Selling Ideas: Brazil Mobile Services Company "The Strategy"

Introduction

            Nowadays, Brazilian people have increased direct involvement with mobile technology therefore mobile applications for company’s has become increasingly important. Eyeing this opportunity, the company Brazilian Mobile Services created something really new in this market. They developed practical methods to turn products into mobile services, through their applications. Focused on sports especially soccer clubs the company develops mobile applications that strengthen the value of sporting events and brands. The applications go beyond entertainment and create a new form of relationship with target audiences. In this context a strategic plan can determine the success or the failure of a company.

            Several works (Chance & Williams, 2009; Almani & Esfaghansary, 2011; Karnani, 2006) were used to delineate how a strategic plan is important for a business success. However others emphasize strategic plan as process (Carter, 1999), which if well done can give to the company competitive advantage through a good management.

            Having accepted, at least notionally, the potential of strategic plan, the mission and vision statements are created to build up the body of the plan. While mission is discussed with their internal impact on the company (Campbell, 1989; Collins & Porras, 1991) the vision covers the external dimension of how the company will be inserted in the macroeconomic environment (Akpoyomare, at all, 2011). The article tries to explain how the mission statement is important to the company success and how vision statement supports the mission   Finally 5 key objectives were created for the company, encompassing operational, financial, target resources and other aspects of the industry to allow the company to measure results against target achievement. Based on the concept of critical success by John Rockart (1979), the article justifies how the key objectives support the mission and vision statement while focusing on limited areas.

Strategic Plan Argument

            Strategic planning is an ongoing process that requires leaders to question the status of stated initiatives, changes in the environment, and new requirements for learning, and adjustments to the plan continually (Chance & Williams, 2009). Successful strategic planning efforts in Brazilian Mobile Services represent the challenge of combining usability with profitability. While the mobile market has 27 million users in Brazil, the penetration is only 14% of the population which can represent a lot of opportunities for mobile services in a future (MMA, 2012). The strategic plan is going to be an essential mechanism, procedure, and methodology to monitor and react to this environment (Almani & Esfaghansary, 2011).

            By choosing Brazilian Mobile Services’ strategy in Brazil it would be possible to focus on the in the intended direction and strengthen its market position by taking the right combination of competitive and operation approaches to move the company (Thompson & Gamble, 2010). In fact, strategic planning is generally pursued as a rational undertaking to reduce the firms’ performance uncertainty through trade-off decisions from controversial choices (Karnani, 2006). It determines end goals to be achieved and strategies for accessing, allocating, and managing resources to achieve predetermined goals.

            The challenge is to understand that the strategic plan involves more than the production of a printed plan. Strategic planning is a process, not a product. It is ongoing and permanent (Carter, 1999). Especially in the mobile networks environment where changes in circumstances occur all the time, the strategic plan will help management efforts to improve performance over time. This process is important because actions are taken to improve the company’s performance, strengthen its long term competitive position and finally gain a competitive advantage over competition (Thompson & Gamble, 2010). A good strategic plan will provide not only a framework of the desired direction for the future (Barton, 1988) but also a self-identification (Stephan, 2010) that will determine good management.

Mission Statement

                The mission statement for the Mobile Service Company in Brazil would be as follow: “Provide mobile applications to enhance communication strategies for Brazilian Soccer clubs with credibility, creativity, quality and speed. We will enhance the relationship between supporters and clubs by giving greater access for the supporters while at the same time providing increased market intelligence to the clubs and increasing their potential revenue streams. Based on the principles of independence, critical thinking, through the best of technologies which can contribute to increase people's access to sporting events and help companies to manage contact with their supporters”. Through this statement the Brazilian Mobile Services describe its present business and purposes by answering the questions: Why do we exist? What are we here for? What are we trying to accomplish? (Thompson & Gamble, 2010).

            Common sense dictates that obviously companies should know their own conditions and objectives to continue in business. However the mission is essential to have a better staff motivation/ management control toward achieving a common organizational purpose (Campbell, 1989; Collins & Porras, 1991). In the Apple mission statement for example they mentioned: “Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world…, leads the digital music …, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad” (Apple, 2012). They certainly motivate their staff by recognizing their position as “the best computers in world” at the same time that they project their future giving a guide for their manager about what they expect in the next years. Although mobile services environment relies on constant innovation making difficult to define their business, the use of mission statements can still impact behaviors in the organization (Bart, 1996). Therefore Apple is a good example of mission statement that even though short, it can still capture the essence of the company’s business and been effective in their strategic plan.

