Table of Contents

Executive Summary……………………………………………. 3

Situation Analysis……………………………………………….6

Market Description……………………………………………….6

Designated Market Areas……………………………………………6

Product Description……………………………………………….9

Sonic Sales……………………………………………….10

Pricing……………………………………………….10

Product Positioning……………………………………………….11

Target Audience……………………………………………….11

Psychographic Profile……………………………………………….13

Category Competitors……………………………………………….13

SOV/Competitive Expenditure………………………………15

Media Mix……………………………………………….19

Seasonality……………………………………………….22

Purchase Patterns……………………………………………….22

Geography……………………………………………….22

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Budget……………………………………………….23

Advertising Season……………………………………………….23

SWOT……………………………………………….23

Objectives……………………………………………….25

Marketing Objectives……………………………………………….25

Advertising Objectives……………………………………………….26

Media Objectives……………………………………………….27

Creative Brief……………………………………………….27

Strategy……………………………………………….28

Television……………………………………………….28

Radio……………………………………………….29

Magazine……………………………………………….30

Internet……………………………………………….30

Non­Traditional……………………………………………….31

Outdoor……………………………………………….33

Evaluation……………………………………………….34

2

References……………………………………………….36

Appendix……………………………………………….36

Executive Summary

Sonic Drive­In restaurant, featuring charming carhops on rollerskates, and specialty drinks, has

captured the hearts and mouths of the American people ever since the brand’s humble 1950’s

beginning. Sonic Corporation operates and franchises the largest chain of drive­ins in the entire United

States. Sonic serves made­to­order typical fast­food items, like burgers and fries, however, the

restaurant also features staple food and drinks including cherry limeades, slushies and other frozen

desserts, hand­battered onion rings, foot­long quarter pound chili cheese “Coneys”, salads, and wraps.

Sonic also offer breakfast items, including sausage or bacon with egg and cheese Breakfast Toaster or

CroisSONIC breakfast sandwiches, and breakfast burritos all day long. With such a unique atmosphere

and delicious food, Sonic’s customer loyalty is among the strongest in the food industry. Sonic’s largest

presence is in the southern US, explaining why Sonic is best known in this region.

During the past five years, Sonic has just begun to open stores in many northern states. During

their last fiscal year, Sonic opened 85 new Drive­In stores, which consisted of five Company­owned

Drive­Ins and 80 Franchise Drive­Ins. Since Sonic is so new to the northern regions of the United

States, many people living there have not had a chance to hear about the brand or visit a Sonic

restaurant. Our media plan is designed to increase awareness of the Sonic Brand among those ages

18­24 in 32 new target geographic markets by June, 30 2015. With our highly strategic and

3

cost­effective plan that runs from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015, we are confident that young adults in

northern areas will grow to know and love Sonic as much as the rest of the United States does.

We designed our media plan to generate high frequency throughout media vehicles that are most

widely used by young adults in the 32 new geographic areas. Many of Sonic’s competitors spend the

majority of their budgets on cable and network TV advertising. However, according to 2011 MRI

Mediamark data, we found that the majority of TV indexes for people aged 18­24 were below 100.

The MRI Mediamark data showed that internet and radio had the highest indexes for our target age

group and that outdoor index numbers were also high among fast food eaters. Since TV is one of the

most expensive media vehicles, we decided to buy less in TV media and focus our budget on more

cost­effective media that is highly used by our target audience. Also, by making these media buys, we

will also ensure a high increase in our share of voice in radio, internet, and outdoor advertising.

Applying this data to our media plan, we decided to spend the majority of our budget on radio

and outdoor advertising. For internet, we found several websites, including hulu.com and fandango.com

that had extremely high index numbers for our target audience. We decided to set aside a large

percentage of our budget to U.S. display ads on high­index websites in order to increase frequency and

gain maximum brand exposure. For radio, we plan on primarily buying late­night dayparts due to the

fact that our target audience has a higher tendency of radio usage during this time. Our buys in radio will

achieve high frequency as well, which we need in order to increase brand awareness in these 32 new

markets. We also made a decision to spend a large percentage of our budget on outdoor advertising,

due to the medium’s high potential for both reach and frequency. Many 18­24 year olds are

incorporated into the workforce and will see our billboards on their drive home from work before they

have had time to eat dinner. Our billboards will encourage young adults to take a break from sitting in

4

rush­hour and immediately satisfy their hunger at a nearby Sonic Drive­In. We did spend some money

on TV and magazines. Since our competitors spend so much money on TV ads, we wanted to make

sure we had a share of voice within this highly dynamic medium. We decided to spend a small portion of

our money on magazine advertisements, due to the fact that magazines have high indexes in our target

market. Also, our magazine ads would feature full­color imagery and very descriptive copy, hopefully

inspiring hunger in readers.

In terms of less traditional media, we plan on utilizing the great potency of internet in order to

build brand awareness through both keyword buys on popular search engines and banner display ads

on highly used websites. The use of keywords will allow Tim Tam to stay relevant throughout the

duration of the campaign, making certain that the tech­savvy target audience is reached where they are

most apt to search for information: the internet. According to MRI Mediamark data, we found that

websites with the highest index numbers in our target audience were entertainment websites like Hulu

(with an index of 220), so we plan on utilizing this data to buy display ads on other websites with high

indexes. In conjunction with keyword searches, we plan to introduce several promotions through social

media such as Facebook and Twitter in order to remain relevant to our target audience of young adults.

