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Advertising Project for JOMC 170

This advertising campaign was created by the fictional advertising agency, D & D, Donti and Daugters. The campaign was created by a group of advertising majors for Kit 'N Kaboodle cat food.

I. Situation Analysis
II. S.W.O.T Analysis
III. Target Sketch
IV. Creative Strategy
V. Media Objectives
VI. Media Strategies
VII. Media Flow Chart
IIX. Sales Promotion Plan
IX. Public Relations Plan
X. Budget Summary
XI. Evaluation Plan
XII. Executive Summary

I. Situation Analysis

Current Users: Cat owners mostly women, with a limited budget. Age range is from 40 to 49. Working women, many have children; want a nutritious and tasty cat food for a relatively low price.

Purchase Cycle: Precise purchase cycle varies because product comes in several sized bags. However, there is a continuous need for the product throughout the life of the cat. The product is purchased roughly once every two weeks.

Geographical Emphasis: Nationwide, however, there is a noticeable concentration of cat owners in the southern United States.

Seasonality: Because the product is needed year round, seasonal considerations do not apply.

Creative Requirements: Ads must boost brand image with a sophisticated and witty tone. We will also inform the audience of the nutritional benefits and great value of the product.

Competition: Meow Mix, Whiskas, Friskies, Purina Cat Chow and Chef's Blend.

II. SWOT Analysis

Strengths

· Product provides 100% nutrition
· Product has a low cost
· Each bag comes with four different flavors
· Each morsel comes in four exciting shapes, two stuffed and two crunchy
· Product has been around for a long time
· Purina is a well known and trusted pet food manufacturer

Weaknesses

· Consumer perception of low quality due to low cost
· Product longevity leads to a fixed negative perception
· Lack of awareness of product due to inefficient/nonexistent advertising

Opportunities

· Redefine consumer perception to one of high quality
· Redefine consumer perception to one of great value
· Improve brand image
· Use sales promotions to gain new customers
· Use advertising campaign to improve brand awareness

Threats

· There are many other comparably priced brands with better brand images
· Many target consumers have strong brand loyalties
· Consumer perceptions tend to be fixed and are difficult to change

III. Target Sketch

Barbara Jenner just turned 40, and a few years ago she never would have imagined she would be living the life she is today. After 18 years of marriage, she and her husband divorced a year and a half ago. Barbara's ex-husband was always able to support her and their 17-year-old son, Andrew. But now all that has changed. Although she was awarded child support and alimony payments, the three-bedroom house in the suburbs and the 1997 Toyota Camry in the divorce settlement, she still had to get a job to make ends meet. Barbara attended a community college in her lifelong home of Tampa, Florida, but because she married soon after earning her associates degree, she didn't have any real work experience. She was fortunate to get a job as a secretary at a large insurance company last year. By adhering to a strict budget, she is able to stretch her annual salary of $30,000 to cover her bills. However, the next few years will be tough because Andrew will be heading off to college out of state this fall.

Despite the financial comfort of her old life, Barbara is thriving as a single, working mother. She is finally taking the time to take care of herself, physically and emotionally. She's taken up yoga, joined a book club, and she gets together with her girlfriends every Sunday afternoon. Without her husband's allergies to worry about anymore, she even got the cat she had always longed for.

Barbara used to be a daytime TV junkie. Now that she is working fulltime, she has given up her soap operas, but she still tapes Oprah every day. Some of her other favorite TV shows are ER, Frasier, and Dateline NBC. She gets most of her news from the 11 o'clock news. She subscribes to two magazines: Redbook and McCall's.

IV. Creative Strategy

Client: Kit 'N Kaboodle dry cat food

Competitive Snapshot: Key competitors are other relatively inexpensive dry cat food brands that are available in most grocery stores: Meow Mix (Tastes so good cats ask for it by name), Friskies, Purina Cat Chow, 9 Lives (12 varieties; Morris), Whiskas (What cats want), Chef's Blend

Old Thought/ New Thought: Target sees the food as cheap and unhealthy and cats don't really like the taste of Kit 'N Kaboodle. We want the target to think the food tastes good, is fun to eat (variety of flavors and shapes), and provides their cat with complete nutrition all for a good value.

Main Claim: Kit 'N Kaboodle is 100% nutritionally complete. Meals are mouth- watering with 4 yummy flavors, and 4 snazzy shapes.

Support: The food is recommended for pregnant and nursing cats. "As fun to eat as it is tasty."

Tone: Fun, classier appeal, entertaining; Present Kit 'N Kaboodle as inexpensive while not sacrificing quaility; dismiss attitude that it's cheap and bad tasting.

