Comm. Team: Jacqui Owens Annie Minogue Lindsey Goins Carlie Alderman Natalie Collett

Comm. Team: Jacqui Owens Annie Minogue Lindsey Goins Carlie Alderman Natalie Collett

Table of Contents Executive Summary.1 Research Summary. 2 Situation Analysis...3 SWOT Analysis. 4-8 Problems and Opportunities 9 Target Markets.10-12 Objective 1. 13 Strategy 1...14 Tactics...15-18 Objective 2:...19 Strategy 2 20 Tactics 21-32 Objective 3.33 Strategy 3 34 Tactics 35-37 Evaluation..38 Budget.39 Appendix..40-46

Executive Summary Chobani Nothing but Good! Chobani is committed to creating rich, delicious and nutritious yogurt using only ingredients from the highest quality. After years of supremacy by brands such as Dannon and Yoplait, the yogurt market came to be owned, seemingly overnight, by Chobani (Sauer). Currently, Chobani has a strong social media campaign: Real Love Stories. This allows consumers to interact on Chobani s website, Twitter, and Facebook by telling their love stories that include the yogurt. The campaign is meant to celebrate their fans and their passion for Chobani In order to compete in the vast market of yogurt, Chobani had to create lasting impressions with the community. Chobani is the number two yogurt brand right under Yoplait s Greek Yogurt. Chobani didn t start the trend but Greek yogurt grew because Chobani truly capitalized on the appeal of the product (Ackerman). Commonly, there is a misconception attached with Greek yogurt, many consumers do not understand what it has to offer and holds a negative connotation when it comes to taste. In order to create brand awareness, we have created a Marketing Public Relations campaign to highlight all that Chobani has to offer. Mindful Communication wants to display Chobani in a positive light and break free from the fallacy. Through our primary and secondary research, Mindful Communications discovered that Chobani did not have a distinct target market. For this particular campaign we have chosen to create two distinct target markets: Moms and Tots and Health Nuts. To reach our Moms and Tots, Mindful Communications have decided to incorporate the theme of packing the perfect lunch for you child; and for the Health Nuts, health conscience diet alternatives. In order to create brand loyalty amongst these targets, Mindful Communications focused their efforts on generating events and interactive social media that targets both markets. Through these endeavors, Mindful Communication plans to increase the number of Chobani Greek Yogurt cartons purchased by 7% by June 2012. 1

Research Summary In order to create a effective MPR campaign for Chobani, Mindful Communications used various outlets to conduct research in order to reach the necessary objectives. Secondary research was completed through online articles as well as the DePaul Library Databases to use notable scholarly communication and business journals. For example, such as Business Week and New York times articles. To further the research conducted, Mindful Communications conducted individual interviews to gain insight into consumers as well as nonconsumers. This research was used to design a plan that would gain consumer awareness, increase publicity and sales as well. 2

Situation Analysis Currently new fads are beginning to take their course in the industry. Products that are healthier and full of all natural ingredients are being demanded by consumers. Chobani is a new company looking to meet the needs of the demands of the current consumer. They have created a product that is full of probiotics, all natural ingredients, and low in fat (Chobani). Their Greek yogurt is also gluten-free, vegetarian friendly and full of protein (Chobani). Recently they have extended their line to meet the needs of children with Chobani Champions (Chobani). It is a healthy alternative for children with all of the same nutrients that the original yogurt has. Although Chobani is currently the number one selling Greek yogurt on the market it certainly has its competitors (Petrovic). Following closely behind Chobani are Greek yogurts under the names; Oikos, FAGE, and Dannon with its recent brand extension into Greek yogurt. 3

SWOT Analysis Strengths: 1. Chobani yogurt is currently listed as the number one brand of Greek Yogurt. They show off this strength by posting this on their about me section on Twitter. Their about me section says Nothing but good conversation with America s #1 yogurt This incorporates their current campaign of Nothing but Good with the idea that they have open communication with their twitter followers. (NewsWire). 2. The Chobani Greek yogurt brand has a lot of other strengths that they are currently using to build their brand. Chobani s key strength is that they have a strong social media presence. In addition to their social media presence, they have a strong presence on their website (Chobani). 3. Another strength that Chobani has is that they do great job at highlighting and giving credit to the active fans of Chobani yogurt. They have a weekly contest winner who is selected by the best Real Love Story video or essay about how much they love the Chobani yogurt brand. Once a winner is selected they receive a free case of Chobani yogurt as well as have their story posted on both their website and Facebook. Many of the winners have lost a significant amount of weight or completed a challenging task by incorporating Chobani yogurt into their diets. 4

