Whole Foods Media Plan 4y3g6d

Whole Foods Media Plan Target Group: Health/Natural Foods Haley Lewin Northwest Missouri State University • Introduction to Media Advertising • March 28, 2012

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

1

Whole Foods Media Plan Target Group: Health/Natural Foods TARGET BULLET-LIST SUMMARY Target’s Psychographic Summary • Interest in Health/Natural Foods • Value healthiness, food safety, taste, and freshness • Less concerned with convenience, price, or brand • Enjoy cooking and fitness • Environmentally aware Target’s Demographic Summary • Gender: Female • Marital Status: Married • Age Range: 45-64 • Target’s Geographic Summary • Metro Priority No. 1: New York City, NY • Metro Priority No. 2: Chicago, IL • Metro Priority No. 3: San Francisco, CA

CLIENT DESCRIPTION: WHOLE FOODS MARKET, INC. Company Overview Whole Foods Market is a leading retailer of natural and organic foods. In 1980, Whole Foods started its business by opening a small store in Austin, Texas, where the company now bases its headquarters (1). Today, Whole Foods Market owns over 310 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. The vast majority of its stores are located in 38 United States. The locations of these stores seem to be more concentrated on the East Coast. However, California is populated very densely with 66 Whole Foods Market stores, which is the highest number of stores in a state (5). According to Datamonitor’s statistics, the food retailing industry is very large and extremely competitive. Some of Whole Foods’ top competitors include Safeway, Weis Markets, WinnDixie Stores, Nutraceutical International Corporation, Wal-Mart Stores, Kroger Co., The Trader Joe's Company, and Arden Group (8). The chart on the next page is from Datamonitor’s Company Profile of Whole Foods Market. A SWOT Analysis was performed to determine where the company stands in the industry. Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

2

Strengths Weaknesses • Broad product offerings • Product recalls affect brand image • Focused growth strategy • Weak international operations • Strong focus on right sizing of stores • Increasing rental expenses Opportunities Threats • Increasing demand for organic products • Increasing popularity of private labels will improve • Intense competition may have an adverse effect on margins profitability • Trends increased demand for food • Stringent regulations impose additional liability products

! The SWOT chart conveys that Whole Foods currently offers a broad range of products, focuses on growing business, and has a good judgment for sizing stores. However, there have been several recalls for Whole Foods’ products, which can reflect badly on the company. It also does not operate as well outside of the United States, and there has been an increase in its rental expenses. Looking at the environment in which Whole Foods operates, there are some opportunities as well as threats. Demand for organic products is increasing, and demand for food products should increase as well. Private brand labels are also increasing in popularity. On the other hand, Whole Foods works in an industry with intense competition and harsh regulations. Company core values According to Whole Foods’ website, the company has a ion for food and aims to offer great value at a competitive price. It appreciates its customers and wants to educate them on natural and organic food as well as health, nutrition, and the environment. Whole Foods Market states it cares about its communities and the environment. The company s recycling, community involvement, and organic farming. Healthy eating education is another core value in which the company practices. Whole Foods also values its employees, team , investors, and partnerships. It states that it integrates honesty, integrity, transparency, education, and innovation into its business dealings (6). The Whole Foods Market mission is sometimes summed up by the phrase, “Whole Foods – Whole People – Whole Planet” (1). This encomes its core values in a shorter, more concise expression. Types of products offered Whole Foods Market offers a variety of products and emphasizes on perishable foods designed to appeal to natural and organic foods and gourmet shoppers. The products tend to be pricier than an average grocery store. Its products can be organized into three groups: grocery, prepared foods, and other perishables. While its competitors usually offer only packaged foods, Whole Foods stresses providing fresh food. Specific products offered through Whole Foods Market stores include grocery, seafood, meat and poultry, bakery, prepared foods and catering, specialty (beer, wine and cheese), coffee and tea, nutritional supplements, vitamins, body care and educational products such as books, floral, pet products, and household products (8). Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

