Project 07 · Academic · MKT 424

A go-to-market plan for Vital Nutrition

83% of people we surveyed wanted a free consultation before buying supplements. So we positioned the brand on guidance and transparency instead of price, and sized the market at 3,516 qualified buyers.

The concept

A full go-to-market proposal for Vital Nutrition, a consultation-first wellness retailer concept for Battleground Plaza, built for MKT 424 with a team of four. The question we had to answer: in a category dominated by big-box and online players competing on price and selection, where does a small, local retailer actually win?

The insight

The answer came out of the research. People aren't short on places to buy supplements. They're short on guidance. 83% of the people we surveyed said they wanted a free consultation before buying. That reframed the whole opportunity: the gap in the market wasn't price or product, it was trust. So instead of competing on cost, we positioned Vital on guidance and transparency.

Sizing the opportunity

We pressure-tested demand before recommending anyone open a store. Using Data Axle and SimplyAnalytics we sized the immediate trade area at 3,516 qualified buyers, layered in Mintel and IBISWorld syndicated data for category trends, and ran our own Qualtrics survey on top of it, which gave us a defensible read on whether the concept could actually support a business.

What we recommended

From there we built the full STP and 5P strategy around the consultation-first positioning, a competitor perceptual map against GNC, Walmart, and Whole Foods that showed the open space we were targeting, and two detailed customer personas to keep the marketing grounded in real people. Every element pointed back to the same promise: help people choose confidently.

What I took away

The whole project turned on one insight everyone else had walked past. Once we saw that the real competitor was confusion, not Walmart, every other decision got easier.

Deliverables

• Market sizing and macro / micro environment analysis
• SWOT, segmentation, and two customer personas
• Positioning statement and 5P strategy
• Competitor perceptual map
• Ad design and communications concepts

Tools

• Data Axle, SimplyAnalytics, Mintel, IBISWorld
• Qualtrics, U.S. Census data

The full proposal

Read the complete go-to-market proposal below, or download a copy.