MKTG472 VCA Final Essay

Angel Animal Hospital
Integrated Marketing Communications Plan
June-December 2016
San Diego State University
MKTG 472, Section 1, Professor Peter
Briana Albertson
Hillary Mortellaro
Arianna Rybkowski
Paige Nulliner
April 27, 2016

VCA ANGEL ANIMAL HOSPITAL IMC PLAN 1
Table of Contents
Executive Summary……………………………………............................……………………….4
Industry Background……………....………………………………………………...................…6
Company Background……………....………………………………………............................….8
Marketing Mix…………….………………………………………………...........................…….9
Service….………..………………………………………...........................……………....9
Price……………………………………………………………………………………...10
Place………………………………..…………………………….........................………12
Promotion…………………………...………………………........................……………12
Service Review and Buyer Analysis……………………………………………………………..14
Market Share Sales and Growth…………………………………………………………14
SWOT Analysis……………………...…………….............…………………………….14
Brand Benefits and Image……………………………………................…………...…...18
Current Target Market………………...…………………………………………….…...………19
Current Clients………………………………….……………………..........…….……...19
Prospective Clients……………………………….…………………..............……..……20
Unique Selling Proposition……………………….…………………………...................………20
Competitive Review…………………………….……………………………..................………21
Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning…………....…………………………….……….......……25
Urban Achievers…………………………………………………………………………25
Urban Elders……………………………………………………………………………..27
American Dreams………………………………………………………………………..28
Overall IMC Objective…………………………………………………………………………..30

Communication Objectives………………………………………………………………………30
Creative Strategy………………………………………………...........…….……………………33
IMC Mix……………………………………………………....…………………………………35
Website…………………………………………………………………………………..35
Yelp……………………………………….....................………………….……………..38
Facebook……………………………………............................…………..……………..40
Instagram…………………………………………………………………………………43
Mobile Marketing……..……………………………………………………..…………..45
Newspaper…………………………...……………….............……….……….………....46
Direct Mail & Flyers………………….…………………………........……….…………46
Referral Program………………………………………………………………………....47
Events……………………………...………………...............…………….……………..48
IMC Timeline…………………………………………………………………………………….49
Budget Allocation……………………………………............................……….……………….51
Evaluation Program……………………....….…………...........................…………….………..56
Conclusion…………………………….………...........................……………………………….59
Appendix……………………………….……...........................…………………………….…...61
References…………………….………………........................……………………………….....68

Table of Figures
Figure 1: Number of American Pets, 2006-2020……………………..…………………………..6
Figure 2: Bodhi Veterinary Clinic…………………………………………...………………….21
Figure 3: B-Street Veterinary Hospital………………………………………….………………22
Figure 4: Kensington Veterinary Clinic…………………………………………………………23
Figure 5: Brad and dog, Hercules…………………………….…………………………………25
Figure 6: Judy and cat, Clawdia…………………………………………………………………27
Figure 7: The Fernandez Family and dog, Kibbles……………………………………..………28
Figure 8: DAGMAR Model……………………………………………………………..………31
Figure 9: VCA Websites………………………………………………………………...………36
Figure 10: Blog Examples………………………………………………………………………37
Figure 11: Yelp Sign and Sticker………………………………………………………..………39
Figure 12: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Facebook Advertisement………………...……41
Figure 13: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Facebook Post………………………...………42
Figure 14: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Instagram Account……………………....……44
Figure 15: EZ Texting Appointment Reminder…………………………………………………45
Figure 16: Example Flyers………………………………………………………………………47
Figure 17: Incentive Reward Card………………………………………………………………48
Figure 18: Scheduling Plan for June to December 2016……………..…………………………49
Figure 19: Scheduling Methods…………………………………………………………………50
Figure 20: 2016 Budget Breakdown……………………………………….……………………51
Figure 21: 2016 Budget Allocation…………………………………………..…………………52
Figure 22: Budget Allocation according to Objectives…………………………………………53

Executive Summary
As consultants for VCA Angel Animal Hospital (AAH), the following report will
describe a recommended Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Plan for June 2016
through December 2016. This plan will explore possible marketing opportunities for AAH to
utilize through the use of several communication campaigns: digital, traditional, and
promotional.
Beginning with a situation analysis, AAH is described through its current competitive
standpoint. An industry and company analysis is conducted with secondary research on VCA
corporate, AAH, and the veterinary industry. The marketing mix describes AAH’s current
services, prices, place, and promotions, and the service review and buyer analysis will go further
in depth on the involvement consumers have on AAH’s services. A SWOT analysis is included
that explores current strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for AAH, as well as a
competitive analysis. Furthermore, traits of current clients and prospective clients are described
in order to then form audience segmentation for the IMC Plan: Urban Achievers, Urban Elders,
and American Dreams.
After exploring the current state of AAH, marketing strategies are formed. The overall
IMC Objective is:
To maintain an active relationship with current clients and foster new relationships with
surrounding North Park pet owners to increase awareness of and desire for VCA Angel
Animal Hospital’s homelike atmosphere and medical capabilities.
Also, specific communication objectives in order to set a foundation for this plan are the
following:

Increase awareness of VCA Angel Animal Hospital among North Park pet-owners by 60
percent by the end of 2016, establish comprehension in North Park pet-owners of VCA
Angel Animal Hospital services by 40 percent by the end of 2016, increase desire to
pursue trial within North Park pet-owners by 30 percent by the end of 2016, and increase
clients of North Park pet-owners by 25 percent by the end of 2016.
Next, each objective will be supported by specific IMC tools we recommend for
implementing the plan, which will be broken into digital, traditional, and promotional
campaigns. The tools that this report will include are: the VCA Angel Animal Hospital website,
blogging, Yelp, Facebook, Instagram, mobile marketing, newspaper advertising, direct mail and
flyers, a referral program, and event promotions. Each tool will be specifically described in how
it will benefit the overall plan as well fit within a $1400 monthly budget. A timeline in order to
outline these tools as well as an evaluation program of these outlets will be included to conclude
the report.

Industry Background
VCA Angel Animal Hospital is a part of the veterinary care industry, a $36.4 billion
industry in the United States. Currently, this industry is witnessing a significant growth cycle,
with an anticipated growth rate of 6.5 percent from 2016 until 2021 (Turk, 2016). More
specifically, veterinary care is in the quality growth stage, signifying that there is an increase in
higher quality veterinary clinics offering more specialized services instead of the increase in
quantity. During the quality growth stage, weaker companies shut down and thriving businesses
develop new technologies and services (Turk, 2016). A contributing factor to this growth rate
could be the steady, positive trend in the number of pets owned in the United States, namely cats
and dogs, since 2010 (Turk, 2016). With an increase in pets, there is a need for more veterinary
clinics. This expected growth rate is demonstrated in Figure 1, below (Turk, 2016). In areas that
may previously have had only enough pets to occupy one or two local veterinarians, may now
have enough pets to occupy four veterinary clinics.
Figure 1: Number of American Pets, 2006-2020
The amount of disposable income per capita and the unemployment rate are key external
factors driving the veterinary industry. “Changes in household disposable income affect demand

and consumers' willingness to pay for industry services, particularly high-cost, value-added
services or surgical procedures” (Turk, 2016). Due to the expected rise in disposable income, it is
predicted that the growth of this industry will only continue throughout 2016. In addition, when
there is an increase in the unemployment rate “pet owners may curb their visits to the
veterinarian for routine care and limit their purchases of the industry's ancillary products, such as
vitamins and pet treats” (Turk, 2016). With the healing of the U.S. economy, the unemployment
rate will continue to decrease and, therefore, aid in the growth of this industry. As the industry
has continued to grow, veterinarians have adapted to this new market by “specializing in a
particular field of medicine, such as internal medicine or surgery” (Turk, 2016). Since
veterinarians are now able to charge more for these specialized services, industry revenues have
increased over the last five years and are expected to continue to grow. For more visuals on this
industry data, refer to Appendix C.

