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Media Plan for ZipcarPrepared by Bill Anders

Wednesday November 9, 2011

Project Contents:

1. Target Segment Summarya. Psychographic Summaryb. Demographic Summaryc. Geographic Summary

2. Client Descriptiona. Company Overviewb. How Zipcar Worksc. Potential Targets

3. Target Audiencea. Psychographic Elementsb. Demographic Elementsc. How Target Aligns with Zipcar

4. Geographic Choicesa. Priority City No. 1: New Yorkb. Priority City No. 2: Chicagoc. Priority City No. 3: Philadelphia

5. Zipcar Media Plana. Introb. Media Type Prioritiesc. Specific Media Choices

i. Magazinesii. Newspapers

iii. Radioiv. Televisionv. Web Sites

vi. Google Keywordsd. Media Plan Schedulee. Justification of Money Spent

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College Students as a Target Group for Zipcar

Bullet-List Summary – College Students

Target’s Psychographic Summary Positive views about themselves Think their friends have positive views about them Have positive views about their university Most Loved Activity: Playing; outdoor games. Most Hated: People with other bad behaviors 1/3rd of college students wish for wealth and money Males prefer buying ‘expensive tangible goods’ while females would prefer buying a

house or clothes Over all students think college is about “having a good time” Positive outlook on family Students look forward most to ‘friends’ and getting out of the house Tend to surf channels while commercials are on TV considered the most acceptable form of advertisement

Target’s Demographic Summary Gender: Male & Female Marital Status: Single Age Range: 18-25 years old

Target’s Geographic Summary Metro Priority No. 1 [New York] Metro Priority No. 2 [ Chicago] Metro Priority No. 3 [Philadelphia]

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Client Description

Company Overview

Zipcar is a car sharing service that provides its members with automobile rental 24 hours a day.

Since its creation in 2000, Zipcar has expanded to more than 500,000 members in 14 major

metropolitan cities and over 230 college campuses. By aligning Zipcar’s services with

commuters, environmentalists, and college students Zipcar has been able to move into the

position of the undisputed leader of the car sharing system.

The car sharing service charges its customers an initial application fee and annual dues to

continue to use the service. Members of Zipcar, also referred to as ‘Zipsters,’ simply log on to

the website to find and reserve cars in their area. Once you have made a reservation, all you

need is your Zipcard to have 24/7 access to vehicles in your area.

The Zipcard is the key to accessing the vehicles. Using RFID, the car identifies the user and

confirms the reservation, and the doors unlock. The Zipcard is used to lock and unlock the doors,

all while the keys remain inside the vehicle.

Members have extraordinary control over their account at Zipcar.com. Zipsters can change their

driving plan, add members to their driving plan or remove members from their account.

Members now have the ability to access the services through their mobile phone, with Zipcar

providing an iPhone application and a mobile website.

How Zipcar System Works

The Zipcar system is one of the easiest ways to get around without owning a car or dealing with

the public transportation system. Zipcar is incredibly quick and simple to join, with only a few

restrictions for membership. Zipcar requires all drivers to be at least 18 years of age, but

depending on your city or campus, age requirements may even be 21 years old. Zipcar also

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requires a check of the member’s driving record, though 94% are approved in under 24 hours.

Each city also offers different membership and rental options, and of course the price varies

with each of these as well.

Step one is fill out the application online and pay a $25 application fee. Members commonly

referred to as ‘Zipsters,’ then pay annual dues amounting to $50. Following completion of the

online application, Zipcar will mail the new member their “Zip card,” allowing them to reserve

and unlock cars in their area. All vehicles must be reserved in advance, though it can be done

moments before you need it. Rates range from $8.00 to $9.00 hourly and $66.00 to $72.00 a day

depending on when you drive and your choice of vehicle.

Zipcar membership and rental includes gas, insurance, and 180 miles free. If you are taking a trip

longer than 180 miles, you must pay for the extra miles. You must bring the car back to where

you started, and there is a $50.00 per hour fine for all vehicles returned late. If the tank falls

below 25%, you must fill it up using the provided Zipcar Gas Card. Also all vehicles must be clean

before returned, or a charge will be accesses for cleaning.

