Bass Pro Shop Media Plan

Media Plan for Bass Pro Shops

Prepared by Bree Skipper, Senior Media Planner at Meers Advertising Agency

11/13/2013

Bree Skipper

Campers as a Target Group for Bass Pro Shops

Target Bullet-List Summary

Target’s Psychographic Summary

Campers like camping

Go on average 4.97 trips a year

Go camping with friends

Plan their trip and purchases a month or more before trip

Spend $50+ on camping each year

Camp in public campgrounds

Hike and bike while camping

Associate words with camping like tent, wilderness, outdoors, and campfire

Camp in tents

Buy tents, sleeping bags, and battery powered lighting

Like REI brand the most

Target’s Demographic Summary

Gender: Male and Female

Marital Status: Married(with children)

Age Range: 35-44

Education Level: College graduate

HH Income: $50,000-$75,000

Ethnicity: White

Target’s Geographic Summary

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Metro Priority No. 1: Denver, CO

Metro Priority No. 2: Tacoma, WA

Metro Priority No. 3: Atlanta, GA

Client Description

Company Overview

Bass Pro Shops was founded in 1971 by Johnny Morris in Springfield, MO. According to the Bass Pro

Shops website, he wanted a larger variety of fishing tackle in local stores so he rented a U-Haul and traveled the

country filling it with the best fishing tackle he could find. Bass Pro Shop started off as a small section of

fishing supplies in his father’s liquor store, but expanded enough to become incorporated in 1972. He received

requests from customers around the nation, so in 1974 he released the first Bass Pro Shops catalog. In 1978,

Morris began selling fishing boats, expanding his business further than just fishing tackle. In 1995, Bass Pro

Shops opened a store in Georgia, the first outside of Missouri. It has since expanded its product line to include

hunting and camping gear and consider itself an outdoor store.

Bass Pro Shops is currently the nation’s leading retailer of outdoor gear, according to the Bass Pro

Shops website. It runs its business through stores, catalogs, and a website. BPS has 70 current and future-

planned stores throughout the US and Canda. Most of these US stores are found in the Midwest/Eastern region

of the continent. Its stores are normally very large and incorporate a lot of taxidermy animals throughout the

store. All of its stores also include a fish aquarium area with fish that can be found in the native area. The Bass

Pro Shop catalog and online website have become a staple of its business, mailing about 238 catalogs million

annually, and having 86 million online visitors annually.

The Bass Pro Shops webpage shares that the BPS mission is “To be the leading merchant of outdoor

recreational products, inspiring people to love, enjoy, and conserve the great outdoors.” The Bass Pro Shops

website also stated that BPS promotes conservation efforts by supporting many conservation organizations,

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such as The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and the Quality Deer

Management Association to name a few.

BPS also has many in-house brands that it promotes, like Tracker Marine Group, which is the world’s

highest boat selling retailer according to the Bass Pro Shops website. American Rod and Gun is also an entity

working with Bass Pro Shops and happens to be the exclusive wholesale source for BPS according to the

American Rod and Gun website.

Outdoor World is a television/radio company that runs shows under the Bass Pro Shop name. Bass Pro

Shops Outdoor World televises many shows on The Outdoor Channel about fishing, hunting, and conservation.

This is paralleled with an educational radio broadcast about the outdoors, called Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World

Radio. “Outdoor World Tips” is a weekly article included in many newspapers and magazines throughout

Missouri, Arkansas, and Kansas.

According to the Bass Pro Shops webpage, Bass Pro Shops teams up with Nascar to host the Bass Pro

Shop MNBA 500, an annual Nascar race, each year and it also sponsors many Nascar drivers. The MNBA 500

event is televised and gives BPS a lot of tv coverage. Aside from this race, BPS holds many other events,

including Bass Pro Shops Fall Fishing Event which includes family fishing, workshops, crafts, and giveaways.

BPS also holds other events, like an annual Labor Day Hometown Festival, Santa’s Wonderland, and Fall

Hunting Classic to name a few.

BPS also has an outdoor resort called Big Cedar Lodge located in Branson, Missouri. This lodge is a

wilderness resort that many rooms and cabins that people can stay in. According to the Big Cedar Lodge

webpage, it provides access to a fitness center, day spa, golf course, horse stables, marina and Dogwood

Canyon. A night’s stay runs from around $100 to $300 a night. Big Cedar Lodge has won many awards, most

recently, being named one of the top 500 hotels in 2013 by Travel and Leisure magazine.

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Bass Pro Shops is the owner of a 10,000 acre nature park called Dogwood Canyon, which was bought

by Johnny Morris in 1990. It is open from 8:30 am to 7pm daily. It stretches across the Missouri and Arkansas

border around the Branson area. It provides access to walking trails, guided tram tours, archery, trout fishing,

horseback riding, and wedding venues.

The BPS webpage shares that the Bass Pro Shops franchise has won many awards, most recently

winning best in delivering service excellence based on customer satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates. In

2010, it was named one of the top 10 brands in the U.S. by Advertising Age Magazine. Another award that I

feel is worth mentioning was the first award BPS received in 1995. Johnny Morris was the first conservationist

to be given the International Conservation Achievement Award.