These young adults are very much in search of ways to participate with brands and connect with

products on a social level. Also, social media has high reach potential, especially since so many people

tend to use Facebook to share information about their favorite brands with their friends and family who

may not already follow the brand. Social media is an extremely cost­effective medium which will

provide Sonic with a great opportunity to reach out to its market, express its unique brand personality,

and connect on a personal level with our target audience.

We are confident that our media plan will accomplish the goals we set forth for Sonic

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and reach the target audience in 32 new markets. As you can tell, our plan is heavily focused on

optimizing high levels of frequency in order to mature Sonic’s well­known brand in the highly

competitive fast­food market. Through media strategies such as pulsing and flighting, we should

successfully assist Sonic in achieving its goal of increasing brand awareness among young adults in 32

new geographic markets. The South’s love and loyalty for Sonic is about to spread to the Northern

United States, and we can’t wait for all these young adults to taste Sonic’s unique and delicious food!

Situational Analysis

Market Description

The fast food market is growing right now. It was steadily increasing until the economic

downturn because consumer­spending patterns were affected by it. This was not necessarily a drastic

decrease in sales, but a decrease in the number of franchises opening per year in all fast food, including

Sonic.

The leader in the fast food industry is, predictably, McDonalds. It has the most stores, ad sales,

and revenue. It has almost twice as many stores as the second leader in the burger industry, Burger

King.

Designated Market Areas

32 New Markets

Sonic’s 32 new markets have been tiered using an estimated value percentage that weighs CDI

more heavily than BDI. EV% was calculated by multiplying all CDIs by 0.7 and BDIs by 0.3. Those

numbers were then added together, divided by the total of all new markets, and multiplied by 100. A

spreadsheet of this data can be found in the appendix section. Sonic must consider DMAs with higher

CDI over those with higher BDI if it hopes to achieve its long­term objective of becoming a leading fast

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food restaurant operator in all of its markets by fiscal 2016. Markets that are promising for category

sales also have the potential to increase sales among the target market, but only if Sonic can position

itself well with high share of voice in relevant media.

Tier 1 EV%

1. Milwaukee, WI 5.77% 5. Flint­Saginaw etal, MI

5.17 9. Butte­Bozeman,MT

5.02

2. Detroit, MI 5.64 6. Lansing, MI 5.15 10. Minneapolis­St.Paul, MN

5

3. Grand Rapids etal, MI

5.42 7. Eugene, OR 5.07

4. Rapid City, SD 5.18 8. Portland, OR 5.04

These ten new markets have high estimated value because they have the highest CDIs and only

slightly low BDIs. Low BDIs in these markets may be due to the low number of franchises until recently.

Category development indices for Detroit, Milwaukee, and Grand Rapids are 112, 115, and 105

respectively. These three areas are the only ones in the 32 new markets with CDI over 100. Because

CDI is weighted more heavily, their estimated value percentages are much higher than any other DMA.

No EV% in this tier is below 5. The only markets with average market development index over 100 are

also in this category. This tier obviously has great potential for fast food sales, but if Sonic hopes to

capitalize on that potential it must position itself well. Frequency must be emphasized in these ten

markets due to the strong competition. Extra weight should be placed on this tier in order for Sonic to

increase its share of voice among media relevant to the target audience.

Tier 2 EV%

11. Medford et al,OR

4.95% 15. GreenBay­Appleton, WI

4.82 19. Great Falls, MT 4.6

7

12. Sioux Falls etal, SD

4.92 16. Seattle­Tacoma,WA

4.75 20. Bend, OR 4.35

13. Yakima et al,WA

4.92 17. Madison, WI 4.71

14. Spokane, WA 4.87 18.Wausau­Rhinelander,WI

4.64

Every market in this tier has higher BDI than CDI, and because of this no market in in Tier two

has an estimated value of 5% or more. These DMAs have the lowest category development indices of

the 20 new market areas that currently have Sonic locations. Not only that, but only two of the markets

in tier 2, Spokane and Madison, received new Sonic locations. Extra weight should not be placed on

this tier because it does not look promising for category sales. However, some money should be spent

on media in Tier 2 in order to maintain Sonic’s brand positioning in these markets. Because Sonic sales

are higher than category sales in these 10 markets, it offers a moderate return on investment.

Tier 3 EV%

21. Alpena, MI 0% 25. Glendive, MT 0 29. Marquette, MI 0

22. Billings, MT 0 26. Helena, MT 0 30. Minot et al, ND 0

23. Duluth­Superior,

MN­WI

0 27. La Crosse­Eau

Claire

0 31. Missoula, MT 0

24. Fargo­Valley City,

ND

0 28. Mankato, MN 0 32. Traverse City et al,

MI

0

Sonic has just begun to expand into these markets, which is why no BDI data is available for

them. They also, for the most part, have a low average market potential index. If Sonic wants to break

8

into these untapped markets, reach must be emphasized over frequency for this tier. Building brand

awareness among 18­24 year olds will require reaching a significant number of target audience

members. However, there is no guarantee that Sonic will get a significant return on investment from

these untested markets. Tier 3 will receive the least amount of money, but will have the most targeted

media buys. No television ads will be bought in these markets because of the high cost and low

relevance to the target market. Most of this tier’s budget will go to internet, which has indices of 166

and 118 for heavy use by 18­24 year olds. A small amount of the budget will go late­night spots on

local radio, which are very popular with Sonic’s TA, peaking at an index of 170 on weekends from

midnight to 6AM. Sonic must build brand awareness among 18­24 year olds in these designated market

areas before it can hope to build brand loyalty or position itself against competitors.

