Alyssa Saunders

Diverse Audience Campaign

November 3, 2022
Introduction:

VitaminWater is my chosen client for the diverse audience campaign. This product is currently

marketed towards people who live healthy and active lifestyles (particularly people aged between 18 and

34). For my campaign, I have chosen to focus on targeting Generation X Moms (between the ages of 36

and 45). I have created five tactics to build relationships with this audience that will be discussed over the

course of this paper.

Situational Analysis:

VitaminWater is a beverage product owned by Glaceau (a subsidiary of the Coca-Cola company).

Vitamin water is a line of vitamin-infused flavor waters that are currently offered in 15 varieties. The

brand is constantly evolving, introducing new flavors, and expanding its product portfolio. To gain a

better understanding of VitaminWater’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, I conducted a

SWOT analysis.

VitaminWater is a well-known brand that has many strengths. The average bottle of Vitaminwater

contains 50 to 100 percent of the vitamins people need to intake every day. The drink is made from many

healthy ingredients and is a better option than soda and energy drinks because it contains fewer calories

and less sugar (VitaminWater, 2022). VitaminWater does a good job of capturing the attention of a

younger audience (ages 18-34). In 2022, the company launched its biggest marketing campaign in years

partnering with Lil Nas X to recruit Generation Z drinkers (Yan, 2022). VitaminWater has a strong social

media presence on all of the major platforms including Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, and

Twitter. The company is known for cultivating a fun space on social media for fans to interact with each

other and VitaminWater team members.

VitaminWater also has weaknesses. VitaminWater is more expensive compared to other enhanced

water drinks. One 20-ounce bottle of Vitaminwater contains about 120 calories and 32 grams of sugar

(VitaminWater, 2022). There are more calories in a VitaminWater than there are in a bottle of water.

VitaminWater is a sugar-sweetened beverage and can be perceived as unhealthy. The sugar in

VitaminWater can lead to weight gain, obesity, diabetes, and other health problems (Bjarnadottir, 2022).

In addition, the company primarily markets to young adults ages 18 to 34 and is missing out on older

audiences.

VitaminWater has many external opportunities. Soda consumption in the U.S. has been on the

decline and it is predicted to continue to decline over the next five years (IBISWorld, 2021). This is an

opportunity for VitaminWater as many people may begin to look for a healthier alternative to soda.

VitaminWater has the opportunity to expand its marketing efforts to attract an older audience that cares

about health and wellness.

In addition to opportunities, VitaminWater also faces various threats to its business. VitaminWater

is in a very competitive industry and there are a number of strong competitors including Gatorade,

Powerade, and Aquafina (Wood, 2020). In addition to the competition, studies are being conducted that

link high-sugar drinks to health problems. VitaminWater has received bad publicity in the past for being

“unhealthy” and “just as bad as soda” (Bjarnadottir, 2022).

Audience Demographic:

VitaminWater has the opportunity to target an older demographic focused on health and being

active. For my diverse audience, I have chosen to focus on targeting Generation X moms. This audience

includes females ages 36 to 45. The majority of this audience is college educated and makes a household

income of over $100,000. Generation X moms have at least one child. The average child of this

generation is around 10 to 12 years old (Gale, 2022).

Generation X moms value family time. They care about maintaining a healthy work-life balance,

so they are able to spend time with their kids. When they are not working, Generation X moms regularly

visit amusement parks, aquariums, and museums with their kids. This demographic cares about health and

well-being. They look for ways to manage stress and unwind (Wiley, 2022).

Generation X grew up during the rise of computers and cell phones making them tech-savvy. This

audience is active on social media. On average adults ages 35 to 49 spend about 6 hours and 58 minutes a
week on social networks. According to studies, 80% of moms reported they use social media regularly.

Facebook is the most popular social media network amongst this demographic, followed closely by

YouTube. Generation X moms use YouTube to watch how-to videos and product demonstration videos.

This demographic is also active on Instagram (Wiley, 2022). In addition, Generation X moms like to

follow blogs. It was found that moms ages 35 to 49 spend 60% more time on blogs than the rest of the

general population (Wiessner, 2021).

Goal:

The goal of my campaign is to market Vitaminwater products to Generation X moms and reach

this audience that is not currently targeted by Vitaminwater. I have created a public relations campaign to

build relationships with this audience and convert them into regular Vitaminwater customers. The goal of

this campaign is to increase my target demographic’s brand awareness and media exposure by 50%. This

campaign will also increase the number of ViatminWaters sold by 25%.

