Popular Candy from the 1980's - Candycrate.com - Skittles Home | Candy by Occasion | New Years Eve Candy | Candy by Decade | Popular 1980's Candy | Skittles Skittles Skittles are brightly colored crunchy candy shells over chewy fruity centers. Skittles were first introduced in the United States as an imported item in 1979, it wasn't until 1982 that domestic production began. Surprisingly, the classic slogan 'taste the rainbow,' didn't come into play until 1994. There are various assortments and varieties of colors, flavors, and themes. Currently, Candy Crate offers the Sour Skittles and Original Skittles, but may expand in the future. 7 More recently Skittles has embraced social media and used - MKTG - 3660 View Full Document 7 More recently, Skittles has embraced social media and used it to further their zany image by posting and tweeting random and zany comments on their pages. In 2009, Skittles decided to fully embrace social media to make it a part of their advertising identity.

They linked their website to their Twitter account, allowing tweets to be a large part of their website which was so popular when it was first launched that in caused Twitter to crash in the after two days (Capell, 2009). They have since started to regulate what appears on their site and their Twitter to a larger degree, but skittles.com still features their social media as much if not more than the actual product (Skittles.com). Skittles now has over 25 million likes on Facebook and over 65,000 Twitter followers, making social media a large part of its strategy. Marketing Mix Product Skittles are small colourful candies with as fruit-inspired sweet and tangy taste. They consistently come in Original, Wild Berry, Tropical, and Sour flavor varieties, and a variety of other flavors are constantly being introduced for limited time periods. They come in packages ranging in from a standard 4 ounce package to 1 pound packages, or in packages of “fun size” packets, sometimes with only Skittles and often as part of a candy assortment. Place Skittles are currently sold across the US and the UK anywhere that candy is sold, including convenience stores, grocery stores, vending machines, movie theaters etc.

Price The standard size usually sells for under $1 while larger packages that contain fun size packs can be sold for up to $10. This preview has intentionally blurred sections. Sign up to view the full version. Skittles Media Plan - Marketing Marketing Share Skittles Media Plan Embed <iframe src="" width="750" height="600" frameborder="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" style="border:1px solid #CCC; border-width:1px; margin-bottom:5px; max-width: 100%;" allowfullscreen> </iframe> <div style="margin-bottom:5px"> <strong> <a href="" title="Skittles Media Plan" target="_blank">Skittles Media Plan</a></div> size(px) Text 1. Skittles Media PlanADV 6305Dr. Lu ZhengKristina Netzler, Katie Shupe, Yichen Wu, Chao Zhao 2.

2 Table of ContentsExecutive Summary 3Situation Analysis 4Company Background 4Corporate Responsibility 5Advertising History 6Marketing Mix 7SWOT Analysis 8Uncontrollable Constraints 10Brand Positioning 11Competitive Information 11Market Share 11Advertising Share 14Media Mix 16Share of Voice Analysis 18Marketing Objectives 19Target Audience 20Advertising Objectives 21Media Objectives 22Media Quintile Analysis 24Proposed Media 28Pros and Cons of each advertising medium to be included in the media mix 29Advertising Details 32Cost Summary and Budget Recap 35Flow Chart 36Monthly Detail 37Bibliography 38Appendix – Table 1 42 3. 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARYSkittles are a variety of bite-sized, fruit flavored, chewy candies with a colorful shell inthe non-chocolate confectionaries product category. Owned by the Wrigley Company, asubsidiary of Mars, Inc. is a recognized leader in the confections industry.

Skittles were firstintroduced in the United States in 1979 in the Original flavor that included a combination ofOrange, Lemon, Lime, Grape, and Strawberry candy pieces. Today Skittles candies havediversified to include seven different flavor products; Original, Sour, Wild Berry, Riddles,Tropical, Darkside, and Blenders. According to the official company website (Wrigley, 2013).The tag line “Taste the Rainbow” has been used since Skittles were first introduced. TheWrigley Company has used Cable TV, Network TV, Spot TV, Syndication, Network radio,Internet Display, and Magazine advertising to promote the Skittles brand. Recently, Skittles hasalso amplified their website (Skittles.com) and social media presence in an effort to build astrong relationship with their customers. Skittles now has over 25 million likes on Facebook andover 65,000 Twitter followers, making social media a large part of its strategy.According to Mintel (2012), Mars, Inc. dominates the chewy candy segment, with a27.1% market share.

Specifically, Skittles is Mars, Inc. leading brand occupying 82% of themarket. Starburst and Life Savers Gummies hold 7% and 3.2% market shares respectively andare another two popular brands under Mars’s Wrigley unit. Other competitors in this segmentinclude Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish brands with a market share of 4.2% and 3.4%respectively.Skittles are primarily targeted to consumers aged 18-44 who look to satisfy a sweetcraving, value products made of real fruit, and most purchase them at supermarkets and massmerchandisers (Mintel, 2012). These consumers are predominately white, Black/AfricanAmerican, and Asian with more female users (46.9%) compared to male users (36.1%) (MRI,2011). Also, MRI data shows Skittle users live primarily in the South (41.1%) and Midwest(23.3%) and these two segments of people are 11% (South) and 7% (Midwest) more likely thanthe national average to consume Skittles.

We also conclude the secondary target market arechildren and teens aged 6-17. While no MRI data is available for this age group, we believe thecreative direction of advertisements and MRI data on vehicles used suggests Skittles targets bothchildren and the mom’s purchasing the product for them.Media consumption is highest amongst the primary target audience through magazine,newspaper, Internet and TV media. This media plan will focus on five different media throughwhich Skittles will continue to advertise through magazines, Internet, Network Radio, TV andwith the implementation of outdoor advertising.Since Skittles are purchased year-round, our media plan utilizes the pulsing method withcontinuous advertising throughout the year and heavier periods of advertising during certainmonths to capitalize on important holidays, Easter and Halloween.Overall, our budget for the campaign is 7,500,000, but accounting for 7% contingencythe budget is $ 6,975,000. The contingency allows for additional units to be purchased ifnecessary. Our campaign will run from January through December 2014.

