Unit 3, Part II, Assignment 3b, Part 2
Assignment #3b, Part 2
The Campaign: Create a mock Wal*Mart advertising campaign.
Read:
http://ezinearticles.com/?Advertising—How-to-Find-Your-Target-Audience&id=2385285
2. Review the platforms of advertising available from Unit 2.
3. Estimate the cost of each ad placement:
NOTE** this is a crisis response campaign. Soon we will be doing a new product campaign.
Part 2 is due Tuesday, July 27 at 5 p.m.
1. Identify the Wal*Mart Brand.
Walmart has several brands but the most important is Great Value which is used primarily for grocery items.
Walmart has expanded its private store brand to over 5,200 items in over 100 product categories.
The Walmart Great Value brand is now the largest grocery brand in the world.
Pictured below are some examples of the Walmart Great Value private store brand of grocery items:
Wal-Mart CMO Defends Private-Label Expansion
WalMart switching to cheap generic items due to economy? Great Value brand
Background Information
“…The retailer’s Great Value brand, first introduced in 1993, spans more than 100 categories and is the country’s largest food brand in both sales and volume.
With a strong focus on better quality, Walmart worked with several hundred suppliers and product testing facilities to:
- Test more than 5,250 products against leading national brands to ensure Great Value quality is equal to or better;
- Conduct more than 2,700 consumer tests to compare the flavor, aroma, texture, color, and appearance of Great Value products against leading national brands;
- Change the formulas for 750 items including: breakfast cereal, cookies, yogurt, laundry detergent, and paper towels; and
- Introduce more than 80 new products, such as: thin crust pizza, fat free caramel swirl ice cream, strawberry yogurt, organic cage-free eggs, double stuffed sandwich cookies, teriyaki beef jerky and more, all at unbeatable prices….”
- “…According to new consumer data from GfK Custom Research North America, 75 percent of shoppers, say the “current economic conditions” are playing a big role in their decision whether to purchase national or grocery store brands. Additionally, three out of 10 consumers in the study say they are now “buying more store brand products” compared to a year ago, and more than 77 percent of respondents “agree” that the store brands they buy “are as good as, if not better than, national brand products.”
“…According to new consumer data from GfK Custom Research North America, 75 percent of shoppers, say the “current economic conditions” are playing a big role in their decision whether to purchase national or grocery store brands. Additionally, three out of 10 consumers in the study say they are now “buying more store brand products” compared to a year ago, and more than 77 percent of respondents “agree” that the store brands they buy “are as good as, if not better than, national brand products.” …”
“…Walmart operates Walmart discount stores, supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and Sam’s Club locations in the United States. The Company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Japan, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico and the United Kingdom. The Company’s securities are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol WMT. More information about Walmart can be found by visiting http://www.walmartstores.com. Online merchandise sales are available at http://www.walmart.com and http://www.samsclub.com. ..”
http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/news/9028.aspx
2.Target Audience
The primary target audience are current Walmart shoppers who may buy a few or no national brands but are currently purchasing the Walmart Great Value private label mainly due to the significantly lower price compared to the national brands.
The secondary target audience is current Walmart shoppers who also have the discretionary income to purchase national brands at Walmart and usually do so and might consider switching to the Great Value brand.
The tertiary target audience for the advertisements are consumers who either never shop or only rarely shop at Walmart but who have the discretionary income to purchase and usually purchase both national brand names and value brands from Walmart competitors such as Kroger and Target.
3. Review the platforms of advertising available from Unit 2.
The advertising platforms considered for the advertising campaign include the following:
Direct Mail
Advantages: High audience selectivity, flexibility, no ad competition with the same medium, allows personalization.
Limitations: Relatively high cost per exposure, “junk mail” image
Newspapers
Advantages: Flexibility, timeliness, good local market coverages, broad acceptability, high believability.
Limitations: Short life, poor reproduction quality, small pass-along audience.
Magazines
Advantages: High geographic and demographic selectivity, credibility and prestige, high-quality reproduction, long life and good pass-along readership.
Limitations: Long ad-purchase lead time, high cost, no guarantee of position.
Internet
Advantages: High selectivity, low-cost, immediacy, interactive capabilities.
Limitations: Small audience, relatively low impact, audience controls exposure.
Radio
Advantages: Good local acceptance, high geographic and demographic selectivity, low-cost.
Limitations: Audio only, fleeting exposure, low attention, fragmented audiences.
Television
Advantages: Good mass-market coverage, low-cost per exposure, combines sight, sound, and motion, appealing to the senses.
