Download - Cheerwine Part 1
Cheerwine: Bold Enough
Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign
Tyler Blackshaw
Christina Carbone
Emily Farris
Danielle Turo
Rachel Warrick
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Main Issue:
Our campaign is going to address Cheerwine’s
weakness of brand awareness. Cheerwine is
available in much of the southeastern United States,
from West Virginia south to Florida; however, it is
not well-known across the country. Compared to
other soft drink companies, like Coca-Cola and
Pepsi, Cheerwine does not have a distinct product
campaign. Nor does Cheerwine advertise on
television. They have radio ads, but they are not
nationwide. We want to create a new awareness for
Cheerwine nationwide. We will work on a campaign
that allows Cheerwine to expand its market, as well
as creating recognition of its core values and history.
Target Market: Cheerwine is a sweeter tasting soda that would likely
best be marketed towards younger generations, who
have yet to make a decision on their soda preference.
The campaign will be based in the Northeast, just past
Pennsylvania, where Cheerwine currently tops out. The
ideal demographic would be to middle-class, 18-34 year olds, of all races. On
a psychographic level, consumers should have high family morals, possible
southern roots, and religious tenets. We plan to target heavy soda drinkers
who are not currently loyal to one drink, based off of behavioral segmentation
strategies.
This is an attractive segment for Cheerwine because a recent survey
conducted by Gallop.com showed Americans between the ages of 18 and 34
consume the most soda. This is also the age when most Americans are
starting to leave their parent’s homes and starting families of their own. With
this change comes the ability to make purchase decisions independently
from family influence. Based on a behavioral basis, consumers will most
likely have purchased soda in the past but on a wavering basis with no set
current preference.
Positioning Strategy: We will position our product based on attributes. Cheerwine offers consumers a refreshing
soft drink with a distinct cherry flavor. The company is the oldest family-owned soft drink,
dating back to 1917. The company is already making efforts to expand to allow customers
from across the United States to order the product online. The issue with their attempt is
that there is no awareness for this attribute. As a company with strong traditional roots,
Cheerwine has been able to stick to its original recipe while supplying diet and caffeine
varieties.
Our positioning statement will focus on tradition as well as bold flavor. These are two
attributes that we feel set our product apart from the rest. “Since 1917, Cheerwine has been
a family-owned soft drink company dedicated to providing customers with the most
refreshing, crisp, cherry soda on the market.” Competitors such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi, and
Dr. Pepper all position their product based on benefits. A lot of their marketing focuses on
feelings and experiences rather than taste and tradition. For example, Coca-Cola focuses
on “opening happiness,” with their “Share A Coke” campaign. Pepsi wants consumers to
“live for now,” as advertised through their celebrity endorser- Beyoncé. Dr. Pepper focuses
on individuality with “Always One of a Kind,” emphasizing that even though people are
different, they can collectively enjoy Dr.Pepper. We feel that our positioning strategy will set
Cheerwine apart and create a new market for the product.
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One Persuasion theory that will directly influence our campaign will be Robert Cialdini’s
persuasion tools. He identified six tools of persuasion that will play a role in the development
of our Integrated Marketing Communications campaign. The six tools are reciprocation,
commitment and consistency, social proof, liking, authority, and scarcity.
Reciprocation involves the idea that with a favor comes a favor. In order to play on this idea,
we will have to be honest and sincere with our customers. Consumers need to feel like they
are getting some benefits when they buy our product. An example of this could be to make
consumers feel like they are receiving tradition and the gift of refreshment in every sip of
Cheerwine. Commitment and consistency involves making sure that our consumers stay
faithful to our product. In order to do that, our campaign will need to remain consistent with a
solid message. We will use the ideas of tradition and taste throughout each one of our
marketing efforts. According to the text, consumers are most likely to remain consistent
when they are highly involved in the purchasing process. Social proof can be found in the
behavior and actions of society. The marketing campaign we develop for Cheerwine needs
to appeal to trendsetters and opinion leaders, who will show social proof to other potential
customers. We will be able to do this by appealing to young soda-drinkers from 18-34 years
old who have not made a decision about soda preference yet.
Application of Communication, Consumer Behavior and Persuasion Theories:
Continued…
From there, they will show social proof by consuming our product in public and
spreading a positive word of mouth message. The type of people that we would like
to promote our product will be young and interested in trying new things. Our target
market fits into this category. The authority figures we will use include peers and
parents. Some people in our target market may have children. If Cheerwine is kept
in the home, then through the household life cycle the next generation will be likely
to continue using Cheerwine. Liking is the idea that society is most likely to act if a
likeable person promotes the product. Two main domains that we will have to focus
on is attractiveness and similarity. We will be able to do this by using different types
of celebrities or people to promote the product. This will allow us to appeal to more
demographics. Most people respect the opinions of authoritative figures. The idea of
authority is that a company should also respect these figures and appeal to them.
Scarcity is the theory that items that are rare are more valued. Psychological
reactance helps explain why people react against any efforts to reduce their freedom
of choice. Cheerwine will use tactics to promote the distinct flavor of their soft drink
that cannot be found in any other beverage. This will make consumers feel like they
are missing out if they do not buy our product.
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Continued…
In order to ensure that potential customers learn and remember our product we
will utilize the consumer processing model. For Cheerwine, rather than using the
usual soft drink route of linking benefits we want to form concrete claims about our
cheery, bold taste. Part of the problem with rival companies is their inability to
describe the taste of their drinks. With Cheerwine, the cherry flavor is obvious and
distinctive and can be illustrated through various means. Repeating this
information with creative ads and billboards will expose customers to our brand on
a regular basis and build up their desire to try our product. The stage that will be
vital for us in being successful with this model will be the exposure stage.
