the coolest cooler

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To: Dr. Shelton From: Alissa McGeehan CC: RE: The Coolest Cooler Hi Professor Shelton, Our new client, The Coolest Cooler, is seeking help in determining its target audience as well as 10 potential media outlets to both advertise and pitch stories to. Enclosed in this document is a brief overview of our client as well as an analysis of their social media and recent publicity. Further, the suggested target audience is outlined through research on Simmons One View. The target audience is broken down by demographic, geographic, and psychographic. Finally, based on the target audience research I have selected five publications to utilize public relations tactics for publicity as well as five publications our client can advertise in. Each section has diagrams and visuals to further validate the determined target audience and outlets. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Best, Alissa McGeehan Assistant Account Executive Shelton Communications

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Page 1: The Coolest Cooler

To: Dr. Shelton From: Alissa McGeehan CC: RE: The Coolest Cooler Hi Professor Shelton, Our new client, The Coolest Cooler, is seeking help in determining its target audience as well as 10 potential media outlets to both advertise and pitch stories to. Enclosed in this document is a brief overview of our client as well as an analysis of their social media and recent publicity. Further, the suggested target audience is outlined through research on Simmons One View. The target audience is broken down by demographic, geographic, and psychographic. Finally, based on the target audience research I have selected five publications to utilize public relations tactics for publicity as well as five publications our client can advertise in. Each section has diagrams and visuals to further validate the determined target audience and outlets. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to email me. Best, Alissa McGeehan Assistant Account Executive Shelton Communications

Page 2: The Coolest Cooler

Overview The Coolest Cooler is a cooler that has everything its consumers could possibly need. The cooler comes with a USB port, a built in blender, water-resistant Bluetooth speaker, bottle opener, cutting board and more! The company was funded through kickstart and founded by Ryan Grepper. Social Media The company has a website as well as several social media platforms including Facebook (136,981 likes), Twitter (6,796 followers), and Instagram (4,071 followers). They post original content across all platforms featuring the product, new advertisements, and pictures from their customers using the cooler. Media Exposure There has been a mix of both positive and negative media exposure for The Coolest Cooler. Before assessing the five publications we should pitch stories to, we must understand the current perception the product has in the media.

Positive: The Coolest Cooler has generated a lot of positive media coverage. Examples from Good Morning American and CNN Money are below. Good Morning America Good Morning America featured the Coolest Cooler on their Tech Time! Segment. The segment featured an overview of the company as well as the amazing features of the cooler. (http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/coolest-cooler-portable-blender-iphone-charger-24565389)

Page 3: The Coolest Cooler

CNN Money CNN did a segment on how the overall company of the Coolest Cooler and how it originated as a Kickstart company. (http://money.cnn.com/2014/08/29/smallbusiness/coolest-cooler-kickstarter-campaign-ends/)

Negative: Unfortunately, The Coolest Cooler has received some negative press recently. Below are a few examples of the negative media exposure the cooler has received. Time Magazine For instance, the Time Magazine article below that was released March 2, 2016 articulates how the company’s customers are unhappy with the start up company because they have been waiting a year for their order. (http://time.com/4244531/coolest-cooler-kickstarter-delay/)

Page 4: The Coolest Cooler

Huffington Post The cooler is receiving bad press even on the Huffington Post blog. A story focusing on the product delivery delay still persist. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/todd-greene/not-cool-the-unlucky-kick_b_8641114.html)

Portland Business Journal Lastly, the Portland Business Journal published a story on product delays as well. (http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/techflash/2015/11/coolest-delays-persist-as-product-hits-amazon.html )

Shelton Communications’ Objective The Coolest Cooler has come to Shelton Communications to determine their potential target audience while further strengthening their public relations and advertising efforts.

Page 5: The Coolest Cooler

Target Audience Our team used Simmons OneView to determine the target public—including their demographic, geographic, and psychographic. We used Simmons to search individuals whom own a cooler. Based off this information, we are able to tell that these individuals have interest in coolers and may want to upgrade. Out of 25,207 individuals sampled, 7,209 individuals own a cooler. Additionally, we must understand that the weighted numbers represent 70,095 individuals who own a cooler of the 227,010 weighted individuals surveyed. To further illustrate, ‘weighted’ represents the hypothetical sample of a greater population. Once I found of the target age and target gender, I used this info rmation in Simmons OneView to determine the remainder to the information. Demographics Gender The gender is skewed female, representing 3,830 women who own coolers (weighted to 34,330 individuals). The results of the Simmons OneView indicated that there were 451 more females who own a cooler. Thus, we are targeting female. Refer to the diagram below on the right column where the arrow is pointing. Age The target demographic should be ages 40-64. Based on the 7,209 sampled individuals who own a cooler fell under the age range of 40-64. This range had the highest number represented. To illustrate, refer to the chart below. The second column, top number of each row indicates the number of individuals in each age range of the target audience.

