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An Integrated Communications

Plan for
EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
X-Factor Performance Meals is a new, meal-prep food service, located on
Long Island, NY, that specializes in high-in protein, high-in energy meals
specifically designed to help athletes perform at their bests in their
individual sports.

The X-Factor story started when the founders, two college athletes,
found that the meals on their college campuses were lacking something;
the energy and nutrients they need to get through their busy school
days and long practices and games.
They formed X-Factor to fill the gap between healthy and convenient
food for college athletes.

The mission of X-Factor is to create easy, healthy meals for athletes. The
convenience of ordering a week’s worth of meals that are delivered to
you for a reasonable price and designed specifically for athletes is a
competitive advantage that similar services cannot match.

Where the problem lies is that X-Factor is so new that college athletes
do not know about the service. For this reason, the main objective of my
proposed IMC campaign is to increase awareness, which will in turn
increase sales.

My one-year IMC campaign will focus on fueling rather than feeding


your body. The main three tactics of this campaign are social media
advertisements, redoing the webpage, email marketing and “try it to
believe it” events that will allow athletes to taste X-Factor meals.

This campaign will cost $20,000 and will increase sales by an estimated
10%, which will result in a 25% return on investment.

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TABLE OF
CONTENTS
• Executive Summary…………………………………...……………………………1
• Table of contents………………………………………..…………………………....2
• Introduction………………………………………………..……………….…….....3-4
• Situation Analysis………………………………………...………………….………6
• Product Analysis……………………………………………...…………….......7-10
• Current Campaigns…………………………………………....…………...……...11
• Financial Situation ……………………………………………....………………..12
• SWOT……………………………………………………………………....………….....13
• Consumer Types……………………………………………………….....…....14-15
• Competition……………………………………………………………….…......…....16
• Competitive Analysis………………………………………………………..18-19
• Research……………………………………………………………………..........20-25
• Strategy………………………………………………………………………….....26-27
• Objectives………………………………………………………………………...........28
• Consumer Profile………………………………………………….......…..……....29
• Perceptual Maps…………………………………………………….………....30-31
• Creative Work Plan………………………………………………........…………32
• Tactics………………………………………………………………..………….............33
• Website Redesign…………………………………………………………............34
• Email Marketing……………………………………………….......……….....35-36
• Social Media………………………...…………………………………………....37-39
• Try it to Believe it! …………………………………………………………………40
• Fuel Run………………………………………...…………………………...........41-42
• Evaluation………………………………..……………………………………....43-45
• Timeline……………………………………......………………………………....46-48
• Budget…………………………………………..…………………………………...49-51
• Conclusion…………………………………….....……………………………....52-53
• Appendix…………………………………….............………………………………...54
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INTRODUCTION

Mark Ciaburri and Matthew Riss founded X-Factor Performance Meals


in the summer of 2016. The two founders grew up on Long Island, NY,
together and played sports with each other since they were young. From
their experience in sports, they realized a problem; athletes weren’t
getting the proper nutrition they needed to perform in their sports. If an
athlete is at a tournament or event, often the only foods available to them
are unhealthy, fried and high in sugar. These options don’t provide the
fuel that athletes need. This is where the idea for X-Factor was born.

X-Factor is a service that provides healthy meals specifically designed to


give athletes energy. Initially, X-Factor made meals and sold them at local
athletic tournaments to give athletes a healthy option. The meals were
prepackaged, premade, and portioned perfectly for athletes to eat
pregame, between games and after their tournaments.

As X-Factor grew, they teamed up with Stony Brook University to


provide meals and snacks for their athletes.

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INTRODUCTION

Now, X-Factor is at the next stage in its life


cycle; expansion. With the success at Stony
Brook, X-Factor would like to expand to reach
other college athletes. The problem is that the
company lacks awareness.

Previously, X-Factor had a small marketing


budget highly driven by social media, but the
marketing efforts did not have any rhyme or
reason. With the integration with this IMC
plan, it will be the first true marketing
campaign for the company.

