Media Plan/ Creative Strategy

April 17

2008Jenny Block, Oscar Martinez, Lauren Zielinski, Liz Mehr Advertising 483 Final

Project

MEDIA STRATEGY

Objectives

We feel that in order to successful reach our target audience; we will implement a media campaign, launched specifically in Southern states, that reaches African-American, low-income, family women. Through our integrated use of both traditional and non-traditional media sources, we plan on effectively reaching our audience with the incorporation of television, magazines, radio, and newspapers. We believe that these media will allow for a successful campaign towards gaining the attention of low-income, African-Americans in Beneful. We hope to also exhibit how consumers can have healthy choices even with lower prices.

Emphasis/budget

We have decided to concentrate more of our media strategy on the use of traditional media such as television, radio, magazines, and newspapers. We have chosen to place a strong emphasis on the use of television advertisements because according to research, “African-Americans watch 40 percent more TV than the general market,” (Miller & Kemp 63). Our second focus will be on the use of radio advertisements due to the “95.1 percent of African Americans aged 12 and older,” (Miller & Kemp 60) that it reaches. Our third largest media investment will come in the form of print media, specifically magazines and newspapers which are “a major trusted source of information” (Miller & Kemp 64) by the African American population.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA: 70%

Traditional Media Expenditures

40%

30%

25%

5%

Television

Radio

Magazines

Newspapers

Television: 40%

TBS BET ABC UPN HBO FOX

As explained above, research has shown that African Americans watch much more television than the general market. At a rate, of 75.8 hours per week, television makes up much of the leisure time of African Americans Specifically, African American women watch almost 8 hours more of television per week than the general market of women (Miller & Kemp 64). Research has also proven that African Americans find cable television to be a good investment and therefore spend almost $3 billion in total. African Americans subscribe to cable at a rate of 78 percent, making the medium a highly desired market for advertising. Due to these statistics, we feel that the medium of television is an extremely valuable market towards African American, low-income family women, aged 24 to 49. The ads will be issued across several cable networks, with an emphasis on UPN and TBS, from 7 PM to Midnight, which typically show black-orientated shows, such as Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, My Wife and Kids, and Girlfriends.

Radio: 30%

Urban Contemporary Rhythmic/Contemporary Hit Radio Urban Adult Contemporary Religious

Radio is one of the ways to reach the African American public due to its place as the top medium for the market segment. Not only is radio a venue for music, it is a place where black citizens can voice their opinions in a relevant way. Urban radio formats, targeted at specifically African-Americans, reach more Black adults than any other format and rank extremely high in all major metropolitan areas (Miller & Kemp 61). Blacks see urban radio as part of their culture, each message that comes across it has been specifically targeted towards them, something that they find in other media. We have chosen to broadcast our advertisements during peak listening hours, during both morning and evening commutes (7-9 AM and 4:45-7:00 PM). We feel that during these times, our target audience, working-class female, will be most likely to be tuning in.

Magazines: 25%

Essence Black Enterprise Ebony Today’s Black Women

“Credibility is given to Black media since they are from ‘our perspective’ with information being trusted in magazines by 87 percent,” (Miller & Kemp 65). At a rate of 82.3 percent of African Americans looking to magazines for product information, magazines have become a lucrative media source for advertisers. Black magazines have become a major source of information that many African Americans look to when deciding on consumer behaviors. By placing ads in the above magazines, we hope to reach our target female consumer and help to position Beneful as the trusted dog food choice.

Newspapers: 5%

Atlanta Examiner Atlanta Daily World Atlanta Journal-Constitution Georgia Chronicle

An overwhelmingly seventy percent of Blacks read newspapers and spend more time reading newspaper ads than do white consumers. African Americans look to newspapers as their source of credible information of where to take their business. At a rate of 77.5 percent, they look to newspapers as sources of product information (Miller & Kemp 64). With this in mind, we have decided to launch newspaper ads in the top four newspapers of Georgia. In doing this, we hope to target our audience as they read the newspaper during their coffee break or while they are waiting for their children to get home from school. By including Beneful advertisements in one of the most trusted mediums of blacks, we hope to gain the attention and respect of low-income, family women.

