Advertising campaign

Final Report_Charming Charlie.doc

Executive Summary:

The focus of this report is to highlight and explain the details behind the creation of a men’s line for the store Charming Charlies. Charming Charlies is a women’s clothing store specializing in accessories and business attire. The men’s line would be created with the same objective. We would call it Dangerously Handsome Men, or DHM for short. The idea is to provide affordable, yet fashionable and sophisticated clothing for men. The general theme for the clothing would be business oriented geared toward men in their twenties. We would want for this to be a place where men could come to learn about style and to start building their wardrobe for an interview or a first job. There would be a variety of options to choose from ranging from cuff links to full suits. There would also be an instore stylist who would be there to aid customers who may not know much about suits and business attire. They would be able to assist in anything from putting together a suit to teaching someone to correctly tie a tie. A major goal for the store would be to over time build up partnerships and deals with other companies to provide a wider variety of services. An example of this would be the partnership with a company such as Men’s Warehouse in order to be able to provide a wider selection of suits. Research and market studies were done in order to gauge what steps would be needed, and if the market would be open to this type of store. Based on interviews with employees of Charming Charlies and other similar stores, it was discovered that this would be a potentially successful concept. In order to reach the target market a variety of marketing mediums will be utilized. Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Vine, and YouTube would be of use. For example there would be informational videos about anything from how to tie a tie to how to put together a suit. These videos would be featuring merchandise from the store. Social media paired with ads in men’s magazines such as Men’s Fitness and GQ would be influential for the company. Commercials and billboards would also be used in regions where they would reach the largest number target consumers. Once customers are drawn into the store they will be able to sign up for a rewards program where customers can earn points from their purchases and referrals to friends. They would be able to use these points to receive discounts or free merchandise. Overall the goal is to provide men with a store, where they can find all of the elements to create their perfect look. Want to offer a quick and easy option for customers with extensive knowledge or little to no knowledge about fashion to find a stylish look for any occasion.

History of Charming Charlie

Charming Charlie made its debut in 2004 with one very colorful and clear mission: help every woman, everywhere, find her fabulous. They thrive on making a statement. Why? Because they know accessories have the power to transform both your outfit and your outlook. At Charming Charlie, when it comes to accessories, they believe if it feels good, do it, and if it looks good, do it in every color it comes in. The way they see it, if fashion is fun, then accessories are definitely the life of the party! Visit any one of their hundreds of stores across the nation and see what they mean. Jewelry, handbags, eyewear, scarves, shoes and more all grouped together in your favorite colors – thousands of accessories in one store! Plus friendly Charmers ready to help you unleash your one-of-a-kind style – they call it finding your fabulous. From the tip of your tiara to the point of your pumps, Charming Charlie wants to bring out your most fabulous, fierce and fun self every single day.

Marketing Objectives

Our main marketing objective with DHM is quite simple: attract the target consumer where they already are through the use of television, social media, Vine, Snapchat, billboards, and magazine advertisements. Using these mediums will give us a very broad reach into our target market and allow us to connect with potential customers on a personal level.

Television one of the most prominent places to attract potential customers of all ages. Almost every person in this country watches some form of television, in fact the average American watches almost four hours of television every single day. This then proves the fact that whatever images, sounds and ideas come through that screen are far more than likely to be seen and internalized.

Social media is a more recent medium that has taken hold of our society and connected people in more ways than ever. Because of this, ideas and opinions are able to spread like wildfire, not just across a city, but across a nation, even the world. By taking advantage of the on average three hours per day a person spends on social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Vine, Snapchat and Instagram, we can ultimately multiply the awareness of this new marketing campaign drastically.

Billboards and magazine advertisements, although some of the oldest forms of advertisements on this list, are still highly effective tools to get the word out about a new product or company. Since the average person drives nearly 30 miles every day, a billboard on the side of that road or on the side of a building by a roadway would have a very high probability of being seen by hundreds if not thousands of people on a daily basis. On that note, although print media usage has been on the decline in recent years, magazine companies continue to publish online versions of their magazines to satisfy the growing trend of reading on electronic devices. This being said, magazines that are directed toward the target market are still prominently read by consumers and are still a valuable tool in effective advertising.

Targeting Objectives

We will be marketing DHM to any man looking to improve their wardrobe and style. This is very similar to the target market of Charming Charlies which is girls in high school and beyond. We believe that all men should have the opportunity to get everything they need to look good and feel good all under one roof. Even in this modern age we are in, men are still forced to go to multiple locations if they would like to get an entire outfit of clothes. On the contrary, women can walk into a variety of different clothing stores and find everything they need to create an entirely new look, right down to the socks.

Although we believe that this store would appeal to men of all ages, we believe the ideal consumer for DHM would be men in their 20s and lower 30s. This is because they would be students or just starting their professional careers. They would be looking to start building their professional wardrobe, and prepare for the professional world. They would be more than likely making minimum wage if in school, or below $50,000 a year for a starting salary. Much of the marketing campaign would be devoted to attracting this demographic of consumers.

