The document outlines a market research plan to address declining sales of Hempz's "Age Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer". The plan involves secondary research on target audiences, campaigns promoting similar products, and organic skin care lines. Focus groups will be conducted with users of hemp and organic skin care to understand reactions to Hempz's advertising and develop a new campaign. The research aims to gauge understanding of hemp skin care benefits, social stigma around cannabinoid products, and improve consumer sentiment, appeal and reception to meet revenue and market share goals.

1. Running Head: HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 1
Market Research Plan
Jesse Baxter, Nathaniel Jones, Trever Panter, and Lauren Sittig
COM 403: Strategic Communication Theory and Research
Flagler College Tallahassee
January 21, 2016

2. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 2
I. Issue Identification
Identification of the Hempz brand problem
The Hempz “Age Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer” has failed to generate the brand’s
projected sales goals through national distribution channels over the 2015 fiscal year. The
company’s initial objectives included the dedication of approximately 35% of the brand’s total
revenue to obtain a 15% market-share while maintaining $10 million in annual revenue.
Hempz’s unsuccessful promotional and sales efforts have resulted in a loss for which the
company wishes to recover and remedy.
Potential cause(s)
Corporate decision-makers believe the root cause to be a lack of consumer attention among
the product’s target market which may be attributed to three potential causes:
1. A limited understanding of benefits provided by the hemp-based skin care product among
the brand’s target audience;
2. A pervasive social stigma related to all products containing cannabinoids and their
association with marijuana; or
3. Ineffective advertising due to a lack of consumer sentiment, product appeal, or general
reception.
II. Strategic Message
Message proposal
A marketing campaign dedicated to the promotion of the “Age Defying Herbal Body
Moisturizer’s” eminent attributes in treating skin will be developed for the Hempz brand. The
concept, appropriately titled “Higher quality,” will contain visual print messaging centered on
realistic benefits of product use.

3. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 3
Depictions and copy used in print advertising will contain elegant, informative, and serious
tones to elevate the product from a consumer-perceived headshop novelty to prominent cosmetic
status. The key message which directly states, “A higher quality of skin,” will serve to promote
the brand’s flagship moisturizer while subtly referencing the product’s marquee active
ingredient. This message will aid the brand in garnering prospect attention through vivid
marketing which acknowledges the line’s hemp-based qualities in results-driven, consumer-level
organic skin care.
Message goals
1. To improve the target audience’s perception of the Hempz anti-aging products’
capabilities through effective advertising of the brand’s “Age Defying Herbal Body
Moisturize;”
2. To diminish potentially negative sentiments held by cosmetic buyers toward, and
establish legitimacy for, cannabinoid-containing skin care products; and
3. To motivate the brand’s target audience to purchase, and make regular use of, the brand’s
flagship moisturizer.
Campaign objectives
1. To dedicate no more than 35% of the brand’s revenue earned over the 2015 fiscal year to
new campaign efforts promoting the brand’s “Age Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer;”
2. To re-establish annual revenue of $10 million where the campaign’s key product
contributes to 10% of the company’s earnings; and
3. To capture the 15% market share outlined by the brand’s initial campaign.

4. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 4
Positioning
Messaging will demonstrate to clientele seeking hydrating skin care that Hempz’s “Age
Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer” is a results-driven organic product because its active quality
provides barrier-restoring, redness-reducing, moisture treatment to dehydrated skin.
III. Research Methodology and Data Collection
Research proposal
Secondary Research – The team’s market researchers will gather information from online
sources via market research database access and Google search. Sources will be evaluated
(triangulated) for their credibility, reputation, and authority as legitimate information providers
in the areas of marketing, advertising, and target audience assessment among others. Specific
items sought to solve the consumer attention issue will include, but are not limited to:
 Target audience sentiment toward cannabis-related products
 Campaigns carried out by marketing agencies with experience promoting hemp-based
products
 Organic skin care line advertisements
 Successful skin care lines with hemp-oriented products
A thorough search and research of these topics is expected to provide valuable information
in the development of a new marketing campaign for Hempz’s “Age Defying Herbal Body
Moisturizer.”
Data collection proposal
Focus Groups – The team’s market researchers will construct three focus groups comprising
four individuals. A request seeking buyers/users of hemp-based and organic skin care products
will be distributed via social media posts within each researcher’s network. Respondents will

5. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 5
then be screened to determine suitability for focus group participation. Criteria will ensure that
individuals:
 Regularly use organic and/or hemp-based skin care products
 Have purchased organic and/or hemp-based skin care items within the past three
months, and
 Evaluate skin care products prior to purchase
Upon assembly, each group will meet at a third-party hosting site to discuss topics
developed by the team’s researchers and moderator. A discussion guide will function as an
agenda for each meeting, beginning with introductions, reasoning, and initial questions to
determine familiarity with the Hempz brand.
Situational topics will focus on hemp-based and organic skin care marketing by addressing
advertisement effectiveness, issues, and individual preferences; corrective topics will cover
alterations to pre-existing advertising and the development of new materials to gain consumer
attention; and conceptual material will be introduced to gauge group reaction which will be
recorded with previous observations for assessment. After a one- to two-hour session, each
meeting is concluded.
IV. Methodology Rationale
Research rationale
As with any effective market research, the study will begin with secondary research. In
doing so, a great deal of valuable information may be uncovered providing clues as to why
Hempz’s target audience for its “Age Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer” is not paying attention
to advertising efforts. Through careful research of target audience sentiment, successful
campaigns for similar products, organic skin care lines, and top-level hemp-based products, the

6. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 6
market research team plans to either establish a firm basis, or remove the need, for further data
collection methods.
Data collection rationale
Beyond initial secondary research, focus groups will be implemented as means of
determining shortcomings with the brand’s previous campaign and to establish a foundation for
stronger advertising in the upcoming campaign.
A primary goal of this data collection method is to gain an understanding of consumer
feelings toward the advertising of hemp-based products – both specifically to the Hempz brand
and in general. More specifically, the focus group methodology will be used to determine if any
of the potential causes of limited consumer attention noted in the “Issue Identification” section
are valid. Additionally, discussion points will be used to gain new and different perspectives on
how to better draw consumer attention to the brand’s advertising, products, and future endeavors.
V. Benefits of Results
Information obtained from the aforementioned research will aid Hempz in its upcoming
campaign to market the “Age Defying Herbal Body Moisturizer” by:
1. Gauging the general consumer understanding of hemp-based skin care benefits;
2. Evaluating the degree to which a social stigma conceivably surrounds cannabinoid-
containing cosmetics; and
3. Providing consumer reaction data for previous and current marketing concepts to
determine consumer sentiment, product appeal, and overall reception.
All previously noted information will be valuable in establishing a qualitative basis, and
greater potential of success, for the brand’s upcoming marketing campaign.

7. HEMPZ MARKET RESEARCH PLAN 7
VI: References
McQuarrie, E. (2016). The Market Research Toolbox: A Concise Guide for Beginners (Fourth
ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.