NON TRADITIONAL MEDIA: 30%

Sponsorship: 50% Oprah Winfrey Global Pet Expo Dog Parks

Our agency wants to approach the African-American market using the majority of non-traditional media expenditures on celebrity sponsorship. Pepper Miller and Her Kemp state that the African-American community seeks to look “normal” and free of stereotypes1. Capitalizing on this insight, Oprah Winfrey was chosen as the perfect candidate to promote Beneful. For one, Winfrey is a well known and respected affluent African-American business woman and can more properly depict the community then say, a sports player or rapper. Caring and raising dogs

are a part of Winfrey’s persona, in fact, her pets often catch articles in magazines and such, including her extensive collection. The Global Pet Expo is an international collaboration of pet owners and is the second major expense in sponsorship. Banners, Frisbees with Beneful labels, and promotional labeling will adorn the entire event. Since it is international, brand awareness can expand and generate new brand preferences. Associating with the Expo could also increase the credibility of the product, injecting some prestige to Beneful.Finally, opening and supporting current Dog Parks will be the final step in sponsorship. The park would be named similarly to U.S. Cellular field but to a dog park, for example, Beneful Park. Dog Walkathons organized for the grand opening or honoring of a park will be a part of the festivity. Owners will be able to complete walkathons with their dogs to support the event and receive promotional prizes.

Outdoor: 35% Billboards Bus Benches Side Bus Advertising Taxi Advertising Dog Park signs

The female women that we are targeting would spend much of their time outside. From driving short distances for groceries, up to driving to and from work, and “soccer mom” duties, our target market spends time on the road. This makes outdoor reminders an essential element to our non-traditional marketing plan. Highway placements of these ads are key and can tap into the market quickly and efficiently, eventually serving as a reminder for those who frequent certain routes.The African-American consumer responds well from ads placed on the transit, according to Miller and Kemp2, and hence plays an important role in our campaign. Bus benches, highway billboards, taxi-cab, and buses displaying the Beneful name will generate resonance and new frequency in our product to our target market. The routes chosen and the regional sections that the target primarily frequent will be the focus on the ad placements.

Other: 15% Store Aisle Monitors Shopping Cart Labels Word of Mouth

In store promotional efforts can increase the frequency of buys and revenue. Placing ad spots within the store can stimulate changes at the “point of purchase” or offer an option to a deciding consumer. The lanes to pay for your groceries will thus display the Beneful product to consumers and works to provide the target with a relevant and convenient offer to a prospective buyer. The image will display the product to them in a natural and easy state that will catch the eye of the consumer, stimulating them for the at point purchase. The same applies for shopping carts posting the Beneful name at the front and seat of it.Word of mouth is always a tough factor to fight against, considering that people trust their own friends first over that of someone who is paid to tell you the product is good and is important to the extension of the brand name over periods of time. This will also gain credibility to our

product amongst family members and hopefully spread outward through email, combine with our sponsorships and celebrity figure Oprah to snowball into a giant.

Scheduling

Due to the nature of our target market, the need for a pulsing schedule strategy is needed. Beneful is a product that is needed throughout the year and must be reminded of. However, there are major months where the intensity of individual events and expenditures will be increased. Black History Month will experience the first “pulse”. The majority of the events will occur when the consumer comes out the most and is constantly reminded of their pet, also, pets are often most bought during this time. The time corresponds with the start of spring and the duration of summer. This is when the largest portion of expenditures and events will occur. Finally during the fall/winter time, there will be one last “pulse” to remind the market about the product. According to Miller and Kemp3, the African-American market runs on “Kairos Time” and thus makes targeting in spasms and during peak time for purchasing dog food.

Jan Feb Mar April May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec0

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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

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10

Ad Intensity10 = High1 = Low

Month

BENEFUL’S ADVERTISING

Current

Beneful’s most recent advertising has stressed their new product, Beneful Prepared Meals which is a wet dog food that is more like human food because it has mainly meat and vegetables and is sold in “tupper-ware” style containers. These television commercials showcase the healthy vegetables that are found in the Prepared Meals and the fact that dogs love it because it comes in many delicious flavors. The advertisements tend to show a younger man talking to his dog. The owner thinks that his dog will be confused that it is eating dog food because it has never had food as good as Beneful before.

All of Beneful’s ads stress their current slogan, “Healthful, Flavorful, Beneful.” They utilize a playful theme to show that dogs that eat Beneful are spoiled and happy. A majority of the advertisements are very basic and contain vibrant images of corn, carrots, peas, grains, and chunks of red beef to remind the consumer that Beneful contains “real, wholesome ingredients (http://www.mairikirk.com/Dogsrule.html).

Although Beneful current has a commercial for their Original line of dry dog food, their overall advertising does not tend to focus on it, as it did in the past.

Previous

In the past, Beneful advertisements were featured on television commercials, just as they currently are. Older commercials were more focused on selling Beneful Original dog food because many of the specialized dog foods were not created. Beneful’s strategy in the past was to feature a man and his dog interacting together. These ads also stressed the healthy benefits of consuming Beneful. Like the current advertisements, many of them were shot in a happy, home

setting. For the past few years, Beneful’s advertisements have remained relatively similar, mainly advertising to young, single males.

