Submit a detailed product analysis for a new product line.

Introduction

Red Bull must find a way to maintain its leadership in the energy drink category. Looking for ways to grow sales, Red Bull’s marketing manager has tasked you with preparing a plan for introducing a new product line of energy drinks with a coffee flavor. The first three drinks will be Cinnamon Latte, Cafe Mocha, and Blonde Roast Light. In this assessment, you will submit a detailed analysis of these new products.

Effective marketing begins with great products, and Red Bull’s new products must meet their customer’s needs. A product analysis focuses on the design, packaging, product positioning, brand identity, and the other elements that are part of a company’s efforts to maintain a unique set of values in the customer’s mind, maintaining market share leadership against the onslaught of competitive products.

Overview

The central focus of a marketing program is the product. It is the sole basis and driving force behind all marketing activities and what excites a target market.

This assessment allows you to analyze in depth a hypothetical new line of coffee energy drinks, something you might do in a marketing position as part of a complete promotion analysis and sales plan. In doing this analysis, you will look in detail at how Red Bull maximizes the branding of its products, its design and packaging, and recommend what you think is the best way for the company to position the new product in the marketplace, based on your analysis of that market.

Preparation

Start to familiarize yourself with Red Bull and its current marketing strategy. Check out its website below, and learn about the company, its goals, strategies, and successes. Use this same company for all assessments in this course. In addition, look at two other websites that provide background on Red Bull’s current marketing strategy:

• Discover the World of Red Bull.
• Red Bull Marketing Strategy: Sampling and Extreme Sports.
• Red Bull’s Marketing Strategy: What Your Company Can Learn.

If you need guidance in locating additional information about Red Bull, please ask your faculty member.

Instructions

Submit your analysis of the first P (product) for Red Bull’s hypothetical new coffee product line. Use your imagination and explain your assumptions about this product line based on what you have discovered about Red Bull products, other similar products, and the energy drink market. Your product analysis should include the company, packaging, brand identity, and target market requirements. Incorporate information from three other sources related to the content of the assessment. In your analysis, evaluate the following: 

• Analyze the new product line and Red Bull’s primary target market for its new coffee energy drinks. What are the niche characteristics of the product and the traits of the primary target market?
• Analyze the branding of the new product line of coffee drinks, including the intended audience and the product positioning. What influence, if any, does the brand have on its product category?
• Analyze the packaging for the product, and the overall product color scheme. How will these new energy coffee drinks stand out?
• Synthesize product strategies for Red Bull to achieve business success. Why will those strategies yield success? What would you recommend to Red Bull management to do in terms of this product to assure its long-term success?
• Cite any resources you use.
• Be sure your analysis presents a focused purpose through strong organizational skills. Also, be sure it presents evidence through strong paraphrasing/summarizing, appropriate tone, and sentence structure.

Planning

The time it takes to complete an assessment can vary greatly. But it often takes longer than we think to explore the scope of a task, research it, write a draft, and then come back and revise it. Consider the following as rough guideposts for setting aside the time you need to do your work. You will want to adjust these as you learn more about your own pace and working style.

• Research and reading: 4 hours.
• Interactive activities: 30 minutes.
• Writing: 6 hours.
• Revising: 2 hours.

Additional Requirements

• Written communication: Communication should be clear and well organized, and support a central idea, with no technical writing errors, as expected of a business professional.
• References: References and citations are formatted in a consistent style, using APA. See the Campus page Evidence and APA. Also refer to the Business Academic Professional Document Guidelines [PDF], which provide basic formatting and APA guidelines you should follow to create attractive and usable documents not just within your business program but in the workplace as well.
• Resources: Incorporate information from three other sources related to the content of the assessment.
• Length of paper: Approximately 3–4 typed, double-spaced pages, in addition to the title and references pages.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.

Competencies Measured

By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following course competencies and scoring guide criteria:

• Competency 3: Examine the relationship of basic marketing strategies to business success.
  • Synthesize product strategies to achieve business success.
• Competency 4: Apply effective marketing planning and implementation.
  • Analyze a product, and its target market.
  • Convey purpose, in an appropriate tone and style, incorporating supporting evidence and adhering to organizational, professional, and scholarly writing standards.
• Competency 6: Evaluate management implications of marketing and sales plans.
  • Analyze branding of a product, including the intended audience, packaging, and product positioning.