Since Skittles are in themature phase within a saturated market, our campaign and budget are designed to remindconsumers about the product and increase interaction between the brand and its consumers. Theactual amount spent was $2,756,778, which is less than our project budget, but will allow foradditional units of media to be purchased if necessary. 4. 4 SITUATION ANALYSISCompany BackgroundThe Wrigley Company, a subsidiary of Mars, Inc. is a recognized leader in confectionswith a wide range of product offerings including gum, mints, lollipops, and hard and chewycandies including Skittles (Wrigley, 2013). Some of the Wrigley’s other world-famous brandsinclude Starburst, Altoids, Life Savers, and several popular gums such as Take 5, Big Red, Extra,Orbit, and Doublemint.

The company is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and has operations inmore than 40 countries and distribution in more than 180 countries (Wrigley, 2013).Skittles candies were first introduced in the United States in 1979 (Wrigley, 2013). TheOriginal flavor included a combination of Orange, Lemon, Lime, Grape and Strawberry chewycandy pieces. Today Skittles candies have diversified to include seven different flavor products;Original, Sour, Wild Berry, Riddles, Tropical, Darkside, and Blenders. According to the officialcompany website (Wrigley, 2013), “Skittles are a variety of bite-sized chewy candies with acolorful candy shell, Skittles® candies have been allowing fans to enjoy Skittles® for decades.”Skittles candies are part of the non-chocolate confectionaries sector with competitorssuch as our Sour Patch Kids, Life Savers Gummies, and Starburst, which is also owned by theWrigley Company. The competitive set for the non-chocolate confectionaries sector includesfruit-flavored confectionaries, primarily non-chocolate candy and gum.

According to BusinessWire (2012), the 2011 industrys revenue was reported at $6.4 billion USD, with an estimatedgross profit of 39.18%. This finding suggests that despite a lagging economy, the snackingindustry remains strong and presents opportunities for growth. 5. 5 Corporate ResponsibilityThe Wrigley Company is dedicated to “Putting Our Principles into Action” and bringinga bright world to life (Wrigley Principles, 2013). Focusing on three P’s; the Planet, People, andPerformance, Wrigley believes in their role of responsibility and strong citizenship to the widerworld. The company provides the below statements about the three P’s (Wrigley Principles,2013):1) Planet“From the way we source our ingredients, to how we fuel our factories and package ourproducts, we are mindful of our impact on the world around us. We’re at our best whensound environmental, social and economic practices are part of everything we do.

Wetake great care to plan for the future and minimize waste at every turn.”2) People“We aim to make a difference by respecting diversity and encouraging inclusion,consistently improving our health and safety practices, providing volunteer opportunitiesfor our associates and through philanthropy with real impact.”3) Performance“Increasing the simplicity and efficiency of our operations keeps lifting our business tonew heights. And remaining financially sound affords us the freedom to forge ahead withan uplifting vision of the future.”With 41 brands worldwide, and 17,000 associates in more than 40 countries thesededications for corporate responsibility are imperative to The Wrigley Company’s success(Wrigley Principles, 2013). 6. 6 Health and safety for the environment, employees, and consumers continue to be at the forefrontthe company’s value chain.

In 1987, the Wrigley Company Foundation was created and hasdonated more than 50 million USD to charitable organizations with the mission to improve thehealth of people and the planet (Wrigley Principles, 2013).Advertising HistorySkittles was launched in 1979, but its memorable advertising began when “Taste theRainbow” was introduced in 1994 (Ives, 2004). “Taste the Rainbow” has been one of the longestrunning campaigns in the advertising history (Janssen, n.d.), and Skittles has not stopped using it.The slogan was introduced by the agency DArcy Masius Benton & Bowles in New York andwas originally accompanied by fanciful images such as dancing wizards (Ives, 2004).In 2004 TBWA/Chiat/Day took over the account and started adding variations to thefanciful images and “Taste the Rainbow” theme (Ives, 2004). Where the original ads were lightand fanciful in a fairytale sense, the new agency made ads that were fanciful in a zany way.

Thenew ads included images such as people being fed Skittles by birds and teenagers sitting on arainbow in the sky (Ives, 2004). New tag lines were also introduced that played off of theoriginal slogan such as “taste the rainbow, believe the rainbow.” After this, Skittles hascontinued this trend of zany ads that do not directly relate to the product except to express anelement of fun and surprise. They have also continued to keep “taste the rainbow” while addingother twists. When Sour Skittles were introduced in 2000, they were advertised with the slogan“Feel the charge. Taste the Rainbow.” This campaign has remained consistent to zany themesand “Taste the Rainbow” even through many years and product variations. 7. 7 More recently, Skittles has embraced social media and used it to further their zany imageby posting and tweeting random and zany comments on their pages.

In 2009, Skittles decided tofully embrace social media to make it a part of their advertising identity.They linked their website to their Twitter account, allowing tweets to be a large part of theirwebsite which was so popular when it was first launched that in caused Twitter to crash in theafter two days (Capell, 2009). They have since started to regulate what appears on their site andtheir Twitter to a larger degree, but skittles.com still features their social media as much if notmore than the actual product (Skittles.com). Skittles now has over 25 million likes on Facebookand over 65,000 Twitter followers, making social media a large part of its strategy.Marketing MixProductSkittles are small colourful candies with as fruit-inspired sweet and tangy taste. Theyconsistently come in Original, Wild Berry, Tropical, and Sour flavor varieties, and a variety ofother flavors are constantly being introduced for limited time periods.

They come in packagesranging in from a standard 4 ounce package to 1 pound packages, or in packages of “fun size”packets, sometimes with only Skittles and often as part of a candy assortment.PlaceSkittles are currently sold across the US and the UK anywhere that candy is sold, includingconvenience stores, grocery stores, vending machines, movie theaters etc.PriceThe standard size usually sells for under $1 while larger packages that contain fun size packscan be sold for up to $10. 8. 8 PromotionSkittles advertises on television, national radio, and they have advertised in magazines in thepast, though not in 2012 (Ad$pender).They also advertise on the internet and put a large focus on their social media campaign.

Theirads in all media are zany to the point of being outrageous, and the slogan “Taste the Rainbow” orsome variation of this slogan has been central to the ad campaign since 1994.SWOTSStrengths• Skittles has high brand awareness.• The candy has a great taste.• It appeals to many different demographic groups.• Skittles currently has a large distribution.• Diverse distribution channels exist such as checkout counters and vending machines.• Can be changed slightly with new flavors.• They contain real sugar, not high fructose corn syrup.• The small candies are easy to share with a group.• They are gluten free.• Many varieties contain vitamin C. 9.