3

Whole Foods markets its products under eight different private labels in its stores: 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods Market Brand, Exclusive products, Whole Trade, Body Care, Eco-Scale cleaning products, online coupons, and gift boxes. The 365 Everyday Value products offer organic foods at value prices each day of the year. Whole Foods Market Brand focuses more on selecting authentic and quality products for culinary uses. Exclusives are products that are new to the United States marketplace. Whole Foods claims that it often brings these items to the consumers before any other retailer. Whole Trade products help consumers make a difference in the world by using money spent on these products to assist developing countries. Body Care products are personal care items that are natural, environmentally friendly, safe, and provide results. Eco-Scale cleaning products help consumers make eco-friendly decisions by providing a rating system to identify safety and environmental impact. Online coupons are printable coupons from their in-store value guide. Gift boxes are food items packaged together in a box. They are available online and can be delivered anywhere in the United States.

TARGET AUDIENCE: HEALTH/NATURAL FOODS Although Whole Foods Market is a large corporation that is dispersed throughout the United States, only certain people are truly interested in the products it offers and will shop there. These people are likely to lead similar lifestyles and may even fall into the same bracket of age or income. By discovering these similarities, a target audience can be identified. This gives Whole Foods the opportunity to get to know and understand their specific market. After they know their target audience, they can speak to them through advertising messages. After analyzing Whole Foods’ set of values, I determined that the target audience for Whole Foods Market is people who live a healthy lifestyle and want to incorporate health/natural foods. Since this was decided, I used resources to determine the most common psychographics and demographics of this group. Psychographic Elements of Health/Natural Foods Consumer psychographic elements such as beliefs and attitudes affect purchasing decisions. According to Whole Foods Market, consumers said they buy organic foods because of the superior taste, environmental benefits of organic production systems, and nutrition and health concerns (2). Other retailers found that consumers purchase organic foods for food safety reasons and interest in trying new products (2). Lifestyle segmentation reflects consumers’ psychological profiles, such as values and attitudes. The food-related lifestyle model has classified consumers into four different lifestyle segments (4). From these four, “practical consumers” and “food enthusiasts” were set apart as more likely to buy organic foods and shop at specialty stores. Practical consumers make up 29% of the households from the sample. They are less concerned with brands and costs and place a high value on taste. Food enthusiasts, 24% of the sample, like to shop, prepare, and consume foods. Freshness and safety are very important to them when they consider purchasing foods. Many follow a special diet due to health, fitness, weight loss, religion, or being a vegetarian. Both of Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

4

these groups value healthiness and information on product labels but are less concerned with convenience. The two are also more likely than the other groups to shop at farmer’s market, be of a fitness club, and be on special diets. It was mentioned that these two sectors enjoy cooking and are more involved and knowledgeable about the environment (4). According to the Standard Rate and Data Service Lifestyle Market Analyst, these consumers also enjoy flower gardening, avid book reading, and enjoy attending cultural and arts events, fashion clothing, fine art, and gourmet cooking. These characteristics suggest that these consumers may have above average incomes. Demographic Elements of Health/Natural Foods Along with the attitudes of these consumers, the demographic data has also been collected. The following statistics are based on data provided by the Standard Rate and Data Service. The target audience is between the ages of 45 and 64 and are more often female than male. Approximately 70% of these people are homeowners, and the most common household income ranges from $50,000-$74,999. Nearly 60% of the target audience is married. Twenty-seven percent of the audience has at least one child, most frequently aged between 13 and 18. The Journal of Food Products Marketing recognizes that Caucasians are more likely to buy organic produce than other races (2). The food enthusiasts and practical consumers mentioned earlier were said to likely be Caucasian, live in the West, and have a higher income. How Target Aligns with Whole Foods Offerings Whole Foods aligns with the Health/Natural Foods target group for many reasons. This target group seems to be a wealthier audience and can afford to pay for expensive foods, which is one reason why Whole Foods is able to have higher prices. Quality is expressed more than price at Whole Foods Market, because this target audience is more concerned with taste and freshness than price. While demographics play a role in consumer purchases, psychographic elements may be the key factors. The individual beliefs about natural foods make customers actually follow through with the purchase. Whole Foods is keen on green marketing and caring about the environment, which matches the beliefs of these consumers. The audience is very environmentally aware and cares about food safety, and Whole Foods products reflect this concern. The Health/Natural Foods target audience wants healthy and fresh food products. Whole Foods values offering healthy eating education, and its private labels market products as “Fresh” or “Whole.” This in itself is another alignment, as these consumers are less concerned with buying name-brand items.

