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The Situation The Lincoln Brand is seeking to enhance and legitimize its image as a premium luxury brand and to that end is strategically targeting key demographic groups at the forefront of the trial, adoption and spread of luxury trends. Specifically, this proposal is submitted in response to the Lincoln Brand’s request for unique, aspirational, customized, multi-market events capable of assisting in the launch of the all-new, 2013 MKZ name plate. Launch events will target affluent, African Americans aged 35 - 54 with a primary emphasis on male drivers, but with the intent and expectation of appealing to female drivers with a similar aspirational DNA. More specifically, this experiential campaign is intended to reintroduce and rejuvenate the Lincoln brand amongst the younger members of the luxury segment considered to be the “Cultural Progressives” (CPs) who appreciate independent thought, individual expression and enjoy luxury personal experiences. They are willing to form their own opinions and preferences based on their own experiences and not buy into group thought and status quo. 3
The Assignment To partner with the Lincoln Motor Company in the conceptualization and execution of exclusive, lifestyle, image- enhancing, consideration-creating events, Lincoln is soliciting the aid of a media partner with event execution capabilities to publicize, promote and manage this scalable program in key opportunity markets across the country.
Timing: 1st - 3rd QTR 2013 Markets: ATL, NYC, DMV, LA, Dallas and/or MIA Budget: $50-60 K per market
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REAL MEN COOK Real Men Cook has been featured with full shows on the Food Network’s Emeril Live, Paula Deen’s Best Dishes and Al Roker’s Roker on the Road. Southern Living, USA Today, TIME magazine and countless other magazines have carried stories about Real Men Cook, the event that has transformed the way Father’s Day is celebrated in the U.S. Real Men Cook delights women and positions African American men as caring and responsible. “The food is off the hook!” is a quote from the Al Roker show called, “Do Good Food.” New Generation Celebrity Notes: President Barack Obama has been among the celebrities who have donned a chef’s hat or an official Real Men Cook bandanna and served the masses. Other new generation celebrities serving as hosts include Michael Baisden who hosted RMC in Atlanta in 2012. Ruben Studdard, Anthony Anderson, Lenox Lewis also Oscar and Tom Joyner Jr. at Real Men Cook Washington, DC,with Jackie Reid as a celebrity taster, Roland Martin as a cook in Chicago and Dallas, Chef Jeff Henderson author of Cooked, Rev Al Sharpton, Idris Elba and Lenox Lewis as hosts of the New York Real Men Cook, Mark Morial as host in of the New Orleans Real Men Cook, Sybil Wilkes has been a celebrity taster and we could go on.
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REAL MEN COOK (cont.)
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Yvette Moyo Yvette Moyo is co-founder of the Real Men Cook® brand and national Father’s Day celebrations. She is creator and producer of the MOBE (Marketing Opportunities in Business & Entertainment) advanced marketing symposium series and on the 1999 lead team as innovator for the White House Blacks in the Internet Briefing. A social entrepreneur, brand builder, speaker and former magazine industry executive, in recent years she has served as Moderator for the Upscale Magazine’s Mid-Summer Marketing Retreat and recently authored the book Real Women Cook: Building Healthy Communities with Recipes that Stir the Soul. As tribute to Moyo’s work, President Barack Obama wrote the 2005 foreword for the book Real Men Cook: More Than 100 Easy Recipes Celebrating Tradition and Family. She currently serves on the White House Advisory for www.fatherhood.gov programming and help found the now-USDA managed www. goodgreens.org initiative. On the ground with cooks participating in the White House “Let’s Move” activities launched in 2010, Real Men Cook Men’s Health programming is included on First Lady Michelle Obama’s Professional Accomplishments Bio. 7
Rael Jackson Rael Jackson is the Chief Brand Strategist for Real Men CookÂŽ. With sixteen years experience in brand building and Marketing Mr. Jackson has participated in White House Briefing on Digital Divide, co-hosted White House BrieďŹ ng on African-Americans in Business and Technology with Marketing Opportunities in Business & Entertainment (MOBE), which received commendations for marketing innovation from both President William J. Clinton & President George W. Bush. Jackson re-branded National Urban League Young Professional seminars and was responsible for standing-room only panels, increasing overall Urban League conference participation at the Annual National Conference. Under his leadership as Brand Strategist, Real Men Cook has generated an average of 250 million media impressions annually.
