group d_sporty energy drink

Sporty Energy Drinks:

Code of Ethics and Marketing Campaign

Prepared for

Ms. Dilara Afrooz Khan

Course Instructor

Business Ethics & Leadership (Z105)

Prepared by

Group D

Khandker Aumio Shahriar (Roll# 02)

Hasib Ahmed (Roll# 08)

Afia Kabir (Roll# 24)

Joydeep Chowdhury (Roll# 45)

Nusrat Haque (Roll# 53)

July 15, 2008

Institute of Business Administration

July 15, 2008

Dilara Afrooz Khan

Course Instructor

Business Ethics & Leadership (Z105)

Institute of Business Administration

University of Dhaka.

Dear Madam:

Subject: Submission of term paper

Please be informed that this report entitled “XYZ” has been presented as a partial requirement for the

course, Business Ethics & Leadership (Z105). This report is based on the interviews conducted for Big

Boss, a brand of the Partex Beverages – regarding the respective ethical guidelines followed and the

marketing policies used.

This report discusses the existing ethical guidelines used in the energy drinks industry taking Big Boss as

the model of our discussion. The ethical guidelines were then revised applying theories and applications

that were studied in the course. The report also includes a hypothetical company for which the revised

guidelines were used to develop a marketing campaign.

The purpose of the report was to develop insights into the guiding principles followed by the producers

of energy drinks in Bangladesh and to see what adjustments can be made in the guidelines and

marketing policies used that would be most appropriate for our country’s perspective.

We sincerely hope that the work will come up to the level of your expectation and any further query

regarding the report will be welcomed.

Sincerely,

________________ _________________ __________________

Aumio Shahriar Hasib Ahmed Afia Kabir

Roll-02 Roll-08 Roll-24

________________ __________________

Joydeep Chowdhury Nusrat Haque

Roll-45 Roll-53

Acknowledgement

Executive Summary

Energy drink can be formally defined as a soft drink designed to boost the drinker's energy

levels. It first made its entry to Bangladesh in 2001 and is now recognized as a product with

significant market growth and potential. Though this market is showing many positive signs, it

also poses threat to its consumers as the market is yet to establish any ethical rules or

guidelines.

Big Boss, an energy drink brand created by Partex Beverages and the model of discussion in this

report, is one of the leading members in this industry. The company promotes its product as an

absolute non-alcoholic energy drink aimed at young and mostly urban students. The company is

no exception from its competitors in not having any pre-determined code of ethics. However,

to remain one step ahead, Big Boss follows some of its own company principles and core values

which helped it to remain customer oriented and thus gain a large share of the market.

Taking Big Boss as an example, we have proposed a revised code of ethics which, if established,

can be a suitable guideline for the energy drink industry of our country. The recommended

guideline is then used to establish the principles and values of our hypothetical company

SportyCo. Sporty Energy Drink, a product of SportyCo, is proposed as an ideal model for the

energy drink industry. Its branding and organizational measures are made to give an active,

energetic as well as a positive vibe to the consumers. The target market is also broadened to

include female consumers, long distance drivers etc.

The marketing campaign of Sports Energy Drinks is aimed to start with a bang but also keeping

the ethical values in mind. Giving consumer safety the priority, the major features of the

campaign will include promoting awareness on proper labeling and non-alcoholic beverage. The

campaign will also include detailed roll-out plan of before, during and after launching activities

which will involve both above and below the line communication (ATL & BTL). The policies of

the campaign will strictly adhere to the revised ethical code and principles as set by NORM. The

outcomes expected are not only product awareness for Sporty, but also a behavioral and

perceptual change towards energy drinks as a whole.

Finally it can be said that the guidelines and the promotional campaigns aided by those

guidelines were all prepared keeping the nature of market in Bangladesh in mind. These

guidelines will not only ensure a proper functioning of the company but will also ascertain the

gain of customer faith and the proper utilization of the potentials in this industry.

Contents Acknowledgement ........................................................................................................................................ 3

Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 4

1. Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 1

1.1 Origin of the report ............................................................................................................................. 1

1.2 Objectives............................................................................................................................................ 1

1.3 Scope ................................................................................................................................................... 1

1.4 Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 1

1.5 Limitations ........................................................................................................................................... 1

2. Case study: Big Boss .................................................................................................................................. 2

2.1 Industry Overview ............................................................................................................................... 2

2.2 Company Overview ............................................................................................................................. 3

2.3 Mission and Vision .............................................................................................................................. 3

2.4 Core Values ......................................................................................................................................... 4

2.5 Customer Welfare ............................................................................................................................... 4

2.6 Code of Ethics of the Company ........................................................................................................... 5

2.7 Target Market: .................................................................................................................................... 6

2.8. Marketing Policy: ............................................................................................................................... 6

3. The Revised Code of Ethics ....................................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Preamble ............................................................................................................................................. 8

3.2 General Guidelines .............................................................................................................................. 8

3.3 Field of Application ............................................................................................................................. 9

3.4 Guiding Values and Principles ............................................................................................................. 9

3.5 Code of Ethics.................................................................................................................................... 10

3.5.1 Packaging and commercial communications ............................................................................. 10

3.5.2 Marketing and Communication Targets .................................................................................... 10

3.5.3 Violation and Accountability ...................................................................................................... 11

3.6 Theoretical analysis of SportyCo’s code of ethics ............................................................................. 11

4. SportyCo: Our Proposal .......................................................................................................................... 13

4.1 Mission and Vision ............................................................................................................................ 13

4.2 Core Values of Sporty ........................................................................................................................ 13

4.3 Organizational Measures .................................................................................................................. 14

4.4 Brand ................................................................................................................................................. 14

4.4.1 Brand Name ............................................................................................................................... 14

