FIVE­YEAR MARKETING PLAN Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews

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Table of Contents

1. Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………...2

2. Strategic Focus and Plan…………………………………………………………….......2

3. Situation Analysis………………………………………………………………….…….2

4. Market Product Focus………………………………………………………………......7

5. Marketing Program…………………………………………………………………….10

6. Financial Data and Projection………………………………………………………....16

7. Evaluation……………………………………………………………………………….16

8. Appendix 1 …..……………………………………………………………………….....21

9. Appendix 2 ……………………………………………………………………………...22

10. Appendix 3……………………………………………………………………………....24

11. Appendix 4……………………………………………………………………………...25

12. References……………………………………………………………………………….26

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Five­Year Marketing Plan Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews

1. Executive Summary

Ice Breakers Cool Blasts is a product available within the product mix offered by Ice Breakers and is owned by The Hershey’s Company, where they introduced Ice Breakers Cool Blasts in April of 2015. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews offers a unique experience to consumers’ taste buds, where it provides a quick dissolving chew that contains a strong minty flavor. This product faces challenges with the weak demand in chewing gum which is due to a potential decrease in smoking and the acceptability of gum; however, Ice Breakers Cool Blasts offer a product that is similar to gum, but is quick dissolving. Part of Ice Breakers’ problem is a lack of awareness of their new product.

Evaluation of the company’s internal weaknesses and strengths as well as external threats and opportunities has served as the major premise for our marketing plan. This plan focuses on the company’s innovative product and the benefits of the quick dissolving chew. We have developed strategies that center heavily on the 18­24 year old market through a social media campaign, an application for smart phones and tablets, and a change to the packaging and name.

2. Strategic Focus and Plan This section covers two aspects of corporate strategy that influence the marketing plan: (1) the mission and (2) goals of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews. Mission The Mission of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews is to provide a new, quick way to provide fresh breath that satisfies the needs of consumers in the declining gum segment. Goals For the coming five years Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews seeks to achieve the following goals: 1. To spread awareness of the existence of Cool Blasts Chews 2. To promote trial of Cool Blasts Chews 3. To grow the social media presence of Ice Breakers 4. To increase Wholesale Club sales by 10% 5. To add a new flavor to the product line every year

3. Situation Analysis This situation analysis demonstrates starts with a SWOT analysis shown in Figure 1

followed by a more detailed description discussing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews. After this overview, there is an analysis of primary and secondary research on the industry, competitors, company, and consumers.

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SWOT Analysis

Figure 1 shows the internal and external factors affecting the market opportunities for Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews.

Fig 1. SWOT ANALYSIS FOR ICE BREAKERS COOL BLASTS CHEWS

Strengths Weaknesses

Internal Factors

­Brand recognition ­Dominant producer of mint/gums in current CMG market ­Experienced management and large workforce ­Unique and effective product ­Retains qualities of original product while adding a new twist to the design ­Wide distribution in market makes product easily purchasable

­Lack of flavors may not appeal to wide audience ­Competing with traditional favorite breath freshener, gum ­No national awareness for product ­Stubborn consumers resistant to change

Opportunities Threats

External Factors

­Easily incorporable in the lives of young millennials ­Target market is always attracted to novelty ­Technological culture allows widespread advertising on multiple platforms ­Potential for sales in wholesale retailers ­Expanding internationally could expand market

­Premium price may discourage potential consumers who opt for cheaper substitutes ­Less demand to cover tobacco breath, aging smokers lack dental work for persistent chewing ­Conscious consumers concern over strength of freshener

Strengths As the current 2015 leader in CMG sales, Hershey’s already possesses strength in terms of brand recognition. That said, Ice Breakers, the flagship brand beneath Hershey, is recognizably prominent on its own. With mint shares alone, Hershey’s dominates the mint market with an impressive 41%; which according to the history provided by the American

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Marketing Association Case Competition guidelines is “nearly twice as much as the second largest mint producer”. A leader in mass marketing and manufacturing techniques, Hershey’s has come from simple beginnings to being America’s leading producer of chocolate and non­chocolate candies. With such a large precedent, there is no doubt that Hershey’s already has a steady consumer base with brand loyalty. It should also be mentioned that with over 14,000 employees and foundings since 1894, Hershey’s not only has an effective workforce and management system but an experienced one as well. Notable strengths of the Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews themselves include its novelty and its ability to retain the effects of original Ice Breakers while adding a new twist to the design. No longer will people be seeking a breath freshener and be forced to deal with hard candy mints or gum refuse. The square­boxed casing as it currently is provides easy access for quick and discrete freshening. Finally, the fact that Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews are offered at a variety of locations (Walmart, Target, Drug stores, etc.) not only makes the product easy to find and purchase, but allow it to reach a greater consumer audience. These are some significant strengths possessed by the Ice Breakers brand and their new product. Weaknesses

