Ratchet Marketing Integrated Marketing Proposal - EcoFreez

Executive Summary M&R Environmental is a single stream waste management company from Burnaby, B.C. that manufactures premium sustainable products. M&R Environmental has grown to 45 employees, 15 trucks, and currently services seven waste streams since being established in 1994. M&R Environmental keeps 18.5 million litres of waste oil out of Vancouver’s water streams and recycles 2.6 million litres of antifreeze each year.

From its waste management stream of business comes Eco-Freez, a brand of premium, recycled coolant that is made from ethylene glycol, de-ionized water, high quality additives and a bittering agent called Bitrex. EcoFreez currently serves the commercial market and is available in five different varieties that surpass OEM and American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.

Eco-Freez is well positioned within the antifreeze industry due to its stable supply of waste antifreeze, rather than depending on virgin ethylene glycol. The market for ethylene glycol has experienced volatility in the past few years and has seen fluctuations in the market, an area Eco-Freez does not have to contend with. In addition to a stable supply, Vancouver is the third largest market for antifreeze in Canada.

The automotive market in Canada is growing. 2012 saw the second highest sales numbers in Canadian history.

By 2016, the industry will have a compounded annual growth rate of nine per cent. In addition, the geographic area M&R Environmental services has 1.2 million registered vehicles, demonstrating a large number of vehicles already available for future antifreeze demand growth.

For consumers, antifreeze is a low involvement product and typically purchased based on pragmatism. Coupled with the effects of the economic downturn, consumers have changed their spending habits to be more economical. Consumers are also clamouring for environmentally friendly and locally sourced products. The combination of thrifty shopping and increasing sustainable purchases has created a trend called “Green Thrift”.

In addition, consumers’ propensity to purchase locally sourced products holds more weight than any other sustainable product attribute.

When it comes to how Canadians prefer to service their vehicles, 75 per cent or more use an automotive service station, compared to 13 to 18 per cent who do it themselves. A small number of consumers trust friends or family to perform their maintenance. Commuters in Vancouver also face the second highest commute in Canada, with a 30 per cent travel delay in the morning and 61 per cent in the afternoon. This means they spend a considerable amount of time in their vehicle and stuck in traffic.

In terms of ecological sustainability, Eco-Freez does not compete with any direct competitors. Antifreeze is also a grudge purchase, and very few consumers are aware of what type or even why antifreeze goes into their vehicle, and the process behind it. Consumers therefore tend to make antifreeze purchase decisions based simply on brand name and price; this makes awareness of Eco-Freez’s brand all the more important.

Thorough research has indicated that Eco-Freez should focus on targeting a primary, secondary and tertiary market to generate awareness, given its broad consumer base. The primary market is called the Conscious

Commuters, and is made of ecological and locally inclined, millennial drivers who commute daily to work.

These people are also tech savvy. The secondary market consists of individuals from the same demographic and psychographic profile as the Conscious Commuters, but they are also the online influencers of this target market; they are aptly named the Influential Insiders. Lastly, the tertiary market –called Drivers in Vancouver (DIVs) — includes all drivers in the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). This is a spillover audience who receive all forms of advertising aimed to those in their vehicles.

The communications objective for the Eco-Freez campaign is to generate positive awareness for Eco-Freez and over 60 million quality impressions from October 2013 until August 2014.

The unifying theme of the campaign encompasses four factors that apply to Eco-Freez in that it is sustainable, local, premium, and changes existing perceptions. These key strategic points lead to the unifying theme of It’s Time to Change. This theme poses a call to action to the target market to change with, and to, Eco-Freez coolant.

The creative strategy will use an emotional appeal to evoke responses of pride and trust in Eco-Freez and their communities. Creative will feature Vancouver landmarks, which represent sustainability and solicit pride and trust in the brand, alongside product shots. Most creative will feature copy saying “Some things shouldn’t change” (referencing the landmark), followed by “Your antifreeze should.” This will be accompanied by the Eco-Freez logo and tagline “Premium Recycled Coolant.”

The campaign strategy will be to create awareness on two levels. High-level awareness will be used to educate the Conscious Commuters on Eco-Freez and its brand attributes. Low-level or ground level tactics will engage with the target audience on a personal level to increase quality impressions and build a trustworthy reputation for Eco-Freez.

The first media objective is to communicate the brand benefits and attributes of Eco-Freez to the target audiences, with an emphasis on the Conscious Commuters. This should be done through media that are the most applicable in reaching them at places and times in their day when they are thinking about their vehicle.

The second media objective is to establish Eco-Freez as a trusted brand with the Conscious Commuter target audience.

A combination of Out of Home, Transit, Radio, Experiential and Online Advertising, combined with Social Media Marketing will be used to achieve the campaign objectives. The entire campaign will be executed with a budget of just over $244,000. $5,000 has been kept as a contingency fund.

The strategy and tactics used in the It’s Time to Change campaign will help achieve the campaign objective, and will generate a movement within the automotive fluid industry towards sustainable change, with Eco-Freez at the forefront.

Report Introduction This document proposes an integrated marketing campaign for M&R Environmental’s antifreeze and coolant product, “Eco-Freez.” The report will recommend specific campaign tactics and timing that will be most effective in establishing Eco-Freez in the local market for retail consumers.

The objective of this report, as set out by M&R Environmental, is to propose an integrated marketing communications plan that will increase brand awareness amongst Eco-Freez’s consumers within the Greater Vancouver Regional District.

M&R Environmental M&R Environmental are the Burnaby, Vancouver based manufacturers of Eco-Freez, which is a reclaimed and recycled premium antifreeze product which has been sold into the commercial market successfully for years, but only recently has entered the packaged consumer market.

Company Background & History Since 1994, M&R Environmental has been positively impacting the lives of their customers, employees and the environment across the lower Vancouver mainland.

From humble beginnings as a family-run business with just three employees, M&R Environmental has grown to become one of British Columbia’s leading companies in environmentally sound recovery and recycling of petroleum and automotive related waste.

Starting as a single stream waste management company, collecting used oil bottles, owner George Mate soon realized he needed to diversify the company’s business in order to survive and grow. Today, M&R Environmental has 45 employees, 15 trucks, and services seven waste streams. They produce locally sourced, premium sustainable products, which they sell to Canadian businesses and consumers.

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M&R Environmental has always believed that cultivating strong relationships with customers and employees is a core component of their success. M&R Environmental continually reaches out to the community, supporting causes such as ovarian cancer research as well as donating iPads to autistic students at Morley Elementary School. Since beginning operations, M&R Environmental has been committed to making a genuine difference to their environment, and in the community and industry they work in.

In an average year, M&R Environmental keeps 18.5 million litres of waste oil out of Vancouver’s water streams, 634,000 kilograms of oil bottles out of landfills, and recycles 1.5 million kilograms of oil filters and 2.6 million litres of antifreeze. The production that goes into saving our environment from these harmful pollutants all happens in a 2,200 square-foot, state of art processing facility in Burnaby, B.C. M&R Environmental collects and distributes to all regions between Pemberton, North of Whistler, to Boston Bar in the Fraser Valley.

The recycling process begins with the recovery of waste products from a multitude of sources, brought back to their processing plant. Once these waste liquids have been thoroughly distilled and filtered, and treated to the highest of industry standards, they are sold and distributed to their customers. Coast Mountain Bus Company, Mr. Lube, and many independent service stations are included in M&R Environmental’s customer list.

Often the recovered oil is sold to refineries and mills to keep their overall production of virgin (new) oil down.

M&R Environmental also recycles machine parts, cleans them and resells them to local businesses.

M&R Environmental is now looking to build the same reputation they have in the commercial sector into the consumer arena by launching packaged jugs of Eco-Freez into the retail market across the Greater Vancouver region (M&R Environmental , 2013).

Eco-Freez Marketing Mix Eco-Freez has been sold into the commercial space in bulk since 2006, but M&R Environmental launched the packaged product to consumers near the end of 2012, and are looking to grow their retail presence and sales volumes during 2013. Their ability to produce a high quality, sustainable product at a competitive price makes for an attractive retail opportunity alongside already established competitor products.

Eco-Freez is a sustainable antifreeze and coolant product made from reclaimed and processed waste antifreeze. The process entails ethylene glycol being filtered and extracted from the discarded and collected antifreeze. Due to growing demand, M&R Environmental recently acquired their third ethylene glycol vacuum distillation unit, establishing a potential production capacity of over two million litres of Eco-Freez product per year. However, capacity is capped by the amount of waste antifreeze M&R Environmental can collect, which was 2.1 million litres in 2012 (M&R Environmental , 2013).

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Product Antifreeze/coolant, commonly referred to as simply “antifreeze”, is an often confused and misunderstood product. While many think it protects an engine from freezing, the opposite is true – its primary purpose is to prevent engines from overheating, and it is only called “antifreeze” due to the fact that, as a coolant, it has chemical properties which prevent it from freezing in cold climates. Frozen coolant often results in burst cooling pipes, lost coolant, and subsequent overheating of engines.

Eco-Freez is made from blending de-ionized water and additives with ethylene glycol. The process consists of refining used antifreeze through an intricate heating and vacuum distillation system and then mixing the extracted ethylene glycol with water and high quality additives to create a final product. The use of quality additives creates a premium product, which performs from -37 to +129 degrees Celsius. All Eco-Freez products are premixed and contain a Bitrex additive to help prevent animal and human ingestion (M&R Environmental, 2013).

Being a recycled product, there are a variety of environmentally beneficial factors that exist compared to virgin products. The pre-mix of 47 per cent de-ionized water and 53 per cent ethylene glycol meets or surpasses OEM and ASTM industry standards (M&R Environmental, 2013). M&R Environmental is widening their focus from primarily the business-to-business market, and is using a new market development strategy to offer Eco-Freez to the consumer market. There are five types of premium coolant that are offered under the Eco-Freez brand, meeting most consumer needs, which are briefly described below.   





Extended Life Premium Coolant: Orange in colour, contains proprietary Organic Active Technology (OAT) inhibitors which provides up to 5 years or 250,000km of protection.

Global Premium Coolant: Pale yellow in colour, has an extended life of five years or up to 250,000 km, and can be safely mixed with both Extended Life and Universal blends, or most other antifreeze types.

Heavy Duty Premium Coolant: Green/Purple in colour, a precharged coolant with a proprietary formulation optimized with corrosion inhibitors. It is specifically optimized for on-road truck, off-road truck, and farm applications, protecting for up to 300,000 km.

Heavy Duty Diesel Extended Life Premium Coolant: Red/Yellow in colour, a precharged heavy-duty coolant formulated for heavy-duty engines with long service intervals. It provides up to 6 years or 960,000km/12,000 hours of protection.

Universal Premium Coolant: Green in colour, a wide spectrum antifreeze which provides up to 2 years or 80,000km of protection (M&R Environmental, 2013).

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Price Eco-Freez’s products range in price from $10.99 to $12.42 per 3.78L jug depending on store and product line, which is a competitive price point (M&R Environmental, 2013). Because Eco-Freez uses collected waste antifreeze as a base ingredient and requires far less energy to produce (80 per cent less than virgin ethylene glycol), its manufacturing process is not affected by the escalations and fluctuations of virgin ethylene glycol (CMAI Global, 2010).

This advantage allows M&R Environmental to maintain profitable margins while offering competitive consumer prices, creating an opportunity to use a penetration pricing strategy without sacrificing profits.

Place Eco-Freez is currently sold in various popular retail locations. North Shore Auto Parts (North Vancouver) and 99 Truck Parts (Surrey) stock Eco-Freez, as well as four Canadian Tire stores: Surrey’s 120th Street and 152nd Street stores, as well as branches at 32513 S. Fraser Way in Abbotsford and 6312 200th Street, Langley. An end cap display has been used at Surrey’s 152nd Street store for added awareness.

Although M&R Environmental wishes to increase distribution and boost retail sales, they have limited production capabilities of 2.1 million litres per year due to capacity. As well, they are limited by the amount of waste antifreeze they can collect which was 2.6 million litres in 2012, yielding 1.5 million litres of Eco-Freez.

Promotion M&R Environmental has been focusing the majority of their promotional efforts for Eco-Freez on the business to business market, and only in June 2012 started to promote their product to the consumer market.

Currently Eco-Freez is using a pull product strategy by with a radio spot on AM1040 sports radio, and they have also secured advertising space on the Roger arena’s jumbotron “power ring” during Vancouver Canucks home games. Eco-Freez also recently secured a sponsorship on the Canucks’ “Prospects” show as well.

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Eco-Freez is also heavily featured on the M&R Environmental Facebook page. However, overall content posting on the page is sporadic and engagement is often lacking. Posts are usually “feel-good” stories and general, lighthearted content about M&R Environmental’s business activities and community involvement. As at the date of this report, M&R Environmental have 526 Facebook “likes.”

At the retail/point of purchase level, Eco-Freez has complemented their products with brochures that explain the performance characteristics and applications of the Eco-Freez products available.

At the end of September 2012, Eco-Freez hosted a booth at TRUXPO, where they educated visitors about the product and offered special show prices. A customized Eco-Freez booth was set up with informational content.

Eco-Freez also has its own website domain (www.eco-freez.com). The site’s main aim is to educate customers about the product’s recycling process, range, and performance; it is not built for advertising promotions, showing consumer retail locations and providing pricing. Given their desire to attract the end-consumer segment, with a proven lack of knowledge about the product, a website redesign is a potential area for improvement.

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Situation Analysis This section is a comprehensive detailing of the competitive landscape in which Eco-Freez operates, offers insights into the antifreeze industry, as well as Canadian consumption statistics, habits, and influences.

Industry Analysis Antifreeze is a product that is categorized under the North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code 325999, the category of “Other Chemical Products.”

However, the information on this broad industry - “Other Chemical Products” - offers little insight into where the market for antifreeze currently sits.

The following sections will profile the industry specific to antifreeze and, in some cases, recycled antifreeze. In addition, industries that have a major influence on the sale, production, and demand of antifreeze and eco-conscious products will be analyzed to draw insights into the marketing challenge at hand.

Antifreeze Industry Overview In the United States, the antifreeze industry has been subject to market and industry volatility over the past five years. This was attributed considerably to the faltering demand from consumers in the automotive industry as it went through a massive downturn during 2009 and 2010. Another factor that led to the unpredictable performance in the antifreeze industry was a rise in oil prices, which continues to threaten manufacturer profit margins (Ibisworld, 2011).

Eco-Freez, however, is in a unique position in relation to these fluctuating raw material prices - the use of waste product as a base ingredient creates a competitive advantage as it can largely predict and control raw materials supply and costs.

Financial Overview Of the industry in Canada, worth USD$30.64 million in 2006, Vancouver contributed 12.05 per cent of its total, or USD$3.66 million. Toronto and Montreal were the only other two markets that ranked above Vancouver in total sales of automotive antifreeze preparations in Canada, contributing USD$9.08 million and USD$7.74 million, or 29.9 per cent and 25.49 per cent respectively. Edmonton and Calgary both came into the top seven markets in Canada, with a combined 10.56 per cent of Canada’s automotive antifreeze preparations market (Philip M. Parker, 2005).

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ICON Group International, in a 2005 research paper, reported the expected worth of the “Automotive Antifreeze Preparations� market up until 2011, as per Chart 1. In Canada, the industry is expected to be worth USD$39.64 million (Philip M. Parker, 2005). Based off 2006 statistics, which saw its worth at USD$30.38 million, the five-year growth in the industry was expected to be just above 30 per cent.

Automotive Antifreeze Preparations Industry Value in Canada

Market Worth ($US Million)

45 40 35 30 25 20

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Chart 1: Automotive Antifreeze Preparations Industry Value in Canada

The Canadian Automotive Industry Automotive industry sales contribute greatly to the overall demand for antifreeze. A 30 per cent drop in demand for antifreeze in the US was a direct result of the auto recession in 2009, where sales were down 36 per cent from the previous year (Lockard, 2009).

2012 was a standout year for the Canadian automotive industry with an increase in sales of 7.8 per cent from 2011, and recorded the second highest sales numbers in history. Passenger car sales increased 10.1 per cent since October 2011 and truck sales increased by 4.1 per cent. Truck sales attribute to over half (54.4 per cent) of the sales in the Canadian automotive market. The Canadian industry for new car sales is expected to grow from its current market value of USD$33.1 billion to USD$47.4 billion by 2016, a compound annual growth rate of nine per cent, and a 53.9 per cent increase overall (MarketLine, 2012).

Electric vehicles pose a minor threat to Eco-Freez. Electric cars do not need antifreeze since they do not rely on internal combustion and therefore are not susceptible to mechanical failure due to overheating (MarketLine, 2012). However, the penetration of electric vehicles into mainstream consumer markets is miniscule, and unlikely to pose a threat to overall antifreeze consumption figures.

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Volume of Antifreeze sold in Canadian markets In the Canadian market, Ontario is the largest consumer of antifreeze, consuming almost 30 million litres, per year. However, with the variation in populations, a per capita analysis offers more insight into which provinces are really using and consuming antifreeze (Société de gestion des huiles usagées (SOGHU), 2012). This represents good potential for an Eco-Freez market in the future, as a retail-only product at first, but with possible expansion into collection and refining as well.

Saskatchewan is Canada’s per-capita champion in antifreeze consumption, with each person using more than seven litres of antifreeze on average during 2011, while Alberta follows at 6.5 litres. The higher populated provinces like Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia, represent the three lowest per capita consumption figures, signifying a limited marketplace for Eco-Freez.

The average person from Quebec only consumes a little over two litres of antifreeze, a person from Ontario consumes an average of 2.4 litres, and the average person from B.C. uses 3.2 litres. Table 1 below represents population growth in seven provinces across Canada; given that more people equates to more cars on the roads, this shows potential areas of expansion for Eco-Freez.

Province

Population

Population Growth (2006-2011)

Alberta (AB)

3,645,257

10.8%

British Columbia (BC)

4,400,057

7.0%

Saskatchewan (SK)

1,033,381

6.7%

12,851,821

5.7%

Manitoba (MB)

1,208,268

5.2%

Quebec (QC)

7,903,001

4.7%

751,171

2.9%

Ontario (ON)

New Brunswick (NB)

Table 1: Populations and Growth Rates per Province in Canada

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Seasonality of Antifreeze/Complementary Products To most consumers, the name “antifreeze” suggests that the product is used primarily in the winter months, to prevent the freezing of engine components, which is actually a well-held myth. In fact, antifreeze’s sole purpose is to act as an engine coolant with freeze-resistant properties, so as to remain in a stable liquid form.

Regardless of this, the vast majority of consumers correctly equate antifreeze as a product that protects their engine, and a purchase to consider during months leading up to winter. In the Greater Vancouver region, the mild climate results in less concern for antifreeze than it does further inland or along the east coast areas, where the climate is far more severe. This means that Vancouver’s antifreeze consumers are less motivated to place antifreeze as a priority purchase item.

Auto garage service stations across Canada also perpetuate the trend towards “winter preparation” services of cars, where antifreeze replacement is included with the fitment of snow tires, brake checks, and general prewinter checkups to ensure safety. For this reason, antifreeze sees a notable increase in consumption during the beginning of winter, November and December.

In summer, less focus is put on replacing antifreeze. Since Vancouver does not experience incredibly hot summers, there is little to convince consumers to think about replacing it. This is, of course, a fallacy, and consumers should be just as concerned about their antifreeze’s cooling properties during summer, as they are about its freezing point during winter (The AA, 2012). However, to convince or educate the mass market about the importance of a product largely referred to as “antifreeze” during warm, sunny months, would be difficult, but represents a potential market gap. Since retailers tend to focus on antifreeze promotions in the pre-winter months, antifreeze products experience seasonal winter spikes.

Product Analysis This section investigates all properties of Eco-Freez and antifreeze in general, in order to further understand and uncover where potential advantages, challenges, or marketing opportunities may exist.

Chemical Components of Antifreeze A variety of chemicals and materials influence the production of antifreeze due to their price, availability, demand, and various other considerations. Antifreeze also poses a variety of environmental and health concerns; the production of virgin antifreeze requires large amounts of energy and raw materials, and can do significant damage to ecosystems if incorrectly disposed of.

This section will summarize some of the main chemicals and materials used in the production of antifreeze, and provide an overview of their position in their respective markets.

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Ethylene Glycol In 2009, 10 per cent of all of the consumed ethylene glycol in the world was used in the production of antifreeze, with the vast majority used in the production of polyester (IHS Chemicals, 2010). Globally, the demand for the chemical continues to grow, shown by a 3.2 per cent increase between the end of 2012 and the start of 2013 alone (YnFx, 2013).

Environmentally, both the World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Chemical Council consider ethylene glycol to be of little risk to the environment, as it is “susceptible to biodegradation in the environment� (The American Chemistry Council, 2000). High levels of concentration are rare in the environment, leading the health and chemical authorities to deem it as a minimal risk to the environment.

Ethylene glycol is more harmful to humans and pets than it is to the environment. In large doses, the intake of ethylene glycol can cause central nervous system depression, adverse cardiopulmonary effects, and later renal damage (Technology Transfer Network, 2000). The presence of glycol gives antifreeze a somewhat sweet flavour, and numerous deaths in animals, adults, and children have been recorded, some involving suicide. This resulted in the passing of laws ensuring that all antifreeze products be infused with a bittering agent to prevent ingestion such as Bitrex (The Washington Post, 2011), which was enforced by B.C. regulations in 2011 (BC SPCA, 2013).

Propylene Glycol Some producers of antifreeze opt to use a propylene glycol formula rather than ethylene glycol. Propylene glycols are approximately 10 times less toxic when ingested, and producers are quick to capitalize on this attribute amidst safety concerns. However, propylene glycol based antifreezes do not perform as well as ethylene glycol products in terms of heat transfer, and propylene glycol is also more expensive as a raw material than ethylene glycol (DOW Chemical Company, 2013).

Despite being safer in terms of its ingestion toxicity, it is not safer for the environment. The production of propylene glycol antifreeze uses 40 per cent more energy than the production of ethylene glycol based antifreeze. When comparing virgin propylene glycol based antifreeze to Eco-Freez, Eco-Freez requires a fifth of the energy to produce, and propylene glycol antifreeze production uses 700 per cent more energy than ethylene glycol antifreeze (University of Michigan, 2013). Furthermore, propylene glycol results in greater amounts of waterborne pollution and significantly greater amounts of atmospheric emissions.

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Energy Consumption Index (avg index = 100)

Propylene glycol antifreeze has seen an increase in demand in North America, but its penetration has yet to make a significant impact, as its decreased performance characteristics are more concerning to Canadian car owners (IHS Chemical, 2011). See Chart 2 for a visual representation of energy consumption per commodity.

Antifreeze Production Energy Consumption by Raw Material Type 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Propylene Glycol

Ethylene Glycol

Recycled Ethylene Glycol (i.e. Eco-freez)

Chart 2: Antifreeze Production Energy Consumption

Oil Oil is a key constituent in the production of virgin antifreeze, and therefore its price has notable effects on the costs of production. 2012 saw crude oil trade at USD$111.26 per barrel, almost doubling 2009’s USD$60 price point (Norman, 2013). However, recently prices have stabilized below the USD$100 level, as have its effects on the production costs of antifreeze.

Additives Anti-corrosion and pH stabilizing additives are added to protect the internal cooling system from rust and corrosion. In earlier products, inorganic chemical packages were used, which were susceptible to deterioration over a relatively short period and resulted in regular antifreeze replacement. Newer organic acid technology (and hybrid OAT additive) formulations now offer longer overall antifreeze life spans, often over 5 years or 200,000 kilometers.

Water Premixed antifreeze products are blended in almost equal proportions with antifreeze and distilled or deionized water. Higher concentrations of antifreeze concentrate may slightly increase product performance, but concentrations greater than 70 per cent are known to attack and damage internal cooling system components such as seals and hoses.

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Bitrex Bittering agents are additives that most antifreeze manufacturers have adopted into their products’ chemical compositions. Bittering agents neutralize the sweet taste of antifreeze that attracts children and pets. The first law to ensure all shelved antifreeze products contain bittering agents was passed in Maryland, effective as of January 1st, 2012. In anticipation of the law being integrated across North America, most manufacturers now use a bittering agent in their antifreezes. This adds an average of two cents to the cost of a gallon (3.79 litres) of antifreeze (The Washington Post, 2011).

Bitrex is the manufacturer of the bittering agent used in Eco-Freez. The Bitrex trademark is recognized worldwide as an indicator of safety, quality, and value with B2B customers in 66 countries around the world.

Bitrex is recognized as the world’s most bitter substance – one teaspoon of Bitrex in an Olympic-sized pool makes the water noticeably bitter. Bitrex’s company website reports that consumers would pay up to 15 per cent more for a product containing Bitrex. The company website also reports that 85 per cent of parents find the idea of Bitrex appealing and that 43 per cent say that they would switch retailers to one that carries Bitrexcontaining products (Macfarlan Smith, 2012).

Consumer Analysis The consumer analysis performed for Eco-Freez will look to understand which consumer groups will be most interested in their product by determining trends related to the sale of environmentally sustainable antifreeze.

This will include an analysis of how residents of B.C. maintain their vehicles, an analysis of developing environmental beliefs within the target market, and several other aspects. These will be performed to better understand who Eco-Freez’s customers are and how best to reach them with marketing communications.

Drivires and their Vehicles In defining the reach of Eco-Freez, it is important to determine how many physical vehicles there are on the roads of the Lower Mainland. As of December 31st, 2011, there were approximately 1,254,000 licensed passenger vehicles located from Pemberton, north of Whistler, through the Lower Mainland and to Boston Bar (ICBC, 2012). With approximately 1,935,000 citizens 16 years and above located in that same region, on average, more than 64 per cent of the population owns a vehicle (PCensus, 2013).

Statistics Canada reports there are more than 21 million licensed drivers and 26 million registered vehicles in Canada. The biggest segment of these licensees is attributed to the age group of 35 to 45 year olds, with 4.7 million licensed drivers among them with a fairly even distribution between males and females. Those aged 45 to 54 make up then next largest segment of licensed drivers, with 4.5 million drivers (Transport Canada, 2012), as follows in Chart 3.