4.4.2 Tag line: Unleash the energy within… ........................................................................................ 14

4.4.3 Logo ............................................................................................................................................ 14

4.5 Market Scenario: ............................................................................................................................... 15

4.6 Target Market ................................................................................................................................... 15

4.7 Functional and Emotional Benefits ................................................................................................... 16

4.8 Positioning of Competitors ............................................................................................................... 17

5. Action Plan: Marketing Campaign .......................................................................................................... 18

5.1 Major features of the campaign ....................................................................................................... 18

5.2 Campaign Roll-out Plan ..................................................................................................................... 19

5.2.1 Pre-Launch: ................................................................................................................................ 20

5.2.2 Launching Activities: .................................................................................................................. 21

5.2.3 Post Launch: ............................................................................................................................... 21

5.3 Campaign Policy ................................................................................................................................ 24

5.4 Desired Outcome .............................................................................................................................. 26

5.5 Measuring Success of Campaign ....................................................................................................... 26

5.6 Feasibility .......................................................................................................................................... 26

5.7 Limitation of the Campaign ............................................................................................................... 27

6. Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 28

1 | S p o r t y E n e r g y D r i n k

1. Introduction

1.1 Origin of the report This report has been prepared to fulfill the partial requirement for the course Business Ethics &

Leadership (Z105), for our course instructor Dilara Afrooz Khan.

1.2 Objectives

• To study the emerging energy drink industry in Bangladesh

• To understand the underlying principles and core values followed by Partex Beverage

that it uses to promote its energy drink brand Big Boss

• To find out the ethical guidelines used by Big Boss for its marketing policies

• To create a hypothetical company, Sporty Co., and establish its code of ethics

• To propose a marketing campaign based on the code of ethics

1.3 Scope This report is based on the interview of Md Aktaruzzaman, Marketing Manager, Partex

Beverage. It discusses the values and guidelines used in the current energy drink market and

attempts to provide a necessary revision of those guidelines for an imaginary company that

would be suitable in the context of our country.

1.4 Methodology

• Primary data: Personal interview

• Secondary data: books, articles on internet

1.5 Limitations

• Since energy drink is still a new concept in our country, not much expert opinion was

found on this topic even from the senior executive of the discussed company

• Obtaining relevant information proved to be quite difficult due to lack of proper

documentation within the company

• Lack of updated information available on articles and websites


2. Case study: Big Boss

2.1 Industry Overview The beverage industry of Bangladesh has witnessed immense growth in the past few years. Our

domestic beverage producers have joined the global rush to produce 'Energy' drinks with

brands for instance Shark, Tiger, Speed and Big Boss capturing an increasing segment of the

country's soft drink market.

It is claimed by the industry sources that Energy Drinks are currently taking between 10-20

percent of a drink market that is presently worth around Tk 650 Crore a year. It should also be

mentioned that the Energy Drinks market is steadily gaining momentum despite costing about

twice as much compared to normal soft drinks.

Presently the local beverage industry is experiencing a slump in the sales of traditional soft

drinks. According to the industry experts this decrease in sales of the traditional soft drinks is

caused by the growing demand of energy drinks. In March 2001, Energy Drinks was first

launched in Bangladesh. Globe Beverage introduced its brand “Tiger” at that time. Globe’s Tiger

was the first locally produced energy drink to compete with the imported ones. Witnessing the

huge success of Tiger, other local beverage companies also introduced energy drinks in the

market. Shark and Tiger were the first two local brands to enter the beverage market in

Bangladesh. Recently, Akij Food & Beverage has introduced its own brand of energy drink,

Speed in the latter half of 2007. While Partex Beverage launched Big Boss in February 2008 to

enter this growing market.

The experts expressed, as the beverage industry all over the world is dynamic; so new flavors

whenever launched will get a fair share of market. Popularity of energy drinks in the developed

countries also played a pivotal role in getting quick acceptance among Bangladeshi consumers.

The experts believe that the current situation has occurred due to changes in taste and

awareness of the consumers; especially the young generation who are more interested towards

energy drinks now.

Last year was very encouraging for the Energy Drinks producing companies. The Energy Drinks

market experienced a significant market growth of 300% last year. But due to ongoing

economic crisis and excessive price hike of the essential commodities, the beverage industry is

taking a big hammering. The overall sale of the beverage industry has dropped significantly this

year resulting in a slower growth of Energy Drinks market. According to Partex Beverage

officials, the growth of Energy Drinks market has been 20-30% this year.


2.2 Company Overview With more than Tk. 10 billion annual turnover, Partex Group is one of the largest and most

successful private groups of companies in Bangladesh. It is essentially a manufacturing and

service based enterprise, owning and operating over twenty units giving value for money to all

customers.

Partex Group started modestly in the year 1959 in tobacco trading and presently it has stakes in

the tobacco, food, water, soft drinks, steel container, edible oil, wooden board, furniture,

cotton yarn and the IT sector. Today, with a dedicated work force, aspiration and determination

to be the best and sustained by a market oriented corporate strategy, Partex Group aspires to

be the finest.

Partex Beverage primarily commenced its journey with the launching of RC Cola in the year

1997. It began with the innovative and thriving revelation of their chairperson; who

conceptualized the prospect of “RC” beverage brand in the country. After the completion of the

negotiations and formalities being performed, RC Cola was publicly launched in the local

market on October 6, 1997 with grand success and currently it holds the tag of being the

market leader as far as the beverage market is concerned. Since then, in the past ten years,

they have successfully added many more new flavors to their existing product line of beverages

as well as the leading bottled mineral water, MUM. More recently, Partex Beverage has

stepped out of its product line of regular beverages and has added the new dynamic Big Boss

energy drink to its product range.

Partex Beverage is a company that always explores new prospects and avenues to grow and

expand further.

