Uncle Dan's Outdoor Store targets campers in Chicago with their wide selection of high-end and affordable camping gear. The document analyzes Uncle Dan's target audience through demographic and psychographic research, finding that their core customers are 25-45 year old married males with incomes over $100,000 who enjoy camping near Chicago on weekends. It then outlines Uncle Dan's product offerings and store locations that are strategically placed near Chicago to best serve this target audience.

1. Karli Allen
Introduction to Advertising
Introduction to the Advertising Process
Uncle Dan’s Outdoor Store
Target’s Psychographic Summary
 Camping sites in Chicago
 Hiking near Chicago
 Camping during the Spring and Summer
 Camping during the weekends
 Buying the best camping gear
Target’s Demographic Summary
 Gender: 55% Male and 45% Female
 Marital/Family Status: 67% Married or living with a domestic partner and 25% Single
 Age Range: 34% 25-44
 HH Income: 29% greater than $100,000
Target’s Geographic Location: Chicago, IL
Target Audience; Campers in Chicago
 Pyschographic Elements of Campers- Campers camp so that they can get away from
their normal everyday lives and enjoy the wilderness. They enjoy things like campfires,
hiking, fishing, grilling, photography and stargazing. In order for campers to be able to do

2. these things they need to find the right supplies. Some of the most sought after supplies
needed for camping are things like flashlights, coolers, backpacks, airbed’s, tents,
propane or liquid fuel lighting, etc. (Outdoor Foundation). Uncle Dan’s can provide
campers with all of these things and help their campers enjoy their trips.
 Demographic Elements of Campers- Campers come in all age groups and backgrounds.
But there are four key demographics that Uncle Dan’s needs to focus on. When it comes
to age people that are 25 to 45 take up 65% of the camping market. This age group will
be the target audience that Uncle Dan’s is trying to market. 55% of males camp compared
to 45% of females. This means that most camping gear would be targeting males, but
females are still a large part of the camping community. Martial/Family Status for most
campers is that they are married or living with a domestic partner. Once again, this means
that the main target audience would be males, but their data shows that most people bring
their partners with them, not leaving women out. Finally, the average household income
is greater than $100,000, this means that most campers would be able to afford high end
equipment. Which is what Uncle Dan’s focus is on, and sells to their target market.
(Outdoor Participation Report, 2018).
 Geographic Target: Chicago, IL- Uncle Dan’s geographic target is in between
Milwaukee and Chicago, but focusing more in Chicago. There is only one store near

3. Milwaukee as shown in the map. There are eight retail locations in Chicago and three
rental outposts on Lake Michigan. All of the stores are fairly close to each other and the
city of Chicago, so it seems that most campers are not willing to drive very far in order to
get the camping equipment that they would need.
Uncle Dan’s Outdoor Store Company Profile
 Purpose, Missionand History- Uncle Dan’s is a family owned business. Brent Weiss
was 13 when he first started working for his Uncle, Dan Weiss. After his uncle passed
away in 1972 Brent and his brother decided to open up their own stores. The first Uncle
Dan’s was opened in 1972 along with a sister store named Erehwon. The two stores grew
together to become very popular and became more high-end outdoor stores as time grew
on. (Local Stories, 2017). The Erehwon store adopted the Uncle Dan’s name in order to
unify them. The main focuse that these stores have is to make sure that people have the
right gear for their adventures. What makes them different is that they care about their
customers, and will do anything to make sure that their customers are fully prepared for
their outdoor adventures. (Uncle Dan’s).
 Products- Uncle Dan’s carries high end outdoor equipment. Some brands that they carry
are Patagonia, North Face, Canada-Goose, Hydro Flask, Icebreaker Merino, Fjallraven,
Marmot, and Merrell. These are all well-known high-end outdoor brand names. Some
specific things that they carry that campers would need is tents. In order to camp, in most
cases you need somewhere safe to sleep with some type of roof over your head. Uncle
Dan’s carries 76 different types of tents ranging in price from $79.95 to $499.95. Uncle
Dan’s also carries sleeping bags, if campers want to experience all of the effects of the
outdoors. They have 259 different types of sleeping bags that range in price from $39.95