Potential changes will revolutionize Ice Breakers as a whole, but with every change, it is still important to keep in mind possible risks and weaknesses. First, it should be mentioned that after conducting multiple surveys and focus groups, there has been a trend of ambivalent reactions to the strength and the taste of the chews. First time users often underestimate the product and were then subsequently surprised by the initial mintiness and strength of the chew; however, seasoned users knew what to expect and actually enjoyed the taste and strength of the chew. These reactions have shown evidence that eating Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews is an acquired taste that slowly grows on people the more they are associated with the product. Unfortunately, the lack of association plays a big part in negative reviews and feedback that damage the brand. This is illustrated specifically in multiple Amazon reviews of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews with consumers citing “burning pain”, “gross texture”, and “brain freezes”. Other reviews have also mentioned that the chew dissolves too quickly which left a lingering feeling of dissatisfaction. With its similar texture to gum, subjects expected Cool Blasts to last as long as gum ­ just without the need to spit it out when they were finished. That said, according to Hershey’s research, “59% of young Millennials still choose chewing gum as their favorite breath freshener over all other alternatives”. From this, we can conclude that millennials may be open to change, but many will still favor traditional products in the long run. The current selection of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews are also currently limited to minty flavors, and after referencing polled data, it seems that 10% of people prefer freshners of other flavors. This is 10% of the market that the current Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews has failed to reach. Finally, there is no national awareness of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews. According to social media analyses on websites such as Social Mention, there has been little to no talk about the product on any platform. This contributes to Ice Breakers’ low Klout score. If we can drive a higher number of

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people to share, tweet, or post about Ice Breakers (whether good or bad) will only make the product more relevant in our daily lives and increase Ice Breakers’ ability to attract attention. Opportunities

Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews should not and cannot be sold as a gum/mint combination. This causes confusion and will inevitably induce comparisons between the chew to a gum and the chew to a mint. Instead, it is important that the chew is emphasized as an alternative breath freshener. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts are a unique and innovative product that eliminates bad breath. Focusing on the strengths of the product will allow Cool Blasts to distinguish itself and stand out in the market. Furthermore, with added innovation, there are opportunities to sell the product to a larger demographic. It is understood that the company wishes to focus on 18­24 year olds, but children (6­17) are often easily influenced and attracted to new and unique products. By targeting flavors towards children and selling the product in colorful packaging, Ice Breakers will not only attract the target market but also be expanding their market to a larger demographic. Furthermore, games/apps are no longer restricted to the 18­24 year old millennial. According to the Pew Research Center, with the facilitation of mobile devices, 92% of teens report going online daily with 24% going online “constantly”. This leads to promotional opportunities that make use of hashtags (Smith, 2015). Most frequently used on mobile platforms, hashtags have the ability to specify searches relating to only indicated topics, and with enough retweets and uses of #BreaktheIce, Ice Breakers Cool Blasts should essentially market itself through its consumers. Lastly, in terms of retail location, it seems that only about 2% of sales originate from wholesale clubs (BJs, Costco, Sam’s Club, etc.). With support from our online survey and multiple focus groups, it can be concluded that many consumers buy mints and gums in bulk (especially families with multiple members and kids). That said it is only natural that Ice Breakers should consider selling the Chews in value packs and make them available in wholesale clubs where consumers can easily and conveniently get a round of chews for the entire family. Wholesale stores allow consumers to buy products in bulk, thus eliminating their need to constantly travel back to a store just to get a pack of chews. Focusing Cool Blasts in wholesale stores will help reiterate the convenience factor of the Ice Breaker Cool Blasts Chews by always having a chew on hand when they need one. Ice Breakers should also seek to distribute Cool Blasts to Walmart's checkout lanes. Doing so will help cement Cool Blasts as a leading breath fresheners that can compete with other notable products. This will help Cool Blasts cement itself as an increasingly popular go­to impulse buy. Threats

Because there are already so many different types and brands of gums and mints on the market, it is important for Ice Breakers to focus on the uniqueness of the Chews. It should be mentioned that Hershey’s CMG competitor Wrigley also recently came out with their own version of a Chew. Luckily these chews weren’t marketed as breath fresheners but instead more

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as fruity gum combined with people’s favorite candy flavors. Going back to consumer concerns over the strength and taste of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews, consumers may start reading the nutritional values and labels to familiarize themselves with the ingredients used. With so much emphasis on organic and natural products in this day and age these product conscious consumers may become concerned with the unpronounceable substances in the chew. Besides becoming more ingredient­aware, consumers have also decreased tobacco consumption. According to the CDC “During 2014, nearly 264 billion cigarettes were sold in the United States, a decrease from approximately 273 billion sold in 2013”. In other words, a decrease in tobacco consumption means a decreased need to cover up tobacco breath. In addition, due to poor access in dental work the aging population of tobacco smokers lack the ability to consistently chew breath fresheners to cover up and freshen tobacco breath. Finally, Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews are around $2.65 per pack, which though relatively cheap, is still more expensive than a pack of $1.41 altoids mints or a pack of $.90 Extra gum. This premium pricing for a product, even a novel one is sure to deter potential consumers from purchasing the product. Industry Analysis: Trends in Gum, Mints and Breath Fresheners