            In the Brazilian Mobile Services mission creativity is emphasized value to the management team as well as critical thinking to achieve the purpose of increasing people’s access to sporting events. Besides, the mission is essential to the company’s success by guiding the resource allocation process more effectively (Ireland & Hitt 1992). For instance if the purpose is to increase people's access to sporting events, the marketing efforts will focus on this market segment, therefore be more effective.

           

Vision Statement

            The vision statement for the Brazil Mobile Services would be as follow: “We are determined to be a company recognized for its excellence in the delivery of rich interactive experiences, user interfaces with high levels usability through mobile applications. Providing solutions for Soccer clubs to participate in the mobile market and position itself ahead of the competition, winning customers / consumers and ensuring space in the race for market share. We are committed to improving the mobile access to sporting events, generating more market share among supporters for Brazilian Soccer Clubs while staying at the forefront of technology.”

            While the mission describes an organization's central "purpose" and essential activities (Byars, 1984), vision is what it says about the company’s future strategic course (Thompson & Gamble, 2010). The fact is that they complement each other where the mission shows the present picture and vision the future vision while the company’s values make the path with which they are going to interconnect one to the other. For instance while the Brazil Mobile Services’ mission sees the company as a “Provider of mobile applications” for Soccer Clubs the vision sees a “company recognized for its excellence”. In conducting the company’s business the company expects creativity and use of technology to influence behavioral norms that company personal are expect to display.

            While the mission statement is to inspire the company, its credibility lies in the significance and scope of the problems and needs it has identified (Ragan, 2004). Vision on other hand can cover the external dimension. It is a shared view within the organization and of what are the market, customers, competitors, industry and likely macroeconomic impacts on the market (Akpoyomare, at all, 2011). Organizations without a clear mission statement don’t know who they are and managers go elsewhere. However an organization without a clear vision statement tends to have its short-term actions counter-productive to its long-run purpose. Thus, the company’s vision statement supports the mission by fueling the inspiration with visionary ideas that challenge the reason of the company for being as it is.

Key Objectives

            The five key objectives essential to the success of the business are:

·         Expand our service for at least 20 Brazilian soccer clubs by 2013 developing cross-platform applications.

·         Sales space in the mobile services for advertising to increase profitability.

·         Make mobile applications and m-commerce available on the existed platforms: iOS (iPhone, iPod and iPhone), Blackberry (smartphone and tablet), Android (smartphone and tablet), Windows Phone, HTML5 (cell phone and smartphone), Facebook, Chrome and interactive TV, among others.

·         Increase by 50% the number of employees in project development area by 2013, to provide creative solutions to the customer’s needs.

·         Increase by 30% the investments in marketing in 2012 to increase our market share.

            The performance targets above are very specific to measure the company’s results.          Expand our service for at least 20 Brazilian soccer clubs is essential for sustainability of the business, otherwise with the increase of costs the company will not be able to maintain their position in the market. With more customers we can then initiate to sales space on the applications for additional advertisings adding more revenue to increase our profit. Although achieving best value for mobile applications is the ultimate objective of expanding service to more clubs and increase sales in advertising, to develop an infrastructure for those projects it is absolutely necessary to increase the number of technical developers by 50% to make sure the terms are going to be met.

            In order to keep the customers satisfied and really add value to their companies with mobile solutions it is going to be indispensable to develop mobile applications available not only on platforms as iOS (iPhone, iPod and iPhone), but also in every other platform. With the increase in use of Smartphones so has the diversity systems increased and the company must adapt and cater to these platforms in order to make the services more attractive for the Soccer clubs. Finally, for those objectives to be successfully implemented it will be primordial to invest in marketing to develop strategies to reach our target market and therefore build up the business.

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Key Objectives Justifications

            From a mission and vision statement perspective, it is not enough to track the performance of the company in an isolated way. Managers need to have specific objectives that allow the understanding of the meaning of an expected performance linked to the strategic mission and vision. In summary the objectives reflect the mission and vision, however, the objectives allowed companies to track mission performance towards the strategic vision. In the Brazil Mobile Services for instance, the objectives support the mission by measuring the performance targets timely when target expand the services by 2013.