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INTRODUCTION

How it works
STEP 1: CHOOSE YOUR MEALS
We currently offer two different options to select your Meals.
One option, is to visit our shop and add meals/snacks to your
cart by building up an order. Another option, is by creating a
custom package. We currently offer packages of 10, 15, 21 and
28 meals. These packages offer our products at a discount rate.

STEP 2: CHOOSE YOUR DELIVERY METHOD


We currently deliver to Nassau and Suffolk County, every
Monday and Thursday. It is crucial to note, orders placed
Saturday through Tuesday will be delivered on Thursday.
Orders placed Wednesday through Friday, will be delivered on
Monday.

Our Meals come in temperature insulated bags (when needed),


so it will not be necessary to be home at time of delivery. We
also offer FREE in gym pick up at 2 locations (Retro Fitness
Ronkonkoma, World Gym Bayshore, and Freedom Athletic
Academy).

STEP 3: ENJOY!
Fresh never frozen meals delivered right to your desired
location. Our meals all come in microwaveable and freezer safe
containers. 

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SITUATION
ANALYSIS

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PRODUCT
ANALYSIS 

Main Offerings
X-Factor Performance Meals offers portioned meals for
breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. The meal portions
pack a punch. They are high in protein and nutrients.
The meals are made in in specific portions to help
athletes’ nutrition/eating habits.

X-Factor currently offers five different


weekly package options:
1. 5 Meals -- $40
2. 10 Meals -- $75
3. 15 Meals -- $110
4. 21 Meals -- $140
5. 28 Meals -- $165
6. Protein by the Pound –$8.99/pound 

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PRODUCT
ANALYSIS 
Meals
Breakfast: protein pancakes, breakfast tacos, egg
breakfast medley, energy muffins, protein bites.

Lunch/dinner: Buffalo chicken wraps, Caesar chicken


wraps, chicken burrito bowl, chicken tacos, sesame
chicken, teriyaki chicken, pineapple chicken, chicken
Capricciosa, lean beef sliders, Nonnis meatballs, beef
tacos, steak, potato, vegetable, steak tacos, shrimp
burrito bowl, shrimp tacos, steak burrito bowl, shrimp
scampi, tilapia rice and broccoli, turkey chili, balsamic
chicken, Santé Fe chicken bowl, Thai peanut chicken
and BBQ chicken.

Snacks include: Birthday cake protein cookies and


cookies and cream protein cookies.

With the purchase of each package, you have your


choice of what meals the quantity consists of. 

X-Factor is constantly adding and updating meals.

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PRODUCT
ANALYSIS 
Protein by the pound
Packages consists of:
1. Grilled chicken - $8.99
2. Lean beef- $13.99
3. Tilapia - $12.99
4. Meatballs - $12.99
5. Shrimp - $14.99
6. Steak - $14.99 

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PRODUCT
ANALYSIS 

Stony Brook University


Partnership

X-Factor has a partnership with Stony Brook University to


provide the university’s athletes with healthy meals/snacks.
Athletes can go to the X-Factor location, present a voucher and
receive their meal or snack during their busy days.

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CURRENT
CAMPAIGNS
X-Factor mainly uses
social media to
promote their
products/service.

X-Factor has a
Facebook, Twitter
and Instagram.

The company does a


good job making the
pages all look similar
so they are
noticeably X-Factor.

All the pages mostly


post glamour shots of
their meals.

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FINANCIAL
SITUATION 

X-Factor is a new company that has been


built from nothing. Although the company
has grown to making about $450,000 a year,
the owners still want to do more.

Expansion can come from an increase of


awareness of X-Factor services, meals and the
energy they provide.

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SWOT
Strengths
• Created by athletes with a nutritional background for athletes
just like themselves.
• Located on Stony Brook University’s campus so they have
access to college athletes.
• Convenient
• Transparent
• Made weekly so athletes can plan their meals in advance

Weakness
• High quality food equals high cost. Meals may be more
expensive than college students are willing to pay.
• Lack of brand awareness.
Opportunities
• Working with other colleges on Long Island.
• Working with other athletic college students. 

