Yahoo

Table of Contents

Marketing Situation Analysis….……………………………………….2

Company Analysis..………………………………………..4 Competitive Analysis……………………………………..5 Marketing Objectives……………………………………..6 Research………………………………………………………..7 Target Audience……………………………………………..8

Creative Execution The Big Idea………………………………………………….12 Online…………………………………………………..……..13 Print……………………………………………………………..14

Television……………………………………………………..15 Promotion and PR………………………………………..16 Outdoor/Radio…………………………………………….17 Media Media Plan……………………………………………………18 Media Schedule ……………………………………………19

Evaluation Plan……………………………………………………………….20

Executive Summary: Following the bust of the dot-com bubble, Internet companies have rebounded to remain relevant in today’s economy and social environment. Yahoo has gone from Internet power house to an undistinguished has-been. They currently rank 3rd in total advertising and search market share but it is time for them to steal second. Yahoo has the opportunity to define itself as a homepage and become a heavy hitter once again. Through our primary and secondary research we gained a greater understanding of perceptions, lifestyles and uses of Yahoo. This knowledge helped us shape a campaign that will increase total market revenue share from 9.3% to 12%. We will use the message “That’s the Point” to show our target that a better homepage is available for their Internet experience. Above Beige Advertising’s campaign will reach 70% of Millennials within our target markets beginning in Yahoo’s Q3 2013 and ending in Q1 2014. Through traditional and non-traditional media we will reposition Yahoo as a superior customizable homepage.

Situation Analysis

The Challenge Above Beige Advertising accepted the challenge to reposition

Yahoo in the minds of Millennials to increase favorability and brand awareness.

Industry Overview U.S. businesses, including Internet companies,

continue to rebound from dismal earnings caused by the Great Recession in 2008. Many Internet-based companies fared better than non-digital businesses. Unfortunately, the economic crisis forced online industries to consolidate and cut costs. As the economy picks up, e-commerce continues to grow. The Internet has become more than a search machine, broadening its consumer base through innovation.

Internet companies have gained market share experiencing 25% revenue growth in 2011. Online retail brought in $200 million in 2011 and estimated to increase by 11% in 2012. To the left is a graph reflecting total Internet advertising revenue. Online marketing and generated sales lead consumer oriented revenue and search results whereas videos lead advertising revenue. Total Internet revenue rose 21% in 2007 and 11% in 2008. In 2009 it fell 3% but rose the following year by 10%. In that same year, the U.S. accounted for 45% of global online advertising. Total Internet revenue is expected rise 8% by the end of 2012 (Kessler, 2012).

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Economic Pressures: • Advertising regulation and tracking • Rising out of the recession gives

more consumers disposable income as an opportunity for growth

• Move to digital is pushing more consumers and advertisers to Internet buying and spending

Situation Analysis

Social Influences: • Growing number of people using

social networking sites and activity, • Becoming more connected and

plugged in • The Internet is vital to your social

fiber

Political/government Regulations:

• Privacy laws • Infrastructures • SOPA/PIPA • Copyright laws

Technological Impacts: • Internet • Mobile phones, a large market

with continual change • Computers • MP3 players • Tablets

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Yahoo was founded in 1994 by David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph.D students from Stanford University. It originated as a “student hobby” to keep track of their personal interests through the Internet. As they filled their lists they realized they could be broken into categories, then subcategories. The name Yahoo came from the acronym “Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle.” By Fall of that year, Yahoo already had 100,000 unique visitors. Today they operate in more than 30 countries, regions, and territories. Yahoo currently ranks 3rd in market share for advertising and search.

