Marketing Plan of a Keep Cup

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Every year, 1.6 million paper cups are used at the University of Mannheim – 1.6 million paper cups that – if you string them together – would cover the distance between “Neue Aula” (the main building of the University of Mannheim) and the University of Rottenburg (Lang, 2015). There is a desperate need for a reduction of paper cups at the University of Mannheim. One does not have to look very far in order to find a solution, because the university already offers one: the Mannheim KeepCup. Unfortunately, sales of these reusable cups are very low and need to be increased.

The advantages of the Mannheim KeepCup need to be shown to potential customers in order to reduce the use of paper cups on university grounds. Several ways of doing so will be shown in the following marketing plan. In order to find out about customers’ needs, an online survey with 54 respondents has been conducted.

TARGET CUSTOMERS

Customers of the Mannheim KeepCup are environmentally friendly students or employees of the university who drink hot beverages regularly. In the summer term of 2015, 27,152 students are enrolled at the University (University of Mannheim I, 2015) and in 2014, 6,603 people worked for the university (University of Mannheim II, 2015, p. 85). These two groups are the target customers of the Mannheim KeepCup because they are directly associated with the University of Mannheim and daily drink hot beverages at one of the university’s cafeterias. Owning a KeepCup will be most valuable to them. The reasons for this value are mostly discounts which will be further focused on in section 7 – promotions strategy.