Upload
lamdieu
View
224
Download
2
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Smarties Integrated Marketing Communication
Campaign Proposal
Holly Keener
Radford University
1 of 31
Table of Contents
Situation Analysis 2-3
The Product & Company 4
Target Market Analysis 5-6
The Goal & Evaluation of the Goal 7
Positioning Strategy 8
Message Strategy 9-10
Media Strategy 11-17
Sales Promotion 18-22
Timing 23-25
Budget 26
Conclusion 27
References 28
Appendices 1-3 29-31
2 of 31
Situation Analysis
In today’s market, thousands of different candy companies exist all competing to be
number one in consumer’s minds often by creating new products. Consumers have an endless
array of options to choose from on a candy aisle from sugary, to sour, to fruity to chocolate to
nutty or any combination of these. With so many options to choose, it is no wonder that candy
companies are consistently trying to create that next “big” product for consumer’s taste buds.
Many have tried and failed with inventions such as Dr. Pepper Gum, Yoo-Hoo Chocolate
Bar or Tangy Taffy. Since candy is often consumed seasonally with specific holidays bringing in
additional revenue such as Halloween and Easter, many companies have invented seasonal
products or varieties such as Cadbury Eggs, Candy Corn, or Peeps. Others consistently get it
right and are able to target the market extremely well such as M&M’s, Hershey and Wonka
candy. While others have stayed true to what their product has always been and only varied
slightly if at all such as, Mary Janes, Blow Pops, Sugar Daddy and Now & Laters. It is in this last
category that Smarties is apart and although still very much alive in the market today, is not
living up to its full potential of what it was when it was first created or what it could be in
today’s and future markets.
With new candies of all shapes, sizes, flavors and uniqueness being invented daily, it is
no wonder that Smarties has fallen to the side as one of the primary candies in today’s world.
Children of all ages want the latest and greatest candy that catches their attention at the store and
provides a bold unique flavor that no other candy can provide. Smarties, while popular many
years ago, is no longer fully satisfying their consumers needs and must change a variety of
marketing, advertising and communication strategies in order to not only stay in today’s market
but be at the top once again.
3 of 31
It should also be noted that in Europe, there is a product called Smarties manufactured by
Nestle. This product has been around for over 100 years and only adopted the name Smarties in
1993. The only thing that Nestle Smarties and Smarties have in common is the name; the
products are quite the opposite. Nestle Smarties are colorful sugar-coated chocolate much like
M&M’s. Although these products are very dissimilar, Smarties should take caution in marketing
their product abroad as Nestle Smarties is a very popular product in Europe. For this reason
among many additional reasons consisting of time constraints and budget, the focus of this
campaign and the strategies used within will remain in the United States and Canada. Upon
evaluating the success of this campaign, an additional campaign may be implemented in the
future abroad.
4 of 31
The Product and Company History
Smarties, as referred to on their website are “America’s favorite candy wafer roll!”. The
original flavored Smarties are the most popular and have a sweet, sour and fruity taste. The
original wafer roll consists of six different colored small tablet-like candies throughout the
package. Each package is individually wrapped and consists of fifteen Smarties. Because of this
the product is purchased in bulk bags that contain many individually wrapped Smarties rolls.
Over the years, Smarties has expanded its product to include, Love Hearts, Candy Money,
Tropical Smarties, X-TREME Sour Smarties, Bubble Gum Smarties, Smarties Double Lollies,
Smarties Pops, Smarties Mega Lollies and Candy Lipsticks. The majority of these products,
excluding the jumbo size original Smarties, are not easily accessible in local stores and perhaps
because of this, less popular and well-known.
Smarties are a product of Ce De Candy, Inc which is a privately owned company
headquartered in Union, New Jersey. Founded in 1949, Ce De Candy, Inc. began in a rented
facility and has grown in popularity not only in the U.S. but in Canada as well. Today, Ce De
Candy, Inc. has a factory in Union, New Jersey as well as Newmarket, Ontario that produces
billions of Smarties annually. According to their website, “Placed end to end, they would span
over 85 thousand miles which is more than 3 times around the Earth!” Although they are
producing billions of candies annually, Smarties needs to reposition itself in the market to
maintain and enhance their position in order to thrive in such a competitive market.
