Tombstone Pizza is the number one branded frozen pizza in the country.  It is especially popular with teenage boys, and the brand wanted to launch an integrated marketing program that helped reinforce key brand messages with this core consumer.

The Tombstone Pizza Warped Road Trip program was a first for Kraft.  Successfully integrating all elements of the marketing mix from concept through execution to support the brand’s sponsorship of the 2000 Warped Tour set a new precedent for branded marketing at Kraft.

The Warped Tour is a summer festival featuring cutting-edge bands and pro in-line skating, BMX and skateboarding athletes.  The marketing program included public relations, TV advertising, Internet marketing and consumer promotions.

TARGET

The program was executed by BSMG/SLAM Youth Marketing, a division of BSMG specializing in reaching the youth market directly.  The target for this program was teen boys, and the PR program was designed to reach moms as well, both as an influencer and also to help her feel good about what her teen is doing.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES

  • Position Tombstone as THE pizza choice among teen boys
  • Create a cool connection with the Tombstone brand and teen boys
  • Encourage moms to purchase Tombstone for their teens
  • Execute a PR program that integrates with other elements of the marketing mix

PROGRAM ELEMENTS

“Tombstone Pizza Warped Road Trip Contest” – This PR-driven contest called for teens (15-19) to submit a video, artwork, poetry or essay illustrating why they should be chosen as Tombstone Pizza’s “Warped Warrior.”  The winner got to travel backstage with the Warped Tour for one week as the Tombstone cyber-correspondent, reporting on this once-in-a-lifetime experience for the just-launched tombstone.com Web site.  Contest entry information was featured on tombstone.com as well.

Press materials – Press materials went to traditional media to reach moms as well as non-traditional outlets, including alternative papers and high school papers, to reach the teen market.  The press release mailing was followed up by an aggressive media relations effort.

Radio DJ drops – In collaboration with the consumer promotion agency, BSMG/ SLAM coordinated DJ drops in six markets.  The CP agency had a representative on site at the Warped Tour stops.  BSMG/SLAM trained him to conduct DJ drops.  He took moto-cross athletes to the stations with him (Tombstone sponsored the moto-cross event at the Warped Tour) and sampled pizza with the DJs.

Radio promotions – Timed to coincide with advertising launch, radio promotions in six key markets helped support the program’s messages, including the contest and the launch of the Web site.  The creative for the promotions included Warped Tour and pizza-themed trivia questions. Stations were given a Tombstone Pizza prize pack, which included tickets to the local show and coupons for free Tombstone Pizza.

Grassroots effort – Another teen-specific tactic employed by BSMG/SLAM was a grassroots effort, blanketing key teen-boy hang-outs such as skateparks, record shops, skate shops and college campuses with flyers about the contest.  Flyers were posted at more than 150 locations nationwide.

Online effort – To help drive traffic to tombstone.com and to generate contest entries, BSMG/SLAM enlisted a targeted online media relations efforts.  Working from a strategically developed Web site list, BSMG/SLAM secured contest and tombstone.com mentions on teen Web sites, including cosmogirl.com and warpedtour.com, among others.

THE WINNER

Patrick Kelly, age 17, traveled with the Warped Tour and also worked with the consumer promotions agency representative to maximize his experience, which included participating in the DJ drops to talk about his experience on air.

RESULTS

Received entries from across the country, including videos, essays, poetry, audio tapes and artwork.

More than 400 Web site downloads of entry form.

Radio coverage included 332 mentions, reaching nearly 8 million predominantly teen listeners with a total air-time of more than 4 hours.

Print coverage generated more than 11.7 million impressions with coverage in high school newspapers and alternative press.

Goal was 14 million impressions and a CPM of $14.29.  Due to specific nature of target audience, the CPM is higher than in broad-reach programs.
Actual impressions were 20 million, more than 140 percent of goal with a CPM of $10.10.