2320 chapter 14 - Lecture notes 14 PDF

Preview

Summary

Lecture note 14...

Description

Chapter 14: Integrated Marketing Communications Introduction  Marketers must consider how to communicate the value of a new product/ service to the target market  Integrated marketing communications represents the promotion dimensions of the 4Ps o It encompasses a variety of communication disciplines- general advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and digital media in combination to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communicative impact  IMC programs regard each of the firm’s marketing communication elements as part of a whole, each of which offers a different means to connect with the target audience o This integration of elements provides the firm with the best means to reach the target audience with the desired message, and it enhances the value story by offering a clear and consistent message  There are 3 components in any IMC strategy: o The consumer or target market o The channels or vehicles through which the message is communicated o The evaluation of the results of the communication Communicating with Consumers  As the number of communication media has increased, the task of understanding how best to reach target consumers has become far more complex The Communication Process The Sender  The message originates from the sender, who must clearly be identified to the intended audience o The firm from which an IMC message originates  I.e. Home Depot can send a message to its vendors that they are having a special “father’s day sale”  In the quest for innovative ways to reach consumers, some marketers have been accused of deceptive advertising o A representation, omission, act, or practice in an advertisement that is likely to mislead consumers acting reasonably under the circumstances o I.e. to promote its film Godsend, Lions Gate Films created a website to look like a fertility clinic, disguising the true sender of the message, and deliberately confusing site visitors The Transmitter  The sender works with the creative department to develop marketing communications  Such an agent or intermediary is the transmitter o Works with the sender to develop the marketing communications  I.e. a firm’s creative department or advertising agency Encoding  Encoding means converting the sender’s ideas into a message o Could be verbal, visual, or both  The most important facet of encoding is not what is sent but what is received

o

Home Depot sends a message through a newspaper advertisement to make their shoppers believe that the sale is substantial enough to go to the store

The Communication Channel  The communication channel is the medium—print, broadcast, the internet—that carries the message  I.e. Home Depot could transmit through TV, radio, and various print ads, o It realizes that the media chosen must be appropriate to connect itself with its desired recipient o Could advertise on HGTV The Receiver  The receiver is the person who reads, hears, or sees and processes the information contained in the message or advertisement  The sender hopes that the person receiving it will be the one for whom it was intended o I.e. home depot wants its message to be received and decoded properly by people who are likely to shop in its stores  Decoding refers to the process by which the receiver interprets the sender’s message Noise  Noise is any interference that stems from competing messages, lack of clarity in the noise, or a flaw in the medium o A problem for all communication channels  I.e. Home Depot may choose to advertise in newspapers that its target market doesn’t read, which means that the rate at which the message is received has been slowed  If there is a difference between encoding and decoding, it is probably due to noise Feedback Loop  The feedback loop allows the receiver to communicate with the sender and thereby informs the sender whether the message was received and decoded properly  Feedback can take many forms: a customer’s purchase of the item, a complaint or complement, the redemption of a coupon, etc.  I.e. if Home Depot observes an increase in store traffic and sales, its managers know that their intended audience received and understood the message How Consumers Perceive Communication  Each receiver may interpret the sender’s message differently, and senders often adjust their message according to the medium used and the receivers’ level of knowledge about the product Receivers Decode Messages Differently  Different people shown the same message will often take different meanings from it  The sender has little, if any, control over what meaning any individual receiver will take from the message Senders Adjust Messages According to the Medium and Receivers’ Traits  Different media communicate in very different ways  Marketers make adjustments and media depending on whether they want to communicate with suppliers, shareholders, customers, or the general public



I.e. Kellogg’s would not send the same message to its shareholders in a targeted email as it would to its consumers on Saturday morning TV

Steps in Planning an IMC Campaign 1. Identify Target Audience  The success of any campaign depends on how well the advertiser can identify its target audience  Firms conduct research to identify their target audience, and then use it to set the tone for the advertising program and help them select the media they will use to deliver the message to that audience  During their research, firms must keep in mind that their target audience may or may not be the same as current users of the product o I.e. Adidas knows that NBA fans are likely familiar with its offerings, even if they do not currently purchase sports gear from the brand  But, teenage pop music fans may be less likely to pay attention to sporting goods; so, in its marketing, Adidas features Katy Perry 2. Set Objectives  Firms need to understand the outcome they hope to achieve before they begin  Objectives can be short term such as generating awareness, or long term such as increasing sales or market share  All marketing communications aim to achieve certain objectives: to inform, persuade, and remind customers  Communication objectives also need to consider focus o I.e. does the company hope to stimulate demand for a new product or increase awareness for the company in general?  Generally, when advertising to consumers, the objective is a pull strategy in which the goal is to get consumers to pull the product into the supply chain by demonstrating retailers carry it  Push strategies also exist and are designed to increase demand by focusing on wholesalers, distributors or salespeople, who push the product to the consumers o These campaigns attempt to motivate the seller to highlight the product, rather than the products of competitors, and thereby push the product onto consumers 3. Determine Budget  No one method should be used in isolation—all have advantages and disadvantages  The objective-and-task method determines the budget required to undertake specific tasks to accomplish communication objectives o To use this method, marketers first establish a set of communication objectives, then determine which media best reach the target market, and how much it will cost  Competitive parity method is a method of determining a communications budget in which the firm’s share of the communication expenses is in line with its market share o May be used by large companies such as Coca Cola o Setting a budget based on market share  Percentage-of-sales method is a method of determining a communications budget that is based on a fixed percentage of forecasted sales o Standard percentages are sometimes used in some product categories