Client Offerings

Bass Pro Shop stores offer hunting, fishing, shooting, boating, camping, outdoor recreation, apparel, and

home décor products, according to the BPS webpage. Its hunting merchandise includes archery gear such as

bows, arrows, and crossbows. It has tree stands, game cameras, food for game, binoculars and scopes, game

calls, decoys, knives, ATV’s, hunting blinds, chairs for hunting, hunting/camo clothing and shoes, and hunting

backpacks. It also sell hunting accessories like GPS, scent eliminators, and flashlights. BPS also offers hunting

dog training services to customers.

The fishing products at BPS include reels, rods, rod racks, lures, tackle, nets, fillet knives, buckets, and

sunglasses. It also includes the special equipment that’s needed for fly fishing, ice fishing, and saltwater fishing.

BPS sells boating merchandise like kayaks and canoes, life jackets, float tubes, waterskies, wakeboards, pool

toys, small boats, trailer hitches, boat covers, dock supplies, boat repair supplies, paddles and oars, boat motors,

fish finders, GPS, sonar accessories and fishing apparel.

The camping supplies it sells are tents, outdoor furniture, sleeping bags, cots, camp stoves and

cookware, camp food, toiletries, bug repellent, water treatment, heaters, first aid, backpacks, and flashlights.

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The tents include cabin tents, dome tents, backpacking tents, truck tents, outfitter tents, and canopies.

BPS has the most options for outfitter tents and cabin tents. The most popular brand tents which it provides the

largest variety of, include Coleman, OzTent, Montana Canvas, and Bass Pro Shops brands. The prices of these

tents range from under $10 to more than $125. Most of the tents are in the over $125 price range.

BPS sells outdoor furniture like chairs, tables, hammocks, and fire pits. It sells 40 different types of

chairs ranging in price from $10 to more than $125, with the most chairs running in the $50 to $75 price range.

Popular chair brands include Bass Pro Shops and Landmann. Brass Pro Shops also sells fire pits that are

primarily Landmann brand and run mostly from $50 to more than $125.

Bass Pro Shops has two different types of sleeping bags; mummy sleeping bags and rectangular sleeping

bags. Popular brand names include Bass Pro Shops, Ascend, and The North Face. Prices range from $10 to

more than $125 with most of the sleeping bags running in the $75 to $100 range. It also sell cots, air beds, and

sleeping pads. Popular brand names are Cascade Designs, and Coleman with most of these running over $125.

BPS offers a large array of camp cookware, such as camp stoves, fryers, grills, cast iron, camp

tableware, food, marinades and seasonings. The cookware includes teapots, popcorn poppers, skillets, pots, fire

pit forks, etc. The popular cookware brand is GSI Outdoors and runs mostly from $10 to $50. The food it sells

includes packaged, vacuum sealed food like barbeque chicken, rice and beans, chicken noodles, beef stew, and

even ice cream. These meals are mostly Mountain House and Backpackers Pantry brands and are under $10.

The camping tableware BPS sells includes plates, bowls, cuts, and utensils. These are mainly GSI

Outdoors brand and are under $10. The cast iron selection includes cast iron ovens, skillets and cast iron upkeep

supplies. The majority of this is Lodge brand and runs from $10 to $50. The grills and fryers BPS sells are

mostly Bass Pro Shops brand and range between $10 and $100.

BPS sells camping essentials like heaters, repellents, toiletries, and water bottles. Most of these brands

are Coghlan’s and Bass Pro Shops and range mostly from under $10 to $50. BPS sells various flashlights which

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are mostly Coleman and Bass Pro Shops brands and range mainly from under $10 to $50. BPS also sells coolers

for camping includes mostly chest coolers. The biggest cooler brand name is Igloo which are mostly under $50.

BPS has outdoor recreation gear like golf clubs, golf balls, bird feeders, bird houses, airsoft guns,

paintball guns, slingshots, metal detectors, kayaks, waterskies, and other water mobiles.

Aside from the clothing BPS sells for hunting and fishing, it also sells basic apparel for women, men,

and children. This includes shirts, swimwear, sunglasses, jackets, shoes, pants, jewelry, and hats. The home

décor items include wall décor, bedding, bath décor, lamps, floor coverings, fire pits, wind chimes, mailboxes,

furniture, kitchenware, food and drinks, books and DVD’s, toys and videogames, bumper stickers, coozies,

mugs, and Nascar collectibles.

The Bass Pro Shops webpage shares that many of its stores include full service restaurants, called

Isalamorada Fish Company, that Bass Pro Shops own. BPS also owns an outdoor resort/lodge called Big Cedar

Lodge mentioned above. BPS also provides embroidery services. Two new BPS retail stores just put in a twelve

lane bowling alley and a billiard room in partnership with Brunswick Bowling and Billiards. In August of this

year, BPS put in an NRA National Sporting Arms Museum in one of its retail stores. Bass Pro Shops also

provides its online users with an Outdoorsite Library full of information about hunting, boating, fishing,

camping, etc. BPS also repairs/restores its customer’s fishing rods and reels, guns, and other outdoor gear.

