HOSPITALITY AND TOURISM

OPERATIONS RESEARCH EVENT

Gahanna Lincoln DECA

Gahanna Lincoln High School

140 South Hamilton Road

Gahamia. Ohio 43230

Rachel Tilson and Kyle Beverly

May Vt, 2011

Chewing is overrated

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary .1

II. Introduction 2

A. Description of the business 2

B. Description of the community 3

III. Research Methods Used in the Study 4

A. Rationale and description of research methodologies selected to conduct the

research study 4

B. Process of conducting the selected research method(s) 7

IV. Findings and Conclusions of the Study 9

A. Description of the business’s target market 9

B. Description of the current promotional activities 10

C. Effectiveness of the current promotional activities 12

D. Conclusions based on the findings 15

V. Proposed Strategic Plan 16

A. Goals/objectives and rationale 16

B. Proposed activities and timelines 18

C. Proposed budget 23

D. Proposed metrics to measure ROT, sales, customers, traffic, etc 25

VI. Bibliography 26

VII. Appendix 27

Client: Sinoothie King- Gahanna Franchise

Smoothie King isa privately held franchise company based in New Orleans, Louisiana that markets nutritional fruitsmoothies to its customers. The Smoothie King franchise chosen for this research project is owned and operated by SteveShepherd. and based in Gahanna, Ohio.

PROBLEM: Competition has increased in the smoothie market while store sales have decreased. We have beenasked to develop a social media promotional plan to increase sales.

SOLUTION: We have developed a social media based promotion plan to engage the target market and increasesales.

MARKETING RESEARCH COMPLETED

Secondary Research Teen QuestionnairesPersonal Interviews (4) Teen Focus Group

KEY FINDF4GS:V Smoothie King does not have a large amount of money to invest in advertising.V The business’s owner is new to social media and uncertain how to most effectively use it to grow his business.V Few teens and young adults are using Smoothie King’s existing social media accounts.V Teens are heavy users of social media- especially Facebook and Twitter.

ONCLUSIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS/ Develop a systematic plan that is measurable for a small business owner.V Create incentives to increase Facebook fans and Twitter followers.V Utilize public relations activities to generate free publicity for the business and increase sales./ Adopt social media strategies to help improve their presence in social media and to improve sales.

PROPOSED STRATEGIC GOALSI. To develop a social media plan realistic for a small business to manage.2. To increase the long term profitability of Smoothie King.3. To create goodwill among the community by becoming involved in various charity events.4. To use social media to increase sales among teens and young adults in Central Ohio.

PLANNED ACTIVITIES1. Claim Social Profiles at major online sites2. Create an Online Listening Station to monitor brand mentions3. Increase Facebook and Twitter followers by offering incentives4. Sponsor Autism Charity Event at area high schools to create publicity5. Implement “Don’t Quit, Get Fit Gahanna” 5K race campaign to create publicity

PROPOSED INVESTMENTThe total cost to implement our proposed strategic plan is $10,444.

The recommendations made by our team have been validated by the franchisee owner and several activities havealready been implemented into the business’s promotional mix.

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A. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS

Smoothie King is a privately held franchise company based in New Orleans, Louisiana that markets

nutritional fruit smoothies to its customers. Each Smoothie King franchise

also olfeis healthy iclail pioducts such as spoits beveiages, eneigy hais, t

healthy snacks, vitamin supplements, herbs, minerals, and sports nutrition 7

products.

With a mission statement “to relentlessly influence and to help more & more people achieve a healthier

lifestyle,” Smoothie King targets teens and young adults to encourage a nutritious way of life. Smoothie King is

a premier franchise in its field. Since 1989, Smoothie King has been named thc #1 franchise in their category 16

mes It has over 600 locations operating in the continental United States and Seoul, Korea, and is currently

developing additional stores across the Lnited States.

The franchise chosen for our research project is located in Gahanna, Ohio. The Smoothie King of

Gahanna was the first franchise to open in Ohio and started a trend for 18 other Smoothie

King

franchises. Gahanna’s Smoothie King owes nmch of its success to its location and the

community’s thirst for a healthy. nutritious snack. Smoothie King Gahanna makes 200 or

1 . . .

more transactions a day, with transactions averagmg $6.50. They have maintained a vision

to become the healthy alternative to unhealthy food choices. Smoothie King provides a consistent and

outstanding guest experience, a great tasting nutritional product with the highest quality nutritional ingredients

made in a healthy, energetic environment.

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2

13 DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMUNITY

Economic::‘ Gahanna is the most culturally diverse city’ in Central Ohio and it has many’ beautiful

traits. It has been claimed the Herb Capital of Ohio since 1972 and in 2008 was ranked one of the Top 10(1 Best

Places to Live, according to Money Magazine. It is home to many franchise businesses and close to a thriving

attraction, Easton shopping center. The recent recession has impacted many cities, however, Gahanna has been

able to maintain an above average household income and remain above the unemployment rate. In April of

2010, a census showed Gahaima with an unemployment rate of 8.O%. compared to the overall 10.7% in Ohio.

