Christian Lopez

Bikebuddie Abbreviated IMC Plan

Marketing Communications

Professor Rennie

……...OPENING

Bikebuddie is a young and fun brand with a genuine passion to keep kids active and

outside playing with each other. Owner and creator of the Bikebuddie Catherine Limma is an

advocate for healthy living. Catherine saw the Bikebuddie as a way to get kids excited about

both playing outside and riding their bikes again. The idea for the Bikebuddie came after

watching her own son ride his bike alone. She decided that no kid or person should ever have to

ride their bike alone, that’s when the Bikebuddie was born!

The Bikebuddie is your child's bicycle companion. Each Bikebuddie is a 3 by 5 inch

teddy bear. The first ever stuffed animal that can attach to your child's bicycle. Bikebuddie goes

wherever your child goes. The simple design allows children to attach and remove their

Bikebuddie without adult help.

This IMC plan is focused on helping Bikebuddie expand outside of fairs and pop up

locations. It has a focus on Bikebuddie’s commitment to donating a portion of all Bikebuddie

sales to the American Heart Association and spreading the word about its effort. Even though a

very young product, Bikebuddie and its creator realize the importance of social responsibility

and have found a way to donate money while still making it.

What Bikebuddie lacks is the ability to reach to its core public. That’s where my firm and

I will help. The Bikebuddie shows a lot of potential and with our IMC plan we are sure that we

can reach a larger audience, get press to cover Bikebuddie events, increase sales and therefore

increasing the donation amount to The American Heart Association foundation.

………RESEARCH:

PRIMARY

1. Sample Survey of 15 people in the target market

People thought that it could be a distraction for kids while riding their bike

Some thought that the product didn’t serve a purpose other than “look nice”

People thought it could obstruct the view of the rider

People thought it was too girly for boys to have on their bike

Some thought a teddy bear on a bicycle without being made of special protective

material will get pretty nasty and discolored from being outside

2. Interview with the client

Name is not trademarked

Four patents are pending

5% of sales go to the American Heart Association foundation

No crisis plan for overseas labor laws

Bikebuddie is sold through Facebook, its website, vendor shows, street fairs, bike

tours, and word of mouth.

No money spent advertising.

3. Survey of 2 mothers and 3 kids in target market

Kids all liked the product and wanted one

Both mothers said they would buy Bikebuddie if they were at a toy store when

they saw it, but will not go out of their way to purchase

The kids liked Bikebuddie more for its teddy bear qualities and didn’t focus or

care too much about its Velcro bottom making it attachable

The kids didn’t mind the unisex bear while the mothers both felt like the bear

could be made in a girl and boy version with differences like in the colors for the

bear fur

SECONDARY

1. Content analysis of Clients site

Site is not user friendly

Information on the site is very vague and general

No mention of Bikebuddie’s creator or story about the products origin

Site looks like a wholesale buying page instead of a customer friendly website,

not professional

Site needs to be more transparent with how much is donated to charity

For right now we should remove the “write review” option on the site because

when you have that as an option but you don’t have any reviews it gives off a

negative look as If no one has bought it to be able to review it

Needs more pictures of the Bikebuddie actually being played with

Also needs more pictures on the actual product page

Needs better site navigation, better colors (complete revamp)

Doesn’t have any link to other social media pages like Facebook page

2. Content analysis of competitor’s site

Possible competitor is SmallToys.com

SmallToys.com has a very user friendly professional looking website

SmallToys.com sells a 12 pack of 7 inch zoo animals that can hang on to anything

because of the Velcro on their hands

12 pack of animals cost around a $1.50 a piece wholesale

SmallToys.com does a great job of announcing deals and sales that they have

going on

SmallToys.com also has a customer reviews section but they actually have

customer reviews

They have a customer service line where Bikebuddie does not

3. Content analysis of Bikebuddie’s Facebook

Almost impossible to find trying to search for it

Doesn’t have enough photos of kids playing with the product

Doesn’t have daily posts on their page like a business should

Doesn’t try to sell product through Facebook at all

Doesn’t have interaction with customers other than 1 post

Bikebuddie’s customers are simply not connecting back

4. Content analysis of Catherine Limma’s Facebook

Studied at Kean University

Currently lives in Union New Jersey

Works at The Atlantic Club Fitness Center

5. Content analysis of Statistica.com

According to Statista.com, Novelty, Gift and Souvenir sales in 2013 reached

$21.81 Billion in the U.S.