An older magazine ad for Beneful from 2001 also stressed the health qualities of Beneful but only referred to its owner, without actually showing it. It took more of a humorous approach as to why consumers should buy Beneful for their dog (http://www.mairikirk.com/Dogsrule.html).

BENEFUL VS COMPETITORS’ ADVERTISING

Beneful

Advertising Expenditure: $20 million in US in 2003 (www.allbusiness.com)Purina’s Ad Expenditure: $130 million in 2003

Agency: Publicis Groupe's Fallon in Minneapolis

Since Beneful’s advertising budget has been relatively low, their commercials are basic and tend to mainly stress the health ingredients. They feature advertisements in traditional media such as television, radio, magazine, billboard, and internet. Purina also sponsors various dog shows, such as the National Dog Show, and associations throughout the year to help save the lives of dogs or find homes for abandoned dogs (www.purina.com).

Pedigree

Advertising Expenditure: $60 million in US in 2003Agency: Omnicom Group's TBWA Worldwide, Saatchi & Saatchi

Pedigree utilizes many non-traditional forms of advertising to sell their dog food or just build brand awareness. They have recently been tugging at the hearts of consumers with their Adoption Drive campaign. With the slogan, “when you buy Pedigree, you help us help dogs find

homes,” consumers are persuaded to purchase Pedigree because it makes them feel like they are doing the right thing (www.pedigree.com).

Pedigree has also advertised their dog food on Friend’s Day by using the image of a dog’s head with the consumer’s local newspaper placed in its mouth. This reinforced the idea that a dog is a man’s best friend. This campaign alone reached over 250,000 homes (http://www.mairikirk.com/Dogsrule.html).

Pedigree also sponsors the Westminster Dog Show for additional publicity and has advertised directly to dogs in the past. Pedigree placed “aroma stickers” with the “essence of Pedigree dog food” outside many grocery stores or pet supply stores to lure in the curious dog, who would then lead the owner in to the store to purchase Pedigree.

Eukanuba

Agency: Weiden & Kennedy

Eukanuba is well known for their sponsorship of the AKC/Eukanuba National Dog Show, among many others. Eukanuba utilizes online and viral marketing as well as many forms of traditional media (www.underwired.com). A recent Eukanuba campaign featured various animals, such as a turtle, parrot, or cat, in a typical dog scenario with the tagline “everybody wants to be a dog” (www.adverbox.com). A cat swam in water with a stick in its mouth and a turtle held its leash in its mouth while scratching at the door. These ads were unique because they did not specifically advertise Eukanuba dog food, but instead highlighted stereotypical dog traits that many consumers could relate to and understand.

IMAGES FROM BENEFUL.COM

CREATIVE STRATEGY

Who is our target audience?

African American women, ages 25-49, dual income household, middle class neighborhood,

married with children, South

Where are we in the eyes of the consumer?

Dry and wet dog food with healthful ingredients.

Where are our competitors in the eyes of the consumer?

Very similar: dry and wet dog food with healthful ingredients, more recognizable brand names.

Where would we like to be in the eyes of the consumer?

Recognizable, trustworthy dog food brand that is healthy for his or her dog

What is the consumer promise, the “big idea”?

Affordable, healthy dog food to help keep dogs at a healthy weight

What is the supporting evidence?

Emphasis of organic ingredients, provided exercise tips

What is the tone of this ad?

Inviting, bright, pleasant, playful

CREATIVE CONCEPTS

TV

Sarah, a married African American women living in a middle class neighborhood of Georgia, owns a yellow lab named Louie. Sarah has two boys, John and Carl. She has a hectic schedule, balancing work, chores around the house, and the boys’ various activities. On top of her nonstop priorities, she is the one that takes care of Louie.

Taking care of Louie could be a full time job in itself. Disciplining him, feeding him, and helping him maintain a healthy weight with diet and exercise are only the beginning of helping Louie live a happy life. Because she doesn’t have the time to exercise Louie every day, she’s relieved to know that the organic, healthy ingredients included in his food, Beneful, are helping him stay healthy and active. Not only is his food very good for him, but it is also affordable, which lets her feed Louie well without breaking the bank.