9 Weaknesses• Skittles are high in sugar with 42 grams per serving.• Not everyone likes the super sweet taste.• They can be a choking hazard for young children.• They can be very messy if children play with them.Opportunities• Can be expanded to a more international market.• People have started using them as mixers in “Skittle Vodka.”• Branded products such as Skittles lip gloss and Skittles backpacks can be created.• Candy focused holidays such as Halloween and Easter provide seasonal salesopportunities.• New flavors can be created to suit the tastes of a new market or target group.Threats• People are becoming increasingly health conscious.• The government is trying to limit high-calorie products in schools, including in schoolvending machines.• There is a great deal of competition for non-chocolate candy, and new competitorssurface regularly.• Association with the Trayvon Martin incident may have added a negative stigma to theproduct. (Severson, 2012) 10.

10 Uncontrollable RestraintsSkittles are a fun, fruit-flavored, chewy, bite-sized candy with limited restraints.However, the Great Recession has impacted both unemployment rates and consumer spendinghabits. With limited finances, consumers have to watch every dollar they spend and focuspurchases on the necessities of life.Although employers have been adding jobs for three consecutive years the growth ingradual.Overall, the US economy has only regained about two thirds of the labor market from where itwas at the beginning of the Great Recession. According to Kurtz (2013), the United Statedunemployment rate fell to the lowest level since 2008 at 7.7% with 236,000 jobs added inFebruary 2013. While this is promising, only 119,000 were added in January, and the countryoverall still is feeling financial pains of the recession with 12 million workers still unemployed(Kurtz, 2013).In relation to unemployment rates, consumer spending rates have also impacted theUnited States economy.

In concurrence with the boost of jobs, purchases also rose 0.6% inFebruary 2013 and 0.2% in January 2013 (Chandra, 2013). While this is also encouraging, it isimportant to note the majority of this spending went towards household goods, which accountsfor about 70% of the economy, not discretionary spending on confection candies (Jamrisko,2013). With the recession effecting both employment and consumer spending, this will likelyreduce the number of purchases spent on confection candies. 11. 11 Brand PositioningSkittles positions itself as a variety of bite-size chewy candies with a colorful candy shellthat has been allowing fans to “Taste the Rainbow” for decades (Wrigley, 2013). It is the onlycandy that is the color of the rainbow and encourages consumers to live in color by being unique,out-of-the-box, and fun.

The Skittles brand is not solely the taste of the confection candy, butinstead, the experience of eating Skittles is just as or more important than the candy itself.Recently, in an effort to build a stronger relationship with its customers, Skittlesrevamped its website ( to encourage visitors to “Experience The Rainbow.”Filled with social media hooks, the website uses a myriad of touch points to convey the positionof the brand. Carole Walker, VP of Integrate Marketing Communications stated the effortreinforces the brand position that, “Skittles lives in a world that is unexpected” (Wasserman,2009). It is the first brand who has trusted the position of Skittles to be influenced by consumerswho have significant control over the website.Market ShareAccording to Mintel (2012), in the 52 weeks ending Sept. 9, 2012, Mars, Inc. continuedto dominate the chewy candy segment, holding 27.1% market share. Skittles, as Mars’ leadingbrand, occupies 8.2% of the market.

Starburst and Life Savers Gummies hold 7% and 3.2%market shares respectively and are another two popular brands under Mars’s Wrigley unit.After Mars, the next three leading companies are Kraft Foods Inc. (now MondelezInternational), the Hershey Company, and Farley’s & Sathers Candy. Kraft holds 10.7% marketshare thanks to a strong performance from its Sour Patch Kids and Swedish Fish brands with amarket share of 4.2% and 3.4% respectively. 12. 12 The Hershey Company holds 7.7% market share with a leading brand of Reeses Pieces (4.0%)and Jolly Rancher (2.7%). Farley’s & Sathers has a number of brands in the chewy category thatrepresent small slices of its overall market share of 6.6% (Mintel, 2012).Apart from big brands, private label maintained a strong presence with 11.4% marketshare, surpassing the second leading national brand, Kraft.

This could be explained by theeconomic depression when many consumers shift their dollars to less expensive private labels.However, the sales dip (Table 1) of private label from 2011 to 2012 may predict its decrease ofmarket share due to slow economy recovery possibly because low prices may not be enough toattract consumers (Mintel, 2012).Both of the pie charts show that the chewy candy segment is a pretty fragmented marketwith thousands of competitors (36% of other companies and 67% of other brands) holding a tinymarket share each. However, it is undoubted that Skittles has been leading the chewy candyindustry. Moreover, a sales increase of 10.5% of Skittles has been seen from 2011 to 2012(Mintel, 2012). We have reasons to believe that Skittles has the ability to expand its market sharein the near future, especially by taking the market share from private labels as the economyrecovers. 13.

13 Figure-1Figure-2 27% 11% 8% 7% 36% 11% 2012 Chewy Candy Market Share (Companies) Mars Inc. Kraft Foods Inc. The Hershey Company Farleys & Sathers Candy Other leading brands Private Label 8% 7% 4% 3% 4% 4% 3% 67% 2012 Chewy Candy Market Share (Brands) Skittles Starburst Sour Patch Kids Life Savers Gummies Swedish Fish Reeses Pieces Jolly Rancher Others 14. 14 Advertising ShareFigure-3Figure-42010 Advertising ShareSkittles Starburst Sour Patch Kids Life Saver Gummies2011 Advertising ShareSkittles Starburst Sour Patch Kids Life Saver GummiesSkittles 34%Life Saver Gummies 4%Starburst 46%Sour PatchKids 16%Skittles 32%Sour PatchKids 19%Starburst 38%Life Saver Gummies 11% 15.

