National Media

Plan

Natsumi Ishii
MCJ 146
Fall 2015

The Media Problem

Statement

Plan media to help sonic drive launch 32 new restaurants in the Northern
Front. Additionally, Sonic Americas Best Drive-in will be opening 30 new
locations.

Situation Analysis
The company:
Sonic: Americas Drive-in
The Franchise Business:
The sonic franchises opened 80 Franchise Drive-Ins the Last final year. Sonic
management considers their franchisees a vital part of their continued
growth.
The Competition:
The top competitions in the quick serve industry are McDonalds, Burger
King, Wendys and Daily Queen.
The Expansion of Restaurants in New Markets:

Sonic Americas Drive-In will open 30 new stores in 32 markets in the

northwestern and mid- northern states. The Northern Front, where theyve
just begun to build a footprint in the last 5 years. Sonics new focus
markets target the states of Washington, Oregon, parts of northern Idaho,
Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Michigan.
Their Current Target:
Sonic Americas Drive-In attracts a mass audience with their delicious hot
dogs, hamburgers and their refreshing limeades. The market consists of
adult ages 18-44.

Their Current Media Spending and Media Mix:

The current media spending is $136,584,800 million
and the media mix including TV, radio, Newspapers,
and outdoors.

Sonic's Media Mix

2%

Television

2%

3%

Newspaper

Radio

Outdoors

93%

Their Competitions Media Spending and Media Mix:

Media Spending is TV, newspaper, radio, outdoor, syndication, and businessto-business media mix.

1600000
1400000
1200000
1000000
800000
600000
400000
200000
0
Television

Newspaper

McDonald's
Wendy's
(000) Television
Mcdonalds
Burger KIng
Wendys
Daily Queen

160384.2
1689.1
60824.8
77982.5

Radio

Outdoor

Burger King
Daily Queen

Newspape Radio
Outdoor
r
16027.3
35866.3
28781.3
209
53.5
72.9
8139.6
18579.5
244.8
8165
7091.4
1222.3

Media Objective

Total

Total
882232.3
304743.2
287656.7
87861.2

Target:
Adult age 18-44, employed, people whose income is $75,000.
Geographic Area:
Focus on northern part of the United States
Reach/Frequency Goals:
Obtain 85 reaches and 3.3 frequencies
Timing:
Campaign will run from March through September
Media Mix:
Media mix will consist of TV, radio, newspaper, outdoor, direct mail and
sales promotion to support campaign.
Promotion:
Purchase media to support promotions.
Budget:
$28 million

Media Strategy and Tactics

Target Focus:
The targets are male and female ages 18-44,
married and have one child or more. The average
annual household income is from $50,000 to
$75,000.
Markets Selected and Rationales:
The tiers are based on the population of target ages

Total Budget(million)
total $28million
3

2
10

6
7

Spot TV
Internet

Local Radio
Outdoor

Promotion

Overall Budget

40

Tier 1

Tier 2

60

Tier 1
Tier 1
Cities

Population (000)

Seattle - Tacoma, WA
Detroit, MI
Portland, OR
Milwaukee, WI
Grand Rapids et al, MI
Albuquerque-Santa Fe, NM

1,812,651
1,724,791
1,127,894
891,845
720,101
673,698

Tier 1
20000000
18000000
16000000
14000000
12000000
10000000
8000000
6000000
4000000
2000000
0

Tire1 includes 6 cities that have over 500, 000 people age 18-44.
We will invest $ 13 million on Tire1
We will buy Spot TV, Spot Radio, Internet, Promotion and Outdoor.

Tier 2
Tier 2
Cities
Green Bay-Appleton, WI
Lansing, MI Madison, WI
Lansing, MI
Eugene, OR
Duluth-Superior, MN, WI

Population (000)
385,958
364,407
248,026
212,440 Tier
2
199,089

includes 5 cities populated below 500,000 people age18-44.

We will buy $ 15 million on Tier2.
We will buy Spot TV, Spot Radio, Internet and Promotion.

Tier 2
20000000
18000000
16000000
14000000
12000000
10000000
8000000
6000000
4000000
2000000
0

Timing and Rationale

Media Selected Rationales:
Develop regional media by using:

Spot Television offers low cast, most influenced and high reach.
Local Radio offers creative campaigns to support making promotions.
Sales Promotion offers some kinds of campaign.
Internet offers using social media like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Outdoor offers widespread promotion to use billboards.

Tactics for each Medium:

Spot Television
36% of the budget will go towards using pot television ads.
Local Radio
Radio advertising has the strong effect on consumers
25%of the budget will go towards using spot radio ads.
Sales Promotion
Event marketing and direct marketing will be attract consumers during
Limited time offers.
Internet
21%of the budget will be towards using social media with Facebook,
Twitter. Those sites include prizes, coupons.
Outdoor
Focusing on billboards and to large population cities.

Promotions and descriptions

1. Sonic sells the same price for all sizes of its soft
drink during the summer
season.
2. Over $10 purchase, customers can get scratch
card and there is not hit
and miss so everyone can get some prizes like free French fries and free
drink.
3. Customers just liked Facebook page and follow their Instagram and they
can receive 10% discount.

Tactics for any Promotions

We will use 3 kinds of promotions. Summer is the best season to sell sodas,
so we will sell the same price for all sizes of soda. Second one is that people
come to Sonic to get foods more often. Third one is that we will use social
media to promote. People usually get the information from social media so
they can enjoy getting foods.

Timing for Promotion

March

April

May

June

July

Augus
t

Septemb
er

Promotion1
Promorion2
Promorion3
March
National Only
Area
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.
Spot Only Area
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.
Plan Total
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.

April

May

June

July

Augus
t

Septemb
er

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

5
88.8
5.0
1.0

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

3,450
1303.9
95.2
36.2

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

4,454
1989.5
95.2
46.8

April

May

June

July

Flow Chart: Tier 1

Flow Chart: Tier 2
March
National Only
Area
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.
Spot Only Area
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.

August

Septemb
er

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

14
266.8
12.9
1.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

3,350
1078.2
95.2
35.2

National Only
Area
GRPS
$(000)
Reach
Avg. Freq.

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2

3,355
1167.0
95.2
35.2