Running Head: UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN
UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN BUSI 265: Principles of Marketing
Amanda Ceide Nora Harrison Ellie Lang Frances Pace
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UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN
Table of Contents:
1. Title Page 2. Table of Contents 3. Executive Summary 4. Situation Analysis 5. Market Analysis 6. The Target Market 7. Positioning and Unique Selling Proposition 8. The Marketing Mix 9. Conclusion 10. References 11. Appendix
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Executive Summary: Situational Analysis: Company: Undercover Colors is a company that was created by two engineers, Stephen Gray and Tyler Confrey Maloney, at North Carolina State University in 2014. They have developed a wearable nail technology that identifies the presence of common date rape drugs in a variety of beverages through color change. According to CO-Founder and former Chief Science Officer, Ankesh Madan, “Undercover Colors is one part of a larger effort to combat sexual violence. That effort includes outreach, prevention, victim services, and culture shifting� (Ohnesorge, 2015). One of the essential strengths of their product offering is that is serves an end use, not just a beauty use to women. Undercover Colors is attempting to change the way that a certain group of consumers gets ready to go out, adding to their existing beauty regiment. Together, the four founders have created the most discreet way to detect drugs in nearly any drink, being far less obvious than any other product in the deterrent market for date rape drugs. However, despite the company’s best efforts, their product has yet to launch and potential customers interest and attention is beginning to fade. They are lacking heavily on marketing and collaborations with other platforms to help them raise awareness. They have positioned themselves as part of the fashion and beauty market, when in reality they are also in the deterrent market, which is far more socially conscious. One major concern and limitation is that the clear coat only detects three major drugs including: Rohypol, Xanax, and GHB (Gray & ConfreyMaloney, 2015). There is a plethora of accessible drugs out in the market that could easily be slipped into a drink. Customer: Undercover Colors was developed by the four founders, Stephen Gray, Tyler Confrey Maloney, Ankesh Madan and Tasso von Windheim, with victims and friends of the creators in mind. These men noticed a horrific epidemic of date rape drugs and sexual assault on their college campus, and were all directly affected by it, or knew someone that was. They sought out a preventative solution that could be integrated into products that women already use, as well as a platform to raise awareness (Gray & Confrey-Maloney, 2015). The major initiators for this product is the victim themselves, influencers that could be implementing in the marketing campaigns, counselors at universities, and social platforms like sororities. Undercover Colors is targeting Millennial and Generation Z customers that are females and males between the ages of 18 and 30. The market is based around college towns and densely populated areas in the United States and United Kingdom. The consumer typically attends a large college, predominately a state school that is based around sports, Greek life, and parties. The wearable nail tech serves a social and functional value to consumers. The majority of Undercover Colors customers are in the awareness and consideration phase because the product has had quite a bit of news and press around it during the past three years, however it is still new and has yet to hit the market.
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Context: Undercover Colors is working to hand the power back to women in a devastatingly powerless situation. The clear coat they designed is a preventative solution that can easily be added to anyone’s beauty regiment, by simply putting the Undercover Colors clear coat on top of your existing nail polish. It offers power at your fingertips and gives women a sense of security. This is the newest beauty accessory that may truly have the power to save lives. According to RAINN (2017), “1 in 6 women will be sexually assaulted in her lifetime and 62% of rapes on college campuses are alcohol related”. The only perfect solution to drug induced sexual assault is ending it all together, however the creators of Undercover Colors are working toward raising awareness to promote change while giving women wearable protection. The company has over $8 million USD in funding to begin producing and distributing this product, however they have made little progress over the last three years (One Source 2016). One major flaw with Undercover Colors is that they have yet to set a price for the nail polish. This is a place where they will have to be incredibly strategic with their marketing; view the price section for further details. The problem is, women don’t want to spend a lot of money on nail polish, especially a clear coat like Undercover Colors has designed which would run at $20 USD. Most polishes run between $5 USD and $25 USD in today’s market. However, the technological advantages of this may sway the consumer, it could still be a hard sell for the company. In an age where social media is predominately used by Millennial and Generation Z consumers, Undercover Colors can use this to their benefit to promote their product, as well as raise awareness for their cause. However, these platforms haven’t been correctly utilized by the company. In order to grow their following and therefore spread awareness of their product and cause, the company needs an employee to control of their social media while implementing influencers, and constantly keeping the customers informed about the product. At the height of the companies buzz around their new product, they were featured on major press outlets like Good Morning America, Cosmopolitan, the Washington Post, NBC, and numerous others (Undercover Colors 2016). Collaborators: When the creation of this product first began, the company received enough funding to get it off the ground through non-tax deductible donations via its website. Undercover Colors now has over $8.19 million USD in funding, which they have received through three funding rounds. On November 10, 2016 an unknown venture donated $5,500,000 USD to Undercover Colors (One Source 2016). Out of the seven full-time employees for Undercover Colors, the majority of them are chemists operating in independent laboratories at NC State’s Centennial Campus in Raleigh, North Carolina. Both founders, Stephen Gray and Tyler Confrey Maloney, volunteer at Wake County’s sexual assault and domestic violence center (Undercover Colors 2016).
