MKGT1001 Assessment 3 - credit PDF

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MARKETING REPORT

PLASTIC WHALE

CONTENTS 1. Background ………………………………………………………. 1 2. Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)……….1 3. Promotional Mix………………………………………………….1 3.1 Direct and Digital marketing …………………………2 3.2 Advertising ……………………………………………….…. 3 3.3 Public Relations (PR)……………………………………...5 4. Conclusion……………………………………………………….….6 5. Reference list ………………………………………………..…...7

BACKGROUND “A social enterprise with a mission to make the world’s waters plastic-free and create value from Plastic waste” (Plastic Whale 2019). Plastic whale’s transition to Sydney has been a work in progress. Plastic whale pursued The Young and Environmentally aware people, which mainly consists of students attending school and university. This category ranges between the ages of 15 and 25 in Sydney. Plastic whale targeted this set of young minded people because they know what severe consequences plastic has on marine animals. Plastic pollution has affected more than 267 spices worldwide as a result of starvation, ingestion, infection, entanglement and even extinction. These people believe that plastic is now becoming a full-blown environmental catastrophe. There has been a growing trend where youngsters have taken the lead to maximize the elimination of plastic, aiming to make a difference for the betterment of the planet. Plastic whale took advantage of how social media plays such an important role in spreading awareness and that these young people could reach out to thousand others who not only live in Sydney but all over the country, whilst also laying out the mission of the company. Since this segment would reside near the Sydney Harbor, it would be easier for them to participate actively in the company’s events. Plastic Whale’s positioning statement to Young and Environmentally aware people is to provide an exciting, enjoyable, informative social outing with the aim to fulfill the company’s mission and in a way add value to the plastic picked up along the way. INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION (IMC)

According to researchers, a definition for Integrated Marketing communications (IMC) may not be possible since there are various explanations and different values that are taken into account. However, researchers have reviewed various definitions and have layered out five indicators that link a company’s efforts to its customers. These indicators suggest that a communication effort should be directed at consumers in order to affect behavior, an outside viewpoint should be taken to develop a communication strategy with the consumers first, maintaining a healthy relation with the consumers is a must, and lastly a company in order to create a competitive brand image must harmonize between different communication channels effectively (Kitchen and Burgmann, 2010). PROMOTIONAL MIX Nowadays, various promotional tactics are used by companies to integrate into the market. “Promotion is exercise in information, persuasion and influence” (Karunanithy and Sivesan, 2013). In other words, the purpose of promotion is to reach out to potential customers and persuade them into buying the product. Effective promotion is a key element of marketing mix. Promotional mix is the blend of five different methods or tools of communication a company can use to represent itself to the customers. This method includes Advertising, Personal Selling, Public Relations, Direct and Digital Marketing, and Sales Promotion. Plastic whale being a new company in Sydney needs various strategies that would attract potential customers to use their product. Therefore, it is important to have a solid wellthought-out marketing strategy that would make it easier for the company to reach out to customers.