15 Figure-5All three pie charts (figure 3-5) show the advertising share of Skittles and its three maincompetitors: Starburst, Sour Patch Kids and Life Saver Gummies during 2010-2012. It’sobviously that the advertising share of Skittles basically remains the same among three yearswith the percentage around 33%. For Starburst, advertising share of 2010 and 2012 is botharound 45%, while the percentage goes down a little bit as 38% in 2011. For Sour Patch Kids,there is a clear increase on advertising expenditure from 16% in 2010, 19% in 2011 to 21% in2012. Regarding Life Savor Gummies, the situation is a little dramatic. From 4% of advertisingshare in 2010 to 11% in 2011, Life Savor Gummies has increased its advertising share 2 timesmore than previous year.

However, in 2012, due to the sharp cut on its advertising expenditure,the advertising share also falls to less than 1% accordingly.In summary, Starburst has been the champion in advertising expenditure among these 4brands, followed by Skittles, Sour Patch Kids and Life Savor Gummies. Only Sour Patch Kidsshows clear tendency of a continuous increase in advertising share.2012 Advertising ShareSkittles Starburst Sour Patch Kids Life Saver GummiesSkittles 33%Starburst 45%Sour PatchKids 21%Life Saver Gummies 1% 16.

16 In 2012 Starburst spent $9,792,900 in advertising while Skittles spending $7,341,600 followedby Sour Patch Kids with $4,710,500 and Life Savor Gummies with the least of $71,300(Ad$pender, 2013).Media MixMedia change tendency chartBrandsMedia used in allthree years2010Unique media2011Unique media2012Unique mediaSkittlesNetwork TVCable TVSyndicationSpot TVUS int-display/MagazinesNetwork radioNetwork radioStarburstNetwork TVCable TVSyndicationSpot TVNetwork radioUS int-display/ Magazines /SPK Cable TVSpot TVUS int-displayUS int-display /LSG US int-display / Magazines /Chart-1Chart-1 reflects an interesting finding in comparing data from all three years’ mediausage for all four brands. In 2011, three out of four brands spent money on magazinesadvertising. However, advertising expenditure on magazines all disappeared in 2012.

ForSkittles, data shows the possible trend that network radio may be included into its routine mediafor advertising. 17. 17 For Sour Patch Kids (SPK) and Life Saver Gummies (LSG), whose advertising expenditure ismuch smaller than the other two brands, the trend shows that they would like to put all themoney focus on only one kind of media.Figure-6Figure-72012 Skittles Media MixNetwork TV Cable TV Syndication Spot TV Network radio US internet-display2012 Starburst Media MixNetwork TV Cable TV Syndication Spot TV Network radio US internet-displayCable TV 58%Syndication8%Network radio4%Network TV26%US int-display4%Spot TV less than1%Cable TV54%Network TV30%US int-display11%Network radio3%Syndication2%Spot TV1% 18. 18 Taking the media mix data of 2012 as example for analysis, the two pie charts above(figure 6 & 7) show the detailed media mix information for Skittles and Starburst.

Since SourPatch Kids (SPK) and Life Saver Gummies (LSG) all used only one kind of media, chart forthese two brands will be omitted here. SPK spent $4,710,500 on cable TV while LSG spent$71,300 on US internet-display. For Skittles and Starburst, their advertising expenditure in 2012was relatively $7,341,600 (Skittles) and $9,792,900 (Starburst). These two brands both spentover half of advertising expenditure on cable TV and more than 25% of the money on networkTV. Reflected on actual dollars, for cable TV, Skittles spent $4,242,000 while Starburst spent$5,270,100.

For network TV, Skittles spent $1,915,900 comparing to $2,897,400 from Starburst.However, 11% of Starburst’s budget ($1,062,000) goes to US internet-display while this numberfor Skittles is only 4% ($296,300).

The lease amount of advertising expenditure is Spot TV withSkittles at less than 1% and Starburst at 1% (Ad$pender, 2013).Share of Voice AnalysisBrandNetworkTVCable TV Syndication Spot TVNetworkRadioUS int-displaySkittles 39.80% 29.83% 73.27% 2.15% 53.62% 20.72%Starburst 60.20% 37.05% 26.73% 97.85% 46.38% 74.29%SPK 0.00% 33.12% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00%LSG 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 4.99%Total 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 100.00% 1

00.00% 100.00%Chart-2Chart-2 above shows the share of voice for Skittles and its three main competitors in theindustry.

Skittles only takes domination in syndication and network radio. 19. 19 It’s important to mention that in the column of cable TV both Starburst and Sour Patch Kids hadhigher share of voice than Skittles. In the media categories of network TV, spot TV and USinternet-display, Starburst all takes the 1stplace in share of voice.However, MRI data shows a different way on how to spend money on various mediacategories to make effective advertisements. According to MRI data from 2009 to 2011, heavymagazine users and medium to heavy Internet users are more likely to buy Skittles. Hence,Skittles should include magazines into one of its routine media for advertising while keep raisingits share of voice for US internet-display with utilizing all of its current social platforms likeFacebook, Twitter, Google plus, YouTube page and its official website. If Skittles spends moneyon magazines in the future while all main competitors don’t, Skittles will definitely become onestep ahead in this fierce competition. Regarding the internet-display part, digital advertising likebanner ads and mobile apps should also be taken into consideration.

Moreover, since femaleshows more preference towards Skittles according to MRI data, several popular social apps withmajority of female users like Instagram and Pinterest can be powerful platforms as well.Marketing ObjectivesThe marketing objective for the Skittles media plan is to increase its market share by 2percent from current 8.2% to reach 10% from Jan 1, 2014 to Dec 31, 2014 to keep its 1stplace.2% seems a little bit lower as the target for a year-round plan, but it’s based on severalconsiderations about the outside environment and product per se as below: 1. currently the USmarket is still under an economic recession; 2.Skittles is not the necessity product for daily life; 3. the candy market has been quite saturated.Hence, we set a relatively moderate target to make this more practical and easier to reach. 20. 20 Based on the data from Mintel and MRI, it is shown that white female aged 18-44 are themain target audience.

However, according to conclusion from other research, it is mentioned thatkids and teens are the actual consumers who eat Skittles, although their parents are the onespaying money for the candies (Kee, 2010). Bearing all these in mind, we are going to target kidsand teens aged 6-17 together with targeting white female aged 18-44 because children are themost important motivations to attract actual buyers for Skittles. By increasing the sales of theproduct, it will be important for Skittles to grab a larger market share while strengthening itsbrand image.Target AudienceThe target market of non-chocolate confectionery, according to Mintel (2012), isconsumers aged 18-44 who look to satisfy a sweet craving, value products made of real fruit, andmostly purchase them at supermarkets and mass merchandisers. Mintel also showed that Asianand black respondents are more likely than average to consume the products.Similar conclusions can be drawn by analyzing the MRI Mediamark data.The primary target audience for Skittles during 2014-2015 campaign year is people aged 18-44(MRI, 2011).

