Marketing Tools of IMC - Creative Brand-Building Activities - Case Study Example

Introduction The concept of integrate marketing communication is being increasingly used by many firms. The process is in essence a strategic integration of a variety of communication tools such as advertising, sales, promotion, personal selling, public relations, publicity and direct marketing. Integrated marketing communication incorporates both customer and non-customer stakeholder groups. The most effective marketing communication process for sales-oriented organizations is an integrated plan designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect are relevant and consistent. Advertising, sales promotion, public relations and direct marketing must work together as a unified force, rather than as autonomous, isolated entities. The goal is creation of a sustained look and message in all marketing campaign elements and, ultimately, every point of contact for a customer, prospect, or the general public. A single look or message should permeate every planned and unplanned communication at every contact point where the customer or prospect may receive an impression of the company. Executive Summary: An integrated view to the process of marketing communications makes use of numerous communication tools-chief among them being the internet and aims to synchronize and coordinate communication. On can state with a certain degree of certainty at the very beginning of the discussion that different company objectives must fit the overall strategy of the company to be successful. This means in essence that the marketing campaign should reflect the intrinsic belief and value system that the company is trying to promote, since nowadays one does not ever market just the product, marketing happens for the brand- the name and the company itself. Since it can be accepted that different company objectives would help in the generation of different benefits for the consumer, the structure, and the execution if the messages in the process of IMC assumes primary importance. The following report will seek to put forward certain issues that are related to the integrated communicating management and its related equation by putting forward certain perspectives. Tools of IMC 1. Used for Brand Building-Movement away from traditional sectors The tools of integrated marketing communication would extend to include advertising, personal sales, public relations and its related activities, sale promotion, and direct response based promotions. A number of these tools are representative of the movement away from the traditional mass media advertising. This allocation of communication budget is deeply connected to the appearance of and is a major part of IMC. The idea behind this particular form of allocation is the fact that tools of IMC are no longer just used for promotion but are now allocated to the overall process of brand building. this would mean that the purpose or the role of the tools of marketing has seen a shift from traditional functions to the function of brand building and customer connect build-up. The first observation is in relation to the status and the changing role of PR as a tool of brand building. it is no longer just enough for PR to be just a tool for gaining publicity through coverage but it is essential to associate PR with the process of brand building for it to retain its importance. Young, (2007) states that, stated that PR was in the business of brand building. “We’re in the brand image and reputation business.” He further goes on to state that public relations today is potentially the most important cog in the marketing communications wheel.” 2. Evolving role of the Mobile Phone Liodis, (2008) marketing have seen a shift from the usage o singular tools to multiple marketing tools and methods. Companies today use a mix of tools following a strategy, coordinating the mix so that these contribute to the overall company promotion and not just the promotion of a singular product at hand, The observation that one could state about the roles that the tools of integrated marketing communication is the fact that these tools are varied and hence the roles that are expected of them are varied as well in the sense that the overall target achievement. Here the most relevant tool in the context of the mobile phone as a tool of marketing and communications and the role that is expected of it in the context of IMC. A story by Chenery (2006) traces the evolution of the mobile phone as a tool of marketing and the importance that this tool and its related roles have achieved in the context of the new millennium. The report states that mobile marketing is now beginning to step out of its small-demarcated zone and target a wider audience. the report states, “Mobile marketers are targeting a wider audience and moving beyond traditional sectors with promising results, as seen by the winners of this year's Mobile Marketing Awards…Mobile content may be an easier first step into digital communications than online for many baby boomers and, with an ageing population, this is an advantage marketers cannot ignore.” Conclusions There are two basic conclusions that could be drawn from the examples above. First, that PR and many other traditional tools of marketing are now having to undergo a transformation in their shaped, in their existence and in the roles that they play. These are having to now adopt to the new ways of life that demand the integration of the methods and tools of marketing and to fulfill the objective of not just product promotion but of brand building. the second, most noticeable thing is that the role of mobile phones as a tool of marketing and the communication of marketing related messages have now grown and expanded like never before giving the marketers a new form of challenge altogether. Setting IMC Objectives Variables determine objectives IMC is based on the assumption that the process will help in consumer base buildup and a concerted effort to take care of the consumers. Effective implementation of the goals would require a set of strongly identified and well laid out set of objectives for the organization and the product the IMC campaign would seek to accomplish. Agenda setting for the campaign therefore is a manifestation o the agenda that is set for the product in particular and the organization on general. The challenge here is to synchronize