Target Audience Choice: Campers

Introduction

I chose campers as the target audience because I felt they were the broadest activity group of the groups that

Bass Pro Shops sell to. Most campers buy similar things and do similar activities while camping. With fishing

and hunting, there are many different kinds and styles. Gun hunting is much different than bow hunting, and ice

fishing is much different than salt water fishing. With campers, almost all of them tent camp, while there are

some that RV camp. The whole camper group seems to have more in common than with hunting and fishing.

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Also, I have never been hunting in my life and I am a very basic, pond fisher, so I don’t think I can relate well

to those audiences. I have been camping many times and feel I have enough knowledge to help me relate to the

target audience.

Psychographic Elements of Campers

Campers like camping! According to the Outdoor Foundation Report, in 2011, the average camper went

on 4.97 camping trips for a total of 12.6 days. Camping participation rose by almost 3 million people, from 40

million in 2010 to 43 million in 2011. The Active Network Inc. shared that most campers camp between the

months of June and August. 66% of campers are tent campers who camp in public campgrounds. 2011 campers

traveled an average of 190 miles away from home to camp. 70% of camp trips are taken with friends. Most

campers plan their camping trip a month or more before their trip and most camping purchases are planned at

home before the camping trip. According to the Active Network Inc., the average camper spends $50 or more

on camping supplies/ food each year.

The Outdoor Foundation Report shared that in 2011, the most popular camping purchase was battery

powered lighting. Airbeds are considered the biggest luxury purchase for a camping trip, while tents and

sleeping bags are the most essential camping products. 51% of camping purchases in 2011 were new and 49%

were replacements. Tent campers reported liking REI brand products the most, Walmart second, and Bass Pro

Shops eleventh.

Most campers participate in multiple outdoor activities; hiking and bicycling are the most popular

activities to do while camping. Fathers are the primary figure to introduce someone to camping for the first

time. Words that campers reported associating with camping the most included outdoors, campfire, tent,

wilderness, adventure, escape, fun, peace, happiness, family, friends, and s’mores. Among the reasons why

campers go camping, 33% of campers enjoy camping because of the camping itself and 23% see it as a way to

escape. Campers reported that the biggest reason for a potential decrease in camping trips in the coming years is

working too much and school or family commitments.

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Demographic Elements of Campers

Looking at the gender of campers, 53% of campers in 2011 were male, while 47% were female,

according to the Outdoor Foundation Report. So, they’re about equal with slightly more male campers. The

majority of campers are between 35-44 years old, although in 2011 teen camping was on the rise. The HH

Income of campers in 2011 was largely in the $50,000 to $75,000 range. 24% of campers are college graduates

and 22% have had 1 to 3 years of college. I was surprised to learn that the third largest group was, at 20%,

campers who have lower than an eighth grade education. Most campers are employed and 29% are students.

White campers make up the majority of campers at a whopping 84%. The second biggest ethnicity

group was Hispanic people, at 6%. This ethnicity group is one to keep an eye on, because Hispanic participation

is on the rise, with 23% of Hispanic campers going on their first camping trip in 2011. Also, the average

Hispanic camper camps longer than the average white camper. Hispanic campers also bought more camping

equipment in 2011 than non-Hispanic campers, so this could be important when considering your target

audience. Although campers are mostly white, the Hispanic campers are the most “up and coming group”.

The Outdoor Foundation Report shared that 71% of 2011 campers were married and 89% have children.

Of the campers who were parents, the most had children who were between the ages of 6 and 12. The western

mountain region had the highest camping participation rate in 2011 and camping in state parks made up half of

all the camping participation.

How Target Aligns with Bass Pro Shop’s Offerings

Bass Pro Shop sells tents, sleeping bags, and battery powered lighting, which is the most essential needs

of campers. Since tent campers make up the largest portion of campers, it’s smart that BPS sells so many

varieties of tents. BPS even has large navigation categories on its website dedicated to these essential products.

Since most campers have young children, BPS should expand its camping products to include things for

children and parents of young children, such as child outdoor toys or children’s sleeping bags which BPS

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currently sells none of. Since most campers go hiking, it would be smart for BPS to offer hiking related

camping items. It does sell backpacking tents, which is essential for hiking campers. However, I was surprised

to learn that BPS doesn’t sell bicycles. Since this is a common outdoor activity that campers and even non-

campers do, Bass Pro Shops should offer products for bicyclers.

Most of BPS’s camping products are all reasonably ranged in relation to what the HH income of the

average camper is. The Bass Pro Shops website shows that BPS also has a specific brand in its camping

selection, called Ascend, which is a particular house brand it is promoting. The description explains that this

brand is durable, trendy, and affordable. This is a good move for BPS to promote this brand because it is

reaching out to the needs of the average camper who is looking for durable, trendy, and affordable camping

gear. Also, something that I feel is important to note is that BPS owns Dogwood Canyon Nature Park. This is a

strong partnership for the overall target audience of outdoorsmen, but it doesn’t provide any camping sites at

this park so campers can’t enjoy camping at this nature park.

