Altoids Case

Home , Altoids, Doublemint, Extra (gum), Juicy Fruit, Life Savers, Orbit (gum)

Media Flight Plan: Altoids Case

Like a mint?

One observer wrote, if someone offers you a breath mint, accept it! We rarely give much thought about why we artificially change our mouth and body odors; the history is fascinating.

More than one critic has warned that modern human life is bleached, sanitized and artificially controlled, all thanks to a ubiquitous consumer culture. They study us microscopically; they Google‐spy on every body odor and burp. They frighten us with every breath we take from birth to death. They shame us into worrying about every human body function, every human smell, and every human malady from bad breath to foot fungus. We’re even scolded because our puppy has “doggy breath.”

Some critics of modern life suggest we are obsessed with personal hygiene. As willing participants in the consumer culture, we happily brush our teeth, floss, shower morning and night, and repeat daily. Seems reasonable. Or not? Should we adopt Steve Jobs’ hippie‐inspired, all organic, more progressive lifestyle? He called himself a “fruitarian” and reasoned that his commitment to vegan diets kept his breath and body sweeter than anyone around him. Not surprisingly, Jobs biographer, Walter Isaacson, reported that coworkers thought Jobs was “very, very wrong.”

There’s a popular story about Napoleon and Josephine. He was obsessed with Josephine, a sex goddess versed in every art of love. Historian Kate Williams wrote that Napoleon bombarded her with love letters, once writing that he was, ‘desperate for her body.’ He further lamented, ‘Your image gives me no rest . . .’ Perhaps most famously, returning from a campaign, he also wrote, ‘I am coming home. Don’t wash.’

Although we may find lack of hygiene abhorrent, the dilemma was not uncommon for the time. Driven by a culture of hyper‐hygiene, marketers remind us daily of our inadequacies. The

growing popularity and acceptance of breath and body enhancing potions and candies is clear evidence that modern civilization chooses illusion over harsh reality. However, evolution is both social and biological. Since the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, breath sweeteners, perfumes, and scented herbs were popularized in Europe. Appealing to social fears, marketers have sold countless trillions in breath mints, perfumes, scented soaps, colognes, toothpastes, breath sweetening gums, and mouth rinses. Most all appeal to our desire to attract the opposite sex. Despite their eccentric nature, history suggests Napoleon, Josephine and Jobs represent the outliers. The vast majority of us prefer illusion, so we can “kiss your seemingly honey‐lips.” (Maeisha Durand, Author)

Few know the Altoids brand is now 100 years old. Another aging brand, American Chicle, later rocked the confectionary category in the 1950s with a technological breakthrough. By injecting a substance called gluconate with special oils, Certs changed the rules. Marketers cleverly labeled Certs’ secret ingredient “Retsyn,” and took the market by storm, ‘making your breath as sweet as your smile’, ensuring that if ‘she kissed you once, she’ll kiss you again’. For the first time, long lasting oral freshness was combined with portability. Despite Altoids being developed long before Certs, marketing and advertising genius gave Certs a remarkable jump start. The Certs campaign launched a whole new category of personal products. Today, sales of breath mints and gums are in the hundreds of millions. Some of the most popular contemporary brands of breath freshening mints include Tic Tacs, Ice Breakers, Altoids, Life Savers, Certs, and BreathSavers.

Altoids Mints Parent Company . . . the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Corp, purchased in 2008 by confectionery giant Mars for $23 billion. Last year, Wrigley’s annual U.S. revenue exceeded $600 million. Sales in China alone; $1.2 billion. The Wrigley division has operations in more than 50 countries worldwide and sells its products in about 180 countries. Wrigley chews up the competition as the world's #1 maker of chewing gum. Wrigley brands include: Extra, Orbit’s 5 brands, Altoids, Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, Life Savers, Skittles, Spearmint and Starburst. Altoids, Juicy Fruit, Spearmint and Doublemint have all been around for more than 100 years.