Mintel conducted a study in September 2015 on Gum, Mints, and Breath Fresheners in the US. It is clear that chewing gum sales are decreasing and expected to continue to decrease, while mint and breath freshener sales have been increasing. The study talks about how customers are switching to designer mints and fruit chews because they do not come with the unpleasant characteristics of gum including determining whether to spit it out or swallow gum when you are done chewing it, the annoying sound people make while chewing gum, and the ability for gum to cause jaw problems. The number one reason that people purchase gum, mints and breath fresheners is to freshen their breath followed by to remove a bad taste from their mouth and to try a new flavor. The use of social media, especially Twitter, has been seen to increase brand awareness in this industry. Competitor Analysis: The Candy, Gum and Mint Market

Candy, mint and gum, CMG, is an $80 billion market and consumed by almost all US households. The Mintel study examined different products that have had successful products. Wrigley’s 5 Ascent sugarless gum not only has had success in focusing on minty freshness, but also on the incorporation of social media hashtags to market the product. Juicy Fruit gum co­branded a product with Starburst to create a gum with unique flavors to promote interest. Last, Altoids Artic Mints focuses on the cooling sensation of the product to drive the mint sales. This market has opportunities for innovation in flavors, packaging, and the incorporation of social media in marketing new products. Company Analysis

Acquired in 2000, Icebreakers subsequently became a staple among the hundreds of products manufactured by the ever revered Hershey Company founded in 1894, by Milton

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Hershey in Derry Township PA. With over 100 years of experience in the CMG industry, The Hershey Company is run by seasoned professionals focused on growing as a key player in the international market while continuing to be a major competitor in the US market.

Recently the Hershey Company has realigned its marketing communications agencies to further capitalize on changing consumer tastes and demands. This decision has led to relationships with Arnold Worldwide, an expansion of relationships with North Castle Partners, and a shift of communications assignments from Hershey’s current agencies of Ogilvy & Mather and DDB. Currently Hershey’s has no plans to change its media and buying agency, but with the changes mentioned above the company will no doubt be able to facilitate new and unique marketing strategies fit for the evolving media landscape. Customer Analysis

The customer analysis was based on secondary research as well as surveys and focus groups to figure out the needs and wants of customers. Survey Analysis

Before we ran our focus groups, we conducted a pre­survey that we shared over social media and email. We asked people a variety of questions: did they prefer gum, mints or chews, what flavor people prefer, if they have ever tried Ice Breakers Cool Blasts, and what company do they usually buy from. We also asked questions pertaining to different Ice Breakers packaging and products in order to find out which one was most preferred. We used the results from this survey to help us develop further research questions for our focus groups as well as a basis for our future ideas and marketing plans. Focus Group Analysis

We ran five separate focus groups each containing eight people. Within our focus groups, we had participants who were an equal mix of gender and fell within our target market of 18­24 year olds. We asked our focus group participants what they thought of the tray packaging, the flavors, if they would suggest another flavor, and we also asked them for their opinions on potential changes to Ice Breakers Cool Blasts.

What we found through our focus groups was that the participants were very confused on what exactly to do with the product. Every participant was unsure if they were supposed to chew it or let it just dissolve in their mouth. Due to this problem, we have recommend changing the name from Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews to “Ice Breakers Quick Chews”. This will help clear up any confusion to consumers about what exactly the product does and how to use it. We also found that many participants preferred gum over the chew. The participants were unsure of the purpose of a fast chew, and this has caused us to heavily focus on the convenience of a chew compared to gum when developing potential TV commercials and the social media campaign.

We also wanted to see how the participants felt about having a refillable keychain for the quick chews. While asking each focus group, around 85% of participants responded positively

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towards this idea. Many said that they liked the idea of being able to easily take gum off their key ring while driving, or how they could easily locate the chew in their purses and book bags. We also asked the participants how they felt about downloading an app for their phones and tablets. The participants all agreed that as long as the game was entertaining, free, and not heavily focused on being an advertisement then they would download the game.

In closing, our focus group provided sufficient details on what consumers thought about the current product and our changes. The information we have received from the focus groups and survey results has allowed us to discover issues that consumers have with the product such as what exactly to do with the chew, and the purpose. Our changes and marketing strategies has been backed by our focus groups and will provide an increase in sales to the product.

