CURIOUSLY STRONG. ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN 2016-2017
KAIS HUSSAIN
YANGXIAO LI
REILLY MEGEE
SHELBY MILLER
HAWK YOUNG
TABLE OF CONENTS.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 SITUATION ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 INDUSTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Summary
Trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Growth ALTOIDS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Background . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Product Description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Past Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Social Media Presence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Geography & BDI/CDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
MARKET SHARE & SALES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
COMPETITORS
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
COMPETITIVE SPENDING ANALYSIS
ANALYSIS OF MINT USERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Category Consumers
Brand Consumers
Competitors’ Consumers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
SWOT ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
OBJECTIVES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 MARKETING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 ADVERTISING
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
MEDIA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 TARGET AUDIENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 CREATIVE BRIEF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MEDIA STRATEGY
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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 Digital . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
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TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Radio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Events & Promotions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
FLOWCHART . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 YEAR-AT-A-GLANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
BUDGET SUMMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
EVALUATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. Wm. Wrigley Jr. Corp sells a variety of gum, mints, and breath fresheners. Altoids is one of their mint brands that’s been around for more than 100 years. It’s known for unique flavors and a handy tin package. Consumers deem them to have premium quality with generous servings. Altoids needs to increase brand awareness, clearly define its brand personality in the mind of the consumers, and capture the 18-24 age demographic that everyone is fighting for. We developed a media plan to increase brand awareness amongst this highly coveted demographic. A high percentage of our target audience reads magazines and listens to radio, so we will continue to put funds there. However, it’s time to move beyond that traditional formula and add digital and video to the media mix. Given a budget of $25 million and a campaign lasting a full year, Altoids will implement advertising opportunities to further expose the brand and surpass competition. We are using a pulsing schedule that will begin in May and gradually increase in frequency through August, which will be the highest spending. September will decrease again to the same amount May was. It will again increase in frequency through December, which will be another high spending month. January will be low, but it will increase again through April. We believe our media plan will be effective because our highest spending falls during two months (August and April) when we would like to do two promotional activities, and when higher purchasing already exists (December). Using this schedule, our media plan is designed to increase the sales of Altoids by 20% in the next calendar year primarily among young women who are age 18-24 years old. Altoids’ past strategy spent no money in the first five months, rather they scheduled all of their media spending for the second half of the year. Our chosen competitors, Ice Breakers and Tic Tac, employ a continuous scheduling strategy, and Mentos advertises very sporadically. Our pulsing schedule ensures that Altoids’ advertising is always present. We allocated our budget selectively to achieve our goals of high reach and reasonable frequency in our advertisements and media choices. Our spot markets were selected because they have high CDI with a low BDI. This means that consumers are using mints, but they’re not in love with Altoids. This is what we hope to change. High reach will spread the word that Altoids is still trendy like its unique flavors, and the consistent frequency will not let consumers or potential consumers forget about us.
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SITUATION ANALYSIS INDUSTRY SUMMARY Bad breath is something we all deal with from time to time. It’s an awful but realistic fact. Even ancient societies dealt with this annoying aspect of biology. Egyptians used a combination of boiled myrrh, cinnamon, frankincense, and honey to hide the pungent breath of mummies. In the Middle Ages, people chewed on anise seed to cover up the smell of liquor on their breath. Other civilizations would suck on whole cloves. Society has always had the need for a bad breath remedy, and thus the mints candy industry was born. Mints were first brought to America as a form of medicine to help with intestinal irritation and bad breath. However, mints were used to make a refreshing treat, while still maintaining their utility. These hard candies may have been created in an entirely different century, but they are still widely popular today. For example, almost everyone loves those little mints you get at a restaurant after having some delicious (but odorous) sweet and sour chicken. Not only that, mints have placement at baby showers, wedding parties, and even hotel rooms. Mints have become an integral part of our culture. The mint industry started to get noticed when the brand Lifesaver was introduced in 1912. Due to its creative name, these mints quickly became a fan favorite and brought a lot of attention to the mint candies market. Then, in 1949, Junior Mints became part of the equation - combining a creamy mint filling inside of dark chocolate added some extra zest to the mints industry. This innovative idea started the fervor surrounding mint and chocolate. In the 1950s, American Chicle introduced the “perfect combination of mint and candy� to the world, Certs. These mint candies were made easily portable for on-the-go cleanliness. Using copper gluconate and restyn (cottonseed oil), the mints proved to also be long-lasting. This was the biggest milestone the mints industry managed to reach (other than the creation of sugar-free gum), and the market finally took off. The popularity was insatiable, and the demand for mints continues to grow even today. Similar to the candy industry, demand for mints has fluctuated during its assimilation into the modern world. However, bad breath remains to be an on-going battle for all of us. Until the day bad breath is no longer a problem, mints will always have a place in the market.
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TRENDS In recent years, there has been a social shift in recognizing and purchasing items that have fewer preservatives, and an increase in purchasing items that have an easy to read ingredients label. Because of this growing national obsession with all things natural, the gum category has been steadily declining, while the mint sales have been increasing. In the last five years, mint sales have increased nearly 20%. Among these sales, Altoids and Ice Breakers have increased 27%. Mints generally contain more natural ingredients than gum. This fact fits well with the ongoing trend of being more health-conscious. GROWTH Total sales of gum, mints, and breath fresheners rose 1.7% to $4.8 billion between 2014-15. The growth of sales includes a 1.6% increase in gum, 6.6% in plain mints and 5.4% in breath fresheners. However, the trend is indicating that the gum category will be in decline over the next 5 years, as adults start to prefer mints that they can swallow versus gum that they must throw away. The mint segment enjoyed growth between 2010-14, with sales rising 7.2% from $382 million to $410 million. Sales are expected to continue increasing steadily, rising from an estimated $437 million in 2015 to a projected $526 million in 2020. The success of the mint industry has arrived and will continue to grow at the expense of the gum industry.
ALTOIDS BACKGROUND Altoids has been a well-known brand since the product’s beginning in 1780, when Smith Kendon developed the “exceptionally strong lozenge.” The mint’s invention was originally for intestinal discomfort relief and bad breath. The brand really took off in 1918 when Altoids started selling their products in the United States. Altoids exponentially increased their brand awareness by developing their flavors (introduced Wintergreen in 1997) and their product types (introduced breath strips and sugar-free gum in 2003). Altoids marketing strategies acquired enough awareness to capture the attention of Wrigley, Co. In 2004, Wrigley showed enough interest in the brand to buy ownership. In 2008, Mars, Inc. bought ownership of Wrigley, and therefore acquired ownership of the Altoids brand. PRODUCT DESCRIPTION Over the years, Altoids has introduced new creative flavors, such as Dark Chocolate Dipped mints and Cool Honey mints, in order to set themselves apart in a steadily growing market. However, most of their creative flavors did not do very well and were eventually discontinued. Despite this setback, the brand managed to keep their four prominent flavors (Peppermint, Spearmint, Wintergreen, and Cinnamon) in the market, and to this day
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Altoids Peppermint is the #1 mint in the United States. Altoids mints are also known for their distinct 2.3” x 3.7” tin can (avg. size) packaging with a wax paper lining used as a ‘food safety’ precaution to separate the mints from the tin, as well as adding an air of old-school charm from the heydays of mints. The tins also have a reputation of being reused to store any items the consumer wishes to save. At a reasonable price range of $1-3, Altoids mints are affordable, yet they also manage to add a sense of leftover tradition to any consumer purchasing the products. PAST PROMOTIONS Altoids’ advertising is heavily concentrated on print media. The designs bring in elements of the classic, rather antique Altoids ads of the past, showing a strong consistency over the years. There is also a common theme of quirky, deadpan humor with sexual innuendos often cleverly placed throughout. Altiods ads do not demonstrate much evolution over the years - in 2013, a campaign that began in 1997 and ran for approximately 7 years was resurrected. In 2012, a TV ad done by BBDO joked of Altoids’ contribution to history, namely the design of Central Park in New York City. The company, thus, also tries to remind consumers of its history and long-standing place in American culture. SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE Altoids’ digital presence is severely lacking in comparison to its competitors, which is especially surprising because their customers are more likely to be heavy internet users (119). With a mere .098 million Facebook followers compared to the higher numbers of their competitors, Altoids’ last post to Facebook was in 2015. Before their silence on Facebook, Altoids did post every few days. The company does not have a Twitter or Instagram account. DISTRIBUTION Altoids is now owned by the Wrigley, Co., an affiliate of the Mars corporation, and is distributed in more than 180 countries worldwide, with operations in ~50 countries. After being manufactured in the United States, Altoids are distributed amongst retailers, super-retailers (such as WalMart and Kroger), and online shipping services. The most common place to come across Altoids is in one of the many convenient stores across the nation. There are 150,000+ convenient stores across the United States, and almost every store sells Altoids as a consumer good.
