Travis Biederman
Ad and Copy Layout
Final Project
Taco Bell Ad Campaign
Situation Analysis:
 Consumer AnalysisThe Taco Bell restaurant has been around since 1962 and since then, the Mexican
fast-food franchise has increased the number of restaurants and consumers. Over 2 billion
consumers are served each year in over 5,800 restaurants around the U.S. alone. Consumers can
benefit from Taco Bell’s different varieties of tacos, burritos, gorditas, etc. Along with that
variety come the numerous menus that are available, including cheap prices and great deals.
Plus, Taco Bell is open until midnight or later, which benefits those that are still hungry after
most fast-food restaurants have closed already.
The target audience I am trying to reach out to is 18-30 year old males and females. My
goal is looking for those people that are hungry, but need a little motivation for some good fastfood dining. I figured that 18-30 is the ages that most people are willing to go out and pay for
their food instead of making it. By targeting people with these kinds of demographics, I hope to
inform them of just how popular Taco Bell is with my “Who Am I??” campaign.
Within my target audience, I hope to get a different reaction based upon the different
groups associated, but all have the same result. These groups include high school students,
college students, those with permanent or temporary paying jobs, and those living alone or with
someone. I want these groups of consumers to look at an ad and try guessing what the answer is.
This would hopefully get those consumers to have a good glimpse of the ad, keep them thinking
about the ad, and associate the ad as a solution to their hunger problems. In reality, my goal is to
have consumers be in the exact situation above when it comes to looking at the ad and having
only one thing in mind when their done looking...“I want Taco Bell!”
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
Market AnalysisTaco Bell has around 5,800 restaurants all around the U.S. and as many as 250
outlets in about 20 different countries around the world. The expansion of Taco Bell is still
happening as we speak, with more restaurants coming to more foreign countries within the next
few years. I would say that the market growth rate is progressively increasing due to the most
recent marketing campaigns in 2010 like the $2 value meal, the $5 big box, and the World
Hunger Relief movement. Every year, Taco Bell tries new bigger and better marketing ideas that
push their products to an all new high. Taco Bell’s revenue as of 2009 was estimated at around
$1.9 billion.
Taco Bell is owned by a Fortune 500 Company Yum! Brands, Inc. Included with Taco
Bell, Yum! Brands also own KFC, A&W Restaurants, Pizza Hut, WingStreet, and Long John
Silver’s. All of these restaurants are in competition with Taco Bell, making this fast-food market
tough for all competitors. The number of marketing campaigns that the other restaurants have
done is just as good as Taco Bell’s campaigns. Also, I myself have seen the same amount of
advertisements on TV when comparing Taco Bell with the other competitors. Another point that
makes this market so competitive is that some of these restaurants are paired together, sharing
the same building for a 2-in-one type of feel. Taco Bell and KFC seem to pair up in many
locations in the U.S.; KFC is Taco Bell’s leading competitor in my eyes. In all honesty, all the
Yum! Brands restaurants have a competing edge with one another because they are all owned by
the same company. Taco Bell is in a very competitive market and with my new ad campaign, I
would like to see Taco Bell pull ahead of this epic battle for king of the fast-food era.
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
Product/Brand AnalysisTaco Bell restaurants sell a variety of Mexican-style food products and brands.
Since the fast-food franchise has started, people went to Taco Bell for the main purpose of
getting the Mexican-style food they were craving for. Currently, Taco Bell is still running with a
marketing campaign of $2 meal deals, 89 cents, and 99 cents value meals. Cheap prices and
great deals are what consumers look for in fast-food restaurants. One huge new idea that Taco
Bell did in the beginning of 2010 was the Drive-Thru Diet Menu. Christine Dougherty of
Pensacola, Fla., is featured in Taco Bell’s Drive-Thru Diet Menu marketing campaign, which
includes national TV ads showcasing her story of losing 54 pounds by reducing her daily calories
while eating from the Taco Bell Drive-Thru Diet Menu. Like Dougherty, 72 percent of
Americans visit drive-thrus for convenience, according the survey results.
One of Taco Bell’s competitors, KFC, recently just advertised their original crispy
chicken with the plated meal items as part of a marketing campaign, “Why make food yourself
when we can make it for you.” A $12 value that feeds a family of 4, KFC wants people to save
money by buying a holiday feast that can feed the entire family. KFC is using brand imaging for
their original crispy chicken towards the holidays and telling people to associate KFC with the
holiday season. Long John Silver’s is also advertising about their $10 family pack and using the
same campaign idea as KFC and Taco Bell with the emphasis of cheap prices and great deals.
It seems that Taco Bell, as well as some of its competitors, are using the “cheap
campaign” by letting consumers know that cheap is what you want and we know it. Also, Taco
Bell has recently introduced the Taco Party Pack to try and compete with KFC and Long John
Silver’s family value packs. Again, the family packs are a good marketing campaign for fastfood restaurants to use when the holidays roll around.
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 SWOT AnalysisStrengths - It is recognized as of the best Mexican fast food chains in the U.S with a specialized
quick service approach. The Taco Bell offers a Mexican-style menu including tacos, burritos,
gorditas, quesadillas, and nachos. It has a total of about 5,600 restaurants in different locations
across the U.S. and as many as about 250 outlets in about 20 countries of the world. Taco Bells
distinctive feature is that its units can be seen operating as free standing units in the shopping
malls, convenience stores, airports etc. It serves more than 2 million customers annually.
Weaknesses - Taco Bell suffered a number of losses and lost its goodwill when in November
2006, twenty two of its customers were hospitalized due to traces of E.coli bacteria. Likewise in
February 2007, Taco Bell Manhattan was reported to have rodents. The whole scenario was
made public and was shown by the media which lead to closure of a number or Taco Bell’s
outlets throughout the U.S.
Opportunities - There exists extensive opportunities for market growth to expand in the new as
well as penetrate in the currently existing market segments. New flavors and new recipes
specially focused on more health friendly ingredients should be introduced by Taco Bell in its
menus.
Threats – Fast-food industry as a whole faces some crucial risks which are also a risk to the
Taco Bell. Firstly this sector is highly labor intensive which increases the subjectivity involved
in the delivery of services to the customers. Secondly the new researches and the raised
awareness among the publics about the harmful health impacts of fast food consumption is a
threat to Taco Bell’s fast food menus.
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Creative Strategy:
 Business Objective – To increase the number of consumers in Taco Bell restaurants and
increase brand awareness using my ad campaign as a word association tool.

