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AZALEA SEAFOOD GUMBO SHOPPE

MEDIA PLAN
By: Alexandra M. Rathle
For: CA 321

Company Overview
zalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe has been in Mobile, Alabama for over 40 years. Jim
A
Hartman founded the business in Mobile, Alabama in 1971. In 1991 Mike Rathle and John
Addison bought the business and are the current owners of Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe.
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is currently just wholesale. The stores that carry their
products include big name grocery stores as well as local shops this list includes: Walmart,
Winn-Dixie, Rouses, Publix, Sams Club, Joe Pattis, Lad and Dads, Greers, and Ship & Shore.
Even though Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is just wholesale they are an established seafood
business in Mobile, Alabama and a lot of the people who have grown up in Mobile know their
name.
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is known for their 100 year old family Seafood Gumbo
recipe and although that is what they are known for they are constantly adding new products.
Right now they have nine different products: Seafood Gumbo, Shrimp Orleans, Crawfish
Orleans, Corn & Crab Soup, Shrimp & Crabmeat Bisque, Crawfish Etouffee, Shrimp Creole,
Shrimp & Crab Pie, and Shrimp Casserole. Their soups and bisques come frozen in a 30 oz
container so all customers have to do is heat it up and serve. The pie and casserole also come
frozen and it needs to be baked. This appeals to busy families who do not have time to cook
dinner or anyone looking for a great but easy meal.

container so all customers have to do is heat it up and serve. The pie and casserole also come
frozen and it needs to be baked. This appeals to busy families who do not have time to cook
dinner or anyone looking for a great but easy meal.
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is expanding slowly into other states but right now they
are currently in Alabama, Mississippi, East Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Arkansas, and the next
state they are working on is Texas. Their goals are to expand across the United States. The best
part about their products is that all their seafood comes from local fisherman in Mobile, Alabama
so their business supports our local fishermen and this is very important especially after the BP
oil spill. A lot of their customer base wants to support local businesses especially the local
fishermen.
Competitive Analysis
Seafood is big in the Southern Region along the Gulf Coast so its only expected Azalea
Seafood Gumbo Shoppe has plenty of competition. Their competition includes: Dr. Gumbo, Olde
South Gumbo Base, Richards Cajun Style, and Roussos.
First competitor on the list is Dr. Gumbo. They are located in Mandeville, Louisiana. Dr.
Gumbo is not as established as Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe; they have only been around
since 1987 whereas Azalea Seafood has been around since 1971. They are not in the same area
as Azalea Seafood but still a threat because people do know about them and could be a potential
threat if they ever did wholesale here in Mobile. Currently they only have a retail shoppe in
Mandeville, Louisiana and they have a site where customers can buy their products online.
Another positive for Azalea Seafood is Dr. Gumbo is far more expensive than their products and
Azalea Seafood has a lot more products. Azalea Seafoods Gumbo is $9.99 and Dr. Gumbos
Gumbo is $12. It is even more expensive to buy online if the customer does not live in
Mandeville.
Olde South Gumbo Base is located in Fairhope, Alabama. They were founded in 2005 so
a very new company. Olde South Gumbo only has one product and it is just the base, customers
have to add everything in the gumbo. Olde South Gumbo actually copied Azalea Seafood
Gumbo Shoppes packaging. They do not offer much information on their website and do not
reply to customers on their facebook page. Their gumbo base is priced at $6.99 for just a base.
Richards Cajun style is a little different because they offer a variety of products. They
are located in Louisiana but they are in a lot of grocery stores. They offer single serving
containers for four dollars and Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe only offers the larger size
containers to feed four people. They also have an online shop. One advantage that Azalea
Seafood Gumbo does have is that the seafood they put in their products is from the Gulf of
Mexico caught by local fishermen so customers know they are getting great seafood freshly
caught and not from another country. They do not state where their seafood comes from. Azalea
Seafood Gumbo is a trusted brand and established.
Jamie Roussos Foods is a very new company as well established just a couple of years
ago they are not in big name stores such as walmart, winn-dixie, publix, or Rouses. They are just
in small local shops. They have a lot of pastas rather than soups and bisques like Azalea Seafood.
They are also not established like Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe.
In conclusion half of the competition is doing some advertising. Both Jamie Roussos and
Richards Cajun Style had articles in a couple of local magazines and some online advertising.
Jamie Roussos also puts flyers up in the store windows so customers can see his products are
there. Olde South Gumbo and Dr. Gumbo do not do much advertising at all. Dr. Gumbo has a
Facebook page that they update regularly but Olde South Gumbo Base has a facebook page but
has not used it since 2014. Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe does do some advertising/promotions
through Fox 10 Studio 10 In the Kitchen, WKRG News, sampling in stores, and Facebook.
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe has one more advantage and that is establishment in Mobile
County, 40 plus years and they are trusted in Mobile.
Market Situation
The market situation for Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is established and stable. They
have a steady income and steadily coming out with new products. Although they are a stable
business they have a lot of potential for tremendous growth if they would implement a media
plan.
Currently they have no media plan, or set advertising they do. They could benefit from a
media plan because they need brand awareness. They are an established business but Mobile is
growing in population and also they want to expand across the United States; in order to expand
they need brand awareness. One way to increase brand awareness is to start advertising

