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Table of Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................1 Marketing Strategy Research...........................................................................2-3 Situational Analysis Competitive Analysis SWOT Analysis Market Segmentation Target Selection Marketing Communication Strategy..............................................4 Objectives Positioning Big Idea Creative Brief Media Plan........................................................................4-6 Media Objectives Overview Media Vehicles Media Tactics Media Schedule Creative Strategy................................................................6-7 Creative Objective Overview of Creative Strategy Creative Plan Budget................................................................................8 Charts Evaluation Plan ROI Appendix Charts and Graphics Creative Appendix Additional Resources and Works Cited
Kennan Wood kennanwood@gmail.com 901.786.4259 Nicole Hodges nhodges405@gmail.com 405.323.2257 Nicole Nazarenus naz.nicole@gmail.com 713.320.1727
Executive Summary
SkyMall, founded in 1990, describes itself as a multi-channel, direct marketer offering high-quality, innovative merchandise from top direct marketers and manufacturers through its SkyMall catalog and web site, skymall.com. The catalog is seen by approximately 88% of all domestic air passengers and reaches more than 650 million air travelers annually. The brands current target includes affluent and well-educated travelers who are receptive to innovative, unique products. With our campaign, we will utilize the brands high awareness rate among a captive audience, and the brand image through resonating marketing strategies. Scheduled to begin in January 2013, our year-long campaign will focus on reinforcing the convenience of SkyMalls in-flight shopping experience as well as the creative, innovative and fun products that it offers. The slogan The Mall With No Walls will be featured on all media to attract our target audience which consists of frequent travelers with little time to shop. These individuals are also technologically savvy and enjoy being early trend adopters. Therefore, our messages will reach the target market using a variety of traditional and nontraditional media vehicles including social media marketing, transportation and airport advertising, a viral video contest and search engine optimization. The combined use of traditional and nontraditional media vehicles will allow us to achieve our campaign objectives. All marketing communication is within our budget of $500,000, with 6.5% left over for contingency costs.
Our marketing efforts will increase out-of-flight exposure, while our creative strategy will update the catalog and website layouts. In effect, our campaign will increase brand awareness and credibility among consumers.
Marketing Strategy
A. Research
Situational Analysis Company Background SkyMall was founded in 1990 and offers the service of providing products from an aggregation of brands. The brand markets itself on its website as a multi-channel, direct marketer that offers high-quality, innovative products from top direct marketers and manufacturers (skymall.com). According to Hoovers, there are 25 airlines that offer the SkyMall magazine in every seat pocket, as well as Amtrak trains, some hotels and airport lounges. Major airlines include AirTran, American, Continental, Delta, Southwest, United and US Airways. Between the catalog and the website, the company offers over 15,000 products in 13 major product categories (Gadling). SkyMall claims that approximately 88% of all domestic air passengers are aware of the brand, which reaches more than 650 million air travelers annually (skymall.com). SkyMalls estimated gross annual revenue in 2011 was $4.4 million (Hoovers). Besides minimal social media efforts and the catalogs placement on many domestic airlines, the company does little to no promotion. Competitive Landscape - Internet and Mail-Order Retail Industry There are approximately 16,000 companies within the Internet and mail-order retail industry in the United States alone. The combined annual revenue of these companies is approximately $235 billion, with the top 50 companies accounting for around 60 percent of this revenue. Therefore, the industry is considered very concentrated, with some of the largest companies in the industry being Amazon, LL Bean, Overstock, Lands End and Hanover Direct. In recent years, the bulk of revenue has also shifted from catalogs to the Internet. Globally, the Internet and mail-order retail category has a combined industry revenue of about $600 billion annually. Germanys Otto Group, the UKs N Brown Group and South Koreas GS Home Shopping are among the largest companies in the global industry (First Research).