Potential Targets

Zipcar has an array of potential target markets with its car sharing system. By aligning Zipcar’s

services with commuters, environmentalists, and college students Zipcar has been able to move

into the position of the undisputed leader of the car sharing system (Baan & Mack, 2011).

The first of the possible target audiences is Environmentalists. People who keep the

environment close to their heart would be an excellent target for Zipcar for many reasons. Car

sharing cuts down on the number of vehicles on the road and the amount of pollution released

into the atmosphere. It is estimated that each Zipcar shared takes 15 personally owned vehicles

off the road. A recent study conducted by Zipcar determined that the average Zipsters drove

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nearly 6,000 less miles annually than they had when they were not members of Zipcar (Baan &

Mack, 2011).

The second major target audience for Zipcar is commuters. Public transportation is slow,

crowded, and overall just a hassle. Not only that, public transportation can’t always take you to

your exact destination. Zipcar is cheaper than taking a taxi everywhere and much faster and a

lot more private than public transportation. It allows commuters the freedom of not owning a

car with the ability to get back and forth to work without any hassle.

The final and overall best choice for a target audience is college students. Zipcar takes away the

hassle and responsibility of owning and maintaining a car for college students, along with

relieving a large financial stressor. Zipcar offers answers to many major issues a student faces

such as on campus parking and moving to-and-from college. Zipcar also gives students the

opportunity to reserve and use certain luxury cars for job interviews or similar situations where

image is important. Zipcar grants students the freedom to live on campus without a vehicle and

still have the ability to travel anywhere with anyone or anything; it’s as simple as a reservation.

Target Audience Choice: College Students

Psychographic Elements of Target

According to Anderson Analytics’ annual Back to School Study conducted in 2006, college

students generally have a positive outlook on life, view themselves in a positive light and believe

that their friends do as well. The same study shows college students favorite activities as

‘hanging out with friends’ and ‘playing outdoors. The one thing college students look forward to

most is hanging out with their friends, followed by getting out of the house. Almost all college

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students will use a cell phone this year, and for a majority this will be their only phone at school

(Anderson Analytics, 2005).

The same study conducted by Anderson Analytics concluded students believe advertising is

‘great/entertaining’ and a vital part of marketing. “Useless,” “boring” and “waste of money”

were also associated with advertising by students in the same survey. Over all college students

wished most for less intrusive advertising campaign from marketers. Students also have a

negative outlook towards mega companies and large corporations. Students react better to

unique forms of advertisement, amusing ads based on humor, or ones featuring a popular

celebrity (Anderson Analytics, 2005).

College students main reasoning for disliking advertisements is poor ad presentation, dumbness

& stupidity, and boring or repetitive ads (Anderson Analytics, 2005). Bad jingles and weird or

obscene advertisements are a sure fire way to become an unpopular brand among this group.

Over all, TV shows are considered the most acceptable media for product placement and

advertising. Books are considered the least acceptable form of advertisement among this group

(Anderson Analytics, 2005).

Demographic Elements of Target

The image of a young, well connected and well off man traveling to college has faded out

through the ages. Now, more women are going to college than men, and an individual’s family

needs much less to put them through post-secondary education. Traditionally college students

are between the ages of 18-25, with the average grad student being 27 years old. Caucasian

leads the majority of college students, followed by African Americans, and Asian/Pacific Islander

(Donovan, 2008). For the majority of students, they are the first generation in their family to

attend college. According to the Educational Testing Service (ETS) approximately 36% of

students taking the SAT noted that their parents had not finished high school or had only

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obtained a high school diploma. In today’s world, college students are more likely to be raised

by a single parent, experience life below the poverty line, or work more than 20 hours a week

during school to support themselves (Donovan, 2008).

