosting. What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me, no more. Do you have any drinks that don’t contain banana? Our kiwis, apples & limes smoothie (also available in 1 litre cartons) and yoghurt, vanilla bean & honey thickie are both completely banana free. Are your products organic? No they’re not organic. We want to minimise pesticide and other agrochemical usage on our fruit, and this is one of the requirements of both the Rainforest Alliance and also the innocent minimum standards for our fruit growers. Both sets of standards also ban the use of any of the ‘dirty dozen’ pesticides as listed by the Pesticide Action Network. To ensure the safety of our drinks we conduct independent tests on our ingredients, at an  accredited laboratory, throughout the harvest calender. Of the test results with anything being detected at all, these detections fall well within the Maximum Residue Limit (MRL) that you are allowed. Each year our policy will be reviewed and testing procedures will be updated. And what about all of those plastic bottles? Since January 2008, all our smoothie recipes are in 100% recycled PET* plastic. We’ve been working on this project for quite a while. In 2003 we started using bottles made from 25% recycled plastic and in 2006 improved it to 50% recycled. All the time, people told us that it would be impossible to get to 100%, but we tried and tried and tried again. And now we’re here. 100%. It means a 20% reduction in materials (we’ve made the bottle lighter) and a 55% carbon reduction in terms of the bottle’s manufacture. It’s a big step for a little company. We’re very proud. *PET stands for ‘polyethylene terephthalate’. Clear plastic, in other words, said our Stu, who knows about these things. So can I recycle your plastic bottles and tetra pak cartons? We’ve got a whole section on our website dedicated to this. You can check it out here. ^ back to top Are your products suitable for vegans? Smoothies – We’re afraid as we can’t guarantee that our drinks are shellac free, due to the small chance that tiny amounts of shellac do make it into our drinks, we can’t class our drinks as being suitable for vegans. Thickies – no (they contain dairy produce and honey). Are your products suitable for pregnant women? Yes. Although we’ve heard that some of them prefer coal. Can infants and children drink your products? Infants under 12 months shouldn’t drink our vanilla and honey bean thickies. The Food Standards Agency says that honey should not be given to infants under 12 months old because of the small risk of botulism. Infantile  botulism occurs when honey contains Clostridium Botulinum spores, which infect the infant gut that then produces the toxin. This is not a problem for anyone aged more than 12 months. Regarding children in general, our smoothies, thickies and juices are OK – they contain nothing but crushed and juiced fruit (and low-fat bio yoghurt in the thickies), so the health properties should be welcome for kids who quite like sweets and crisps too. But it should be noted that our smoothies and juices contain a large amount of naturally occurring fruit sugars. For this reason you can add water to dilute them if you like. The FSA also recommends that for children, you should try to keep fruit juice to mealtimes. In general, look on the ingredients panel and check the amount of fruit in each bottle. If it seems like a reasonable amount of fruit, then it will be OK. If you don’t usually give your child this much fruit, then adjust the amount accordingly. We make a range of drinks specifically for children which you can find out about here. They’ve got less bits in them, as children seem to prefer their smoothies that way. Do you think I should dye my hair? No. I’ve always thought that blonde suited you. Why do you always use apples, oranges and bananas in your smoothies? These three fruits are a bit like the salt and pepper of the fruit world, except there are three of them. We use them for natural sweetness (apples), natural sharpness (oranges) and natural thickness (bananas). It beats using artificial stuff. So why don’t you call your mangoes and passion fruits smoothie â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits†? We name our smoothies according to whichever flavours you can taste the most. So we feel if we were to start calling the smoothies â€Å"apples, mangoes and passion fruits,† it would be a bit misleading, as what you really taste when you take a mouthful are the mangoes and passion fruits. All of the ingredients are printed in full on the label, so it’s not like we’re trying to be sneaky or anything. Do your products contain nuts? Our veg pots may contain traces of nuts but our smoothies and juices contain no nuts whatsoever (which keeps the squirrels happy). Are your drinks GM-free? Yes they are. How do you make sure your fruit is from ethical sources? Our ultimate aim is that we are proud of every piece of fruit that we use. We want to buy our fruit from farms that look after both their workers and the environment. To achieve this we have created our own set of minimum standards, that detail our expectations for all the relevant social and environmental issues. We are in the process of rolling out these standards with our suppliers, and will work together with them to implement