Marketing Communications
Contents
Introduction 1 1
Task 1: Identify target market and recommend appropriate marketing communication strategies 1
Role of Promotion in the Marketing Mix 1
Sustaining competitive advantage 2
Success indicators of the communications plan 3
Implementation plan 4
Task 2: Designing a promotional campaign of a new product/service. 5
Ways of promotional campaign to create the competitive advantage 5
Objectives of promotion 7
Internet and information technology to enhance the competitive advantage. 8
Model Evolution 8
Conclusion 1 10
This report will focus on marketing communications. It can refer to the strategy used by a company or individual to reach their target market through various types of communication. Those who practice advertising, branding, brand language, direct marketing, graphic design, marketing, packaging, promotion, publicity, sponsorship, public relations, sales, sales promotion and online marketing are termed marketing communicators. All these terms will be discussed in the context of renowned retail company named UNISON.
UNISON was formed in July 1993 when three well-established trade unions with a common interest in public services. UNISON is a company which owner of 16 people, headquartered in New York City with a development office in Europe. They make Unison, a set of enterprise applications that executives use to guide their team. UNISON is the UK’s biggest public service trade union. It represents 1.3 million members who deliver essential services to the public. These are services that protect, enrich and change lives (UNISON, 2014).
A target market is a group of customers towards which a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts and ultimately its merchandise. A well-defined target market is the first element to a marketing strategy.
Role of Promotion in the Marketing Mix
The concept of the marketing mix is a common approach to the overall marketing strategy used by UNISON and other types of organizations. Sometimes referred to as the Four P's, the mix addresses issues of product, place, price, and promotion. The role of promotion in the marketing mix is of special attention for UNISON who wants to make sure the right consumers are reached, using the forms of media advertising that are most likely to connect with buyers and ultimately generate a high volume of sales.
Promotion tends to specialist in the way to act attracting the eye of customers and providing enough info to carry their interest long enough to encourage a sale. So as to accomplish this, marketers can look closely at the numerous ways of advertising the merchandise line and judge which ways area unit possibly to succeed in the specified shopper demographic. Often, this suggests taking into thought factors like age, gender, location, and economic category. mistreatment that information, the vendor will decide whether or not finance time and resources in television and print advertising is probably going to be effective, or if ways like banner ads and alternative on-line advertising could also be a higher thanks to reach the proper customers (Tatum, 2014).
Since promotion is concerning telling shoppers what they have to understand so as to grasp however shopping for the product can profit them, making the copy for the advertising usually needs creating use of the opposite parts within the combine so as to make ads that may inspire shoppers. For instance, the ads can usually create use of knowledge that focuses on what the merchandise will do, furthermore as creating shoppers conscious of wherever they'll visit get the product. Additionally, promotion within the selling combine can usually embrace a minimum of some general data concerning the value, particularly if that normal evaluation is competitive with similar merchandise and services within the marketplace which will presently management a bigger share of the market. As is true with every of the Four P's, promotion doesn't stand alone in its contribution to the general promoting method. It attracts on the collective knowledge associated with product, place, and value and incorporates that data into the advertising in an exceedingly manner that's doubtless to lure customers to create an acquisition. The particular scope of information used can vary, looking on what marketers understand as being the key points possibly to attractiveness to sure client demographics and increase the probabilities of the copy triggering an acquisition (Tatum, 2014).
Sustaining competitive advantage
A sustainable competitive advantage is an element of business or marketing strategy that provides a meaningful advantage over both existing and future competitors. While UNISON has many possible strategic options that provide routes to a sustainable competitive advantage or SCA (e.g. quality, product design, value through low production costs, etc.) obtaining a highly effective SCA is often difficult to achieve as it means the SCA is both substantial and difficult to imitate or replicate by competitors. A sustainable competitive advantage provides a firm with an advantage relative to competing firms that is able to be sustained by the firm and not easily eroded by competitors over time.
UNISON recognizes that a major aim of a firm’s marketing strategy should be to achieve and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. While almost all SCAs may be only temporarily achieved in the long run, its pursuit should nevertheless be the foremost consideration in strategic decisions including the way the firm decides to compete (e.g. its product strategy, manufacturing strategy), its basis of competition in terms of assets and competencies, what is offered in terms of its value proposition, and its choice of where to compete in terms of product market and competitor selection (Marketing 91, 2014).
