The Analysis: Media Plan

Marketing Analysis

A well organized media plan plays a crucial role in promoting goods and services successfully. This research paper will discuss the basic aspects that a media plan includes.

The overall marketing objective is launching a new product line. According to the survey, the consumption of potato chips or crisps has the largest fraction in the sweet and salty snacks consumption (85% of people answered they consume it) (TGI UAE 2014, n.d.). Thus, the market in the United Arab Emorated is favorable to the promotion of chips «Lays» . Our Four Ps strategy includes product (the new unique line of chips), price (the average price on all lines of chips “Lays”), promotion (advertising, social media), and place (traditional or online supermarkets).

There are three levels of consumer decision-making process: extensive problem solving, limited problem solving , routinized response behavior (Sahney, n.d.). The first level (extensive problem solving) is rarely common for our product category because, in this case, a consumer discovers a new product category that they have never used before. On the second level (limited problem solving), the consumer is familiar with the product category but unfamiliar with the brand. This situation would occur if the consumer is not aware of the brand “Lays”. On the third level (routinized response behavior), the consumer knows well what brand to choose and which product best meets his needs. Such goods are not expensive and consumers buy them frequently. The third level is the most typical for a product such as chips. Our promotion and advertising objectives are: to explore general tendencies in UAE in the consumption of chips; to define the main types of paid, earned and owned media; to identify the cost of these types of media, their reach, and frequency.

Our message strategy has two crucial features: it is an emotional strategy, which will use feeling to sell, and positioning. In other words, we will use an emotional description of unique taste that is firstly offered to consumers. Also, in our message strategy, we will position the brand «Lays» as a brand which is №1 in consumer’s preference for chips choice with the largest fraction 21.77% among brands according to survey (TGI UAE 2014, n.d.).

Target Audience Identification and Analysis

There are several criteria for the choice of our target audience: age (children, youngsters, adults); family unit (families with children (49.7%)); gender (both, but we expect that men will consume chips more because of their fewer worries about a diet (53.0% of males and 47.0% of females)); socio-economic class (medium class: upper middle class (20.4%) and middle class (30.2%)); occupation (students of colleges and universities (12.2%), office workers).

Our primary target is children and youngsters as parents usually give money to kids and students to buy lunch. Fast food, including chips, is naturally their first choice because of taste and the brand. Another branch of our primary target is office workers who have stopped bringing lunch and enjoy chips instead (22.9% of office-based workers). The secondary target includes parents and grandparents of those children who enjoy chips «Lays», who will persuade their family members to try it. The relationship our target market has with media can be described as close. Children, youngsters and office workers are engaged in social network channels and online services. They regularly watch television and perceive advertising well in most cases. Additionally, the media plan includes a pre-promotion campaign, such as testing the new line of “Lays” chips by consumers in supermarkets.

Media Objectives

The media objectives for the plan of launching a new product line include: to attract primary target audience; to attract secondary target audience; to maintain primary and secondary target audience; to expand the impact of the «Lays» brand on the UAE market through increasing the fraction on the market. As for seasonality, the selling period of chips lasts for the whole year. However, the best season for sales is the period during the academic year, because students often buy chips as a kind of lunch.
The media plan includes testing the new lines of “Lays” chips as a kind of a pre-promotion campaign.

Taking into consideration the concentration of people in most populated cities, it is relevant to concentrate promotion in the following cities: Abu Dhabi (31.3%), Al Ain (8.2%), Dubai (29.5%), Sharjah (17.3%), Ras Al Khaimah (6.2%), Ajman (4.7%), and Umm Al Quwain (1.3%) (TGI UAE 2014, n.d.).

We expect to reach 92.0 rating (92%) during a one-year campaign in total. In January and February, we expect to reach 15% of the population for each month, since we will concentrate our efforts on a strong promotion strategy, where the main emphasis will be made on television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and cinema. During the rest of the months, we will maintain the share of the market and expand it. Our goal is to reach 8% of the population in March and 6% for months from April to December. The frequency is planned to be 15 times in January and February, eight times in March, and six times during the rest of the months.
As for the type of scheduling, flighting is an irrelevant type in our case, because chips are not a strictly seasonal product category. Pulsing is not the right choice as well, because it implies a low advertising level during the whole year and serious advertising campaign during the peak selling period. We will use continuity as a type of scheduling, because chips are sold the whole year round with a little more success during the academic year. Thus, our advertising company will run steadily with little variation over a campaign period.