Product Description

Sonic, one of the largest growing fast­food chains in the United States, originally was founded in

the early 1950’s. It originated in Delaware and now houses its “Principal Public Offices” in Oklahoma

City, Oklahoma. Sonic started as a company with the goal of changing the typical fast­food experience

into a more specialized encounter than your basic drive­thru. Sonic locations nationwide allow the

customer to drive into a space and order their food via intercom, later to be delivered by employees on

roller­skates. Sonic also offers a traditional drive­thru for those customers who may be in more of a

hurry. For a long time, these restaurants were only prevalently found in the South but more recently

Sonic has been expanding into northern markets. In 2010, the chain was shown to have 3,572 drive­ins

coast to coast reaching a broad array of audiences. The variety of food sold is also wide, ranging from

your basic hotdog and hamburger to different types of breakfast burritos. Sonic’s expansive menu and

park and eat approach provides an unparalleled dining experience that keep loyal customers coming

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back for more.

Sonic Sales

Sonic has held its own in the market with pretty steady growth. In 2008, Sonic, like many other

businesses, was hit hard by the economic downturn. Sales are already improving. Sonic is attempting to

move into new areas, because of its hopeful place in the market. Sonic is currently holds 2% of fast

food sales in areas that it is in, which is a fair number considering the number of stores it has.

Pricing

Fast food consumers commonly seek to pay a reasonable price for quality meals and receive

them in a timely fashion. Sonic meets this need by serving customers freshly prepared food at

moderately higher rates than competitors. While Mcdonald’s, Sonic’s biggest competitor in the industry,

sells the popular Big Mac for $3.99, Sonic sells their double cheeseburger at $4.29 (Johnson, April).

This is a justifiable price difference because Sonic loyals don’t mind spending an extra dollar or so to get

higher quality food accompanied by personalized service.

Product Positioning

Sonic aims to provide a unique experience to the customer. It is different from other fast food

restaurants in its food selection, including extensive drink selections. It also has a car­hop service unlike

any other. Sonic's long term goal is to maintain top ten status in the fast food industry. The short term

goal for Sonic is to increase sales at Sonic restaurants among 18­24 years olds by 5% within fiscal year

2014­ 2015.

Target Audience

Our target audience is adults ages 18­24 that reside in the upper North West United States.

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This age group typically lives a very active life style, and likes to eat inexpensive fast food with their

friends in a fun, original environment. Due to the fact that Sonic is a part of the “Quick Serve Restaurant

Industry” in which you can get made­to­order food, it specifically fits to this audience’s needs. Out of

the population who eats at Sonic, 15.9% are in the target market. Although, the amount of people in the

target market who eat at burger joints within the same category is 83.6%. This shows a definite need for

Sonic to increase brand awareness within the target market.

The 18­24 year old age bracket is ideal for Sonic because these adults are less likely to be

health conscious than other people in older age demographics. Considering that Sonic’s two main meal

options consist of a burger and a hotdog, this audience, with their still relatively fast metabolisms, is less

likely to opt for a healthier alternative when they can satisfy their cravings fast and at an affordable price.

For older audiences, Sonic may tend to enter the category of junk food and these demographics would

rather prepare a meal than splurge on unnecessary calories. In support of this argument, it has been

found that people eating at Sonic are 26% more likely to be in the age demographic of 18­24 than the

general population. In addition, these adults are 7% more likely to be eating at any burger joint than the

rest of the population. In spite of this, older consumers are using the product as well, however, there is

less available growth in those markets than in that of the 18­24 year old population.

Along with its unique in store atmosphere, Sonic is attempting to expand its marketing to the

18­24 age group with a Facebook campaign that encourages customers to post why they love Sonic.

This media approach is appropriate because this demographic is very easily influenced by

technology and uses social media networks on almost a daily basis. The index for internet is 111 which

demonstrates that consumers in the target audience use this media source at a higher rate. Along with a

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Facebook page, a Twitter campaign would help create brand awareness within the hip crowd.

Coinciding with the Twitter campaign, we could launch an Instagram account and ask that customers

take photos of their food and hashtag Sonic as another way to get impressions. Finally, a radio

campaign on the popular radio stations that 18 ­ 24 year olds listen to could prove very effective in

creating top of the mind awareness for the brand. The index for radio is 105, while not very high, it is

still significantly higher than that of television which makes it a viable media source. Sonic’s seasonality is

good for the demographic as well considering they will most likely not be in school during this period

and might have more disposable time and money. All in all, 18­24 year­olds are the best candidates for

this target market because they have free time, eat at inexpensive fast food restaurants often, and have a

relatively high amount of disposable income owed to their lack of responsibilities.

Psychographic Profile

My name is Joey and I am 19 years old. I live at home with my parents and am a Freshman

commuter to the local community college 20 minutes away. In my free time, I enjoy hanging out with

friends, surfing the Internet, playing basketball, and occasionally hitting up the gym. I have a job at

Kroger as a cashier but most of my income is spent on gas for my car and whatever food I need. Due

to the fact that I live at home, I don’t have to worry about paying for renting an apartment so my parents

allow me to use my income at my own disposal. As much as I enjoy my Mom’s home cooking, I love to

eat out and get a good burger and fries every once in a while. I’m not really a health nut so anytime my

friends and I get a craving, I don’t think twice about ordering some of the more unhealthy items on the

menu. Also, in between classes I’ll go to the most convenient fast food place near campus for lunch so I

don’t have to worry about packing one in advance. Juggling school, work, and friends can make my life

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pretty fast­paced so fast food restaurants are often the easiest option for me.