the agreed action plans. We feel that it is really important to understand the issues relevant to each country, and the pressures faced by our farmers, so we are meeting with more and more of our growers. As our fruit comes from all over the world this is a huge task, but one to which we are passionately committed. We know that there is no point recreating the wheel – so we also work with established international accreditation organizations such as the Rainforest Alliance. We first met them at a banana plantation in Costa Rica, and were so impressed with the work they do, that we now only buy banana from Rainforest Alliance approved plantations. The Rainforest Alliance works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behaviour. It not only looks at farm workers rights and wellbeing, but also protects ecosystems on the farms, which encourages bio diversity. We believe this sustainable approach is the best one. A well run farm with motivated workers means better quality fruit and better productivity, which means we get nicer fruit and the farms are more profitable. Are you going to move all your fruit to Rainforest Alliance approved sources? No, it just isn’t applicable for certain countries and certain fruits, like those that we source from the UK. But as the Rainforest Alliance expands into new certification territory, like pineapple, we’ll be keen to keep on building our relationship with them. As they develop new standards for new  fruits, we will assess their suitability for our growers. Whilst we don’t like to boast, it turns out they quite appreciate the work we do and they showed their gratitude last year with this rather fetching trophy. Outside of the world of fruit they certify all sort of things including coffee, cocoa and forestry. Find out more here: www.rainforest-alliance.org ^ back to top Why don’t you buy fairtrade fruit? We take the ethics of our supply chain incredibly seriously and took great care to find the best independent certification scheme that matched our values, and suited our needs the best. Fairtrade’s primary focus is on the prices paid to the farmers and social issues for small farms and cooperatives. It’s a great scheme but we felt that Rainforest Alliance looked at a broader spectrum of issues (both social and environmental), which we thought was a better fit with our own ethos. Also, the Fair Trade scheme predominantly certifies cooperative and and family run small holdings – not all of our fruit is available from these types of farms, so Fairtrade isn’t always applicable to our growers. Articles like this one from The Observer Food Monthly debate the key differences between Rainforest Alliance and Fairtrade (this one’s about coffee). What is the innocent foundation? The innocent foundation is a grant giving charity that was set up in July 2004 with the idea of bringing nature and communities closer together for mutual benefit. innocent donate 10% of our profits each year to charity, primarily to the innocent foundation, which funds rural development projects in the countries where our fruit comes from. Find out more here. Do your drinks actually contain shiny trumpets/pebbles/cricket pavilions/small churches? No. Can I have some free drinks for my event please? We get lots and lots of requests for our drinks and as much as we’d love to help everyone out, it would just be impossible. Instead, we give any excess drinks we have to the homeless through the charity, Fareshare. You can find out a bit more about the good work they do here. Okay. But it’s for charity. Does that make any difference? Generally, we feel it’s better to be able to offer a significant amount of support to one cause rather than a little backing to lots of different ones. With that in mind, every year we donate 10% of our annual profits to the innocent foundation. Its remit is to fund Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) that work to bring nature and communities closer together. You can see a bit more about the projects we support at www.innocentfoundation.org. Hope that all makes sense. I’m running a marathon/ climbing Everest/ shaving off all my chin hair for charity. Can you sponsor me please? Again, whilst we applaud anyone who gives up their time to sit in a bath of baked beans or run further than the corner shop to raise money for charity but if we sponsored everyone who wrote to us, we’d be living off beans and no toast. Instead, we make sure that we give something back to the countries where we buy our fruit, via the innocent foundation. Can I borrow your car? The clutch has gone funny, the fan belt’s shot and there are no windows. Plus I’ve forgotten where I’ve parked it. Lend us a fiver. No. 4: Conclusions and Recommendations 4.1: Conclusion Innocent’s success has been made possible just because of effective and innovative way of marketing which they adopted. Innocent used every kind of channel, big or small in carrying out its promotion. They used every kind of that marketing strategy in which low cost was involved but its impact was high. The company updates the website and labels regularly. Innocent changed the label quite frequently to maintain the attention of its consumers Innocent made the customers loyal by doing little things but they made huge difference for them. Innocent was of the