Page 6: The Coolest Cooler

Race The race for our target demographic should be white individuals. Of those sampled individuals who own coolers, there was a staggering representation of whites that purchased the cooler or 26.6% (6,242 individuals, weighted 60,399 individuals) of the sample.

Education 2,867 individuals (weighted 23,594 individuals) graduated college or more. This was the highest and most represented demographic. Understanding the education level can help determine the reading level of the publications we want to advertise and pitch to.

Household Income The Coolest Cooler charges $499 for their cooler. Due to the expensive nature of the product it is important to assess the household income of our target audience. As presented in the data, these individuals earn over $75,000 (4,027 individuals, weighted 33,484) or over $100,000 (2,956 individuals, weighted 22,824) as a household.

Page 7: The Coolest Cooler

Geographic We must determine where our target audience lives in order to effectively pitch stories and purchase advertisements in the publications in the specified area. Census Region In the United States there are four census regions—Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Simmons OneView revealed the biggest representation of those owning a cooler are in the South. State Expanding on our findings in Census Region, it is important to focus on a particular state to advertise in and pitch stories to. The highest number of our demographic represented in a state was Texas, having 1,070 individuals owning a cooler (weighted 4,859).

Page 8: The Coolest Cooler

Psychographic We must understand our target consumer’s values and opinions regarding their shopping behavior. Why? Determining if they are an impulse shopper, shopping to seek approval, or is an informed buyer helps us understand how to craft the messages in our advertisements and when pitching stories. Additionally, understanding their hobbies can also help us find outlets with specific sections catered to this area.

Impulse Shopper The data indicates that of the sampled individuals, 1,690 (17,802 weighted) responded with ‘average.’ Thus, our target audience is in the middle of impulse shopping. We can craft our advertisements based off of this understanding. Approval Seeking The greatest outcome of the individuals sampled considered the reason for shopping for approval far below average. Thus, our target audience is not seeking approval when buying new products. Informed Buyer The highest number represented in the data was the highest above average. Essentially, this means that these 1,807 individuals (17,453 weighted) believe in having a very high percentage of being informed when purchasing a product, specifically a cooler. Hobbies It is also important to understand they type of hobbies these individuals have—specifically ones they can use coolers for. Based on the data presented, bird watching and going to the beach were the top hobbies compared to tailgating, finishing, and going to the zoo.

Page 9: The Coolest Cooler

Meet the Target Consumer Meet Addison, a 42-year-old living in Huston Texas. She loves the outdoors and shopping. When she shops for things for her house or even clothes she does a lot of research on the company and overall quality of the product. After spending all day teaching her 4th grade class, she loves coming home to her beautiful country style ranch. In her spare time Addison loves camping and bird watching with her husband and 3 kids. Meet Sophia, a 64-year-old living in Austin Texas. Both her and her husband are retired and love going on hunting trips. When purchasing products for hunting she does a lot of research to make sure the product meets her and her husband’s hunting needs. She also loves taking her 10 grandchildren and 3 children to the beach. Target Audience Overview From the data presented above we understand that the target audience is comprised of white, college graduate, 40-64 year-olds. Their average household income is from $75,000 to over $100,000. These individuals live in the South, specifically Texas. When shopping they are considered “average” impulse shoppers, have no influence from others when purchasing products, and rely on heavily researching a product before purchasing it. Additionally, in their spare time they love going to the beach or bird watching.

