What strategy is appropriate for the launch of the new product? Address the followingissues in your answer: a. Motivation for launching a new productThere are a few motivating factors that are driving Kertz in the direction of releasing anew product. One of these factors is that the industry is extremely dynamic and as a result manynew brands and brand extensions are launched each year. The current trends of today may not bethe same two years from now. In this industry at any point in time 30 percent of coolers on theshelf are either new products or line extensions. Companies believe that continuously addingnew flavors and formats to their existing product lines and launching new products is a way tocreate a competitive advantage. The belief supports the notion that if innovation does not happenmarket share will begin to dwindle. Another key motivating factor to launching a new product isthat coolers, industry wide are a seasonal business. Most sales occurred between May andSeptember, during the Canadian spring and summer.Bolliger noted that since the seasonaltimeline was so finite that being a week or two late would directly impact the bottom line andresult in a loss of real dollars. To prepare for a proper product launch, companies typically began preparing 10 to 12 months ahead of a new product launch. The proceed by conducting researchduring the spring and summer, pitching the retail trade in the fall, and finalizing production anddistribution in the winter in order to have the new product on the shelves for the first of April.b. Cultural implications for Vincor around the launch of a new refreshments product.Kertz is facing some resistance from the sales teams in launching a new product. The firstmajor cultural implication for the sales team is that the new product will cannibalize the current products. Sales reps feel that the company should be focusing on wines and the current productsthat Vincor has already developed. Pushing a new product is more difficult than sellingsomething that the sales reps already know. Much of the sales reps success is done by creatinglong lasting relationships with their buyers. The concern is that by constantly switching up products that could fail suppliers’ trust may begin to waiver. This resistance causes problems for Kertz because sales reps are responsible for forecasting and she needs them for promotion and budgeting. Reps are also responsible for price setting and currently want a deeper discount thanmarketing wants to offer. Kertz’s concern is that sales reps are not thinking long-term and thatthey lack the needed “buy in” to the idea in order for the product launch to be successful. On topof problems within the sales teams, Kertz was concerned about the monopolistic nature of thedistribution channel. Getting approval from the liquor board is essential to the success of a new product launch. She knows that she is going to have to pitch the product effectively to the boardand also to her sales team.c. Target marketAs for the target market, the customer is very exploratory and is open to trying newthings. This is partially the result of targeting the university age demographic where a person’stastes change from their first year of university, when they are 19, to when they graduate at 22.For example, 56% of Canadians, 19 and older, claimed to drink one or more of the differenttypes of refreshment categories. So, this tells us that refreshment category drinkers tended to beyoung. Also, refreshment category drinkers were more likely to be female (57%) than male(43%). The most important driver for purchasing a refreshment brand among refreshmentcategory drinkers was flavor, with 93% of respondents claiming it played a significant role inKevin Tame and Denis PeraltaVincor Case their purchase decision. The next strongest drivers were “looking for something familiar” (59%),“looking for something new and different” (44%) and the brand (37%). Another, majority of refreshment category drinkers seemed to be value conscious (66%) and 65% of peopleconsidered themselves extremely social people. In addition, some saw themselves as healthconscious (46%), trendsetting (44%) or outdoorsy (39%).In terms of language, results reflected regional findings, with a much higher proportion of English-speaking cooler drinkers (79%) than French-speaking drinkers (21%). Alongside, manyconsumers said that the primary drivers to trying new coolers included exciting flavors,interesting packaging (bottle and color of the liquid), compelling and unique product claims and perceived value offering. Many cooler drinkers stated that the new brand would have to deliver ataste profile equal to or better than their current brand for them to switch brands or include themin their consideration set. Other product features that consumers considered when trying a newcooler included the liquor base (vodka, rum or wine), carbonation versus non-carbonation andfruity- versus clear-colored