SWOT Analysis Strengths Table: 5

SWOT Analysis Weaknesses: As with any company there are weaknesses that the Chobani Greek yogurt brand can improve on. 1. One weakness is that they do not partner with a well-known foundation that many people have heard of to promote their corporate social responsibility. Unlike other competitors, like Yoplait, they do not get the brand recognition and emotional appeal linked with the foundation that they do partner with unless those people are being directly benefitted from the money or help donated by the Chobani brand. 2. Another weakness of Chobani yogurt is simply brand awareness. Chobani yogurt does not actively promote their product through advertising and have weak promotions for the current campaigns they have besides utilizing social media. Chobani yogurt is not currently promoting the Chomobile 2011 taste testing promotions they are having across the country. 6

SWOT Analysis Threats: Competitive Threats There are currently three other Greek yogurts on the market. This increase in competition is Chobani s biggest threat. Fage has done a solid job of advertising their product on television and is currently airing unique commercials that consumers are taking note of. Oikos, a product of Stonyfield, has an interactive website that competes directly with Chobani s. Dannon also just started a new line of Greek yogurt, the good thing about this is that consumer are skeptical of the ingredients that are being used within their product. In addition to other Greek yogurts, we find that Yoplait is a threat to Chobani because of its extensive brand recognition. Yoplait products do have an emotional appeal to some consumers because of their relationship with the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation. This display of corporate social responsibility is something that Chobani cannot compete with. Threats Although Chobani is a newer brand, the demand for their product is huge. In a recent article it was stated that Chobani became a super power overnight and is now unable to keep with the highdemand for its products. This has led to recent shortages of product, which have enraged many consumers. This shortage is a threat to the company because they may have lost millions of dollars in potential sales. ( http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2011/05/10/chobani- Conquers-Yogurt-Market-Faces-New-Problem.aspx) 7

SWOT Analysis Opportunities: Although Chobani does an excellent job positioning their brand, there is always room for improvement. 1. Brands such as Yoplait have partnered with wellknown foundations. Chobani has its own foundation named Shepherd's Gift. Shepherd's gift is a charitable foundation, which gives 10% of all Chobani profits to people who are working for positive, lasting change. This is a great way to use Chobani profits in a way that is beneficial to their brand name. 2. Another opportunity is the detail in which consumers are now focusing in on their health. Gluten-free, kosher certified, non-fat and low-fat food, as well as vegetarian safe foods are all things that are being focused on in the current market of consumers. Pinpointing these facts may be a good way for Chobani to reposition themselves in the market. 8

Problems and Opportunities Problems New Company, started in 2007. Already dominators in yogurt market. Consumers haven t heard of Chobani. Large competitors; Dannon, Fage, Oikos Price: Chobani is slightly more expensive Inability to product enough product for the demand Opportunities Create awareness of health benefits of Chobani Greek yogurt vs. regular yogurt. Create awareness of the new product; Chobani Champions for kids. The great ways Chobani can be integrated into a healthy lifestyle rather than just a breakfast. Chobani creates a community not just a yogurt. 9

Target Market Profile # 1 Greek yogurt, in general, is a fairly new fad for consumers. The MPR strategies Mindful Communications plans to implement will draw in new audiences and stimulate new interests for two specific target audiences. On one hand we are focusing on parents and children who Mindful Communications refers to as Moms and Tots. These parents are middle-class individuals who are focused on providing their children with a healthy lifestyle. These parents are conscious of what is going into their body, and purchase Chobani because it s nutritious and features a variety of flavors that will satisfy all members of their family even children. They are more inclined to shop at grocery stores such as Whole Foods and Costco and are willing to spend a little extra money to get a quality product for their family. These moms value exercise and make take yoga classes or tennis lessons while their children are in school. The children we are targeting are likely to be involved in extracurricular activities such as music lessons or community sports teams and are in elementary school. The parents of these children are friendly acquaintances that talk on a regular basis, follow the current trends other parents are following, and may be on the PTA. They are in the process of teaching their children about healthy food in the age of unhealthy school lunches. 10

