EXECUTIVE SUMMARYNew Amsterdam Vodka is known for its extensive distillation from the finest grains filtered three times. With distillation comes smoothness for the perfect cocktail. New Amsterdam Spirits is the fastest brand within the category to sell more than one million cases in its first twelve months in the market. Since its launch, New Amsterdam Vodka has gained acclaim among industry professionals and consumers alike, enabling the brand to grow at a rapid pace (“New Amsterdam Vodka Proves to be ‘One in a Million’ by Reaching Coveted Milestone Faster than Any Spirits Brand in History,” 2012).
While our proposal takes a different direction than the current New Amsterdam advertising efforts, we have found that there is an untapped audience that will prove to be lucrative, given the selection of our advice. If chosen, New Amsterdam will be seen as a brand that encourages users to take charge of their social lives and experience the best possible nightlife possible. This campaign falls within the suggested budget of $4.5 million and will produce over 450 million impressions across the United States and online.
While the current market for vodka is slowing its growth, our recommendations seek to take advertising efforts in a completely different direction, which we believe will create an increase in forecasted vodka sales. Others may suggest taking the advertising efforts in another direction, but we believe that this is the best path to follow. We believe in innovation through breaking industry standards and thinking outside of the box. This recommended campaign mirrors our beliefs and is supported by sound research, monitoring the current market and forming sound insights about our target audience.
We believe in being efficient to earn the best return on investment that we can because we know that, often, money is a huge factor in the decision-making process. Our priorities are to get New Amsterdam Vodka as much valuable exposure, promote business objectives and stimulate new product trials and repeat purchases, both from the industry and consumers.
Our proposed trade campaign aims to reach as many industry professionals as possible through trade magazines, trade shows, and motivate sales representatives through incentive programs. On-premise trials in bars, taverns, clubs, etc. will generate off-premise purchase decisions. Getting as many people on board with this advertising will stimulate the market for New Amsterdam and increase consumers.
Our proposed consumer campaign will target independent women between the ages of 21 and 34 through a variety of traditional and nontraditional mediums. Our message to these women is that, with our product, their night, party, etc. will go as smoothly as New Amsterdam Vodka. Our campaign will illustrate the empowered woman that is our target audience, encouraging them to “Own The Night” and express themselves as the inspired liberated women that they are.
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SITUATION ANALYSISThe Market
Relevant Market (SIC and NAICS) CodesThe Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code for New Amsterdam Vodka is “2085”. This number means it is in the distilled and blended liquor category. The “20” means food and kindred products, while “208” is the industry group for beverages. The NAICS number for vodka is 312140.
Market Size and Growth TrendsAccording to Mintel distilled spirits slow growth continues, with both white and dark, in which posted a gain of estimated 2.7% in 2015, which reaches $55.4 billion in dollar sales. Vodka growth is remains low but is still positive. Out of all the white spirits Tequila sees the highest growth through 2020, while gin and rum will continue to struggle. (Mintel, White Spirits. “Market Size and Forecast.” US. 2015)
The top brands in vodka such as Smirnoff and Absolut decreased in sales in 2014, while Tito`s and New Amsterdam increased double digits in sales. Also tequila will have the strongest growth through 2020. (Mintel, White Spirits. “Market Size and Forecast.” US. 2015) Market ForecastMintel states that vodka will continues to be the biggest segment in the white spirits category. While vodka is only making small positive movements, they will still continue to be the highest sales. While rum and tequila are seeing the strongest growth through 2020. According to Mintel, 2015 through 2020 the best case scenario is $69 billion dollars in sales, while the worst case scenario is $57 billion dollars. (Mintel, White Spirits. Market Size and Forecast. US. 2015) Market Make-UpThere is a wide variety that makes up the white spirits category. The top selling segment is vodka, which has a market share of 59.3%, followed by tequila, rum and gin. Mintel research states that Vodka growth is small but still positive, while tequila sees the strongest growth. Dark spirits are also on the rise, such as whiskey, dark rum, scotch, due the sophistication while drinking dark spirits. (Mintel, White Spirits. The Market, What You Need to Know. US, 2015)
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DistributionAs we searched in detail about regions, which was gathered through Simmons Market Research Bureau software of how many people drink vodka, it shows that the top vodka consuming region is the Northeast with an index of 120, and a vertical percentage of 40.4%. The other regions, Midwest is an index of 103 and a percentage of 20.3%, South with an index of 87 and a percentage of 20.9%, West with a low index number of 83 and a percentage of 18.5%. (Simmons) Significant Trends
Cocktail MixologyAccording to Mintel, a popular trend is being able to mix your alcohol to your liking. Whether you use the product in soda, juice, liquor, and etc., it all mixes well with vodka. Mintel states that vodka is considered the most versatile spirit for mixing. (Mintel, White Spirits. Executive Summary. US. 2015)
Ingredients and Nutritional LabelsWhite spirits are not consumed for health reasons. As we continued our research through Mintel it states that a fast growing trend is, as consumers are buying white spirits they are looking over the ingredients and nutritional labels. Consumers are looking for provenance, manufacturing process, and safety. Consumers are more interested in all-natural, all-grain spirits. All grain vodka has a smoother taste, in which all-natural and organic products will continue to grow. (Mintel, White Spirits. Executive Summary. US. 2015)
Competitive Position
Product QualityThe overall consumer perception is that New Amsterdam Vodka is a good quality vodka for the low price of about $10-$15 for a 750mL bottle. This quality has a lot to do with the vodka’s ingredients and production. New Amsterdam is a grain-based vodka that is distilled 5 times. Grain-based vodkas do not normally need extensive distillation because fewer impurities are produced during the fermentation process compared to vegetable-based vodkas. New Amsterdam is not only grain-based, but it is extensively distilled, as well. The combination of these two aspects leads to the smooth, fruity and pure spirit that is New Amsterdam Vodka. PricingNew Amsterdam Vodka is classified as a value, or budget-bottle. A 750mL bottle of New Amsterdam Vodka ranges from $10-$15, depending on the retailer and state. When compared to seven top competitors (all 40% ABV), New Amsterdam is the second cheapest after Smirnoff. The most expensive vodkas taken into consideration are Belvedere ($34), Ciroc ($30) and Grey Goose ($30).