Geographic Choice Explanation

Metro Area Priority No. 1: Denver, CO

Bass Pro Shops currently has a store in Denver, Colorado. According to the Lifestyle Market Analyst,

Denver has around 580,000 household and 40% are campers, so around 232,156 households are camping

households. Also, according to the BPS website, Bass Pro Shops is planning to open a store in Colorado

Springs and also in Loveland. These stores are within an hour drive from Denver, so not only will the

designated market area have the option to visit the Denver store, but they also aren’t far from two other future

Bass Pro Shops stores. So the residents that live on the outskirts of Denver may see it more appealing to drive to

Loveland or Colorado Springs. The Loveland store will be a 117,000 square foot store in the middle of a new,

large retail development. The new Colorado Springs store is set to open in April of 2014 and will have an Uncle

Buck’s Fishbowl and Grill bowling alley and restaurant in it. This could be appealing to residents of the Denver

area to visit the new Loveland store because it will be part of a new shopping center which could draw residents

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in. Also, Denver area residents might visit the Colorado Springs store since it’s going to include a unique

bowling alley and restaurant.

Aside from the huge amount of campers that live in this area, Denver also has a strong population

growth rate. Denver was ranked in the top twenty fastest growing cities of 2012 by Forbes. The Denver area has

a growth rate of 1.3%, which equals about 15,000 new residents each year. This is very beneficial to the Bass

Pro Shops store that’s currently in Denver and to the future stores opening in the area. This means that the

Denver area is continuously prosperous and even more camping residents will be migrating to Denver.

Another advantage to choosing the Denver metro area is that there is a vast amount of campgrounds in

the surround area. According to Google Maps, there are many(10+) campgrounds in the area, including four

state parks that residents have access to camping at. So when the target audience hears that Bass Pro Shops has

camping gear and they remember how close they are to campgrounds, then they’ll be more influenced to visit

the store.

Metro Area Priority No. 2: Seattle/Tacoma, WA

Bass Pro Shops is currently building a 170,000 square foot store in Tacoma, WA. According to the

Lifestyle Market Analyst, there are around 637,000 households in the Seattle/Tacoma area with 36% being

campers; this means that 229,322 households are camping households. Also, according to the Bass Pro Shops

website, around 10 million people visit the Tacoma area yearly, so visitors could potentially see the

advertisement and be influenced to visit the Tacoma store, or even their store back home.

Although this store doesn’t have a lot of surrounding stores like Denver, this area has such a high

number of campers that it couldn’t be overlooked. And Bass Pro Shops is in the process of building a store

there, so this is going to appeal to the residents in the area to visit. Since the store is new, you’ll get the typical

“new store” visitors who are curious about what the new store looks like, what they have, etc. But the advantage

to this new Tacoma store is that this is the only BPS store for thousands of miles. So there is a chance that the

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residents of Tacoma have never visited a Bass Pro Shops store before, and are even more curious about what the

store is all about. Also, this new store is going to include an Uncle Buck’s Fishbowl and Grill bowling alley and

restaurant, adding to even more appeal for residents to visit. So my target audience(campers) hears from word-

of-mouth about this new BPS store coming to town that has a bowling alley and restaurant in it, they’re curious

about what it’s like since they’ve never visited one, then they see the advertisement that Bass Pro Shops has

camping gear; it’s a perfect TPC situation.

Another advantage to placing an advertisement here is that there are many campgrounds in the area.

According to Google Maps, there is a national park and two state parks in the Tacoma/Seattle area, so this is

another great TPC situation. Campers are near campgrounds and they learn that the new BPS store that’s

opening has camping gear.

Metro Area Priority No. 3: Atlanta, GA

Bass Pro Shops currently has a store in Atlanta, GA. They also have a store in Macon and are planning a

future store in Emerson, which are both an hour drive from Atlanta. According to the Lifestyle Market Analyst,

there are 460,449 households in the Atlanta area, with 50% of those households being campers. This means that

there are 96,694 households that are camping households in the Atlanta metro area. And since the Atlanta area

is so large, residents who live on the outskirts of the city could find it more appealing to drive to the Macon or

Emerson stores since they’re both less than an hour drive. Possibly people who live in Macon or Emerson are

commuting to Atlanta for work and hear/ see the advertisement, but visit the Macon and Emerson stores when

the get back to their own town. So since these three stores are in such close proximity, this is a very strong

advantage to placing an advertisement here.

Aside from having three stores in the area, Atlanta also has around nine campgrounds in the area.

Atlanta is a very urban area, but residents still have access to many campgrounds in this area. So, like I stated

above with Denver, when campers hear that BPS has camping gear and then they remember that they have

access to many campgrounds, they’ll be more influenced to visit the store.