This segment of people occupies more than 70% of Skittles users and issignificantly more likely than the national average to make a purchase. Also, MRI data show thatin 2011 there are more female Skittles users (46.9%) than their male counterparts (36.1%) in theage group of 18-49, and women (Index 161) are more likely than men (Index 124) to buySkittles.Moreover, white people make up more than 70% of Skittles users followed by Black/AfricanAmerican people (18.5%) with a significantly high Index number (159) meaning they are 59%more likely than the national average to use Skittles (MRI, 2011). 21. 21 Therefore, we are wise to target the white audience primarily and regard Black/African people asthe secondary target audience. However, note that sometimes the target market includes, but notlimited to, the target audience. According to Kee (2010), the target market of Skittles is tweens,teens and colorful candy-lovers.

We can also see from the MRI data (2011) that children aged 6-17 account for more than a half of total Skittles users in 2011 and are far more likely than thenational average to use Skittles due to high index numbers (134 for children aged 6-11; 130 forchildren aged 12-17), though they don’t necessarily buy Skittles themselves. Therefore, ouradvertising messages are also wise to be relevant to children to some extent.In addition, the MRI data (2009, 2010, 2011) reveal that heavy magazine users, mediumto heavy Internet users, light to medium newspaper users, and light TV users tend to buy Skittles.In 2011, heavy magazine users account for more than a quarter (27.9%) of Skittles users whilemedium to heavy Internet users occupy nearly 70% of those consumers.

Accordingly, bothmagazine and Internet are important to reach the target audience of Skittles.However, although light TV users are more likely to use Skittles, the Skittles users who are light,medium, and heavy TV users are pretty evenly distributed (MRI, 2011). Therefore, it is arbitraryto exclude TV as an option to reach the target audience.Skittles users live primarily in the South (41.1%) and Midwest (23.3%) and these twosegments of people are 11% (South) and 7% (Midwest) more likely than the national average toconsume Skittles (MRI, 2011). As a result, it will be imperative to advertise more in thoseregions.Advertising ObjectivesThe advertising objective for Skittles with this media plan is to increase the interactionbetween the brand and its consumers. 22. 22 Time period for this plan is the whole year of 2014. Well utilizing media of TV, magazines andinternet will help Skittles to accomplish this goal.

Advertising content will focus on the fun andemotional experience Skittles bring to its customers to continuously improving its brand imageand personality of “taste the rainbow”. Advertisement will also focus on product attributes.Media ObjectivesLevel Reach FrequencyRange Average Range AverageHigh 76-99% 80% 9 – 12 10Medium 61-75% 68% 6 – 8 7Low 50-60% 55% 2 – 5 3Reach and Frequency GoalsPeriod 1: April 2014 (Reach 58.8, Frequency 1.8; Spot: Reach 63.8, Frequency 1.9)Period 2: October 2014 (Reach 58.8, Frequency 1.8; Spot: Reach 63.8, Frequency 1.9)The reach and frequency goals are divided into six categories for the 2014 campaignyear, and further broken down into two categories to specifically target white, moms, and aged18-44.

The campaign schedule utilizes the pulsing method with continuous advertisingthroughout the year and heavier periods of advertising during certain months to capitalize onimportant holidays, Easter and Halloween.During the campaign we will target children aged 6-17 consistently throughout the yearto remind them to “Taste the Rainbow” and experience life in color with Skittles. 23. 23 In addition, during the higher pulsed periods we will target specific geographical areas andwhite, moms, aged 18-44 with strategy that they will be the purchasers of candy during theseholiday seasons. Due to the limitations of the Media Flight Plan software, we are only able tocalculate our campaign for the adult target audience.The first and second campaign periods during the seasonal months of April and Octoberhave low/medium reach and frequency goals because of Skittle’s limited budget. The firstseasonal promotion will occur in the first period during April, with Easter falling on April 20th,2014. During this time the reach and frequency goals specifically target mothers, and thesouthern and midwestern geographical areas of the United States.

The next promotion occurs inOctober during the Halloween season and we have kept the reach and frequency goals consistentto period one.Similar to period one, period two has low/medium reach and frequency goals to capitalize onmoms shopping for seasonal candy and geographical areas already more likely to purchaseSkittles than the national average. Finally, we will also include outdoor advertising thatconsiderably increases our reach and frequency goals. Unfortunately the Media Flight Plansoftware does not allow us to specifically manipulate outdoor data. Our strategy will be to placeoutdoor advertisements on freeways near exits with gas stations and rest stops in the southernand midwestern geographical areas. 24.

24 Media Quintile Analysis27.9 20.2 23.3 23.4 21.8 20.1 20.2 21.7 16.6 19.3 14.7 19.8 % of Skittles Users in the Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Quintiles 140 101 117 117 109 101 101 108 83 96 74 99 Index of Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Users 25. 25 According to the 2011 MRI data for people who purchased Skittles candy in the last 6months, magazines and internet are the best ways to reach Skittles users and while outdoor andradio are also both good options. Television and newspaper are not as popular media for theseusers.

(All data in this section taken from MRI data for Fall 2011 Product: Skittles- Bought Last6 Months)The first thing that can be observed from the MRI data is that Skittles purchasers areheavy magazine readers. They are 40% more likely than average to be in the heaviest quintile ofmagazine readers. Also, 48.1% of Skittles purchasers fall into the top two magazine quartiles,meaning just under half of our target are heavy or heaviest magazine users.Internet is the next medium that Skittle purchasers seem to favor. There are about anequal number of heavy and heaviest Internet users who purchase Skittles, and both are 17% morelikely than average to be in one of these top two quintiles. Furthermore, 46.7% of Skittlespurchasers fall into the top two quintiles meaning, as with magazines, that just under half of theSkittles audience are heavy or heaviest users.For outdoor, Skittles purchasers are 9% more likely than average to be heaviest outdoorusers and just 1% more likely than average to be heavy outdoor users.

