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- 1. Christian Lopez Bikebuddie Abbreviated IMC Plan Marketing Communications Professor Rennie
- 2. ...OPENING Bikebuddie is a young and fun brand with a genuine passion to keep kids active and outside playing with each other. Owner and creator of the Bikebuddie Catherine Limma is an advocate for healthy living. Catherine saw the Bikebuddie as a way to get kids excited about both playing outside and riding their bikes again. The idea for the Bikebuddie came after watching her own son ride his bike alone. She decided that no kid or person should ever have to ride their bike alone, thats when the Bikebuddie was born! The Bikebuddie is your child's bicycle companion. Each Bikebuddie is a 3 by 5 inch teddy bear. The first ever stuffed animal that can attach to your child's bicycle. Bikebuddie goes wherever your child goes. The simple design allows children to attach and remove their Bikebuddie without adult help. This IMC plan is focused on helping Bikebuddie expand outside of fairs and pop up locations. It has a focus on Bikebuddies commitment to donating a portion of all Bikebuddie sales to the American Heart Association and spreading the word about its effort. Even though a very young product, Bikebuddie and its creator realize the importance of social responsibility and have found a way to donate money while still making it. What Bikebuddie lacks is the ability to reach to its core public. Thats where my firm and I will help. The Bikebuddie shows a lot of potential and with our IMC plan we are sure that we can reach a larger audience, get press to cover Bikebuddie events, increase sales and therefore increasing the donation amount to The American Heart Association foundation.
- 3. RESEARCH: PRIMARY 1. Sample Survey of 15 people in the target market People thought that it could be a distraction for kids while riding their bike Some thought that the product didnt serve a purpose other than look nice People thought it could obstruct the view of the rider People thought it was too girly for boys to have on their bike Some thought a teddy bear on a bicycle without being made of special protective material will get pretty nasty and discolored from being outside 2. Interview with the client Name is not trademarked Four patents are pending 5% of sales go to the American Heart Association foundation No crisis plan for overseas labor laws Bikebuddie is sold through Facebook, its website, vendor shows, street fairs, bike tours, and word of mouth. No money spent advertising. 3. Survey of 2 mothers and 3 kids in target market Kids all liked the product and wanted one Both mothers said they would buy Bikebuddie if they were at a toy store when they saw it, but will not go out of their way to purchase
- 4. The kids liked Bikebuddie more for its teddy bear qualities and didnt focus or care too much about its Velcro bottom making it attachable The kids didnt mind the unisex bear while the mothers both felt like the bear could be made in a girl and boy version with differences like in the colors for the bear fur SECONDARY 1. Content analysis of Clients site Site is not user friendly Information on the site is very vague and general No mention of Bikebuddies creator or story about the products origin Site looks like a wholesale buying page instead of a customer friendly website, not professional Site needs to be more transparent with how much is donated to charity For right now we should remove the write review option on the site because when you have that as an option but you dont have any reviews it gives off a negative look as If no one has bought it to be able to review it Needs more pictures of the Bikebuddie actually being played with Also needs more pictures on the actual product page Needs better site navigation, better colors (complete revamp) Doesnt have any link to other social media pages like Facebook page
- 5. 2. Content analysis of competitors site Possible competitor is SmallToys.com SmallToys.com has a very user friendly professional looking website SmallToys.com sells a 12 pack of 7 inch zoo animals that can hang on to anything because of the Velcro on their hands 12 pack of animals cost around a $1.50 a piece wholesale SmallToys.com does a great job of announcing deals and sales that they have going on SmallToys.com also has a customer reviews section but they actually have customer reviews They have a customer service line where Bikebuddie does not 3. Content analysis of Bikebuddies Facebook Almost impossible to find trying to search for it Doesnt have enough photos of kids playing with the product Doesnt have daily posts on their page like a business should Doesnt try to sell product through Facebook at all Doesnt have interaction with customers other than 1 post Bikebuddies customers are simply not connecting back 4. Content analysis of Catherine Limmas Facebook Studied at Kean University Currently lives in Union New Jersey