Target Market Profile # 1 Our Chobani Champion!! 11

Target Market Profile # 2 On the other hand our focus will be on health-conscious individuals, which are referred to as Health Nut. This target is aged around 25-40 and are able make conscious decisions regarding their health. These Health Nuts are individuals who eat yogurt on a regular basis and appreciate quality ingredients and good flavor. These individuals have gym memberships and work out three to five times per week. Like the Moms and Tots segment, they are apart of the middle-class and hold a college degree. This audience has a large online presence and uses sites such as Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the product. 12

Objective # 1 Generate positive publicity for Chobani. Rationale: It is important to generate positive publicity for the Chobani brand in order to gain an overall feeling of love for the brand and its products. With this objective we will focus on elementary school children and create a newsworthy event promoting health and nutrition among this age group. 13

Strategy # 1 Use the ChoMobile to generate health education among elementary school students. Rationale: Chobani already uses the ChoMobile as a sort of tour bus. It tours to various sporting and athletic events passing out samples of Chobani yogurt to participants and spectators. We will utilize the ChoMobile to travel to school districts around the country and inform students about proper health. A nutritionist will travel with the bus as an expert on nutrition. This tactic is newsworthy and will generate a lot of needed publicity with the public. 14

Tactics The ChoMobile will travel to five school districts within major cities (Dallas, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Seattle). Our nutritional expert will travel along to inform students on proper nutrition. The expert will engage the children in interactive lessons on proper nutrition highlighting the nutritional values of Chobani Champions. 15

Tactics Students will engage in activities that highlight the nutritional value of Chobani Champions. Coloring pages will be provided to children to take home and share with their families. 16

Tactics Students will participate in activities that involve Chobani Champions Greek yogurt. Volunteers will help them create their favorite snacks using the yogurt as a substitute. They will also explain why the yogurt is a healthy alternative to their favorite condiments. 17

Tactics We will send home materials for parents detailing what their children learned during their session with the ChoMobile. This will help to encourage parents to continue the nutritional education concerning Chobani at home. 18

Objective # 2 Create Brand awareness and loyalty. Rationale: Chobani is already a well establish Greek yogurt company. They have managed to reach the top of the yogurt chain even against competitors such as General Mills and Dannon. Agro Farma, the parent company for Chobani, stated that Chobani is so quickly expanding that their demand is starting to exceed their product (Ackerman). The Greek yogurt has been on the rise every since 2007. Mindful Communications wants to not only raise awareness of the unique yogurt but also start to develop additional brand loyalty. 19

Strategy # 2 Create love of the brand Chobani among adults through the overarching theme of love. Rationale: Chobani currently is running a campaign called, Real Love Stories. This allows Chobani fans to post stories, songs, paintings, and recipes that show their love for the brand Chobani. Recipes for Love! Each week the stories are voted on by friends and whoever gets the most votes wins a case of Chobani. To capitalize on the success of this Don t miss a beat! viral campaign, Mindful Communications is going to use this theme as a way to create more brand awareness and loyalty among our adult consumers. To accomplish this, Mindful Communications is going to have monthly Recipes For Love with Chobani. Social media will serve as a platform to announce each monthly fun Recipes for Love. To show Chobani s care for its consumers, look for Chobani s monthly love interest. Chobani focuses their efforts on creating a brand image of a family atmosphere and being apart of the communities Chobani exists within (Ackerman). 20

Tactics January- New Years For the month of January Mindful Communications is going to align Chobani with New Years. The focus will be on Love Yourself. An interactive Create Your Own: Perfect New Years Resolution will be available on the website and promoted through Twitter and Facebook. Customers will be able to ring in the new year with example resolutions, tasteful recipes, and even Do it Yourself workout plans. Once the customer completed their Resolutions they can print the page that is generated to serve as a means of meeting their goals. Mindful Communications recognizes that the majority of their customers are already aware of how to be health conscious, so Chobani serves as a tool to create new goals and achieve them. LOVE YOURSELF WITH 21