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Licensed Drivers (millions)

Licensed Drivers by Age Group in Canada 5 4 3 2 1 0 <16

16-19

20-24

25-34

Male

35-44

45-54

55-64

65+

Female

Chart 3: Licensed Drivers by Age Group in Canada

As per Chart 4, commercial vehicles and passenger vehicles in use are both increasing in Canada. In 2006, 7.56 million commercial vehicles were in use nation-wide, and 11.97 million passenger vehicles in addition to that. As of 2011, those figures rose to 9.09 million and 15.42 million respectively (Euromonitor: Passport GMID, 2011).

Vehicles by Type in Canada

Vehicles in Use (Thousands)

30 25 20 15 10 5 0 2006

2007

2008

Commercial Vehicles

2009

2010

2011

Passenger Vehicles

Chart 4: Vehicles by Type in Canada

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Consumer Demand for Environmentally-Friendly Products As the growing trend of consumers’ preference for environmentally sustainable products continue, they begin to demand that more traditional products reinvent themselves through sustainability.

In 2011, Satyendra Singh of the University of Winnipeg wrote a report entitled Green Marketing and Consumer Behavior: The Case of Gasoline Products. This report examines primary and secondary research conducted to determine whether Canadians environmental attitudes translate to the purchase of a uniform product such as gasoline. This study is particularly relevant to Eco-Freez as gasoline and antifreeze are both products of the same automotive maintenance industry and, by nature, relatively uniform in comparison to competitive products.

The report found that consumers in Canada preferred purchasing gasoline brands that indicated a higher level of environmental friendliness (Singh, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2011). The primary research conducted surveyed 300 university students indicating a strong preference for sustainable products within the 18 – 34 age demographic.

Singh conveys the necessity of developing green products to satisfy consumer’s growing requirements;

“These environmental concerns are now increasingly becoming important for firms, as they have the opportunity to develop green (i.e., environmentally friendly) products and position their firms as being green, a competitive advantage that leads to a superior business performance.”

(Singh, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2011) In addition, because of the increasing number of consumer resources available for research and analysis of green practices, consumers are able to access company information they weren’t previously able to previously access (Singh, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2011). Greater transparency requires better environmental policies on behalf of the companies in the eyes of the consumer. Singh indicates that greater transparency translates into consumers requiring greater social responsibility by companies. The impact of this can be seen in Figure 1, the Social Responsibility Life Cycle, below.

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Figure 1: The Social Responsibility Life Cycle (Singh, Vrontis, & Thrassou, 2011)

All of these factors contribute to the growth and popularity of green consumer goods in Canada. The fact that even gasoline is expected to reveal how “green” it is indicates that automotive owners are conscious of, and prefer, environmentally friendly products.

Economic Landscape There is a limited decision-making process when consumers purchase antifreeze (mostly based on pragmatism rather than a particular brand preference). The economic landscape has an impact on the types of choices consumers make, and also influence their perceived need for products, as consumers’ habits fluctuate during times of economic transition.

From the most recent profile on consumer confidence examining the third quarter of 2012, “Canadians are feeling good about their finances and are more willing to spend, but they aren’t necessarily ready to spend more. Beyond cutting back in many areas… Canadian consumers have changed how they spend when they do in fact spend (The Neilsen Company, 2012).”

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One way consumers are saving on household expenses is by reducing car usage, which reduces not only service requirements, but also their share of mind dedicated to automobile maintenance.

To further profile the consumers in the market for antifreeze, it was discovered that the majority of households in B.C. own one automobile, and that these households spend on average $481 annually on maintenance and repair (BC Stats, 2012). In Chart 5 below are statistics on transportation spending in B.C., as well as information on Canadiansâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; saving habits.

How are Canadians Saving on Expenses?

Spend less on new clothes

59%

Cut down on take-away meals

59% 57%

Try save on gas and electricity

53%

Cut down on out-of-home entertainment

48%

Switch to cheaper grocery brands Use my car less often

35%

Cut down on holiday breaks

35% 32%

Delay upgrading technology e.g. PC, Mobile

30%

Delay replacing major household items

29%

Cut down telephone expenses

26%

Cut down at-home entertainment

22%

Look for better home loan, insurance, creditâ&#x20AC;Ś

21%

Cut out annual vacations

17%

Cut down or buy cheaper alcohol brands

13%

Cut down smoking I have taken other actions

4% 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Chart 5: How are Canadians Saving on Expenses?

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Canadian Consumers and Automotive Maintenance An analysis of consumer trends in vehicle maintenance is an important component of identifying the correct design and placement of the Eco-Freez messaging. This analysis will help determine where B.C. residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; automotive repairs are done, how often, and how much they spend on their vehicles.

Of vehicle owners in urban communities, 47 per cent indicated that they have only one vehicle in their household, with 40 per cent claiming two vehicles. Nine per cent of all vehicles owned in B.C. are less than a year old, 18 per cent are between one and three years old, and 52 per cent are between five and 10 years old (Canada Post Marketing Research, 2008).

When it comes to how Canadians prefer to service their vehicles, it is clear that they are not the do-it-yourself type; 75 per cent or more use an automotive service station, 13 to 18 per cent to do it themselves, and a small amount trust friends or family to perform the maintenance.

B.C. vehicle owners maintain a higher propensity for taking their vehicles to a dealership for services, rather than using independent automotive service stations (Canada Post, 2008). This data is also reflected in primary research results.

In terms of spending, residents of the Lower Mainland spend an average of $607 per year on vehicle maintenance, one of the highest in the country. However, B.C. households also seem to neglect taking their car in for tune-ups as often as the rest of the country. Of those with a vehicle, only 41 per cent take it in once a year; this fact may be attributed to the less harsh weather conditions that are experienced on the West Coast than in the rest of Canada (Canada Post, 2008).

Younger consumers (18-34) were found to be less likely to return to the same service center year after year.

Their older counterparts maintained more of a relationship, taking their vehicle back to the same center more often, with 65+ at 81 per cent (Canada Post, 2008). This illustrates that as vehicle owners mature, they are more likely to develop relationships with their dealers and potentially lock themselves into buying those vendorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; chosen maintenance products. In turn, this indicates that younger consumers are more open to adopting new automotive products.

As per Chart 6 and Chart 7 based on data gathered from Canada Post (Canada Post, 2008), following advertisements and communication, consumer recall of service stations in Canada was most evident with radio (66 per cent), magazines (61 per cent), and brochures and flyers (58 per cent). In addition, likelihood of response was most highly invoked from radio or television (17 per cent), newspaper or magazine advertisements (14 per cent), followed by flyers and brochures (12 per cent). This information indicates that radio or television would be an effective tactic in communicating with the consumers.

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Effectiveness of Service Station Advertisements 66%

TV or Radio Ad

61%

Newspaper or Magazine Ad

58%

Fler or Brochure Flyer

42%

Addressed Mail

38%

Letters or Newsletters

36%

Unaddressed Mail

15%

House Phonecall

9%

Email Ad

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Chart 6: Recall Effectiveness of Service Station Advertisements

Likelihood of Responding to Service Station Advertisements 17%

TV or Radio Ad

14%

Newspaper or Magazine Ad Fler or Brochure

12%

Addressed Mail

12% 9%

Letters or Newsletters

7%

Unaddressed Mail

6%

House Phonecall

5%

Email Ad

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 20%

Chart 7: Likelihood of Responding to Service Station Advertisements

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Commuting in Vancouver To market to vehicle owners, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s important to understand how much time they are spending in their car on a regular basis and their driving habits. Although neglected or unknown by drivers, this often determines how much strain they place on their vehicle engines, and thus how often their antifreeze should be considered. It also offers insight into what media (and its placement) will be most effective in conveying messages to a chosen consumer group.

As determined by Stats Canada in the 2010 General Social Survey, Vancouver commuters spend on average 30 minutes commuting each way from work to home and vice versa. This is higher than the national average, which is 26 minutes. In fact, TomTomâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s congestion index recently handed Vancouver the title of second most congested city in the whole of North America, with an average 30 per cent travel delay (CTV News, 2012).

Table 2 below illustrates the different average commuter times by region and by commuter length (Turcotte M. , 2011). This information will help determine at what points during the day, consumers are most involved with their vehicles and through what media will be most effective in reaching them. Because consumers are spending so much time idle in their vehicles, this presents a good opportunity for Eco-Freez.

Table 2: Average Commuting Time to Work and Proportion of Workers

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Growth of Car Sharing Programs There is a growing trend in the use of car-sharing services within the urban transportation market, particularly in the downtown cores. In Vancouver, there are three major car-sharing companies that have been growing tremendously in popularity: Car2Go, Modo, and Zipcar. Their popularity is based not only on convenience and economy, but also on the positive impact they have on the environment (Ho, Spacing Vancouver, 2011).

According to a study conducted at the University of California, Berkley, car-sharing memberships in the US have climbed from 100,000 in 2006 to 500,000 in 2012, and could reach 600,000 in 2013. In the study, they indicate that those who participate in car-sharing programs use more fuel-efficient vehicles in general, while contributing to the amount of non-motorized transportation in use (Bieszczat & Schwieterman, My Car, Your Car… …Your Car, My Car, 2012).

Although these programs do not have an impact on the population who currently own a vehicle, the presence of these services may deter local residents from making a vehicle purchase in the future, thus reducing their necessity for products such as antifreeze.

However, many of these car sharing services pride themselves on using fuel efficient, eco-friendly vehicles; therefore, these growing fleets could be prime candidates as Eco-Freez business customers.

Buying Green As Eco-Freez is an environmentally friendly product, an examination of the trend towards buying green in North America is necessary to predict the propensity to purchase.

In highlighting the Canadian consumer landscape, the report uncovered that;

“Canadians are becoming more particular about getting value for their money...They are more thoughtful in what they buy, and looking for more meaning in their purchases, so they increasingly seek products that are ethical and environmentally friendly.”

(Euromonitor International, 2012) Currently, “more than 60 per cent of consumers globally want to buy from environmentally responsible companies, and packaging is the first place where consumers go to learn about a product’s environmental impact (Cohn & Wolfe, 2011).” This increases the importance of ensuring that packaging has relevant information on a product’s ecological footprint and environmental certifications.

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Consumers are looking to not only purchase products they see as environmentally friendly, but also those that are less expensive. As noted in the 2011 Euromonitor Top 10 Consumer Trends, intentions to purchase green products often fall off once consumers reach the checkout counter, where price becomes a more important product attribute (Euromonitor International, 2012). This has led to a trend termed “Green Thrift”, which purports that products that are both thrifty and environmentally friendly are becoming the products of choice. In 2012, Euromonitor succinctly the reasoning behind this trend; “While frugality is celebrating all the tech-led innovations at its disposal, its marriage with sustainability is thriving.” (Euromonitor International, 2012).

Demographically, green consumers and users vary depending on their age, income and education level.

Although large portions of green consumers are older with higher incomes, a large portion of green users are between the ages of 18-35 (Grail Research, 2009). These consumers are often less affluent but nonetheless purchase green products, especially when combined with lower prices.

Buying Local & Buying Ethical In marketing a product, it is important to discern whether the location in which the good is produced is a factor in the consumers’ decision process. Leading the way in producing locally sourced goods is the food industry.

However, more sectors are becoming aware of consumer demands.

“Canadians are aware of the power of their purchasing decisions to influence corporate responsibility. More and more, Canadians are talking to their friends and families about the merits of buying locally and the ethical behaviour of companies they interact with.”

(Abacus Data, 2011) This illustrates the changing consumer sentiment towards locally sourced products and their desire for greater accountability with corporate social responsibility. For example, 72 per cent of Canadians said they would be willing to spend more for products that are guaranteed to be produced ethically. Consumers also said they would spend $15 or more on a $100 item. To further segment the market, women and Millennials (18 to 29 years old) said they would spend more on average for an ethically made product (Abacus Data, 2010). To support this growing trend, Euromonitor’s 2011 Consumer Guide rated it as a top trend and stated:

“Today's consumer is comfortable with shrinking the radius of their lifestyle. There is a tangible virtual-to real world spill over with advocates of things local making effective use of technology.”

(Euromonitor International, 2011).

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As identified in the 2011 Euromonitor Top 10 Consumer Trends, of many growing environmentally friendly consumer product characteristics, local production and the importance of supporting local communities have established themselves as the most credible and important components (Euromonitor International, 2011). In the Global Online Survey on Green Buying Behaviour by Euromonitor International, several survey questions were asked of US consumers. The results of the research are presented below in Chart8, Chart 9, Chart 10, and Chart 11.

How trustworthy do you consider the following product label descriptors? (by age group) 60%

Trustworthiness

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

15-29

30-44

45-59

60+

Chart 8: Trustworthiness of Product Labelling by Age

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How willing are you to pay more for a product with the following claim? (by gender) 50% 40%

30% 20% 10% 0% Carbon Neutral

Fair Trade Free Range

All

Female

Organic

Natural

Locally Sourced

Male

Chart 9: Willingness to Pay for Product Claims by Gender

How willing are you to pay more for a product with the following claim? (by education level) 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Carbon Neutral

Locally Sourced

Fair Trade Free Range

Graduate/Post Grad Vocational School

Organic

Natural

University/College Secondary School

Chart 10: Willingness to Pay for Product Claim by Education

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How important are the following descriptors when purchasing? (by gender) 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

All

Female

Male

Chart 11: Importance of Product/Service Descriptors

Several trends are illustrated by the responses; the first is that consumers believe in the importance of supporting their local communities through purchasing locally produced goods, more so than environmentally friendly characteristics. The second trend is that consumers who value local production of goods and services are slightly skewed towards women, highly educated, and of all ages, but with the highest acceptance between the ages of 15-29 (Euromonitor International, 2012).

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Competitive Analysis The competitive analysis aims to identify, describe and gain insight into the known and perceived competitors of Eco-Freez. This section will uncover areas and opportunities where Eco-Freez can potentially outperform their competitors and gain market share.

The Competitive Set Eco-Freez offers the unique benefit of being a recycled product. As a premium ethylene glycol antifreeze, it offers exceptional performance across its wide range of product lines. In addition, the making of Eco-Freez has far less environmental impact than the production of any virgin antifreezes. This results in various elements of competition within the competitive set, as shown in Figure 2.

Eco-Freez competes with a limited number of products at the Form Level of “ecologically aware antifreeze”, due to its unique manufacturing process and product attributes. However, because consumers are largely uneducated on the components of antifreeze products, from their perspective, Eco-Freez competes more on the Category Level where brand names fall into their considered and recalled set.

At the category level (“antifreeze”), the antifreeze market is diverse and well-populated. Given that the majority of consumer antifreeze purchasing is rarely a high-involvement decision, the spillover from category competition into form competition, should be considered. Very few consumers are aware of what antifreeze goes into their vehicle, the process behind it, or know what makes one product better or more environmentally aware than the other – but they do recall brand names.

Figure 2: The Eco-Freez Competitive Set

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It should also be noted that the product form level of Eco-Freez is broken into further sub-categories of product.

However, this is shown for reference only. Only a small percentage of consumers are educated to the point of actually seeking out specific compositions, performance levels, or recycled/safe antifreeze, and therefore these factors most likely have little influence on their considered set. While these factors will undoubtedly play a role in each manufacturer’s market share and USP marketing strategies, it is most beneficial (especially as a new entrant) to analyze competitor products in the same way the consumer perceives them.

In terms of competition at the Generic Level (“vehicle protection”), Eco-Freez has very little competition.

Besides a small number of electric vehicles, every vehicle requires an antifreeze coolant. Coolant is an important vehicle additive, so perhaps the largest competitor in the antifreeze market is tap water, which while not recommended, some people still use instead.

Budget Level competition poses a challenge to Eco-Freez. Consumers see antifreeze as a grudge purchase, and most likely would rather spend their money on something else. Our research indicates that while many realize the importance of a quality antifreeze product, it is something they would prefer to not think about. As well, often they simply want the best price for a reasonable quality product that will protect their engine in accordance with factory standards. This may lead consumers to automatically opt for a brand name that they have experience with and already trust, or the cheapest product on the shelf that meets minimum performance standards. They may also simply trust their dealer or service technician to use a quality product during scheduled maintenance.

At an enterprise level, Eco-Freez faces its biggest competition. Eco-Freez has to compete against trusted brand names and their established product lines. This is significant because antifreeze is a low-involvement purchase. This means consumers will default to a brand name they recognize, trust, or have used before, be it antifreeze or other low-involvement products. Breaking this habit and moving antifreeze purchases into the decision-making realm of consumers is crucial in order to gain market share and awareness.

Competitor Analysis At the Enterprise Level, Eco-Freez competes with the following selected product brands:     

MotoMaster (Recochem, Montreal) Prestone (Recochem, Montreal) Zerex (Valvoline, Ontario/Kentucky) Turbo Power (Recochem, Montreal) STP (Recochem, Montreal)

Each of these will be further analyzed in terms of product offer and subsequent competition.

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MotoMaster MotoMaster is a house brand of Canadian Tire, with over 200 products sold, and marketed as the best balance of quality and value since 1933. Many MotoMaster packaged products are manufactured in China, or are repackaged lines from other major producers, and range from filters to compressors to tires to antifreeze.

MotoMaster antifreezes are manufactured by Recochem in Quebec, who specialize in the manufacturing and packaging of a wide range of automotive, household and industrial chemical products. They usually package these products as well-known brand labels, including Prestone, STP, MotoMaster, and others, rather than competing in the consumer space with their products (Recochem, 2013).

While the MotoMaster brand’s prevalence on shelves has dropped over the years (as Canadian Tire move to more manufacturer-branded products, which have diversified in price point and range), they are still well represented. They have a strong association and following with Canadian buyers, despite frequent concerns voiced in forums regarding quality and their actual point of origin.

Products, Prices and Availability MotoMaster’s pricing strategy is aimed at budget-conscious buyers who want a product that meets at least the entry level of performance and quality. Regarding antifreeze, they offer a wide range of antifreeze varieties at assorted price points. This variety of antifreezes caters to almost every need of the average buyer. Their most inexpensive product (Long Life Premix) starts at $13.99 per 3.78 litre container, and goes through eight types to their most expensive offering, MotoMaster Extended Life Diesel, at $19.99 per container (Recochem, 2013).

MotoMaster branded products are sold exclusively in all Canadian Tire and PartSource (owned by Canadian Tire) stores. The extent of product range depends on the size, location, and personal stocking preferences of each particular franchised store.

As Canadian Tire’s 487 stores reach 90 per cent of the Canadian population and serving 250 million customers a year (and more than 1,200 other owned retail and gas station outlets), the availability of MotoMaster antifreeze is understandably immense (Canadian Tire, 2011).

This is an important success factor for MotoMaster antifreezes; since it is a low involvement product, purchased often on price alone, consumers are unlikely to be willing to travel far or to a specialty store to buy their antifreeze. They prefer to choose a store where they know they will get the product they want at a reasonable price. Considering Canadian Tire’s statement that 90 per cent of the Canadian population is within a 15 minute drive of one of their stores, this makes going to Canadian Tire to buy antifreeze the obvious choice.

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Brand Awareness Canadian Tire is one of Canada’s most recognized franchise retailers of automotive, household, outdoor and sporting goods. As a house brand, MotoMaster receives premium shelf stocking space and regular (although not preferential) promotion through their popular flyers, which result in a high level of awareness. These flyers often follow seasonal trends, with winter readiness being an annual favourite, where wipers, antifreeze, additives and similar products receive focused exposure. However, due to its positioning as a “base quality” brand, there is little true loyalty to MotoMaster; buyers rather depend on the convenience of choosing MotoMaster’s range of “capable” products to fit tight budgets.

Furthermore, key to this is the difference between brand awareness recall and recognition; as an entry-level product range with little differentiation, brand recognition would understandably be high due to repeated exposure. However, recall is expected to be low, as it does not stand out for any reason amongst the crowded antifreeze product category.

Social Media and Online Presence MotoMaster does not have a Facebook, Twitter, or any other recognizable social media presence. A search for their name on online platforms returns an occasional link to Canadian Tire. MotoMaster also does not have its own website, and all popular domain extensions (motomaster.com/ca/org/net/biz) have been registered by Canadian Tire. Therefore, to engage with them one would need to do so through Canadian Tire.

Past Campaigns and Promotions MotoMaster have not been associated with any standalone promotions beyond those hosted by Canadian Tire, mostly through their flyers, print publications, and online specials where products are highlighted. With the wide readership of the Canadian Tire weekly flyer, space in these co-operative advertising flyers is hotly contested and generates good exposure and customer pull to the specific product.

Prestone Prestone is considered a market leader in car protection products, with an 86 year history, which has established Prestone as a recognized name in the coolant market in North America. Prestone places its focus on high performance and OEM vehicle compatibility. They pride themselves on a special container and product design, which makes it easier to pour and is compatible with all makes of vehicles. This is captured in their taglines of “pop, pour, and protect” as well as “easy to choose, easy to use.”

Products, Prices and Availability Prestone manufactures 15 varieties of antifreeze to fully service a range of automobiles, including heavy duty, diesel, and smaller engines. As well, they have 14 varieties of complementary automotive fluids such as power steering and brake fluids. Their “LowTox” product is propylene glycol based. Their antifreezes range in price from $15.99 to $19.99 per 3.78 litre container (Prestone, 2013).

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Prestone’s distribution channels for retailers in Canada include Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, and Lordco (Prestone, 2013). Their large production ability and extensive distribution channels allows Prestone to have presence throughout BC, which is a competitive advantage for reaching more consumers. This is significant since antifreeze is a low-consciousness product which consumers are unlikely to travel great distances to purchase.

Brand Awareness Prestone’s brand awareness is largely due to their continuous sponsorships and product distribution. Prestone has sponsored the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), Canadian Tire Jumpstart program, and Spencer Massey, a professional drag racer (fitting with their brand positioning as a high performance product) (Prestone, 2013). Prestone also has a wide Canadian awareness due to their line of windshield de-icing fluids, brake and power steering fluids.

Research conducted by Print Measurement Bureau (PMB) shows that hockey players are 32 per cent more likely to agree that they “love [their] wheels (Print Measurement Bureau, n.d.).” Prestone took advantage of this consumer group’s preferences to build brand awareness in the hockey market which is illustrated by Prestone being the official sponsor of antifreeze and automotive filters to the CHL (Canadian Hockey League, 2012).

Social Media and Online Presence Prestone’s social media presence is minimal on both Twitter and Facebook. They currently have around 154 followers and have made 100 tweets since 2010. Their Facebook account is for Prestone Indonesia, with a little over 23,000 likes and consistent status updates.

Prestone maintains an impressive website which features product and car maintenance video tutorials, interactive shopping information, and special offers. Each product has links to show how it should be installed, purchase options, and technical data sheets. Users can sign up to their newsletter to receive special offers and industry/motor racing updates, and there are social sharing links as well (Prestone, 2013).

Past Promotions and Campaigns In 2012, Prestone issued a $5 coupon valid in Canadian Tire retailers, to encourage consumers to purchase their coolant. The face value offer is high, which also attracts indecisive buyers to purchase from Prestone 1) “Own it for Good” Campaign A campaign that Prestone started in 2011 is the “Own it for Good” nationwide tour campaign. Based in the US, it aimed to help volunteers who use their own vehicle for good services such as Meals on Wheels. Prestone offered free services to vehicle owners to ensure their car was in top condition, as they drive nearly 700 miles to deliver meals every day (Prestone, 2011). In November 2012, the Prestone team helped service more than 70 per cent of volunteer firefighters’ vehicles for their service to the US community (Fire Department Network News, 2012). The campaign’s purpose was to inform and remind the public that vehicle maintenance is important for both the summer and winter months, while building brand awareness and loyalty.

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2) “The Reaper” Campaign Prestone’s most recent campaign was launched in fall 2012. “The Reaper” is a black tow truck waiting to pick up and take away the next car that breaks down due to poor maintenance or substandard fluids. By using Prestone’s product, it helps drivers’ cars “cheat death” by keeping it well serviced. The three-part advertisements were well produced and received over 700 views on YouTube.

Zerex Zerex is the name given to Valvoline’s range of antifreeze products, and traces itself back to the 1930’s when it was sold under the DuPont label. Valvoline is a division of Ashland, a chemicals producer, and has its headquarters in Kentucky, USA, with a regional headquarters in Ontario. Delivering product to over 100 countries and with a strong involvement in stock car and other racing teams, Zerex is regarded by many as a producer of high quality, high performance products.

Zerex antifreeze products have “manufacturer approved” chemical compounds, as well as high performance anticorrosion and coolant additives, which makes it suitable for use, and officially approved by many automotive manufacturers. As most consumers are not well informed about the various properties and compatibilities of antifreeze brands and their composition, they express caution when it comes to deviating from the fluids the manufacturer recommends or uses.

Therefore, Zerex stating their compatibility with vehicle brands is a strong and influential marketing tactic.

However, this tactic is somewhat misleading, as many vehicle manufacturers outsource their OEM fluids (oils, antifreeze, other fluids and wearing parts) to bulk manufacturers anyway, so debate rages around whether or not, for example, Mercedes-Benz antifreeze is simply rebranded Zerex antifreeze (Valvoline, 2013).

Products, Prices and Availability Zerex products are aimed slightly higher than most other antifreeze, as they claim to be a superior product with better performance additives. Their range of six types of coolant covers the needs of most B.C. drivers, and prices range from $15.84 to over $20 for their concentrated HOAT products.

The more common Zerex coolants are sold at Walmart stores, and numerous smaller, independent automotive retailers such as NAPA Auto Parts. It is also sold through online retailers in Canada such as Garage16.ca, and Amazon.ca.

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Brand Awareness The Valvoline brand was established 1873, and is the USAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longest surviving motor oil provider. Their ongoing national advertising and decades of sponsorship of NASCAR (with Zerex branding on vehicles) have created a claimed 90 per cent brand awareness level (Valvoline Canada, 2010). The Zerex brand stands alone on most packaging and does not rest only on the fact that it is a Valvoline product, but they have established a following with motor enthusiasts and online forums, who believe it is a trustworthy, high performing product.

Zerex became synonymous with stock car racing in the late eighties when they sponsored Rusty Wallace and Alan Kulwickiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ford Thunderbird to numerous victories. Valvoline and Zerex remain regular NASCAR sponsors up to today.

Social Media and Online Presence Zerex does not have its own dedicated website, but defaults to the Valvoline site instead. They have no Twitter or Facebook account/pages. However, Valvoline has an active Facebook page with over 28,000 likes and their Twitter account has almost 4,000 followers and they have posted almost 2,500 tweets, which include special offers, motor racing news, and competitions.

