Branding, pricing, and distribution strategy for product marketing plan

Branding

The brand is our promise to the customer, communicating to them what they can expect when they purchase the product (Williams, 2012). In order to develop a branding strategy there are seven elements that need to be considered. These are that the brand must be tied to the business model, be consistent, connect emotionally with the customer, reward and cultivate loyalty, the strategy must be measurable, it must position away from competitors, and it should be flexible (Sorenson, 2012). The latter is important because as a new company, we need to be able to make adjustments if the initial branding strategy does not work out. The American Snacks brand is a clear statement of intent in the Japanese market, and one of the benefits of this approach is that such a brand will also resonate in the American market. The packaging and promotion will reflect American origins of the product to all consumers. Domestically, the brand will be associated with classic products, and internationally, America's historic expertise in snack foods will be conjured up for the consumer, perhaps even with American celebrity endorsements, which are popular in Japan.

The optimum pricing strategy is that the company should price competitive to the marketplace, only slightly higher. Major snack food brands combine healthy markups with broad distribution, so such a pricing approach still leaves room for a small company to be profitable. Pricing in such a way that the market views us as an everyday product is important for selling high volumes. Additionally, when American Snacks moves into the premium market, such as Whole Foods and those type of stores, we will be pricing below the health food snacks and chips. Thus, we can capture more of the market. The slight premium pricing strategy will also be adopted in the Japanese market, where it will help to cover the extra costs of shipping to Japan. This pricing strategy supports the branding strategy because the brand is going to be a key point of differentiation. In the U.S., the classic-ness of the brand is emphasized by pricing within range of mainstream snack products; in Japan the pricing supports the uniqueness of the product, while maintaining consistency in pricing between the two markets.

The distribution channels for these markets involve numerous wholesales. In general, a wholesalers will cover a limited geographical area, which means that American Snack will require individual distribution arrangements for each territory. The company will self-distribute in the New York City area, using trucks emblazoned with the company logo. This will serve as additional marketing when these trucks drive around town. In Japan, the objective will be to find a singular wholesaler who can cover the entire country.

In this case, a pull strategy is required. American Snacks intends to compel customer with our value proposition of quality and good price. We want to create a relationship with the customer where they relate to the different flavors that are being offered and want to buy more because we have given them something unique. The distribution strategy is necessary because that is how the business works -- we must work within the existing distribution strategies. It is important to have an experienced distribution because they will be able to get us shelf space in the stores. Competition for prime real estate on the shelves is intense, but an experienced distributor can help us to gain good positioning.