Category Competitors

Sonic competes in what is known as the “Quick Serve Restaurant Industry,” a highly

competitive business in terms of price, service, location, and food quality, The restaurant industry

includes every type of food service from mom and pop hot dog stands to exclusive gourmet restaurants,

and is often affected by changes in consumer trends, economic conditions, demographics, traffic

patterns, and concerns about the nutritional content of quick­service foods. Sonic competes on the basis

of distinctive food and service with signature food items and skating carhops and the method of food

preparation (made­to­order). Keep in mind that although Sonic is primarily a ‘burger and dog’

restaurant, they face fierce competition from other alternatives, primarily pizza.

The quality of service, featuring Sonic carhops, constitutes one of their primary marketable

points of difference from the competition. There are many well­established brands in the burger

quick­service category, and Sonic’s biggest competitors are shown in the graph below.

13

Share of Voice and Competitive Expenditure

The competition which will be focused on in this competitive analysis include: McDonald’s,

Burger King, Arby’s, Wendy’s, and Dairy Queen, as they all rank above Sonic in their store counts

globally.

McDonald’s

McDonald’s, the most recognized of all fast food chains globally, is Sonic’s largest competition,

ranking number one in store counts by nearly double of the second place store count holder. Its current

branding campaign is “I’m lovin’ it.” It is a global advertising campaign and has been running since

September 2nd, 2003. The idea is to capture themes of passion, fun, and inspiration. McDonald’s

adopted another slogan in November of 2008: “What we’re made of.” They advertise through the use

14

of dark yet warm colors and contain realistic photographs on their products’ packaging. They utilize

primarily television, radio, newspaper ads, many billboards, coolers, and sponsor sporting events.

McDonald’s total Share of Voice is 48.91%, spending a whopping $8,822,232,300 on advertising as a

whole in 2011.

Burger King

Burger King is the second leading store count competitor. With a Share of Voice of 16.9% at a

total advertising expenditure of 304,743,200, Burger King also takes second when it comes to Share of

Voice in the marketplace. This company does not place ads in national magazines, local magazines, or

Sunday magazines, and spends the majority of its ad money ($105,460,400) on cable TV. Its ads are

almost always whimsical, ‘punny’, or are meant to get a laugh. The brand utilizes the phrase, “have it

your way” across each category of media. The logo is that of ‘the king,’ which is essentially a tall man

with a Caucasian mask, medieval clothing, and a crown on his head.

Arby’s

Arby’s category expenditure in sum is $104,571,900 and its Share of Voice is 5.8% as

compared to our selection of competition, including Sonic. Arby’s does not advertise on SLN TV, any

form of magazine, Hispanic newspapers, or network radio. According to Kantar’s competitive data,

Arby’s spends the majority of its advertising dollars on Spot TV, $53,574,900, which is 14.95% of all

Spot TV spending for our range of competition. Arby’s advertising focal point is all about size. Each ad

shows a burger or fry container overflowing with “mighty minis” and other food items that appear to be

a full meal and then some. The brand tends to focus on earth tones, especially brown, as the

background to their advertisements.

Wendy’s

15

Wendy’s spent $287,656,700 on advertising in 2011, making it 15.95% of the Share of Voice

in its selected competition. Network TV is the restaurant’s largest expenditure, at $86,279,100, which

is 16.76 of the media mix in this category. Wendy’s does not spend its advertising dollars in Sunday,

local, or Hispanic magazines nor B­to­Bs. Wendy’s spends the majority of its dollars on Network TV,

making up for 16.76% of the media category’s share.

The Wendy’s creative team has recently adopted a new logo. Its ads consist of a redhead,

assumed to be Wendy, who brightens people’s days with Wendy’s burgers. The tone is whimsical

across all marketing boards.

Dairy Queen

Finally, Dairy Queen makes up 4.87% of the market’s advertising expenditure at $87,861,200

spent in 2011. Dairy Queen did not advertise in any form of magazine, B­to­B, national newspaper,

Hispanic newspaper, or network radio.

Dairy Queen ads tend to focus on one select menu item per ad. The ads generally feature a

whimsical facet, and then end on a voice over describing one menu item, such as the blizzard. The items

are often displayed on a colored background with the camera rotating around it.

Share of

Voice(%)

Brand Total Network TV Spot TV SLN TV Cable TV

16

McDonald's 48.91 52.26 44.77 63.62 29.95

Burger King 16.9 21.32 4.47 18.88 27.59

Arby's 5.8 4.1 14.95 0 5.08

Wendy's 15.94 16.76 10.01 7.94 19.4

Dairy Queen 4.87 2.84 8.03 0 9.01

Sonic 7.57 2.72 17.76 9.56 8.94

Total 100 100 100 100 100

Share of

Voice(%)

