Marketing plan of l'Avellà

Abstract

This work is part of the Tourism Excellence Plan for the Inter-Municipal Association of Catí, Culla, Benassal and Ares del Maestrat launched by the Valencian Tourism Agency and the Diputación de Castellón in 2017, the objective of which is to improve the competitiveness of these tourist destinations of the interior Castellon. With the development of this Plan it is intended to enhance the value of the resources of these municipalities, trying to maximize their attractiveness, as well as guaranteeing more and better opportunities in each of these towns in the long term. This is an ambitious initiative that aims to generate a quality tourist product in the area that allows municipalities to make a qualitative leap in their activity, keeping tourism throughout the year, so that jobs are generated. In this way, it is pursued a sustainable commitment to consolidate the population of the interior of the region of Alto Maestrazgo. More specifically, this project focuses on the town of Catí, and develops a Marketing Plan for the facilities of the L'Avellà mineral water bottling plant. It analyses the near environment in which its activity is located, as well as its main resources, with the goal of improving the current profitability. Furthermore, this project pretends to turn the plant into a potential element of tourist attraction that allows to know the natural resources and cultural aspects of this Historic Artistic Place. The first part of the project describes the internal analysis of the company and its environment, covering both the factors of the macro – environment and other elements that influence more directly the activity of the bottling plant. Among the elements of the PESTEL analysis we highlight the political and social factors as the most influential for the future of the company. On the one hand, the operation of the plant, being the property of the City of Catí, has much dependence on government subsidies that could boost business development and face more easily the expenses derived from ongoing activities. On the other hand, we emphasize the changes in lifestyle habits and the importance of water for health. Every year there is a positive evolution of bottled mineral water consumption by the Spanish population. However, a relatively high percentage of people prefer tap water rather than bottled water. Due to the small size of the bottling plant and its almost zero market share, Porter's five forces can exert a high degree of pressure on the company's operation. Above all, the rivalry and concentration of the competitors in the territory of the Province and its consolidated position in the market. It is also necessary to take into account the degree of influence of the substitute products, since the mineral water is characterized by being a low differentiable product, reason why Agua l'Avellà has to choose to differentiate against the competitors. Among the most important rivals we highlight Agua Benassal, Agua Bejis and Agua Cortes because of its territorial proximity and by its degree of influence in the Castellón market. However, we have the opportunity to position the Agua l'Avellà brand from a different point of view to that of competitors, which allows us to stand out the product to our target audience. According to the results of the market study, we decided to direct the activity of the plant to two macro–segments of the target audience, final consumers and organizational clients, distinguishing 5 segments in total. On the other hand, each of these segments will have a differentiated approach in terms of marketing actions in relation to the four Ps, since they have characteristics that require specific treatment. The main goal of the improvement of the Catí bottling plant operation is subdivided into a number of more specific economic and marketing goals that allow a greater degree of control during the period of the implementation of this Marketing Plan. These goals include the sales improvement goals, the brand awareness increase goals and the distribution network enrichment goals. We have also made an action plan that consists of 21 marketing activities aimed at achieving the established goals and improving the competitive position. It is anticipated a period of one year starting from September of 2017 to carry out the proposed actions. In order to place ourselves within the scope of the financial viability of this project, a hypothetical budget of 263.613,30 € was established to carry out the actions, achieving 67.871,70 € of benefits.