- 6. Works at The Atlantic Club Fitness Center 5. Content analysis of Statistica.com According to Statista.com, Novelty, Gift and Souvenir sales in 2013 reached $21.81 Billion in the U.S. 6. Content analysis of NBDA.com According to the National Bicycle Dealers Association, bicycle sales in 2013 reached $5.8 Billion. If we target child bikes of 20 inches and lower sales are about $1 Billion. 7. Content analysis of Parents.com Biking helps kids develop strength, balance, and overall fitness Biking burns up calories Biking is used for strengthening the heart, lungs, and lower-body muscles and bones Biking also helps with developing and strengthening the muscles surrounding the knees without impact 8. Content analysis of case study Hallmark Gold Crown Card Program Much like the benefits of having a Hallmark Gold Crown card people know the health benefits of bike riding they just need to be reminded of them. In the Hallmark case study their campaign was around reactivating their customers by
- 7. reminding them of the benefits of their program and to have them start to use their membership again. Our audience needs to be reminded of the health benefits of bike riding in an effort to get them exercising again but this time for them to have a Bikebuddie along for the ride. SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS Catherine Limma and her lifestyle add authenticity to the Bikebuddie mission to get kids active again. The fact that the creator is a mom in NJ gives us better support as opposed to a dad from NJ, research shows this product tested better with females as far as getting feedback. Bikebuddie received positive feedback from children in target market which is very important. Catherine Limma has already participated in a handful of events around new jersey helping to spread her name and her product Bikebuddie Website and social media accounts are already in place they just need some help and guidance WEAKNESSES Theres only one product Bikebuddie is more novelty than functional Lacks uniqueness
- 8. Website needs a complete revamp to make it more user friendly Product is imported from china which is known for recalls on products The product even though for outside use is not protected from the elements at all so it will get discolored and dirty after extensive use outside, if that happens too quickly there will be customer backlash Advertisements are too steered towards girl bike riders when it should be marketed towards entire families and both genders Needs to be more transparent about how much they donate to charity, how often and why? Its currently a seasonal product There are no links to Bikebuddies social media accounts on its website There isnt a proper about us section on the site that talks about how Bikebuddie was created and why? OPPUTUNITIES Since Bikebuddie currently doesnt have a function we can show it in different light and attribute a function to gain a larger audience The novelty gift sales in the U.S. is large and only growing more Bikebuddie is still in a testing phase so cost of goods can still be lowered by ordering larger quantity
- 9. THREATS SmallToys.com offers a pack of 12 zoo animals that can hang on to anything including bikes like Bikebuddie for a small fraction of Bikebuddies price A lot of parents do no support toys or products for their kids that are made in china due to health concerns Kid bikes these days tend to have baskets attached to them so a Velcro strapped animal would not be necessary for a child to ride along with a buddie Sales of bicycles are declining in the U.S. BUSINESS GOAL Increase sales and customer base of Bikebuddie. COMMUNCIATION GOAL Raise awareness of the brand and product Bikebuddie. AUDIENCE / PUBLIC 1. PRIMARY Local media outlets covering Monmouth County NJ Local parents with children ages 5-12 in Monmouth County NJ 2. SECONDARY Local bicycle shops in Monmouth County NJ Small local novelty / souvenir teddy bear shops
- 10. OBJECTIVES 1. To persuade 5 of the local media outlets covering Monmouth County to cover Bikebuddie Day event within one year. 2. To receive over 500 likes from women on Bikebuddies Facebook page within one year. 3. To receive over 100 likes from men on Bikebuddies Facebook page within one year. 4. To inform 35% of the parents of children in Monmouth County NJ about the health benefits of regularly bike riding with a Bikebuddie. STRATEGIES To demonstrate the fun that can be had with a Bikebuddie and educate Monmouth County parents and kids on the health benefits of bike riding. KEY MESSAGE Bikebuddie is a fun product to get your kids healthy and back on their bikes. TACTICS 1. Bikebuddie Day will take place 12 months after the IMC plan has been in effect. It is a day where the brand will set up in a local NJ park and sell Bikebuddies. To spread the word about the event we will post fliers all around Monmouth County businesses and ask Monmouth County schools for permission to post about our event on their bulletin boards. We will also post about the event on all of our social media platforms to let as many people as we can know about our event. Prior to this event my firm will contact the