One approach to determining the present situation might be to do a SWOT analysis of the organization. This analysis rates: Strengths; Weaknesses; Opportunities; and Threats faced by the business, considering internal and external factors. Undertake a communication audit to find out which activities are most effective and to streamline your communication; deliver clear recommendations on how to improve existing channels and make better investments with available budget. Drawing up a communications strategy is an art, not a science and there are lots of different ways of approaching the task. The advice provided below is only a guide. Whether your communications strategy is designed for a specific project or for the same period as organizational strategy, it should establish the following:
Objectives: Objectives are the key to the success of communications strategy because communications strategy is organizationally driven rather than communications driven. Organizational communications activity is not an end in itself but should serve and hence be aligned with organizational objectives (SHAPING POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT, 2014).
Audiences: It should identify those audiences with whom an organization need to communicate to achieve your organizational objectives. The best audiences to target in order to achieve an objective may not always be the most obvious ones, and targeting audiences such as the media may not always help achieve your objectives. Everyone would like a higher media and political profile, yet activities aiming towards this may ultimately be self-serving and only communications driven, with no wider impact. They can even have a negative effect if dedicate resources towards this that would otherwise be put towards communicating with key stakeholders.
Staffing: If a foundation has internal communications staff, it is very helpful for them to begin participating early in planning conversations. This enables them to understand the initiative so that they know how to communicate about it, and also ensures that planning happens with a communications lens. One might need to retain a communications consultant. It will be helpful to have one person/firm responsible for creating a communications plan, and that this could be in-house staff or a consultant. Whoever creates the plan should be someone with experience conducting strategic communications planning, preferably with complex, community-based initiatives (Putnam, K., 2010)..
Messages: Strategic targeting and consistency are key to your organization’s messages. Create a comprehensive case covering all the key messages, and emphasize the different elements of the case for different audiences.
Tools and activities: Identify the tools and activities that are most appropriate to communicating the key messages to the audiences. These will be suggested by audiences, messages, or a combination of the two. For example, an annual report is a useful tool in corporate communications whereas an email newsletter lends itself well to internal communications. Ensure that a tailor of organization tools and activities to the level of time and human and financial resources available (SHAPING POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT, 2014).
Resources and timescales: The key rules to observe are always to deliver what you promise and never over promise. Use Organizational resources and timescales to set legitimate levels of expectations and outline the case for more dedicated resources.
Evaluation and amendment: Consider performing a communications audit to assess the effectiveness of your strategy with both your internal and external audiences. Organization should use open questions with appropriate prompts and benchmarks and, if possible, get someone independent to do the work. Consider and discuss the results carefully and use them to amend your strategy (SHAPING POLICY FOR DEVELOPMENT, 2014).
Implementation plan
The communications plan should be accompanied by an implementation plan. This should be a very clear road map that lays out specific timelines, deadlines, activities, who is responsible, etc. The market target of UNISON is not only in boundary of indigenously, but also has target to grab international market place. The marketing communication much more depends on strategies and its implication into the organization. UNISON takes those enterprises from beginning. The web is fantastic at delivering personalized products and services, cutting out many of the distribution challenges that previously existed. It is these factors that mean it is a more effective strategy to be a big fish in a small pond rather than the other way round. It will be easier to build UNISON’s reputation and gain referrals. It will also find its get more from marketing endeavors. (Putnam, K., 2010).
Task 2: Designing a promotional campaign of a new product/service.
A specific, defined series of activities used in marketing a new or changed product or service, or in using new marketing channels and methods that called Marketing Campaign. In increasingly competitive markets, consumers have a greater choice over where they buy their goods and services. One of the key areas of the marketing mix is promotion. Promotion is the process of communicating with an organization’s audiences. It involves sending a message which is received by others. Sending the right message through appropriate media is very important. This is because as individuals receive messages, they are making judgments. Effective communications are therefore those that establish common thoughts between the sender and the receiver. Although this is not an easy process, it is a particularly important one for a large public service trade union like UNISON. A trade union is an organization that represents the interests of employees. Membership of a union has several benefits. Since a union represents many workers, it can have a bigger influence on employers than individual employees would have. One of the key roles of a trade union therefore is negotiation and collective bargaining with employers. Other benefits of trade union membership include training, advice and legal support ((Business case studies, 2014)).
