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Table of Contents

Executive Summary ………………………… 3

Situation Analysis …………………………...4

Customer Analysis …………………………..8

Objectives ……………………………………9

Budget Allocation…………………………. 15

Share of Voice Analysis…………………….16

Media Strategy ……………………………..16

Media Vehicles……………………………...19

Campaign Measurement ……………………20

Media Flow Chart ……………………….….21

Media Calendar ………………………….… 22

Works Cited ……………………………..… 23

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Executive Summary

Target Market

• Based on MRI Double base user data the media plan will target:

o Primary: Working men 18-34 who make $50,000+ a year.

o Secondary: Working women 18-34 who make $50,000+ a year.

Geography

• Target the top 100 DMA markets, with extra emphasis on markets with high CDI and low

BDI.

Media Utilized

• The media channels used in our campaign will include network radio, network television,

magazines, internet, spot television, spot radio, and outdoor.

Scheduling

• A pulsing schedule will be used due to the $6,000,000 budget. We plan on using a lighter

advertising schedule in months with lower sales, and then intensifying our advertising

schedule in months with higher sales.

Reach/Frequency

• The goal in this campaign is to accomplish an average reach of 22.0 and an average

frequency of 2.22 in order to attract the most attention possible from consumers in our

target audience.

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Situation Analysis

Background of The North Face

The North Face® began as a small mountaineering retail store in 1966 at San Francisco’s

North Beach neighborhood by two hiking enthusiasts. Over time it became known as The North

Face and started manufacturing its own brand of technical apparel and equipment. As the years

went by, the product mix expanded and the brand developed its inspirational mantra, Never Stop

Exploring™. The North Face is a brand well known among the outdoor community for its high-

quality products and commitment to sustainability to preserve nature’s playground for future

generations. (The North Face, 2012)

SWOT Analysis

Internal Strengths

The North Face claims that they are the first choice among the world’s most

accomplished outdoor athletes for their head-to-toe clothing and accessory needs. In 2011 alone,

The North Face earned $1.4 billion in annual sales, held 16% of the market share, and held 12%

of the share of voice (Kantar Media, 2012). Of the V.F. Corporation, this particular brand

generates the majority of their revenue (Hoovers, 2011). With over 40 years in business, The

North Face is considered an established brand and is well known throughout the outdoor

community. This brand develops a durable line of products that have a lengthy product life cycle

making them one of the most reliable brands on the market. The North Face has also made a

commitment to the environment and sustainability. By finding new ways to cut down on water

and power usage as well as the use of more eco-friendly chemicals to produce their products,

The North Face is making an extreme effort to protect their nature’s playground. The brand is an

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internationally known name with over 300 facilities and an employee base of 749 as of 2012.

(The North Face, 2012)

Internal Weaknesses

The North Face is facing two major problems, employee morale and pricing. According to

Glassdoor.com, the morale among the company’s sales associates and hourly employees is very

low. There are many complaints of higher-level management and a lack of effective

infrastructure throughout their retail facilities. The pay is minimal and little chance for upward

mobility within the company. Many consumers believe that the pricing of The North Face’s

products are too high compared to other brands that meet the same needs at a lower cost.

(Glassdoor, 2012)

External Opportunities

At The North Face, 70%-85% of the products environmental impacts occur in the

material production and manufacturing stage of the life cycle. In addition to their conservation of

water and power use, the company plans to increase their sustainability efforts in product

transportation, packaging and recycling. The North Face should also consider improving their

community involvement by sponsoring more athletic events and/or creating outdoor enthusiasts

clubs in area’s surrounding their retail stores. (The North Face, 2012)

External Threats

The largest threat to The North Face is Nike. As of 2011, Nike holds the highest share of voice

at 21% and shows the largest return on investment (ROI) with total ad spend of $10 million and

annual sales of $20 billion (Kantar Media, 2012). Nike’s Run Club has generated a huge

presence in the communities of Chicago, Miami, New York, San Francisco, etc. (Nike, Inc.,

2012). Other tough competitors of The North Face include Jarden, Columbia, L.L. Bean Inc., and

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REI. Not only do these companies exceed The North Face in annual sales, but most of them also

spend less on advertising.

Marketing Strategy:

Due to low market share and low competitive media spending in 2011, the North Face should

adopt an aggressive communications strategy.