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Another important reason I chose Atlanta is because of the extravagant store that is being built in

Emerson, GA. I mentioned above that Emerson is only an hour drive from Atlanta. Well, Emerson is currently

creating a giant Lake Point Sporting Community and Town Center. BPS founder, Johnny Morris stated that this

new development is going to be one of Georgia’s top attractions, and I agree. This new sporting community and

town center area is going to include one of the world’s largest amateur sports complexes. It will include 16

major league baseball fields, 14 soccer fields, 16 softball fields, a 20 acre walking park, 2 miracle league

baseball fields, and a 100,000 square foot gymnasium. Also there is going to be 5 million square feet of retail

stores, hotels, and restaurants being built in this town center. BPS is one of those retail stores. So this new

sporting community is going to be massive and draw in a huge amount of visitors. So placing an advertisement

in Atlanta around the time of this Emerson store/sporting community opening would be perfect because many

people are going to be visiting this new area and store and will remember the advertisement they saw about

BPS.

Bass Pro Shops Media Plan

Introduction

This is a media plan is prepared by Bree Skipper, who is the Senior Media Planner for Meers advertising

agency. This media plan pertains to the Bass Pro Shops ad campaign that will reach the campers as a target

audience. This ad campaign will run in the Denver, Atlanta, and Tacoma/Seattle metro areas between the

months of May and August. I have placed ads in 25 media vehicles throughout six media outlets; magazines,

newspapers, radio stations, television shows, websites, and Google searches. I placed the most emphasis on

Google searches, website banner ads, and magazine ads. The campaign cost is $1,435,106 with an average CPM

of $16.20 excluding Google and Internet ads, or $135.34 including Google and Internet ads. There are a total of

70,391 insertions in the campaign, which leads to the notion that the ad will be seen or heard by nearly 150

million people.

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Media Type Priorities

My first media type priority is Google keyword-based search ads. I have enough knowledge about

Google search to know that when most people want to know information, they just use Google. It is so much

more convenient than flipping through a paper or tv channels. Also, with Google there is the guarantee that you

are reaching your target audience because obviously if they’re searching for camping information then they are

interested in camping. You can also track click through rates from Google searches much easier, so it’s easy to

judge effectiveness of the ads.

Also, this media type aligns with my target audience’s demographic characteristic fairly well. My target

audience’s age is in the late 30’s to early 40’s. Most people who are in their thirties and forties may not know

every last detail about computers, but they most likely know how to use Google. Also, after seeing the HH

Income of my target, it is safe to say that almost every household will have a computer, whereas signing up for

a subscription to a daily newspaper could possibly be out of reach.

Although the CPM of Google ads is outrageously high, Google ads are effective. The CPM may look

high to the client, but Google ads just have so many more advantages over the other outlets, that the CPM isn’t

an issue.

My second media type priority is Internet banner ads. Like Google searches, placing ads on a particular

website is so much more advantageous than the other media outlets. You have the link right there for the target

audience to click and make an online purchase or see exactly what products you have. Whereas, with print

media and radio, they have to physically drive to the store to see what BPS has and to make a purchase. Print

ads have to stay in the target audience’s mind long enough that they get in their car and drive to the store. It’s so

easy to just click on an ad when a viewer sees it on a website. Also, websites align with the target audience a lot

better than print media, because they are so very targeted and specialized. Also, the CPM for internet ads are so

low that it’s a double win. You place the ads on a very specific website which aligns very well with your target

audience, and you also don’t have to pay much for it!

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My third media type priority is magazines. They are targeted to a certain target audience so you are

more guaranteed to reach your target audience than other media types. Also, magazines hang around on coffee

tables for a while, versus radio ads which are only heard once by the people in the car at the time. People who

get magazines may look through them a few times and then pass them on to other so you have a larger overall

audience. Also, if the target audience wants to look at the ad again to see the address or the phone number, it’s

easily accessible because it’s there in writing. There are just many more advantages to magazines because they

are a physical media vehicle that can be looked at multiple times or passed along. However, there is the

disadvantage of magazines, since the ones that I chose only come out bimonthly or annually, so I couldn’t place

as many ads here as I would have liked to.

Specific Media Choices

Magazine Choices

Magazines are my third media type priority, so I put a lot of focus on magazines. At first, I only placed

one ad in each magazine, then I re-evaluated my decisions and decided to place more than one ad in a

couple magazines. These magazines had a very good CPM and high overall audience, so I chose to place

more than one ad in these magazines to really put more emphasis on them, since they’re my second priority.

I chose four different magazines to run the BPS ad in. The first is Camping Life Magazine, which

includes information about camping, where to camp, what gear to buy for camping, activities that are

available at specific campsites, etc. This aligned perfectly with my target audience, so I focused the most on

this magazine. This was also one of the only magazines that focused on tent camping and not RV camping,

like many of the others listed, so this is another reason why I chose this magazine. Camping Life Magazine

is released bi-monthly, so I was only able to run the ad on two separate covers twice throughout my

campaign. But if I had the option to run more ads in this particular magazine, I would have. I chose to place

the ad on the fourth cover and the second cover, since these are the most seen pages aside from the first

cover. These were the most expensive spots to place the ad, but the price was still relatively cheap in

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comparison to other magazines I looked at. I also liked this magazine because it had a relatively high

circulation rate for being a magazine about camping, at 85,000.