Brand Magazines Spot Radio Local Radio US­Int­Display Outdoor

McDonald's 75.65 18.59 64.37 49.67 77.72

Burger King 1 37.86 8.61 8.37 8.14

Arby's 0 6.24 2.84 1.21 2.05

Wendy's 18.8 31.5 19.66 39.1 7.07

Dairy Queen 0 0.48 .26 0.12 1.22

Sonic 4.54 5.29 4.26 1.49 3.81

Total 100 100 100 100 100

Wendys 287656.7 86279.1 35866.3 11018.1 74237.9

Dairy Queen 87861.2 14622.3 28781.3 34452.3

Sonic 136584.8 14016.1 63639.3 13269.2 34180.7

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Total 1803650.1 514882.3 358273.3 138820

382231.5

Media Mix

The most notable aspect of the competitions spending is the variety. McDonald’s is the best

example of this. McDonald’s is buying ads in virtually every media. Of course, they have the biggest

budget, so this is not always possible with smaller chains like Sonic, but it goes to show what the most

successful competitor is doing. Their media mix is the most diverse of all competitors. Currently Sonic’s

media mix is not as diverse as its competition, but is more focused on a few key areas. Because of its

smaller budget, Sonic must make very strategic media buys instead of spending across all platforms like

McDonald’s.

Media Mix (%)

18

Sonic’s competitive brands spend less than 9% each on outdoor advertising, but differ on how

much they allot to the different forms of TV advertising. Burger King, for example, spends around 35%

of its ad money on Cable and Network TV, whereas McDonald’s spends only 30.5% on Network TV

and far less on other TV advertising. Arby spends 51.23% of its ad on Spot TV, and Wendy’s evenly

distributes its TV ad money. Dairy Queen’s main TV focus is on Cable TV, where it spends the

majority of its ad money at $34,452,300. After television buys, Sonic and its competitors spent the

most on local radio spots. Internet and outdoor also had significant buys. Wendy’s surprisingly topped

Internet spending, with 7.25% of its budget going to display advertising. McDonald’s dominates

outdoor spending, but Sonic is the second highest spender at 2.8%. Competitors all spent less than 1%

on newspaper and network radio ads, and only slightly more on magazine and spot radio.

19

20

Seasonality

Sales are generally lower during Sonic’s second fiscal quarter (the months of December,

January and February) compared to the other three quarters. This is because of the lower temperatures

in the northern climate locations, which tend to reduce customer visits to those drive­ins.

Purchase Patterns

Being that the target demographic for Sonic is 18­24, in deciding where to build new Sonics or

where to place advertisements, we want to look at what other things 18­24 year olds do. Ideally, we

want Sonic to be in a location where the target demographic will pass by a lot and generally be spending

time within the surrounding area. Often fast food decisions are made spontaneously and have a great

deal to do with convenience. Along with convenience, Sonic needs to remember top of the mind

awareness by focusing on keeping Sonic on the top of the mind. For example, for late night fast food

chains they can hope to get some of the customers that will make the decision spontaneously to go to

Sonic. Two things Sonic could do to influence purchasing patterns would be to increase TV advertising,

as the index is only 98 compared to competitors. Their radio index could also be improved upon, being

at 104 which is slightly below that of the other fast food restaurant goers. By focusing on these two

categories, they can increase top of the mind awareness for the already great base they have for their

brand.

Geography

Currently, Sonic is mostly in the Southern United States, but is working on expanding into the

northern states. In the winter months, the stores in northern states do not do as well because of the cold

weather and Sonic’s semi­outdoor experience. The number of people that go to Sonic in the Southeast

and Southwest regions are more than double that of West Central region, which is the next highest.

21

There are very few sonic customers in New England, but there are also very few Sonic restaurants

there, because of the cold weather. The number of people who eat at burger restaurants is consistent

throughout the United States.

Budget

The budget for the Sonic Campaign is $60,000,000. We set aside $6,000,000 for national

contingency and $5,000,000 has been allocated to the 32 new markets added in the last year.

Therefore $49,000,000 remains for our national pulsing advertising schedule across various platforms of

media, and $5,000,000 will be spread across various media platforms in a spot campaign targeting the

32 new markets.

Advertising Season

Our campaign will run for 12 months, from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015. We will utilize a

pulsing schedule with very light spending in December, January, and February. Only a few media

categories will be bought during these slow months, with low frequency and reach goals. For the other

months we will make more media buys, and set higher frequency and reach goals to capitalize on

Sonic’s busier seasons.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths:

Sonic Drive­Ins offer a wide array of affordable and delicious signature breakfast, lunch, and dinner

items (available 24 hours a day) that can satisfy both the mouths and budgets of consumers all

across the United States.

The Sonic Drive­In culture is unique, and customer loyalty is among the strongest in the food

industry.

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Sonic features a unique drive­in dining experience, featuring servers on roller skates.

Weaknesses:

Seasonality: Sales are low during Sonic’s second fiscal quarter (December, January, and February)

due to the low temperatures in the northern United States, which tend to reduce customer visits to

Sonic drive­ins during those months of the year.

Sonic is not as popular with 18­24 year olds as it is with other target markets.

Sonic is not a well known brand internationally.

Opportunities:

Management added 30 new franchise locations last year in the northwest and mid­northern states,

potentially increasing Sonic awareness and popularity in the region.

Can appeal to American consumers who are sick of low­quality fast food or restaurants who stop

serving breakfast at 9:30.

Could potentially tap into even more markets, specifically the 18­24 year old market, and become

more recognized in the United States by that age group.

Threats:

Does not offer many other menu items besides the usual fast­food burgers, fries, onion rings, etc.

Extremely high level of competition (i.e., McDonald’s, Wendy’s, etc.).