Threats
• Inexpensive, healthy frozen foods are readily available and
offer athletes convenient food at a low cost.
• Prepared foods are a growing trend. More and more
companies are being created doing the same thing as X-
Factor.
• Lack brand awareness

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CONSUMER
TYPES
X-Factor targets two types of consumers, the healthy-eating
consumer and the athlete.

Healthy-eating consumers
value what they put into their
bodies. They will pay extra
money to fuel their bodies
with nutritious, clean foods in
order to feel good. If they stray
from healthy eating, they can
feel a change in their bodies.

The athletic consumer feeds


their body for performance
purposes. The more protein
and healthy foods they eat, the
better they perform in their
sports. They believe that they
receive more energy from
good foods. These consumers
are busy and need easy food
options to accomplish this
need.

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CONSUMER
TYPES

Geographic: The optimal X-Factor target market is on


Long Island, NY where the company is located. To be
more specific, most of the main target market are
located on college campuses.

Demographics: College athletes and athletic people,


both men and women, aged 17 to 24.

Psychographics: The prime target market is extremely


concerned with their health. These people are willing
to pay a little more for healthy food. They believe
what they put into their bodies directly influences
how they feel.

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COMPETITION
Healthy Meals  Direct
X-Factor’s main competitor is Healthy Meals Direct.  Healthy
Meals Direct is also a highly transparent, healthy food
company. Healthy Meals Direct targets anyone looking to eat
better, get in shape or just wants an overall healthy lifestyle.
Healthy Meals Direct’s concept is the same as X-Factor’s; you
pick a food plan, choose your meals and they are delivered
directly to you. Healthy Meals Direct also offers a pick-up
option for its customers.

Healthy Meals Direct also offers meal packages consisting of


10, 15, 21 and 28 meals just like X-Factor. Healthy Meals also
offers a 35-meal package. One competitive advantage that
Healthy Meals Direct has is that the packages are significantly
cheaper than X-Factors.

Healthy Meals Directs prices are as follows:


1 10 Meals -- $70
2 15 Meals -- $95
3 21 Meals -- $120
4 28 Meals -- $155
5 35 Meals -- $190

Although the meals are cheaper, Healthy Meals Direct does


charge a higher delivery charge than X-Factor.

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COMPETITION

Frozen Food
It is obvious that Healthy Meals Direct is the direct competitor of
X-Factor due to the business being very similar, but I believe the
other large competitor of the company is the frozen food aisle of
supermarkets.

Today, you can walk down the frozen food aisle and see perfectly
portioned healthy meals such as healthy choice. No, these aren’t
fresh and delivered to your door, but they are cheaper and still
convenient. X-Factor targets busy college athletes that value
their bodies and convenience. These athletes have busy lives and
need their meals to be fast and easy, but as college students they
also need meals to be inexpensive. It may be a better option for
college athletes to go to the store, by five frozen meals for the
week and eat those.

Frozen meals such as  Healthy Choice and Smart Ones are huge
competitors of X-Factor.

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COMPETITIVE 
ANALYSIS

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COMPETITIVE 
ANALYSIS

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RESEARCH 

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RESEARCH

Primary research was conducted to understand


athletes’ feelings on what they eat, their perspectives
on fresh versus frozen meals, how busy they consider
their lives, and what fueling their bodies mean to
them.

They were also asked if they think how they eat


affects how the perform in their sports and how they
feel depending on what they eat.

This research is helpful to understand how to target


X-Factor’s meals to the college athletes by
understanding their perceptions and feelings toward
their eating habits in college.

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RESEARCH
A self-administered survey was sent via email and social media
to college athletes and athletic people on the St. Bonaventure
campus. Although these athletes aren’t located on Long Island,
the mindset of athletes generally will not change from this
small location change.

Results from 91 respondents:


My health is...

My health affects my athleticism

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RESEARCH
When I go grocery shopping, I When I eat well I feel...
buy foods that are...

Eating well is _____ to performing well in my sport

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RESEARCH
I feel better when I eat healthy food

Having prepared meals to eat everyday for a week (meal


prepping) would...