5 of 31
Target Market Analysis
Smarties target market consists of three very different groups of people; children, adults
who have children and adults who consumed the product when they were children. Their primary
audience of who they should appeal visually and contextually to is children, more than likely
children less than the age of twelve. Children of this age willingly accept new products that are
fun, unique and exciting. They have little interest in what is boring, old-fashioned or healthy.
Currently, Smarties is not directly appealing to their primary audience and needs to implement
several strategies, which will be discussed in detail further on, to reconnect their product with
consumers.
Although children are the primary consumers of many types of candy, they are not the
primary purchasers. Smarties must be mindful of their secondary audiences of adults who have
children. Adults with children are more than likely between the ages of twenty-five and forty-
five. When it comes to candy consumption, adults with children often keep health concerns, cost,
and mess in mind when it comes to purchasing candy for their children to consume. Smarties,
compared to many other candies in the market, is a very simple candy and can appeal well to
younger children while still pleasing their parents with its petite size and minimal cost.
Lastly, Smarties needs to appeal to adults who consumed the product as children.
Although this audience segment more than likely buys other candy as well, they are somewhat
brand loyal to Smarties because it reminds them of their earlier memories as a young child eating
the product. This audience is between the ages of forty-five to sixty years old and may be more
difficult to target directly. Since this audience is not the primary purchasers or consumers of the
product and rather a small fraction within the general audience population, this particular
campaign will not target these individuals directly.
6 of 31
Because of the current lack of advertising by Smarties, none of these audiences are being
targeted right now at all and therefore any amount of advertising and marketing that Smarties
increases in regards to their product will more than likely reach all target audiences in some way.
With that being said, the campaign efforts will focus primarily on attracting children under the
age of twelve and their parents with the hopes of reaching their secondary audiences in some
fashion along the way. After more data is collected throughout this campaign, future campaign
efforts could target these secondary audiences more specifically however, for the purpose of this
campaign, the advertising and marketing efforts will be primarily focused towards younger
children and their parents.
7 of 31
The Goal & Evaluation of the Goal
The primary goal of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing of the Smarties
product by 10% within the United States and Canada. This campaign will attempt to increase
consumer awareness of the product as a primary competitor in the candy market within the
United States and Canada through increased advertising and marketing directed at Smarties
primary audiences. By increasing promotion and consumer awareness of the product, the goal is
for consumers to not only think more favorable of Smarties but to have this increase their
purchasing behavior of the product.
The campaign will begin in August 2010 and will conclude in July 2011. The campaign
efforts will be evaluated based on the consumer purchasing data of Smarties products at the end
of campaign year and compared with data from the previous year for the purpose of evaluating
whether the campaign efforts were successful at reaching the 10% increase in consumer
purchasing of all Smarties products.
8 of 31
Positioning Strategy
Currently in local grocery and candy stores, Smarties is often found at the bottom of the
shelf if it is there. Some grocery stores don’t even have the candy available for purchase at all or
only have the original Smarties. The “competition” surrounding Smarties is often in bulk candy
form and is commonly known as the cheap candy option that is often purchased around
Halloween and other occasions where a substantial amount of candy is needed for a cheap price.
Although Smarties is benefitting from being known as a cheaper candy option, they must
try to move up the shelves to the forefront of consumer’s minds. By changing their package and
advertising, Smarties will become more noticeable. Additionally, Smarties could offer stores
with a cardboard cutout feature of their new character which may help to further advertise their
product and position their product in a noticeable area in the store. By positioning the product in
a notable place not only in the store but in the candy market as a whole, consumers will become
more aware of Smarties products and what the company as whole has to offer them.
In order to increase consumer awareness of Smarties, Smarties must find multiple ways
for consumers to become aware of its product. Currently, Smarties is not appealing to its
audience in any way other than being a product available for purchase on the shelves of candy
retailers. With that being said, Smarties needs to create a mascot to represent its product, enhance
its current website; introduce commercials, product placement and additional products into the
public. They need to join social networking sites, conduct competitions that directly interact with
consumers, carry out seasonal marketing and perform philanthropy for the purpose of making
consumers more aware of the Smarties brand year round with the goal of increasing consumer
purchasing by 10% after the conclusion of the campaign year.
9 of 31
Message Strategy
The overall message strategy of this campaign is to further promote Smarties as a primary
competitor in the candy market. Smarties will keep advertising and messages consistent
throughout its website, commercials, Facebook page and in-store advertisements. The majority
of the communication from Smarties will be directed at the primary audience of children under
the age of 12 and parents of these children. The other target audience of those that grew up with
the candy will not be the primary target of this campaign although the advertisements that will be
used may influence them and their purchasing tendencies.