Past Promotions and Campaigns Zerex have not had any major promotional campaigns in Canada as a standalone product or brand. However, by following Valvoline on Facebook or Twitter, discounts are regularly offered. This tactic is used to drive sales and awareness, but not loyalty, which is a plausible approach given the low priority customers give antifreeze.

Turbo Power Turbo Power is manufactured by Recochem Inc., a privately held Montreal based automotive chemicals manufacturer that specializes in producing, formulating, and contract packaging automotive fluids and household chemical products. Recochemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s privately labeled antifreeze is Turbo Power. Turbo Power windscreen de-icer fluid is also available from M&R Environmental.

Products, Prices and Availability There are 11 different varieties of Turbo Power antifreeze, formulated for commercial and passenger vehicles.

Product prices range from $9.99 to $22.99 per 3.78 litre container. The distribution of Turbo Power products is limited to select retailers and service stations such as Canadian Tire, Princess Auto, and Lordco. Princess Auto carries the most Turbo Power products with 36 store locations across Canada (Princess Auto, 2013).

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Brand Awareness Turbo Power’s brand awareness is minimal, mostly due to the fact that Recochem do not promote their house brands other than through their retail cooperatives. This is likely due to the fact that Recochem’s main business focus is manufacturing and labeling competitor brands under license.

Social Media and Online Presence Turbo Power does not use any social media platforms. Recochem has a Facebook page, but it is mainly unused.

Past Promotions and Campaigns Very few promotions are done for Turbo Power. Currently, there is a $2 refund when purchasing the Auto Extra Global Antifreeze/Coolant, available only in the U.S. No Canadian specials or promotions are currently active.

STP Well-known U.S. brand STP partnered with Recochem Inc. to produce an STPbranded antifreeze for distribution across Canada. STP is a registered trademark of The Armor All/STP Products Company.

Products, Prices and Availability STP has six different varieties of antifreeze. The products pricing is competitive, ranging from $11.57 to $18.96 for a 3.78 liter container. STP antifreeze is sold exclusively at Wal-Mart locations, creating a large, convenient distribution and reseller network for the product (STP, 2013).

Brand Awareness STP has been a sponsor of auto racing since 1969, and sponsors various successful NASCAR racers such as Richard Petty, Tony Perdregon, and Donny Schatz. Their brand awareness is high in the United States due to their keen following of auto racing events. This has a limited influence on Canadians, where the brand is known, but motor racing followers are less prevalent.

STP is also a founding sponsor of the Bloodhound SSC Project, which is attempting to build a car to break the world’s fastest land speed record, by travelling at 1,000 miles per hour (Bloodhound SSC, 2013). STP also sells a lot of branded merchandise and apparel branded with their simple, iconic logo.

Social Media Presence STP has a Facebook, Twitter and YouTube account, with all but the YouTube account active and maintained daily. Their Facebook account has over 90,000 likes and the Twitter account has over 300 tweets and 450 followers. Their website is clean, informative, attractive and professional.

Past Promotions and Campaigns STP currently offers coupons through their Facebook account; for every “like” they receive, users will be given a $1 off coupon valid against any STP product. Beyond this, no Canadian promotions are currently ongoing.

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S.W.O.T. Analysis The SWOT analysis is a summary of the internal and external factors that contribute to the current market situation of Eco-Freez. All components of the SWOT analysis will be factored into the campaign implementation so to highlight the opportunities and strengths and eliminate the weaknesses and opportunities.

Strengths Steady Raw Materials Sources Eco-Freez is not dependent on the fluctuating raw material costs of ethylene glycol, since M&R Environmental collects its raw materials from contracted sources at a set price point. This allows them to more easily predict and manage volume and prices of their raw materials supply chain.

Lower Manufacturing Costs Eco-Freez’s recycled raw material input comes at a lower cost than virgin ethylene glycol. Producing Eco-Freez from recycled products also uses 20 per cent of the energy required to produce conventional virgin antifreeze (M&R Environmental , 2013). This allows them to sell their product to consumers at a competitive price while maintaining healthy profits.

Established Auto Industry Connections M&R Environmental’s strong ties and credibility in the automotive industry allows them to leverage these relationships into consumer retail opportunities for Eco-Freez. They have product in Canadian Tire, North Shore Auto store, and recently 99 Truck Parts (M&R Environmental , 2013). Currently, Eco-Freez coolants are delivered to approximately 700 installer locations.

Premium Product Eco-Freez uses high quality additives, which creates a premium performance product comparable to any virgin antifreeze. The product quality is uncompromised from the recycling process.

Research shows that consumers are very concerned with the performance levels of their chosen antifreeze.

Exclusive Local Supplier Eco-Freez is the only locally produced (B.C.) antifreeze, and M&R Environmental are the only large-scale recycled antifreeze producer in Canada (M&R Environmental , 2013). This allows them to capitalize on the growing consumer preference for locally sourced products.

The M&R Story M&R Environmental, which includes the Eco-Freez label, has a strong story of environmental awareness and local community engagement.

Telling the story of M&R’s CSR efforts through the Eco-Freez brand can help connect and resonate with the target audience.

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Weaknesses Lack of Brand Awareness

Inconsistent Branding and

Since M&R Environmental have only recently launched their Eco-Freez marketing efforts, the Eco-Freez brand remains relatively unknown amongst the target audience. This is augmented by low consumer involvement of antifreeze products.

Naming Conventions

Limited Manufacturing Capacity Antifreeze production capacity is limited to how much raw product (used antifreeze) M&R Environmental can collect from their sources, as well as the capacity of their antifreeze recycling machines. Should Eco-Freez demand suddenly spike, M&R Environmental may struggle to meet this increased level of demand. M&R Environmental has a maximum production capability of 2.1 million litres, if they can collect the appropriate quantities of raw materials.

M&R Environmental has been unable to solidify consistent, universal spelling of “Eco-Freez” across all mediums. The bottle uses the brand name “ecofreez”, but the registered websites are “ecofreez.com” and “ecofreez.ca.” Furthermore, a Google search for “ecofreez” does not yield any results on the first Search Engine Results Page (SERP) pertaining to M&R Environmental’s product. The brand’s webpage itself has inconsistencies with regards to the spelling and notation of Eco-Freez, which negatively impacts the SERP ranking. The web URL also contains the hyphenated form, which is disjointed from what is displayed by the logo. All executions and references must be unified as far as possible, and the site content optimized to increase its page rank.

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Opportunities Growth in Sustainable

Consumer Confidence & Value

Products Market

Seeking

There has been a significant growth in products that are viewed as sustainably produced (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2010). As per a 2010 report from PriceWaterhouseCoopers, automotive industry manufacturers, along with food and beverage producers, are subject to growing pressures to adopt sustainable practices (PriceWaterhouseCoopers, 2010).

Despite a rebounding economy and consumer confidence, people still search out maximum value for their dollars (Euromonitor International, 2012).

Consumers may have more money in their pockets, but they do not intend on opening up their wallets to pay more for products without a strong value proposition.

Crowdsourcing Growing Propensity to Buy Local There has been steady growth in consumers buying locally produced goods. In a report composed by Euromonitor in 2012, North Americans viewed locally sourced products, and products that supported local communities, more favourably than products with any other factors (organic, fair trade) (Euromonitor International, 2012).

“The voice of the crowd has never been louder” (Euromonitor International, 2011). Consumers look to online influencers (mavens, bloggers) for education and help in making decisions. Millennials are the most involved in crowdsourcing of any generation, and crowdsourcing “promotes stronger loyalty from a customer base with a sense of ownership that can spread marketing messages virally and build brand awareness” (Cognizant, 2013).

Growth in Passenger Car Market Continued growth in the Canadian automotive industry means an increase in the immediate and future need for antifreeze. This tie between new car sales and antifreeze sales can be seen when the new cars industry saw a 36 per cent drop in sales in 2009, translating into a 30 per cent drop in the demand for antifreeze (Lockard, 2009).

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Threats Declining D.I.Y. Attitudes

Vancouver Climate

Do-it-yourself automotive work has seen a decrease from the days of the baby boomer generation. Only about 13 to 18 per cent of car owners service their own vehicles, whereas over 75 per cent take their vehicles to service stations (Canada Post Marketing Research, 2008). These days, automotive dealership purchases often include maintenance plans, meaning that a consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision influence on the antifreeze their vehicle uses, is decreased.

The mild climate of Vancouver pushes antifreeze awareness even further down the consumer mindset. With temperatures rarely dropping far below freezing in Vancouver and surrounding areas, the necessity of high performance antifreeze in the Lower Mainland is decreased.

Car Share Programs and Public Density The city of Vancouver has a dense population of people living within the downtown core, leading them to seek alternative modes of transportation.

Car share programs are becoming increasingly more prevalent in North America, with memberships increasing from 100,000 to 600,000 between 2006 and 2012 (Bieszczat & Schwieterman, My Car, Your Carâ&#x20AC;Ś â&#x20AC;ŚYour Car, My Car., 2012). These alternate modes of transport remove users from the automobile, and antifreeze market.

Limited Barriers to Competitor Entry M&R Environmental hold no patent or protection on the vacuum distilled recycled antifreeze process or finished product. The barriers to entry which any competitors face are access to used antifreeze suppliers, and the availability of the recycling plant machinery, both of which are feasibly available.

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Primary Research Ratchet Marketing conducted primary research with the purpose of supporting or disproving the information discovered in the secondary research. Three different types of primary research were conducted; in-depth interviews, focus groups and a quantitative research survey.

Primary research was conducted to explore the motives, perceptions, and habits of people and their antifreeze, among other sub-objectives that vary with the specific research tactic. Both qualitative and quantitative research was conducted to help meet these objectives.

Qualitative Data – Focus Groups The following section reports the findings collected from two focus groups that were conducted for Eco-Freez.

The main objectives of these focus groups were to determine what people knew about antifreeze, and how they felt about the various unique brand attributes of Eco-Freez. Below is a list of specific research objectives that questions aimed to address. The question bank for the focus groups is attached as Appendix 1: Focus Group Questions       

Determine the respondents’ education and perceptions towards antifreeze Uncover the focus group’s vehicle maintenance preferences Unveil the focus group’s perceptions, habits, and preferences when it comes to environmentallyfriendly products and what associations they have with such products Weight the importance of environmental-friendliness and local against more generic factors like price, quality, and brand name when shopping for products Learn about the regularity of interaction and what is necessary for the members of the focus group to interact with a brand on social media Guide the formation of Eco-Freez’s main target market How to best communicate Eco-Freez and its brand to its main target audience

Methodologies and Members The members of the focus group were chosen based on their age, which needed to be aligned with the age of the chosen primary target market – 18 to 34. In addition all participants must either own a vehicle or have had a vehicle in the past as well as they must drive frequently. The focus groups lasted just over an hour each.

On Sunday, 20 January 2013, Ratchet Marketing conducted a focus group of seven people, three females and four males. For this first focus group, the age range in focus group members fell between 18 and 29. All focus group members also have had experience driving and/or maintaining a motor vehicle of some sort. Focus group members were a mix of industry professionals and students – none of the focus group members attended the same school or worked within the same company.

On Saturday, 26 January 2013, Ratchet Marketing conducted the second focus group. The focus group consisted of six females, and three males, all of which were between 25 and 28. This focus group was made up of industry professionals and one student.

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Findings – Focus Group One The questions that were presented to the members of the focus group were classified into four categories; general knowledge, environmental, local, and brand. The following sections report the findings accumulated from the focus group based on these groups of questions.

General Knowledge

Environmental

When the group was asked to share what they knew about antifreeze, they were relatively silent.

The consensus from the majority of the group was that they did not know much about antifreeze aside from it lowering the freezing point of water. None of the members of the group knew that it also served the purpose of a coolant, and thought that antifreeze was a separate product from coolant.

When they group was asked what they associate with “environmentally friendly”, two members responded with high prices, and others responded with varying degrees of reducing one’s carbon footprint. There was a high sense of skepticism towards products labeled as environmentally friendly, citing concerns with “green-washing.” To counter this, respondents said they would use Google to research the product, check consumer reports and check labels. Reading labels was one thing five of the seven members indicated that they did as a way of countering the green-washing skepticism. However, the main source of research was done through family and friend referrals.

When asked to tell the others what they knew about the environmental effects of antifreeze on the environment, the group all agreed that it was not good, with Dany saying it was “horrible.”

Overall the group indicated that they had no awareness of thought of their antifreeze. One group member, Joel said that “the last thing I would think about in my car was antifreeze.”

The group was unaware of how often their antifreeze should be changed. When asked where they would search to find out more about changing one’s antifreeze, several members indicated Google or recommendations from friends and their mechanic. One member mentioned that he would look in the owner’s manual.

The overwhelming consensus from the group when asked when they would think about antifreeze was wintertime. Surprisingly, the owner’s manual was where several of the respondents said they would look for information on what antifreeze brand to choose.

Generally, the groups said that they would consider searching out environmentally friendly goods in the product category they are shopping for, but there were other major factors that influenced their decisions as well. Several group members said price and quality as important components and one member said “I need someone to tell me what is good”, demonstrating the lack of current knowledge and concern of the target audience.

When asked how they felt about products that advertised themselves as recycled, the answers received varied from good to bad. For some, recycled produced feelings of environmental friendliness and for others it brought about thoughts of low quality or products that were “half as good.” This led to them revealing that although they are skeptical about environmentally friendly and recycled products, they would still pay more for it as long as it did not compromise the quality.

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Local The group’s opinion on locally sourced products was rather unanimous. Every member of the groups said that they try to look for local products when shopping. Many members shared that this was because it directly affected their local economy and their neighbors. The accountability factor was also beneficial in that they would know who to complain to if there was a problem.

Another beneficial attribute that is tied to locally produced goods is quality. All but one of the group members felt that a locally sourced product also inferred higher quality. Locally sourced products were also seen as superior to other products because of the pride the members felt in their community.

Branding The focus of the questioning turned to how a company should create trust, favour and ultimately a strong reputation that would establish brand loyalty. The consensus was that there would need to be a level of awareness before any brand would be able to establish credibility. One member mentioned that a company’s story and believes would need to be strong and have an impact on the product they produce. Another sentiment that was agreed upon by the group was that because of where they received their information, such as online, a brand needed the backing of trusted sources in their community. For a product such as Eco-Freez, the men in the group felt the centers of influence were “car guys” whereas the women cited popular blogs and social media as influential decision makers.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) was also discussed and the group was asked how they felt CSR affected a company’s reputation. The response was unanimous in that they felt it was important for any company these days to invest in CSR and most importantly in initiatives within their community.

However, they also mentioned that although it was a positive factor, it was not the main contributor in developing brand trust. Half of the members agreed that what a brand needed was an association with quality in order to be considered.

All things mentioned that contributed to a strong reputation included knowing the morals of a company, their awards and achievements, and strong endorsements from an influential group.

What became obvious was that the respondents did not regularly communicate with brands that they liked, rarely following or liking them on social media. Facebook and Twitter, as told by one member, was an ineffective way to have real communications with a brand, unless there is a clear character and face behind the profile. To really learn about a brand, and its story, the focus group all agreed that a good website with a mix of effective content would be best. However, one member highlighted word of mouth saying that it “is so powerful – get other people to tell the story for [Eco-Freez].”

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Findings – Focus Group Two To remain consistent with the first focus group, the same categories of questions were asked to the respondents. Categories included general knowledge, environmental, local, and brand questions. The following summarizes their responses.

General Knowledge It was clear from the beginning of the session that all participants had very little knowledge of what antifreeze was, with one person actually being knowledgeable. The one participant who was aware of its properties also happened to maintain their own vehicles. None of the female participants knew that antifreeze was also used as a coolant in the summer months. When asked whether they ever considered products like antifreeze, they indicated that they never did because they all took their vehicles into an automotive body shop to have their vehicle maintained. The only time in which a person would think about their antifreeze was in the winter months.

When asked how often they thought antifreeze should be changed in their vehicles, the majority answered between 6 months to a year. However, the overwhelming response to any question pertaining to their vehicle maintenance was that they didn’t really know because they trust their automotive service providers to perform the necessary maintenance. The knowledgeable respondent mentioned that he would maintain his own vehicle if he had a place to do it, but because he lives in the city in an apartment, there is no place for him to work on his vehicle, representing a unique insight. The majority of individuals living in the downtown Vancouver area live in apartment buildings or high-density dwellings, where there is little space to maintain one’s vehicle.

Overall, the main insights gleaned from these questions were that vehicle maintenance for these city dwellers was done solely by automotive service

providers and that the participants had very limited knowledge of antifreeze, and even less of EcoFreez. Only one person had heard of Eco-Freez from their advertisements on Team 1040.

Environmental One of the questions that sparked great debate was what the focus group thought of products that claimed to be environmentally friendly or green.

The initial response was that it was a marketing gimmick. They indicated that for it to be effective it needs to be proven through additional support on the package legitimizing their claims. However, in a follow up question that asked whether they would be more inclined to purchase a green/environmentally friendly product, even if it was a gimmick, they all agreed that they would.

Therefore, as much as “green” is perceived to be a gimmick, it is still extremely effective in encouraging the purchase of the product. This was corroborated when the respondents said that even if they didn’t believe the product was green, they would still purchase it.

Participants said that having information on what makes a product green is important. They also indicated that if the information provided explained how the product was green, they would have a higher level of trust in the company. Only one or two participants said that they would do external research on a product to find out more about them and their environmental policies unless otherwise prompted by external factors. When asked specifically about whether they would look up information on products such as antifreeze, they said no because they never think about it.

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When asked whether recycled products were associated with inferior quality, the majority of participants believed that there was no considerable difference but a few believed that the quality would be worse. The participants also said that, in the same way as environmentally friendly products, they would be willing to spend a more money for products that were recycled.

When asked specifically about Eco-Freez and whether they would ask their mechanic to use it in their vehicle, they said they would only do so if prompted recently or if there was material at the automotive service shop that reminded them to ask for it. One member stated this sentiment clearly stating: “For me to ask my mechanic to use EcoFreez, I would need to be reminded about it right before my servicing and I would have to really believe in the product to put that sort of effort into it.”

Several important insights were gathered from this question set. The participants were willing and likely to purchase environmentally friendly or recycled products, and that even though they saw it as a gimmick, they were still more likely to purchase those products because of the “green” factor. Recycled products do not, for the most part, connote a product of inferior quality. For a green product to incur true brand loyalty, it must provide information from trusted sources or information that is understandable to the consumers.

Local There were several questions asked about consumer opinions regarding products that promote their local characteristics. When asked whether there was an association with local products and higher quality, all respondents agreed that there was. They also said that they would be more willing to spend money on a local product than a foreign one. One participant indicated that the strong movement towards local products within the Lower Mainland was because of the

prominence of the 100-mile diet (where consumers are urged to only consume products within 100 miles from their home) and farmers markets. They said they enjoy supporting local businesses because many of them grew up in smaller towns that relied on that business. Participants associated things such as fresh, good quality, supporting small businesses, more expensive products, less generic, and small-scale production with local products.

As with the first focus group, being locally sourced was clearly an attractive attribute of a product. This primary research indicates that Eco-Freez should highlight their local brand attributes.

Branding The participants were asked what a brand would need to do to gain their loyalty. The responses varied, but they centered on a one theme; the development of a need for a brand or its products.

Participants indicated that companies need to create a brand that instills trust in the consumers and try to make it cool. They cited brands such as Lululemon and Whole Foods and how they have created a need for their products, even though they may be able to get the same product cheaper or better somewhere else.

When asked specifically what a brand like EcoFreez, which is mostly unknown, would need to do to create that favour, participants indicated that they would need to establish themselves on a larger scale as well as develop a level of trust. Trust, they said, needs to be established by using those people who service their vehicles as well as by creating word of mouth. Also, knowing a brand’s story or background would help establish that trust.

Overall, for a brand to succeed, the consumer must have some trust in the brand that they will deliver on what they are claiming to produce. That trust is created through word of mouth and credible recommendations.

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Key Trends and Findings      



There is little to no knowledge of what antifreeze is, how it works, or how often it should be changed, but the respondents had the perception that it is very harmful to the environment The groups were concerned with the environment, and looked to environmentally friendly options often, but they were not willing to sacrifice quality Although skepticism exists regarding the legitimacy of “green” products, respondents still purchased them, believing they delivered on at least some form of overall good.

Every member of the focus groups look for local products when they shop and have a higher propensity to buy those goods. There was an association between locally produced goods and high quality Personal references and centers of influence play a major role in solidifying trust in a brand or product To interact with Eco-Freez through social media, the experience would have to be focused on interaction, not products. A website with powerful content would, however, be the optimal way to communicate the brand’s story When told about Eco-Freez, and how it is an environmentally friendly, premium, and low priced product, the groups agreed, “It’s a no-brainer!”

Qualitative Data – In Depth Interviews As a key element of primary research, in-depth interviews were conducted to glean personal insights on usage of Eco-Freez from industry professionals.

Methodology Individuals selected for the interviews were mechanics or service station owners with a high level of automotive expertise and knowledge of the automobile service industry. Responses were recorded in writing, as respondents preferred not to be recorded with audio or video. Please see Appendix 2: In Depth Interview Questions, for full interview script and questions.

There were a total of four in-depth interviews conducted over a two-week period. All interviews were conducted in a casual, informal setting either in person or over the telephone. A series of questions were asked to better understand the interactions mechanics had with their customers and further questions were asked to probe on their individual psychographics.

Rationale In-depth interviews were conducted as they deliver key insight through observation of how respondents with a keen interest, insight and opinion into the subject matter react to questions and proposed situations. This allows the interviewer to read the respondent’s body language and/or tone of voice to gain a better insight of their perception on, among other things, environmentally friendly products and Eco-Freez in particular.

Interview Insights All respondents were experts in the automotive industry working in a shop as owners or employees.

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High Interaction with

Knowledgeable in the

Customers

Automotive Industry

Respondents indicated their customer base to be mostly middle-aged and from a range of ethnicities from Caucasian to East Indian. Customer demographics tended to favor men over the women, with one mechanic stating that the split was 60/40 towards men, where others said the genders were quite evenly balanced.

The industry trend that was most prevalent during the interviews was the amount of mechanics that depend on M&R Environmental as their automotive fluids supplier, with the exception of one mechanic who uses Lordco and Worldpac.

The most common service operations entail changing of oil, checking and/or replacing antifreeze and brake condition, or addressing any specific customer concerns. The interaction with the customers generally happens when they come to pick up their vehicles after its service. This gives the mechanics one-on-one time with the customer in which to do a complete rundown of what was done to their vehicles, what needs to be done in future, as well as field any queries that may surface.

In addition to fielding questions during the brief rundown after the servicing, the amount of personal time with the customer makes for an opportunity to speak of additional services and products that could be used. One mechanic found that women took the more inquisitive approach, asking more questions and showing more concern with what was used and done with their vehicles.

Low Service Needs for Antifreeze/Coolant A common trend among all respondents was the lack of services specifying an antifreeze change.

The respondents all referred to the cars’ manual for recommended antifreeze changes. One mechanic stated that he recommends changing antifreeze “based on mileage, and uses pH test strips to test the coolant.” This allows for better accuracy on whether or not the antifreeze needs to be changed.

The ultimate decision is up to the customer.

In terms of industry knowledge, information sources which professionals rely upon to educate themselves on trends and product releases, come from several places. “Mitchell” is one popular source, an educational online database for the automotive industry. More sources that were identified include the Canadian Mechanics website, Speed Network, and All Data Pro.

Lack of Using Local, EcoFriendly Products A common trend from the respondents is the lack of consciously choosing to buy local products. More than half the respondents agreed that local products simply do not exist in B.C., which is true in that the province is not synonymous with auto parts manufacturing. There was however strong support for products made in Canada and local products, if they were available.

Over half the respondents use environmentally friendly products in their shops and would consider using recycled automotive fluids. Most mechanics are using recycled antifreeze and oil, biodegradable products such as cleaning agents and paint systems. In addition, all of the respondents felt that recycled automotive fluids were better for the environment, but the main concern for the respondents is the quality. There is a perception that environmentally friendly or recycled products are of “lower quality” than leading conventional brands. This demonstrates the need for education to the service industry and consumers.

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Lack of Awareness about Eco-Freez Over half the respondents were unsure, or did not know about Eco-Freez. This indicates the lack of awareness of the product. However, one respondent received information about Eco-Freez from a sales representative with M&R Environmental. Through this experience, the respondent had a higher recall with the brand, used Eco-Freez in his services, and would recommend Eco-Freez to his customers. This signifies that once even basic awareness and education is achieved, the barriers to consumption are easily overcome.

Summary Important highlights from the in-depth interviews are listed below:       

Checking a customer’s antifreeze is always part of the servicing routine Customers and mechanics engage in conversation regarding what was done during their service, usually after the service Recommendations for changing antifreeze are mainly based on the manufacturers service manual There is a positive interest in local products and a propensity to use them if available Environmentally friendly products are currently used in shops, but there are prevailing quality concerns Awareness of Eco-Freez is low among industry professionals The use of local, environmentally friendly products is supported by industry professionals

Quantitative Data – Online Survey Ratchet conducted primary research in the form of a 32-question online survey targeted at 18-34 year old car drivers in B.C. The objective was to gain consumer insights and opinions on the antifreeze market, recognize trends in automotive servicing in the Lower Mainland, and acquire general answers to questions like:      

Are drivers more inclined to service their vehicles themselves or take them to a mechanic?

How aware and loyal are they to product brands and service stations?

What level of consideration do consumers give antifreeze?

What habits, tendencies, preferences and influences do consumers have in automotive maintenance?

What is important to them when choosing automotive products?

Are they aware of Eco-Freez and if so, their opinions on the product.

The survey ran for two weeks and screened respondents in terms of where they live and if they drive or care for a car or not. Out of 150 respondents, 147 data records qualified for consideration. All responses were analyzed to discover any anomalies that would warrant further investigation, and to gain a general understanding of public opinion.

A full list of questions asked is attached as Appendix 3: Online Survey Questions.

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Demographics 87 per cent of respondents live and drive in B.C. 84 per cent fell into our target demographic of 18-34 year olds as per Chart 12, with almost two thirds being female; this is an interesting fact given the assumption that men are mostly interested in automotive topics. 83 per cent were car owners and 96 per cent were regular drivers.