            Objectives are effective fashion, with the intention of perceiving trends and reacting as quickly as possible to the opportunities. While the vision portrays a company’s future as recognized for its excellence in the delivery of rich interactive experiences, the objective makes it more specific to managers by saying that in order to be recognized it is going to be indispensable to develop mobile applications available in all the existed platforms. In fact, there is a clear link between the strategic mission and vision statement and therefore the objectives are adapted to achieve the expected results. For example if is important to be in a forehead of the technologies more technical support are going to be necessary, therefore the objective is to increase 50% the staff.

            Mission and vision statement are the guides for company’s critical success, as John Rockart (1979) introduced critical success are “the limited number of areas in which results, if they are satisfactory, will ensure successful competitive performance for the organization”. Those limited areas are the key objectives, the factors that should receive careful attention as marketing investments and increase of revenue.

           

Conclusion

                This article presents an approach for developing the process of crafting and executing a strategy plan for Brazil Mobile Services Company, taking into account a strategic perspective. In order to develop the strategic plan the vision and mission statements were created to provide a sense of direction for the organization and channel employee’s behavior towards this direction (Akpoyomare at all, 2011).  The mission gives the actual picture of the company while the vision projects the company in the future, in this context the objectives were develop to help managers to conduct the company towards the strategic objectives with more specific targets.

            However, it is important to understand that the statements are not a mere “slogans” these statements must support each other to guide managerial decisions and actions. The key objectives introduce the strategy in the employee’s daily activities to contribute to the attainment of the vision and mission for the organization. The company wants to position themselves in the soccer industry due to the fact that soccer has a popularity bordering on phenomenon in Brazil and there is an opportunity to take advantage of this endemic social phenomenon. Giving the vision and mission statements it is expected a better management to improve organization performance to accomplish the key objectives and therefore success.

                Further development needs to be oriented toward its external environment validation and the competitive issues. For instance questions should be answered as: what are the key factors for competitive success? What strategic moves are rivals likely to make? Also it would be recommended to study the industry environment and the profitability.

REFERENCES

Akpoyomare Oghojafor, Ben E.; Olayemi, Olufemi O.; Okonji, Patrick S.; Okolie, James U       (2011). Enhancing Organization's Performance Through Effective Vision and             Mission.  Chinese Business Review.Nov2011, Vol. 10 Issue 11, p1071-1075. 5p.

Almani, Amin Mohammadi; Esfaghansary, Majid Ghanbarinejad (2011). Strategic Planning:     A Tool for Managing Organizations in Competitive Environments. Australian Journal     of Basic & Applied Sciences. 2011, Vol. 5 Issue 9, p139-149. 11p. 6 Diagrams.

Apple, (2012). Apple Corporate Information. Retrieved at july/2012 from:           http://investor.apple.com/faq.cfm?FaqSetID=6

Barton, A., 1988. Financial Aspects of Strategic Planning For Universities, Journal of Higher    Education Policy and Management, 10(1): 51-62.

Bart, Christopher K. (1996). High tech firms: Does mission matter?  Journal of High       Technology Management Research, 10478310, Fall96, Vol. 7, Issue 2

Byars, L. L. (1984). Strategic management: Planning and implementation. New York: Harper   & Row

Chance, S., & Williams, B. T. (2009). Assessing university strategic plans: A tool for        consideration. Educational Planning, 18(1), 38–54.

(MMA) Mobile Marketing Association. Research: “Our Mobile Planet”.Smartphone Details       & Usage Smartphone Penetration. Google Inc. Retrieved at july/2012 from:        http://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/graph/?country=br&category=DET   AILS&topic=DETAILS_PENET&stat=PENET01&stat=MOBLOCS1&stat=MOBLO            CS2&stat=MOBLOCS3&stat=MOBLOCS98&wave=wave2&age=all&gender=all&a   ctive=stat

Campbell, A. (1989). Does your organization need a mission? Leadership and Organization       Development, 3.

Carter, H., 1999. Strategic planning reborn, Work Study, 48(2): 46-48.

Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1991,Fall). Organizational vision and visionary organizations.        California Management Review.

Karnani, A., (2006). Essence of strategy: Controversial choices, Working Paper No. 1032,          Ross    School of Business Working Paper Series, University of Michigan

Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. A. (1992,May-June). Mission statements: Importance, challenge         and recommendations for development. Business Horizons.