The estimated median household income for Ohio is $49,988, while in Gahanna the median household income

is S79.l7l.

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Geographic; , Smoothie King is located in Gahanna, off of North

1-lamilton Road, one of the most trafficked areas in Gahanna. It is across the street

from Stoneridge Plaza, where many residents go for food, entertainment, and retail

shopping. This location provides easy access to Smoothie King. Smoothie King’s most coveted customers are

the young adults who frequent their store after exercising at Lifestyle Fitness, a gym located just minutes away.

Being the only smoothie franchise in Gahanna, and surrounded by chains of fast food restaurants, Smoothie

King has very little competition.

Demographic: Z’N As previously mentioned, Gahanna is claimed the most diverse community in

Central Ohio. The population in 2005 was 32,245 residents. Of those residents, 48.5% are male, and 5 1.5% are

females. Racial diversity in Gahanna is strong. White residents hold 85.5% of the population, while black races

make up 10.2% of the community. The remainder is made up of Asian. 1.8%, 1 .6°/b is two or more races, 0.7%

is Hispanic, and 0.3% who qualify as a different race. In the community 7.2% of the people are under 5 years

nld. and 72.5% are 18 years and over, which the target market for Smoothie King.

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Socioeconomic: The majority of residents in Gahanna are categorized as upper—middle class

married couples with children. Others that live what is considered to be a comfortable lifestyle in an ethnically

diverse community are young sprawling families that live in moderately priced homes. The crime rate in

Gahanna is below average, and the number of graduates from high school that continue on to college is high.

A. RATIONALE AND DESCRIPTION OF RESEARCH METHODOLOGIESSELECTED TO CONDUCT THE RESEARCH STUDY

The objective of our research was to analyze the current marketing strategy for Smoothie King Gahanna.

Our goal was to create a new and more efficient marketing strategy for Smoothie King that utilized the power of

ocial media. Both secondary and PrimarY research was used in this study.

Secondary ResearchResearch Databases I I Textbooks

I. City-data I. Guerilla Social Media Marketing2. US Census 2. The New Rules of Marketing and PLiblic Relations3. Google Maps 3. Marketing Research, 3rd Edition

Social Media Classroom Presentations Online Articles1. Mobile Marketing I. “The ValLie of Social Media for Businesses” Penn2. Blogs and Business Use Olson3. Online Listening Stations 2. “Social Media Will Change Your Business”4. Social Profiles: Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In Bloomberg Businessweek5. Location Based Marketing: Foursquare, Facebook 3. “Planet Smoothie Orbits New Growth Strategy” Find

Places Articles6. Youtube and Video Marketing 4. “Foursquare For Businesses” Penn Olson7. Online Customer Review Sites: Yelp, Citysearch. 5. “Smoothie King Reviews” Yelp

Insider Pages, Google Place 6. “Planet Sinoothie Takes a Fast Casual Seat at theHealthy Table” All Business

Company Information 7. “Main Squeeze: Smoothie King Blends Into TheI. CompanY’s Website Mainstream” Find Articles2. Company’s Facebook 8. “Facebook vs. Twitter” Penn Olson3. Company’s Twitter

4

Rationale: To begin our research process, we utilized secondary research sources as a thorough method of

gaining factual data about Smoothie King and statistics about the target market and the culTent franchise

indusry. We then gathered information on Smoothie King’s current social media strategies and the effects it has

had on their sales. Next, we researched the growing trend of social media to gain insight on how it can benefit

reslaurants by bringing in more consumers. Finally, we looked at strategies and “best practices” of other large

competitors who have established of social media plans.

Primary Research

Steve Shepard, Smooth ie King Franchise Owner

Rationale: To further our knowledge about the franchise’s

business, target market, and vision of social media, we

conducted an in—depth interview with the Franchise Owner.

Steve Shepard. Throughout the interview we were able to

collect statistics of the franchise’s daily sales, along with

Neir current marketing strategy, and involvement with social media.

Personal Interviews:1. Steve Shepard, Smoothie King Franchise Owner

2. Ryan Morgan, Jeni’s Ice Cream Maiketing Director

3. Katherine Meariman. EVP Smoothie King Corporation

4. Amanda DeCastro, Time Warner Cable CommunicationsDirector

Teen Questionnaires:1. 72.5% response rates (145 out of 200 questionnaires returned)

Teen Focus Group1. 10 iLHS students attended

Rachel and Kyle with the owner, Steve Shepard

5

V

H c,,,, Morgan, Jeni’s Ice Cream Marketing Director

Rationale: We reached out to the 1-lead of Marketing at Jeni’s ice cream, a unique ice cream retailci in

downtown Columbus. Many consider them social media experts and a great model for small businesses. The

interview gave us insight to the business’ current social media tactics and what has been the most successful for

them.

Katherine Meari,nan, El’? Sinoothie King Coiporation

Rationale: To earn about Smoothie King’s social media strategy at the corporate level, we conducted an

interview with their Executive Vice Presidcnt. This provided insight to the company’s vision of social media for

their franchises.

