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Simone` Page April 13, 2016 Intro to Advertising Understanding REI and its Running Customers Target Segmentation Summary Target’s Psychographic Summary Enjoys inspiring others Enjoys working to raise money for charitable purposes Enjoys traveling Wants to stay in shape Enjoys running Runs half marathons Target’s Demographic Summary Gender: Female Marital Status: Married Age Range: 25 to 44 HH Income: $75,000+ Target’s Geographic Summary Washington, D.C. 1

REI Media Plan

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Page 1: REI Media Plan

Simone` Page

April 13, 2016

Intro to Advertising

Understanding REI and its Running Customers

Target Segmentation Summary

● Target’s Psychographic Summary

○ Enjoys inspiring others

○ Enjoys working to raise money for charitable purposes

○ Enjoys traveling

○ Wants to stay in shape

○ Enjoys running

○ Runs half marathons

● Target’s Demographic Summary

○ Gender: Female

○ Marital Status: Married

○ Age Range: 25 to 44

○ HH Income: $75,000+

● Target’s Geographic Summary

○ Washington, D.C.

○ San Diego, CA

○ Salt Lake City, UT

Client Description

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● Company overview

Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) is a cooperative that offers quality outdoor

gear. According to the REI website, Lloyd and Mary Anderson enjoyed climbing and

created the company in 1938 to share their experience with others, through outdoor gear

(Careers). The basis behind creating the cooperative was because there was lack of stores

supplying customers with options to rent recreational gear (Careers). REI is a consumer

cooperative which means that it was created for the benefit of the individuals that utilize

its services (About REI). REI takes what its customers want and uses their wants as the

basis of how it chooses to run the company. It has also been named the largest specialty

outdoor cooperative retailer (Careers).

The headquarters of REI is located in Kent, Washington, near Seattle (REI

employees). REI has 130 plus retail stores nationwide (Careers). Not only can customers

shop in store but the cooperative offers two online store services: rei.com and REI-

OUTLET.com and an REI mobile application (REI Overview). For those who prefer to

utilize the telephone and mail service, REI offers options for those customers too (REI

Overview).

In regards to stewardship, REI has taken an incredible amount of steps to help

create a better environment for the current generation and the generations to come. This

focus on environment safe practices allows the cooperative to participate in acts such as

recycling, minimizing, waste packaging, and green building practices. The cooperative

also is active in volunteer projects such as; cleaning beaches, building trails, and restoring

local habitats (REI Overview). REI releases an annual stewardship report to showcase the

action it takes to better the environment and its cooperative practices. In the 2014 report it

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discusses how they not only want to respect the environment but also its workers. The

company believes that everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy the great outdoors

but also be able to work in a safe and fair environment (Stewardship Report). REI utilizes

other brands for its services and requires those brands to follow its Factory Code of

Conduct. In 2014 it also updated its Factory Code of Conduct and trained 13 of its largest

suppliers to support the updated version (Stewardship Report). REI also monetarily gives

back to the environment by donating a section of its operating profits for the restoration

and involvement in outdoor recreation (REI Overview). REI partakes in many more

practices to ensure it distributes the best to its customers while helping the environment

and encouraging workers.

Speaking of encouraging workers, REI was ranked number 26 on the 2016

Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work for list. REI has more than 12,000 dedicated

employees who allowed them to achieve this 19th consecutive recognition on the top

employers list. REI conducted an anonymous survey that recorded 96 percent of its

employees take pride in their association with the cooperative (REI Employees) REI

takes care of its employees, offering health care benefits to part time workers who work

over 20 hours. This rank is a little over a quarter of an increase from the cooperatives

number 58 rank in 2015 (Recreational Equipment INC).