The slogan that will be used throughout the campaign is “Be a Smartie”. The logo that is
currently used will continue to be used however, will be digitally enhanced and slightly updated
to further represent the new advertising and be more consistent with other competitors in the
candy market. Additionally, in order to keep messages consistent throughout the website,
Facebook page, commercials, and in stores Smarties will adopt a mascot to further represent the
brand.
The Smarties Mascot
One of the main advertising tools that Smarties can use in order to add cohesion to its
new campaign is to create a character or mascot to represent the brand. Many companies use a
character to add personality to the candy to further engage the audience into understanding and
liking the candy and what the candy and company means to them. Some companies use a
seemingly unrelated character to add personality to the candy such as the owl for Tootsie pops or
Willy Wonka for the Wonka product line. Other companies use the actual candy itself as the
character for the candy such as M&M, Peeps, Nerds and Lemonhead.
10 of 31
Because of the memorable personality and imagery that these characters provide the
consumers as well as the brand as a whole, Smarties will adopt this advertising technique in to
their campaign with the creation of Artie the Smartie worm. Each segment of Artie’s body will
be a different color of Smartie. Artie will be colorful and fun and will be featured in all of the
advertising done by Smarties throughout the year. He will be featured on the website in the
games provided, and on commercials where his personality will be discovered and enjoyed. A
small version of him will be on the new Smarties wrapper as well. Additionally, a small Artie the
Smartie worm could be placed on the register checkout area so consumers would see the product
right before purchasing their other items. By placing Artie near the checkout area, consumers
will become more aware of the product by visibly seeing it more clearly in the store and even
more so seeing the product right before a purchase while they wait may increase they likelihood
to buy the product.
Artie the Smartie worm will provide cohesion to the brand and provide consumers with a
recognizable and memorable image of the product. Artie will create a personality for the brand in
which consumers can in a way “befriend” Smarties and learn to love and enjoy him and the
product further.
11 of 31
Media Strategy
Smarties will use a variety of media in order to further reach their primary and secondary
audiences. They will offer information on their new website, use social networking as a
communication tool, air commercials, use product placement and various public relations efforts
throughout the campaign year to increase consumer awareness and purchasing of the Smarties
products.
The Website
In order to set the base for the campaign, the first thing that Smarties will change is their
website. Their website, albeit colorful, is not keeping up with the competition and is not fully
appealing to their audience. Many other candy product websites are in HD color, informative,
fun and highly interactive. Currently, Smarties website, although somewhat informative, does
not represent the information in a fun and inviting way. Their website does not invite the viewer
to further explore the website and rather seems available for quick and simple information. Even
though the Smarties product may be simple, their website does not have to be and shouldn’t be.
If Smarties wants to change the current image of their company not only in the public’s eye but
in the online sphere as well, they need to change the overall image, formatting and interactivity
of the website.
Overall, Smarties needs to enhance the image of its website by using brighter, enhanced
and more graphic images and text. The website needs to appear new, fresh and in keeping with
the times. The Smarties logo should pop at the top and could even benefit with the addition of
movement to the text. Even though the rainbow background is somewhat childlike it seems
unprofessional and perhaps too pronounced. The tabs in red on the left do not stand out enough
against the hot pink background. The background needs to be simplified so that the product
12 of 31
content and product itself becomes the focus. Above all of these, rather than using “real life”
images of the product, Smarties would benefit from making the graphics and texts more cartoon-
like so they could be further enhanced through color and interactivity. This would make the
website seem more professional, put together and consistent with the competitors in the market.
Secondly, Smarties needs to change the format of the website. Although the tabs are
clearly labeled and take you to the correct section, a substantial amount of clicking is needed to
find out more information on each page. With the addition of tabs that once scrolled over break
down further before clicking, the information may be more clearly found. Currently, the text runs
together on the page and the information becomes lost to the viewer. By further breaking down
the information, it will be more easily received by the viewer. Additionally, the Online Store
page doesn’t seem connected to the Smarties website based on its image alone. The format and
color scheme of the Online Store should be consistent with the entire website as to not confuse
customers into thinking that they are being taken away to an outside source to order the product.
