External Analysis

Whereas there have been efforts in the United States to reach out to community together with public relations to increase the intake of vegetables and fruit, these efforts have not borne much fruit as funding in this area has been modest leaving the larger population unaware of the benefits and therefore, consuming less of these healthy foods (United States 2008).

‘Barfresh Blended Fruit’ will be the name of the new product launched under Barfresh Food Group Inc. well known for its supply of fresh smoothies and shakes. Barfresh Blended Fruit will be manufactured from natural fruits free from any flavorings, additives and preservatives. The product will have its own natural sugar therefore not requiring any more additional sugars.. The fruits that will be available for harvest will be used partly to produce the fruit product the remainder of which will be frozen for use when the fruit season is low. The product will need a marketing plan because every product that is new in the market needs a proper marketing strategy (Ryan 2014).

The need for fresh fruit products is rising at an alarming rate in the United States because fruits are natural and have their natural sugar that is nutritious and often stimulates memory and brain function (Low 2011). Another benefit of fruit proven through studies is that fruits lack cholestral thereby their consumption assists to lower high blood pressure and other diseases. Fruit is one of the healthiest food on earth and worth spending money and effort on.

Barfresh Food Group is located in the United States and has been chosen because of its supply of desirable beverages. The need for fresh fruit in United States has prompted the marketer to choose this company which has not yet established a fresh fruit blended juice that will be the choice of the new product. The company already has a variety of nine flavored products in line including but not limited to vanilla shake, Caribbean smoothie, chocolate shake, macchiato smoothie, mango smoothie (International Conference of Marketing and Management Sciences  2010).  Though Barfresh Food Group already has a wide range of line products, it intends to extend its products’ line therefore, including the new product in the line of beverages as a blended fruit juice.

The new entrant into the market, Barfresh Blended Fruit will require proper promotion and marketing. A good promotion and marketing strategy always projects the future undertakings with sound and appropriate judgmental knowledge (Ryan 2014). Once the marketer predicts the market, he will be able to greatly influence the product’s survival and success in the competitive world. Barfresh Blended Fruit will be introduced into the market using the assistance of several advertisement, promotional displays and supply of free samples to financial institution and general public.

United States has a multicultural society that accommodates different kinds of customers with respect to eating habits and religion (United States 2008). Currently, consumers are concerned about their health due to the awareness they get from education. The consumer today, demands for natural fruits that are more nutritious and offer health gains. United States has a high population with people from different category of classes including lower, middle and upper class. Out of the need for better living and with a wide range of consumers in terms of age, and class, their desire for fruit is large because of the continuous education they receive on need to improve on health and living. Consumers may therefore belong to any of the class above with an increase in desire for fresh fruit (Ballke 2011)..  

Social Trends

Technology is advancing day by day. Due to the technological advancement, nutritious and healthy juice can be gotten from a variety of fruits. The company will ensure that the product is packed and labeled appropriately which process will be aided by technology.

Today, political powers recognize the need to remain healthy and as such are more concerned about the health of their people. United States It has passed a law in the Food and Drugs Act, where it has described the terms and conditions that are more concerned with people’s health and nutrition (United States 2008). However, there are changes in the Act which changes still favor the health of the consumer. The market segments for this product include youth, children and adults.

The status of the economy of the United States is such that it is unceasingly analyzing the needs of the consumer and developing products or allowing them to be developed through friendly government regulations to fulfill the customer needs (Marsden 2000).  Hence the growth of Barfresh Food Inc. The rise in the standard of living of the American people has enabled the country to produce a variety of high quality foods by increasing the production levels of the fruit foods. With high national income, the growth in the industry is likely to rise as a high per capita income will allow or encourage more spending thus more production of goods and vice versa. Inflation is the rise of value of goods in an economy. If for example, the inflation rate is low, then it is highly likely that the cost of products will be low and if inflation rate is high the cost of products will rise directly affecting the growth of the company. United States rate of inflation is neither high nor low giving investors favourable environment to trade and the consumer a fair price for their goods (Kerin 2009). 

The four general centres around market segmentation are geographical segmentation, demographic segmentation, psychographic and behavioral segmentation (Kerin 2009). Geographic segmentation: this segmentation comprises an organization classifying its market in geographical basis. An organization can divide its market using regions such as international region, country, city or state. It can also classify its market using the climate, destiny and size. The company will firstly launch its Barfresh Blended Fruit into five regional areas and later depending on the success of the product, explore markets in other international regions to sell its product.

Demographic segmentation: comprises of division according to age, gender, occupation, income, education, race, nationality etc. (Vukasovic? 2016).  A company can target its customers more accurately if it divides into segments and categorize the customers’ needs. For, Barfresh Blended Fruit, the company will start by selling generally to all ages and sizes and later segment the market according to the needs. The reason is because, fresh blended juice attracts all ages.

Behavioral segmentation: this kind of segmentation classifies customers depending on their response towards the product. This segmentation can group customers into loyalty, benefits, occasion terms, etc. (Hair 2008).  The company will study the buying trends of the customer and target the market according to the results of the customers buying trends.

Technology

Psychographic segmentation: this segmentation classifies consumers according to values, traits, interests, personalities and lifestyles (Kerin 2009).  The company will sell Barfresh Blended Fruit product after identifying the needs of the customers through studying and segmenting them according to the classification above. This method of segmentation is more precise and effective.

It is rare to find a marketer satisfying the needs of all customers. Not all customers have equal preferences. Therefore, marketers begin by classifying the segments of the market by profiling and categorizing distinctive group of buyers who might desire particular goods and services by observing the differences of buyers in terms of demographic, technological, geographic and behavioral trends (Kerin 2009).  Barfresh Food Group will segment its product’s market into four sections according to the affordability of the customer, with the intention of satisfying all the customers’ needs. According to geographic regions, the company will first target divisions around the company for a start, targeting all ages between ten to fifty years in terms of gender, occupation, education, for example colleges, high schools, income and nationality(Hair 2008).  The company will target each segment and design or improve the blended juice according to the demand, tastes and preferences of each segment. The company will target all social classes; lower, medium and upper and increase demand or decrease after studying the buying patterns and behavior of each group.

Market positioning is the manner or practice by which marketers create awareness in the minds of consumers for the products sold (Pris?Enk 2012). The blended juice that the company is promoting assists to retain good health which motivates consumers to be frequent buyers of the product. Frequent advertisements in the media (radio, TV, internet) will assist to reach out the message to the targeted customers. The company will also print advertisements on bill boards and posters to market the product widely.

Conclusion

A marketing plan highlights an organizations, marketing efforts that is part of the whole business plan. Barfresh Food Group will need a huge plan of activities to promote the brand because it is not easy to introduce a new product in the market and set off immediately. Introducing a new product into the market needs a series of steps which should be outlined in a systematic way; designing the products in a way that will seize the attention of the present and future customers to the product.

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