How Target Aligns with Zipcar Offerings

Zipcar aligns best with the target market of college students for a multitude of reasons. The car

sharing service matches up well with college students top two “favorite things to do;” Hanging

out with friends and playing outside (Anderson Analytics, 2005). Zipcar grants students access to

the great outdoors as well as them the ability to get out of the house/dorm to meet up and go

out with friends. College students believe that world is in a “bad position” (Anderson Analytics,

2005) and needs cleaning up, so the fact that Zipcar is environmentally friendly and cuts down

on pollution definitely helps the company’s image with college students.

Zipcar also allows students to save money on both a vehicle and on campus parking. Money is

the number one reason students feel anxious, so having the ability to avoid the costs of car

upkeep and payments sheds a positive light on Zipcar (Anderson Analytics, 2005).

College students list their greatest ‘want’ as being a new vehicle (Anderson Analytics, 2005).

Zipcar is aligned perfectly with this, having the ability to grant college students the car of their

choice for a fraction of the time and cost. In fact, a car is the number one answer to the

question, “If I could buy anything it would be…” when asked to college students (Anderson

Analytics, 2005). Zipcar gives students the opportunity to access and possess a car without

worrying about credit ratings, leases, or monthly payments.

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Geographic Choice Explanation

Metro area priority No. 1 [New York]

New York should be the primary geographic choice for Zipcar in its efforts to reach college students.

New York has nearly 600,000 people pursuing a higher education; more than any other city in the United

States. It also comes in 12th among US Cities with college students representing 9.3% of the population

over fifteen years old (New York In Focus, 2008). There is 162 degree granting institutions within New

York, making up for more than 50% of the state’s colleges (Statistics, 2010). New York also comes in 1st

in number of college students among cities where Zipcar is offered. Given these factors it should be

obvious that New York is the prime candidate for targeting college students.

Metro area priority No. 2 [Chicago]

Chicago should also be looked at as a key metro area to target college students. Chicago is home to

210,000 young adults enrolled in a two or four year institution (Chicago Colleges & Universities, 2007).

College students make up 9.3% of Chicago’s population, ranking them 13th nationally in percentage of

population enrolled in post-secondary education. The city is also home to over 90 different college

campuses. Chicago comes in 2nd for number of college students in cities where Zipcar is offered, and

ranks 3rd overall nationally in population enrolled at a university (New York In Focus, 2008). Upon

examination it is undeniable that Chicago is a major metropolitan area that should be targeted by Zipcar

when advertising to college students.

Metro area priority No. 3 [Philadelphia]

Philadelphia is the final metro area to be considered as a target market for Zipcar when advertising to

college students. Philadelphia is home to over 115,000 students enrolled in a two or four year

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institution. This also puts the city in 4th in number of college students when compared nationally to

other major metro areas. It also secures Philadelphia’s spot in 3rd for number of college students where

Zipcar is offered. These students account for 9.7% of the city’s population, ranking Philadelphia 1 st in

percent of population enrolled in higher education among cities where Zipcar is offered, and 9 th

nationally (New York In Focus, 2008). Philadelphia is also home to more than 80 institutions, with the

highest concentration of universities in America (Philadelphia: Education and Research, 2004). Given this

data, it is easy to conclude that Philadelphia should be the 3 rd metro area targeted by Zipcar when

advertising to college students.

Zipcar Media Plan

Introduction:

Zipcar, a car rental service, is quickly becoming the nation’s leader in car sharing programs. Since

its creation in 2000, Zipcar has grown from a small rental service to a major player in the market

with more than 500,000 members in 14 major metropolitan cities and over 230 college

campuses. With the brand gaining so much ground so quickly, it is imperative to have a solid

advertising campaign. Given the budget of $400,000 to $2M, a media plan has been assembled

for Zipcar with 25 media buys in 6 major media types.

Media Type Priorities:

The top priority media type of this media plan is television. Television offered one of the highest

total number of viewers with 2,700,000; only rivaled by magazines. Print media has been

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showing a consistent decline in popularity in recent years, giving Television the slight advertising

advantage. I also felt that the program purchases of The Office and Jersey Shore aligned slightly

better with college students as the target market for Zipcar.

