International Marketing

1 Introduction

This report will, through the use of analytical tools, analyse the current situation of Bionade in terms of market trends, customers, competitors and the current position within the US market. Through this analysis strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats will be identified. A series of recommendations on how to take the brand forward will be identified.

1.1 Background

Bionade is a successful brand of organically manufactured non-alcoholic refreshment. We originally broke into the USA market in 1995 with not much success. However, in 1999 with Wolfgang Blum on board and a new marketing strategy, Bionade was shipped to the USA. It has now been decided to explore manufacturing in the USA by building a custom built environmentally friendly plant, restaurant and visitors centre.

In 2010 the US drinks markets showed a cautious rebound from the recession. Private label brands of soft drinks ingrained themselves with consumers during the recession and are still thriving. Consumers are still wary of a double-dip recession and are therefore maintaining current spending habits, thereby giving private label brands an opportunity to maintain their market share. In fact, in most soft drinks categories, private label brand growth outpaced that of national brands, lending support to the idea that US consumers are becoming accustomed to the idea of using private label brands (http://www.euromonitor.com/Soft_Drinks_in_the_US).

2 Environmental Analysis

2.1 External Environmental Analysis

2.1.1 PESTLE Analysis Kotler (1998)

The PESTLE Analysis is detailed at Appendix 1.

Political/Legal Factors

The main issues affecting Bionade are the influencing powers between governments and relationships as this may affect the potential for investment along with specific regulations. Consumer law and protection needs to be considered, in particular it is illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under the age of 21. Employment law and contracts along with health and safety regulations need to be addressed.

Economic Factors

Bionade needs to be aware of the economic growth trends within the US and to viability of entering the market. Annual sales of refreshments total approximately $8 billion, of which three quarters are soft drink sales. Coke, Pepsi and Cadbury Schweppes control over 91% of the US market share and employ about 63,000 people in the US. The tax rate is currently 6%. (http://researchwikis.com/Soft_Drink_Market).

The level of personal disposable income is a major factor which needs to be considered in terms