Company Background
VCA Angel Animal Hospital was founded in 1981 as a single doctor practice in the
central San Diego neighborhood of North Park. The same veterinarian, Dr. Diane Defenbaugh,
served clients of AAH until she passed away unexpectedly in August of 2016. In the fall of 2016,
Dr. Geoffrey Ball took over the practice and is currently the only veterinarian serving AAH. The
entire staff consists of six people, which creates an intimate, family-like feel at the clinic (VCA
Angel, 2016). All clients receive personal, one-on-one care from the same doctor, which is rare
at larger veterinary clinics. In 2000, the company was bought out by Veterinary Centers of
America (VCA) (Ball, 2016). “VCA is a is a leading provider of pet health care services in the
country delivered through our family of over 680 small animal veterinary hospitals (VCA
Animal Hospitals) in the US and Canada” (VCA About, 2016). VCA clinics make up 5.9 percent
of the veterinary care industry, which is double the market share of the next largest company in
the industry (Turk, 2016). Since VCA is the largest network of veterinary clinics in the United
States, it provides many benefits to AAH and clients. VCA corporate aims to “remove the
burden of day to day management” from small veterinary clinics (Kilkelly, 2014). VCA’s
marketing and IT departments are a few examples of the corporate support received by VCA
Angel Animal Hospital. Fortunately, VCA Angel Animal Hospital is able to rely on the
corporate support of VCA while maintaining a family feel.

Marketing Mix
Service
VCA Angel Animal Hospital is an exceptional veterinary hospital that provides
professional care to animals in need. Offering care for dogs and cats of all ages, AAH can be a
provider throughout a pet’s life to ensure they are happy and healthy. With Dr. Ball’s extensive
veterinary background, he presents new opportunities for clients through advanced medical care,
specifically in dentistry and soft-tissue surgery. Having worked with veterinary practices for 25
years, 10 years as a veterinarian, and 2 years studying and teaching in a university setting, his
expertise is commendable, appealing to a wide variety of audiences (Ball, 2016).
For primary medical services, AAH offers general health exams and surgeries, blood
work, x-ray services, dental care, ear examinations, allergy and skin relief, spay and neutering,
and euthanasia services. Advanced care includes diagnostic imaging, soft tissue surgery, ocular
services, and ultrasounds. In addition to these services, AAH also offers nutritional counseling,
preventive care such as immunizations and vaccinations, and nail trimmings.
In addition to these animal services, AAH also offers other amenities for clients. Since
AAH employs a close-knit, single-doctor staff, clients are able to have a one-on-one experience
with the doctor providing care to their animals. A common complaint from outside sources,
according to AAH, is that many clients wish they had a closer experience with their veterinarian.
Since Dr. Ball is present six days per week, pet owners see the same veterinarian every visit.
This allows Dr. Ball to in-turn form relationships with pets and their owners alike. The friendly
atmosphere of the clinic is welcoming and creates an environment where both pet-owners and
pets feel welcomed and safe. AAH also offers home-delivery for medications to increase
convenience for clients. Dr. Ball’s expertise, combined with VCA’s corporate knowledge and

support, creates an easy-going, friendly, knowledgeable, and professional environment for clients
to experience. The services this hospital offers are vast, and many pets can be taken care of at
this facility.
Price
As mentioned previously, as a part of their exceptional customer service, VCA Angel
Animal Hospital offers various care packages to give clients a variety of pricing options. Below
is a list of the following offers available (Ball, 2016):
1. Senior Best Care Package: a comprehensive health evaluation for senior pets (ages 7 and
above) performed at the annual visit for an affordable price (lower than services priced
out individually). It includes senior blood work, urine test, five-view radiographs, blood
pressure check, parasite check and a heartworm test.
2. Adult Best Care Package: a general health screen targeted at preventive care for pets at
the annual visit for an affordable price (lower than services priced out individually). It
includes services recommended yearly plus a minor blood panel, urine test, fecal test, and
heartworm test.
3. Care Club: A monthly payment plan for routine healthcare that includes the following
services every calendar year. Options include:
a. Junior Paws Plan (dogs and cats; pets up to 11 months old): up to five exams per
year, all vaccines, two fecal parasite exams, three deworming treatments, a
microchip and registration, and viral tests for cats.
i. Junior Paws Plus includes the Junior Paws Plan plus pre-surgical blood
work, microchip and registration, and a spay or neuter.

b. Adult Paws Plan (dogs and cats; pets seven months to six years old): up to five
exams per year, all vaccines, a minor blood panel, urine test, heartworm test and
fecal test.
i. The Adult Paws Plus includes all of the above plus a full dental cleaning.
c. Senior Paws Plan (dogs and cats seven years and older): up to five exams, full
blood work and urine tests, five-view x-rays, blood pressure, heart worm and
fecal parasite check.
i. The Senior Paws Plus Plan offers all of the above plus a full dental
cleaning automatically refilled and delivered by mail monthly.
4. Home Delivery: home delivery allows clients to sign up to have their medications
delivered to their home
5. First free visit for new clients’ pets: up to two animals per household receive their first
exam free
6. A free dose of flea and heartworm and intestinal parasite control for all puppies and
kittens
7. Paradyne (private label Revolution) promotional pricing: flea, tick and heartworm
preventative medication - Buy 6, get 2 free or buy 12 and get 25 percent off.
The variety of packages provided offers options for an array of client needs, making
experiences at AAH easy and valuable. With that being said, from the primary research
conducted during this project, it was discovered that one of the main complaints from prospects
when asked about VCA Angel Animal Hospital was that it was too expensive (Albertson,

Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). This can be considered a weakness for this company since it is looked
down upon by many outside sources.
Place
Along with high-quality services, part of VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s unique selling
proposition is that they are located in the heart of North Park, a neighborhood in the San Diego
area. Located on 30th
street, the second-busiest street in North Park, the hospital has a prime
placement to attract fellow residents and new customers. North Park’s population consists of
approximately 34,516 people in 2.98 square miles, making it 11,566 people per square mile (City
Data, 2016). Compared to the city of San Diego, which has approximately 4,180 people per
square mile, North Park has a high population density, creating more opportunities for AAH. The
average North Park resident has a median age of 34.7 years old, a median income of $55,887,
and an average household size of 2.1 people (City Data, 2016).
In addition to their position in the North Park area, AAH’s establishment stands out as it
is located in an old house. The literal home-like atmosphere makes the veterinary clinic very
original and helps support the friendly environment their staff provides.
Promotion
A significant amount of AAH’s promotional efforts are carried by VCA corporate. The
company provides the majority of marketing materials for AAH including program pamphlets,
flyers, promotional items, a quarterly magazine, email newsletters, and an Angel Animal
Hospital webpage. These materials greatly help the small clinic due to a narrow, $1400 per
month marketing budget. However, VCA corporate messaging is not personalized to AAH’s

specific clinic since most of their materials have VCA corporate’s influence on them. While
VCA corporate has control over AAH’s marketing efforts, they are very open to new marketing
tactics and suggestions (Ball, 2016).
VCA Angel Animal Hospital has begun individual marketing efforts through Facebook,
Yelp, direct mail, and a partnership with the San Diego Humane Society. The AAH Facebook
page currently has 78 likes and 10 reviews with 4.4 out of 5 stars as of April 2016 (Facebook,
2016). Currently, AAH post’s average approximately 5 times a month with slim engagements of
likes, comments, and shares. Much of the content used is provided by VCA corporate. On the
AAH Yelp page, there are 62 reviews with a 3.5 out of 5-star rating, as of April 2016 (Yelp,
2016). There are currently 14 images on the page (as of April 2016), and AAH has begun
responding to reviews to help with engagement.
While a lot of the direct mail that is sent to customers is comprised of corporate VCA
materials, AAH occasionally sends out their own. For example, when Dr. Defenbaugh passed
away in 2015, a letter was sent out to clients informing them of the loss.
Finally, VCA Angel Animal Hospital has a partnership with the San Diego Humane
Society that offers newly-adopted pets a free visit (Ball, 2016). This not only helps AAH gain
new clients, but allows them to foster mutually beneficial relationships with other industry-
related organizations.
Given all of these promotional efforts, AAH claims their biggest success is with word-of-
mouth referrals (Ball, 2016). Since many clients have visited the clinic for years, they tend to
refer the hospital to friends and family, creating a large sum of their customer base.

