Integrated Marketing Communication Strategy for Harris Park Food Store - Case Study Example

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) strategy for Harris Park Food Store Student’s Name Institution Affiliation To: Harris Park Food store From: IMC Consulting Firm Date: 20th October 2014 Subject: IMC for Organic Food Store Business in Parramatta 1.0 Introduction Darwin Consulting Solutions has been offering ongoing strategic advice and a wide range of integrated marketing communication services based on two decades of experience in Australia and overseas. Businesses benefit our entire team of talented and experienced marketing specialists who have thorough knowledge of different elements in Integrated Marketing Communications. We take pride in our ability to help businesses to conquer new markets, improve profit margins, and increase existing customer spending through our integrated marketing communications services. We assist leading edge and innovative businesses to step up the next level. IMC plan for Harris Park Food Store Product line extension is an important growth strategy for small businesses and helps to increase revenues and market share. It enables them to take advantage of opportunities in various market sectors. Introducing products that meet the changing needs of customers is an important driver or product-line expansion. Without some form of an IMC plan as well as coordinated efforts towards a common sales goal, it is hard to exchange anything of value because of conflicting agendas, lack of awareness and distribution channel confusion (Ang, 2014). IMC helps to implement an effective marketing strategy for businesses using a variety of channels and techniques and plays an important role in achieving a competitive advantage and meeting the marketing objectives of a business. Harris Park Food Store is a small business entity that primarily sells food. The store sells non-perishable foods, bakeries, delis, butchers and fresh products. In spite of its local presence at the medium level position in terms of product range and experience, there are numerous gaps in their communication strategy. Hence, Thomas Consulting comes with an IMC strategy for the food store that offers positive medium to long-term returns. This IMC focuses on introducing an organic food product line that will offer customers organic and locally grown produce preservative and chemical free groceries. The products will be a healthy alternative to the products available at the store and other conventional grocery chains. This expansion will lead to the store growth in terms of revenues. The IMC plan is designed for a period of one year to launch organic food products under the store grocery section. This report covers the project selection and rationale, campaign audience profile, audience perception/problem, campaign objectives, campaign idea, creative execution, marketing communications strategy, tools used for achieving campaign objectives and measuring campaign success. 2.0 Project Selection and Rationale Harris Park Food Store is a small scale grocery store under the grocery and supermarkets industry in New South Wales, Australia. The company has been in operation for nine years. It faces considerable competition from groceries and supermarkets, but has managed to attain a competitive edge by offering a wide range of local and international local foods, offering good customer service and through communication efforts. The food store is experienced and has evidence of proven success and knowledge in differentiating its products through understanding the customers’ preferences and the introduction of new food product range according to these preferences. Due to these to strengths, the food store has created an excellent means of achieving success in the competitive market with the customers. An opportunity lies in introducing an organic foods line to cater for the increasing customer preference for organic foods. Currently, no grocery shops or supermarkets offer organic food products in the area. Currently, consumers are increasingly concerned about the treatment of farm animals, use of chemicals, and the environmental impact of food production. They are increasingly aware of their food source, and this has led the demand for organic produce to increase rapidly in recent years. In Australia, the organic food industry is booming and is worth about “$200–$250 million per year domestically and a further $50–$80 million per year in exports, with an expected annual growth of up to 60 percent” (Better Health Channel, 2012, par. 9). The retail market of the organic market in Australia was projected to be at least one billion dollars in 2010. The customer demand for organic foods is increasing at a rate of 20-30% each year, and it is projected that over six out of each ten Australian family units currently purchase organic foods occasionally. Most of the local supermarkets and groceries offer nonorganic food products and this means that launching the new line which will include more than 100 products including canned vegetable, pasta sauce, salsa, chicken broth, quinoa and spices will help establish the Harris Park food store as a destination for organic food. The largest opportunity for success for the new line lies in the growing health conscious among consumers. Due to the rising rates of diabetes, obesity and other food-related and lifestyle diseases, there has been a growing appetite for healthy food products. According to Heaton (2009), they are sufficient to help customers to achieve the recommended daily dietary allowances for various nutrients that they may otherwise not get. As people increasingly watch their diets, the demand for organic foods will even be higher. Consumers are happy to do away with added antibiotics, hormones, and genetic modifications. Davis, Sarah, and