Doctor Pepper - Situation Analysis

Executive Summary

In this media and advertising proposal we hope to accomplish the objectives set for the brand, Dr. Pepper. Our objectives consist of: raising sales by 10 percent, reaching the new selected target market, raising brand loyalty among consumers, connecting Dr. Pepper as an alcoholic drink and also creating a popular and hip image for Dr. Pepper on college campuses. The target market that will be the focus of this plan is men and women from ages 18-26. The media plan will mostly concentrate on college campuses in the United States, gearing towards both undergraduate and graduate students. Through our creative media plan we hope to change the image of Dr. Pepper to suite our target market and increase sales for the brand.

To even the competition between the industry leaders and Dr. Pepper, we chose four media vehicles that Pepsi and Coke had previously been using while Dr. Pepper did not. The scheduling for using these media vehicles at specific times during the year was planned out accordingly to best capture our new selected target market. Our national campaign was set up to reach our new audience.

Dr. Pepper's ad budget is 52.6% of its 2005 sales. With Coke and Pepsi's budgets both being under 10% of their 2005 sales, it's interesting to see how the companies differ. The strongest markets for Dr. Pepper remain in the South and new concentration will be implemented throughout the Midwest to gain loyal consumers. Various media classes are used to reach our target market in the most efficient and effective manner possible and justification is given throughout.

With our reach, GRP, and frequency distributed as they are, we are hoping that our target audience is influenced enough to meet our media plan goals. Our media objectives are situated so that our reach will continue to increase throughout the year, along with increase exposure in the right media vehicles at the right time increasing our GRP. Frequency stays steady around three to make sure our target audience is recalling our advertisements to ultimately increase their purchasing actions.

Market Situation Analysis

Introduction and History:

The brand Dr. Pepper is a spicy cherry flavor qualifying it as a non-cola as well as a soft drink (http://biz.yahoo.com). In the United States, Dr. Pepper is the oldest, major soft drink of all time (www.DSPU.com). Dr. Pepper's history started by an inventor named Charles Alderton. He worked in a store where he served soft drinks and he started to realize customers were getting sick of the normal flavors. He used some experimenting with different flavors and came up with the flavor of Dr. Pepper. Later, a chemist named Robert Lazenby helped further the success of the product by advancing it. By 1904, Dr Pepper was first presented to the public, around 20 million people at the World's Fair Expedition in St. Louis. The product's popularity and growth then began to develop (www.DSPU.com).

Through a couple decades of switching names and slogans one finally stuck, "Just what the Dr ordered." This popular slogan began that was brought about around the mid 1980's was a hit. Each year new slogans were being used and packaging was continuing to improve creatively. By the end of 2000, Dr. Pepper announced high growth for a straight, consecutive 17th time (www.DSPU.com)

Through Dr. Pepper's history it has come to be known as a unique brand, compared to others in its category due to its non-cola label. Its taste is very different from both Coke and Pepsi. Dr. Pepper's target audience consists of ages 12-34 across the United States (www.DSPU.com). Consumer taste tests have been performed by Cadbury Schweppes, the owner of Dr. Pepper, claiming a more diverse audience enjoys the unique flavor of the non-cola (www.DSPU.com). According to Choices 3, 50.5% of females drink Dr. Pepper compared to 49.5% males. Among race, white is the most frequent user, around 85%, while Black and Asian are under 10% of users (Choices 3). Dr. Pepper concentrates their advertising on these target markets to ensure high sales.

Performance and Competition:

Dr. Pepper is ranked number 3 among its competitors in the area of "soft drinks". The competitors being