FlavorsFlavored vodka has taken over the industry, with some brands reaching up to 32 different flavors. While variety is typically a good thing for products, “the majority of core white spirits consumers say there are too many flavored white spirits on the market” (Mintel, White Spirits, Attitudes toward Flavor Innovation and Health, US, October 2015). With 7 flavors, New Amsterdam has given consumers options but not an overwhelming amount.
Market ShareWhen compared to six of the leading vodka brands in the United States, New Amsterdam Vodka makes up about 8% of sales in 2015.
(Statista, Sales of the leading 10 vodka brands in the U.S., 2015).
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Social Media PresenceWhile New Amsterdam does have a social media presence, it is not nearly as large as it’s competitors. In fact, New Amsterdam has less Twitter followers, Facebook likes, Instagram followers, Instagram hashtag mentions and Instagram posts than any of its competitors. Although this is quite the downfall for New Amsterdam, their lack of social media presence creates a huge opportunity for future advertising efforts.
Brand Twitter Following
Facebook Likes
Instagram Posts with
#brand
Instagram Following
# of Instagram Posts
Absolut 21.5K 5,854,539 97,999 35.6K 560
Ciroc 65.3K 1,739,216 1,163,550 199K 1,468
SKYY 43.8K 3,227,909 34,712 12.5K 553
Belvedere 17.9K 1,624,963 26,587 73.3K 1,228
Svedka 8,042 1,707,142 64,569 6,512 884
Smirnoff 9,199 11,585,274 713,904 30.8K 400
Grey Goose 77.4K 1,824,641 661,235 85.3K 812
New Amsterdam 2,815 442,024 4,254 1,343 224
Why is Ciroc so popular to post about?
“CIROC BOYZ”
After investigating Ciroc as a brand, we came across information that lead us to believe it may not be Ciroc itself, but an exclusive group they formed from strategically picking certain entertainers that appealed to their target audience in a big way. Sean “Diddy” Combs and PMI Marketing and Promotions got together to promote the brand new vodka line, Ciroc. Their target audience for Ciroc was men who fit the urban consumer lifestyle. They noticed that not only do artists and singers have an influence on the urban consumer, but the DJ has an even bigger influence on these men. Combs and PMI hand picked relevant and popular DJ’s, including DJ S
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& S, DJ Self, DJ Khaled, and many more, whose success has morphed beyond just their music DJ-ing, and were then labeled as the “Ciroc Boyz.”
Within the first 8-month period of the brand they saw triple digit sales growth with an overall 100% sales increase. DJ’s are the ones that understand music the most and are the playmakers of wild Saturday nights at the hottest clubs, so ultimately, men started identifying as “Ciroc Boyz” as well.
This promotion on social media led Ciroc to take over Instagram posts and dominate the hash-tagging world. Ciroc currently leads all other competing vodkas brands with 1,163,550 and counting hashtags while the rest of their competitors barely reach the early 1,000’s. The 1,163,550 #Ciroc posts does not include the 128,684 #cirocboyz posts. This group is still relevant and remains successful in 2015.
The Consumer
Size of the Consumer MarketThe liquor and spirits consumer market is such a booming industry, and is a product that has never and will never die because alcohol is something that is universal in every state. According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in 2013, around 86.8% of people living in the United States say they have drank some sort of alcohol in their lifetime. Around 56.4% say they have drank within the past month. There has been an increase in dark spirits (rum, whiskey, etc.), and according to Mintel 57% of liquor drinkers prefer dark spirits over white (clear) spirits because of the way it tastes. Clear liquors are expected to grow about 1% each year from now until the year 2020, leaving a small but attainable room for growth for products like New Amsterdam Vodka. According to Mintel, respondents aged 22 and older prefer mid-range pricing clear liquor as opposed to value, premium, and super-premium pricing. Based on research from Mintel, the acculturated Hispanics are interested in white spirits flavor innovation. Frequency of purchase, usage rates, repurchase cycle, trialThe top factors for vodka purchases are familiar brands and the price. Unflavored vodka is preferred over flavored vodka by every age, gender, etc., mainly because people mix vodka with other drinks. Vodka is not a typically something that people drink straight, so they prefer unflavored so it mixes well with other beverages. Overall, men consume flavored and unflavored vodka more than women. Consumers are willing to try new flavors, but under certain circumstances. According to Mintel, younger consumers love trying new spirits and flavors. They value recommendations from family, friends, bartenders, and waiters/waitresses. This generation is really into music events sponsored by spirit suppliers. The older generations like baby boomers are very set in their ways. They are not particularly open to trying new products because they are extremely brand loyal. Definition of market by socioeconomic groups and socio-psychological characteristicsBased on Simmons Choices III, the highest consumer of vodka in general are the age range from 30 to 34. The majority of our age demographic have three people living in their household or less. This is based on lifestyles like roommates in college, young couples married and not married, or couples with one child in the household or less. According to Mintel, almost half of 21-to-24-year-old consumers say that they drink solely to get drunk. The majority of this target demographic earn on average $25,000 annually and see getting drunk as an affordable indulgence. Based on the figure below obtained from Mintel research, consumers who make an income of less than $25,000 value low price and a familiar brand the most. Higher levels of
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income like $50,000-$99,900 value quality of ingredients and sales promotions the most. A very interesting piece from this research was that only 9% of consumers who make between $25,000-$49,900 care if the spirit is a familiar brand. “Which of the following attributes are very important to you when deciding which
brand of liquor/distilled spirit to buy?”All
Income (%)
< 25K $25-49.9K
$50-74.9K
$75-99.9K
$100-149.9K
$150K +
A brand I have always drunk
36 36 9 20 20 20 17
Quality of ingredients
30 22 33 35 35 28 24