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CATEGORY DEVELOPMENT INDEX (CDI): 0.7
BRAND DEVELOPMENT INDEX (BDI): 0.3
WEIGHTED INDEX
Yuma-El Centro, AZ
121
91
111.8
Greenwood-Greenville, MS
125
74
109.6
Fresno-Visalia, CA
115
95
109.2
Palm Springs, CA
111
95
105.8
Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen, TX
119
85
108.7
MARKET NAME
GEORGRAPHY & CDI/BDI To understand the geography of the brand and the category, we must first look at CDI and BDI. A high CDI means the category (in this case, mints) is doing well in a specific DMA, and a high BDI means the brand (in this case, Altoids) is doing well in a specific DMA. These values help determine which markets are the best to invest in based on brand and category presence in marketing areas. According to the CDI and BDI data, the Altoids brand seems to be doing well in most major cities across the nation, as well as the eastern seaboard of the United States. However, the general mints market is doing better in more locations than the brand itself. With CDIs up to 125, the mint market has a strong hold on approximately 90 DMA markets, while the Altoids brand seems to only have a strong hold in approximately 50 DMA markets. In order to create a more representative understanding of the spot markets we chose, we decided to weight our CDI and BDI. The weighted score allowed us to compare the CDI and BDI scores relative to other cities in the high CDI/low BDI category, and ultimately choose the top five spot markets. We targeted cities that had a high CDI and low BDI because cities that had this combination bought a lot of mints, but not necessarily Altoids. Our logic was that if we advertised in these markets, their awareness of Altoids would increase more easily as compared to other markets (i.e. low CDI and low BDI) which would in turn lead them to purchase Altoids mints instead. Ultimately, we knew that we wanted CDI to have a heavier influence on our decision than BDI, which is why we weighted them at 0.7 and 0.3, respectively. The spot markets that we chose (Yuma-El Centro, AZ-CA; GreenwoodGreenville, MS; Fresno-Visalia, CA; Palm Springs, CA; and Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen; TX) had the highest weighted score amongst the other cities with a high CDI and low BDI.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
MARKET SHARE & SALES Looking at the graph belows, Altoids had a 14.79% share of the market in 2015. This means that Altoids was responsible for 14.79% of the sales recorded in 2015. Total revenue for Altoids totaled $97.4 million dollars, a chunk of the total industry sales of $658.4 million dollars. Compared to two other large mint brands, Tic Tac and Ice Breakers, Altoids did relatively worse. Ice Breakers had 19.68% market share and Tic Tac had 26.08%. It should be noted that Mentos was not incorporated in this data, hence their absence in the market share calculations.
SALES OF LEADING BREATH FRESHENER BRANDS OF THE US IN 2015 ($000,000)
MARKET SHARE (%)
Mentos not included in original data. Data based on information found at http://www.statista.com/ statistics/262572/leading-us-breath-freshener-brands-based-on-sales/.
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COMPETITORS Based on data from January 2013 to December 2014 among heavy mint users, the following demographics had high, if not the highest, index scores: age group 18-24 (110), non-employed (107) and part-time employed (103), single (119), and HHI below $10,000 (167). Given these categories, young consumers, who are typically single, not full-time employed, and making little money or relying financially on their parents, appear to be heavy mint users. We have thus decided to position Altoids as a brand for young adults. The mint industry is a competitive one, and Altoids’ market share of 14.79% in 2015 was beat out by Ice Breakers (19.68%), and Tic Tac (14.95%), making the two mint brands Altoids’ biggest competitors in sales. In addition, the two brands boast high index scores within the 18-24 year old demographic, with Ice Breakers at 166 and Tic Tac at 104. While Mentos’ market share data could not be found, the brand’s traction with 18-24 year olds (97), while not notably high, is close to Altoids’ (106). They also have a quirky brand personality, similar in voice to what we hope Altoids will achieve with this upcoming campaign. This, coupled with their performance with the target demographic, makes them a brand to watch. Overall, due to these three brands’ market share and popularity with 18-24 year olds, they were identified as Altoids’ biggest competitors in the industry.
ICE BREAKERS Ice Breakers first entered the scene in 1996 under Nabisco before being acquired by Hersey’s and introducing mints in 2000. Their mints are currently sold in the US, Canada, and Asia markets. They have a wide range of mint products, including Frost mints (coming in two cool flavors), Duo mints (coming in four fruity flavors), and Ice Breakers Mints (coming in three cool flavors and cinnamon). Their advertising comes across as fresh and youthful, focusing on communicating their mints’ strength and relevance to everyday situations. Ice Breakers’ social media presence is stronger than Altoids, but weak in comparison to their other two competitors. They boast 1.14 million Facebook followers, over 5,000 Twitter followers, and lack an Instagram account entirely. On the former two platforms, they generally post once every few days. Ice Breakers does extremely well with 18-24 year olds, boasting an index score of 161. This makes them Altoids’ biggest competitor with the younger markets.
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MENTOS Mentos started their journey in 1948 in the Netherlands, and today it is sold in over 130 countries by the Perfetti Van Melle corporation. They have 15 flavors of chewy mints, ranging from minty, to fruity, to cinnamon, as well as four types of NowMints, coming in an orange and several cool flavors. Mentos’ social media following is large, with approximately 12.52 million Facebook followers, 6,500 Twitter followers, over 2,000 Instagram followers for Mentos US, and almost 26,000 Instagram followers for Mentos global. They post infrequently on the latter, but post every few days on Facebook and daily on Twitter. Their advertising is cheeky and quirky, focusing on the mints’ long-lasting freshness. Mentos does moderately well with 18-24 year olds with an middleground index score of 97. Their advertising’s humor, however, is similar to the tone of Altoids’, especially when considering the more youthful direction Altoids is heading. As their online presence is so strong, comparatively speaking, they present themselves as a strong competitor in the digital realm. TIC TAC Tic Tac mints were introduced in 1969 by Ferrero and are now available in over 100 countries. The mints come in seven cool, fruity, or cinnamon flavors. Their advertising is colorful and flirty, emphasizing Tic Tac’s creative versatility and oftentimes their low calorie count, as each mint is only 2 calories. Their unique flip-top packaging is often featured as well. In addition, Tic Tac has a strong social media presence, with 14.96 million Facebook followers, 29,500 Twitter followers for Tic Tac US, and 59,600 Instagram followers on Tic Tac global. They post every few days on each platform. Tic Tac does well with 18-24 year old consumers as well with an index score of 104.