the three so that they compliment each other and not end up competing. For this purpose, the trend for successful companies according to Czikota and Ronkainen (2004) is that they need to have an effective implementation of the promotional mix that have a harmonized approach. For this purpose research in previous campaigns that have witnessed a certain level of success is very important. Anastasia Barlas, divisional manager, adult & feminine care at Kotex, states about the success of the campaign that “We dug really deep into this campaign to pinpoint exactly what was driving the success of the brand.We determined the campaign tapped into an attitude that resonated with young women, who were maturing faster and had an increasingly strong independence and self-determination.” This would mean in essence that the prior variables need to be made a consideration in agenda setting. Customer focus Gronds and Anders (1998) state that the objective of an IMC plan would depend on the vagaries of the consumer mind and the demands of the market environment. Buyer readiness and PLC are factors to be studied in the agenda setting process. It is the agenda setting that determines the target audience and hence sets the tone of the campaign as well. In the Mother Coca-Cola Campaign, for example drastic changes were made in the packaging, the look, even the product so that the customer feedback on the original Mother Coca-Cola was channelized in the correct manner. Kirk, Marketing manager of the campaign in his article (2009) states that people interchanged brands depending upon which promo girls gave out free cans or which one was on price promotion. The objective in other words is to change the perspectives based on carefully laid out objectives and the execution of plans that are based on these objectives, This achieved by designing the campaign and its related phase objectives in stages, like the cognitive stage, the affective stage and the behavioral stage. The objectives therefore need to be not just consumer based but designed to coordinate with the phase by phase target and its achievement. Conclusions: The tow conclusions that one can draw from the above mentioned observations are that first, there needs to be some level of detailed research before the process of agenda setting takes place and a campaign designed on the basis of the detailed set objectives is more likely to succeed than one that strays away from the agenda set in the planning stage. Investment and Budgeting Decisions in IMC  Big Budgeting as Incentives in Vogue  It goes without saying that budgeting is in fact the bone of the marketing campaign-how aggressive or meek the campaign ultimately turns out to be is decided by the amount of money and hence the amount of resources that the campaign has at its disposal. Budgeting decisions need to be taken keeping the 4Ps of marketing in mind-the integrated marketing professional must never loose sight of the fact that the campaign for all its strategizing is at the end of the day a marketing campaign looking to affect changes in the behavior of the consumer so that they are convinced to buy the product at hand and accept the brand image of the company in question. An example that would illustrate the point is promotional marketing that offers the winner cash prizes etc, there never loses its poularit with marketers or the market as a whole. A story by Goodsall, (2000), quoted Jeremy Taylor-Riley, managing director of Marcomm Partnership as saying, “Give your target market the 'chance to win $1,000,000' and you are giving your audience the chance to change their lives, says, specialist in strategic promotions and incentives, who explains that insured promotions are back in vogue and benefiting marketers.” The idea therefore is to cash in on the budgeting and investment decisions so that they yield the maximum result with minimal efforts. Goals determine budget prioritization Interestingly enough, an IMC would mean a multitude of tools and methodologies utilized so that the product and the brand gets an overall buildup that it needs. This would mean especially in cases where the budget is limited that there needs to be a process of prioritization. Kitchen, (1994) believes that the tool that promotes best and fastest the set campaign objectives while complimenting the nature of the product needs to be invested in the most and in the most aggressive manner. Ideally, the budgeting needs to be focused at the target audience and a basic aim at attracting the greatest numbers within the set budget and investment scheme. The case of Curious by Britney Spears is a perfect example wherein the set budget was of about A$1 million. Brand and consumer quantitative research revealed there were more Britney Spears acceptors, fragrance purchases and disposable income spent on discretionary items by females under the age of 20. Therefore spend and advantage was aimed at this sector with a secondary target market of women under the age of 30. The link between the brand and the consumer was established around the "try everything girl". The execution saw a focus on this scheme as well with an integrated campaign based on the core idea, as all were interactive and involved the target, allowing them to try Curious. Other aspects of the campaign like the bits involving out of home marketing were also made interactive, all contributing to making Curious the biggest selling fragrance of all time in Australia. One can therefore conclude the budget and investment observations by stating that these require a certain level of research before the ultimate decision is made and that these need to compliment the product and the priorities of the objectives in the IMC campaign hierarchy. Conclusion The stated conclusion from the discussion about budgeting would therefore yield two results. First, aggressive marketing based on heavy duty spending never looses its appeal and in the absence of this facility, the next best thing is to ensure that the available budget is aggressively focused on the target audience. IMC Message Strategy Message structure and Execution The marketing communication would in most cases consist of several messages that are aimed at customers and its is important that these be structured properly so that the aims of the communication processes are met. In this regard, the order in which the message is presented and the conclusions that the message