Recreational Equipment, Inc. is a continually growing company, it is the United

States’ largest cooperative. It has been in the news for several accomplishments. The

cooperative reached record sales in 2014, producing an increase of 9.9 percent from

2013. The $2.2 billion increase comes from the 945,000 new members as well as

customer purchases of active lifestyle trips and gear. REI is also giving back to its

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members by refunding them about $168 million. The cooperative is in a competitive

business and recovering like others from the recession. Another factor in the increase of

sales is the fact that REI opened seven new stores in Alaska, Tennessee, and Texas, to

name a few locations. There are several other factors that played a role in REI’s recent

sales success such as; REI’s travel program, REI Adventures gaining more business, the

REI Outdoor School classes grew in numbers, and the cooperative debuted its brand,

“REI Co-Op” which sold $1 million in merchandise in less than 20 day. REI still

struggles with online retailing but that does not seem to stop them from growing in size

and sales (REI Climbs).

● Client Offerings

REI is a company that specializes in outdoor retail and offers a wide selection of

high quality gear and apparel for recreational purposes but the focus for this research is

on running equipment. It also specializes in programs to better outdoor experiences. The

cooperative, as mentioned previously. Provides learning experiences at its REI Outdoor

School. The classes range from beginner to advance level with professional instructors

and customers have the opportunity to learn in store and online (REI Overview).

Learning online with Expert Advice is another service REI has for customers and

members. This feature has more than 350 articles and how-to videos to help instruct

customers on how to shop, what to shop for, and skills and techniques on how to use gear

(Learn). Many articles on tops such as running, cycling, and paddling can be found to

help customers (Expert Advice). REI also has been offering adventure travel trips to

inspire individuals to enjoy the great outdoors. The cooperative places members together

to embark on one of 150 trips across the globe to locations such as; Belize, Costa Rica,

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and Italy. It accommodates for members who would prefer an intense workout or those

who would rather enjoy something less vigorous (Why Travel with REI).

REI also offers membership opportunities to customers. As a member, individuals

have the advantage of having access to more features at the cooperative. It offers coupons

and discounts to everyone who utilizes its services but gives members special coupons

and offers year round. The exclusivity of being a member offers limited edition products,

events, and special pricing on classes and adventures. Being a member also has its

monetary benefits including, the opportunity to apply for an REI MasterCard and getting

a percentage back on eligible purchases which is a part of members REI annual member

dividend. Being a member cost only $20 and the benefits begin instantly (REI

Membership).

Because my target is “runners,” I will be focusing on product that REI offers to

runners and for running purposes. Categories REI offers for runners benefits include;

Men’s and Women’s running clothes and shoes, with deals on both, there is health and

safety and electronic gear, others runners accessories, and apparel and gear specifically

for triathlon runners. Expert advice and classes are also offered specifically for runners.

Men’s Running Clothes is a large portion of the run selection of REI.com. it

includes six categories featuring shirts, jackets, vests, pants and tights, shorts, and other

accessories. Running shirts have the most item choices. REI offers 13 features for Men’s

Running Clothes which include but are not limited to; quick drying, Made in USA, and

reflective. There are 17 different brands customers can choose from, it carries mostly

Nike apparel. Shirt style, fabric type, and sleeve length are also categories customers can

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choose from in deciding what piece of clothing best fits them. The price is reasonable for

any customer ranging from $10.00 to $499.99.

The majority of men’s running shoes REI offers are for trail running, most of the

categories for these types of shoes cater to the needs of trail runners. Brooks is the brand

the cooperative has the most of. Customer can choose the type of support they want the

shoe to have, for example motion control and stability. The categories even go to the

extent of having heel-to-toe drop options. The price of the men’s running shoes selection

ranges from $50.00 to $199.99. the same can be said for the Women’s Running Shoes

selection in regards to all the listed factors above. Fitness running is not something that is

a major category, with only one choice selection in Women’s Running Shoes and two in

Men’s.

Women’s Running Clothes has two more categories than the Men’s does. Women

are also given the options of running dresses and skirts and sports bras. Nike is the brand

with the most items once again and similar features such as insulated, moisture wicking,

and compression are listed as they were in the Men’s Running clothes. Pant rise is a

section that the women’s running clothes can call its own. The price range for the

women’s clothing starts at $10.00 like the men’s but the price stops at $199.99.