62.9% of Skittles usersfall into the top three quintiles, making outdoor still a reasonable choice for Skittles marketing.Radio comes in just under outdoor in popularity with Skittles users. They are slightlymore likely than average to be heaviest or heavy radio users, and 64.5% of Skittle users fall intothe top three quintiles. However, they fall most strongly into the third quintile, which is whyoutdoor appears to be the slightly better option.For television, Skittles purchasers are 17% less likely than average to be heaviest usersand 4% less likely than average to be heavy users. 26. 26 55.8% fall into the top three quintiles of television watchers. Television may not be a bad choiceconsidering its ability to target children and its visual elements, but MRI suggests that it is notthe strongest choice.Finally, newspaper seems to be a very poor choice for Skittles advertising. Skittlespurchasers are 26% less likely than average to be the heaviest newspaper consumers and 1% lesslikely than average to be heavy newspaper readers.

They are significantly more likely to be in thelower three quintiles of magazine readers.For comparison, the following charts show the MRI media usage data for our primarytarget market, women ages 18-34 and then 35-49 who are classified as homemakers/primaryshoppers.Women in this age group appear to favor Internet more heavily that Skittle purchasers, butbesides this, the media trends are quite similar to Skittles purchasers.117 103 132 123 105 106 102 109 57 86 46 88 Females age 18-­‐34 Index of Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Users 27.

27 116 104 118 119 120 99 106 113 75 86 75 97 Females age 35-­‐49 Index of Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Users 23.4 20.6 26.3 24.6 21 21.2 20.5 21.7 11.4 17.1 9.2 17.6 % of Females age 18-­‐34 that are Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Users 28. 28 Proposed MediaBased on the media quintile analysis, media mix and share of voice analysis of Skittles,we have picked several media as below to reach all the target audience and make the advertisingmore effective during the campaign year of 2014. These media includes magazines, Internet,network radio, TV and outdoor.First, we strongly recommend including magazines as the routine advertising media forSkittles.

According to MRI data, nearly half of Skittles purchasers belong to the heaviest andheavy magazine users. Hence, magazines will be a wise way to reach potential buyers.Moreover, these group of people also have fairly high index number of 140 and 101. Analyzingfrom Ad$pender, using magazines will also help Skittles to lead a step ahead of its competitors.Because after 2011, Starburst and Life Saver Gummies all cancelled their advertisingexpenditure on magazines. (Chart-1)23.1 20.7 23.7 23.7 24.1 19.9 21.3 22.5 15.1 17.3 15 19.4 % of Females age 35-­‐49 that are Heaviest (I) and Heavy (II) Users 29. 29 Following magazines, increasing expenditure on internet advertising will definitely workfor Skittles.

In 2012, Skittles only spent 4% of its budget on internet advertising while Starburstspent 11% of its money on this (Figure 6 & 7). The share of voice analysis also shows thatSkittles only have 21% share in internet-display category comparing to Starburst’s 74% (Chart2). From the information we got from MRI, similar to magazines, nearly half of Skittlespurchasers fall into the heaviest and heavy internet users. And these people also show tendencyof being more likely to buy the product than national average. Another strong point to supportthis decision is our target audience of kids and teens aged 6-17. Internet is the best choice toreach younger generation. We also think remaining network radio as one of the routine media forSkittles advertising will be wise. Upon MRI data, over 60% of Skittles users belong to the topthree quintiles.For TV, both Skittles and Starburst all spent over half of the budget on cable TV and over25% of the budget on network TV.

Sour Patch Kids spent all its money on cable TV as well.Hence, although TV seems not a recommended media from MRI data, it’s still a powerful mediain reaching mass target audience.Finally, another important media neglected by all four brands is outdoor media. Datashows that over 40% of Skittles purchasers fall in heaviest and heavy outdoor media quintile,which makes outdoor becomes an effective channel in delivering messages to potential Skittlesbuyers.Pros and cons of each advertising medium to be included in the media mixMagazinesMagazine is a very suitable media for Skittles because of the following reasons. 30. 30 First, it’s easy to create high quality print ad with strong visual effect on magazines, which isperfectly fitting the “rainbow” concept of Skittles. Second, the extensive pass-along readershipof magazines makes every single edition can be read by large group of people. Third, magazinesenjoy long shelf life comparing to other kinds of media. Finally, since magazines are divided intoniche categories based on the content and target audience, it will be easy to reach several nichetarget audience group via this media. However, the main disadvantage of magazines is that thecost is very high.

And the lack of immediacy and easy to be buried among bunch ofadvertisements will be problems as well.InternetFor a creative brand like Skittles, Internet will be the best place to express the creativity.With well utilizing all the flexible types of internet-display, various online channels Skittlescurrently have can be integrated into one unified platform to strengthen the brand imagecommunication and customer relationship building. As mentioned in the previous part, internet isalso the 1stchoice to reach the younger generation, thanks to all the technology developmenttoday. Furthermore, the cost of Internet advertisement is quite affordable comparing to manytraditional media. Regarding the main cons, Internet advertising is easy to be ignored byaudience. And it’s hard to trace and measure whether certain advertisements have reached thetarget audience.Network RadioThe main benefit of using network radio lies in its cost and ability to reach the massgroup of people. However, for the Skittles case, the disadvantage is also obvious. Radioadvertising can only express the message through sound and music, but not image, which will bea big con for Skittles. 31. 31 TelevisionTelevision is a powerful media in this case.

With network TV, cable TV and spot TV,this media can both target national and regional target audience. Furthermore, it’s also easy toreach niche market like children via certain channels like Disney Channel. However, the cost toadvertise on television is basically the highest among all media. Furthermore, the perception ofthinking commercials as intrusive and the characteristic of fleeting are other negative aspects oftelevision advertising.OutdoorUtilizing outdoor in advertising for Skittles will be very helpful. Because outdooradvertising is affordable and it’s the best one to present visual effect, which perfectly fits theattribute of our product per se. Another advantage of outdoor print is that it can be shown invarious places to target different group of people. The only limitation is that copy may not workwell in outdoor advertising. 32.

