Nehi Soda Product Marketing Campaign

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The Product

This paper seeks to design an advertisement strategy for Nehi Soda, a cola drink that has been in existence in the US for over 8 decades. Nehi was first launched in 1924 as a new entrant into the Chero-Cola company products. Over the years, Nehi has continued to gain a cult-like following from consumers who enjoy its sugariness and artificial flavors. Despite its popularity, Nehi does not receive many advertisements when compared to other cola drinks such as Fanta and Mirinda. Since it is a cola drink, Nehi passes off as a low involvement product. As such, customers do not give much thought about whether deciding to buy Nehi or any other brand of cola drink.

The Perceived Quality Signals

Most people perceive Nehi as a low-quality drink mainly because it lacks a strong brand name. In other words, the drink does not have a dedicated advertising strategy. Hence, it has low brand recognition. According to Urde, Baumgarth, and Merrilees (2013), a strong brand makes customers believe a product to be tastier relative to those without a known brand. Hence, it is not surprising that buyers will ignore off-brand products. Nevertheless, the dedicated buyers of Nehi know it based on its worth as a delicacy. Also, some customers are attracted to the product because it is cheaper when compared with other fizzy drinks. Regarding warranties, Nehi contains labels with user information and disclaimers. This strategy makes the brand trusted by customers

Mimicking an Existing Campaign

Advertising has increasingly become the only way for manufacturers of carbonated drinks. In the wake of the increased awareness of the dangers involved when taking the drinks, many consumers are shunning them. The result is that manufacturers of cola drinks have to spend colossal sums of money when putting up ads that make the drinks appealing. In promoting the brand-recognition for Nehi, the writer will adopt an already existing advertising strategy for cola drinks. The strategy involves creating ads that result in making the audience “thirsty” of the drink (Terry-McElrath, O’Malley, & Johnston, 2014). The strategy has been used in numerous ads on carbonated drinks. The approach has always been successful. For example, an ad could contain pictures of the cola bottle immersed in clear water, which instantly makes viewers realize they are thirsty. The reason for using this strategy is that it has been largely successful for the companies that have adopted it.

The Size and Growth of the Market Segment using Statistical Data from the US Census

The campaign to launch Nehi soda on a wider scale will begin in Massachusetts before expanding nationally. Massachusetts is a state with an aging population (between 50 and 60 years) of 1300370 people as per the 2010 century. Arguably, most people in this population segment have interacted with the product in their childhood and late teenage years. As such, they form the target market segment for Nehi soda. For the last ten years, Massachusetts has remained the state with the fastest-growing population among the other northeastern states. Between July 2014 and July 2015 alone, the population of Massachusetts increased by about 40000 people. As such, it appears that the state’s population will continue to expand for the next ten years.

Three Factors affecting this Market Segment and Reference Groups

One of the factors is the high number of aging people. The factor is useful for the marketing of Nehi since the population segment remembers the product from its childhood days. As such, the segment will be more willing to buy the commodity compared to those who never interacted with it in the past. Another factor is that individuals who are in their middle ages generally have a higher purchasing power compared to younger people (Eichengreen, Park, & Shin, 2013). This attribute will be useful to the marketing of Nehi soda. Thirdly, most of the people within this market segment are embracing social media. For this reason, reaching them through social media advertising will be easy, further promoting the marketability of Nehi soda.

The reference groups for Nehi soda will be the people between 50 and 60 years who have interacted with Nehi soda in their childhood. By targeting them, the advertisement hopes to influence the taste of other middle-aged people and some millennials to try the product from the past. With time, the popularity of the product will grow until it attains national prominence.

Diffusion Rate, Diffusion Determinants, and Diffusion Enhancement Strategy

As explained above, Nehi soda will first be relaunched in Massachusetts. Afterward, marketers will work gradually to get the product on the national stage. As such, a slow diffusion strategy is most suitable, particularly because production now is limited. Also, transporting the product at once nationally would prove costly due to increased fuel prices.

