City Link Premium Express Companys Marketing Communication Strategies - Case Study Example

Integrated marketing communication Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 2 BACKGROUND 3 Content analysis 5 Internal organization of the company 5 External 5 Business 5 Stakeholders 6 Customers 6 SMART objectives for the company 6 STRATEGIES AND TACTICS 8 ACTIONS 11 CONTROL AND EVALUATION 13 Conclusion 14 Recommendations 14 LIST OF REFERENCES 15 Executive summary City Link - Premium Express Company is a company that offer parcel delivery services. The company is located in England. The company further offers the leading premium based delivery services in a flexible, quality and innovative way in the entire UK region, to Ireland and to the entire world. The company was established in 1969 and since then, it has been able to offer the best delivery services. It has been able to establish a strong network in the region, which has been able to link many nations with a good customer based network. Despite the success of the company, the past few years has proven challenging to the management and the entire company. During this time, the company experienced a crisis management problem and lost many of its customers, making the image of the company to be tarnished. The company has since then taken a major step to win back the customers improve the image of the company as well as attracting perspective customers. They have decided to carry out an integrated marketing communications using the COSTAC framework for a period of one year. This is option is considered as it considered be effective in achieving the objectives and the goals of the company. INTRODUCTION Marketing communication refers to the process of creating awareness, reminding or/and persuading customers of a product or a service (Yeshin, 2002). Marketing communication is significant in influencing a buyer’s purchasing decision. Integrated marketing communication (IMC), on the other hand, refers to judicious and the effective use of promotional tools of a product in passing a message across to the customers or potential customers (Yeshin, 2002). The effect of IMC to the existing and prospective customers is often noticeable. This is because the framework of IMC involves the interaction of different marketing communication elements, which have potential to improve or trigger other communication media to contribute (Belch and Belch, 2003). A marketing plan is important in attaining success in marketing. This is because it enables a company and its marketing team to focus on the marketing process. A marketing plan can be prepared using different approaches. However, there are key stages to these different approaches. These key stages are contained in an acronym SOSTC, that is, situation analysis, objectives, strategies, tactics, and control (Reid, 2003). Integrated marketing communication is an aggressive marketing strategy that aims to capture and use extensive amount of information about customers to set and track marketing strategy (Reid, 2003). It thus involves the coordination of the outgoing message of a company and consistency of the message between various media. An integrated marketing system is thus an organized process. The steps used in integrated marketing system include (Reid, 2003) Database with customer information; this element is crucial in segmenting and analyzing customers’ buying habits. Strategies; an insight from the analysis of the data about the customer is utilized in shaping marketing, communication and sales strategies. Tactic; the strategy is determined and the most appropriate tactic for marketing is specified. Evaluation of results, the effectiveness of the tactics and the strategies are determined through the analysis of the customers’ responses. BACKGROUND The Background of the company and nature of crisis problem that it experienced City Link - Premium Express Company, is a company that offers parcel delivery services around the country. It is a large business with several branches in different locations in the UK, in Ireland and in the world at large. The parcel delivery services are offered either to institutions or to individuals. Since its establishment, the company has been performing extremely well, thus becoming the number one in the entire Europe and the UK. This made the company to create a strong customer base and consequently a strong niche market. The main successes of the company include the quality delivery, timeliness, and reliability of its services. However, recently, the company faced a crisis in the services that has long been valued by the customers. This is because; lately the company has been affected greatly in its delivery of parcels and letters. Several cases of lack of accountability and ineffectiveness has been experienced. The main cause, which has been attributed to this ineffectiveness, is carjacking and robberies along the way when the company is delivering the parcels. These circumstances have tarnished the image of the company and in the process; the company has lost a good number of the customers as they have lost trust in their services. Potential customers have also been discouraged and some of the company’s branches have collapsed. This has consequently led to continuous losses in the business and very low profits in the business operations, the company has also lacked the ability to compete in the market, and generally, almost every aspect of the business has leveled down. This situation has raised the need for the company to take the company back to its previous performance or to even high heights. The marketing department of this company has been pointed to have the most significant