This individual assignment – to provide a Brand Strategy & Plan for Orchard Pig in order to compete effectively in its respective market is worth 60% of the final mark for the course. This individual assignment allows you, as a Brand Manager, to assess, evaluate and recommend a Brand Strategy & Plan for Orchard Pig and win the chance to present this plan at the Live Grand Final (date tbc).

Task

Your role (acting Assistant Brand Manager for Orchard Pig – owned and operated by C&C Group) is to propose a Brand Strategy and one year Brand plan as to how the brand should compete within its respective market.

In this respect, you need to:

  • Undertake a Brand Audit, diagnosis and evaluation of the brand and its existing strategy
  • Understand the market in which it operates (ie trends, competitors, customers etc)
  • Provide a sound and viable Brand strategy and plan and use of the Marketing Mix which will enable your brand to succeed.
  • Consider the budget of £500,000 (Maximum)

Your role is to advise the company (C&C Group) and propose whatever brand strategy and plan you deem suitable, but you must ensure it is sufficiently justified from analysis, evidence, reasoning and the use of wider reading, secondary data, use of data supplied by C&C Group (if applicable) and relevant theories to help underpin decision making. Below is an overview of the brand along with some of the main challenges the company has identified for the brand:

Brief Brand Overview

Orchard Pig is a premium cider brand from Somerset that has taken the cider category by storm since it started life in 2007 in the garden shed of its founder, Andrew Quinlan.

Orchard Pig is a bold and mischievous brand like no other in the market and our mission is to become the most talked about cider by adding character to the mainstream. Orchard Pig is a cider for free-spirits and their thirst to explore and discover new things. It’s a cider for everyone and anyone but plays in the young and affluent space, alongside brands such as Brooklyn, BrewDog and Rekorderlig, typically attracting younger (18-34), more affluent, urban dwelling, cider lovers who are repertoire drinkers.

Once described as ‘the craft beer of the cider space’, Orchard Pig has a quality liquid that is respected by consumers and customers alike and the provenance and craft credentials to be able to steal volume from more ‘traditional ciders’ such as Thatchers, & Westons Vintage.

Some elements to consider

  • How can you ensure the message of the brand is heard?
  • What can be done to create a ‘buzz’ and excitement around the brand?
  • What can the brand do to disrupt the category and be noticed by target consumers across the UK?
  • What does the brand need to communicate to help position the brand in the mind of the affluent consumer and to continue to command a higher price point vs competitors?
  • How can you encourage those consumers who don’t buy, try the brand and its respective products?

The above are just some of the challenges the brand faces but it is up to you to identify what the strategic priorities should be and where the focus should lie. Where are the opportunities? What threats does the brand need to mitigate against?

It would not be feasible to address every challenge in one year due to limited resources (ie money and time) so a further challenge for you is to provide rationale as what to do in year one and perhaps what the brand may consider in the future. However, the immediate priority is to create a Brand Plan for April 2021/22. This exercise requires you to collect your own secondary data from multiple online and offline sources in order to understand the environment, the company as well as the consumer and you are free to do your own secondary research / data gathering although some information will be provided for you on myplace. You MUST NOT contact the brand owner / company in question or any associated staff/employees of the business or undertake any Primary Research of any kind.

The key to doing well is as follows:

  • Demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of Branding principles and theories
  • Be informative, engaging and visual in your presentation
  • Persuade the Brand Manager (Zoe Atkinson) that your plan is the best course of action for the brand.