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COMPETITIVE SPENDING ANALYSIS Among the researched media, Altoids has a strong share of voice in the categories of Consumer Magazines (67.87%) and Internet Display (59.52%). Looking at the limited budgets in 2013 and 2014, if Altoids were to own one media category to break through the ad clutter, they could potentially put money into Internet Display without losing a lot of SOV in Consumer Magazines. Internet Display is an arena in which other brands are not big spenders. For instance, Mentos only spent $492,400 for 23.63% SOV and Tic Tac only spent $360,900 for 17.12% SOV. Altoids spent 93.88% of their money ($19,760,000) for a 67.87% SOV in Consumer Magazines, a category with much more money involved. Thus, moving a small amount of Consumer Magazine spending to Internet Display would make a big impact without losing much SOV in the former - especially since our target audience is age 18-24. They’re the ones on the internet most.
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MAGAZINE SPENDING
MAGAZINE SPENDING
($000) 2013
($000) 2014
INTERNET SPENDING
INTERNET SPENDING
($000) 2013
($000) 2014
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
Our biggest competitor, Ice Breakers, has dominated the TV media with 100% SOV in Network TV, 99.81% SOV in Spot TV, 69.72% SOV in Cable TV, and 98.33% SOV in Syndication. Mentos had 83.68% of Online Video Market share and Tic Tac had 78.49% of B-to-B. Each competitor has a strong focus in at least one specific media category. Taking a look at the Media Mix, Altoids spent 93.88% of their budget in Consumer Magazines, but only obtained a 67.87% SOV. The ad spending Altoids had throughout 2013-2014 ($21,048,900) is comparable to Tic Tac’s ($19,995,600) at around $20,000,000. This means that Tic Tac and Altoid have the same potential to achieve success based on their budgets. To add context, Altoids spent over double what Mentos spent in the researched media ($9,050,400). However, none of the breath mint brands came close to the spending of Ice Breakers at $85,922,200. The most money is spent on Cable TV, with Ice Breakers spending the most by over $20,000,000. Altoids is spending nothing in this category. Investing the entire $25 million in Cable TV would not be enough to dominate the media or take away a significant portion of Ice Breakers’ 69.72% SOV. However, they have 100% SOV in Network TV while only spending $6,341,500, an amount of money that is only 25.4% of Altoids’ new budget of $25 million. Overall, the spending schedule of each competitor differs. Ice Breakers spend similar amounts of money each month, Tic Tac spends money each month but spends significantly more in warmer months (March to August), Mentos rarely spends money on media, and Altoids spends money in the second half of the year.
SHARE OF VOICE (Magazine, %)
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
SHARE OF VOICE (Internet, %)
13
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
Advertiser Altoids Ice-‐Breakers Mentos Tic Tac Total
BREATH MINTS: SHARE OF VOICE, 2013 (%)
Advertiser Altoids Ice-‐Breakers Mentos Tic Tac
BREATH MINTS: MEDIA MIX, 2013 (%)
Advertiser Altoids Ice-‐Breakers Mentos Tic Tac Total
BREATH MINTS: SPENDING, 2014 ($000)
2014
Advertiser Altoids Ice-Breakers Mentos Tic Tac Total
BREATH MINTS: SHARE OF VOICE, 2013 (%)
Advertiser Altoids Ice-Breakers Mentos Tic Tac
BREATH MINTS: MEDIA MIX, 2013 (%)
Advertiser Altoids Ice-Breakers Mentos Tic Tac Total
BREATH MINTS: SPENDING, 2013 ($000)
2013
0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 100
Network TV
0.00 7.51 0.00 0.00
Network TV
0.0 3,991.8 0.0 0.0 3,991.8
Network TV
0.00 100.00 0.00 0.00 100
Network TV
0.00 7.17 0.00 0.00
Network TV
0.0 2,349.7 0.0 0.0 2,349.7
Network TV
0.00 99.98 0.02 0.00 100
Spot TV
0.00 1.08 0.03 0.00
Spot TV
0.0 572.8 0.1 0.0 572.9
Spot TV
0.00 99.53 0.41 0.06 100
Spot TV
0.00 1.03 0.02 0.00
Spot TV
0.0 336.6 1.4 0.2 338.2
Spot TV
0.00 75.61 0.00 24.38 100
Cable TV
0.00 38.10 0.17 93.10
Cable TV
0.0 20,247.8 0.5 6,529.3 26,777.6
Cable TV
0.00 63.66 11.34 25.00 100
Cable TV
0.00 62.75 41.76 59.73
Cable TV
0.0 20,567.1 3,663.6 8,076.3 32,307.0
Cable TV
12,823.2 0.0 4,158.5 5,204.8 22,186.5
92.75 0.00 47.40 38.49
0.00 99.96 0.04 0.00 100
Syndication
0.00 53.27 4.00 0.00
Syndication
0.0 28,310.2 11.5 0.0 28,321.7
Syndication
0.00 93.77 6.23 0.00 100
100.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 100
Consumer Magazines
96.03 0.00 0.00 0.00
Consumer Magazines
6,936.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 6,936.8
Consumer Magazines
57.80 0.00 18.74 23.46 100
Consumer Syndication Magazines
0.00 29.06 7.21 0.00
Consumer Syndication Magazines
0.0 9,524.0 632.8 0.0 10,156.8
Consumer Syndication Magazines
13.92 8.96 4.68 72.45 100
B-‐To-‐B
0.48 0.04 4.03 2.56
B-‐To-‐B
34.5 22.2 11.6 179.6 247.9
B-‐To-‐B
0.00 0.00 14.47 85.53 100
B-To-B
0.00 0.00 0.35 1.35
B-To-B
30.8 182.1 212.9
0.0
B-To-B
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
National Newspaper
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
National Newspaper
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
National Newspaper
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
National Newspaper
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
National Newspaper
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
National Newspaper
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
Network Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Network Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Network Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
Network Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Network Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Network Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
National Spot Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
National Spot Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100
Local Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Local Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.1 0.1
National Spot Local Radio Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
National Spot Radio Local Radio
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
National Spot Radio Local Radio
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
National Spot Radio Local Radio
32.60 0.00 28.31 39.09 100
Internet Display
3.49 0.00 75.99 4.31
Internet Display
251.9 0.0 218.7 302.0 772.6
Internet Display
75.09 0.00 20.50 4.41 100
Internet Display
7.25 0.00 3.12 0.44
Internet Display
1,002.5 0.0 273.7 58.9 1,335.1
Internet Display
0.00 0.00 0.00 100.00 100
Online Video
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03
Online Video
0.0 0.0 0.0 2.3 2.3
Online Video
0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 100
Online Video
0.00 0.00 0.13 0.00
Online Video
0.0 0.0 11.8 0.0 11.8
Online Video
0.00 0.00 100.00 0.00 100
Outdoor
0.00 0.00 15.77 0.00
Outdoor
0.0 0.0 45.4 0.0 45.4
Outdoor
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0
Outdoor
0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00
Outdoor
0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Outdoor
Total
146.52 384.51 133.05 335.92
Grand Total
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total
7,223.2 53,144.8 287.8 7,013.3 67,669.1
Total
132.89 356.96 171.69 238.46
Grand Total
100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00
Total
13,825.7 32,777.4 8,772.6 13,522.4 68,898.1
ANALYSIS OF MINT USERS CATEGORY CONSUMERS Some driving forces behind consumer decision-making include buying in order to increase breath freshness, removing an unpleasant mouth taste, and experiencing unique flavors. Research has shown that long-lasting flavor actually trumps brand recognition and price. Millennials, a demographic that includes our target audience, purchase mints, as well as other breath freshening products, to relieve stress, boredom, and boost their mood. Heavy mint users meaning they bought three or more packages in the last seven days are men (102); however women have bought more mints in the last six months with an index of 110. These heavy mint users who bought three or more packages in the last seven days have an education level of twelfth grade or less (169), ages 18-24 (110), tend to work in farming or fishing occupations (287), HHI of less than $10,000 (167), single (119), black (224), Hispanic origin or descent (153), and rent a home (132). They also are heavy TV users (129), the TV show types with the highest indexes include Late Night Network News/Info - Mon- Fri 1-9 (338), ABC New Nightline (318), ABC World News Now (482), All NightDateline (392), Americas Next Top Model (336), Day Soap – Univision (325), and CBS Up To The Minute (425). They listen to the radio heavily also (122) and read magazines (133). The magazines they read most frequently are WWE Magazine (286), Latina (256), Black Enterprise (251), American Photo (247), and Working Mother (202). In addition, heavy cigarette pack buyers (247), heavy cigarette rolling papers buyers (384), and heavy cigar users (255) all buy mints and prove smokers have been a good target market. However, according to recent research, fewer than 15% of adults are smoking cigarettes in the United States. Not only that, but only 7% of teenagers smoke cigarettes now. Since ~80-90% of people who smoke today started smoking as kids, we can conclude the “cigarette smokers” market is one Altoids should start to back away from, primarily by advertising to younger demographics. The new trend to stop smoking will eventually prove to be a hindrance on sales. BRAND CONSUMERS Going natural has been a growing trend for some time, and Altoids’ current consumers are no exception. Their current consumers have an index of 112 when it comes to buying natural products concerned with the environment and 131 when it comes to purchasing organic or natural beauty products. They’re concerned with what’s hot or not (110). It’s no secret that organic products tend to be more expensive, and current Altoids users are likely to be able to afford them. Altoids consumers tend to have graduated