However, before launching a promotion Plastic Whale should be clear on what results they want. For that, a proper and goal-oriented marketing strategy was designed so that Plastic Whale fulfill its mission of eliminating plastic pollution near the Sydney Harbour. If the marketing plan is not rigid, then there are chances of not having much success at targeting products to the right audience (Bradley, 2019). Therefore, Plastic Whale should choose Direct and Digital Marketing, Advertising and Public Relations as a way to create awareness among the target market in Sydney. Using promotional tools such as Personal Selling and Sales promotion could also have been effective but since Plastic Whale is just an upcoming Brand in the Australian market it would have to invest in huge capital costs in terms of employees/salespersons and finances to promote its product to a vast majority of the targeted market. The following are the ways in which plastic whale could promote their product to the Young and Environmentally aware people – 1. Direct and Digital Marketing: Overall society has progressed. Our technological advancements have gotten us to where we are today- with the world readily available. The internet has unquestionably given us all kinds of chances and access to unlimited information. Digital technologies have changed the manner in which we live our lives for the better. Organisations have made it a point to ‘market in the digital world’. Biggest changes in human interaction is the recent proliferation of online social networks. A rapid growth in online platforms have accelerated online behavior remarkably, in turn altering the nature of human activities and interactions (Tiago and Veríssimob, 2014). Real-world social relationships have transferred into the virtual world, resulting in online communities being formed, bringing people together from across the world. This allows individuals to share knowledge, entertain each other and promotes dialogues with different people (Tiago and Veríssimob, 2014). To be involved in digital marketing Plastic Whale would have to constantly change their ideas since this form of promotion changes over time in terms of features and functionality. The first step towards creating awareness about the company is creating a website specifically for customers in Sydney, where the target population can obtain information. This website should state the Plastic Whale’s mission, a brief overview of the about it and how it started, service information, event details, testimonials/ reviews of the previous operations, pictures/videos, virtual tour - an idea for customers how it operates while collecting plastic, contact information and lastly links to its social media page(s). Since the target market consists of customers between the age of 15 and 25, Plastic whales social-media presence would have a great impact on the target market. Computers and mobile phones are common tools for millennials. They access digital media on a daily basis and have to power to communicate and purchase the product and influence others too (Smith, 2010). Due to their familiarity and usage, they could

be considered as a driving force for Plastic whale. Social media sites like Facebook and Instagram are the top two most used social media sites used in Sydney (Hughes, 2019). Therefore, Plastic whale should promote its products through these online sites where they could not only attract people who live near the Sydney Harbour but also to those who will at distance but would be willing to join hands in a noble cause. About two-thirds of businesses invest in online advertising, most of which use a variety of online advertising agencies to influence consumers to make a purchase (Herold, 2018). As more and more consumers spend time surfing through online sites, it is essential for Plastic whale to also be online. Online advertising is an important marketing strategy since it would help Plastic Whale to reach out to maximum consumers using innovative ways that would appeal the young generation and also prove to be cost-effective. A consumer’s digital footprint is extremely valuable in marketing and advertising. With an intensive amount of information available from every exchange one has, whether Googling or Facebook liking about Nintendo, both actions lead to excessive ads about this device on their social media page. Plastic Whale could use digital footprints to target online communities and then use this data to gather information and understand their pattern. With the help of various online advertising agencies like SocialStatista and The Monkeys (Clutch 2020), Plastic whale can reach the target market effectively. A study conducted examined various marketing strategies commonly used in digital media to establish the most affective and least affective for marketers. A survey including 571 millennials was conducted and results indicated that they prefer certain forms of online advertising while finding few other annoying (Smith, 2010). Pop-up ads, YouTube videos, coupons were some ways that were examined on the basis of personalisation, rewards and interactive layout among others. Results stated that digital marketing strategies are more effective in grabbing attention and creates more awareness about the company (Smith, 2010). This motivated them to visit these sites again and also helped them spread it through word-of-mouth. 2. Advertising: Advertising plays an important role at different stages of a business. It is form of directly selling a product to the consumers. Businesses use this method in order to increase/create awareness about the features and benefits of their product (Linton, 2019). Advertising would help Plastic Whale build fondness towards their product over their competitor’s i.e. Sea life Trust and Clean-up Australia. However, it is important that what Plastic Whale advertises must contain important information which holds value for the target market. For effective advertising, customers should be the centre of the campaign. According to Bruce Bendinger, a marketing specialist “the search moves from ‘within the product’ (USP) to ‘within the ad’ (Ad) to within the prospector’s mind (consumer)” (Altstiel and Grow, 2006, pg. 20). A consumer considers two categories before investing in a product or service. First whether the product or service actually holds value for them and second whether they are interested in them. Usually the later