growing in population and also they want to expand across the United States; in order to expand
they need brand awareness. One way to increase brand awareness is to start advertising
consistently.
One obstacle they have to overcome with potential consumers is getting someone to try
their product. A lot of people have a stigma about frozen food products and for good reason. A
lot of frozen foods do not taste good but Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes products are made by
hand not a machine, the seafood is local seafood from the Gulf of Mexico, and they put no
preservatives in their products. Once customers try the products they always say it tastes like it
was never frozen. The only obstacle is getting new consumers to try Azalea Seafoods products
and conveying that message through advertisements.
Objectives and Goals
Marketing Objectives
The main marketing objective for Azalea Seafood Gumbo is to increase brand awareness.
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes loyal customers that always buy their Gumbo still do not know
about their newer products they recently have come out with and this is a problem. Azalea
Seafood Gumbo Shoppe is missing out on sales because current and potential customers are
unaware of their new products and potential customers are unaware of the brand. Azalea Seafood
Gumbo Shoppe also wants to heavily promote their catering business that very few people know
about because it only gets around by word of mouth and no advertising is done. In order to
accomplish these objectives listed Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe has set aside $20,000 for the
year 2016 to spend on advertising. They are hoping to increase their sales by 20%, estimating to
be around $220,000 increase in the year 2016.
Advertising Objectives
The customers they will be heavily advertising to will be families in Mobile and Baldwin
County. Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe does have a very broad target audience but focusing on
families that need a quick, easy but really delicious meal to serve up to five people is the main
focus. The ads will create brand awareness in Mobile and Baldwin County. The other focus is to
center the ads on making sure customers know about the quality of their products. This is very
important to Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe because there is a stigma around premade frozen
meals. The ads will focus on letting the customer know the seafood is caught by local fishermen,
no preservatives, all products are made by hand locally, and that their products are high quality.
Fall and winter is their biggest time of the year for sales so the advertising will begin in the fall
and will continue through winter months.
Media Objectives
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe media objective is to raise awareness of their products to
families in Mobile and Baldwin County. Specifically Azalea Seafood wants to focus on women
between the ages of 35-54 who are homemakers. They would like to reach 80 percent of women
in the target market through media at a frequency of 3. Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe was able
to specify their media objective because of research done in actually grocery stores on who
actually buys their products. Research shows through grocery store promotions and social media
that the media objective should be geared towards women between the ages of 35-54. The reach
will cover the areas of Mobile and Baldwin County.
Media Strategies
Targets
Markets
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes products are in several states but they want to focus
more locally since mobile has grown a lot and there is still a lot of progress that should be made
here before expanding anymore. So the market area will cover Mobile County and Baldwin
County. After advertising here for the first year they will expand to their other state markets.
Group
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe does in store promotions every year several times a year
and they have found their target group is mostly women specifically homemakers between the
ages of 35-54. This research can also be confirmed through social media insights and
demographic information.
Target Audience
The women that usually buy Azalea Seafoods products are homemakers between the
ages of 35-54 who have a family income of about $45,000-$60,000 a year. Most of these women
may just want a few nights where they do not have a to prepare a whole meal for a family and
they wants a break from cooking every night. With Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes products

