Final Project: Vita Coco IMC plan

Chelsea Tropper

COM 365

June 27, 2015

Table of Contents

Part I: Marketing Background………………………………….3Our Product Background……………………………………….3Who are our competitors?............................................................3General Audience………………………………………………4Vita Coco Marketing Objectives……………………………….4How will these objectives be communicated?.............................5Part II: Strategic Planning Process……………………………...5Our Target Market………………………………………………5What influences our target market’s purchasing decisions?........6Vita Coco’s Message……………………………………...........6Communication Objectives…………………………..…………8Our Media Options…………………………………...…………8Part III: Finalizing and Implementing IMC Campaign….…….11Touchpoints………………………………………..…………..11IMC Planning Worksheet………………………….…………..13Creative Brief………………………………………………….14Media Budget Allocation……………………..……………….15Vita Coco Print Ad…………………………………………….16References……………………………………………………..17

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Part I: Marketing Background

Our Product Background

Vita Coco was created in 2003 when Michael Kirban had realized the interest in the

American market for functional beverages. He had met a woman and had learned of the

greatness of coconut water that is popular in Brazil. Vita Coco has not only carved a new

market in the non-carbonated beverage business and redefined the alternative sports

beverage category, but it has also become one of the fastest growing lifestyle beverages

in North America.

Vita Coco’s popularity only continues to increase. It is now available in over

60,000 retail stores nationally and is becoming one of the hottest beverage brands in the

world, with a cult-like following. The purpose for this campaign is to introduce Vita

Coco to those who may not already be a customer but are familiar with the brand.

Who Are Our Competitors?

While coconut water has been around for centuries, it’s recent popularity among

athletes and trendy consumers alike, there are now several brands available on the shelves

for customers to choose from. The two main competitors of Vita Coco is Zico, and

O.N.E. Coconut Water. Zico, founded by Mark Rompolla in 2004, is the second largest

coconut water U.S brand. It is now owned by Coca-Cola, and in 2014, the company

doubled it’s sales and became an $87 million dollar business. PepsiCo owns O.N.E. and

is the third largest coconut water brand in the United States. O.N.E. has grown over

1,100% since its introduction to Whole Foods market by Brazilian entrepreneur Rodrigo

Velso in 2006. There are about one hundred different brands available to consumers but

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in terms of sales popularity, these two are in the same range of Vita Coco. There are also

over 250 companies that have beverages with some form of coconut water in them.

Another important aspect of marketing a newer beverage such as coconut water is letting

our target audience know why they should purchase Vita Coco instead of bottled water.

There are many health benefits that the juice in coconuts has to offer that water simply

does not.

General Audience

The general audience of Vita Coco is anyone between the age of 17 and 65. The

consumers in our general audience enjoy outdoor activities and while they may be health

conscious, they may not display this in their purchasing decisions. Once they do their

research on a new product and hear from their friends about it, they will then make their

decisions to purchase. Everyone drinks water and needs to stay hydrated, it is a matter of

everyone learning the health benefits that coconut water has over bottled water and

making that purchase.

Vita Coco Marketing Objectives

The marketing objectives of this IMC campaign is to reach new consumers that

are familiar with the brand but have not yet tried Vita Coco’s coconut water. Having a

clearly identified marketing objective will help Vita Coco achieve their goals in this IMC

plan. While there will be a specific target market for this campaign, we still want to

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appeal to a variety of consumer segments. The consumer base will learn the high

nutritional value that Vita Coco has to offer that other beverages don’t.

How Will These Objectives Be Communicated? The best way to communicate these objectives to our target audience is through

use of television commercials, billboard advertisements, and magazine print ads.

In Vita Coco’s IMC plan, there will also be in store events to allow potential

customers to sample the product as well as give them an incentive to purchase it.

Part II: Strategic Planning Process

Our Target Market

The target market for Vita Coco is adults between the ages of 22-40 that live

in populated cities. They have families of their own and understand the importance

of keeping a healthy and active lifestyle. The income bracket is between $50,000-

$125,000 annually. They are more affluent and while some may be in the beginning

stages of their career, they are on a successful path. In their spare time, they like to

attend yoga classes and spin classes to help keep themselves in shape. They work

full time jobs and love to go hiking on the weekends and take their families to local

events and fairs. The cars that they drive consist of Volkswagons, Subarus, or Jeeps.

Their children are still young, primarily between the ages of 2-15 years old. They

don’t listen to the radio as much, but in the car they will listen to Pandora or stream

their music from their smartphones. In their spare time, they enjoy watching

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primetime shows such as Big Bang Theory, Scandal, Nashville, and NCIS. They will

also watch Discovery, HGTV, and NatGeo.