4. Market­Product Focus This section describes the five­year marketing and product objectives for Ice Breakers

Cool Blasts Chews as well as the target markets, points of difference, and positioning of Cool Blasts Chews. Marketing and Product Objectives

We want Ice Breakers Cool Blasts to be fully recognized for its innovation and potential. Our marketing and product objectives are aimed to inform and persuade consumers as much as possible to buy, and at the very least, to be aware of the product. Over five years, our major goals are to raise the public’s basic awareness of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts as well as increase overall sales for Cool Blasts. This involves putting out commercials, maintaining Ice Breakers’ social media presence, and releasing our app idea. To measure whether or not raising awareness is successful, we would look at sites like SocialMention and Klout. Any significant change in these scores would be a huge difference from the minimal presence that Ice Breakers currently has, but we still want to shoot a little higher. We would like to see at least a 50% increase in our SocialMention scores. While that seems a little low, we really want these scores to remain consistent because that shows that Ice Breakers is constantly talked about. While there is a chance that Ice Breakers’ social media presence just blows up with the launch of #BreakTheIce, we would rather see continuous and consistent growth of Ice Breakers as a whole. To determine whether or not marketing is effective and actually persuades consumers to buy the product, we can just look at the sales of Cool Blasts. Seeing the sales of Cool Blasts steadily increase over a year, or even 5 years, would be a great sign for the product. As of June, Hershey’s has 25% of the CMG share. If Cool Blasts became more and more prominent and starting convincing consumers to switch from other products, we would see this number rise even higher.

For our product objectives, we want Cool Blasts to differentiate itself as much as possible from other competitors. There is a couple changes we would like to make to the product itself, such as change in texture, increase in chew time, and a wider variety of flavor options. Also, we want the packaging to promote the convenience of Cool Blasts Chews as much as possible. To do this, we would have the Chews be distributed in a keychain dispenser that allows consumers

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to easily carry around the product. By further driving home the point that Ice Breakers Cool Blasts convenient, we can get consumers to associate Ice Breakers Cool Blasts as an easily accessible and efficient product. Target Markets Based on the research we conducted, over 55% of the U.S. population consume gum or mints. The gum market has been decreasing significantly, however, as many people choose chews and mints over gum currently. The “mint” sector (including Ice Breakers) has grown by 15% over the past 5 years based on our findings. It indicates that people search for better alternatives than gum to freshen their breaths.

We have divided the target market into 4 categories, based on age, income, lifestyle and habits. For each category our team has created a consumer profile to better explain the generational differences and preferences.

Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews youngest consumer is Collin*. He is 8. Collin plays Nintendo and likes Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The marketing strategy for Collin’s age group would be Aspiration. We chose this marketing strategy because children at this age are more likely to be influenced by advertisement, especially when it comes to something they really enjoy or want. We propose to target the Aspiration group by creating marketing campaigns that will appeal to children’s desires and emotions.

Our next consumer is Jane*. She is 15. Jane spends 3 hours a day on average on social media and prefers to watch Netflix over TV. The marketing strategy for Jane’s age group would be Differentiation. Our team believes this marketing strategy will work for several reasons. Jane, as a teenager, strives to be unique. At the same time, she constantly seeks approval from her friends and family. Jane is in need of a product that will make her stand out. The Differentiation marketing strategy will appeal to Jane’s needs and wants.

Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews next consumer is Adam*. He is 22. Adam is a recent graduate. He likes to go to music festivals, eat healthy and stay fit. It is extremely important for Adam to have fresh breath, but he will avoid chewing gum and artificial ingredients associated with it. In addition, Adam is not influenced by advertisement. He values original content and credible sources. The marketing strategy we chose for his age group would be Authenticity.

Our next consumer is Diana*. She is 36. Diana is married, has 2 children and works full­time. Her annual income is over $100,000. As a Mom, Diana is always on lookout for the best products that will be healthy and beneficial for every member of her family. She values fresh breath, discretion and efficiency of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews over gum. Our team

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has decided Conscientious marketing strategy would address the needs and wants of Diana’s age group the best.

*See Appendix 1

Points of Difference Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews have many characteristics that are unique to this product

and make it stand out in the gum, mints and breath freshener market that include the following:

Convenience. The chew aspect of this product makes it a quick way to freshen the consumers breath. Since the product dissolves, convenience is seen in the removal of the need to dispose the product when it loses flavor, which is something that is an issue with gum.

Powerful Flavor. Although the product may not physically last long like gum, because of the cooling crystals, Cool Blasts Chews have a lasting effect. The chews contain cooling crystals that make the flavor powerful. Most gums lose flavor before the consumer is done chewing, so once the product is out of your mouth, your breath is not as fresh anymore. Cool Blasts Chews have strong flavors with cooling crystals that provide lasting fresh breath.

Innovative Product. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews bring a new way to freshen breath to this industry. With gum sales decreasing and mints and breath fresheners increasing, there is a need for a new product to bring together the positive characteristics of gum, mints, and breath fresheners all into one package. Cool Blasts Chews is this innovative product.

Positioning

Cool Blasts Chews should be differentiated from gum and mints by avoiding constant comparison; instead, the product should be displayed in a new light that really highlights its strengths. In a commercial that is currently airing, the slogan is “Not a gum. Not a mint. It’s a totally new cool.” This makes the consumer compare the product to gum and mints. Gum and mints are used to freshen your breath and a benefit is the length of time that the flavor lasts. Cool Blasts Chews dissolve in your mouth, which gives the perception that they are not as effective as other gum and mints. In marketing Cool Blasts Chews, the focus should be on the chews being a new way to conveniently freshen your breath with lasting effects.