Anianda DeCastro, Time Warner Cable Communications Manager

x{ationaJe: Amanda DeCastro, the Communications Manager of Time

Warner Cable presented a great example of an interactive and successful

social media page. Time Warner Cable’s Facebook and also Twitter pages

are very customer friendly and responsive. It gave us insight of what works

best with social media and how best to attract new customers to ones

business.

__________

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Rationale: To learn more about the teen market, a questionnaire was used. This allowed us to gather data about

their smoothie purchasing habits and social media preferences. Questions related to mobile device usage were

included in our survey. The questionnaire provided us with important insights to teen media choices

F

Social media expert Amanda DeCastro

6

Rationale: A focus group was conducted to gain a deeper

understanding of how teens interact with businesses through

social media. students from different age, gender. and

ethnicity were randomly selected to participate in the study.

This focus group gave us insight into the teen market and

what other businesses have done that have appealed to them.

B. PROCESS OF CONDUCTiNG THE SELECTED RESEARCH METHOD(S)

Personal interviews: To learn more about Sinoothie King and their specific goals with social media, we

conducted several personal interviews. Before we began the interview process, we set objectives that were

‘ecessary to the type of information we needed from our interview sources. We then made up questions that

met these objectives. To get in contact with our sources, we sent c-mails and made phone calls to set tip the

interviews and obtain information. Along with setting up the interviews, we explained to each interviewee the

description of our goals for our project. During the interview, our team took detailed notes and made key points

from the information provided from our sources.

Teen focus group

7 1. Steve Shepherd, Owner ofSmoothie King Franchise inGahanna. Ohio

2. Katherine Meariman, EVP ofAdministration for Smoothie King

3. Ryan Morgan, MarketingDirector Jenni’s Ice Cream

4. Amanda DeCastro,Communications Director at TimeWarner Cable

We found it in our best interest to interview people within

the Smoothie King franchise as veIl as their corporate office.

Along with the interviews from Smoothie King, we looked to a

local business for answers as well. The Marketing Director from

Jenni’s Ice Cream, a local business with a grasp on social media,

shared some insight into their current social media strategy. We

7

c —Falso had the opportunity to speak with the current communicalions director at Time Warner Cable and further

our knowledue about other companies’ approaches at targeting their audience through social media.

Teen Questionnaires: It was also important for us to understand our target market by interviewing teens and

receiving their fiDedhack. In order to receive effective information in our

Question Guidelines .

lullowed: studies, our team decided to use a step by step approach n creating the

1. Brief intro . .

2. Easy to read questions used in providing the feedback. We set oblectives that needed to

3. Avoid emotionallycharged words be met in order for our research method to he effective. To achieve our

4. Avoid leading . .

questions goal of receiving effective information about our business, we surveyed

5. Questions are mutually . .

exclusive over 140 students in the community abotn their personal preterences with

6. One question at a time7. Assured confidentiality smoothies and their views on social media impact. Allowing for absolute

and unbiased opinion, multiple choice and “yes or no” questions were used

vhich assisted in data analysis and tabulation process. Through our findings and conclusions from the

questionnaires, our team felt we walked walk away from the research findings with a better understanding of

our target market. It was also important to figure out the target markets feelings and emotions towards the

smoothie industry, in particular, Smoothie King. We also received input on the students’ usage of different

social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare. The statistics we ended up with gave us a

better idea of where to go with our promotional plan.

Focus Group: We conducted a focus group to further our research and received

positive feedback from our target market. The focus group was essential to

providing us with opinions and ideas from our target market and also assisted us

with developing our promotional plan. We started by developing a purpose for our

focus group. With our personal interviews, we set objectives that we planned to meet

bout the information received from the focus group. Then, our team determined the ideal participants for our

8

studies to allow for positive and informational feedback. With our audience in place, we then created questions

that would assist us in meeting the objectives set for the focus group. For the participants to understand our

goals and objectives, a brief description of our project was provided at the beginning of the focus group. With

topics questions developed and audience in mind, we selected a location convenient for the participants to

reach. After everything was in place, the main concern we had prior to our focus group was teens’ interaction

with businesses through social media. Through specific questions and a conversational-style focus group, the

members of the group gave feed-back on Smoothie King’s current marketing strategy as well as their social

media interaction. Overall, the findings and conclusions taken from the study provided our team with feedback

about our target market’s current interaction with companies and social media.

A. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS’S TARGET MARKET

After our initial interview with franchise owner Steve

Shepard, we realized Smoothie King targets individuals from

a range of age groups who want to live a healthy lifestyle.

About 60% of their customers are female, and the remaining

40% are male. For this project we have been asked to design

a campaign to reach teen and young adults. The

accompanying chart quantifies the target market for this

study.

Gahaiiiia’s demographics

iittsiz______15-19 years 3,290

20-24 years

25-34 years

2,728

7,851

35-44 years 9.335

9

members of the target market are health conscious, we believe it also makes sense to

target area gyms and workout facilities. These locations have many members that ft perfectly into our target

audience. largeted gyms for this campaign are listed in the chart below.