The second magazine I chose to place an ad for Bass Pro Shops in was the KOA Directory. Knowing

from having a little bit of camping experience, I know that KOA is a huge name in the camping world. So, I

wasn’t surprised to find out that the circulation rate for this magazine was over 570,000. However, the high

circulation rate also comes with the high ad rates. So, I did what I could to place the ad in an ideal TPC

position while not breaking the bank. At first, I chose to place the ad on the inside of the magazine, but then

I re-evaluated myself again and decided that this magazine aligned to well with my target to pass over a

better placement. So, I chose to place the ad on the third cover and the fourth cover since these are more

seen than on the inside of the magazine. This magazine is an annual release, so I could only place these two

ads once during my campaign. The CPM for this magazine was rather low, which assured me that this was a

good decision.

The third magazine I placed an ad in was the AAA Campbook. This is an annual release that is a

guidebook for campers; giving information about campgrounds and maps of regions. This magazine had a

huge circulation rate but it also was very expensive. I only chose to place one ad in this magazine because of

the high price, but I placed it on the fourth cover because this is the prime spot. The CPM for this magazine

was very low, so I was satisfied with my decision. I considered placing another ad in this same edition of

this magazine, but I decided not to since the price was so high.

The oddball of the group was the final magazine I chose, called Outdoor Guide Magazine, which is a

bimonthly magazine that includes information about fishing, hunting, boating, and camping. Although this

doesn’t focus primarily on camping alone, it still focuses on many related outdoor activities that somewhat

aligns with my target audience. This magazine had a low circulation rate of only 10,000, but the prices were

also cheap at around $1,500 per ad. They only allowed ad placements in the inside of this magazine, so I

chose to place this twice in the inside over the course of my campaigns. This magazine has a very low

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circulation and ad price, so I asked myself if this magazine was even needed. But, based on the content it

covers, the psychographic and demographic elements of my target audience, and the fact that magazines are

a priority of mine, I chose to keep this ad decision.

Newspaper Choices

I began looking through the SRDS to choose which media vehicles my newspaper ads would run. In the

Atlanta metro area I chose The Atlanta Journal Constitution because it was the largest paper in the area

based on its circulation number of over 365,000 during the week. From there, I found the rates for black and

white ads. Newspapers are one of my lowest priority choices in this media plan, so I decided to only buy

black and white ads and not splurge for the color ads. The rate, per inch, for a black and white ad on Friday

is $556.11. I decided to run the BPS ad on Fridays, because there is a Home and Garden special feature that

runs that day that somewhat aligns with my target audience. The garden aspect of home and garden

incorporates the outdoors aspect that campers also enjoy. However, I understand this is a far stretch, so that

is why I only chose to run a six column inch ad only four times throughout my campaign. I estimated a pass-

along rate of 2, because this is a weekday paper that might not be seen much, however, it has a large

circulation rate. The CPM of this particular paper was $4.57 which was a reasonable amount considering

newspapers aren’t a high priority to me.

The second newspaper media vehicle I chose was The Denver Post for the Denver metro area. This is a

huge paper, or group of papers, that runs in the Denver area. It is made up of two different papers that sort

of run as one, so this also gave me some extra options when choosing days and specific papers I wanted the

BPS ad to run in. I chose Friday as one day for my ad to run because there is a special Weekend feature that

I assume would explain weekend events and activities that the reader can partake in. So this would possibly

work to my advantage since most camping is done on the weekend. The target would read the Friday paper

and possibly see some information about camping for the weekend, then see the BPS ad, and would be

urged to stock up on camping gear from BPS for the weekend. This is a perfect TPC moment. Also, the cost

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per column inch on Fridays are reasonable, at $379. The circulation rate on a Friday is over 256,000 with an

estimated pass along rate of 2, which is a decent total audience. I chose to run a slightly bigger ad, at 15

column inches, which led to a larger CPM, of $11.08. This is larger than the Atlanta rate but this running on

a Friday is a better TPC situation than the Atlanta paper.

Also in the Denver Post, I chose to run an ad on Saturday. On Saturday’s, this paper runs a special

feature called Rocky Mountain Adventure, which parallels with my target audience in the area. However,

running an ad in the Saturday paper was significantly high, at $730 per column inch. So I chose to only run

an 8 column inch ad three times overall, just because of the high cost. But although the price is higher on

Saturdays, so is the circulation rate, which doubles from Friday to Saturday. Based on the choices I made

with this particular media vehicle and day, it resulted in my lowest CPM of $3.80. I could have raised my

insertion rate or made my ad larger but I chose not to because as I mentioned above, newspapers aren’t my

top priority so I was trying to keep this overall budget low.

