Maruchan Advertising Written Proposal Table of Contents

3 Executive Summary (Overview)

3-5 Situation Analysis Product Branding Marketing Mix Consumers Advertising Background Industry Overview External Variables

5-6 Competitive Overview

6 Target Market Profile

6-7 Advertising Objectives and Strategy

7-8 Media Plan Mediums to be used Media schedule

8 Creative Executions: Boarded

2 Executive Summary is an international corporation that is well known in the United States for its ramen noodle pouches. We wanted to strengthen our brand by playing to our strengths of being an affordable meal with great taste. Within our situational analysis, we discussed how Ramen noodles are a cheap, fast meal alternative that is sold in major supermarkets nationwide despite being in the decline stage of the product life cycle. Expectations for our brand aren’t high because of the price, but that actually works in our favor because consumers are surprised with a bang for their buck. Our main competitor is national brand, Nissin. They started in the 1958 in Japan, but expanded globally to North America in 1972 with their main product, . We have maintained a stranglehold on the market share in America with 66.7 percent according to the Orange County Register, while the global market share of Nissin has dropped by 2 percent in the past five years. There has always been a stereotype since Maruchan Ramen noodles came to America that they are only for college students. In fact, we will not shy away from that stereotype. Instead we will embrace it by targeting men and women ages 18-24 with a household income lower than $20,000 with equal advertising nationwide. Our advertising campaign objective is to increase the desire and intent to buy by XX % and strengthen the brand image as “the right kind of broke” in men and women ages 18-24 with an income of less than $20,000 in the next six months. In addition, our creative strategy statement is this: To convince men and women between the ages of 18-24 with an income of less than $20,000 that Maruchan Ramen Noodles is the best way to save money while still having an enjoyable meal because it is convenient and has a great taste all while maintaining an extremely low price (20 cents cheaper than the competition). Since we are gearing our product towards a younger generation, we will use the Internet and television as media vehicles. Advertising on popular websites that the 18-24 age group visits like Hulu and MTV will allow our brand of instant noodles to be effective in reaching our target audience. Overall, we believe we can reach people ages 18-24 through smart flighting of television and Internet ads. While our competition falters globally, we will strive to keep ourselves at a consistent yet low decline. We will embrace our stereotype as a cheap, quick meal for young people with a low median household income. Situation Analysis Product Consumer Background 1. Product: Maruchan Ramen Noodles • Maruchan Ramen Noodles serve to feed hungry people for a cheap price with a great taste. • Maruchan Ramen Noodles come in a variety of flavors, such as chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, and many more. • This specific product comes in a plastic packaging with dried noodles in a block inside. • Maruchan Ramen Noodles cost around $0.13- $0.30 per package, around $2.13 for a pack of 6. • Brand extensions: Low sodium ramen, Instant lunch cups, , and Bowl. • Maruchan Ramen Noodles are currently distributed to a variety of grocery stores, such

3 as Wal-Mart, Hy-Vee, County Market, and so on. • Maruchan Ramen Noodles are at the decline stage of the product life cycle. 2. Branding • The current brand image is a color on the outside of the packaging with the logo and a photo of the noodles. • Maruchan Ramen Noodles are often seen as an easy snack or meal to make quickly. • The current positioning of Maruchan Ramen Noodles is almost nonexistent because they don’t have much advertising happening in the United States. • The functional consideration of this brand is that it is a quick and easy way to have a meal or a snack. • The psychological consideration is that it doesn’t take much work to make Maruchan Ramen Noodles and they’re super convenient, meaning that if someone doesn’t have much time, they can have a meal/snack with a great taste that is warm in just a couple of minutes. • There isn’t much of a clear differentiation because the brand appearances are the same and neither brand has done much to really show how it is different from the other brand. • There is awareness, but not necessarily loyalty because the brand images and packaging are so similar that people aren’t able to tell a clear difference between them. 3. Marketing Mix • Maruchan Ramen Noodles haven’t been promoted in recent years except on social media, posting during “national” days that have to do with convenience or related to Asian culture, such as “National Ninja Day” and “National Microwave Day.” • The only media choice currently being made by the company is using social media, specifically Facebook, although there is not a large following. • The advertising attempts in the past have not necessarily been successful because everything has been so similar to our competitor, therefore not separating us from them and creating the differentiation and relatability that our product needs. 4. Consumers • Our product is currently mostly bought by people between the ages of 35 and 44 (25% over the average) and by more women than men (6% over the average). • We would like to look to target more men and women in the 18 to 24 age range. • Our consumers actually aren’t very different, except we are more ahead in all age groups except for 55 to 64 and above 65. Our competitor Nissin also gets 1% more males than we do, however, we get 1% more women. • Consumers don’t do much research on the brand of ramen noodles before purchasing, because again, there is very little brand differentiation. • The product is used by anyone in a household (hitting all age groups and both genders). • Buying Maruchan Ramen can be an individual or a group decision. • There is not a big risk in negative purchase outcomes because the price is so low, therefore expectations are not high. • The time it takes to both make and consume Maruchan Ramen Noodles is minimal. • The brand’s target market is currently mostly disorganized and unclear, however, the social media advertisements suggest a younger market, namely children and young teens, which parents would buy for them.