2.3 Mission and Vision Partex Beverage proudly illustrates themselves as a purely customer oriented company

promising to offer quality products at low affordable prices. The company strives in achieving

market dominance through diversifying its product line as well as meeting customer

satisfaction. Partex Beverage does not have any separate mission and vision statement. The

mission statement of the company is as followed:

“Our mission is to provide value at an economic cost, progress in diversity, and continue to

contribute to the growth of industrialization in Bangladesh by being the market challenger”

Since introducing Royal Crown Cola Co. International as RC Cola in the local beverage market,

Partex Beverage has come a long way in the past ten years. They have successfully launched


newer and more exciting flavors such as RC Orange, RC Lemon, Upper 10 etc. showing

progressive nature of the company and its progress in diversity. The company has introduced

this whole new range of products keeping in mind the changing consumer needs and

requirements. They make every effort to constantly bring advancements in their products

through modernized packaging, stronger brand image, different customer oriented offers etc.

With reference to this fact, it should be mentioned that they are the first beverage company to

introduce revolutionary food grade PET Bottles of two sizes, eliminating the shortcomings of

glass packaging. As a result, this enables the company to comply with its mission of offering

diversified product to its customers.

At this time, being the market leader in the beverage market through its highly successful soft

drink RC Cola, the company has only recently entered into the energy drink market. Its market

vision for Big Boss is to pose challenge to the existing energy drink brands such as Speed, Tiger,

Shark, etc. Concurrently, they are playing a vital role in industrialization of the beverage sector

of Bangladesh.

Conforming to their mission statement, Partex Beverage maintains premier value of its

products within the economic range of the target consumer group. They attempt to challenge

or keep out competition from other imported beverages such as Pepsi, Coca Cola by offering

competitive; often lower prices. For instance, a 500 ml pet bottle of Pepsi costs Tk 25 where as

Partex Beverage are offering RC Cola at Tk. 22. Consequently, they are meeting their objective

of providing value at an economic cost.

2.4 Core Values As mentioned previously, Partex Beverages thrive in its dictum of providing premier products at

economic costs and are very much devoted towards its customers. It reinforces Big Boss, its

energy drinks brand as an absolute non-alcoholic energy drink. Partex also claims itself as a

completely ethical institute; standing by and being true to its statements and claims. It has time

and again proved its fidelity to its customers through premier quality of its products. It thrives

in assuring top class ingredients for its products and conforms to the set of rules and

regulations set by BSTI.

2.5 Customer Welfare As far as the officials are concerned, Partex as an individual company cannot establish customer

welfare all by itself. Unless intervention is made by the government or synergy is established

between the industry players, it is not possible to confront customer welfare matters solely by


an individual company. Another very significant statement is the deceivable constituent and

Partex strongly establishes themselves as a company who do not cheat on their stakeholders.

2.6 Code of Ethics of the Company The Code of Ethics brings together the long-standing Principles of “Customer Satisfaction”,

which are strictly followed and developed from the simple guiding principle of the company.

Practically, Partex Beverage does not have any set Code of Ethics at present. But the company

follows its guiding principle which works as the Code of Ethics of the company.

The ethical principles in the Code relate to things such as fair and impartial corporate rules,

integrity, transparency, accountability to the stakeholders, etc. They are goals to be attained,

but at times may conflict with one another (e.g. transparency and confidentiality) and so

require dialogue and consensus building in the top level management when applying them to

everyday decision-making.

As the beverage industry is very vibrant industry the components of conducts are very

important. The guiding principles of Partex Beverage are mentioned below:

As the company claims to be a “Customer Oriented” one, Partex Beverage pursues for

high quality at every step of its production. High quality production procedure is

followed because the company wants to ensure that it keeps the promise given to its

customers. Partex Beverage is the leading beverage company of the country. In the soft

drinks line, RC Cola is now the market leader. So the company does not want to risk any

of its product line to get into any sort of controversies as it might affect all their product

ranges.

However, Partex Beverage Limited is driven by the guiding principle which assures that

the company uses good quality ingredients and complies with all the local rules and

guidelines enforced by the regulatory authorities.

The company believes in “Nothing to hide” strategy. So ingredients of the drinks are

written clearly on the label of the bottle in both English & Bengali. Government has

made this mandatory for the energy drinks to write name and ingredients in Bengali.

The company also makes sure that the promotional campaign of all its product ranges,

including the energy drink Big Boss, conform the social norm.

As mentioned above, Partex Beverage does not have any set code of ethics. So they strictly

follow the guiding principle of the company to act as a socially responsible company. Hence,

with the current guiding principle functioning properly and the company performing well, the

top level management do not wish to establish a formal Code of Ethics for the company.


2.7 Target Market: The energy drink is one of the latest editions in the beverage industry of Bangladesh. The target

market of energy drinks are the youths of urban area. According to the major players of the

market at present, the main reason of launching this drink in our country was to offer the

customers a whole new flavor, which is mainly targeted to capture the teenagers, youth and

student segment.

The target market of Big Boss includes young and trendy people who are high-spirited,

trendsetters and clubbers. The main consumers of Energy Drinks are urban solvent people.

However, customer base of the energy drink is radically growing and since the inception of the

drink it has experienced a steady growth. The target market of Big Boss includes:

• Students under stress are the primary targets of the energy drinks. But as stress is a

common phenomenon in present urban life so Big Boss is now focusing on different

market segments to increase its sales volume. Until now, the signs are very encouraging.

• Professional as well as amateur sportsmen involved in Football, Cricket, Hockey,

Taekwondo, Tennis, Swimmers etc. are also in the target group of Big Boss.