view that making their drinks easily accessible to customers is very crucial and success of the company depends on it. The innocent also arranged a free event for its customers as a means of giving thanks to its customers for using their products. Innocent always remained active in interacting with its customers. The owners of the company didn’t have much idea about how things should be done and no strategic plan was involved in making the brand name, its packaging and process of launching it but surprisingly their idea was welcomed by the consumers as it was different and something they can amuse or laugh at. Innocent dominance has been affected in 2008 after the introduction of Tropicana in the market. In April 2009, investment by Coca-Cola is seen as a wise step because as a result of decrease in sales, it was necessary to maintain the brand value. Since the company is facing severe competition from rivals such as Tropicana so funding was required to be in the competition. Coke will increase the distribution channels and give access to more markets by making customer aware of the product. Innocent’s premium positioning is a key advantage and it also has developed a strong connection with its consumers over the passage of time. Brand loyalty is good but they have to look at their prices if they want to sustain their position as people are becoming more price conscious. It is more difficult to retain the customers than to attract new customers 4.2: Recommendations Innocent drinks should closely monitor the environment and conduct market research to identify issues as consumer behaviour, competitors’ strategies which can have an impact on their brand or positioning (O’Malley, 1991). This will help the company to be proactive in their approach rather than reactive. As the market is becoming more global, there will always arise new opportunities but also threats as consumers also have access to variety of products from different countries with different tastes and nutritional values so innocent drinks must consider what their consumers want, their preferences if they want to survive and be successful in the long term. SWOT analysis has identified the threats and weaknesses which innocent should  consider and the opportunities which they should exploit by using their strengths. There are some strategies which can be adopted by innocent smoothies as market leaders. They should try to expand the market either by market penetration or by exploring new potential markets. Innocent can also try to protect their current market share which has fallen because of Tropicana by introducing new products into its line. More aggressively, they should try to increase their market share by reducing their prices which are quite high currently and by further increasing promotion. Innocent should also make good use of collaboration with the Coke as it can provide the company with lot of distribution channels. Innocent must focus on strategies which help them to attract new consumers and in retaining the existing customers. Different promotional strategies can be adopted. The company can offer discounts, free samples for new customers to try, free gifts, coupons for customer loyalty, tickets for different events etc. innocent should also ensure that its product is available in as many places as possible. They can increase the availability of products on train/bus stations, petrol pumps and a lot more health clubs. Customer satisfaction is very important because that will encourage them to buy the products of the company again and they will also become a source of advertisement by referring the companys’ product to others as well (Gilson, 1986). It is the least expensive method of advertisement and promotion. Innocent can adopt some defensive strategies against Tropicana as well. Innocent can reduce the prices in the market in which the rivals have greatest share. Secondly, it is good to have information about competitors’ move in advance so that appropriate actions can be taken. Diversification can also be done if the markets are becoming more vulnerable. The research has also shown that smoothies are not consumed in later part of the day so the company can make some drinks which are light, easy on stomach and which help the consumers in getting better sleep at night. Innocent should make use of its brand name by launching new products like ice cream. Sometimes, new products help in compensating the loss of failed products but the company must remain conscious in launching a new product because it is difficult to develop, have to carry out rigorous market research and there are also long lead time involved and if it fails, it will bring bad image to the brand and will affect the brand equity so the company must use all the processes of product development from idea generation to commercialization in order to mitigate the risks associated with new products. References Baines P., Fill C., Page K.,(2008). â€Å"Marketing†. New York: Oxford University Press, Pg 374-382 Ginden, R. (1993), â€Å"The name game†, Cheers, pp.59-62. Innocent drinks. http://www.innocentdrinks.co.uk (accessed 02/12/2009) Mintel. http://academic.mintel.com/sinatra/oxygen academic/my reports/display (accessed 03/12/2009) O’Malley, D. (1991), â€Å"Brand means business†, Accountancy, 107, pp.107-8.