Service Review and Buyer Analysis
Market Share, Sales, and Growth
As aforementioned, the veterinary services industry is extremely large and growing. In
the past five years, the industry has greatly benefited from a growing number of pets that has
provided a larger consumer base for the industry at large (Turk, 2016). Veterinary service profits
are also expected to rise from 11.1 percent of revenue in 2016 to 12.4 percent of revenue by
2021, “due to more veterinarians offering high-margin, specialized services” (Turk, 2016). The
veterinary services industry is highly fragmented and the four largest players in the industry
account for less than 13 percent of entire industry revenue- VCA being at the top of the chain
(Turk, 2016).
As the number of cats and dogs rises, the demand for veterinary services increases (Turk,
2016). According to the American Pet Product Association's National Pet Owners Survey, 65
percent of US households own a pet (Turk, 2016). Only three percent of dog owners and one
percent of cat owners have pet health insurance, sometimes making the extra cost of these
services not a top priority (Turk, 2016). With the vastly growing veterinary industry, many
opportunities are available for smaller clinics, such as AAH.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats
Strengths
The major strength of VCA Angel Animal Hospital is the family-like atmosphere
provided by the clinic. With a small, close-knit staff, AAH is able to provide individualized
attention to clients and their pets. This atmosphere is welcoming that allows pet-owners to trust
their animal is in great hands.

AAH also offers many advanced surgical procedures including, but not limited to
ultrasound, x-ray, and advanced surgeries. This allows the clinic to not need to outsource work
and can keep most everything in-house. This takes stress off clients knowing that most
everything their pet would need is under one roof. Additionally, VCA has a wide network of
clinics, ten in the San Diego area alone, that can be used for support if needed.
VCA Angel Animal Hospital is located in a prime area. Located on near one of the
busiest streets on a booming mecca of North Park San Diego, AAH has much opportunity to gain
and retain new clients. The area of North Park is only growing with the influx of young business
professionals, so there will only be more opportunity to attract this segment in the coming years.
AAH’s medication delivery services makes the process of dealing with a sick animal, less
stressful for clients and their pets, especially in regards to the hectic lifestyle many clients in
target market segments live.
Weaknesses
The few weaknesses VCA Angel Animal Hospital faces is the fact that they are able to
book fewer appointment per day than other animal hospitals in the area, communication can be a
challenge with a somewhat older client base, and the fact that before Dr. Ball took over the
practice, animals were referred elsewhere for advanced procedures.
With Dr. Ball as the primary veterinarian, he is only able to book approximately 15
appointments per day. As the family environment is a plus for the practice, it can often be a
downside for this reason. Other clinics in the North Park area, such as Bodhi, are larger and have
more veterinarians at the practice that are able to serve more clients throughout a day.

With a primary current client base aged 40 to 65, communication can often prove
difficult (Ball, 2016). Many of these clients are not technologically savvy and using social efforts
to target them does not work for many since they are not current users of social networks.
According to a study by Pew Research Center in 2014, only 65 percent of those ages 50 to 64
were using social networks as compared to 89 percent of those ages 18 to 29 (Pew Research
Center, 2014).
Before Dr. Ball took over the practice, many patients were referred elsewhere for
advanced procedures. Many of these clients were lost to other clinics for this reason. However,
Dr. Ball is able to perform many of these procedures. The goal will be to let current and
prospective clients know that these services can now be performed in-house and are no longer
outsourced.
Opportunities
The main opportunities for VCA Angel Animal Hospital include targeting North Park pet
owners who are in their early twenties to mid fifties, while maintaining loyalty with current
clients. North Park is a very pet friendly community and it is not uncommon to see dogs on every
street while walking or driving through the area. With so many dogs in the area, there is huge
potential for client base expansion. Finding the right way to target these individuals and have
them become aware of AAH’s services and staff is the main goal of the practice.
The average resident of North Park is 34.7 years old (City Data, 2016). As major users of
social technologies, targeting this somewhat younger group through social efforts is a great
opportunity for the practice. Through social efforts, potential clients can learn about AAH’s
service offerings which will in turn help grow the client base.

VCA Angel Animal Hospital a great base to build from by retaining a large portion of
their client base following the Dr. Defenbaugh’s passing. Many of these loyal clients refer
friends and family members to the clinic. This fact complements our primary research conducted
at local dog parks, as we found word of mouth referral is a huge indicator for trial (Albertson,
Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). There are great opportunities moving forward for the practice having
retained these clients and their dedication to the practice.
Threats
The major threat to VCA Angel Animal Hospital is the immense competition in the North
Park area. With seven other animal hospitals in the area, finding a niche within the market can
often be difficult. The nearest competition is 0.8 miles away from the AAH clinic (Google Maps,
2016). Many of these local clinics offer many of the same services as AAH, like x-ray services,
vaccinations, and surgical procedures. Often, they also often have less expensive prices for
services than AAH and a larger network of veterinarians which can often guarantee a quicker
appointment.
With the influx of evolving technologies and a variety of ways to self-diagnose pet
symptoms online, many individuals may diagnose their pet themselves. Sites such as WebMD
have pet sections where users can search symptoms their pet is experiencing and help find
answers to the cause. Additionally, pet owners are able to purchase medications and veterinary
supplies at sites like 1800petmeds.com to attempt treating problems at home. Unfortunately, this
is not the best option and seeing a veterinarian is best, however, this availability of supplies and
medications lessens the need for routine veterinary appointments for some individuals.

As mentioned previously, during economic downturns, individuals often limit routine
appointments to veterinary clinics. This turn in the economy can limit business.
Brand Benefits and Image
The major benefit in clients choosing VCA Animal Hospital for their veterinary needs is
the personalized care they and their pet receive and the corporate network of VCA itself. AAH’s
single doctor practice provides animals and their owners with an intimate veterinary experience
within a small practice under a large corporate network.
With a strong brand image, VCA’s corporate network is a major benefit to clients and the
clinic itself. The name alone sets a standard for the practice! However, of the 39 respondents in
our prospective client survey, we discovered that 17 individuals surveyed had never heard of
VCA Angel Animal Hospital (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). While being a smaller
practice than many other veterinary hospitals in the North Park San Diego area, consumers often
recognize the brand name, but not the clinic itself. Fostering the VCA corporate brand, while
also promoting the intimate environment within the clinic will propel AAH success into the
future.

Current Target Market
Since VCA Angel Animal Hospital is located in the center of North Park and aims to
target pet-owners within the area (Ball, 2016). AAH aims marketing efforts at two sectors:
current and prospective clients. While all ages and demographics are welcome, there is a trend
that current clients are an older demographic, making AAH want to attract a younger audience
for new clients.
Current Clients
VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s current client base consists of very loyal customers, many
of which who have attended the clinic since the previous veterinarian’s presence. Described as
an “older demographic,” the average current client averages around 40 to 65 years old (Ball,
2016). Current clients were accustomed to being referred to outside clinics for more advanced
care when Dr. Defenbaugh was in practice, but with the new veterinarian, Dr. Ball, advanced
medical procedures can be performed in-house. It is important to AAH that clients learn about
these new procedures that can be provided in the clinic, no longer needing to go to an outside
source.
Based off of primary research conducted on 15 current clients, 7 were referred to the
location from another source, 5 found AAH through the internet, and the remaining 3 became a
client because of noticing the location while driving or walking by the clinic. This is important to
consider when building a targeting strategy.

Prospective Clients
In the densely populated area of North Park, Dr. Ball describes of his instances of the
hundreds of dogs walking around, and he wants all of them to be a patient (Ball, 2016)! As
mentioned before, since current clients tend to be an older demographic, AAH wants to target a
young professional audience and young families 22 to 40 years of age as prospective clients in
upcoming marketing efforts (Ball, 2016).
Unique Selling Proposition
After conducting a situation analysis with VCA Angel Animal Hospital, the unique
selling proposition created for the company is:
Located in the heart of North Park, VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s expertise in advanced
surgical procedures, corporate support, and close-knit, single-doctor staff allows for
exceptional one-on-one pet care that pet-lovers trust.

