AMPlify Your Night! 1 RUNNING HEAD: AMPlify Your Night! AMP Media Plan: AMPlify Your Night! Team: MESH (Mary Norton, Eric Davis, Stephen Allen, Holly Schaefer) TEL-R440 Students 2:45-5:30 p.m. Thursday Class Indiana University Southeast Department of Communication Studies New Albany, IN 47150 AMPlify Your Night! 2 Table of Contents I. Plan Summary (Page 3) II. The Problem (Page 3) III. Situation Analysis • Target Research (Page 4) • Market Information (Page 6) • Creative and Media Background (Page 9) • SWOT Analysis (Page 10) IV. The Solution • Creative Strategy (Page 11) • Media Objectives and Strategies (Page 12) AMPlify Your Night! 3 I. Plan Summary AMP is an energy drink product that has been in desperate need of a re-branding. The current brand appeals mainly toward males. This is because of the masculine look of the product, as well as its current advertising being geared towards males who play sports. Its advertisements mainly list the product as being able to enhance ones skills and endurance on the playing field. Due to this way of advertising, other demographics are left out. Our plan would shift the focus to other demographics, specifically toward women. Our solution to this would be to re-brand the product to have two separate lines: one for women and one for men. The male product line will stay the same as the current line that is available now. However the women's product line will feature a sleek new look that is both feminine and attractive. The advertising for this brand new line will gear the product towards those who enjoy the nightlife. Through this re-branding, AMP will gain new mobility in the race for best energy drink product. II. The Problem AMP is one of numerous energy drink brands sweeping across the nation, targeting young minds that feel the need to have a caffeine boost to fulfill their day. AMP, a PepsiCo product, has faced several leading competitors over the year. Red Bull, Monster, Rock Star, and more recently, Five Hour Energy Shots, all strive to keep AMP and other competitors out of the market. AMP has been losing this battle and needs a fresh new outlook on the market in order to turn the brand and its profits into a success. The main problem AMP currently faces is a lack of brand awareness. Red Bull currently owns the market, with 60-70 percent brand awareness. Monster falls behind with 39 percent. AMPlify Your Night! 4 However, AMP only claims a small 14 percent brand awareness in the energy drink industry. Increased brand awareness, a fresher brand personality, and more creative advertising are main solutions AMP must enlist in order to save the drink and help move the brand to a more successful placement in the market. III. Situation Analysis Target Research The target profile for AMP, and energy drinks in general, has been a very focused demographic in past years. AMP focuses on college-age males who are mainly interested in video games and sports. While these demographics hold true, this smaller segment of a very large market leave AMP on a segment that clearly has not been buying the product. Analysis shows that males offer 65 percent of the category volume. Females, making up the remaining 35 percent, have a very low presence. However, AMP’s focused advertising to men specifically clearly has not been working (Malinauskas, pg. 3). AMP has aimed past marketing and advertising efforts primarily at sports-loving men. While statistical analysis holds true for these demographics, other target areas should be utilized in order to help revamp the AMP brand. The current targeting is not working and it is time for a change. The new target demographic for AMP will encompass males and females aged 18-24 years old. The representation of the female demographic will open up AMP sales to a whole new population. While category percent for females is currently low, advertisers should keep in mind that this demographic has not truly been advertised to. Through gearing certain ads towards women, the category percentage and brand index will rise. Additionally, the target market is single (index of 208), work part-time (index of 136), and pay rent for housing (index of 141). AMPlify Your Night! 5 This is the lifestyle of most college students. The target demographic makes between 20K and 30K annually, bringing attention to the needed affordability of the product. Most women and men between 18 and 24 years-old encompass these qualities, so they will thus be the main part of the target demographic. The sport-loving demographic cannot be ignored in the revamping of the AMP brand (Heckman, pg. 305). The new advertising strategy will continue to include this portion of the target market. However, a strong focus will be taken to another potion of the market: the artistic market. In reviewing MRI data, an untapped side of the market includes men and women interested in living a sophisticated lifestyle, full of art, music, and luxurious materials. Alternative music, such as rock, rated 305 on the MRI index, while hip-hop rated 336. Additionally, sculpting (index of 127), painting (index of 200), drawing (index of 200), and photography (index of 128) are of high interest to this target segment. Utilizing this love of arts and music will help focus a new angle for the AMP market. Psychographics for this demographic include those who have a love of art, music, luxury, and having a great time. These activities previously stated support the psychographics of this new segment. The new segment places value on being classy and drinking the classiest of energy drinks. The media usage for this demographic is a little surprising. The target market is a heavy user of magazines (index 147), radio (index 119), and some Internet (index 119). However, lighter are the users of television, with an index of only 107. One may expect a college-age person to be very interested in television, but this is not the case. Use of mobile Internet for when searching was somewhat substantial as well, with an index of 158. This target market is focused on being connected, but not watching television. AMPlify Your Night! 6 Market Information An energy drink is a type of beverage which is purported to boost mental and/or physical energy. There are many different brands and varieties of energy drinks. They generally contain large amounts of caffeine and other stimulants. Many also contain sugar or other sweeteners, herbal extracts and amino acids, and may or may not be carbonated. The energy drink industry as a whole has grown tremendously over the years. The industry uses innovative marketing techniques and is focused on a younger demographic. The primary target for the majority of energy drink companies are male teenagers and young people, mostly in their 20s. It is a small sector of society and an obviously tight market, but these potential consumers have thus far been exceptionally receptive to energy drink products. The energy drink industry is not dominated by large corporations like the soft drink industry, but instead, is characterized by stiff competition between increasing numbers of smaller companies, which all cater to a very select consumer base. Unlike many other beverage industries, the energy drink industry has a lack of a dominating company. Even though there are some more well-known energy drink brands, there are many more competitors fighting for a top place that are also gaining recognition. Some new companies also get more buzz than older ones. There are pitfalls to the energy drink brand however. Along with the limited audience, there are health issues that have been brought to light. According to News Medical, results from a study show that there is a sharp rise in the number of people who report heart problems, tremors and chest pains after drinking caffeinated energy drinks. Close to 300 calls were made to NSW's poisons center regarding adverse reactions to energy drinks between January 2004 and AMPlify Your Night! 7 the end of 2010, with more than a third of people attending hospitals. There have also been many deaths that are believed to be related to energy drink usage. The market share for energy drinks increased approximately one percent from 2007 to 2009. The energy drink, originally successful due to its association with Mountain Dew, now competes with the direct competitors of Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar. Indirect competitors range from coffee, soft drinks, and tea. Red Bull places as the most popular energy drink based on market share with aggressive marketing through advertising, celebrity endorsements, and tournament sponsorships. The brand positions itself as a quick and efficient source of energy with the slogan, “It Gives You Wings.” Monster advertises their brand through sporting brand sponsorships with the slogan, “Unleash the Beast.” Rockstar positions itself as the world’s most powerful energy drink, and is available in a variety of flavors. PepsiCo introduced “AMP Energy Drink from Mountain Dew” in 2001 as an energy beverage under the Mountain Dew brand. A rebranding effort in 2009 shifted the focus of the brand, and distributed the AMP brand as an independent, stand-alone trademark name. PepsiCo sought to label AMP more as an independent energy beverage bearing a small Mountain Dew branding at the bottom of the can. Along with the rapid adoption of energy drinks, AMP’s product line evolved to boast a slew of energy drinks and flavors. As an independent brand in 2011, PepsiCo positioned the brand as a solely independent product with no associations to Mountain Dew. The intent of the labeling is to place stronger emphasis on the AMP brand, and less on the drink’s roots and counterpart, Mountain Dew.