Kantar Media, 2012

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Kantar Media, 2012

Marketing Objectives:

Marketing objective is to increase the North Face’s total market share from 16% to 26%

by the end of 2013. The campaign will increase sales by 1% during the slower months. This will

be accomplished by increasing share of voice in the marketplace in areas with low BDI and high

CDI.

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Customer Analysis

The brand needs to revamp its brand image among active adults ages 18-35 and solve its

distribution problem. We identified the target market by analyzing the provided MRI data on

heavy, medium and light users of outdoor equipment throughout the United States. The

consumers we decided to target had indices over 100, which signify that they are more likely to

buy than the average consumer.

• Primary Target: Men who are medium and heavy users of outdoor equipment. Ages

18-34. Income $50,000+. White and Hispanic. Job Status – Employed,

Professional/Managerial, Service/Sales/Office Education – Graduated college + Marital

status- Married

• Secondary Target: Women who are medium and heavy users of outdoor equipment.

Ages 18-34. Working. Married. Some College.

Supplied by MRI Double base, 2012

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Advertising Objectives

In order for the consumer target to prefer the North Face over the competition, it is

important to increase brand awareness and preference with a nationwide campaign in 2013. With

a successful campaign, we hope to reach 90% of the target market.

• The goal is supported by research data that shows high growth potential for the brand.

Our campaign will increase brand loyalty to the North Face and encourage brand switching.

The goal is to have 30% of competition’s customers to switch to the North Face.

• With using an aggressive campaign, strong emotional appeals, and persuasion tactics, we

assume that the competition's consumers will switch brands.

Positioning Statement

To married men and women aged 18-35, the North Face is the brand for adventurers with stylish

comfort that serves to satisfy the explorer in you.

Creative Objectives

The creative objectives and strategies for this campaign include seeking out new and

different ways to advertise The North Face brand while reaching the largest amount of people

possible in a variety of different markets.

Theme: The big idea behind The North Face is explained perfectly by their tagline, “Never

Stop Exploring.” The tagline behind the company serves as more than just a mantra, but as a

reminder of how those involved in the North Face brand chose to live their lives. This tagline

strives to encourage people to experience the outdoors, protect the environment, and address

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serious environmental impacts such as climate change and sustainability. Incorporating this

tagline into the advertising campaign will help The North Face stay true to their brand while

inspiring the target market to be adventurous and explore the brand further.

Selling Point: The main selling point and benefit of the brand will be the great quality of The

North Face products and how these products can help you explore even the most untouched

corners of the earth. The appeal of the campaign will be centered on the desire to be outdoors

and explore “our playground,” which can easily be accomplished in any of The North Face

products.

Execution and Tone: The ads our agency will create will include exotic and rare shots of the

great outdoors featuring athletes in The North Face apparel. Our commercials would feature

more extensive shots of beautiful and remote outdoor environments. The tone will be

encouraging and mysterious. We will aim to encourage consumers to explore the great outdoors

and join the ranks of the accomplished climbers, mountaineers, extreme skiers, snowboarders,

endurance runners, and explorers who all already use The North Face. Ads will feature The

North Face sponsored athletes such as professional skier Devin Logan, alpine climber Jimmy

Chin, and rock climber Daniel Woods.

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Reach and Frequency Objectives

We chose to strive for higher reach during months when The North Face products

typically had higher sales, including January, February, July, August, and December. We are

planning to reach 90% of our target audience in our spot markets and 30% of our target audience

in national markets. The low goal for our national markets is due to the limited funds allocated

towards the advertising budget. We would have liked to have higher goals, but it is unlikely with

only $6,000,000 to spend. We chose to place higher emphasis on spot markets with higher reach

and frequency because these markets present more opportunity for The North Face brand to

expand and gain more customers. These markets should have higher reach and frequency than

the national markets we advertise in because there is more opportunity in the spot markets.

Media Flight Plan

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The following graphs represent reach and frequency goals for the spot and national

campaigns:

Media Flight Plan

Media Flight Plan

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Geographic Objectives

The following chart shows the 38 DMA markets that the campaign will focus on. The

national campaign includes all Top 100 DMAs while the spot campaign focuses on the 38

markets shown below. We chose these markets because they have a medium to low BDI and a

high CDI meaning that there is a high demand for our product category as well as potential for

our brand. These markets cover 39.22 of US households.

