A Creative Marketing Strategy by
5-star Marketing
Marketing Goals
Our marketing goals are to increase brand awareness, sales volume, and market share. We aim to increase brand awareness through our various ad campaigns geared towards both health conscious families/parents and health conscious young adults. The main objectives of these various ad campaigns is education, as we want to educate those who are unaware of Annie’s on why we’re a healthier alternative compared to our competitors.
We aim to increase our sales volume by offering $1 off coupons in various publications such as local newspapers, Women’s Health, Good Housekeeping, etc. We feel confident this coupon will entice individuals who have never tried Annie’s before to purchase a box, as a $1 off coupon will set our price point drastically below our competitors.
Through our coupon promotion and various ad campaigns we hope that Annie’s market share will organically increase as individuals and families convert from Kraft or Velveeta’s to Annie’s.
Review of Current Marketing Campaigns
Annie’s current slogan is “Organic for Everybunny.” This slogan emphasizes that choosing organic as an alternative food option benefits more than just the consumer. The slogan explains that by choosing the organic option, not only are you helping your family’s wellness, you are also benefiting the planet. This gives consumers a sense of involvement in the environment. They have been involved with many PR campaigns. The current PR campaign offers grants for schools so that they can have funding for school gardens. Annie’s uses this PR to “connect kids to real food” allowing children to grow up with an appreciation to organic options. This will lead these kids and their families to be more inclined to purchase organic options. Annie’s also provides a database of recipes using Annie’s products on their website. This allows consumers of Annie’s products to find alternate uses for their products. By providing these recipes, Annie’s provides the customer alternative uses to their products. This can turn a simple box of mac and cheese into a more complex and delicious meal.
Overall Assessment
While Annie’s current campaigns are creative, they lack the impact needed to mold Annie’s into a household brand. The slogan “Organic for Everybunny,” has an impressive message. However, this slogan is vague and can only be explained further by visiting the website to find further information about the true meaning of the slogan. Along with their slogan, Annie’s public relation efforts are not marketed well. While Annie’s is doing a lot to provide education on the benefits of organic food, it is virtually unknown to the public what exactly they are doing. Through their efforts, there is untapped opportunity to grow Annie’s brand awareness. However, these opportunities are being overlooked. Through this campaign, Annie’s efforts will be emphasized and will be marketed to increase brand awareness.
Budget Allocation
Total Budget: $15,000,000
Budget Allocation:
- Public Relations: 5%
- Broadcast Media: 65%
- Sales Promotions: 2.5%
- Direct Marketing: 7.5%
- Digital Marketing: 20%
Integrated Message Strategy
Educate potential consumers as to why Annie's is a healthier alternative as compared to our competitors. Creative execution techniques include comparison that will draw attention to our competitor’s weaknesses and factual messages that highlight our key benefits.
Integrated Message Appeals
To appeal to the target market of health conscious young adults we will emphasize convenience by displaying Annie’s microwavable macaroni and cheese. It will convey that the brand can be quick, easy, and healthy. To appeal to families and parents we will focus on Annie's use of high quality ingredients. Messages will convey this by emphasizing Annie’s natural, organic, and GMO-free products. Parents will feel comforted knowing they are feeding their family a healthy product.
Rationale for Creative Recommendations
Throughout this IMC plan Annie’s will educate consumers rather than promote a specific product. While many consumers know what Annie’s is, they are unaware of the qualities of the brand itself. By educating and creating brand awareness, we can create interest in our target markets and influence them to purchase Annie’s, rather than the competition. By drawing attention to our competitor’s weaknesses, we hope that consumers will reconsider alternative brands. The objective for this is to steal market share from our competition.