• Big Boss also targets the musicians as its customers because of its image. Also, as rock

musicians are very much popular in the main target group of the energy drinks, the

companies in this market also target to reach the musicians as they might inspire the

urban youth to consume more energy drinks.

Big Boss defines its Energy Drink as a drink with a clear purpose and therefore ideal for all who

need more energy.

2.8. Marketing Policy: Unlike the traditional soft drinks market, where Coke and Pepsi push their offerings to all soda-

drinkers, Big Boss and other such existing energy drink manufacturers have decided that their

best hope of gaining traction is by appealing to very specialized market segments. The company

has specified its target group as confident and dynamic generation, ages ranging from twenties

to thirties. Keeping this in mind, promotion of Big Boss mostly involves energy, adventure and

love, all of which revolves around youth. To strengthen the brand, it focuses on the unique

ingredients used in the production of the drink. Big Boss uses energizing ingredients including

Inositol, which is a vitamin B supplement and re-vitalizes the body, Caffeine, the same stimulant

found in tea or coffee, and also a high level of sugar.


To reach its target market the company mostly uses Above the Line (ATL) communication.

Partex Beverage prefers electronic media including television and radio as its main tool of ATL

communication. It puts less emphasis on newspapers or other print media, which they believe

cannot attract much of its target group. However, the company has not yet explored Below the

Line (BTL) communication to gain brand drive in the target group due to financial constraints.

At present due to economic crisis and rapid price hike of the essential commodities experienced

in the country, the beverage industry is undergoing demise in its sales. Since soft drinks and

carbonated water can be considered as luxury products, it is reasonable that consumers tend to

move away from such products in order to purchase more basic needs. As a consequence,

Partex Beverage is experiencing a grave downfall in the revenue earned from its major brand

Royal Crown (RC) Cola. This has resulted in a cutback in the promotion of its other brand, Big

Boss. But the company hopes that as soon as conditions start to improve, the company will

start to expand its marketing campaign for all of its existing product lines.


3. The Revised Code of Ethics

As the previous section reveals, energy drink sector in Bangladesh is yet to operate under

structured code of ethics. Ethical guidelines are confined to the level of “conforming to the law”

and not more than that.

Our proposed code of ethics attempts to set ethical standards for the energy drink industry as a

whole. With increasing requirements to meet compliance standards and opportunity to export

worldwide, the energy drink industry should be following these guidelines.

The code of ethics to be practiced by this company deals primarily with the communication of

the product – what guidelines it should follow while marketing the product. This, however,

does not include “Code of Conducts” such as employee standards of conduct, use of company

assets, financial reporting, working with suppliers, government, protection of important

information etc. In the subsequent sections, the marketing campaign that has been designed is

based on the code of ethics presented below. The purpose is to make sure that the marketing

campaign runs on the basis of structured ethical guideline that gives it proper directions, and

thus, avoiding false and misleading marketing strategy and adopting fair means to aware

customers to encourage them to consume energy drinks.

3.1 Preamble This Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is designed to deter wrongdoing and to promote:

• Honest and ethical conduct, including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts

of interest between personal and professional relationships

• Compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, most specifically, the laws, rules

and regulations from BSTI

• The prompt internal reporting of violations of this Code; and

• Accountability for adherence to this Code.

3.2 General Guidelines This Code should help in guiding the conduct in the course of the business. However, many of

the principles described in this Code are general in nature, and the Code does not cover every


situation that may arise. Use of common sense and good judgment is advisable in applying this

Code.

This Code is not the exclusive source of guidance and information regarding the conduct of

business.

Applicable policies and procedures should be consulted in specific areas as they apply. The

Code is intended to supplement, not replace, other policies and procedures of the company.

The policies and procedures will be under continuous reviewing and updating. The company

therefore reserves the right to amend, alter or terminate this Code at any time and for any

reason, subject to applicable law.

3.3 Field of Application This Code applies to all directors, officers and employees of the company and its subsidiaries,

who, unless otherwise specified, will be referred to jointly as employees. Agents and

contractors of the company are also expected to read, understand and abide by this Code.

3.4 Guiding Values and Principles The Code of Ethics of the energy drink Industry is guided by the following values and principles:

Value

• Energy drink is a popular product in many developed countries. Misuse is what casts it in

a negative light.

• Energy drink is accepted within our society and is suitable for people of all age

• Consumption of energy drink is safe until a safe level

• Energy drink is a psychoactive1 substance that can create a dependency.

• Abusive drinking can cause harmful effects on the drinkers, their friends and families,

and society at large.

1 A psychoactive drug or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that acts primarily upon the central

nervous system where it alters brain function, resulting in temporary changes in perception, mood, consciousness

and behaviour. These drugs may be used recreationally to purposefully alter one's consciousness, as entheogens

for ritual or spiritual purposes, as a tool for studying or augmenting the mind, or therapeutically as medication.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive


Principles

• It is legitimate to sell and promote energy drink under clearly specified rules and

regulations.

• The energy drink industry has social responsibilities, which it must assume without

reservation.

• Statutes, regulations and the Code of Ethics must be respected with honesty and

integrity, and applied justly and equitably.

3.5 Code of Ethics

3.5.1 Packaging and commercial communications

• Neither packaging nor communications shall associate the product with any act of

provocation, violence or a social behavior

• Neither packaging nor communications shall associate the product in any way with any

illicit substance.

• Neither packaging nor communications shall in any way be sexist, or associate the

product with sexual performance, or imply that it will enhance sexual prowess or

attractiveness.

• Neither packaging nor communications shall in any way imply that drinking is an

indicator of, or contributor to, social success or popularity.

• Neither packaging nor communications shall in any way imply that drinking improves

physical or intellectual abilities or has health benefits.

3.5.2 Marketing and Communication Targets

Whatever the location or media involved:

• No advertising communication or promotional activity shall target young people under

the age of 13.