Low price 23 30 29 23 17 16 20
Price Promotion
22 21 25 26 17 19 17
Consumers’ knowledge and/or attitudes toward product category and individual brandsBased on interviews on various people in our target demographic, almost all of them seemed to be fairly/very knowledgeable on Vodka and the many brands that are out there for them to select from. All of our respondents know brands like Smirnoff, Grey Goose, Burnett’s, Pinnacle, etc., but only some of them knew about the New Amsterdam brand. With New Amsterdam being the second leading vodka seller, it ranks fairly low in terms of awareness. Consumers know brands like Smirnoff because they have always been around and is reasonably cheap, but the quality matches the price, and consumers are satisfied with this. The majority of consumers also said that they are not particularly brand loyal, but tend to draw their purchase to a brand that they recognize if they are in a hurry or are hosting a get together for other people to drink. They also said they take notice to things like incentives for brands and can be a driving force in their purchase of a product if it is convenient, fun, and fairly easy. Factors influencing brand selectionBased on primary research, consumers’ most important factor in their influence for buying vodka is price and whether the spirit is something they have always drank. The older generations of 45+ value consistency and staying loyal to brands they have purchased for years. Another huge factor that consumers look for when they are purchasing spirits is price. No matter how young or old the consumer is, price and quality are always two things that must be together in order for the consumer to even consider buying the product. An opportunity for New Amsterdam Vodka is consumers are more likely to purchase a different brand when it is on sale. Consumers say even if a product is on sale or there is a deal, they will only buy the non-familiar product if it is significantly cheaper than the other product. Based on the table below obtained from Mintel data, this shows that age matter when it comes to factors consumers look for when purchasing spirits.
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“Which of the following attributes are very important to you when deciding which brand of liquor/distilled spirit to buy?”
All Ages (%)
21-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
Brand I have always drunk
36 32 33 31 41 34 40
Quality of ingredients
30 25 29 33 34 28 27
Low Price 23 38 29 22 21 18 17
Price promotion
22 29 22 24 21 17 19
Trends in the aboveThe trends in clear spirits are the wide range of flavors. Any type of berry, dessert, or seasonal favorites, are all typical flavors you can find for many different brands. There are flavors for every type of people, the “candy shop” flavors attract the younger demographic and flavors like hibiscus and other natural flavors attract the older demographics group. and Another large trend in spirits consumption according to Mintel is dark colored spirits because of the taste, it’s a spirit that can be enjoyed by itself unlike clear spirits. Another trend in the consumption of spirits are celebrity figures promoting them. Certain brands of spirits show up in rap videos, or are seen in hands of famous celebrities and consumers will follow a trend their idol in Hollywood is doing too. For example, Hennessey is an extremely popular drink for it can be found in music videos of rap artists like Fetty Wap, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, and many others.
Dealers/Distributors/Brokers
When contacting stores that sell spirits, we discovered that not every store carries every flavor of New Amsterdam Flavored Vodka. The stores that we contacted stated that it is typical for them to sell between one and two cases of flavored vodka every two weeks. Compared to competitors’ flavored vodka, New Amsterdam is not as represented in stores. Whereas a store may carry 15 different varieties of Smirnoff or six different varieties of Absolut, most stores that we contacted typically carry three flavors of New Amsterdam.
The slow months for New Amsterdam tend to fall in January, May and September. Even though these slow months exist, New Amsterdam has been able to exceed 110,000 cases of vodka per year.
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Advertising History
New AmsterdamNew Amsterdam launched their first campaign on November 15, 2013. The campaigns’ themes tried to tap into a couple of trends among the millennial consumers between the ages of 24 and 28 (Lukovitz, 2013). The campaign, estimated at more than $5 million carries the theme “It’s your town.” With the mission to bring communities together, the New Amsterdam Company wanted to convey a night on the town with a sense of responsibility and pride within local communities. The campaign included 5 TV spots with the title, “Going out is your civic duty,” “Practice your right to assemble,” “Be a model citizen,” “Join the department of hanging out,” and “All rise” (Lukovitz, 2013).
Each advertisement targets young males and helped the company reach a total of 1 million cases sold within the first 12 months of the campaign (“New Amsterdam Vodka Launches “It’s Your Town,” Its First Ever National Broadcast Advertising Campaign,” 2013). After the start of the “It’s your town” campaign, the company began a campaign that was named the New Amsterdam Fund. This is an initiative dedicated to uniting communities by reimaging shared spaces as community places. This will give locals in towns across the country a place where they can come together to enjoy their city and hang out. With the help of both of these campaigns, sales are continuing to increase each year.
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Absolut VodkaAbsolut started a famous print campaign called “In an Absolut World” that was continuous for over 25 years. The campaign helped Absolut become number 2 in vodka brands just after Smirnoff. The campaign suggests that consumers are finally waking up and smelling vodka. This campaign features scenes from a world where everything is as ideal as Absolut (Mullman, 2007). Advertisements within the campaign portray men that are pregnant and individuals being able to skip a long line to get into a nightclub. The budget for the campaign are distributed as follows: print advertising gets 25% while digital, outdoor, and TV get between 20% to 30%. Research shows that Absolut’s media spending has fluctuated between $18 million and $38 million annually during the past 5 years (Mullman, 2007).