comprises of different products being held together in order to weigh out the pros and cons which is done through heavy promoting. Plastic whale should thus use a unique strategy to attract Young and Environmentally aware people. Billboards are something that one comes across every now and then. However, they require attention and frequent glances, in order to make the advertisement effective and worth the time. Billboard advertisements in general are not overpriced, and should be placed at a strategic position where the target market can be influenced. Plastic Whale should use billboards on the ferries, trains and buses that transport daily commuters to school/university. If Plastic Whale positioned themselves as providing a fun, enjoyable and informative social outing, they could use billboards that depict groups of teenagers at the event having an exciting time whilst being environmentally aware. Advertising influences about 90 percent of consumers into purchasing decisions. The ability of television is its capability of targeting the right audiences (Rush, 2019). Over 70 percent of viewers use multiple devices like laptops or mobile phones while watching TV and often interact with friends simultaneously (Rush, 2019). Viewers engage in meaningful conversations with their peers when they find an Ad attractive and start to research more about the product (Rush, 2019). Plastic Whale should create a television ad that resonate with these young minds. An ad that is dominated by teenagers just like them, whose voices and character show ambition, confidence and a sense of appreciation towards the environment. Hence investing in an ad on movie, sports broadcasting and soap opera channels could prove beneficial in attracting a large group of customers in that age group. Consumer attitude towards a product or brands has been a major concern for researchers. A study was designed to answer questions on how attitudes towards advertising influence consumer reaction. Gallup & Robinson (G&R) impact system is a copy testing system designed to reach certain measures (Mehta, 2020). Advertising effectiveness was measured by two indicators: “Intrusiveness, indicating attentiongetting power and memorability of the ad and Persuasion, indicating favourable interest in purchasing the product” (Mehta, 2020). A few studies linked to this relationship also proved to be effective in using Billboards, since customers have a positive attitude towards it. A study including 1,914 adults above 18 years of age, who regularly read magazines participated in this. This was divided into four different categories: “women’s fashion, women’s general, news and general” (Mehta, 2020). Readers qualified if they read any two of the above categories. Participates who were true to the study were further given a call to schedule to review the magazines content. Various attitudinal measures were set on a scale of 0-10, 0 being ‘strongly disagree’ and 10 being ‘strongly agree’. 15 ads were selected from which consumers had to rate from (Mehta, 2020). These responses would prove as evidence that popular ads are actually recalled and hold great significance to consumers. The overall review of advertisements from this study concluded that ads are effective as they keep consumers up-to date. Hence, Plastic whale should promote its operations via ads whether it be on the TV or in the newspaper.

3. Public Relations: Public relations (PR) refer to a variety of activities undertaken by a business to promote and protect the image of the business, its policies and products in the eyes of the consumers (Pranashree, n.d.). A well-planned PR strategy brings opportunities that are just as important as Advertising and Direct and Digital marketing. This is one of the most effective ways to communicate and connect to the market. In an age where social media and online marketing are overtaking traditional ways of advertising, more people are leaning towards reviews of other consumers, as credible sources. Plastic Whale should therefore look to the digital platform and online influencers to attract customers into buying its products. Plastic Whale’s campaign should include giving consumers an opportunity to fully express their care towards the environment by picking up plastic, which sends a message about caring for the environment whilst having fun and sharing this experience with someone else. Since Plastic Whale collects the waste and makes it into a boat, it could also allow customers to make bottles for themselves which have their own name on them. This way customers get a more personal experience and the campaign creates a trend of self-expression and sharing in a touching and uplifting way. Influencers and celebrities have the ability to merge the audience with the product and also can persuade them into purchasing the product/service by altering their opinions. They have a wide reach and often customers between the age of 15 and 25 years respond to such people in a positive way. Plastic Whale could hold events where they invite influencers and celebrities. This would attract a large number of the target market since they look up to them as role models and try to copy whatever they do. Hence it could be profitable for Plastic Whale to involve such people in their events.\ Social media enables conversation with the target market. It helps build a relationship where a dialogue between the company and audience is possible. However, some companies cannot effectively create this dialogue and they take help of influencers and celebrities in order to fill this gap. Since these people have a large fan following, they help companies attract more and more consumers from the target market. In order to determine how effective influencers and celebrities are, an influencer index was designed (Booth and Matic, 2011). This index helps companies understand how influencers are positive for the company. They are measured by parameters such as views per second, post frequency and social aggregator rate among others. This is further measured on a scale of 1-5, 5 being ‘excellent’ and 1 being ‘poor’ (Booth and Matic, 2011). The results stated that if an influencer is above 3 on the scale then he/she would be profitable for the company but someone lower than 3 would not turn out to be as effective as the others. Therefore, Plastic Whale should invite influencers who have a rating of 3 and above on the scale. Since they would have a large fan following and seeing them publicizing these events a lot of the young adults from the target market would join hands in order to fight plastic pollution.