I would use a meal-prep service if one was available to me

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RESEARCH

There were four main themes in the data:

1. Athletes care about what goes into their bodies and


prefer to feed their body well.

2. Athletes believe that how they eat changes how they


perform.

3. Athletes are busy and need something convenient.

4. Athletes would try a meal-prep service if it was


available to them.

Implications:
X-Factor should sell its healthy eating and convenience
features as a selling point to the busy college athletes. X-
Factor should also capitalize on athletes’ feelings that
they believe they perform better when they eat better. X-
Factor shouldn’t try and sell the price of their meals,
focused athletes will tend to pay more for healthy meals
that they believe will help them feel better.

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STRATEGY

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STRATEGY

The strategy of this campaign is to familiarize athletes with the


X-Factor brand by educating them on the nutritional benefits
and energy benefits that X-Factor has to offer that competitors
don’t. This strategy should make X-Factor the top-of-mind
energy source for athletes.

Why?
Although X-Factor is doing well, the company would still like
to grow. They can accomplish this by increasing awareness
outside of Stony Brook athletes and athletes at local
tournaments. This awareness will allow the company to
expand and grow as a viable meal source of athletes.

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OBJECTIVES

Financial
The overall financial objective if this year-long campaign is
to increase X-Factor revenue by 10%.

Marketing Communications 
The main goal of this campaign is to increase awareness of
the X-Factor brand and what the company has to offer its
consumers. If this is accomplished, sales will also most likely
increase.

X-Factor will be repositioned in consumers’ minds as a


healthy, affordable meal service.
X-Factor will also build its social media presence to gain
awareness. Through education of consumers and
testimonials, X-Factor will build trust with the target market
and gain awareness from potential consumers.

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CONSUMER
Jenny PROFILE
Meet Jenny, she’s a 20-year-old college runner at Stony Brook University. Jenny
lives a very hectic lifestyle.

She often wakes up before 6:00 am and doesn’t go to bed until midnight. Her day
is jam packed. She wakes up, jumps out of bed, quickly eats breakfast and goes to
morning practice.

Directly from practice she attends class and then has a meeting with her coach.
She then goes on her later practice run and meets with the athletic trainer. She
squeezes in a 10-minute lunch when she has time.

Often, Jenny just grabs something quickly from the dining hall because she
doesn’t have time to eat elsewhere. This upsets her because she likes to know
exactly what she is eating and doesn’t feel right when she runs if she eats
anything unhealthy or not fresh.

After meeting with the athletic trainer, she attends mandatory study hall and
goes to dinner. She heads home and finishes up her homework. She checks social
media before bed, but falls asleep with her phone in hand from her fast-paced
lifestyle.

Jenny values taking care of her body. As a runner, she is her sport. If she doesn’t
fuel her body correctly, she won’t perform at her highest. Jenny doesn’t trust
many food providers around her school and would rather make her own food.
Unfortunately, she just doesn’t have the time to make her own meals and her
healthy eating habits suffer because of it.

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PERCEPTUAL
MAP

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PERCEPTUAL
MAP

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CREATIVE WORK PLAN
Background: Why are we advertising?
To increase awareness of the X-Factor brand.

Whom are we talking to?


College athletes that value fitness and what they eat.

What do they currently think?


They can get all the nutrients they need in their college
dining halls.

What would we like them to think?


X-Factor will make eating simple with the company’s
healthy, prepped meals and they will perform better at their
sports after consuming our meals.

What is the single most persuasive idea we can convey?


X-Factor’s meals will help athletes perform better.

Why should they believe it?


X-Factor uses portioned, high in protein meals to make
athletes lives easier and give them the fuel they need to
perform at their best in their sports.

Are there any creative guidelines or mandatories?


Logo

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Tactics

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WEBSITE
REDESIGN
Millennials trust what they hear and see from their peers both
in person and on social media much more than on
advertisements. X-Factor is lacking on gaging this interest of
their consumers. Although X-Factor has an easy to navigate,
engaging website, it is lacking a testimonial page which will
build trust between the company and the consumers. X-Factor
should add a testimonial page on their website where they
share local athletes X-Factor stories. These stories should be
easily shareable over social media and have comment sections
where X-Factor can interact with customers.