• No advertising communication or promotional activity shall target people who are drug-

addicted.

• No advertising communication or promotional activity shall target individuals or groups

who are at risk for dependency.


• No advertising communication or promotional activity shall target vulnerable individuals

with limited financial or psychological resources.

• No advertising communication or promotional activity shall illustrate or focus on

situations or locations where it is dangerous or imprudent to consume energy drink.

3.5.3 Violation and Accountability

• Any person or company, including any enterprise operating in the energy drink industry,

residing or doing business in this company, may file a complaint under this Code of

Ethics.

• Complaints shall be submitted to an independent five-member Ethics Council. The Ethics

Council shall assess the relevance of all complaints submitted and determine whether

the activity or product in question is in compliance with the Code of Ethics.

• Any person or company named in the complaint shall have an opportunity to rebut the

charges, according to a protocol to be determined by the Ethics Council.

• If the person or company is found to be in violation of the Code, the Ethics Council shall

set a time limit within which specific corrective action is to be taken, unless it is a repeat

offense.

• If the person or company complies with the Ethics Council’s instructions, there shall be

no public reprimand.

• If the person or company does not follow the Ethics Council’s instructions, the Council

shall be free to publicize the brand and activities concerned.

3.6 Theoretical analysis of SportyCo’s code of ethics The proposed code of ethics can be justified from the context of different theoretical

perspective of ethics for instance Consequentialism, Deontology and NORM. According to the

established standpoint of Consequentialism, it is totally concerned regarding the outcome of an

action regardless of the process. In accordance with this theory, the outcome or consequence

has to be good nevertheless. So, from this particular viewpoint, the consumers of Sporty energy

drink are making choices after being completely aware of the product. Thus the outcome is

being achieved from perfect awareness; supporting consequentialism.

In terms of Deontology, the process is ought to be right regardless of the consequences it poses

and the ten moral rules has to be met. The envisioned set of rules for SportyCo does meet and


abide by all the moral rules such as not cheating, keeping promise, obeying the law etc. In this

way it can be stated that our code of ethics completely supports the viewpoint of Deontology

as the principles and rules proposed are clearly stated and specified, thus facilitating the

decision making process of the consumers.

The ethical code of conduct for Sporty energy drink can also be justified from the perspective of

NORM. Generally put, Norm stands for Neutral, Omnipartial Rule-Making. It generally refers to

a rule which is morally accepted by all those who shall be directly or indirectly affected, simply

put the stakeholders of SportyCo in this instance. Here, its stakeholders are the owners,

employees, agents, contractors and the consumers. In order to justify the position of all the

stakeholders, we have put ourselves in each of their place and considered the situation from

the sole perspective of those who are being benefitted or affected by this code. Thereafter the

immediate effects of this code and its impact as moral rule have been weighted and by doing

so, the rules have been created and applied for all the concerned stakeholders.


4. SportyCo: Our Proposal SPORTY ENERGY DRINK

Unleash the energy within…

4.1 Mission and Vision Sporty aims to be the leader through satisfying the growing needs of the consumers. For this it

has adopted dynamic Mission and Vision to accurately portray the corporate image of the

organization. The following are the Mission and Vision of the company:

Vision: Our vision is to be an epitome of producing high quality beverages for organizations in

the beverage industry in this region.

Mission: We want to reach new heights in producing high quality beverages through careful

planning and dedication, while we use the most efficient, state-of-the-art technology and

superior standard ingredients. We aim to create a healthy and friendly work environment,

rewarding our employees. We look forward to add greater stakeholder value, as we continue to

expand our business. This, for us is the means by which we can effectively participate in the

social and economic development of the communities we serve and promote professional

growth.

4.2 Core Values of Sporty The primary notion of Sporty is to change the generally perceived off-putting outlook towards

energy drinks. Although more and more of the new generation are getting more inclined

towards energy drinks rather than beverages, the number is still confined between the male

segments of the market. Besides, there is an immoral perception regarding energy drinks and

their ingredients that Sporty would exterminate through the assurance of best quality

ingredients. Its stance is in its moral standards that it strictly believes in and believes this would

help them in winning the hearts of the target market. Sporty Co. proudly associates themselves

as a completely ethical company with stern standards and moral views. Furthermore, it

operates under the supervision of BSTI and hence scope for fraud is minimal or none. All these

put together gives Sporty the assenting brand image that will take it to greater heights.


4.3 Organizational Measures Sporty believes an organization cannot promote fairness unless it practices it itself. That is why

Sporty has taken great strides to ensure fairness within the organization by practicing fair

recruitment, strictly avoiding gender discrimination by applying gender policy, providing equal

growth opportunity, ensuring fair evaluation, and maintaining healthy and safe working

environment with proper compensation packages to all employees.

4.4 Brand

4.4.1 Brand Name

The brand name is often used interchangeably with "brand", although it is more correctly used

to specifically denote written or spoken linguistic elements of a brand.

Keeping this in mind, we propose the brand name SPORTY for the energy drink. The name

Sporty associates itself with sports in general. Although it is not intended for sportspersons

only, it capitalizes on the common analogy of Sport with Energy, and giving the feel that the

energy content will be high enough to even participate in energy-consuming activities like

sports. Through the name, we want to characterize the product as an exciting drink for all fun

loving people who are actually young at heart.

4.4.2 Tag line: Unleash the energy within…

The tagline has a dual meaning. It means that there is high energy content in this drink, which

will be unleashed when consumed. Again, it will also help release the dormant energy of the

consumer and energize him/her both internally and externally. The three dots used in the end

of the tagline denote the endless possibilities when a person is full of energy and wants to

enjoy his/her life.