Carl (2006) noted that the rapid growth of the organic food market has resulted from increased customer confidence in the foods and concerns about possible health risks as well as environmental impacts of modern food production methods. Opportunities are about in niche areas in organic food market as there are a wide range of organic foods including sauces, condiments, and candy, food for babies, toddlers, and pets. Due to the rising popularity of organic foods, the new product line has potential to be successful. Organic foods cost more than conventional foods and hence will lead to an increase in sales. Davis, Sarah, and Carl (2006) noted that most consumers that purchase organic foods are usually willing to pay the typical 10% to 40% price premium commanded by organic products. The city of Parramatta has experienced considerable economic growth due to the materialization of an active 24-hour inner economy. The city has experienced an increase in population due to its reputation as one of the best places for employment, economic activity, creativity, diversity and sustainability. Harris Park Food Store location is in a high traffic, vehicular and pedestrian, area; this is an opportunity within itself as it gives the business constant public exposure and provides business due to simple walk-ins and curiosity. This location is also very close to the major commercial centre of Parramatta. The integrated communication plan in this document will recommend the strategies needed for a successful launch of organic food products to the current population in Harris Park. 3.0 Profile of the Campaign Audience Majority of organic food product consumers are women. Since women are mostly the caregivers in the family, they care about healthy foods. Curl, Beresford and Hajat et al. (2013) study revealed that women were 21% more likely to consume organic products than men. Organic foods are also particularly popular among older and middle-aged consumer groups (those aged 40-60 years). Health, wellness, ethical and environmental consideration, food products safety issues and compassion for animals are some of the strong motives for consumer preference for organic foods. From this analysis, three target groups for the audience were selected. This campaign will most focus on three target audiences: young and middle-aged women; young and middle-aged men and women aged 50yrs and above. The primary target audience will be young and middle-aged women within the larger area or city of Parramatta where the food store is located. There are many women than women within Harris Park and the larger Parramatta city. These women will be a strong customer base for the food store. Most women have become increasingly health conscious, and since most of them are part of families, they will account for most of the sales on the organic food customers. Young and middle age women are a large potential market for organic foods. Their wellbeing and that of their child or children is a key motive for them purchasing organic food products. They can be regarded as successful and demanding customers as they are aware of the benefits of organic foods. This group places high value on the presentation and marketing of the product. The group often has a high income and hence the organic foods will be affordable. The other target group is males and females aged 50 years and above. This group can be termed as 50+ health-oriented customers as they depend on organic food products for health reasons. This group appreciates qualified advice and information on products and hence the need to ensure than the benefits of organic foods is well communicated to them. Most of the consumers in this age group are frequent buyers; however, they often have limited or no income. The third target group will be the young and middle-aged men; this group contains primarily occasional and spontaneous buyers. Convenience or simple preparation plays an important role in their purchase decisions. The group has a relatively high income and hence their considerable potential in the organic food sales if they are well advised on their importance. Most of the targeted young and middle-aged men and women are well educated, and this makes them more receptive to the idea or purchasing organic products for health and other purposes. This group is also well connected through the current digital technology and it is easier for them to increase their awareness of organic foods through different online tools, for instance, emails, social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram among others. The brand position of the IMC in the target group perceptual map lies in the premium segment. Harris Park Food Store should develop a strong presence in the digital media and the information about the organic food products and IMC activities should be availed and regularly updated in the social media platforms. 4.0 Audience Perception or Problem Currently, the target audience is buying foods from other sources such as grocery shops, supermarkets, box schemes, farmers markets, and the internet among other places. As a result, the Food Store has to carve out a niche and overcome the odds that will allow it to be sustainable over time. Some of the target audience may also fail to recognize the importance of organic foods and the difference between them and the nonorganic food products. Organic products are more expensive than nonorganic products, and this poses a challenge or disadvantage for some consumers who may be unable to pay the higher prices and hence prefer nonorganic products. Nevertheless, most of the customers recognize the value of organic foods and hence are willing to pay high prices. The food store will require a clear value proposition; the food store has to make it crystal clear to these groups about the benefits of the organic foods and