CONCLUSION This report has provided a brief overview of the Plastic Whale. Plastic Whale’s major competitors in this sector are Clean-up Australia and Sea Life Trust. Social media was identified as a current trend which is likely to impact the company’s operations in this field in the near future. Plastic Whale should target the Young and Environmentally aware people segment and position themselves as company that provides a fun, enjoyable, informative social outing. Plastic whale’s objective is to eradicate plastic pollution from the water bodies and create safe and healthy environment for marine animals and humans as well. This can be achieved through their efforts in making promotional tools such as Direct and Digital marketing, Advertising and Public relations. They need to be aware since their target market consists of consumers between the age of 15-25 years, the strategies should be appropriate and should not mislead consumers. Furthermore, Plastic Whale should take advantage of social media since it can attract a large number of consumers from the target market and can prove to be very beneficial for them.

REFERNENCE LIST

1. Altstiel, T. and Grow, J., 2006. Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics From The Outside/In. [online] Google Books. Available at: [Accessed 28 May 2020]. 2. Bradley, J., 2019. The Importance Of Promotional & Marketing Strategies. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: [Accessed 26 May 2020]. 3. Booth, N. & Matic, J.A., 2011. Mapping and leveraging influencers in social media to shape corporate brand perceptions. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol 16(3), p(184–191). [online] Www-emeraldcom.simsrad.net.ocs.mq.edu.au. Available at: [Accessed 30 May 2020]. 4. Clutch, 2020. Top Advertising Agencies In Sydney - 2020 Reviews | Clutch.Co. [online] Clutch.co. Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2020]. 5. Herold, K., 2018. How Businesses Use Online Advertising In 2018 | The Manifest. [online] Themanifest.com. Available at: [Accessed 27 May 2020]. 6. Hughes, C., 2019. Australia - Social Media Usage By Brand 2019 | Statista. [online] Statista. Available at: [Accessed 27 May 2020]. 7. Karunanithy, M. and Sivesan, S., 2013. (PDF) Empirical Study On The Promotional Mix And Brand Equity: Mobile Service Providers. [online] ResearchGate. Available at: [Accessed 25 May 2020]. 8. Kitchen, P. . J. & Burgmann, . I., 2010. Integrated Marketing Communication Part 4. Advertising and Integrated Communication. [Online] Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/9781444316568.wiem04001 [Accessed May 2020].

9. Linton, I., 2019. How Do Companies Use Advertisements?. [online] Small Business Chron.com. Available at: [Accessed 27 May 2020]. 10. Mehta, A., 2020. Advertising Attitudes And Advertising Effectiveness research). Journal of Advertising Research, 40(3), pp.67–72. [online] Available at: [Accessed 29 May 2020].

11. Pranashree, S., n.d. What Is Public Relations? - Meaning, Definitions, Objectives And Types. [online] Economics Discussion. Available at: [Accessed 30 May 2020].

12. Plastic Whale, 2019. Plastic Whale For Plastic-Free Waters. [online] Plastic Whale. Available at: [Accessed 26 May 2020] 13. Rush, M., 2019. What Are The Benefits Of Advertising On TV Ahead Of Any Other Medium?. [online] Small Business - Chron.com. Available at: [Accessed 28 May 2020]. 14. Raluca, C. and Ioan, P., 2010. The Impact Of Consumers Attitude Toward Advertising On Product Attitude. ...