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As of now, Undercover Colors has few collaborators, which could be vital part of bring their product success. RAINN (Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network) is the largest antisexual violence organization in the United States and could be a great collaborator for Undercover Colors. RAINN operates and created the National Sexual Assault Hotline in partnership with over 1,000 local sexual assault service providers across the nation (RAINN, 2017). RAINN have various programs to help survivors, prevent sexual violence, and ensure that perpetrators are brought to justice. RAINN heavily promotes safe drinking and has various tips for alcohol safety. However, as of now they do not back any deterrent that are in the market to recognize date rape drugs in a drink. Undercover Colors also needs to focus on implementing further experiential value for their customers, and adding a hotline to their website would be a great step. Further collaborators could be campus book stores, date rape victims used as influencers, and retail stores like Urban Outfitters and Ulta. Competition: The founders of Undercover Colors have placed their product in the fashion, and social innovation markets. This is a major area where Undercover Colors needs to shift and truly differentiate themselves in the correct markets. Considering Undercover Colors is not only in the nail polish industry, but also in the deterrent market, its competition varies greatly. There are four major direct competitors in the deterrent market: Smart Straws, Pd.id, DrinkSavvy Cups, and Drink Test Coasters. The Smart Straw is a cocktail stirrer that has two detectors, one for GHB and another for Ketamine (Smart Straws, 2017). One major upside to this product is that the detectors will not contaminate your drink, but a downside is that they can only detect two major date rape drugs. Another direct competitor is the pd.id which is a small batteryoperated device that will immersed in a beverage will identify whether your drink has been drugged. The pd.id is re-usable, battery operated, small and easy to use. However, this product has yet to hit the market and begins at $75 USD (Destrube, 2015). DrinkSavvy is a company that is in the works of creating cups, glasses, straws and stirrers that can detect date rape drugs in a beverage, but none of their products are available for purchase yet (DrinkSavvy, 2017). In comparison, the Drink Test Coasters were created by Drink Safe Technologies and only cost $0.85 USD (Drink Safe, 2017). The coasters only have a one-time use and you simply place a drop of your beverage on the coaster, smear it on a specific spot, and wait to see if it changes color. When comparing Undercover Colors nail polish to all of these other competitor’s one obvious feature sets them apart: As seen in figure 1, Undercover Colors provides the only wearable technology which makes it the most discreet and functional deterrent in the market right now. For further comparison, view the perceptual maps on page‌. *All in USD
Undercover Colors Clear Top Coat
Smart Straws
Pd.id
DrinkSavvy
Cocktail Stirrer
Personal Drink ID
Drink Test Cups
Drink Safe Technologies Drink Test Coasters
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UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN Product
Price
$20
N/A
Technology
-Wearable nail tech that detects three major drugs including: Rohypol, Xanax, and GHB
-A cocktail stirrer that has detectors on each end for GHB and Ketamine
Benefits/ Usage
-Easy to add to your existing beauty routine -Discreet
-Will not contaminate your drink -One time use
Begins at $75 -A small device that you immerse in a drink to detect date rape drugs -Drugs have not yet been specified -Reusable -Battery operated -Compact and easy to use
N/A
$0.85
-Cups/glasses that immediately change color when a date rape drug is detected -Drugs have not yet been specified -One time use