The second campaign was launched in 2009 with the slogan “Transform Today.” This campaign offers new creative and media twists on its well-established strategy of linking the brand with art and contemporary culture (Lukovitz, 2013). The core message of this campaign is that young adults can “break free from the idea that anything is predetermined and take control of their future.” The “Transform Today” campaign targets urban millennials who connect with Absolut’s creative DNA and believe that the future is not set in stone (Lukovitz, 2013).
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SmirnoffAs the number one vodka brand, Smirnoff has two popular campaigns that have helped sales boom over the last couple of years. One campaign has the slogan #WHAT WE BRING. The focus of this campaign was to inspire people to bring their individuality to make good times better for everyone and recognizes the power of music to bring cultures and communities together. With the global social movement, powered by music collaboration, the campaign was designed to celebrate the power of inclusivity (“Smirnoff Exclusively for Everybody”).
The second campaign has the slogan “Exclusively for Everybody.” The focus of this campaign was to give consumers a “fresh point of view” that highlights the brand’s positioning as “great quality vodka for the masses.” This campaign was made to celebrate the idea that good times are more fun when everyone is included and to recreate the category. Makers of the campaign wanted to celebrate the idea that good times are more fun when everyone is included.
Sales Promotion Brands use social media as a way to promote their products through engaging with the consumer, whether it is introducing new recipes or promoting giveaways and sweepstakes.
After contacting multiple college bars and local restaurants, we found that brands will become the well drink liquor as a way to promote. Brands will also sponsor and host events or provide establishment with branded decorations such as table tents, coasters and signage if their product is sold.
As for in store promotions, the grocery stores we contacted said that they will often have club cards and in store discounts. Meanwhile, liquor stores we contacted explained that certain brands will often have discount pricing as well as brands will pay for large displays throughout the store.
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TRADE CAMPAIGNMagazine PublicationsOur team recommends using two different magazine publications. The first one we propose using is “The Beverage Network”. This publication is a monthly magazine, where we recommend placing four advertisements. The second publication is “In the Mix”. This publication is released only four times a year. We recommend placing four full-page color ads, while also placing a 4th cover advertisement (back cover) in the Special Vodka Edition in March. We chose these two publications because they both are more on-premise accounts.
Sales IncentivesTo promote our product in the trade industry, we will have sale incentives for our venders to whatever team sells the most cases in a year, by the end of November. The team will receive a paid trip for themselves and plus one to Las Vegas for a festive New Year’s Eve celebration. Each team member and their plus one will receive $1,500 total, which pays for their airfare, hotel, and some spending cash. The total trip cost will equal a total of $10,000.
Trade ShowWe recommend taking part in the Nightclub & Bar Convention & Trade Show. This trade show takes place in Las Vegas, NV at the convention center. This is an annual event and has been going on for the last 30 years. This trade show can get up to 100 million impressions on print, online and TV, while 20,000 bar owners attend, which will help promote for on-premises. This trade show brings in 39,000 industry professionals, which includes 2,735 Conference Attendees, 739 Exhibiting Companies and 304 Press Members from various mediums. We recommend registering for a booth to set up samples and New Amsterdam SWAG gear to pass around. The total cost to purchase a 10’X20’ booth would be $8,150, with a liability insurance cost of $109. This package includes carpet, basic electric, chairs, draped table, corner, enhanced listing and guide website, and 600lbs of material handling, plus at least four exhibitor badges.
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CreativeWe recommend that the trade magazine creative capitalize on New Amsterdam’s extensive distillation, the grain base ingredient and the positive perception described in the situation analysis. When it comes to back-cover advertising, we recommend placing a simplistic ad, while still speaking to the previously described benefits of purchasing New Amsterdam Vodka and highlighting a simple call to action with the company’s website
In-Issue:
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Back Cover:
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Cost Efficiency AnalysisFor trade magazines, we recommend that New Amsterdam Vodka focuses advertising in The Beverage Network as well as in In The Mix magazine. The Beverage Network describes its audience as mainly consisting of going-to-market licensed taverns, restaurants, club and package store retail business. Creating on-premise business or putting New Amsterdam Vodka into club stores will increase the amount of consumers willing to try the product, some for the very first time.
In The Mix Magazine describes its audience as food and beverage managers, restaurant managers, general managers, national headquarters, executive chefs and national account supplier teams. This is beneficial to our recommended campaign because increasing on-premise trials will correlate with increasing off-premise purchase habits. These magazines are meant to get us into bars and stores, which is where majority of the people surveyed said they usually drink alcohol.
The other trade magazines considered were disqualified for a couple of different reasons. Many of the trade magazines focus on beer products. While this is a parity product, these magazines mainly focus on craft or niche styled beers. The other disqualifying factor is that some magazines take a local approach to their readership, specifically the Concierge Magazine.
Moving forward with the advertisements in the chosen trade magazines will allow us the opportunity to reach those that have influence and decision-making power in their businesses. The end result, if advertised correctly, will be more places for New Amsterdam Vodkas to be distributed to, creating more loyal customers.
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Media FlowchartWe recommend placing 9 ads within the two chosen trade publications, 5 in “In the Mix” and 4 in “Beverage Network”. With regard to “In the Mix”, we recommend taking advantage of this publication’s special vodka Issue in March by placing not only an in-issue ad, but a back cover ad as well. The remaining 8 ads, placed in February, May, June, August, September, November and December, will be solely in-issue ads.