Company Analysis

Strengths: • High brand recognition • Creates Original

Content

Weaknesses: • Outdated visual display • Services are uncompetitive

or unknown to audiences • Weak information

algorithms

Opportunities: • High marketing potential • New niche of Internet

customization

Threats: • Increased privacy laws • Rapid technological

advances of competitors • Consumer perception

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Google: Motto- “Don’t be evil.” Google currently has the highest market share

and brand recognition among our target. It accounts for 41% of advertising market share. Among consumers, it is now a verb to find information online. It is the largest data collector on the Internet, positioning itself as the leader in information and search. “Google’s mission is to organize the worlds information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

It is promoted through organizations and events

that raise awareness of environmentally friendly products (Helft, 2009). It is also promoted through the Google Art Project connecting users with high-resolution art from both new and classic pieces around the world. It tours globally, displaying works by local artists and renowned professionals.

Google currently lacks homepage qualities and is

losing customer trust. Advertisers are leaving Google because of technology deficiencies.

Competitive Analysis

America On-Line (AOL): Slogan- “See what’s here for you.”

AOL does the smallest amount of advertising

between the other competitors. It lags in market share and brand recognition. It is a company that invests in brands and websites. It wants to be positioned as “The brand company” (Linden, 2012) and considers themselves the “familiar, friendly, home on the internet.” It strives for increased communication between members, businesses, and its company.

AOL sponsors conventions such as HAKERFEST as

a means of promotion, allowing independent software programmers to present new applications and interfaces while networking.

AOL is quickly losing brand awareness and

recognition as market share continues to decline. Consumers find the display outdated and search engine quality is lacking.

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Competitive Analysis

MSN/Bing: Slogans “Be what’s next.” “Bing & Decide.” “Bing & You Decide.”

The Microsoft Network (MSN) is a product of the

privately held Microsoft Company and is positioned as so. As a search engine and information portal, it is promoted primarily through classic media channels such as TV, print, and web marketing. MSN’s mission statement is “Help people and businesses throughout the world realize their full potential.” MSN wants to be seen as a trusted, reliable product that helps achieve goals.

It is a privately held company, Microsoft, participates

in many programs designed for promotions and publicity. These different programs promote education to disenfranchised youth by supplying school supplies, staff, and technologies (Lamm, 2011), prevent exploiting children by making the Internet safer (Horn, 2011) and the Gates Foundation which funds health care for the poor, refugee relief operations, and scholarship programs all over the world (Gates Foundation, 2012).

MSN lacks audience and visitation to its site. Users

spend half the time on this site as other sites. Continual updates frustrate consumers. Microsoft launched a “Do not track” feature with the release of Windows 8, making marketers less likely to focus ad efforts through MSN’s products.

Marketing Objectives: Reverse the projected decrease of advertising revenue (eMarketer, 2012).

Increase advertising revenue from 9.3% to 12% by the end of Q2 2014. Increase Internet search share from 14.5% to 16%, moving from number 3 to number 2. Increase site traffic from 74.5% to 80% daily visits. Increase monthly visits and time spent on site. Increase brand awareness from 20.6% to 30%. Reposition Yahoo as a better homepage choice. 6

Important insights from our target include: • Yahoo is old, outdated, cluttered and ugly. • Yahoo ranks 3rd in share of mind with 20.6% recall. Sixty-six percent of

overall impression of Yahoo ranked negative or neutral. • Millennials use three prominent devices to access the Internet:

Computers, Smartphones, and Tablets.

Research

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Our target, Millennials, want more control over their Internet experience. Millennials want more customization and personalization from the sites they visit and the information that is delivered. Many Millennials used it years ago but have moved on to Google. They chose not to use it now because it has not progressed or improved since then. However, there is still high brand recognition because of their early use.

There are approximately 75 million Millennials in the U.S. Millennials are optimistic, confident, and spontaneous. Compared to other generations, they show the most optimism when it comes to the future. We plan to target individuals in this demographic that are Innovators, Thinkers, and Achievers. Above Beige decided to target consumers with these particular profiles for two reasons.

Target Audience

First, these personalities are the most frequent users of the Internet (Mediamark Research & Intelligence, 2008). Internet usage is the most important factor in determining a consumer segment for Yahoo.

