Dauphin Island Adventures

Dauphin Island Adventures
Dauphin Island Adventures is an amusement park located in South Carolina. The marketing department
is looking to create an advertising campaign for next spring and summer. The park has hired the
consulting firm, Braun Marketing Group (BMG), to assist in the planning process. Dauphin Island
Adventures has set their total advertising budget at $279,000 for print, radio and television mediums.
They are relying on BMG to recommend how to divide the budgeted dollars among the three advertising
outlets. Below is the BMG estimate of market effectiveness, for each medium. BMG gives estimates for
the exposure rating, potential to bring new customers and the cost per ad. Exposure ratings are used to
measure the value of the advertisement to both new and existing customers. It is a function of image,
message recall, and visual and audio appeal.
Advertising Media Exposure Rating per Ad New Customers per Ad Cost per Ad
Print 10 1,000 $ 1,000
Radio 25 2,000 $ 3,000
Television 90 4,000 $ 10,000
BMG informs Dauphin Island’s marketing team that the reach and exposure data only applies to the first
few ads in each type of advertising. Print media’s maximum exposure and new customer reach is only
effective on the first 20 ads. After 20 the ratings for exposure and new customer reach falls to 5 and
800, respectively. Radio advertisements’ maximum effectiveness is only for the first 15 airings. Their
exposure rating falls to 20 and new customer reach rating falls to 1,200 per ad. Television’s ratings also
drops to 55 for the exposure rating and 1,500 for the new customer reach rating after 10 ads.
The objective of the campaign, for Dauphin Island’s management, is to maximize total exposure across
all three forms of media. Due to the nature of the amusement park industry, a goal of reaching 100,000
new customers was set during a meeting with BMG. To achieve the goal for reaching new customers
and maximize exposure, the following guidelines were adopted:

1. Budget in dollars per medium

a. Print – at least $30,000

b. Television – at least $140,000

c. Radio – maximum of $99,000

2. Purchase no more than 20 television ads, and use at least twice as many radio ads as television
Assignment

As the operations manager of BMG, you have been tasked with writing the report that will be presented
to Dauphin Island Adventures’ marketing department. Your report should include discussions and
recommendations with respect to the following items:

1. Provide an advertising campaign recommendation to Dauphin Island Adventures. Recommend
the number of advertisements planned for each of the three mediums and specify the budget
required for each. Specify the expected number of potential new customers and total exposure
under this advertising plan.

2. If the advertising budget could be increased by an additional $10,000, what effect would it have
on total exposures, if any?

3. Dauphin’s management is having second thoughts about the objective of the advertising
campaign. If the objective were changed from maximizing exposure to maximizing the potential
new customers at the park, would that affect the planned advertising campaign? If so, what
would the new recommended campaign be: number of advertisements in each medium,
budget, exposures, customers, etc.?

4. If the campaign changes based on the new objective, compare the two campaigns and provide
Dauphin Island with your final recommendation about which campaign to use, subject to the
initial $279,000 budget limit. Be sure to provide the reasons for recommending this campaign.

Include any calculations and charts as appendices in your report. If applicable, refer to them to help the
Dauphin Island’s management understand your recommendation(s) and conclusion.