Campaign Spot DMA’s Rank %US El Paso, TX 98 0.27

Savannah, GA 97 0.27 Davenport et al, IL 96 0.27 Harlingen et al, TX 88 0.3

Burlington et al, VT-NY 92 0.29 Jackson, MS 90 0.3

Chattanooga, TN 86 0.31 Columbia, SC 81 0.34 Spokane, WA 77 0.36

Tulsa, OK 60 0.46 Mobile-Pensacola, AL-FL 61 0.46

Dayton, OH 62 0.45 Wilkes-Barre et al, PA 54 0.53

Jacksonville, FL 49 0.58 Buffalo, NY 50 0.56

Greensboro et al, NC 46 0.6 Memphis, TN 47 0.59

Birmingham, AL 40 0.65 Grand Rapids et al, MI 39 0.66 W Palm Beach et al, FL 38 0.69

Greenville et al, NC 105 0.24 Salt Lake City, UT 35 0.78

Nashville, TN 30 0.86 Hartford-New Haven, CT 29 0.89

San Diego, CA 27 0.93 Charlotte, NC 25 0.96

Orlando et al, FL 19 1.27 Cleveland, OH 17 1.36

Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL 16 1.36 Seattle-Tacoma, WA 14 1.58

Phoenix, AZ 12 1.6 Tampa-St Pete, FL 13 1.58

Detroit, MI 11 1.7 Houston, TX 10 1.82 Atlanta, GA 8 2.04

Dallas-Ft. Worth, TX 5 2.16 Philadelphia, PA 4 2.61 New York, NY 1 6.54

Media Flight Plan

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Timing/Scheduling Objectives

Because there are times of high, medium and low sales, we plan to directly correlate the

amount of money spent on advertising with the amount earned each quarter. Based on the sales

data, one could argue that The North Face is both seasonal and non-seasonal. Sales seem to be

consistent throughout the year, with most months staying at the average. However, there are a

few months out of the year that experience an increase in sales. These are the months when it is

cold outside and consumers need a nice jacket to keep them warm. We plan on using a pulsing

schedule, meaning that we will allot more resources in the months where our core consumers are

known to purchase. The pulsing schedule will be the most effective, seeing as The North Face

provides semi-seasonal products. Using the right amount of resources is critical when effectively

advertising our product. We plan on having an increase in sales by using the correct amount of

resources for the correct months.

• The following graph represents the North Face’s seasonality purchasing patterns

throughout 2011. It is apparent that months of high sales, December, January, July and

August, need more advertising attention.

Supplied Sales Data

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Budget Allocation

Ad Spending

The total budget for the campaign is $6,000,000 and because of this, no money will be set

aside for any spot or national contingency. The campaign will use 46% of the budget for outdoor

advertising given the outdoor nature of the North Face. The following graph represents the

distribution of advertising dollars per medium.

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Share of Voice Analysis

According to Kantar Media 2012, Nike had a strong presence across various advertising

media in 2011. Looking at the percentages it is apparent that the North Face has a chance to take

precedent in network and spot television, Internet, magazines, and outdoor.

Supplied SOV percentages, 2011

Media Strategy

Television (National and Spot TV):

Television has a large presence in American households, making it the ideal medium to

use for mass coverage. Americans spend a lot of time in front of their television sets making it

easy for advertisers to use the combination of sight and sound to their advantage. Television is

also an excellent media for brands that want to demonstrate their products. Flexibility is also

another big advantage when considering television in your advertising campaign. It is easy to

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adjust coverage, content, time, color, motion, and stills to create the perfect ad on television. For

brands looking to achieve high repetition and frequency, television is the ideal medium.

Internet:

Internet has proven to be especially effective in an advertising campaign for a variety of

reasons. Internet is especially desirable due to that it can deliver one-to-one communication,

heavy exposure, flexibility, selectivity, can target a higher-income audience, and required

personal involvement of your audience. Utilizing Internet in an advertising campaign can allow a

brand to target specific sites that get heavy traffic, such as social network sites.

Magazines:

Magazines are an ideal place to advertise your brand. Readers are able to linger over

advertisements and really take them in. Magazines also allow for high quality production and

color in advertisements, making it easy to draw and capture the attention of the consumer.