I.e. since everyone needs to eat, the grocery industry only needs to spend a small percentage of its revenues on advertising Affordable method is a method of determining a communications budget based on what is left over after other operating costs have been covered o Often used by small companies o Generally results in underspending- may not accomplish the company’s sales objectives When selecting the various budgeting methods, firms must first consider the role that advertising plays in their attempt to meet their overall promotional objectives Advertising expenditures vary over the course of the product life cycle The nature of the market and the product influence the size of advertising budgets o



  

4. Convey Message  In this step, marketers determine what they want to convey about the product or service  Determine key message, and then what appeal would be most effective to convey it The Message  The message provides the target audience with reasons to respond in the desired way  A logical starting point for deciding on the advertising message is to determine the key benefits of the product/ service  The message should communicate the product’s problem-solving ability  Another strategy differentiates a product by establishing its unique benefits  Unique selling proposition is a strategy that differentiates a product by communicating its unique attributes o Often becomes a common theme or slogan in the entire advertising campaign o I.e. “Just Do It”  The selling proposition must be unique and meaningful to the consumer The Appeal  Advertisers use different appeals to portray their product or service  Tends to combine types of appeals into two broad categories: rational and emotional  Rational appeals help consumers make purchase decisions by offering factual information and strong arguments built around relevant issues that encourage customers to evaluate the brand favourably on the basis of the key benefits  Rational appeals focus on consumers’ sense of reasoning, logic, and learning  Emotional appeals aim to satisfy consumers’ emotional desires rather than their utilitarian needs o The key to a successful emotional appeal is the use of emotion to create a bond between the consumer and the brand o I.e. Coca Cola’s use of polar bears in their ads evoke safety, happiness, love, and comfort 5. Evaluate and Select Media  The content of an advertisement is tied closely to the characteristics of the media that firms select to carry the message  Media planning refers to the process of evaluating and selecting the media mix that will deliver a clear, consistent, compelling message to the audience

 

Media mix= the combination of the media used and the frequency of advertising in each medium Media buy= the purchase of airtime or print pages o Is usually the largest expense in the advertising budget

Mass and Niche Media  Mass media channels include national newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV o Are ideal for reaching large numbers of anonymous audiences  Niche media channels are more focused and generally used to reach narrower segments, often with unique demographic characteristics or interests o I.e. Cosmo Girl or Skateboarder magazine o Sometimes offers the opportunity to change or personalize messages Choosing the Right Medium  Each alternative has specific characteristics that make it suitable for meeting objectives o I.e. consumers use different media for different purposes, to which advertisers should match their messages  TV for escapism or entertainment- most TV advertising relies on visual effects  Communication media also vary in their ability to reach the desired audience o I.e. Radio is a good medium for products such as grocery purchases or fast food because many consumers decide what to purchase on their way to the store or in the store  Each medium varies in reach and frequency  The cost of each medium differs as well, with TV being the most expensive  See pg. 443 Determining the Advertising Schedule  The advertising schedule specifies timing and duration of advertising o There are 3 types  A continuous advertising schedule runs steadily throughout the year and therefore is suited to products and services that are consumed continually and at relatively steady rates and that require a steady level of persuasive or reminder advertising o I.e. P&G continuously advertises its Tide brand  A fighting advertising schedule refers to one implemented in spurts, with periods of heavy ads followed by periods of no ads o This generally functions for products whose demand fluctuates, such as tennis racquets  A pulsing advertising schedule combines the continuous and flighting schedules by maintaining a base level of advertising but increasing ads intensely during certain periods o I.e. IKEA advertises throughout the year but boosts its advertising expenditures to promote school supplies in august 6. Create Communication  The message and appeal are translated creatively into words, pictures, colours, and/ or music  Often the execution style for the ad will dictate the type of medium used to deliver the message

I.e. crash tests demonstrating the safety of cars often rely on the visual impact of the crash  This only works on TV, so it is common for advertisers to make decisions about their message and appeal, the right medium, and the best execution When using multiple media to deliver the same message, advertisers must maintain consistency across the execution styles so the different executions deliver a consistent message to the target audience o I.e. car dealers advertise by using TV to demonstrate an image, newspapers and radio to demonstrate price Advertisers must be careful to not let the creativity overshadow the message o The ad must be able to catch the viewers’ attention, provide a reason for the audience to spend time viewing the advertisement, and accomplish what it is set out to do Print ads are static- no sound, no motion o Print relies on the headline, the body copy (main text of the ad), the background, the foreground (everything on top of the background), the branding o Must convey its message by using compelling visuals and limited text o