Cheerwine is not the most well-known soft drink; therefore, we will need to
advertise on many mediums. We plan to utilize social media, television, radio, and
direct marketing in our IMC campaign. This will, in turn, increase the amount of
people who are exposed to our product, increasing awareness.
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Campaign Objectives: 1. Increase Cheerwine’s engagement with Generation Y from the Northeast through
social media (Facebook likes, Twitter followers, and Instagram followers) by January
2017.
• Facebook: Increase likes from 135,343 to 300,000
• Twitter: Increase followers from 5,411 to 10,000
• Instagram: Create account with following of approximately 5,000.
In order to achieve this objective, our Cheerwine campaign is going to have its own hash
tag, #boldenough. By having this hash tag, Cheerwine will be able to keep track of social
media engagement. We will be able to get Generation Y involved, and feel a part of the
campaign. The hash tag will be featured in all of our marketing efforts to encourage
Generation Y to become involved, just like the “Share a Coke” campaign. In order to
measure the social media engagement, we will be looking to see how many of our
followers are using the hash tag specific to our campaign. We will also look at the increase
of likes and followers we have. Just by logging onto our accounts, we will be able to see if
our following has increased or not.
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Campaign Objectives: DAGMAR
2. Cheerwine will increase brand awareness for Generation Y in the Northeast from
about *10% to 100% by January 2017.
*This is an estimation based on the amount of retailers that sell Cheerwine in the
Northeast. Cheerwine needs to conduct marketing research in order to quantify current
levels of brand awareness in the Northeast.
In order to measure this objective, Cheerwine will be conducting marketing research, to
see how brand awareness has grown. The marketing research we will be conducting is
aided awareness. After releasing the campaign, we will have to attend various functions
in the Northeast where we can survey Generation Y. This will help us see if they know
who we are as a company is. In our surveys, we will want to ask questions such as: Do
you know each one of these brands? Did you know each of the following brands were
soft drink companies?
Our entire IMC campaign will achieve this objective through our advertisements on
television and social media.
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Campaign Objectives: DAGMAR
3. Increase Cheerwine sales by Generation Y in the Northeast by
*65% by January 2017.
*Cheerwine needs to do market research to determine the current sales
level in the Northeast region.
-This objective will be achieved through launching our campaign and
creating greater brand awareness. We will need to collect measurement
scanner panel data from all our retailers and distributors to determine
changes in sales volume. Our efforts to create brand awareness will
inspire people to go out and try our brand.
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Message Strategy:
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!Source: The source for our campaign will be the Tonight’s Show host Jimmy
Fallon. We feel that he is the perfect fit for the values and audience
our company wants to appeal to. His personality is captivating, and
his comedy is something our target audience generally enjoys. The
origin of Cheerwine’s name also relates to Fallon’s personality.
Cheerwine’s name came from the drinks burgundy color and the
cheerfulness drinkers experience after that first sip, similarly to the
feeling one gets after drinking wine. Fallon has a cheerful, bubbly
personality that is easily relatable to Cheerwine. As a family man
himself, Fallon also ties into the message of tradition. He is also
based out of New York City, an area
that we are attempting to reach. As an
icon in the North, we feel he is the
best fit for our campaign.
Message: Have Jimmy Fallon participating in various “southern” activities
such as attending country concerts, driving pick up trucks,
standing in a crowd at a NASCAR race, and dressed in bow ties
and pastels at an outdoor party. The entire time he seems
completely out of his element. At the end of the commercial he is
back in New York City visibly enjoying a nice cold Cheerwine
where he states, “Some things should stay in the South, others
shouldn’t. Cheerwine, bold enough for the North”
We believe this message will be effective in reaching our
northern audience because it takes a well-known and respected
figure and puts him in humorous situations. The commercial
pokes fun at the South but makes it known that Cheerwine can
be universally accepted and enjoyed. This ties in the products
routes while also appealing to a new target market.
Channel: The main media channels that Cheerwine will be advertised on are: ABC, NBC, and
CBS. We will air the commercial from the hours of 5 p.m. to Midnight. The reason for
this is because our target audience, 18 to 34 years old, generally watches television
during this time. This may be the only time that they have to relax and watch television
after a long day of work or school.
Because Cheerwine’s new spokesperson is Jimmy Fallon, we will ensure to have
Cheerwine on his desk during his show, as well as the preferred refreshment for his
guests. This will be a great tool as celebrities from all over will be using and endorsing
the product during The Tonight Show.
We will also utilize social media in our campaign on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
After our campaign is launched we will implement the hash tag #boldenough to get our
product trending. It is important that we use social media to reach our audience
because Generation Y is the most technologically advanced. According to Forbes
Magazine 70 percent of Generation Y check their phones at least once every hour.
Additionally, Jimmy Fallon has a public of almost 16 million followers on Twitter and 3.8
million followers on Facebook.
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Target: The signs and symbols in the commercial all relate to things
that are considered southern. The country music concert,
NASCAR, pick up trucks, and preppy clothing will all be easily
connected to the South. Jimmy Fallon, a known northerner,
experiencing these events will create a link between the target
market and our commercial. At the end when he finally enjoys
his Cheerwine out of the glass bottle, northerners will
understand that even they can enjoy the great southern taste
of Cheerwine.