role in this activity. This is because this department has a major responsibility in guiding and leading the other departments of the company in the development, production, fulfilling the products and the services to the customers. Marketing communications is a major unit of the marketing department that explores the various promotion strategies available in selling products or services of the company. This unit gives the company an insight on ways to use advertising, sales promotions, the media and event management. The marketing communication department does not work independently; it is involved with the other departments in the process of deciding how to produce and present the services or the products to the customers. This is because, this department has a better understanding of the customers’ needs, and also the nature of the market since its activities involves interaction with them. Content analysis Internal organization of the company City Link - Premium Express Company has a strong network which is dedicated to the local account management and benefits the customers through global partners of local services. The company has an annual turnover which exceeds $350m. Some of the value added services which the company provides include Ireland, Post, International, Sameday and Print Logistics. The company has over 450 employees, over 20 managers in different regions and over 100 senior staff. The company further has over 20 branches in the country and several others worldwide. External The services are offered to various types of customers; institutions and individuals. Business The business was established in 1969 and since then it has continued to serve the world in provision of the necessary services. The services offered had been having great demand due to the efficient services that has been offered over the years. This resulted to its high competition level in the market. Stakeholders The stakeholders of the company are the creditors and shareholders of the company and the employees. Customers The customers of the company are widely distributed within the country. This is the reason behind the several branches that are located in different parts of the country. SMART objectives for the company The importance of setting marketing communications objectives is to enable the assessment of how the ongoing dialogue with the customers can be enhanced so that the brand narrative can be maintained and the competitive advantages be sustained. Setting of objectives also provides a good way of checking on how the marketing resources are utilized during the process of marketing (Plessis, & Gerber, 2002) and also it provides a mechanism of evaluating the progress and the cost of the resources against the organization budget (Richman, 2006). Objectives can be categorized into three groups; The knowledge based objectives Action based objectives Feeling based objectives The knowledge base objectives aim at getting the attention and creating awareness of a product (Richman, 2006). The feeling based objectives aim to change the attitude of the audience towards a product by developing the brand identity, improving the image of the company and creating shared values while the action based objectives aims at improving the sales and customers’ relationships. The setting of objectives thus needs to be well determined in order for goals to be achieved. SMART is the general approach suggested during the setting of the objectives. It is an acronym that stands for; Specific, Measurable, Realistic and Timed objectives (Belch and Belch, 2003). Specificity is an element, which looks at the actual effects of the marketing communication that are to be achieved; these effects could be the creation of awareness and the changing of attitude (Fill, 2006). Measurable refers to qualitative and quantitative metrics needed to evaluate the objectives. Achievable is an element that directs that the set objectives should be attainable. This means that the set objects should not be too high such that the market context cannot hold them. Realistic is an element that directs feasibility of marketing communication objectives considering the time, the resources, and the current competition level in the market. Timed as an element, directs that the duration needed to achieve the communication objectives should be considered (Fill, 2006). SMART objectives form the starting point for a marketing plan. When environmental analysis and marketing auditing are performed, the results inform the SMART objectives (Duncan, 2002). SMART objectives serve the following purposes; enable controlling of a company’s marketing plan, motivation of the marketing team to go for a common goal, and providing an agreed focus to all involved parties in an organization (Belch and Belch, 2003). The objectives set should be specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timed. City Link - Premium Express Company has lost most of its features that makes it stand out among the other companies that offer similar services. The image of the company and its competitive levels has been lost with the crisis that the company faced as well as loss of it customers and also, the profits have drastically gone down. The SMART objectives thus need to mainly revolve around these major issues. The probable and applicable SMART objectives that can help this company to attain goals can be as follows; Objective for survival: to survive the current recession of the business. Objective for profits: to attain a 35% return on capital by June 2013 Objective for Market share: to achieve a 30% of the market for parcel delivery services by October 2015 Objective for promotions: to provide a 