company within the industry depends on effective marketing to build a customer base (First Research). Due to the heavy concentration of the industry, we believe SkyMall must drive more effort into its marketing to create top-of-mind awareness in consumers in order to build a loyal customer base. As far as consumer perceptions go, our key finding in both our primary and secondary re-
search is that many people do not take SkyMall as a serious publication from which they would actually buy. Bloggers, such as Cracked.com, have created parodies of the magazine and its products, portraying the catalog as ridiculous. In a small survey we conducted of adults ages 25-54, respondents claimed they only read SkyMall for entertainment purposes, and that they had not or would not actually purchase from the catalog. Many said that they did not need any of the products.
and $100,000, and 53% have home values over $250,000. Most fall within the 34 to 65 year age range and are among the first to adopt new technologies and innovations. They are often busy travelers who lack the time to shop for themselves, making SkyMall a convenient way to make the most of their time (DMEF).
OPPORTUNITIES
Captive in-flight audience Wi-Fi offered on flights can increase potential for in-flight purchases Convenient for frequent travelers with little time to purchase for themselves or others
THREATS
In the Internet and mail-order retail category, the bulk of spending has moved from catalog to Internet sales Flights charging for or lacking Wi-Fi create gap between exposure and purchase opportunity and discourage in-flight purchases Delta Sky Store is in direct competition with SkyMalls product lines, promotional placement, and overall brand image Amazon.com is offered for free on Delta flights
Target Selection
Market Segmentation Domestic Travelers Of domestic travelers surveyed in 2010, those aged 25-44 were slightly more likely to travel for business reasons (Mintel). However, three out of four domestic trips are reportedly taken for leisure purposes (US Travel Association). In 2010, 68% of respondents with household incomes of $75,000-$100,000 reported traveling for vacation or personal reasons. The number one leisure travel activity for U.S. domestic travelers is visiting relatives, followed by shopping and then visiting friends. Therefore, a large number of people reading SkyMall will be on their way to visit someone, giving SkyMall more reason to market its gifts. Many will also already have shopping on their mind, so perhaps they could begin en-route. SkyMall Consumers SkyMalls customer base is almost equally composed of men and women, 93% of whom are married. 69% hold professional, managerial, sales, service and white collar jobs, and within these jobs, they are often the key decision-makers. These customers hold a median annual income between $75,000 Table 1 Target Market and Audience Our campaign will target frequent flyers within the 25-54 age range, the majority of whom
are married professionals with high incomes ($75,000- $100,000). They are frequent travelers with little time to shop, who are technologically savvy and enjoy being early trend adopters.
Market
CDI
Calculation
for
Internet
and
Mail-Order
Catalog
Category
Market %
U.S.
Population
in
Market %
Category
Sales Plane
Travelers,
age
25-54 21.4% 50.6% Frequent
Flyer
Club
Members,
age
25-54 15.1% 50.6%
Source:
MRI
+
To frequent flyers, ages 25-54, who are married with high incomes ranging from $75,000-
$150,000, and often lack time to shop, SkyMall provides the most convenient way of purchasing a variety of high-quality, creative and innovative products during travel. Customers can worry less about using time outside of travel to shop for a variety of quality products for themselves or others and can still stay ahead of the trends. The use of smart phones, laptops and other technological devices will enhance the overall SkyMall experience, allowing airline customers to instantaneously purchase any of SkyMalls thousands of products in-flight. The SkyMall brand character is convenient, innovative and credible. (See Exhibit B: Positioning Table) Big Idea
portation and airport marketing, as well as a viral video contest to effectively communicate to our target audience. Social media, online, in-flight promotion and mobile will help to create awareness and drive our target audience to the website, typically tech-savvy individuals and early trend adopters. Other media vehicles such as transportation, airport and print advertisements, as well as email lists, will help to drive others who are not as technologically advanced, as well as businesses and individuals outside of our target audience, to the SkyMall catalog and SkyMall website.