Income levels were not very revealing, as almost a quarter of respondents did not provide data (we may assume a lower or negligible income). From the data collected and shown in Chart 13, some 18 per cent of respondents were earning under $10,000 (signifying an expected large proportion of students) and 40 per cent were earning between $10,000 and $60,000, a popular income bracket of new workers. This could indicate that many of these respondents are potentially first time car owners.

Respondents by Age Group 60% 40% 20% 0% 18-24

25-34

35-44

45-54

Over 54

Chart 12: Respondents by Age Group

Respondents by Income Level 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0%

Chart 13: Respondents by Income Level

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Automotive Ownership and Maintenance Plans Almost 75 per cent drove cars ten years old or less, with many respondents driving Honda Civics and Mazda 3s.

Honda and Toyota were the most popular brands, comprising almost one third of all records.

Some car dealerships offer or include in the price of the vehicle a service and maintenance plan. These plans offer prepaid or free routine services, and are used as a way to drive repeat business and loyalty to car dealerships. From the survey and shown in Chart 14, half of their cars were not under any form of maintenance plan, with a further 18 per cent unsure. 31 per cent claimed to have a form of maintenance plan (assuming they understand what a maintenance plan is, as described above).

These are similar results found in a 2012 DME auto survey which highlighted the higher propensity of under-35â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s to have maintenance plans, and that 72 per cent of them will use it for all their motoring needs (Duarte, 2012).

Maintenance Plan Coverage

18% 31%

Covered Not Covered Unsure

51%

Chart 14: Maintenance Plan Coverage

This is significant in that this combined 69 per cent would be under no obligation to choose DIY servicing over using one garage or product over another, whereas maintenance plans often dictate servicing schedules and rules (and thus habits). In fact, when a cross tabulation comparison was run against maintenance plan statistics, a 0.00 significance at a 95 per cent confidence level proved an association between these parameters, meaning that customers who have a maintenance plan are far more likely to repeatedly use a specific service provider.

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Statistically, only 56 per cent of maintenance plan members chose where their cars were serviced, versus 83 per cent of those who were under no maintenance plan obligations. Even more notable was that less than 7 per cent of maintenance plan members serviced their cars themselves, versus 15 per cent of non-members. This information is valuable as more and more cars are being offered with complementary or maintenance plans as a way to drive customer retention (McDonald, 2011). In turn, this will diminish the probability that owners will change their fluids themselves or at an aftermarket automotive service provider.

For whatever the reason, the respondents displayed a vast skew towards not servicing cars themselves, as shown in Chart 15 below.

D.I.Y. Service Propensity 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0%

Yes, almost always

Sometimes both

No, I use a Garage

Chart 15: D.I.Y. Service Propensity

Automotive Centers of Influence and Decision Making When looking for advice or recommendations regarding what automotive product or service provider to use, respondents tended to look to family members. This may be skewed due to 37 per cent of respondents being females under the age of 25. Half of the respondents would trust their mechanic or a friendâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s advice, and around 30 per cent would use online research. 21 per cent were not at all concerned about what product they or what their mechanic uses and suggests, and the same percentage said they went by manufacturer/brand claims when choosing whether or not to trust a product. Only 18 per cent deemed themselves educated and experienced enough to trust their own judgment. This reveals that the general public is not well educated about antifreeze and fluids in general, and tend to rely on the knowledge and opinion of others rather than investing time in learning and forming their own opinions.

By assuming a lack of knowledge on the topic, one survey question was formatted to understand what coolant purchases were based on. Chart 16 reveals what respondents considered important when buying antifreeze.

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Antifreeze Purchase Decision Influences

Manf Approved Product Product Price Premium Quality Brand Name & Reputation

Less Toxic if Swallowed Manf Eco-Responsibility Sustainable Manf Process Attractive, Convenient Package

Not Important

Somewhat Important

Important

Very Important

Neutral

Chart 16: Antifreeze Purchase Decision Influences

As represented above, a product that is well priced and manufacturer approved are high priorities for buyers.

These should be considered during the promotional strategy execution. However, brand name and reputation also played a role. A productâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s toxicity, sustainability and manufacturing responsibility ranked relatively low, but still scored well. Almost half considered packaging as not important at all.

Service Station Users: Loyalty and Brand Awareness 54 per cent of respondents using an automotive service station either had no preference for what dealer they used, or used a small independent dealer. Following this, 28 per cent used their dealer, and 14 per cent went to a Mr. Lube. Canadian Tire, Midas, and Kal-Tire, as the next three most popular stations. This data indicates that a distribution challenge may exist in supplying Eco-Freez to the multitude of small independent stations, in order for owners to use it in their cars. Another significant challenge is that 76 per cent of these service station users does not know what brands of fluids their mechanic uses, again contributing to the lack of knowledge of coolants and other automotive fluids.

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DIYers: Loyalty and Brand Awareness The DIY respondents servicing their own vehicles were 61 per cent likely to buy their fluids from Canadian Tire, and a surprising 32 per cent from Walmart, which beat out Lordco with 27 per cent. The “other retailer” category scored 25 per cent, with dealer stores close behind with 23 per cent.

In terms of what these DIY services entailed, changing antifreeze was the most popular activity at 86 per cent, with DIY oil changes next at 61 per cent. Changing any filters garnered 48 per cent or less. This shows that, amongst DIYers, changing antifreeze is not considered a difficult task but the percentages may not be representative because of the low number of potential DIY respondents, at 38 per cent.

Antifreeze Awareness and Habits When asked specifically about antifreeze, some interesting results emerged. Prestone was a brand known by half of the respondents, with Canadian Tire’s house brand MotoMaster and Walmart’s STP brand next with around a third of respondents’ awareness. The Turbo Power brand came close behind.

An interesting test was the use of a wild-card to gauge brand recall versus brand recognition, which are elements of true brand awareness measurements. Three nonexistent brands of antifreeze were added to the list of products in order to test whether or not true brand cognition exists. Surprisingly, 5 per cent recognized the name “Helix”, 19 per cent claimed to know of “Maxcool”, and 21 per cent said they had seen “Duralube” antifreeze before – all fictitious products. This wild-card test, including only 3 per cent stating they had any preference for any antifreeze brand, proves that antifreeze consumers are truly disengaged when it comes to their brand choice.

Note: Eco-Freez obtained a 3 per cent awareness level (five people). However, even this low figure could be considered inflated, as the survey included BCIT students, who are well aware of Eco-Freez due to this project.

When cross-tabulated, all of those aware lived in B.C. and were under the age of 35, so it can be assumed that these were BCIT students. What is encouraging is that 97 per cent of people were unaware, which allows us to trust our data as more representative of the general public we do not engage with normally.

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Data also indicated a wide spread of opinions as to how often antifreeze should be checked and/or changed, once again signifying high levels of apathy and uninformed consumers, as shown in Chart 17.and Chart 18 below. What is a notable concern is that less than 1 per cent believes antifreeze should be checked at the start of summer (potential seasonal promotion), and a startling 23 per cent don’t know how to check it. The overwhelming majority simply goes by their manual, or leaves it to their service advisor. This illustrates the importance in some basic education as part of the promotional campaign.

How often do you think you should change your antifreeze?

29% 28%

Every 6 months Every 12 months

1% Every 2 years More than 2 years 10% 4%

According to manual

11%

17%

Chart 17: Antifreeze Changing Perceptions

How often do you check your antifreeze?

4.8% 23.1% 21.1%

Once a month Every 6 months Once a year When winter comes When summer comes

6.1% Never -– Ithe Sstation does it use the garage

6.1% 38.1%

0.7%

I don’t know how

Chart 18: Antifreeze Checking Perceptions

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Environmental Awareness and Habits 90 per cent of respondents claim to recycle in their homes “Always” or “Usually”, and less than 1 per cent said they “Never” recycle. This shows an affinity and support for recycling in general. In addition, almost 40 per cent said they always try to buy eco-friendly products, as shown in Chart 19. Those who did not commit to always buying “green” products cited price and quality concerns.

Do you purchase eco-friendly products?

50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Yes Always

Only if convenient

Only if price and quality matches

Sometimes

Rarely

Never

Chart 19: Propensity to Purchase Eco-Friendly Products

Further analysis into what perceptions existed regarding a recycled antifreeze product revealed that 22 per cent may consider it an inferior product, 26 per cent would pass it off as “green-washing”, and a third would assume it to be expensive. However, 47 per cent thought it is a great environmental product, and 17 per cent would go so far as to make it their next purchase decision at a store or service station.

The statistics above speak again to the need for manufacturers purporting “green” credentials to prove themselves as genuinely committed to environmental efforts as well as product performance. Once these barriers are broken, the purchase decision is easy to make for consumers.

Key Trends and Findings      

There is a general misunderstanding or lack of interest in car maintenance issues Brand recall and awareness is low The majority of vehicle owners depend on service stations to maintain their cars, including replacing their antifreeze Manufacturer approval, price, and quality are top influential factors when choosing their antifreeze Skepticism exists around the issue of green-washing, but people still gravitate towards eco-friendly products where the quality and price is comparable A large amount of respondents consider them to be environmentally conscious by recycling and buying eco-friendly products Page 51 of 129

Target Market The target market is separated into three audiences.   

Primary Market: The core consumer group, with whom awareness and education must be established Secondary Market: Influencers and sharers, with whom awareness and advocacy are most important Tertiary Market: Drivers and vehicle owners, who share few attributes other than receiving messaging in the location and same time of day

By targeting the influencer group with various tactics, Eco-Freez will be able to establish credibility and encourage the creation of organic content.

Brands that are looking to increase their online presence should look to bloggers, who produce independent, trusted content and have large influential networks. This will help improve online awareness and push the product or brand.

Influencers and bloggers often create a ripple effect, and using targeted messages and tactics will encourage them to share the campaign messages and create content which will support Eco-Freez’s campaign.

Primary Market – Conscious Commuters The primary market for this campaign has a propensity to buy local, a concern for the environment, and the ownership of, or ability to regularly drive a car. As a result of these characteristics, the primary market are named the “Conscious Commuters.”

"I would define myself as evolutionary, dynamic, and versatile. My girlfriend would define me as the love of her life. My friends would define me as a crazy, eccentric bearded man. My enemies would define me as an asshole." - Eric Moran, Toronto artist and entrepreneur, a Canadian Millennial.”

(Cotroneo, 2012)

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Geographic Segmentation Spans from Pemberton to Boston Bar The geographic scope for this campaign will reach from Pemberton, North of Whistler, along the Sea to Sky Highway, down through the Lower Mainland, and up to Boston Bar as per Figure 4. There were 1.52 million registered vehicles between Pemberton and the Boston bar in 2011. The 2006 Canadian Census recorded 2.36 million people living in the region (PCensus, 2013).

Figure 3: Eco-Freez Distribution Area

Focused In the Greater Vancouver Regional District To increase the effectiveness of the campaign, communications will target the primary market where they are most concentrated; the Greater Vancouver Regional District (GVRD). The GVRD’s population grew nearly 10 per cent since 2006 to a total 2,313,238 (Metro Vancouver, 2011) in 2011.

High Quality of Living Over the past decade, Vancouver has consistently ranked first on the world’s most livable cities list (The Huffington Post Canada, 2012). Vancouver is one of the world’s top five most sustainable cities, leading the world in hydroelectric power – making 90 per cent of its own energy supply. Many residents are aware and in favor of Vancouver’s aspirations of becoming the world’s greenest city by 2020 (d'Estries, 2011).

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Demographic Segmentation Taking into account that the Conscious Commuter is a driver who is in favor of buying locally and sustainably, the following demographic characteristics have been used as a representation of the primary target market.

Young The demographic profile of the Conscious Commuter is comprised mainly of Millennials, who account for 26 per cent of the Canadian population (Weissemann, 2012). The GVRD is home to 518,193 adults aged 18 to 34, approximately 22.5 per cent of the Census Metropolitan Area`s population (Metro Vancouver, 2012).

Drivers Communications will be targeted towards individuals who own or regularly drive a motor vehicle.

Approximately 285,285 vehicles were registered by people aged 18 to 34 in the overall target region (Pemberton to Boston Bar) as per the 2006 Census, meaning if spread out evenly, 52.19 per cent of the target population owns or drives a vehicle (PCensus, 2013).

Low-Income The average annual personal income for individuals between the ages of 18-34 living in the GVRD is $27,150, considerably lower than the average personal income of $35,542 (PCensus, 2013). Conscious Commuters are struggling with concerns over jobs as 43 per cent of Canadian Millennials have mentioned that availability of quality jobs was one of the biggest challenges of their generation (Cotroneo, 2012).

Educated Projections and estimates for 2012 indicated that 60 per cent of adults 25 years and over will have a certificate, diploma, or degree compared to high school education, signifying a highly educated work force (PCensus, 2013). However, the high education of the Conscious Commuter has led to a high debt burden, with 32 per cent of the segment ranking â&#x20AC;&#x153;student and personal debtâ&#x20AC;? as one of the top challenges they must overcome (Cotroneo, 2012).

Therefore, although the Conscious Commuters are educated, they still shop thriftily to remain on budget and out of debt.

Psychographic Segmentation The psychographic profile of the Conscious Commuters will describe their personality, values, interests, and lifestyles, in order to better choose specific marketing tactics and strategies.

Brand and Credibility The quality of a brand is important to the Conscious Commuters, with 45 per cent ranking it as a top attribute.

In addition to the need for top quality, 44 per cent of the segment makes price comparisons in store and 52 per cent check online user reviews before purchasing. Packaging also plays a key role in the target marketâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perception as they are more inclined to favor a minimalist design (Fergusen, 2012).

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Tech-savvy Millennials are currently so deeply rooted in the technological era that their lifestyles and information gathering habits have changed drastically. The Huffington Post reported that 79 per cent of Canadian Millennials define their generation by their connection to technology, coining the term “digital natives.” Interestingly, nearly half of those aged 23 to 30 told researchers that they would rather give up their sense of smell than a piece of technology (Cotroneo, 2012).

Need for Transparency and Trust Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has become an integral part of business to consumer marketing. This generation is 83 per cent more likely to trust a company, 79 per cent more likely to purchase a company’s product, and 74 per cent more likely to pay attention to a company’s messages if they can display good practices through CSR (Cone Inc., 2006).

Environmentally Inclined According to a survey of Canadian Millennials, 20 per cent rank pollution and environmental protection as either number one or two of the biggest challenges faced by their generation (Cotroneo, 2012). In addition, as identified in secondary research, Conscious Commuters rank sustainability and environmentally friendly attributes highly when purchasing products. However, they are still weary of the idea of “green-washing” and usually do some research or will read labels before purchasing.

Locally Driven As identified in primary and secondary research, the Conscious Commuter segment of 18-34 year olds believe in the importance of purchasing locally sourced products that benefit the local economy and community. This was one of the main findings from the secondary research; Conscious commuters placed the local attributes of a product as more important than any other environmental attribute (Euromonitor International, 2011).

Behavioural Segmentation Behaviorally, the Conscious Commuters are a generation of choice, a generation that is constantly on the go, and a generation who is known for being impatient. Being born into technology like no other generation before them, the Conscious Commuters have a need for information and a need for interconnectivity with the world.

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Connected through Social Media In 2012, North Americans aged 18 to 34 spent about 8 hours each week on social media, 32 per cent of the 25 total hours they spend online (Marketing Charts, 2013). There are 10.3 million Conscious Commuters on Facebook, which is representative of 9 in 10 of those aged 18 to 34. Those Millennials aged 18 and above are more likely to say that they never log off their social media platforms (Canadian Millennials, 2012).

Surfing on Smartphones By the end of 2012, it was expected that 55 per cent of Canadian cell phone users would own a smartphone, which is expected to increase even further to 65 per cent of cell phone users by the end of 2013 (LaSalle, 2012).

Nielsen reports that of those aged 25 to 34, Smartphone ownership is closer to 74 per cent (Nielsen Wire, 2012).

The Internet is accessed once daily by 56 per cent of smartphones, and search engine functions account for 51 per cent of that Internet access (SMB Marketing, 2012).

Crowdsourcers The ability to seek information and user reviews online is often instrumental when customers decide to associate themselves with a brand. This is most prevalent in the Millennials’ segment as 51 per cent of them consulting four or more sources before making a purchase decision (Edelman Insights, 2012).

Crowdsourcing, however, entails more than simply sharing reviews on products. It is the collaborative mentality that has taken over the Millennials views on consumption. “In order for brands to be relevant and loved by Millennials, brands must be platforms for collaboration and bring their young audiences together. Companies have to begin seeing themselves as more than sellers, but enablers…” This was a sentiment shared by Team Scratch, a blogging extension of Viacom Media Networks.

“In order for brands to be relevant and loved by Millennials, brands must be platforms for collaboration and bring their young audiences together. Companies have to begin seeing themselves as more than sellers, but enablers.”

(Team Scratch, 2012)

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Secondary Market – Influential Insiders The Conscious Commuters are actively involved in crowdsourcing information and look to influential members of society who have a vested knowledge, interest, and opinion on products and services on the market.

Influencers, and specifically bloggers are considered “Mavens” in their networks, as they are opinion leaders and early adopters that have the ability to shift the perceptions and habits of others. They are also centres of large networks, whose reach would be valuable in building awareness, and knowledge for the Conscious Commuters. As a result, influencers have been identified as the secondary target market and have been termed the “Influential Insiders” for this campaign.

The segmentation for this market will not solely be a representation of the Influential Insider itself, but also the network of people they reach as well.

Geographic Segmentation Since the campaign will be targeted in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, influencers that are part of the Vancouver community will be targeted. The general population finds believability from local sources more than those that are not. That is the reason that Local TV and Local news gatherers are still considered the most credible sources by 65 per cent of the population, according to Pew research (Essif, 2012).

Demographic Segmentation The network reached, like the Conscious Commuter, will need to be concentrated amongst the 18 to 34 age bracket. Influencers who communicate through multiple platforms will also be targeted (i.e. website, blogs, social media platforms, etc.), as they offer more touch-points and higher frequencies from the primary audience.

Blogs and websites like Vancity Buzz appeal in particular to the type of influencers that fit this description. Their reach includes 675,000 page views and 225,000 unique visitors per month, 87 per cent of which are comprised of 18 to 34 year olds and 83 per cent from Metro Vancouver. They also have more than 30,000 Twitter followers and over 13,000 Facebook fans (Vancity Buzz, 2012).

Psychographic Segmentation The psychographic mindset of the Conscious Commuters must be mirrored by the psychographics of their influencers. The Influential Insiders have the same propensities to buy local and the same considerations for the environment that the primary target market has, only amplified. Audiences look to influencers because they have a specialized knowledge and interest on a specific field.

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Behavioural Segmentation The influencers are active sharers of relevant content to the Conscious Commuters. What makes influencers trustworthy is the consistent and transparent content they provide, something that brands often times have trouble producing. 92 per cent of consumers trust recommendations from people that they know or respect (i.e. influencers), while only 15 per cent of people trust brand messages (Nielsen, 2012). As alluded to in the demographics of the influencers, they are active on a variety of platforms, ideally having their own website or active blog, a Twitter profile, and Facebook fan pages.

Tertiary Market - Drivers in Vancouver (DIVs) The tertiary market for the Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Change campaign will be the Drivers in Vancouver (DIVs) who are concentrated in the GVRD. As mentioned in the Consumer Analysis, there are over 1.2 million passenger vehicles in the geographical region from Pemberton to Boston Bar, with 1.9 million people above the age of 16 (PCensus, 2013). Since the population density is greatest in the GVRD, the campaign will focus specifically on drivers in the Lower Mainland. This segment is targeted because of the relevance of the product to automobiles, as well as the opportunity to capitalize on the large captive audience available because of the high levels of congestion found in Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s traffic patterns.

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Marketing Communications Objective The communications objective for the Eco-Freez campaign is to generate over 60 million positive awareness impressions from October 2013 through August 2014. Communication will occur through media that speak to the brand attributes of Eco-Freez, during a seasonally relevant period. This awareness must not only convey the brand benefits, but also educate consumers on what Eco-Freez is and establish a trustworthy reputation.

Marketing Communications Strategy The unifying theme of the campaign encompasses four factors that apply to Eco-Freez; the Key Strategic Points (KSPs), define Eco-Freez as a product and company with a higher purpose than simply selling an automotive product. These KSPs are explained below.

It’s Sustainable Eco-Freez’s production process has two main benefits for the environment when compared to competitive products and brands. First, recycling otherwise unusable antifreeze prevents unsafe disposal of antifreeze that has the potential to eventually run off into local waterways. Second, the amount of energy and raw materials used in the recycling process is 20 per cent of what it takes to produce any form of virgin antifreeze.

It’s Local M&R Environmental conducts its collection, manufacturing, and distribution of Eco-Freez within the Greater Vancouver Regional District. They also do everything that they can to support their community with various philanthropic acts aimed to do nothing more than simply give back.

It’s Premium-Grade Consumers are seeking maximum quality and value from their dollars, while also trying to buy local, sustainable products. As revealed through primary research, consumers are weary and wary of compensating the functionality and quality of the products they consume simply because it is branded as local and/or sustainable.

Eco-Freez is in a unique position of actually being able to meet these demands, and considerable emphasis must be put into conveying these qualities of Eco-Freez.

It Educates and Changes Perceptions Motivating change in consumer perceptions regarding antifreeze is another key aspect of this campaign.

Without educating the target market about antifreeze (including the fact that it is primarily coolant), what it is and what it does, and furthermore what Eco-Freez has to offer above other antifreezes, it will be difficult to establish Eco-Freez as the top-of-mind brand it hopes to become. If the challenge is to make Eco-Freez the household brand for the coolant market, the solution is to build awareness for more than just the product and what it does for a vehicle, but this must also be conveyed.

The strategy will also create awareness on two levels using separate tactics for each. High-level awareness will be used to educate the Conscious Commuters on Eco-Freez and the brand attributes. Low-level awareness will be created by utilizing tactics that the target audience engages in. This will develop a trusting relationship and create a strong reputation between the customers and Eco-Freez. Ultimately, this low-level awareness will also lead to further engagement and social sharing of the brand.

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Brand Development For a brand to become inherently strong, it must have a body of characteristics that can be looked at and practiced. The following describes the essence, the tone and manner, and manifesto that the Eco-Freez brand should embody, based on the given and identified goals.

Brand Essence There are two words that describe what Eco-Freez stands for. Together, they represent the proposition that the product offers every consumer. The two words also describe the brand’s position to be developed, refined, and presented throughout this and any future campaigns. Those two words are

and Brand Manifesto Eco-Freez’s brand manifesto, the driving force behind their purpose, can be defined as follows.

“Eco-Freez knows that profitability and performance can be achieved in a responsible and sustainable way. Because actions speak louder than words, we don't just advocate sustainability, we practice it in all steps of our production. That is how, as a steward of the environment and a leader in antifreeze, we are driving change in our community, in our industry, and into the future.”

Tone and Manner With this campaign, an emotional appeal built around evoking pride and trust will prove the most successful way of communicating with consumers. The brand will incorporate a variety of characteristics – communityminded, neighbourly, caring, dependable and sustainable - that will play off the idea of invoking pride. Every tactic that the audience comes in contact with will be created with the objective of making them think “EcoFreez cares about Vancouver just as much as I do.”

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The Unifying Idea The strategy for this campaign will introduce one principle message;

This unifying idea poses a call to action to the target market, urging them to change everything that they know, or don’t know about antifreeze, the people that use it, and the companies that make it. Change, as a word and an idea, is significant in that it showcases how Eco-Freez facilitates change for the environment, change for the local economy, change for the industry, and even the act of changing antifreeze in a vehicle.

Educating and intriguing the consumer through creative and thought-provoking executions will be done through creating an emotional appeal based on local pride, corporate social responsibility, and Eco-Freez’s key brand attributes. The message and its executions will remind the audience of the cherished beauty of their city, displaying specific locations in Vancouver that have established stoic histories and lasting relationships with the audience. Doing so will evoke that pride and desire to protect these memories and images, simultaneously conveying the locality of Eco-Freez as well as their emphasis on sustainability, without implicitly stating it.

Launching off the already establish “formulated for change” tag line, the campaign takes the strong brand already established with Eco-Freez in the B2B market and translates the same message, with a more emotional appeal, to the Vancouver consumer over the duration of the campaign.

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Creative Strategy From an execution standpoint, the campaign will aim to convey the KSPs and unifying theme in a visually appealing way. Specifically, the sustainability and locality traits of Eco-Freez need to be made evident through the execution. Decisions and guidance was provided by Appendix 5: Campaign Roadmap.

The logo will be modified slightly, only to include a tagline below the presiding logo. The tag reads, or in radio’s case states, “premium recycled coolant,” an already adopted key message describing the premium aspect of Eco-Freez and supporting its sustainability with the inclusion of “recycled.” Furthermore, referring to the product as a coolant helps define the synonym that is antifreeze and engine coolant (this will be subtly incorporated into the educational aspect of the campaign tactics).

Tactics will focus on representing the local aspect of Eco-Freez, connecting the brand to Vancouver. With Vancouver as a central aspect of the executions, on top of the underlying theme of “It’s Time to Change,” the aim is to create recognition and pride between the city and the audience.

The messaging (copy) for each execution will pose these sustainable landmarks as things that should not change, contrasted against the consumer’s antifreeze, which should change. Eco-Freez is then presented as an alternative, being a product that contributes positively in the community and reduces the harm of antifreeze on the environment in which the landmark is present.

Creative Appeal An emotional appeal will be used for this campaign to create a stronger connection between audience and the Eco-Freez brand. Research suggests that emotional appeals can influence the consumer decision-making process, and also their attitudes and perceptions of a certain topic (Ridout & Searles, 2011).

The specific emotions that will be evoked are pride and trust. In the initial client briefing, M&R Environmental made it clear that they were proud to be from the Lower Mainland and that what made their business successful was the trust they instilled in their customers. Trust in a company was also something that was discovered in primary research to enhance the likelihood of buying and becoming loyal to local, sustainable products.

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Media Plan Background and Key Issues In 2012, the TomTom Congestion Index placed Vancouver as the second most congested city in North America, trailing closely behind Los Angeles, CA. During peak hours, there is an average 34-minute delay caused by the heavy traffic.