20% discount on services offered for more than one week. Growth objective: to open five more branches around the country by September 2011. Branding objective: to make Right parcel delivery services the preferred service all around the country by 2016. These objectives have the quality of SMART; they can well suit the operations of the company as they have been set with consideration of the current status of the company based on its financial and other resources status. These objectives can form a framework for the company’s activities during the process of its reconstruction. STRATEGIES AND TACTICS Discussion and justification of the most appropriate marketing communication strategies and tactics for this organization A strategy is simply an idea or a conceptualization that directs one on how to achieve a goal (Duncan, 2002). On the other hand, a tactic is the action taken to execute a strategy (Taylor, & Smith, 2004). The strategy and tactics used in a marketing organization need not to be understood by the customers. It is the organization full responsibility to determine and understand them while the customer is only supposed to understand how best the brand is the best choice among many alternatives. In other words, the organization should work to let the customers see only the benefits of the brand. Marketing communications serves to help the customers make selection by putting the products in the marketplace and also by giving a psychological impact to the customers (Duncan, 2002). Strong marketing communication strategies makes a business stand out from the others. Developing marketing communication strategies requires the consideration of some aspects if the strategies are to have a positive impact. It is important to consider aspects such as; The nature of the market: a deep understanding of the market is important, it is important to gauge the key players, the position of the market, influences of the market as well as the changes that occur to the market (Rogers, 2000). Business needs: the assessment of the primary objects of the business, the competitive pressures, and the barriers of success in the business are also important to consider to setting up the strategies. Available resources: it is also crucial to determine the budget of the business, staffing, and the strengths and the weaknesses of the business to avoid setting of strategies that cannot be met the resources of the company. (Rogers, 2000). By considering the above aspects, it is much easier to determine the most appropriate strategies for a business. A good marketing strategy has the following concept; a good understanding of a product’s strengths and weaknesses, a clear knowledge of customer preferences and the market status (Taylor, & Smith, 2004). The most appropriate marketing strategy for this organization should concentrate on boosting the customer confidence and loyalty, overcoming objections, creation of awareness, advantage emotions of the customers, and setting of deadlines for any activity carried out. Thus the strategies that can be appropriate for this company could be; Create new reasons why customers should go for the services of the company Ensure that old customers are retained Be among the top list of the competitive companies Coming up with more option of parcel types Improve the image of the company reliability Assure the public of renewed and better parcel delivery services Tactics to execute the chosen strategies are also very important to consider before marketing communication begins. They should match with the strategies (Yeshin, 2002). Tactics can be of four categories, that is, advertising and promotional media tactics, personal communication tactics, organizational media, and news media tactics (Yeshin, 2002). The tactics that be used to execute these strategies in this company include; carrying out television advertisement about the company’s parcel delivery services. This is a good tactic considering that this company has branches located on most parts of the country. The nature of the audience therefore means that advertisements that are to be carried on should target a big audience. TV advertisement is a good option to reach this large audience as many people own televisions. In the TV advertisement, inclusion of infomercials can also have a major impact. This is because infomercials give customers detailed information about services or products and this may most likely create more customers as the message reaches a large audience through the television. Newspapers advertisement can also perfectly work to reach the customers who are in different parts of the country (Taylor, & Smith, 2004). The objectives set in an integrated marketing communication plan are often related to rebuilding or creating more relationships with buyers and the other stakeholders of the organization through creating effect on the sales and the profits of the business (Duncan & Caywood, 2000). The crisis that happened to this company affected mostly the customers’ loyalty and attitude towards the company, the image of the company to potential customers, the sales of the company, and generally the image of their services. Thus the objectives that need to be set during the marketing plan should mainly aim these affected aspects and other related aspects. These objectives thus should be as follows; To enhance the image of the company To reinforce the use of the services To increase the market share To change the attitude and the believes of the customers To increase the sales To build customer traffic To encourage repeated purchasing of the services To increase the awareness of the services ACTIONS Justification for and discussion