Tactics February- Valentines Day The month of February is going to focus on Valentines Day since the theme throughout the year Recipes For Love. Mindful Communications does not want to focus solely on creating a Romantic night for couples, but rather Alone of Valentines Day Spend it with your true love, Chobani. Chobani will feature various recipes to make for a romantic dinner for one or friends. Fondues as well as Chobani chocolate desserts will be available. Customers will be able to post their Valentine s dinner and share with the Chobani community how they spent their special day using Chobani, posted as a discussion on Facebook as well as linked to the website. Don t let this be you Spend it with Chobani! 22

Tactics March- St. Patrick s Day The month of March is going to focus on St. Patrick s Day. To give consumers a chance to share with Chobani and the Chobani community, customers will be asked to post videos, pictures and stories telling their favorite clever memory from their St. Patrick s Day. The story that receives the most votes will win a case of Chobani. Mindful Communications found that the Real Love Stories campaign has been successful, so to continue the idea, St. Patrick s Day will serve as a muse to change the content of the videos. In addition, it gives customers a chance to tell Chobani about themselves. GO FOR THE GOLD! 23

Tactics April- Earth Day Chobani s love of Earth. For the month of April each Chobani cup will have a hidden secret on the inside top that gives people a fun way to recycle or be eco-friendly. It will tell people to go to our Facebook and share what they found. Facebook will be running a discussion where people can talk about their tops. To get consumers excited, Chobani will run a contest on their website where people can share their most interesting eco-friendly stunt using Chobani cups. The winner will receive a carton of Chobani. 24

Tactics May-Mother s Day Treat your mom to the perfect breakfast in bed with Chobani. Dad forget to get a gift? Chobani will have a online recipe for an entire meal that mom can enjoy. While this reaches out main target market of adults between the ages of 25-40, this allows the children to also get involved with the Greek yogurt, since they are out other target market for this campaign. From, Chobani 25

Tactics June-Wedding Season Host an event in New York, since our headquarters is there. The event will allow engaged couples to bake a cake using Chobani and whatever other ingredients they bring. Chobani will bring in The Cake Boss, Buddy Valastro, will judge the cakes and the winner will win a free honeymoon to a tropical island. Even though the event is taking place in New York, it will create Newsworthy buzz associated with Chobani and the Cake Off. The winners recipe will also be posted on our website and Facebook with their photo going back to our theme of love. 25

Tactics July- 4 th of July The month of July is going to be about making the perfect picnic for you and your loved ones and Chobani. Unique tasty ideas will be provided as well as interesting, unique places to have a picnic will also be provided. There will be a discussion section on the website that allows people to post their favorite picnic photos with Chobani. 26

Tactics August-Romance Awareness Month Since our theme is Recipes for Love we want to celebrate Romance Awareness Month. The purpose is to create brand loyalty and consumer awareness. In order to reach this we want consumers to be able to interact via social media. For this month consumers will be able to post their most romantic date with Chobani. The sky is the limit, and creativity is encouraged. The top five most voted on videos will win a case of Chobani. We encourage participants to post a link on their own Facebook to get their friends to vote on their story. This also gets more viewing by prospective customers. 27

Tactics September- Labor Day Skip the traditional BBQ for labor day and wow all your family and friends with a smoothie bar with Chobani. Take a sneak peek into Recipes of Love 28

Tactics October-Breast Cancer Awareness Month & Halloween Chobani has greatly positioned themselves around giving back to the community. Much of their 10% Donation Program is given to charities that support cancer awareness and those affected by cancer (ArgoFarma). Chobani will dedicate October to Breast Cancer Awareness month, and 15% of October s monthly sales will be given to breast cancer research. In addition, to continue the use of our social media, women will be encouraged to share their breast cancer stories, so we can recognize those who have been through it. It also gives women a place to talk to other women going through breast cancer. Our website for the month of October will not have the Chobani blue as its theme but rather pink to represent breast cancer. During the week of Halloween recipes for yummy treats, such as Chobani pumpkin cheesecake will be available. On a holiday dedicated to candy, Chobani will put a healthy tasty spin on the spooky night. 29