Television has also found an advantage over magazines in pricing per individual ad. The most

expensive ad for television is Jersey Shore (aired in New York) is nearly 1/10th of the price of the

most expensive magazine advertisement. These pricing trends are similar when comparing the

least expensive of each as well. With television having significantly lower pricing per ad, it allows

for more insertions. More insertions make the probability for the advertisement to be noticed

by our target audience much greater.

The second media type that took priority is magazine advertisements. Magazines offered an

audience of over 6.2 million in circulation and a total audience (including pass-along estimate) of

slightly over 25 million, making it the largest possible target audience among other media types.

Not only do magazine placements offer the largest target audience for Zipcar, they also offer the

overall lowest CPM of $3.51 with Game Informer. Individually, Game Informer also offers the

largest target audience when compared to other ad placements.

Specific Media Choices:

o Magazines

Game Informer

Game Informer was chosen to place advertisements in for a variety of reasons. First, it offered

the largest target audience among all other media vehicles and ranks 7th nationally in circulation

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(Game Informer, 2011). Second, it offered the lowest CPM among all other media vehicles.

Finally, Game Informer aligned nearly perfect with the target audience chosen for Zipcar.

Game Informer aligns with the target market of college students seamlessly in nearly every

category. Their main demographic is males between the ages of 18-34. This audience accounts

for 62% of their subscribers. 27% of their subscribers are 18-24, with their median age being 27;

the average age of a graduate student. Nearly 70% of their readership are high school graduates

and are attending/graduated college. 69% of their demographic is single/never married. (Game

Informer, 2011)

Lucky

Several factors played into the choice of Lucky as an advertising medium for Zipcar. Lucky aligns

rather well with the female members of the target market. It is a shopping magazine who’s

main demographic is women (93% of readership) between ages 18-40. 48% of their readers

either attended or graduated from college, and 45% of their readers are single. (Conde Nast,

2011)

Lucky’s total audience in the target market is slightly lower than competing magazines such as

Cosmo and Glamour, but it still offers a comparative total audience for less than 1/3rd of the

price (Conde Nast, 2011; Conde Nast, 2011).

Chicago Athlete Magazine

Several factors influenced the decision to place advertisements in Chicago Athlete Magazine.

First, it syncs up with the male side of the target audience fairly well. Its target demographic is

males between the ages of 18-35. 55% of its readership is college educated, and 45% of the

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readership is single. Chicago Athlete Magazine also creates the opportunity to easily geo-target

and focus a little more on one of the major cities chosen as a target market for Zipcar.

Even though it offers the single highest CPM among all other media vehicles, the ability to focus

on a single metropolitan area coupled with the extremely inexpensive cost per ad/total ad

campaign was the main driving force in the decision to advertise with Chicago Athlete Magazine.

o Newspapers

Columbia Daily Spectator

The Columbia Daily Spectator is an easy decision given the target audience in New York. The

Daily Spectator is the student published newspaper of the largest and most prestige universities:

Columbia University. With a circulation of 60,000, it is the 2nd largest student publication in

New York (Columbia Spectator, 2011).

Zipcar advertisements would be placed in the Arts & Entertainment section. According to an

Alloy Media & Marketing study, the Arts & Entertainment and Campus News sections of student

newspapers are the most read sections of the publications (Alloy Media & Marketing, 2008).

The advertisements would run in Friday's edition of the Spectator for two major reasons. First,

Friday's issue is the one that provides the weekend entertainment and the day that there is the

most content in the Entertainment section. Secondly, there is no paper published on Saturdays

by the university, meaning Friday's issue will get twice the exposure on the campus newsstands.

New York Times

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The second media vehicle within the newspaper placements is The New York Times. It is the 4th

largest newspaper publication nationwide and 2nd only to The Wall Street Journal within the

city of New York (Wikipedia, 2011). It offers the highest total audience and lowest CPM within all

of the newspaper placements. The New York Times is also the most expensive purchase among

the newspaper placements, accounting for nearly 60% of the total cost for newspaper

placements (New York Times, 2011).