There is not many Health and Safety products for running. The categories include

compression leg sleeves, support braces, anti-chafing balm, and massagers. For each

category one to two items could be selected. “Men’s and “Unisex” are the only gender

types that can be selected and the brand with the most items is Pro-Tec Athletics. The

price range for these items fall into the $0.00 to $49.99. Most items could be found in the

$20.00 to $49.99 range.

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Runners have a selection of electronics to choose from at the REI. Categories

include but are not limited to; monitor accessories, running lights, activity trackers, and

GPS sports watches. It is important to runners that these accessories feature capabilities

such as; wireless sync, tracking distance, and tracking of calories burned. The items at

REI include those features and more. Nathan, Timex, and Garmin are the brands that

have the most selections of electronics. The electronics are predominantly gender neutral

and lightweight. The price range for these items are $10.00 to $749.99, with most items

falling into the category of $20.00 to $49.99.

The accessories REI provides falls into the electronics and health and safety

another category that it adds is strollers. All of the strollers are jogging strollers. Stroller

accessories like wind shields, rain covers, and sun covers are included in this category.

BOB and Thule are the only brands of strollers REI carries. In regards to the triathlon

portion of the “Run” section of REI, eight race belts are listed to assist customers in their

goals of competing in a triathlon. The belts are in three categories; women’s clothing,

men’s clothing, and race belts. The only feature is “Made in USA” and Amphipod has the

most items to offer. The price ranges from $10.00 to $49.99, with the most items being

listed in $20.00 to $49.99.

REI Target Audience: Runners

● Introduction

The appropriate target audience would be college educated women between the

ages of 25 and 44 that serious half marathoners. These women have down time to train

for marathons, as well as funds to maintain a serious marathon runner’s lifestyle. Many

have an image they want to maintain and also are concerned with healthy living.

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According to 2015 U.S Race Trends report there is a 61% female participation in half-

marathons (2015 State of the Sport). Although REI has a focus on trekking through the

great outdoors and bettering the environment, I feel as though women marathon runners

have similar goals in their reasons to run. In both cases there is an awareness that has a

need to be made. Marathon runners inspire others to overcome or do better, and REI

inspires people to get outside. Both feel the need to inspire people to take action.

● Psychographic Elements of Target Audience

In my opinion women within the age range of 25 and 44 run half-marathons for three

reasons, to inspire others, raise money and awareness for a cause, and travel. For females

the favorite race to run in was the half-marathon (Runner Demographics). Many of the

women that fall into this target want to inspire those around them. At one point they may

have went through a circumstance that they did not believe they could overcome.

Running a marathon motivates others to overcome obstacles that they may have never

thought they could get over (Janos, Karen). Many college educated women are

knowledgeable on causes in the community and around the world. This brings me to my

next reasoning behind the need and want for women marathoners to run, raising money

and awareness for a cause. According to active.com runners set goals for marathons to

help raise money causes and charity (Janos, Karen).

REI focuses a lot on traveling and getting out into the outdoors. This target

audience of half-marathon runners also enjoy traveling and have the means to do so.

There are many events that allow runners to do both, run, and travel there are several sites

such as marathontours.com, funtravel.com, and amazingrunningtours.com that help

individuals find information on how to run marathons and enjoy travel. “Travel” was

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ranked number five on runnersworld.com 52 Reasons to Run a Marathon (Rauschenberg,

Dane). Running a marathon gives the target audience a reason to do all of the above,

inspire others, raise money and awareness, and traveling can make the experience even

better.

There is also the major benefit in shape after running a few marathons. According

to runningguru.com 75.5% of women runner said the motivation to continue to keep

running was to stay in shape (Runner Demographics). The main goal of marathoners is

not for fitness initially, with only 25.3% saying the primary reason was for exercise

(Running Demographics). Running is an easy sport to participate in that can keep

individuals in shape but it has many benefits for the community and for one’s personal

need to experience the world.