GEOGRAPHIC CHOICE EXPLANATIONS The Standard Rate and Data Service Lifestyle Market Analyst identified the top cities in which people interested in health and natural foods would live. They are in order by lifestyle rank: Eureka, CA; Missoula, MT; Honolulu, HI; Laredo, TX; Bend, OR; Monterey-Salinas, CA; Santa Barbra, CA; Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL; Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM; and Denver, CO. The Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

5

characteristics of the target audience line up with the geographic distribution of Whole Foods markets. Almost all of the top cities where this target audience lives already comprise one or more Whole Foods supermarkets. Three of these ten cities were located in California, which connects with the abundance of Whole Foods stores in that state. The Standard Rate and Data Service Designated Market Areas provided the number of households located in major city in the United States. Beside these numbers, the percentage of households who fit the demographics of a Health/Natural Foods target audience was provided. After analyzing this data, I searched Google for the greenest cities in the United States. Due to the psychographic information gathered, I thought the target market would be more likely to live in a “green” and environmentally friendly city. Each of my metro area priority choices appeared on several of these lists. Based on the demographics and psychographics, I chose to target the larger markets of New York City, Chicago, and San Francisco. Metro area priority No. 1: New York City, NY Although New York City does not have the reputation for green living, it is actually one of the leading cities in sustainability practices in America. The city has a vast public transportation system which makes New Yorkers rank higher with less per capita air pollution emissions (7). New York City consists of eight Whole Foods Market stores, which is the most of any Whole Foods city. The city is also ranked #17 under lifestyle ranks for the Health/Natural Foods Market. Out of 2,016,004 households in New York, 26.7% fit the lifestyle description of the Health/Natural Foods market. This means that in New York City, the target audience resides in approximately 538,270 of these households. Metro area priority No. 2: Chicago, IL The city of Chicago is ranked 10th among the list of the Greenest Cities in America (3). Chicago has planted 500,000 new trees and greatly invested in the revitalization of parks and neighborhoods. Solar s have been installed on public property, and the city is working to reduce water and energy use. Chicago also has the most square feet of rooftop gardens. The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded four of the city’s projects with a “Platinum” rating (3). Chicago, with 24.2% of 842,733 households classified into the Health/Natural Foods lifestyle, around 203,940 are within the target market. Whole Foods Market maintains six stores in this city. Metro area priority No. 3: San Francisco, CA San Francisco is consistently ranked second for the Greenest Cities in America. This is because the city is very cautious about creating waste and is proactive with recycling. San Francisco redirects 70% of its waste from the landfill and is the closest city to reaching a zero-waste goal. Almost half of the city’s residents take public transportation, bike, or walk each day. Solar s, energy efficiency, and wind turbines have been implemented into public facilities. Farm production is also a major part of the city’s lifestyle. It was also the first city to ban plastic grocery bags (3).

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

6

San Francisco is #13 on the lifestyle rank, which included San Jose and Oakland. With 27.1% of 665,331 households categorized into the Health/Natural Foods lifestyle, about 180,300 total households represent the San Francisco Whole Foods target market. There are five stores located in San Francisco, and there are also several stores surrounding the area.