Second, this audience is the most likely to benefit from the services that Yahoo offers.

Age: 18-34 Education: Attending College and College Graduate Income: $20,000-$60,000

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Target Audience

Innovators, formerly known as Actualizers, are the largest per capita users of the Internet at 98%. These men and women are inherently successful. Their success has left them with an abundance of resources. Their purchasing decisions and activities reflect their individuality.

Thinkers are driven by principle and the pursuit of knowledge. Due to their inquisitive nature,

Thinkers are large consumers of news. They do not take purchasing lightly. They make purchasing decisions based on practical and measurable factors such as functionality, value, and longevity. Their high standard means they exhibit conservative spending habits.

Achievers are avid Internet users. Unlike Thinkers and Innovators, this personality type uses the Internet as a tool to reach their goals. Their goal-oriented behaviors significantly influence the purchases they make and prefer to purchase established products and services that offer time saving benefits in the name of efficiency.

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Target Audience

We will launch our campaign in selected test markets with a high Millennial concentration according to the U.S. Census and more importantly high saturation meaning these markets are above the national average with people between the ages of 18-34 (Ad Age, 2012). We will also include Seattle, WA and Portland, OR because they are the Millennial trendsetters. This narrowly focuses Yahoo’s message and minimizes waste. Our top pilot markets will include New York City, NY, Los Angeles, Ca, Chicago, IL, the Dallas-Fort Worth, TX metro area, Huston, TX, Jacksonville, NC, Lawrence, KS, State College, PA, Austin, TX, Salt Lake City, UT and Jonesboro, AR.

Market

Number of Millennials

Millennial Saturation

Index

New York, NY 4,386,508 48% 105

Los Angeles, CA 3,262,509 52.3% 115

Chicago, IL 2,294,797 23.4% 107

Dallas-Fort Worth, TX 1,620,281 24.8% 118

Huston, TX 1,440,631 23.7% 113

Jacksonville, NC 77,895 45.0% 192

Ames, IA 38,799 65.7% 190

Lawrence, KS 49,588 44.7% 182

State College, PA 59,981 57.7% 175

Austin, TX 499,713 28.0% 140

Salt Lake City, UT 313,907 32.4% 137

Jonesboro, AR 33,551 27.7% 132

Seattle, WA N/A

Portland, OR N/A 10

The News Junkie Shannon Murphy is a blogger by profession. She lives and breathes media. All she needs

to get up in the morning are the new election polls and a cup of Starbucks coffee. She has at least 6 tabs of different news sites up at all times on her browser and when she needs to take a break from work, she sits down on her couch and checks notifications on her phone. She is looking for something to make her life a little less hectic and easier to navigate through the clutter.

Meet our Target

The Busy Student Allie Burns is a college student taking 18 credits at a university away from home. She waits tables at a local restaurant to pay for college and off-campus housing. She will be graduating soon and is deciding on grad school to entering the work force. She is still undecided but she applies to grad schools and job listings in her spare time. This leaves no time to watch television but she saves about 20 minutes a day to catch up on the news and other social media.

The Avid Sports Fan Michael Cullen is a recent college graduate who works an entry level job which is just

enough to get him by and save up for football season. He and his friends put money in to a pot every year and play fantasy football. Whether watching at the game or watching from home, Mike actively checks his fantasy football score on his phone or tablet.

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The Big Idea

Rationale: We know that Millennials use brands that relate to them. We also know that Millennials

want things their way and they want it now. We need to show Millennials that Yahoo is listening, that Yahoo can change. Yahoo will no longer have an “outdated” and “irrelevant” homepage” layout. In order for Millennials to believe Yahoo is changing, Yahoo must make some dramatic changes.

We want to reposition Yahoo as the first and only customizable homepage to give users personalized content in one place. Our message will illustrate Yahoo provides “a better homepage experience,” because “That’s the Point.”