Challenges: Altoids in a Crowded Category There are well over 20 brands of breath mints or breath candies. If we include breath enhancing gums as competition, we have to more than double that. With so much competition, Altoids’ long history yields a bonus with above average brand awareness.

Among teens and adults (18‐45), Altoids enjoys an estimated 35% brand awareness, but there’s a problem. Competitors like Ice Breakers are aggressively pursuing the younger segment of the market, with sales skewing significantly higher among younger adults 18‐24 and 18‐34 compared with Altoids’ more aged presence.

Primary marketing objective: Brand Revival Recent sale figures for Altoids are eroding. In the past year, category sales totaled approximately $658 Million, with Altoids taking third place in sales at around $97 Million.

Altoids is in danger of falling further behind as ad spend has been sporadic over the past few

Altoids Ad Spend $(MM) 16 13.8 12

8 7.2 4 0 0.0 0.0 2012 2013 2014 2015 Est Source: Kantar Media Intelligence years:

Based on historical analysis of competitive data, Altoids has been outspent by top competitors. For example, Ice Breakers, the number two brand, is clearly attempting to make a move in the category. Their spending over the past few years has been in the $30‐50 MM per‐year range, far exceeding Altoids’ spend.

Altoids brand manager has promised parent company, Wm. Wrigley Jr., to infuse new life in the brand and aggressively pursue their closest sales competitor, Ice Breakers. To make a noticeable gain against Ice Breakers and all the other competitors, he has proposed a major test. He wants to increase Altoids ad spending to $25 million for the coming calendar year.

Marketing/Media Planning Challenge With a goal of increasing sales by 20 percent next year, Altoids marketing director is taking a big risk by doubling advertising expenditure highs, and betting he can earn it back in two years. He is aware of the extraordinary challenges in a market crowded with well‐known brands. In crafting a marketing mix, he knows that Altoids brand must perfect their niche marketing and positioning strategy to compete with well‐known competitors, all capable of continuing to steal market share from Altoids. With a doubling of ad expenditures, sales increases must come out of the hide of competent competitors.

Rather than the classic four P’s, Altoids view of the marketing problem fits better with Robert Lauterborn’s four Cs. Lauterborn’s model is a more consumer‐oriented version of the classic four Ps that recognizes how lesser‐known brands can gain on competition by emphasizing niche marketing. The niche philosophy is much more consumer focused, and puts far less emphasis on the old idea of mass marketing.

Lauterborn’s Four “C’s”

“C” Corresponding “P” Description

Consumer Product Consumer wants and needs . . . A company will only sell what the wants and consumer specifically wants to buy. So, marketers should study needs consumer wants and needs in order to attract them one by one with something he/she wants to purchase.

Cost Price Price is only a part of the total cost to satisfy a want or a need. The total cost will consider for example the cost of time in acquiring a

good or a service, a cost of conscience by consuming that or even a cost of guilt "for not treating the kids". It reflects the total cost of ownership. Many factors affect Cost, including but not limited to the customer's cost to change or implement the new product or service and the customer's cost for not selecting a competitor's product or service.

Communication Promotion While promotion is "manipulative" and from the seller, communication is "cooperative" and from the buyer with the aim to create a dialogue with the potential customers based on their needs and lifestyles. It represents a broader focus. Communications can include social media, advertising, public relations, personal selling, and viral marketing.

Convenience Place In the era of Internet, catalogs, credit cards and phones, people no longer need to go anyplace to satisfy a want or a need and are not limited to a few places to satisfy them. Marketers should learn how the target market prefers to buy, how to be there when they are ready to buy, and make the brand ubiquitous to guarantee convenience in buying. With the rise of Internet and hybrid models of purchasing, Place is becoming less relevant. Convenience takes into account the ease of buying the product, finding the product, finding information about the product, and several other factors.