4. to $479.00. Uncle Dan’s has better deals than their competitors, for example a sleeping
bag called the Nemo Astro Insulated Long Wide sleeping bag is $119.95 at competing
stores, whereas at Uncle Dan’s it is priced at $99.95. (Uncle Dan’s). They also carry back
packs, which is shown in the psychographic section that one of the most sought after
camping products is a backpack. Uncle Dan’s carries 99 different types of backpacks that
range in price from $20.95 to $299.95. Just by looking at these two products this research
shows that Uncle Dan’s not only caters to more high-end shoppers, they also sell to
campers who are camping on a budget. Throughout the research it was found that, Uncle
Dan’s has better deals than most of the other outdoor stores found online. Also,
comparing tents at competing outdoor stores the Marmo Mantis 3P Plus Tent is $219.00
whereas at Uncle Dan’s it is $143.95. (Uncle Dan’s). This all goes to show that even
though Uncle Dan’s is a more high-end outdoor store it still can cater to middle class
citizens looking to camp on a budget. According to the psychographic section, campers in
Chicago are looking for camping near them, and the best products that they can find
around the Chicago area.
 Locations- In total, Uncle Dan’s has eight retail locations and three rental outposts. The
retail stores are close in proximity to Chicago, so campers are able to find a store near
them. The rental locations are on the coast of Lake Michigan, so they would be accessed
while already on a trip if campers needed kayaks or canoes. The picture shown below is
just of the retail locations. However, as shown, they are all fairly close to one another,

5. and the city of Chicago so campers can easily access them. There are many camping
parks near these locations. So, campers can easily access Uncle Dan’s on their way.
Why campers are the Perfect Target for Uncle Dan’s
Uncle Dan’s is the perfect place for campers so go for their camping equipment because
they cater to campers in Chicago. They have top of the line products, but they also have
affordable products for campers that are on a budget. Uncle Dan’s is just right outside of the city,
so campers can head their on their way to the great outdoors. Uncle Dan’s is the perfect place for
campers in Chicago to find all of their camping needs. Our target wants flashlights, coolers,
tents, sleeping bags, etc. This store also caters to any gender and any age. They know that
families and partners love to camp together so they are not just focused on the typical male
outdoor store. They carry multiple types of brands that go along with the outdoors style. The
target audience wants the best of the best, and Uncle Dan’s has it!

6. Media Plan Recommendations
Magazine Recommendations
Magazine Name: Chicago Magazine
 Rationale: This magazine makes sense because it directly targets the people of
Chicago. The advertising months that I recommend for this campaign is May,
June and July. Chicago Magazine’s editions these months align well with what we
want to advertise, camping gear. The benefits of advertising with Chicago
magazine is that people get their hands on it and see it everywhere.
 Ad Size and Position: For this magazine I have recommended 4-color 2/3 page
ad inside of the magazine. I decided to make this the largest size magazine ad
because it was one of the cheaper magazines so we could afford the larger ad. In
addition, it is a magazine that runs primarily in Chicago.
 Ad Cost: The cost per ad for this particular magazine is $13,800. The total
campaign cost for running an ad during the months of May, June and July is
$41,400.
 CPM: The CPM for this magazine is $17.39, which is lower than the other
magazines. Outside Magazine, which is $43.33, and Outdoor Life Magazine,
which is $31.60. The difference that sets Chicago Magazine apart is that its direct
target audience is Chicago Residents. It is reaching more people locally than
either of the other magazines. Comparing all of these to the radio CPM’s, which
are for a country station called WUSN-FM, $7.40, and a News/Talk show called
WBEZ-FM, $7.48.

7. Magazine Name: Outside Magazine
 Rationale: This magazine makes sense because its target audience is
outdoorspeople. It is trying to reach people that have an interest in being outside.
Which aligns to Uncle Dan’s target audience, of wanting to sell camping gear. It
is a larger audience, unlike Chicago Magazine; it is not based strictly in Chicago.
However, this could be a good thing by helping to reach online shoppers outside
of the Chicago area.
 Ad Size and Position: For this magazine, I chose a smaller, but still reasonable
ad size. It was a more expensive outlet, and I wanted to make sure that we would
have enough in our budget to reach all of the other outlets. I chose a ¼-page ad
inside the magazine. Like I said, this magazine is the most costly, but it still will
reach Chicago campers and online campers.
 Ad Cost: This ad costs $31,155, making the total campaign cost for this magazine
over the course of three months, $93,465. It is the most expensive magazine ad
that we are purchasing, but it also reaches the largest audience of all of the three.
 CPM: The CPM for Outside Magazine is $43.33, it is the largest CPM of all of
the magazines, but it reaches the most people. This compared to Chicago
Magazines $17.39 and Outdoor Life Magazines $31.60 it will reach the most
people. Also, if we compare all of these to the radio CPM’s which are for a
country station called WUSN-FM, $7.40, and a News/Talk show called WBEZ-
FM, $7.48. Outside Magazine is reaching the most amount of people, but for
more money.