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Online

The fastest way to show users Yahoo is listening is to visually redesign Yahoo’s owned media. Bold changes and customization tools allow users to organized the layout and content of their Yahoo homepage.

Through partnerships with other popular sites such as Facebook, Twitter, ESPN, and other similar blogs and

sites, Yahoo users can view a live stream of their most visited and important sites. Users can also customize other delivered content such as news articles related to politics, economy, celebrity, lifestyle, or human interest stories using other Yahoo apps.

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Print

Magazines will be incorporated to convey our message to Millennial readers. To get our message out quickly and create buzz, we will run a double truck ad campaign in major Millennial magazines. This interactive spread will allow readers to remove stickers and organize them on a tablet layout. QR codes can then be scanned by smartphones to apply their customized layout to their Yahoo homepage. This gets our audience to interact with the product and see its benefits first hand. A second print ad will run following our roll out flight to reiterate the message that Yahoo is an all inclusive, customizable homepage.

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Television

SFX: Music up

SFX: Music down and under Annc: “Any fool can make a things bigger, more complex.

Annc: “It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to go in the opposite direction.”

Annc: “We listened. A better homepage experience. That’s the Point.”

:30 Spot Campaign Launch

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Promotion & public relations

Promotions: Since we know our consumers want customizable products, Above Beige decided to target a highly customized consumer good- coffee. In our target 40% of ages 18-25 and 54% of ages 25-39 drink coffee on a daily basis (SBDC, 2012). Most of our target markets are located in the Midwest to East. To reach customized coffee drinkers in these areas, we will partner with Dunkin’ Donuts; in our heavy west coast locations and especially Seattle, we will partner with Starbucks. The heat protecting sleeve will have our message “customized coffee. customized homepage. That’s the Point. Yahoo.” A QR code will be available for drinkers to go directly to the new Yahoo and customize their own homepage. This will relate to our consumers interests and gain buzz about the changes Yahoo is making.

Public Relations: Because of the recent disaster on the East Coast involving Superstorm Sandy, Yahoo will be active in providing relief efforts with the technology and information Yahoo is strong in. We will set up “Check Points” in multiple areas of a natural disaster. With the help of our trained staff, the Yahoo Croo, people who have lost any form of communication because of damage, power outages, or misplacement will be able to search for missing family members, contact family members and post their location. They can also use these Check Points to charge any electronics they still have with power from generators. Messages will remain consistent such as “back to normal, That’s the Point.” This small step back to normal will leave a positive impression that Yahoo is there for you whenever you need it. Although our campaign will launch many months after Sandy is contained, other natural disasters will happen throughout the United States and other areas of the world.

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Outdoor & Radio

Music up then under: Annc VO: “You said we were outdated…. You said we were ugly…. You said you wanted change…. You said you wanted more.... We got the Point…. So welcome to the new Yahoo where you can customize every aspect of the home screen to fit your needs and wants with just a click and drag of your mouse. Yahoo- a better home page experience. That’s the Point.” Music up, fade out.

Pandora ads will run with identical copy to the icon and link to Yahoo’s Homepage.

Outdoor billboards will be placed within our pilot market areas close to campuses and Millennial hang outs displaying our crisp, clean message

Yahoo

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Media buys

Internet: Because Yahoo is an Internet company, we will focus efforts in

traditional banner and Internet advertising to pull consumers to Yahoo’s home page. Advertising will run on sites with our homepage partnerships including ESPN, Facebook, Twitter, news outlets, and other sites.

YouTube: YouTube has more than 2 billion videos viewed per day (Market

Media, 2012). Our TV/video commercials will run as :30 and :60 spots as pre-roll ads while content loads. Viewer will be able to connect to Yahoo’s homepage and interact with features themselves.

Pandora Radio: Through our research, we know Millennials are devoted to their

music interests. Our radio spots will run during commercial breaks with the same opportunity to link to Yahoo’s homepage.

