SWOT

We conducted “a SWOT analysis, by which it evaluates the company’s overall strengths (S), weaknesses (W), opportunities (O), and threats (T)” (Kolter p.55) In order to conduct a SWOT analysis we needed to be brutally honest and look at all facets of our business and the market. The “marketing function begins with a complete analysis of the company’s situation.”” (Kolter p. 55) Continental Divide has obtained the suppliers of the raw materials to make the product and the facilities to produce the final product.  Our team of digital techs will be launching a social media blitz due to the strong impact social media has on brand recognition and popularity.  One weakness is that there is significant competition in the market place.  There are hundreds of brands of vodka on the market. Differentiating us from the competition will be one of our biggest challenges. To do this we are introducing our product in the northwest with emphasis on the rugged natural concept of our product.  An opportunity for us is that alcohol has never gone out of style even when the economy has gone bad.  Alcohol is an affordable luxury for many people.  A threat for us is the weather. If we have a bad growing year it would have negative impacts on our ability to provide our product.

Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition.

Objectives

The “mission is then turned into detailed supporting objectives that guide the whole company. “ (Kotler p.39) This needs to be accomplished to raise awareness of our product. For our product to succeed we need to ensure people know of our product and see the value is buying our product. Marketing our product using numerous promotion formats will help raise awareness. While maintain a consistent product will ensure people who enjoy our vodka will be happy every time they drink it. We will be doing this by having strict quality control measures. Taking a multiple samples from every batch and having it sent to a second party laboratory to have our product analyzed down to the smallest detail. By using only our core ingredients and not using lesser substitutes we will be able to maintain true to our corporate mission and gain a share of the over $1.5 billion per year sales of vodka in the United States.  

 

 

Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip. Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation, 10th Edition. , 10th Edition.

Week 10 EOC: Business Mission Statment

"Mission statements should be meaningful and specific yet motivating. They should emphasize the company’s strengths in the marketplace." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p41). That is why our mission statement is short and to the point. Our mission should be to provide a product that is the foundation for our product. Our mission statement conveys our unyielding commitment to a top notch product. Elaborate mission statements with excessive wording can distract for what a company really should be doing. A mission statement focused around profits will lead a company down a road to inferior products and eventually a diminishing market share. "Instead, the mission should focus on customers and the customer experience the company seeks to create." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p41) Our mission statement should lead to increased profits due to the  value our product delivers to the customer and  by remaining true to our mission our market share will continue to expand. Our mission statement focuses on what we deliver to our costumers; a pure, high quality vodka.  

Our mission is to let nothing stand in the way of providing our customers with vodka made using pure and natural water from artisan wells in Oregon because starting with pure water ends in a pure and smooth vodka. Combined that with vacuum distilled alcohol made from Silver King Corn grown in  Wisconsin and you have a Vodka that mother nature herself would enjoy. Settling for “Good enough” is not an option for you and it is never an option for us, drink Continental Divide and don’t settle for good enough.


Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip (). Marketing: An Introduction for Education Management Corporation

Week 7 EOC T Pitch

Don’t let anything stand in the way of enjoying your vodka. Enjoy the vodka Mother Nature herself had a hand in creating.

You’re not the type of person to settle for mediocrity.  You know what you like and don’t let anything stand in your way. Here at Continental Divide we feel the same way and craft our vodka without settling for good enough. We use only Silver King Corn imported from the Heartland of America. Most vodka is distilled to around 95% before blending, to create a smother more pure vodka we distill our vodka using vacuum distillation process to reach 98% because like you we know that perfection is worth the extra work. Although you may enjoy drinking Continental Divide around the campfire, we use our own version of a “campfire” to flash test every batch to ensure the highest quality.  Once we are done with our “campfire”, we blend the alcohol with water. We could have settled for everyday tap water or ever river water, but again we didn’t settle at good enough. We use water given to use from mother earth herself. Our water comes from artisan wells in Oregon.  Some say artesian water has magic healing properties, others say the water has been there since prehistoric times. All we know is starting with pure water ends in a pure and smooth vodka. We then use charcoal made from the Rocky Mountain Juniper to filter our blend a minimum of three times to impart a hint of the great outdoors. Don’t let anything stand in the way of enjoying your vodka. Enjoy the vodka Mother Nature herself had a hand in creating. Drink Continental Divide and don’t settle for good enough.

