Smarties Integrated Marketing Communication

Campaign Proposal

Holly Keener

Radford University

1 of 31

Table of Contents

Situation Analysis 2-3

The Product & Company 4

Target Market Analysis 5-6

The Goal & Evaluation of the Goal 7

Positioning Strategy 8

Message Strategy 9-10

Media Strategy 11-17

Sales Promotion 18-22

Timing 23-25

Budget 26

Conclusion 27

References 28

Appendices 1-3 29-31

2 of 31

Situation Analysis

In today’s market, thousands of different candy companies exist all competing to be

number one in consumer’s minds often by creating new products. Consumers have an endless

array of options to choose from on a candy aisle from sugary, to sour, to fruity to chocolate to

nutty or any combination of these. With so many options to choose, it is no wonder that candy

companies are consistently trying to create that next “big” product for consumer’s taste buds.

Many have tried and failed with inventions such as Dr. Pepper Gum, Yoo-Hoo Chocolate

Bar or Tangy Taffy. Since candy is often consumed seasonally with specific holidays bringing in

additional revenue such as Halloween and Easter, many companies have invented seasonal

products or varieties such as Cadbury Eggs, Candy Corn, or Peeps. Others consistently get it

right and are able to target the market extremely well such as M&M’s, Hershey and Wonka

candy. While others have stayed true to what their product has always been and only varied

slightly if at all such as, Mary Janes, Blow Pops, Sugar Daddy and Now & Laters. It is in this last

category that Smarties is apart and although still very much alive in the market today, is not

living up to its full potential of what it was when it was first created or what it could be in

today’s and future markets.

With new candies of all shapes, sizes, flavors and uniqueness being invented daily, it is

no wonder that Smarties has fallen to the side as one of the primary candies in today’s world.

Children of all ages want the latest and greatest candy that catches their attention at the store and

provides a bold unique flavor that no other candy can provide. Smarties, while popular many

years ago, is no longer fully satisfying their consumers needs and must change a variety of

marketing, advertising and communication strategies in order to not only stay in today’s market

but be at the top once again.

3 of 31

It should also be noted that in Europe, there is a product called Smarties manufactured by

Nestle. This product has been around for over 100 years and only adopted the name Smarties in

1993. The only thing that Nestle Smarties and Smarties have in common is the name; the

products are quite the opposite. Nestle Smarties are colorful sugar-coated chocolate much like

M&M’s. Although these products are very dissimilar, Smarties should take caution in marketing

their product abroad as Nestle Smarties is a very popular product in Europe. For this reason

among many additional reasons consisting of time constraints and budget, the focus of this

campaign and the strategies used within will remain in the United States and Canada. Upon

evaluating the success of this campaign, an additional campaign may be implemented in the

future abroad.

4 of 31

The Product and Company History

Smarties, as referred to on their website are “America’s favorite candy wafer roll!”. The

original flavored Smarties are the most popular and have a sweet, sour and fruity taste. The

original wafer roll consists of six different colored small tablet-like candies throughout the

package. Each package is individually wrapped and consists of fifteen Smarties. Because of this

the product is purchased in bulk bags that contain many individually wrapped Smarties rolls.

Over the years, Smarties has expanded its product to include, Love Hearts, Candy Money,

Tropical Smarties, X-TREME Sour Smarties, Bubble Gum Smarties, Smarties Double Lollies,

Smarties Pops, Smarties Mega Lollies and Candy Lipsticks. The majority of these products,

excluding the jumbo size original Smarties, are not easily accessible in local stores and perhaps

because of this, less popular and well-known.

Smarties are a product of Ce De Candy, Inc which is a privately owned company

headquartered in Union, New Jersey. Founded in 1949, Ce De Candy, Inc. began in a rented

facility and has grown in popularity not only in the U.S. but in Canada as well. Today, Ce De

Candy, Inc. has a factory in Union, New Jersey as well as Newmarket, Ontario that produces

billions of Smarties annually. According to their website, “Placed end to end, they would span

over 85 thousand miles which is more than 3 times around the Earth!” Although they are

producing billions of candies annually, Smarties needs to reposition itself in the market to

maintain and enhance their position in order to thrive in such a competitive market.