Northern region of the U.S. might not be as receptive to Sonic as the southern region.

Objectives

Marketing Objectives

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To maintain or become a leading (top ten) fast food restaurant operator in all of their markets

by fiscal 2016

Thus far, Sonic is fifth in ranking of competitive store counts at 3,572, which we found to be

directly proportional to the successful operations of our brand. Through competitive media and

marketing objectives and strategic placement, we intend to increase awareness and brand loyalty

efficiently. The success that Sonic will endure will be directly related to our marketing objectives,

featured in the media strategies portion of our media plan.

To increase sales at Sonic restaurant among 18­24 years olds by 5% between July 1st, 2014

and June 30th, 2015

The primary target audience of Sonic brand is 18­24 year olds. This is our principal target

audience because this age group is a vital part of this culture, as many eat at fast food restaurants. Sonic

provides many perks along with its food, from car­side service and a parking spot to waiters on roller

skates. Because multiple target segments are being selected in our marketing objectives, the strategies

employed will provide various reasons to select Sonic as their fast food restaurant of choice. It is

important to consider the amount of GRPs that will be needed to make adequate impressions.

To maintain or become a top five fast food restaurant in all high BDI markets by fiscal 2016

The BDI quantifies just how well our brand is performing within a specific group of customers

compared to its performance among all consumers. It is imperative that our brand increases its BDI

during the fiscal year of 2016 because the relative strength of the brand within the specific market will

rise with the proper marketing objectives. These long terms objectives will be witnessed after successful

marketing objectives are employed and maintained.

Advertising Objectives

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To create brand loyalty

The objective for the Sonic brand is to maintain its loyal fan base, with an emphasis on the age

group of 18­24 year olds. The importance lies on effective frequencies with ads that reflect the brand in

a positive light and garner a large following of hungry consumers. Word­of­mouth advertising will

become influential and prominent based off of our advertising placements.

To persuade consumers to return

The Sonic brand is well­known in American markets. We hope to encourage existing consumers

to return to one of the many Sonic franchises repeatedly after first time use. Effective frequency will

similarly play a large role in this advertising objective, and will emphasize the national consumer.

To emphasize the uniqueness of the Sonic Brand

While new marketing and advertising objectives are important, it is also very necessary to

emphasize the traditions of the Sonic Brand. While advertising, one must not forget to include the

features that distinguish them from their competitors. Sonic should maintain its niche within the category

of fast food companies with its drive­in set up and whimsical waiters. Competitors such as McDonalds,

Burger King, and Arby’s should be evaluated in the same market, however, through proper objective

strategies, they should be far from inseparable in the minds of consumers: the Sonic brand should be the

first and only choice for fast food with a fun ambience.

Media Objectives

Creative Brief

Client: Sonic

Key Fact: Sonic is well­known and loved for its signature menu items, drive­in style dining, and

waitresses on rollerblades, however, due to low consumer activity during the winter months, Sonic has

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struggled to break into the list of the top five fast food restaurants (based on number of locations) in all

high BDI markets.

Objective: To maintain or become a top five fast food restaurant in all high BDI markets by fiscal year

2016.

Target: Our target audience is adults ages 18­24 that reside in the upper North West United States.

This age group typically lives a very active life style, and likes to eat inexpensive fast food with their

friends in a fun, original environment. The 18­24 year old age bracket is ideal for Sonic because these

adults are less likely to be health conscious than other people in older age demographics. This audience,

with its relatively fast metabolism, is less likely to opt for a healthier alternative when they can satisfy

their cravings fast and at an affordable price.

Insight: College­aged students live fast­paced lives so fast food restaurants are often the easiest option

for me. Also, college students are less health conscious than older people and usually don’t think twice

about ordering some of the unhealthy items on the menu.

Promise: Sonic is a fun and unique fast­food restaurant full of exciting signature menu items and an

engaging atmosphere.

Support: “America’s Drive­in!”; “It’s not just good. It’s Sonic Good.”; “Sonic’s got it, others don’t.”

Mandatories: Brand name, logo

Strategy

Television

As a brand we are hoping to increase awareness and as well as desire to purchase the brand

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with television spots. TV has a smaller potential than one would think in the 18­24 year old market, as

the index for Sonic is only falls at an index of 89 for TV putting it very low in a heavy quintile. Providing

good spots that are memorable and engaging to our audience will help create brand awareness, and

keep the brand at the top of the mind. Time placement of these ads is also very critical. Placing ads at

late night or during dayparts that are less expensive than prime time which will be critical. Along with

this, according to the Spring 2010 NCCS Adult study, the two greatest indexes for dayparts on

television has the daytime daypart at 254 and the late night daypart at 230. Therefore, these should be

our main times that we advertise. Along with the dayparts and according to the previous study, Adult

Swim with an index of 316, MTV with an index of 265, and TeenNick with an index of 334 are the top

Channels that the age demographic is viewing(Fall 2012 Media: Demographics ­ Respondent).

Because Sonic’s greatest sales are during the summer, we want to start advertising heavily in the spring

and continue into the summer and back off significantly during the winter. During the heaviest months,

we can drop some of the prime time spots and focus mainly on late night. This will be beneficial because

the target audience of 18­24 year olds have a tendency to stay up late and often go get food after

midnight or later. Due to the lower index, we will only be placing about $3,283,000 on Network,

$15,071,000 on Spot, $2,308,000 on Sports and Late Night, and Cable TV at $8,090,000. TV ads

will still be creative and entertaining, ideally depicting 18­24 year olds enjoying Sonic and simply

hanging out at the outside diner. Along with this, we want the ads to be funny but not in a self

deprecating way or in a manner that offends anyone. We seek to create ads that everyone can relate to

and enjoy.