Week 5 EOC: Social Networks and Job Hunting

Marketing has always been about reaching people. For years the method has been to use one sided media to reach the customer. Television, radio, newspaper, magazines billboards and mail flyers have the ability to reach many customers but are only one sided activities. The potential customer reads, views, or hears the marketing and then will either be influenced to start the purchase process or not. The company doing the selling has limited influence beyond the potential customer’s impression of what they saw. Worse the customer may never get the message due to that ability to change channels, disregard the flyer or with the advent of DVR’s just fast forwards.  To help avoid those shortcomings some companies are turning to brand ambassadors. “People love talking about things that make them happy—including their favorite products and brands.”(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p. 143). With a little training a person who is passionate about a product can become a powerful tool to help market the product.  The internet has had a huge impact on marketing since it became publicly available; now with social media it can have an even bigger impact.  Brand ambassadors have the ability to connect with a much larger audience than was previously possible.  Using social media, blogs and and their friends the circle of influence can be huge.  Another use that social media has besides marketing products is the potential to find employees.  There are numerous large job posting sites on the internet from LinkedIn to Monster, but cost can be a factor.  At the moment  “Facebook hires account for less than 1% of the total hires companies are making, according to Jobs2Web, which helps companies track the sources of candidates and hires.” (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903885604576490763) Even though social media is having only a small impact on job posting sites now the projection is for growth in this area for the foreseeable future.

Week 5 EOC: Me x 3

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Although there are many things that define me, here are three items that I have purchased and are good examples of who I am.  

First is my Ryobi cordless drill. I enjoy fixing things and making things. The Ryobi is a perfect fit for me. Although there are more robust drills out there, the Ryobi has a excellent cost to quality ratio that is typical of how evaluate if a product is for me. This is my second Ryobi drill. My first one lasted me 10 years and although it still works it is showing its age. The use and even abuse that my first drill took made it worth every penny.  The cordless aspect defines me as well for I like to be able to do what I want when and where I want.  Grab the drill and go to work, no need for cords.

Another item that defines me is my Polaris ATV. It’s powerful and fast. This ATV Fulfills my desire for speed and adventure. Getting out in the more remote places and facing the challenge of driving over, around or through difficult terrain brings a smile to my face. The 525 has the power to go where I want and gets there fast. Although other ATV's can be modified using aftermarket parts to go as fast, typically they become less reliable over the long term. 

Finally my Canon EOS 7D Camera defines my creative side. It has the resolution to capture images that can be made into large prints and takes pictures at 8 frames per second to capture the fast paced subjects I prefer shooting. The EOS 7D also gives me all of the control I need to capture the images want.  The EOS system has hundred's of lenses available to allow me to specialize for the type of shooting I am doing as well.

Week 4 EOC Business to Bussiness vs Consumer Marketing

Marketing to businesses shares some similarity in marketing to consumers. They are both the customer and desire to be delighted.  However there are some significant differences in the marketing process between businesses and consumers. Where consumers are numerous and very diverse and require potentially numerous marketing campaigns based on how to appeal to differences in region, gender, age or possibly ethnicity,  Businesses are more limited and concise. Another significant difference is the size of the purchase. Consumers marketing is based on typically smaller quantities and is a simple transaction.  however, "Compared with consumer purchases, a business purchase usually involves more decision participants and a more professional purchasing effort."(Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p.160) Due to typically larger quantities of overall cost marketing to businesses needs to address more criteria and undergo much more scrutiny. "Business buyers usually face more complex buying decisions than do consumer buyers. Business purchases often involve large sums of money, complex technical and economic considerations, and interactions among many people at many levels of the buyer’s organization. " (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p.160) These coplexities make the overall process more involved and involve more back and forth dialog between purchaser and seller. Due to the need for more dialog and the complexities of the process  "The decision-making unit of a buying organization is called its buying center—all the individuals and units that play a role in the business purchase decision-making process." (Kotler, Gary Armstrong and Philip p.160)