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CONSUMER CAMPAIGNStrategy and ObjectivesOur media plan targets New Amsterdam Vodka consumers at peak moments of purchase throughout the seasons. We have balanced our choice of media platforms to reach Generation Y in digital, traditional and out of home platforms. We considered our timeline after great consideration for what times and places New Amsterdam Vodka consumers will be most receptive to our messages. We made sure that each media platform will produce the necessary reach and frequency to keep New Amsterdam Vodka in the minds of its consumers throughout the campaign.
Target Market RefinementOur consumer campaign will target 21-34 year old females. But the first question is, why females? Through primary and secondary research, we found that women drink flavored vodka more than men do, and that is our goal for this campaign. Once we figured out targeting women was the best choice, we went on Experian to dial in our target audience based on other lifestyle demographics. Ultimately, these women are single with no children, have at least one college degree, and make more than $50,000 per year.
Income: $50,000-$150,00According to Experian, women in our age demographic who are vodka drinkers index the heaviest in making between $50,000-150,000 annually, by almost over 100% over average. This makes sense for our target demographic because they are single women, who are out of college and making good money for themselves without huge payments they normally would be using on children.
TOTAL HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
2.02%100
YES HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
3.98%197
No ChildrenAccording to Experian, women who are 21-34 years old, do not drink vodka, and do not have children. These women over indexed by 116%, which gave us strong validation this should be a consideration when refining our target demographic. This also makes sense for our target demographic because these women are just getting out of college and are women who want to establish their career before their family, which is exactly what they are planning on doing.
TOTAL HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
2.96%100
YES HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
6.39%216
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College Degree or HigherWe also ran a crosstab on our target demographic, and their level of education they have earned so far. The highest index for level of education was a college degree or higher that most likely drink vodka. These women over index by 127%, which led us to recommend targeting women with a high level of education. Since these women have a higher education, they also have disposable money to buy a drink with a spirit other than a well drink, and are independent enough to be able to buy their own drinks and also for their friends when they go out.
TOTAL HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
1.72%100
YES HORIZONTAL %INDEX
100%100
3.90%227
SurveyOur group conducted a survey, consisted of the age group of 21-34, both males and females. Our survey helped us find out brand awareness, social media habits, and drinking habits. We got a total of 305 people that participated in our survey. For women the most common habits according to our survey is that about 54% prefer flavored vodka over non flavored vodka. Along with the flavor consumption about 90% of women in our survey said they prefer to mix their vodka with other beverages, with the highest mixers including juices and sodas. About 80% of our female survey answers states that they enjoy fruit flavors the most.
The average amount of alcoholic beverages is 4-6 drinks per month according to our survey crosstabs. For males 33% of them prefer to drink unflavored vodka rather than fruit flavors. Almost 80% of males also mix their alcoholic beverages with other beverages, with the highest also being juices and sodas. About 30% of men drink roughly 13 alcoholic beverages in a month. During our survey we asked if choosing to drink flavored vodka, men also chose that they would choose to drink fruit flavors over other flavors of vodka.
We also asked where are the top places you drink alcoholic beverages, the top two highest percentages were drinking at a bar setting and at a home setting, while also a lot of women said they drink at an event, meaning a concert, comedy show, festival, etc. Our survey crosstabs show that the top social media sites used are Facebook (92%), Snapchat (74%), Instagram (72%), Twitter (46%). We also asked what their favorite types of music to listen to are, and the top genres for females is Country (21.4%), Hip-Hop/Rap (19.5%), Pop (18.9%), and Rock (17.0%). While for men the top genres are: Hip-Hop/Rap (28%), Rock (25%), Country (15%), and Electronic Dance Music (14%).
Focus Group We conducted a focus group that consisted of 10 of our peers, both male and female. This focus group consisted of three rounds of taste testing between New Amsterdam Vodka, Smirnoff and Absolut.
In the first round we gave each participant a blind taste test of each brand.For the second round we let the participants see the bottles of the brands they were tasting but when it came time for them to try the vodka, we did not tell them which they were consuming.
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As for the third round, participants watched as the mediator poured their samples directly from the different vodka brands bottle’s into their cup. After each round we asked the participants what they thought of each brand in terms of taste, bottle appearance, potential pricing, etc.
From this focus group we found that participants saw the New Amsterdam Vodka bottle as very visually appealing. Although the taste was not the most favorable, the appearance led participants to believe that it was a higher end vodka. We also found that when it came to choosing a vodka brand, men focus more on the alcohol percentage while women focus more on the flavor and smoothness of the vodka.
Recommended MediumsBased on primary and secondary research, we recommend utilizing the following mediums to reach our target audience.
OutdoorAccording to research found on Simmons Choices III, we found that 43.3% of women pay attention to billboards. From the information found, we decided that we would like to look further into which states consume the most spirits.
Heat MapsThe examination of heat maps led us to our first set of considered DMA’s for outdoor advertising, comprised of 10 states. We then ran a cost efficiency analysis and cross tabbed this information with two more heat maps: (1) an illustration of which states drink spirits the most and (2) and illustration of the heaviest populated states.
CPM Analysis
From this information we concluded that the most beneficial states to place outdoor advertising would be in Tampa FL, Las Vegas NV, Los Angeles CA, and New Orleans LA.
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MagazinesBased on the combination of index numbers and horizontal percentages retrieved from Experian, we ran a cost efficiency analysis on the 5 most read magazines for our target market; Glamour, InTouch Weekly, Ok! USA, Cosmopolitan, and Star.
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CPM AnalysisFrom this cost efficiency analysis, we recommend placing ads in Cosmopolitan and Glamour, as these publications have the lowest CPMs with the highest circulation, essentially reaching the most people for the least amount of money.