5 of 31

Target Market Analysis

Smarties target market consists of three very different groups of people; children, adults

who have children and adults who consumed the product when they were children. Their primary

audience of who they should appeal visually and contextually to is children, more than likely

children less than the age of twelve. Children of this age willingly accept new products that are

fun, unique and exciting. They have little interest in what is boring, old-fashioned or healthy.

Currently, Smarties is not directly appealing to their primary audience and needs to implement

several strategies, which will be discussed in detail further on, to reconnect their product with

consumers.

Although children are the primary consumers of many types of candy, they are not the

primary purchasers. Smarties must be mindful of their secondary audiences of adults who have

children. Adults with children are more than likely between the ages of twenty-five and forty-

five. When it comes to candy consumption, adults with children often keep health concerns, cost,

and mess in mind when it comes to purchasing candy for their children to consume. Smarties,

compared to many other candies in the market, is a very simple candy and can appeal well to

younger children while still pleasing their parents with its petite size and minimal cost.

Lastly, Smarties needs to appeal to adults who consumed the product as children.

Although this audience segment more than likely buys other candy as well, they are somewhat

brand loyal to Smarties because it reminds them of their earlier memories as a young child eating

the product. This audience is between the ages of forty-five to sixty years old and may be more

difficult to target directly. Since this audience is not the primary purchasers or consumers of the

product and rather a small fraction within the general audience population, this particular

campaign will not target these individuals directly.

6 of 31

Because of the current lack of advertising by Smarties, none of these audiences are being

targeted right now at all and therefore any amount of advertising and marketing that Smarties

increases in regards to their product will more than likely reach all target audiences in some way.

With that being said, the campaign efforts will focus primarily on attracting children under the

age of twelve and their parents with the hopes of reaching their secondary audiences in some

fashion along the way. After more data is collected throughout this campaign, future campaign

efforts could target these secondary audiences more specifically however, for the purpose of this

campaign, the advertising and marketing efforts will be primarily focused towards younger

children and their parents.

7 of 31

The Goal & Evaluation of the Goal

The primary goal of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing of the Smarties

product by 10% within the United States and Canada. This campaign will attempt to increase

consumer awareness of the product as a primary competitor in the candy market within the

United States and Canada through increased advertising and marketing directed at Smarties

primary audiences. By increasing promotion and consumer awareness of the product, the goal is

for consumers to not only think more favorable of Smarties but to have this increase their

purchasing behavior of the product.

The campaign will begin in August 2010 and will conclude in July 2011. The campaign

efforts will be evaluated based on the consumer purchasing data of Smarties products at the end

of campaign year and compared with data from the previous year for the purpose of evaluating

whether the campaign efforts were successful at reaching the 10% increase in consumer

purchasing of all Smarties products.

8 of 31

Positioning Strategy

Currently in local grocery and candy stores, Smarties is often found at the bottom of the

shelf if it is there. Some grocery stores don’t even have the candy available for purchase at all or

only have the original Smarties. The “competition” surrounding Smarties is often in bulk candy

form and is commonly known as the cheap candy option that is often purchased around

Halloween and other occasions where a substantial amount of candy is needed for a cheap price.

Although Smarties is benefitting from being known as a cheaper candy option, they must

try to move up the shelves to the forefront of consumer’s minds. By changing their package and

advertising, Smarties will become more noticeable. Additionally, Smarties could offer stores

with a cardboard cutout feature of their new character which may help to further advertise their

product and position their product in a noticeable area in the store. By positioning the product in

a notable place not only in the store but in the candy market as a whole, consumers will become

more aware of Smarties products and what the company as whole has to offer them.

In order to increase consumer awareness of Smarties, Smarties must find multiple ways

for consumers to become aware of its product. Currently, Smarties is not appealing to its

audience in any way other than being a product available for purchase on the shelves of candy

retailers. With that being said, Smarties needs to create a mascot to represent its product, enhance

its current website; introduce commercials, product placement and additional products into the

public. They need to join social networking sites, conduct competitions that directly interact with

consumers, carry out seasonal marketing and perform philanthropy for the purpose of making

consumers more aware of the Smarties brand year round with the goal of increasing consumer

purchasing by 10% after the conclusion of the campaign year.

9 of 31

Message Strategy

The overall message strategy of this campaign is to further promote Smarties as a primary

competitor in the candy market. Smarties will keep advertising and messages consistent

throughout its website, commercials, Facebook page and in-store advertisements. The majority

of the communication from Smarties will be directed at the primary audience of children under

the age of 12 and parents of these children. The other target audience of those that grew up with

the candy will not be the primary target of this campaign although the advertisements that will be

used may influence them and their purchasing tendencies.