Advertisements would run in the Sunday edition in the Entertainment section. Entertainment

and Sports rank as the most read sections of national newspapers by college students according

to Alloy Media & Marketing. Advertisements would run at only 20 column inches due to the high

pricing per column inch overall, especially for the Sunday edition.

The Chicago Maroon

The Chicago Maroon is the University of Chicago's campus newspaper. It is the largest student

publication in the city. It boasts a circulation of 55,000, and is published every Tuesday and

Friday (Chicago Maroon, 2011).

Advertisements would be placed in the Friday edition of The Maroon in the General News

section. According to a study of college students and newspaper readership by Alloy Media &

Marketing, 90% of those surveyed said "it’s important to find out what’s happening within the

campus environment (Alloy Media & Marketing, 2008)." Advertisements would run in the Friday

Edition for two reasons. First, it is the edition printed right before the weekend, giving some

added value to the content because of upcoming weekend events. Secondly, running ads on

Friday gives the newspaper an extra day in front of the public versus running ads on Tuesday.

The Daily Illini

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Ranking 2st in circulation among student publications within Chicago, the University of Illinois'

student publication is the largest within the state and is a must have when considering the

target audience in Chicago (Education U. D., 2011). The University of Illinois-Chicago is the

largest campus, and home to the largest number of college students within Chicago.

Zipcar advertisements would run in the Friday edition in the Entertainment section of the paper.

Ads will be Entertainment section of The Daily Illini because it is one of the most read sections

among college students as well as it is the most saturated with content specifically matching the

target audiences psychographic analysis (Alloy Media & Marketing, 2008; Anderson Analytics,

2005). The Friday edition offers the most exposure of the advertisement because no papers are

printed over the weekend, giving Friday's edition 3x the exposure as the other issues. (Illini

Media, 2011)

• The Daily Pennsylvanian

The University of Pennsylvania is the largest institution in the entire state, and home to the

student publication The Daily Pennsylvanian (Education U. D., Largest Colleges and Universities

in Pennsylvania , 2011). The Daily Pennsylvanian has the highest circulation among student

publications in Philadelphia, reaching 43,000 college students with each issue (Pennsylvania,

2011). This makes The Daily Pennsylvanian a vital asset in Zipcar’s advertising campaign.

Advertisements are planned to run in the General News section of the Friday edition of The

Daily Pennsylvanian. The General News section of college newspapers is one of the top read

sections according to Alloy Media & Marketing. Ads would run on Friday to maximize exposure

by getting an extra two days on the newspaper stands.

• Temple News

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Temple News, the campus newspaper for Temple University, is the final newspaper placement.

Temple University is the 2nd largest university in both Philadelphia and the state of

Pennsylvania (Education U. D., Largest Colleges and Universities in Pennsylvania , 2011). Temple

News is the 2nd largest student publication by circulation in Philadelphia, making it an excellent

source for Zipcar advertisements targeted at the college audience.

Temple News is published weekly on Tuesdays (University, 2011). Zipcar advertisements would

run in the Entertainment section of the publication. The Entertainment section offers one of the

highest reader percentages according to Alloy Media & Marketing.

o Radio

• New York- WLTW-FM

106.7 WLTW Lite FM is the top rated radio station in New York and has been for the past three

months. WLTW specializes in Contemporary music, appealing to both women and men 18-40

years old. Over 5.2 million listeners tune in each week for their favorites in hip-hop, dance and

rap music (Arbitron, 2011). Lite FM has generated more revenue than any other radio station in

the country, and in 2007 won Adult Contemporary station of the year.

Zipcar advertisements would run during the Afternoon day part to best target college students.

Monday through Friday 3pm to 7pm offers the highest number of college listeners (Katz Media

Group, 2004; Arbitron, 2005). Contemporary also has the highest percentage of 18-24 year old

listeners according to KMG who did a study on national format averages in 2004 (Katz Media

Group, 2004).