Added Tools: consumer sales promotion, make website more interactive and fun with games and contests like competitors' websites

V. Media Objectives

Target Audience: Our advertisements will be directed towards 40-49 year old working women. These women have at least a high school to junior college education. Most of them work as secretaries, office assistants, or
professionals and earn $30,000-39,000 a year. These women have very hectic schedules and rely on their cats for companionship and affection.

Seasonality: We plan on running the advertisements throughout the year because cat food must be purchased continuously. Television advertisements will be air based on a pulsing schedule. Magazine ads will run continuously.

Geography: The campaign will be run nationally, but have a higher concentration in the South because there is a greater percentage of female cat owners in the southeastern United States.

Reach and Frequency: We are taking a low reach, high frequency approach. Our goal is to reach necessary audiences often.

Product Usage: The majority of our buyers own just one cat. Therefore, they have a low to medium usage rate.

Competition: We will take an offensive approach in order to increase market share.

Sales by Market: Our goal is to consolidate dollars in designated markets, whether national or regional, in order to facilitate high sales growth.

Media Usage: Television, magazine, newspaper and radio.

VI. Media Strategies

Magazines-Magazines deliver to specialized audiences. Kit'N Kaboodle can easily reach the target audience by selecting the right magazines. (RedBook, Southern Living, McCalls) Pictures in print media have the ability to be very appealing, and our product's appearance is important. Magazines are also very convenient and have a high pass along rate.

Cable TV-We will be able to reach our specialized target audience efficiently through commercials placed on cable TV. We will advertise primarily during prime time cable. Some possible networks are Animal Planet, Lifetime, and WE.

Network TV-We will use network spots sparingly at times when our target audience will likely be home, such as Saturday afternoons and weekday evenings.

Newspapers (Co-op)- We will run a version in the Sunday paper and will also announce our Kitty Kash program in this ad.

Out-of-Home (grocery store display)- In-store advertising can deliver a powerful impact and reaches a large percentage of the women between the ages of 40-45. We will use an end cap display at several national grocery store chains. This will remind consumers of our product near the time of purchase.

Direct Mail- We will be able to reach our specialized audience by compiling lists from grocery stores and pet stores of those who purchase cat food. We will also include our consumers who have taken part in Kitty Cash giveaway. Direct mail may be used to send promotional offers and coupons.

Radio- We will use radio ads for our campaign because our target audience is likely to listen to the radio to and from work and possibly at work as well. Radio is inexpensive, flexible, and reaches a mobile market.

Internet-We will not use the internet because we feel it will not be an effective medium to sell our product. Our target audience does not spend enough time on the internet to justify the cost.

VII. Media Flow Chart (Word Document)

IIX. Sales Promotion Plan

Kit 'N Kaboodle Kitty Kash

Our Kitty Kash program will serve as a continuity device to encourage current consumers to continue buying Kit 'N Kaboodle in order to obtain one of our great prizes. It will also persuade new buyers to choose our brand.

· Consumers add up their Kitty Kash and mail it to Kit 'N Kaboodle to redeem it for a prize from the Kitty Kash Catalog. This will either be included on the packaging itself, or a plastic-wrapped mini-catalog will be included in the cat food bag.

· The amount of Kitty Kash received with each bag increases with an increase in the size and cost of the bag.
--Small package: One Kitty Kash dollar
--Large package: Two Kitty Kash dollars

· Prizes and Kitty Kash Dollar Amounts Needed for Redemption:
--All prizes will have the Kit 'N Kaboodle logo somewhere on them.
--In parentheses, after the dollar amount for consumers to earn the prize, is the estimated cost to Kit 'N Kaboodle to buy each of these products.
--The number following the parentheses is the amount of each promotional product to be purchased.
· Mug: 8 (1) 20,000
· Hat: 12 (2) 20,000
· T-shirt: 12 (2) 15,000
· Kitty Toy Pack: 20 (3) 12,000
· Tote Bag: 22 (3) 10,000
· Cat Bed: 24 (3) 8,000
· Litter Box w/ Cover: 30 (4) 8,000
· Scratching Post: 40 (6) 7,000
-- Total number of items produced: 100,000
-- Total cost of production: $254,000
-- Total "Kitty Kash" collected if all goods are distributed: $1,752,000

· The sales promotion will run until supplies run out, or consumers stop participating.

IX. Public Relations Plan

Mission: To improve the image of Kit 'N Kaboodle cat food from "the cheapest and easiest" to "nutritionally sound, tasty, and suitable for the loved cat."