The slogan that will be used throughout the campaign is “Be a Smartie”. The logo that is

currently used will continue to be used however, will be digitally enhanced and slightly updated

to further represent the new advertising and be more consistent with other competitors in the

candy market. Additionally, in order to keep messages consistent throughout the website,

Facebook page, commercials, and in stores Smarties will adopt a mascot to further represent the

brand.

The Smarties Mascot

One of the main advertising tools that Smarties can use in order to add cohesion to its

new campaign is to create a character or mascot to represent the brand. Many companies use a

character to add personality to the candy to further engage the audience into understanding and

liking the candy and what the candy and company means to them. Some companies use a

seemingly unrelated character to add personality to the candy such as the owl for Tootsie pops or

Willy Wonka for the Wonka product line. Other companies use the actual candy itself as the

character for the candy such as M&M, Peeps, Nerds and Lemonhead.

10 of 31

Because of the memorable personality and imagery that these characters provide the

consumers as well as the brand as a whole, Smarties will adopt this advertising technique in to

their campaign with the creation of Artie the Smartie worm. Each segment of Artie’s body will

be a different color of Smartie. Artie will be colorful and fun and will be featured in all of the

advertising done by Smarties throughout the year. He will be featured on the website in the

games provided, and on commercials where his personality will be discovered and enjoyed. A

small version of him will be on the new Smarties wrapper as well. Additionally, a small Artie the

Smartie worm could be placed on the register checkout area so consumers would see the product

right before purchasing their other items. By placing Artie near the checkout area, consumers

will become more aware of the product by visibly seeing it more clearly in the store and even

more so seeing the product right before a purchase while they wait may increase they likelihood

to buy the product.

Artie the Smartie worm will provide cohesion to the brand and provide consumers with a

recognizable and memorable image of the product. Artie will create a personality for the brand in

which consumers can in a way “befriend” Smarties and learn to love and enjoy him and the

product further.

11 of 31

Media Strategy

Smarties will use a variety of media in order to further reach their primary and secondary

audiences. They will offer information on their new website, use social networking as a

communication tool, air commercials, use product placement and various public relations efforts

throughout the campaign year to increase consumer awareness and purchasing of the Smarties

products.

The Website

In order to set the base for the campaign, the first thing that Smarties will change is their

website. Their website, albeit colorful, is not keeping up with the competition and is not fully

appealing to their audience. Many other candy product websites are in HD color, informative,

fun and highly interactive. Currently, Smarties website, although somewhat informative, does

not represent the information in a fun and inviting way. Their website does not invite the viewer

to further explore the website and rather seems available for quick and simple information. Even

though the Smarties product may be simple, their website does not have to be and shouldn’t be.

If Smarties wants to change the current image of their company not only in the public’s eye but

in the online sphere as well, they need to change the overall image, formatting and interactivity

of the website.

Overall, Smarties needs to enhance the image of its website by using brighter, enhanced

and more graphic images and text. The website needs to appear new, fresh and in keeping with

the times. The Smarties logo should pop at the top and could even benefit with the addition of

movement to the text. Even though the rainbow background is somewhat childlike it seems

unprofessional and perhaps too pronounced. The tabs in red on the left do not stand out enough

against the hot pink background. The background needs to be simplified so that the product

12 of 31

content and product itself becomes the focus. Above all of these, rather than using “real life”

images of the product, Smarties would benefit from making the graphics and texts more cartoon-

like so they could be further enhanced through color and interactivity. This would make the

website seem more professional, put together and consistent with the competitors in the market.

Secondly, Smarties needs to change the format of the website. Although the tabs are

clearly labeled and take you to the correct section, a substantial amount of clicking is needed to

find out more information on each page. With the addition of tabs that once scrolled over break

down further before clicking, the information may be more clearly found. Currently, the text runs

together on the page and the information becomes lost to the viewer. By further breaking down

the information, it will be more easily received by the viewer. Additionally, the Online Store

page doesn’t seem connected to the Smarties website based on its image alone. The format and

color scheme of the Online Store should be consistent with the entire website as to not confuse

customers into thinking that they are being taken away to an outside source to order the product.