Competitive Review
Within a 2.5 square mile radius of VCA Angel Animal Hospital, there are a total of nine
veterinary clinics (Google Maps, 2016). It is important to note that such a high concentration of
competition is appropriate due to North Park’s soaring population density of 11,566 persons per
square mile, as compared to the density of the entire San Diego area with 4,180 persons per
square mile (City Data, 2016). After conducting surveys at local dog parks in the area
surrounding North Park to gage what exactly pet owners are looking for in a vet, we were able to
distinguish three primary clinics that posed the largest threat to VCA Angel Animal Hospital
(Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). Only one of these clinics falls within the border of the
North Park area but they all fall within a 2.5-mile radius of the clinic. These clinics were chosen
due to the frequency in which they were mentioned as being a pet owner’s primary veterinary
hospital and/or their glowing reputation. These three clinics include: Bodhi Veterinary Clinic, B-
Street Veterinary Hospital, and the Kensington Veterinary Clinic.
Figure 2: Bodhi Veterinary Clinic
To begin, Bodhi Veterinary Clinic, while being the most frequently mentioned clinic in
our survey results, is also the closest clinic to AAH, located only one mile away (Albertson,
Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). A photo of this business is shown above in Figure 2. The slogan
created for this vet clinic is the “Service and Media Giant.” Offering an extensive array of
services, Bodhi Veterinary Clinic maintains a respected image in the public eye, with four out of

five stars on Yelp, 1244 likes on Facebook and 1901 Facebook check-ins as of April 2016 (Yelp,
2016; Facebook, 2016). After compiling surveys, we found that all six respondents who used
Bodhi as their primary veterinary clinic had heard of AAH, but were not clients of the clinic.
However, because the respondents had various reasons as to how they heard about Bodhi, why
they were clients (whether it was for specialized care or from doing online research), and if they
would ever consider switching vets, it is assumed that their range of services is approximately
equal to those offered by VCA Angel.
Figure 3: B-Street Veterinary Hospital
Next, which came in second to Bodhi Veterinary Clinic, with five respondents using
them as their primary veterinary practice and located 2.2 miles from AAH in Golden Hill, was
the B-Street Veterinary Hospital, shown in Figure 3, above (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016;
Google Maps, 2016). The slogan created for this clinic is “Always-There Care.” B-Street is rated
4.5 out of 5 stars on Yelp as of April 2016 (Yelp, 2016; Facebook, 2016). With 260 fewer Yelp
reviews, only 419 Facebook likes and 508 check-ins as of April 2016, they are deemed to have a
smaller online presence than Bodhi Veterinary Clinic (Facebook, 2016). Our survey results
showed that the clients who used B-Street for their primary veterinary needs were very loyal to
the business and none would consider switching clinics, under the assumption that they remained
in the area (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016).

Figure 4: Kensington Veterinary Clinic
Lastly, the final vet which received mention from two of our survey respondents was
Kensington Veterinary Clinic, located 2.5 miles from AAH in Normal Heights, shown in Figure
4 above (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016; Google Maps, 2016). The slogan decided on for
this veterinary hospital is “Holistic Pet Care.” Kensington Veterinary Clinic has a total of 4.5
stars on Yelp, 231 Facebook likes and 145 Facebook check-ins as of April 2016 (Yelp, 2016;
Facebook, 2016). Both respondents were very pleased with the services that their pets received
from the clinic and were not willing to switch, even though they had both heard of VCA Angel
Animal Hospital. In addition, both respondents had found Kensington in a search for specialized
services, namely holistic medicine and acupuncture (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016).
Holistic medicine is also present at B-Street Veterinary Hospital, however, proximity is what
drew one respondent to this clinic.
Overall, from our 39 respondents, we were able to conclude that the most popular way
that a primary vet was found was through word-of-mouth, referrals, or through internet searches
(Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). Reputation plays a large role in a pet owner’s decision in
choosing a primary vet because most of the veterinary hospitals in the area offer many of the
same or very similar services. Some owners choose a primary clinic based on specialized
services provided, such as holistic treatment from B-Street and Kensington or because of great
hours of operation such as that of B-Street and Bodhi, which are both open seven days a week

and offer extended hours. However, most customers place the range of services provided on the
back burner as a secondary qualification while searching for a veterinary hospital, and in turn
focus on the clinic that has best reputation and closest proximity to them (Albertson, Mortellaro,
et. al., 2016).

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning
The target market segments for VCA Angel Animal Hospital include both current clients
and prospective clients. The target social groups we have identified for AAH’s marketing efforts
as being most worthwhile and profitable to pursue are the Urban Elders, Urban Achievers, and
American Dreams segments (The Nielsen Company, 2016). Each segment belongs to the Urban
social group which encompass groups within a high dense population center in a major
metropolitan area, in this case North Park San Diego. The Urban Elders represent a majority of
AAH’s current clients, while the Urban Achiever and American Dreams segments represent
prospective clients.
Urban Achievers
Figure 5: Brad and Dog, Hercules
The urban achiever segment represents the growing younger, business professional,
population of North Park. An example of one of these individuals is demonstrated above in
Figure 5. These individuals are college graduates under the age of 35, often between the ages of
22 and 34 (The Nielsen Company, 2016). This segment enjoys reading the New Yorker and

watching sports television (The Nielsen Company, 2016). When choosing a veterinarian, these
individuals ultimately look for convenience and location. Being able to leave their animal during
an appointment is important to many of these individuals as it allows them to go about their busy
lives without taking up a portion of their day at the clinic.
Focusing efforts on this young, single segment is smart being that over 25 percent of the
North Park’s population is from this age range (The Nielsen Company, 2016), with the
percentage of those age 15 and over who have never married 22.2 percent of females and 29.1
percent of males (Urban Mapping, INC., 2011). Dubbed the up-and-coming, “cool-kid’s
neighborhood” by San Diego Magazine, the number of individuals in this segment is only
growing (San Diego Magazine, 2016).
These individuals make decisions themselves but are likely to take into consideration
what others have to say about a product or service. As major technology users, these individuals
are likely to find their veterinarian on a social platform rating platform, such as yelp.
Many of these individuals have recently moved to the North Park area and bought their
first pet while living on their own. Most are still unaware of VCA Angel. The goal with this
segment will be to get them from unaware consumers to purchasing customers. This is an ideal
segment to eventually become brand advocates to the VCA Angel brand with their high
engagement of social platforms.

Urban Elders
Figure 6: Judy and Cat, Clawdia
The Urban Elder segment, demonstrated in Figure 6, above, represents a group of men
and women ages 55 and up who are often single and retired (The Nielsen Company, 2016). This
group is ethnically diverse and leads home-centered lifestyles. They are likely to stay at home
and watch daytime-television and soap operas. Due to many of these individuals being single,
divorced, or widowed, they are often the sole individual making decisions within their
household. This segment often has lower incomes with an average income under $30,000 (The
Nielsen Company, 2016). However, even being in the lower income bracket, individuals within
this profile care very highly for their pets and are willing to pay extra money for specialized care
for them. When choosing a veterinary clinic, Urban Elders look for clinics that are
compassionate and caring towards their pet(s) and themselves.
This profile makes a key target for VCA Angel Animal Hospital as many current clients
are from this segment. Many current clients within this segment were likely previous customers
of Dr. Defenbaugh, VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s previous veterinarian, and have continued

with the practice with Dr. Ball. As devoted customers to the practice, these individuals fall
within the loyalty portion of the consumer decision model.
The major goal with this segment is to find the best practices to continue their loyalty and
devotion to the clinic.
American Dreams
Figure 7: The Fernandez Family and Dog, Kibbles
The American Dreams segment, illustrated above in Figure 7, represents a family target
market. These individuals are under 55 and college graduates and enjoy taking family trips to the
zoo and watching entertainment television. Individuals in this segment have upper mid income
levels and are likely to have children. 29.9 percent of North Park residents belong to a family
household and 81.2 percent of married-couple families within North Park have a dual household
income (Urban Mapping, INC., 2011). This extra discretionary income allows these families to
pay extra for specialized care for their animals.
These families are ethnically diverse are likely to be of Hispanic ethnicity. With 33.2
percent of San Diego County residents being of Hispanic or Latin ethnicity, this is a great
segment to focus efforts on (US Census Bureau, 2014).