How can advertising accomplish this objective – If my ad campaign works, it will help
consumers make a decision about where they would most likely want to eat when
thinking about cheap and convenient fast-food service. Plus, the Taco Bell logo is a great
attention-getter for consumers.

Target Consumer – My target consumer is 18-30 year old males and females that do not
like to make food and would rather go out and buy something that is cheap and tastes
good. Groups of consumers include: high school students, college students, those with
permanent or temporary paying jobs, and those living alone or with someone.

What do we want them to know about us – I want consumers to understand more about
Taco Bell as a company. My ad campaign gives them a fact about Taco Bell and it asks
them “Who Am I?” I want people to know interesting and true facts about the restaurant.

Why will people believe this is true – Consumers will believe the facts are true because
they are posted on the Taco Bell website. There would be a number of resources where
consumers could check towards if they didn’t believe that my ad campaign facts were
true. The main purpose of the ads is that I want consumers to associate the “Who Am I?”
saying with Taco Bell.

My Ads and Mediums – For my 2 magazine ads, I decided that I would put them in
Entertainment Weekly magazine. Dates would be 12/10/10, the Entertainers of the Year
issue, and 12/24/10-12/31/10, the Best of 2010 issue.
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Full color ad for a single issue would be $160,470 and for a black and white, it would be
$128,375. Double (combined) issues for full color would be $167,450 and black and
white would be $133,960. For my total budget with full color ads, I would be spending
$327,920.