Is Your Media Buy Working in the Crowded Food Landscape?

Introducing a new consumer packaged food item in a crowded category can present a multitude of marketing challenges. Media strategies that break through to the increasingly complex consumer targets need to be carefully planned. So how can you ensure your media plan delivers a high level of engagement? And make certain all those impressions ultimately drive trial and acquire new fans? Let’s take a look at how EHY approached a media challenge presented by one client’s recent new product launch.

Following a recent campaign for one of our client’s new product launch, total sales increased by +30% to deliver ROI and exceed KPIs.

Many factors come into play when we develop media planning and buying strategies. While these are critical to the overall plan, they also work in concert with numerous marketing elements including:

• product distribution/availability
• sales margin contribution
• brand size
• competitive environment
• shopper barrier
• product attribute
• market dynamic

All affect the overall communication impact of a new product launch.

Media Planning That Drives Trial & Velocity at Retail

It all starts with a clear and precise media process that addresses today’s changing, fragmented and ever-growing media landscape. There are now a multitude of ways to present brands and product choices for consumers to consider. Each generation of consumers continue to change, evolve and grow. These changes challenge the ability of your marketing initiatives to deliver the right message at the right time to the most likely purchasers.

Understanding and adapting to these changes allows you to pinpoint the best media options that will deliver results. But have you clearly defined what success looks like? And has everyone bought in to these metrics? Are you basing your plan’s success on impressions delivered, percentage of the target reached, number of views and awareness? These are all familiar media measurements and each demonstrates a unique level of engagement that is important to monitor and optimize.

For the new CPG food product that I mentioned above, having a media plan that would generate the highest positive sales increase at the lowest media cost was the ultimate metric we identified.

Set Better Parameters for Your Media Buy With a Holistic View

Empowering your media team with an understanding of your marketing objectives, sales data analysis, consumer audiences and nuances in terms of purchasing habits helps facilitate the media process. EHY utilizes a media brief process to clearly understand all pertinent guidelines needed to execute a successful media strategy. When our clients share vital information as I mentioned, we can more accurately explore areas of opportunity, apply right-fit media tactics and then optimize various options.

Only after your campaign parameters have been approved, can you utilize a multi-touch-point strategy. Once your owned media (content, website and  internal communications), shared media (social channels) and earned media (publicity, local events and influencers) are launched, paid media will kick your visibility into high gear, with video/TV/streaming, audio, print, digital, social, integrations, contest and others. All will resonate as one voice to the consumer.

Leverage Data to Intimately Understand Your Target Audience

Audiences are fragmenting. Our media team scrutinizes research beyond generic demographics, and explores individualized target habits. The latest available technology, as well as product, consumer and media data, leads us to actionable insights. The key is a thorough understanding of the targeted consumers’ media journey.

Working with our clients, with access to proprietary and syndicated research, we build a comprehensive media road map. This enables EHY media to craft astute media tactics, and negotiate efficiencies that deliver consumer engagement and generate results.

For our client’s recent product launch, we were able to boost ROI by +30% by undertaking a multi-platform approach to media strategies. A combination of traditional & non-traditional media combined with local and national tactics successfully delivered the media goals. We capitalized on growth market potential with additional media investments to stimulate distribution and sales. With our proprietary media buying system, we delivered more media visibility, value-add and efficiency while delivering on goals and KPIs.

Still, we maintained a living and flexible media plan that afforded customization as needed.

Expect (and Allow) Changes to Your Media Plan to Maximize Results

Campaign management and optimization are critical to the overall media strategy. At EHY we curate a living media plan for our clients, that can (and will) be adjusted as needed.

Media testing is also part of the process in order to measure results. For this particular product launch, we worked hand in hand with the brand’s third party research company.  With our systems in place, media investments were tracked, reported and optimized for maximum efficiencies. All are important elements that contributed to the successful launch of this new product.

How We Create the Most Effective Results for our Clients

Each product launch requires its own customized media process and path. Having a clear media brief and a strategic road map that focuses on key KPIs guides us. This increases our ability to deliver successful media applications. Our mission is to create the most effective sales results for our clients. A constant flow of ideas, solid research and astute strategies is the best way to achieve that.