While the family as a whole influences decision-making with these individuals, making
decisions in regards to things to do with the home, the children, and the pets, women have the
most say. These clients are likely to hear about VCA Angel Animal Hospital by word of mouth
from their family friends and coworkers. When making their decision, they look for flexible
hours to fit appointments within their busy schedules. They are likely to be weekend customers
that enjoy staying with their pet through the visit.
As prospective clients, these consumers fall within the awareness portion of the consumer
behavior model. As shown from primary research, many of these clients are unaware of VCA
Angel Animal Hospital (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). Therefore, the major goal with this
segment will be to move them from unaware customers to purchasing clients. With time, we
would like to see these consumers become loyal to VCA Angel Animal Hospital and become
advocates for the brand by referring all their friends to the clinic.

Overall IMC Objective
In order to create a foundation for a marketing plan, an overall IMC objective was
created. The overall IMC objective for VCA Angel Animal Hospital is:
To maintain an active relationship with current clients and foster new relationships with
surrounding North Park pet owners to increase their awareness of and desire for VCA
Angel’s homelike atmosphere and medical capabilities.
Communication Objectives
After the overall IMC objective was established, specific communication objectives were
created to support it. These objectives will state what the IMC program will accomplish directed
towards the target audience. For VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s communication objectives, the
DAGMAR method will be used. Created by Russell Colley in 1961, Defining Advertising Goals
for Measured Results (DAGMAR) sets a model for creating objectives and a way for measuring
success (Belch & Belch, 2014). These objectives should be specific and measureable, setting
benchmarks and tasks, over a specific time period directed towards a specific target audience.
The DAGMAR approach follows a hierarchical model:
1. Awareness—making the consumer aware of the existence of the brand or company.
2. Comprehension—developing an understanding of what the product is and what it will do
for the consumer.
3. Conviction—developing a mental disposition in the consumer to buy the product.
4. Action—getting the consumer to purchase the product.

By following this method, shown in Figure 8, the specific
communication objectives set for VCA Angel Animal Hospital are the
following:
1. Increase awareness of VCA Angel Animal Hospital among North
Park pet-owners by 60% by the end of 2016.
2. Establish comprehension in North Park pet-owners of VCA Angel
Animal Hospital services by 40% by the end of 2016.
3. Increase desire to pursue trial within North Park pet-owners by 30%
by the end of 2016.
4. Increase clients of North Park pet-owners by 25% by the end of 2016.
Figure 8: DAGMAR Model
It was crucial to use the DAGMAR approach, shown above in Figure 8, to establish plan
objectives for VCA Angel Animal Hospital because it encompasses all of the elements that are
significant to AAH’s marketing success. Shown from our primary research, approximately half
of prospective respondents were unaware of AAH (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). This is
definitely something to take into consideration, ensuring it is an objective for the company.
Furthermore, of the other half that did know of AAH, about half of those did not specify a reason
why they were not a client. It is important to create comprehension of AAH for prospective
clients so that they are fully aware of the company and the services they offer. Then, with the
other half of those that did know of AAH, many specified that the clinic was too expensive or
had service issues in the past. It is important that this portion of the target market changes the
mindset to gain conviction and pursue trial with AAH. Finally, with our action objective, VCA
Angel Animal Hospital wants to ensure that they maintain clients through this transition period

of a new veterinarian. Instead of losing them to competitors, it is important customer service is
strengthened in order to keep these clients a part of AAH.

Creative Strategy
The creative strategy for this plan is divided among three categories; digital media
campaigns, traditional media campaigns, and promotional campaigns. We recommend each of
these categories to have a different focus to ensure VCA Angel Animal Hospital reaches all three
of the target markets with this proposed integrated marketing plan. While the objectives of each
category are different, the branding of all campaigns should be consistent. Additionally, all
campaigns should maintain a friendly tone of the family atmosphere already associated with
AAH.
We recommend the digital media campaign be centered around AAH’s patients and
targeted at the Urban Achievers and American Dreams segments. Many of the various programs
within this category will be fueled by submissions from AAH pet owners. Pet owners can submit
photos of their dogs and cats to be part of social media and other digital media though comments
or postings to the AAH Facebook profile and posts, as well as through the Instagram hashtag,
#VCAAngel. Additionally, pet owners could ask questions to AAH staff as part of the blog. By
using clients to generate the content of the campaign, AAH can give digital media a personal feel
to help illustrate the tight-knit relationship between staff and the animals (and humans) served.
Our proposed traditional media campaign will rely more on print advertisements to relay
the AAH brand to the Urban Elders target market. This proposed campaign category will
illustrate how this animal hospital is different from the competitors by truly being “your pet’s
guardian angel.” This will persuade prospective clients by showing prospective clients how VCA
Angel Animal Hospital provides the services their pets need with one on one customer care.

The final category we propose, a promotional campaign, should go a step further to show
the family atmosphere of VCA Angel Animal Hospital. In this category, a variety of regular and
seasonal events will be used to access potential clients through face-to-face communication. The
staff will be able to show current and prospective clients how much they truly care about the pets
they serve.

IMC MIX
The promotional mix is comprised of various tools, that fall under the categories of
digital, traditional, and promotional marketing, for the sake of providing a coordinated message
to each of the three primary target audiences, namely Urban Achievers, American Dreamers, and
Urban Elders. The following list will explain each communication tool, its purpose, and any
proposed modifications.
An interesting conclusion worth noting, discovered through conducting primary research,
was that amongst current and prospective clients, searching online was the second most popular
way of finding a primary veterinarian, especially if the pet owner was looking for a vet that
offered specialized services (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). Our results showed that 5 out
of 15 current clients and 10 out of 38 prospective clients had found out about their primary
veterinary clinic through an online search (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). In addition, as
mentioned in the competitor analysis, we found that the most frequently mentioned animal
hospitals, also had the largest Internet presence. For the sake of our proposed digital campaign,
we aim to incorporate a wide range of Internet tools to greatly enhance AAH’s online presence.
Website
The VCA Angel Animal Hospital web page is part of VCA’s corporate website, with
each individual hospital having their own separate profile. Each profile provides customers with
an ample amount of information about VCA overall, each location’s staff and administration, as

well as a list of services that each clinic provides. Because AAH is uniquely small in size and
offers a closer-knit experience with Dr. Ball and the staff, we propose implementing the
following modifications to improve VCA Angel’s web profile.
The first modification includes updates to the “Our Team” tab under the Veterinarian,
Veterinarian Support, and Administration tabs. Similar to the websites for VCA Hillcrest and
Bonita, we find that it would bring a more personal touch to include staff photographs as well as
a complimenting biography to each staff and administrative member’s listing (see Figure 9,
below). AAH’s small staff is a colossal selling point for customers as the opportunity to establish
such a close connection with a veterinary team is not commonplace. This would allow
prospective customers to learn more about each staff member, especially Dr. Ball, a new addition
to the team, prior to their first visit.
Figure 9: VCA Websites

Next, as a means of creating a sense of community between the veterinary staff and
customers, we propose establishing a blog page that, with the permission of VCA corporate,
would be linked to the VCA Angel Animal Hospital website. If this was not possible, the blog
could be published on a host platform such as WordPress or Blogger, instead of being built
directly into the corporate VCA website, to simplify the editing process for AAH’s staff.
Published at least twice a month, the blog would create a space for Dr. Ball to offer advice and
answer frequently asked questions, and for staff members to share significant experiences and
events at the hospital. The use of a veterinary blog as a marketing tool, although seemingly out
of place, is becoming more frequently used, as many pet owners like using the internet to solve
problems before reaching out to their veterinarian. According to veterinary magazine DVM360,
veterinarians are aware that their patients are googling their pet’s issues, however, they should be
notified that their vet should be consulted first (Scheidegger, 2015). Some examples of popular
veterinary blogs are shown in Figure 10 below.
Figure 10: Blog Examples

