Illy is a family-owned, Italy based, high end producer of coffee. The firm has name recognition in the highly fragmented European coffee market. The firm is known for premium espresso drinks and for espresso-based drinks like lattes. They are passionate about espresso, are willing to sell coffee drinks with milk, but do not believe in using syrups for flavored coffees with their espresso flavor profile. The firm considers moving too far away from their espresso and espresso-based drinks impacts the authenticity of their brand.

Illy has decided to increase their participation in the US coffee market - the largest coffee market in the world. Illys current share in the US market is so small that they do not appear in the market share rankings in the US. During the pandemic, Illy decided to focus on the at home consumption market with the expectation that consumers will continue to want high quality coffee at home. Their focus is on two products:

1. Packaged coffee for home preparation and consumption (ground, whole bean, and capsule)

2. Ready to drink cold brew

Instructions:

You will identify a marketing mix (product, price, place, and promotion) to reach the following target market:

Affluent empty nesters who enjoy travel, cultural events, and are engaged in their local community.

Product: Select one of the Illy products identified above to market to the target market and explain why this product will meet the needs of this target market

Distribution: Identify the method you will use to distribute your product. Be specific to discuss the distribution intensity and the distribution channel.

Pricing: Discuss the pricing strategies you will use to sell your product using the pricing strategies in the Shopify video included in the Pricing Module. Indicate the steps you would need to take to implement this pricing strategy.

Promotion and Brand Awareness: Discuss how you will use each element of the promotion mix (advertising, personal selling, social media, public relations, and sales promotion) to reach the target market. If you are not going to use an element of the promotion mix, be sure to indicate why. For each element of the promotion mix, provide at least one example of a message that you will communicate and a specific placement for the message.

Be sure you use the Business Style Guide to format your paper and to cite all sources.

This assignment will require the following:

Research on the target market to understand their buying behaviors and how to reach them

Research on the product you have selected to ensure it meets the target market's needs and you can develop promotion messages about the product.