5. Marketing Program The different elements of the marketing plan, including product strategy, promotion

strategy, and distribution strategy are detailed below.

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Product Strategy The following product strategy details a name change, label change and an additional

packaging for Cool Blasts Chews that will communicate the convenience of the product to customers and incorporate social media in marketing Cool Blasts Chews. Cool Blasts Quick Chews From focus groups, we have learned that with an innovative product like Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews, it is important to make the consumers aware of what the product is. Cool Blasts Chews have the consistency of gum, but quickly disappear. A lot of the focus group participants were unhappy with the quick duration of the product because they were comparing it to gum. To overcome this confusion, Ice Breakers should change the name to Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Quick Chews. By adding the word “quick” to the title, the consumer knows more about the product, you eliminate the consumer’s instinct to compare this product to gum, and you emphasize the convenience aspect of the product. Label Change

In order to increase the presence of Ice Breakers on social media, a pick up line with “#BreakTheIce” will be on each package. The nutrition label will be able to lift up to reveal the pick up line. Instructions will encourage customers to post the pick up line to social media and tag a friend or romantic interest. New pick up lines will be released each month. This will spread the word of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews over social media and increase trial of Cool Blasts Chews. On­The­Go Packaging

One part in portraying the convenience aspect to our customers is to change the packaging for on­the­go use. During focus groups, we asked the participants how they felt about the packaging. The general consensus was that they really liked the look of it and the logo design, but felt that the packaging structure was impractical. Although the package said which side to open it, most people don’t think about that when opening gum. In a survey, we found that the top two favored designs were the puck style and the sliding Cool Blasts Chews package. Since the sliding package is impractical, the puck package seemed like a better option for this product. A trend we say in the research talked about how millennials are more concerned with the environment. This product uses a lot a plastic, which is not good for the environment. To attract more millennial consumers, the product needs to incorporate less plastic.

In putting all this information together, we created an additional package design to incorporate the puck style, the on­the­go factor, and less plastic. The puck will have the Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews logo design on the front and there will be a piece in the center of the puck that you can flip open which exposes the inside of the puck allowing you to pour out the Cool Blasts Chews into your hand fairly easily. The puck has a keychain that can be used to attach the chews to your keys, backpack, lanyard, or wherever else the consumer wants to have

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easy access to the chews. This promotes the idea of on­the­go freshness. To incorporate less plastic, the puck will be refillable. The puck will twist open at the bottom, allowing you to refill it and keep using it. There will be refill packs, similar to the sample packs, which will have an easy­tear opening that allows the consumer to easily refill their puck. Fig. 2: On­The­Go Package Design

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Fig. 3: Refill Package Design Promotion Strategy

Key promotion programs feature commercials, a cell phone application, increasing the social media presence and partnering with Chegg. Relatable Television Commercial:

In order to show Ice Breakers Cool Blasts at its best, we have designed a commercial that will accentuate the highest two qualities of this product. This commercial will demonstrate the convenience appeal and the uniqueness of the product. Lastly, in this commercial, both of these will be achieved using pathos to appeal to the emotions. Pathos appeals are the most effective with females. Considering the majority of consumers of this product are already female, and, the index (potential buyers) for females is much greater than males, we felt that this would be the best approach. This commercial is going to show a typical father and daughter going through typical nerve racking life events. First, the daughter will be going to her first day of middle school. She is going to be a little nervous. Before she gets out of the car, the father will then give her a Ice Breaker Cool Blasts to calm her nerves. Next, the commercial will fast forward to her first prom. Once again, she will be nervous, the father will then give her the product. Lastly, the daughter will be going to her first college interview. Before she walks in, the father will still be there for her and give her the product. It will appeal to the emotions because it will look like the father is always there for her in the biggest times of her life. This will be something that many of the viewers will be able to relate to.

This will show the convenience of this product as well by showing our idea of having the product attached to the father’s keychain. This way, no matter where they are, whether it be in

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the car, before prom, or before they walk into a college interview, the product is quickly and easily accessible.

Lastly, this commercial will demonstrate the uniqueness of this product by showing that Ice Breakers Cool Blasts are neither a mint nor a gum. In all of the situations in the commercial, (school, prom, and interview), it would not be appropriate to be chewing gum. However, it would be good to have good breath. This goes to show that you can have both with Ice Breakers Cool Blasts.

This should air on Fuse. With an index of 217, the potential of selling Ice Breakers Cool Blasts on this channel is remarkable compared to all other channels (MRI, 2015). Children’s Television Commercial:

We believe that there is a great potential in targeting our marketing campaign to children age 6 to 12 years old. Based on the research we conducted, the market is about 204 thousand in size (MRI, 2015). By creating a separate commercial for the younger generation, we hope to attract that market as well. The commercial will be shown on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel due to the high index for consumers that watch these channels.

