Advertising Campaign for Outdoor Brand

This is an overview of the strategies for the advertising campaign for the outdoors brand, Wilder. The details provided make up the framework of the brand’s identity, overall goals, and standards of execution in advertising. The paper explores how different departments of the brand contribute pieces to create the entire structure of Wilder’s communications and experience provided to the brand’s target audience.

The outdoor market is the fourth leading sector in consumer spending. However, the market plummeted six percent from 2017 to 2018 as the industry proved to be aging and irrelevant to new consumer habits (OIA, 2018). Over the course of the last two decades, the outdoors market was dominated by pricey brands specifically targeting serious enthusiasts. Serious enthusiasts fall into an older generational age category due to experience. This inevitable rotation of generational consumers reveals a large gap developing between outdoor companies and their ability to attract new audiences.

Wilder is an online retailer for outdoor products. The brand is a collection of carefully selected items that fall into four categories: innovative, functional, affordable, and easy to use. The team has handpicked everything Wilder sells so they can offer products that they are proud of. Each item is created by a company of like-minded individuals and targeted to the next generation of outdoor lovers. Wilder store brand takes a new approach to introducing fresh platforms to an aging market.

Nature belongs to everyone and products in relation to nature should be easily accessible and presented to all levels and budgets. The brand’s products make the outdoor experience more-user friendly, attainable, and attractive to younger generations. Wilder embraces eco-friendly products in sync with technological advances, all while being consistent in philanthropic giveback.

Wilder presents itself as a lifestyle choice within a retail environment. The brand taps into fresh solutions, bridging the gap between the digital world and the wild. Younger consumers are surrounded with media and innovation yet hungry to reconnect with nature. This reconnection is proving to be a mass phenomenon due to the ability to share images displaying the engagement between nature and the individual. Wilder builds new perspectives to influence individuals to engage in outdoor activities by providing simple solutions with positive return to the user in the form of self enjoyment, fulfillment, and health.

Wilder’s gear consists of multiple items that can be utilized for just an afternoon outside or for more in-depth adventures such as hiking or camping. Examples of these items are: compact hammocks, solar-powered charging stations, tree tents, adaptable bags, and more. The inventory leaves behind the conventional stigma of outdoor gear by providing multi-use products that are more logical and applicable for everyday life outdoors rather than expensive outdoor specialty-specific items.

Outdoor products can be costly, especially if they are eco-friendly. Wilder’s pricing strategy is based on offering affordable yet dependable gear at a reasonable price. Due to targeting a younger generation, offering products that are large ticket items is not overall effective. Wilder’s target consumers are more inclined to make a purchase of a higher price if the quality and experience return on the investment. Since the brand is new, it will use trial periods, sampling, and coupons to encourage customers to experience the items. Wilder will utilize customer appreciation tactics such as twenty percent off of first purchases and a loyalty rewards program. Wilder will also have an appropriate return policy for ease of mind of consumers.

Product positioning for Wilder will rely on attaining natural and organic approaches. The brand grasps to a unique selling proposition by providing an experience with every engagement. The main focus for Wilder is a strong presence within every online channel. The brand will not take a platform that resembles conventional product sales. For example, the products will not be displayed in the common grid format of product images floating against a white background or alongside bold font ticket prices. The goal is to position Wilder in digital platform in a format that transcends the outdoors and blurs the line of tech and wild as if the online viewer entered a portal from screen to outdoors. This immersive experience allows the customer to view the product in use and in it’s appropriate environment.

Wilder provides not only an experience but also a personal connection. Wilder will position itself as being grateful for the consumer. This wholesome thankfulness adds personalization and invites the consumer to a community-minded marketplace.

A major communication tool for Wilder is to always provide useful and resourceful content for the audience. Our website and social media presence will have tips, articles, adventure itineraries, and other resources alongside our products. Providing resourceful content for our consumers provides insight and incentivizes our audiences to engage while developing a community around the brand.