6. Content analysis of NBDA.com

According to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, bicycle sales in 2013

reached $5.8 Billion. If we target child bikes of 20 inches and lower sales are

about $1 Billion.

7. Content analysis of Parents.com

Biking helps kids develop strength, balance, and overall fitness

Biking burns up calories

Biking is used for strengthening the heart, lungs, and lower-body muscles and

bones

Biking also helps with developing and strengthening the muscles surrounding the

knees without impact

8. Content analysis of case study “Hallmark Gold Crown Card Program”

Much like the benefits of having a Hallmark Gold Crown card people know the

health benefits of bike riding they just need to be reminded of them. In the

Hallmark case study their campaign was around reactivating their customers by

reminding them of the benefits of their program and to have them start to use their

membership again. Our audience needs to be reminded of the health benefits of

bike riding in an effort to get them exercising again but this time for them to have

a Bikebuddie along for the ride.

SWOT Analysis

STRENGTHS

Catherine Limma and her lifestyle add authenticity to the Bikebuddie mission to get kids

active again.

The fact that the creator is a mom in NJ gives us better support as opposed to a dad from

NJ, research shows this product tested better with females as far as getting feedback.

Bikebuddie received positive feedback from children in target market which is very

important.

Catherine Limma has already participated in a handful of events around new jersey

helping to spread her name and her product Bikebuddie

Website and social media accounts are already in place they just need some help and

guidance

WEAKNESSES

There’s only one product

Bikebuddie is more novelty than functional

Lacks uniqueness

Website needs a complete revamp to make it more user friendly

Product is imported from china which is known for recalls on products

The product even though for outside use is not protected from the elements at all so it

will get discolored and dirty after extensive use outside, if that happens too quickly there

will be customer backlash

Advertisements are too steered towards girl bike riders when it should be marketed

towards entire families and both genders

Needs to be more transparent about how much they donate to charity, how often and

why?

It’s currently a seasonal product

There are no links to Bikebuddie’s social media accounts on its website

There isn’t a proper “about us” section on the site that talks about how Bikebuddie was

created and why?

OPPUTUNITIES

Since Bikebuddie currently doesn’t have a function we can show it in different light and

attribute a function to gain a larger audience

The novelty gift sales in the U.S. is large and only growing more

Bikebuddie is still in a testing phase so cost of goods can still be lowered by ordering

larger quantity

THREATS

SmallToys.com offers a pack of 12 zoo animals that can hang on to anything including

bikes like Bikebuddie for a small fraction of Bikebuddie’s price

A lot of parents do no support toys or products for their kids that are made in china due to

health concerns

Kid bikes these days tend to have baskets attached to them so a Velcro strapped animal

would not be necessary for a child to ride along with a buddie

Sales of bicycles are declining in the U.S.

BUSINESS GOAL

Increase sales and customer base of Bikebuddie.

COMMUNCIATION GOAL

Raise awareness of the brand and product Bikebuddie.

AUDIENCE / PUBLIC

1. PRIMARY

Local media outlets covering Monmouth County NJ

Local parents with children ages 5-12 in Monmouth County NJ

2. SECONDARY

Local bicycle shops in Monmouth County NJ

Small local novelty / souvenir teddy bear shops

OBJECTIVES

1. To persuade 5 of the local media outlets covering Monmouth County to cover

Bikebuddie Day event within one year.

2. To receive over 500 likes from women on Bikebuddie’s Facebook page within one year.

3. To receive over 100 likes from men on Bikebuddie’s Facebook page within one year.

4. To inform 35% of the parents of children in Monmouth County NJ about the health

benefits of regularly bike riding with a Bikebuddie.

STRATEGIES

To demonstrate the fun that can be had with a Bikebuddie and educate Monmouth

County parents and kids on the health benefits of bike riding.

KEY MESSAGE

Bikebuddie is a fun product to get your kids healthy and back on their bikes.

TACTICS

1. Bikebuddie Day will take place 12 months after the IMC plan has been in effect. It is a

day where the brand will set up in a local NJ park and sell Bikebuddies. To spread the

word about the event we will post fliers all around Monmouth County businesses and ask

Monmouth County schools for permission to post about our event on their bulletin

boards. We will also post about the event on all of our social media platforms to let as

many people as we can know about our event. Prior to this event my firm will contact the

American Heart Association by phone or email and explain to them that our Bikebuddie

event is in place to raise money for their foundation and also explain that we have been

accumulating money for them throughout the past 12 months. We would then request to

have them send a representative to accept a check of the donations accrued that day and

throughout the year. My firm will then send out a press release to local Monmouth

County newspapers and outlets listed in the Full Media list and pitch our story of a day

filled of kids having fun, riding bikes and buying Bikebuddies. We will also explain that

we are presenting a check to the American Heart Association with the proceeds from

Bikebuddie’s sales. Any media outlets that arrived to the event we would have sign in

and declare from which news outlet they belong to so we can track who we have reached.

