MRKT 310 Principles of Marketing Week 8 Writing Assignment Tom's of Maine Toothpaste
Week 7 Overview
Principles of Marketing
MRKT 310
Finally, we’ve reaching the topic of Integrated Marketing Communications —the fun part of marketing and the part that many of you thought WAS marketing before you took this course. Hopefully you now realize the role of advertising and other promotion tools as just one element of the marketing mix, (4) Integrated Marketing Communications and the changing media landscape.
Integrated Marketing Communications, and the Changing Media Landscape
How are offerings communicated to customers
7.1 Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)
7.2 The promotion (communication) mix
7.3 The promotion mix, communication and buyer’s perceptions
7.4 Message strategies
7.5 Public relations activities and tools
7.6 Sales promotion
7.7 Professional selling
7.8 The promotion budget
Section 7.1 is the most important section to understand in terms of marketing strategy. The remaining sections describe the details of the promotion tools, how to create marketing communication messages, what media to use, and how to budget for marketing communications strategies.
7.1 Integrated marketing communications (IMC)
IMC = a framework for delivering one clear, consistent and compelling message to customers
Uses an array of IMC promotion mix tools
usually has one ‘big idea’ that runs through all the communications
not identical messages but coordinated messages
Each promotion tool has a different job to do to lead the customer through the Awareness-Interest-Desire-Action or the AIDA model
IMC creates a clear, consistent and compelling message for the target market — a message that is communicated through all marketing communication media. The best part of IMC is that specific promotion tools can be coordinated to reach the target market with this clear, consistent and compelling message based on the customer’s place in the AIDA model.
7.2 The promotion (communication) mix
Promotion mix = Tools marketers use to develop IMC strategies
Advertising (traditional and online)
Personal selling
Public relations
Sales promotions
Direct marketing (traditional and online)
The tools used in IMC are listed above and we will briefly discuss each them in turn.
7.3 The promotion mix, communication, and
buyers’s perceptions
Factors that influence which promotion mix tools to use in a given IMC campaign
IMC campaigns are generally time specific, maybe a year, maybe longer, and maybe for an even shorter period of time. The first column outlines those factors that are part of developing IMC strategy, which results in the selection of promotion tools found in the second column. Only then can the marketer get specific in terms of which media, and what vehicle within that media is most likely to contribute to the IMC campaign.
So, while we originally may have thought that we could immediately decide to launch a social media campaign for example, that is actually the last consideration in an IMC campaign as evidenced in the third column.
Push versus pull strategy
Push promotes a product to the middlemen who ‘push’ the offering to the consumers
Pull promotes a product to the consumer who ‘pull’ wholesalers and retailers to carry the offering.
Most IMC campaigns are a combination.
We introduced these concepts last week, but here we need to more fully understand them. Part of the marketing communications strategy is to determine whether the promotion effort should be aimed at the channels to carry and distribute the offering (push strategy), or should the promotion effort be aimed at the end user (pull strategy) who will then create the demand for the channels to provide the offering.
It usually isn’t quite as simple as selecting push or pull. In most cases the IMC campaign will implement both strategies to some degree based on the marketing communictions objectives.
The communication process
The communication process is a universal concept of how communication occurs. You may have seen this model or a similar one before. For marketing purposes, understanding this model is necessary to ensure communications are delivered as designed in the right media and at the right time. This means the receiver, usually a target market member, understands and agrees with the message and provides that feedback to the marketer by buying the product.
7.4 Message Strategies
Message strategy considerations:
The unique selling proposition
the audience (a larger group than the target market)
the promotion objectives
the media
the budget
This section will introduce you to some of the creative and media tactics used to deliver a marketing communication message. It all begins with the unique selling proposition, or the reason why a customer should buy the offering.
Marketing communications objectives need to be specific and measurable
Objectives might be built around
Build primary demand
Build selective demand
AIDA model objectives
create “attention” and “awareness”
generate “interest”
affect “desire”
induce “action”
Pay special attention to the AIDA model outlined here and discussed in more detail in the readings. It is a good framework for developing marketing communications objectives from which specific promotion tools can be selected.
IMPORTANT
Once the objectives have been determined, the the promotion tool best equipped to deliver on that objective can be selected
A marketing communications objective might be: Create awareness for the offering’s unique selling proposition so that 35% of the target market could recite the unique selling proposition.