Targeted workout facilities

YMCA Over 10,000 members

Urban Active 11,000 members

Lifestle-Cahanna 3,700 members

Lifestyle-New Albany 5,000 members

Next Level 800 members

B. DESCRIPTION OF THE CURRENT PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES

Promotion is one of the most important marketing decisions facing a small business owner. This section

describes Smoothie King’s advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and social media

activities used to attract customers.

Advertising: Smoothie King currently uses three paid advertising tools. The franchise recently decided to use

the “shared direct mail” program managed by Toi Money Saver to distribute coupons to the mailboxes of

15,000 residents in Gahanna. Smoothie King also advertises in entertainment coupon books that are sold

through local middle and high school siudents fundraising programs. The final paid advertising method the

Smoothie King uses is a cooperative advertising piece conducted with neighboring plaza businesses. This piece

is mailed to approximately 10,000 households.

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- -;

Sales Promotion: The Gahanna Smoothie King Franchise utilizes short term incentivcs heavily to drive sales.

In fact, most paid advertising is paired with a coupon offering some type of discount. Later in this project our

team outlines new marketing strategies that can be used to reduce Smoothie Kings reliance on couponing. In

addition to mailed coupons, Smoothie King uses these sales promotion tools:

V Monthly “Jish bowl” business card drawings for a freesmoothie

V Punch card loyalty program

V E-mail and text coupons

V Customer anniversary coupons

V Birthday coupons

/ Text club

Public Relations: To create a favorable image and to build awareness Smoothie King invests a lot of time in

community events that involve their target market. This includes weekly fundraising events at area schools

where smoothies are sold on-site and donations are made back to participating schools. Targeted schools for

this campaign include: Westerville High Schools, Gahanna Lincoln High School. Gahanna Christian Academy.

New Albany, Johnstown. Licking Heights, and a few K-8 schools. Smoothie King also travels to local 5K races

and I-lealthy and Weliness fairs to provide smoothie samples and coupons to participants.

Inside store where main promotion happens

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Social Media: Smoothie King has just recently engaged in social media by —

c.creating a Facebook and Twitter page for the business. The owner is both

excited about thc markcting potential these tools offer his businesses, and

unsure how to hcst use these new tools.

Smoothie King’s Facebook page has been primarily used to announce their participation in school and

community events. At the start of this project, the page had 145 followers. The business’ Twitter page has 35

followers and is used to keep people updated on Smoothie King’s promotions. No other social media tools are

used at this time.

C. EFFECTIVENESS OF THE CURRENT PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES

To measure the effectiveness of Smoothie King’s promotional activities, we reviewed sales information

with Snioothie King’s owner and conducted a questionnaire and focus group with our target audience. An

analysis of the effectiveness of each activity follows:

Overall Brand Awareness: Smoothie King’s promotional efforts have been effective in driving brand

awareness and have helped establish the business as the leader in the smoothie category. This statement is

supported by the following findings:

/ 70% of respondents listed Smoothie King as the business that makes the best smoothies

V 63% of the teens indicated they most often bought smoothies from Smoothie King

V 70% of the teens surveyed indicated they preferred Smoothie King over their closest competitor,Planet Smoothie, which received 14%.

V 51% of teens purchase a smoothie from Smoothie King Gahanna at least a few times per year.

Not Effective Very EffectiveMarketing Score:

SwoorniE

1 2 3 4 5

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Advertising: Smoothie King does not have a large amount of money to invest in advertising. Due to this we

believe the business is smart to use very targeted and measurable advertising tools such as direct mail to reach

area adult residents. Smoothie King reports a response rate of 3-5% on their direct mail efforts. This rate is on

par with industry averages, and the owner is happy with the sales results driven by this marketing method. To

date, paid advertising has not been directed to teens.

Sales Promotion: Smoothie King uses many sales promotion activities to increase awareness and drive sales.

Many of these activities are targeted to the teen demographic. The “text club” program that Smoothie King is

currently using is a strong sales promotional tool. However, it is more targeted towards loyal customers and

does not promote new customers. For example, 96% of the teens surveyed listed that they were not members of

the “text club”. Smoothie King has great brand awareness, but the target market is non-responsive to their

current sales promotions.

Marketing Score:

Public Relations: Key Finding: 53% of students at Gahanna Lincoln High School had not purchased a

smoothie while Smoothie King had been in the lobby during lunch periods. While Smoothie King is involved

with the school and has good representation, their sales should be much higher when targeting a young market

uch as high school students.

Marketing Score:Not Effective 4 Ven’ Effective

Snnonur2 3• KwNG 4 5

Not Effective 4 Very Effective

SMnorwF

I IvNG 2 3 4 5

13

presence in the social media world by Smoothie King.

We completed additional research regarding the social media use of teens and young

adults. Our findings concluded our research and are summarized below.

Marketing Score:Not Effective p. Very Effective

riflEI 2 MEG ••3

Social Media: Key Finding: 96% of teens surveyed are not members of Smoothic King’s text club program.