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• Chicago- WTMX- FM

101.9 The Mix is Chicago's top modern contemporary station, and currently ranks 5th among all

radio stations in the city (Arbitron, 2011). WTMX is aimed at the 18-24 and 25-34 age groups,

playing a mix of all of the newest hits. WTMX ranks number 1 with a 5.2% of the Chicago radio

market (persons 18-24) in the afternoon time slot (Larz, 2011).

Ads would run during the Afternoon day part because it has the highest percentage of college

students listening according to KMG (Katz Media Group, 2004). Also WTMX has the highest

percentage of the target audience during that day part (Larz, 2011).

• Philadelphia- WIOQ-FM

WIOQ-FM, better known as Q102, is the top radio station in Philadelphia that caters to Zipcar's

target audience. Currently Q102 is ranked 7th in Philadelphia with 4.5% of the market (Arbitron,

2011). Q102 is a contemporary hits station, aimed at 18-24 year olds.

The Afternoon day part would be best to run advertisements for Zipcar in because that is when

the largest majority of the target audience is tuned in to the radio.

o Television

• The Big Bang Theory

The Big Bang Theory was chosen as a media vehicle for Television placements for a multitude of

reasons. First, it is in Nielsen’s Top 10 ratings for both broadcast television and syndication for 3

months in a row (Nielsen , 2011). With a current rating of 4, The Big Bang Theory is near the top

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of the chart when examining programs target audiences. The show made the top 10 TV shows of

2010 by college students (Monaghan, 2011).

Zipcar advertisements will air during The Big Bang Theory in three major metropolitan cities:

New York, Chicago and Philadelphia.

• Jersey Shore

Jersey Shore was also chosen to be a media vehicle for Zipcar. The show ranked 2nd in cable TV

shows in September 2011 according to the Nielsen ratings (Nielsen , 2011). Jersey shore ranked

7th in total viewers and was also voted the top cable show among college students in 2010

(Shea, 2010). The show currently commands 4.2% of the cable TV audience every week.

Zipcar advertisements will air during Jersey Shore in three major metropolitan cities: New York,

Chicago, and Philadelphia.

o Web Sites

• Facebook.com

Facebook.com was chosen to advertise Zipcar for many reasons, but simply put, it’s the best

medium for advertisement on the Internet. Recently Facebook.com has jumped to the #1 most

visited website on the internet and has well over 100 million users in the United States. 18-24

year olds account for a little more than 40% of the profiles on the website, making them the

largest Facebook demographic (iStrategy Labs, 2010). New York, Chicago and Philadelphia all

rank in the top 10 by number of users. Not counting the unknown education status of users,

college students make up the majority of the users at 18.6% (iStrategy Labs, 2010).

Facebook.com has been allotted the most monthly impressions because of this.

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• Nyt.com/pages/sports

The sports section of nyt.com was also selected to place Zipcar advertisements with. According

to Alloy Media & Marketing, the sports and entertainment sections of national newspapers are

the most read sections by college students (Alloy Media & Marketing, 2008). In today’s time,

people are forced to either get their content from a newspaper, or the internet. Advertising in

both the sports section of the newspaper and the website, ensures no members of the target

audience will be missed. Due to the high cost per 1000 impressions, monthly impressions have

been limited to 250,000 (The New York Times, 2011).

• Thedp.com

Thedp.com was selected for advertising because it offers the unique ability to advertise only to

the target audience in one of the chosen metro areas, as well as the opportunity to layer

advertising on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Thedp.com has over 750k pages viewed

each month by students, faculty and staff (Pennsylvania, The Daily Pennsylvanian Advertising

Rates 2011-2012, 2011) . Advertising both in print and online can solidify Zipcar's brand in

Philadelphia.