Figure 4: Congestion Comparison

(TomTom, 2012)

This delay, for drivers with a 30-minute commute, translates into an additional 83 hours spent in the car, in traffic, per year, as per Figure 5.

(TomTom, 2012). In conjunction, using the BC Ministry of Transportation’s traffic levels tool, Ratchet Marketing was able to identify the sections of the highways and streets within the Lower Mainland that were most congested (BC Ministry of Transportation, 2013). This will aid in selecting the areas chosen for out of home and radio executions. For congestion maps please see Appendix 4: Congestion Maps in GVRD

It was identified that a trustworthy reputation could be established through a combination of high-level awareness tactics as well as community-based tactics. By using influential community members with a platform to share, as well as other online and experiential tactics, a campaign can create word of mouth and testimonials that will help establish Eco-Freez’s reputation and aid in creating credibility with their consumers.

Media Objectives There are two media objective for the It’s Time to Change campaign.

The first objective is to communicate the brand benefits and attributes of Eco-Freez to all three target audiences with an emphasis on the Conscious Commuters. This should be done through media that are the most applicable in reaching them at places and times in their day when they are thinking about their vehicle.

The second media objective is to establish Eco-Freez as a trusted brand with the Conscious Commuter target audience. The campaign must ensure they are aware of Eco-Freez’s brand attributes and benefits.

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Media Strategy There are several strategies used to achieve the media objectives.       

Use regions and roads of the GVRD that are highly populated commuter channels in and out of the downtown Vancouver core.

Situate media in specific locations that are applicable to Eco-Freez and their target audiences and will generate trust with the product and its brand resulting in consumer advocacy.

Connect with the target audiences through media channels that will be effective at communicating with them at times during the day when they would be thinking about their vehicle.

Maintain base awareness levels for each three-month sub-campaign.

Highlight campaign KSPs to ensure the target market develops an educated understanding of EcoFreez.

Communicate with the target audience digitally to ensure they are aware of Eco-Freez’s online presence.

Leverage out of campaign events that attract high concentrations of Conscious Commuters and other segments of the target market, to build brand awareness and trust.

To achieve the media objectives, in-car captive audiences will be targeted at various points in their day through tactics that yield the greatest awareness and education while in a situation that is applicable to Eco-Freez.

Communicating to the Conscious Commuters while they are in their cars will yield a more favorable and cooperative response. The media strategy will capitalize on the various touch points that are most relevant to the core consumer’s daily routine. The goal is to expose the target consumer to a large frequency of communications through both high-level and low-level awareness tactics.

As radio and OOH are complementary high-level awareness media that will establish Eco-Freez as a top of mind brand, online media and experiential media will develop Eco-Freez’s reputation as a local and trustworthy brand.

The campaigns will run during the spring and fall months in preparation for the summer and winter seasons. According to primary research, consumers have a higher propensity to consider servicing their vehicles and think about their antifreeze during the spring and fall (M&R Environmental, 2013). In addition, specific media placements will be incorporated to maximize both central reach and target market reach.

Strategically developing creatives for the specific area, and its relevance to the target audience, will allow for a more personalized message than generic advertising. They will solidify the local-based positioning, one of the unique selling propositions that had been recommended for Eco-Freez to leverage.

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Media Timing Leveraging the primary research findings, two separate three-month periods have been chosen to pulse through the campaigns’ media selections.

Fall Campaign – October 1st to December 31st, 2013 This period of time represents the lead up to the winter season. As per primary research, antifreeze is more top of mind during the fall season as people prepare their vehicles for winter driving conditions. The October to December timeframe of this sub campaign will be pivotal in building a base awareness for Eco-Freez.

This means they will enter the consumer’s evoked set while they consider their vehicle maintenance for the winter, which hits Vancouver primarily in December and January.

Spring Campaign – April 1st to June 30th, 2014 This period has been chosen because it leads up to the summer season, which is when the consumers use their vehicles the most (M&R Environmental, 2013). This period also contains some of the months with the highest accident rates, with 29.5 per cent of car accidents happening between March and May, and 26.7 per cent occurring between June and August (Kanetix, 2012). With accidents comes increased congestion, meaning drivers spend even more time in their vehicles.

Media Recommendations and Rationale The four types of media used for the campaign are out of home (OOH), radio, online and experiential. Both radio and OOH will act as high-level awareness tactics that will engage the audience while they are in their vehicles driving to and from the city. Online and experiential media will allow for both direct personal communication with the consumers as well as develop Eco-Freez’s online presence.

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Out of Home Tactic Plan Overview and Objective OOH will be used as a high-level awareness tactic for the duration of the two seasonal campaigns. The out of home objective is to generate as much It’s Time to Change campaign awareness as possible with the selected target audiences. As well, OOH must ensure that Eco-Freez is present in the consumers mind in between the experiential tactics being used.

Strategy Eco-Freez’s OOH strategy will include billboards, transit shelters, and bus wraps and bus kings. These will all be placed strategically throughout Vancouver and the Lower Mainland to ensure the greatest number of quality views per day as possible. Regions and routes for the OOH have been chosen by identifying highly congested commuter channels in and out of the downtown Vancouver core. All tactics will work in conjunction with one another to help achieve that top-level awareness. $112,000 has been allocated to the OOH components of Eco-Freez’s It’s Time to Change campaign for both the spring and fall campaigns. $55,000 will be used for each campaign with all rates being negotiated from standard purchase rates. As well, all OOH media for both 3-month campaigns will be purchased at once to ensure the best rates possible. $2,000 of the budget will be spent outside of the campaign dates, to take advantage of Vancouver based events that support the It’s Time to Change campaign. All rates shown are calculated at net prices with standard agency commissions (15 per cent) already taken off. In addition, impressions and cost per thousands are all calculated using a five-day work week.

Billboards Overview A mix of traditional and digital billboards will be planted throughout strategic positions in the Greater Vancouver Regional District where the target audiences frequent.

Timing and Placement Nine billboards will be purchased for a 16-week period. They will run for two months in the spring campaign, specifically from April 15th until June 15th, and two months in the fall campaign, October 15th until December 15th, with creative content changing one month in. The creative and media messaging will be relevant to the time of year, with spring content dealing with coolant, and antifreeze in the fall. As well, all content will be in line with the It’s Time to Change campaign theme, ensuring consistent and relevant messaging.

There will be five traditional boards, three superboards and one digital superboard. All of them will be purchased from The Jim Pattison Group so the lowest rates possible may be negotiated. They will be strategically placed in conjunction with the areas of highest congestion in Vancouver and on the major commuter routes in and out of the downtown Vancouver core. Table 3 below outline specifically where the billboards will be placed.

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Location

Hastings St. & Vernon Drive

Terminal Ave. & Begg St.

Main St. & 4th Ave

Main Street & East 1st Avenue

Expo Blvd. & Abbott St.

Kingsway & Windsor St.

West 12th & Arbutus St.

Highway 1 – Port Mann Bridge

Kingsway & Patterson St.

Specifications & Direction

30’ x 40’ East Facing

10’ x 20’ North Facing

10’ x 44’ South Facing

16’ x 12’ South Facing

10’ x 20’ – East Facing

10’ x 20’ East Facing

10’ x 20’ South Facing

14’ x 48’ –– East Facing

10’ x 44’ East Facing

Time Period

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Apr. 15 –Jun. 15 & Oct. 15 – Dec. 15

Digital & Traditional

Superboard

Traditional

Superboard

Traditional

Traditional

Traditional

Traditional

Digital Superboard

Superboard

Net Cost/16 Weeks

$10,000

$8,000

$10,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$8,000

$12,000

$10,000

Operator

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

Pattison

J.P.G. Unique Identifier

VA008621

VA009775

VA009872

VA009702

VA014931

VA005532

VA011661

VA90006A

VA004911

Circulation Per Day

22,473

26,400

26,334

26,400

26,400

26,400

26,400

72,585

38,612

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

$5.56

$3.79

$4.75

$3.79

$3.79

$3.79

$3.79

$2.07

$3.23

Table 3: Out of Home Billboard Placement (The Jim Pattison Group, 2013), (Canadian Outdoor Measurement Bureau, 2012)

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Rationale Each location was specifically chosen to capture areas with high traffic congestion leading into Vancouver’s downtown core or areas that are relevant to Eco-Freez’s product. For example, the Main Street and 1st Avenue location was chosen because the high number of automotive service providers that are in the area, with several specifically on that corner.

The superboard located on Hastings and Vernon Drive was chosen because of the traffic passing, its placement on a dealership lot, and it will be seen in conjunction with the 160-Hastings bus route. All billboards with the exception of the Port Mann Bridge digital superboard, which was chosen solely based on the location and high circulation numbers, are concentrated in densely populated areas that gain attention from both pedestrians and drivers alike.

Total circulation for the nine billboards is approximately 274,000 daily. As there were 2,313,328 people in the Greater Vancouver Regional District in 2011, 274,000 represents an 11.84 per cent share of the entire population (Metro Vancouver, 2011). These billboards, located on commuter routes and facing both directions, will gather a frequency estimated at 2 per day, resulting in a frequency of 10 per week. This will create 119 GRPs per week and 24 GRPs per day.

Creative Considerations Campaign billboards will showcase local monuments, historical statues and iconic Vancouver scenery. They will convey the local components of Eco-Freez’s branding and demonstrate that they have a strong understanding of their community, without actually saying it. The accompanying copy next to the monument will read, “Some things shouldn’t change”, implying the local monument or scenery. Next to the bottle of Eco-Freez in the bottom right corner of the billboard, copy will read, “Your antifreeze should”, implying Eco-Freez is changing.

The Eco-Freez logo will be placed in the bottom right hand corner and will include the tag line Recycled Premium Coolant. As well, below the logo there will be a call to action telling consumers to “find out how [EcoFreez is changing] at ecofreez.ca. Both the words ‘coolant’ and ‘antifreeze’ will be used in the same way in each advertisement. This educates the consumer and let them know that antifreeze and coolant are the same things.

The creative execution highlights not only the local focus of Eco-Freez but also the premium and sustainable elements of the branding strategy. Sustainability is illustrated through identifying Eco-Freez with monuments and Vancouver heritage sites that are now a part of the natural environment and embody sustainability. The premium attributes will be revealed through the product tagline.

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The call to action and website URL are included to drive traffic to the website where consumers will be able to engage in a Vancouver-based scenery and monument challenge. The additional writing from the call to action was included, even though it adds to the copy already on the boards, as theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re are situated in congested areas where consumers often sit in their vehicles for extended periods of time, thus providing them more time to read the copy. Billboard creative samples are provided in Appendix 6: Billboard Creatives.

Budget and Measurement For both campaigns, the total cost of billboard advertising is $82,000 with $41,000 being used in each subcampaign.

Total impressions from the billboards for the two campaigns is 23,360,320. If 23,360,320 is divided by $82,000 (total billboard budget), the average cost per thousand is $3.51.

Transit Advertising â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bus Kings Overview In order to communicate the Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Change campaign with the Eco-Freez target audiences, bus kings will be used throughout both the spring and fall campaigns. These advertisements are not meant to reach those consumers taking the buses but those who are traveling, and stuck in traffic, passing along the sides of the buses.

Timing and Placement Both spring and fall campaigns will run nine bus kings, each lasting four weeks. The advertisements will be placed on different bus routes to ensure that the busiest areas are covered and they maintain a presence in neighbourhoods where the Conscious Consumers live and work. Below is a comprehensive table of which bus routes will be used at certain points during the spring and fall campaigns, including pricing and locations.

All locations are listed in Table4 below.

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Location

Vancouver – Broadway Street

Vancouver – Victoria Street

VancouverBurnaby

Downtown Vancouver – Robson Street

East Vancouver – Main Street

Vancouver – UBC to Powell

Vancouver – Dunbar to Nanaimo Stn.

Vancouver to Burnaby – Hastings St.

Vancouver – Broadway Street

Route

99 – Broadway

20 – Victoria/ Downtown

135 – Burrard Stn. – SFU

05 – Robson

03 – Main

04 – 4th Ave

07 – Dunbar

160 – Hastings

09 - Broadway

Date

April 1-30, October 1-31

April 1-30, October 1-31

April 1-30, October 1-31

May 1-31, Nov. 1-30

May 1-31, Nov. 1-30

June 1-30, Dec. 1-31

June 1-30, Dec. 1-31

June 1-30, Dec. 1-31

May 1-31, Nov. 1-30

Price/ 4 weeks

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

$600

Importance of Network Connectivity

Medium

High

High

High

High

High

High

High

High

Population (people, 400m buffer)

68,000

67,000

55,000

42,000

49,000

89,000

108,000

81,000

79,000

Employment (jobs, 400m buffer)

58,000

111,000

127,000

105,000

61,000

146,000

148,000

139,000

68,000

Average Circulation/ 4 Weeks

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

114,280

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

$5.25

Table 4:Bus King Distribution and Routes (Translink, 2012), (Canadian Outdoor Measurement Bureau, 2012)

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Rationale These routes were chosen for several reasons. The first is that they operate mainly in the regions where a large portion of the Eco-Freez target market resides. Secondly, these buses run through densely populated regions; each route has a high number of residents in the area, which increases the number of pedestrians that will see the advertisements. In addition, these routes pass through areas with a high amount of employment, meaning consumers will be shopping in the area and looking at the advertisements.

Thirdly, these routes work in conjunction with some of the other OOH advertisements, specifically the transit shelters and billboards erected for the It’s Time to Change campaign.

Additionally, several of these neighbourhoods are growing in popularity with the Eco-Freez target market. For example, the Mount Pleasant region is growing in demand with young consumers, making the 03 – Main Street an attractive route (Vancity Buzz, 2012). Lastly, these routes are considered corridors in and out of the city and are often highly congested with traffic driving alongside the buses advertisements.

Transit advertising also makes sense for the Eco-Freez campaigns as the operator, the Coast Mountain Bus Company, is a primary client of M&R Environmental and Eco-Freez is used in their buses. This fact will be considered and will contribute to the creative that is used for this tactic.

Creative Considerations The creative for the bus kings will maintain the same theme as the billboards utilizing the local monuments, statues and recognizable Vancouver scenery. However, because these advertisements are situated on Coast Mountain buses, the copy and creative will incorporate the fact that the buses use Eco-Freez. A small adjustment to the creative will add copy just above the Eco-Freez logo that will say, “This bus runs on.”

For examples of the bus king creative executions, please see Appendix 7: Bus King Creatives.

Budget and Measurement The total budget for the bus kings is $12,000; $10,800 for the advertising space and $1,200 for the production of the advertisements.

Total circulation for all bus kings is 2,057,040. Divided by the total cost of $10,800 and multiplied by 1000, the average cost per thousand for bus kings is $5.25.

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Transit Advertising - Shelters Overview To round out the out of home high-level awareness tactics, the It’s Time to Change campaign will utilize transit shelters across Downtown Vancouver for the entirety of both the spring and fall sub-campaigns. These will be used in conjunction with the other high-level awareness tactics to educate the consumers on Eco-Freez and the key strategic points mentioned.

In addition, two transit shelters will be created for a four-week period in July and August to capitalize on the Gay Pride parade. This was viewed as an opportunity too good to pass by just because it didn’t fall within the specific campaign time frames.

The remaining OOH budget will be spent on seven transit shelters for each campaign, and two in the summer months. These will be strategically placed to ensure the highest number of pedestrians and drivers in Eco-Freez’s target areas take notice. These advertisements are not meant to attract those who use the transit system, but those consumers who walk and drive past them on a regular basis.

Timing and Placement Table 5 below provides an outline of when and where the transit advertisements will occur Dates

April 1-30

May 1-31

June 1-30

July 15 – August 15

October 131

November 1-30

December 1-31

Placement 1

Georgia St.

Georgia St.

Georgia St.

Davie St. & Burrard St.

Georgia St.

Georgia St.

Georgia St.

Placement 2

Granville St.

Granville St.

Granville St.

Davie St. & Denman St.

Granville St.

Granville St.

Granville St.

Placement 3

Robson St.

Cost

$3000

$2000

$3000

$2000

$3000

$2000

$3000

Circulation/ 4 Weeks

876,000

584,000

876,000

584,000

876,000

584,000

876,000

Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

$3.42

$3.42

$3.42

$3.42

$3.42

$3.42

$3.42

Robson St.

Robson St.

Robson St.

Table 5: Bus Shelter Placement & Schedule (Translink, 2012), (Canadian Outdoor Measurement Bureau, 2012)

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Rationale The same justification is used for the transit shelters as with the bus kings, because there are a significant number of pedestrians that use these routes in downtown Vancouver as well as a large amount of traffic that is often congested. Concentrating these advertisements in the city is the most effective use of the budget because of the large number of Eco-Freez consumers in the area and overall population density. The spill over created by using these densely populated regions will increase the media impressions and Eco-Freez awareness.

The two transit shelter advertisements scheduled for July 15th to August 15th are to take advantage of the Gay Pride Parade in August. Because of the Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Change campaign strategy, Ratchet deemed it important to invest in these transit advertisements outside of the campaign period because it will help develop Eco-Freezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s reputation and trust within the expanding LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transsexual) community.

Creative Considerations Once again, the transit shelters will utilize the same creative executions as the other out of home tactics. The only different execution will be for the Gay Pride advertisements, which will still work within the Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Change campaign strategy, but with different creative. This creative will speak directly to the LGBT community and will include the Gay Pride colours. For specific creative examples of these advertisements, please see Appendix 8: Bus Shelter Creatives.

Budget and Measurement The total budget for transit shelters is $18,000.

The total transit shelter impressions for the two three-month campaigns are 5,256,000. Divided by the total cost of transit shelters at $18,000, the average cost per thousand is $3.42.

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Summary and Measurement The OOH tactics, billboards, transit shelters and bus kings, will effectively communicate the It’s Time to Change campaign to Eco-Freez’s target audiences through quality creative that illustrates their brand attributes. The creative execution will engage the audience, and convey the tone and manner of Eco-Freez’s brand as well as highlight all of the KSPs for the campaign.

A total of 18 billboards, 16 transit shelters and 18 bus kings will be used over the two three-month campaigns.

The total budget for the OOH components is $112,000 with $82,000 for billboards, $12,000 for bus kings and $18,000 for transit shelters. These media choices will achieve 30,673,360 campaign gross impressions from April 1st through December 31st.

Figure 6 below indicates specifically where the OOH tactics will occur.

Figure 5: Out of Home Placements

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Radio Advertising Tactic Plan Radio was chosen as a tactic to ensure Eco-Freez maintains high-level awareness during the spring and fall campaigns, and to support the other awareness and engagement tactics. As well, since the objective is to target consumers while they are driving, radio was a natural choice because of the commuter’s propensity to listen to the radio while in their vehicle.

Overview and Objective The radio campaign will be driven by two primary tactics, 30-second radio spots and 10-second traffic report sponsorships. The radio advertisements will span for the entirety of each sub-campaign, totaling six months of radio coverage. Radio will be used during popular dayparts throughout the target audience’s daily routine, and at specific periods in which the propensity of a consumer to think about the maintenance of their car is highest.

The most captive in-car audience occurs during the morning and afternoon drive times. This is exemplified in the importance placed in advertising during those hours as well as the increased congestion and natural road delays that occurs during those times. Weekday evening driving can add 65 per cent on top of regular drive time in Vancouver (TomTom, 2012). Canadian adults aged 18 to 34 listen to radio between 12.5 and 16.8 hours each week. 22.7 per cent of all radio listened to in Canada is in the adult contemporary format. With men aged 18 and above, a large portion of radio is listened to in-the car. Men listen to about 37 per cent of their radio to in-car and women listen to 25 per cent of their radio in-car (Statistics Canada, 2008) The objective of radio as a tactic will not be to overwhelm the target audience with on-air communications, but rather to establish an on-going presence in the market. This will keep the Eco-Freez brand atop the mind of the Conscious Commuter and other target audiences. Effectively, radio will need to bridge the gaps between each campaign tactic, maintaining a broad level of awareness as well as support other tactics.

Strategy There are three strategies that will be used for radio media:   

Use radio to establish base awareness levels for each three-month sub-campaign (fall and spring).

Leverage targeted radio vehicles to maximize the effectiveness of each spot.

Utilize radio’s ability to reach in-car captive audiences who will have a higher propensity to connect with car-care related advertisements.

To convey the KSPs outlined in the overall strategy portion of the report, radio advertisement will be modeled around the creative strategy. For GRP breakdown and station details, see Table 6 and Table 7 of the document.

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30-Second Radio Spots 30-second radio spots have been chosen to act as a support awareness tactic during the spring and fall campaigns. A 30 second radio script has been created and can be found in Appendix 9: Radio Script Creative.

Placement Because Conscious Commuters have a preference for environmental initiatives, local culture, and are between the ages of 18 and 34, CKPK-FM, or The Peak 102.7, has been chosen as the main vehicle for communicating with the audience.

CKPK-FM: 102.7 The Peak The Peak broadcasts to an audience that is especially concentrated with adults aged 18 and 54. The Peak listener has a higher propensity to be active, and a lover of the outdoors, inferring that they care for their environment.

Moreover, the average Peak listener has a higher tendency to buy local than other radio listeners (The Peak, 2013). According to BBM statistics, The Peak achieves a 3.3 per cent reach of adults two and above. The Peak records 113,900 daily, unduplicated listeners (daily CUME) (BBM Canada, 2012).

Timing The 30-second spots will run for one month (four weeks) in each of the two campaigns. In the fall, the monthlong pulse will run during November, leading up to the “Supplying The Change” experiential marketing stunt, which will be explained further on. In the spring campaign, June will host a month-long pulse of radio spots, closing off the campaign and leading up to the summer, out-ofseason tactics. These spots will provide regular Eco-Freez content as well as support for the Salmon Festival event on July 1st, which Eco-Freez will be a part of.

These radio spots will run at times during the campaign when other radio executions are not being used. This will ensure that a consistent presence will be maintained. However, all radio ads will use the same dayparts so the same audiences hear the advertisement, contributing to advertisement frequency, reputation building, and solidifying the brand with the specific audience. As mentioned, spots will be planned to run during the Breakfast (5 a.m. to 10 a.m.) and Drive (3 p.m. to 8 p.m.) dayparts, to capitalize on the routines of the Conscious Commuter. As expected, both of these dayparts encapsulate the peak driving hours in which route congestion forms.

Rationale 30-second radio spots were chosen because they offer a longer period of time to communicate brand benefits and attributes. 30-seconds will allow Eco-Freez to educate the Conscious Consumers about the product and effectively convey the KSPs. While only attaining weekly GRPs of 33 points with the 30-second spots, the purpose is to support and maintain awareness, not to establish radio as the campaign’s primary awareness tactic.

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Creative Considerations There will be several scripts created for different times of the campaign. Each script will be tailored to the individual Eco-Freez events that are occurring during that time in the campaign. For full scripts, please see Appendix 9: Radio Script Creative.

Budget The campaign’s 30-second spots were planned based on a net price of $107 per gross rating point (GRP). Spread over two months (four weeks in each sub-campaign), eight weeks will be scheduled with 33 planned GRPs each week. The total spend on this specific tactic totals $28,000.

10-Second Traffic Sponsorships The second radio tactic will be used to affirm the connection between Eco-Freez and the Conscious Commuter’s vehicle. The 10-second traffic sponsorships will allow for high frequency as the same drivers will listen to the spot day after day, reinforcing the brand and its benefits to the core consumer groups.

Placement For traffic reports, a balanced and substantial mix between reach and frequency will be pivotal in utilizing the vehicle effectively. The Beat, while still pertaining to the target audience, was a station that offered this mix, and will be the sole station used for traffic report sponsorships.

CFBT-FM: 94.5 The Beat Every weekday The Beat features 12 traffic reports. Pulsing will be established by buying these weekly sponsorships (60 weekly traffic reports) for two-month periods at a time. In total 12 of these weekly traffic sponsorship packages will be purchased to reach The Beat’s audience. The Beat reaches the second most adults aged 25 to 54 in the Vancouver CMA region, behind only Virgin Radio. The Beat maintains a daily CUME audience of 377,100 (BBM Canada, 2012).

Timing Since traffic reports are scheduled at times during the day when the congestion is at its worst and the packages include mentions during every traffic report in a given week, scheduling the media during a particular daypart is not a concern.

In total, 16 weeks of traffic reports will be purchased, running during the time that the 30-second radio spots will not. This means that the traffic reports will be planned in October and December for the fall campaign, and during April and May for the spring campaign. The twelve spots will run during the workday including the “Breakfast” daypart as well as the “Drive.”

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Rationale Coupled with the 30-second radio spots, each of the sub-campaigns features three full months of radio. It is important to maintain radio awareness as it will reinforce the community based tactics that occur throughout the campaign and maintain a presence in the vehicles of the core target audience.

Traffic report sponsorships offer a highly relevant platform to convey Eco-Freez’s messaging. In-car audiences have reason to listen to traffic reports and will be more attentive to the brand mention that preludes it.

The Beat offers 12 daily traffic reports, and 60 reports per week, for a relatively low cost. It is a station that has a relatively high reach, although not as targeted to the Conscious Consumer’s as The Peak. Nonetheless, the traffic reports yield 426 GRPs per week; this may be inflated because the 10 second mentions are short and do not necessarily hit the entire reach of the station 12 times per day.

Creative Considerations There is only 10 seconds worth of copy required for the traffic sponsorships. The copy for the sponsorship will read: “The Beat traffic is sponsored by Vancouver’s very own Eco-Freez. Some things shouldn’t change. Your antifreeze should. Eco-Freez; premium recycled coolant.”

Budget Each week of the traffic reports cost $2000, with which 12 daily spots and 60 weekly spots are included (Barlow Media, 2013). Translated over four months, 16 total weeks have to be purchased. For traffic reports airing for two months in each of the spring and fall campaigns, the total spend planned is $32,000.

Below, Table 6 provides the reach, frequency and GRPs of the two radio tactics chosen, while Table 7 provides total radio measurement statistics.

Summary and Measurement Radio will be implemented to both increase the awareness of Eco-Freez to the Conscious Commuters while also acting as a support tactic for experiential and OOH media. Radio will help achieve the objective of reaching consumers while they are in their vehicles and thinking about their car maintenance. The total gross impressions for radio during both the spring and fall campaigns will be 34,724,000 and the average cost per thousand is $1.06 as seen in Table 7.