Thirdly, the overall format is not portrayed in a fun way. Although a good amount of
information can be found about the product on the website, the information is not portrayed in a
fun way. By making the website more interactive, the website’s information will pop even more.
The website could become more interactive through the cartoonization and animation of its
graphics as previously mentioned as well as through the games it offers and through a more in
depth feedback with consumers.
The website currently has an option for kids only to play games but these games are not
representative enough of the product. Currently, there is a puzzle, bubble trouble, word search
and air hockey. Although the puzzle does form the logo of Smarties, this is the only game out of
four that directly promotes the product. Why not have the bubbles in Bubble Trouble be
13 of 31
Smarties? Rather than having the unrelated game of air hockey or boring word search, Smarties
could have a paint option where you click/drag Smarties to form a picture, a game that focuses
on the life of the new character that represents the Smarties brand or even a short quiz about the
product that provides the player with a discount coupon on their next Smarties purchase or even
just on their next Smarties purchase on their specific website.
Lastly, consumer feedback is key when evaluating the success of your product. Consumer
feedback allows you to evaluate what you are doing well, what you could do better and what you
need to change altogether. The current website has a very simple “contact us” page that seems to
be a typical form from a template. Smarties could add a customer satisfaction survey, more
information on how to contact the company directly, or even just give the consumer a time frame
in which they will be contacted back by as M&M’s does. They should also highlight the fact
somewhere on the website that consumers can now become a fan of Smarties on Facebook as
will be discussed in the next section of this campaign proposal. This will provide consumers with
an additional route to find out more information and contact the company in an avenue they are
familiar and comfortable with.
Social Networking
With the use of internet and in particular the use of social networking sites being used at
not only a higher rate daily but by a wider audience, Smarties needs to target in this market
segment as well. Being that their primary audience is children who more than likely are not
members of social networking sites, the use of this marketing tool will be more focused to adults
with children. Additionally, by using a social networking site to target consumers, Smarties can
create a database of consumers in which they can gather more specific information about the
14 of 31
demographic and psychographic qualities of the Smarties consumer in order to tailor future
messages towards this audience.
With that being said, Facebook will be used in particular to promote the product.
Smarties will create a page where Facebook members can become a fan. Many companies such
as Outback and Papa Johns have recently implemented this strategy and although the direct
consumer purchasing results of this cannot yet be seen, the overall appearance of the company is
more visible at the very least on social networking sites. On their page Smarties can include
various information about their company, their products, and their website as well as how to
purchase their products.
In order to add an incentive for Facebook members to want to become a fan of Smarties,
the first one hundred fans will win a free “Be a Smartie” t-shirt. After becoming a fan, the first
one hundred fans will be sent a message to reply back with their address and whether they want
an adult or kids t-shirt, for the t-shirt to be mailed. The fans must live in the United States and
Canada to participate. Although mailing t-shirts across the U.S. will cost Smarties money,
promotion from doing so will be seen not only on Facebook but the shirt will be seen in various
parts of the U.S. and Canada to further promote the product throughout time. Also, the first two-
hundred fans will receive a coupon for one free jumbo sized Smarties at their local candy or
grocery store. This will help to increase the overall image of Smarties to consumers and allow
additional consumers to try the product or have their children try the product.
As part of the postings that Smarties will continually need to update throughout the year,
Smarties will include various information about the products being offered during that part of the
year, the competitions they are running, and even play on current events happening to show the
public they are up to date on information. For example on Papa Johns status, they wished
15 of 31
soldiers a Happy Veterans Day and thanked them for their service. This not only promotes Papa
Johns but showed that they are an organization that cares. Smarties can use this strategy and
implement it just as easily within their company and how it is represented on social networking
sites like Facebook.
Commercials
The primary advertising for this campaign will be done through the use of television
commercials on networks primarily focused around children’s shows and during times when
Smarties target audience of children under the age of twelve are viewing the television shows.
The commercials will be aired all across the United States and Canada and will attempt to reach
the maximum amount of people within the target audiences. The higher the frequency of the
commercials throughout the campaign year, the more likely consumers will be to view Smarties
as a direct competitor in the candy market. For this reason, four separate but similar
commercials will be aired throughout the campaign year.