• Thedp.com/blog

Thedp.com/blog, better known as UndertheButton.com, offers the same unique benefits listed

previously. This campus lifestyle blog is the students 24/7 source for entertainment, gossip, and

breaking news. UndertheButton.com averages 250k visitors a month (Pennsylvania, The Daily

Pennsylvanian Advertising Rates 2011-2012, 2011). 30k impressions are expected to show on

about 12% of the websites viewed pages. Advertising here creates an even more layered

advertising effect in the Philadelphia area.

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• Phrequency.com

Phrequency.com is a Philadelphia based music website that offers information on upcoming

music events in Philadelphia, news surrounding the music industry, and downloads. The site

targets 18-34 year olds who live in the metro area. 43% of their user base is enrolled in local

colleges or universities (Philly Online, 2011). Phrequency.com aligns perfectly with Zipcar's

target audience but has only been allotted 150k impression monthly. This is due to the

constrained size of the Philadelphia market compared to other metro areas featured in the

campaign.

• Espn.com

Espn.com was chosen as a media vehicle for Zipcar's internet campaign because it aligns very

well with the target audience's interests. 66% of espn.com visitors are male between 18 and 34

years old. 87% of its demographic is college educated, and 47% are single (ESPN, 2011). Because

espn.com fits so well with the target audience and has the ability to significantly increase brand

awareness for Zipcar, it has been allotted 500k impressions a month.

• Espn.com/college-football

Espn.com/college-football was also selected as an advertisement spot for Zipcar. It has all of the

main benefits espn.com offers, including near perfect alignment with the target audience.

Espn.com/college-football offers the ability to narrow our audience down even further by

advertising in the section with content most relevant to the target audience. This sub domain

also has a much lower cost per 1000 impressions than espn.com. Given its ability to narrow

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down and align perfectly with the target audience, 400k impressions a month have been

allotted.

• Chicagotribune.com

The website for The Chicago Tribune was selected because it lined up well with Zipcar's target

audience as well as enabled layer marketing in one of the key metro areas.

Chicagotribune.com's main demographic is 18-34 year old males make up the second largest

number of visitors to chicagotribune.com, with 23% of the total web traffic working towards a

Bachelor's degree (Tribune, 2011). It has only been giving 150k impressions monthly because

Chicago is only a small piece in the geo-targeting puzzle.

• Chicagotribune.com/sports

The sports subsection of chicagotribune.com was also selected as a media vessel. It offers all of

the same benefits as listed above for chicagotribune.com's home page, but also matches up

with the target audience’s hobbies. Advertising in this section ensures all bases are covered and

we will get the maximum possible exposure to the target market. Chicagotribune.com/sports

were also only given 150k impressions per month.

• Break.com

Break.com is one of largest and most important acquisitions for Zipcar when targeting college

students. It leads the humor website industry in traffic from males 18-34. Break.com commands

nearly 30% of the total online population and is the 10th favorite website among males 17-25

(Break Media, 2011). Excluding social media sites, break.com offers the largest target audience

for Zipcar to advertise to when compared to the other internet banner placements. Break.com

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also offers one of the lowest costs per 1000 impressions compared to the other internet

placements. Break.com has been given 500k impressions a month based on these factors.

• Linkedin.com

Linkedin.com is the final banner purchase for internet placements. LinkedIn is easily just as

valuable as Facebook.com for its ability to focus in on exact audiences through a variety of ways.

The site currently has 55 million users in the United States, and is one of the key social

networking sites for upcoming college graduates and people looking professional jobs (LinkedIn,

2011). Linkedin.com has been allotted 100k impressions a month, the lowest amount among all

internet placements. This is because it has one of the highest costs per 1000 impressions. Also,

LinkedIn.com targets students graduating soon or entering the business world, which is the tail

end of the college student age range of 18-24 (LinkedIn, 2011).

o Google Keywords

• (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia) car rental

This key phrase was chosen for multiple reasons. First, it is the most obvious key phrase when

examining Zipcar and how it works. Second, it’s a short key phrase that is exactly in line with

what the target audience is in need of most at that exact moment. Those key phrases net nearly

200,000 local searches monthly, the most out of all the Keyword-Based Search Buys. Among

these cities, Philadelphia had the highest CPC and Chicago had the lowest CPC for the keyword

search. This keyword search is the most relevant to the customers problem and offers Zipcar

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the highest opportunity to solver their problem. It has been delegated 5,000 clicks per month

for each variation of the search, nearly 5x more than any other keyword or phrase.