Thirdly, the overall format is not portrayed in a fun way. Although a good amount of

information can be found about the product on the website, the information is not portrayed in a

fun way. By making the website more interactive, the website’s information will pop even more.

The website could become more interactive through the cartoonization and animation of its

graphics as previously mentioned as well as through the games it offers and through a more in

depth feedback with consumers.

The website currently has an option for kids only to play games but these games are not

representative enough of the product. Currently, there is a puzzle, bubble trouble, word search

and air hockey. Although the puzzle does form the logo of Smarties, this is the only game out of

four that directly promotes the product. Why not have the bubbles in Bubble Trouble be

13 of 31

Smarties? Rather than having the unrelated game of air hockey or boring word search, Smarties

could have a paint option where you click/drag Smarties to form a picture, a game that focuses

on the life of the new character that represents the Smarties brand or even a short quiz about the

product that provides the player with a discount coupon on their next Smarties purchase or even

just on their next Smarties purchase on their specific website.

Lastly, consumer feedback is key when evaluating the success of your product. Consumer

feedback allows you to evaluate what you are doing well, what you could do better and what you

need to change altogether. The current website has a very simple “contact us” page that seems to

be a typical form from a template. Smarties could add a customer satisfaction survey, more

information on how to contact the company directly, or even just give the consumer a time frame

in which they will be contacted back by as M&M’s does. They should also highlight the fact

somewhere on the website that consumers can now become a fan of Smarties on Facebook as

will be discussed in the next section of this campaign proposal. This will provide consumers with

an additional route to find out more information and contact the company in an avenue they are

familiar and comfortable with.

Social Networking

With the use of internet and in particular the use of social networking sites being used at

not only a higher rate daily but by a wider audience, Smarties needs to target in this market

segment as well. Being that their primary audience is children who more than likely are not

members of social networking sites, the use of this marketing tool will be more focused to adults

with children. Additionally, by using a social networking site to target consumers, Smarties can

create a database of consumers in which they can gather more specific information about the

14 of 31

demographic and psychographic qualities of the Smarties consumer in order to tailor future

messages towards this audience.

With that being said, Facebook will be used in particular to promote the product.

Smarties will create a page where Facebook members can become a fan. Many companies such

as Outback and Papa Johns have recently implemented this strategy and although the direct

consumer purchasing results of this cannot yet be seen, the overall appearance of the company is

more visible at the very least on social networking sites. On their page Smarties can include

various information about their company, their products, and their website as well as how to

purchase their products.

In order to add an incentive for Facebook members to want to become a fan of Smarties,

the first one hundred fans will win a free “Be a Smartie” t-shirt. After becoming a fan, the first

one hundred fans will be sent a message to reply back with their address and whether they want

an adult or kids t-shirt, for the t-shirt to be mailed. The fans must live in the United States and

Canada to participate. Although mailing t-shirts across the U.S. will cost Smarties money,

promotion from doing so will be seen not only on Facebook but the shirt will be seen in various

parts of the U.S. and Canada to further promote the product throughout time. Also, the first two-

hundred fans will receive a coupon for one free jumbo sized Smarties at their local candy or

grocery store. This will help to increase the overall image of Smarties to consumers and allow

additional consumers to try the product or have their children try the product.

As part of the postings that Smarties will continually need to update throughout the year,

Smarties will include various information about the products being offered during that part of the

year, the competitions they are running, and even play on current events happening to show the

public they are up to date on information. For example on Papa Johns status, they wished

15 of 31

soldiers a Happy Veterans Day and thanked them for their service. This not only promotes Papa

Johns but showed that they are an organization that cares. Smarties can use this strategy and

implement it just as easily within their company and how it is represented on social networking

sites like Facebook.

Commercials

The primary advertising for this campaign will be done through the use of television

commercials on networks primarily focused around children’s shows and during times when

Smarties target audience of children under the age of twelve are viewing the television shows.

The commercials will be aired all across the United States and Canada and will attempt to reach

the maximum amount of people within the target audiences. The higher the frequency of the

commercials throughout the campaign year, the more likely consumers will be to view Smarties

as a direct competitor in the candy market. For this reason, four separate but similar

commercials will be aired throughout the campaign year.