● Demographic Elements of Target Audience

As previously stated the gender for this target audience is female, the age ranges

between 25 and 44, with an average of age 36 (2014 Running USA Annual). The

household income for these runners is around or little over $75,000 a year. Most of these

women are married (61.9%) with college education (78.7%) (Runner Demographics).

According to 2015 U.S Race Trends, 10.7 million females were recorded as marathon

finishers and the half-marathon amount of finishers has increased by 4% (2015 State of

the Sport).

● How Target Aligns with REI’s Offering

As stated previously Brooks is the brand with most items at REI for women’s running

shoes with 14 different shoes. According to the 2014 Running Industry Report, Brooks is

a brand that is leading the way in specialty running footwear (2014 State of the Sport).

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REI stores are located in some of the most prominent jogging/running areas in the United

States such as; Washington (11 stores), California (29 stores), and Texas (10 stores) to

name a few (Store Directory).

Another important product that aligns with my target’s interests is the fact that

REI offers travel opportunities to members. These adventure trips allow half-marathoners

who have the leisure time and financial stability to enjoy running and travel which is one

of their main desires. Tracking distances is important for half-marathon runners, REI

offers an array of different accessories to help the target audience achieve this. In order to

stay motivated many of these tracking devices allow individuals to log the information of

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their results onto their computers. This feature can help when half marathoners are raising

money for distances traveled.

Apparel is another large factor in marathon running. Comfortability is something

that is necessary because these runs are not exactly short. REI offers chafing prevention

important because it pulls sweat from the skin and helps it evaporate faster on the outside

of the fabric. REI offers 102 different items with moisture wicking features (REI

Women’s Clothing). All of these different features REI has to offer can help marathoners

comfortably inspire others while running.

Media Plan Targeted to Reach Runners Target Audience

● Introduction:

The main highlight of my media plan is magazines. The media plan focuses a lot

on magazine that help runners train so they can be better prepared to participate in half

marathons. I chose one running specific magazine because I felt as if it was the only one

that I felt reached the target audience. The other magazines also offered many amenities

that would better represent REI. The longevity of magazines is what also drew me to

choose the media vehicle as my priority type and why I spent the majority of the budget

towards magazines.

If the media plan was a hierarchy of media vehicles, radio was the second priority

on the list because of the fact that many runners do not spend a lot of time in a vehicle.

Driving to a training location or half marathon event is the main times runners would be

in the car during this time. For these reasons it was not my first priority. I spent the least

amount of money on Google AdWords based on the fact that the credibility of websites is

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often questioned because of spam and viruses. Magazines have a high level of

authenticity and credibility that draws audience members.

● Media Plan Schedule:

I chose to advertise in the months of March, April, and May. The reasoning

behind this choice was because according to Carissa Liebowitz, the best time for half

marathon runners to train is when weather will not deter them (Liebowitz, Carissa).

Spring is one of the many months that do not have a lot of inclement weather, with the

exception of rain. For the most part there is not extreme heat conditions or snow storms.

Another important factor in choosing these months is because Carissa Liebowitz states

that it is best to train in the season one plans to participate and sign up for half marathon

events (Liebowitz, Carissa). Spring is also the month that track and field begins for high

schools and colleges, it is because of the nice weather that this occurs,

Choosing the Spring season creates the best time, place, and circumstance

atmosphere to reach the target audience. During Spring runners are training and

participating in half marathons. The best time to reach runners are when they are thinking

about running but runners are not only thinking about running during the Spring season,

they are running. Below I have listed half marathon events in the target market locations

to better articulate these statements.

● Washington, D.C.