differentiate them from local competition. The differentiation and benefits should be concentrated on the social purpose; this will entail making a social impact in the market place. Other than just offering a new organic food alternative, the food store should be founded on the principle of changing the lifestyle of consumers to be healthier. Such a commitment to a larger societal mission will differentiate the store, increase sales, and attract a loyal customer base. 5.0 Marketing and Communication Objectives Harris Park Food Store Corporate Mission To provide people of Harris Park and Parramatta with diverse organic food products that will cater to their increasing need of healthier food options. This will be done by providing a vibrant store whereby most of the organic foods is supplied by a network of growers and producers. Marketing Objectives of the IMC To gain over 80% share in the first years of operations in the organic foods market by utilizing marketing, promotions and advertising laid out in this plan To increase the food store sales volume by 40% within the first year To become more competitive, and one of the well known and visited food stores in the supermarket and grocery industry in Harris Park and Parramatta Communication Objectives of the IMC Make 80% of the target audience aware of the organic food products line by the end of the first year of implementation To increase awareness of the importance of organic foods among the target groups by the end of the first year To increase the consumer awareness of our products relative to other competitors in the grocery and supermarket industry To increase public exposure to the new organic food products line To be innovative and creative in order to effectively communicate with the target audience Establish a brand loyal audience who advocate for the food store within their peer groups 6.0 Campaign Idea To achieve great-integrated marketing communications, one requires great creative ideas that will work across the media and great execution (Chitty, Barker, Valos & Shimp, 2012). According to Pickton and Broderick (2005), integrated marketing communication comprises of 4Cs (Consistence, Continuity, Coherence, and Complementary). Different communications are connected in a logical manner (coherence); numerous messages support and reinforce and do not contradict each other (Consistency); communications are consistent and connected through time (continuity); and the sum of the components, or synergistic is more than the whole. Marketing communications such as promotion, contact and media will be integrated across the relevant audience point in order to realize greater brand coherence. IMC fundamental advantage is synergy; this aspect boosts the entire promotion system and keeps it running smoothly. Every part of the IMC will be put together to aim the mutual goal of increasing awareness, sales and revenues. 6.1 The Central Idea of the Campaign The target audience profile is a mixture of young and middle-aged males and females who are concerned about leading a healthy lifestyle by consuming healthy foods. They are keen about the type of food that they consume and its’ content. Introducing the organic food products in the store will help them to improve health and overall wellness, and this will be the base of the communication plan. The product strategy supports it by providing numerous types of organic food products that are suitable for persons for all ages including children. Figure 6.1: Product Profile 6.2 Slogan of the Campaign The IMC will be executed based on the following creative slogan in order to deliver a consistent message to the target audience. “Healthy Organic Food Solutions that Matter” Harris Park Food Store will weave this slogan into a seamless campaign across various channels in order to maximize its impact on customers. The Slogan will capture the attention of the consumers hence will encourage them to seek out the healthy food solutions being offered. The slogan will connect at an emotional level with the consumers and will help them identify the brand’s essence. A brand essence is one or two words that capture what a brand is all about. The campaign slogan above sums up the organic foods character, benefits, and position in a simple statement. The slogan fully communicates the intended message as customers will in a straightforward manner understand the compelling benefits of organic products. It implies that consumers can work to improve their health by eating them. The success of the new line will depend heavily on the creative concepts used to convey the message on importance of organic foods. The creative items will focus on the age group. Different age groups prefer different types of organic products, for instance, marketing the organic foods for babies to young and middle-aged women. On the other hand, middle-aged men and women (above 40yrs) will prefer different products as they are past the age of childbearing. Different organic products will appeal to different segments of the target audience and hence the need to differentiate the products. The following image reflects the healthy nature of the organic foods. The green color is used as it is directly related to nature and is constantly used to denote ‘green’ or healthy products. At the pre-launch stage, the organic products will be revealed with the aid of a campaign with the slogan and the above creative and funny images on organic that will help capture the attention of the audience. The integrated communication mix will be executed after this campaign. The organic products will definitely appeal to other groups other than the targeted audience due to communication and increased awareness of the availability and affordability of the products at the food store. 