Ways of promotional campaign to create the competitive advantage
Effective marketing is often what separates rapidly growing companies from slow-growing or stalled companies that started at the same time, serve the same market and offer similar merchandise. Company such as UNISON has succeeded in highly competitive mass markets for consumer services because, while they certainly produce competitive products, they out-market their rivals. If anyone expects business to grow to any size, he'll have to become an effective marketer, advertiser and promoter of his business. In fact, he is likely to grow to the extent that his master marketing, and no more. Successful campaigns tend to be carefully researched, well thought-out and focused on details and execution, rather than resting on a single, grand idea. Planning a marketing campaign starts with understanding position in the marketplace and ends with details such as the wording of an advertisement (Entrepreneur, 2014).
Here is put some ways to launch campaign new product/service of an organization:
Speak at community events: Offering expertise at public occasions is an easy way to get the word out about a business. The organization will maximize its impact and lend credibility to its product or service.
Ask customers for referrals: Generating referrals from current customers is one of the best ways to market this business. Haven’t forget to query their vendors (they're likely to have many contacts) and explain to their customers exactly what kinds of referrals they are looking for and how they can help.
Spend two days in your customers' shoes: To find out what its customers really want, visit a wide range of businesses they're likely to frequent. Observe how customers are treated, as well as the kinds of services that appear important to them; then adapt your business accordingly (Entrepreneur, 2014).
Offer free samples: If UNISON can get someone to try your product or service, chances are they'll buy it later. Have employees pass out product samples in front of your business; if it provides a service, offer free services on a trial basis.
Company Announcement: Every once in a while, UNISON has news that will affect all of its customers. When these scenarios come up, it's a perfect time to use the Campaigns app to organize this communications around whatever they’re announcing. For example, let’s say you’re a private company about to go public (Remember Twitter, anyone?). That’s huge news for users and investors alike. And since people have created habits of interacting with you on certain channels, it’s of the utmost importance that this messaging is clear and the same on every communication channel that use (HubSpot Academy, 2013).
New Content Offer: There’s no better feeling than finally finishing that shiny new e-book that has been working on forever. Until, of course, it see that it’s being downloaded like crazy and now leads are pouring in! (At least, that’s our favorite part!) A new content offer is the perfect start to an inbound marketing campaign, because the content itself should valuable to both customers and prospects. Next step is to promote it!
Product or Service Launch: There’s never a more important time to run a concentrated marketing campaign than when a company is announcing a new product adding to its portfolio, or a new feature or service that’s now available to its customers. Because it’s new, its audience will be very interested and thirsty for information, so promoting its content on all of its marketing channels is key.
A promotional campaign needs to meet its objectives. Promotional campaigns of UNISON aim to influence different groups of people. The campaigns use different activities to communicate with not just those working in the public sector, but also the public. The response to the Million Voices campaign has been very positive. The hope is that the campaign will encourage those who make decisions in national and local government to think of real alternatives to cuts. The television recruitment advert attracted 4,000 additional members to join UNISON during the three weeks that it ran. The union has been able to develop an email list of some 20,000 ‘digital campaigners’ who have signed up to receive updates and now regularly respond to emails asking them to take a simple action, such as email their MP on an issue. This is a new communication channel including both members of UNISON and non-members who support the campaign. As the campaign progresses, UNISON will learn lessons on which methods of promotion have been more effective. These help UNISON to make future decisions on how to support its members and the public (Business case studies, 2014).
Objectives of promotion
Promotion can be used for a number of reasons. For example, promotional activity can increase sales, raise awareness or concerns about particular issues, develop a brand image or alter public opinion. As an organization representing more than a million people, UNISON uses promotion to raise public awareness of issues and attract people to its membership.
Every promotional campaign requires a direction and setting objectives helps to clarify what the expected outcomes will be. Objectives are specific and purposeful statements that can be measured and evaluated. One way of thinking about how to set objectives is through using the acronym SMART: Specific – objectives should be precise and clearly identifiable. Measurable – by being measurable it is easy to see whether the objective has been met. Achievable –the objectives set need to be achievable, neither too ambitious nor too easily met. Relevant – meeting the objectives should help to achieve the overall long-term aims of the organization or campaign. Time-bound – adequate time needs to be allocated to achieve the objectives. An example of one of UNISON’s campaign SMART objectives is ‘to increase membership to 1.5 million members by July 2013’. This will allow it to grow stronger as an organization (Business case studies, 2014).
