Assignment 1: ‘’Advertising Stew’’
Ken Ernst
Strayer University
Professor Brad Bridges
November 4, 2012

Abstract In this paper we will briefly look at the company Hormel Foods who sell the Dinty Moore Beef Stew Line of goods how they got started and what kind of goods they sale. As this paper continues we will be introduced to Luis who is a new brand manager for the Dinty Moore Beef Stew line. Luis Arroyo has been assigned a project to develop a new advertisement campaign for the entire line of the beef stew line of products. There are several questions that need to be answered before he continues his new assignment. The first question that should be asked of Luis should he consider hiring an outside advertising agency to help create and launch this new campaign. What are some of the benefits that an outside advertising agency would bring to the campaign and would it help the line of products? As Luis considers these options he also needs to figure out what kind of research and planning that needs to go into identifies Dinty Moore’s most loyal consumers and the potential for new consumers. So as Luis’ adventures continues with this new job we should be able to answer these outstanding questions and Luis will be able to bring new consumers to the product. Dinty Moore is a product of the Hormel Foods Corporation which is based out of Austin, Minnesota which was once known as Geo.A Hormel & Co. The company was established in 1891 by George A. Hormel who was a child of an immigrant from Germany. In 1935 Jay C. Hormel son of George brought many new innovations to the company which included Hormel Chili and The Dinty Moore product line. The Hormel Company is a multinational manufacture that sales products from hams, chili, bacon to the wonderful adventure of shelf-stable microwavable entrees. So this company has a lot of loyal consumers from the elderly that are used to the spam’s and can hams to the rise of the on the go families and kids that enjoy the wonderful world of microwaveable products. Luis Arroyo has the new project of developing a campaign for the entire line of Dinty Moore. Luis first big decision is going to be whether or not to hire an outside advertising company to help with the development of the entire line of products. This decision is not easy and many questions need to be answered first. As a brand manager of a large product line we need to ask several questions and limit them down to three to make it a little easier. Why should Luis hire an external advertising agency for the Dinty Moore campaign? The first reasons being is that the size of the account may be too overwhelming for the companies advertising department and that bringing in an external agency relieves the pressure of their own department. They are also hired to concentrate on your account and know if they do not do a good job will not be hired again. The second reason a large company that is well established and already has thousands of consumers may need to bring in an external company to help with advertising is the money. If the company is well established has already created advertising for the product then they may want to cut cost and not develop the right ads for the campaign. If the company and campaign has the funds to hire an external agency they do so. The third and a very important one is that an external agency can bring in an independent view from the outside and give the company a better picture of what the consumer tastes and sees. As a manager of the product line you may bias to the product and not see the whole picture. The next questions are going to be what relevant experiences of an outside agency that would be helpful to Luis and the Dinty Moore brand? One is that the external agency can be objective in their opinions of the product. They can tell you like it is and not have the fear that your co- workers may not agree. They are not bias of the product and can furnish a new option to the product line. Two they can be creative and bring a fresh new face to the product. They will be able to find new ways to spark the interest of new consumers and inspire the old consumer that have been eating the product for years. The third and probable a really important one is that they are educated in doing this job, they know the ends and outs of the business and who and what kind of commercial and advertising you need. They know how to target the markets you need and how to plan and purchase media time and space and most important is that they help create new and inviting feeling to the product line. As Luis is entertaining the idea of hiring an outside advertising agency he also has to decide on what kind of advertising planning and research that he should conduct to identify Dinty Moore’s most loyal consumer and the potential of new consumers. There several different methods of research that can be done. One way may be by a focus group of consumers that have tried the product or could be interested in the product. ‘’ In a focus group, a moderator uses a scripted series of questions or topics to lead a discussion among the group’’. (‘’ The Five Basic methods of Market Research’’ n, d.) It can last a couple of hours and the group is viewed by a two- way mirror. Another way of doing research is by Product research which includes ‘’simple in- person research such as tests conducted in malls and in the aisle of grocery stores’’ (‘’Market Research’’ n, d.). A third way would be by Qualitative Research which is a formal approach that can be used to help the vendor company and your advertising group. ‘’Qualitative research is design to talk to a relatively few people in the target audience of interest. The purpose is to plumb the depths and range of buyer attitudes and beliefs and not to measure incidence, projects, or forecast quality’’ ( ‘’Market Research Tools Qualitative Market Research’’ n.d.). So hopefully some of these research methods will be able to help Luis in his quest for answers. The process of choosing an external advertising agency can be a challenging job. The company or project manager wants to able to put the campaign into the right hands so in doing so the company needs to make sure that the chemistry is there for everyone to work together. Before starting the process makes sure that there are goals set in place so that the marketing team knows what direction to go in. Make sure that the agency is not too big or too small so that the campaign is covered with the right amount of people. Make sure that the company has related experience in the business that they are advertising for. Make sure that there is not a conflict of interest. That they have worked for another company with the same products. As a project manager you have to make sure that they have the creativity, a good reputation and the capability to perform this job. You also have to find out other services they provide, their client retention rates (which can tell you how effective the company get along with other clients in the past), and make sure that everyone has good chemistry or the whole campaign can go down the drain. Hopefully Luis can make a decision on whether to hire an external advertising agency based on some of the questions that were answered. Good luck Luis

References: Market Research Tools Qualitative Market Research (n.d.) Retrieved October 28, 2012 http://www.poewrdecisio.com

References for Business Encyclopedia of Business, 2nd ed. Market Research (n.d.) Retrieved October 30, 2012 http://www.referencesforbusiness.com The Five basic methods of Market Research (n.d.) Retrieved October 30, 2012 http://allbusiness.com/marketing/market-research/1287-1.html