Page 10: The Coolest Cooler

Outlets to Advertise in Advertising in the right publication can be a great way to promote the Coolest Cooler. The magazines choses present a more directly targeted approach, considering we are paying to advertise in these outlets. From the represented data there are five publications to consider for advertising the Coolest Cooler in. Below are the publications and the cost of advertising. Huston Family Huston Family is a free family publication that is offered over 2,500 locations in five counties of Greater Huston. For over 25 years this has been a trusted resource for parents featuring advice, fun things to do with the family, camping, and much more. The distribution is 60,000 printed monthly. The reader demographic for their circulation is females with a median age of 36 with a house hold income of 75,000 or more—perfectly fitting in our target audience. These women read this magazine to find fun things to do for their families and would be perfect to advertise a cooler in because the cooler can be the perfect companion during family activities. The advertising rates for the print magazine are as follows:

http://www.houstonfamilymagazine.com/wp -content/uploads/2012/06/2014MediaKit.pdf

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Austin Woman Austin Woman magazine focuses on family travel, gardening, self-empowerment, and lifestyle stories for women. Over 27,000 copies are printed each month and are available at over 1,250 locations around the Greater Austin area. The reader demographics of the magazine match our target demographics, including 93% of the readers are female, 73% are between 30-60, and 60% of readers earn $100,000 or more.

Advertisements are sold from full page all the way to quarter page advertisements. For more information on advertisement sales email [email protected], or call 512.328.2421. http://www.austinwomanmagazine.com/public/uploads/files/general/AW_2014_MediaKit_web.pdf Austin Family Austin Family magazine features all things family, fun activities for parents and kids, and lifestyle editorials. The magazine distributes 35,000 copies each month and is present at over 500 locations including Whole Foods. The locations such as whole foods is likely where our target demographic shops and would see this magazine (women age 40-60, white, shopping for their family.) For more information on advertising contact: Kaye Lowak at 512-733-0038 x1 or email [email protected].

Page 12: The Coolest Cooler

Texas Journey Texas Journey Magazine offers coverage of local news, lifestyle editorial and consumer information on travel. Further, the magazine offers advice on travel, local events and attractions. Produced by AAA, the magazine is published six times a year. The circulation reaches 1,015,000 individuals. The reader demographic for this magazine reflects the target demographic of the Coolest Cooler. The median age for the magazine is 50 years old, 73% attended or graduated college, with the median household income of $89,027. Advertisements are sold from full-page spreads to 1/6 of a page. The cost is as follows:

http://www.ajrmediagroup.com/media_kits/Product_Partners/AAA/AAA_Texas_Journey/Texas_Journey_2016_Media_Kit.pdf Texas Parks and Wildlife Texas Parks and Wildlife is a magazine focusing on a guide to the outdoors, particularly outdoors recreation including fishing, hunting, camping, boating, traveling, and more. This is a monthly publication with the total paid & verified circulation of 114,987 according to Media Mark. This magazine would be perfect for advertising the Coolest Cooler because all these recreational events require a cooler. The advertising rates can be obtained by emailing or calling the Advertising Director, Jim Stone at [email protected] or Phone: (512) 799-1045.

Page 13: The Coolest Cooler

Outlets to Pitch to As articulated throughout this report, the target geographic for the Coolest Cooler is Texas. There is an abundance of opportunity to pitch stories to various Texas media outlets including newspapers, magazines, and television. We are focusing on Texas publications because this is the geographic location of our target audience. We are pitching specifically to publications and outlets that offer sections in technology, travel, and lifestyle because the overall use of the product. There is a grander approach, while all these outlets have the same reader/viewer demographic as our target audience; they have a much wider reach/circulation then the outlets to advertise in. Reason being we can get more of our target audience and potentially others to hear about our product. Below are the selected outlets and the reasoning behind them. As a side note, we should consider holding a press conference to address the negative publicity we have received. This gives us a proactive approach to gaining more national media coverage, to address issues the coolest cooler has had, and to properly craft the messages we want in the media. NBC 5 – KXAS NBC 5 is the Texas specific NBC. As a television station, they offer breaking news, technology, and business stories, among others. It is the 5th largest station in the United States and over 5.27 million residents watch that are 18+. They also featured across several platforms including social media and a mobile application. The DMA includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Grapevine

and Denton. Total viewers ranging from 25-54 year olds included 59,996 individuals at 10pm news while 34,644 individuals tuned in at 6pm. Additionally, 31.60% of their target audience has a college degree or higher, as well as having a household income of greater than 75K. The description of the viewer demographic matches our target audience.

