Simulation Title: Advertising

SIMULATION DESCRIPTION: Holden Evan has recently acquired a very successful regional energy drink firm. The brand manager’s job is to develop a major advertising campaign to compete against already established market competitors. The brand manager will need to create awareness and encourage consumers within targeted segments to try the product.

You earned 73 percent.

Background

Holden Evan, Inc offers a multitude of consumer goods products to the marketplace. The company has recently acquired a very successful regional energy drink firm.

You are the brand manager for Bee! energy drink. Your task is to develop a major advertising campaign that will introduce Bee! to a national market, differentiate it from already-established competitors, and encourage consumers within targeted segments to try the product.

Product Background

Bee! is an energy drink that comes in three citrus flavors: grapefruit, lemon/lime, and orange. In the Denver area, it has competed successfully against national brands, taking 35% market share in the last three years. Unlike most energy drink consumers, who are young men, over half of Bee! consumers are women.

Meet Your Advisor

The Chief Marketing Officer for Holden Evan says:
“Bee! performed really well in Denver among women, which is unusual for energy drinks. We want to follow up on that success in the national market. Advertising to women can also be a great way for us to differentiate our product from other energy drinks, which are primarily marketed to young men and often tied to extreme sports.

“By marketing nationally to women, we may lose some sales to men in the Denver area. I’m convinced that this tradeoff is worthwhile.”

Setting Advertising Objectives

Your first task is to set an advertising objective. You can ask your Chief Marketing Officer for information on how Bee! was advertised in Denver in the past. Then, decide on the best type of objective for your national campaign.

Your first task is to set an advertising objective. You can ask your Chief Marketing Officer for information on how Bee! was advertised in Denver in the past. Then, decide on the best type of objective for your national campaign.

Setting Advertising Objectives

Now that you have decided upon informative advertising, you must decide how to further focus the advertising objectives.

Build a brand image.

Setting the Advertising Budget

The next step is to determine the advertising budget.

YOU CHOSE OPTION 1
Affordable method. Set the advertising budget at the level that current profits from sales of Bee! can support.

Creating the Advertising Message

With your budget set, the next task is to choose the advertising message. Your creative team has come up with three possible messages for the Bee! national campaign. Examine the options and choose the best one for your advertising objectives.

YOU CHOSE OPTION 1
Bee!—healthy, refreshing energy to bring your life alive.

Focus Test Feedback

As a preliminary step in evaluating your advertising, your team employs a focus test to evaluate consumer reactions to your advertising message. Potential consumers had a positive reaction to “Bee!—healthy, refreshing energy to bring your life alive.” They felt this message was meaningful, believable, and distinctive. Many felt that the message would encourage them to try Bee!

Message Execution

Now that you have chosen an advertising message, you must choose the style of execution. Your team has developed a brief ad concept for each possible type of message execution.

Selecting Advertising Media

The next step is to choose among major media types to convey your message. You and the Chief Marketing Officer have narrowed the choices down to three types, based on Bee!’s past campaigns and your current goals.

YOU CHOSE OPTION 3
Outdoor

Selecting Specific Media Vehicles

Now that you have decided upon outdoor media as the major type for your advertising campaign, you must decide on specific media vehicles. Choose from the three vehicles through which you can advertise.

YOU CHOSE OPTION 2
Promotional events at gyms and shopping centers, including free samples of Bee! and helium balloons with the Bee! logo. 500 events would cost $1,500,000.

Deciding on Media Timing

The last step in your advertising campaign is to decide on the media timing.

YOU CHOSE OPTION 1
Begin with a large pulse of advertising over the first two weeks, followed by steady advertising for the rest of the time frame.

Evaluating Advertising Effectiveness

After the campaign has run for a month, the Chief Marketing Officer calls a meeting with you to discuss the effectiveness of the campaign.

Chief Marketing Officer: “Let’s sit down and look at the development of the campaign overall. How do you think we should measure the success of this initial campaign?”

Advertising needs to drive sales and profits to be worthwhile. We should measure how sales of Bee! have trended over this first month of the campaign.

Feedback

You earned 73 percent.