This shows the lack of eflèctiveness in the current promot;ona[ plan. Also, 86% of teens surveyed said they had

not “liked” or become a “fan” of Smoothie King’s Faeebook page. These two statistics show the lack of

Marketing Score:

14

• .7

0. CONCLUSIONS BASED ON THE FINDINGS

The main conclusion we came to from findings in (air research is thai Snioothie King has great brand

awareness. It is apparent thai teens think “Smoothie King” when they want quality and delicious smoothics.

This is a competitive advantage that Smoothie King needs to capitalize on. [-lowever, our research also showed

Smoothie King can increase the effectiveness of their promotional mix. Main conclusions include:

Conclusion #1: After conducting an interview with the store owner, Steve Shepard, our team was

informed that the Smoothie King franchise has just begun to experiment with social media and is unsure how to

use it effectively. As times are changing, businesses are finding more and more ways to target customers

through the current marketing gold mine known as social media. Social media gives the business a chance to

interact with their customers and give that extra edge in keeping their brand fresh and relevant to create new,

fresh ideas. Therefore, our team needs to develop a systematic plan that is measurable for a small business

owner.

Conclusion #2: There are very few teens that know about Smoothie King’s social media presence. Our

findings have shown that 96% of teens are unaware of the business’ social media strategies, such as their text

club along with their Facebook and Twitter pages. Our team was asked to create a new target market of teens

and young adults. Because teens and young adults have adapted quickly to social media and have become the

major market of social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, we need to create incentives to increase

Faeebook fans and Twitter followers, along with additional text club members. This will attract more customers

along with helping to increase sales.

15

Conclusion #3: Many small businesses, such as Smoothie King, are

advertising. However, there are many pro otion strategies that don’t include

relations acuvilies and social media. Public relations activities help generate

also help increase sales.

Conclusion #4: Small businesses, such as Jeni’s Ice Cream, have been very successful increasing sales

through social media. After a thorough interview, our team gained insight to the best practices of social media,

which include customer interaction and maintaining and updating social media pages. The best practices include

numerous regular postings, and responding 10 customer questions, along with polls, quizzes, and questions such

as what new liavors should they have, and what are customer’s favorites? Our team found it best and

manageable for Smoothie King to adopt Jeni’s social media strategies to help improve their presence in social

media along with sales.

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A. GOALS I OBEJECTIVES AND RATIONALE

After conducting thorough research, our team came to the decision that Smoothie King must adopt a

wider variety of marketing strategies to successfully serve the 15-24 age market. As stated before. Smoothie

King targets any teen or young adult that wants a healthier lifestyle. Although our research has shown that many

teens and young adults have either heard of Smoothie King or visited on occasion, we developed a more cost

effective plan that will attract more lifetime customers and help promote the franchise. Based on the research

findings outlined in this paper, our team has developed goals to guide the development of a new social media

promotion plan for Smoothie King.

e

very limited within their budget for

paid advertising, such as public

free publicity for the business and

16

Short Term Benefits of Advancin2 the Social Media Promotional Mix

By implementing this plan, Snioothie King will receive short term and long term benefits from our

campaign goals and advancement in their social media promotional mix

V Introduction of new social media marketing strategies

V Increase customer base of 15-24 year olds

/ Increase awareness of Smoothie King among teens and young adults

V Increase the number of new customers coming into the store

Long Term Benefits of Advancing the Social Media Promotional Mix

/ Increased customer retention and satisfaction rates

/ Increased market share

V Increased profitability

/ Increased the number of returning customers

V.

17

.,

V.

3. PROPOSED ACTIVITIES AND TIMELINES

The activities and timelines needed For Smoothie King to advance their social media promoiional mix

and reach our proposed goals are explained in this section.

Online Promotion Plan Strategies

1. Claim Social Profiles: Many people search online for business and restaurant inforinaiion. Having a local

search is vital for businesses of all sizes. Smoothie King should “claim” its online presence from search engines

and online directories. This is free and helpspaces

ensure that Smoothie King receives the - -Claim your business lisling on Google. Its free!

prefelTed search ranking. The social profiles we VIiihyotaaf,oe GooglePiacesaccounlyou can...

Your business here 1)I Remand

outlined Smoothie King to claim are as follows: -; ‘t rrfr’rnui’ou in unto utile renrie unaRM you en Guu9In

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2. Google Local Business Center— •, ,. Googie logo: promole your britinesuon Googic ucorub cnn

ytevi! Fri a Smiled iimo you can adsuio iajs fur free, and cancel audie,

3. ‘Yahoo Localtenon route on ii a.545og it spaa5 iih a snIas repr0500laise.

4. Bing Local

Smoothie King should also claim its online social profile space on popular social media sites. Having

the rights to this space, similar to claiming a URL name for a website. will grow in marketing importance as

social media becomes more integrated in businesses both small and large.