Some of the networks that target children will include: Nickelodeon, Nick Jr. and the

Disney Channel. In addition, Smarties will place commercials on more general networks as well

when parents, more than likely mothers, are watching television. Because parents and often

mothers are the member of the family that does the primary grocery and food related purchasing,

targeting them as well is necessary to fully reach both audiences successfully. The networks that

the commercials will appear on may include: Fox, CBS, ABC and The Food Network Channel.

The commercials will air on these networks in the early morning and then again later on in the

evening for the purpose of reaching a variety of viewers at different times of the day.

16 of 31

During the campaign year the commercials used will highlight the unique qualities about

the candy such as cost, taste and size as well as advertise for the “Be a Smartie” competition. The

commercials will direct consumers to further visit Smarties website for more information.

Most importantly, the commercials will be interactive, fun and colorful. They will

introduce and portray the new Smarties mascot, Artie the Smartie worm. In addition, the

commercials will be made up of three dimensional, cartoon-like Smarties candies which come

together to form pictures and tell the story or message that the commercial will convey. For

example, the Smarties will come together and form a picture of a school with Artie walking

through the halls eating Smarties and growing longer, or a beach scene with the new mascot

wiggling along the sand. Because of the extreme creativeness of the commercials, it will make

the consumers want to see more unique, colorful and interesting commercials by Smarties in the

future.

Product Placement

Another way for Smarties to target their primary audience of children is through product

placement. Smarties will contact various children’s television shows such as Fairly Odd Parents,

iCarly and Dora the Explorer and find ways for the characters on the shows to eat or mention the

product which will further promote Smarties as an exciting and delicious candy to be eaten by

children. If children see someone they like or look up to eating the candy, then they themselves

may have a stronger desire to want the candy.

Public Relations

On the current website, Smarties has a whole page devoted to press. This page includes

several outdated advertisements and press releases that are generally not formatted in the best

way. Once clicked upon, some enlarge but still are in very small font. The date and where the

17 of 31

article or advertisement came from are not easily found on anything. Smarties must re-format

this page and include more up to date information regarding the new changes in their advertising

and marketing campaign. By reorganizing this page, consumers will be more easily able to find

current and up to date information.

On Smarties current website, they describe their company, Ce De Candy, Inc., as “ fun

and friendly family business that works hard to provide you with the highest quality, most

delicious candy on the planet”. Through the communication used in all of the advertising,

marketing and public relations efforts of this campaign, the fun, friendly, family business attitude

will be carried out. Smarties products will be portrayed as an exciting candy that is consumer

friendly. The family business attitude will be addressed on the website in regards to the

background information provided by Smarties. In addition, because Smarties will be hosting

competitions that involve both children and parents, Smarties will further promote the

importance of family involvement with their product.

As part of the public relations efforts intertwined in this campaign, Smarties will submit

various news releases to local and public media regarding the rebranding of the current product.

An initial press release would be sent out regarding the overall campaign efforts, the various

competitions that Smarties will host as well as a press release upon the conclusion and evaluation

of the addition of the campaign.

18 of 31

Sales Promotion

The overall objective of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing of Smarties by

allowing consumers to see Smarties products and advertisements throughout the year. In order to

successfully achieve this goal, Smarties needs to create additional products, conduct an

interactive competition, employ seasonal marketing, and carry out environmentally friendly and

philanthropic efforts.

Additional Products

Many companies such as Hershey and M&M have expanded their candy product line to

include additional products that are not candy related in order for their consumers to further

represent and enjoy the candy brand. Currently, Smarties has done this in a very minute way. On

the online store they currently offer, a Smarties t-shirt, pocket folder, koozie, baseball cap,

mouse pad and poster. Although these products are offered and are consistent in the colors used

and logo, they are too consistent, boring and old-fashioned. Smarties merchandise needs to be in

line with the new advertising, it needs to pop as the commercials and website will. In addition,

there needs to be a wider variety of products that their primary audience will want to buy. For

example, Smarties could create a coloring book that shows various individuals, characters and

scenes that somehow connect to Smarties or where the Smarties candy is seen somewhere in the

picture. Additionally, Smarties could offer there new “Be A Smartie” t-shirt on the website.

“Be a Smartie” Competition

One of the main components of this campaign is to incorporate a highly interactive

competition that not only promotes the purchase of Smarties but encourages creativity and the

involvement of children with the product. Children will use Smarties to form three-dimensional

pictures with the product. Children must submit a photograph of themselves with their artwork as

19 of 31

well as a brief biography of who they are, there age, why they love Smarties and why they want

to “Be a Smartie.”

