The promotional campaigns in store and advertisement Essay

Options
In light of the external and internal factors Smith should adopt a holistic strategy with the objective of capitalizing on its existing brand awareness and industry presence to stay aligned with its growth and profitability goals. Instead of lowering its prices, A1 should reinforce its message of being America's sauce of choice due its unique taste to its customers and aim to attract new customers.
To counter Lawry's offer to Publix, Smith should offer a 3 for $10 promotional price. However, this promotion should be done in April, a month prior to Memorial Day. This would also bring A1's price at par with Lawry's $4 per bottle price when Lawry launches its product line. During the Memorial Day period A1 should revert to its regular price and employ other promotional techniques.
During the Memorial Day period Smith should bundle A1 steak sauces with A1 marinades. The bundle should still be sold at the $4.99 retail price and the cost of marinades should be allocated from the $15 million advertising budget allocated for marinades. This ensures that A1 meets its projected profit goals while allowing A1 to utilize its brand awareness of steak sauces to build awareness for its marinades line.
The promotional campaigns, both in store and advertisements, should reinforce A1's history and premium quality in its messages. This would strengthen A1's position as a premium, high quality brand in the minds of its consumers. In addition during Memorial Day weekend, a FSI promotion should be launched for the marinades line, which offers discount coupons for the marinades range (instead of the initially planned steak sauce range) to encourage consumers to try the new products.
Feasibility and Conclusion
I recommend that A1 uses all these options simultaneously. The rationale behind this strategy is that the extensive promotion of the A1 sauce range for an extended period of time leading up to the Memorial Day weekend coupled with discounts and offers will improve results for A1 Steak Sauce. The threat from Lawry's sauce will also be curbed while A1 will be able to strengthen its position in the marinades market. This ensures A1 maintains its position as the leader in the industry and the company's annual targets are at best, met, if not exceeded (Exhibit 4).
In the scenario that A1 takes a passive approach, A1 sees a decline in the profitability of its steak sauce division. It also loses out on its market share to Lawry's new line of sauces. However, if A1 adopts a proactive approach as suggested above, it would be able to successfully increase not just its profits from the steak sauce range but also reduce the losses in the marinades division. A1 would also be able to successfully maintain its share of steak sauces whilst simultaneously also tap into the marinades market through its promotional campaigns.
Smith now has a clear strategy in mind - proactively capitalizing on A1's existing strengths to fuel A1 Steak Sauce's growth and solidifying its position in the industry.