Introduction
The food and beverage industry is an incredibly lucrative one. On a global scale, the food and beverage industry has seen healthy growth over the last decade and is expected to continue on this upward trajectory. This industry has become one of the most prominent, with many loyal customers. Consequently, various beverage manufacturing companies, specifically dealing in soft drinks, have devised various strategies to ensure customer satisfaction with their products and services and, at the same time, maintain their loyalty. Consumers today are insatiably curious and constantly looking for new and exciting experiences. Therefore, businesses in the beverage industry must steadily develop toward the goal of meeting the demands of their clients through sustained quality and tailored services. Nonetheless, these efforts are fruitless if consumers are unaware of them through product promotion. Various Vancouver beverage companies have devised promotional strategies to inform consumers of their beverage products, including leveraging social media, using strategic partnerships, and initiating discount offers to try and convert target consumers into loyal customers.
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola is one beverage company that has created a competitive advantage in the Canadian market. To further strengthen its competitive edge, the company has recently used various promotional strategies to market its new products, such as launching Coca-Cola with Coffee in the Canadian market (Coca-Cola, 2022). Under Coca-Cola with Coffee, the company’s strategy for reaching consumers included using various display methods, including retail-agnostic partners like Flipp and Reebee, strategic online partnering, connected TV, and social media platforms. In addition, the company increased its marketing of Coca-Cola with Coffee at points of purchase in stores across Canada.
The first iteration of Coca-Cola with Coffee in Canada drew heavily on user input gleaned by the firm. Many consumers appear to be evenly divided between coffee and Coke since the percentage of those who drink both is almost the same. As a result, it has created “zero sugar” variants of its Vanilla and Dark Blend tastes to capitalize on the “zero sugar” trend. Coca-Cola uses both online and offline methods of advertising, with an emphasis on novel approaches. The organization bases its decisions on consumer feedback and strives to tailor its marketing to meet the preferences of its target audience.
PepsiCo
When it comes to the beverage industry, PepsiCo is a major participant. When advertising in the Canadian market, Pepsi places a premium on the product’s strong brand image and celebrity endorsements (Muktadir, 2022). The use of famous people to advertise the company’s products on television, radio, newspapers, and websites has helped make the brand a household name. The company also promotes itself by providing or sponsoring business signs at retail and other places.
Occasionally one may find a special offer or discount from PepsiCo. In certain cases, regional branches of the corporation use direct marketing, such as by making wholesale deals to sell items directly to nonprofits (Rezk, 2020). PepsiCo also employs public relations through sponsoring and providing financial aid for activities like sports. However, PepsiCo’s ability to reach its target audience and promote its products hinges largely on its use of advertising, according to this component of the marketing mix.
MOD Beverage Inc.
MOD Beverage Inc. is a multi-brand beverage company focusing on new and exciting products and brand concepts, specifically in the Canadian soft drink market. As part of its marketing plan, the firm frequently posts brand-related content on social media platforms (Chawla, 2021). For example, advertisements for new items and explanations of how the firm operates are shared on social media channels like Instagram and Twitter in the hopes that doing so would win over consumers and turn them into devoted customers. As seen by their Instagram bio, which says, “We’re MOD. We brew, distill, brand, and distribute great ideas into beverages that people love and trust.” In addition, to attract new customers to try the firm’s soft drink products, the corporation has sponsored hashtag trends like #MadeByMOD.
Social media is one of the most important reasons for expanding the beverage industry. People’s increased fascination with food and drink may be seen in their interactions with brands, marketing, and user-generated content like posts, pins, and hashtags. MOD Beverage Inc. uses Instagram to promote its goods and monitor customer reactions on social media and has seen the immense benefits of promoting its products on this platform.
Jones Soda Company
Jones Soda first entered the market as Urban Hand Limited. The first item that the company sold under the Jones Soda brand was bottled soda. The carbonated soft drink was in rivalry with Coca-Cola and Pepsi because of the market. To combat the stiff competition, it has developed various promotional strategies. The chosen advertising method was shelf display in stores and other retail outlets. To encourage more customers to participate in the contests, the firm also started giving out free t-shirts and caps to those who participated. In addition, the brand has tapped into the widespread appeal of social media to spread the word among its core demographic. The company uses major social media sites like Instagram and Facebook to promote its wares. Since its inception, it has released several new varieties, necessitating expansion into new areas for product distribution (Doering, 2022). However, Jones Soda’s products suffered from inferior packaging compared to its rivals. The product’s packaging, which consisted of long-necked glass bottles, failed to excite potential buyers.
On the other hand, the items became well-liked because of their one-of-a-kind formulation, based on its online customers’ recommendations. This consequently led to an additional promotional strategy through word of mouth. Those who had seen and experienced the effectiveness of the company’s products probably told it off to their friends or relatives, which the company leveraged to expand its customer base. Jones Soda’s marketing plan additionally focused on young people in its emphasis on free product promotion.
Conclusion
The food and beverage sectors are hugely profitable but fiercely competitive, so companies must do everything they can to separate themselves from the competition. They must develop effective marketing campaigns to win clients and make them regular customers. Most major corporations allocate equal marketing resources to desktop, mobile, social, TV, influencer campaigns, and billboards. Managers in the food and drink sector use consumers’ past actions as clues about the direction of the industry’s future, allowing them to craft more effective marketing campaigns.
References
Chawla, M., & Chakraborty, A. (2021). MOD: A success story. Delhi Business Review, 22(1), 103-109. Web.
Coca-Cola, (2022) Coca-Cola with Coffee Launches in Canada. Coca-Cola Canada. Web.
Doering, C. (2022) From a turkey-and-gravy soft drink to cannabis, Jones Soda looks for its next high. Food Dive. Web.
Muktadir, M. (2022). Marketing Communication Strategies of Beverage Industries: A comparison between the Advertisement of Coca-Cola & Pepsi. Web.
Rezk, S. G. S. H. (2020). University of finance and administration. Diploma Thesis. Web.