Ashley VanceE-Portfolio
Project / Work Samples
Activate Water Activate Water is a Los Angeles based company selling a
special type of vitamin water. Unlike other vitamin waters, Activate keeps the vitamins “hid in the lid”, keeping them more potent. A simple turn in the cap and they fall into the drink.
Working with a partner our goal was to come up with a complete marketing strategy for expanding Activate Water among Southern California in just a little over three weeks.
The next 6 slides showcase: S.W.O.T. Analysis
Competitive Analysis: Vitamin Water, Red Bull and Gatorade
Media planning strategy
News release designed for a media/press kit
STRENGTHS:Bold PackagingConvenient BottleVariety of vitaminsLow CaloriesUses SplendaVitamins IncludedLong LastingVitamins are PotentQuick and efficientHealthy choiceInvolved in the communityYou can order Activate onlineCan be purchased in a 4 packNo Activate drink contains glutenHome and Office delivery available
WEAKNESSES:Only available in select locationsNot well knownHigher price point/ $9 for a four packLack of variety in flavorsThe cap has to screw off versus using a sport topSplenda isn’t proved to be a healthier choice over sugarDoesn’t say how they proved vitamins deteriorate, only that they used an independent studyUses purified waterIf someone twist the cap yet decides not to drink Activate, the vitamins will deteriorateNot Organic or naturalActivate will only allow returns from drinks ordered on the InternetThere’s only one central Activate office
OPPORTUNITIES:People are becoming more health conscienceWeaknesses of competitive companiesDeveloping a strategic alliance with a competitorCould potentially expand nationally or to other countriesMore advertising
THREATS:Small companyNew to operating a businessPoor cash flowUnder FinancingGrowing too quickly and not be ready for what that bringsPoor interpersonal relationships with customers, partners, and employeesLack of strategic planningFailure to innovatePoor CommunicationFailure to recognize weaknessesFailure to gather and respond to criticismPeople no longer buying water bottles because of its negative effects on the environmentWeak Economy
\The Vitamin Water Company, Glacéau, was
introduced into the market in May of 1996. Since then they have quickly grown to incorporate 15 different flavors each with a different focus such as endurance, focus, and balance. Vitamin Water’s main goal is to help people on the go feel better, perform better and live healthy lives. Today their products are available throughout the United States and Australia as well. They have been able to expand their brand and include Smart Water, Vitamin Energy, and Fruit Water. The Glacéau Company, owned by Coca-Cola, uses celebrity spokesmen such as 50-Cent and Kelly Clarkson in television and magazine advertisements to reach their target consumers. (Glacéau)
Competitive Analysis:
Red Bull began as Krating Daeng in Thailand and was an extremely popular drink among working class men and taxi cab drivers. Red bull quickly grew to markets all over the world and was introduced into the United States in 1997. The drink is aimed at young people with active lifestyles and improves performance, increases concentration, and reaction speed. Today, Red Bull is available in over 100 countries and they sell more than a billion cans a year. Red Bull holds a 70% share of the worlds market for energy drinks or functional beverages. They’re extremely involved in extreme sports such as snow mobile racing and dirt bike racing and have become popular among the club scene. (Red Bull GmbH)
Competitive Analysis:
Gatorade was created in the summer of 1965 at the University of Florida as a means to end college football players heat illnesses. Gatorade quickly gained popularity among football players and is now seen on the sidelines of many games. Now Gatorade is sold in more than 50 countries and can be purchased in more than 30 flavors. Gross retail sales of Gatorade have surpassed $3 billion dollars alone in the United States and only continue to grow. Gatorade offers protein shakes, powders, and some drinks containing vitamins but all are designed to taste best during physical activity. The goal of Gatorade is to equally balance carbohydrates and electrolytes that are lost through sweat and exercise to keep people healthy. (Gatorade®)
Competitive Analysis:
Media Planning Strategy:
Each form of advertisements will be strategically placed in order to gain attention from our target market. Using inserts for our magazine advertisements we will select Los Angeles, San Diego and other key locations in the Southern California area. We plan on saturating the market with these advertisements by running them one time in the April issue of several magazines. The placing of these magazine advertisements will be located in the front half near the contents pages. Our selection of magazines will include Self, Cosmopolitan, Oprah, and Men’s Health in order to reach the target of men and women. We plan on having ten billboards located in the Southern California Area. Five of these billboards will be located in Los Angeles while the other five will be spread among the area in locations such as San Diego and Orange County. Most will be located off of main highways near exits where stores carrying the water is located while the next majority will be in cities at stoplights catering to heavy traffic. The other billboards will be located near parks and beaches to reach our target market. Our radio advertisement will be featured on family friendly radio stations such as The Coast because it will be targeted to the segment of young mothers more so than the others. The radio advertisement will run for the morning drive and the evening drive when our target market will be mostly in her vehicle.
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Ashley Vance | 213.532.5490
ACTIVATE WATER TO TEAM WITH THE SUSAN G. KOMEN FOUNDATION
Los Angeles, CA. February 5, 2009- Activate Water has announced that it plans on hosting a marathon with the Susan G. Komen Foundation to help raise money and awareness for breast cancer. The marathon will be a one-day event held on Sunday May 24th, 2009. The marathon, Walk for a Cure, will start at 8am and will be a ten-mile course held in the streets of Los Angeles. Participants of the marathon will pay a fee of $100.00, which will include their food, drinks, and a shirt. All money collected by participants of the Walk for a Cure will be donated to the Susan G. Komen Foundation in the name of the winner along with the winner receiving a year supply of Activate Water. Walk for a Cure will also host two special guest, Sheryl Crow and Christina Applegate, whom have both faced breast cancer in their past. After the marathon, a luncheon will take place in a remote grassy area under pink tents. The luncheon will feature catered food and Activate Water.
