A beverage company is launching a new line of energy drinks targeted at health-conscious consumers. The strategic manager wants to study the market…

To study the market position of rival companies in the energy drink segment, the strategic manager can use strategic group mapping. This tool helps identify strategic groups, which consist of rival firms with similar competitive approaches and positions in the market. The procedure for implementing strategic group mapping effectively is as follows: Identify the competitive characteristics that differentiate firms in the industry typical variables that are price/quality range (high, medium, low); geographic coverage (local, regional, national, global); degree of vertical integration (none, partial, full); product-line breadth (wide, narrow); use of distribution channels (one, some, all); and degree of service offered (no-frills, limited, full).Plot the firms on a two-variable map using pairs of these differentiating characteristics.Assign firms that fall in about the same strategy space to the same strategic group.Draw circles around each strategic group making the circles proportional to the size of the group's respective share of total industry sales revenues. By following these steps, the strategic manager can gain valuable insights into the competitive landscape of the energy drink segment and identify potential positioning strategies for the new line of energy drinks targeted at health-conscious consumers.