Skip-it fitness

Holly Holshouser, Addison Wittry, Phillip Foleta, and Kate Pilcher

Grand Valley State University

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Table of Contents

Executive Summary...…………………………………………………………….…….3

Research……….……………………………..………………………………………….4

S.W.O.T Analysis…………………………..……………………………………4

Competition……………………………………………….………………...…………...6

Market…………………………………………………………………………………….7

Product………………………………………………………...…………………………8

Target Audience…………………………………………….…………………………...9

Creative Brief………………...………….................................................................10

IMC Plan…………….……………..……………………………………………………12

Conclusion..…………………………………………………………………………….30

Appendix ……………………………..………………………………………………...16

Product……………………………………………………………………….…17

App Feature…………………………………………………………………….18

Tactic 1.1: Non-Traditional………………………………………………….…19

Tactic 1.2: Non-Traditional…………………………………………..………..20

Tactic 2: Interactive…………………………………………………………….21

Tactic 3: TV……………………………………………………………………..22

Tactic 4: Out of Home………………………………………………………….23

Tactic 5: Special Event………………………………………………………...24

Tactic 6: Special Event…………………………...……………………………25

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Executive Summary

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Research

The Skip-It was introduced in the 1980 and found its commercial success

through advertisements on children's daytime programing, particularly Nickelodeon. A

re-release and addition of rotation counter resulted in the doubling of sales in the 1990s

and a place in TIME magazine’s 100 greatest toys ever. Skip-It was discontinued in

2009. In 2013, a collaboration with Twister yielded the Twister Rave Skip-It.

Client: SWOT

Strengths: The Skip-It has a great history with millennials, who now have

massive amounts of purchasing power. Many have grown up with and are familiar with

the brand and the toy. This nostalgia is a huge strength for the brand identity. The

nature of the Skip-It, being a toy, is associated with fun. Playtime, recess and

childhood. The Skip-It is innately fun.

Weakness: The Skip-It is discontinued product, with a failed revival effort in

recent years. Currently the product and brand has very low awareness. The Skip-It has

the strong identity as a children’s toy, which could pose some difficulties in the

rebranding process.

Opportunity: There is a great potential in reinventing the Skip-It and rebranding

it into a cardio workout and fitness product. The nature of the product already included

physical activity. The fitness equipment market is expected to grow within the next five

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years. Today’s technology allows for greater consumer experience and interaction with

the product and the brand. Social media also provides a new way for consumers to

interact with the Skip-It brand like never before.

Threats: The fitness product market is a very competitive market with endless

products claiming similar benefits. One direct competitor, SkipFit has already gone to

market with a similar idea.

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Competition

SkipFit: $19.99

Product Description:

Laugh, sweat, and feel like a kid again while you tone your lower body and burn as

many calories as running

Perfect for instant recess; compact and portable - give yourself a break anytime,

anywhere

Patent pending design creates tension and increases difficulty the faster you go

Neoprene strap easily glides around your ankle

Includes one skip fit

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The Market

The fitness equipment industry is very competitive, but also very lucrative. The

fitness equipment market is expected to reach a record breaking, $11.9 billion by 2020

worldwide. Cardiovascular equipment in particular is expected to contribute to more

than half of the market size through the years 2015-2020. Even obtaining a very small

fraction of this market provides the potential to be very profitable.

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Product

The childhood Skip It toy has been updated into a workout tool. The Skip It

Fitness comes in five different colors: black, dark blue, bright blue, pink, and

purple. Depending on the success of the colors, a white option may be added. Like the

Skip-It toy, Skip-It Fitness will count the rotations on the ball. The Skip-It Fitness can be

synced with smartphones and smartwatches allowing the user to see the amount of

rotations, time, and calories burned. Weights can be added and taken out depending on

the preference of the user. The weights are sold with the product. The Skip-It Fitness

fits tight around the ankle with an adjustable buckle to hold it in place. The end of the

rope connects to a little ball that rotates around a track that runs around the ankle

brace. This allows the ankle brace to say in place while in use to provide comfort for the

user. The inside of the brace will be padded to create extra comfort.

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Target Audience

The target audience is 18-34 year old males and females. More specifically

females in this age group because our research shows that females used Skip-It more

than males and would be more inclined to use The Skip It Fitness. We will be targeting

this age group because this age group would know about the original Skip-It and had

one during their childhood or at least used one. Our campaign is targeting busy people

who want a quick enjoyable workout. With the Skip-It Fitness these busy people will be

able to do a quick workout and actually enjoy the workout.

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Creative Brief

Key Insight – Cardio isn’t fun. Opportunity to make it fun.

Advertising Problem – Skip-It is introducing a new product: Skip-It Fitness. Since it is a

new product, consumers are not aware of its existence.

Advertising Objective – Rebrand the Skip-It as a workout tool to young adults instead of

a toy to kids. Spread awareness of the Skip-It Fitness.

Key Consumer Benefit – Our campaign is targeting busy people who want a quick

enjoyable workout. With the Skip-It Fitness these busy people will be able to do a quick

workout and actually enjoy the workout. This will benefit the target audience by allowing

them to act like a child again while working out letting the stresses of being an adult go

away.

Current Position- Right now Skip-It is advertised as a child’s toy. However, the Skip-It

stopped producing the product in 2009.

Optimal Position- The Skip-It Fitness will be positioned as a nostalgic workout tool. The Skip-

Fit does not have a nostalgic positioning.

The One Thing – The Skip-It Fitness provides the same experience as the Skip-It with more

benefits.

Support- It’s an improved design to enhance the health benefits.

Brand Promise- The Skip-It Fitness provides a fun way to do cardio.

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Brand Image/Personality- Fun way to improve health during a stressful life. Active, fun,

healthy, fitness, exercise, exciting.

Big Idea – Let your inner kid (work)out.

Tone of Message- Active Nostalgia.

Voice- Light-hearted young adult.

Design- In our creative there will be consistency with font of Basic Title Font and include

the new Skip-It logo.

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Integrated Marketing Communications

Skip-It Fitness Mobile App

An important feature to the Skip-It Fitness is the mobile app. Young busy adults

want easy to use workout tools. They want to be able to know the results right away

without have to do the math themselves. This mobile app brings Skip-It Fitness back to

life by providing the information the user wants. The mobile app syncs with the product

and keeps track of exercise statistics. Simply select the workout difficulty and method

and begin recording length of exercise, Skip-It rotations and calories burnt. After the

workout, progress is mapped out graphically in a convenient way for the user. Users

also have the option to share their progress on social media with their friends.

Non-Traditional Advertising

To promote the Skip-It Fitness to young busy adults, the product will be displayed

as a 3D sticker on revolving doors in cities all around the U.S. As these professionals

walk in and out of work they will notice the sticker and the display inside the building.

The ankle band will wrap around the pole in the middle of the door. Rope will run along

the glass to half of the Skip-It ball stuck to one side of the glass and that other half on

the other side. This makes it 3D while still looking whole to create a more eye catching

ad. Displayed on the door in front of the Skip-It will be a tagline and the logo. The font

is the same font that we use in the other advertisements. There is a faded white outline

around the black letters to make it easier to read. Inside the building will giant phone

display that will be counting the time, number of rotations, and amount of calories

burned. This tactic will get the attention of our target audience by having it placed where

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they work. The tagline “The toy you grew up with is growing up with you,” reminds the

consumers of their childhood. The display inside shows how convenient the workout

tool is by connecting with smartphones to show the workout information.

Interactive Game

This Skip-It Fitness app features a mini game for users. The user must lift their

finger off the screen on their mobile device when the virtual Skip-It Fitness rotates. The

rotation of the Skip-It Fitness increases in speed as time increases. The game will also

be available on social media for consumers to play. These “for fun” score are

encouraged be also be shared with friends on the app and through social media in a fun

little competition. Young adults are constantly on their phone communicating and

staying up to date. The game is fun and quick to give provide a little break in busy lives

while promoting how the Skip-It Fitness works.