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News Release:
Turning Leaf Turning Leaf is an organic and eco-friendly denim line I
worked closely with a group to create.
The slogan, “You’ll never be able to turn a new leaf if you turn the other cheek”, is in regards to being environmentally conscience of your habits in all aspects of life.
The next 4 slides showcase my work to market the brand through promotional programs including: Sponsorship
Public Relations
Endorsements
Alternative Media, Viral Marketing, Marketing at Touch Points
Sponsorship:Because Turning Leaf is an eco-friendly denim line, we will sponsor
environmentally friendly organizations in order to reach our target market and help make a difference in our world. Our biggest sponsorship will be with Global Green USA, a non-profit organization aimed at raising awareness for our environmental issues and what we can do to help. Each year Global Green USA has many special events to promote their causes, which usually brings out many people including a-list celebrities. During Global Green USA’s benefits we could have our logo on the banner that appears behind the guest on the “green” carpet. Since many celebrities attend their special events people would see photos and our logo behind them, which would in turn get people thinking about our company. At these events we would also present all of our guest with special gift bags, which would include our denim. Giving away jeans at these events would prove to be beneficial for our company. First, guest would wear them and potentially become loyal customers of our brand and secondly celebrities would wear the jeans in everyday life and get photographed. This would create interest in the minds of people who would see these particular celebrities wearing the jeans and they would then go out and buy a pair for themselves. One of the main events hosted by Global Green USA is the San Francisco Benefit. The San Francisco Benefit brings out many celebrities to highlight green design solutions and also includes an eco-friendly fashion show. Turning Leaf could not only sponsor this event but also take part in their fashion show. We could show all of the attendees our line firsthand and include the benefits and attributes. Not only will this generate press and awareness for our line but will also get the attention of everyone at the benefit whom supports this group and eco-friendly clothing.
Public Relations:Public relations will be extremely
important to Turning Leaf in order to provide information, build product awareness, create interest, and stimulate demand. Our first step will be media relations, which will include publicizing our product to television news programs, local newspapers, magazines, and on the Internet. Creating stories and information on our products will gather media coverage and will create credible knowledge for the consumers. Secondly we will have a media tour, which will include a company spokesperson. We will research which cities in the United States are taking the most action in becoming eco-friendly such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York City. Our spokesperson will go to all of these cities and conduct interviews on television shows, radio shows, or in local magazines to get our product out in the market. Our last effort in public relations will be speaking engagements. We will speak at colleges all across the United States located in or near larger American cities. We will have our company experts explain what’s going on with our environment and the benefits of our eco-friendly denim. We will also take any other step in order to secure our position in the market and create a credible line that people will trust.
Endorsements:Our company will hire celebrities to endorse our products in
order to reach a higher percentage of our target market. Because these celebrities will be representing our brand we will look for people who are respected among the public, successful and of course people who are actively participating in the go green movement. Celebrities such as Anne Hathaway, Hayden Panettiere, and Natalie Portman would be idea matches for our company. Our celebrity endorsers are young people who aren’t out endorsing multiple products, but rather just our product or a couple others. They would be considered credible among our consumers and would be able to increase product knowledge to our target market. By having endorsement deals with celebrities our target market will feel connected to these particular celebrities and they’ll feel that they can take part in changing our world with them. They will speak of how they’re living an eco-friendly lifestyle and include our denim line in doing so.
Alternative Media, Viral Marketing, Marketing at Touch Points (Such as In-Store Experience)
Because typical media advertisements are sometimes thought of as being biased we will use alternative media in order to reach our target market with a different approach. Alternative media will provide a different viewpoint from that of magazine advertisements and our website. We will be in magazines that aren’t considered mainstream in order to get our product out there. Seeing publications on our product in something other than mass media will help with the loyalty of our product. Consumers will see that it’s a fashionable yet respected product in another form. Consumers will trust this form more because it’s not something that our company is obviously trying to make look good. We will also use viral marketing as a way to communicate with our target audience. Word-of-mouth can a lot of times be the most powerful way of communicating, which means viral marketing will be increasingly useful to our brand. We will have video clips of consumers talking about our jeans and why they like them, which will cut out all of the fancy-talk and really speak with other consumers. We will also use social networking sites such as MySpace and Face Book to reach the market. Face Book in particular has fan pages, which members subscribe to. We could have a fan page of our denim line that members of Face Book could look at. When members subscribe to the fan pages it appears on their profile and everyone will see it, can look at it, and also subscribe to it. This will help reach more people and strike interest in other peoples minds. Lastly we will stand out to our consumers by our service. By provoking importance and change to the consumers we will be making them feel like this is something they can easily do. We will show the consumers that people are satisfied with their purchases by testimonies of other consumers. Our brand will also be easy to contact and communicate with. We want everything to remain simple and we want to put our customers first. We will go above and beyond their expectations and make sure they are always pleased. If they’re not happy with a product we will help them find a better match. We want to stand out and make sure we’re the first company people think of when going to buy their jeans. By putting our consumers first we’ll be making their experiences lasting ones.
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