Marketing Communications

Moeed Ahmad Sandhu

Marketing and Integrated Communication Mix

The

Changing nature of Marketing The Marketing Mix Communications Mix and mixing Integrating the Communication mix, its benefits, barriers and rules

The Changing nature of Marketing

New opportunities, challenges and tools are emerging Consumers and customers are becoming more accessible Increased pressure on marketers Customer acquisition through customer retention towards customer deselection New tools such as Data mining, Online world pushes to go beyond selling Traditional definition of Marketing the business of moving goods from producer to consumer is obsolete. New vision about marketing is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably Marketing success is dependant on repeat business and people who come back

The Marketing Mix

A conceptual framework which helps to structure the approach to each marketing challenge

We will just focus on Promotion. Additional three elements are People, Physical evidence and process All Marketing mix communicates

The Communications Mix

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

8.
9. 10. 11. 12.

Selling Advertising Sales Promotion Direct Marketing Publicity (and Public Relations) Sponsorship Exhibitions Packaging Point of sale and merchandising Word of Mouth E-marketing Corporate Identity

Mixing the Communication Mix

What if company switch all press, TV adv to direct mail Should more be spent on sponsorship or sales promotion Every promotional activity involves sacrificing something else Decision depends on objectives and specific response required Communication should flow to all stages (awareness, interest, conviction, purchase and post purchase) through which customer moves towards making purchase All of the market does not move simultaneously through each stage High Involvement Versus Low Involvement Purchase as antecedent to communication tool Push Versus Pull Strategy in marketing communication

Integrating The Communication Mix

Elements of communication must be integrated to give unified message that is consistently reinforced Example: Sales promotion is often tied in with advertising or PR Benefits Competitive Advantage Increased sales and profits Saving time, money, stress Help customer move through stages of buying process Increased Effectiveness

Integrating The Communication Mix

Barriers
Problem of communicating with wide variety of target audience Functional Silos: Rigid organizational structure Budget allocation and division Developing creative idea Restricted creativity Golden rules Get senior management support Integrate at different levels of management Design manual Clearly focused marketing strategy Start from scratch Think customers first

Integrating The Communication Mix

Golden rules

Build relationship and brand values Develop marketing information system Share artwork and other media Be prepared to change it all

The Marketing Communication Plan

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

The SOSTAC Planning system Situation Analysis Objectives Strategy Tactics Action Control

SOSTAC

S O S T A C

A simple aide memoire that helps managers to recall the key components of a marketing communications plan Situation analysis (where we are now?) Objectives (where to we want to go?) Strategy (how do we get there?) Tactics (the details of strategy) Action (implementation, putting plans to work) Control (measurement, monitoring, reviewing and modifying) SOSTAC structure applicable at different levels and in different situations

The 3Ms in SOSTAC

Men: Means men and women- the human resources. Who is required to do what. Assign tasks according to professional skill and competencies Money: means budgets. Budgets are set on basis of objectives, judgement, experience, competition, sales, desired profits and task at hand Minutes: means time. One of most limited resource. Is there enough time to do job? How time will be allocated to different tasks?

SOSTAC: Situation Analysis

It includes a review of performance (sales, profits etc) during the most recent period with past comparisons Internal SWOT (strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) Analysis External PEST (political, economical, Social and Technological) Analysis Decision making units (DMU) consisting of influencers, deciders, advisers, users, buyers and payers Segmentation and target marketing. Segments must be Measurable, Substantial, Accessible and Relevant Consumer segments made on basis of demographics, geodemographics, psychographics, attitudes & beliefs and benefits sought Industrial segments made on basis of type, size, structure of company, usage and benefits sought

SOSTAC: Objectives

Objectives should be SMART:

M- Measurable A-Actionable R-Realistic T-Time specific

S-Specific

Marketing objectives could be: Increase sales Increase market share Generate Revenue Increase distribution penetration Establish distributor network Communication Objectives Push at any stage of AIDA Reposition product Support new product Achieve short-long term objective

SOSTAC: Strategy
Might include 1. Selection of target markets 2. Positioning 3. Selection of communication tools 4. Sequence of communication tools Marketing communication strategy is STOP and SIT S-Segmentation T-Target markets O-Objectives P-Positioning And S-Stages I-Integration T-Tools

SOSTAC: Tactics

Tactics are details of strategy Communication tactics are communication tools such as advertising, public relation, direct mail etc Often expressed as Gantt chart

SOSTAC: Action and Control

Action Reveals details of tactics Bring tactics to life Actions implement the tactics Requires an ability to get other people to deliver on time and within budget Control How plans will be monitored, measured and controlled Assure whether properly working or not Overall objectives can be broken in detailed objectives covering short period of time Include market research and testing