Media Mix and Vehicle Selection for Paid Media

Paid media includes traditional advertising (television, radio, print, outdoor). According to the survey in UAE, 98.6% of respondents are watching TV during a week (TGI UAE 2014, n.d.). The survey found that 51.7% of people listen to the radio in UAE. Regarding monthly magazines, 61.9% of people state that they do not read the hard copy of monthly magazines, and 75.3% of them do not read even the online version. There is a positive trend with the frequency of reading weekly magazines in comparison with monthly magazines, because 58.0% of people read the hard copy of such magazines (TGI UAE 2014, n.d.). There is a better situation with newspapers, because only 26.0% of people do not read the hard copy of daily newspapers; however, 55.0% of people stated that they do not read any daily newspapers in the online variant. Thus, the hard copy of daily newspapers is a good choice to inform society about the new line of chips “Lays”. Another good variant to advertise is cinema. 53.6% of people have been to the cinema in the last 12 months. Thus, we will use such types of media such as television, radio, cinema, the hard copy of daily newspapers, and the hard copy of weekly magazines. We will not use monthly magazines because this kind of media is relatively not advantageous in UAE.

Additionally, outdoor advertising should be considered as an advantageous type of media. The most effective ways of outdoor advertising are advertising outside a bus (46.9%), advertising outside a taxi (43.8%), poster advertising in shopping centers (41.2% ), large posters on boards at the side of the road or on buildings (34.3 %). Specific vehicles such as buses, taxi, and underground railroad will be used in the campaign. We will place advertising inside and outside these vehicles.
As for scheduling, reach and frequency, we expect to reach 32% of the population during a one year period. The frequency is 6 times per month. Monthly GRP is 16 points.

Regarding CPMs, there is a formula to calculate it. CPMs = Cost of advertising schedule purchased ÷1000. CPM is “a ratio based on how it costs to reach 1,000 people” (Newcomb, 2004, p. 610). CPMs (of paid media) = (416 000 + 364 000 + 312 000 + 156 000 + 320 000 + 209 000 +209 000) ÷ 1000= $1986 per 1 000 people.

CPP = Cost of advertising schedule purchased ÷ Gross Rating Points. CPP is a ratio based on how much it costs to reach 1 rating point, or 1 percent of the population in the area being evaluated (Newcomb, 2004, p. 610). The UAE´s population is 10 433 846 people (“United Arab Emirates Population”, 2016). We expect that an average television network program achieves about 10.0 rating, which means that it reaches ten percent of the population (10% of UAE´s population is 1 043 384 people). If each customer with a rating of 10.0 returns to the program four times, then it will make four times 41 735 400 Gross Impressions. It means that the goal is to reach 10% of the population and four times of reviewing. Thus, CPP (of paid media) = 2 302 000 ÷10 = $230 200/1 grating point.

Media Mix & Strategy for Owned Media

We will choose such types of owned media as the official website of the company “Lays” and social media channels. By social media channels, we mean the official groups of the brand “Lays” in social networks such as Facebook. To provide additional advertisement of the new line of the chips ”Lays”, we will use advertising outside corporative tracks and automobiles of the company. We are planning to do this advertisement for the whole year. The most concentrated efforts will be made in January, because then, the launching of the new line of chips is expected. Our goal is to reach 25.0 rating due to owned media. This means to reach 25% of the UAE’s population for one year. The reach is expected at 10.0 rating in January. For the last 11 months, it is evaluated as 15.0 rating. The frequency of reviewing is expected at the level of 4 times per month for websites and social media channels and 6 times per month for advertising outside own vehicles.

When dealing with owned media, it is necessary to consider cost equivalences and relate these expenses to the cost of buying the equivalent paid media. The main cost equivalencies in this situation are media specialists’ salaries, resources of time, and expenditures connected with the maintenance of own websites. Regarding the using of corporative tracks and automobiles, there are almost no expenditures except for the advertising material, which costs $3000 in total and will be placed on all vehicles of the company for the first three weeks of January.

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Media Mix & Strategy for Earned Media

Regarding earned media, we expect consumers’ conversations about the product, including advice and responses, as well as showing or demonstrating the product to each other. Our target is an organization discussion forum to encourage consumers to share their complaints, suggestions, preferences about the new line of chips “Lays”. Due to earned media, we expect to reach 35.0 rating at the end of the year. The frequency is five times.

Cost equivalencies in the case of earned media are minimum. However, there are still expenditures on creating the discussion forum and maintaining it as well as the salary for the administrator who will respond to consumers’ messages. Thus, the cost of creating a discussion forum is 3 000$ in the first week of January. Then, the cost of maintaining the site (including the administrator’ salary) will be 2 000$ for the rest of the period.

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