○ May 1, 2016: 13th Annual Potomac River Run Marathon & Half

○ April 30, 2016: Mercy 5K

○ May 8, 2016: Mother’s Day 8K

● San Diego, CA

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○ May 7, 2016: Girls on the Go

○ May 1-31, 2016: “Honoring Our Heroes” Race

○ April 1-30: “ImProve Your Selfies” Race

● Salt Lake City, UT

○ May 1-31, 2016: “Honoring Our Heroes” Race

○ April 1-30, 2016: “ImProve Your Selfies” Race

○ April 16, 2016: Salt Lake City Marathon

● Media Type Priority:

The media type priority I’ve chosen is magazines. Magazines are still an

important part of advertising in spite of the fact that many people believe print

advertising is old and outdated. Because runners are running and training it’s less likely

for them to be in their cars listening to the radio and online searching. Half marathon

runners are more likely to be training and see a newsstand with running magazines.

Magazines also have longevity as opposed to radio advertisements that come and

go. Off the top of my head I can’t remember a single radio advertisement, maybe if I

heard the advertisement again, but who knows when that would be. According to a

Forbes article titled “ Print is Dead? Not so Fast,” magazines are a physical piece of

information that stick around for awhile, internet ads are not always guaranteed to appear

every time a keyword or phrase is searched (Print is Dead). Another part of this article

that stuck out was the fact that there is the fear of being spammed and acquiring a virus

from the web because of all the popups and ads that appear. Magazines do not create that

same fear for readers. Magazines are also more targeted towards specific audiences. A

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company or brand does not want to reach audience members that do not care about what

it has to offer or what its message is. As more people move toward digital advertising,

there is still the tangibility, credibility, and specific targeting aspect that keeps readers

purchasing and subscribing to magazines.

It was important to choose media vehicles that would directly target the audience

I chose. Each media type focused on matching the demographic of the targeted audience.

The audience will be listening, watching, and searching for running. It was also important

to match the psychographics of the target audience because “enjoying running” is what

really counts.

● Specific Media Choices:

○ Magazine Choices:

Women's Health Magazine: I chose this magazine because of the explanation of

the psychographics that fit the the readers of Women’s Health Magazine. A few of

the psychographics that were similar to the psychographics of my target audience

were; adventure seeking, ambitious, leaders, focus on health and wellness,

participants in running events, and enjoys vacations. The magazine does not offer

the target audience demographic information, this is the reasoning behind only

having the ad take up one-third of a page, in full color. on the inside of the

magazine with one insertion in the month of March. I chose the month of March

when the training season begins and the target audience begins “seeking

adventure.” In each ad I selected I chose to display it in full colors so that readers

get the full experience of what REI has to offer.

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Health: What stood out to me the most about Health magazine is it doesn’t just

pertain to running, I mention in the psychographic summary that the target

audience wants to stay in shape. Health magazine says that 90 percent of its

audience is active in activities to help improve their fitness. I feel that these two

statements correlate. The magazine reaches 24 million consumers which is a

great entity but because only five percent of the magazine is made up of apparel

and accessories I only wanted to advertise one-third of a page, one time in the

month of March as well as in Women’s Health. Most people work to get fit and

healthy before that begin a vigorous running lifestyle. I chose to do the ad in full

color because 20 percent of the magazine contains fitness and I believe it is best

to display content in full color so that the target audience can receive the best

idea of what the product will look like.

Trail Runner: Trail Runner was not my first choice because of the name of the

magazine. Half marathon runners are road runners and that made me question

myself at first in choosing the magazine. After researching the magazine I found

that 77 percent of Trail Runners audience participates in road running events like

half marathons. I chose to advertise a spread in color during March and May

because 56 percent of its readers purchases the advertised merchandise and a

little over 40 percent buy more than two pairs of running shoes in a year. REI has

a lot to offer this target audience, especially in regards to shoes as mentioned

previously. Serious half marathon runners want the best shoes for running and

advertising in Trail Runner will help REI educate the target audience on the

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shoes they have to offer.

Fitness Magazine: I chose Fitness Magazine because the audience aligned with

the target audience I chose. The magazine is directed towards females. The

median age is 35.8, the median age I selected was 36. The marital status was 46

percent of readers. The list of target demographics fits in with this magazine.