-A coaster with two built in drug detectors -Detects GHB and Ketamine
-One time use -Easy to use -Small and portable
Figure 1: Direct Competitors
Indirect competitors for Undercover Colors are massive nail polish brands that already have a huge following like: Opi, Essie, Sally Hansen, Revlon, Chanel, Deborah Lippmann, and Tom Ford. Opi nail lacquers cost approximately $10 USD, while designer brands like Tom Ford’s nail lacquer price at $35 USD (Dickens, 2017). None of the nail polishes in the market as of now include any wearable technology to detect date rape drugs, like Undercover Colors. However, most women know their favorite nail polish brands for their long-lasting formulas, signature colors, and preferred finish. Undercover Colors is a company created by men with a product line that is essentially targeted towards women. Therefore, they know little about the benefit that women seek in their nail polish. Market Analysis: Add in a separate section with the DMU, which we can refer back to in later sections Talking about the self-defense market (Tasers, pepper spray etc.) as well as just the products you stick in your drink Undercover Colors is both in the beauty and self-defense market. While it is a clear top coat, it also detects date rape drugs, therefore it cannot be classified as your average clear top coat, nor can it be classified as your average deterrent or self-defense product. It is the only wearable nail technology within the deterrent market, which separates it from all of its direct
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competitors. The geographic area that the market is first based around is the United States and then the United Kingdom, specifically in college towns and densely populated cities –– as that is where the highest amount of sexual assault cases occurs. As the product is not released yet, we would first work on the US market and creating a strong place in that market. Once successful in the US, we would then expand to Europe, focusing first on the UK as it has the most similar market, and then expanding to the rest of Europe. Demographically, Undercover Colors target markets are between the ages of 18-34. As seen in Figure 2, RAINN (2017) states that 54% of sexual assault victims are between those ages. It is estimated that one in four women will be the subject of at least one sexual attack over the course of their college career, and up to 90% of college campus rapes occur through date rape incidents. Within that percentage, 80% of the date rapes occur when men are perpetrating against women when the woman is intoxicated (HRF, 2014). This is why Undercover Colors is important and needs to exist in the market. Undercover Colors could act as a preventative solution for women, hopefully leading to the decline of these numbers while saving lives. However, the company is not just focusing on college-aged women. According to RAINN (2017), “21% of transgender, genderqueer or nonconforming (also known as TGQN) college students have been sexually assaulted, compared to 18% of non-TGQN females and 4% of non-TGQN males”. Through these statistics, Undercover Colors three target markets have been specified as: the typical college student, the urban woman, and the LGBTQ community. As explained in the Decision-Making Unit, the gatekeepers and influencers are the employees selling the products at the school bookstore, school and local counselors, as well as the victims that speak for Undercover Colors. They would have the most power in urging potential customers to buy this clear top coat. What these three segments have in common is the fact that they all go out to bars and clubs, all use social media frequently and live an active lifestyle. The target markets are all socially aware and may either know someone that has been affected by a date rape drug or have been affected themselves.