4.4.3 Logo

The logo also conveys the message the brand wants to give it to its consumers. The motion blur

in the characters depict the motion that would be caused by the energy. But, as opposed to

typical deep red/orange color combinations showing anger and vigor, sporty uses a blue-white

combination to prove its sensible and controlled self. Combined with the motion blur, it signals

of energy not through anger and vigor, but through sensibility and composure.


4.5 Market Scenario: The carbonated drink market is increasing at 15% growth rate and is extremely competitive.

The commercial beverage market is largely dominated by soft drinks like RC Cola, Coca Cola,

Pepsi, Virgin etc. In this huge market there are about 10 operators producing Carbonated Soft

Drinks in different flavors and pack sizes. The major flavors include Cola, Cloudy and Clear

Lemon, Orange and the Diet Cola. As this market is very vibrant, newer flavors are constantly

introduced as per the demands of the consumers. Keeping this in mind, the beverage

companies recently introduced the Energy Drinks in the Bangladeshi Market. Of late, this

segment of drinks has been able to capture a large portion of the market segment making it a

lucrative product line for all the operators in the market. Cola, despite being the most popular

flavor in the market, has recently observed a drop in its sales.

The companies in the beverage industry spend about Tk. 40 crore per annum in electronic

media alone, which is a significant portion spent in the Energy Drinks product line. Soft drink is

a product the purchase of which is impulse-driven. Hence, we can imagine the role of

promotion in building a brand in this industry. Since the purchase is not planned, products have

to be within arm’s reach of consumers. The most common places of purchase of the energy

drinks is the super stores, general stores, followed by confectionaries.

The Soft Drink retailers choose to stock brands based on their demand. The market survey for

this study reveals, that most of the retailers now stock all the four main Energy Drinks produced

in Bangladesh which clearly indicates the growing demand of Energy Drinks in Dhaka city.

According to the information collected from the Partex Beverage Officials and study conducted

on few retailers located in important areas of Dhaka we came to know that, Tiger is by far the

market leader of the energy drinks market. Utilizing the first mover advantage, Tiger holds a

staggering market share of 60%. The other major players like Shark, Speed and Big Boss cover

the rest 40%.

4.6 Target Market Since our product deals with energy and spirit, our target group will be primarily set for the

young and the sporty. Although everyone is susceptible to the fatigue of the super-charged,

over-worked lifestyle, young people are especially feel vulnerable to persistent exhaustion and

insufficient energy. This group of people, more specifically male teenagers and people in their

20s, want fast and convenient energizers to resume regular worklife and prefer energy drinks

more than any other age group. Our potential customers also include specialized groups, such

as gamers, extreme sports enthusiasts, the hip-hop crowd trendsetters and clubbers. However


we do not aim to narrow down the potential market to only young and trendy people. We aim

to reach some more categories of customers, including:

• Long distance drivers, especially people who work during the night as for example lorry

or taxi drivers or even employees working out of the office and rushing from

appointment to appointment

• Top-level as well as free time sportsmen like football and cricket players, also people

going to the gymnasium

• Female consumers and also consumers over 55, who are increasingly active, are joining

health clubs, and are therefore more likely to be a strong potential market for our

product

• Pupils or students under stress who carry whole cases of cans back home

The motivation for all the aforementioned consumers is the same. The typical consumer of

energy drinks looks after his health, is self-confident, active, young and/or dynamic. He wants

to live his life in a way which allows him to have as much fun as possible without putting his

health or vitality at risk. Users of energy drinks buy/drink them to be mentally and physically

top fit and wide awake. They are achievement-orientated and active in their jobs as well as in

their spare time.

4.7 Functional and Emotional Benefits

Functional Benefit Emotional Benefit

Sporty Energy Drink Provides instant energy An inseparable companion

when tired, overworked, and

need quick replenishment. A

friend, a savior.

Brands are largely operating under the functional benefit category, by promising to provide

instant energy. But in order to become successful, a brand must build emotional relationships

with the consumers. It must go beyond functional benefits to offer its emotional attachments.

Unlike typical carbonated beverages, which are consumed mostly for pleasure, energy drink is

more of a need-based drink, each individual will be triggered in certain occasions to drink it.

Therefore, sporty plans to capture these moments and communicate in a way so that, it can

carve out a space in the consumers’ emotional mind-space.


4.8 Positioning of Competitors

Brand Image

Brand

Ambassador

Color

Association

Image

Association

Most

frequent

SKU

Pricing

Big Boss

(Partex)

NA Red, silver,

black

NA (Silhouette

of a suited

man)

PET bottle Low

Tiger (Euro) Ayub Bacchu Deep brown,

orange

Tiger PET bottle,

can

Moderate

Speed (Akij) NA Yellow, red,

dark blue

NA PET bottle Low

Shark NA Blue, silver,

white

Shark Glass

bottle, can

Premium

As it can be seen from the comparison in the table above, Big Boss, Tiger and Speed have

similar marketing strategies. They are priced on the lower end, SKUs are mostly PET bottles,

labels are of deep red/brown/black colors. Shark, on the other hand, is premium priced, comes

in glass bottles and cans, and with a label of blue tone similar to Sporty.

Tiger, and a former energy drink brand now obsolete called Crown, featured prominent

rockstars like Ayub Bachhu and Ajam Khan in their ads.


5. Action Plan: Marketing Campaign

5.1 Major features of the campaign Before laying out the plan of the campaign in step-by-step pre-launch, launch and post launch

stage, it is necessary to look at the important features of this campaign, described below:

Proper Labeling

Labeling on Sporty would include the name of the ingredients, their actual amount present in

the bottle, as well as the safe range of each ingredient. This would make consumers more

confident of the product and make them aware of the fact that other products are deliberately

hiding these necessary information.

