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Introduction: The Story

It was 1952 in Watertown, New York, USA....

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Agenda v  What’s the Current Situation? v  Challenges and Opportunities v  Business and Communication Goals v  Target Audience

v  Insight v  Creative Brief v  Communication Strategy and Tactics

v  Media Plan and Strategies v  Budget v  Conclusion v  Questions?

CAR-FRESHNER Little Trees

Company Overview v Current President: Jody R.A. LaLone v Little Trees comes in 70+ scents

v  Best sellers include Black Ice & Vanillaroma v Manufactured in the US v Subsidiaries in several European countries

v  Magic Tree (UK, Ireland) v  Wunder-Baum (Sweden, Germany,

Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Denmark) v  Arbre Magique (France, Italy, Spain,

Portugal)

Situation Analysis v Car air fresheners, normally distributed as automotive products,

demonstrate similar importance as home air fresheners.

v The general air care market is composed of sub-segments as follows*:

v Home air fresheners: 91% of air freshener market share

v Car fresheners: 6% of air freshener market share

v Potpurri/Sachets: 1% of air freshener market share

*http://www.starcandle.com/report/MarketingReport.pdf

Situation Analysis: Competitive Sales

v Little Trees is currently the top selling Car Air Freshener brand with a market share of 26.21%.

v The main competitors for Little Trees:

v Medo Auto Expressions v Glade Car v Refresh v Handstands v Bahana Bag

v In general, there are no advertisements for car air fresheners. v However, some companies, such as Glade, run TV commercials and print

advertising for home air fresheners v Febreze advertisers its aerosol air freshener on TV (sometimes in cars)

Situation Analysis: Competitive Media

v Current Users v Low Household Income (less than $60,000) v People who spent long periods of time in their

automobile v Ex: Taxi drivers, Truck drivers, etc.

v Desire to have a good smelling vehicle

v Geographic Emphasis v Spread throughout the nation and the world v Emphasis is in highly urban areas and highly

rural areas

v Seasonality v Year Round v Mild increase during holidays

Situation Analysis

v Purchase Cycle v Typically sold in packs of three - scent lasts

2-3 weeks (price approx. $3) v Available in singles or packs of the 3+ packs

v Distribution v Sold at supermarkets, carwashes, gas

stations, online retailers, and automotive shops.

v Creative Requirements

v Will require high scent appeal v Elegant, not trashy

Situation Analysis

Strengths v Broad product awareness and

recognition v American icon v Story behind the brand v Inexpensive

Weaknesses v Brand name not well known v Popular perception is that the

product is only used by cab drivers and persons of lower social status

Threats v New technology and innovations

(better looking and working car air fresheners)

v The air freshener category experienced a 9.3% decline in sales

Opportunities v Tie the iconic product image to the

brand name v Association with holiday season v Appeal to increasing demand for

American made goods

Challenges & Opportunities

v Maintain position as market share leader. v Expand/increase sales of the company’s principal air freshener products. v Convert non-users of car air fresheners into users. v  Expand consumer base while maintain brand integrity. v Reposition brand to appeal to more upscale audience. v Present Little Trees products as an essential accessory for drivers.

Business Goal

Communication Goal

v Women ages 30-45 v Generation X (1965-1980) v Have one or more children living at home v Middle to high household income v Owns and uses a car often v Lives in suburban areas outside of cities

Target Audience

"Soccer Moms" v  Frequently in car whether it be driving to child's school,

commuting to work, to after-school sports, or running to complete errands

v  Accumulate excess clutter and mess caused by children “While my home—for the most part—is kept clean and tidy, my car is, well, my car is the opposite. I simply don’t have time to tackle my car.”

Audience Insight

Busy Lifestyle v  On-the-go moms rely on technology to keep up v  Constantly multi-tasking on several different

media platforms

Generation X Outlook v  Place greater importance on things like personal life

and family rather than finances than previous generations

v  Home life tends to cause more stress than work life; "the stakes are higher, so the stress is greater."

Audience Insight

Product: CAR FRESHNER Little Trees What does the client expect this advertising to achieve? Expand/increase sales of Little Trees car air freshener products. What is the objective of this piece of communication? Persuade mothers to make the purchase of Little Trees products. Who are we trying to influence?

Conceptual target: Women with children age 30-45 with mid-to-high income What we know about them:

§  They are parents of one or more kids. §  They are very much involved in their children’s lives and their kids are physically active. §  Spend a lot of time in their cars, constantly picking up and dropping their kids. §  They have hectic everyday life, managing the needs of their kids, work and family. §  They are jovial, modern and tech-savvy.

Key Insight: Moms’ cars are filled with awful smells like junk food, sweaty jerseys and stinky dog. Moms are very busy individuals and often overlook and put off cleaning the car.

Strategy Statement: To convince mothers to buy Little Trees because they make stinky cars one less thing for busy moms to stress about.

Motivating support points: Little Trees is a no-hassle product.

It’s extremely simple to use, just hang it and your car is immediately filled with a wonderful fragrance. Tone:

Emotional, humorous and playful

Creative Brief

To convince mothers to buy Little Trees because their quality

products make stinky cars one last thing for busy moms to stress about.