Whole Foods Media Plan INTRODUCTION With ments in twenty-five media vehicles, this media plan has the ability to reach many people in the target audience of New York, NY, Chicago, IL, and San Francisco, CA several times. Vehicles include six magazines, five newspapers, eight websites, three radio stations, two television shows, and one Google search buy which includes seven AdWords. The plan will span over the course of the four consecutive months of March, April, May, and June. It targets the market of people who purchase health and natural foods. These individuals are interested in a healthy lifestyle, cooking, and environmental-friendliness. Demographics and psychographics of this specific audience were considered when making each decision for this plan. The values of Whole Foods Market were also taken into when placing the ads.

MEDIA PRIORITY TYPES My top priority media type is magazine, and the secondary type is newspaper. The Health/ Natural Foods audience was said to be avid readers, which indicates that they likely read both magazines and newspapers. These media also have the advantage of being tangible and easy to along, which can increase the number of people who view the ments. Advertising in magazines seems to provide the closest audience profile matches, and it also reaches a large number of people. Whole Foods’ target audience is probably subscribed to several magazines related to healthy living. This media type is very helpful for advertising because the brands are specific and reach a very niche audience. With magazines, it is easy to be confident that most of the readers would be interested in shopping at Whole Foods. On the other hand, newspapers can reach a more local community. While the audience of newspapers may not match the audience characteristics of Whole Foods as well as magazines, it is very likely that residents of each of the three cities will read their local daily newspapers. Therefore, if they do not subscribe to magazines, they will see the Whole Foods ads when they are reading a newspaper. Whole Foods also values community involvement, so having a presence in newspapers is very important in that aspect as well.

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

7

MAGAZINE CHOICES Each of my magazine choices will run for all of the four consecutive months. If it was possible, I always chose to on the 4th cover of the magazine, since it is the most prominent position since it uses higher quality paper and is the most viewable of all magazine ments. Natural Health Natural Health is a magazine edited primarily for women seeking a healthy lifestyle. The issues include content that covers nutrition, health, wellness, style, and surroundings. The magazine’s slogan is “Feel Good, Look Good, Do Good,” and it has around 400,000 readers. According to the media kit on its website, its audience consists of innovative and educated women who are around 45 years old. On average, they have a household income of $69,251. Most are college educated and married. Seventy-five percent of the audience shops at natural or health stores, in which the media kit even referred to Whole Foods. Almost all of the readers are said to seek upto-date health information, check nutritional content before buying products, and try to eat healthy. Since the media kit said many of these readers shop at Whole Foods already, it is likely that most if not all, would be interested in shopping there. Furthermore, the demographics of the readers align well with the demographics of Whole Foods’ target audience. The M of this magazine is the highest of any other media vehicle at $63.26, but since it hits the target so well, it is well worth the cost. A 4th cover ment will run for all four of the campaign months. Whole Living Whole Living, formerly known as Body + Soul, is a magazine that encourages wellness of the mind, body, soul, and planet. With a circulation of about 400,000, the magazine provides content related to personal health, family health, and sustainability to its readers. Its website said most of the readers are college-educated women (89%) around the age of 44. They are interested in exercising and gardening. All of these characteristics align well with those of the target audience. Thus, an ad will be placed on the 4th cover of this magazine for all four months of the campaign. Delicious Living Delicious Living is distributed in retail stores to approximately 400,000 consumers. According to its online media kit, the readers of this magazine are mainly women (94%) who are approximately 46 years old. Most are college-educated homeowners with a household income of about $63,408. A good number of the readers are also married and have children. These demographics match those of the target audience for Whole Foods. More importantly, the psychographic characteristics do too. These women are consumers who already shop for natural, organic, and healthy lifestyle products and are said to enjoy cooking. This magazine also highlights how to make environmentally friendly consumer and lifestyle decisions. A 4th cover advertising spot would be the most desired position for this magazine, but unfortunately, Delicious Living does not offer that as an advertising space. Moreover, in order to be on the 2nd or 3rd cover, rs must commit to the spot for six months. Since this campaign only runs for four months, that was not possible either. The next best option was the two-page spread on