Rangan, V. K. (2004, March). Lofty mission, down-to-earth plans. Harvard Business Review,    112-119

Stephan, E., (2010). Strategic Planning on the Fast Track”, Library Leadership &           Management, 24(4): 189-198.

Thompson, A. A., Strickland, A. J., & Gamble, J.E. (2010). Crafting and Execuing Strategy:      The quest for competitive advantage: Concepts and cases: 2009 (17th edition). New     York: McGraw-Hill-Irwin.

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Selling Ideas: How to approach Ethnic Housing Market

As the United of States becomes more heterogeneous, minority’s population subcultures are growing in affluence and sophistication.  Understand consumers’ subculture became a marketing opportunity for companies to increase revenues by developing successful marketing strategies that can integrate consumers’ moral values.

            African Americans for instance, comprise a significant subculture and account for 41.1 million, approximately 13.5% of the American population (BlackDemographics.com, 2010), while Hispanic represents 16.3% with 50.5 million Hispanics in U.S., followed by Asia with 14.7 millions (United States Census Bureau, 2010). Additionally, the purchasing power of ethnic subcultures are growing substantially, Hispanics Americans are expected to surpass $1.4 trillion in 2013, African Americans surpass $1.2 trillion and Asian Americans $752 billion (Pride & Ferrell , 2010). Although the marketing phenomenon of targeting subcultures is gaining ground and is expected to escalate in the future, only the companies that really understand the cultural differences will be able to explore this opportunity and obtain success.

            However, housing lenders and real estate agents are going to face a lot of challenges across ethnic subcultures. Where, cultural generalizations about whole societies and how they view ethical issues may not be completely appropriate in the future (Jenner et al. 2008). Among African Americans for example, marketers have found differences relating to aspirations, in terms of brand and style consciousness and even generational differences (Hawkins, et al, 2010). Especially among the Hispanic Americans the generation differences heavily influence their buying decisions. This happened because of the degree to which an immigrant has adapted to his new culture (Hawkins, et al, 2010).  Asian groups also represent a challenge because of the various nationalities, an effective communication has to be more than simply translating an ad (Hawkins, et al, 2010). There are cultural symbols and meanings with different relevance for each nationality segment, which can be very confusing for a company to master.

            Although this article is focus on the three majors American subcultures it is important to consider that there other subcultures that also have their own interest and preferences, such as Native Americans, Asian-Indian Americans, Arab Americans and other religious subcultures as such Christian and non-Christians. All those subcultures reflect the diversity of not only United States but also the whole market place where there is no distance and companies are more global than ever. Understanding and distinguishing patterns of behavior in each subculture is a challenge for the housing market but can provide an opportunity to develop an unique programs (Hawkins, et al, 2010), to match the unique needs of each subculture.

Overall marketing strategy for targeting each of the following groups:

a) African-Americans

            Only 28% of African Americans who own a house are a married-couple family compared to 49% in all races and more than 29% are female householder with no husband present compared to 12% in all races (BlackDemographics.com, 2010). Considering that 34% are families with no husband (BlackDemographics.com, 2010), this type of family situation creates unique needs for areas with child care, practical, easy to maintain houses and recreation. The product should have characteristics of energy and time saving.

            Although the Black Population has increased in all US regions since 1990, the South has had the most growth. Therefore the strategy should focus on the southern states of America because more than half 55% (BlackDemographics.com, 2010), of the African American population lives in the South. This is especially true in urban areas, where more than 80% of African Americans reside (BlackDemographics.com, 2010).

            According to table B most African Americans believe that the person buying home does have to pay a real state professional. There is an opportunity for the marketing strategy to make clear that to buy a house they don’t have to pay the real state professional and therefore the price is fair. Also only 36% know that the house lenders are not required by law to give the lowest rates on loans, combine this with the fact that only 57% know that is not necessary to have a perfect credit rating to qualify for a mortgage. This combination of facts   results in a fact that more than half of all African Americans rent house instead of buying at a figure of 53% (BlackDemographics.com, 2010). A promotion strategy should demystify those factors and make the process look less complex. Giving the feeling of ownership could also influence positively the attitudes towards the purchase of a home.

b) English Hispanics

            While English Hispanics scored the highest percentage on every key reason to purchase a home the most important reason is the feeling of ownership. Also, they seem to understand the process of purchasing a home better, than other groups. Therefore, the focus of the marketing strategy should be the product itself. With more than 63% representing  married house holders and 39% have young child (U. S. Census, 2010 b) a house should accommodate children and therefore schools and facilities close to the house would make a difference.