Attaching a link to their profile on the corporate VCA website that links customers to
their blog page is also beneficial to AAH’s web page search engine optimization (SEO). This
blog would generate more site traffic, thus helping to increase the page’s ranking on Google.
Although, we have opted to suggest SEO as a future recommendation, rather than employing it
immediately, this blog would help search optimization. As a general overview of SEO, it is used
to increase the likelihood of a prospective client coming across AAH while doing a simple
Google search for a veterinary hospital in North Park or other content that appears within AAH’s
website. The keyword that would be beneficial to pay for though Google AdWords, for future
SEO enhancement, are “North Park vet” and “North Park Animal Hospital.” In the future,
through SEO, AAH should aim to increase website ranking to fall within the top ten search
results, putting it somewhere on the first search page.
Yelp
VCA Angel Animal Hospital utilizes a Yelp profile for their current customers to leave
ratings and reviews for the experience and service they received at the clinic. We suggest aiming
to acquire 75 new Yelp reviews by the end of 2016. As of April 2016, VCA Angel Animal
Hospital has 63 reviews, 28 being five stars and 10 being four stars, with an average 3.5 star
overall rating (Yelp, 2016). Although it may not be an accurate indication of popularity, the
pattern involving the size of our competitors’ digital presence (as mentioned in IMC Mix
introduction section), holds true to the amount of Yelp reviews for each competitor as well. From
observing this, we believe that acquiring additional Yelp reviews would strengthen the

credibility of the clinic’s rating and, given that the reviews continue to stay positive, strengthen
AAH’s affirmative reputation.
Because Yelp actually discourages businesses from directly asking their customers to
leave reviews, they offer on their website “Find us on Yelp!” signs and stickers, pictured in
Figure 11, that businesses can use to advertise their Yelp profile. A suggestion for AAH to,
ensure easy visibility, would be to place a sign on the front desk or in waiting room and placing a
sticker in the front window of the clinic to ensure easy visibility. Another one of Yelp’s
suggestions includes placing a Yelp profile URL on business cards, on the business’ web page,
and in emails sent to customers. Throughout the duration of this IMC plan, AAH can utilize a
sign and their clinic’s social media accounts to advertise, ultimately working toward goal to
acquire 75 new reviews by the end of 2016.
Figure 11: Yelp Sign and Sticker
In addition to acquiring more Yelp reviews, we suggest adding more content to the
business’ Yelp page, in the form of photos of patients, staff, and clinic renovations. We also

suggest responding to positive and negative reviews, to make AAH more engaging to
prospective clients. Although these are small changes, they are additional ways for AAH to show
prospective clients the company’s culture. Including more photographs of the staff with patients
and of new clinic renovations would give prospective customers a mental picture of the
hospital’s friendly atmosphere and the comfort of knowing that they are bringing their pet to a
nice facility. The act of responding to positive and negative comments on the profile simply
conveys AAH’s value for what customers have to say by acknowledging suggestions and
lessening the impact of inflated adverse comments.
Facebook
VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s Facebook page would be utilized to post helpful and
entertaining content, inform readers of new blog posts, and notify all followers about upcoming
events or photo challenges. AAH can create Facebook advertisements in order to create
awareness among North Park residents. Facebook advertising allows users to specify certain
demographics including age, gender, location, and interests. We can set the Facebook
advertisements to only reach Facebook male and female users aged 21 to 54, with an interest in
pets located in North Park, San Diego. The customization of Facebook advertisements ensures
that the budget is being used to reach possible clients instead of wasting advertising dollars on
consumers outside of our target market. An example of a suggested Facebook advertisement is
demonstrated in Figure 12. For more information on how to create Facebook advertisements see
Appendix D.

Figure 12: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Facebook Advertisement
Currently, the AAH Facebook page has 81 likes and 170 check-ins, as of April 2016
(Facebook, 2016). With an overall Facebook rating of 4.5 stars out of 5, Facebook is another
great place to showcase a favorable reputation. We suggest that a staff member continue to post
content on a regular basis (at least once a week) and that future content be even more
personalized, specifically in regards to visual content posted. Currently, many of the cover and
profile images are either stock photos or covers designed by VCA corporate, which is seen on
many other veterinary hospital Facebook pages. However, B-Street Veterinary Hospital and
Bodhi Animal Hospital, which are two primary competitors of AAH, add more photos of animals

at their hospital and of staff members attending to them. Doing so gives customers a better
picture of where their animal will be cared for and by whom.
An example of a suggested Facebook content posting can be seen below in Figure 13.
This posting or a similar type posting, engages followers and gets them to interact with the
brand. Current and prospective clients are able to provide input and see that their opinions are
valued. This allows for two-way communication between clients and AAH.
Figure 13: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Facebook Post

Instagram
Next, we propose establishing a company Instagram account where photographs of
animals and staff could be posted. This tool would be used primarily for garnering awareness of
VCA Angel Animal Hospital among prospective clients, namely those from Urban Achievers
and American Dreams segments. Instagram is a large platform that features many different
accounts, and of these, animal accounts are extremely popular. Some of these animal accounts
feature professional photographs while others are more personal.
Building a popular Instagram account takes time and requires a lot of content, however,
through the use of hashtags there is a high capability of reaching prospective customers through
the explore page without having to pay for advertisements. VCA Angel Animal Hospital would
benefit from an account like this by bringing awareness to their uniquely small, close-knit clinic
to garner interest in it and quite possibly acquire new patients who are curious to check it out. An
example of this account and a possible posting is shown on the next page in Figure 14.
Another opportunity in creating an Instagram account would be the opportunity it creates
for followers to get involved through photo challenges. We propose holding two photo
challenges throughout the duration of 2016, one being in July and the other in November. One
example of a challenge is a “Patriotic Pals,” contest in which followers can tag pictures of their
patriotic pets between the first and fourth of July to be entered into the competition using the
hashtag #AAHPatrioticPal.

Another challenge example is a “Thankful for my Best Friend” challenge, which we
propose be held a week prior to Thanksgiving, allowing pet-owners to showcase why they love
and are thankful for their animal(s). The hashtag we recommend using for this contest is
#AAHThanksgiving. The winners of these contests could be decided upon by VCA staff and
winners could receive a basket of VCA promotional items or a discount off their next visit. The
use of hashtags would help AAH acquire more photographs of their clients in their tagged photos
section as well as make AAH Instagram page easier to discover on the explore page.
Figure 14: VCA Angel Animal Hospital Mock Instagram Account

Mobile Marketing
The final piece of our proposed digital campaign is mobile marketing, specifically
through text message appointment reminders. The use of of text message reminders is aimed
toward current clients. Through the use of EZ Texting, a website, if customers opted to sign up
to have a reminder sent to their phone, AAH would be able to send a text message to individuals
who have an upcoming appointment. Although not necessary, it would help to ensure that
customers are not forgetting about their appointments and that Dr. Ball’s time is used most
efficiently. We recommend sending these reminders three days prior to a scheduled appointment
to allow for adequate cancellation time. The service we propose using offers a free plan that
would accommodate a trial period for AAH that could easily be terminated if clients do not wish
to receive messages. This trial period, titled “Free & EZ” on the website, would allow for 500
free SMS texts per month to notify clients of upcoming appointments. Figure 15, below,
illustrates an example text-message appointment reminder.
Figure 15: EZ Texting Appointment Reminder

Newspaper Advertisements
The first tool under our traditional marketing campaign is the use of newspaper
advertisements. These advertisements could be used to advertise the clinic itself, as well as the
promotional events and activities that will be explained further in the following sections. When
Advertising a promotional event in this traditional media, we recommend placing the
advertisement to be ran about two weeks prior to each event to ensure that enough customers and
prospective customers within the North Park area have had the opportunity to discover the event.
We recommend running these advertisements in papers such as The Union Tribune, San Diego
Uptown News, and North Park News. An example of the expenses associated with The Union
Tribune can be seen in the budget allocation section.
Flyers and Direct Mail
Similar to newspaper advertisements, we recommend using flyers to advertise upcoming
promotional events at VCA Angel Animal Hospital. We recommend posting these flyers around
the North Park area, distributing them at the North Park Farmer’s Market (held every Thursday
from three to seven p.m.), leaving flyers at local businesses, and sending them to current clients
through direct mail. Using this direct means would help target Urban Elders, who are not likely
to hear about events through digital means. This helps foster the relationship between clients and
maintain contact with them between visits. We have provided examples of flyers which could be
reproduced in Figure 16. These flyers could be created through Vistaprint, an online, low cost
printing service. We recommend they provide information regarding the upcoming event as well
be in as color to attract people to the flyer, and cumulate attention and interest for events.

Figure 16: Example Flyers
Incentive Referral Program
In beginning this promotional campaign, we suggest implementing a referral program for
current clients. Of the current clients we surveyed, the majority of them said that they would be
interested in a referral program (Albertson, Mortellaro, et. al., 2016). We see a great opportunity
to recruit more clients through the loyal network of clients already established. To capitalize on
this, we believe that instating an incentive based referral program will motivate current clients to
encourage friends and family members to use AAH for their veterinary needs. An example of a
referral incentive would be 10 percent off of a client’s next visit of up to $150. Referral cards
could be made, as demonstrated in Figure 17, to help gather information on who individuals are
referring, to insure each individual is getting the correct adjustment of their bill.

Figure 17: Incentive Reward Card
Events
VCA Angel Animal Hospital currently holds holiday events for clients and is a practice
we propose continuing and expanding upon. Events that we propose include a Halloween
costume contest and trick-or-treating event and a holiday open-house which would feature
pictures with Santa. These events would be advertised using newspaper advertisements, flyers,
and direct mail. The events will help maintain a relationship between the current clients and
AAH. These events will remind current clients of the core values and family atmosphere that sets
AAH apart from competitors. Additionally, the events are a way for prospective clients to get to
know the AAH staff and learn more about the clinic. We have allotted 14 percent of the total
budget to go toward hosting promotional events, paying for small appetizers, prizes, and
activities. Although it may be a small amount, events are not held every month so the budget that
is not spent during empty months would roll over to help cover the costs for those months which
do have a promotional event.

IMC Timeline
Figure 18: Scheduling Plan for June to December 2016
The chart above (Figure 18) depicts the scheduling plan for our proposed IMC mix. As
mentioned, the overall IMC plan is divided into three campaigns: digital, traditional, and
promotional. The digital campaign will be the first to launch at the beginning of June 2016
including the hiring of a digital marketing intern for social media upkeep. The majority of the
elements within the digital campaign will run consistently from June or July until December
2016. The incentive program will begin in July 2016 and run concurrently with the digital
marketing campaign until December 2016. Then, events will only take place during October and
December. Therefore, the traditional campaign will not be integrated until October 2016 in order
to coincide with promoting the events. The duration of the plan for VCA Angel Animal Hospital
spans seven months while employing an overall pulsing scheduling method, shown by Figure 19
on the following page.

Figure 19: Scheduling Methods

Budget Allocation
VCA Angel Animal Hospital utilizes a percentage-of-sales method in order to allocate a
marketing budget. The method uses projected sales based off of past data in order to create future
sales, and, therefore, a predictive marketing allocation for future months. The projected month-
by-month marketing budget for 2016 is show below in Figure 20.
Figure 20: 2016 Yearly Budget Breakdown
Typically, AAH allocates approximately 2.5 percent of revenues towards marketing, and
the rounded average over 2016 is $1400 per month. For this IMC plan, we have utilized the
average of $1400 in order to allocate the marketing budget month by month. This budget
allocation is shown below in Figure 21 on the following page.

Figure 21: 2016 Budget Allocation
In order to allocate this $1400 per month accurately, the communication objectives and
significance combined with how costly the communication tools would be was considered. The
above percentages are associated with the following communication tool categories: Facebook
advertising with 27 percent, social media content with 19 percent, an incentive program with 22
percent, traditional advertising with 18 percent, and event promotions with 14 percent of the total
budget.
Since awareness, comprehension, conviction, and action encompass the main
communication objectives in this IMC plan, each of these tools will reflect a specific objective.
A specific breakdown of how the monthly $1400 is allocated can be seen in Figure 22.

Figure 22: Budget Allocation according to Objectives
To begin with, we recommend allocating $380 to Facebook advertisements. We believe
that Facebook advertising would be the best tool for VCA Angel Animal Hospital to gain
awareness because of the customization this tool presents. When we divide $380 by 30 days in a
month that averages $12 a day to allocate to this advertising resulting in an estimated 9 to 37
likes per day (Facebook, 2016). We recommend beginning with this allocation in order to test the
results of this tool, and if results are successful, we recommend allocating more money to this
platform in 2017.
Next, we recommend to allocate $270 towards social media upkeep. This can be broken
into $120 for Facebook, $90 for Instagram, and $60 for bimonthly blogging. These numbers are
computed based off of the estimated hourly rate ($15 per hour) of a possible digital marketing
intern that AAH could hire in the case that theses responsibilities are too much for the current
staff member that manages AAH’s online presence. Therefore, this would allow 2 hours per
week for Facebook upkeep, 1.5 hours per week for Instagram postings and upkeep, and 1 hour

per week to contribute to the AAH blog. Information on how to hire an intern that works these
few hours a week is included in Appendix E.
Following under the conviction objective, we recommend to allocate $300 monthly for
rewards for the incentive referral system. Prizes for referring to others could vary per month
between physical prizes and service discounts. For example, a reward could be up to 10 percent
off the client and the client’s referral service bill (up to $150), costing AAH only $30 per pairing.
This could allow up to ten pairings to redeem the reward service and still be allocated in the
budget. Another option could be physical prizes, such as a $15 gift card to various businesses for
client and client referrals bill. Again, this could allow up to ten pairings to redeem the reward
and still be accounted for in the budget.
As for traditional advertisements, we recommend to allocate $250 a month for direct
mail, flyers, and newspaper advertisements. Since traditional media can be expensive, we
recommend rolling over other months’ $250 to contribute to the months closer to events.
According to Vistaprint, half page flyers are $127 for 1000 and standard postcards for direct mail
are $45 for 500 (Vistaprint, 2016). With the remaining money and any amount rolled over from
past months we would recommend allocating towards newspaper advertisements. Prices can vary
based on how much money is left over, but a standard black and white six-inch advertisement in
the Union Tribune for the San Diego Metro area is approximately $150 for a Monday through
Wednesday advertisement, approximately $170 for a Thursday through Saturday advertisement,
and $200 for a Sunday advertisement (Union Tribune, 2016). As the numbers show, this $250
allocation is a bit of a rough number depending on which material is picked and which months to

decide to spend the most money, but we felt that allocating 18 percent of the overall marketing
budget towards traditional advertising is appropriate.
Finally, we recommend allocating $200 per month for event promotions. Similar to
traditional advertising, this money can roll over from previous months in order to prepare for the
months with events. Since we recommend that three events be organized through the end of
2016, this causes each event to consume approximately $400 to 500 considering June through
December’s monthly allocations. These expenses can be used for food, decorations, prizes, and
various other materials based on the event. We recommend allocating about $200 for appetizers
and refreshments to be provided. The remaining $200 to $300, should be allocated towards
supplies such as holiday decorations, gift cards, and dog treats for prizes.
For the remaining tools that we have mentioned in the IMC Mix, fortunately, they are
free tools. Since Yelp and the website are already managed through a salaried employee (Ball,
2016), these modifications and upkeep can be continued within the employee’s duties. Since EZ
Texting is also a free service and there is minimal upkeep with the program since much is
automated, it is recommended this tool is added onto this employee’s duties. As for event
planning, traditional advertisement submissions, and Facebook advertising, we recommend these
new tools are added to the current employees’ responsibilities as well since they are similar to
previous duties by current staff, therefore, not adding on additional labor expenses.