Figure 2
In terms of the functional value of the top coat, it needs to last for a fair amount of time without chipping to be sold at this price range. As of now the wearable nail tech only comes in clear, but Undercover Colors could expand by offering a wider range of opaque nail polishes. The polish itself would have to be able to compete with the huge brands that are already in the
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market. However, the marketing needs to focus on the fact that while it is a clear, functional, top coat, it is also a deterrent carrying a heavy social value. The features and attributes that are important for the deterrent market differ greatly from the beauty market. The product needs to work quickly while also being discreet, which is where it being a clear coat comes into play. It’s important that the clear coat will not contaminate the user’s beverage after dipping in a fingertip. It is also essential to place this product in the market in a way that feels accessible, comfortable, and socially accepted by society. Women and men need to be able to view Undercover Colors clear coat as a part of their usual beauty regiment without feeling like there is a stigma around buying, and using it. This then leads to the pricing, which needs to be strategically set in order to compete with other deterrents or self-defense products as well as beauty products. Undercover Colors major competitors in the beauty market are: Essie, Sally Hansen, OPI and Deborah Lippmann. These are all widely successful nail polish brands. Essie is priced at $8.99 USD, Sally Hansen ranges from $2.49 to $14.99 USD, OPI is anywhere from $4.99 to $10.59 USD, and Deborah Lippmann polishes range from $18 to $20 USD. The product would be priced at $20 which is similar to mid-high end nail polishes like Deborah Lippmann. In the deterrent category, Drink Safe Coasters are the only product that are actually available for purchase. They are priced at $0.85 USD for a single coaster or $7.50 USD for 20 test strips. What makes Drink Safe Coasters a top competitor to Undercover Colors is the ability to customize coasters. For example, a sorority or college could buy a set of coasters for a function. This fits directly within the target market of college women and gives a lot more options than Undercover Colors currently does. On the other hand, when comparing Undercover Colors to Drink Safe Coasters it is important to think about ease of use. Undercover Colors is simply a clear coat that is painted on top of your existing nail polish, therefore, it is readily available and easy to use whenever you’re out. Whereas with Drink Safe, you have to remember to bring it in your purse or pocket, take it out before using it and bring x amount for however many drinks you will be having considering that they only offer a single use. With barriers to entry, Undercover Colors already has over $8 million USD in funding. Its technology makes it the only clear top coat in the market that can detect drugs, as well as the only drug detector that can be physically worn. The product has not yet been approved by the FDA, as it mixes in with your drink and it needs to be proved that it will not contaminate your beverage in any way. Because of this setback, it is not yet available for purchase. As of now, Undercover Colors does not have a patent on their product which makes it easy for another company to develop a technology similar to theirs and market as such. In order to protect their company, Undercover Colors needs to get a patent before they begin marketing the top coat. Seeing as the product was started at NC State University, the company has access to NC State’s science labs for creating and engineering the product, which is a major advantage for them. However, considering the clear coat has not yet been released, their access to distribution channels is still small, and they have no major distributors or factories to further this product.
The Target Market:
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In order to dissect the target markets to focus on, segmentation of the customers on a broader level happens first to fully understand the generic customer, then focus on three solid target markets pertaining to the Millennial and Generation Z segments. Undercover Colors needs to use the full benefit of segmentation so they can target their promotions to specific target markets and increase their customer satisfaction in the long run. A useful segment includes six categories: identifiable, sustainable, accessible, stable, differentiable, and actionable. An identifiable segment is one that can be identified by the target market, which yes, their product, when initially launched gained a huge following and support from not only potential customers but also investors. Their product is substantial because half the world’s population is women, with sixteen percent of those women being within the age group they are targeting (Index Mundi, 2017). The product is definitely accessible to the customer, being offered on their website, Undercovercolors.com, and hopefully through other retailers soon, like Ulta and Urban Outfitters. Drug related sexual assaults have always happened in the past, however in recent years, it has become more and more of a mainstream issue within our society, especially on college campuses. Undercover Colors’ clear top coat is more than a passing trend. Men and women want to feel safe and protected when drinking, and deserve the freedom to do so. This product gives power at your fingertips, allowing their customers to know if their drink has been contaminated, thus preventing them from getting drugged and taken advantage of. Other products in the market that detect date-rape drugs are not as discreet as the top coat, making the top coat more differentiable from those of smart straws or coasters. The idea of having a clear top coat on the color of your choice is the first of its kind. The clear coat gives the customer a call to action: the action of being proactive about their safety when going to drink. Geographically, their customers are located in the United