The best tool for to accomplish this objective would be advertising. However, the company may decide it is too expensive or its target market is more receptive to social media messages. In this case the company could use the less expensive social media campaign to accomplish the goal.
How would the company know if the objective was obtained? Generally an awareness objective relies on pre and post campaign marketing research. It is expensive, but if a company does not know if it is reaching its objectives, there is no way to measure its success or failure.
This is just one example of how the AIDA model flows into marketing communications objectives which flows into the selection of the appropriate promotion mix tool. See more in the readings.
Advertising = paying to disseminate a message that identifies the brand or organization.
Traditional media includes television, radio, newspapers and magazines, billboards, transit advertising, telephone, mail, etc.
New media includes websites, banner ads, search engines, mobile marketing, etc.
Media choice includes both the media and the vehicle, e.g. a specific tv show, a specific site for placement of a banner ad.
This describes the various advertising tools available to marketers if it is included in the IMC campaign. Important to note that a media choice may be radio, but it has to include a specific radio show such as a morning talk show in a specific market that has provided the marketer with the research to convince them that vehicle is likely to reach the target market sought by the company.
7.5 Public relations activities and tools
Creates rapport with customers, promotes the offering and supplements the sales efforts
Some PR Tools include:
Press releases
Sponsorships
Product placement
Events
Sometimes public relations can be the dominant IMC promotion tool used if the marketing communications objectives include desire because public relations can create a close relationship with members of the target market.
An added benefit is it is usually cheaper than traditional advertising. Think of organized races for causes, e.g. Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. For many weeks before the race a company can be a sponsor benefitting from the umbrella of the race’s brand, it can have access to a direct marketing list of the participants for further communication, it has a presence at the event, etc.
7.6 Sales promotions
Supplements the advertising, public relations, and personal selling efforts
Sales promotions can be targeted toward the consumer (pull strategy)
Sales promotions can be targeted toward the trade (push strategy)
Sales promotions are designed to drive consumers to action in the AIDA model. They are for the fence-sitting who already have a good understanding of the unique selling proposition, but they need an extra incentive to take action. Sales promotions can also reduce the risk of the purchase. If you get a free sample, there is no risk to try the product, for example. Cents off coupons reduce risk, etc.
Sales promotions do fall into the push and pull categories. Sales promotion to consumers is generally ones that appeal not only to their need for risk reduction to make the purchase but also irrational appeals such as a contest to win the HGTV Dream Home. Sales promotions to the trade are usually more financial incentives to carry the product, or training of personnel to ensure they also understand the unique selling proposition and can convey that to customers.
7.7 Professional Selling
Personal selling needed to:
customize the product,
provide a high level of information about the unique selling proposition
demonstrate the product
submit requests for proposal processes
close a sale
provide after sale service
Highly complex products or new products sometimes benefit most from personal selling efforts. They are also used to bring a customer to action in the AIDA model. Professional selling is very expensive for a company, so they have to have clear objectives when using this promotion mix tool. The advantage is that it is highly measurable in terms of sales generated.
7.8 The promotion budget
Promotional budgeting methods
percentage of last year’s sales
affordable method
competitive parity
objective and task
Best method — start with objective and task since you have marketing communications objectives. Review the budget in light of the other methods and adjust objectives accordingly.
If a company has all the money in the world, then they can outline the marketing communication objectives, decide one which promotion tools could be used to reach those objectives, and provide a detailed accounting of what it will cost. But most companies don’t have all the money in the world; or if they do they recognize there are other factors to consider.
Once an IMC campaign is outlined and the costs associated with reaching each object is itemized, then reality sets in. Although the objective/task method is the best starting point, the final budget is usually tempered with the budget constraints, what competition is doing, and whether the budged amount is too great a percent of sales. Marketing communications objectives then may be adjusted.
Week 7
Assessments
Week 7 Discussion Forum participation
Week 7 Quiz
All due Sunday
by midnight!
The creative strategy of an IMC campaign needs to focus on the Unique Selling Proposition. The headline or caption should immediately communicate that USP to the intended target market.
Questions or concerns?
Be sure to take advantage of the General Discussion topic in the Week 7 Discussion Forum to ask any questions, get clarifications, or otherwise seek the advice and assistance of your faculty member.
By now you know the Discussion Forum General Questions topic is there for you to use to carry on a conversation with faculty and classmates about questions and concerns. Use it as often as needed.