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Media Channel

Media Vehicles

Daily Reach

Daily Frequency

Daily GRPs

# of Days Per Week

Weekly GRPs

CFBT-FM

10s Traffic Sponsorships

7.1

12

85.2

5

426

CKPK-FM

30s Spots – ($28,000/$107/8 weeks)

–

–

–

–

33

Table 6: Reach, Frequency and GRPs of Radio Tactics (BBM Canada, 2012) (The Peak, 2013) (CARD Online, 2012)

CFBT-FM (The Beat 94.5)

CKPK-FM (The Peak 102.7)

Days Aired Per Week

5

5

Weeks Planned

16

8

377,100

113,900

30,168,000

4,556,000

$1.06

$6.15

Station

CUME: Gross Impressions Cost Per Thousand (CPM)

Table 7: Total Radio Measurement

Media Considered and Not Recommended There were several media that were considered but not recommended for the Eco-Freez It’s Time to Change campaign. One main constraint that arose was the decision to split the campaign into two separate campaign periods, which cut the budget for each campaign in half. This was done because of the importance of communicating Eco-Freez’s brand attributes and benefits in both seasons when customers service their vehicles. Therefore, with a limited budget, several media were not viable options.

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Television, magazines and newspapers were all considered because they all offer different methods of creating awareness. However, because of the objectives set out to communicate with the target audience through media that can reach them in their vehicles, none of these mediums were appropriate.

In addition, because the main objective of the campaign is to achieve awareness, an important component is creating frequency. Therefore, media were chosen that allow for high frequency, which newspapers and magazines do not.

Lastly, all three of media not chosen were simply too expensive for the campaign.

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Experiential Tactic Plan Experiential Marketing Objectives The experiential marketing objective for the It’s Time to Change campaign is to interact primarily with the Influential Insiders and D.I.V.s, as well as the local community, to educate them more about Eco-Freez. The campaign must ensure the target market and community interacts with Eco-Freez on a personal, grass-roots level that encourages advocacy and sharing amongst their peers and social networks.

Experiential Marketing Strategy The strategy for experiential marketing is to communicate with all three target audiences (Conscious Commuters, Influential Insiders, DIVs) and their local communities at specific events and locations in the Lower Mainland. Participation in these events will create share-worthy impressions and awareness. This strategy will include:    

Holding retail store activations across popular Lower Mainland locations where Eco-Freez is sold Taking part in the 2014 Vancouver International Auto Show Sponsoring the 2013 Steveston Salmon Festival Execute a relevant, exciting stunt on Burrard Street

Retail Store Activation Overview A brand building awareness tactic will be the manufacturing and dissemination of “Eco-Freez awareness packs” at strategic locations and events during the campaign. These will consist of the following, as shown in Figure 7. 

  

 

A letter sized folded brochure introducing and explaining Eco-Freez’s many benefits, including its recycled manufacturing process, premium additives, and environmental consideration. This will be printed on 100 per cent recycled paper.

The brochure will also include an easy-to-read litmus test paper with a comparison chart and usage instructions/warnings (see below). This will allow the user to easily and safely check their coolant.

An 8cm long by 2cm wide ACUSTRIP 2-way pH test strip.

2x 5cm round, heat resistant, high quality stickers with the Eco-Freez logo and the text “Please Change with Eco-Freez. Premium Recycled Coolant” printed on them, as well as instructions where to place it (on the engine bay transom, or in a place that any mechanic can easily see it). The second sticker is to be shared with a friend or kept in their service book/owner’s manual.

A custom branded and die-cut Eco-Freez vehicle air freshener.

A thin clear plastic bag to conveniently hold all the promotional materials.

These awareness packs will be used in a variety of campaign executions, and are shown in Appendix 10: Activation Pack.

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Figure 6: Eco-Freez Activation Pack Contents

Rationale The coolant purchase cycle is often years long or is performed as part of a service, where the choice of product is usually removed from the consumer. Therefore, Eco-Freez needs a tactic to not only create awareness at the point of interaction with the brand, but at the point of purchase and consumption, which may be months or even years following the campaign. Considering this, as well as the general lack of knowledge and understanding of what coolant actually does and how important it is, a long-term strategy is required that extends the awareness of Eco-Freez past the end of the It’s Time to Change campaign.

By providing customers with the litmus papers and instructions, they have the opportunity to easily check their coolant’s condition. This allows them to answer a question many owners have: “I don’t know if my antifreeze needs replacing or not.” Regardless of the test results, the consumer associates antifreeze with Eco-Freez from this point forward as an honest, reputable brand, but is not placed top-of-mind. This Eco-Freez test will alleviate a concern they may have had, and build the brand’s credibility and trustworthy reputation.

The Eco-Freez air freshener offers residual value and acts as a constant reminder of the brand. Coolant is seen by most as a low involvement purchase with little differentiating factors, so even a simple piece of collateral will put Eco-Freez immediately into their consideration set. This will establish brand recall in the future, as well as brand recognition at the time and point of purchase.

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The stickers serve many purposes. The instructions will indicate where the sticker should be placed to ensure that they or their mechanic remember to use Eco-Freez at the point of replacement. This addresses the challenge of how to get the Eco-Freez brand top-of-mind at the point of consumption during its extended life cycle. Some people may not wish to open their hoods, and the instructions say that, in this case, keep it in their service book or owner’s manual, as primary research showed that this is usually referred to by mechanics during services and the point of consumption (i.e. maintenance services).

Furthermore, some people may wish to share their Eco-Freez choice with others, and having a second sticker allows them to give one to a friend. This share-ability and novel approach, from a personal engagement and involvement perspective, means that impressions will extend beyond just the number of packs distributed.

The activation packs serve several purposes and will generate awareness with all three of the target audiences.

For those who take their vehicle in for servicing, the mechanic will know of their choice to use Eco-Freez; for those who perform their own maintenance, the litmus paper will let them know if it needs to be changed.

Lastly, for the Influential Insiders, the packs will provide them with additional information on Eco-Freez for them to share with their networks.

Placement The Eco-Freez awareness packs will be handed out by a street team of two brand ambassadors, trained in the product as well as how to identify potential customers. These will be handed out at the entrance of selected, large Canadian Tire outlets currently stocking and not stocking Eco-Freez as well as North Shore Auto Parts. Six locations will be chosen in total, with negotiations arranged beforehand to ensure stock is available. Below is the complete list of locations.      

Canadian Tire – 6312 200th Street, Langley BC Canadian Tire – 7878 120th Street, Surrey BC Canadian Tire – 3059 152nd Street, Surrey BC Canadian Tire – 1200 Seguin Drive, Coquitlam BC Canadian Tire – 2830 Bentall Street, Vancouver BC North Shore Auto Parts – 1425 Main Street, North Vancouver BC

Timing The brand ambassadors will hand out awareness packs at all six locations on Saturdays and Sundays between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., on the first and last weekends of November 2013 (24 activations in total). Smaller stores will hand out 400 packs, and larger stores will hand out up to 1,000 packs per day, per store. A total of 16,000 awareness packs will be handed out.

Budget and Measurement The total cost of the activation packs is $13,600. The activation street teams total cost is $4,800, with a total cost of $18,400 for the 16,000 activation packs. Labour for preparing packs will be included as 1 extra hour setup time for brand ambassadors.

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Beyond the 16,000 impressions gained by handing out the activation packs, it is predicted that these will be shared (either verbally or via the second sticker) with at least one other person. Therefore, we estimate the tactic to garner at least 32,000 impressions.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

Activation Packs ($0.85c each): -

Brochures (Recycled Stock)

16,000

$ 0.15

$ 2,400.00

-

Heat resistant, high quality stickers

32,000

$ 0 .04

$ 640.00

-

Litmus pH tester strips

16,000

$ 0.48

$ 7,680.00

-

Air Fresheners

16,000

$ 0.11

$ 1,760.00

-

Plastic Envelope

16,000

$ 0.03

$ 480.00

384

$ 15.00

$ 5,760.00

Brand Ambassadors (2 persons, 4 days, 6 sites @ 8hrs/day)

Total

$ 18,720.00

Table 8: Retail Store Activation Budget

Vancouver International Auto Show (V.I.A.S.) Overview Eco-Freez representatives will set up an interactive booth, showcasing and promoting the Eco-Freez product range, hosted in a 4m x 6m area at the annual Vancouver International Auto Show in March 2014. The booth will be set up in the Vancouver Convention Centre at a location that does not compete with similar product lines and preferably near a popular installation. These details will be negotiated with show organisers.

At the booth, browsers will collect informative pamphlets and learn about the Eco-Freez range of products. A focus will be on the premium aspect of the product, as well as its recycled properties. 2,500 Eco-Freez activation packs will be distributed to booth visitors, as well as 5,000 brochures designed specifically for the showâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s audience.

Rationale The V.I.A.S. is Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 3rd largest auto show and the #1 attended consumer event in Vancouver (Vancouver International Auto Show, 2013). The show saw over 85,000 visitors walk through the halls and exhibitions in 2012.

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With 2012 recording Canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s second-highest ever vehicle sales figures, the 2013 event is expected to surpass these numbers. 70 per cent of visitors are male, the age of the average attendee is 36, and 39 per cent are between the ages of 25 and 44. Their average household income is over $90,000, and visitors spend an average of 2.9 hours browsing the displays and exhibits. The show organisers run extensive marketing campaigns around the show, and in 2010, 235 stories and/or photos ran in print, TV, radio and online media, achieving an advertising equivalency value of over $4.2 million. For a complete breakdown of show demographics and statistics, see Appendix 11: Vancouver International Auto Show Media Guide.

Auto shows are widely recognized as reaching much further than just those who attend; social media and traditional media outlets source, create, and run features and coverage from the shows to penetrate into their particular demographics and readership profiles, growing impressions and awareness of those who sponsor and exhibit at them (Vasquez, 2010). The show markets itself and associated exhibitors actively on social media channels. These are usually picked up and shared by the secondary target market of Influential Insiders in the motoring and local events blogosphere.

With such attractive consumers attending and significant media attention, the Vancouver International Auto Show attracts respected manufacturers, car enthusiasts, and various industry influencers, connectors, and sharers. Credibility is given to exhibiting brands by association with the show, which creates the opportunity for the aforementioned bloggers and the mainstream media to potentially learn about and share the Eco-Freez story and brand. Furthermore, the show organisers provide marketing kits and branding opportunities during the event, including inclusion in supplements in the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province.

Low quality products are not expected nor welcomed at shows of this caliber. Because research has shown that recycled products often carry a stigma of poor quality, the Eco-Freez brand will immediately set itself apart from any quality concerns by hosting a booth at the show. This is helped by the fact that manned booths also allow for demonstrations and interactive, educational experiences with attendees who need to be informed about what sets Eco-Freez apart. The focus of the booth will be the â&#x20AC;&#x153;premium, high performanceâ&#x20AC;? characteristics of Eco-Freez, followed by its recycling process and low cost; this follows the natural order of importance for most auto enthusiasts. In addition, because it is a local product at a local car show, there is an expected level of excitement based on that product attribute.

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Placement The show is held at the Vancouver Convention Centre, and the booth location will be strategically chosen to accommodate a 4m x 6m area, placed in an attractive, highly frequented position. Please see Appendix 12: V.I.A.S. Floor Layout and Rate Card for a floor plan of the Vancouver International Motor Show and suggested booth placements.

Timing Exhibiting at the show requires the booth set up for a media preview gala in the last week of March, and then public attendance through the rest of that week, and the first weekend of April. Setup would need to take place in advance, and show times range from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. At least one knowledgeable Eco-Freez representative will be at the booth at all times. To maximize exposure, credibility and impact for Eco-Freez, the company representatives at the event will promote and share Eco-Freez’s show involvement through social and traditional media leading up to and throughout the show’s duration.

Budget and Measurement As seen below in Table 9, the total budget for the V.I.A.S is $8,050.

Although 85,000 people attend the show, the reach of impressions extends far beyond visitor counts. With popular bloggers, car fanatics, and media attending the show, this figure could easily be multiplied. Over 200 stories are generated by the show every year, equating to at least an estimated 200,000 additional impressions.

Banners, tables and similar furnishing will be the same as used for Eco-Freez’s 2012 TRUXPO exhibit, augmented by those purchased for the Steveston Salmon Festival, and therefore these furnishing costs are not included.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

1

$ 3,900.00

$ 3,900.00

Awareness Packs

4,000

$ 3,400.00

$ 3,400.00

Custom V.I.A.S. Brochures

5,000

$ 0.15

$ 750.00

4m x 6m Booth - 2014 V.I.A.S.

Total

$ 8,050.00

Table 9: Vancouver International Auto Show Budget

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Steveston Salmon Festival Overview Steveston is a small community located in the city of Richmond, where every Canada Day since 1945 they have celebrated the Steveston Salmon Festival. The festival is the largest not-for-profit Canada Day celebration in the country, drawing crowds of over 70,000 people from across Richmond, the Lower Mainland and the Pacific Northwest (Steveston Community Society, 2013).

Each year the Steveston Salmon Festival calls out for four Gold sponsors in order for this event to continue to flourish, with all excess revenue from the festival going towards community projects. In 2013, Eco-Freez will be one of the four main sponsors, taking a prominent role on the festival’s main stage. This sponsorship means that during the festival the Eco-Freez brand will be well represented through posters, online media, festival guides, and frequent mentions during entertainment on the main stage.

In addition to the massive number of impressions garnered from these mediums, Eco-Freez will have a booth set up at the festival trade show, which will give brand ambassadors a chance to interact with the target audiences. Ambassadors will hand out Eco-Freez activation packs (as per the retail store activations) while educating them on the benefits of Eco-Freez products.

Given the fact that Eco-Freez keeps 2.6 million litres of antifreeze out of the local water systems annually, this aligns Eco-Freez perfectly with the theme of the festival (preservation and celebration of sustainable, natural B.C. salmon and fisheries). This connection makes it easier to relate the product to the festival theme, the customers and their community. Eco-Freez must ensure they leverage this connection at the festival.

Rationale The festival will build awareness and affinity for the Eco-Freez brand in a community setting where large numbers of people will be educated about the brand and product. Gold sponsorship of the festival provides Eco-Freez with a number of branding vehicles that will build awareness, including:       

Welcome sign at three primary park entrances, and two at the Main Stage Festival posters, prominently displayed around Steveston village, and at key locations in the City of Richmond; also widely distributed online and on the Salmon Festival website Festival program, 15,000 copies handed out along the parade route, and distributed throughout the day Festival website sponsorship page including reciprocal link to the Eco-Freez website Richmond Review (local newspaper) thank you advertisement after the event Occasional mentions, including tags when possible, on Steveston Salmon Festival’s social media sites (Facebook, Twitter), and repeated verbal recognition from the Main Stage on Festival Day Opportunity to advertise in the Steveston Salmon Festival pullout feature in the Richmond Review the week prior to the Festival

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Placement The festival occupies the main street and almost all of the historic town of Steveston, Richmond.

Trade Show: Every year the festival hosts a trade show in addition to the festivities, in a 1,700 square metre exhibition space. Here, sponsors such as Eco-Freez and various companies can sample, demonstrate, and share their products in a one-on-one setting. Each floor space is 2.5x 2 metres.

Main stage: Eco-Freez will be the primary sponsor of the main stage, which has become the centerpiece of the festival. Throughout the day the Eco-Freez name will be mentioned as being a gold sponsor, mixed with a number of popular local musicians and variety acts performing.

Timing The Steveston Salmon Festival takes place in summer on July 1st, Canada Day, every year.

Budget and Measurement Investment as a gold sponsor at the Steveston salmon festival will cost $ 10,000, which includes the list of advertising mediums mentioned in the previous section. Banners will need to be provided during the festival to promote Eco-Freez. Vinyl promotional banners for each of the four main entrance areas must be provided. At least one Eco-Freez employee should man the booth and/or trade show exhibit, and one brand ambassador will also be needed to assist with greeting people and handing out activation packs. The activation pack costs are 85 cents per piece, totaling $1275. Full festival costs have been compiled below in Table 10.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

Steveston Festival Gold Sponsorship

1

$ 10,000.00

$ 10,000.00

Promotional Banners

4

$ 147.00

$ 588.00

Brand Ambassadors

2

$ 120.00

$ 240.00

1,500

$ 0.85

$ 1,275.00

Total

$ 12,103.00

Activation Packs

Table 10: Steveston Salmon Festival Sponsorship Budget

The festival attracts over 70,000 people during this one-day event, during which 15,000 festival guides will be handed out, and 1,500 Eco-Freez activation packs. The Richmond Review, a local paper, has an average total circulation of almost 47,000 with their Friday edition, which will include a Salmon Festival pullout section. These activities alone will generate over 133,000 gross impressions, and many more through the posters and buzz created before the event, both in Steveston and further into Richmond.

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“Supplying the Change” Stunt Overview On the busiest shopping day in North America, November 29th 2013, a.k.a. “Black Friday”, the It’s Time to Change campaign will launch a public relations stunt. At 7 a.m., 117 parking meters spanning seven blocks along Robson Street, the busiest shopping strip in downtown Vancouver, will be pre-paid for the entire day, for all drivers to use. Personal communication was made with City of Vancouver officials, who confirmed that a permit is available to conduct such a stunt. Recommendations were also made by the city, encouraging Eco-Freez to partner with the local Robson Business Improvement Association as most city events such as this are put on by local nonprofits.

Sturdy, weatherproof bags will be securely placed over these parking meters, as shown in Figure 8. These will be boldly branded with “WE’RE SUPPLYING THE CHANGE” on the front side, along with the Eco-Freez logo and branding, with a call to their website. The back of the bag will show “THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING LOCAL,” the Eco-Freez branding, and “ENJOY YOUR 2 HOUR FREE PARKING.” A hired street team wearing Eco-Freez branded shirts will be employed for the day to ensure the bags stay on the meters, to answer any questions that passers-by may have, and deal with any issues alongside an Eco-Freez employee. They will also hand out Eco-Freez activation packs to people who show interest in the stunt, as well as place them on parked cars.

Figure 7: "Supplying the Change" Meter Covers

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Rationale This tactic has a tremendous opportunity in attracting a lot of attention and generating positive awareness.

There is an estimated 26,000 unique pedestrians that walk the path of the branded parking meters every day, in addition, between 7,000 and 11,000 vehicles that drive by (Bizmap, 2009). Choosing a specific date that would increase shopping, and in turn, increase traffic (both foot and vehicle), will increase these numbers of impressions.

The tactic will directly impact an estimated 600 vehicles and depending on how quickly the meters turnover, how many people are in each car, and how much nearby foot traffic, there will be many more that come in direct contact with the messaging and branding. The number of impressions created will grow exponentially once social sharing is taken into effect. The tactic is unconventional, and will attract attention because it is a space that has not been advertised on. Finally, the tactic is a creative way to convey many key elements of Eco-Freez’s marketing messaging.

The word “change” plays off of the campaign’s four pillars of change that Eco-Freez facilitates, while also referring to the loose change that the drivers would have put into the parking meter. The bags will not only create awareness for the drivers, but also interest for those walking by. Given that Black Friday is an extremely busy shopping day (even in Vancouver), the date not only ensures large exposure but also encourages local commerce support by thanking people for deciding to shop locally, and not in the U.S. Furthermore, by the time this stunt is executed, Eco-Freez will have established a relationship with two of Vancouver’s most influential blog sites as advertising clients (Miss604.com and Vancitybuzz.com). Reporters or owners of the site will be provided a media release before the day of the stunt, as per Appendix 13: Change Stunt Media Release, so that they can get the “scoop” on the stunt, and then share it on their websites. This same media release will also be provided to various local radio stations so that they can talk about it on their next day’s morning drive shows, and throughout the day.

The It’s Time to Change campaign fits perfectly with every aspect of this stunt – the play on the word “change”, the altruistic nature of giving back to the community, and encouraging local business support – all the while, achieving excellent awareness and shared reach of the Eco-Freez brand.

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Placement According to a report released by the City of Vancouver, Robson is the busiest street for foot traffic in all of Vancouver. It averages between 20,000 and 26,000 unique pedestrians between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. every weekday. The intersection of Robson and Burrard is the busiest intersection in the downtown core in terms of foot traffic, which is why this concentrated area has been selected for the stunt (Klimchuk, 2011). Figure 9 illustrates the street selected as well as the number of parking meters in the area (with specific hourly parking rates signified by individually coloured dots).

Figure 8: Robson Street Parking Meters

Timing The stunt will take place on Friday, November 29th, 2013 (â&#x20AC;&#x153;Black Fridayâ&#x20AC;?). Being a weekday, large numbers of pedestrian traffic is expected along the Robson and Burrard area. Black Friday, although a shopping holiday in the U.S., has been growing significantly in Canada. Large retailers like Future Shop, Best Buy, The Brick, Sears Canada, and The Gap fighting to keep Canadian consumers in their stores as oppose to taking trips across the border. Sears Canada in particular saw twice as many sales as it did on a regular day when it partook in Black Friday, and 40 per cent of Canadian consumers say that as more American retailers open their doors in Canada, less Canadians will travel across the border for Black Friday (Gollom, 2012).

The hired teams will secure the bags at 7 a.m. to ensure early morning traffic see the stunt, and a second shift of team members will remove the bags at 7 p.m. (parking will be prepaid to 9 p.m. to account for late parkers).

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Budget and Measurement Measurements for stunts are difficult to gauge. However, this stunt will garner a minimum of 37,700 impressions from people walking and driving past, as well as parking in the spots. The bags also include the Eco-Freez URL so the increase in visitors to the website will also be measured. All of these tools will be used to measure the engagement along with the mentions and comments on social media. The budget estimates are provided in Table 11.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

Parking Meters â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Prepaid 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

117

(avg.) $ 41.40

$ 4,844.00

Canvas Branded Covering Bags

117

$3.00

$351.00

48

$ 15.00

$720.00

1,200

$0.85

$ 1,020.00

1

$ 200.00

$ 200.00

Total

$ 7,135.00

Street Team â&#x20AC;&#x201C; (2 shifts of 4 persons @ $15/hr) Activation Packs Events Permit Application Fee

Table 11: Burrard Street Stunt Budget

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Online Tactic Plan Online Marketing Objectives There are two main online objectives for the It’s Time to Change campaign.

The first objective is to redesign and optimize Eco-Freez’s online presence. It must retain core elements and important information that any visitor may need.

The second objective is to drive online Conscious Commuter’s internet traffic to Eco-Freez’s website, in order to achieve the first online objective.

Online Marketing Strategy The online marketing strategy, which delivers the online marketing objectives, will consist of the following tactics: 1. Rebuild their website into a more interactive, less content-heavy experience while still educating visitors on the company and product 2. Application of strategic content management, SEO, and SEM principles to the updated Eco-Freez website in order to improve search engine indexing and online presence 3. Placement of display ads on relevant websites and blogs to drive traffic to the Eco-Freez website as well as create public awareness 4. Tracking online media mentions through bookmarking tools to generate content for Eco-Freez’s website and Facebook page 5. Rebranding and enhancement of Eco-Freez’s social media presence

Website Upgrade Overview A website is often the first interaction a consumer has with a brand; therefore, it is important for Eco-Freez to reflect their brand essence effectively. The current Eco-Freez website is focused on business-to-business, which is conveyed through the tone, the content-heavy pages, and overall layout of the site. During and after the campaign, it will be necessary to communicate a friendly, consumer-minded environment in which Eco-Freez customers can learn about the product in a conversational, engaging fashion. While it will still be important to serve business-to-business customers, the main focus for the website (and this campaign) lies in appealing to the chosen retail market.

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The objectives of the website upgrade broadly include:      

Redesign Eco-Freez’s use of images, layout, and information architecture to provide a more userfriendly and attractive navigation and browsing experience Educate visitors on their manufacturing process, their various products, and the benefits of using EcoFreez products Educate visitors on Eco-Freez’s community involvement and environmental awareness credentials Allow visitors to sign up for newsletter, make contact, or connect to M&R Environmental/Eco-Freez’s Facebook page Provide store locations where Eco-Freez is available for purchase Increase site time and engagement through an interactive It’s Time to Change campaign walkthrough

Rationale The campaign’s supporting tactics aim to attract and deliver everyday consumers to the site; consumers who expect an attractive, informative, and simple online experience. Currently, that is not the case for the Eco-Freez website. By performing the following tweaks, we can justify the tactic and explain the reasoning and workings behind concept.

Samples of the website redesign can be found in Appendix 14: Website Redesign Creatives.

Simplifying Content The Eco-Freez website can be simplified by removing large portions of the copy-heavy content that presently exists, and tailor it towards the consumer market. The general public look for simple, relevant content that is easy to read and navigate, with no more than a few hundred words per page. Certain sections of the current website will be removed, others simplified to pertinent, interesting and relevant facts, and some new content will also be developed. The main aim of all content is to keep it simple, exciting, interesting, and appealing.

In addition, the new Eco-Freez site will be built using responsive code, so that it can be viewed on any device or format.

Removing Offsite Links Links that take visitors off-site will be removed from the home page. These detract the visitor’s attention away from the reason they came to the site – to learn about Eco-Freez, not Bitrex or M&R Environmental. Any offsite links will be used in sub-pages of the site, including links to M&R Environmental and Facebook, but only where appropriate.

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Landing Page Every tactic throughout the campaign that comes in direct contact with the customer, whether it is experiential marketing, billboards, radio or bus ads, will incorporate an element of driving people to the Eco-Freez website. Given that some of these visitors may be consumer or commercial visitors, they will be met with a landing page (as shown in Figure 12) that will give them the choice to choose Eco-Freez for their business needs (B2B â&#x20AC;&#x201C; linked to either M&R Environmental or the existing Eco-Freez website hosted therein) or Eco-Freez for personal use (B2C â&#x20AC;&#x201C; linked to the new Eco-Freez site, aimed purely at retail consumers).

Navigation Simplicity of navigation will allow visitors to intuitively access the information needed to educate themselves on who and what Eco-Freez is. Standard java script drop-down navigation tabs will be placed at the top of the site, which will consist of Home page, Our Company, Our Process, Our Product, Our Community, and Contact Us. These six tabs (without drop-downs) will also be placed at the bottom of every page, maintaining consistency throughout the site. Figure 10 suggests the new architecture for the proposed site.

Further simplification of the site will be four large buttons placed at the bottom of the website homepage, leading visitors to four significant pages; Our Company, Our Process, Our Product and Our Community. When one of these buttons is selected, it will dim in colour, and all four of the tabs will slide to the top of the page, revealing beneath them the page selected by the visitor.