Radio

Radio is an important way to get to the consumer. It is especially effective for Sonic. A

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consumer might be listening to the radio while driving around, trying to decide where to have a meal,

then hear a Sonic commercial, and head over to Sonic. Since one of the many unique features about

Sonic is that you can eat in your car, it make sense to try to reach people in their car. We thought that

radio was so important, 8.31% of the budget was allocated towards it. Radio is especially effective in

local markets since you can change the commercial by region, or even have the reliable morning host

who lives down the street from you read the copy. Most of the radio budget is for local and came out to

6.31%. The rest went to spot radio at 2%. Also, the number of heavy Sonic users who also listen to the

radio was fairly high so it is a great way to reach out to the most loyal consumers to keep them coming

back. In addition, research showed that most Sonic customers are employed, and morning radio shows

are an easy way to catch people on their morning commute. In many workplaces, there is a radio

playing so the consumer might even hear the commercial during their morning shift and start craving

Sonic by time lunch rolls around. Also, as the target market spreadsheet indicates, heavy radio users are

highly likely to be Sonic customers. Actually, every quintile but light radio users showed a high

correlation of Sonic customers. According to the 2011 MRI Mediamark data, we found extremely high

index numbers for our target audience in late­night radio. With this, we decided to focus a large portion

of our radio budget to the following dayparts: weekdays 7pm to 12am (index of 167), weekdays 12am

to 6am (index of 138), weekends 7pm to 12am (index of 155), and weekends 12am to 6am (index of

170). We decided to allocate a fairly large amount to radio because it is very effective for the price. We

are able to reach more people for a smaller price than other mediums this way.

Magazine

We put a small amount of money into magazines, the index is only 109, but we feel like the

target audience will use magazines a lot, and it will be a better medium than newspapers, and less

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expensive than TV and internet. Only putting 980,000 dollars into the medium however, makes it one of

the smallest categories on the list. The magazine ads will ideally be informative, but something that will

last, because magazines have a longer delay time, therefore specials & deals wouldn’t be a viable option

for magazines. According to our data some of the highest magazine usage for our target demographic

are Game informer with an index of 299, cosmopolitan with an index of 222, and ESPN the Magazine

with an index of 199(Fall 2012 Media: Demographics ­ Respondent.).

Internet

Internet will be a crucially important medium for our Sonic campaign since our target market (18

– 24 year olds) is notorious for being heavy Internet users. In fact, according to pewinternet.org, 95%

of teens use the internet (Madden, March). Due to the MRI results, quintile I and II are 111 and 124

respectively in the comparison of heavy Internet usage and Sonic Drive­In, which means that Internet is

a great field for advertising placement. MRI data also suggests that heavy fast food/drive­in restaurant

consumers are likely to be heavy Internet users, with indices of 110 and 114 in heaviest Internet usage.

We have allotted 15% of our total budget to Internet spending, with equal weight placed on keyword

search and banner ads on targeted sites. We will make less internet buys during the months of

December, January, and February as that is the worst quarter for Sonic sales; the reasoning behind this

is the proven value of pulsing. We will choose targeted sites for banner ads that are popular with 18­24

year olds, such as social media sites which will be discussed in greater depth in the following

paragraphs. We will also strategically choose search terms for search engines such as Google and Bing.

Keywords will include the brand name, popular menu items like the “Cherry­Limeade”, “Carhops,”

“Drive­In,” and other keywords that are unique to the Sonic brand.

Non­traditional

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Social Media is a major tool that should not be neglected while discussing the importance of

Internet in our campaign. Social media increases exposure for our business, which is widely appropriate

because of the implications for reach and frequency. Because we plan to focus on frequency, sites like

Facebook and Twitter are important. According to PRNewsOnline, Facebook and Twitter rank first

and second (respectively) in the listing of single most important social platforms (Welton, July). Due to

featured advertisements, retweets, and promoted posts based off of “likes” on brands, friends and

followers of consumers of our brand will be exposed to a familiar brand often.

Although social media is valuable, certain networks will benefit our brand more than others.

Those to be excluded include LinkedIn and Pinterest, as the two combined are less than 45% effective

with the target audience (Welton, July). Youtube, however, would be another appropriate,

non­traditional social media source due to its popularity among our choice age group. Guerilla marketing

has not had prevalence with this brand, but our target audience’s age range is so low that it should

prove to be an effective advertising method.

A social media device that we could employ could be putting “#sonic” at the end of twitter

posts, blog posts, and images on Instagram. Consumers could take a picture of themselves or their

friends enjoying their favorite milkshakes and compare with other instagram users under the hashtag

“#mysonicshake” followed by their favorite shake’s flavor “#bananacreampie.” This could allow them to

forge comradery with users nationwide.

We could also employ vine videos. Sonic can create its own with professional videography, or,

conversely, we could entice our users to create their 6 second vines as “slice­of­life” examples. Sonic

could have a different theme each week and offer sales promotions to each week’s winner. For

example, one week’s theme could be, “how do you eat your tater tots?” in which the winner would

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receive a large amount of coupons for winning the most favorited/shared vine. Here, the opportunities

are endless, and the incentive to purchase tater tots for the chance of being rewarded with many more

free ones would far outweigh the amount of free tater tots that Sonic is giving out. Sonic would lose

nothing, and would instead gain more attention through the posts from user to followers. There are many

avenues that the Sonic brand can take to ensure a following on social media.