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

8

the inside of the magazine, which is where the ad has been placed for the four months. Pause Pause is a magazine directed toward older women as a guide to menopause and the years after. The magazine is freely distributed with a circulation of 750,000. Its content provides medical and health information and focuses on health care and lifestyle issues for women between the ages of 45 and 65 years old. Although this magazine does not focus on food and exercise as much as the other magazines, it still concentrates on healthy lifestyle. It is another great media vehicle to reach the target audience since these readers are guaranteed to be women within the age group of Whole Foods’ target audience. Taste for Life Taste for Life is a magazine written specifically for natural product retailers, like Whole Foods. Articles are primarily about nutrition including food and special diets, supplements, natural beauty products, and other products for overall wellness. The magazine has a circulation of almost 700,000. A media kit could not be found online, but it can be assumed that the readers of this magazine are mostly women interested in cooking and eating well. The navigation tabs on the website indicate that they are also interested in green living and fitness. Since this magazine is so directly related to finding a natural product retailer, it is likely that these readers will be proactive after seeing an ment. ments on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th cover were not offered, so a two-page spread was bought instead. Better Nutrition The content of Better Nutrition includes news and research on natural and organic foods, fitness, and dietary supplements. The primary consumers of the magazine are college-educated women who are interested in health and environmental sustainability. There are approximately 350,000 readers of this magazine. As noted earlier, the target audience for Whole Foods also enjoys fitness and is keen with environmental issues, so these readers align with psychographics as well as demographics. Therefore, advertising spots have been placed prominently on the 4th cover of this magazine for all four months of the campaign.

NEWSPAPER CHOICES These newspapers were chosen because they are located in the three cities in which the target audience lives. New York and Chicago will both have two newspaper media vehicles in order to reach a wider range of people. Advertising insertions will alternate between the two different newspapers in each city, with a Whole Foods ad placed in each newspaper once a month. San Francisco only had one primary daily newspaper, so it will feature two ads every month. All of the ads will be 66 column inches in size, which is half a page. This was chosen because people are more likely to pay attention to the ad if it is relatively large. amNew York amNew York, Manhattan’s largest daily newspaper, is written to accommodate the hectic lifestyles of New York City professionals. It reaches about 50,000 New York residents. According to its website, 51% percent of its readers are women, 64% are between the ages of Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

9

18-49, and 67% are college educated. On Wednesdays, amNew York has a section for Eating Well, which fits the target audience’s interests, so a half page ment will be placed once a month in this section. Daily News (New York) At first, I wanted to in The Sun, a daily New York newspaper. Yet, after looking online, I found that the newspaper had foreclosed in 2008. Therefore, I chose a different New York newspaper. Daily News is a daily newspaper with a circulation of around 600,000. Its audience consists of 52% female and 48% male. Seventy-two percent of the audience is over the age of 35. This newspaper was chosen because it reaches a lot of people in New York, and the audience profile matches some of the characteristics of the Whole Foods target audience. A half page ment will be run on Wednesday in the Food section. This will be run once a month, alternating insertions with amNew York. Chicago Tribune The Chicago Tribune has been Chicago’s primary news source for over 160 years. On its website, it shows that it targets a variety of audiences including affluent adults, Hispanics, mature adults, suburban moms, teens, working professionals, and young trend setters. The affluent and mature adults are most like the target for Whole Foods. Many affluent adults have a four-year college degree, and they tend to make decisions based on value. Mature adults are eco-conscious and enjoy art and culture. The Chicago Tribune offers a Chicagoland Health & Family section on Wednesdays, which is a great place to insert the Whole Foods ment in order to give it a more localized feeling. A half page ment will be placed in this section once every month. Chicago Sun-Times The Chicago Sun-Times is known is a well-regarded Chicago newspaper that is committed to local and regional news coverage. It is the twelfth largest newspaper in total daily circulation in the United States at nearly 550,000. Its website shows the median age of Sun-Times readers is 47 years old. Seventy-one percent of these are homeowners, and on average they have a household income of $66,988. Most of them are college graduates who have children. These demographics are very similar to the ones of Whole Foods’ target audience, and this newspaper has a Health section on Tuesdays. A half page ad has been placed in this section once every month, alternating around the Chicago Tribune. San Francisco Chronicle As the largest newspaper in Northern California, the San Francisco Chronicle commits to providing important reports on local issues, the economy, politics, technology, and ecology. It is distributed to about 400,000 people on average. As the main newspaper of San Francisco, this seemed to be the best overall option for San Francisco newspaper advertising so it is the only one. This newspaper has a Food section on Wednesdays, which is where a half page ad will be placed twice a month.