States of America and in the United Kingdom, typically in college towns and densely populated cities. Their customers are aware of the problem of drug related sexual assaults happening all over college campuses. Thus, allowing their customers to be even more aware of their surroundings when they go out drinking, especially concerning the safety and well-being of their drinks. They usually take a proactive approach to making sure nothing gets slipped in. The age of their customers is between eighteen and thirty years old, which include both male and female. However, the concentration of the target market is dedicated to college students. The founders, Steve and Tyler, saw drug related sexual assaults spiking on their college campus, North Carolina Chapel Hill. They wanted to be a part of the solution not the problem. The benefits of the color changing top coat are being able to detect date rape drugs by simply dipping your finger into the drink, thus preventing sexual assaults. The three target markets chosen from the segmentation process includes the typical college student, the urban women, and the LGBTQ community as a whole. Undercover Colors believes these three target markets are the main focus due to the certain aspects of the segmentation. The first market is the typical college student who is mainly female-dominated. College students typically have a low income since they are full time students. Their activities include homework, school related programs like sports games and going out drinking. Basically, there are three places a college student usually goes, these places include house parties, tailgates,
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and low-end bars. College students have the highest use of social media within the target markets, but have a tendency to be more free-spirited and naive. The second market is the urban woman. The urban woman has an average to middle income provided from her completed education and full-time career. She is a highly sociable person, who concentrates on not only her occupation, but her networking skills. She attends mid to higher class bars and clubs, since she has the means and social class to do so. Since being a little older than the typical college student, the urban woman is more globally and socially aware of the dangers of society. Not so naive to think getting drugged does not happen in the world, so she knows she needs to protect her drink and herself. She is digitally savvy and uses social media but not to the extent the college student does. The third target market is the LGBTQ community, Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Queer. This target market is combined with full-time students and full-time jobs, who live in predominantly urban areas. Being confident and social people, they typically attend gay bars and clubs. The community is incredibly socially aware of issues and are vocal about their opinions, especially with being a user of social media. The biggest target market is the typical college student because the product serves the most uses on college campuses. However, the second biggest would be the urban woman, then followed up by the LGBTQ community. Positioning & Unique Selling Proposition: Position Statement: For any young consumer, man or woman, Undercover Colors is the only clear top coat brand for nails among all clear coat brands that recognizes their social responsibility to finding preventative solutions to a rapidly growing issue. Through a unique formula, Undercover Colors has the technological ability to detect the presence of date rape drugs in your drink and changes from clear to black when it comes in contact with a contaminated drink. Undercover Colors is not only effective, but easy to use and add to anyone's routine. Perceptual Map: In this section you will find the perceptual maps we have made to show where Undercover Colors stands compared to other products in the market. In figure 1, we took 4 of Undercover Color’s direct and indirect competitors and strategically placed them on this map to show how they compare to the Undercover Color’s product in terms of ease of use, and discreteness. Through our research we found that, while effective, our direct competitors, the Smart Straw and the PD.ID, as well as our indirect competitors, the Drink Safe coasters and the Drink Savvy cups, are far less discrete than their respective counterpart, Undercover Colors. In terms of ease of use, we found that along with Undercover Colors, the Drink Savvy cups are the easiest products to use, and the Drink Smart Coasters are the most difficult. While we acknowledge that all of these products are effective in detecting the presence of date rape drugs in a drink, we believe that discreteness and ease of use are key when it comes to testing your
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UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN drinks in social settings thus leading us to position Undercover Colors in the more favorable position at the top right hand side of the map.
Figure 1: In figure 2, we took Undercover Colors and their direct and indirect competitors and strategically placed them on this perceptual map according to their price and whether or not they are reusable. Throughout our research we found that while more affordable, the Drink Smart Coaster, Drink Savvy Cups, and the Smart Straw are one time use products, meaning the consumers will have to buy and transport multiples of those products in order to test every drink during a typical night out. The PD.ID is placed at the bottom right hand side of the map because we found that while it is reusable, it is rather expensive compared to the other products with the starting price of the PD.ID being $75.00 USD (DestrubĂŠ, 2017). These findings lead us to place Undercover Colors towards the more affordable end of the map because, as mentioned in the pricing section, we have priced this product at $20.00 USD, and in the middle of reusable because you can use the same finger to test multiple drinks as long as that nail has not turned black from a contaminated drink. Figure 2:
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Social Media and Advertising: Undercover Colors is a brand with an extremely high social responsibility. And while the company recognizes the immense responsibility that they have taken up, they have done very little over the last two years to further promote the brand and product offering. Although Undercover Colors had a set release date of 2017, there has been no talk about an official release date for the product since 2015. This has left potential consumers, as well as the media, speculating if the product is ever going to be released. In addition to this, Undercover Colors has been virtually inactive on all of their social media platforms since the fall of 2015. This can be damaging to the customer perceived value of the brand, as many consumers may be led to think that the product in no longer going to produced and released. Since the majority of the target consumers of Undercover Colors falls within the Millennial and Gen Z segmentations, we highly recommend that the company consulate their social media and PR representatives and have them collaborate, in order to better promote the brand on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram through frequent posts and updates on the product itself and the production process. This will allow potential consumers to directly engage with the brand and stay informed on the progress that they are making, as well as keep the anticipation high for the expected release date of the product. Logo, Website & Brand Name: A logo is usually the first thing that a consumer notices about a brand, and that can greatly influence the way that the customers perceives the brand. While the Undercover Colors is very minimalistic, we believe that there is room for improvement. Undercover Colors is a brand that has a high social responsibility and is empowering people at their fingertips, we believe that their logo needs to reflect exactly that. The website is also lacking in a sense that it is very bland in information and noisy when it comes to color. While we acknowledge the website is reflecting the color change that happens when the top coat is exposed to date rape drugs, we believe that these colors are off putting and that the site needs to be completely revamped to better reflect the
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product and appeal to potential consumers. As a company looking in from the outside, we strongly suggest that a graphic designer, as well as an experienced website designer be consulted and utilized in order to better improve the logo to make it more effective, as well as make the website more aesthetically pleasing and fitting to the brand. When it comes to the brand name, Undercover Colors, we have found it to be incredibly deceiving. The fact that the name has the word color in it, but the product in actually just a clear top coat, is rather confusing and could potentially mislead consumers into thinking it is a true nail polish that comes in colors. While the name does leave room for the brand to expand to producing color nail polish, we have seen no evidence of them wanting to do so, leading us to strongly suggest that the brand founders thoroughly consider if Undercover Colors is the appropriate name for their company. The Marketing Mix: Product: As of right now, Undercover Colors has one product available. They are currently offering a clear top coat, which changes to black when coming into contact with a date-rape drug in a beverage (Undercover Colors, 2017). The clear coat is packaged in a clear bottle with a brush attached to a black lid, looking just like any other nail polish container.
Figure A. Figure A is a representation of what the product looks like inside our packaging. Seen above, is the clear liquid with the clear packaging, along with the brush as the applicator to put the product on the customer’s nails. Since their product is only a top coat for regular nail polish, it does face challenges most nail polishes do. For example, nail polish only lasts for about a week, if you are lucky, before the chipping begins. The top coat need to be resilient in the fact that it should last a long time without chipping or wearing down. Also, if left for a certain amount of time nail polish will start to clump and rot in the bottle. Undercover Colors needs to make sure their formula will not start to clump together because the customer will throw the product out if it happens.
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Initially Undercover Colors created this product for a new specific market in mind. Undercover Colors has a social responsibility to its customers. They invented this product in the search for a solution for drug related sexual assaults, primarily on college campuses. But this product can help everyone and anyone who wants to use it. In addition to the product, Undercover Colors has created a hotline for their customers who want to call the company and share their experiences. These experiences could be about the top coat itself or if they want to talk with a counselor. Undercover Colors wants to know what is happening with their customers, whether it is good or bad. The hotline will be available to all customers, as well as being in connection with the non-profit, Rain. As mentioned above in collaborators, Rain helps people with sexual assault incidents. So, with the help of Rain their customers will always be able to call and talk with someone. Undercover colors want to focus on creating a good customer value for its consumers by providing the right support. Price: While Undercover Colors has no official price set as of now, we have done ample research in order to help us better understand where they sit in the market and how to properly price the Undercover Color’s product. Throughout our research on competitor based pricing, we have come to the conclusion that Undercover Colors should be priced relatively similar to the higher end nail polish brands such as Deborah Lippmann. The average price of a bottle of nail polish at Deborah Lippmann is between $18.00 and $20.00 USD (Lippmann, 2017). We believe that the