Evaluation Program
In order to ensure an IMC program is being effective for a company, an evaluation should
be conducted. VCA Angel Animal Hospital is recommended to be partaking in a variety of
media programs, and the outline for how each IMC Mix element can be measured is illustrated
below.
Social Media
When measuring social media metrics, it is important to keep in mind the goal directed
towards the specific platform. With likes and followers, these metrics require less depth from
users and are more about creating awareness for the company. In these terms, likes and followers
are what Instagram should be measured with since it is just being established and needs this
awareness. By the end of 2016, the goal for VCA Angel Animal Hospital will be to have at least
100 followers with an average of 10 likes or more on posts.
When it comes to more developed social media, like AAH’s Facebook and Yelp pages,
more advanced metrics should be considered with more user engagement. By the end of 2016,
we hope that AAH’s Facebook will have at least 50 total shares from their posts starting in July
2016 and average 3 user comments on each post. For Yelp, by the end of 2016, we hope VCA
Angel Animal Hospital will have at least 75 new user reviews to their page since beginning the
IMC program. These metrics provide an accurate way to decipher if the new changes to social
media are being effective. These analytics can be provided through looking at the general page

statistics (i.e. total Yelp reviews on the main page) or specific analytic extensions (i.e. for
Facebook Insights, refer to Appendix F).
Website
To accurately track if the new changes to VCA Angel Animal Hospital’s website blog
are effective and awareness is being garnered, we hope that by the end of 2016, posts during this
IMC plan are averaging at least 150 views. WordPress and Blogger, platforms recommended for
implementing the blog, both have this information available within the site.
Mobile Marketing
To measure mobile marketing’s success, AAH should measure how many customers
agree to sign up for for text-message appointment reminders. By the end of 2016, after customers
are aware this new addition, AAH should aim to have at least 150 total clients using this new
service.
Traditional Advertising
Furthermore, the effectiveness of the traditional media, including flyers, direct mail, and
newspaper advertising, should be measured as well. Since most of these traditional advertising
methods will be utilized for event promotions, their effectiveness should be measured by an
event greeter, asking a one question questionnaire to discover how they found out about the
event. By the end of 2016, the average amount of awareness brought for events by traditional
media should be at 25 percent of guests.

Referral Program
The new referral incentive program we propose implementing should be accurately
measured in order to ensure effectiveness. By the end of 2016, we hope that VCA Angel Animal
Hospital will have at least 20 new customers through this program’s referrals. This would be
tracked by referral cards that referred customers would present in order to gain incentives.
Promotional Events
In addition to other IMC Mix elements, promotional events should be evaluated as well
to ensure they are benefiting AAH. While some events may attract more people than other
events, we hope that, at the end of 2016, on average, events will attract 100 guests each. This can
be tracked by having a greeter at each event who tracks guests’ entrance by a counter. Counting
the amount of guests can give AAH a gage on whether these promotional events are fully
benefiting the company by the amount of awareness and action these events present for guests.

Conclusion
Our seven month, comprehensive IMC plan for VCA Angel Animal Hospital provides a
detailed outline of our three proposed marketing campaigns, which are aimed at retaining current
clients and attracting prospective clients that fall within the target segments. The three campaigns
are built around establishing a strong digital presence to keep up with competitors, employing
traditional marketing tactics to reach Urban Elders, and utilizing promotion to incentivize the
customer’s experience. We have taken into consideration AAH’s limited budget and have
tailored our campaigns to fit this constraint, all while still maintaining optimum efficiency. The
specific communication objectives that have been created, which were developed using the
DAGMAR approach, are as follows:
1. Increase awareness of VCA Angel Animal Hospital among North Park pet-owners by
60% by the end of 2016.
2. Establish comprehension in North Park pet-owners of VCA Angel Animal Hospital
services by 40% by the end of 2016.
3. Increase desire to pursue trial within North Park pet-owners by 30% by the end of 2016.
4. Increase clients of North Park pet-owners by 25% by the end of 2016.
To guide AAH throughout their marketing efforts, we’ve supplied an extensive IMC mix
that explains, in depth, each communication tool that will be used to achieve these specific
objectives. A description can be found underneath each tool, with appropriate figure examples as
well as instructional materials within the Appendix. In addition, we’ve included a section within
this report devoted to tool metrics, which can be used by the clinic to track the results obtained
through these marketing methods. After permission from VCA corporate, this marketing plan is
highly recommended to be implemented.

We believe that our IMC plan fits the needs of VCA Angel Animal Hospital as it was
created based off of primary research conducted inside the clinic as well as out in the
community. AAH provides their customers with a very unique veterinary experience, offering
exemplary services within a close-knit and comfortable environment. Our plan strives to
communicate to the public the assets that this hospital has to offer, and through continued
awareness building, Dr. Ball and his staff should expect to greatly expand throughout the North
Park community.

Appendix
Appendix A: Primary research conducted on prospective clients.

Appendix B: Primary research conducted on current clients.

Appendix C: Industry Statistics

Appendix D: Tutorials on social media creation
Facebook Advertisements:
To create an ad in Power Editor:
1. Go to Power Editor and click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
2. Click on the left side of the page and then click Create Ad.
3. On the Create Ad page, choose whether to use an existing campaign or create
a new campaign. Similarly, choose whether to use an existing ad set or create a
new one.
4. Enter a name for the ad and click Create.
5. Complete the details for the ad, including the creative. Keep in mind that
details such as audience targeting and bidding are managed at the ad set level
for the ad.
6. When you're ready, click the green Review Changes button to publish your
changes.
To import new ads from a spreadsheet:
1. Go to Power Editor and click the Manage Ads tab at the top of the page.
2. Click on the left side of the page.
■ If you are creating an ad in an existing ad set, select another
ad in the same ad set. Click and select Export selected.
■ If you are creating a new ad in a new campaign, click
and select Download Template.
3. Edit the downloaded spreadsheet to create your new ads and save it to your
computer.
4. In Power Editor, click and choose Import Ads in Bulk. Select the saved
spreadsheet to import it back into Power Editor.
5. When you're ready, click the green Review Changes button to publish your
changes.

How to set up an Instagram account:
To create an Instagram account from the app:
1. Download the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, Android from
Google Play Store or Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store.
2. Once the app is installed, tap to open it.
3. Tap Sign Up, then enter your email address and tap Next or tap Log in with
Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.
4. If you register with email, create a username and password, fill out your
profile info and then tap Done. If you register with Facebook, you'll be
prompted to log into your Facebook account if you're currently logged out.
To create an Instagram account from a computer:
1. Go to instagram.com.
2. Enter your email address, create a username and password or click Log in with
Facebook to sign up with your Facebook account.
3. If you register with an email, click Sign up. If you register with Facebook,
you'll be prompted to log into your Facebook account if you're currently
logged out.

Appendix E: How to recruit an intern
Posting a Paid Internship (from SDSU Career Center)
Paid internships and jobs for qualified organizations can be posted at any time on the Career
Services “Aztec Career Connection” site:
http://career.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/career/employerservices.aspx
Click "Register for a new account" and then follow the instructions. It will take about a day for
SDSU Career Services/Employer Services to complete a background check. Once your company
has been approved, you will receive an email verification letting you know. Please note that
Career Services does reserve the option not to register organizations in Aztec Career Connection.
Need more information? Contact Malerie McNeill, Career Opportunities Manager,
mmcneill@mail.sdsu.edu or 619.594.8268.
Source: https://newscenter.sdsu.edu/student_affairs/career/internshipsemployers.aspx
Appendix F: Facebook Insights
Where can I find Page Insights?
To see your Page Insights, click Insights at the top of your Page. From here, you can view
metrics about your Page by clicking the sections on the left (ex: Likes, Reach). To export your
insights, click Export in the top-right corner.
Keep in mind that insights are only available after at least 30 people like your Page.
How should I use Page Insights to improve my Page?
You can use Page Insights to understand how people are engaging with your Page. With Page
Insights, you can:
● View metrics about your Page's performance
● Learn which posts have the most engagement
● See data about when your audience is on Facebook
For example, you can look at each of your posts and see which ones have the most likes,
comments and shares and the least negative feedback. You can use this information to create
more of the types of posts that your audience is interested in seeing. You can also learn about
when your audience is on Facebook and publish your posts when you're likely to reach more
people.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/help/383440231709427

References
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