ages of 35-54 who have a family income of about $45,000-$60,000 a year. Most of these women
may just want a few nights where they do not have a to prepare a whole meal for a family and
they wants a break from cooking every night. With Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes products
they can give their family an awesome meal without the hassle of cooking and its low in price.
Media Tactics
The media outlets chosen for Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe include: TV, Print, and
Digital Ads. On TV Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe can run 30 second commercials explaining
their products and what makes them the best seafood products. In print they will be able to
advertise with pictures of their products and provide coupons to use at grocery stores. The digital
ads will give them something extra for people who dont pick up a magazine but instead browse
online. That way Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe can reach consumers at every angle.
Media Vehicles
Channel 15 News and Fox 10 News are the biggest out of the budget. Azalea Seafood
Gumbo Shoppe needs a commercial to get across their message of quality and simplicity of their
seafood products, doing that through a commercial is a great way. Both of these stations have a
high amount of women, with a middle class income and this is great because this is Azalea
Seafoods target market. Fox 10 has an audience of 46% women, 56% $25-75K income, and
49% have college degrees and that is aligned perfectly with their target market. Mobile Bay
Monthly and Lagniappe will both be used for their print ads. This will be great to display great
pictures of their seafood products and a great way to offer coupons for their products. Mobile
Bay Monthly was chosen mainly because 68% of their readers are women and that is great for
Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe. Lagniappe was chosen because of its popularity in Mobile and
availability. The last Media Vehicle chosen was digital through Mobile Bay monthly through
website and e-newsletter ads. Digital ads will catch all the readers that missed the print or tv ad.
Media Units and Schedule
Channel 15 will run a commercial during the time of 11am-12pm three days a week:
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 6 Months. The other two days of the week (Tuesday and
Thursday) will be on Fox 10 from 9am-10am during Studio 10 for 6 months. Mobile Bay
Monthly will run a half page color ad in their monthly issue for 6 months. Lagniappe will run a
quarter page in black and white every other week for 6 months. Lastly, Mobile Bay Monthly will
have 2 e-newsletter ads for once a month, 2 months in a row. Mobile Bay Monthly will also run a
website ad for 6 months straight.
Media Budget
The Budget for Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppes Media Plan was $20,000. The
budget was a great amount and there was plenty to do enough for a 6-month heavy flight of
promoting. The idea was to promote heavily during busy season: Fall and winter months. The
flight months are September-February for this Media Plan. Channel 15 rates $70.00 a spot at
11am-12pm during the Kelly and Michael Show, and this is prime time for homemakers. This
time and channel is used 3 days a week, once a day for a 24 week flight using $5,040 of the
$20,000 budget. The second media outlet being used is Channel 10 during Studio 10 at 9am10am with a rate of $80.00 per spot. This time will be used twice a week for a 24 week flight
using $3,840 of the budget. Leading into print, Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe will be using
Mobile Bay Monthly for a 6 Month flight. They will get a half page color spot and that uses
$7,056 of the budget. The next print outlet used is Lagniappe for a 12 week flight (every other
week for 6 months) and they will get a quarter page ad in black and white. Lagniappe uses
$3,396 of the budget. To reach online readers Azalea Seafood Gumbo Shoppe will do a 6 month
flight website ad with Mobile Bay Monthly and 2 E-Newsletters for $600. This brings the total
cost to $19,932, $68 leftover.

Works Cited
Azaelagumboshoppe. (n.d.). Retrieved April 10, 2016, from http://www.azaleaseafoodgumboshoppe.com/
Dr Gumbo. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2016, from http://www.drgumbo.com/

Dr Gumbo. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2016, from http://www.drgumbo.com/

Home. (n.d.). Retrieved April 18, 2016, from http://oldesouthgumbo.homestead.com/
"Richard's." Richard's. Accessed April 18, 2016. http://www.richardscajunfoods.com/.
Hyland, J. (2016). 2016 Digital Media Kit [PDF]. Mobile: Mobile Bay Monthly.
Mane, S. (2016). TV & Digital Advertising Opportunities [PPT]. Mobile: Meredith Broadcast Solutions.
New Lagniappe Weekly Reader Demographics [PDF]. (2016). Mobile: Lagniappe.
Hyland, J. (2016). Our Brand Mobile Bay [PDF]. Mobile: Mobile Bay Monthly.
WALA-TV 2q 2016 Rate Guide [PDF]. (2016, March 22). Mobile: FOX 10 News.
WPMI Mobile Alabama Rate Grid as of 2-12-16 [Excel]. (2016, February 12). Mobile: WPMI.