4 5. Advertiser (Client) background • The current firm is not effective because their only attempt at marketing is on social media and it’s not very successful at all, especially at creating a differentiation between brands. • Maruchan is currently declining in profitability. At the end of FY 2015, the Toyo Suisan Group (which owns Maruchan Ramen Noodles) reported that net sales were up 2.4% and operating income was down 18%. The ordinary income was 17.4% down from the previous year and the net income was down 25.6% from the previous year. • The Maruchan Ramen Noodles in the United States were up 14.1% in segment sales but down 7.4% in segment profit. • If we work quickly, an effective advertising campaign could be affordable and help differentiate the brand from the others in the category in order to bring more profit back to the company. Industry Overview • The current size of the instant noodle industry is FIND THIS INFO. • In 2012, we sold 100 billion units, according to the Huffington Post. • Our current market share is 66%, according to the Orange County Register; however, it is going down. • The current trend in the market is creating healthier options. We also offer this option with our new reduced sodium instant noodles so they do not represent problems or opportunities to our firm. External Variables • The economy is an external variable that is very relevant to Maruchan Ramen Noodles. As VP of Marketing Rick Kester told Ad Age, as the economy goes down, instant noodle sales go up. Since the economy is not at its best, we expect this to work in our favor as people look to save money. Competitive Overview There are numerous alternative snack options to our Ramen noodle dish, and even other Ramen noodle options as well. Our top direct competitor is , a Japanese company known for instant noodles. While more popular in Japan, they are still the original player in the instant noodle market. Our brand uses the same “de-fry-dating” method developed by of Nissin in 1958. Nissin is clearly our top competitor, but we are still the go-to option in the United States. In 1972, Nissin introduced Top Ramen in the Americas as their first test with markets overseas. Today, they sell a variety of options similar to ours, namely their Top Ramen and . Their advertisements are hardly seen in the United States, but one of their commercials recently made headlines. This spot featured a Japanese schoolgirl going through obstacles to obtain their new Chicken Ramen. It was so unusual that is caught the eye of marketers across the globe. Nissin was even having publicity issues abroad recently. Our direct competitors were the center of a controversy last year due to lead levels in their Top Ramen noodles in India. According to the Hindu Business Line, Indo-Nissin Foods went to the newspapers for redemption and assured “Japanese quality” in all of their products moving forward. While they used significant spending in advertisements after the scandal, they did not reach a large American

5 audience. However, there was a silver lining for our competitors: most consumers in the Americas are not aware of their lead scandal in 2015. So while their advertising techniques work well in Japan and select countries out east, they have little to no affect onAmerican consumers. All of the products offered by our competitor are low and fairly similar to ours. However, their 12 packs sell a little cheaper than ours at $2.18. This is why we have proposed a promotion on our 12 packs costing the consumer just $2 for our consumers with a coupon. With our 66% market share, we have the majority at home. Maruchan Ramen Noodles global sales in 2015 were $3.2 billion. Nissin’s global market share was 10.3 in 2015, but has been steadily declining in the past five years. In 2011 they owned 12.4% of said market. There is not much opportunity for a new competitor. With a small market and already low costs, it would be hard for another company to compete with our prices. In regard to private labels, Great Value, the private label of Walmart, does in fact have a line of instant noodles. However, their price is only nine cents cheaper than ours ($0.20) so, like new competition, we do not see this as a large threat. Our indirect products consist of all other soup brands. The best examples would be companies such as Campbell’s and Progressive. In a greater sense, we see cheap snack foods consumed by college students as competitors as well. There are too many to list, but we feel like a superior option simply because of our ratio of quality to price. Target Market Profile In order to ensure our products are reaching the right audiences in a timely manner, we will vigorously test our market and see what has been working and what has been slacking. People ages 18-24 are 16% more likely to consume Ramen noodles. Households with an income below $20,000 are 32% more likely to consume Ramen noodles. This means we will play to our strengths in targeting the younger generation and people who do not have steady household incomes. The stigma around Ramen noodles is that broke college students looking for a quick and easy meal largely consume them. We have no interest in steering away from this stereotype. In fact, we’ll embrace it in order to maintain our reputation as a quick fix and prime option for young people and those who struggle financially. Essentially, we are mainly targeting families and students who don’t have the money to go out and spend their money on high priced soups such as Campbell’s and Progressive. We will advertise on a national level. Geographically speaking, we will run equal advertisements across the United States due to the simple fact that there are large populations everywhere. The product will be used in the same way that it traditionally has been. We will show in our creative advertisements that it is a meal for those looking for great taste and low price. Advertising Objective and Strategy Advertising Objective: To increase the desire and intent to buy by XX% and strengthen the brand image as “the right kind of broke” in men and women ages 18-24 with an income of less than $20,000 in the next six months. Creative Strategy Statement: To convince men and women between the ages of 18-24 with an income of less than $20,000 that Maruchan Ramen Noodles is the best way to save money while still having an enjoyable meal because it is convenient and has a great taste all while maintaining