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

10

RADIO CHOICES When looking through the SRDS Radio Advertising Sourcebook, it seemed like news stations most frequently targeted audiences between the ages of 45-64. Since the Whole Foods target audience is within that age range, this format was chosen. One news radio station was chosen for each city, and I used Arbitron.com to find the ratings of each. Higher rated radio stations were preferred. The evening drive daypart was chosen for each because many listeners may be thinking of what to fix for dinner on their way home from work. If they hear a Whole Foods ad, they may decide to shop there for their food. The radio ments will cover the months of April and May in order to have two ads each week instead of just one. April and May were chosen because those months are in the middle of the campaign, and seem to be the best months to represent Whole Foods. New York -- WINS-AM 1010 WINS-AM 1010 is a radio station in New York, and its website says it is the longest running allnews station in the country. The primary audience is adults over 25-years-old. The station had a rating of 3.7. On its website, there is a link for “Health Tips,” which has a Podcast called “Your Health with Dr. Brain McDonough.” Although this does not seem to be a radio show, this indicates that the listeners of this station must be interested in health. This station seems to be a really good fit for the Whole Foods audience and two ads will be placed each week during April and May. Chicago -- WGN-AM 720 WGN-AM 720 is a Chicago news radio station that targets adults over 35 years old, like Whole Foods’ target audience. The station has a rating of 5.4, and reaches approximately 400,000 listeners. On its website, it has a tab for Lifestyle, and the first subject under that is “Health.” “Food” is also listed under that category. This could be a sign that the audience has lifestyles in which they would be interested in this sort of news. Two ads will be inserted for this radio station each week through April and May. San Francisco -- KGO-AM 810 KGO-AM 810 is a news radio station in San Francisco. The audience profile is primarily persons 25-54 which reaches some of the target market. The rating for this station is 2.9, and it reaches about 200,000 listeners. On the radio station’s website, a couple programs were “Health and Fitness” and “Healthtalk.” These do not look like they air every week, but it shows that the audience is interested in this kind of material. Two ads will be placed each week during April and May.

TV CHOICES Two television shows were chosen for this media plan, both directly related to living a healthy life. According to TVGuide.com, both of the shows appear in all three cities through cable television. Alive & Well is a moderately popular health show, while Healthy Living is not as well known. For that reason, Alive & Well will have a commercial insert every week, and Healthy Living will have a commercial every other week. Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