Tactic 1:

My first tactic is to advertise VitaminWater on Mommy blogs. As mentioned above, Generation X

moms read blogs more than any other demographic. I believe paid advertising in Mommy blogs focused

on health and nutrition will gain the attention of this audience. Sidebar advertisements will be placed in

the blogs “Mom to Mom Nutrition” and “Inspired Mom”. These two blogs post monthly and have a large

following of Generation X moms that read their postings (FeedSpot, 2022)

Tactic 2:

My second tactic is to post on Facebook that encourages people to support kids with schooling

post-Covid. Generation X moms care about their kids and their overall well-being. Kids around the world

have struggled with schooling during and post-Covid and this is an issue moms care about. These owned
media posts will encourage Generation X moms to interact with VitaminWater and buy their products.

Below is an example of a post that ViatimWater could use to reach Generation X moms.

Tactic 3:

My third tactic is to send PR packages to influencers on YouTube. These PR packages would

include a variety of VitaiminWater flavors sent to influencers to open and taste-test the products on

camera. I would send products to Elle Walker and Meg Resnikoff from “What's Up Mom” and Kristin

Hensley from “I Mom So Hard”. What's Up Mom is the number one parenting channel on YouTube with

3.5 million subscribers. I Mom So Hard is another popular parenting YouTube channel with about one

million subscribers and 20 million views (Forbes, 2022).

Tactic 4:

During my research, I found that Generation X moms enjoy spending quality time with their kids

and focusing on their well-being. My fourth tactic is to hold mom and kids’ self-care events to promote

Vitamin Water products. These events will be held in U.S. cities and places with lots of foot traffic. Some

of these locations include Boston, MA, San Francisco, MA, and Austin, TX. At these events ice cold
VitaminWaters and VitaminWater merch will be handed out to attendees. These events will be promoted

to Generation X moms on Facebook and Instagram. Below is an example of a mom-and-kid well-being

event advertisement promoted on Facebook and Instagram.

Tactic 5:

My fifth tactic is partnering with Six Flags to hold events to promote VitamainWaters to

Generation X moms. These events will be promoted on Facebook and Instagram. This demographic

spends time at amusement parks with their kids. To increase brand awareness Vitaminwater and Six Flags

can hold “Create Your Own Sustainable Water Bottle” events. At these events, ViatminWaters band merch

will be given away and people will be able to create and keep their own water bottles. This will increase

brand awareness amongst Generation X moms.

Summary:

I believe the tactics I created will gain the attention of Generation X moms. I have created a

campaign that is specifically tailored to my audience and uses a mixture of media, events, and
partnerships. I have strategically placed my promotions where they are likely to be seen by Generation X

moms. I believe that through this campaign, brand awareness among Generation X moms will increase as

will the number of ViatimWaters sold.

Sources:

Bjarnadottir, Adda. “5 Reasons Why Vitaminwater Is a Bad Idea.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 1 Nov. 2018,

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/5-reasons-why-vitaminwater-is-a-bad-idea#:~:text=There%20is%20n

o%20reason%20why,to%20weight%20gain%20and%20obesity.

FeedSpot. “20 Best Gen X Blogs & Websites to Follow in 2022.” 20 Best Gen X Blogs & Websites, FeedSpot Blog,

24 Oct. 2022, https://blog.feedspot.com/gen_x_blogs/.

Forbes. “Top Influencers of 2017: Parenting.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 22 June 2022,

https://www.forbes.com/top-influencers/parenting/#7eb62a885bb8.

Gale Databases. “Babies and Bliss.” Mosaic USA DemographicsNow, 3 Oct. 2022,

https://assets.cengage.com/gale/help/dnow/Mosaic/MosaicTypeB08_DescPortrait.pdf.

IBISWorld. “Industry Market Research, Reports, and Statistics.” IBISWorld, 21 Oct. 2021,

https://www.ibisworld.com/us/bed/per-capita-soft-drink-consumption/1786/#:~:text=Overall%2C%20per%

20capita%20soft%20drink,to%2039.6%20gallons%20per%20person.

Wiessner, Greta. “The Gen X Mom: A Connected Consumer.” AMP Agency, 14 Aug. 2021,

https://www.ampagency.com/blog/the-gen-x-mom-a-connected-consumer.

Wiley, Danielle. “Here's How Brands Can Authentically Connect with Gen X.” Forbes, Forbes Magazine, 12 Oct.

2022,

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2022/03/31/heres-how-brands-can-authentically-connect

-with-gen-x/?sh=765a97361ce4.

Yan, Jade. “Vitaminwater Taps Lil Nas X for Its Biggest Campaign in Years.” Ad Age, 15 June 2022,

https://adage.com/article/marketing-news-strategy/vitaminwater-taps-lil-nas-x-its-biggest-campaign-years/2

420301.