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
15
college plus (122). Therefore, these type of people tend to make more money, as Altoids users’ households have an income of $75,000 (110) or bring in $1,000,000 plus (127). They tend to be working women (111), live in the Pacific market region (123) and South West (114), single (104), own a home (101), are black (115), and are heavy internet users. COMPETITORS’ CONSUMERS All of ur competitors, Ice Breaker’s, Tic Tac, and Mentos, have similar consumer characteristics. They tend to be women/working women, pay rent or live rent free, believe risk taking is exciting, expect brands they buy to support social issues, like to share opinions on products/services by posting online, be single, followed in likelihood by widowed/divorced/separated, and are anywhere between the ages of 18-54. Ice Breakers is dominating the 18-24-year-olds (161). Their HHI tends to be anywhere from less than $10,000 to $30,000. They are also heavy internet users.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
SWOT ANALYSIS STRENGTHS
WEAKNESSES
• • • • •
• Small presence in TV and Internet • Weak relationship with younger demographic • No advertising presence in past year • Losing traction with younger generations; becoming unrelatable • Old fashioned and conventional, lack of brand evolution across years • Tins are less portable, not as cool, loud • Limited number of successful, unique flavors
Established brand, long history (1780) Identifiable product Loyal following, trust of consumers Classic packaging History of pioneering unique flavors
OPPORTUNITIES
THREATS
• Environmentally-friendly trend • Natural food craze: less ingredients, more clearly presented • Increasing usage of and reliance on social media platforms by younger demographic • Industry transitioning from gums (decreasing sales) to mints (increasing sales) • Increasing trust of celebrity endorsements among youth
• Mentos encroaching on the “weird humor” aesthetic • Ice Breakers dominating younger consumers with relatable scenarios from the dating world (“Break the ice”, increasing intimacy) • Variety of competitors’ products/ flavors • Other mints now having stronger or just as strong flavors • Over 40 brands competing in market • Low calorie trend: other mint brands (e.g., Tic Tac) can play into this health craze • Indirect competitors (e.g., mouthwash and floss) providing other ways to freshen breath • Competitors are targeting similar consumers to raise brand awareness • Steady decline in smoking amongst teens and adults
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
17
OBJECTIVES.
MARKETING OBJECTIVES • Increase sales by 20% to around $116.5 million in next calendar year.
ADVERTISING OBJECTIVES • Increase brand awareness, currently estimated at 35% nationally. • Increase brand recognition by 10% to 45% aided awareness. • Communication must be “cooperative” and from the buyer’s perspective with the aim of creating a dialogue with customers based on their needs and lifestyles. • Create new touchpoints that will generate a personal dialogue between Altoids and its customers.
MEDIA OBJECTIVES TARGET MARKET: Target specifically 18-24 year old females with HH incomes of $30,000 to $75,000. These women are typically on the move, heavily involved in social events and social media. REACH AND FREQUENCY: Achieve 75% reach with an average frequency of 3 during each 4-month period in the triannual pulsing media strategy. The first month of each 4-month period has an average frequency of 2, the second month has an average frequency of 3, and the third and fourth months have an average frequency of 4. Spot markets will have increased reach and frequency goals: 78% reach and 2.5 frequency in the first month of each 4-month period, 80% reach and 3 frequency in the second, and 90% reach and 6.8 frequency in the third and fourth. National Plan
May June July August September October November December January February March April
Reach
75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75 75
Freq
2 3 4 4 2 3 4 4 2 3 4 4
National Media National Contingency Total National $$ Spot Plan
May June July August September October November December January February March April
Spot Media Spot Contingency Total Spot $$ Total Plan
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
Reach
78 80 90 90 78 80 90 90 78 80 90 90
Freq
2.5 3 6.8 6.8 2.5 3 6.8 6.8 2.5 3 6.8 6.8
GRPs
%Share
Est $(000) 678.1 1017.2 1356.2 1356.2 678.1 1017.2 1356.2 1356.2 678.1 1017.2 1356.2 1356.2 -------13223.3 2000 15223.3
GRPs
%Share 0.9 0.3 6.3 6.3 0.9 0.3 6.3 6.3 0.9 0.3 6.3 6.3 -------41.2
Est $(000) 203.4 67.8 1410.5 1410.5 203.4 67.8 1410.5 1410.5 203.4 67.8 1410.5 1410.5 -------9276.7 500 9776.7 25000
150 225 300 300 150 225 300 300 150 225 300 300 -------2925
195 240 612 612 195 240 612 612 195 240 612 612 -------2052
3 4.5 6 6 3 4.5 6 6 3 4.5 6 6 -------58.8
19
GEOGRAPHY: National campaign with 10% of the budget set aside for additional spending in the top 5 high CDI/low BDI markets. These markets include: Yuma-El Centro, AZ-CA; Greenwood-Greenville, MS; Fresno-Visalia, CA; Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen; TX; and Palm Springs, CA. These cities were chosen by weighting the cities in the high CDI/low BDI markets with a 70% CDI and 30% BDI. The five cities with the highest weighted scores were the ones we selected to invest our spot campaign money in. SCHEDULING: The triannual pulsing media strategy begins in May 2017 with low advertising spending and gradually increases for each consecutive month during a 4-month period. This 4-month period will end with higher advertising spending in August 2017. This process is repeated for the second group of four months (September-December 2017), and finally for the third group of months (JanuaryApril 2018). Altoids’ past strategy scheduled media support for the second half of the year, with none in the first five months. Our competitors, Ice Breakers and Tic Tac, typically employ a continuous scheduling strategy, and Mentos advertises very infrequently. By using a pulsing schedule, we ensure that Altoids’ advertising is always present to match its competitors’ constant presence. We also strengthen our media support in key months - for instance, the busy holiday month of December - to maximize frequency and spending in relation to our competitors. CREATIVE: Utilize media that allows for storytelling in an effort to better cultivate and spread awareness of Altoids’ brand personality. Nontraditional advertising and interactive advertising are two additional and prominent ways to capture the audience’s attention, while still appealing to their interests. PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITY: Include promotional activities in spot markets that give buying incentives to those participating in specific activities - i.e. riding the subway, a couple on a date, young professionals en route to work or an interview, or those out all night at a music festival. BUDGET: Accomplish above objectives within our overall media budget of $25,000,000, with 20% of the budget going to digital resources, 10% set aside for specific spot markets, 8% saved in contingency for national and 2% saved in contigency for spot markets. This results in approximately $5,000,000 for digital and $2,500,000 for spot markets, with $2,500,00 in reserve for unforeseen circumstances or opportunities.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