11

Alive & Well Alive & Well’s website says it is a half hour television show hosted by Michelle Harris that focuses on modern organic living. Content of the series includes organic food, eco-friendly style and fashion, celebrity fitness, and healthy travel. The show appears in all three of the targeted cities every day on the ION Life network. TVGuide.com said this show airs every weekday in New York at 8:30am, 5:30pm, 7:30pm, and 9:30pm, as well as 8:30am and 5:30pm on Saturday and Sunday. A commercial will be inserted every Friday at 7:30pm, because this seems like the time when they may be relaxing and may plan to shop for groceries the next day. In Chicago, the show is on at 7:30am, 4:30pm, 6:30pm, and 8:30pm every weekday. On Saturday and Sunday, it shows at 7:30am and 4:30pm. A commercial will be inserted at 4:30pm on Sundays, as this seems like a time when many people are relaxing. San Francisco shows this program at 5:30am, 2:30pm, 4:30pm, and 6:30pm on weekdays, and it airs at 5:30am and 2:30pm on the weekend. An ad will be inserted at 2:30pm on Sundays since it is a day when people are relaxed. Healthy Living Healthy Living provides medical and health-care reports. These are the things the target audience of Whole Foods is interested in. This television show only airs on weekdays. TVGuide.com showed that in New York, the show airs at 11:15am, 3:45pm, 5:00pm, and 10:00pm. The 5:00pm spot was chosen because many people watching the show may be watching tv after getting off of work. In Chicago, this show is aired at 10:15am, 2:45 pm, 4:00pm, and 9:00pm. The 9:00pm time was chosen because many people could be watching tv at this time as well. In San Francisco, this show airs at 8:15am, 12:45pm, 2:00pm, and 7:00pm. The 7:00pm time seemed to be the most likely time that the show would be watched, so it was chosen.

WEBSITE CHOICES Care 2.com/GreenLiving Care2 is a healthy lifestyle website with the tagline “Make a difference.” Care2’s media kit says that mainly women around the age of 41 visit the site. Sixty-one percent of these women are married, 65% are homeowners, and 62% have a college degree. The average household income is $67,000. All of these characteristics match the demographics of the target audience. The navigation of the website includes key tabs such as “Take action,” “Causes & News,” “Healthy Living,” and “Community.” The “Healthy Living” tab (Care2.com/GreenLiving) is where the Whole Foods banner ad will been placed to align best with the target audience and the products offered through Whole Foods. This will run for four months. EatingWell.com EatingWell.com is a website providing information and inspiration for a healthy lifestyle. There is also a magazine for Eating Well, and 25% of the visitors are subscribed to it. Key navigation tabs on the website include “Recipes & Menus,” “Healthy Cooking,” “Diet & Health,” “Food News & Origins,” and “Community.” According to its online media kit, 90% of the visitors are female, and the median age is 46. The average income of these visitors is $60,460. Most are Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

12

college graduates who own a home. Eighty-six percent of these visitors have purchased natural or organic food products in the past year. When making grocery decisions, these visitors are most concerned with healthy ingredients, value for money, cost, quality, taste, and convenience, respectively. These characteristics match very well with the target for Whole Foods, so a banner ad will be placed on the homepage of the website during the entire campaign. OrganicAuthority.com OrganicAuthority.com is a web source for all things organic and covers topics such as food, products, cars, light bulbs, energy, and social change. The site claims to be a thought leader in the eco-conscious and healthy living niche. Most of its visitors are female (65%) and 84% are Caucasian. Sixty-one percent are married, 47% have a college degree, and 90% said they would be willing to pay more for products that are environmentally friendly, organic, and social change. The site navigation consists of these tabs: “Foodie Buzz,” “Healthy Recipes,” “Eco Chic Table,” “Kitchen Garden,” and “Energetic Health.” People who visit this site are obviously interested in organic living and would most likely buy organic foods. Therefore, a Whole Foods banner ad will be placed on the homepage of the site for the whole campaign. Women.webmd.com WebMD is a well-regarded health website. The website did not have a media kit for online advertising, but it can be assumed that the visitors have a similar audience profile as the magazine’s readers. This means most visitors are probably women around the age of 42 and are likely college-educated homeowners. Most are married with children. These demographics match well with the target, and since they are on a health website, it is assumed that they could be interested in a store like Whole Foods Market. For the four months, a banner ad will be placed on the Women’s Health portion of the website (women.webmd.com) to target more directly. SimpleBites.net SimpleBites is a family-oriented blog focused on eco-friendly living and natural health. Most of the visitors are Caucasian, college-educated, women between the ages of 35-49 who have children living with them. Whole Foods will on a banner ad placed on the homepage of the website for four months. GreenFestivals.org Green Festival is the largest sustainability event in the world, and coincidentally, the event will take place in New York, Chicago, and San Francisco along with a couple other cities. At the event, businesses and organizations showcase their programs and products that can be used to restore the planet. It also features how-to workshops, films, children’s activities, organic beer and wine, and vegetarian cuisine. If someone were to come to this site to sign up for this event, they would absolutely be someone interested in Whole Foods. While this website does not sell banner ments, it features sponsors in banner-like positions on the website. Thus, Whole Foods will become a sponsor, and not only be featured on the website, but there will also be publicity at the events in the three select cities.