Outdoor

Since our target audience focuses on adults between the ages of 18­24 who are always on the

go, we decided that a good amount of our budget should be allocated to outdoor advertisements. We

have put $6,370,000 towards this media channel for our Sonic campaign. Outdoor ads are beneficial in

that they are easily visible and often unexpected by consumers. Whereas TV ads are often ignored or

skipped over at home, outdoor ads naturally catch the eye when our target audience is out and about.

They allow the consumer to be exposed without all of the extra distractions found within the home. It

also removes the option of fast­forwarding through advertisements as some people do by using a DVR.

There are many various ways to approach outdoor advertising. Some different tactics include:

billboards, ads on street furniture throughout a city, ad placement on transportation vehicles, and more

unique placements, such as, posters in bathroom stalls. Outdoor advertising is an effective method for

our target audience because it appeals to them when they are most likely to opt for a quick solution to

dinner. Billboards can grab the attention of commuters on their way to and from work, fueling their

hunger for that much needed burger and fries. In addition, for those in our target audience that may live

in urban areas, outdoor ads are an easy way to increase brand awareness on behalf of higher population

rates.

Competitors are allocating large amounts of their budgets to outdoor spending, as well.

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According to the SOV data, McDonald’s was the leading spender in outdoor ads with over

$70,000,000, followed by Wendy’s with around $7,000,000. Based off of these figures, our allotment

of 13% of our total budget was justified because it is obvious that outdoor is a continually expanding

medium. In conjunction with this, we saw that the Sonic drive thru index falls at 122 which is ideal for

reaching our desired customers and extending reach. Sonic will continue to make an effort to spread

advertising into the mid­northern state markets, pursuing customers using attention­grabbing outdoor

ads.

Evaluation:

Budget Evaluation

Size of Budget: $60,000,000Amount Allocated to Contingency: $6,000,000Amount Allocated to Non­Traditional Media: $5,000,000Amount Allocated to Traditional Media: $49,000,000

Our heaviest medium expenditures were in television and internet. $28,752,000 went to

network, spot, sln, and cable TV shows that had a high index with 18­24 year olds. $8,820,000 was

placed in internet display advertising and relevant search keywords. We feel that the second highest

spending should go to internet because of the high index of our target market in those heaviest usage

quintiles. This is also why our $5,000,000 non­traditional budget went to social media. We think that a

well thought out and heavily researched social media campaign could deliver a very high return on

investment for Sonic in new markets, especially among adults 18­24. We also spent a significant amount

in outdoor advertising. This medium is not as popular among young adults, but it does have a high index

with heavy fast food users. It was also an area of relatively low competitor spending, allowing Sonic to

position itself despite its smaller budget. Our campaign valued frequency over reach in order to help

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Sonic position itself in new markets. Sonic cannot compete with brands like McDonald’s or Burger

King in terms of brand recognition or advertising budget. Our campaign focused ad dollars in media that

the competition may not be emphasizing, but is extremely relevant to our target market. By emphasizing

frequency in these less­used media platforms, Sonic has an opportunity to gain a huge share of voice.

Using the Ostrow model, we calculated frequency at 3.1. We were able to easily obtain our reach and

frequency goals thanks to our allocation of money from expensive media like television into more

cost­effective platforms like radio and internet.

Even though we allocated large chunks of our budget away from television, it is still responsible

for most of our spending. Our target market has very poor indices when it comes to watching television.

However, TV cannot be eliminated altogether. Sonic cannot lose its share of voice on television,

however small it may be. Internet is quickly taking over television as the preferred form of teen

entertainment, but TV spots are still an important part of campaigns with enough purchasing power to

utilize them. Television is also an incredibly visual medium, which is great for commercials full of

delicious looking treats from Sonic.

Media buys were kept consistent throughout our campaign, except in the months of December,

January, and February. During Sonic’s slowest sales quarter, we eliminated spending in all media except

for those most used by our target market. Spending in these high­index areas was cut accordingly.

Inserts in magazines enjoyed by young adults, such as Cosmopolitan and Game Informer, were still used

during these months. We also continued our internet and social media presence. Local radio ads

continued during this slow sales period, especially during evening and late night when our target

audience was likely to tune in. By retaining a small amount of the frequency from our year long campaign

in these important media segments, we hope to stay on the consumer’s mind. Even if it’s too cold for

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people to eat at Sonic, they can still build brand recognition and identity.

References

1) Johnson, K. (April, 2013 21). Mcdonald's prices. Retrieved from

http://www.fastfoodmenuprices.com/mcdonalds­prices/

2) Madden, M. (March, 2013 13). Teens and technology 2013. Retrieved from

http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2013/Teens­and­Tech.aspx

3) Merrin, J. (March, 2010 22). Spring 2010 NCS Adult Study. Retrieved from

www.mriplus.com

4) Merrin, J. (June, 2012 14). Fall 2012 Media: Demographics ­ Respondent. Retrieved

from www.mriplus.com

5) Welton, C. (July, 2013 09). Why social media is important for your brand: infographic.

Retrieved from

http://www.prnewsonline.com/water­cooler/2013/07/09/infographic­why­social­media­is­im

portant­for­your­brand/

Appendix

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