helps the receiver draw are the two basic points that needs to be kept under consideration. It is in this regard that a report that was written by Nandkeloyar (2007) becomes relevant. In the report, it has been stated that Australia is a multicultural society and hence the messages that need to be snet out for marketing purposes can have no universal appeal. Each message has to identify a target audience and has to be tailored accordingly. She states that, “Traditional ad buys in mass media alone no longer bring in magic sales. Brands are seeking to expand their customer relationships with multicultural consumers aggressively, using a variety of niche strategies. Very shortly, this emerging practice area will leap ahead into a mainstream race for customer loyalty, market growth, brand share and the race for market power.” Methods such as testimonials, slices of life, animations, personality symbols, fantasies and dramatizations and humor are all part of the message execution techniques that help make the message attractive holding the attention of the receiver and fulfilling the aim of the communication process need to be used to greater diversification for the process of message formulation and execution (Advertising Age Report, 2009)  Message Effectivity affected by timing, emotional connect The strength with which the message reaches the receiver and the impact that it ultimately leaves on them, is affected severely by the timing of the message, the strength of the message itself and the medium through which the message reaches the receiver. A case in point is the winning entry for the inaugural Australian Association of National Advertisers’ Young Marketer of the Year award-Stuart Carr of Starcom Worldwide. His message was in relation to awareness raising for AIDS. The message itself stated that, ““It could kill more Australians than World War II. But AIDS can be stopped, and you can help stop it.” The message is in itself strong and one that would attract and hold the attention of the audience. Research has found that attention alone does not create purchase intention. This is in part because attention is only the second phase in the four-part cycle of information processing, leaving much to be said about the remaining stages of interpretation and memory. However, if attention and engagement are synonymous cognitively, emphasis needs to be placed on an emotional level (How to achieve relevance, Ad World, 2007 Report). An example is the PlayStation Portable (PSP) guerrilla marketing campaign in San Francisco. In 2005, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) hired graffiti artists in major urban areas to spraypaint buildings with images of PSP-wielding, hip city-dwellers. Ironically, the response to this “Brandalism” was vandalism – many ads were spraypainted over with various images of disapproval. SCE failed to consider the targets’ need states and, by failing to appear legitimate, “astroturphed” a grassroots movement. Clearly, the audience was very much attentive but, without the emotional connection, the majority were not desirably engaged. Improving Tools of Communication Ensuring a streamlining of the tools of Communication According to Smith (1998) there are over 11 tools that are available to a marketer as has been stated earlier these are inclusive of tools like advertising , personal selling, PR, sponsorships, and packaging among others. If one was to answer questions about methods that could be used in the betterment of these tools of communication, one could answer that a process that seeks to streamline these tools and make them work in alliance with the process and the aims of the IMC initiative are probably the best methods that could be employed for their betterment. The idea is that these tools need to work in tandem with the stated objectives of the IMC process; they need to be modeled and channeled to suit the needs of the campaign and the product. For example, a PR campaign would function better if the stated objective of brand building is the focus rather than a gamut of unfocused objectives ranging from product promotion to brand management.   Choosing correct medium for correct tool and product This is an essence of the old theories of the marketing mix that have been propagated by theorists like Kotler ever since the inception of marketing theory and relate concepts. George, (2000) believes that the best way of ensuring that a given tool of IMC works better and in line with the stated principles of the campaign objectives is to ensure that the marketing mix is correct and that it has been strategized correctly. a campaign that needs to be internet based, would never for example achieve its stated objectives in case it is promoted dominantly through the print medium. For advertisements, the face of the brand needs to be picked right, the personality of the brand endorser should be identifiable with the personality and the range of the product at hand.   Conclusion In conclusion therefore it may be reiterated that the process of integrating the concepts of communication and its management in the context of marketing with the overall growth, objectives and personality of the product and company in question is probably the best method by which the process of marketing can be contemporarised thereby providing the marketing team with an edge in a market that is increasingly competitive. The long written and mostly forgotten tools of marketing that were written ages ago with the technology in combination with the present requisite means of communication would provide a blend that would confirm more or less the success of any given campaign in the shape of an adoption of the process that is integrated communication management.  Reference:: Young T, (2007), Why PR is bad for business, pub, AD News, accessed September 7, 2009, < http://www.adnews.com.au/archives_detail.cfm> Chenery M, (2006), Mobile Marketing: Evolving Rapidly, pub, AD News, accessed September 8, 2009, Goodsall J, 2002, Promotional Marketing Report: New Tactics Add Value, pub, AdNews, May, 2002 Ad World Report, 2006, How to achieve relevance, pub, Ad World Magazine Advertising Age Report, Only P&G, Reckitt Convey Value of Marketing in Annual Reports, pub, Advertising Age, August 13, 2009, accessed September 6, 2009,   Liodis B, 2008, Essentials for integrated Marketing pub, Advertisisng Age, accessed September 6, 2009,   Read More