7.0 Marketing Communications Strategy and Tools A marketing communication strategy helps companies to deliver a range of promotional messages to their target audience. It tells the company story and supports it while ensuring that the right messages are sent to the right target audience and reflect its brands. It is a company preferred orientation and emphasis of its communication with stakeholders and customers, in the light of its marketing and business strategies. Fill (2003) noted that a marketing communication plan focuses on the managerial and development process involved in articulating the marketing communication plan of the organization. For the company product, we will incorporate various channels for the IMC campaign. These channels will include direct marketing, sales promotion, internet, advertising, public relations, and personal selling and support media as shown in the diagram below 7.1 Sales Promotion Sales Promotion denotes activities that are intended to increase the sales of a product or service. Chunawalla (2008) argued that the main basic function of sales promotions is to stimulate the purchase behavior of products and services. Sales promotion will be employed by placing coupons that offer customers 20% off organic foods in various locations in the food store; this will help to stimulate revenue. The coupons will be an effective way for encouraging customers to try organic foods with less of costs to them. The initial promotion will play a crucial role in accelerating consumer interests since even customers who do not buy organic foods will be tempted to buy it as they can save 20% on their purchase. The coupons will be given in the first two months of the campaign. They will influence customers to tell other people about the savings on products and will encourage word of mouth traffic. Pickton & Broderick (2005) noted that sales promotions are very flexible and can be used proactively as a strategy for integration other marketing communication channels or reactively as a quick response to competitor activities. 7.2 Direct Marketing Direct marketing entails establishing an individual relationship between the business and the customer. Rowley (2006) noted that since direct marketing is an interactive method, it helps to improve the relationship between businesses and customers. The direct marketing communication in this case will be face-to-face selling. Direct marketing will work well with the sales promotion strategy. Our plan entails setting up free samples of organic food products in the front of the food store to enable customers actually to see the organic products. On the sample booth counter, the customers will be given the 20% off coupon. The two non-digital marketing methods will go a long way to advance the consumer’s interests. The number of coupons scanned during the point of purchase will measure them. We plan of increasing the sales of organic foods by 25% in the first year. 7.3 Digital Marketing According to Doorley and Garcia (2007), digital media help firms to introduce and market products in more personalized and targeted ways. We plan to use direct mail, social media channels, mobile marketing, and banner ads, company webpage, search engine optimization, and online marketing. Direct mail is constantly used because of its fast information delivery and its benefits of cost savings. In using direct mail, some target prospective factors will be considered so that the customers do not consider mail as “junk mail” or “spam”. Pickton and Broderick (2005) suggested that businesses make a list of most repeat buyers or potential customers; the main should be short and focus on the key content that tends to inform the customers. This will be observed while sending the emails to the customers. The banner ads and mobile marketing will help the business to reach out to an audience that would not generally shop at the food store and will help close the gap between the shop and the main competitors. The banner ads will be placed in a strategic manner on the websites through using behavioral targeting of consumers that are looking for organic and healthy foods that go together with the customers healthy lifestyles. We will lay emphasis on the quality of organic foods provided at the food store and the long-term health benefits of consuming organic foods. The banner ads will be used to raise consumer awareness and brand attitude. For mobile marketing strategy, we will develop a mobile application for Smartphone’s with embedded YouTube videos and recipes that customers will download and share to keep up with an active and healthy lifestyle and the current health trends. We will be able to interact with the consumers on this mobile application. The application will enable tracking of the number of downloads so that the progress of the IMC can be monitored, and direct feedback obtained. It will help to develop a relationship with the customers by increasing communication from the customers through comments and food store through videos. It will increase word of mouth communication about the food store and consumer-to-consumer interaction with the ability to share recipes, foods products, and videos from within the application to social media networks such as Facebook. The fourth strategy will be social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. We are currently in a golden era of high tech, where social media comprises of a wide array of channels that connect millions of people locally and globally. Thomler (2012) noted that the emerged social networking apps could be listed as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Google Plus, and LinkedIn. Others such as Flickr, Dropbox, Google documents, and YouTube help in sharing documents. According to Thomler (2012), social media platforms are one of the most applied tools in marketing communication due to its convenience of reaching large audiences