Some of the networks that target children will include: Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and the
Disney Channel. In addition, Smarties will place commercials on more general networks as well
when parents, more than likely mothers, are watching television. Because parents and often
mothers are the member of the family that does the primary grocery and food related purchasing,
targeting them as well is necessary to fully reach both audiences successfully. The networks that
the commercials will appear on may include: Fox, CBS, ABC and The Food Network Channel.
The commercials will air on these networks in the early morning and then again later on in the
evening for the purpose of reaching a variety of viewers at different times of the day.
16 of 31
During the campaign year the commercials used will highlight the unique qualities about
the candy such as cost, taste and size as well as advertise for the “Be a Smartie” competition. The
commercials will direct consumers to further visit Smarties website for more information.
Most importantly, the commercials will be interactive, fun and colorful. They will
introduce and portray the new Smarties mascot, Artie the Smartie worm. In addition, the
commercials will be made up of three dimensional, cartoon-like Smarties candies which come
together to form pictures and tell the story or message that the commercial will convey. For
example, the Smarties will come together and form a picture of a school with Artie walking
through the halls eating Smarties and growing longer, or a beach scene with the new mascot
wiggling along the sand. Because of the extreme creativeness of the commercials, it will make
the consumers want to see more unique, colorful and interesting commercials by Smarties in the
future.
Product Placement
Another way for Smarties to target their primary audience of children is through product
placement. Smarties will contact various children’s television shows such as Fairly Odd Parents,
iCarly and Dora the Explorer and find ways for the characters on the shows to eat or mention the
product which will further promote Smarties as an exciting and delicious candy to be eaten by
children. If children see someone they like or look up to eating the candy, then they themselves
may have a stronger desire to want the candy.
Public Relations
On the current website, Smarties has a whole page devoted to press. This page includes
several outdated advertisements and press releases that are generally not formatted in the best
way. Once clicked upon, some enlarge but still are in very small font. The date and where the
17 of 31
article or advertisement came from are not easily found on anything. Smarties must re-format
this page and include more up to date information regarding the new changes in their advertising
and marketing campaign. By reorganizing this page, consumers will be more easily able to find
current and up to date information.
On Smarties current website, they describe their company, Ce De Candy, Inc., as “ fun
and friendly family business that works hard to provide you with the highest quality, most
delicious candy on the planet”. Through the communication used in all of the advertising,
marketing and public relations efforts of this campaign, the fun, friendly, family business attitude
will be carried out. Smarties products will be portrayed as an exciting candy that is consumer
friendly. The family business attitude will be addressed on the website in regards to the
background information provided by Smarties. In addition, because Smarties will be hosting
competitions that involve both children and parents, Smarties will further promote the
importance of family involvement with their product.
As part of the public relations efforts intertwined in this campaign, Smarties will submit
various news releases to local and public media regarding the rebranding of the current product.
An initial press release would be sent out regarding the overall campaign efforts, the various
competitions that Smarties will host as well as a press release upon the conclusion and evaluation
of the addition of the campaign.
18 of 31
Sales Promotion
The overall objective of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing of Smarties by
allowing consumers to see Smarties products and advertisements throughout the year. In order to
successfully achieve this goal, Smarties needs to create additional products, conduct an
interactive competition, employ seasonal marketing, and carry out environmentally friendly and
philanthropic efforts.
Additional Products
Many companies such as Hershey and M&M have expanded their candy product line to
include additional products that are not candy related in order for their consumers to further
represent and enjoy the candy brand. Currently, Smarties has done this in a very minute way. On
the online store they currently offer, a Smarties t-shirt, pocket folder, koozie, baseball cap,
mouse pad and poster. Although these products are offered and are consistent in the colors used
and logo, they are too consistent, boring and old-fashioned. Smarties merchandise needs to be in
line with the new advertising, it needs to pop as the commercials and website will. In addition,
there needs to be a wider variety of products that their primary audience will want to buy. For
example, Smarties could create a coloring book that shows various individuals, characters and
scenes that somehow connect to Smarties or where the Smarties candy is seen somewhere in the
picture. Additionally, Smarties could offer there new “Be A Smartie” t-shirt on the website.
“Be a Smartie” Competition
One of the main components of this campaign is to incorporate a highly interactive
competition that not only promotes the purchase of Smarties but encourages creativity and the
involvement of children with the product. Children will use Smarties to form three-dimensional
pictures with the product. Children must submit a photograph of themselves with their artwork as
19 of 31
well as a brief biography of who they are, there age, why they love Smarties and why they want
to “Be a Smartie.”