Limitations: High absolute costs, high clutter, fleeting exposure, less audience selectivity.
Outdoor
Advantages: Flexibility, high repeat exposure, low-cost, low message competition, good positional selectivity.
Limitations: Little audience selectivity, creative limitations.
4. Estimate the cost of each ad placement:
I recommend an outdoor digital billboard or sign located in front of each Walmart store where the advertisements can be frequently rotated and changed over the internet.
A digital billboard or sign offers the advantages of flexibility, high repeat exposure, low message competition, and good positional selectivity.
The cost would be the purchase of the billboard, running the billboard and the of producing the advertisement for the billboard.
The cost of digital billboards is falling and runs between $100,000 to $500,000 depending upon the size and whether its is a fixed or mobile unit.
The monthly cost of running the ad varies from $1,000 to $10,000 per month again depending upon the size and whether it is fixed or mobile.
The ads are relatively simple and can be produced either in-house or through an advertising agency.
Photographs of the Great Value brand products would be the main image used in the advertisements together with the text message and images of national brands.
Walmart already has an excellent website for looking up all the products carried in their stores for both national brands and the Great Value private store brand.
http://www.walmart.com/cp/Grocery/976759
The website address can be included in the advertisement for latter lookup by the prospective Walmart shopper.
Once the above outdoor billboards and signs are in place, a thirty-second radio and television commercial promoting the Great Value private store brand should be considered.
I would keep the advertisement simple with video or photographs of a selection of Great Value products and a text message.
The production of the commercial would cost between $50,000 to $250,000 depending upon the creatives used.
The cost of each spot would vary by each city or market selected, the length of the advertisement campaign, when the spot is run and what demographics are trying to be reached.
Walmart should first test the commercials in local markets to determine the relative pull of the advertisements in terms of increased sales.
Background Information
Bright Lights, Big Impact
“…Edina is part of a group of trendsetting advertisers that are pioneering the use of what the Federal Highway Administration, or FHWA, calls electronic variable message signs. These large, computerized displays marry the choice location of traditional roadside billboards with the opportunity for customization and frequent updating that is the hallmark of Web advertising. Today, there are nearly 800 of these digitized billboards in the U.S. It’s a small number compared with 450,000 traditional billboards across the country, but it’s growing fast. The Outdoor Advertising Association of America, an industry trade group, projects that the number of digital billboards in the U.S. will expand at a rate of several hundred per year.
Though some big companies, like McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), are active advertisers on such venues, most digital billboards–as with traditional billboards–feature ads for regional and local companies. Prices vary according to a sign’s size and location, but the cost of advertising on a digital billboard runs from $1,200 to $10,000 a month, and the ad campaigns are typically not expensive to create. Most ad agencies can handle the work, and some companies even design their own digital billboard ads in-house using basic design software such as Adobe Illustrator and Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) Final Cut Pro.
It’s not difficult to under stand why digital billboards are attractive to advertisers. They are bright and eye-catching and can convey multiple marketing messages at once. Marketers can arrange to have computerized ads change with much greater frequency than typical outdoor ads, timing their message to the season, the day of the week, and even the time of day. For instance, Edina Realty used its billboards to promote a number of time-sensitive sales and special offers. …”
“…Moreover, the technology that makes the signs work has fallen in price by more than half over the past few years, to $200,000 to $500,000 per sign, depending on size. In turn, the rates charged to advertisers have come down. And in September, the FHWA issued a memo stating that digital billboards violated no law. The ruling assuaged concerns among local and state officials who worried that the signs could pose a traffic hazard. It is generally accepted that if a motorist takes his or her eyes off the road for two seconds or longer, the likelihood of an accident greatly increases. The FHWA is working on a safety study concerning digital billboards; it is scheduled to be released at the end of 2009. For the time being, the agency recommends that the images on digital billboards remain static for at least four seconds–long enough, the agency believes, to ensure that the signs are no more distracting than standard billboards. (Many municipalities go further, requiring that an ad remain in place for no less than six seconds. …”
Digital Signage Replaces Static Print and Billboards
“…Digital signage involves a huge array of technologies that virtually replaces traditional retail signs. The static print signs and billboards people are used to seeing will soon be replaced with digital signage composed of electronic content and messages that are both targeted and interactive for everyone.
Plasma display panels, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) and scrolling message boards are currently the most common methods of projecting full-motion videos, sounds and text content. With digital signage, a manager or retailer is able to control and display any message they choose and deliver it to the public quickly and effectively. …”
// //
“…The benefits of using digital signage can be condensed into five important aspects:
1. Monitor and Manage Your Content
Digital signage software allows managers or retailers to easily add, remove or edit their content, and stream real-time broadcasting for instant delivery.