At the end of the day 5% of all the sales plus donations accrued throughout the previous

year are presented to the American Heart Association rep by Catherine Limma as a

check.

2. We would offer a free shipping coupon code for everyone who likes the Bikebuddie

Facebook page.

3. We would continue traveling to fairs, vendor shows and bicycle riding events throughout

Monmouth County to sell Bikebuddies just as Catherine Limma has been doing.

4. We will create a contest and post it on Bikebuddie’s Facebook page to see who can come

up with the most creative photo of their kids and their Bikebuddie on an “adventure” for a

kid / parent bike riding related prize. This will cause genuine interactions with target

audience and give us a better understanding of who loves their Bikebuddie. To help

spread word about the contest prior to us launching it we will be advertising it for 1

month during our trips to vendor shows and bike riding events where we will explain

what the contest is and when it starts.

5. To encourage parents to buy Bikebuddies in larger quantities we would offer a 50%

discount on the third Bikebuddie purchased when we are selling them at vendor shows

and bike riding events.

EVALUATION

1. To evaluate if we persuaded 5 or more local media outlets within Monmouth County NJ

to cover our Bikebuddie event we would review the media that came to the Bikebuddie

event because we would have had them sign in the day of the event. We also would

contact any media who was not on our sign in list but who we did contact to come out to

the event to ask if they might have wrote something about our event but just didn’t make

it out to the actual event. It’s also important for us to read any news coverage we did

receive because we need to know if we received positive media coverage or negative

media coverage and that is known by the tone used in any news coverage we may have

received.

2. To evaluate if we received over 500 Likes on Bikebuddie’s Facebook page from women

we would do a content analysis of the Facebook page one year from our campaign’s start

date. When you are logged in under the owner of the Bikebuddie Facebook page you are

provided with a feature called “Insights.” This feature from Facebook lets you know the

age, gender and language spoken of everyone who liked your page so you will be able to

tell how many women liked the page.

3. To evaluate if we received over 100 Likes on Bikebuddie’s Facebook page from men we

would do a content analysis of the Facebook page one year from our campaign’s start

date. When you are logged in under the owner of the Bikebuddie Facebook page you are

provided with a feature called “Insights.” This feature from Facebook lets you know the

age, gender and language spoken of everyone who liked your page so you will be able to

tell how many men liked the page.

4. To evaluate if we informed 35% of Monmouth County parents about the health benefits

of bike riding, we would take sample surveys by contacting local elementary schools in

Monmouth County NJ by phone and talking to the principals or vice principals about

handing out our survey through the children of the school to take home to their parents to

fill out. The survey would consist of basic questions related to health and bike riding that

we advocated to the public through our social media and through our selling events. Also

in the survey would be a question about if they by any chance learned new information

through our Bikebuddie campaign or if they have even heard about our Bikebuddie

campaign. We would collect the results at a later date and average the results of that

sample to see if 35% or more of our sample mentioned our Bikebuddie campaign as a

reason they are educated in the benefits of bike riding.

FULL MEDIA LIST

Local newspapers don’t have newsworthy stories to plug into their papers every day. They are

understaffed and overworked most of the time. If you present a newspaper a nicely written press

release and really sell the charity donation of the Bikebuddie event our chances of getting media

coverage increases exponentially. My firm will take care of sending out any press release for

Bikebuddie and these are the news outlets we would target.

Local news 12

1. (To post an event to community event calendar email

to: news12nj@news12.com (Attn: What’s Going on) Will also email them to

request news coverage of the Bikebuddie day event also.)

The Asbury Park Press

1. We will email editor http://static.app.com/contactus-form/ and send over well

written press release about Bikebuddie day and The American Heart Association

event.

The Coaster

1. We will email editor editor@TheCoaster.net and send over well written press

release about Bikebuddie day and The American Heart Association event.

Nj.com

1. (To post an event to community event calendar email to:

http://myevent.nj.com/web/event.php we will also contact them for coverage of

our Bikebuddie event.)