Marketing Plan for Vittoria Coffee

Introduction and Situation Analysis

Vittoria Coffee, which is under Cantarella Bro Company, was created by two Italian immigrant brothers and is now the most famous pure coffee brand in Australia. Vittoria Coffee is embodied with Italian lifestyle and cultures, but it is finally accepted by local Australians. Traditionally, Australians like drinking tea and instant coffee. Vittoria Coffee has dramatically changed such habit. Now Vittoria espresso coffee is widespread in Australian supermarkets and households.

After the World War II, a large number of Europeans migrated to Australia. There was a necessity to create European lifestyle in Australia. Vittoria Coffee was begun under such background. It initially targeted for Italian immigrants in Australia, but now is brought home by most Australian households and served in top cafes and restaurants of Australia. It has been reported that about 1 million cups of Vittoria Coffee are consumed by Australians every day and Vittoria Coffee accounts about 40% market share in Australia pure coffee market. What makes Vittoria Coffee from a small idea to the No.1 pure coffee brand in Australia?

The most important attribute is its marketing strategies. The company has adopted changing marketing strategies in different development phases. At the first stage, during the two decades following 1958, the year Vittoria Coffee was first roasted, Vittoria Coffee was mainly served for Italian immigrants. Then in 1980s the target market was extended to local Australians with such commitment as making Italian Style famous in Australia. Gradually Vittoria Coffee has dominated the café sector and started a new concept of coffee consuming, that is, enjoying coffee at home. Now the consumers of Vittoria Coffee are those who are obsessed with high quality food and lifestyle. Led by Les Schirato, who is regarded as the coffee king in Australia, Vittoria Coffee achieved market leadership in 4 retail product types. When promoting its product Vittoria Coffee also pays much emphasis on spreading culture and new lifestyle, combining coffee culture with marketing strategies such as the Heritage Campaign in 2003. Vittoria Coffee also obtained many awards for its marketing innovation. It first suggested the idea of enjoying coffee at home, educated the consumers to make coffee at home and also provided the simple coffee offers. Vittoria Coffee always engages in philanthropic activities, which helps a lot in building the positive enterprise image.

Besides the effective marketing strategies, Vittoria Coffee also benefited a lot from the sound political, economic and social environment of Australia. Australian Coffee Traders Association (ACTC) has contributed to improving the standard, promoting and image of Australian coffee brands since 1940. Cantarella Bro Company is one of the main members of the association. In addition, coffee consumption in Australia is keeping increasing year by year. According to the research by BIS Shrapnel, coffee consumption per capita per year is 2.4 kilo grams. The total consumption in the last decade has grown by 65%. A research of ACTC also shows that Australia is the country in the world that loves drinking coffee best and coffees with Italian flavor are city people’s favorite. Those factors have provided many opportunities for Vittoria Coffee’s development.

However, in the background of global economy, Vittoria Coffee can not avoid the fierce competition from the outside world. And on the other hand, it is also a great opportunity for Vittoria Coffee to increase its international awareness and its share in world market. Currently Vittoria coffee is the most famous coffee brand in Australia and also popular in its neighboring countries like New Zealand, but it can not join the world top coffee brands list. Starbucks, Royal Copenhagen, Maxwell, Nescafe and other world famous coffee brands account the most market share in the world. How to succeed in world market and increase its international awareness and market share is the biggest challenge presented to Vittoria Coffee

Target Market and Segmentation

Suppose Vittoria Coffee see China as the most potential coffee market and eager to explore its market share in China. China is one of the fastest developing economies in the world and it is also one of the largest consuming countries of coffee in the world. Experts estimate that the potential coffee consumers in China can reach 200 million and 250 million in the near future. However, China’s production of coffee can not match the large demand for it. Even now coffee consumption in China depends mainly on imports.

There exist similarities between Australian and Chinese coffee markets. Australia was once the colony of Great Britain and developed the habit of drinking tea and instant coffee. China has thousand years’ history of tea. Most people have the habit of drinking tea. With great development of its economy, coffee becomes popular, but the instant coffee is most people’s first choice because of its convenience. Now that Vittoria Coffee has already obtained great success in non-Italian communities in Australia, it is very possible that it can also win in Chinese market.

In Australia, Vittoria Coffee mainly targets for top cafes, hotels, restaurants and such consumers that are obsessed with quality. With the development of China’s economy and life level, Chinese consumers are more and more quality conscious, especially the middle-aged and young people. In China, middle-aged people and young people are the main consuming groups of coffee. They are fashion leaders, and are more likely to accept foreign foods and cultures. Besides, they are more willing to and able to afford to buy high-quality goods. Research shows that about 25% coffee consumers are between 41 and 50 years old, about 20% are 20 to 30 years old. Further research shows that the number of male consumers is bigger than that of female ones.

Accompanied the rise of coffee consumption, coffee culture has also become popular. More and more Chinese people go to the cafes to enjoy the coffee culture. Actually, for most Chinese coffee consumers, coffee is the symbol of high life style, which coincides with the product positioning of Vittoria Coffee. Some big Chinese hotels and restaurants also provide coffee for its guests to better their services. Vittoria Coffee should target for top hotels and restaurants whose guests may have developed habit of drinking coffee.

Although instant coffee is most popular in China nowadays, there are researches showing that flavor is the most important factor influencing their consuming choices and the convenience is the second factor. Vittoria Coffee, which is famous for its freshness, purity and high quality, can target for the Chinese cafes, hotels, restaurants and individuals who love making coffee at home.

For individuals, although they love making coffee by themselves, most of them are not professionals, so special training or instructions should be offered to help them make coffee at home. If such extra service is offered, Vittoria Coffee may be accepted by them. For the cafes, they are faced many famous coffee brands, good quality and flavor may be the determinant factors influencing their purchasing choice. For hotels and restaurants, providing accommodation and dishes are their main services, coffee is just extra service, but establishing the long-term relationship is beneficial in the long run.

Goals and Objectives

To increase the market share and product awareness in China, Vittoria Coffee should make an effective marketing strategy. The goals of the marketing plan should be divided into tangible and intangible ones. Creating profits and increasing market share are critical, but more important thing is to increase the brand awareness and build positive image. Besides, spreading coffee culture is also a key objective. The concrete objectives are as follows:

?Increase Chinese market share of Vittoria Coffee to 3% in five years;

?Create annual profit at 20 million Australian dollars;

?Bring the Vittoria Coffee culture to China;

?Increase the awareness of Vittoria Coffee in China;

?Establish a positive image of Vittoria Coffee;

?Let Chinese consumers feel the true happiness of making coffee at home.