Undercover Color product is worth more because it has a technological ability that no other clear top coat has. Undercover Colors has the ability to detect the presence of date rape drugs in a beverage, allowing consumers to be vigilant in preventing sexual assault from occurring, and in turn, empowering them. In our opinion, that is something worth paying for, thus leading us to land on a final price of $20.00 USD. It is our opinion that uniform pricing is the best way to go should the brand expand and grow into other markets, considering that geographic location does not affect the quality or technical ability of the product overall. We strongly believe that having a consistent price in all markets is fair and just, and that no markups or markdowns should be made on the product. Place: Undercover Colors marketing will predominately be focused on the United States, considering that the product has been designed and produced in Raleigh, NC at NC State’s Centennial Campus. College campuses and areas that are densely populated with the Generation Z age group will be the main target. Undercover Colors is concentrating on consumers who live on college campuses, attend bars, pubs, parties, and tailgates. Problems with date rape dugs seem to be far more prevalent at large State Schools and Colleges opposed to smaller private institutions. According to RAINN (2017), “alcohol is the most commonly used substance in drug-facilitated sexual assault…Street drugs, like GHB, Rohypnol, Ecstasy, and Ketamine can be added to drinks without changing the color, flavor, or odor of the beverage”. These various drugs are used to compromise an individual’s ability to consent to sexual activity, resist a perpetrator, or even remember the assault. The perpetrator could be a stranger or someone you’ve known for a while. Therefore, Undercover Colors designed a product that could be easily
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applied to anyone’s beauty routine so that they can always be prepared regardless of the setting they are in. The most practical way for Undercovers Colors to get their product in the market would be through campus book stores, that are easily accessible to college students. Expanding from there it would make sense for the company to place their wearable nail tech next to the other products that women use to go out, at stores like Urban Outfitters or Ulta. The company could greatly spread their product by selling it at retail stores that specialize in cosmetics and beauty, while catering to males and females. Ulta constantly promotes new products that are offered in their stores across the United States, and this coverage could be essential to Undercover Colors clear coat’s success. When looking at expansion, the United Kingdom seems like the most viable option for Undercover Colors. The UK has a similar market to the United States, and most importantly, English is the primary language. In order for Undercover Colors to be successful, the message of the company needs to be understood. The UK is experiencing their own epidemic of date rape drugs and date rape facilitated sexual assaults, similar to the US. However, in the UK this problem seems to be more prevalent in pubs and bars, rather than on college campuses. Promotion: Undercover Colors is a company that currently lacks any successful promotional efforts. Their main forms of communication with the customer are their Instagram (which as of today has 5,457 followers), a Facebook page, and the occasional article written about them in the media. This leaves a lot of room for expansion, which is great from a marketing perspective. In terms of advertising, updating their Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook pages in order to become more active and cohesive would be beneficial, especially in reaching the defined target market segments. Instagram sponsored advertisements and videos that show how the product works could easily be implemented so that the customer becomes well versed in the product. Another method would be featuring advertisements in print magazines like Cosmo and Seventeen would reach directly to the desired target markets (refer to page‌) while leaving an imprint in the mind of the consumer. However, in order to make this happen Undercover Colors would need to hire an employee that could solely handle their social media and marketing platforms. The most direct and effective way of promotion would be through demonstrations on college campuses during a nationwide tour promotion Undercover Colors product and their message. It would give the company a way to talk directly with their target market, demonstrate how the product is used and feature influencers to speak out about sexual violence and the danger of date rape drugs. With the primary target market being female college students, going to Sorority chapter meetings would be a great way to educate the consumers while introducing them to the product. Branching off of that, each sorority has a certain philanthropy or charity that they feature each year, so teaming up with a sorority whose philanthropy matches the ideals of Undercover Colors could increase awareness and sales for the brand. Partnering with a non-profit like RAINN, whose goal is also to raise awareness for sexual assault, could be a great tactic for Undercover Colors. With the help of RAINN, they could
UNDERCOVER COLORS MARKETING PLAN
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collaborate by holding promotional events to raise awareness and give away product samples. In addition, sponsoring an event like the Slut Walk would create a lot of buzz around the brand as well. The Slut Walk aims “to deliver a flawlessly executed event geared toward raising awareness about sexual injustice and gender inequality… the SlutWalk aims to impact and uplift, while shifting the paradigm of rape culture. The event provides a safe, all-inclusive space to entertain, educate, and empower” (SlutWalk, 2017). Creating a strong dynamic between Undercover Colors and the Slut Walk would give Undercover Colors a much larger audience among Generation Z consumers.
Conclusion: