tabasco book

ClientTABASCO®

Team MembersMegan McGuire

(512) 825-2603

[email protected]

Bonnie Lynch

(817) 239-5468

[email protected]

Amy Moore

(832) 563-7530

[email protected]

CREATIVE MIND®

TABASCO® Campaign 2009 2

3253 Greene Ave. ● Fort Worth, TX 76109 ● creativemindadvertising.com

Attn: Paul McIlhenny

McIlhenny Co.

Hwy 329

Avery Island, LA 70513

Dear Mr. McIlhenny,

Our company, CREATIVE MIND®, has created an innovative advertising campaign for TABASCO®

brand pepper sauce. Your previous campaigns have targeted males and tapped into its spicy

flavor, variety of products, and tradition. We have created a campaign that will market your

products to these primary consumers but also to demographics that are not currently being

reached—women and young adults.

Our Big Idea is that the taste and quality of TABASCO® brand products transcend the common boundaries of nationality, ethnicity and culture. Aptly put, “Good taste knows no boundaries.” Our

objective is to establish what is true, but not necessarily known, about your product—that it is a

shared commodity loved and enjoyed around the world. This campaign establishes the universal

familiarity of TABASCO® by demonstrating the diversity of nations and figures who enjoy it.

The following campaign includes two print ads, a television spot, a radio spot, an outdoor billboard,

a direct mail piece and a guerilla marketing piece. We hope you will agree to work with us, as we

assure you success.

Sincerely,

Bonnie Lynch Megan McGuire

Creative Director Copywriter

Amy Moore

Account Executive

Table of Contents

Identity 1

History of McIlhenny Company 2

TABASCO® Today 3

The TABASCO® Family 4

Current Positioning 5

Desired Positioning 6

Positioning Statement 6

Campaign Objectives 7

Target Market 7

Benefits and Appeals 8

Competition 8

Frames of Reference 9

Points of Difference 9

Big Idea 10

Barriers 11

Additional Key Factors 11

Impacts & Actions 12

Mandatories 12

Image 13

Tone 13

Look & Feel 13

Print Advertisements 14

Outdoor Advertisement 18

Direct Mail 20

Direct Mail 21

TV Spot 25

Radio Spot 27

Guerilla Marketing 29

CREATIVE MIND®


Identity

ProductTABASCO®

Parent CompanyMcIlhenny Company

HeadquartersAvery Island, Louisiana

LocationMcIlhenny Company

Highway 329

Avery Island, Louisiana, 70513

ContactTracy Gibbs

[email protected]

713-824-1552

1-800-634-9599

http://countrystore.tabasco.comhttp://[email protected]

Websitehttp://www.tabasco.com

http://www.tabaqscofoodservice.com

CREATIVE MIND®


History of McIlhenny Company

“That Famous Sauce Mr. McIlhenny Makes”

The McIlhenny company was founded back in 1868 on Avery Island, Louisiana by Edmund

McIlhenny. McIlhenny had been given the seed of a Capsicum frutescens pepper that came from

Mexico or Central America. The food in the reconstructed South was very bland, and McIlhenny

worked with his peppers to create something that would spice things up. Eventually, his sauce was

known by the people of Avery Island as “That Famous Sauce Mr. McIlhenny Makes,” and demand

was rising. In 1868, McIlhenny sent out 658 bottles of his sauce for $1 a piece, labeling it

“tabasco,” a word of Mexican Indian origin believed to mean “place where the soil is humid.”

Today, the McIlhenny Company remains a family company with little room for outsiders. Half of the

company’s 200 employees live on Avery Island, with many having had parents and grandparents work for the company as well. The current president, Paul McIlhenny, is the sixth McIlhenny in the

chain of direct descendants to continue the legacy of this incredible sauce.

An Unchanged Tradition

Since 1868, the place, process and ingredients for TABASCO® brand Pepper

Sauce have remained unchanged. When the planted peppers reach a juicy

shade of deep red on Avery Island, they are picked by hand to be mashed and

mixed with salt. The mash is then allowed to ferment and age for three years

before being blended with high-quality distilled vinegar. The McIlennys insure all of the pepper crops and personally select the best crops in the field during

harvest.

Success In a Bottle

After 141 years, TABASCO® is the most famous, most preferred and most

recognizable brand of pepper sauce in the world. It is labeled in 22

languages, sold in 160 countries and maintains an unmatched tradition of

excellence and quality of product.

CREATIVE MIND®


TABASCO® Today

The Product

The original, classic red variety of TABASCO® pepper

sauce measures 2,500-5,000 SCU on the Scoville

scale. At the TABASCO® factory, 720,000 two-ounce

(57ml) bottles of TABASCO® sauce are produced each

day. It has a shelf life of five years when stored in a cool

and dry place.

According to the most recent data available from the

NPD Group, a research and consulting firm in Port

Washington, N.Y., around 62 percent of Americans had hot sauce in their pantry in 2005, versus 57 percent in

1999.

The Market

''What makes TABASCO® as a brand great is that the family continues to deliver,'' said David

Martin, president of United States operations for Interbrand, branding consultants in New York. ''It

always tastes the same, has the right degree of spice and flavor. You can always count on it.''

To stay ahead of its competitors and expand supermarket space, the company has been rolling

out new pepper sauces with jalapeños, habaneros and chipotles—one of their best sellers—for the last 13 years. They recently released a new sweet-and-spicy sauce in seven markets.

Paul McIlhenny, the company's chief executive, has entered into licensing deals to add

TABASCO® to Spam, steak sauce and mayonnaise and ramped up the business with the food

service industry, which now accounts for more than half of all sales.

CREATIVE MIND®


The TABASCO® Family

• Original TABASCO®

• Chipotle Pepper

• Green Jalapeño

• Habanero

• Garlic Pepper

• Sweet & Spicy

In addition to TABASCO®‘s six pepper sauces, other products include marinades, snacks,

condiments, chili, candy, and gourmet foods. The TABASCO® Web site offers over 700 recipes

including recipes for chili, buffalo wings, Mexican food and more.

CREATIVE MIND®


Current Positioning

TABASCO®’s current advertisement campaign emphasizes the age and reliability of its products,

positioning the brand as a “timeless” family company that hasn’t changed since the sauce was first created in 1868.

Their print ad campaign includes five different portrayals of the McIlhenny family tradition. In one,

the six McIlhenny men who have taken on the company each generation are shown, with the

headline “Here on Avery Island, we don’t bother keeping up with the Joneses. It’s hard enough keeping track of all the McIlhennys.”

Another shows two identical photographs of someone walking down a dirt road, one taken in 1925

and the other in 2009. The headline touts “Back in the day, we had to walk to work along a dirt road. Come to think of it, we still do.” Three other print ads follow a similar theme, portraying the

brand as a familiar commodity that stands the test of time.

CREATIVE MIND®


Desired Positioning

After nearly 150 years of service, TABASCO® remains the most preferred pepper sauce in the

world in consumers, retail dollar and international sales. Its history and marketing genius have made it an extremely recognizable and established brand in its product market.

Though previous advertisement campaigns have tapped successfully into its spicy flavor,

“Pepperfest” variety of products, and family tradition, CREATIVE MIND® would like to create a

campaign that transcends domestic borders and emphasizes the brand’s universal familiarity.

We would like to position TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce as a product that is loved and enjoyed

around the world. Its international recognition makes it a shared commodity that transcends

nationality, gender or ethnicity, and has historically been endorsed by diverse figures including

NASA astronauts, the United States Military, and even the Queen of England.

Positioning Statement

By positioning TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce as a product loved and

enjoyed around the world, we hope to gain loyal consumers who see the

sauce as a symbol of unity, familiarity and tradition.

CREATIVE MIND®


Campaign Objectives

• Establish TABASCO® as an universal product that transcends national borders by

demonstrating the diversity of nations and figures who enjoy it.

• Create a successful global campaign that communicates the same message in multiple

countries.

• Create a campaign that facilitates a deeper connection between the brand and TABASCO®

consumers.

Target Market

Demographics TABASCO®‘s typical target market is men ages 25-55. This campaign taps into a

much larger market of consumers, attempting to reach grocery store and restaurant patrons of all ages, genders and nationalities. Adults ages 18-55 will most likely fall into

this category.

Psychographics TABASCO® consumers are primarily men and women ages 30-45. The loyal

TABASCO® customer is willing to put the sauce on virtually any food at any time of

day, and men tend to view it as a symbol of masculinity.

CREATIVE MIND®


Benefits and Appeals

• Stands as a universal symbol of hot sauce.

• Shared commodity around the world.

• Dominates the market with a 23.2% market share.

• Its four-year-fermenting process ensures unmatched quality.

• Continues to uphold the 150-year tradition of consistency.

• Found in houses and restaurants of all kinds around the world.

• The choice pepper sauce used by the United States Military.

• Given the Queen of England’s Seal of Approval.

• Featured on the NASA space shuttle’s official menu.

Competition

• Cholula Hot Sauce

• Louisiana Hot Sauce

• FRANK'S® REDHOT®

• Crystal Hot Sauce

• Sriracha

CREATIVE MIND®


Frames of Reference

• It’s tradition.

• It’s familiar.

• It’s shared.

• It’s everyone’s.

• It’s reliable.

• It’s international.

• It’s flavorful.

• It’s a universal symbol.

• It’s timeless.

• It’s the sauce that never leaves the table.

• It’s the sauce that’s known everywhere.

• It’s the sauce that knows no borders or class.

Points of Difference

• TABASCO® is seen as a generic term for hot sauce.

• It is the most recognizable and preferred pepper sauce in the world.

• Its recipe has stayed consistent for over 150 years.

• Its history and tradition remain untouched by competitors.

• It remains family-owned through six generations.

• It has the largest co-branding market of any competitor.

• It is the only pepper sauce to claim the Royal Seal of Approval from the Queen.

• It was the only sauce imported to Europe during World War II.

CREATIVE MIND®


Big Idea

Good taste knows no boundaries.

CREATIVE MIND®


Barriers

• Family difficulties

• Minor competition

• Mother nature and her effects on crops and production

• Factory isolation

• Difficulty reaching first time users as well as people who don’t enjoy spicy foods or sauces

Additional Key Factors

After speaking with McIlhenny family member Tracy Gibbs, it is clear

that TABASCO® is looking to target a niche market of younger

consumers ages 18-25.

By utilizing TABASCO®’s global reach and integrating humor into

TABASCO®‘s advertisements, our campaign will better

reach younger audiences than previous campaigns have

while also reaching an older audience as well.

It is also important to note that the campaign will aim

to reach countries beyond the United States in the

hopes of establishing TABASCO® brand Pepper

Sauce as an international symbol, a brand that “knows

no boundaries.”

CREATIVE MIND®


Impacts & Actions

This campaign will establish TABASCO® as a symbol unity, familiarity and tradition in the minds of

consumers. It will serve to position TABASCO® as a product that transcends common boundaries. In doing so, the brand will gain loyal customers who form an even deeper connection with the

brand than already exists.

Mandatories

We will use the traditional TABASCO® logo

throughout our campaign for brand recognition purposes.

We will also use our campaign’s tagline— “Good taste knows no

boundaries”—in our print ads, outdoor marketing, TV

and radio spot.

CREATIVE MIND®


Image

Our campaign will project a positive community image for TABASCO® brand products.

“Community,” in that the brand will be portrayed as a shared commodity among diverse figures, nations and cultures. The campaign will portray the brand as being universal.

Tone

The tone of our campaign is light, yet sentimental. It offers mild humor through imagery but

touches on the comforting sentiment that the TABASCO® brand

represents unity, familiarity and tradition.

Look & Feel

We will use blue/grey color tones to evoke the

desired sentimental reactions to our ads. The desired

response is for audiences to feel warm, comforted, and

subsequently more attached to the TABASCO® brand

as a whole. The central images of the ads will differ

based on the figure being portrayed; however the ads will maintain internal consistency through their

tagline, logo and layout.

CREATIVE MIND®


Print Advertisements

CREATIVE MIND®


CREATIVE MIND®


Granted the Royal Seal of Approval,

Tabasco® has proudly served as Her Majesty’s

preferred pepper sauce since 1868.


CREATIVE MIND®


For nearly two decades,

product of the NASA space menu.


For over a hundred years, Tabasco® has proudly served the U.S. armed forces in ready-to-eat meals.


CREATIVE MIND®


Outdoor Advertisement

CREATIVE MIND®


CREATIVE MIND®


Direct Mail

CREATIVE MIND®


Direct Mail

Our direct mail piece is a small, red travel-size booklet. The cover will have a hollowed out

TABASCO® bottle, with the actual image on the very last page of the book. The book will essentially serve as a manual to our “Good taste knows no boundaries” campaign. There will be

three thick pages in the book, each demonstrating the diverse ways in which TABASCO® brand

products transcend borders and nationality. On each page, the photographed figure will appear to

be holding the back page’s TABASCO® bottle.

CREATIVE MIND®


The Queen of EnglandCopy

TABASCO® has long been a friend Great Britain. During World War II, the Queen Mother had her

staff search all of London for the sauce, which was in shortage because of wartime constraints.

When told there was no more TABASCO®, the Queen’s deputy comptroller said she took the news “philosophically.”

In 1932, when the British government began an isolationist “Buy British” campaign, Parliament

banned the purchase of TABASCO®, popular in England since 1868 and available in the House of

Commons dining rooms. The resulting protest from members of Parliament was dubbed “The

TABASCO® Tempest,” and inevitably TABASCO® returned to parliamentary tables. It is said that

to this day, Queen Elizabeth uses TABASCO® pepper sauce on her lobster cocktail.

More recently, in April 2009, Queen Elizabeth esteemed TABASCO® brand pepper sauce worthy

of a Royal Warrant. Her Majesty’s seal of approval is a mark of outstanding excellence and fine

quality, and is only given to products served consistently at the Queen’s table.

Her Majesty’s approval represents one of many ways the taste and quality of TABASCO® brand products transcend borders, boundaries and even the gates of royalty.

CREATIVE MIND®


U.S. Armed ForcesCopy

During the Spanish-American War, John Avery McIlhenny, son of TABASCO®’s inventor and

second president of McIlhenny Company, served in the 1st U.S. Volunteer Cavalry Regiment,

better known as Theodore Roosevelt's “Rough Riders.” His son, Brigadier General Walter Stauffer McIlhenny presided over the McIlhenny Company from 1949 until his death in 1985. During the

Vietnam War, BGen. McIlhenny issued the The Charlie Ration Cookbook. This cookbook came

wrapped around a two-ounce bottle of TABASCO® sauce in a camouflaged, water-resistant

container. It included instructions on how to mix C-rations to make such tasty concoctions as

"Combat Canapés" or "Breast of Chicken under Bullets."

During the 1980s, the U.S. military began to include miniature bottles of TABASCO® sauce in its

MREs (Meal, Ready to Eat). Eventually, miniature bottles of TABASCO® sauce were included in

two-thirds of all MRE menus. These same miniature bottles are also included in vegetarian British

rations.

Most recently, U.S. troops in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom have received TABASCO® sauce in their MREs, as well as in care

packages sent directly to individual troops courtesy of McIlhenny Company.

McIlhenny Company's relationship with the military extends beyond combat situations. The U.S.

Navy and U.S. Marine Corps list over 400 mess halls that offer TABASCO® sauce on their tables

including every Officer's Mess in the Marine Corps.

TABASCO®’s long-standing relationship with militaries around the world reinforce that the sauce’s

taste and quality transcend borders, boundaries and even walls of combat.

CREATIVE MIND®


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish-American_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Avery_McIlhenny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Avery_McIlhenny

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_Roosevelt

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Riders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_Riders

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Stauffer_McIlhenny




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_War

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meal,_Ready-to-Eat

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Afghanistan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Enduring_Freedom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Enduring_Freedom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iraq

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iraqi_Freedom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Iraqi_Freedom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Navy




http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine_Corps

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Marine_Corps

NASA Space ProgramCopy

TABASCO® brand products have taken its customers out of this world—literally.

When NASA astronauts complained of bland rations in the space program, TABASCO® was the

solution.

Since then, our bottles have been a staple of the NASA space shuttle menu and have orbited the

earth on dozens of missions. The sauce can also be found on the International Space Station.

TABASCO®’s space travels are one of the many ways our sauce’s taste and quality transcend

borders, boundaries and even our very atmosphere.

Page 4: “A Universal Symbol of Quality since 1868”Copy

TABASCO® brand products are not representative of one ethnicity, nationality or culture. They are

used by figures as significant as royalty, as brave as soldiers and as defiant as astronauts. That’s

why our pepper sauce has been a universal symbol of quality since 1868.


CREATIVE MIND®


TV Spot

CREATIVE MIND®


“HOUSTON, WE HAVE A PROBLEM”

00:30 SECONDS

1. Shot of space shuttle in outer space.

2. Camera zooms into the window to show what is going on inside.

3. Music changes to “party.” Three astronauts are laughing and having a good time. They are letting drops of TABASCO® float around in no gravity and eating it.

4. All astronauts are taking turns trying to get TABASCO® in their mouths with other food. They are complimenting each other. Ex: “Nice Form!” and high fiving each other.

5. Shot of bottle of TABASCO® on a simple table and narrator says, “TABASCO®. Good Taste Knows No Boundaries.”

6. Astronaut 2 notices they have run out of TABASCO®, looks at Astronaut 1 and shakes the empty bottle at him.

7. Astronaut 2 says, “Uhhhhh guys.”

8. Close up on astronaut 1 saying frantically, “Houston, we have a problem!”

9. Commercial ends with black screen.

SFX: White noise with random beeps in first shot.

SFX: Song “Great Balls of Fire “ while astronauts are in shuttle with TABASCO®. Starts in shot 3,

ends in 7. Loud enough to hear, but not drowning.

CREATIVE MIND®


Radio Spot

CREATIVE MIND®


“ALL HAIL THE QUEEN”

00:30 SECONDS

Cue SFX: British sounding music “Rule Britannia….”

Queen of England: “Alfred! Alfreeed!”

Cue SFX: Little ringing bell.

Cue SFX: Footsteps getting closer

Alfred (The Queen’s Butler): “Yes, your majesty Queen Elizabeth? How can I be of service to

you?”

Queen of England: “Oh dear Alfred! I’m out of my TABASCO® again!”

Alfred: “But madam, you’ve been through four bottles in the last week!”

Queen of England: “ You know I can’t eat anything without it! That is why I gave it the Royal Seal

of Approval.”

Alfred: “Of course your majesty. I will get more right away. 10 more bottles perhaps?”

Queen of England: “Make it 20 Alfred!”

Narrator: “TABASCO®. A universal symbol of quality since 1868. Good taste knows no

boundaries.”

CREATIVE MIND®


Guerilla Marketing

CREATIVE MIND®


Guerilla MarketingIn order to reinforce our “Good taste knows no boundaries” campaign, our guerilla marketing will

consist of having a TABASCO® bottle blimp. The blimp would be the traditional bottle, placed

horizontally, with our tagline “Good taste knows no boundaries” in white text across the bottom.

The floating bottle would be an effective, and literal, way reinforce the campaign’s tagline.

The blimp could fly in major urban areas or at particular events such as outdoor concerts or major

sports arenas in which TABASCO® is a sponsor.

CREATIVE MIND®


tabasco book

Documents