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Figure 9: ecofreez.ca Information Architecture:

Homepage and Slider On the home page, an automated slider will display adapted creatives developed during the campaign. Every other picture that is displayed will be of the different strengths and varieties of antifreeze products made available by Eco-Freez.

Each image will be clickable, through to a relevant page of the site. Weekly “Share your Community” entrants’ images (and links to their mapped stories and pictures) will also be featured on the slider for the duration of the contest, which will inspire others to take part.

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Engagement (“Stickiness”) Located within the “Our Community” page will be a link to “It’s Time to Change.” This is a page featuring an interactive map with pins on where the existing out-of-home creative have been installed. Hovering over these pins will bring up a clickable high-resolution image as used in the creative executions, with a brief history of it and why it was chosen. The purpose is not to only to showcase Eco-Freez’s local pride. Visitors will be encouraged to share what they believe shouldn’t change in their communities by uploading their simple picture, its location, and a 200-character story as to why the picture in question shouldn’t change, in a contest named “Share Your Community.”

Once the visitor has uploaded their image and text, they will need to enter their email address for further communications (with an opt-out option). From there, a photograph will be created with their image and text, which they can immediately share on their own Facebook profile. After review of the uploaded content, the Eco-Freez webmaster will also place a pop-up point on the Eco-Freez’s interactive map of their location, generating a web of locations within the communities of Metro Vancouver, which can be viewed by everyone who visits the community page.

Furthermore, weekly winning images will be judged and used in the Eco-Freez slider located on the home page, with excerpts from the write-ups. At the end of the fall campaign, a winning picture will be selected for use in the Eco-Freez out-of-home (billboard) campaign in the spring campaign.

News, Updating and Maintenance Given the high level of engagement with visitors to the website, the contest entries, the news section and links, will all need to be monitored, updated and maintained daily to ensure effective engagement. This is currently performed by M&R Environmental staff, and could continue as such, or fielded to an external vendor, budget and preferences permitting.

Placement Customers landing on www.ecofreez.ca will find that when they reach the website, they have been redirected to www.eco-freez.com.

The proposal suggests reversing this effect, by hosting the new website on the ecofreez.ca top level domain and diverting any eco-freez.com traffic to this new domain. Using M&R Environmental’s already owned .ca domain immediately lets visitors know that the company is proudly Canadian. It also addresses the fact that very few websites traditionally make use of a dash in their titles, increasing the chances of visitors easily finding the site in searches or when typed into their address bar.

Timing The redesigned website will launch just before or at the same time the fall campaign launches on October 1st, 2013.

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Budget The total cost to hire a reputable freelance web designer is $ 10,000. Most content already exists and can be adapted in-house, and no intense development is needed.

Item Website Redesign: Freelance rate including SEO, Facebook page rebranding, content/keyword optimization.

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

1

$ 10,000.00

$ 10,000.00

Total

$ 10,000.00

Table 12: Website Redesign and Content Management Budget

Search Engine Optimization Overview The purpose of SEO is to improve a website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) and thus increase the likely number of visitors to Eco-Freez’s website. In order to have an effective PageRank on Google, there must be at least an effective content strategy in place to improve indexing quality, and an appropriate use of targeted keywords and phrases. Various actions will be taken to increase the PageRank and overall online presence of Eco-Freez, as part of the SEO activities. This ensures that users and search engines are able to correctly locate and index the Eco-Freez website which improves the AdWords quality score and PageRank.

Rationale Two key aspects of basic SEO will be utilized as the basis of the SEO tactic: developing and delivering on a content plan and inserting keywords.

Content Plan An effective content strategy ensures that relevant, quality information is delivered to the site, which will not only engage and retain visitors, but also result in effective, correct indexing by search engine spiders, which in turn result in improved search engine rankings and online presence during searches.

Effective content, and thus indexing and quality scoring, ensures users are presented with relevant information that caters to their search queries. For example, if a user is searching for “types of recycled antifreeze” and clicks on Eco-Freez’s link, the website will direct users to the correct web page with information specifically on the four products that are available. Google tracks how long a user engages with a web page based on their search request, and if the content provided is relevant, Google will rank Eco-Freez’s website to be highly credible.

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For this reason, the content on Eco-Freez’s redesigned website will be developed alongside a content delivery plan which will ensure it is regularly updated and uses effective keywords, alt. attributes for multimedia content, and relevant anchor text. The more relevant the content is for each search directed to Eco-Freez’s website, the more Google will consider the website as popular and important, placing Eco-Freez within the top links on SERPs and in turn creating higher quality awareness.

Furthermore, much of the content delivered by the content plan can be fed into Eco-Freez/M&R Environmental’s Facebook page, increasing their social media presence and activity.

Targeted Keywords or Phrases Targeted keywords or phrases will be incorporated throughout Eco-Freez’s website (keyword tags), including title tags and alt. attributes on images or multimedia content. Google’s search engines specifically search for the exact match of the users’ words, locates them through various websites, and displays the most qualified results on Google’s SERPs organically.

For example, if a user is searching to learn more about antifreeze and their phrase include “premium coolant” or “recycled antifreeze”, Eco-Freez’s targeted keywords will include this phrase and return the site link on Google’s SERPs. The relevancy of a user’s search and Eco-Freez’s description will contribute to them being considered a credible website.

Because of the importance search engines play in today’s informational searches, an effective awareness campaign could not be fully integrated without considering SEO. This will help engage the target audience when they go online and search for Eco-Freez, which they will already know of because of their high-level awareness tactics.

Budget The implementation of SEO will be included as part of the website redesign, therefore no added costs are involved in this tactic.

Search Engine Marketing Overview Search Engine Marketing will be implemented as part of the It’s Time to Change campaign by using Google’s AdWords SEM platform. Through online marketing, Eco-Freez can effectively direct online traffic to their redesigned website to raise awareness and educate users about the product.

Search engine marketing is defined as the process of improving a website or web page’s search performance by using paid advertising, also known as “Pay per Click (PPC).” The most effective tool for SEM is Google’s AdWords, since over 80 per cent of all internet searches stem from Google (The Beginners Guide to SEO, 2012).

This tactic requires setting up of one or more Google AdWords campaigns for Eco-Freez, and continually monitoring and optimizing it to ensure maximum impressions and engagement is obtained.

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Rationale Google AdWords drive thousands of valuable customers to websites every day in a cost effective, targeted manner (Brooks, 2012). AdWords are widely recognized as the de facto launchpad for any SEM campaign.

To demonstrate the effectiveness of AdWords, Ratchet Marketing created a simple test campaign for EcoFreez during February 2013 to analyze estimated impressions, click-through-ratios (CTR) and CPC of an EcoFreez AdWords SEM campaign. A broad selection of 46 pertinent keywords were chosen during the initiation of the campaign, in order to assess how each performed. These were edited down to the most effective keywords during the first few weeks of the campaign.

The campaign details are presented below.

Campaign Name Group Name Campaign Budget AdWords Advert Text

EcoFreez Test Campaign EcoFreez Test $10/day Premium Recycled Coolant www.ecofreez.ca Sustainable Antifreeze in Vancouver Change your car to EcoFreez today!

Negative Keywords (excluded from search)

Poison Harmful Dangerous Death Unsafe Health Suicide

Table 13 below is a summary representation of real-time campaign results after just four days, which demonstrates the effectiveness of even a simple AdWords campaign, with well over 13,000 impressions in its first week of running. Moreover, the recommendations following the data illustrate how the campaignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s effectiveness can be increased while simultaneously decreasing costs.

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Keyword Vancouver Burnaby Canadian Tire Antifreeze Coolant Recycled antifreeze Recycled coolant Prestone ecofreez Environmentally friendly Coolant disposal Antifreeze disposal Delo Zerex ecofreeze Turbo power Waste antifreeze eco-freez M&R long life coolant HOAT eco-freeze Waste coolant cheap coolant ethylene glycol turbopower environmentally friendly antifreeze environmentally friendly coolant antifreeze disposal safe antifreeze long life antifreeze cheap antifreeze best antifreeze best coolant premium coolant Organic acid technology hybrid organic acid technology quality coolant safe coolant eco freeze M&R Environmental Buy antifreeze in Vancouver eco freez Buy recycled antifreeze premium antifreeze quality antifreeze

First Page CPC $2.00 $2.01 $1.64 $1.28 $1.44 $0.80 $0.55 $1.71 $0.45 $4.00 $0.55 $1.25 $4.25 $2.50 $1.50 $2.00 $1.00 $1.00 $2.50 $1.00 $2.25 $1.25 $0.75 $0.65 $3.00 $1.50 $0.85 $0.85 $1.25 $1.25 $1.25 $0.60 $1.25 $1.00 $0.60 $2.25 $2.50 $0.75 $0.95 $1.25 $1.50 $0.05 $1.00 $0.15 $0.70 $0.70

Max. CPC $0.60 $0.50 $0.50 $1.00 $0.60 $2.00 $2.00 $1.00 $0.40 $0.60 $1.00 $1.00 $0.60 $0.60 $0.40 $0.60 $0.60 $0.40 $0.40 $0.60 $0.30 $0.40 $0.60 $0.60 $0.60 $0.60 $0.40 $0.40 $0.60 $0.60 $0.60 $0.60 $0.40 $0.40 $0.60 $0.40 $0.30 $0.60 $0.60 $0.40 $0.30 $1.00 $0.40 $1.20 $0.60 $0.60

Clicks 7 1 0 2 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Impressions 11367 975 715 130 90 30 17 15 15 11 10 9 7 6 6 4 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

CTR 0.06% 0.10% 0% 1.54% 0% 6.67% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0%

Avg CPC $0.43 $0.54 $0.00 $1.58 $0.00 $0.98 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Cost $3.00 $0.54 $0.00 $3.17 $0.00 $1.96 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Avg Position 3.65 3.4 4.74 2.43 4.49 2.23 1.88 3.53 1 5.82 2.1 2.67 3.14 2 1 4 2.75 1 7.5 3.5 3.5 1 3.5 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Table 13: Google AdWords Rankings and Results

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Highlights of the report include:  

 

 

Even with a basic campaign, at around $4.00 per day, Eco-Freez can garner over 5,000 impressions per day and around 5 website visits. This can easily be tweaked to reduce cost and improve performance Leveraging popular terms such as “Vancouver”, “Burnaby” and “Canadian Tire” yield the best results, despite their generic nature, accounting for roughly 95 per cent of impressions thus far. Currently, the campaign returns an ad position around third or fourth on the SERPs, but this would improve as EcoFreez improves its CTR, quality score, and PageRank with ongoing SEO efforts Terms such as “recycled antifreeze” achieved the highest CTR, and should therefore be further analyzed and optimized The list, at 46 keywords, is overly encompassing; however, this would be cut down to around 20 keywords after a few weeks of analysis. This list could then be further optimized using dynamic keyword insertion, synonyms, and exact/phrase keywords. For the sake of this test and analysis, these are excluded It is important to note that an AdWords budget can immediately and easily be changed based on any results provided by the AdWords Campaign dashboard, as per Figure 11 below There is little competition for the antifreeze market as identified by Google AdWords, which is indicated by the low cost and competition for the product’s relevant keywords (Delo seems to be the only other company using a Google AdWords SEM campaign, and they have little presence in Canada).

This represents an excellent opportunity for Eco-Freez

Figure 10: Google Adwords Eco-Freez Campaign Dashboard

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Figure 12, Figure 13, and Figure 14 below show actual SERPs shown during the AdWords campaign based on some relevant sample searches (“buy recycled coolant” and “recycled antifreeze”).

Figure 11: Actual Eco-Freez SERP using Google AdWords Campaign

Figure 12: Actual Google Adwords Results Sample

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Figure 13: Actual Google Adwords Results Sample

Placement The campaign runs on the Google AdWords platform. Because it is aimed at targeting retail consumers, it is configured to only display on searches conducted within B.C. This saves costs and targets potential buyers more accurately.

Timing Implementing SEM using Google AdWords will start the month before the start of the fall campaign. This will be done so that baseline performance data can be gathered to measure the campaignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential impact against, using Google Analytics and the AdWords dashboard. The campaign will continue and be tweaked throughout the fall campaign up until the end of December 2013 (122 days), when it will be assessed for results and possible continuation or expansion into a more aggressive AdWords campaign.

Creative Considerations Each advertisement placed on Google through the AdWords program will be formatted to highlight as many of Eco-Freezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand attributes as possible. As seen in the AdWords text above, all three major brand attributes: sustainability, premium quality, and locally sourced were conveyed in addition to the campaign theme of Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Time to Change.

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Budget and Measurement From the above tests, a first page CPC average cost across all 46 keywords would cost an average of $1.26.

However, the skewed average cost per click of all 46 keywords is only $0.06. This means that many keywords could be dropped and tweaked as they are not performing in terms of impressions or click rates. This is part of the ongoing campaign optimization process, which could likely develop into a successful AdWords campaign with CPC rates down to less than $1.00, while retaining good first page display results.

At a rate of $10.00 per day budgeted for the campaign across 122 days, the maximum budget would be $1220.00, as per Table 14. This can be set as a daily amount, or the full amount can be dedicated to the campaign at startup; this means it can accommodate spikes in clicks, balanced against lulls, while not going over budget.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

Google AdWords @ avg. $10.00/day budget cap

122

$ 10.00

$ 1,220.00

Total

$ 1,220.00

Table 14: Google AdWords SEM Campaign Budget

Autotrader Online Advertisements Overview This part of the online campaign will entail placing big box advertisements on the popular automotive marketplace and general interest website www.autotrader.ca.

Rationale The Autotrader website attracts over 2.59 million visitors every month who spend an average of 31 minutes per visit. 61 per cent are male with a mean age of 45 years old and annual income of $81,200. As 62 per cent are married and 45 per cent have children in their homes, there is a higher likelihood that they are socially and environmentally aware. See Appendix 15: Autotrader Creative and Advertising Guide for all Autotrader.ca demographic and reach statistics as well as advert mockup.

Although the demographic profile of the autotrader.ca user does not fall completely within the demographic profile of the Conscious Commuter primary target audience, it addresses the large amount of spillover audience created by the supporting awareness tactics.

Part of the media strategy has been to connect with potential EcoFreez customers through vehicles that make sense for the product. Autotrader.ca speaks to potential Eco-Freez customers, although they may be a part of the smaller DIY or car enthusiast markets. Additionally, many of the large number of autotrader.ca users may be members of the Influential Insiders secondary market, and the cost/benefit ratio is very attractive.

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Placement A big box advert will be placed on the search results pages of www.autotrader.ca. This was chosen over a narrow banner ad space as it allows for more effective visual layout to match the other campaign creative. In addition, since it is essentially a searching site, people pay more attention to their results than the page header where the banner would be. Lastly, research by Adobe.com indicates that online banner advertisements are becoming less popular by site visitors (Adobe, 2012).

The advertisement is placed directly alongside the results list the user is looking for which results in a natural flow of the consumerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes in the direction of the ad. All advertisements will be geographically targeted to searches by users based in the Lower Mainland, which will ensure as little waste as possible.

Ads will be targeted to searches for cars valued at $40,000 or lower; the reason for this is that as research showed, vehicles above this bracket would often be purchased with a maintenance plan. Also, given Autotraderâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s large visitor count and Eco-Freezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s budget restraints, its life span must be extended as far as possible by only being targeted to potential Eco-Freez buyers.

Figure 14: Autotrader Big Box Advertisement

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Timing Advertising on autotrader.ca will begin in October 1st, 2013 and will cycle with other advertisements throughout the campaignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s three month fall cycle. At the end of December, 2013 the allotted budget is expected to be exhausted. This campaign tactic will be monitored and measured in terms of its impact and success. Should it prove effective, it may be considered for implementation during the proposed spring campaign as well, utilizing the unallocated contingency fund.

Budget and Measurement With a negotiable spot rate of $35 per 1000 targeted impressions, 250,000 impressions in a big box advertisement will take Eco-Freez through three months, and will cost $8,750, as per Table 15.

250,000 impressions will be garnered by using this tactic during its time span. With such high, involved traffic counts, advertising on Autotrader will be an effective and rapid way to penetrate into a desirable market and gain awareness.

Item Big Box Search Display Advert â&#x20AC;&#x201C; autotrader.ca

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

250,000

$ 0.035

$ 8,750.00

Total

$ 8,750.00

Table 15: Autotrader Online Advertisement Budget

Blog Advertisements Overview Online advertisements will be placed in popular, trusted, and specialty Vancouver blog/community sites, namely miss604.com, vancitybuzz.com, and streetfire.net. The intention is to reach an engaged audience with a propensity to share what they learn on these blogs. They also offer the opportunity for the blog hosts to write stories about Eco-Freez themselves. This would help create a relationship with these influential bloggers that can be leveraged for potential coverage during the campaignâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s experiential tactics.

The creatives used for all advertisements will retain the look, feel, and messaging used in the traditional executions (out of home). Full samples are shown in Appendix 16: Online Blog Advertisement Creatives.

Rationale One of the key campaign objectives is to create low-level, trusted engagement with the Vancouver public. By utilizing sources (i.e. these sites and blogs) that have established relationships with the public, Eco-Freez is perceived to be a trustworthy brand, and the potential for engagement and sharing is increased.

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Vancity Buzz was chosen because they receive almost 700,000 page views and 225,000 unique visitors each month. These are comprised largely of the campaign’s target market of 18 to 34 year olds at 87 per cent, 83 per cent live in Metro Vancouver, and 72 per cent are women; women are a demographic proven to share more information with their peers as well as question the details of their car services. Vancity Buzz is also Vancouver’s leader in social media with over 36,000 Twitter followers and 11,500 Facebook likes, which offers further exposure and engagement for their advertisers. See Appendix 17: Vancitybuzz Advertising Guide for Vancitybuzz media and advertising details.

Miss604 (Rebecca Bollwitt) is an author and one of the most prolific and trusted bloggers in Vancouver, especially among its core demographic of women. Miss604 maintains this trust by honestly and openly writing about content that appeals to her and her followers, and only advertises products that she feels speak to her audience and offer social value (Ratchet Marketing has contacted Rebecca, and confirmed that she will gladly accept Eco-Freez advertisements). The website achieves around 330,000 visits per month at an average of almost two minutes per visit. With 3,000 Facebook followers and over 40,000 followers on Twitter, an endorsement by Miss604 guarantees product credibility and interest (McKenzie, 2012). Miss604’s advertising rate card is found in Appendix 18: Miss604 Advertising Guide.

Revscene.net is a popular Vancouver based automotive fan and classifieds site. Every month, Revscene garners approximately 100,000 local site visits, mostly in the 18 to 24 year old bracket. The average user spends 17 minutes on the site (Alexa, 2013). The reason for choosing Revscene is that it offers high impression rates at a low cost and appeals to a niche audience with a high propensity to pay attention to automotive products.

Although Revscene’s social media presence is lacking, their online forums on automotive products are extremely engaged with several different topics garnering over half a million posts by interested individuals (Revscene, 2013). Therefore, Revscene presents an opportunity to communicate with those truly engaged automotive insiders and early adopters.

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Placement Big box adverts will be placed on all three sitesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; homepages as per the dimensions, locations, and samples given below. Full samples are shown in Appendix 16: Online Blog Advertisement Creatives.

Miss604 Vancitybuzz Revscene

: : :

300 x 250px Big Box homepage display advert 300 x 250px Big Box homepage display advert 450x300px Big Box homepage display advert 486x60px rotational homepage banner advert

Figure 153: Blog Advertisement Samples

Timing The advertisements on Vancity Buzz will begin at the start of the campaign, October 1st 2013, and will continue to be cycled against other advertisements until the end of the fall campaign on December 31st. The advertisements on Miss604 will begin at the start of the spring campaign on April 1st and will continue to cycle until the end of June. Revscene advertisements will also cycle through the spring campaign, as this is a season where car enthusiasts are preparing their vehicles for the coming summer months.

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Budget and Measurement The total cost of the blog tactics is $7,100.00, as detailed below in Table 16.

The number of actual page visits per site can be obtained from each host and summed up to achieve total impressions gained at the end of the campaign, as well as advertisement click through rates using simple analytics tools.

Based on purchased impressions and provided traffic data, Vancitybuzz.com will deliver 250,000 impressions, Miss604.com will deliver 1 million impressions, and Revscene.net will deliver around 300,000 impressions. This is a total of 1,750,000 impressions gained for this tactic.

Item

Qty.

Unit Cost

Total Cost

Big Box Banner: Vancity Buzz (/1000 views)

250

$ 14.00

$ 3,500.00

Big Box Banner: Miss604 (/month)

3

$ 500.00

$ 1,500.00

VIP Advertising Package: Revscene (/month)

3

$ 700.00

$ 2,100.00

Total

$ 7,100.00

Table 16: Blog Advertising Budget

Tracking Online Media Mentions Overview To track media pickup and mentions of Eco-Freez from bloggers, an online bookmarking tool (e.g. Diigo) will be used to monitor and measure the success of Eco-Freezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s press coverage. The cache of bookmarks can be used to populate the website and Facebook page with additional content and create opportunities for sharing online.

The type of coverage will also be useful to determine the success of each press release and gauge the type of coverage the company is receiving.

Rationale To lessen the time spent generating content for the website and social media, using a bookmarking tool helps to easily find mentions of Eco-Freez and retrieve additional content to repost.

Timing The tracking will begin at the fall launch, and remain for the duration of the campaign.

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Budget and Measurement Costs are incorporated in the website redesign budget.

The bookmarking tool will track the number of mentions of “Eco-Freez” and “M&R Environmental” per month.

The mentions will be ranked based on the type of coverage the article receives, and will be separated into three tiers.

Tier 1 coverage will signify reporting done by national news outlets, Tier 2 coverage will signify pickup by a regional or local news outlet, or a significant blog, whereas Tier 3 pickup will signify lesser known bloggers and mentions of the product on a forum. The totals will be summed up and plotted on a spreadsheet to track progress each month.

Social Media Marketing Overview M&R Environmental’s Facebook page will be rebranded to reflect the look and feel of the It’s Time to Change campaign, and complement marketing activities throughout the campaign.

Social media will be used to increase engagement in and awareness of the It’s Time to Change campaign. It will also support other marketing activities by providing a forum for the audience to engage and learn about EcoFreez’s values, its products and its community initiatives. By exposing the target audience to the personality of Eco-Freez through social media, the Conscious Commuters will be able to connect with the brand in a more interactive way. This will lead to an increase in brand advocates, allowing Eco-Freez to be top of mind and position the brand as a proponent of sustainability and local initiatives.

A special segment will be launched through Facebook, each Monday to introduce a different body shop around the Lower Mainland that carries Eco-Freez. This will increase awareness of local shops that Conscious Commuters can visit for their fluid changes and car repairs that sell Eco-Freez. These businesses will be current B2B customers of M&R Environmental and will focus on specific locations. This will require limited work, as requests can be made from body shops to send photos of their shop with an accompanying picture of their team.

This will allow Eco-Freez to reinforce their brand character of being a local company that supports their community as well as create awareness of where their product can be purchased; a concern as it is not yet available in many retail outlets. Additionally, M&R Environmental will need to use a social media management tool. Although they do not have many online social channels, a social media management tool, such as Hootsuite, will be beneficial for finding Influential Insiders within the Conscious Commuter target audience. The tracking and segmentation tools included in this free software will also allow M&R to measure their success and find out where they need to improve. This will help Eco-Freez’s online presence grow into other social media programs. Appendix 19: Facebook Page Redesign shows a mockup of the proposed new site.

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Rationale Canadians are one of the heaviest users of social media in the world. They spent the most time on Facebook, as 85.4 per cent of online Canadians are on Facebook. This is compared to 20.8 per cent on the next most used social network, Twitter (ComScore Inc., 2011).

When reaching Conscious Commuters, the distribution of users based on age and gender were near equal, with greater than 97 per cent of the population engaging on social networks (ComScore Inc., 2011). When examining regional usage, 74 per cent of British Columbians own a Facebook account, with no distinguishable differences between urban and rural audiences (Monk, 2011). With the high percentage of the target market using social media, the opportunity is there for Eco-Freez to be available to the Conscious Commuters should they choose to engage with the brand and should Eco-Freez’s content be strong and engaging.

Please refer to Appendix 20: Social Networking Country Snapshot for social networking statistics to support the above data.

Timing The Facebook site will be made available at the beginning of the campaign, and remain for the duration of the campaign, and indefinitely thereafter, depending on maintenance requirements and popularity.

Budget and Measurement Costs to create the Facebook page are enrolled into the website redesign budget. Many social media management tools such as Hootsuite can be downloaded for free.

The success of the tactics will be measured through Facebook Insights (the measurement tool within Facebook for page administrators) with a focus on the “people talking about this” and “weekly total reach” metrics.

Growth will be generated organically and success measured by the increase of total likes and sustained engagement from Facebook posts.

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Other Tactical Opportunities It’s Time to Change is a short-term campaign with the objective of generating awareness of Eco-Freez and its brand attributes within the local Vancouver market. However, Ratchet Marketing also understands the importance of developing a long-term strategy that will continue to grow Eco-Freez’s reputation as a trusted brand that is committed to their community.

Unfortunately, because of budgetary constraints, some of the tactics created for It’s Time to Change were not included in the campaign. However, we believe that these tactics would be effective in contributing to the EcoFreez brand in the long term. Therefore, an “opportunity fund” is proposed, with several tactics for M&R Environmental to use in future campaigns.

The Anti-Freeze Community Blanket Tactic Overview A study conducted by the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness (RSCH) in 2011 found that homelessness has been increasing each year in both unsheltered and sheltered locations. There is approximately 2,650 homeless in the city, which includes adults and children located in both unsheltered and sheltered locations. Vancouver has the highest propensity for homelessness in the Lower Mainland, accounting for 60 per cent of the homeless population. Given the rise in homelessness, the RSCH recommends greater community involvement to help the homelessness community (Homelessness, 2011).

Eco-Freez will give back to their community by donating 2000 blankets to the homeless on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and at select shelters in Metro Vancouver each winter season. The blankets will help EcoFreez change their community by keeping those who need warmth, warm. The Anti-Freeze Community Blanket tactic will demonstrate Eco-Freez’s commitment to their community.