Blog- www.blogger.com/srnoothieking

L Linked-In 4. YouTubeFacebook- www.facebook.com/srnoothieking

2. Facebook 5. BIoTwitter- www.twitter.com/smoothieking

3. Twitter 6. FoursquareYouTube- www.youtube.com/srnoothieking

Foursquare- www.foursquare.com/smoothieking18

---,

V.

!. Create Online Listening Stations: The second step in our promoiio;al plan for Snioothic King is to set up

online listening stations to monitor mentions of Smoothie King online and in social spaces. Several online tools

exist that will automaiicallv send an email alert to a — ——

Web uje Vdeo, s LV-:s Sinc Grm

designated email any time that one’s business, or aIes

compeutor. is mentioned in an online space. Sesci: elms: — - Preiev, rsuIls

Type: EverythingListening stations such as Google Alerts, GoogleHow often: once a day

News, and Google Reader are ones that our team Volume: C-i he best result —

Celcer to: iillynchgniail corn —believes Smoothie King can benefit greatly from.

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3. Increase Facebook and Twitter Followers: Smoothie King works a great deal with schools in the Central

Ohio area. Our tcam created a promotional plan that would increase the number of fans that Smoothie King

Jahanna had on their Facebook page. Smoothie King visits Gahanna Lincoln I-Iigh School’s lobby twice a

month to sell smoothies to students and in return gives $1 back per smoothie sold to the school.

We created a week long promotion on February 16th that allowed students to “like” Smoothie King

Gahanna’s Facebook page the week of their visit tobe entered into a raffle for a free basket donated by Ihe

franchise. Three winners were picked, and the franchise’s Facebook increased from 153 to 239 fans. Because

customer interaction is the most vita! part of owning one’s own social media site, our team also came up with a

mix of polls integrating customer’s favoriteGahanna Pay.- Print

4 AYFECnONaHSSm’nsrrs Fronno:tx,b Febro:v 16th. ifycj eSnxothesmoothies. and ideas for new flavors. \Veeklv or <r Cahannasrareboc4;pace you wIbe entered to Mn oftbas:et, akedup- In 560! Srnoothre I2ng will be in the lobby durino all lunch rtriods Wednesday

February 26th selling smoothies end announcina ThREE yinners! One For eachmonthly drawings of Facebook fans and Twitter lunch neriodl

Smootilie King, Gahanna, OhioSMnTxk ,followers receive incentives. l&HG.

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local businesses such as Second Sole, Lifestyle, and GNC.

atota of $20,000 to be distributed among ten charities. For

20

4. Sponsor AlIev-Oop for Autism Event: Allcy-Oop for Autism is a

charitable evcnl that is spreading through schools in Central Ohio- To

support the Autism Society of Ohio, teens set aside one basketball

game in the season and fully dedicate it to autism. So far eight schools

have participated. A mix of charitable donations, silent auctions and

games such as a “1-laiftime Shootoul” and “Miracle Minute” raise

hundreds to thousands of dollars •for the charity. Our team found it best for Smoothie King to become a major

sponsor of this event, seeing as it has grown greatly and engages both teens and adults. Our plan outlines a stand

set up at the game. and for every smoothie sold, $1 goes back to the Autism Society of Ohio, along with

donating a gift basket raffled off at halftime. Signage at the game would promote Smoothie King’s social

media efforts. We implemented this activity on January 28, 2011.

5. Implement “Don’t Quit, Get Fit Gahanna”

5K Race Campaign: To inciease social media

site interactions along with creating goodwill in

the community, Smoothie King needs a new

promotional campaign. Our proposed “Don’t

Quit, Get Fit Gahanna” campaign is a 5K race

held in Gahanna that will create free publicity

for Sn,oothie King through newspaper stories,

radio. magazines, along with engaging lifelong

customers. Sponsors that will also be involved are

ach sponsor will donate $5,000. This will provide

BULLSEYE’

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two weeks Facehook members can visit Smoothie King Gahanna’s Fuechook page to make a powertul choice

and decide how ten local charities will receive a portion of the donations. [he percentage of votes per charitable

organization will correlate to the charitics portion. The sofiware company Fan Appz can create the Facehook

application needed for this campaign.

Offline Promotion Plan Strategies

1. Alley—Oop for Autism Event: To support the Autism Society of Ohio and create goodwill in the community,

our team proposed a plan that also involves offline promotion. These activilies will supplement the online

advertising. Recommended marketing tools include:

Smoie HflC

Advertising and PR Gahanna. OK

L1, Qjl FQthQQkI Infoiniational biochui es and fiyeis in stoic and in schools —

2 Promotional pens, buttons, t-shirts with campaign logo L.Vno,nq Ohm

3. Promotion on back of customer’s receipts:.:_

Slofo,chocIiasoj’4. Community newspaper ads coos toAutisni —Society of Ohio .,.. .

.