            Because most of English Hispanics think that rent is “bad” the price of the house can be one of the biggest attractions for them to purchase a house if put in comparison with the rental price. Also, those houses should be placed in one of the 25 states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group or California where 14 million of the population of the Hispanic-origin population lives (U.S. Census, 2010 b). A promotion strategy should emphasize the ownership, achievement of a dream and avoidance of discrimination while the benefits of the home’s characteristic would satisfy their needs.

c) Spanish Hispanics

            According to table B this group have the least home buying knowledge, consequently on table C their perceptions is of a process which is too complex which they don’t understand very well. The fact is that the language has created an issue and the fact that most of the information is only available in English has created a gap between real state and Spanish Hispanics. Little things like the manual for air-conditioner in Spanish might make a difference whether members of this group to buy a house. Even the position of the kitchen can be an issue, for example Hispanics don’t like to have kitchen open to the family room (Hawkins, et al, 2010).

            With the language issue, promotion must not only include the translation of ads and documents. It must improve the home buying knowledge and give more confidence in a home buying skills to encourage the purchase. Again, those houses should be placed in one of the 25 states in which Hispanics were the largest minority group or California where 14 million of the population of the Hispanic-origin population lives (Census, 2010 b). To communicate to them, since Spanish Hispanics are not so familiar with the internet use, it is possible to reach them through Spanish languages TV or even newspapers. 

Example of advertising campaigns for Fannie Mae:

a)      African-Americans

            The overall positioning strategy and core theme is “feel as light as a clouds when you buy a house with Fannie Mae”. The idea as it is on Figure 1, is to position in African American’s mind as a reason to own a house because Fannie Mae’s process will give for them more confidence while increasing their knowledge about the homing buying process. The visual elements are a black woman dressed as a working professional while she also has kids to take care of. She looks happy because she has the feeling of home ownership. The bubble with another image with her in the clouds transmits the feeling of freedom and simplicity that is inside her by owning a house. The key advertising copy points explain the visual elements to their target market while directing them to the company by saying that “this is what you feel like when you buy a house with Fannie Mae”. The key media outlets for this ad should be in magazines that specifically target African American culture, internet and in TV shows that are related to or deal with African American themes.

FIGURE 1: African American advertising Campaign 

a)      English Hispanics

            The overall positioning strategy and core theme is “Fannie Mae can help you to achieve your dreams”. The idea as it is on Figure 2 is to position Fannie Mae in English Hispanic’s mind as a realization of a dream and therefore Fannie Mae can make it happen for them. The visual elements are the English Hispanic family arriving in a new house, very happy while the neighbor to the right outside of the door just looks surprised. With this image it is expected to emphasize the ownership, achievement of a dream and avoidance of discrimination while the benefits of the home’s characteristic would satisfy their needs. The key advertising copy points states: “Achieve your dreams” while directing them to the company by saying: “call to Fannie Mae today”. Since this group are English dominant language, the key media outlets for this ad should be in English magazines that specifically target Latino culture, internet and in TV shows that are related to deal with Latino themes.

FIGURE 2: English Hispanic advertising Campaign

c) Spanish Hispanics

            The overall positioning strategy and core theme is “Problemas para comprar su casa?”. The idea as it is on Figure 3 is to position Fannie Mae in Spanish Hispanic’s mind as a company that has the tools necessary to help Spanish speakers to understand the process to buy a house and finally make a purchase. The visual elements are the Spanish Hispanic guy confused while trying to understand the process of buying a house. This is contrasted by the other images on the bottom showing Spanish staff talking with potential consumers, sale signs in Spanish and even a personalized service by Fannie Mae. The key advertising copy point statements are in Spanish and it lists the tools that make Fannie Mae able to facilitate this process to the Spanish Hispanic communities. Since this group is not English dominant language, the key media outlets for this ad should communicate to them through Spanish languages TV and news papers.

FIGURE 3: Spanish Hispanic advertising Campaign

Training materials

         First of all, the type of training materials should include an educative process that improves intercultural learning via the development of cognitive, affective and behavioral competencies needed for successful interactions in diverse subcultures. Using the thesis from Littrell (2006) about Cross Cultural Training, it would be necessary to provide for lenders and real-estate agents the knowledge, skills and abilities necessary for cross-cultural adjustment and integration to improve interaction performance and minimize failure in understanding.

            After lenders and real-estate agents understand or at least have an acceptance of the subcultures, they should learn the reasons for purchasing a home by ethnicity and then they can focus on that information to encourage each subculture according to their preferences. However, the home buying knowledge is relatively low among all the subcultures as a consequence the home buying confidence was very low as well. Therefore, lenders and real-estate agents must increase their knowledge about the process to be able to transmit this information clearly among the subcultures. Things like the need for attorney or not, time of commitment, rates on loan and mortgage issues should be discussed to enhance their interactions with consumers from various ethnic backgrounds. Of course the language is an issue for Spanish Hispanics therefore language training should be essential for real estate agents who are focusing on this group.

            The type of training materials would include in-house lectures, cultural assimilation, mentoring, field experience, interviews with members of subcultures and host country in Spanish Countries. In-house lectures range from interactive methods of case studies, critical incidents, cultural simulations and role playing to guided discussions (Harris, Brewster and Sparrow 2003). Field experience exposes trainees to the emotional stress of living and working with people from a different subculture through orientation visits, probation and interviews with members of the subculture. As being a hosted in other countries such as Mexico for example, they will be able to get familiar with the conditions and environment where those subcultures came from and hence be in the best position to impart the necessary knowledge and skills to the real estate market (Osman-Gani 2000, 230).

REFERENCES

BlackDemographics.com. (2010). African American population. Retrieved in July/2012 from             http://www.blackdemographics.com/.

Jenner, S., MacNab, B., Briley, D., Brislin, R., & Worthley, R. (2008). Cultural change and       marketing. Journal of Global Marketing, 21(2), 161–172

Hawkins, D. I., Mothersbaugh, D. L., & Best, R. J. (2010). Consumer behavior: Building

            marketing strategy (11th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill/ Irwin

Harris, H., C. Brewster, and P. Sparrow (2003). International human resource management.

            London: The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

Littrell, L.N., E. Salas, K.P. Hess, M. Paley, and S. Riedel (2006). Expatriate preparation: A

            critical analysis of 25 years of cross-cultural training research. Human Resource

            Development Review 5, no. 3: 355–88.

Osman-Gani, A.M. 2000. Developing expatriates for the Asia-Pacific region: A comparative

            analysis of multinational enterprise managers from five countries across three       continents. Human Resource Development Quarterly 11, no. 3: 213–36

United States Census Bureau (2010). 2010 Census Shows America's Diversity. Retrieved at       July/2012 from:             http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/2010_census/cb11-cn125.html

United States Census Bureau (2010b). Hispanic Heritage Month 2011: Sept. 15 -Oct. 15.          Retrieved at July/2012 from:          http://www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_edition            s/cb11-ff18.html

 William M. Pride & O. C. Ferrell (2010). Foundations of Marketing. Cengage    Learning, 01/01/2010.

Media Evaluation of Brazillian Cachaça Pitu

           

The Brazillian cachaça Pitu, symbolized by the red Pitú on the label (like lobster), Pitú is one of the most recognized brands of cachaça in the world, the No. 2 cachaça maker. Made from fresh cut sugar cane, cachaça Pitu it is known for superb quality, and how well it blends with fresh fruit and juice. Manufactured in the State of Pernambuco, northeast Brazil, Pitu is a 75-year old family business, with a tradition in the production of cachaça, which can produce up to 15 million bottles annually (Ballve, 2002).

            Exports of the clear liquor are fueled by the popularity of the caipirinha, a drink mixing crushed ice, lime, sugar and silver cachaça, a sweet-and-sour concoction downed by the hip in bars from Berlin to New York. Cachaça makers, who already enjoy a half-billion-dollar annual domestic business in Brazil, now see an opportunity to increase consumption of the drink in U.S. because of the upcoming events in Brazil (World Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016, O’Conor and Barnes, 2012). Additionally, a recent development has resulted in the U.S. officially recognizing the sugar-cane spirit cachaça -- used to make caipirinha cocktails -- as a genuine Brazilian product, which means it can be sold in American liquor stores as "cachaça" and not just "Brazilian rum." (Phillips, 2012). This is a victory for cachaça because even though cachaça is a close relative to rum, rum is derived from molasses, a byproduct of sugar refineries, while cachaça is made from pure sugarcane juice. This differentiation can prove to be important in the marketing of the product. 