Ingredients Amount in every 1000 mg Safety Margin

Caffeine 150 mg Below 200mg

Taurine 80 mg Below 100mg

Ginseng 1000 mg Below 2000mg

L-Carnitine 6 grams Below 8mgs

Sugar 50 grams Below 150mg

Non Alcoholic

One initial objective of the campaign is to eliminate the common misconception of energy

drinks containing alcohol. The label would include the words “non-alcoholic beverage” and will

be tagged wherever the brand name is shown. This would encourage a vast type of consumers

to venture to consume energy drinks for the first time.

Break Stereotypes

Energy drinks are not only for 25 year old macho men. Ranging from an 18 year old appearing

at a major exam to girl in the college volleyball team, anyone can drink Sporty. Another

common association between energy drink and drug-addicts has tarnished the image of energy

drinks to a large extent. This stereotype also needs to be broken with examples of students,

professionals from all walks of life preferring to drink Sporty.


Word-of-mouth and Buzz Marketing

Positive word of mouth can facilitate the growth of a product as it enters the competition.

Especially, in an industry that does not enjoy much of positive WOM, it is important that Sporty

does not become just another energy drink, but is referred as “a new and different type of

energy drink.” The pre-launch campaign would solely be dedicated to creating this positive

WOM. The campaign can begin with catchy jingles, offered free as mobile ringtones, to create a

buzz and raise interest among people.

Point-of-Sales (POS)

Energy drinks remain camouflaged under other carbonated beverages.

Sporty will concentrate on creating customized POS using banners and

danglers in popular retail outlets.

Internet

A significant portion of urban youth has access to internet nowadays. This segment can be

captured through banner ads, pop-ups, hyperlinks in the frequently visited local websites.

Not just a drink, but a lifestyle

Sporty does not want to be the once-in-a-while consumed energy drink; it wants to embed

itself to the lives of its consumers. Sporty realizes that infrequent interaction can cause low

brand loyalty and wane positive attitude towards the brand. That is why it goes a step beyond

regular TV and billboard ads to communicate with its target market, through public events,

area-based promotional activities, direct mailing, affiliation with the city’s hotspots, promoting

the Sporty boy and girl of the year and so on.

5.2 Campaign Roll-out Plan We have devised the campaign strategy of Sporty in three phases. They are as follows:


5.2.1 Pre-Launch:

Objective:

• To create brand awareness

• To create a hype before launch

• To attract people to taste after official launching

Tools:

Above the Line Communication

• Electronic Media

o Television & Radio

Teaser Promo Activities

To create appropriate inquisitiveness among the target group

• Balloons

o Large white bal

important roads of six divisional head quarters of the country 15 days prior

launching. The number will be significantly large because creating mass

awareness is our main focus.

o One week befo

o Three days before the launching the balloons will be decorated as per the design

of the PET bottle, thus showing the transformation of the product just before

launch.

Campaign

Pre-Launch

ATL

Launching Activities

ATL

p o r t y E n e r g y D r i n k

To create brand awareness

a hype before launch

To attract people to taste after official launching


Television & Radio

Teaser Promo Activities


Large white balloons shaped like the PET bottle of Sporty will be placed in the



awareness is our main focus.

One week before the launch the balloons will be colored Blue.

Three days before the launching the balloons will be decorated as per the design


Post Launch

ATL BTL


loons shaped like the PET bottle of Sporty will be placed in the



re the launch the balloons will be colored Blue.

Three days before the launching the balloons will be decorated as per the design



• Leaflet

o Distributed with newspapers through local hawkers

o At places frequently visited by potential customers, like- market, gymnasium,

universities, colleges, super shops etc.

• Billboard

o Introduce one week before launching

o Keep the billboard up for two months

o Place near University Area where young people gathers

Close to the shop

Frequently visited by the target market

o Meant mainly to acquaint the potential customers with the brand name

5.2.2 Launching Activities:


• Concert

o A mega concert will be organized in the Kamalapur Stadium to attract our main

target group, youth. As music and musicians complies with our brand image of

excitement and fun so it would be quite logical to launch the product through a

concert.

o In the concert, Physicians and Fitness Instructors will provide tips to the

audience on maintaining good health. They will also promote energy drinks and

try to clear the confusions surrounding energy drinks.

o In the concert, each audience will be provided a PET bottle of Sporty.

5.2.3 Post Launch:

Objective:


• Increasing Sales

o Induce more frequent purchases

o Attract new customers

• Reminding the customers of brand name

• Maintaining PR and customer relationship

Tools:


• Electronic Media

o Television & Radio

Promotional Activities

To create brand awareness

Let the target group know about the features and ingredients

o Internet

Creating Online Groups

Banner Ads in the Music Forums, Life Style Websites & other popular

webpages

• Billboard

o Located at hot spots where

Close to the shop

Frequently visited by the target market

o Meant mainly to acquaint the potential customers with the brand name

• Others

o 10-15 feet large PET bottle will be placed in different hot spots of Dhaka


o Provide vending machine in educational institutions, gymnasiums, pool & billiard

clubs, fast food chains, super markets and general stores

o Branding of Sporty in HoReCas (Hotel, Restaurant and Cafeteria)

Below the Line Communication

• Event:

o Sporty Person –

Our teams will go to campuses of different educational institutes in major

cities of Bangladesh

The students (SSC and above) will be given some physically challenging

games

The best performing student in the series of games will be selected as

Campus Sporty

All the Campus Sporty will qualify for the national round and the winner

there will be Sporty Person 2008

The event will be televised and the national winner will be selected

through sms polls

During the event in the campus, appropriate branding will be done in the

campus and free bottles of Sporty will be distributed among the students

• Customer Database

o The company will conduct surveys and make a comprehensive database. It will

be done as thoroughly as possible. After the completion of the database, the

company will then organize musical events in six divisional head quarters all year

round. The consumers listed in the database will be invited to attend the event.