The “Be a Smartie” competition will be implemented March 1, 2011-April 31, 2011 so

that children will be in school and perhaps be able to create additional awareness of the

competition through their network of friends and acquaintances at school. The “Be a Smartie”

competition will be advertised online on Smarties website, on Facebook, as well as on a

commercial that will be aired throughout the United States and Canada before and during the

competition.

Children age twelve and under can participate and will be judged on creativity, use of the

Smarties products and the information they submit about themselves. The information will then

be added to the current database that Smarties creates in order to further understand the qualities

that make up the Smarties consumer. The submissions of the contestants will be judged by age

bracket; for example, children under four years old will only be compared and judged with other

children under the age of four to keep the competition fair. Prizes will be awarded for every age

bracket. So children under the age of four, five-six, seven-eight, night-ten and eleven-twelve will

each receive prizes.

Every child that participates will receive a “Be a Smartie” award complimenting them for

participating and their creativity skills as well as a coupon for a free jumbo sized Smarties. First,

second and third place awards will be given out for each age bracket as well. The third place

award will consist of a “Be a Smartie” t-shirt and poster. The second place award will consist of

“Be a Smartie” t-shirt, poster, coloring book and baseball cap. The first place winner for each

age bracket will receive everything from the third and second place winners as well as a $250

20 of 31

award to their school library. Additionally, the first place winner will have their picture featured

on Smarties website and have the chance to have their picture in one of Smarties commercials.

Seasonal Marketing

In order to increase consumer awareness of the product year round, Smarties needs to

implement the addition and/or enhancement of seasonal flavors and/or packaging. This can

create an atmosphere where consumers look forward to the seasonal variety and could have the

potential to increase consumer purchasing of the product year round. Smarties could only release

their Love Hearts product during Valentine’s Day, their tropical flavored variety in the summer

to go along with the season, or even a package with all blue and white Smarties for winter.

In addition, during the holidays Smarties could team up with a gingerbread or ornament

making company and promote the use of their product to decorate these additional products.

Consumers will become more aware of the Smarties products by spacing out when consumers

see specific advertising and promotional materials for each of the products as well as by keeping

the schedule of when the products are released each year the same.

Philanthropy

In order for Smarties to be seen as a company that cares about the environment and the

health and wellness of its consumers and their friends and family, Smarties will try to enter the

eco-friendly marketplace, further help education within the public school system as well as team

up with various health conscious organizations.

Smarties will enter the eco-friendly marketplace by printing their wrappers on recycled

paper and encourage their consumers to further recycle their wrappers. Even though this may

cost the company more money, in this day and age, people are very interested in eco-conscious

21 of 31

companies and brands and may even pay more for them. Nestle has had success with this

strategy with their Deer Park Bottled Water which is bottled in less plastic than most, uses

recycled plastic and is further recyclable. By entering the eco-marketplace, Smarties will further

be recognized as a respectable and caring brand.

Secondly, Smarties will create a competition in which schools compete to collect the

recyclable wrappers. This will not only further their philanthropy in the eyes of consumers, but

further the consumption of their product. Smarties will hold a four month long competition,

beginning in September 2010 in which schools will compete by sending in wrappers. Holding

the competition in the fall will help to further increase sales of Smarties during the Halloween

and holiday season which is a high candy purchasing time among consumers.

This competition will be advertised for on Smarties website, their Facebook page and in

commercials. On the website, Smarties will have a form for people to fill out and mail in with

their wrappers that asks how many wrappers are being mailed, what school they should be

counted for and the location of the school. At the end of the competition, the school that sends in

the most recycled wrappers will receive a $5,000 donation from Smarties towards the school.

Another way that Smarties can increase consumer awareness of the product year round is

to team up with various organizations to not only further promote their product but promote the

cause as well. Many food related companies such as General Mills and M&M have had success

incorporating this strategy into part of their advertising.

Smarties could team up with Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Research and distribute an

all pink Smarties roll with the breast cancer logo on the package during the Valentine’s Day

holiday or team up with Lance Armstrong Livestrong and distribute an all yellow package of

Smarties with the Livestrong logo present on the package during July when the Tour de France

22 of 31

event is happening.. This would not only promote the cause of Susan G. Komen for the Cure

and/or Livestrong but could also increase consumer awareness and purchasing of the product

with the ever changing, unique and seasonal wrapper and further consumer awareness of

Smarties as a company that cares.

