CHOBANI GREEK YOGURT
HOW MATTERS
Advertising
The largest part of the promotional budget will be spent on advertising. Chobani will focus on Informative Advertising as the Chinese market is unfamiliar with this new product. Advertising is extremely important because it offers a reason to buy a product rather than how Promotion offers an incentive to buy. Combined, a company can be very successful in a new market. This outline of the proposed Advertising for Chobani is outlined in the 5 M’s: Mission, Money, Message, Media, and Measurement.
Mission
The sales goal of Chobani is to gain a large market in the Yogurt Industry in China. Realistically Chobani would like to gain 10% of the market share in the first year, 15% in the second year, 50% in the third year, and so on until the market is sufficiently saturated at 95%. Full market saturation of China in the selected target market is 2,838,766,544 yogurts sold per year.
The advertising goal of Chobani in this marketing campaign is to create awareness and communicate the value of Chobani Greek Yogurt. After looking over the results from the market research completed prior, a belief has been established that knowledge about the health benefits of Chobani Greek Yogurt will influence many consumers to purchase this product.
Money
There is no current market share or customer base of Chobani in China. Competition in the yogurt industry is high, but the competition in the Greek Yogurt industry is practically non-existent. The frequency of the advertisements that are suggested later on will vary depending on the channel, though there is a high emphasis on the first three months of the product launch. This is compiled into a very intensive two year plan.
Chobani as a company and its product are very sustainable. Being healthy is a megatrend, not just a fad, and as countries are becoming more developed and advanced, they are caring more about what they are putting into their bodies. This could be particularly relevant in China, where the pollution alone causes many health issues and premature deaths.
The Advertising Budget allocated to Chobani in China is based on the advertising budget for Chobani in 2012. This is $50 million, or 308.71 million CNY, per year for the first two years. This totals only 5% of Chobani’s expected revenue in 2014, and it is considered an investment to enter the market strong and gain market share as soon as possible. The total target market for Chobani is 18,115,200 consumers, though it is not in the plan to address the entire Chinese market in the first two years, this equals about 17,041 CNY per thousand consumers. If only Tier 1 is addressed, then the promotional budget is covering 1,092,153 consumers, with about 282,661 CNY per thousand consumers. However, as this target market is targeted, it is important to remember that not only the specified target market will be reached and influenced to buy Chobani Greek Yogurt.
Message
The message that Chobani wants to promote is that they are a healthy product that is fresh, natural, and delicious. This product will be promoted as perfect for every lifestyle, but particularly to health conscious young adults. They will work to maintain a wholesome and trustworthy image so that consumers can get past their mistrust of the dairy industry in China. Each advertisement that is sent out will use a combination of emotional and rationale positioning. The advertisements will also be ranked on desirability, exclusiveness, and believability, with emphasis on desirability and believability. This brand is exclusive by the nature of the pricing and the health conscious people who choose to buy it, but Chobani does not want to be considered exclusive and instead works especially to serve underserved markets. A few attributes of advertisements with a higher recall and recognition like innovation, story appeal, problems and solutions, and inclusion of relevant characters, will be used. These will be particularly utilized in the web series to be discussed later.
Media
Based on target audience habits and exposure, these following instruments of advertising were chosen. They include Magazines, Taxi Touchscreens, WeChat, Weibo, YouKu Todou, a web series, a website, and an application.
Magazines
Advertisements in magazines are a great way to gain exposure in higher class markets. Chobani will purchase a combination of full and half page advertisements in various magazines like health, family, and news magazines. These magazines must have the Chobani image and be considered healthy, honest, and wholesome. This will include online and print magazines. The frequency of the advertisements will be at least one advertisement in one magazine per month, but more or less can be adjusted as necessary. The budget that is spent on magazine advertising will depend on how much is allocated to other platforms, as this is the lowest priority for high cost advertisements. The type of magazine used will vary by month to gain exposure and to measure the responsiveness of consumers to the advertisements. The advertisements will promote any events or promotions currently happening with Chobani, or information on the product to create value for this healthy and fresh product. The probability of audience attention is likely very low due to the ease of skipping over advertisements in magazines. It can be reasonably estimated to have around 10-40% exposure.
Taxi Touchscreens
Touchscreens in taxis are a great way to advertise to consumers that have nothing else to do but sit in a car. Touch Media is also making new improvements and interactive features that will help promote Chobani and track customer data. Chobani will buy a 15-20 second long advertisement on a 15 minute loop to gain maximum exposure to their target audience. These advertisements will focus on promoting the web series when applicable, the healthiness and desirability of this product, and creating trust and a relationship with the consumer. The cost of using this channel will likely be high, though this cannot be determined at the moment. There is a high priority on using this channel for advertising and the budget will be allocated accordingly.
For example, in Shanghai it can be assumed that each taxi gives 10-40 rides a day, with about 50-80% of the customers being high to middle class because taking a taxi is more expensive than other transportation systems so costumers with higher disposable incomes will be utilizing this option. This means about 5-32 middle to high class consumers are taking a taxi every day. The survey results show that 32% of these consumers are health oriented, and 24.6% of those customers are within the 19-35 age range. With about 0.39-2.52 target customers taking each a taxi every day, it can then be multiplied by the more than 50,000 taxis in Shanghai as of 2013. This means that around 19,674-125,916 customers are exposed to taxis every day. With only 342,320 target customers in Shanghai, it doesn’t make sense to use more than 10,000 taxis with a daily reach of 3,925-25,183 customers. This would make this advertisement an effective advertisement with a high reach of the target audience. With this exposure, Chobani could expect a very large range of their target consumers to view or interact with this advertisements throughout the month.