Proposed Site Map

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Email Marketing

X-Factor has a huge opportunity to build awareness


through email marketing. Because they mainly work
with college athletes X-Factor can easily contact
coaches to email their athletes the option to sign-up
for  emails which would give athletes exclusive
offers to meal-plan deals. The emails will also be sent
on a weekly basis to show food options, packages and
purchasing options for the week. The email will
include a link to the website where athletes can place
their orders.

Emails can also be sent to consumers that sign up for


them as advertised on the website and social media.
These consumers can also get deals, and menu
options sent to them in weekly emails.

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EMAIL EXAMPLE

Deal of the week!


20% off your meal
package AND three free
protein cookies with a
purchase!

Featured meals of the week!


1. Low Carb Buffalo Chicken
2. Lean Beef Sliders
3. Salmon

Click here to purchase!


Follow us!
@XFactorMeals @xfactormeals

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Social Media
X-Factor currently utilizes social media, but not in an
overly strategic way. Twitter and Instagram should be the
most heavily used platforms. Instagram because it is highly
visual and X-Factor can show off their meals. And Twitter
because it is the easiest to interact with consumers, answer
questions and promote testimonials.

Every two weeks, X-Factor will post a testimonial video of


a local athlete’s X-Factor experience. This video will
highlight what the athlete ate, how the athlete felt, and
how the athlete performed as a result of the meal.

Every week, X-Factor will post the menu options with a


link of where to order. This will show people the new
menu options and what they can expect from X-Factor.

Advertisements such as will be posted on both Twitter and


Instagram with the message that the nutrition of X-Factor
gives athletes the energy they need.

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Social Media
Ad Examples

This ad connects with an athletes drive in


the gym and at practice. You put so much
time in physically, make sure you also
fuel your body well to perform. at your
38
best.
Social Media
Ad Examples

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TRY IT TO BELIEVE IT!
X-Factor will set-up booths on local college campuses to let
them try X-Factor food. When the college student receives a
sample of an X-Factor meal, they will also receive a coupon
with a 15% off your first order voucher, the website and social
media handles. At these events, people that receive the free
food will also be encouraged to sign-up for X-Factor emails. X-
Factor employees will have an IPad with the X-Factor
website pulled up where consumers can easily type in their
email addresses to be added to the X-Factor list.

To add to the event and build awareness, water bottles with


the X-Factor logo and Twitter handle will be given to the first
100 people to try the food!

College list:
1. Stony Brook University
2. Suffolk Community
College
3. Dowling College
4. SUNY College at Old
Westbury
5. Farmingdale State
College

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FUEL RUN
In order to further awareness and trust in the X-Factor food,
X-Factor will host a fuel 5k run for up to 500 participants at
Stony Brook University. These participants will pay $15 and
will receive a snack, lunch and X-Factor t-shirt.

For X-Factor to purchase 500 shirts, it will cost $3210 which


breaks down to $6.46 a shirt. X-Factor will keep $3.50 to cover
part of the meal costs and will donate the other $5 to the
Special Olympics. X-Factor labeled water bottles will also be
distributed at the event.

The philanthropic appeal will drive millennials to participate.

Before the run, X-Factor will contact the Stony Brook sports
teams’ coaches to encourage their athletes to participate for
the cause.

X-Factor will also team up with the student life and


recreation department to recruit and advertise to other
students.

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FUEL RUN

On the day of the run, people will register by giving their


names and email addresses. X-Factor will utilize the emails by
adding them to their email lists.

When the runners register, they will receive a bottle of water,


T-shirt and protein cookies.

After the run, X-Factor will set-up a table with prepared


lunches for runners to eat there or take with them.

Two days after the event, a survey with questions about the
experience and meals will be sent to participants.