Tactics November- Thanksgiving November is centered around spending time with family and friends for the Thanksgiving holiday. Since many families frequently use recipes that have been in the family, Chobani is going to challenge consumers to make a hearty meal into a healthy meal with the same great taste. In addition for those looking to change their ways various Thanksgiving meals using Chobani will be posted on the website as well as the Facebook. Pumpkin pie, gravy, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, double chocolate chip brownies all with the same great taste but made with the love of Chobani. Gobble up these delicious Chobani treats! 30

Tactics December- Holidays December is difficult not to indulge but with all of the holiday parties, dinners, and dessert get together. Each day a new holiday treat will be posted to the website for easy to make treats for all the parties consumers need to bring a dish. To continue the theme of love and stories consumers will be encouraged to share their favorite recipe and each week the one that gets the most votes will receive a case of Chobani. Tis the season of giving, and Chobani will help you give back all the unneeded calories. 31

Tactic Calendar New Year V-Day St. Patrick s Day Earth Day Mother s Day Wedding Season 4 th of July Romance Awareness Labor Day Breast Cancer Awareness/ Halloween Thanksgiving Holiday Cheer 32

+ Objective # 3 Increase number of Chobani Greek Yogurt cartons purchased by 7% by June 2012. Rationale: While generating publicity and brand awareness is necessary to Chobani s development and ability to stay at the top of Greek yogurt, it is also important to ensure that these efforts are also generating sales. Through our marketing and public relations efforts, Mindful Communications wants to see an increase in sale of Chobani Greek Yogurt cartons by 7%. 33

Strategy # 3 Educate consumer on how to Pack the Perfect Lunch. Rationale: Our strategy of educating consumers on how to pack the perfect lunch is a bridging strategy incorporating the overarching theme of love. This theme works with moms packing kids lunches and packing lunches in general. Our goal is to promote Chobani in a way that relates to our targets and encourages them to purchase it to incorporate that into their own lunch. This particular strategy is aimed at reach both of our target consumers, Mom s and Tot s as well as our Health Nuts. 34

Tactics Back to school with Chobani. Creating a coloring book lunch bag with Chobani logos and creative images for kids to color in. The first tactic will incorporate the idea of Packing the Perfect Lunch with a Chobani coloring book lunch bag. These bags will be included in the Chobani Champions pack of yogurt and provide a link between eating Chobani yogurt and packing it for a school lunch. This tactic engages the children who eat the yogurt by being able to color their own lunch bag. 35

Tactics Promote consumer YouTube videos featuring parents and children Packing the Perfect Lunch together. Direct parents to consumer videos of how other parents are incorporating Chobani products into their children s school lunches. Rationale: The second tactic will be aimed at mothers and their children. Mindful Communications aims to give mothers information on how to incorporate Chobani products into a school lunch whether it be which foods compliment Chobani Greek yogurt or an interesting food recipe that has Chobani as an ingredient. We believe this is a fun an interesting way for mothers to develop an awareness of the product. This will be featured in a YouTube video. 36

Tactics Consumers will participate in a photo contest outlining the most interesting locations to each lunch. Rationale: In another aspect, Mindful Communications will be targeting an audience of healthconscious individuals. This feature of our strategy Packing the Perfect Lunch involves not just how Chobani works into lunch but a general and unique aspect of lunch. Our goal is told hold a photo contest titled where consumers send in photos featuring the most interesting places to each lunch. There photos could feature unique picnic layouts, secret places to have a romantic lunch, the most interesting place to eat lunch during the work day, or any location that is out of the ordinary. The pictures would be focused to the Chobani Facebook page. 37