of the actions required to achieve stated marketing communications objectives To enhance the image of the company. This will be achieved by using a strong branding such as a new slogan in the market To reinforce the use of the services. This will involve maintaining current customers by reassuring them of improvement of services. This can be done by offering timely services and discounts on services offered. To increase the market share. This will need intensive promotional activities to be carried out in order to attract potential customers as well as to retain existing customers To change the attitude and believes of the customers. This will involve the rebuilding of trust of the customers. This will be implemented by giving details on the process involved when preparing parcels for delivery and explaining to the security measures put in place to offer more security to parcels during delivery. To increase the sales. This will be achieved by offering affordable prices to the customers as well as carrying out promotional activities. To build customer traffic. Customer traffic will be build by offering fast and less costly services. To encourage repeated purchasing of the services. This will be achieved by offering discount services and assured security to the parcels. To increase the awareness of the services. This will be done by producing marketing materials such as photo books alongside advertisements on the TV and print media to give information on the services Before setting out to carry out the marketing plan, it is important to have a budget (Plessis, & Gerber, 2002). This is an important action that ensures that resources do not limit achieving of the goals. It is also important to have schedules that should guide when activities are to be carried out to avoid leaving out some important activities or using a lot of time on one activity than the other CONTROL AND EVALUATION Control and evaluation methods for the marketing communications plan It is important to note that the marketing process does not guarantee maximum benefits to the process (Schmonsees, 2005). Moreover, due to the constant changing nature of a market, it is vital to periodically control and evaluate the marketing program so that an effective path is set to achieving the set objectives. Controlling of the marketing communication plan is important due to the scarcity and cost of resources. Controlling thus entails the setting of standards (Duncan, 2002). Evaluation of the progress of the marketing plan thus involves the comparison of the actual progress and the set standards to allow corrective measures to be carried out incase of any (Schmonsees, 2005). The approaches that can be done during the controlling process are several. The approach or the approaches taken depend on market status of the business. They may include; Analysis of the market share. The performance of the current promotion activities. Analysis of sales The level of the services Control of quality The budget of the business Ratio analysis Research on marketing Having marketing information systems Preparation of cash flow statements Having a knowledge on location of both the buyers and the potential buyers Knowledge on the status of the customer relationship management system. Conclusion SOSTAC framework is an effective method suitable in strategic planning. This integrated marketing plan has used this framework and due to the organization of ideas that has been presented by using the framework it is almost certain that the objectives and goals set will be achieved. It is however important to note that a marketing plan does not guarantee the achievement of the set goals. Recommendations The decision to have a marketing plan is crucial for a successful marketing process as it provides a guideline on what to do during the activity. Considering the status of this company, the plan is of significant use and the likelihood of achieving the goals is also sure. It is advisable to the company to use a marketing plan in the future even after correcting the situation and it should apply to any marketing process. Whatever the approach used in preparing the marketing plan, it is always important to make use of SOSTAC. LIST OF REFERENCES Belch, E. & Belch, M. 2003. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective (6th edition.). Boston: McGraw-Hill Companies. Duncan, T. & Caywood, C. 1996. “Concept, Process, and Evolution of IMC”, in Integrated Communication: Synergy of Persuasive Voices, Thorson, E., and Moore, J., eds. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Duncan, T. 2002. IMC: Using Advertising & Promotion to Build Brands. McGraw-Hill Companies, New York. Fill, C. 2006. Simply marketing communications. Financial Times Prentice Hall, USA. Fill, C. 2009. Marketing Communications: Interactivity, Communities and Content, (5th Ed), Pearson Education, UK. Plessis, D. & Gerber, T. 2002. FCS Marketing Communication. Pearson publishers, South Africa. Reid, M. 2003. “IMC-Performance Relationship: Further Insight and Evidence from the Australian Marketplace,” International Journal of Advertising, Australia. Richman, L. 2006. Improving your project management skill. Amacom publishers, USA. Rogers, S. 2000. Marketing strategies, tactics, and techniques: a handbook for practitioners. Greenwood Publishing Group, UK. Schmonsees, J. 2005. Escaping the Black Hole: Minimizing the Damage from the Marketing-Sales Disconnect. Mason, OH: Thomson/Southwestern. Taylor, J. & Smith P. 2004. Marketing communications: an integrated approach. Kogan Page Publishers, New York. Yeshin, T. 2002. Integrated marketing communications: the holistic approach. Butterworth-Heinemann, UK. Read More