Because the magazine is directed towards fitness is also correlates well with the

desire for the target audience to stay in shape. I chose a full color, one-half page

ad with one insert because of these statements above.

Experience Life: Regional: Experiencing life is exactly what the target

audience wants to do by raising money for charitable purposes, inspiring others,

and traveling they are doing just that. This is why I chose to advertise one page,

three times, in full color. The regional location is Washington, D.C., many half

marathon events are located in the area as well as there are many stores near that

location. Along with psychographics that meet the target audience. Experience

Life readers are mostly women and married.

Shape: Of each magazine chosen I believe that Shape magazine completely fits

the demographic of the target audience. Of the readers 61 percent are in the age

range of 25 to 49 years old, 49 percent household income is $75,000 +, and the

magazine is specifically directed toward women. The median age is also 39 years

old. I chose to advertise one-third of a page once in full color because the

magazine has a huge focus on sports and fitness.

Runner's World: This was the only running specific magazine I chose to

advertise in because I felt it was the only one that catered to the target audience

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and REI. The percentage of women that read the magazine is 54 percent, the

median age is 38.6 years old and 63.2 percent are married. The main

psychographic is that the target audience enjoys running. Runner’s World does a

great job at showcasing running accessories to equip half marathon runners with

was they need. I chose to advertise in full color because these accessories should

be advertised to its full potential but because Runner’s World is a huge

publication in the running world I chose to advertise it once as one-third of a

page because of cost efficiency.

Experience Life: National: I wanted to advertise a full page ad, in full color

once, nationally in Experience Life also because of the previous mentioned

reasons and also because it isn’t limited to Washington, D.C. There are many

newsstands in each target market location that readers can purchase the

magazine.

Source: Experience Life

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Source: Experience Life

Source: Experience Life

○ Radio Choices:

For each radio station below I used Contemporary Hit Radio as the format

because of the data from Katz Radio Group that shows this format best suits the

target audience I have chosen.

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I also chose to use the PM daypart because of data I discovered on Runner’s

World’s website stating that 10.7 percent (the highest percentage) of runners in the

United States run between 6:00 pm and 6:59 pm and the second highest percentage (10

percent) between 5:00 pm and 5:59 pm. These time periods are during the PM daypart. I

chose these times because when runners are going to the destination that they choose to

train and run in they will be in the car and possibly listening to the radio. They will be

thinking about running while going to run.

Insertions: I chose to advertise one time per hour for three hours and three days

a week for 3 months for the stations below. I chose 108 insertions because as I

mentioned earlier runners are running and they don’t tend to be in their cars often

while training and participating in events.

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WRQX-FM (Washington, D.C.)

XHTZ-FM (San Diego, CA)

KEGY-FM (San Diego, CA)

KUDD-FM (Salt Lake City, UT)

KUUU-FM (Salt Lake City, UT)

Insertions: For the station below I chose to advertise three times every two hours

two days a week for 12 weeks because it is a lower rated station so it will need

more insertions to reach the targeted audience.

WVBX-FM (Washington, D.C.)

○ Google Keywords:

I chose these keywords and keyphrases below because they all correlate

with what half marathon runners look for while searching. It is important to have

the proper attire and equipment to run a half marathon. I chose these words by

typing in words that relate to running. I also searched through the REI website

and looked for what it has to offer to the target audience. For example activity

trackers are important for runners while they are training. Runners enjoy beating

personal bests and also as previously mentioned sometimes the amount of miles

ran raises money for charity. Each keyword or keyphrase selected was selected

based on need. The amount of clicks is not high because as previously mentioned

runners are running and not online searching.

Running Lights

Running packs

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Running Shirts

Marathon accessories

Running shoes for half marathon

Running socks

Marathon gear

Activity trackers

Heart rate monitors

Clothing for runners

Energy food for runners

Half marathon runners

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