TARGET AUDIENCE MEET JESSICA. Jessica is your typical 18-24 year old. She’s at a pivotal point in her life. She made it through the hellish high school halls, but starting college, gaining an internship, graduating college, finding her first professional job, and maybe even finding that special someone are all milestones popping up. She needs a mint that’s as strong as she is. When she’s not diligently studying, she can be found shopping for clothing/ shoes in specialty stores like Neiman Marcus (238), Nordstrom (203), J. Crew (189) and Sephora (165) , buying music like soundtracks (230), indie (225), or foreign language (212). She’s attend art galleries or shows or even personally participated in the last year (172). She’s trendy and buys hats (172). She can also be found attending music performances (153). With her busy life, finding a partner can be difficult, so she also devotes some time participating in online dating (152). Jessica buys natural and is concerned about the environment (112). She thinks of herself as a spender rather than a saver (107), she’s influenced by what’s hot and what’s not (110), and a celebrity endorser may influence her to buy a product (101). This is not a super high index, but it’s 110, 136, 114 for our competitors. People often come to her for advice before making a purchase (114). Her life is on the go, and she often feels so busy often can’t finish everything need to in a day (104). What’s she aiming for? Jessica strives to achieve a high social status (111). She enjoys learning about foreign cultures (119). She sees herself as outspoken (107) and sociable (109). Things that are very important to her include having material possessions a lot of money (106), ambition/aspiring to get ahead (103), creativity (106), having romance in her life (103), and being in tune with nature (105). Jessica considers her cell phone to be a source of entertainment (119) and an extension of her personality (111). If a celebrity designs a product, Jessica is more likely to buy it (111). She considers herself to be trendy (123), and she often use natural or organic beauty products (131). Using Altoids means her special someone will want more than just a goodnight peck. If her attitude won’t secure her a second date, her fresh breath will! Like her, Altoids are classic, reliable, and one-ofa-kind. Even her boss will sense her professionalism instead of smelling her bad breath. She can have as much coffee as she needs to get through the day because Altoids are strong enough to mask it. No need to add unnecessary weight to her purse, either. The Altoids container is small enough to fit without making her sacrifice any of her lip glosses.
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
21
Surprisingly, the heaviest media used is not TV. It’s actually magazines (120), internet (119), and radio in the second quintile (111). TV commercials are a great way to reach people though, and although she’s not a heavy TV watcher, the channels she watches are comedy, music, and movie channels such as VH1 (257) and Fuse (243), FX (174), Cartoon Network (196) and Comedy Central (223). Magazines types she reads are bridal (208) Vogue (203), and she also likes Cosmopolitan (209) and Seventeen (394). The digital landscape is another great location because Jessica is a heavy internet user (119). She uses the internet to check her e-mail (111), online dating (152), listening to online music (124), download a TV program (135), or sharing photos (124). Websites she browses frequently include Vevo (426), MTV (407), NBA (218), NFL (216), Hulu (204), and Twitter (129). With 122,870,000 women aged 18-24 (based on data from 2014), Altoids has the potential to convert them into Altoids enthusiasts. Jessica could be right around the corner from you. She’s in the Yuma-El Centro area. She’s in the Greenwood-Greenville area as well as the Fresno-Visalia area. She can be found in the Harlingen-Weslaco-Brownsville-McAllen area, and even in Palm Springs.
CREATIVE BRIEF CLIENT: Altoids KEY FACT: Altoids is a brand of breath mints, offering strong, sugar-free mints contained in a tiny metallic box and provides several different flavor choices according to consumers’ preferences. PROBLEM: Altoids has an unclear brand personality & low brand awareness among the younger demographic. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVE: Increase brand awareness to 45% while simultaneously establishing an edgier, more relatable brand personality. TARGET AUDIENCE: Multipotentialites: 18-24 year old females with a HH income of $30,00075,000. She’s gearing up for some big moments in her life, from starting college, to a huge job interview, to that next big date. She’s active in social scenes, the arts, and the digital world.
22
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
CREATIVE STRATEGY: Our target audience is constantly on the move. They don’t want to be held back from their next job interview, big date, or night on the town with friends by bad breath. They need their mint to be strong and reliable - their champion through the biggest moments in life. PROMISE: Altoids provides the exact breath freshening experience needed for any moment life throws at you. SUPPORT: • Altoids offers abundant flavors options to satisfy those consumers who would like to try different ways in freshening breath. • Altoids offers long-lasting and reliable mint freshness to help consumers be prepared for big moments. • Altoids provides classical containers that are convenient to carry, durable to store and can be used in creative ways for fun after finishing those mints inside. TONE: Instead of the same predictable advertising Altoids has done in the past, our new media plan requires a sense of humor and joviality. With a newly defined (and younger) target audience, a primary goal is to connect with the consumers in a relatable, yet interesting, way. In order to catch the attention of millennials, Altoids must think of fresh new approaches to arouse curiosity. TAGLINE: ‘Curiously strong ______’ (moments, encounters, adventures, roadtrips, etc.)* *Various words will be placed in the blank depending on the individual advertisement or social media post. The words will depict experiences, drawing from the overall theme of big, or “curiously strong,” moments.
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
23
MEDIA STRATEGY.
MEDIA RECOMMENDATIONS Our advertisements will work in such a way to move our consumers along their journey to ultimately purchase Altoids. The magazine advertisements will grab the reader’s attention with its vibrant colors and contrast, and act as one of the first points of interaction with Altoids. It is here that she will realize that Altoids is no longer her grandmother’s mint, and increase her awareness of just how strong Altoids are -- both as a mint and as a company. From here, her awareness will further increase as she begins seeing advertisements on TV and hearing them on her daily commute via the radio. After seeing and engaging with the “Curiously Strong” hashtag on all the media outlets that she visits, she will move into the consideration phase. This is when she will visit the Altoids website, which will be easy and painless thanks to our SEO and paid digital media, and explore the various flavors we have to offer. Finally, Jessica will go to the store, and purchase Altoids. She’ll be able to use them at all of her big moments, and complete the journey by offering Altoids to friends and suggesting they buy them, too (earned media). MAGAZINE After conducting an analysis of media usage with MRI quintile data, magazines work well with both Altoids and the target audience of 18-24 year old females. A few magazines with high index scores for our target are as include: Bridal (208), Vogue (203), Cosmopolitan (209), and Seventeen (394). She also feasts her eyes on Teen Vogue (441) and video game related magazines such as Game Informer (256). The individuals reading those magazines, and others, will be experiencing some of the same big moments featured in our ads. Readers could either be pouring over the magazine’s content, as many are invested in the advice and information each magazine contains, or casually flipping through the pages as part of its pass-along audience. Our advertisements’ will feature bold visuals in an effort to jump off the page regardless of the reader’s investment. We will focus primarily on utilizing print mediums that feature youthful topics in an effort to better relate to a younger demographic and introduce them to Altoids’ rejuvenated personality. We will place progressively more ads in the months with higher frequencies. The ads will tell a story of the inevitable “big moments” that people find themselves in - especially ones in which fresh breath (and consequently, Altoids) would be a huge asset. The print ads will feature young women in the middle of a recognizable location. She could be in a bar about to meet a date, a business’ lobby awaiting an interview, at a concert or gaming convention about to meet a star, or at the altar about to say, “I do.” The ads will have bright colors and high contrast in an effort to catch a reader’s eyes, and the locations will be exaggerated versions of themselves. For instance, a bar setting would be crowded and have all the stereotypical aspects of a college bar (i.e. funny signs, strung up lights, grimy floors). The tagline would be “curiously strong ____,” and the blank would be filled in with a word unique to each ad (i.e. dates, interviews, nights).
ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
25
DIGITAL There is no doubt that Altoids consumers are frequent users of the internet kingdom, demonstrated by its top index score in both Quintile I and II. We decided to use internet as part of our brand’s media plan. It is shown that our target audiences visit music video websites, such as Vevo.com (426) or MTV. com (407), the most frequently. We want to utilize display ads on these websites and similar ones as banner ads to increase awareness. The banner ads will mimic the style of our magazine ads, with bold and bright colors with a young female protagonist. The tagline, “Curiously Strong (blank),” will be prominently featured in the display ads. MOBILE Since the video websites we are focusing on have mobile applications as well, we will implement inapp ads in the format of mysterious 3-second video ads when the consumer opens the applications on their phone. The image will coincide with the tagline “Curiously Strong Music” or “Curiously Strong Jam Outs.” PAID SEARCH We will also spend a portion of our budget on search ads to increase website traffic and sales. Google has become the universal search engine and allows consumers to search for specific products and services based on keywords and key phrases. We will bid on keywords and keyphrases similar to “curious” and “curiously strong,” which are related to our new media plan for the Altoids brand, as well as general keywords like “breath fresheners” and “bad breath.” This pairs well with other simple examples, such as “Altoids” and “mint.” SOCIAL MEDIA In social media, we want Altoids to become more involved in reaching out to social networking site users. A great way to do this is to implement a like/share contest on Facebook. Any consumer who likes the Altoids Facebook page and then shares the contest post to their own Facebook will be entered to win a year’s supply of Altoids. The contest will follow the trend of the rest of our campaign with the tagline “Curiously Strong Winnings” or “Curiously Strong Sharing.” Next, Instagram users love to take pictures of big life moments. Our digital networking can use these important moments in users’ lives to show Altoids is there to experience it with them. These shares can be paired with #CuriouslyStrong Selfie, #CuriouslyStrong Moments, or any other relevant word that users choose to insert after the hashtag. Users can also pose for selfies at our promotional events in order to spread the word about Altoids’ new brand direction. Finally, the Twitter world loves to share short, funny videos that go viral. So our marketing team will create Vine-like videos to share on Twitter, in the hopes of going viral. Along with these videos, users can use #CuriouslyStrong Vines or #CuriouslyStrong Viral Videos.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
VIDEO SITES Another vehicle our media plan explores is video publishing sites. A really big website to do this from is YouTube. The average daily time spent on YouTube watching videos has been steadily increasing, making this site a great forum to place commercials for Altoids. Including :15 or :30 second spots before YouTube videos will help increase frequency and reach for our brand. Our commercials will include humor and shock value, maintaining the same voice and style as television and radio, in order to grab YouTube users’ attention and convince them to go out and bring Altoids along to their big moments. Taglines for these commercials include, but are not limited to, “Curiously Strong (Internet) Sensation” and “Curiously Strong Jam Outs” (for commercials placed before music videos). TELEVISION Heavy mint users as a whole are heavy TV users (129), but Altoids consumers are not (85). For this reason, we have chosen to be conservative with our TV spending. Our competitors, however, do spend a large amount of money in cable TV, and Altoids should make a presence on cable in order to remain competitive. Our target market watches comedy, music, and movie channels such as VH1 (257) and Fuse (243), FX (174), and Cartoon Network (196) and Comedy Central (223). They watch television primarily during the daytime daypart (91) and late fringe (91). When these times are further broken down, index scores are even higher. For instance, the target audience frequently watches television on weekdays from 11:00am-12:00pm (111), which is included in daytime viewing. We will also will invest in spot television during the same dayparts, especially in months leading up to our two event promotions - which also coincide with the high frequency months of April and August. The television spots will, again, be story-based, featuring relatable “big moments” in which the essence is “curiously strong.” This is also a great opportunity to communicate Altoids’ refreshed brand personality through quirky humor and bold- and strong-sounding voiceovers to match. The commercials will have the same visual style as other visual ads, such as those in magazines, with bright colors, high contrast, and exaggerated settings. The featured woman will be narrated by the voiceover as she suddenly realized that her breath isn’t up to par with outfit, resume, confidence, and more. The ads will pair well with the selected light-minded television programming. RADIO Altoids users are moderately heavy radio users (98 in Quintile I, 111 in Quintile II). Heavy mint users are also heavy radio users (122). Therefore, we have chosen to invest in radio. After analyzing Simmons data, we found that women aged 18-24 are most likely to listen to the radio during the overnight daypart on weekends (228). It’s possible that the target audience are out late with friends at events or parties, listening to the radio en route to or at their destination. Perhaps they need to be reminded that for “Curiously Strong Nights,” they need a curiously strong mint as their wingman. We will also
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place radio spots during the weekday 7pm-Midnight daypart (168). This is the time when our target audience drives home from work or school or out to their nightly activities. In addition, we will invest in spot radio during the same dayparts, especially in months leading up to our two large event promotions - which coincide with high frequency months. The radio spots will be a subtle reminder that, as a consumer is on their way to a big event or anticipating a big meeting the next day, Altoids can help make “bad breath” one less thing to worry about. The :30 second ads, kept relatively short to maintain the attention of listeners, will feature the same narrator as the television ads in an effort to promote consistency. Radio, like our other chosen media, is an effective platform for storytelling. The ads will follow a young women as the narrator voices her nerves about a big moment, the panic when she suddenly realizes her breath is a little lacking, and the relief - and success - when she pops in an Altoids mint. The ads will continue the theme of quirky humor. EVENTS & PROMOTIONS Our first spot promotion will take place at California State University in Fresno, California. California State currently has over 24,000 students enrolled, which gives Altoids an opportunity to have a high exposure to a young audience as well as have the opportunity to interact with students on campus. The first week of classes begins on August 22, and we plan to host an Ice Cream Social featuring current and retired Altoids flavors into various ice creams and popsicles. This not only serves the purpose of a cold treat in the summer heat, but also a way for our target market to interact with Altoids on a personal level. It also allows students to mingle and meet each other – a big moment that Altoids will be there for. The cost to buy an ice cream truck is roughly $35,000, but renting one would be significantly cheaper at approximately $295 per day. For six days, the cost to rent would be $1,770. We would need to pay for the development and production of frozen treats ($15,000), labor ($1,000), promotions ($30,000), and other overhead costs ($2,000), resulting in a total budget of $49,770. The few drawbacks with this promotion include running out of ice cream, skepticism to try new flavors, and having to comply with government and campus regulations to hand out treats to students. Another lesser drawback to consider would be that students won’t be able to purchase retired flavors. To spread the word about the event the school could add it to their calendar, we would create a Facebook event, and we would partner with the campus radio station to broadcast it for free. Our next promotional event will occur at Coachella Music Festival. Coachella is located 30 minutes outside of Palm Springs, California and situated within one of our five spot markets’ DMAs. With a large and youthful crowd, this is a prime opportunity to increase brand awareness amongst our target audience. Altoids would position their vendor booth at every festival exit that doubled as a campground entrance, giving out free mints each night as people left Coachella.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
Although dates have not been finalized for Coachella 2017, it is likely to fall around the same time as the 2016 festival -- so two weekends in mid-April. The vendor cost for three days at similar festivals (Bonnaroo and Firefly) is roughly $2,000 so we expect six days of Coachella to be double the price at $4,000 (costs could not be found for Coachella vendors and the festival elects to not release information for use in research projects). The free mints, staff labor, and overhead would add to the cost, which is estimated at an additional $160,000 (99,000 people per weekend, a small percentage choose to camp and thus will be exiting by our booth, and a small amount of mints will be given away to each person in tins). This results in a total budget of $164,000. While this sounds like a perfect chance for Altoids to break through ad clutter and generate a positive brand image, there are some drawbacks. Attendees might have low attention rates due to high inebriation levels and the cost for a large amount of free mints could be astronomically high. There is also a small potential for negative brand association amongst Altoids’ older client base. SInce people come from all over the country, we would need to not only focus on our spot market. Altoids would need to be put on Coachella’s vendor list, advertise through a Facebook page which would be liked and shared, and on the Altoids website there would be a blurb saying something along the lines of “Get Coachella Ready.”. Throughout the festival there would be a running hashtag like #CuriouslyStrongMusic or #CuriouslyStrongCoachellaStyle.