23 of 31

Timing

August 2010

The campaign advertising will begin and will consist of a television commercial that will

be aired in the U.S. and Canada. The commercial will introduce the Artie the Smartie

worm and set up an atmosphere in which consumers will want to see more advertising

from Smarties. Additionally, a Facebook page will be created, the website will be

updated featuring the look of the new advertisements. Lastly, a press release will be

submitted to various media regarding the new campaign and rebranding of the company.

September 2010

The school competition for wrappers will begin. A new commercial will be aired

regarding the competition featuring Artie walking through a school shredding Smarties

wrappers and becoming a longer worm as he goes. A cartoon girl or boy will walk behind

him picking up the wrappers. A press release will be submitted to various local and

national media regarding the school competition and Smarties new efforts to help schools

nationwide.

October 2010

The school competition ad will change slightly to include some reference to Halloween

and purchasing the product for the holiday season. Smarties will put updates on their

website informing consumers of the current winners nationwide so schools can track their

progress online throughout the competition. Smarties will work with various television

shows to have their product featured in a show.

24 of 31

November 2010

The original school competition ad will continue to air throughout the month. Smarties

will update their website informing consumers of the current winners nationwide so

schools can continue to track their progress online throughout the competition.

December 2010

The original school competition ad will continue to air throughout the month until the

competition ends December 31, 2010. Smarties will update the current winners for the

last time before the competition ends. Seasonal Smarties products will be made available

online consisting of a gingerbread house, holiday t-shirt, Christmas ornament and

wrapping paper.

January 2011

The school competition winner will be announced online and through a news release, and

a check will be donated to the winning school.

February 2011

The Love Hearts and Susan G. Komen pink Smarties will be made available for

Valentines Day.

March 2011

The “Be a Smartie” competition will begin. A new commercial will air with information

regarding this competition. A press release will also be submitted regarding the

competition.

25 of 31

April 2011

The commercial regarding the “Be a Smartie” competition will air throughout the month

until the competition ends on April 31, 2011. Smarties will work with various television

shows to have the product featured in a show.

May 2011

The winning contestants will be announced. Award letters and prizes will be mailed out.

The winning pictures from the contest will be featured on Smarties website.

June 2011

Tropical/Lance Armstrong Livestrong Smarties will be made available for the season.

The overall winner’s entry from the “Be a Smartie” competition will be featured in the

final commercial regarding Smarties.

July 2011

The campaign will conclude July 31, 2011. Data will be collected regarding the success

of the campaign efforts and the evaluation process will begin.

26 of 31

Budget

The estimated budget for this campaign is $750,000 and will be used for the following:

• New, Recyclable Packaging

• New Website

• Four Commercials

• Product Placement on TV

• Facebook Become a Fan which will include

o 200 Discount Coupons

o 100 T-Shirts

• Seasonal Packaging/Organization Packaging

• “Be a Smartie” Competition Prizes

o Awards and Postage (1,000+)

o 1st Place Prize (T-Shirt, Poster, Coloring Book, Hat, $250 to school library)

o 2nd Place Prize (T-Shirt, Poster, Coloring Book and Hat)

o 3rd Place Prize (T-Shirt and Poster)

• School Wrapper Competition

27 of 31

Conclusion

The goal of this campaign is to increase consumer purchasing by 10% by increasing

consumer awareness of the Smarties products as well as for consumers to view Smarties as a

primary competitor in the candy market. By unifying the brand with the addition of a new

character, a clear and consistent message will be received by consumers using a variety of

mediums ranging from Smarties website to television commercials and product placement to

social networking sites and in-store advertisements. Through the interactive nature of all of these

avenues as well as the interactivity involved with the two competitions Smarties will host,

consumers will be able to interact with the product directly and become more aware of the

Smarties products and brand as a whole. Additionally, through the philanthropic and charitable

efforts that Smarties will partake in, consumers will further understand what the Smarties brand

entails and how the brand easily fits into not only their individual lifestyle but into the twenty-

first century candy marketplace. Through the use of database marketing Smarties will further

understand the demographic and psychographic qualities that make up their target audiences

which will help them target these audiences more specifically and effectively in future

communication and campaign efforts.

28 of 31

References

Smarties. (2008). Ce De Candy, Inc., www.smarties.com