Magazines also allow a brand to target their selected audience effectively since there is just about

a magazine for every type of person. Advertising in magazines provides flexibility in scheduling

(weeklies, monthlies, etc.) as well in format (size, foldout, insert, color, smell, etc.)

Outdoor:

Outdoor advertising is especially appealing to a brand such as The North Face due to its

outdoor and adventurous nature. Outdoor advertising can reach potential customers close to point

of sale and can resonate with customers who enjoy the outdoors and nature. Advertising outdoor

allows for quick and simple communication with your target audience and repetition is easily

achieved in high-traffic areas. With meaningful content and strategic placement, outdoor

advertising can be a wise choice in any advertising campaign.

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Radio (National and Spot):

Radio is a timely, flexible, and economical choice for advertising. Radio is especially

ideal because it complements other media and can reiterate and supplement your campaign also

running on other mediums. Advertising on radio can be used to stick in the mind of your target

audience through use of slogans, music, and sound effects. Radio is also helpful in reaching

people anywhere at moment of impact including in their cars, at the beach, while exercising, etc.

Promotional Mix Elements:

Promotional mix elements are an important way to give potential customers the final

push towards purchasing products made by The North Face. Promotions will include substantial

discounts for in-store contest winners, complimentary product bundling, online codes for free

shipping of products, and free merchandise at The North Face sponsored events (branded

reusable water bottles, wristbands, etc.). Another clever promotion we have decided on would be

to donate a large number of our items to charity. Philanthropy is always a respectable action,

especially with business and cause-related advertising has grown exponentially over recent

years. We intend to recognize the fact that The North Face gives items to charity in order to not

only to improve the image of the company but also to help Americans in need.

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Media Vehicles

Television

• Outdoor based television shows and stations; i.e. Discovery Channel, The History

Channel and ESPN.

Internet

• Social Media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. It is also important to advertise on

shopping websites such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Omega Sports, Sports Authority, and

Bass Pro Shop.

Magazine

• A main focus on men's magazines such as Men’s Fitness, Outdoor Monthly and Men’s

Health. However, we will have a secondary focus on bi-gender magazines that involve

the outdoors in some way, shape or form. In regards to the general genre of magazines,

we will focus on lifestyle magazines with an outdoor and adventure focus given the

outdoorsy nature of the North Face.

Radio

• Radio advertising will occur in primary markets given the regional nature of the medium.

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Outdoor

• The campaign will focus on bulletin billboards, mall posters, wallscapes, premier panels

and squares in our primary markets.

Why not other media?

Considering our budget, we decided it would be paramount to focus on a select few

mediums of advertising and marketing. The media selected represented a cost effective mean of

conveying our product throughout the masses. We decided to not use Newspaper advertising in

our campaign.

Campaign Measurement

The campaign will be measured on a quarterly basis. We will be conducting surveys

throughout the Top 50 DMAs to measure the success of the campaign. Three quarters of the

surveys will be focused on our primary target audience while the remaining quarter focused on

our secondary target audience. These surveys should shed insight on how the campaign is being

perceived by the market as well as new ways the campaign should reach the target audience. Bi-

annually, the reach and frequency should be compared to the campaign’s original goals in order

to gauge its success. It is crucial to note that the increase of new customers will be the ultimate

test of success for the new campaign.

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Media Flow Chart

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Media Calendar  

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Works Cited

An Introduction to Frequency Value Planning: A New Theory of Media Planning. (English).

(2011). China Media Report Overseas, 7(1), 19-29.

Glassdoor. (2012, December 01). The north face overview. Retrieved from

http://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-The-North-Face-EI_IE5945.11,25.htm

Kelley, L., & Jugenheimer, D. (2008). Advertising media planning: A brand management

approach. (Second ed.). Armonk, New York: M.E. Sharpe.

http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/resultsa.asp?Title=Advertising+Media+Planning%3A+A

+Brand+Management+Approach%2C+Third+Edition

Makienko, I. (2012). Effective frequency estimates in local media planning practice. Journal Of

Targeting, Measurement & Analysis For Marketing, 20(1), 57-65. doi:10.1057/jt.2012.1

Stauffer, J. (2012). Social Brand Planning. Journal Of Brand Strategy, 1(1), 40-49.

The North Face. (2012, December 01). About us. Retrieved from

http://www.thenorthface.com/en_US/our-story/