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Meet the Chef
Josh Marks
Chef Josh Marks is the new national spokesperson for the Real Men Cook brand and lead volunteer for Real Men Charities, Inc. the nonprofit, with a mission to build healthy families and communities. Josh Marks is a rising superstar, and literally the last man standing, on the 2012 twenty-week mega hit FOX television cooking show “MasterChef”. He was mentored on the show by internationally known leading chefs including, Gordon Ramsey, who has taken a personal interest in Josh’s career, pledging his commitment to do so on the last season of the show just 3 months ago. Chef Marks relocated to Chicago, his home-town, in January 2013 and will be conducting cooking classes, for Real Men Charities, Inc. programming associated with First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative and providing exclusive meals for celebrity functions as a guest chef in Chicago and New York City. At 25 years old, with a business degree from Tugaloo (an Alabama HBCU), a former U.S. Army Contract Specialist, and at 7 feet tall, with nearly 12,000 Twitter followers and 6500 Facebook friends; he quite literally stands heads and shoulders above the best. Marks has been referred to as the new-generation Marcus Samuelson.
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The Team In order to respond to this RFP and deliver upon its objectives in both memorable and measurable ways, the perennial, well-respected and proven brand, Real Men Cook and its signature multi-market event with a 20 year track record of execution, has partnered with Diamond Diaspora Media (DDM). DDM is a digital media network comprised of hightraffic, urban-oriented media properties and a leadership team that includes veteran marketers who are unsurpassed in their integrated African American, urban transcultural and general market experience across a variety of product and service categories.
Darryl Cobbin Darryl is an award-winning branding expert, author and nationally recognized blogger. He has held senior executive level marketing positions with The Coca-Cola Company; a start-up wireless venture, Boost Mobile (CMO); and in Media & Entertainment with News Corp’s 20th Century Fox Films (EVP of Marketing). He has led teams across three different industries with similar world-class results. They all became the #1 growth brands in their industry or the #1 brand of all time. His body of work has been chronicled in multiple books and across a spectrum of various media and for his work on Sprite in particular, he was named BrandWeek Magazine’s Marketer of The Year. Brands that Darryl has led along with media coverage: Sprite, Boost Mobile, Avatar. The Big Payback, The Tanning of America, CNN, VH1, MTV, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, The New York Times, BrandWeek
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Stanley Yorker Stanley is an incredibly versatile marketing and advertising professional with years of experience building and revamping brands. He has worked for advertising agencies (NW Ayer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Burrell Communications Group, Matlock Advertising + PR) and risen to senior levels as both a Creative Director and an Account Director; he has partnered in interactive firms (BrokenCurve and Shock Theory); experiential agencies (The Symmetry Group); promotional agencies (Synergy Communications) and, for several years, headed his own youth and urban culture agency (nomenudum, ltd). He has been a regular contributor to Rolling Out Urban Style Weekly and launched, with Neil Nelson, an online neo-soul lifestyle and video property, BSoul.tv Brands that Stanley has worked on: Coca-Cola, Sprite, PowerAde, Minute Maid Sodas, Kodak, BMW, McDonald’s, Dell, Levi’s, Nokia, Courvoisier, The American Red Cross, The UniverSoul Circus, Tylenol, The US Army and many others.
Tracy Dornelly Tracy Dornelly is the co-founder and voice of PopularCritic.com. She is responsible for the website’s content. Tracy’s primary role is content strategy which is to seek out, create, develop, and edit content consistent with the female-oriented voice of Popular Critic. Tracy is also responsible for managing a team of writers and contributors for both PopularCritic and Dimewars. Tracy holds two degrees, one in Psychology from Clark-Atlanta University and the other in Fashion Merchandising from Bauder College.
Neil Nelson Neil is a successful serial entrepreneur. He has built multiple high revenue generating websites out of his basement! His co-creation of Dimewars.com resulted nearly 30 million unique visitors generating more a million dollars of gross revenue (2010). Making it one of the largest urban sites on the web. Prior to devoting his full-time energies to DimeWars, Neil worked in global logistics for the Home Depot and was a member of the engineering team tasked with developing global transportation solutions for America’s number two retailer. Neil holds two Bachelor of Sciences degrees, one in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a second degree in Mathematics. Brands that Neil has co-created: AtlantaBlackstar.com, Dimewars.com, PopularCritic. com, NorthParan.com, BSoul.tv
Dionne Williams Dionne Williams is the founder of D. Williams PR & Event Management Group, a firm specializing in customized public relations/media relations strategies to optimize the visibility that helps to create and build brands for clients. DWPR’s event management division has worked on many high-end events across the country including New York Fashion Week, the Kentucky Derby, Polo in the Hamptons, numerous corporate events, major celebrity brand events (Jennifer Hudson, Chaka Khan, Regina Taylor, Brandy, to name a few).