8. Magazine Name: Outdoor Life Magazine
 Rationale: This is a national magazine, not directed solely in Chicago, but similar
to Outside magazine it will reach more people. This will help bring in online
shoppers, and out of towners. It aligns with the target audience, campers, because
it’s mission is the help outdoorspeople learn new things, and find the best outdoor
gear.
 Ad Size: To run an ad in this particular magazine was very expensive, seeing that
it is a national magazine. It will reach a lot of people, and could benefit us in the
long run with avid campers across the country. I chose a 1/3 page ad, just to run
one time total, inside the magazine. I did this because we had to run an ad in a
third magazine, and this one was expensive but seemed legit and could help bring
in online campers.
 Ad Cost: The cost per ad for this magazine is $31,600, which makes the total
campaign cost $31,600.
 CPM: The CPM for this magazine is $31.60, which is expensive seeing as though
we are only running the ad one time. However, like I said before we had to have a
third ad, and this one seems like a good source. Comparing this to Chicago
Magazines $17.39 and Outside Magazines $43.33 it is not the most expensive ad
CPM, but if we were to buy more than 1 insertion, it would have easily had the
largest CPM. Also, comparing all of these to the radio CPM’s which are for a
country station called WUSN-FM, $7.40, and a News/Talk show called WBEZ-
FM, $7.48. As you can see, magazines reach more people than radio, which is
why I spent the most amount of budget money on these ads.

9. Magazine Excel
Radio Recommendations
Radio Choices
 Format: For my formatting, I chose to use Country and News/Talk. According to
Nielson’s Top PPM Radio, News/Talk is number one in the amount of listeners and
Country is number three in the amount of listeners.
 Days and Daypart: I chose the am slots of the radio stations because these days, most
people don’t listen to the radio for music. They are listening to radio on their way to work
to see what happened the night before, and what the weather is going to be like. Most
likely, while they are doing something else and listening half way. They could also be
thinking about their next camping trip and all of the things they still needed to get for it.
That’s when Uncle Dan’s ad comes over the radio, and they head there after work.
 Insertions: I chose to have 1 ad run an hour, 1 day a week, every other week of the three
month span, making the total amount of insertions 8, which for radio is not a lot.
However, as I said, people do not really listen to the radio anymore. If they are, it’s
because it’s an afterthought while they are doing something else. It will not reach that
large of an audience. So, I did the least amount of insertions as I could, so I could save
more money for other outlets.
Station No. 1:
 US 99 Chicago’s Hottest Country WUSN-FM
 Reason: I chose this station because it had one of the highest rating points for Chicago
radio, and as shown in demographic research, outdoorspeople love country music.

10.  Cost Per Ad: The cost per ad for this radio station is $1,791. I figured this up by
multiplying the rating to the cost per point.
 CPM: The CPM for this radio station is $7.40, which is the cheapest CPM of all of the
media vehicles. It can reach our audience for cheap. Compared to my other radio station
with is similar in CPM at $7.48. However, compared to the magazines these are a small
fraction of the people that they would reach. Outside Magazine’s CPM is $43.33,
Chicago Magazine’s CPM is $17.39 and Outdoor Life Magazine’s CPM is $31.60. All
more expensive than radio, but they also reach a lot more people and have a pass-along
rate.
Station No. 2
 WBEZ 91.5 CHICAGO
 Reason: I chose this radio station because it is a News/Talk radio station, which most
people listen to on their drive to work. In addition, it is an NPR radio station, so it has the
chance to reach people nationally.
 Cost Per Ad: The cost per ad for this radio station is $1,970. I calculated it by
multiplying the rating to the cost per point.
 CPM: The CPM for this radio station is $7.48, which is similar in price to other radio
station that I chose. But, still a fraction of Outside Magazine’s CPM of $43.33, Chicago
Magazine’s CPM of $17.39 and Outdoor Life Magazine’s CPM of $31.60.
Radio Stations Excel

11. Google Keyword Recommendations
Keywords/Key phrases
Cost Per Click
(CPC)
Total
Clicks per
Month
Number
of
Months Total Clicks Total Cost
CPM
(CPC)
FamilyTent
$
2.28 1,500 3 4500
$
10,260
$
2,280
CampingTents
$
1.02 1,500 3 4500
$
4,590
$
1,020
Flashlight
$
0.67 1,500 3 4500
$
3,015
$
670
Tent
$
1.13 1,500 3 4500
$
5,085
$
1,130
SleepingBag
$
1.03 1,500 3 4500
$
4,635
$
1,030
Tentsfor Sale
$
1.13 1,000 3 3000
$
3,390
$
1,130
CampingGear
$
1.62 1,000 3 3000
$
4,860
$
1,620
Cooler
$
2.28 1,500 3 4500
$
10,260
$
2,280
Backpack
$
1.14 1,000 3 3000
$
3,420
$
1,140
HikingNearMe
$
2.00 500 3 1500
$
3,000
$
2,000
Dog Gear
$
0.92 500 3 1500
$
1,380
$
920
Camp Kitchen
$
2.13 1,000 3 3000
$
6,390
$
2,130
CampingLights
$
0.88 500 3 1500
$
1,320
$
880
Google Total/Avg
$
1.40 10,800 3 32,400
$
61,605
$
17,418
 Rationale: I think that google is one of the best advertising outlets that advertisers can
use. People google everything, especially when they need to find a good deal when they
are shopping. In addition, the great thing about google is that you don’t have one set price
on your advertisement, you pay as much as your ad is clicked on. I chose these words
because they all relate to camping. Hiking, outdoors, etc. Most of the words on here

12. correlate to the products that Uncle Dan’s sells. With the one exception of, hiking near
me, when people go camping they are most likely going to go somewhere with hiking
trails. Thus, they are going to need hiking gear, and if they find a good deal on hiking
gear at Uncle Dan’s, they will most likely buy the rest of their camping gear there as
well.
 Most Expensive Word: There are two words that are the most expensive “family tent”
and “cooler”. These words are great words to correlate with advertising camping because
many families love to camp. In addition, it is shown in the demographics section that
most people camp with a partner or multiple people. Therefore, they will need a larger
tent for their camping needs. Coolers are dire when it comes to camping. There is
normally no electricity in the wilderness, so people need reliable coolers to keep their
beverages, lunchmeat, and other cold foods cold. That is where Uncle Dan’s comes in
having 26 high quality coolers. (Uncle Dan’s). I believe that these words are so expensive
because they are normally the number one things that people look at when they are
planning a camping trip, and I bought the same amount of clicks for both words. The
least expensive word that I purchased was flashlight, which surprises me, because
according to the research flashlights are one of the top things that people purchase before
going on a camping trip. I bought more of the most expensive words because they are
shown that they are what people are searching for the most. The point of the ad is to get
people to see it, so if that is what they are looking at the most, I want Uncle Dan’s to be
included.
Google Key Words Excel

13. Strategy Thoughts
 Budget and CPM: With a budget of $250,00- $275,00 there wasn’t a lot of room to buy
a lot of ads for each media source, so I had to make the decision of which media sources
I thought would reach the most people. I chose magazines to spend most of the budget
money seeing as though they can be passed along and will be in the market for longer
than the 3 months when people buy them. I chose google ads to spend the second most
amount of the budget money because it is a great source for advertising, and people use
google almost every day. I spent the least amount of the budget money because in my
opinion radio is a dying source as people use outlets like Apple Music, Spotify and
Pandora for most of the music listening. The CPM’s for the magazines I chose were
Outside Magazine’s CPM of $43.33, Chicago Magazine’s CPM of $17.39 and Outdoor
Life Magazine’s CPM of $31.60. I believe that these outlets reach the most amount of
people so you will get the most bank for your buck with these. Google’s total CPM was
$17,418, which is pretty expensive, but Google is the most successful search engine in
the market. It is a great way to show shoppers your advertisement’s and would reach a
lot of online shoppers. Radio CPM’s were the least expensive seeing WUSN’s CPM is
$7.40 and WBEZ’s CPM is $7.48. I think that this media outlets will reach Chicago
drivers on their commute to work, but is not as efficient as the other two media outlets.
 Media Benefits: From this paper I have learned that the benefits of magazines is that
they are hard copy, so people will own them and see them long term. They also target a
specific audience. For Uncle Dan’s, it is camping, so the magazines that I chose were all
outdoors magazines or based out of Chicago. The benefits of radio advertisements, is

14. that people can hear them on their way to work or if they are getting ready in the
morning listening to their morning news. It is not as efficient as magazines and google
ads but it can still reach a portion of the audience within Chicago. Finally, google ads are
a great way to advertise for a company or brand. As I’ve said before, people are googling
things every day, and the fact that you get to choose which words you want to have an ad
in for pretty cheap is great. It’s one of the most efficient media outlets, and is a great way
to advertise for Uncle Dan’s.

15. Bibliography
Outdoor Foundation. (2018). 2018 Outdoor Participation Report. Retrieved March 16, 2019, from
file:///C:/Users/S526840/Downloads/2018_Outdoor_Recreation_Participation_Report_FINAL2.p
df
Outdoor Foundation. (2017). 2017 American Camping Report. Retrieved March 15, 2019, from
file:///C:/Users/S526840/Downloads/2017-Camping-Report__highlighted.pdf
Local Stories. (2017, May 31). Meet Brent Weiss of Uncle Dan's The Great Outdoor Store in
Lincoln Square and Lakeview. Retrieved March 15, 2019, from
http://voyagechicago.com/interview/meet-brent-weiss-uncle-dans-great-outddor-store-
lincoln-square-lakeview/
Sleep Systems. (n.d.) Retrieved March 15, 2019, from https://www.udans.com/activity/camp-
hike/sleep
Tents & Shelters. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2019, from https://www.udans.com/activity/camp-
hike/tents
Who We Are. (n.d.) Retrieved March 16, 2019, from https://www.udans.com/Who-we-are