In order to stay consistent with our marketing efforts, the commercial will be based on the idea of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews giving children confidence. It will consist of 2 scenes.

First scene: Andrew has just moved to a new neighborhood with his family. It is his first day in the new school. Andrew hesitates for a second before opening a door to the classroom; he opens up a pack of Ice Breakers, and takes a chew. He then starts feeling confident. When Andrew opens the door, he sees students and teacher smiling.

Second scene: First, we see a little girl, Amanda (5 years old) watching videos of ballerinas and dancing to them. Then, we see Amanda 7 years later as a middle­schooler about to perform at her recital. She’s nervous, but know that if she just goes out there, she’ll do just fine. Amanda pops out an Ice Breakers Quick Chew and heads out on stage. Her performance goes wonderfully. Ice Breakers Cell Phone Application*: Ice Breakers is severely lacking in a strong social media front and awareness of Cool Blasts is rather low. To help raise awareness of Icebreakers in millennials, we have concluded that creating an app which provides quick entertainment for the consumer while also integrating easy access to our social media campaign would be beneficial.

The app will be called “Ice Breakers Cool Blasts” and will be available for free on the Apple App Store as well as Google Play. Once the game is opened, it takes you to the title screen where players just have to tap the screen to start playing. If it’s your first time playing, a short cutscene will show a male/female throwing an Ice Breakers Cool Blasts chew into their mouth. From there, the game will start. Players play as the Ice Breakers Cool Blasts chew and the goal of the game is to blasts as many Bad Breath Bots as you can in a minute. To play, you tilt the

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device left and right to control the movement of the chew. The chew can destroy the Bad Breath Bots by shooting out its cooling crystals. To do this, the player simply has to tap the screen. The player can also get power­ups for the chew’s cooling crystals by shooting different flavor chews in the game. Each flavor chew will have a different pattern of cooling crystals. For example, the Peppermint Cool Blasts chew will shoot out cooling crystals in a straight line. The Spearmint Cool Blasts chew will shoot out cooling crystals in a V­pattern. Different power­ups can be added to the game as more flavors are released. Each game will last one­minute. The player will earn a higher score the more bots they destroy. At the end of the run, the player will be given a pick­up line based on their score as well as #BreakTheIce. The player can then play again, challenge their friends, or share their score, as well as their pick­up line, on social media. New pick­up lines will be unlocked the higher the score the player gets. All unlocked pick­up lines can be viewed in the main menu at any time.

App prices are highly variable depending on the quality of the app. To make a solid game that will consistently attract millennials, a budget of around 100K is recommended to get the app up and running and prepare for any mishaps. Now, this price is subject to change depending on how much effort and quality goes into the app; however, if the app is a big hit with millennials, it will only help drive sales further up. *Models are located in Appendix 4 Increasing Ice Breakers Social Media Presence:

Based on research of the presence of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts on social media, it is evident that they have a minimal existence on social media. We have used the tool Social Mention in order to get an idea of how the public is interacting with our brand. Unfortunately, after weeks of follow up (11/2/15­11/19/15), Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews failed to make any social media impact. All searches with the keywords Ice Breakers, mint, gum, and chews all resulted in similar results of a weak 0­1% in terms of strength, sentiment, passion, and reach. In other words Ice Breakers had 0% strength in getting their brand discussed on social media, People had 0% passion to talk about the product repeatedly, and Ice Breakers had a weak 0­1% range of influence (unique authors referencing brand/total number of times brand was mentioned on social media). All this reiterates IceBreakers weak klout score and their inability to sway and persuade the public with their brand. In general, the only redeeming factor Ice Breakers showed on Social Mention was the lack of sentiment or ratio of positive reviews to negative reviews. However, it should be brought to attention that this may merely be a consequence of people’s indifference towards Ice Breakers.

Part of our strategy in order to boost sales is to develop a successful social media campaign that engages our target market of 18­24 year olds. We understand the importance of making sure that the Ice Breakers brand displays a personality on a broad range of social media sites. We want to express a sense of humor, innovation, and energy on different social media platforms in order to help better connect on a personal level with the target market. 18­24 year olds are not interested in following brands on social media that only post advertisements; they

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now want to be able to better connect with these brands on a personal level. According to research done by the American Press Institute in early 2015, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and Twitter are ranked as the most popular social media sites used by those within the 18­24 year old demographic. Snapchat also reaches an audience of 100 million (MarketLand), people a day, and is widely popular with our set demographic. In order to reach all these social media sites, we have developed a hashtag, an app, and a marketing tool for Snapchat in order to better connect with this target on social media.