In the commercial, the viewers are quickly thrown around a day in the life of Sarah. There is a fast overview of driving the kids to school, working in the office, and visiting with her girlfriends. An uplifting, pleasant melody is used as background music throughout the spot. Although it is busy and hectic, it is enjoyable and fun. Last, the viewers see Sarah playing in the backyard with Louie and her two boys. Sarah and the boys are laughing as Louie is running around the yard with them, and then shown walking Louie on a leash around the neighborhood. While the different scenes of Sarah’s day are being shown, she is narrating in the background, saying “Don’t get me wrong, I love my crazy life. Taking care of my family and myself is so important to me. It’s a challenge to stay on top of everyone’s wants and needs, especially the king of the household, Louie.”

Next, Sarah is seen pouring Louie some Beneful dried dog food in his food bowl. In slow motion, the view zooms into the food and eventually freezes, revealing the enriching nutrients and organic ingredients found in the dog food. During this time, Sarah continues the narration, saying “Since I don’t always have time to help Louie stay at a healthy weight, I’m so glad that Beneful does. With its delicious, organic ingredients, Beneful naturally maintains Louie’s weight without cleaning out my wallet.”

The commercial ends with a scene of Sarah’s entire family, including her two boys and her husband, happily sitting on the couch with Louie in between everyone. While everyone is petting Louie, Sarah says to the camera “There’s always time for the things that matter most!”While the Beneful logo is shown on the bottom half of the screen.

In addition to the main TV spot, there will be a series of mini commercials in between programs that we sponsor. Each commercial will provide a short tip for dog owners to keep their dogs healthy. There will be an actor and a dog in each ad. Within each ad, the actor will be shown feeding the dog Beneful. During the commercial, an announcer will explain the tip and lastly recommend feeding your dog Beneful. At the end of each commercial, the announcer will say “brought to you by Beneful”.

Print

The print campaign’s main focus is Beneful’s natural ingredients, helping maintain healthy dogs. The theme of the print ads is to show how natural the ingredients are.

One ad will show bags of Beneful growing from a tomato vine in the backyard of a house. To the right side of the ad, there is a yellow lab attempting to pull one of the bags off the vine. The copy reads “As natural as you can get”.

Radio

The radio spot will use the same script as the TV ad. The same music will play in the background, with the addition of a couple barks from one dog in order to represent Louie, the featured dog in the advertisements. In addition, the narrator will encourage the listener to purchase Beneful at his or her local grocery store or pet store at the end of the spot.

In-Store/Outdoor

The placement of a simple, Beneful print ad would be placed in the shopping carts of grocery stores. The ad will be a large image of the Beneful logo, along with a brief explanation of the natural ingredients. In a large font, the text will read “Find Beneful in the dog food section”.

Another place we will advertise inside the grocery stores is on the small TV screens in the check out aisles. The ad will be very short, only showing a few seconds of the TV spot previously described. At the end, an announcer will tell the viewer to find it in the dog food section of his or her grocery store.

In addition, the Beneful logo will be placed on disposable “doggie” bags in dog parks that we manufacture and provide to people walking their dogs in the park. The bags will be offered in the park for a person to use in order to clean up his or her dog’s waste.

CREATIVE RATIONALE

TV

The focus in the TV ad is to display the normality of a busy schedule of a working mother. The goal was to relate to the lifestyle of our target audience: African American women in a dual income family living in a middle class neighborhood. Although we are directly targeting our primary audience, we are also reaching beyond African American women. We are making a connection with all mothers that lead a hectic lifestyle and are in charge of many tasks around the house.

The commercial is meant to not only portray the busy lifestyle of a working mother as challenging yet enjoyable and rewarding, but also feature Beneful as taking action in taking care of your dog’s health. The commercial suggests that it is ok to not exactly be Superwoman, but at least have the comfort in knowing you are taking care of the ones you love anyways.

Print

The use of the print ad is to emphasize and exemplify the natural, healthful ingredients found in Beneful. By playing with the image of the bag of Beneful dog food growing from the vine, the viewer automatically associates Beneful with healthy, organic ingredients. The ad is also an opportunity to display the variety of flavors of Beneful, with an image of each flavor hangingfrom a vine.

Radio

The radio spot is a reminder of the TV spot. It is meant to further improve brand awareness to our viewers, while also reaching out to others who may not have seen the TV spot. The rationale of the radio spot is very similar to the TV spot.

In-Store/Outdoor

The purpose of in-store and outdoor advertising is to further expand Beneful brand awareness. By placing advertisements inside the stores, shoppers will be reminded of Beneful at the time of purchase. The brief, short ads are meant to simply bring awareness to Beneful in the store he or she is shopping in at that moment.

By advertising on plastic bags provided in dog parks, we can directly reach dog owners while they are engaging with their dogs. The use of only the Beneful logo is meant to bring further awareness of the brand in the minds of the consumers, hopefully increasing their recognition of Beneful.