            Pitu also faces some competition in U.S. where there are now some 20 cachaça brands (Perlroth, 2010). Leblon cachaça, for instance, with Bacardi’s involvement as a strategic partner and investor now lead the Caipirinha trend in the United States. Another strong competitor is the 51 cachaça which is actually the cheapest alternative, or even Cabana Cachaça, which manufactures and imports high-end cachaça.

            Given this scenario Pitu has the advantage successful distribution agreements established in U.S., allowing them to be available in most of the liquor stores and bars. However, their challenge now is not only increase exports to U.S, which today represent about 1% of the production (Ballve, 2002). Also, change their image as “the go-to brand for broke students looking to make cheap caipirinhas” to elevate the Brazilian liquor to a place on the global bar shelf next to Scotch whisky and Mexican tequila.

 Media Combination that would be effective for the target market and product.

            Cachaça Pitu advertisements have been available in print media in the U.S., for example, in the Portuguese newspapers for NYC's Brazilian community They also have exposure on the internet with their own web site and also some videos.  In order to create awareness of Cachaça Pitu, it is recommended to use three different medias to provide a coverage of at least 80% of our target market over a period of six months. The goal is to extend media coverage to as many of the members of the target market audience as possible while minimizing the amount of waste coverage.

            Among the wide variety of media available it is recommended are going to use print media magazine, interactive media Internet and support media in-store. For print media it is recommended choose to use magazines because they provide better segmentation potential thus it is recommended can focus our campaign to reach our specific target market while giving a high level of information about the product (Belch, & Belch, 2012). Also magazines allow for high quality reproduction which combined with some creativity it is recommended would give the ability to explore the colors of Brazil as well as the images. Another positive feature of magazines is the prestige the cachaça can gain from advertising in publications with a favorable image. For example Esquire covers men’s fashion in a very favorable environment, cachaça Pitu advertising in this magazine could enhance the prestige of the product line. Also, in the Men's Health magazine it is recommended can reach men in their early thirties a demographic which is a very high consumer of alcohol. In the Sports Illustrated, it is recommended can take advantage of the fact that most people drink when they watch a game to advertise our product to our target market. Even though the cost to advertising in a magazine can be high and they only have a limited reach, the magazine will give Pitu the ability to engage readers, hold their attention and expose them to cachaça.

            Nowadays with smartphones, tablets and other devices, it is indispensable to develop and maintain a good web site. Pitu should use some banners and contextual ads to direct people to the web site. The web site will provide interactive activities that go beyond just information. It is necessary to create a long term relationship with the consumers to establish a brand image for the product and support sales (Belch, & Belch, 2012). The web site will give ideas how to use cachaça and give incentives for party with cachaça. By clicking in one of the ads the consumer can access the address of the shops which sell Pitu. The site also will give tips on how to create a party, games to play with cachaça, and information from experts about the quality of the product. The site will be designed to offer very useful information, as well as samples for people older than 21 years old.

            Finally the media in-store is going to support our campaign at the place which our customers are going to buy. Since the customer is already in a liquor store, that is where the decision is made, therefore it is recommended to reach the target market at the point of the purchase, providing additional product information while reducing their own efforts (Belch, & Belch, 2012). For instance the in-store ads would be aisle displays, store leaflets, shopping bag etc.

Media plan schedule to leverage the media.

The media plan schedule to leverage the print media magazine, interactive media Internet and support media in-store recommended is based on the pulsing method. In the pulsing strategy, continuous exposure is maintained, but certain at times promotional efforts are stepped up (Belch, & Belch, 2012). Since our product is not seasonal, our advertising would continue throughout the year but maybe increase at holiday periods such as Mardi Gras Memorial Day, Labor Day, or Fourth of July and increase in a sports game periods such as Super Bowl and NBA Finals.

                The table 3.1 is a six month mockup of a media schedule covering 3 magazines publications--the prices are fictitious, also include estimated page size (small, medium, big).