Adventure is trendy especially if an individual can capture the action through media and share to their online audience. To build communication outlets, Wilder will create a social media pipeline that is consistent with sharing and user-generated content. The brand will develop an army of brand ambassadors to feed the social media pipeline. Wilder will maintain a consistent hash tag from inception in order to develop familiarity and recognition.

One-third of online activity is spent watching video with an average of sixty-four percent of consumers making a purchase after watching branded social videos (Gordon, 2018). Wilder will heavily produce video content with short montage clips that bring life and dimension to the products. Video clips will be customer profile feature articles, adventure experiences, and other interviews that touch back to the immersive approach of marketing.

For print media, Wilder will target niche magazines in relation to outdoors such as Backpacker, Nylon, and Outside Magazine. Publishing advertisements in tourism literature is also a great print medium to leverage visibility. Purchasing space in programs for music festivals, concerts, breweries and other outdoor social events provide another potential platform to reach the Wilder audience.

The target audience for Wilder is males and females in the age range of 18 years old to 35 years old. This age range is the millennial generation whom are a very dynamic and diverse group. One side of the age spectrum is at an entirely different point in their life than the other side of the spectrum. However, the overall span shares similar characteristics. These characteristics will be the underlying target for Wilder.

Consumers in the 18-35-age range are the largest group of online shoppers and the highest users of social media to date (Duncan, 2018). They thrive on ease-of-use and simplistic buying methods. The audience are college students and individuals in entry-level to mid-level careers. The audience value savings as they have the increasing cost of living and possible student-debt to consider into their budget. However this generation values work-life balance and invest in products that contribute in achieving it. This audience is very loyal to brands that provide a strong experience. In addition, the target is highly connected via the Internet and has an understanding that they have access and many options when making shopping decisions online Duncan (2018).

Wilder’s target audience is globally aware, passionate for causes, and willing to contribute small instances of charitable acts in unison with personal gain. This target is very information hungry and loves a good story. They are travelers, adventurous, social, and energetic. You can find this audience in public places, parks, green spaces, and other venues outdoors.

Our target is mostly concentrated on urban areas in close location to natural resource sites where individuals crave a sense of connection to nature-based releases and are in short travel distance to areas that provide such releases. According to a study done by the University of Exeter, individuals that spend time in green spaces have increased mental health (Alcock, 2014). Wilder’s mission is to provide simple products that influence urban to suburban dwellers to step outside and enjoy.

For Wilder to be successful, it is crucial to analyze the different behaviors of the target audience. In order to maintain an immersive approach to tracking consumer behavior, Wilder must maintain a steady influx of consumer engagement. The business will utilize interactive methods such as photo submission contests and other user-driven platforms that collect personal snapshots of our consumers while providing a personal gesture of interest in their lives. These gestures will work on a reward-base system that make customers feel that they are getting much more than just a product but also recognition. With the data input from customer submissions, we can create character profiles that fit best for each product.

By collecting location of purchase and median amount spent on similar competitor’s products, Wilder will determine the average purchase points. The company will monitor Internet reviews to analyze which products are being positively received and which ones have small impact. Wilder will access our website analytics to analyze which videos are viewed the most and which articles invoke the most engagement. These analyses will save Wilder from investing too much time or budget on actions that are not beneficial and receptive to our audience.

Wilder’s media plan will use action-packed imagery and editorial images to tell the story of the brand. Behind every advertisement will be a storyline. Wilder will not utilize actors or sales pitches but embrace documentary-style tactics to enhance our standards of the transparency of truth. This transparency of media will be a driving force in customer loyalty and engagement. The brand will embrace natural themes that touch on customers’ mental and social factors of perception.