2. Give Your Business Better Visibility and Exposure
Whether your digital signage is indoor or outdoor, this software allows the use of any number of electronic devices that can be used to give your business the exposure it needs. These devices can include plasma screens, electronic billboards, kiosks, LCD monitors, HDTVs, touchscreen monitors and so many others.
3. Multiple Applications and Uses
Digital signage can be used for so many different tasks, such as retail advertising, employee training, consumer information, weather updates, corporate communication and much more.
4. Increased Revenue From Selling Advertising Space
Your digital signage software can generate more income through selling advertising space to your suppliers. Promote new brands or products by working with related manufacturers or advertise an upcoming corporate event. The possibilities are endless.
5. Target Your Audience
Changing the content of your digital signage is so quick and easy, you will be able to target any specific audience you desire during any time of day or night. …”
5. Outline which method(s) of advertising you wish to use, how long you think the ads should run and where they should run AND WHY. Local? Or National?
*This will require research
I would use outdoor digital billboards advertising using large LCD displays located near the street to attract passing motorists into the Walmart stores as well as mobile advertising trucks that can be parked at a Walmart store and moved to other stores in an area.
The adverstisements would run 24 hours per day, 7 day a week, 365 days per year and could be easily changed over the internet giving maximum exposure and flexibility.
Outdoor Advertising-Speech of the Street
VTV Outdoor Digital Billboard, 04/02/09
LED Billboard
Lamar LED Billboard
Digital Mobile Billboards Nationwide
U.S. Billboard Business Prepares Big Change
Selling Ads Into Store Windows: The New Billboards
6. Select a theme that correlates with the Wal-Mart brand.
What should the ads say? What overall message should they convey?
You do not have to create any ads, just plan the type and frequency you wish to run.
The theme and name for the advertising campaign will be:
Walmart– Guilty By Association–Guilty As Charged!
The ad will convey that Walmart carries quality national brands as well as the Walmart Great Value private store brand for most product categories, offers them at low unbeatable prices and provides great service from its team of associates.
The ad will also use the phrase Great Value which is also the name of the Walmart brand.
http://walmartstores.com/pressroom/Photos/Gallery.aspx?id=605
http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/the_great_white_wash.php
The headline and body text of the ad will be surrounded by the logos of participating national brand names and will appear something like this:
Guilty By Association
Quality Brands
at
Unbeatable Prices
a
Great Value
with
Courteous Service
from
Walmart Associates
now
Shop & Buy
at
Guilty As Charged!
For example the following logos national brand names are currently appearing on the Walmart web site:
The ads will run continuously on an outdoor billboard and sign in front of every Walmart store to attract passing motorists. The ads will be rotated or switched every minute so that a passing motorists sees different ads each time he passes with the same message but with a different selection of Great Value products in the photograph.
Background Information
Walmart’s Private Label Product Packaging Re-Design
http://mattearleyworks.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/walmarts-private-label-product-package-re-design/
Wal-Mart chooses new advertising agency
Martin Agency known for quirky campaigs for GEICO and UPS
“…NEW YORK — Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Friday that it has picked Interpublic Group of Co.’s Martin Agency, known for its quirky ads for GEICO insurance company and UPS, to help spearhead the discounter’s future image with consumers.
The decision comes after the world’s largest retailer in early December dumped its newly hired Draft FCB, another division of Interpublic Group, two days after the highly publicized firing of a top marketing executive, Julie Roehm along with her subordinate, Sean Womack.
Wal-Mart said Friday that Martin Agency will handle its creative responsibilities, and announced that Publicis Groupe SA’s MediaVest will oversee media buying and planning duties. Wal-Mart’s media and creative business is worth more than $500 million
Martin’ client list includes other big names such as Hanes and Discover Card. MediaVest’s long-standing clients include Coca-Cola Co. and Procter & Gamble Co.
“We’ve assembled a top-tier group of marketing partners that have deep retail experience, recognized creativity and an understanding of our customers,” said John Fleming, chief marketing officer at Wal-Mart, in a statement.
In an interview, John B. Adams, chairman and CEO of Martin Agency, based in Richmond, Va., said the agency’s “strong middle-American perspective” and its expertise in “provocative ads” make for a good combination for Wal-Mart. Its GEICO ads featured cavemen and testimonials from personalities like Little Richard.
“It is a useful perspective in doing work for Wal-Mart,” Adams said. ”
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