Social MediaBased on our target demographic of women aged 21-34 year old females, we knew we had to conduct a media quintile analysis for their usage of Internet at home and at work on Experian. From the Quintile chart to the right, we found that our target demographic is such a small population of the people who were included in the survey Experian conducted, but they are a very dominate group of women on the internet. Our target audience of single women aged from 21-34 year old vodka drinkers over index by almost 78% above average, which shows these use and pay attention to the internet as much as any other mediums. After analyzing that data we wanted to look deeper into what these women are actually doing on the Internet. In the second figure below, is a crosstab conducted from Experian that looked at our
specific demographic with other various kinds of Internet activities like web browsing, online shopping, and others. The number one activity that our target audience is partaking in is being a part of various social media outlets. These women over index by 37% above average, but the number that showed us the most potential is the horizontal index, which validates that almost 94% of our specific target demographic are already on some sort of social media outlet. We believe this is a perfect opportunity for us to engage as well as reach our audience in a unique, non-traditional way.
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Facebook CPM Analysis
Twitter CPM Analysis
Sales Promotion
In-Store PromotionsOn-Pack
For our in-store promotions we propose using two main promotions. The first one we recommend is attaching two flavored airplane shots onto a half-gallon of New Amsterdam. This will help with eye-candy and promotions because when they look at the alcohol shelves they will see a quality priced vodka along with two extra sampling flavored shots for the price of only a half-gallon.
Flavor Sample Pack
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Another in-store promotion we recommend utilizing is a four pack airplane sampling pack. This pack will consist of four different flavors of New Amsterdam Vodka, which will be placed by the registers of a variety of different stores, including liquor stores, grocery stores, and gas stations. Along with four different flavors there will be a recipe for each flavor placed on the sampling pack.
On-PremiseWe also created coasters and pyramid tents for bars and restaurants to use and promote New Amsterdam Vodka. Since we are targeting strong, independent, single women, the pyramid tents will have funny pick-up lines that sit on the tables and bar tops. An example is “ If you were a vegetable you’d be a cutecumber”, or “are you a parking ticket, cause you got fine written all over you”. We recommend this promotion because from results from our survey and focus group showed that a lot of people hadn’t heard of New Amsterdam before, so this will help increase better brand awareness. We recommend creating coasters during different parties and events going on in the area, for example a Mardi Gras coaster to be promoted during Mardi Gras in New Orleans. After research from Simmons and looking at our heat maps, we recommend selling to restaurants in Seattle, WA, Portland, OR, Nashville, TN, Chicago, IL, New York City, New York, New Orleans, LA and San Francisco, CA. This will really help out increasing brand awareness. We chose to buy 100,000 coasters for a cost of $7,000 and 10,000 pyramid tents for $2,900 and distribute them to two restaurants in each of the cities stated above.
Sponsorship
Route 91 Harvest Country Music FestivalWe recommend that New Amsterdam Vodka sponsor Las Vegas’ Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival. We came to this decision based on data collected from our survey showing that our target demographic prefers country music to other genres. By sponsoring this event, we aim to put samples in the hands of 15,000 country music fans, create at least 500,000 impressions via festival social media channels and on-site advertising, as well as provide VIP access incentives to local bars and restaurants.
4th of July Music City Block Party
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We also recommend that New Amsterdam Vodka has a booth at Nashville’s 4th of July Music City Block Party. This event draws in dozens of famous country artists and allows attendees to enter for free. On average, there are about 280,000 attendees at this event. In order to increase brand awareness and recognition, promotional products will be handed out throughout the eight-hour event.
Creative Brief
What are we selling? Why are we here?New Amsterdam Vodka is a spirit that is commonly drank on premise. This spirit in particular has 64 calories per 1 ounce shot with O grams of fat. There are a variety of flavors ranging from Mango to Coconut. In addition to the many flavors, New Amsterdam Vodka has the finest grains within it that have been filtered three times. The spirit is known for its smoothness that can be the perfect addition to the cocktail or drink it straight. Who are we talking to? Our target audience for our campaign is females between the ages of 21 and 34. These women are single who enjoy a night on the town. Our ideal target will have no children that makes above $50,000 annually with a college degree. Why? What is the most significant change we can create, as an objective? OR What obstacle are we trying to overcome?The overall perception of the vodka is that although the bottle is appealing and the brand portrays excitement, the consistency of the actual vodka itself is too thick. Because this vodka is less expensive than others, taste is compensated for price. What makes this believable? What are the key insights?Less expensive spirits are becoming more prevalent in people’s lives. With the constant struggle of the economy the general public is reminded of the consequences of not being money conscious. For a target audience that is constantly competing in the working world to better not only themselves but also their position within the workforce, there is always room to save money. Anything that can save a little money here and there can help make the general public’s everyday life easier.
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What do we need to keep in mind? What are mandatories?We need to emphasize the optimistic qualities of the product. By consuming New Amsterdam Vodka you will start your night with a smile on your face and a great attitude that will last throughout the night. Campaign PropositionThe consumption of New Amsterdam Vodka will provide you the provisions for a fun and electrifying night without the excessive cost.
Unique Selling PropositionOur creative will focus on the fact that New Amsterdam Vodka is distilled 5 times. As mentioned earlier, this extensive distillation is unique for spirits costing less than $30, making New Amsterdam the only one of it’s competitors in the $15 range to be distilled 5 times.