without any boundaries, convenience of usage and cost saving. The diagram below represents the social media landscape where businesses can publish, share, and discuss business matters with the customers These social media networks will be used as the social media tool of the IMC. The food store webpage will be linked to these social media accounts. Currently, most businesses have a web presence through their websites and other internet sites. A company webpage will be created to interact with customers, product advertising, gathering customer feedback, email marketing, online public communication with the customers, and viral marketing. Online adverting will play a major role in reaching out to the target customers. Keywords will be placed on key search engines like Yahoo and Google. Search engine optimization will be employed to ensure higher visibility of the Harris Park Food Store webpage for given keywords. 7.4 Public Relations Jobber (2001) defined public relations as the designed and continued effort to create and uphold mutual understanding and goodwill between a company and the public. Public relations is very important for the IMC campaign as its can help to infiltrate the overall concept of the campaign within the target market. Public relations will be undertaken through sending press releases and photos to relevant editors and journalist, appearing on reputable local magazines to ensure high guarantee of PR effectiveness, building up a network of media contacts within Harris Park and Parramatta. In addition, the business will seek to be attached to media covered events especially those that have to do with health matters; this will help to increase consumer awareness. 7.5 Personal Selling Rajput and Vasisht (2008) defined personal selling as person-to-person communication process between a salesperson and the customer that is intended to satisfy the demand of the buyers and to bring benefits to both parties. The process of personal selling of organic food products will entail looking for prospective customers, doing some customer research and setting objectives that in line with the objectives of the IMC and discussions. In addition, it will also entail getting customers to buy the products and developing long term relationship with the customers. 7.6 Advertising Advertising is the most applied strategy in integrated marketing communication as it improves the awareness of the product image in the customer’s view. Kotler defined advertising as the “paid non-personal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media to influence or persuade an audience” (cited in Pickton & Broderick et. al. 2005, p. 75). Advertising will play an important role in the marketing campaign for the organic food products; it will help to persuade people to buy and increase sales. It will help to convey information and raise awareness about the availability of organic food products in the food store. Advertisements will be placed on local newspapers, radio, television and social networks such as Facebook and Twitter in order to reach a wider audience. 8.0 Campaign Measurements To determine the IMC success, we will determine the sales extent of the organic food products line on a quarterly basis. Customer feedbacks, customer awareness surveys, customer satisfaction survey, and online response from the customers will help to determine success of the entire campaign. A variance analysis will be undertaken in order to compare the objectives of the campaign with the actual performance within four months. The success of sales promotions and direct marketing will be determined by increase in sales and repeat purchases by customers due to the discount offered whereas that of public relations will be determined by an increase in customer awareness about organic food products in the food store. The efficacy of advertising will be determined by customer exposure and reach through the various posted adverts. The success of digital marketing tools will be determined by: Number of visitors per day, week and month to the food store webpage; a high number of visitors will be an indicator of a successful campaign Average time spent by the users on the webpage Keywords used from the search engines to access the webpage No of referrals to the webpage from users No of Facebook likes in the business fan page Online feedbacks from customers via the website, email and other social networks 9.0 Conclusion This Integrated Marketing Communication plan will help Harris Park Food Store launch the organic food products successfully. It will deliver one consistent message to the current and potential buyers through the stated communication strategy and tools that will span different types of media such as social media, the internet, TV, radio, mobile phones, and emails. It will help to deliver consistent information about organic foods in the food store and help establish it in the minds of potential customers and consumers across target markets. The marketing objectives and communication objectives will be achieved within the stipulated time. References Ang, L. (2014). Principles of integrated marketing communications. New York: Cambridge University Press. Better Health Channel (2012). Organic food. Retrieved from http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/organic_food Blakeman, R. (2014). Integrated marketing communication: Creative strategy from idea to implementation. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Chitty, W., Barker, N., Valos, M., & Shimp, T. (2012). Integrated marketing communications. 3ed. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning. Chunawalla,S. (2008). Advertising, sales and promotion management. Mumbai: Himalaya Pub. House Curl, C., Beresford, S., Hajat, A., Kaufman, J., & Moore, K. et al. 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