TV Advertising

To promote the Skip-It fitness to a wide range of the target audience, a TV

commercial will be broadcasted during primetime on channels the target audience

frequently watches, such as ABC Family, HGTV, and Lifetime.

The Story: “Ice Cream Memory”- A little girl is seen playing in the driveway with

her original Skip-It. The little girl is wearing 90’s apparel. The camera zooms in and

focuses on the Skip-it, swinging through the shot, the rotation counter is clearly visible

on the toy. The camera zooms out to find the little girl is now a mid-twenties woman

using the Skip-It Fitness. The camera now zooms in on her smartphone that is attached

to her upper arm. On it, the Skip-It Fitness App is running, counting time, calories and

rotations for her. Zooming out again, the young woman hears faint ice cream truck

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music, and her face lights up with joy. The camera pans over to see the ice cream truck

coming down the street. Into the shot, comes the little girl running toward the

truck. The camera pans to turn the shot into a POV angle. The camera now looks up to

the ice cream truck to see the ice cream man with a slightly confused face. Money is

handed to him. Now the camera is inside the truck and has an over-the-shoulder angle

of the ice cream man. He reaches into the freezer and turns to hand the ice to the

girl. The ice cream blocks the view of the girl initially, but once it is grabbed, it is

revealed that it is actually the young woman. She turns and walks back to her drive

way. The shot blurs and text appears on the screen. “Let your inner kid workout” “The

new Skip-It Fitness. Find a retailer near you at www.skipit.com/fitnessfinder

We chose execute this commercial because it show who our current target

audience, while bringing in the nostalgic with the little girl. It shows the product in use

so consumers understand how it work. By having the Skip-It and the Skip-It fitness,

they will be able to see the difference between the products. We found it important to

show the app to display the ease it creates by tracking the time, rotations and calories

burned. This commercial fits with our voice of light-hearted young adult, the tone of

active nostalgia, and the brand personality of fun and active. The ice cream truck

scenes helps to show the connection between the little girl and young women by

implying that the two girls are the same person.

Out of Home Advertising

Special Events

Skip-It Event

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The event will include a race, obstacle course, fastest (jumps per minute),

longest time Skip-it. During the race, participants will have to Skip-it across a flat

surface. The race course will be straight and will be about 200 feet long. The obstacle

course will have a series of obstacles that resembles a living room setup. The

participants will have to weave in and out of a row of chairs. There will also be a contest

for who can Skip-It the fastest. Finally during this event, there will be a contest to see

who can Skip-It the longest. These events are a fun way of getting awareness of the

product out to the target audience as well as letting the target audience take a break

from the busy schedules to have fun while still getting a workout in. The images for the

banner were chosen because it shows the product being used. Also, obstacle courses

outside were fun to do as a child and this product lets you unleash your inner kid when

working out. The bright, vivid colors also grabs the attention

Seminar Event

In gyms, there will be a class for people to test out Skip-It Fitness. This is a fun

way for people to work out while doing something fun. Also people can take advantage

of the class to get a feel of the product before deciding if they want to purchase one or

not. If they decide they want to purchase the product, they will be able to purchase one

at the class. This image was chosen because ellipticals are used for cardio just like this

product. While some people enjoy using ellipticals and other equipment to workout,

other people want to do a fun class that involves cardio.

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Conclusion

Skip-It Fitness offers a unique workout that allows consumers to exercise while

reminiscing about the fun times spent as a child. An updated product for the 21st

century allows Skip-It Fitness to be a competitor in cardio workout accessories. By

utilizing emotion and nostalgia throughout the campaign as well as inventive and fun

tactics, a new revived brand emerges. Skip-It Fitness makes the most mundane and

boring part of workout fun. Through Skip-It Fitness, you can truly let your inner kid out.

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Appendices

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Product

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App Feature

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Tactic 1.1: Non-Traditional

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Tactic 1.2: Non-Traditional

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Tactic 2: Interactive

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Tactic 3: TV

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Tactic 4: Out of Home

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Tactic 5: Special Event

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Tactic 6: Special Event