Media Plan
A. Media Objectives Overview We propose to reach at least 50% of the aware primary target audience, which is 88% of the total target audience, two or more times per week, resulting in a GRP of 100 per week. Rationale The client requests the use of new, innovative ways to engage passengers with SkyMall products and business. Pre and post-flight strategies are considered in the media strategy in order to drive customers from the SkyMall print catalog to the SkyMall website and SkyMall App. Online and print media will be used throughout the campaign to increase sales, not only by engaging new customers, but also by re-engaging previous customers. B. Overview of Media Strategy The traditional and nontraditional media selected for the campaign will drive new customers and reengage prior customers, driving high impression levels and leading to more purchases before, during and after flight. Our main goal is to reach at least 50% of our aware primary target audience, resulting in higher levels of desire and interest as well as more action taken.
Social Media To initially create awareness in the first month, the campaign will begin utilizing social media marketing on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. Online In the first month, the campaign will begin using Google AdWords to drive target individuals to the SkyMall website.
Email Beginning in the first month, SkyMall website and catalog reminders will be sent via email to individuals on the email list in order to keep these customers up-to-date with the newest SkyMall products. Followup emails will be sent to SkyMall customers and emails will accompany boarding passes of participating airline customers, in order to drive target individuals to the SkyMall website. Beginning in the second month and through the sixth month, sales promotions will be sent to the email list during the holidays, including Hanukkah, Christmas, Valentines Day, Mothers Day and Fathers Day.
The potential gross impressions on the Media Tactics chart (See Exhibit D) depict the potential that our selected media vehicles have to reach the target audience. We estimate that the insertions and impressions found in the chart will result from each media vehicle we will employ. The media schedule will be spread across the 2013 calendar year based on media type (See Exhibit E: Media Scheduling Chart).
Creative Strategy
Creative Objectives To use the creative platform to achieve previously stated marketing objectives and increase awareness and purchases for the SkyMall catalog. Secondary objectives involve branding the SkyMall catalog as a high quality magazine for conveniently purchasing new innovative products and gifts. Overview of Creative Strategy Benefit: most convenient way to purchase innovative products and gifts Tone: humorous and gratifying Features: buy in-flight, online access, one-of-a-kind products
Viral Video Contest Beginning in the seventh month, the viral video contest will be used to drive more of our target audience to the SkyMall website and SkyMall App and to create more customer participation and interaction. The contest will end in the last month of the campaign, during which the winner of the contest will be announced. (See Exhibit C: Media Tactics Flow Chart)
Strategy: Print ads will portray SkyMall readers looking at life-improving products that will impress a special someone in their life, whether it be their boss, mother or even their dog. As that someone looks on, they can only hope that one day they will be the lucky owner of such a product. The humorous tone leads to the onlooker receiving the gratification of finally owning a SkyMall product and promises satisfaction for all who buy SkyMall products.
Budget
Budget Allocation (for each media campaign metrics) Total Media Spending: $467,380 out of proposed $500,000 budget (See Object 2: Media Mix Diagram) (See Object 3: Budget Allocation Sheet) Evaluation Plan In order to evaluate the success of the campaign, we will provide certain methods of roughly tracking the amount of purchases that were influenced by our campaign. For each step of our objectives, we will employ an evaluation method in order to determine whether or not they were achieved. Maintaining Awareness In order to determine if our 88% awareness was maintained, we will have purchasers tell us how they heard about SkyMall at the end of their check out process. Without being invasive, we will require that they choose from a list of options from which they might have last heard about SkyMall: social media, search engine, friend, print advertisement, mobile advertisement, in-flight, email and an option for other, in which they can specify how else they might have been led to SkyMall. Generating Top-Of-Mind Awareness This is more difficult to evaluate, but we will create a survey that customers will have the opportunity to fill out, which will ask how they heard about SkyMall, why they chose to purchase from SkyMall, etc. We can also extract from the data on how they heard about SkyMall gathered from the checkout process to determine whether it might be top-of-mind or simply a purchase marked by the convenience of having SkyMall in front of them. Generating Website Traffic We can evaluate the traffic generated by providing promotional codes in our advertisements, tracking click-throughs from our search, mobile, email and social media links. We can also gather this information from the data on how purchasers heard about SkyMall. Increasing Purchases to One per Flight This will be evaluated through combining all of the data found in our evaluation of the previous objectives, as well as tracking the number of purchases made in-flight.