- 11. American Heart Association by phone or email and explain to them that our Bikebuddie event is in place to raise money for their foundation and also explain that we have been accumulating money for them throughout the past 12 months. We would then request to have them send a representative to accept a check of the donations accrued that day and throughout the year. My firm will then send out a press release to local Monmouth County newspapers and outlets listed in the Full Media list and pitch our story of a day filled of kids having fun, riding bikes and buying Bikebuddies. We will also explain that we are presenting a check to the American Heart Association with the proceeds from Bikebuddies sales. Any media outlets that arrived to the event we would have sign in and declare from which news outlet they belong to so we can track who we have reached. At the end of the day 5% of all the sales plus donations accrued throughout the previous year are presented to the American Heart Association rep by Catherine Limma as a check. 2. We would offer a free shipping coupon code for everyone who likes the Bikebuddie Facebook page. 3. We would continue traveling to fairs, vendor shows and bicycle riding events throughout Monmouth County to sell Bikebuddies just as Catherine Limma has been doing. 4. We will create a contest and post it on Bikebuddies Facebook page to see who can come up with the most creative photo of their kids and their Bikebuddie on an adventure for a kid / parent bike riding related prize. This will cause genuine interactions with target audience and give us a better understanding of who loves their Bikebuddie. To help spread word about the contest prior to us launching it we will be advertising it for 1
- 12. month during our trips to vendor shows and bike riding events where we will explain what the contest is and when it starts. 5. To encourage parents to buy Bikebuddies in larger quantities we would offer a 50% discount on the third Bikebuddie purchased when we are selling them at vendor shows and bike riding events. EVALUATION 1. To evaluate if we persuaded 5 or more local media outlets within Monmouth County NJ to cover our Bikebuddie event we would review the media that came to the Bikebuddie event because we would have had them sign in the day of the event. We also would contact any media who was not on our sign in list but who we did contact to come out to the event to ask if they might have wrote something about our event but just didnt make it out to the actual event. Its also important for us to read any news coverage we did receive because we need to know if we received positive media coverage or negative media coverage and that is known by the tone used in any news coverage we may have received. 2. To evaluate if we received over 500 Likes on Bikebuddies Facebook page from women we would do a content analysis of the Facebook page one year from our campaigns start date. When you are logged in under the owner of the Bikebuddie Facebook page you are provided with a feature called Insights. This feature from Facebook lets you know the age, gender and language spoken of everyone who liked your page so you will be able to tell how many women liked the page. 3. To evaluate if we received over 100 Likes on Bikebuddies Facebook page from men we would do a content analysis of the Facebook page one year from our campaigns start
- 13. date. When you are logged in under the owner of the Bikebuddie Facebook page you are provided with a feature called Insights. This feature from Facebook lets you know the age, gender and language spoken of everyone who liked your page so you will be able to tell how many men liked the page. 4. To evaluate if we informed 35% of Monmouth County parents about the health benefits of bike riding, we would take sample surveys by contacting local elementary schools in Monmouth County NJ by phone and talking to the principals or vice principals about handing out our survey through the children of the school to take home to their parents to fill out. The survey would consist of basic questions related to health and bike riding that we advocated to the public through our social media and through our selling events. Also in the survey would be a question about if they by any chance learned new information through our Bikebuddie campaign or if they have even heard about our Bikebuddie campaign. We would collect the results at a later date and average the results of that sample to see if 35% or more of our sample mentioned our Bikebuddie campaign as a reason they are educated in the benefits of bike riding. FULL MEDIA LIST Local newspapers dont have newsworthy stories to plug into their papers every day. They are understaffed and overworked most of the time. If you present a newspaper a nicely written press release and really sell the charity donation of the Bikebuddie event our chances of getting media coverage increases exponentially. My firm will take care of sending out any press release for Bikebuddie and these are the news outlets we would target. Local news 12
- 14. 1. (To post an event to community event calendar email to: news12nj@news12.com (Attn: Whats Going on) Will also email them to request news coverage of the Bikebuddie day event also.) The Asbury Park Press 1. We will email editor http://static.app.com/contactus-form/ and send over well written press release about Bikebuddie day and The American Heart Association event. The Coaster 1. We will email editor editor@TheCoaster.net and send over well written press release about Bikebuddie day and The American Heart Association event. Nj.com 1. (To post an event to community event calendar email to: http://myevent.nj.com/web/event.php we will also contact them for coverage of our Bikebuddie event.)