TABLE 3.1: MAGAZINE SCHEDULE PLAN

Publication Jan Feb Mar Apr May June Total Esquire Magazine, Circ: 700,000, Target: Afluente men, Pub: 12x/yr (1) Size: small Cost: 100,00 Size: small Cost: 100,00 200,00 Men's Health Magazine, Circ: 210,000, Target: Men 25-44 years, Pub: 12x/yr (2) Size: Medium  Cost: 130,000 Size: Big   Cost: 200,00 Size: Big   Cost: 200,00 $530,000 Sports illustrated, Circ: 1,9 million, Target: Sports followers, Pub: weekly (3) Size: Big Cost: 300,000 Size: Big Cost: 300,000 600,00 Total $ Cost $100 $300 $130 $300 $300 $200 $1,330  Total # Impressions 700,00 1,9 million 210,000 1,9 million 910,000 200,000 1320000 (1) http://www.esquiremediakit.com/r5/cob_page.asp?category_code=circ (2) http://mediaweek.co.uk/channel/Magazines/article/1117627/MAGAZINE-ABCs-Mens-titles-lead-digital-editions-charge/ (3) http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/adinfo/si/ratecardframe.html

The media schedule during six months for the in-store ads and for the internet interactive activities are going to follow the same schedule of promotional efforts: FIGURE 3.2: IN-STORE and INTERNET ACTIVITIES SCHEDULE

promotional increase Efforts due increase Super Bowl due increase holidays increase due due maintain maintain NBA holidays Jan Feb Mar Apr May June

            Since achieving awareness requires reach, which is exposing potential buyers to the message (Belch, & Belch, 2012). Pitu cachaça needs a very high level of reach, since the objective is to make all potential buyers aware and prepare to adopt the product. The objective of the schedule plan is to reach a larger number of the target market, in attempt to make them learn about cachaça, try it, and develop favorable attitude towards the Pitu brand.

            The problem arises because there is no known way to determining how much reach is required to achieve the levels of awareness, attitude change, buying intentions nor can it is recommended be sure an ad placed in a vehicle will actually reach the intended audience (Belch, & Belch, 2012). This leads to a question, what frequency of exposure is necessary? Based on that information the schedule plan maintain continuously the frequency of promotional efforts in every media choose, while stepped up in certain times. The objective is to have the total market audience reached by using three different magazines even if some people see the ad twice.

            Because the cachaça Pitu needs to develop a new attitude towards the brand only awareness in as many people as possible is not enough. Pitu cachaça, needs to create a demand for cachaça, especially by taking advantage of the popularity of caipirinha drink they can teach people how to properly make the drink. Thus at the same time that awareness is created a certain level of frequency to achieve effective reach is necessary to give time for the consumer to understand how to use, where it came from, and why it is cool to drink caipirinha with Pitu cachaça.

            The schedule of the media in-store will support the sales and will make sure that the target market gets exposure to the message as close as possible to when they are going to  make the purchase, therefore the media in-store will continue as long as possible.          

            Finally, in this plan the budget was not consider, thus in real situations the budget would be one of limitations which should be consider in first place before establishing any plan.

           

REFERENCES

Ballve, Marcelo (2002). One Part Cachaça, Two Parts Marketing.  Latin Trade (English),             10870857, Aug2002, Vol. 10, Issue 8

 Belch, G., & Belch, M. (2012). Advertising and promotion: An integrated marketing         communications perspective (9th ed.). Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

O’Conor, Erika and Barnes, Taylor (2012) Slum Dwellers Are Defying Brazil’s Grand Design      for Olympics. A version of this article appeared in print on March 5, 2012, on page   A1. Retrieved at may 2012 from:             http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/05/world/americas/brazil-faces-obstacles-in-        preparations-for-rio-olympics.html?pagewanted=all

Phillips, Dom (2012). Obama and Dilma Agree on Bourbon and Cachaça, but Not Much Else. Apr 12, 2012 11:06 AM GMT-0300. Retrieved at may 2012 from:          http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-12/obama-and-dilma-agree-on-bourbon-        and-cachaça-but-not-much-else.html

Perlroth, Nicole (2010). Sobriety Check.  03.04.10, 06:00 PM EST. Retrieved at may 2012            from: http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/04/brazil-cachaça-bacardi-cabana-leadership-        second-acts-anttila.html