What Influences Our Target Markets Purchasing Decisions

The target audience has a habitual pattern when it comes to their purchasing

decisions. They are heavily influenced by their parents purchasing decisions and the

products that they used when they were growing up, however with the health

industry booming, they are becoming more interested in trendy products on the

market. They communicate often with their close friends and neighbors about the

products that they prefer and dislike in casual conversation, but these brands stick

in their minds when they are out shopping. They also look to community influencers

that help to market these products. They are very aware of endorsements that

celebrities they like partner with and while they may sometimes be skeptical, if

someone they know has tried the product, they most likely will as well.

Vita Coco’s Message

To gain the attention of the target market for Vita Coco, it is very important to keep

the messages relatable to the viewers while still allowing the message to be delivered

efficiently. Since the target market is relatively young in their 20’s to early 40’s, as

consumers they do not listen to the radio, however they do travel to work and home often

so billboards would be a great traditional media option. The message that we are trying to

spread to the consumer is the tagline “#TheNewHydration” This tagline will be

implemented throughout the campaign. With heavy use of hashtags on social media, this

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is the best way for the customer to share the hashtag with their friends and family when

they purchase their Vita Coco. The hashtag will ultimately be the message across all

forms of media. This includes billboards, Magazine advertisements, Television

commercials, and across all forms of new media.

With an interest in the outdoors, the target market will respond well to the tagline

because regardless of age, they want to stay healthy. The goal of Vita Coco is to interest

the adults to purchase the beverage for their home and everyone in their family. A very

important part of the IMC message is to keep the message relatable. This will allow the

consumers to feel that they have a connection to the brand. It will also allow them to

believe that they need Vita Coco in their household and it can be a healthy beverage to

add into their daily lives and possibly replace other beverages such as Gatorade and

sodas.

When the message is seen across different platforms whether it be outdoors, or on

their computer screen, the tagline itself gives the consumer a chance to learn about the

product. Since Vita Coco is relatively new to the market, we want to create an interest so

that we can give everyone a chance to learn about the beverage and how it can be very

beneficial to their health. Vita Coco will be seen as the new water, with more minerals

and nutrients that the body needs for hydration. The goal for the IMC message is when

people see the hashtag “#TheNewHydration”, Vita Coco will immediately come to mind.

Communication Objectives

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Our number one communication objective is creating awareness about Vita Coco.

We want our target audience to want to go out and purchase Vita Coco because of all

of the health benefits that it has to offer. It is a nutritional beverage that hydrates

the body and can easily replace their other beverages that they drink daily. While

introducing the brand, in our message we also want to impart knowledge. Our

hashtag “#TheNewHydration” is letting our potential customers know that not only

is coconut water delicious, it’s also great for anyone that exercises and needs to

rehydrate themselves after a workout. We want our image within this campaign to

remain positive and upbeat. We will do this by advertising during our target

audiences most watched primetime spots and include print ads in their favorite

magazines.

Our Media Options

There will be use of traditional advertising as well as new media in our IMC plan.

Our younger demographic will be marketed more with social media while the older

half of our demographic will be target with the use of traditional media such as

television and magazines.

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Traditional Advertising:

The decision to use the mentioned traditional advertising methods is based on

the target market we are reaching for Vita Coco. The younger demographic spends

time watching television with their younger children and leisurely enjoys reading

magazines on the weekends or on their lunch breaks at work. Radio advertisements

are a bit outdated for Vita Coco’s target market and choose to listen to Pandora or

other streaming music options. Vita Coco will stream 30-second commercial spots

during the most watched primetime shows that our audience is interested in. These

shows include Big Bang Theory, Scandal, and NCIS. There will be full-page print ads

for Vita Coco in magazines such as SHAPE, Elle, InStyle, and US Weekly. These ads

will begin in Fall of 2015 and continue monthly until June 2016 for this IMC

campaign.

Promotion

o Magazine coupon insertso In-store events

The demographic for Vita Coco enjoys reading magazines so with coupon

inserts in place with our print ads, this gives the potential customer base that is

familiar with Vita Coco an incentive to go to their local supermarket to try the

product. These coupons will offer dollar off incentives when the product is

purchased.

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Collaborating with stores that sell the product will not only bring sales for the

beverage, but also for the store. We will set up small sample stations at stores like

Target, Ralphs Market, and Costco to name a few. These are markets and stores that

the target market for Vita Coco shops at often for themselves and their families. This

is a way for potential customers to try the product and become familiar with it.

New Media

o Facebooko Twittero Instagram

The new media approach will heavily rely on social media sites and apps. The

reason for this is that the target market for Vita Coco tend to be heavy users of these

apps. This is how they stay in touch with their friends, spread news, and find events.