(Source:Wikipedia, “Marketing Mix”, Italics added)

As with any marketing model, the key to success is discovering the proper balance for all components in the mix. Altoids’ marketing team is confident that they have nailed the ‘consumer wants and needs’ part of the equation. Altoids enjoys a unique consumer niche with its icy flavor, its unique size and shape, it’s improved, handy tin package, and its excellent graphics. Research shows Altoids also enjoys a reputation for premium quality among consumers, and they agree Altoids provides a generous serving, is uniquely packaged, and is one of the most effective as a breath‐enhancers among its competitors.

Pitching the Business Your advertising agency has been retained by Wrigley company to write a marketing/media plan that will serve as a proposal for Altoids marketing team. Your $25 million media plan will be the primary factor in determining whether or not Altoids continues with capital injection. Your job is to generate national and regional awareness and to help generate a 20% increase in annual sales in the USA.

Your focus must be much broader than just “advertising.” Communications can include radio, TV, print media, all social media, mobile media, public relations, sales promotion, and viral marketing. Your inspiration should be the legendary Bill Bernbach who was fond of saying, “Rules are what the artist breaks; the memorable never emerged from a formula.” Bernbach’s maxim applies to all individuals who fancy themselves marketers. Media is creative if you have the genius to break through the ordinary thinking of your peers and competitors.

The brand manager notes that Altoids has had little digital presence in the past, and believes it to be a key component of communications efforts in the future. While nearly all Altoids spend has been in print traditionally, it is time to move beyond that traditional formula and add digital and video (including TV) to the mix. He expects a minimum of $5MM (25% of the budget) to go to digital resources. If your agency thinks that changing this distribution up or down is a better strategy, he is willing to consider well‐made/well researched arguments. As always, sound reasoning will be required.

Branding & Creative Challenge Altoids needs to “own a space” in the target’s brain. The marketing team is looking for a campaign theme with a ‘brand anthem’ that can be refreshed periodically with imaginative creative, creative that promotes the idea that Altoids will make you a hero with your partner, and keep you safe in all social situations.

1) A primary goal for your agency is to increase brand awareness, currently estimated at 35% nationally. By end of the first year, brand recognition goal is to grow by 10 percentage points to 45% aided awareness. Altoids is opposed to the dated notion of “sender →receiver” adversing. They agree with Lauterborn that promoon is "manipulative" and from the seller. Successful communication must be "cooperative" and from the buyer’s perspective with the aim of creating a dialogue with customers based on their needs and lifestyles.

2) Altoids brand personality is not clearly defined in the mind of customers. As media planner, an important goal will be to create new media that will generate a personal dialogue between Altoids and its customers.

3) Along with an imaginative media mix, Altoids marketing team wants to see some examples of your strategy. If you employ traditional media, provide an example of the concept/message to demonstrate how it will foster dialogue with the Altoids brand. If you use social media concept, whether it be on facebook, Instagram, a viral message or a twitter concept, illustrate your idea with an example or two.

Campaign Parameters Write a media plan applying the principles outlined in MFP chapters 1‐ 10. Review all chapters you consider relevant for this case study and apply them with citations where appropriate.

1. Target audience & media mix: A well justified target audience is vital to the success of this brand, and your assigned task is to accurately define the segment of the market that will buy the Altoids brand. Study your brand and competitive brands carefully and critically. Write a profile for the target audience citing all relevant case information supplied plus relevant online sources. Justify both the target profile and your media mix decisions using quantitative and qualitative data from the case and from other available sources.

2. Timing/Scheduling: Plan a 12‐month campaign beginning in the month you consider strategically your best launch month. Each of the 12 months may or may not include advertising or promotions depending on your timing strategy. Your launch month is a strategic decision. The timing/scheduling strategy is vital. Justify peak spending periods with strong support.

3. Media Mix: You need to justify the media mix for Altoids. Analyze the information in the case combined with all available online data to convince your client that your media mix has strategic genius. Your media plan should include traditional media as well as any new media, social media, or sales promotional spending.