Creative Direction

We had several ideas as to what specific types of commercials might appeal and attract our target consumer to shop at DHM. One commercial would include hundreds of adjectives describing business professionals, with certain words highlighted, and have pictures and videos of the men pop up underneath. We also plan to do several funny commercials, including a parody of the Dos Equis “Most Interesting Man in the World” commercial. Men in this category love to be entertained, and why not entertain them while also informing them about their new favorite store?

We also plan to work with the social media tool Vine, which includes thousands if not millions of short seven-second videos from all over the world. We will start a Vine channel that will include an array of tutorials which will be a quick guide for consumers who need help on the go. These tutorials would include tips such as: how to tie a tie (including many of the different knots), how to tie a bowtie, what colors go together, what patterns go together, along with other things of that nature

There are also other forms of social media such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram that we would be utilizing as well. We would create pages with special deals or discount codes if customers say they saw it on their news feed or print out some sort of deal code, thus increasing brand awareness. We also have plans of contacting and working out deals with popular people on Instagram, who deal with fashion and clothing. The idea would be to partner or sponsor them and have them model our clothing on their page.

Creative Summary

We want to create the ambiance of a sophisticated sharp-dressed man. This is a man that knows the value of looking good and feeling good, a dangerously handsome man. He’s not afraid to get his hands dirty and get the job done, and he’s not afraid to go against the grain when he knows it’s the right thing to do. He is a game-changer, a leader, a trendsetter, in short, he’s what every man aspires to be. With DHM, we want to show him the value of being able to get all that he needs to be all that he is in one stop.

Support of Marketing Communication Decisions

We had the opportunity to actually go to the Toledo Charming Charlie location and talk to Corey, the manager on hand at the time. He has been working with Charming Charlie for a number of years now, and so he was a very valuable source of information. He was able to give us insight into who shops at Charming Charlie, and he had significantly useful advice when we asked him he had any ideas for this new marketing campaign.

We also stopped by J.Crew, a prominent men’s and women’s clothing store, to get some of their employees’ ideas on our potential store. Although we were not able to go into specifics as to keep the confidentiality of both Charming Charlie and J.Crew, they were able to give excellent insight into the clothing industry and what the customer wants and expects from a clothing store representative.

We will also create a survey for men in several different demographics to shop from in order to gain more insight into what the customer wants. This will allow us to stay on the cutting edge as to what products are the most popular for men and what should be carried in DHM locations.

Media Schedule & Budget

We will start our media campaign by releasing an array of 7-second tutorial and promotional videos on Vine, as to gain widespread awareness of our brand for the ideal customer. Then we will move on to YouTube and television commercials, followed by billboards in prominent cities and locations. Throughout the process, we will be workingwith social media celebrities on Instagram or YouTube in an attempt to spread awareness through that medium of advertisement. We will also put ads in men’s magazines such as GQ or Men’s Fitness, and the ads would be featuring high-quality yet affordable merchandise from DHM stores.

The total budget for this campaign would be approximately $6,000,000. This would include all of the advertisement medium we plan to utilize. Most of this cost will go towards commercial production for both television and YouTube, as well as social media celebrity endorsements. The rest of this campaign is relatively low-cost, as posting on social media sites is free.

Promotions

Customers would also have free access to the in-house stylist in the store. The stylist would be there to help anyone who may have limited to no knowledge about clothing or business attire. They would be able to guide customers around the store and help them pick out merchandise and put together outfits that are both professional and stylish. The stylist would also be able to help teach customers how to tie a tie or tie a bowtie, or similar tasks which lately fewer and fewer men know how to do.

We also plan to create a rewards program, encouraging customers to not only keep shopping at our store, but it will also incentivize them to bring friends to the store as well. Eventually we will create a rewards app that will keep track of any sales or discounts a man may be interested in.

Evaluation & Follow-Up

In order to evaluate whether or not our marketing campaign is effective for this new line of stores for Charming Charlie, we would look at several different aspects. One of these aspects would be sales, of course. We would look at the revenue of these new stores and determine whether or not the advertising was effective by setting it against a predetermined required return amount.

We would also include customer surveys on the back of our receipts. By completing these surveys, customers would receive some sort of discount for the next time they shop at DHM, and we would gain insight as to their satisfaction from shopping at the store and whether or not their experience was satisfactory. Another way we would utilize surveys would be random shopper surveys. As a man is at a DHM location, one of our associates would offer them a chance to take a survey while they are there to receive a discount on any purchases they make in the store that day. This would incentivize customers to shop at the store, as they would know they’d have the chance of receiving a discount while there, but this would also help us to determine whether or not their shopping experience is at the level of excellence we desire it to be.

Also, on a regular basis, we would speak with our in-house stylists and other employees at DHM stores to get their opinions as well. We would ask them questions about how they felt customers were reacting to the service that was provided to customers. We would also them about their experience working at DHM and if they were satisfied with their work, as to promote company morale.

BBCS Marketing  2801 Bancroft St. Toledo, OH 43606

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