The blanket campaign will be supported by other tactics including radio and public relations to raise awareness of the campaign for Eco-Freez.

Placement The distribution of the blankets will see them given out to both unsheltered and sheltered locations. There will be a total of 1000 blankets available for the community. 700 blankets will be given out to those living on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the remaining 1300 blankets will be given to shelters. Selected shelters include Lookout Solutions, which has four locations with 177 beds in Metro Vancouver and serviced 64,631 adults each year (Lookout Society, 2013). The Salvation Army Belkin House in Vancouver includes a total of 112 beds and has high traffic every year (Belkin House, 2013). The final shelter is the Covenant House, which is catered to youths. There is a total of 22 beds which serviced 1,500 youths in the past year (Covenant House, 2013).

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Timing The blankets will be distributed each November before the really cold weather hits the city in December. By distributing the blankets before the holiday season, Eco-Freez will separate itself from the other organizations that also provide services for Vancouverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homeless population.

Rationale The Anti-Freeze Community Blanket tactic will not only demonstrate Eco-Freezâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s commitment to their community but also help develop their reputation and awareness through public relations. Giving back to the community aligns with M&R Environmentalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brand attributes in staying local and supporting the people around them.

The connection between providing blankets to the homeless and Eco-Freez is their ability to keep things warm.

The strategy of distributing blankets to shelters and the homeless is to remind drivers their car can freeze in the winter just like a person can freeze in the cold. Care for your car the way you would care for yourself and your community.

Budget Local, good quality blankets can be purchased in bulk for approximately $10 per blanket. 2000 blankets would cost $20,000.

Community Development Programs Overview In keeping with the creation of awareness within the GVRD, a strong long-term strategy should include funding and maintaining relationships with community development programs.

Currently M&R Environmental supports Morley Elementary School in Burnaby as well as they have provided funding for Ovarian Cancer Research. As important as it is to maintain those relationships, there are other community programs that Eco-Freez would benefit from being a part of.

One example would be becoming a founding partner of Locobc.com. LOCO is a group of BC-based companies who are committed to promoting and improving local businesses that are sustainable and produce locally sourced goods. Currently there are 147 businesses from around the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island that are a part of the LOCO community (LOCO, 2013).

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Rationale Becoming a founding partner of Loco entails contributing $5000.00 to the organization. Eco-Freez would join VanCity, PacBlue Printers, Salt Spring Coffee and Mills Office Productivity as the fifth and final founding member.

The other benefits of joining this organization as a founding member include:   

Maximum recognition and logo exposure on www.locobc.com Profiled as a main sponsor in all media exposure and at all Loco business events Participation in quarterly founder’s circle lunches (LOCO, 2013)

By becoming involved in a community program such as this, Eco-Freez will continue to establish their reputation as a committed and trustworthy local business. Being a part of community initiatives such as this will also provide Eco-Freez with further marketing material for their website, social media, and media tactics around the GVRD.

Budget The cost of becoming a Founding Member of LOCO is $5,000. There are also options to become a Community Member for $2,500 or a Sustaining Member for $1,000.

Tactical Opportunity Summary To maintain a strong presence in the community and to ensure a trustworthy reputation with Eco-Freez’s target audience, community development programs and social responsibility is a must. The total contribution required for these two initiatives is $25,000.

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Campaign Metrics Campaign Timeline The It’s Time to Change campaign has been divided into a fall and a spring campaign.  

Fall Campaign October, November, December | 2013 Spring Campaign April, May, June | 2014

A full synopsis of the campaign tagline is featured in the blocking chart, as shown in the timeline section of this document overleaf.

Campaign Budgeting The total spend planned for this campaign fell just below the budget of $250,000. A total of $244,968 was spent, with $5,032 left over as a contingency fund. The largest portion of the budget was allocated towards traditional media, effective in generating awareness. Traditional media used $172,000 of the budget, experiential marketing used $45,898, and online marketing contributed another $27,070.

Chart 20 provides a brief breakdown of the full campaign budget allocation, with a comprehensive budget provided overleaf.

Budget Allocation $112,000.00 $10,000.00

$15,850.00

$1,220.00 $60,000.00 $45,898.00

Out-Of-Home Advertising

Radio Advertising

Experiential Marketing

Search Engine Marketing

Online Advertisement

Online Presence Redesign

Chart 20: Budget Summary

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Blocking Chart: Eco-Freez Tactics

Budget

Gross Impressions

(CPM)

Sept '13

Oct '13

Nov '13

Dec '13

Jan '14

Feb '14

Mar '14

Apr '14

May '14

June '14

July '14

Aug '14

Tactics

Traditional Advertising

$172,000.00 65,397,360.00

$2.63

Traditional Advertising

Out‐Of‐Home Advertising Billboard Advertisements

$112,000.00 30,673,360.00 $82,000.00 23,360,320.00

$3.65 $3.51

Out‐Of‐Home Advertising Billboard Advertisements

Transit Advertising

$30,000.00 7,313,040.00

$4.10

Transit Advertising

Bus Kings Transit Shelters

$12,000.00 2,057,040.00 $18,000.00 5,256,000.00

$5.83 $3.42

Bus Kings Transit Shelters

Radio Advertising

$60,000.00 34,724,000.00

$1.73

Radio Advertising

CKPK‐FM: 102.7 The Peak | 30 second

$32,000.00 30,168,000.00

$1.06

CKPK‐FM: 102.7 The Peak | 30 second

CFBT‐FM: 94.5 The Beat | Traffic 10s

$28,000.00 4,556,000.00

$6.15

CFBT‐FM: 94.5 The Beat | Traffic 10s

Experiential Marketing

$45,898.00 287,700.00

$159.53

Salmon Festival Sponsorship

$11,993.00 133,000.00

$90.17

Street Activations Vancouver International Auto Show Booth "Supplying the Change" Activation

$18,720.00 32,000.00 $8,050.00 85,000.00 $7,135.00 37,700.00

$585.00 $94.71 $189.26

Online Marketing

$27,070.00 2,610,000.00

$10.37

Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Marketing Online Advertisement

$0.00 N/A $1,220.00 610,000.00 $15,850.00 2,000,000.00

N/A $2.00 $7.93

Big Box | Autotrader.ca Big Box | Vancity Buzz Big Box | Miss604

$8,750.00 250,000.00 $3,500.00 250,000.00 $1,500.00 1,000,000.00

$35.00 $14.00 $1.50

Big Box/Banner | Revscene

$2,100.00 500,000.00 N/A N/A

$4.20 N/A

Website Marketing Content Updates "Sharing Communitites"Contest Online Presence Redesign Website Development Facebook Redesign

N/A N/A $10,000.00 $10,000.00 N/A

TOTALS

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A

$244,968.00 68,295,060.00

$3.59

Experiential Marketing Salmon Festival Sponsorship Street Activations Vancouver International Auto Show Booth "Supplying the Change" Activation Online Marketing Search Engine Optimization Search Engine Marketing Online Advertisement Big Box | Autotrader.ca Big Box | Vancity Buzz Big Box | Miss604 Big Box/Banner | Revscene Website Marketing

Sept '13

Oct '13

Nov '13

Dec '13

Jan '14

Feb '14

Mar '14

Apr '14

May '14

June '14

July '14

Aug '14

Content Updates "Sharing Communitites"Contest Online Presence Redesign Website Development Facebook Redesign Tactics

Campaign Measurement and Evaluation As Peter Drucker once said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.” The importance of being able to track the success of the campaign is paramount, despite the challenges of measuring awareness levels. The It’s Time to Change campaign will be measured, primarily, in its ability to generate gross impressions. The whole campaign will then be translated into a cost per thousand (CPM) figure, representing the amount of money it will take to reach every thousand people. On a secondary level, online interactions will be measured. These include performance indicators pertaining to social sharing, blogger and press coverage, and content-creation with Eco-Freez as a topic.

Estimated impressions were predicted while planning the campaign, as shown in Chart 21. Justifying the budget allocated to traditional media, outdoor and radio advertising tactics are expected to yield just over 65 million impressions, recording a CPM of $2.63. Online marketing will generate an estimated 2.61 million impressions, recording a CPM of $10.37. Finally, the planned experiential tactics garner the lowest amount of impressions, with only 250,000 people coming in contact with the experiential campaign. However, this does not take into account what experiential marketing is most effective in doing; encouraging the organic sharing, content creation, and media coverage that a well-planned experiential tactic can command. These are factors that have the ability to attribute to the exponential growth that will generate larger numbers of gross impressions. The experiential campaign without taking those factors into account has an estimated CPM of $158.31.

Overall, the campaign is expected to warrant 68.3 million impressions, translating to a CPM of $3.58.

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Gross Impressions Out-Of-Home Advertising

30,673,360

Radio Advertising Experiential Marketing

2,000,000 Search Engine Marketing Online Advertisement

610,000

287,700

34,724,000

Chart 21: Gross Impressions

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Report Summary Ratchet Marketing’s It’s Time to Change integrated marketing communications campaign will establish EcoFreez in the consumer market with a strong level of awareness and a trustworthy reputation. The campaign reaches all audiences within the target market with communication that thoroughly conveys all of Eco-Freez’s most beneficial brand attributes. All campaign messaging will tell Eco-Freez’s story through touch points that connect with the target audiences in situations where they can relate to the product.

With such a broad range of consumers who share the common trait of driving a vehicle, target market segmentation was difficult on a demographic level. Therefore, three target audiences and varied tactics were chosen to reach a significant number of potential consumers. However, the core audience is the Conscious Commuters, who relate most closely to Eco-Freez’s brand attributes. The key strategic points that were evident in all creative and brand communication were that Eco-Freez is 1) locally produced, 2) sustainable, 3) of premium quality, and 4) changing consumer perceptions.

The use of high level awareness tactics such as radio and out of home advertising will educate and inform the audiences as to the local, sustainable and premium attributes of Eco-Freez. They will also work as support tactics to maintain a presence in the community in between campaign events. Community level experiential tactics as well as targeted online marketing will build Eco-Freez’s reputation through trusted and reputable media and events. These sources will create a level of awareness that mass media channels are unable to develop as word of mouth and crowdsourcing provide legitimacy and trust.

By maintaining a presence in the community through sponsoring events such as the Steveston Salmon Festival and creating events such as “Supplying the Change”, potential customers can interact with the brand first hand.

As illustrated in primary research, a strong brand cannot be established without a trusting presence in their community.

It’s Time to Change will establish close to 70 million gross impressions in the Greater Vancouver Regional District for Eco-Freez. Approximately 35 million will be created in both the spring and fall campaigns, leveraging the vehicle maintenance seasons as much as possible. This will be done while maximizing the $250,000 budget.

Eco-Freez has begun to facilitate change in all aspects of the coolant industry. However, their lack of awareness in the market place limits the extent to which they can influence consumer behaviour. It’s Time to Change will provide them with a strong entrance into a market where the consumers wants to change as much as EcoFreez. This campaign is sure to be the beginning of a movement calling for change in an industry that needs it, with Eco-Freez at the forefront. This change will set a higher standard of environmental accountability and will establish recycling as the practice of choice in the coolants industry.

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Primary Research 1: Focus Group Questions Participants: Introduction: General Questions

1. Going around the circle, could everyone give a quick summary of your driving situation?

Do you drive a car, own a car, have you driven one, how often do you drive, etc.?

2. What do you know about antifreeze?

3. When was the last time you’ve changed/checked your antifreeze?

4. How often does your car’s antifreeze get changed?

5. Do you change the antifreeze yourself, or do you take it into a shop / a family member? a. If they say they take it to a shop, which shop do they take it to? Why? b. Scheduled maintenance plan? How often do you go in for a scheduled maintenance 6. When is the time of year that Antifreeze comes top of mind for you?

Green/Environmental Questions

1. What are your opinions on Products that claim to be environmentally friendly? a. Do you believe the green of the products all the time? b. Is there an association of green automotive products and fuel efficiency? c. Do you take any steps into making sure that the products that you are buying are really environmentally friendly? i. If so, where are the main places you look/main things you do?

2. If you were out shopping, would you put a lot of consideration into finding a green/environmentally-friendly product that suits your need? a. What other factors influence your shopping choices? i. Who reads labels?

3. If I said that a product, like antifreeze, was “recycled” what would be the first thing that came to your mind?

4. Would you expect to sacrifice anything for a recycled product, for example, quality, price, convenience?

Local/Brand Questions

1. Do you try to look for local products when you are out shopping for products? a. Environmentally friendly or local? Eco friendly b. Is there an associate with local and quality?

2. Does it matter to you if a brand is local?

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

a. What connotations does the â&#x20AC;&#x153;localâ&#x20AC;? brand have?

What does a Brand need to do for you to gain your loyalty/respect/favour?

Corporate social responsibility is when an organization looks past profits and gives back to the community/employees/environment. If you knew a brand actively practiced CSR, would you be more inclined to purchase their products?

Are there any characteristics of a brand that have to be present for you to buy their products?

How does a brand become trustworthy to you?

Do you often communicate with the brands you like? Twitter and Facebook would be ways to do this. Do you find that it helps you trust the brand? a. What would be the best way for you to communicate with a brand/connect with a brand/learn about a brand?

What is the importance in knowing a brands story? If you learned about a great story that a brand has, would it alter you perceptions of it?

Eco-Freez Questions

1. Knowing that it is a recycled product that is better for the environment, does it make you more likely to buy it/request you mechanic/dealership to use it?

2. What would you expect the price for this kind of a product to be? Higher lower or similar to regular antifreeze products? a. Is there a specific location/time/point of year where you think more about your car?

3. What would you expect to happen to the quality of the product? Higher lower or similar to regular antifreeze products?

2: In-Depth Interview Questions

1.

2.

3.

4.

What type of cars do you service at your shop?

Describe the typical customer who comes into your shop.

When do you provide recommendations to customers?

Do you include antifreeze changes for general service calls?

5. What do you do with your leftover antifreeze?

6. Where do you buy your fluids from?

7. Where do you go to find information on industry changes?

8. What is the extent of your follow up with the customer after the servicing?

9. What do you consider important in consumable products (oil, coolants, and fluids) when talking to customers?

10. Would you consider recycled automotive fluids in your shop?

11. Why? 12. Do you use environmentally friendly products?

13. Why? 14. Do you find consumers coming into the stores asking about specific products?

15. If yes, what type of products do they ask about?

16. Vancouver is widely acknowledged for its support of local products, has this shown itself in its products in your shop?

17. When I see a recycled automotive product, I thinkâ&#x20AC;Ś 18. How often do you recommend customers change your antifreeze?

19. What is awareness and education levels like for antifreeze?

20. Have heard of Eco-Freez?

21. Have you used Eco-Freez in your shop?

22. Where did you hear about it?

23. What is your perception of ECO-Freez?

3: Survey Questions

1.

Do you own a car?

 

2.

No

Are you the regular driver of the car?

 

3.

Yes

Yes No

Do you regularly drive any other car?

 

Yes No

4.

Please provide the car's MAKE (e.g. Ford, VW, Honda):

5.

Please provide the car's MODEL (e.g. Escape, Golf, Civic)

6.

Please provide the car's YEAR (e.g. 2008, 2010, guess if not sure please)

7.

Is the car covered by any kind of maintenance / service plan?

  

8.

Yes, I choose when to service the car I influence the decision when and where to service the car No, I don't decide when or where to service the car

Yes, I almost always service it myself Sometimes I service it myself, and sometimes I use a service station No, I always take it to a service station

Check all that apply: "I replace the following myself:"

   

11.

I am not sure

Do you perform basic maintenance services to the car yourself (oil / antifreeze / coolant / filter changes) or use a service station/dealer garage?

  

10.

No

Do you choose or influence when and where the car gets serviced and maintained?

  

9.

Yes

Oil Antifreeze / Coolant Air Filters Oil Filters

Check all that apply: "I buy my servicing parts and fluids usually from:"

 

Canadian Tire Lordco

       

12.

Princess Auto Parts Mr. Lube Kal Tire Jiffy Lube Walmart Costco Car Dealer - OEM (e.g. BMW, Ford spare parts desk) Other

Do you have a preferred service station (to perform routine lube service and maintenance)?

        

No preference Official dealer e.g. VW, Ford etc.

Mr Lube Canadian Tire Walmart Express Lube Jiffy Lube Kal Tire Budget Brake & Muffler Other / Independent Service Station

If you selected "Other", please name the Service Station you prefer:

13.

Do you know what brand of maintenance products (oils, coolants, filters) are used on your car by your service station?

  

Yes No Some of them

If you selected "Other", please name where you buy your service parts and fluids:

14.

Check all that apply: "I have a preferred brand of:"

    

15.

Oil Antifreeze / Coolant Air & Oil Filters I have no preference for these products

Check all that apply: "I trust or ask the following people about what fluids should be used in my car:"

       

16.

Gas

Service Station Staff Family Friends Manufacturer/Brand reputation & claims Online Research Blogs & Forums My own experience and preferences I'm not too concerned; I buy and use whatever is available

What do you consider important in choosing consumable products (oil, antifreeze / coolant, fluids) when performing car maintenance?

Not Important Price Product made from a sustainable recycling process Manufacturer's environmental responsibility

  

Somewhat Important

Neutral

Important

 

 

 







Very Important

  

Premium product with quality additives Manufacturer approved/recommended Brand name / reputation Less harmful if swallowed Attractive, convenient packaging

17.

    

    

    

    

Do you currently use any recycled automotive fluids?

 

Yes No

If "Yes", please say what recycled products you use in / on your car currently

18.

Would you consider using recycled automotive fluids in the future?

    

Yes Yes, only if it performs equal / better than conventional products Yes, only if it is cheaper than conventional products No, they are inferior quality No, for other reasons

Could you please provide just a few words on your decision above?

19.

How often do you think you should change your antifreeze / coolant?

      

20.

Around every 2 years More than every 2 years According to the owner's manual / manufacturer's recommendations Whenever my service station says I should I never bother to change it

Assume it is inferior quality Assume it is more expensive than normal antifreeze Think it is great for the planet Buy it / ask for it to be used during my next service Not believe that it is a truly eco-friendly product ("Greenwashing")

Check the most appropriate answer: How often do you check your antifreeze / coolant?

       

22.

Around every 12 months

Check all that apply: "If I saw recycled antifreeze / coolant on the shelf, I would probably:"

    

21.

Around every 6 months

Around once a month Around every 6 months or so Around once a year When Winter comes around When Summer comes around Never - I let my service station check it Never - I don''t think I need to check it I don't know how to check it

Check all that apply: Have you heard of any of the following coolants?

     

Maxcool Prestone Motomaster Helix Zerex Peak

    

   

TurboPower STP Duralube Other

If you selected "Other" please enter the brand you remeber below:

23.

Have you heard of Eco-Freez antifreeze / coolant?

 

24.

Yes No

Where did you hear about Eco-Freez?

    

Word of mouth Online browsing / research Advertising My service centre agent / mechanic Other

If you selected "Other", please enter where you heard about Eco-Freez

25.

What is your opinion of Eco-Freez?

26.

Would you be interested in learning about an eco-friendly, high performance and affordable recycled antifreeze product?

 

27.

Only If it's convenient Only if the price and quality is similar to other products Sometimes Rarely Never

Yes, always Usually Sometimes Not often Never

What is your age group?

     

30.

Yes, as often as possible

Do you recycle your household waste?

    

29.

No

Do you try to buy eco-friendly products (Household cleaners, organic groceries, recycled products)?

     

28.

Yes

Under 18 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 Over 54

What is your gender?

 

Male Female

31.

What is your income bracket?

      

32.

Prefer not to say Under $10,000 per year $10,000 to $25,000 per year $25,001 to $40,000 per year $40,001 to $60,000 per year $60,000 to $100,000 per year Over $100,000 per year

Where do you live (and drive most)?

         

Canada - BC Canada - Alberta Canada - Saskatchewan Canada - Manitoba Canada - Ontario Canada - Quebec Canada - New Brunswick / Nova Scotia Canada - Other United States of America Other Country / Province

If you selected "Other", please enter the area where you live.

Media Plan 4: Congestion Maps in GVRD

Creative Strategy 5: Campaign Roadmap

Briefing Date: February 22nd, 2013 Client: M&R Environmental Product: Eco-Freez

Why are we advertising?

1. To generate positive awareness for Eco-Freez.

2. To change current habits, usage, and mainly perceptions of what antifreeze and establish Eco-Freez as a trusted brand within the Vancouver community.

Who are we talking to?

Geographic: The region between Pemberton and Boston Bar mainly focused in the highly populated CMA of Vancouver. The Downtown core as especially as the routes entering Downtown Vancouver are the ones with the highest traffic and congestion.

Demographic: 18 to 34; Drivers/Owners of motor vehicle (52.2%); Low-mid personal income (avg. $27,150); post-secondary educated; no specific marital status, although most likely single. Own a vehicle and commute to work whether by vehicle or foot, but mainly by car.

Psychographic: Two main psychographic traits exist among the target market; environmentally-conscious and local-centric buying preferences. They are concerned with price and quality and purchasing products that are made locally.

Their life styles are changing due to the technological era they were born into. They feel like they are pivotal to the world, as they view themselves as agents of change.

Behavioral: Impatient; heavy users of social media and the entire online world; use their phones for more than calls (internet access, social media, etc.); heavy crowdsourcers; ethical and local products shoppers. Shop thriftily because of student loans and many of the target audience still live at home.

Page | 1

What do they currently think?

They don’t.

Antifreeze is the last thing on these consumer’s minds. Eco-Freez has almost no brand awareness, as it is a new product on the B2C market. The level of knowledge and education surrounding antifreeze is very low, and as mentioned, it is not a “top of mind” product.

They do think that they want to support their local economy and local businesses so they tend to buy these products. They are somewhat skeptical of environmentally friendly products because of “green washing”.

However, they still purchase the green product as long as it is not too expensive.

What do we want them to do?

To become aware of three things: (1) the Eco-Freez product and its insertion to the B2C market, (2) the three aspects that make Eco-Freez a unique product on the market (local, recycled, premium), and (3) the existence of the website in which they can find out more about the product, amongst other things.

We also want them to develop a trusting relationship with Eco-Freez through personal contact and pass on their sentiments to their personal networks.

Ultimately, we want them to become so aware of Eco-Freez and have it top of mind so that when they service their vehicles, they remember to ask their mechanic for it or go and purchase it themselves.

What's the one thing we need to tell them?

It’s time to change, and more than just your antifreeze. Change your environment and your community, just by changing with Eco-Freez; premium recycled coolant.

What are the unique benefits of the product?    

Sustainable/recycled Locally-sourced Premium/high quality Low/competitive price-point

How will they know it is us?

Advocates for change, sustainable, local, positively minded, prideful, trustworthy, caring, responsible, environmentally-conscious

Page | 2

Where are we telling them?

On the target market’s daily routine. Their drive into the downtown core for work and their drive back mainly (billboards/radio). Every significant step of our target market’s day will need to be considered as a possible touch point.

The target audience will be driven onto an online website, where they will become further aware, and be able to share to spread that awareness.

We are talking to them at community events and through crowdsourcing websites.

How much will it cost? $250,000 - $125,000 per sub-campaign

Mandatory Items  

Eco-Freez logo.

URL: www.ecofreez.ca

Timing Campaign Timing – October 1st through December 31st, 2013, and April 1st through June 31st, 2014, and July 15th to August 15th 2014

Presentation Date: March 1st, 2013

Delivery Date: February 22nd, 2013

Page | 3

6: Billboard Creatives

7: Bus King Creatives

8: Bus Shelter Creatives

9: Radio Script STATION: CKPK-FM (102.7 The Peak) AIR DATE: June 15th, 2014 AIR TIME: 0:30 sec

CLIENT: M&R Environmental AGENCY: Ratchet Marketing

COMMERCIAL: Career Change Jimmy:

Hey man, I’m thinking about changing my profession. I think I wanna be a pop star.

Phil:

Oh yeah? Let’s hear you sing.

Jimmy:

(Singing terribly) “Ooooh cause you’ll always be my baby!”

Phil:

Uhhh…

(Scene fades into background music)

Narrator:

Some things shouldn’t change. Your antifreeze should.

Narrator:

Eco-Freez is Canada’s only recycled antifreeze. It’s sustainable and made right here in Vancouver. Ask your mechanic to make the change to Eco-Freez the next time you get your car serviced.

Narrator:

Eco-Freez, Vancouver’s premium recycled coolant.

(Music fades out and back to Jimmy and Phil)

Jimmy:

No really! Listen to this… I will wait, I will wait for youuuuuuuu! (continues singing poorly)

Phil:

Oh no.

Experiential Tactic Plan 10: Retail Store Activation Packs

11: Vancouver International Auto Show â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Media Guide

12: Vancouver International Auto Show â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Floor Layout and Rate Card

13: “Supplying the Change” Stunt Media Release

NEWS RELEASE For Immediate Release

Thursday, November 28, 2013

ECO-FREEZ SUPPLYING THE CHANGE FOR PARKING ON BLACK FRIDAY Local antifreeze company providing free parking along Robson Street on Friday to encourage people to buy local

VANCOUVER, B.C. – Eco-Freez —a locally owned sustainable antifreeze company— is supplying the change for over 110 parking meters along Robson to Denman Street to encourage Vancouverites to shop local on Black Friday. Free parking will be available all of Friday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. and available to shoppers in two hour segments.

Black Friday has grown significantly in Canada with large retailers such as Future Shop, Best Buy, The Brick, Sears, and The Gap offering steep discounts to keep Canadian consumers in their stores as opposed to trips across the border.

“As a local company, we wanted to do something to show our support for other local businesses and encourage others to do so,” says Harold Winberg, VP of Sales and Marketing from EcoFreez. “We’re rolling out the It’s Time to Change campaign that aims to educate people on the benefits of using sustainable antifreeze that comes from our own backyard.”

About Eco-Freez Eco-Freez is a premium recycled coolant manufactured by M&R Environmental. Since 1994, M&R Environmental has been positively impacting the lives of their customers, employees and the environment. ### Jamie Turner Marketing and Business Development Manager Email: Jamie@mrenviro.com Telephone: 604.618.4646

Online Tactic Plan 14: Website Redesign Creatives

15: Autotrader Creative and Advertising Rates

16: Online Blog Creatives Vancity Buzz

Miss604

Revscene

17: Vancity Buzz Advertising Guide

18: Miss604 Advertising Guide

19: Facebook Page Redesign