Positioning Alternatives. PDB is interested in three positioning alternatives. First identify the alternatives (energy-drink, sports-drink, healthy organic), then discuss the pros and cons of each. You are allowed to use bullet points in this section as long as the bullet points are complete sentences. One to three sentences per point should suffice.

Remember to support your answers with evidence where needed. For example, if you believe something is an advantage or disadvantage (e.g., price), clearly identify it as such (e.g., The product’s low price is potentially a disadvantage in this product sector) and then, if it would not be obvious to the uninformed reader, refer to the evidence that supports it. (e.g., Focus group participants were skeptical that a lower-priced product could meet their expectations for better taste & performance).

Marketing Mix. It is clear that PDB management has made some decisions about product, price, place and promotion ahead of the positioning decision. What specific product decisions, price decisions, market coverage/distribution decisions and promotion decisions have been made, and how do they constrain the positioning decision?

Break-Even Analysis. Sarah Ryan has been given an advertising budget of $750,000 for the regional product launch. How many cases of Crescent Pure will PDB need to sell to recover cover the costs of advertising? (Attach your spreadsheet). Given the competitive situation (e.g., market shares), do you think the company sell the number of cases required to break even? Construct a table of market shares for each market and refer to it in your answer to the above question. Use 2013 estimates for category revenues.

Use the spreadsheet provided on Moodle to complete the break-even analysis.