Public Relations Strengths and Weaknesses: Kit 'N Kaboodle is not one of Purina's stronger brands. It has slower growth and a smaller market share than some of its other brands of cat foods, such as Purina O.N.E. and Cat Chow. To remedy this situation, Kit 'N Kaboodle must try to alter its image to appeal to new audiences, as well as current consumers. A strength, however, is that the brand is open to creative and new ideas. Marketing techniques are flexible.

Opportunities/Problems: This is a proactive campaign. Kit 'N Kaboodle is actively seeking to improve its image and to gain a competitive edge among other comparable brands.

Audience: Kit 'N Kaboodle's largest target audience includes women between the ages of 40 and 49 who work and seek companionship from a feline. The brand is also trying to attract consumers who seek a more well-known brand with a better reputation.

Goals: To reposition Kit 'N Kaboodle in the eyes of consumers.

Objectives/Tactics:

· Objective 1: To generate a 15% increase in sales of Kit 'N Kaboodle by December 31, 2002.

Tactic 1: Increase advertising to include a wider variety of media and more frequency.

Tactic 2: Provide reward systems through Kitty Cash, rebates, and free bags of Kit 'N Kaboodle.

· Objective 2: To improve the image of Kit 'N Kaboodle from one of a "cheap and easy" brand to a "nutritional, unique, and tasty meal for cats" by December 1, 2002.

Tactic 1: Change approach of advertising efforts by making it more sophisticated and humorous.

Tactic 2: Increase humanitarian efforts by working with pet adoption agencies to promote adoption of cats. Through this program, new cat owners will be provided collars, cat dishes and tags with the Kit 'N Kaboodle logo and a limited supply of Kit 'N Kaboodle cat food, as well as information about how to care for a cat.

· Objective 3: To prove that Kit 'N Kaboodle is healthy and tasteful.

Tactic 1: Gain recommendations from veterinarians and set up programs through veterinarian offices to provide information on the benefits of Kit 'N Kaboodle. By setting up drawings and contests that promote pet health and Kit 'N Kaboodle cat food, the brand will not only gain exposure, but we will also collect important research statistics.

Tactic 2: Set up displays and taste tests in large stores such as Petsmart so that cat owners can bring in their pets and test the product.

X. Budget Summary (Excel document)

XI. Evaluation Plan

· We are going to include a survey in our promotions in order for consumers to have the opportunity to win prizes. There will also be a customer comment card attached to packaging and online for consumers to evaluate their experience with our product. Sample questions include:
* Why do you buy Kit 'N Kaboodle? (price, quality, promotions etc.)
* What other cat foods have you purchased and for what reason?
* What would you change about Kit 'N Kaboodle?
· Kitty Kash promotions will provide us with information about our target markets that will enable us to conduct focus groups.
· We want to survey the general public to find the general effectiveness of Kit 'N Kaboodle advertisements have. This will allow us to determine whether or not our advertisements are recognizable and easy to recall.

XII. Executive Summary

Goal:
· To increase the sales of Kit 'N Kaboodle brand cat food by 15% by December 31, 2002 and to stay within the budget of $40 million.

Situation Analysis:
· There are many similar products with comparable prices in the cat food market. This section reviews current and potential users and possible creative requirements to deal with the competition.

Target Audience:
· This section gives an illustration of the target consumer, allowing the agency to gain a better understanding of the customer. With this information, we are able to direct the advertising and media choices towards those most likely to buy the product.

Creative Strategy:
· The agency's creative objective is to boost Kit 'N Kaboodle's brand image and raise brand awareness. We want the target audience to think the food tastes good, is fun to eat, and provides their cat with complete nutrition at a good value.

Media Objectives: (What our media plan hopes to achieve)
· This section covers the demographics, product usage, and media usage of our target audience, as well as the seasonality and geography of our advertisements. Reach and Frequency are covered in this section.

Media Strategies: (How media objectives will be implemented)
· Our strategy was to use a high frequency/low reach approach to reach our specialized target audience efficiently. Specific vehicles were chosen for various reasons to accomplish this goal. Others were left out because they were not cost effective.

Sales Promotion Plan:
· The main continuity device we will use is Kit 'N Kaboodle Kitty Kash. In this sales promotion, customers add up their Kitty Kash and send it to Kit 'N Kaboodle to redeem it for a prize from the Kitty Kash Catalog.

Public Relations Plan:
· Our P.R. plan includes sponsoring cat adoption drives and programs with local veterinarians.

Budget Summary:
· The budget summary provides a list of different media vehicles used to advertise the brand and their cost. We spent $38,634.100 out of our $40,000,000 budget.