Lastly, I chose The News Tribune for the Tacoma area. They had a relatively small circulation rate, of

around 125,000, but they also had my most favorable special feature that ran. On Thursdays, the paper runs

an Outdoors/Recreation feature, which aligns perfect with my target audience. Also, since the Tacoma area

has a large percentage of its residence that camp, it’s likely that this feature would include camping

information. So I chose to run the largest ad in this paper, at 20 column inches, since their price is very low,

at around $140 per column inch. This led to the largest CPM of over $22, which made me second guess if

this was a good decision. But I really feel that this ad running in this area that has a high amount of campers

and running on a day that has an outdoors/recreation feature is a great TPC situation, so I decided to leave

all my newspaper choices as is.

Radio Choices

Placing ads in radio media vehicles was a battle. Everything was very expensive. I started off with tons

of insertions but had to cut back because I didn’t want to go over budget. I chose the classic rock format

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because the demographic of classic rock listeners fits along with campers’ demographics. I also have a

theory that people listen to classic rock after a long day at work or while they are hanging out in their garage

and this is most likely the time that they would be thinking about going camping. So following this TPC

situation, I also chose the PM daypart because this would be the most favorable time that listeners would be

buying things. In the morning, they are on their way to work and don’t have time to stop off at the local BPS

store. So on the commute home, they have some time to stop by the store. Atlanta ended up having the

highest rating and listeners in their market, so I chose to run the BPS ad in the Atlanta WSRV station the

most. However, it was very expensive, so I only chose to run it 99 times. This would run eleven weeks out

of the campaign, three days a week, and three times per day. I chose to run eleven weeks with a bursting

strategy style. I also chose only three days; Monday, Thursday, and Friday because I felt these days would

lead to the best TPC situation. I only chose three times per day, because in the PM daypart, there is about

three hours. So the ad would play once every hour.

I put my main focus on the Atlanta station because it had such a high rating and persons in the market,

so I gave the other three a little less focus. The other three stations, two in Denver and one in Tacoma I

chose to run the ad 54 times overall at two days a week, Monday and Friday. They will run ten weeks out of

the campaign with a bursting strategy style, and will run three times a day, at once an hour.

I chose two radio stations in Denver because both stations had a relatively high rating. However, the

persons number in the Denver market was rather low, but Denver is my top priority city so I chose two

media vehicles in this city.

TV Choices

I chose to give TV decent focus since it is more targeted with specific shows than newspapers are.

However, I didn’t give it that much focus because I feel TV shows about camping aren’t that popular. Since

camping is a passive activity, versus fishing, where you can physically watch the thrill of catching a fish, I

figured many people wouldn’t watch camping shows that often. I chose two different TV shows to run the

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Bass Pro Shops ad on. The first was Let’s Go Camping TV which I guessed would receive a rating of 1.2

because it’s a very targeted show and it plays on the Untamed Sports network, which isn’t a very popular

network.

The second was an even less popular show called Camping Talkementary, which I gave a rating of 1. I

chose to run the most insertions in Atlanta because it had the highest number of viewers between the three

cities. Overall, I reached the required amount of media vehicles but I didn’t put much more into media type

because I feel it has a lot of disadvantages. I believe that campers in my metro areas will be more likely to

Google search about camping or subscribe to a camping magazine to learn about camping than watching a

TV show.

Web Site Choices

Internet banner ads are my second priority choice so I placed ads on many websites. I placed ads on

eleven websites that all pertained to camping in some form. I chose some sites that had information about

camping and campgrounds, such as “gorp.com/campingguide”, “woodalls.com/camping”,

“tripadvisor.com/camping”, “lovetheoutdoors.com/camping/checklist”, and “active.com/camping”. I

decided to do this because I thought that my target audience might be looking for information about

camping or where to camp, and if they saw my ad while on this page, it would maybe remind them that they

need to buy new camping gear.

I also placed ads on websites that offered reviews about camping gear, such as

“gocampingamerica.com/essentialgear”, “outdoorgearlab.com/campingandhiking”,

“nationalgeographic.com/adventure/trips/hikingcampinggearguide”, “gearjunkie.com/reviews/camping”,

“backpacker.com/gear”, and “gearpatrol.com/camping”. This was a strong decision, because obviously if

my target audience is on a website about gear reviews then they are interested in buying something. So a

perfect TPC situation would occur, because then they would see the BPS ad and possibly click there since

they are looking for gear and BPS offers gear.

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The Tripadvisor and National Geographic websites had the most unique visitors so I placed the most

insertions on those sites, because it would lead to the most people seeing them. As the number of unique

visitors decreased throughout my website choices, I lowered my insertion number.

I feel confident in my Internet choices. All the websites were relative and had a decent number of unique

visitors. I ran the ads all four months, because it was relatively cheap and Internet banner ads are a high

priority of mine. I chose a large amount of websites since this media type is my second priority and the

CPM of website advertising is extremely low.