Aims: UNISON’s A Million Voices for Public Services campaign was launched in July 2009 in light of proposed funding cuts to the public sector. The campaign calls for public interest to be put ahead of profit. It urges politicians and the public to realize the importance of public services and to ‘add their voice’ to the campaign.
Internet and information technology to enhance the competitive advantage.
The digital economy refers to an economy that is based on digital technologies, including digital communication networks, computers, software, and other related information technologies. The Internet and Information Revolution has created fundamental shifts in business and consumer behavior similar to the changes made by Industrial Revolution. The emergence of the Internet seems to be analogous to the advent of the printing press or the railroads, which changed monetary, communication and exchange platforms. Similar evolutions took place with the introduction of automobiles and telephones that reduced the need for channel immediacy. The use of Internet has become increasingly popular in recent years, where the cost of accessing and building on Internet and web site is relatively low (Ranchhod et.al, 2000).
Internet technology could not be as a source of sustainable competitive advantage, because Internet is imitable and it is not rare. Therefore, UNISON must identify their competitive advantage and then develop an Internet marketing strategy for success in the Internet markets. It believes that UNISON should understand their core competencies in the Internet markets then develop their Internet marketing strategies.
Model Evolution
Internet realizes two principle characteristics: timely, vast and fast information exchanges; and borderless, effective and long run interactions and ties. An enterprise based on these characteristics, can create two types of competencies through applying Internet: informational and relational competencies (Bashir, R., 2009).
Relational competency: refers to the use of Internet technology for establishing, maintaining, and managing customer relationship. This competency can be gained by long-rang relationship, customer loyalty, branding, customer relationship management (CRM) and so on.
Informational competency: refers to application of Internet for gathering information about customer's behavior, building customer profile and database, and managing customer knowledge. Informational competency is a type of knowledge that a firm acquires when it is intelligent toward its competitive environment.
Based on the degree of having of these two competencies (currently or in the future), an enterprise can select and formulate its Internet marketing strategies. It classified these strategies into five categories:
Transactional strategies: Having this category of strategies, a company uses Internet and Information Technology tools to reduce cost or improve product quality. Therefore, this kind of strategies covers porter's generic strategies [cost leadership and differentiation].
Relational strategies: In this quadrant, a company tries to use Internet to achieve a relational competency. Based on this type of e-competency, a company will be able to make a long-range mutual and beneficial relationship with its customers (Bashir, R., 2009).
Profile-based strategies: Many of companies use some e-tools such as data mining, cookies, etc. for creating a profile for customers. They use customer profiles to conduct marketing activities flexibly and response to customer needs and satisfy them effectively.
Knowledge-based strategies: The profile-based and knowledge-based strategies are different from together. In former, a company tries to act in response and reaction to the customer changing needs but in later, companies are not reactors; they are very proactive and make a long-range relationship with their customers. However, it should be noticed that formulating knowledge-based strategies requires customer profiles (Bashir, R., 2009).
Customer-oriented strategies: Different companies may select and implement different categorizes of strategies depends on their own situations. In some conditions, it seems useful to apply an integrated category of them. The category of customer-oriented strategies is an integrated combination of four categorizes of strategies [Transactional, Relational, Profile-based, and Knowledge-based strategies].
In here, reviewed the literature of Internet marketing strategies. Using strategic management theories, achieved a contingent approach to develop a new model to build and introduce Internet marketing strategies. Then, classified new developed Internet marketing strategies based on competency approach of strategic management as a contingent approach.
Conclusion 1
Marketing communication plan is an important component in the overall marketing plan. In case of a FMCG giant like UNISON, preparing a marketing communication plan is one of most important tasks as the success of any FMCG company hugely depends on the marketing and communication strategies that it adopts. S.O.S.T.A.C. format is used while preparing the above mentioned marketing communication plan. This plan focuses on the global market scenario, but primary focus lies on the developed economies like UK.
Reference
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