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
Net Cable-Daytime $(000) Net Cable-L Fringe $(000) Net Radio-Evening Drive $(000) Net Radio-Nightime $(000) Magazines-Womens $(000) Magazines-General Interest $(000) Digital National - Ad Networks - Run Of Network - Ad Networks - Demo Targeted - Video Networks - Publisher Video Sites - Social - Mobile $(000) Spot TV-Daytime $(000) Spot TV-Late Fringe/News $(000) Spot Cable $(000) Spot Radio-Evening Drive $(000) Spot Radio-Nighttime $(000) Other Spot - Fresno State Ice Cream Truck - Coachella Vendor $(000) National Only Area GRPS $(000) Reach Avg. Freq. Spot Only Area GRPS $(000) Reach Avg. Freq. Spot + National GRPS $(000) Reach Avg. Freq.
Medium 20 63.4 15 136.1 30 113.4 30 66.2 30 237.3 30 501.5
90 291.5
10 1.4 5 0.6
245 1409.3 79 3.1 14 2.1 11.9 1.3 260 1411.4 81 3.2
94 292.1
5 0.7 5 0.6
222 1303.4 76.9 2.9 10 1.3 8.7 1.1 232 1304.7 78.6 3.0
Jun
673 2380.7 93.5 7.2
249 102.2 75.2 3.3
423 2278.6 87.2 4.9
183 565.0 50 27.9 50 40.6 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
25 79.2 25 226.8 50 189.0 50 110.3 45 356.0 45 752.3
Jul
Yangxiao Li Jhih-Syuan Lin Spring 2016
15 47.5 10 90.7 25 94.5 18 39.7 30 237.3 30 501.5
May
Student Professor Semester
FLOWCHART
653 2531 93.4 7.0
229 252.4 72.9 3.2
423 2278.6 87.2 4.9
N/A 164.0
183 565.0 40 22.4 40 32.5 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
25 79.2 25 226.8 50 189.0 50 110.3 45 356.0 45 752.3
Aug
227 1286.7 78.1 2.9
10 1.3 8.7 1.1
217 1285.4 76.4 2.8
5 0.7 5 0.6
94 289.9
10 31.7 10 90.7 25 94.5 18 39.7 30 237.3 30 501.5
Sep
260 1411.4 81 3.2
14 2.1 11.9 1.3
245 1409.3 79 3.1
10 1.4 5 0.6
90 291.5
20 63.4 15 136.1 30 113.4 30 66.2 30 237.3 30 501.5
Oct
Altoids Altoids' media plan
403 2218.7 86.6 4.7 249 102.2 75.2 3.3 653 2320.9 93.4 7.0
249 102.2 75.2 3.3 663 2257.6 93.4 7.1
183 565.0 50 27.9 50 40.6 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
25 79.2 25 226.8 40 151.2 40 88.2 45 356.0 45 752.3
Dec
413 2155.4 86.5 4.8
183 565.0 50 27.9 50 40.6 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
25 79.2 25 226.8 50 189.0 50 110.3 40 316.4 40 668.7
Nov
227 1286.7 78.1 2.9
10 1.3 8.7 1.1
217 1285.4 76.4 2.8
5 0.7 5 0.6
94 289.9
10 31.7 10 90.7 25 94.5 18 39.7 30 237.3 30 501.5
Jan
260 1411.4 81 3.2
14 2.1 11.9 1.3
245 1409.3 79 3.1
10 1.4 5 0.6
90 291.5
20 63.4 15 136.1 30 113.4 30 66.2 30 237.3 30 501.5
Feb
647 2302.7 93.5 6.9
249 102.2 75.2 3.3
397 2200.5 86.8 4.6
157 487.0 50 27.9 50 40.6 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
25 79.2 25 226.8 50 189.0 50 110.3 45 356.0 45 752.3
Mar
673 2544.7 93.5 7.2
249 266.1 75.2 3.3
423 2278.6 87.2 4.9
N/A 164.0
183 565.0 50 27.9 50 40.6 50 20.1 50 7.3 50 6.2
GRPS: Cost:
GRPS: Cost:
GRPS: Cost:
GRPS: COST:
GRPS: COST: GRPS: COST: GRPS: COST: GRPS: COST: GRPS: COST: GRPS: COST:
5430 22449.8
1554 937.4
3875 21512.4
0 328.0
1626 5058.3 290 162.1 290 235.8 300 120.9 345 50.0 330 40.6
Target Demo: All Women ages 18-24 Apr Total Across 25 GRPS: 245 79.2 COST: 776.2 25 GRPS: 225 226.8 COST: 2041.2 50 GRPS: 455 189.0 COST: 1719.9 50 GRPS: 434 110.3 COST: 957.0 45 GRPS: 445 356.0 COST: 3520.4 45 GRPS: 445 752.3 COST: 7439.5
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May June July August September October November December January February March April Total
Goal
78 80 90 90 78 80 90 90 78 80 90 90
Reach Est 78.6 81 93.5 93.4 78.1 81 93.4 93.4 78.1 81 93.5 93.5
YEAR AT A GLANCE Avg Freq Goal Est 2.5 3 3 3.2 6.8 7.2 6.8 7 2.5 2.9 3 3.2 6.8 7.1 6.8 7 2.5 2.9 3 3.2 6.8 6.9 6.8 7.2 195 240 612 612 195 240 612 612 195 240 612 612 4977
Goal
GRPS Est 232 260 673 653 227 260 663 653 227 260 647 673 5430.335277 Balance -37 -20 -61 -41 -32 -20 -51 -41 -32 -20 -35 -61 0
$(000) Goal Est Balance 881.6 1304.7 -423.2 1085 1411.4 -326.4 2766.7 2380.7 386 2766.7 2531 235.7 881.6 1286.7 -405.2 1085 1411.4 -326.4 2766.7 2257.6 509.2 2766.7 2320.9 445.9 881.6 1286.7 -405.2 1085 1411.4 -326.4 2766.7 2302.7 464 2766.7 2544.7 222 22500 22449.82321 50.17679236 National Contingency $(000): 2,000 Spot Contingency $(000): 500
BUDGET BUDGET: $25,000,000 CAMPAIGN PERIOD: May 2016 - April 2017 BUDGET EXCLUDING CONTINGENCY: $22,500,000
MAGAZINE: $10,959,900, 43.84% WOMEN’S CATEGORY: $3,520,400 GENERAL INTEREST: $7,439,500 DIGITAL: $5,058,300, 20.23%
SEASONALITY: $22,449,800, 100% 1st Quarter: $5,096,800 22.70% 2nd Quarter: $5,229,100, 23.29% 3rd Quarter: $5,865,200, 26.13% 4th Quarter: $6,258,800, 27.89%
NATIONAL TELEVISION: $2,817,400, 11.27% DAYTIME: $776,200 LATE FRINGE: $2,041,200 SPOT TELEVISION: $518,800, 2.08% DAYTIME: $162,100 LATE FRINGE: $235,800 SPOT CABLE: $120,900 NATIONAL RADIO: $2,676,900, 10.71% EVENING DRIVE: $1,719,900 NIGHTTIME: $957 SPOT RADIO: $90,600, 0.36% EVENING DRIVE: $50,000 NIGHTTIME: $40,600 EVENTS & PROMOTIONS: $328,000, 1.32% TOTAL SPENT EXCLUDING CONTINGENCY: $22,449,800 CONTINGENCY: 10% NATIONAL: $2,000,000, 8% SPOT: $500,000, 2% TOTAL SPENT INCLUDING CONTINGENCY: $24,949,800
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ALTOIDS MEDIA PLAN
EVALUATION.