The frequency of the advertisements in taxis will start out with a strong two introductory months, and then it will switch between one month on and one month off for the remainder of the two years. With the possibility of interacting with the advertisements, Chobani can also track customer data and how effective each advertisement is. Touch Media is struggling to address the attention of the audience and one employee has stated that they can accurately assume that they have an average of 10-50% attention in taxis. Though this varies between the types of exposure like quick glances and involved attention. Both are beneficial to Chobani, though involved attention is much more important.
The primary channel in which Chobani will advertise and connect with customers will be through WeChat. This will be the destination of the QR codes that are on every Chobani product, and it will link to the website, the web series, and to the application that is mentioned later. WeChat is immensely popular in China, and with a country that is shifting dramatically toward mobile data, this will fully address a wide variety of customers. WeChat will be where customers can access the promotional coupons and loyalty programs. Therefore costumers that want discounts have to follow and interact with Chobani. This will expose them to advertisements on moments, update their news, and provide information on the product. Customers will learn more about the company and gain insights on the products. In addition it will be a source to interact and give feedback to the company, including sending Chobani pictures of their favorite Chobani moments to be used in advertisements of real people. This closeness to the company will make the customer feel valued and will generate trust and loyalty. The audience attention level will likely be around 75% because it is possible to ignore moments, though customers will have to interact with WeChat to use the benefits that Chobani provides.
Although Weibo is becoming less popular in China, it is still a platform that some people use and it’s important to have brand awareness within this channel. Chobani will create a page and update it as necessary to prevent another person from creating a fake page, and to address stragglers who are still using Weibo. This page will link to the WeChat, the website, and other platforms that Chobani uses to advertise. The likelihood of the viewers on this page to pay attention is very high. First of all they had to search and open the page and if not liked they can close it anytime they want. It could be estimated to be around 90% of attention per viewing.
YouKu Tudou
YouKu will be the channel where Chinese consumers can watch Chobani promotional videos and also share their own Chobani related videos. It will also be a platform on which to watch the web series. This is a very popular website in China and using it will expand Chobani’s brand awareness in a fun and interactive way. The promotional videos can include what has been used for the taxis, or new videos can be created based on a number of factors that will appeal to consumers using this website. This page will be linked from WeChat and the website. The attention of the audience is probably around 90% as these are videos that they are choosing to watch.
Web Series
Chobani will follow a similar model to what Este’ Lauder, L’Oreal, and Sony, among others, have done in China. Create involvement in their brands by creating a web series. Chinese consumers can follow these web series to become dedicated to the stories, and in turn, the brands. This web series will feature Chobani and will use Chinese Actors and Actresses, by whom Chinese will want to emulate and influence their purchase decisions. At the beginning, Chobani may have to save on their budget and use lesser known actors and actresses, but if the popularity of this web series increases or if Chobani is extremely successful, celebrities can be added into the show at a later time. These web series will be short but will create an emotional demand, a cliff hanger, to see the next web episode and what will happen next. However, the stories will be honest, wholesome, and true to the Chobani image. They will be 10-15 minutes long, come out once a week, and be promoted for one month during the winter, and one month during the summer. This totals 8 episodes per year. However, during the rollout phase, there will be a three month period of this web series to gain attention and create demand. This web series will be available on YouKu, the Chinese Chobani website, and the Chobani application. This will be a cost intensive process, but it could grasp the attention of a nation as it has done for many other brands, so it is important to implement this. The audience attention rate is likely close to 80% as you have to want to watch this web series to view it. However, some may be forced to watch it with their loved ones and not really pay attention.
Website
The Chobani website will include product information, recipes, news, the Chobani story, and will link to the WeChat, the YouKu page, and to the Weibo page. It will also link to the American website for consumers that are familiar with the American market, or want to learn if the product is really the same as it is in America. This will generate trust that they are not receiving a poor quality version of the typical product offering. This website will be searchable, but Chobani will not pay for advertisements or to be first on the list of results as of yet, as it is predicted to be more beneficial spending the budget in more involved ways. This website domain will generate only low cost, as mainly cost of designing and maintenance will be relevant. It is important to follow Chinese values when it comes to websites and this website should have more color and pages very busy with links and text. This website must be appealing to Chinese consumers and will be tested beforehand on terms of likability. Audience attention is likely close to 100%, as you have to search for or link this website to enter it.
Application
Applications are fairly cheap to create. With little investment Chobani can create an extremely interactive platform for their consumers. Some features that this application will include are a map and information on where you can buy Chobani, facts about Chobani and their products, health information, calorie counting and nutrient assessment so Chobani can suggest added different products into your diet or suggesting Chobani yogurt if they are lacking on those specific nutrients. It will also include a section with recipes so that you can use Chobani yogurt in cooking healthy food. This application shouldn’t cost more than $1,000 to create according to an industry expert. However the features such as maps, including GPS, and the health assessment, will require more investment. These products already exist and will not be hard to adapt to Chobani. This application will make customers feel connected to Chobani and will be another platform where they can be informed about Chobani and generate a need for it. Audience attention is likely almost 100% as you have to interact with this advertising base to use it.
Measurement
All of these advertisements will be evaluated continuously and changed as needed, depending on the market responses. Consumers will be asked to give feedback continually on why they are purchasing Chobani and what advertising channel attracted them the most. This will be done through surveys, customer feedback, focus groups, and trends apparent in big data. Big data especially comes into play when judging how each advertisement running that month impacted sales revenue. Trends will likely be apparent. This data will be collected throughout the year and there will be a one year review on which Chobani will base their future marketing strategy. It will be necessary to compare the impact on sales to the impact on consumer awareness about Chobani Greek Yogurt, which will be done by suitable Key Performance Indicators.
Please look at the Scenarios for the possible outcomes of this endeavor!