5. Press releases to community newspapers

2. Implement “Don’t Quit, Get Fit Gahanna” 5K Race Campaign: Our proposed 5K race, “Don’t Quit, Get

Fit Gahanna” campaign will also be promoted offline as well. For paid advertising the four different sponsors of

the event can share the cost. Recommended marketing tools are as follows:

Advertising and PR

I. Informational brochures and flyers: in store and in schools 4. Community newspaper ads

2. Promotional pens, buttons, t-shirts with campaign logo 5. Movie theater ads in local theaters

3. Promotion on back of customer’s receipts 6. Press releases to local newspapers

21

Timelines

FClaim social Claim socialprofiles profiles such

as searchengines andonline

: directories

Create online Set up onlinc Monitor Monnor Monitor Monitor Monitorlistening listening listening liste;lil7g listening listening listeningstations stations stations stations station.v stations stations

Increase Begin to Gift basket Random Jncrease Random draw $1 u/f aFacebook increase giveaway at drawing ofa interaction by ofone new smoothie forand Twitter /bllowers in school Facehook fan polls Facebook/ân ‘re/wee/mgfans and and fins events or twitter fir a free and Smoothietollowers follower to smoothie King tweet

receive acoupon

Alley-Oop forAutism event

Implement“Don’t Quit,Get FitGahanna”5K racecampaign

Createsignage forevent

Newspaperads, in storesignage,press releasein newspaper

Facebookand Twitterpromotion.press releasein newspaper

Begin takingdonations,beginFacebookcontest,sponsor the5K race

Team upwith othersponsors,decide oncharities

Facehookand Twitterpromotion.newspaperads, andpress releasesin newspaper

Plan

Sponsorevent, gibasketgiveai’ay andstand set upcit the game

Plan

22

C. PROPOSED BUDGET

1’he investment necessary to complete the proposed promotional plan is as followed:

• On-line promotional costs

1. Create a Listening Station: ibis particular activity of creating a listening station is at no

additional cost to the business

COST: $0

2. Claim Social Profiles: There is no additional cost for this particular activity.

COST: $0

3. Increase Facebook and Twitter Following: Social media is a great tool for businesses to use

because most of them are free. l-lowevcr. some promotional activities to promote and increase

followers can cost money. Fan Appz is a company that will assist in our “Don’t quit, Get Fit’

campaign. Their company is designed to run the po11s needed to vote on charities. We will also

include weekly incentives for Facebook and Twitter followers which will result in product

allowances.

COST: $50 per month for Fan Appz services. $6 (smoothie) per week in product allowance&

TG1’AL GN-LIINE iNVESTMENT: $50/month (2 months) + $6/week (24 weeks) = $244

• Off-line promotional costs

1. Sponsoring Autism Society “Shootout” Event: For the Autism event, a gift basket valued up to

$60 was donated as well as Si being donated from each S3 smoothie sold. In-store signage

23

would be implemented to assist in promotion of this event. Advertisement targeted cowards

-Th

teens at places such as movie theatres and in newspapers would add to the cost for promotion.

T-shirts and buttons would allow for the event to take off and create buzz.

END COST: $1,000 would be set aside to provide products necessary for the event and ad cost.

2. Implement “Don’t Quit, Get Fit” Campaign: A set amount of money would be set aside for

this event as well as a charitable donation that will be made. Tools that vi]1 be used in promoting

this plan are as followed:

V Charitable Donation: $5,000

/ Informational brochures and flyers: $100

V Promotional pens, buttons, t-shirts with campaign logo: 500 @ $5 per shirt $2,500

V Customer receipts: $0

V Community Newspaper Ads:

Gahanna Newspaper ad = $175 per week (4 weeks)

New Albany Newspaper ad = $200 per week (4 weeks)

V Press release: $0

END COST: $5,000 charitable donation + $4,100

TOTAL OFF-LINE INVESTMENT: $5,100 investment ± $5,000 charitable donation = $10,100

24

PROPOSED METRICS TO MEASURE ROl, SALES, CUSTOMERS, TRAFFIC,

ETC.

ROT & Sales Related Metrics

<5% = Poor

z. Number of Participants in “Don’t Quit, Get Fit” Campaign

>500 = Excellent

500-400 = Very Good

400-300 = Good

300— 100 = Fair

<100 = Poor

100- 50 = Fair

This promotional plan could potentially be a model for other Smoothie King’s at thecorporate level.

1. Increase in Facebook andTwitter following as well as sales.

% Increase

>1 5% = Excellent

15% — 12% = Very Good

l2%—9% Good

9% - 5% = Fair

>1,000 = Excellent

1,000-500 = Veiy Good

>500 Excellent

500-300

500-300 = Good

300-100 Fair

<100 = Poor

= Very Good

300- lOOGood

<50 = Poor

25

“Don’t Quit. Get Fit” Campaign Traffic Metrics

For this campaign to be succcssiiil, the aspects of the event must he tracked

Social Media Leads: Track web traffic Ironi all social media sources

2. Total Number Smoothic King’s Facehook Friends and/or Twitter Followers

3. Virilily: Number of Facehook Friends or Twilter Followers Sharing Smoothie King’s Posts about

campaign

4. Brand Mentions: Track both Positive and Negative online brand mentions (Through Google Alerts)

1. Internet Sites/ www.smoothieking.com

V www.factfinder.census.gov

V www.claritas.com

V www.facebook.com

/ www.twitter.com

V www.peirn-olson.corn

2. Printed SourcesV Guerilla Social Media Marketing

V The New Rules of Marketing and PublicRelations

/ Marketing Research, 3rd Edition

3. Personal InterviewsV Steve Shepherd, Owner of Smoothie King

Franchise in Gahanna, Ohio

V Katherine Meariman, EVP of Administrationfor Smoothie King

V Ryan Morgan, Marketing Director Jenni’s IceCream

/ Amanda DeCastro. Communications Directorat Time Warner Cable

4. ConsultantsV Lynch. Kit. Marketing Education and DECA

Advisor.