This is a step to get customer feedback and create customer satisfaction.


5.3 Campaign Policy The campaign will conform to the ethical codes explained in the earlier section. In each step of

the campaign, the ethical codes will be the guiding principles as set by NORM. Below we

present a set of DOs and DONTs while running the campaign based on the ethical codes. For

example, it would be false to claim this drink as ‘health drink’ and should clearly state that it

contains only added flavor.

Ethical Code Avoidable √ Advisable

Neither packaging nor

communications shall

associate the product with

any act of provocation,

violence or anti-social

behavior

Communication provoking

viewers to undertake risky

and larger than life

adventures. Simply putting

“Do not try this at home” or

“Viewers discretion is

advised” is not being socially

responsible.

Communication will show the

positive effects of energy

drink. The protagonist may

become more active and uses

his energy for good purposes.


communications shall

associate the product in any

way with any illicit substance.

Coloring similar to alcohols (as

deliberately done by other

energy drinks)

Packaging will be done to

distinguish it as an energy

drink with necessary product

information on the label


communications shall in any

way be sexist, or associate the

product with sexual

performance, or imply that it

will enhance sexual prowess

or attractiveness.

Stereotyping energy drink

with reckless young men,

insinuating enhanced sexual

performance and

attractiveness

Energy drink should create

general acceptance among

consumers



way imply that drinking is an

indicator of, or contributor to,

Depicting energy drink as a

means of becoming rich,

popular among women

It should positively illustrate

the opportunities one can

avail or success one can

achieve if s/he were more


social success or popularity energetic



way imply that drinking

improves physical or

intellectual abilities or has

health benefits

Messages like it is beneficial

for health as a whole and

improves brain function

It could focus on the positive

contributions of the vitamin

supplement (Inositol) and

other wholesome ingredient

instead of proving that energy

drink is good for health

No advertising

communication or

promotional activity shall

target young people under

the age of 13

Brining young children in the

communications to promote

the product

Children above 13 should only

be communicated

No advertising

communication or


target people who are drug-

addicted

Showing its presence along

with other alcohols, cigarettes

to encourage its consumption

with other drugs

Advocate use when consumer

needs energy supplement as

opposed to being an

accomplice in drug abuse

No advertising

communication or


target individuals or groups

who are at risk for

dependency

Promote it in such a way that

encourages dependency on

the product

The product should be

consumed “at will” instead of

a habit

No advertising

communication or


target vulnerable individuals

with limited financial or

psychological resources

Encouraging vulnerable low-

end population to consume

Should not contain direct

provocation towards low-end

population

No advertising

communication or Medical or expert advice to

Always mention the need for

doctor’s advice for recovering



illustrate or focus on

situations or locations where

it is dangerous or imprudent

to consume energy drink

use it as medication patients

5.4 Desired Outcome The outcomes expected are not only product awareness for Sporty, but also a behavioral and

perceptual change towards energy drinks as a whole. We hope by the end of first three months

of pre, launch and post-launch campaign, the following objectives will be achieved:

• More aware of the product Sporty, and its benefits

• Conscious decision making for customers of the energy drink industry in general

• Diminishing negative associations and word-of-mouths regarding energy drink

• More faith on Sporty due its honest and true-to-fact marketing policy

• Increasing popularity of Sporty in all consumer segments, penetrating new segments like

females and elder population

5.5 Measuring Success of Campaign The obvious indicator for the success of the campaign will be the sales volume. But a more

qualitative measure will be the increasing brand equity. Market research after the first three

months would reveal the status of brand equity and prove the success of the campaign.

5.6 Feasibility The initial stages of the campaign will require the most of the expenditure. Once the presence

of the brand is established, and the retailers accept the product into their shelves, Sporty can

reduce its advertisement budgets and only maintain a certain amount of exposure in the media.

More below the line strategies will come into play in order to enhance customer relationship

and increase loyalty. The plan also employs only regular media and does not use prohibitively

expensive strategies like media blitz. Hence, the marketing campaign remains feasible for this

new entrant in the market


5.7 Limitation of the Campaign One limitation of the campaign is that it promotes energy drink as a whole. The competition

brands may well use the positive spill-over of this campaign. Yet, being the only player in the

market to dare express the truth, Sporty should be more valued than its competitors by the

consumers.


6. Conclusion

The energy drink industry in Bangladesh, still being in its nascent stage, does not have

structured code of ethics to be followed by the major players in the industry. Almost all of the

companies follow at a minimum, the local laws and regulations, or at a maximum, follow the

corporate guidelines of the parent organization. But adhering to ethical guidelines not only

proves an organization to be socially and ethically responsible, but also structures

organizational procedures and eliminates possible conflicts. A structured code of ethics can be

the primary source of direction when faced with an ethical dilemma. Proper application of

these codes can increase efficiency of the organization and secure the loopholes left by law.

Unlike law, since ethical codes appeal to one’s own conscience, it’s not constrained to the

clauses only. These guidelines equip the employees with the ability to make ethical decisions in

similar critical situations and ensure that these decisions do not adversely affect any of the

stakeholders. In today’s world of highly competitive marketing where the agents are constantly

striving to attract more and more customers through different marketing techniques, it is

necessary that this mad-rush is controlled by moral values. Also, the consumers of today are

more educated, aware and skeptic of communication and it is very difficult to get away with

‘bluffing.’ Therefore, even from a marketer’s perspective, the image of an ‘ethical company’ can

become a strong element while positioning the brand. As more and more organizations start

adhering to these moral reasoning, the more consumer welfare will be assured and the more

fair competition will be promoted.

group d_sporty energy drink

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