We have developed an app game that allows the player to submit their scores on to their social media pages like Facebook and Twitter. Players will also have the opportunity to directly send the pickup lines that they unlock after each level, which is accompanied by a #BreakTheIce, to a friend. We also want to encourage consumers to tweet and Facebook pickup lines with the #BreakTheIce back at the Ice Breakers company. We have developed a three month long social media campaign where we award the most creative pickup line tweet an opportunity to win a trip to any US city for four days. Hopefully our winners will enjoy a “cool” trip and have a “blast”. With this challenge, Ice Breakers can use the pickup line submission as ideas for pickup lines on future packaging as well. This pickup line Twitter and Facebook challenge will allow our brand to develop a personality that not only encompasses humor, but also it helps reiterate how we are differentiating Ice Breakers Cool Blasts from other products based on a convenience factor. We feel that the #BreakTheIce and pickup lines reinforce the whole main premise of our marketing ideas based on the concept of convenience. The pickup reinforces this easiness and convenience that comes along with saying a humorous, and often times memorized, pickup line to a friend or a romantic interest in order to #BreakTheIce.

Snapchat is a huge app that is used by millions of 18­24 year olds, and the company has recently offered a “sponsored lense” opportunity where companies can pay to promote themselves on snapchat filters. We have designed a lense that will be available for 24 hours for users across the US. Our lense will contain the Ice Breakers logo and colors (blue and white). The lense will contain an icicle design around the frame and will have the phrase, “Hey boy, you blast me away #BreakTheIce” at the bottom. This marketing technique will last longer than just the 24 hours that the filter is up because often times people will screenshot humerous snapchats and disperse them on different social media platforms. Chegg College Marketing: Another way to increase trial is to partner up with Chegg. Chegg is a company where students can buy or rent books for cheap prices. When you buy books from Chegg, most of the time, there are promotional products included in your package like energy drinks or sample laundry detergent. Incorporating sample packs of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews not only hit our target market, but will also increase awareness of the product and lead to future sales. Scholarship

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Students represent a major part of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews target market. As a part of the marketing campaign for the age group 18­24, we propose to start an annual branded scholarship. Every year, Ice Breakers would hold an essay contest among students. The 50 winners will receive a $2000 scholarship to cover their educational expenses. Some of the topics may include: “How I #BreakTheIce”, “Why I chose Cool Blasts chews over gum”, etc.

In addition to the essay, we also propose to have a social media contest. Students who share their funny and interesting stories on social media with #BreakTheIce may be eligible to apply. Those with the most likes, shares, mentions and retweets, will win the $2000 scholarship.

Based on the research we conducted, one of the best ways to promote the #BreakTheIce scholarship would be collaboration with Chegg.com. Millions of students rent books from Chegg or use their tutoring services. This partnership will allow Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews to promote the scholarship, engage with the audience on social media, as well as get exposure to one of their main target markets, age group 18­24. Distribution Strategy

Key distribution strategies include focusing more sales in Wholesale Clubs and creating a monthly membership program that takes the convenience of Cool Blasts Chews to the next level.

Wholesale Clubs:

Wholesale Clubs account for 2% of Ice Breakers franchise retail sales. This is very minimal, but there is a huge potential market here, especially after incorporating refill packs. For wholesale sales, there are endless possibilities to bundle the product that would increase sales in wholesale clubs. First, could be a pack that contains 1 keychain puck with several refill packs of the same flavor. Second, could be a Peppermint puck, a Spearmint puck, and a Wintergreen puck with refills of each flavor. There could also be a Peppermint puck with a Peppermint refill, two refill packs of Spearmint, and two refill packs of Wintergreen. Last, there could be a pack of 10 refill packs of a single flavor. Buying in bulk to get a discount is appealing to many customers. Monthly Membership:

Membership clubs where you get food, makeup, and all kinds of products shipped monthly to you are becoming more popular. To expand on the convenience factor, Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews should start a membership program in which you get refill packs shipped to your door monthly. The customer would select whether he or she wants to pay per month or pay in advance. If you purchase in advance for at least 3 months, you will get a free keychain puck. As you increase the amount of months you pay in advance, the cost per month decreases. For each month, you log into the website and pick 1, 3, or 5 refill packs for the month. If the customer chooses 3 or 5, they will also be sent the flavor of the month and asked to fill out a short survey rating the flavor. This program will increase trial due to the new factor and also

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because of the discounts you get from buying in bulk. On top of that, it will give Ice Breakers information on whether or not to expand the flavors and what flavors to add to the product line.

6. Financial Data and Projection

Sales Forecast Hershey already contains 25% of the $80 billion dollar candy, mint, and gum (CMG)

market, and also holds 41% of the total mint market. However, with the numerous changes that we have developed from in depth research through internet research, analyzing other companies, and holding focus groups and surveys, we have developed strong marketing plants that will not only increase current sales, but will increase sales for the long run.

The idea of having Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews to be offered in a refillable packaging can greatly increase sales for the company. According to the Wall Street Journal, “costs per unit can be 20% to 30% lower with refills, boosting profit margins by 15% to 20%”. We also project that by getting these refillable bags into wholesale stores, mass merchandisers, and grocery stores will help increase sales as well. After surveying 130 people, we found that roughly 90% of respondents buy mints from grocery stores and mass merchandisers. With this, we project that we will have a large increase in sales with this refillable packaging, estimated at about 25%.