Object 2
Appendix
Exhibit A: Marketing Communications Objectives for 2013 Calendar Year
Media
Tactics
Media
Types Social
Media Facebook Twitter Foursquare Online Google
AdWords Email Followup Boarding
Pass Holiday
Promotions Print SkyMall
Magazines
Placed
in
Participating
Airline
Frequent
Flyer
Lounges In-flight
Promotion Trivia Announcements Mobile GateGuru Flightview Airline
Apps Transportation JFK LAX Airport ATL DFW ORD Viral
Video
Contest TOTAL Insertions 365 365 75 133,590 1 10 5 Impressions 7,753 3,062 2,000 66,795 6,283,932 23,451,000 850,000 Avg.
Frequency 1 1 2 2 2 5 1
1 1 2 2
1 1 1 1 1 1 1.5
Industry Study Social Media Online Email Print In-flight Promotion Mobile Transportation Airport Viral Video Contest Evaluation
Month 3 March
Month 4 April
Month 5 May
Month 6 June
Month 11 November
Month 12 December
*light blue blocks indicate media usage for that category **dark blue blocks indicate idle media periods
Creative Appendix
Exhibit F: Lifetime Customer Value
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Holiday Promotional Emails
Boarding Passes
Blog
person
Website Redesign
Click HERE
Flightview
SkyMall
Gate Guru
Magazine Redesign
Additional Resources
Clear Channel Media Costs and GRP Analysis <http://clearchanneloutdoor.com/assets/downloads/research/eo-grp-analysisexternal.pdf> <http://clearchanneloutdoor.com/assets/downloads/media-planning-guide/201011-eyeson-rates.pdf> Cracked.com - Sky Mall <http://www.cracked.com/funny-5021-skymall/> Confidential Documents on Rates for New York (JFK) and Los Angelos (LAX) Airport Advertising sent from Laura Koss, Market Analysts at JCDeaux Contact information: laura.koss@jcdecauxna.com DirectWorks, Collegiate ECHO Direct/Interactive Marketing Challenge <http://www.directworks.org/Students/Default.aspx?id=288&ekmensel=c57dfa7b _62_72_btnlink> First Research <http://www.firstresearch.com/Industry-Research/Internet-and-Mail-Order-Retail. html> Gadling, SkyMall Monday: An Interview with SkyMall CEO Christine Aguilera - Mike Barish <http://www.gadling.com/2009/05/18/skymall-monday-an-interview-with-skymallceo-christine-aguilera/> Hoovers Company Reports <http://www.hoovers.com> Mashable, Delta Wants You to Shop Amazon While Flying - Samantha Murphy <http://mashable.com/2012/03/05/delta-wi-fi-amazon/> Mintel, US Travel Market - January 2010 <http://academic.mintel.com.proxy-remote.galib.uga.edu/sinatra/oxygen_ academic/search_results/show&/display/id=482447/display/id=504721?select_ section=482447> RITA, Bureau of Transportation Statistics <http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=1> The New York Times, Coffee, Tea, Lawn Ghoul? - Sarah Kershaw <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/fashion/30skymall.html?adxnnl=1& pagewanted=print&adxnlx=1328472600-GSvq0ru8BxDCGmA/yUbwog> US Travel Association <http://www.ustravel.org/sites/default/files/page/2009/11/USTravelAnswerSheet. pdf> All images courtesy of Google Images and for educational purposes only. No copyright infringment intended.