Page 14: The Coolest Cooler

Based on the viewer demographic matching our target audience, the stories that were aired would be directing hitting our target audience. It would be great to pitch a story focusing on the technology featured in the product as well as the variety of ways to use it. Maybe even pitch how it is the perfect companion on hiking trips, beach trips, or for a tailgate. http://www.unclebarky.com/dfw.html http://www.nbcstations.com/dfw/ Texas Monthly Texas Monthly is a magazine and digital publication. As a regional magazine, it focuses on the urban Texas audience featuring stories on crime, politics, sports, business, culture, and lifestyle. Additionally, it publishes in-depth feature stories and profiles on books, art, music, restaurants, and products. Texas Monthly has a total readership of 2.7million. The magazine delivers the state’s largest and most affluent print audience. Subscribers make up 91% of the magazine’s audience. These readers act on information they see published in the magazine: 93% take action as a result of reading Texas Monthly. Additionally, the subscriber demographic matches our target audience. They have over 300,000 subscribers, both male and female with the average age of 62. Additionally, 91% attended or graduated college and have a household income of 48% $100,000+. Based on our matching target audience with the subscriber demographic, as well as the prominence this publication has in Texas, it would be a great magazine to pitch stories to. Specifically, we can pitch it as a ‘up-and-coming’ product that is a great product for their travel loving readers. http://www.texasmonthly.com/about/media-kit/

Page 15: The Coolest Cooler

KTVT-TV ch 11, DT ch 19 (CBS) CBS 11 is home to breaking news coverage and where Texas turns to for sports and entertainment. The station reaches a total of 2,588,020 households. The viewer profile consists of almost 50/50 male and female, with the 31% attending some college, the average age of 49.4 and the average household income of $73,945. The viewer profile matches our target audience. CBS 11 being one of the largest news stations in Texas, as well as the channel directly reaching our target audience, it would be a great platform to pitch stories to. Especially since they are the main source for news on the Dallas Cowboys as well as sports, we could pitch a story focusing on the amazing attributes of the cooler and how it would be perfect for game day tailgating! http://0-www.srds.com.helin.uri.edu/publishersresearch/KTVT_3Q13_MediaKit.pdf

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D Magazine D Magazine is an award winning city magazine of Dallas. Dallas Texas is one of the largest cities in Texas. Each month of the magazine focuses on local aspects of Dallas including: travel, arts, culture, media, business, fashion, etc. They has beautiful and powerful photography. The magazine is a member of the original generation of city magazines including New York Magazine, Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and Chicago. The reader circulation includes 60,971 individuals with a total readership of 551,535. D Magazine is distributed throughout hotels, newsstands, waiting rooms, and subscribers (29,352 paid). The reader demographic includes the average age of 49, 85% have a college or post-graduate degree. The household income is higher than our target audience, however the magazine is skewed 69% female.

D Magazine is one of the bigger magazines in Texas that directly fits our target audience. Thus, but pitching stories to them we are not only reaching our target audience but we can provide a great product for their feature articles. Specifically, they focus on business and personalities—thus we can pitch a story how the Coolest Cooler was funded through Kickstart and has had tremendous success selling their coolers. http://advertise.dmagazine.com/media-kits/d-magazine/demographics/

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The Dallas Morning News

The Dallas Morning News (dallasnews.com) has been in business for over 160 years, providing its readers with the latest news, arts, entertainment, technology, business, and sports. The Dallas Morning News has over 9 million visitors and 4.1 million visitors to their mobile application. The average reader demographic includes the average age of 43, 49% college graduates, and the average household income of $99,088. The reader demographic matches our target audience and would be a great outlet to pitch stories to.

http://dmnmedia.com/resources/media-kits/t

Page 18: The Coolest Cooler

Conclusion Based off the research conducted utilizing Media Mark, Simmons OneView, and SRDS we were able to determine the target audience, five outlets to advertise in and five outlets to pitch stories to. Our target audience is comprised of females, ages 40-64, white and a college graduate. Their average household income is from $75,000 to over $100,000. These individuals live in the South, specifically Texas. When shopping they are considered “average” impulse shoppers, have no influence from others when purchasing products, and rely on heavily researching a product before purchasing it. Additionally, in their spare time they love going to the beach or bird watching. When advertising to outlets, the five chosen were specified to hobbies and the target audience. The five outlets include Huston Family, Austin Woman, Austin Family, Texas Journey, and Texas Parks and Wildlife. When pitching to outlets, the five chosen have a much larger circulation in hopes to target our target audience while reaching a greater audience. The five outlets chosen include NBC 5 – KXAS, Texas Monthly, KTVT-TV ch 11, DT ch 19 (CBS), D Monthly, and The Dallas Morning News.