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EVALUATION

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EVALUATION

1. Website redesign
-Track how many people view testimonial vides.
-Track how many clicks are on the testimonial page.
-Track how many people join the mailing list

2. Email Marketing
-Track how many people click on the email to take them to
the website
-Track how many people use coupons and deals sent in
emails
-Track how many people purchase after clicking the emails

3. Social Media
-Track how many likes, comments and retweets on Twitter
-Track how many likes and views on Instagram
-Track how many posts drive to the website
-Track how many clicks on each post
-Track how many people view the X-Factor Twitter and
Instagram homepages

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EVALUATION

4. Try it to believe it
-Track how many people follow us on Twitter and
Instagram after the event
-Track how many people sign up for X-Factor emails after
each event
-Track how many more people purchase X-Factor meals
after the event
-Ask people to take a quick survey asking about the food
they tasted at the event 

5. Fuel Run
-Track how many people participate in the event
-Track how many people buy meals after the event
-Track how many people sign up for emails, follow X-Factor
on Twitter and Instagram.
-Distribute survey to participants of the run about the
experience and the meals they tried

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CAMPAIGN
TIMELINE

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TIMELINE

The campaign will kick off in August before school starts


with flighted social media ads. These ads are geared to gain
awareness and create a multitude of content on social media
platforms.

At the beginning of September when college starts is when


the campaign will fully take place with social media ads and
email marketing. This is because this is when fall and winter
athletes will be in full force and looking to fuel their bodies.

The campaign will die down during the holidays and when
college students are on break.

A huge time to capitalize on for X-Factor is in January and


February for people seeking New Years’ resolutions.

May is the perfect time to reach out to the target audience


again to encourage them to try X-Factor as the summer
months come along and everyone is trying to enhance their
beach “bodies.”

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TIMELINE

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BUDGET

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BREAKDOWN OF COST

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BUDGET/ROI

With X-Factor’s $20,005 investment, the company


will receive an ROI of 14%.

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CONCLUSION

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CONCLUSION

X-Factor Performance Meals is a company that


strives to make athletes lives better and easier.

X-Factor provides healthy meals to fuel athletes


bodies and help them perform at their bests.

X-Factor is doing well, but needs to gain more


awareness to grow as a company.

This campaign combines different tactics including


social media, email marketing and PR campaigns to
increase awareness and drive sales.

With the institution of the campaign, X-Factor’s


consumer base will grow substantially, creating
revenue and allow the company to expand to its full
potential.

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APPENDIX

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SURVEY

1
SURVEY

2
SURVEY

3
SURVEY

4
SURVEY

5
SURVEY

6
SURVEY

7
SURVEY

8
SURVEY

9
SURVEY

10
SURVEY

11
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“Fueling - The Army's Marching on a Leaner, More Fit Stomach.”
The Fayetteville Observer, 5 Dec. 2010.
Lampman, Melissa. “Go for Gold; Fuel Your Body and Your Mind

the Way Local Olympic Athletes Do.”


The Calgary Herald , 4 Aug. 2012.
Shmoop Editorial Team. “College 101: A Day in the Life of a
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www.shmoop.com/college/college-athete-day.html
Sibson, Kaitlyn. “The Reality Of Being A College Athlete.”
The Odyssey Online, 27 Aug. 2017,
www.theodysseyonline.com/the-reality-of-being-college-
athlete.
Stansby, Mia. “Veggie Power: Nutrition Crucial for Olympic
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TheHuffingtonPost.com, 10 Apr. 2013,
www.huffingtonpost.com/uloop/the-life-of-a-student-
ath_b_2963409.html.
“Healthy Meals Direct.” Healthy Meals,
healthymealsdirect.com/about-us.aspx.
Miller, Noah. “17% Of Adults Receive Meal Kit Delivery.” 17% Of
U.S. Adults Purchase Meal Kit Delivery Services,
www.packagedfacts.com/Content/Blog/2017/07/13/17-of-Adults-
Receive-Meal-Kit-Delivery-.
“Millennials Show an Appetite for Meal Delivery Kits.” EMarketer,
22 Dec. 2016, www.emarketer.com/Article/Millennials-Show-
Appetite-Meal-Delivery-Kits/1014909. 12

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