Evaluation Objective 1: Generate Positive Publicity for Chobani. To evaluate how effective the campaign was in generating positive publicity for Chobani, surveys will be sent out to all the parents of the children who participated in the nutritional program. Questions will include topics on how well they think their child s knowledge increased after our program, if they have made positive changes to their kid s lunches, and if they have made some of the recipes with Chobani that their kids learned during the program. We will compare those results with our sales of the Chobani Champions in those five city areas to see if they positively correlate. Objective 2: Create Brand Awareness and Loyalty. To evaluate how loyal Chobani s customers are, we are going to focus on the press releases that are printed, especially from our June event in New York. In addition, Mindful Communications will take article clippings of any additional news that was produced due to Chobani. Lastly, Mindful Communications will conduct a survey of all participants at the event in New York and measure their satisfaction and if Chobani is now apart of their lives. Objective 3: Increase number of Chobani Greek Yogurt cartons purchased by 7% by June 2012. In order to evaluate the percentage of how much Chobani yogurt is purchased, the numbers and percentages from the year before will be compared to the numbers during and after the campaign. The five cities: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Dallas will be the most focused on. The number of views of the Youtube video demonstrating the Perfect Lunch will also be taken into consideration along with the number of entries into the photo contest of the most interesting places to eat lunch. Chobani s sales representatives will document the demand for the product both before and after the campaign as well. 38

Budget 41% 55% ChoMobile Expenses Top Chef Award Money HoneyMoon Giveaway Chobani Lunch Bags Chobani Coloring Book Pages Unexpected Expenses 0% 2% 1% 1% 39

Appendix 40

Appendix Graph References and Data: 41

Appendix Graph References and Data: 42

Appendix Coloring Page: The coloring pages will be more information about healthy eating and will incorporate Chobani. It will be more fun, this is just a mock. 43

Appendix ChoMobile Destinations: 44 1

Appendix Interview Quotes: Interview with Chobani Consumer: Women: 22: Is there a specific brand of Greek Yogurt that you purchase? Chobani, because the other greek yogurts i've tried are really grainy and/or not sweet. Have you ever visited their website? Nope. oh okay. well their website has several things on it...first, they have different recipes that you can try using the chiobani brand yogurt. how likely would you be to make a recipe listed on their website? very! Another thing on their company website they have is a place for customers like yourself to tell "REAL LOVE STORIES" on how they love Chiobani yogurt. Would you ever post your story? yes! What might it say? I changed my diet drastically a year or so ago and wanted to start eating healthy- I always heard about Greek yogurt and I tried like a million different kinds and seriously hated all of them. THEN tried Chobani and I actually liked it and I've eaten it ever since then literally every day. 45

Appendix Interview Quotes: Interview with Non- Chobani Consumer: Women: 27: Is there a specific brand of Greek Yogurt that you purchase? Do you eat yogurt? Yes, ever day I eat yogurt with my breakfast. Frequently I make a parfait. I enjoy flavored yogurt that I can put bananas, strawberries, walnuts and granola in. This usual fills me up and I don t need anything else for the morning. The protein ties me over until lunch time. If yes, what kind of yogurt do you eat? If no, why do you not eat yogurt? Currently, I eat Dannon s light and fit yogurt. I eat this yogurt because it is high in protein and is low in sugar and fat. If yes, when do you generally eat yogurt? I eat yogurt for every breakfast. Have you ever tried Greek Yogurt? No, I have never tried Greek yogurt. I have heard about it but was told it wasn t good. If yes, did you like Greek yogurt? Which do you prefer, regular or Greek? I have yet to try the Greek Yogurt, therefore, I eat the Light and Fit everyday. Which one do you think is better for you? I know Greek yogurt is better for you since it is higher in protein but have yet to try it. Do you eat a specific brand of greek yogurt/yogurt? Dannon- Light and Fit. I have tried various other types of yogurt but the Dannon is my favorite. What are you personal eating habits? I just recently went Gluten free. I cook all of my meals almost 7 days a week. I enjoy cooking healthy recipes to maintain a well balanced diet. My family has always been into cooking and making tasty yet healthy meals. Do you frequently cook with yogurt? I have tried to cook with yogurt more often since I went Gluten Free. I have used it as a substitute for butter in many of my recipes as well as sauces. Do you like to cook healthy items? I cook as many healthy meals as I can. I enjoy having a meal I feel good after but that also tastes great. 46