Developing partnerships is a crucial tool for the public relations of Wilder. Wilder will develop relationships with travel and outdoor entertainment companies such as Airnb which market to a similar audience as Wilder. Recently, many national and state parks across the nation have remarketed their image to attract more visitors. Developing relationships with these natural parklands will provide great strength to Wilder while also giving back by influencing park attendance. In addition, sponsorships will be integrated into our public relations in two different formats; creating sponsorship campaigns for outdoors enthusiasts engaged in environmental projects and sponsorships for athletes that fall into the category of extreme outdoors sports.

In regards to public relations, Wilder maintains being a responsible company that insists on thoughtful decisions within all of our day-to-day business executions. To Wilder, corporate social responsibility is not just considered an option but a necessity. Environmental issues are no strangers to outdoor brands. Wilder will utilize advocacy advertising in relation to environmental issues but will tread lightly. The business will maintain bi-partisan and have a committed team dedicated to following important issues related to our brand’s identity.

Wilder will ensure our employees are given an opportunity to expand through education and room to release creative insight. A positive and strong line of internal communication is key to developing a sustainable workforce that is dedicated and invested in Wilder’s success due to their recognition of Wilder’s dedication to them.

The promotions for Wilder will revolve around enhancing awareness of our brand and it’s purpose. Since the brand shifts gears during the changes of seasons, timing is a crucial factor for sales. Promotions will align with brand identity and seasonal demands. The brand encourages our customers to engage in our community to develop continuous interaction. Wilder invites individuals to immerse themselves in the wild through the use of our products. This immersive concept is an integral part of our media, consumer insights, and continues on to sales promotion through engaging customers to submit in photo contests and other rewards promotions.

Sale promotions for Wilder will have a strong presence at industry specific events. Sponsorships of events that integrate cause marketing enhance Wilder’s relationship with our target audience and reinforce our community-minded mission. Wilder takes this community-minded mission even further by developing partnership programs with others. Lastly, Wilder’s involvement in environmental advocacy will contribute to our engagement in public platforms.

Wilder will integrate the principles and practices of Integrated Marketing Communication through research, communications, budget, sales, and evaluation. The first process of our advertising campaign is to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the brand. With these identifiers, Wilder can determine which platforms are most attractive to enter. Wilder’s communication plan is controlled by determining perception and maintains an identical internal and external output that upholds the company’s values. Budget tracking partners with research to ensure finances are being distributed in the most effective outlets. Evaluation is a continuous tool across the entire mix that allows Wilder to continue adapting strategies to accommodate evolving market targets. Altogether, the IMC of Wilder will strategically assign roles to each department and ensure each department is working in unison to maintain the big picture.

Personal Lessons Learned

Throughout the course of Principles of Advertising, the amounts of resources I have discovered are innumerable. I enlisted in this course to fill credits and am shocked now to think it was not required of my degree, Media Design. I believe the information I have acquired during this course is absolutely relevant and crucial to my degree and ultimately, my career. I have discovered that Advertising consists of an intricate strategic plan that relies heavily on intense research, perspective, and collaboration. Each contributing department of advertising specializes in a specific focus, which must be integrated into the big picture. Personally, I will take with me a much deeper understanding of planning, integration, perception, and communication approach to determine objectives and project failures and successes.

References

Alcock, I., Dr., & White, M., Dr. (2014, January 7). University of Exeter. Retrieved from

http://www.exeter.ac.uk/news/featurednews/title_349054_en.html

Duncan, E. (2018) Topic: E-commerce worldwide. Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/

Gordon, K. (2018) Topic: Online video usage in the United States. Retrieved from

https://www.statista.com/topics/1137/online-video/

OIA - Together We Are A Force. (2018) Retrieved April 10, 2018, from

https://outdoorindustry.org/

Taylor, M. (2018, April 24). The Disconnected Customer: What digital customer

experience leaders teach us about reconnecting with customers. Retrieved from https://www.capgemini.com/resources/the-disconnected-customer-what-digital-customer-experience-leaders-teach-us

Worrall, S. (2017, February 12). We Are Wired To Be Outside. Retrieved April 10, 2018,

from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/02/nature-fix-brain-happy-florence-williams/