The “Be a Smartie” competition will be implemented March 1, 2011-April 31, 2011 so
that children will be in school and perhaps be able to create additional awareness of the
competition through their network of friends and acquaintances at school. The “Be a Smartie”
competition will be advertised online on Smarties website, on Facebook, as well as on a
commercial that will be aired throughout the United States and Canada before and during the
competition.
Children age twelve and under can participate and will be judged on creativity, use of the
Smarties products and the information they submit about themselves. The information will then
be added to the current database that Smarties creates in order to further understand the qualities
that make up the Smarties consumer. The submissions of the contestants will be judged by age
bracket; for example, children under four years old will only be compared and judged with other
children under the age of four to keep the competition fair. Prizes will be awarded for every age
bracket. So children under the age of four, five-six, seven-eight, night-ten and eleven-twelve will
each receive prizes.
Every child that participates will receive a “Be a Smartie” award complimenting them for
participating and their creativity skills as well as a coupon for a free jumbo sized Smarties. First,
second and third place awards will be given out for each age bracket as well. The third place
award will consist of a “Be a Smartie” t-shirt and poster. The second place award will consist of
“Be a Smartie” t-shirt, poster, coloring book and baseball cap. The first place winner for each
age bracket will receive everything from the third and second place winners as well as a $250
20 of 31
award to their school library. Additionally, the first place winner will have their picture featured
on Smarties website and have the chance to have their picture in one of Smarties commercials.
Seasonal Marketing
In order to increase consumer awareness of the product year round, Smarties needs to
implement the addition and/or enhancement of seasonal flavors and/or packaging. This can
create an atmosphere where consumers look forward to the seasonal variety and could have the
potential to increase consumer purchasing of the product year round. Smarties could only release
their Love Hearts product during Valentine’s Day, their tropical flavored variety in the summer
to go along with the season, or even a package with all blue and white Smarties for winter.
In addition, during the holidays Smarties could team up with a gingerbread or ornament
making company and promote the use of their product to decorate these additional products.
Consumers will become more aware of the Smarties products by spacing out when consumers
see specific advertising and promotional materials for each of the products as well as by keeping
the schedule of when the products are released each year the same.
Philanthropy
In order for Smarties to be seen as a company that cares about the environment and the
health and wellness of its consumers and their friends and family, Smarties will try to enter the
eco-friendly marketplace, further help education within the public school system as well as team
up with various health conscious organizations.
Smarties will enter the eco-friendly marketplace by printing their wrappers on recycled
paper and encourage their consumers to further recycle their wrappers. Even though this may
cost the company more money, in this day and age, people are very interested in eco-conscious
21 of 31
companies and brands and may even pay more for them. Nestle has had success with this
strategy with their Deer Park Bottled Water which is bottled in less plastic than most, uses
recycled plastic and is further recyclable. By entering the eco-marketplace, Smarties will further
be recognized as a respectable and caring brand.
Secondly, Smarties will create a competition in which schools compete to collect the
recyclable wrappers. This will not only further their philanthropy in the eyes of consumers, but
further the consumption of their product. Smarties will hold a four month long competition,
beginning in September 2010 in which schools will compete by sending in wrappers. Holding
the competition in the fall will help to further increase sales of Smarties during the Halloween
and holiday season which is a high candy purchasing time among consumers.
This competition will be advertised for on Smarties website, their Facebook page and in
commercials. On the website, Smarties will have a form for people to fill out and mail in with
their wrappers that asks how many wrappers are being mailed, what school they should be
counted for and the location of the school. At the end of the competition, the school that sends in
the most recycled wrappers will receive a $5,000 donation from Smarties towards the school.
Another way that Smarties can increase consumer awareness of the product year round is
to team up with various organizations to not only further promote their product but promote the
cause as well. Many food related companies such as General Mills and M&M have had success
incorporating this strategy into part of their advertising.
Smarties could team up with Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research and distribute an
all pink Smarties roll with the breast cancer logo on the package during the Valentine’s Day
holiday or team up with Lance Armstrong Livestrong and distribute an all yellow package of
Smarties with the Livestrong logo present on the package during July when the Tour de France
22 of 31
event is happening.. This would not only promote the cause of Susan G. Komen for the Cure
and/or Livestrong but could also increase consumer awareness and purchasing of the product
with the ever changing, unique and seasonal wrapper and further consumer awareness of
Smarties as a company that cares.