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The Concept Lincoln “Taste Drive” Events The Lincoln Taste Drive adds a unique spin on the familiar test drive by adding cultural relevance and heightened sophistication within the context of a personal invitation to experience the luxury, performance and personality of the revitalized Lincoln brand. Participants will almost literally “taste” the brand as they are treated to fine cuisine, fine wine and fine entertainment. They will get a taste of the good life that the Lincoln brand exemplifies for new American independent-thinking Cultural Progressive auto buyer.
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Lincoln Taste Drive Lincoln Test Drive Year-1 Thematic: “Cornbread to Caviar” - This celebrity chef-centric program pays homage to the rich cultural heritage of African Americans and their ascendancy to the highest strata of social, economic, artistic, business and political achievement. This societal progression is paralleled in the growing sophistication of the African American palate and pantry, as well. Importantly, the progression is a continuum that does not invalidate the “cornbread” experience but, in fact, salutes it’s continued relevance even as new tastes are added to the CP’s expanding palate. Additionally, along the way of African American progression, the Lincoln brand has consistently been a marker of achievement, luxury and status. As African Americans have evolved, so has the Lincoln brand.
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Leverage Leveraging RMC’s 20 year history of community-focused culinary events featuring African American men, “Cornbread to Caviar” represents a natural evolution and freshening of the RMC franchise. Celebrity chef Joshua Marks, from FoxTV’s MasterChef television series anchors the national program and will align with local celebrity chefs in each of the program markets for localization opportunities. In addition to celebrating culinary progression, the events will also showcase other elements of Black culture that also exist on a continuum... music, art, film/theater, fashion, design.
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Event Description Musically, the events will showcase the roots of the Black experience in America from gospel, blues, and folk music to America’s only original art form - jazz, and all genres in between. Visually, the events will pay homage to African American masters past and present, from selftaught artists like to emerging young stars. Theatrically, the events will alternately showcase indie film and minimalist live performance honoring cinema and stage from the Chitlin Circuit to the Great White Way. Event attendees will be comprised of “tastemakers” from various spheres of influence, e.g., local celebrities and media personalities, LMC stakeholders, media contest winners Attendees will personally experience the new standard of luxury that is the Lincoln brand as they will be transported to and from the venue in a fleet of 2013 MKZs. 16
Description (cont.)
Depending on venue constraints, vehicles will be inside for attendees to appreciate and familiarize themselves with and spotlighted outside of the venues for brand presence and curb appeal. Stills and video will be captured at all events. Attendees will be able to download and share from their Facebook accounts. Post-event, Taste Drive attendees will be invited to attend future general market driving events that are scheduled in-market. Additional CRM through subscription to a custom, digital lifestyle magazine, “Taste Drive� Attendees will be tracked based on stated likelihood to purchase a new vehicle within next 3, 6 or 12 months.
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Program Elements:
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Exclusive, Invite-only “Taste Drive” launch events, 1 per market
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Tablet formatted digital magazine, “Taste Drive” with editorial content covering the luxury lifestyle and African American aesthetic
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Micro site
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Signage, banners, table skirts
Per Market Budget Estimates Food:
$100 pp (100 guests +1)
Remaining in budget, budget line items: Printing/Design Local Event Planner/PR Local Videographers/Photographers Brand Ambassadors/Models Chef Joshua Marks Bloggers/Tweeters (10 invites for meal per city) Travel/Lodging 10k (needs to be bartered) Air @$600 per x 6, hotel at $150 per x 6, 2-night) Shipping, supplies, business services Security Local Celebrity Guest Gift Bags Miscellaneous
$20k
5k 5k 3k 2k 3k 2k 10k 1k 1k 1k 1k 1k
Activation: RMC Marketing
10k
DDM Partner
10k Media - UniWorld Group Total: 55K + 20k to hotel = 75k per market 19