• (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia) Bike rental

The metro area combined with 'bike rental' is the second keyword-based search buy. This key

phrase was chosen because bike rental and car rental have the same problem for the user; they

need transportation. This key phrase only nets 10,000 monthly searches, but is the cheapest key

phrase when comparing CPC with other keyword purchases. Because they key word search still

effectively solves the users problem by aligning with Zipcar, it is the second largest keyword-

based purchase. Each variation of the key phrase has been allotted 1,000 clicks per month. The

number of clicks has significantly decreased between the first key phrase and the current, which

can be contributed to the lack of monthly searches when compared to the car rental key phrase.

• (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia)Transportation

This key word was chosen because it addresses the overall need of the potential customer. Even

though it is not specific as to the type of transportation, a Zipcar advertisement placed in front

of the target audience in a time of need may be enough to convince them to become a Zipster.

This key phrase has the second highest number of monthly searches compared to other

keyword-based buys, but was only allotted 400 clicks a month due to the obscurity of the word

'transportation.'

• Travel in (New York, Chicago, Philadelphia)

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This keyword was purchased because it addresses the overall need of the customer and though

obscure, those needs aligns with Zipcar. This keyword search has the highest number of local

monthly searches, but Zipcar's relevance to a majority of those is uncertain. Only 400 clicks per

month were allotted to this keyword-based placement due to the uncertainty of relevance.

• Media Plan Schedule

Zipcar's advertising efforts would be best used in the months of October, November, March and

April when targeting college students. These are the two consecutive months leading up to the

end of each semester. Most students are required to travel in some form during the holiday

break to see family and friends, and what better way to get there than Zipcar. March and April

are the two months leading up to summer break, and many college students are forced to

move, and many others elect to travel over the summer. Each of these instances could require a

variety of different vehicles which most people don’t possess. Zipcar can be the solution to each

of those problems: supplying a truck to help move and an energy efficient hybrid for inexpensive

travel.

All Advertisements excluding Chicago Athlete Magazine will start the first week of October and

run until the second week in November. All Advertisements except The New York Times,

Facebook.com and LinkedIn.com will stop the 3rd week in November because usually

Thanksgiving break for most universities. Facebook, LinkedIn, and The New York Times

advertisements will still run this week because they will still be highly viewed pieces of content

during the holiday. All Advertisements will resume in week 4 of November and end following the

conclusion of week 4. The Chicago Athlete Magazine was not used in October and November

because it joins those two issues into one for those months. Espn.com/college-football will only

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run until the end of November and will not be a part of the campaign in March or April because

football is not in season.

Advertisements will start back up the first week of March in preparation for Spring Break. The

Chicago Athlete begins advertisements this month and runs until the end of the campaign. In

the second week of March all advertisements will continue except for student published

newspapers. Advertisement for these newspapers will stop until the 4th week in March. This is

due to the fact that all but one of the student newspapers are published on Friday, and typically

the 3rd week in March is Spring Break. Advertising in the Friday edition right as everyone is

dispersing would be a complete waste of funds. During week 3 of March, all advertisements will

cease, excluding The New York Times, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Following Spring Break Week (week 3 in March), all advertisements will resume and run the

remainder of the campaign until the end of week 4 in April.

• Justification of Money Spent

The total cost for Zipcar's advertising campaign comes in just shy of the budget maximum with

$1,999,052.00 spent. This covered twenty-five different media purchases in the six major media

outlets. The advertising campaign highlighted three major metropolitan areas and inserted

Zipcar brand in well over 30,000 advertisements when including internet. Zipcar advertisements

are set to be shown to over 30 million people, not including internet, over the course of four

months.

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