23 of 31
Timing
August 2010
The campaign advertising will begin and will consist of a television commercial that will
be aired in the U.S. and Canada. The commercial will introduce the Artie the Smartie
worm and set up an atmosphere in which consumers will want to see more advertising
from Smarties. Additionally, a Facebook page will be created, the website will be
updated featuring the look of the new advertisements. Lastly, a press release will be
submitted to various media regarding the new campaign and rebranding of the company.
September 2010
The school competition for wrappers will begin. A new commercial will be aired
regarding the competition featuring Artie walking through a school shredding Smarties
wrappers and becoming a longer worm as he goes. A cartoon girl or boy will walk behind
him picking up the wrappers. A press release will be submitted to various local and
national media regarding the school competition and Smarties new efforts to help schools
nationwide.
October 2010
The school competition ad will change slightly to include some reference to Halloween
and purchasing the product for the holiday season. Smarties will put updates on their
website informing consumers of the current winners nationwide so schools can track their
progress online throughout the competition. Smarties will work with various television
shows to have their product featured in a show.
24 of 31
November 2010
The original school competition ad will continue to air throughout the month. Smarties
will update their website informing consumers of the current winners nationwide so
schools can continue to track their progress online throughout the competition.
December 2010
The original school competition ad will continue to air throughout the month until the
competition ends December 31, 2010. Smarties will update the current winners for the
last time before the competition ends. Seasonal Smarties products will be made available
online consisting of a gingerbread house, holiday t-shirt, Christmas ornament and
wrapping paper.
January 2011
The school competition winner will be announced online and through a news release, and
a check will be donated to the winning school.
February 2011
The Love Hearts and Susan G. Komen pink Smarties will be made available for
Valentines Day.
March 2011
The “Be a Smartie” competition will begin. A new commercial will air with information
regarding this competition. A press release will also be submitted regarding the
competition.
25 of 31
April 2011
The commercial regarding the “Be a Smartie” competition will air throughout the month
until the competition ends on April 31, 2011. Smarties will work with various television
shows to have the product featured in a show.
May 2011
The winning contestants will be announced. Award letters and prizes will be mailed out.
The winning pictures from the contest will be featured on Smarties website.
June 2011
Tropical/Lance Armstrong Livestrong Smarties will be made available for the season.
The overall winner’s entry from the “Be a Smartie” competition will be featured in the
final commercial regarding Smarties.
July 2011
The campaign will conclude July 31, 2011. Data will be collected regarding the success
of the campaign efforts and the evaluation process will begin.
26 of 31
Budget
The estimated budget for this campaign is $750,000 and will be used for the following:
• New, Recyclable Packaging
• New Website
• Four Commercials
• Product Placement on TV
• Facebook Become a Fan which will include
o 200 Discount Coupons
o 100 T-Shirts
• Seasonal Packaging/Organization Packaging
• “Be a Smartie” Competition Prizes
o Awards and Postage (1,000+)
o 1st Place Prize (T-Shirt, Poster, Coloring Book, Hat, $250 to school library)
o 2nd Place Prize (T-Shirt, Poster, Coloring Book and Hat)
o 3rd Place Prize (T-Shirt and Poster)
• School Wrapper Competition
27 of 31
Conclusion
The goal of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing by 10% by increasing
consumer awareness of the Smarties products as well as for consumers to view Smarties as a
primary competitor in the candy market. By unifying the brand with the addition of a new
character, a clear and consistent message will be received by consumers using a variety of
mediums ranging from Smarties website to television commercials and product placement to
social networking sites and in-store advertisements. Through the interactive nature of all of these
avenues as well as the interactivity involved with the two competitions Smarties will host,
consumers will be able to interact with the product directly and become more aware of the
Smarties products and brand as a whole. Additionally, through the philanthropic and charitable
efforts that Smarties will partake in, consumers will further understand what the Smarties brand
entails and how the brand easily fits into not only their individual lifestyle but into the twenty-
first century candy marketplace. Through the use of database marketing Smarties will further
understand the demographic and psychographic qualities that make up their target audiences
which will help them target these audiences more specifically and effectively in future
communication and campaign efforts.
28 of 31
References
Smarties. (2008). Ce De Candy, Inc., www.smarties.com