Our MessageWith our ads we want to build confidence among our consumers. We want them to believe that with our product they can rest assured knowing that their plans-whatever they may be- will run smoothly. We used the adjective “smoothly” as play on words because as it describes the status of a situation within the ads, it is also a direct link back to our unique selling proposition, which is that New Amsterdam Vodka is 5 times distilled, creating smoothness in the drinkability. These ads show that with New Amsterdam Vodka women can feel empowered to “Own the Night” because they have the opportunity to make the decision of what flavors of vodka to choose. So when they choose a flavor within New Amsterdam Vodka they can be confident in the fact that they are receiving great quality for a great price.
Creative
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Outdoor Tampa, FL
New Orleans, LA
These are examples of outdoor creative for Spring Break in Tampa, Florida and Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. These advertisements portray our unique selling proposition as well as images of our product for recognition and a hashtag of our slogan Own The Night.
Magazines
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Cosmopolitan Glamour
These are examples of two magazine advertisements. The first advertisement has the headline “5 Times Distilled- So your Galentine’s Day goes as smoothly as planned!” We created this advertisement to be made in January and released in the February Valentine’s Day issue in Cosmopolitan magazine. Galentine’s Day is a celebration created by the television show “Parks and Recreation”, because the majority of their audience are women in our age demographic. This new holiday is celebrated on February 13th, or the day before the traditional holiday, Valentine’s Day. We chose to mimic this television show because it is currently seen as the most feminist show aired. We also included a photo of our product as well as our slogan “Own The Night.” We also included three social media icons in the bottom right hand corner as a call to action. Our other advertisement has the headline reading “5 Times Distilled- So your night goes as smoothly as planned!” We will place this advertisement in the Glamour magazine during the months of June and December because it is the success issue and the women of the year issue. We also included a photo of our product for brand recognition as well as the slogan “Own The Night.” We also have our three social media icons in the right hand corner for a call to action.
Social Media
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Facebook
Facebook AdOf the survey respondents that fell into our target market, 92% of them use Facebook. Above is an example of a Facebook ad. We see a photo of two happy, confident women enjoying their night with New Amsterdam Vodka. The unique selling proposition is clearly stated and our campaign’s slogan “Own The Night” is present at the bottom with our call to action.
Interactive FacebookAbove is an example of an interactive Facebook post. It is an opportunity for for consumer to win a New Amsterdam T-Shirt if the post is shared onto their timeline and they like New Amsterdam’s Facebook page. As you can see all three of the campaign’s hashtags are implements into this post (#NewAmsterdamVodka, #OwnTheNIght, and #SipOnSmoothness).
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SnapchatOf the survey respondents that fell into our target market, 74% of them use Snapchat. Above you can see a geo-tag that was created that can be accessed by consumers using the app in the Las Vegas are.
InstagramOf the survey respondents that fell into our target market, 72% of them use Instagram. Above you can see an example of an Instagram post and caption promoting a recipe that involves New Amsterdam Vodka. Once again out hashtags are being used and we are channeling consumers back to the New Amsterdam website.
There is also an example of what we are trying to create as far as a campaign in social media. Interactions where consumers are tagging New Amsterdam Vodka in their personal posts and spreading the brand’s name themselves is a great way to promote brand awareness through social media.
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Twitter
Of the survey respondents that fell into our target market, 46% of them use Twitter so we saw this as a great medium to interact with consumers. To the left is a tweet promoting a future sponsorship with Route 91 Harvest Country Music Festival, adding a giveaway opportunity for consumers who retweet and follow the New Amsterdam Vodka account.
To the right is an ad for Galentine’s Day as well as a chance to win a Galentine’s Day surprise if you tweet a picture of your “gal’s night out” with our hashtag #OwnTheNight. This tweet also directs consumers to the New Amsterdam Vodka website to find out details about the Galentine’s day surprise.
HashtagsWithin all of our social media, excluding Snapchat, we implemented the use of our campaign hashtags (#NewAmsterdamVodka, #OwnTheNIght, and #SipOnSmoothness). With these hashtags we really focus on creating brand awareness, promoting the current campaign, and reinstating the unique selling proposition of the product.
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Media Plan
Cost Efficiency AnalysisIt is important to compare costs of advertising in different mediums and in different markets when deciding which will have the highest return on investment. In order to make the most educated decision, factors such as cost and impressions must be considered, as well as finding when the consumer is most likely to encounter the advertisement. After looking at markets throughout the United States, we were able to determine those that have a higher propensity of drinking spirits. Additionally, we wanted to make sure that there was a sufficient amount of people in our target audience in these demographic marketing areas (DMA), ensuring that our message will be heard.
Starting with outdoor advertising, we are able to make accurate recommendations of where our advertisements should be placed after accounting for these different factors. The first market that we recommend advertising in is the Tampa-Saint Petersburg, FL DMA. This DMA was chosen because this market has the lowest cost to reach 1000 individuals (CPM) in the area, $3.30. Even with this low cost, during a four-week permanent bulletin (billboard) spot, we are able to reach 28,802,592 impressions. While the cost of this spot is $95,172 per four weeks, it is clearly the most efficient use of advertising dollars.
The next recommended market is the Los Angeles, CA DMA. This DMA is similar in cost, costing $108,000 per four-week spot, and brings in 28,465,020 impressions. The efficiency of this outdoor spot earns it the second lowest CPM of the considered markets, $3.79. Los Angeles is one of the busiest cities in California and, for this reason, we chose it as one of our recommended DMA’s.
Moving further West, we recommend advertising in Las Vegas, NV. This DMA brings in tourists nearly year round which gives it a unique edge on other markets. Additionally, Las Vegas is perceived as a party city, as it is full of casinos, clubs and nightlife. We recommend advertising in the Las Vegas DMA because for a cost of $42,000 we can expect to gain 10,351,400 new impressions, warranting a CPM of $4.06.