Hulu: More than 8.2 million viewers watch Hulu programs. Millennials

are the highest demographic with an index number of 172! (Alexa, 2012). Advertising will include regular commercials, sponsorships, and limited commercial interactive features. Options will also be available to link to Yahoo’s homepage like the other Internet advertising outlets.

Java Partnerships: Our partnerships with Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks will reach

consumes within our demographic that are on the go but do not want to sacrifice personalization. This demographic is the least likely to stock coffee at home because they prefer to buy by the cup. Twelve percent of our target visit both Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbuck more than 5 times per month (Experian, 2011).

Network TV: Based on Nielsen ratings, the shows with the highest reach among

Millennials are found on Fox’s Animation Domination. Consistently, the show Family Guy has the highest number of viewers 18-34 captivated on a weekly basis. Second in high Millennial viewership is the CW. We will run our TV spots on highly rated programming on these networks.

Cable TV: Our media choices for cable television reflect our targets usage. According

to Nielsen 2010 data, channels with high saturation include: MTV (51%), VH1 (42%), TBS (32%), E! Entertainment (40%), Comedy Central (41%), Bravo (33%), and Adult Swim (32%). This produces little waste for our advertising budget to maximize exposure to our message and reposition Yahoo in the minds of Millennials in our target markets.

Magazines: Ad placement in magazines is determined by readership and percentage

increase among Millennials with specific interests of Innovators, Thinkers, and Achievers. Game Informer is the fastest growing magazine within our demographic. Allure, Rolling Stone, and Spin have high Millennial saturation.

Radio: Traditional radio spots will run as :30 and :60 spots on the top 3 stations

for our demographic in each of our target markets. Attention will be given to this medium because of our targets deep love of music.

Charging Stations: Charging Stations placed at music festivals such as SXSW will reach more than 20,000 participates in 10 days. This festival will help continue the message to three of our biggest markets in the state of Texas.

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Media Plan

Our media plan will start at the beginning of Q3 in July, 2013. At this time, Millennials have the most free recreation time. It is before they begin academic studies, allowing Yahoo time to alter Internet consumption habits. Our media plan will continually be evaluated during the campaign and will conclude at the end of Q2 in June, 2014. Darker colors indicate heavier focus on ad buying.

Total budget is just under 3% of Yahoo’s annual revenue. This is the same percentage as Yahoo’s previous unsuccessful campaign but Above Beige’s media buys and placement will set Yahoo apart to meet marketing and media objectives.

*Determined by Immediate need caused by natural disasters.

Medium Jul. Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. Apr. May Jun. Budget

Television 35,000,000

Print 11,450,000

Radio 900,000 Internet Ads and Partnerships 20,000,000

Youtube 5,600,000

Pandora 4,000,000

Hulu 5,600,000 Product Development 3,500,000

Promotions 21,000,000

Public Relations * * * * * * * * * * * * 21,000,000

Contingency 7,350,000

Budget Total 135,400,000

Media Objectives: Reach 70% of our target 3 or more times Garner 19,668,000 Impressions

Evaluation

Review of Marketing Objectives: Reverse the projected decrease of advertising revenue (eMarketer, 2012).

Increase advertising revenue from 9.3% to 12% by the end of Q2 2014. Increase Internet search share from 14.5% to 16%, moving from number 3 to number 2. Increase site traffic from 74.5% to 80% daily visits. Increase monthly visits from 175M to 185M. Increase time spent on Yahoo site from 227.4 minutes to 250 minutes per month. Increase brand awareness from 20.6% to 30%. Reposition Yahoo as a better homepage choice.

In order to meet our objectives Above Beige Advertising will continually monitor campaign performance by conducting consumer surveys, site monitoring and usability, and brand recognition. Changes will be made if needed to reach our demographic more effectively.

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Q3 Launch Q4 Q1 Q2

Evaluation Adjustments

Evaluation Adjustments

Adjustments Evaluation

Final Evaluation

Above Beige Advertising

Lana Schwartz Michael Bright Paul Forester Morgan Mende