6 an extremely low price (20 cents cheaper than the competition). Media Plan Overall, the media planning objective is to find an effective frequency while focusing more on reach. Maruchan Ramen Noodles is not a new product so most consumers are aware of the brand, making frequency less of a priority. Our media goal is to communicate that Maruchan Ramen Noodles is the best way to save money while still having an enjoyable meal. The advertising campaign, through both Internet and television mediums, will take a “humor” approach through a story line/narrative that begs the question “how broke is broke?” showcasing ridiculous ways to save money. They end with the pleasurable and inexpensive experience of having a bowl of Maruchan Ramen Noodles as the “right kind of broke” in which the consumer feels as if they can make an extremely budget-friendly food choice without sacrificing taste. To maintain campaign continuity and increase our brand image visually, we will have a brand character as the star of each advertisement. According to MRI, 54.9% of our current users are female so we will appeal to this by selecting a “plain-Jane” woman in her 20’s for the role. We will also run the same type of commercial in each medium with only the way of saving money being different. Verbally, our tag line is “how broke is broke?” and “Maruchan Ramen Noodles: the right kind of broke”. For sound, we will have a sound effect at the end of each commercial of a voice over saying “yumm” in a Japanese accent. This allows us to strengthen our brand image and stay true to our Japanese roots. Medium to be used: 1. Internet. The rational for this medium is as follows: • The Internet offers a lot of involvement. With our campaign, we are trying to break from the clutter and interact with the consumer directly. • It is targeted and there is an attractive, heavy-user audience among 18-24 years olds. • Watching shows on streaming sites is becoming more popular with the younger generation as well as people with a low income who do not subscribe to cable television. • The vehicle of Hulu.com delivers a reach of 2,800 million and provides an index of 209 within college students. (Source: MRI) 2. Television. The rational for this medium is as follows: • Television allows us to have sight, sound, and motion to implement our strategy and communicate our message in a creative way. • It has reasonable CPMs and can be targeted through cable networks, which we will utilize. • This method will allow us to reach the consumers that do own televisions that are less likely to be exposed to our Internet ads. • The vehicles of MTV (index of 184) and MTV2 (index of 185) deliver reaches of 4,109 million and 1,774 million respectively. (Source: MRI) Media Schedule Vehicles: 1. Hulu.com • We will do a display advertisement in the video streaming service in the form of an interactive video advertisement. As specified as a requirement on their website, it will be 1184 pixels by 666 pixels.

7 • Type of schedule: Flighting. The initial flight will last two weeks with the coupon promotion followed by two weeks of just the interactive commercial, no link to a coupon, starting in August. After the MTV Music Awards, a large audience-generator, we will then stop for September and start up again in October, continuing this pattern through the end of January. Soup is generally eaten more in the colder months so we will prime customers to begin buying before/during winter. Within each period without primary media advertising, we will utilize a secondary medium with social media encouraging consumers to tweet or post ways they save money and tag us. We will also post memes and other humor aimed at the idea of saving money while reiterating that eating Maruchan Ramen Noodles is better than any of the other outlandish methods. • Timing: 15-second in-stream video. We do not think it is worth it to pay for special feature spots as Ramen Noodles are not normally associated with other products or do we see the need to be shown in the first or last spots. We are a brand that is advertising saving money so we also see fit to do so in our advertising. 2. MTV/MTV2 • We will a thirty-second national spot commercial with this cable television network. In media negotiating, we will also see the possibility of working out a deal for a package that includes both live and online content to increase efficiency. • Type of schedule: Flighting. We will take the same approach with this campaign as with the Hulu interactive ad described previously excluding the coupon. • Timing: We will schedule our ads to be preemptible and in the run of schedule. This is the most efficient option. They will be in a vertical rotation as to reach different consumers who watch the network during different dayparts. Creative See board

8