▻ Health over environment
For the 25–54 demographic, personal health stats (cholesterol, heart health) are a stronger purchase driver than environmental concerns. Messaging prioritizes nutritional value over sustainability.
◂ December 2025
Test task 01 · Media planning
Media Plan for a Plant-Based Food Brand
Media plansUS & Canada / 2026
An anonymized case study: the brand, competitors, and retail partners have been de-identified; the strategy, budgets, and projections are real.
The Task
The original brief
The Task: Two media plans
A Digital Ad Agency asked me to prepare two media plans for a Plant-based food brand — one with a primary KPI of Awareness, the other of Consideration/Trial (website visits, store locator clicks, online purchases) — with recommended tactics and pricing models (CPM, CPC, CPV) for each, plus a written rationale and a supporting deck to defend the plan. Here is what I did.
Budget
$500,000
Flight
Full year 2026
Markets
US & Canada
Audience
Adults 25–54
Flexitarians, vegetarians & vegansFood/CPG-fit channelsSeasonality & key momentsCompetitive conquestingGeo-targeted splitReal-time reporting & brand lift
01
Goals & Considerations
Winning the flexitarian via taste, timing, and trial.
The What
Win the "Zero Moment of Truth": intercept the shopper while they build their cart. With 60% of decisions made in-app, the battleground moves from the physical shelf to the digital search bar.
Maximize efficiency with a pulsing strategy: we cannot outspend big meat conglomerates 365 days a year, so we execute a "Two-Peak" flighting model (January "health kick" + summer "grill season") to dominate share-of-voice when intent is highest.
The How
The "price anchor" pivot: inflation has made dining out expensive. We reframe the product (~$3/patty) not as "expensive grocery," but as "cheap restaurant quality" at home.
Geo-nuance (the 80/20 split): surgical strikes in top "foodie" metros in the US using conquesting tactics to steal share from the main competitor; in Canada, leverage the "efficiency discount" (~30% lower CPMs) to achieve market dominance in Toronto/Vancouver via grocery loyalty data.
02
Audience Insights & Research
▻ The “dinner panic” window
70% of meal decisions are made between 4:00 PM and 6:00 PM. The audience is time-poor and looks for immediate solutions via mobile apps.
▻ Price barrier
The primary barrier is price perception vs. ground beef; the secondary is the “ultra-processed” stigma. The strategy reframes the value equation toward “restaurant quality” food at home.
03
Budget Split
The US 🇺🇸
$400,000 (75%)
- Population and economy-wise the larger prize
- More mature plant-based market
- Greater retail distribution footprint
- Stronger competitive pressure requires share of voice
- Fragmented, expensive landscape — budget focuses on high-density foodie metros and high-volume retailers
Canada 🇨🇦
$100,000 (20%)
- Growing plant-based adoption rates
- Strong urban concentration (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal)
- Bilingual creative execution (EN/FR)
- Lower CPMs enable efficient reach
- Spend concentrated on the leading grocery loyalty ecosystem
04
Spending Timeline
Two peaks instead of a flat line.
100
20
300
20
60
January
Feb–March
April–August
Oct–Nov
December
Spend in $ thousands
Key issue
A $500k annual budget cannot sustain year-round visibility without diluting impact. An "always-on" strategy would result in negligible weekly reach.
Solution
Deploy 75% of the budget during two high-intent windows: "Veganuary" and New Year's health resolutions, when search volume for "healthy diet" peaks — and the summer grilling season, the highest sales-velocity period for the category.
*The remaining months use low-cost search and retargeting to capture passive demand, going dark only when category interest is lowest.
05
Awareness Plan
Cost-effective reach & trust.
To combat taste skepticism, we prioritize high-fidelity video formats. Budget shifts from traditional TV to short-form video (core) and connected TV (targeted) — lowering the estimated CPM from ~$28 to ~$21 and delivering more views for the same spend.
Instead of polished corporate ads, we use creator-led content (UGC): data shows flexitarians trust "real people" cooking the product more than brand-produced commercials. In Canada, digital out-of-home in Toronto/Vancouver builds perceived scale; in the US, targeted streaming TV reaches health-conscious households.
06
Trial Plan
Intercepting the cart.
Retail media focus: 70% of the trial budget goes to the largest US retail media network and Canada's leading grocery loyalty program — placing the product at the top of search results inside the grocery app, at the exact moment of purchase intent.
Basket analysis: using a leading grocery delivery app's technology to target "associated baskets." If a shopper adds brioche buns or charcoal to their cart, we serve a targeted suggestion for the product, aiming for a high conversion rate.
Competitive defense: a portion of the search budget goes to "conquesting" — bidding on competitor keywords to present the brand as a premium alternative to consumers actively searching for rival brands.
07
Projected Results
34.5 mln
estimated impressions
🇨🇦 Efficiency drivers — short-form video and Canadian media provide 86% more impressions vs. benchmarks.
$28 → $21.5
blended CPM
25% CPM cost reduction via channel optimization, vs. the industry benchmark.
Retail media actions
~75,000 clicks & adds-to-cart
Grocery display & local
~2.5M targeted impressions and ~15,000 verified store visits
Search & conquesting
~12,500 high-intent clicks