32 Advertising DetailsFigure-8The total budget for the 2014-2015 Skittles campaign year was set to be $7,500,000($525,000 with contingency, $6,975,000 actual), a little higher than the annual budget($7,341,600) of 2012 with the consideration of the recovering economy.Specifically, the budget was split into the following 6 different media categories with the allottedpercentage of budget respectively: Internet (13%), magazine (11%), cable TV (50%), networkTV (18%), network radio (4%), and outdoor (4%).As was mentioned before, Internet tends to be the best choice to reach the target audienceand express the brand’s creativity with a reasonable cost. Although Skittles has been active onsocial media (Mintel, 2012), previous analysis of Skittles’ 2012 advertising share reveals thatSkittles spent only 4% of its annual budget on US internet-display, which was far less than thecounterpart of its primary competitor, Starburst (11%).

Also, Skittles (20.72%) was beaten byStarburst (74.29%) in terms of Internet share of voice.13% 11% 50% 18% 4% 4% 2014-­‐2015 Media Mix Internet Magazine Cable TV Network TV Network Radio Outdoor 33. 33 We will increase Skittles’ Internet advertising share to 13% in the 2014 campaign year tomake it comparable with competitors. Based on the MRI data (2011), we will choose Internetvehicles like Gmail.com (which attracts 24.9% of Skittles users), Yahoo! Mail (with 37.8% ofSkittles users), Weather.com (with 29.8% of users) to advertise Skittles. These people are also17% to 29% more likely than the national average to use Skittles. Such vehicles will help expandSkittles’ online presence.The analysis above shows that magazine is a quite suitable media for Skittles.

However,considering this will be the first time for Skittles to advertise on magazines since 2010, we willallocate 11% of the annual budget to magazines a little bit conservatively. According to MRIdata (2011), the target audience of Skittles mostly reads magazines such as Women (47.7% ofSkittles users), News and Entertainment Weeklies (44.7% of Skittles users), and GeneralEditorial (42.3% of Skittles users). Moreover, these readers are 19% to 25% more likely than thenational average to purchase Skittles. Magazines like Parenthood (18.4%) and Parents (11.4%)also have fair readerships, and the readers respectively are 61% and 77% more likely than thenational average to make a purchase. Therefore, these magazines will be used to advertise on.In order to reach the target market of children and teens, we will target kids by advertising inmagazines such as Disney Magazine and Sports Illustrated Kids. For teens, Skittles shouldadvertise in young teen magazines J-14 and Twist.

These magazines are geared toward thoseunder 18. Although no MRI data is available right now, the magazines are targeted to the rightage group and thus are worth attempting.Cable Television received a half of the budget even though most Skittles users are lightTV users (44.2% are in quintile IV and V) because it is still possible to reach a large portion ofthese consumers through television. 34. 34 ABC Family Channel attracts 30% of the Skittles users; MTV attracts 27.9% of the Skittlesusers; The Disney Channel attracts 24.5% of the Skittles users; Cartoon Network attracts 20.7%of the Skittles users. The audience of these programs is also 42% to 70% more likely than thenational average to buy Skittles. Hence, these vehicles will be used in the 2014 campaign.Network radio remained to receive 4% share of the annual advertising budget with theconsideration that Skittles consumers are only slightly more likely than average to be heavy andheaviest radio users.

Radio thus will be considered as a supportive media and related ads willmostly be aired on the time periods of 6:00 am-10:00 am and 3:00 pm-7:00 pm on Weekdaysand from 10:00 am to 7:00 pm on Weekends.Finally, outdoor media also received 4% of the advertising budget for the 2014-2015campaign. Prior media quintile analysis reveals that heavy outdoor users are 9% more likely thanthe national average to use Skittles. Accordingly, outdoor media will be used as supportivemedia to advertise on for our campaign. Also, the campaign will concentrate on the southern andmid-western geographical regions of the United States where Skittles largest loyal customer baseresides (MRI, 2011).In the following planning process with Media Plight Plan, we will basically focus on thetarget segment of 18-44 year-old mothers due to the limited availability of “target demographic”(age groups).

In other worlds, the age groups only range from 18 to 65 so we cannot reach thechildren and teenagers who are also chosen to be our target audience. Therefore, we will ONLYfocus on the mother category of the target audience in the planning process. 35. 35 Based on our pulsing advertising method stated above with continuous advertisingthrough the year to reach children and teens and heavier periods of advertising during importantholidays to reach mothers, we will allocate 60% of the total budget to support the advertising allover the year, and 40% of the money to higher pulsed 2 periods. In other words, our followingplanning featuring on the mothers will be based on the months of April and October with the40% of the actual budget ($6,975,000*40%=$2,790,000).With these amounts of money available, we will basically use Internet, magazines, cabletelevision, network radio, and outdoor media to reach our target audience, 18-44 years old whitemothers.

Nearly half (46.2%) of the allocated Internet budget (that is 6% out of the total budget),72.7% of the magazine budget (that is 8% of the total budget), 36% of the cable TV budget (thatis 18% of the total budget), and all the network radio and outdoor budget will be used to reachthe mothers (Chart-3).Allocated Budget Used to Reach White Mothers Aged 18-44 (Media Flight Plan)Media Amount of moneyPercentage of the specificmedia (e.g. Internet) budgetPercentage of the totalannual budgetInternet $418,500 46.2% 6%Magazine $ 558,000 72.7% 8%Radio$ 279,000100% 4%Outdoor $ 279,000 100% 4%Cable TV $ 1,255,500 36% 18%Total $2,790,000 - 40% 36. 36 Chart-3 37.

37 38. 38 BibliographyAd$pender (2013). Life Saver Gummies 2010. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Life Saver Gummies 2011. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Life Saver Gummies 2012. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Skittles 2010. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Skittles 2011. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Skittles 2012. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Starburst 2010. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Starburst 2011. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013).

Starburst 2012. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Sour Patch Kids 2010. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Sour Patch Kids 2011. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Ad$pender (2013). Sour Patch Kids 2012. Data file. 25 Mar. 2013Business Wire. (April, 2012). Research and Markets: Updated Reports on the $6.4 USNonchocolate Confectionery Manufacturing Industry and its International Trade.Retrieved from K. (2009, March 8). When Skittles met Twitter. Bloomburg Business Week. Retrievedfrom 39. 39 Chandra, S. (March, 2013). U.S. Consumer Spending Probably Rose Most in FiveMonths. Retrieved from Mediamark Research & Intelligence. (2011, Fall Product Report). Candy (regular or kingsize) bought/last 6 months Skittles. Base: Adults.