4. Scope: MFP allows you to choose among three choices for scope. National only. Spot only. Or, national with spot heavy‐up. Whichever of the three options you decide on, make certain you have a quantitative rationale for your strategy using the competitive and or BDI/CDI data provided. Altoids marketing team expects quantitative analysis of relevant marketing data. Remember that if your spot market buy approaches “30‐ish %”of the US population, the cost of spot media will equal or surpass the cost of national media. In such a case, it might make more sense to buy national only unless you have good reason to put extra weight (spot heavy‐up) on top of the national buy. In essence, you get the remaining 70% of the US “free” if you buy national only. If you have trouble understanding the “heavy‐up” concept, review MFP Exercise 14, National + Spot Heavy‐Up Media Buys. Scope is a vital strategic decision

5. Spreadsheet: If you choose allocate budget to local or spot markets, use BDI/CDIs to select markets. Data to calculate the brand development and category development indexes are in the case materials. If you need to review these concepts, see Exercise 8 in the book, “Category and Brand Development Indexes BDI & CDI”.

6. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) or Situation Analysis: competitive data, spreadsheet market data, etc., are all available online [www.mediaflightplan.com]. The quality of your analysis, and the effort you invest is the key to unlocking some of the most important issues in this case study. As you prepare your SWOT, follow the seven points outlined in Chapter 4. Altoids marketing director suggests special attention be given to the following in your analysis:

 Recommend a marketing mix for Altoids; use Robert Lauterborn’s “C’s” to guide your analysis.  Include a brief analysis of Altoids’ primary competitors.  Competitive Spending Analysis with SOV (Share of Voice). Review MFP Exercise 10 if you need help with the SOV. Tip: Ask this question . . . can Altoids own a medium in order to break through the background clutter? If so, which medium? Integrate your analysis and decisions into your media mix strategy.  Geography strategy: Should spending be focused or broadened? How can Altoids maximize its advertising voice in national and/or spot markets?

7. Creative strategy: Write a creative brief for an integrated campaign that positions Altoids, and write a tag line for the upcoming campaign. In most major ad agencies, media planners are part of the creative team. Both authors of this text have witnessed big campaign concepts that came from the minds of media planners. Why a creative brief? It’s all about intelligent positioning. When integrated thoughtfully, creative becomes a major driving force for your media strategies.

8. Media Flight Plan Simulation: Execute a media buy using Media Flight Plan. Include a flowchart in the body of your work, and other printouts as required by your professor. Make sure all decisions stated on these printouts are supported with logical and intelligent objectives/strategies. CAUTION: Be sure the buys on your flowchart are consistent with your media objectives/strategies! Your marketing/media plan will be judged less on the buys you make than on the intelligence of your objectives/strategies that drive your buys.

9. Strategy is everything – write media objectives/strategies for the following:

 A clear definition of Altoids target audience with an intelligent media mix  Strategy. Media mix should include a list of vehicles, e.g. – digital media concepts, radio formats, social media concepts, mobile media concepts, magazine titles, TV programs, promotional events, etc.  Monthly reach/frequency goals and accompanying strategies.  Geography: Should Altoids be advertised nationally, in spot markets, or a combination of both?  Monthly media allocations and budgeting strategy demand logical marketing support.  Timing/scheduling decisions are vital to Altoids’ marketing success ‐ justify your timing/scheduling strategy.

10. VERY IMPORTANT: If you buy any social or digital media, make certain you show it on your flowchart. See the “Tips, How‐To’s and Tricks” (at the end of the Fiat 500 Tutorial) for instructions on how to include social media in you flowchart/printout.

Special thanks to the following companies for their generosity in allowing the use of their data for this case:

Gfk MRI for their consumer demographic, psychographic and media information.

Kantar Media Intelligence for their competitive data.