Five Gum has been very successful with their humorous Twitter campaign where they want consumers to participate in a truth or dare game. Based on analysis of this social media strategy using the tool Social Mention, 5 Gum they have a 71% reach and have a strength of 56%. “Social engagement with the 5 brand quadrupled” and “sales velocities accelerated for five consecutive periods” (Wrigley’s). We predict that sales will increase as our social media campaign gains speed because Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews is offering an engaging and comical way for consumers interact virtually about the product that doesn’t feel like an advertisement. We believe that this social media campaign will increase sales for Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews by about 45%.

The smartphone and tablet App will also greatly increase sales because it allows Ice Breakers to hold a presence nationally. According to the Pew Research Center, 85% of young adults (18­29) are smartphone owners, and 93% of these owners use their phones to avoid boredom. With this data it is projected that our smartphone APP, that is also connected to our social media campaign will also increase sales by about 10%.

In total we estimate that the Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews will have a sale increase at roughly 60­75% over the course of the year. The refillable packaging, social media campaign, mobile and tablet APP, scholarship, commercial, and other marketing strategies will have a significant increase on the sales of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts Chews.

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7. Evaluation

Our plan for Ice Breakers Cool Blasts is to focus on the success of 3 main aspects of Ice Breakers: sales, customer satisfaction, and consumer awareness. For sales, we really want to continue to drive up the amount of units sold. To help with this, we want to continue spreading Cool Blasts to more locations, especially Wal­Mart and college campuses to hit our target demographic. For customer satisfaction, we want to continuously address the needs and wants of our customers. Feedback on Cool Blasts has been rather mixed; some people really enjoy the strength of the chew while others find it overpowering. Some customers like how quick the chew dissolves while others find the lack of any substantial chewing to be undesirable. Finding ways to appeal to a wider variety of consumers will allow Cool Blasts to find its niche in the breath freshener market. The final aspect we really want to focus on is consumer awareness of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts. Most consumers that we’ve talked to have never even heard of Ice Breakers Cool Blasts. To help alleviate this problem, we really want to take a stronger approach with social media to help get the name out there. By having a solid social media platform, we can start to appeal to millennials and help get the product recognized by our target demographic.

To measure success in sales, we would like to see a further increase in units sold. As of right now, Cool Blasts make up 21% of all Ice Breakers sales. While that isn’t bad by any means, we would like to see this percentage steadily rise over the next couple of years. Having Cool Blasts be a big player in the Ice Breakers line would show its continued success and its growing impact on the brand. Another way to measure success of Cool Blasts would be comparing the success of Hershey’s as a company to other companies in the breath freshener. Currently, Hershey’s controls 41% of all breath freshener sales compared to its competitors. If Hershey’s started controlling more and more of breath freshener sales, then it would be a good sign that Cool Blasts are contributing more and more to the success of Ice Breakers as a whole.

To measure customer satisfaction, looking at the reviews of Amazon is a good place to start. While many reviews can end up being biased, they do share some insight into opinions of the customers. Many consumers complain of the strength and texture of Cool blasts, often citing the chews to cause intense brain­freezes and referring to the texture as being “chalky, soft, and gross”. Pleasing every consumer isn’t going to happen, yet the lack of positive consumer reviews is a little disheartening. The product seems to be a hit or miss with most consumers, either taking them by surprise with the strength or leaving them pleasantly refreshed. One way to help improve reviews would be to address commonly cited drawbacks of the chew while also improving its strengths. Ice Breakers Cool Blasts often find themselves compared to chewing gum and leave consumers who have a strong loyalty with gum feeling disappointed. Distances Cool Blasts farther from gum and focusing more on promoting them as breath fresheners would help reduce the amount of consumers who mistake it for a gum. Also, one of Cool Blasts’ biggest strengths is convenience, so if we can make it even clearer for consumers that our product is easily accessible and efficient, we can have our product stand out even more.

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Consumer awareness for Ice Breakers is awfully low. Over a week time span of monitoring social media reports on SocialMention for Ice Breakers, there was little to no discussion what­so­ever about Ice Breakers. With social media being a prominent medium that millennials use to gather information, the lack of activity from Ice Breakers as well as from other users is concerning. A huge step for Ice Breakers would be to get its SocialMention activity to anything over 50 percent, be it positive or negative feedback. Using #BreakTheIce, we hope to make Ice Breakers a more prominent figure on social media. Putting pick­up lines and jokes on our products and encouraging people to share them with friends and family will continue to spread Ice Breaker’s presence. Also, promoting Ice Breakers through apps and more commercials should help spread consumer awareness and allow Ice Breakers to reach more and more millennials.

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Appendix 1 Customer Profiles

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Appendix 2 Timeline

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Appendix 3 Budget

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Appendix 4 App Design

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Campaigns. Brand: Wrigley. Lead Agency: Catapult