Instagram will be the most important for the IMC plan because with the creation of

the hashtag “TheNewHydration”, this is will be to spark an interest among our

potential customers. This hashtag can be shared among their friends on Instagram

when they are posting selfies with their Vita Coco Water. We also have a goal for

Vita Coco’s Instagram account to have 500,000 followers by June 2016. New Media

also creates an advantage for WOM marketing. WOM marketing is very common

among the targeted demographic because these young families learn about what

their friends do for their families via conversation, or even social media. Facebook

and Twitter will also be involved and pages will be created for the brand. Our goal

for Facebook is to have 250,000 likes during this IMC campaign and we hope to gain

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500,000 followers on Twitter. This gives our future customer base an option to

write on our wall, ask questions, and just see what Vita Coco is all about.

Direct Marketing

o Coupons offered in magazine adso In- store sample offers

Our direct marketing approach will allow us to understand how many of our

potential customer base has been reached. The coupons placed in the Vita Coco

magazine ads will be tracked and the store that accept them will allow us to know

how well an incentive like this has worked for the customer. When it comes to the

In-store sample offers, this will allow us to know how many customers have

purchased Vita Coco after they have sampled it in their favorite stores.

Part III: Finalizing and Implementing IMC Campaign

Touchpoints

In this Vita Coco IMC plan, our goal is to create awareness amongst our brand

and gain a customer base that can in turn become brand loyal to Vita Coco in the

future. It is very important for us to leave a positive influence on each and every

person because these are the people who will go out and purchase our coconut

water. There are several other brands for them to choose from, so we will influence

them positively in a way to make them want to purchase Vita Coco. To understand

whether our IMC plan was successful, in June 2016, we will gather data from our

vendors and we will be able to compare sales with the previous year. We will also be

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able to see if our magazine coupon inserts were influential in making our customers

purchase decision.

IMC Planning Worksheet

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Communication Tasks

Touch Points

for decision

stages

Target

Audience

Communication

Objectives

Media Options

Create awareness

to potential

customers

People familiar

with Vita Coco

New Customers

Health benefits of

Vita Coco Coconut

water

TV Commercials

Print ads

In Store events

Billboards

Interest customers

to make an in store

purchase of Vita

Coco

People familiar

with Vita Coco

New Customers

Reinforce positive

brand attitude

Offer incentive

Customer Service

Social Media

WOM

Repeat Visit to

stores to purchase

Vita Coco

People familiar

with Vita Coco

New Customers

Create personal

relationships

Reward loyal

customers

Coupons

Social Media

WOM

Creative BriefProduct: Vita Coco Job: IMC Date: 6-25-2015

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Task Definition

Key Market Observations

Create brand awareness to potential customers who are familiar with Vita Coco and

create a positive brand attitude and give new customers an incentive.

Source of Business

Customers who are familiar with Vita Coco but do not drink Coconut Water.

Consumer Insight

Our customer base is very involved in social media as well as WOM and their friends

and family’s experiences.

Target Market

Adults between the ages of 22-45 who are into a healthy and active lifestyle.

Objectives and StrategyCommunication Objectives and Tasks

Build brand awareness and create a positive brand attitude. Influence customers to

purchase Vita Coco over competitors.

Brand Attitude Strategy

Create positive brand attitude by keeping consistent in Vita Coco media and

advertising.

Benefit Claim and Support

Vita Coco is the largest, well known brand that primarily sells coconut water.

Desired Consumer Response

Understand all the nutritional and health benefits that Vita Coco has to offer. Choose

to purchase coconut water instead of other athletic beverages or sodas.

Executional ElementsCreative GuidelinesCreate a positive brand experience with a very upbeat, energetic vibe. Requirements/Mandatory Content

It is required that each ad or commercial includes the hashtag

“#TheNewHydration”. Bright colors, blues and greens will be incorporated into each

segment of the IMC Plan.

Media Budget Allocation

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Communication TasksBuild Category and brand awareness

Create category need and initial brand attitude

Provide incentive to consider

Seek positive brand purchase intention

Act as intention

Reinforce decision

Primary medium:

National TV commercials

Secondary media:

Magazines

Internet

Point of Purchase

Vita Coco Print Advertisements

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Billboard Print Ad

National Magazine Ad

References

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Why Coconut Water Is Now a $1 Billion Industry | TransferWise Blog." TransferWise

Blog. Web. 24 June 2015.

Percy, L. (2008). Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications (1st ed.).

Burlington, MA: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Thomson, Julie R. "Coconut Water Sales Skyrocket Out Of Control." The Huffington

Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, Web. 25 June 2015.

Images taken from:

http://www.sinuousmag.com/2011/06/advertising-vita-coco-coconut-water-snags-rihanna-for-new-ad-campaign/

https://media.licdn.com/media/p/1/000/206/2c7/33988df.png

http://www.a1amarathon.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/2015A1ATEARPAD-

VitaCoco-LR.jpg

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