Lastly, an area of the country that is often overlooked is the New Orleans DMA. This area of the country is rich in culture and tradition. The Mardi Gras festival is what made this area of the country catch our attention. People travel from all parts of the country to see the parades and experience the culture for their own. To advertise in the New Orleans DMA, it costs $4,500 per four-week period and brings in 500,852 impressions. This leaves the New Orleans DMA with a CPM of $8.98
Moving away from outdoor advertising, the next medium that we recommend advertising in is magazines. Magazines are unique in that they are often shared between friends and each issue is looked through multiple times per month. This is important because it increases the amount of people that could possibly see our advertisements, as well as the number of times this message will be seen, known as repetition. Looking at the table below, the two magazines that stand out the most are Cosmopolitan and Glamour Magazines. These magazines have the lowest CPM ($102.11 and $108.67, respectively) while also bringing in the highest amounts of impressions (3,003,601 and 2,318,512, respectively). Cosmopolitan’s media kit states that their magazine is generally read by 7 adults per issue and Glamour’s media kit states that their magazine is read by 5 adults per issue. This is further justification for our magazine decision.
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Lastly, advertising on social media will allow us to reach our target audience while they use Facebook and Twitter. A positive aspect about advertising in these mediums is that you are able to segment your target audience by demographics, interests and behaviors, allowing you to narrow the pool of those you will be attempting to reach. When advertising on Facebook, we recommend spending $1000 per day on obtaining page likes (engagements) and $250 per day on boosting our Facebook posts. By doing this, we will be ranked more competitively with our competition (1,162,352 likes by end of campaign). Advertising on Twitter will allow us the opportunity to promote our tweets. We recommend bidding, at most, $25 (you must bid on spots) per promoted tweet with a daily budget of $1000 or less (depending on the amount of spots purchased. By doing this we reach users in our target audience an estimated 23 million times throughout the year. All of these sponsored Facebook and Twitter posts will include a call to action and a link that the consumer can follow to learn more, find our website, or an invitation to enter a contest. With these posts, we hope to create online buzz that will generate earned media, further reaching those in our target audience and promoting your brand.
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Media Flowchart
OutdoorOur proposed 2016 consumer campaign will begin in January and last through December. We recommend placing permanent bulletins in Tampa, FL, Las Vegas, NV, and Los Angeles, CA, which consists of multiple highlighted rows that are differentiated by the amount of panels in the DMA. We also suggest placing digital bulletins in New Orleans, LA, which consists of bulletins that rotate between the advertisements of 6 different companies.
We suggest placing permanent bulletins in Tampa during March and April because these are typically months of Spring Break for universities. Additionally, these bulletins will be placed in throughout Tampa from September to December, as these months are classified as the best months to visit Tampa.
With regard to Las Vegas, we recommend placing permanent bulletins during Spring Break months (March and April) and during May, September, November and December as these are the best months to visit Las Vegas. Las Vegas is a popular spot for people to visit during three day weekends and federal holidays, so we suggest placing bulletins in January and July because of Martin Luther King Day and the 4th of July.
We recommend placing permanent bulletins throughout Los Angeles April, September and November, as these are the best months to visit LA.
MagazinesWe recommend placing 4 magazines throughout the year, 2 in Glamour and 2 in Cosmopolitan. The Glamour advertisements are scheduled for May and November in order to be placed in June and December issues, as magazines are released during the month previous to the issue’s identified month. We recommend these issues because they are described as “The Success Issue” and the “Women of the Year Issue” – both speaking to the independent woman that is our target audience.
With regard to Cosmopolitan, we recommend placing advertisements in the February and April issues (scheduled in January and March). We recommend utilizing the February issue to capitalize on our Galentine’s Day approach, while April speaks again to the independent woman, as it is the “Career” issue.
Social MediaLastly, we recommend advertising through Facebook and Twitter every day, all-year long.
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Budget
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References
Best Times to Visit Las Vegas. (2015). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://travel.usnews.com/Las_Vegas_NV/When_To_Visit/
Best Times to Visit Los Angeles. (2015). Retrieved December 9, 2015, fromhttp://travel.usnews.com/Los_Angeles_CA/When_To_Visit/
Best Times to Visit Tampa. (2015). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://travel.usnews.com/Tampa_FL/When_To_Visit/
Glamour – Media Kit Print. (2015). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.condenast.com/brands/glamour/media-kit/print
Lukovitz, Karlene. "New Amsterdam Vodka In First Ad Campaign." MediaPost. 15 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. Mullman, Jeremy. "Why Absolut Said Bye-Bye to the Bottle." Advertising Age News RSS. N.p., 28 May 2007. Web. 08 Nov. 2015. "New Amsterdam® Vodka Launches "It's Your Town," Its First Ever National Broadcast Advertising Campaign." New Amsterdam® Vodka Launches 'It's Your Town,' Its First Ever National Broadcast... N.p., 11 Nov. 2013. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
"New Amsterdam Vodka Proves to Be "One in a Million" by Reaching Coveted Milestone Faster than Any Spirits Brand in History." PR Newswire. 13 Sept. 2012. Web. 9 Dec. 2015.
Shoaf, B. (2015, May 18). PROMO: Go Behind the Scenes at a Gathering of the Ciroc Boyz in New York City. Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2015/05/promo-go-behind-the-scenes-gathering-ciroc-boyz-new-york-city
"Smirnoff Exclusively for Everybody | 72andSunny." Smirnoff Exclusively for Everybody | 72andSunny. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Nov. 2015.
The Cosmo Effect. (2015). Retrieved December 9, 2015, from http://www.cosmomediakit.com/hotdata/publishers/cosmopoli2521681/categories/Readership_Section.pdf