The popularization of Nehi soda will depend on its relevance to the targeted reference group. In other words, if the relevance is high, the product will be quickly accepted. Additionally, the commitment of the aging populations to their collective memories will affect how they view Nehi soda. On the other hand, diffusion inhibitors for Nehi soda include the lack of a viable usage. People in the middle ages are more concerned about their health. As such, they may shun products that do not promise to promote their wellbeing. As such, soda with artificial additives may be less than appealing to this population segment.

When marketing consumer products like cola drinks, it is important to adopt a promotion-focused approach. In product-based marketing, the objective is to induce as many people as possible to purchase the item. The persuasion includes coupons and other types of offers. The idea is to target the reference groups that will then influence others to buy Nehi soda.

Characteristics of the product, the Best Dimension, and Involvement Learning Need

The product will be designed to invoke certain feelings in the audience. In turn, such perception will play a key role in building acceptance for Nehi soda. In other words, the marketing strategy targets to invoke memories about the soda. By purchasing Nehi soda, the aging population will be hoping to achieve the fun and enjoyment of past days. The appropriate dimension for Nehi soda will be “desired feelings.” As such, marketers’ goal will be to invoke memories of fun and enjoyment in the audience from their past consumption of the soda.

Most Americans do not give much thought to the brand of soda that they purchase (Parment, 2013). For this reason, Nehi soda is expected to have a low involvement learning need. Incidentally, low involvement products tend to have a low price compared to those that are considered either medium or high involvement.

A Strategy for Consumers to Rediscover the Selected Product and the Impact of Lifestyle

Through exposure and attention, the long-term memory of past users can be reignited. Hence, users will associate the product with their childhood days that led them to purchase it. Eventually, consumers will form a habit of buying the product from time to time, as well as recommending it to their peers.

Persons’ lifestyle is affected by attributes such as age. Such a factor will influence the consumer tastes of such people. For instance, an elderly person is likely to avoid sodas with too much artificial sugar.

Level of Purchases or Consumption

Patterns of purchase and consumption of Nehi soda are likely to increase, but only to a limited extent. At first, many people in the aging population bracket are likely to associate with the soda from their past days. Feelings of nostalgia will then trigger them to purchase Nehi soda. Notwithstanding, the consumption of Nehi soda will remain constant, given that most people will limit the amount of intake. On average, the number of Americans who consume soft drinks has continued to decline significantly (Han & Powell, 2013). This observation is in the light of concerns being raised over the item’s overall impact on the human body, particularly obesity. Therefore, given the above factors, the consumption of Nehi soda will most decidedly go up before assuming a constant level.

Evaluation of the Campaign

Nehi Bottling Company aims to re-launch its once-favorite soda with the target in mind being the people in their middle ages who interacted with the product in their childhood. The company understands that re-launching a product after decades of being off the shelves is often a challenging task. For this reason, the company has devised the marketing strategy discussed above to stir the memories of people who enjoyed Nehi soda. By targeting these people as its reference group, Nehi Bottling Company hopes to reach a wider portion of the market segment in Massachusetts and eventually across the entire country. If well implemented, the strategy will result in the successful re-launch of the product.

References

Eichengreen, B., Park, D., & Shin, K. (2013).Growth slowdowns redux: New evidence on the middle-income trap. London, England: National Bureau of Economic Research.

Han, E., & Powell, L. M. (2013). Consumption patterns of sugar-sweetened beverages in the United States. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 113(1), 43-53.

Parment, A. (2013). Generation Y vs. baby boomers: Shopping behavior, buyer involvement, and implications for retailing. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 20(2), 189-199.

Terry-McElrath, Y. M., O’Malley, P. M., & Johnston, L. D. (2014). Energy drinks, soft drinks, and substance use among US secondary school students. Journal of Addiction Medicine, 8(1), 6.

Urde, M., Baumgarth, C., & Merrilees, B. (2013). Brand orientation and market orientation: From alternatives to synergy. Journal of Business Research, 66(1), 13-20.

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