Communication Strategy

Play to Mothers’ Emotions v  Key emotional driver: Commiseration

v  Little Trees will be a sympathetic friend who understands that families sometimes torment mom. Postioning our product as just meeting mom’s functional needs but building their egos

v  Show her she has a friend who understands her pain v  Put mom at ease v  Through our communications we will emotionally connect with mothers by letting them

know it’s okay to be stressed out by the chaos of motherhood

v  Use Humor v  Capture those truly funny moments of motherhood

v  Example: Ms. Zarghami (President of Nickelodeon Networks) once put Cheerios in the toilet to help potty train hers sons.

Communication Tatics

Media Channel Allocation

Media Schedule

What? v  Hang oversized versions of our classic Little Trees throughout major cities v  Playfully use the concept and dangle them over "smelly" objects or settings v  Also standard versions of our Little Trees with QR codes scattered around cities

Where? v  New York, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and other major US cities.

Why? v  Uses the iconically recognized image of the Little Tree v  Combines traditional billboard-style media with interactive approach v  Invites buzz via a participatory experience v  Viral potential

Guerrilla Marketing

What? v  Official CAR-FRESHNER Little Trees Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest pages v  Update Little Trees Homepage with links to social media pages v  Search Engine Marketing/Optimization v  Mobile/Tablet Advertising: mobile display ads on associated applications

Where? v  Popular social media network v  Official pages should target customers on a global level

Why? v  Moms are heavy users of social media. v  Moms favor social media sites including blogs, message boards and product fan pages to research products

and get firsthand product reviews and recommendations. v  Updating the Little Trees homepage to have a more modern look will reflect our reimagining and

repositioning of the brand for a more upscale audience. v  There are over 110 million smartphone users in the United States alone. Moms make up 61% of those users.

Digital

Current Homepage

What? v  30- and 60-second spots v  Every week day

v  Early morning 6am-10am (2 advertisements) v  Afternoon Rush 3pm-7pm (2 advertisements)

v  Every other week Where? v  Radio stations that appeal to mothers

v  Ex: Top 40, Oldies, etc. v  Morning Talk Shows

Why? v  Location v  An inviting style of advertising that will resonate with mothers

v  listeners can place themselves inside the story being told

v  86% of moms listen to the radio each week

Radio

What? v  30-second time slots from September through December

Where? v  Nationally broadcast cable programs, focusing on the programs that are statistically most viewed

by mothers and children.

Why? v  Mass audience reach. v  Women made up 70% of the audiences of for cable channels Bravo, E!, Lifetime, the Hallmark

Channel, and TLC. v  In broadcast primetime, ad recall levels are 8% lower amond moms 25-54 than non-moms of the

same age and general population. This is why we place more of an emphasis on daytime TV.

Television

What? v  1-Four Color, Full Page magazine advertisment in each publication v  September, October, November, or December issue.

Where? v  Parenting Publications

v  Parents & Family Fun

v  Women Lifestyle Publications v  O, The Oprah Magazine & Self

v  Entertainment Publications v  People

Why? v  Widespread circulation v  Reaches audience at their own convenience v  A survey of moms revealed that 41% still rely on magazines for info on parenting v  On average even the busiest moms say they read 4 magazines a month, with at least 2 of these

titles delivered to their houses.

Print

What? v  Billboards placed around busy highways and roads in suburban areas v  Playfully spark a conversation with drivers

v  "Does your car stink?“ v  "Fast food... again?“ v  "Not just for cabs anymore“ v  "Your kid stinks“

Where? v  In major suburbs and highways outside of metropolitan areas like New York, Boston, Chicago, and

Los Angeles.

Why? v  Targets consumers while driving (a time when Little Trees can actually be used) v  Sparks a conversation and provides them with a solution to their potentially smelly car

Outdoor

What? v  A holiday event sponsored by "Little Trees" centered on appreciating and helping Moms. v  Free cleaning of attendees' car and will included a free Little Trees fragrance of choice v  The event will host a number of everyday products and luxury brands important to mothers

v  Ex. Toys R’ Us, Gilt.com, Elizabeth Arden, Clorox, etc. v  Proceeds go to charity (air pollution or cleaning of a local neighborhood park)

Where? v  Two Locations on East and West Coast v  Near heavily populated Suburban Areas easily accessible by car

Rationale? v  Moms are constantly stressing about and sacrificing for their family, so we want to show our

appreciation v  Association of our brand with more well-known, trustworthy brand v  Positive positioning by giving back to the community v  Generate buzz and word-of-mouth advertising through the uploading of pictures, blogging, and

texting

Public Relations

Budget: $3.5 Million

Budget Allocation

Retail Environment v Packets of Little Trees will be place by the fruit, baked good, or item that it smells like

v  Little Trees Grape placed next to the fresh-smelling grape produce v  Vanillaroma will hang in the spice aisle v  Sun Washed Cotton next to the dry sheets and laundry soap v  Organic aisle stands “certified fresh fragrance”

v Rationale v  Mothers are the typically the primary shoppers for the household. To intrigue their

interest and capture their attention, we want to place “Little Tree” scents in supermarkets, Whole Foods, and Trader Joes.

v  Placing the product in unexpected places will draw attention v  Association between the real product and the scent of the product helps reinforce Little

Tree freshness and quality fragrances

v  New Product Look and Packaging v  To expand to middle- and upper-class market, CAR-FRESHNER could come out with

luxury line of Little Trees

Moving Forward

Conlcusion

“So bring it on, MESSY kids, STINKY feet SMELLY dog, I've found the solution to your stench. My car may NOT look pretty, but it's certainly going to smell it. Need a ride?”

Sources