7. Assess Impact Using Marketing Metrics  The effectiveness of an advertising campaign must be assessed before, during and after the campaign has run  Pretesting refers to assessments performed before an ad campaign is implemented to ensure that the various elements are working in an integrated fashion and doing what they are intended to do  Tracking includes monitoring key indicators, such as daily or weekly sales volume, while the advertisement is running to shed light on any problems with the message or medium  Post-testing is the evaluation of the campaign’s impact after it has been implemented o Advertisers assess the sales and/ or communication impact of the advertisement or campaign  Measuring sales impact can be challenging because of many influences other than advertising on consumers’ choices, purchase behaviour, and attitudes o The level of competitors’ advertising, economic conditions in the target market, sociocultural changes, and even the weather can all influence consumer purchasing behaviour  For frequently purchased items such as Cola, sales volume offers a good indicator of advertising effectiveness o Because their sales are relatively stable, and if we assume that the other elements of the marketing mix and the environment have not changed, we can attribute changes in sales volume to changes in advertising  Some product categories experience so many influences that it is almost impossible to identify advertising’s contribution to any individual consumer’s choice to purchase a single product o Especially true for products such as cigarettes and alcohol, or those with negative health consequences such as fast food  Because of the cumulative effect of marketing communications, it may take several exposures before consumers are moved to buy o Firms cannot expect too much too soon o They must invest in the marketing campaign with the idea that it may not reach its full potential for some time

Traditional Media  Firms should examine when and how consumers have been exposed to various marketing communications  Firms use measures of frequency and reach to gauge consumers’ exposure to marketing communications  For most products, a single exposure to a communication is not enough to generate the desired response o Therefore, marketers measure the frequency of exposure  How often the target audience is exposed to a communication within a specific period of time  The other measure used to determine exposure is reach o Describes the percentage of the target population exposed to a specific marketing communication, such as an advertisement, at least once  Marketing communications managers usually state their media objectives in terms of gross rating points (GRP) o Represents reach multiplied by frequency o GDP= reach x frequency  Can be used for print, radio, television  When comparing the calculations, they must refer to the same medium  I.e. 50 reach x 50 ads = 250 GRP Digital Media  Click-through tracking measures how many times users click on banner advertising on websites  All these performance metrics can be easily measured and assessed by using tools such as Google analytics  Facebook also helps companies see who has been visiting their pages, what these people are doing on their pages, and who is clicking on their ads o With this info, marketers can get to know these visitors and customize the material for them Planning, Implementing, and Evaluating IMC Programs: An Illustrating of Google Advertising  Search engine marketing= uses tools such as Google AdWords to increase the visibility of websites in search engine results o Used to reach customers based on keywords potential consumers use o Companies must determine the best keywords to use for their sponsored link advertising programs  I.e. “sneakers”, “athletic shoes”  To estimate reach, companies use the number of impressions o Number of times an ad appears to a user  Also use the click-through rate; the number of times a user clicks on an ad divided by the number of impressions o I.e. if a link was delivered 100 times and 10 people clicked on it, then the CTR would be 10%  Relevance of an ad describes how useful an ad is to the consumer doing the search o Google provides a measure of relevance through its AdWords system using a quality score

This score looks at factors to measure how relevant a keyword is to an ad’s text and a user’s search A return on investment is used to measure the benefit of an investment, using a formula: o



ROI=

sales revenue−advertising cos t advertising cost

Integrated Marketing Communications Tools  For any communications campaign to succeed, the firm must deliver the right message to the right audience through the right media o Is becoming more difficult as the media environment grows more complicated  Advances in technology have led to a variety of new media options  The proliferation of media has led many firms to shift their promotional dollars from advertising to direct marketing, website development, product placements, and other forms of promotion o In search of the best way to deliver messages  Networks are dedicated to certain types of sports, children, ethnic minorities, etc. o Allows IMC planners to target their audiences narrowly Advertising  Perhaps the most visible of the IMC components  Advertising is a paid form of communication from an identifiable source, delivered through a communication channel, and designed to persuade the receiver to take some action  Traditionally has been passive and offline o These days, advertising is increasingly placed online and is interactive o I.e. print ads in newspapers are offline, with consumers simply viewing them; online coupons are all offered online and require customers to provide some information or to take some action  Extremely effective for creating awareness of a product and generating interest  Ads can also be used to remind consumers of existing brands  Ads can entice consumers into a conversation with marketers  But, advertising must break through the clutter of other messages to reach its intended audience o To do so, many advertisers rely on images Personal Selling  Personal selling is the two-way flow of communication...