Google Keywords

Google keyword searches are my first priority, so I placed a lot of focus on this. I chose 25

different keyword searches to place search ads on. I reviewed the psychographic and demographic

characteristics of my target audience to decide on what specific keywords to use. My target audience

buys battery powered lights the most over other camping supplies, and they named tents and sleeping

bags the most essential camping gear. Bass Pro Shops offers a lot of Coleman brand gear, and the

majority of my target audience has children. So, I based my keywords around lighting, sleeping bags,

tents, Coleman, and kids. I also used the word, cheap, in some of my searches because the HH Income

of my target audience aligns with searching for cheap gear versus expensive gear.

I chose some general Google keywords because they had a large amount of monthly searches

and figured since they are searched a lot my ad would be seen a lot. Since “camping gear” is already a

pretty targeted search I wasn’t nervous about it being too broad to reach my target audience. I also chose

some other general keywords, like “camping supplies”, “camping equipment”, “best camping gear”,

“cheap camping gear”, “where to buy camping gear”, and “camping gear stores” because these all had

decent monthly searches and I felt they applied well to what my target audience would be searching for.

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I chose keywords that pertained to Coleman brand items since Bass Pro Shops offers a lot of this

brand’s products and Coleman is a notable camping name. I chose keywords like, “coleman sleeping

bags”, “coleman tents”, “coleman flashlights”, and “coleman lanterns”.

Since tents and sleeping bags are considered the most essential camping gear, I chose keywords

like, “camping sleeping bags”, “cheap sleeping bags”, and “camping tents”.

Since the majority of campers have children, I chose keywords that apply to camping gear for

families and kids. I chose keywords like, “camping gear for kids”, “kids camping gear”, “kids sleeping

bags”, “family tents”, and “best tents for families”.

Lighting is the most purchased camping item, so I chose keywords that applied to lighting, like

“lights for camping”, “camping lantern”, “camping lanterns”, and “camp lighting”.

The CPM of Google search ads is very high; ridiculously high. However, I stated above all the

advantages of Google search ads, so I didn’t make any changes to my choices. I ran the ads all four

months since Google keyword searches are my highest priority.

Media Plan Schedule

I planned my campaign between the months of May and August. Earlier, I stated a statistic that most

campers camp between June and August, so my campaign aligns perfectly with when campers camp the most. I

chose to begin the campaign in May because this is when the weather is getting warmer and kids are getting out

of school and parents are beginning to think about summer vacations and buying camping gear. So beginning

the campaign in May would lead to a good TPC situation. In my schedule excel sheet, you’ll see that I chose to

place a big chunk of the ads in the first two months. I chose to use this strategy because I feel that these two

months are when campers are starting to think about camping and what sort of gear they need to buy for their

summer camping activities. So these first two months would be the best TPC situation.

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Justification of Money Spent

This four month campaign will cost $1,435,106. There is an average CPM of $135.34 (including Google

and Internet CPM). There are a total of 70,391 insertions overall, which intends your ad will be seen by almost

150 million people. The money was dispersed between six media types, with the most money,$479,768, being

spent in radio, because there are high ad rates in radio. However, the CPM of radio was fairly low, at $8.32.

From there, the most money was spent in magazines at $355,040, which was the third media priority,

since it is a highly targeted media type. My first priority type, Google keyword searches, received the third

largest amount of money at $324,127. As I shared above, the advantages of Google search ads justify the money

spent and the high CPM. My second priority type, Internet banner ads received the next chunk of money at

$175,268, and had a very low CPM of only $0.02, so this media type is easily justified. The next amount of

money was spent in newspapers, at $76,117. The lowest amount of money,$24,786, was spent in television,

because I only chose two shows that were relevant to place ads in, and television was a low priority.

I have chosen the best media vehicles to reach the most relative audience among the target audience,

campers. I was money conscious for Bass Pro Shops, while not hindering any advantageous choices. Meers

advertising agency is satisfied with this media plan, with the money spent, the CPM, the media vehicles, and the

audience reached. Thank you for your business.

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Works Cited

"Bass Pro Shops: The Story." Bass Pro Shops. Bass Pro Shops, 2013. Web.

"Google Maps." Google Maps. N.p., n.d.

The Lifestyle Market Analyst, 2007: A Reference Guide for Consumer Market Analysis. Des Plains, IL: SRDS, 2007.

Print.

"Outdoor Enthusiast." Media: Connect with Active Consumers Who Enjoy Outdoor Activities like Camping and

Hiking. Active Network Inc., 2012. Web.

Outdoor Foundation. 2012 American Camper Report. Boulder, CO: Outdoor Foundation, 2012.

SRDS Media Solutions. SRDS Consumer Magazine Advertising Source.Standard Rate and Data Service.2009.Volume 87.

SRDS Media Solutions. SRDS Consumer Newspaper Advertising Source.Standard Rate and Data Service.2005.Volume

87.

SRDS Media Solutions. SRDS Consumer Radio Advertising Source.Standard Rate and Datat Service.2009.Volume 85.

SRDS Media Solutions. SRDS Consumer TV and Cable Advertising Sources.Standard Rate and Data

Service2007.Volume 89.

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