Retrieved from MRI Mediamark Reportdatabase.GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence. (2010, Fall Product Report). Candy (regular or kingsize) bought/last 6 months Skittles. Base: Adults. Retrieved from MRI Mediamark Reportdatabase.GfK Mediamark Research & Intelligence. (2009, Fall Product Report). Candy (regular or kingsize) bought/last 6 months Skittles. Base: Adults. Retrieved from MRI Mediamark Reportdatabase.Ives, N. (2004, July 09). The media business: advertising; Skittles overhauls a familiar theme toencourage experiencing the candy, not just tasting it. The New York Times. Retrievedfrom M. (March, 2013). Consumer Spending in U.S. Climbs Even as Taxes HurtIncomes. Retrieved from 40. 40 Janssen, S. (n.d.). Creative Criminals. Skittles: Taste the Rainbow Campaign. Retrieved April 2,2013, from T. (2010).

Skittles shows brands how not to get a social media campaign to spread.Retrieved from A. (March, 2013). Unemployment rates fall to lowest level since 2008.Retrieved from (2012). Non-chocolate confectionery--U.S.--December 2012: Brand share-chewy candy.Retrieved March 31, 2013 from Mintel Reports database.Mintel. (2012). Non-chocolate confectionery--Executive summary--U.S.--December 2012.Retrieved March 31, 2013 from Mintel Reports database.Severson, K. (2012, March 29). For Skittles, death brings both profit and risk. The New YorkTimes. Retrieved from 41. 41 Wasserman, T. (February, 2009). Skittles Wikis Its Home Page. Retrieved from (2013). Putting our principles into action. Retrieved from (2013). Skittles Facts and History. Retrieved from#panel-1 42.

42 Table 1Sales of leading chewy candy brandsMULO sales of chewy candy by leading companies, rolling 52 weeks 2011 and 2012CompanyBrand 52 weeksendingSeptember 9 2011Marketshare52 weeksendingSeptember 9 2012MarketshareSaleschange2011-12Sharechange$million % $million % % PercentagepointMarsInc.Total 446.2 28.0 461.6 27.1 3.4 -0.8Skittles 126.2 7.9 139.4 8.2 10.5 0.3Starburst 122.7 7.7 119.6 7.0 -2.5 -0.7Life SaversGummies64.9 4.1 54.0 3.2 -16.7 -0.9Starburst FlavorMorph0.3 - 15.1 0.9 5,361.7 0.9Skittles Riddles - - 1

2.9 0.8 - 0.8Starburst FaveReds14.9 0.9 12.4 0.7 -16.9 -0.2Other 117.2 7.3 108.1 6.4 -7.8 -1.0KraftFoodsInc.Total 160.1 10.0 182.1 10.7 13.7 0.7Sour Patch Kids 58.3 3.7 71.1 4.2 21.9 0.5Swedish Fish 53.2 3.3 57.9 3.4 8.7 0.1Other 48.6 3.0 53.1 3.1 9.3 0.1TheHersheyCompanyTotal 117.8 7.4 131.5 7.7 11.6 0.3Reeses Pieces 67.4 4.2 68.1 4.0 1.

1 -0.2Jolly Rancher 30.5 1.9 45.2 2.7 48.2 0.7Zero 10.3 0.6 8.6 0.5 -16.6 -0.1Other 9.7 0.6 9.7 0.6 -0.5 -Farleys&SathersCandyTotal 98.3 6.2 112.6 6.6 14.5 0.5Brachs 16.2 1.0 24.7 1.5 52.2 0.4Trolli BriteCrawlers9.7 0.6 17.0 1.0 74.9 0.4 43.

43 Trolli Sour BriteCrawlers9.8 0.6 9.8 0.6 -0.4 0.0Heide Jujyfruits 8.7 0.5 7.9 0.5 -9.3 -0.1Now & Later 7.8 0.5 7.4 0.4 -4.7 -0.1Brachs Wild NFruity4.6 0.3 7.2 0.4 56.1 0.1Other 41.5 2.6 38.7 2.3 -6.9 -0.3JustBornInc.Total 78.4 4.9 84.0 4.9 7.1 -Mike And Ike 36.7 2.3 42.2 2.5 14.9 0.2Hot Tamales 26.7 1.7 24.1 1.4 -9.6 -0.3Other 15.0 0.9 17.6 1.0 1

7.6 0.1TootsieRollIndustries Inc.Total 81.1 5.1 81.9 4.8 0.9 -0.3Tootsie Roll 51.5 3.2 48.8 2.9 -5.2 -0.4Tootsie Dots 16.1 1.0 15.7 0.9 -2.2 -0.1Sugar Babies 5.7 0.4 6.7 0.4 17.1 -Other 7.7 0.5 10.6 0.6 36.8 0.1PerfettiVanMelleTotal 66.7 4.2 71.8 4.2 7.6 -Air Heads 18.7 1.2 23.4 1.4 25.3 0.2Air HeadsXtremes20.7 1.3 22.1 1.3 6.8 -Air Heads OutOf Control14.2 0.9 1

3.5 0.8 -4.9 -0.1Air Heads KungFu Panda 213.2 0.8 12.8 0.8 -2.8 -0.1HariboOfAmerica Inc.Total 46.9 2.9 54.2 3.2 15.6 0.2Haribo GoldBears37.0 2.3 42.2 2.5 14.2 0.2Haribo 5.5 0.3 7.2 0.4 30.7 0.1Haribo HappyCola4.3 0.3 4.7 0.3 8.8 -Other 0.1 - 0.1 - 7.0 -Other 304.8 19.1 327.5 19.2 7.4 0.1PrivateLabel195.1 12.2 194.7 11.4 -0.2 -0.8Total 1,595.5 100.

0 1,701.7 100.0 6.7 - 44.

44 Note: Data may not equal totals due to roundingSource: Mintel/SymphonyIRI Group InfoScan® Reviews

Question: Which sugar confectionery adopted the slogan 'Taste the Rainbow' in 1994?
Answer: Skittles