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

13

GreenLivingOnline.com This website says it is the new eco chic, upbeat and informative resource for all things green. The reader base consists mostly of college-educated females between the ages of 25-54. This profile fits the audience targeted by Whole Foods, and a banner ad will be positioned on the homepage of the website for four months. NewHope.com (Delicious Living brand page) Since Delicious Living magazine was a very good match with the audience profile, advertising on their website would be pertinent. The SRDS Book for Consumer Magazines even stated that Delicious Living has a leading health website. Their website is within the NewHope360.com website at newhope360.com/delicious-living. A banner ad will be placed on this portion of the website for the four months of the campaign.

GOOGLE KEYWORDS This target audience is interested in living a healthy life, and therefore, the keywords reflect this attribute. The keywords include the following: organic food, healthy recipes, healthy eating, health food, healthy snacks, organic food stores, and natural food.

MEDIA PLAN SCHEDULE March, April, May and June were chosen because they fall within or are close to springtime. Spring is all about renewal and growth. Flowers bloom, trees turn green, the weather is nice, and fresh food is being produced. The target audience may be gardening or exercising outside during this time of year. They are more likely to think about being healthy when it is nice outside. Also, since the Health/Natural Foods target audience is interested in environmental issues, this could be a good season to connect Whole Foods with eco-friendliness. The ad campaign could focus around going green and being healthy.

JUSTIFICATION OF MONEY SPENT Advertising in three of the top five cities in the United States is quite expensive due to the visibility for such a large audience. Nonetheless, the media vehicles were strategically chosen for this plan. I am suggesting that $1,990,058 be spent in order to best reach the maximum amount of Whole Foods’ target audience. By focusing largely on magazines, newspapers, and Internet media vehicles, Whole Foods will be successful in connecting with its target audience.

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

14

Works Cited 1. "About Whole Foods Market | WholeFoodsMarket.com." Whole Foods Market: Natural and Organic Grocery. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. . 2. Dettmann, Rachael L., and Carolyn Dimitri. "Who's Buying Organic Vegetables? Demographic Characteristics Of U.S. Consumers." Journal Of Food Products Marketing 16.1 (2010): 79-91. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. 3. Morsella, Tracy de. "The Greenest Cities in America." The Green Economy Post. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Feb. 2012. . 4. Nie, C. and Zepeda, L. (2011). Lifestyle segmentation of US food shoppers to examine organic and local food consumption. Appetite, 57, 28-37. 5. "Our All Stores Worldwide Stores | WholeFoodsMarket.com." Whole Foods Market: Natural and Organic Grocery.. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. <wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/all/ >. 6. "Our Core Values | WholeFoodsMarket.com." Whole Foods Market: Natural and Organic Grocery. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2012. . 7. Rutkoff, Aaron. "NYC Emerges as Green City Leader - Metropolis - WSJ." WSJ Blogs - WSJ. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Feb. 2012. . 8. "Whole Foods Market, Inc. Company Profile." DataMonitor --- (2011): n. pag. Business Source Premier. Web. 8 Feb. 2012.

Haley Lewin • [email protected] • Northwest Missouri State University

15