Females are already more likely to be mint users, and 18-24 year olds are 10% more likely to be heavy mint users i.e. bought 3+ packages within the past 7 days. We were aiming to steal consumers from our competitors: Ice Breakers, Mentos, and Tic Tac. We were also hoping to convert non-mint users into Altoids consumers. Big life moments are occurring for her, and she needs to feel like Altoids can back her up whether she’s meeting her new college roommate, finding love on campus, interviewing for jobs, or just having non-stop fun at an event like Coachella. With a budget of $25 million, we turned our focus towards digital, magazines, radio, and some TV. Historically, Altoids spending has been in print ads, and we will continue to put funds in magazine and radio. However, a whopping 20% of our total budget is devoted to digital. It’s time to move beyond the traditional formula. We know millennials, our target audience, spend a large portions of their days connected. So we need to be there too. TV is interesting because heavy mint users are also heavy TV users. However, Altoids’ consumers, our competitor’s consumers, and our target audience are less likely to be heavy TV users. We want our voice to be heard in the TV arena; however, Ice Breakers dominates here. We have to face the music. Altoids won’t be a leader in cable television, but it can certainly be some noise. We’re aiming to increase our brand awareness by 10% through a pulsing schedule. Our yearlong campaign begins in May. From May through August, our spending will steadily increase. In August we’ll implement our ice cream truck promotional event at California State University, Fresno. September spending will drop back down. However, it’ll steadily increase through December, which is already a high sales month for mints. January is lower spending month, but again it build up through April. Our other promotional event will happen in April during the Coachella festival where we’ll be a vendor. We believed these promotional activities and our tagline would generate more consumer engagement, and we did exceed our goals. To further evaluate our campaign’s performance we can look at how many online and pointof-sale kiosk purchases were made (conversion rates) and calculate our ROI after each pulsing fourth month period. It would be beneficial to look into mobile traffic, specifically paying close attention to the number of lead conversions from mobile devices, bounce rates from mobile devices, conversion rates from mobile optimized landing pages, and popular mobile devices used. Our idea of the “Curiously Strong ______” hashtag that the consumer can fill in the blank
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with their personal story, like #CuriouslyStrong Adventures, could be posted on multiple social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. With this, we will be better able to assess the number of lead and customer conversions generated via each social media channel and the percentage of traffic associated with social media channels. We accomplished our reach and frequency goals through our media buying in the categories of print magazines, digital, cable television, radio, and events, as seen through our flowchart. The months of May, September, and January achieve at least 75% reach and 2.0 frequency. The months of June, October, and February achieve at least 75% reach and 3.0 frequency. The months of July, August, November, December, March, and April achieve at least 75% reach and 4.0 frequency. In each month, we surpassed both reach and frequency goals.
REFERENCES • “Advance Sale Info.” Coachella. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Altoids Ads.” Altoids Ads. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. • Brown, August. “Coachella by the Numbers.” Los Angeles Times. N.p., 6 Apr. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Chapter XVI. Age and Sex Composition of the Family.” Family Growth in Metropolitan America (n.d.): n. pag. United States Census Bureau, May 2011. Web. 4 Apr. 2016. • “Enrollment.” Fresno State. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Fall 2015 Semester Calendar.” Fresno State. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • Goldschmidt, Debra. “Smoking Rate Continue to Decline among U.S. Adults.” CNN. Cable News Network, 19 Nov. 2015. Web. 01 May 2016. • Gum, Mint and Breath Fresheners Market: Global Industry Analysis and Forecast to 2020. Rep. Persistence, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016.
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• “Gum, Mints and Breath Fresheners - US - September 2015.” Gum, Mints and Breath Fresheners. Mintel, Sept. 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2016. • “Ice Breakers | Mints Products and Nutrition.” Hersheys.com. Ice Breakers, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • “Ice Breakers | The History of Ice Breakers.” Hersheys.com. Ice Breakers, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • “Ice Breakers (candy).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 6 July 2015. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • “Mentos.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2016. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. • “Mentos Products.” Mentos. N.p., 2016. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • Perrin, Andrew. “Social Media Usage: 2005-2015.” Pew Internet. Pew Research Center, 08 Oct. 2015. Web. 01 May 2016. • Postaer, Steffan. “Sweet but Also Strange. My Reaction to Resurrection of Classic Altoids Campaign.” Weblog post. Gods of Advertising. N.p., 7 May 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016. • Pratt, Christopher. “Brief History of the Mint.” Street Directory. Street Directory and Food Editorials, 2016. Web. 25 Apr. 2016. • “Products.” Tic Tac. Ferrero, 2013. Web. 3 Apr. 2016. • Roberts, William A., Jr. “Market Trends Category Analysis: An Air of Fresh Breath.” Prepared Foods RSS. EPublishing, 23 Nov. 2003. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • “Sales of the Leading 5 Breath Freshener Brands of the United States in 2015.” Statista. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • Schwartz, Ariel. “Why Nobody Likes To Chew Gum Anymore.” Co.Exist. Fast Company & Inc., 28 July 2014. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • Schwertly, Scott. “The History of Breath Mints.” Ethos3 A Presentation Design Agency The History of Breath Mints Comments. Ethos3, 06 June 2014. Web. 26 Apr. 2016. • Specialty Truck Rentals. N.p., 06 Nov. 2013. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Teen Smoking Drops to 7%.” Truth Initiative. Truth Initiative, 16 Dec. 2015. Web. 01 May 2016. • “The 10 Marketing KPIs You Should Be Tracking.” The 10 Marketing KPIs You Should Be Tracking. N.p., 2016. Web. 30 Apr. 2016. • “Tic Tac.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Apr. 2016. Web. 03 Apr. 2016. • “Vending.” Firefly Music Festival. N.p., 15 Dec. 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Vendors.” Bonnaroo Music Festival. N.p., 2015. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. • “Wrigley’s / Altoids: Central Park.” Ads of the World. N.p., 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2016.
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