V Cochrane, Ross. Former Marketing Educationand DECA Advisor

26

r

Smoothie King stand at the Alley-Oop for

One of three wiimers receiving a free giftbasket from Smoothie King. Teens wereeligible for the raffle after “liking” SmoothieKing Gahanna’s Facebook page

H

7iñiAa.,7

SFTlOOthie

I—

______

0-

C

7r

Autism Charity event

fl

GLHS focus group participants

27

Gahanna?Never

Part 1. Smoothie Consumption1. How often do you buy a snioothie?— Never (If answered “Never”, end of survey. Thank you.)

A couple times per year— I — 2 times per month— 3—4 times per month— More than 4 times per month2. Vliat business makes the best smoothies?

.13. Where do you most often buy a smoothie?

McDonaldsSmoothie King

— Planet SmoothiePaneraStarbucks

— Other (Please List)4. How often do you buy a smoothie from Smoothie King-

— A couple times per year— 1- 2 times per month— 3-4 times per month— More than 4 times per month5. Have you purchased a Smoothie King smoothie in theGLHS lobby during lunch?

Yes No6. Are you a Smoothie King “Text Club” member?

Yes NoHave you “liked” or become a “fan” of Smoothie

King’s Facebook page?Yes No

Part II. Texting1. On a typical day, how many texts do you send?

0 Less than 50 50 -200 More than2002. Do you have a Smartphone?

Yes No Uncertain

3. Within the nefl 6-12 months do you expect to have aSmartphone?

Yes No

4. Have you ever sent a business a text message in orderto receive a coupon or special deal?

Yes No

5. Would you consider signing up for a weekly textcoupon from your favorite place to eat or shop?

Yes No

6. Have you ever used your cell phone to research infoqbout a business? (i.e.: hours, location, phone number)

Yes No

Part III: Media1. During the past month. how often have you used eaI ofthe foHowingmedias:

Ever Every Every Every NeverFew Week Few

Day ays Weeks

Facebook

Youtube

Twitter

Foursquare

Myspace

LocalRadio

OnlineRadio

2. Please estimate your number of Facebook friends:Less than 200200-599600 -999

No

More than 10003. Please estimate how many products or businessesyou have ‘liked’ on Facebook.

0 Less than 25 25 -99 100+4. How often do you access your Facebook page fromyour cell phone?

Daily — Weekly — Monthly — Never5. How often do you access your Twitter page fromyour cell phone?

Daily Weekly Monthly6. On average, how often do you go to the movietheater each month?

0 1-2 3-4 More than 47. Have you ever used Facebook to interact with friendsabout products you like or plan to buy?

Yes8. Do you play video games on Facebook?

Never

Yes No9. Do you know how Facebook’s new “Places” featureworks?

Yes No10. Please list below the local radio station you listen tothe most?

____________________

11. How many times per month do you work out at agym?

0 1-3 times 4-6 times More than 6Part IV. Demographics1. Age 14-15 _16-17 _18-l92. Sex_Male Female

28

SMsi,QTME

Nutritional Lifestyle Centers

Mirrh 14, 20Y)

moorhie [(ing EiahFinna1350 North Hamilton RoadG,hanna. OH 43230

H?ar Rachel and Kyle:

Please acirpl my personal thanks for your teamwork, enthusiasm, great attilude and motivation inoroduGne your executive htisness summary of our franchise in regards to brand awareness and socialmedia.

liP 1 il VOl.1 have pre:enled nie :k?4rIv showed hat you did ai otits[aiid ng job in your research andt iiiy conhdciice in our collaboration was justified. The results of your survey on the efFectiveness of

OlE current proii olional aCtivities are “cry interesting. I’n very pleased with the marketing scores andthe geil’line input piovded hy the respondents. I can clearly see what we are doing well and the areasthat we cait rriak’± inlproverrleflts ill.

I do hope that you received a measure of personal satisfaction from your efforts. You may he veryproud that you have educated and inspired me on many levels. will take this information and continueto refine our business marketing strategy and create a course of action ha5ed on your proposedactivities and timelines.

I look forward to working with you through the remainder of the school year. Please let me know if Ican be of any furl her assistance with this project or your class in general.

[3e good to yourself

/ /‘-‘o“ipLtcV

Steve ShepherdOwner/Operator

29