Mills and Boons Collaboration with the Rugby Football Union - Assignment Example

CASE STUDY MILLS AND BOON AND THE RFU Question Mills and Boon's is a UK based publisher of romantic fiction novels. It sells seven million books each year which are written by 200 writers all around UK. Market segmentation is a necessary and effective tool of marketing; it's a representation of the entire market where you divide them into segments for analysis purpose. It helps one understand the market specifically and the needs of the consumers in that segment. People in the same segment share similar characteristics and have similar demands. This way the company can prioritize its segments and different marketing campaign will be drawn for each segment, this will save the marketing effort and the capital invested because resources will be directed towards the right group of individuals (Stanton, Etzel, 2003). There are various ways of segmenting the market. There are mainly four bases on which a consumer market can be segmented. The geographical segmentation is based on the area and the population's characteristics of the segment. Then there are demographical factors that include the age, gender, income and status of family and other related factors (Stanton, Etzel, 2003). Psychographic factors are the attitudes of the people in the market segment, whereas behavioral segmentation is the price, brand loyalty and price of the product. This theory is relevant in this market too. Mills and Boon deals in romantic fiction novels the marketer can segment it based on demographic, psychographic and behavioral factors. Demographic factors are a useful indicator because the marketer would need to see that what age group reads the novels of Mills and Boon. Normally the age bracket of its novel readers is between 18 to 34 years of age. Age is an important characteristic because the demands of an individual changes with time and therefore it is necessary for the product to fulfill the desires of each one of the changing demands. The novel should have something for everyone. Their target is females who are more inclined towards romantic novels. The idea behind this deal between Mills and Boons and RFU is to increase the female readership of Boons and Mills novels. By including the rugby players as the heroes of these novels, it will make them more attractive and appealing for young women who are educated and who would love to see the energetic, glamorized players as the romantic heroes. This is expected to boost the demand for the novels as those who already read them will get an extra flavor to it, whereas even the sports fans might just go ahead and buy these novels. The marketer will have to access the psychographic factors in the market because only those will be willing to buy these novels who either love to read romantic fiction or are a sports freak. People who are not into reading and sports will not care to pay attention to it at all. Moreover who are risk takers would like to try to read something different and look forward to the new subject. Also the buying of the romantic novels depends on the mind set of an individual, the lifestyle and the culture altogether. Behavioral factors can also be utilized to segment the market for readers. For this the kind of people to be targeted will have extensive knowledge related to the subject therefore while marketing the novel to them the marketer will need to satisfy them. The there are habitual buyers who have a passion for romantic novels. There will be some people for whom the price will be a consideration and can affect their decision making, while there will be some who would buy it out of brand loyalty (Kotler, Armstrong, 2003). These factors can be utilized by Mills and Boons and RFU in order to divide the market into segments and then come up with an appropriate marketing strategy for each one of them. This will help to allocate resources effectively and make work easier. Question - 2 Mills and Boon was founded in the year 1908. Over the period of time it has become the biggest publisher of romantic friction novels and has sales nationally as well as globally. They are one of the most successful sellers of UK, in every three seconds they have a sale of one novel. The company decided to go into collaboration with a sport as the editor of the series thought it to be a wise decision for the novels success. They were also inspired by their parent company Harlequin's decision of collaborating with the US car racing organization. This was a different thing as the car experience mixed with romance gave rise to interesting names to their novels such as 'Peak Performance' and many more. Mills and Boons wanted to have a new arena to its usual friction based romantic novels. The company wanted to have its heroes who had the integrity, were passionate and committed. They found this passion and toughness in rugby boys. This is why they ended Apart from that this would add some glamour element to the novel. This is sometimes important to add some thing extra or experiment with new works. Mills and Boons wanted to attract the female readers towards the novels. In order to get their attention they had to come up with interesting advertising campaigns and slogans. To add more to the female's aspect more it also mentioned the rules of the game for better understanding and for those who didn't know much about the game. Then there were things such as the ways to look good at a rugby match. On the other hand why the Rugby Football Union said yes to this deal This was because there are one third women in the Rugby supporters. RFU wanted to target the female audience through Mills and Boons. This was possible because it was the largest selling novel of UK and its target market were the females. So using this medium RFU can get the message conveyed to the females and increase their support in the Rugby matches. When they will read the novels they will get familiar with the game. Over that they believed that the Rugby players had all the ingredients of becoming the hero of the mills and boons novel. They were tall, dark and handsome, just the way women would want it to be. It's a man's game and women would love it. These two brands complemented each other and their target market was the female population, passion mixed sports and romance and got a new series of novels for the readers. By collaborating with one another, they were looking forward for newer ways for achieving their goals. This deal will prove to be a successful one for RFU as well as the Mills and Boons. Question - 3 Mills and boons found in the year 1908 has become the leading publisher of novels in UK with high sales around the globe. The first book published by the company was a romantic novel and later it was in the 1930's that this company decided that they should specialize rather than writing on all the general subjects. This is when they decided that they will focus on writing romantic novels. The market for romantic novels would always be there. Romantic novels have always appealed women all around the world and Mills ands Boons realized this at the right time to go ahead with it and preserved it through their profession. They have 200 writers for the UK and other 1300 for the entire world. In UK only they have around 3 million readers and in that the romantic novels constituted that largest share. From the beginning they got an overwhelming response and a wide readership. Ever since that time the company concentrated on hardback romance and since the beginning only these novels were priced at reasonable rates so that people could afford them and have excess to the brand. Apart from that they would offer convenient ways of buying their books through retail selling as well as subscription and agents across the country. It became a popular brand around the globe and adopted a global marketing strategy. Young girls all over get themselves hooked to the books; young girls grew up reading these novels. This shows that the company has something different to offer to its customers and they were enjoying it and loving it. They hire writers from different countries but the language of love is the same in all the countries. The company has French, Italian and Indian writers. Mills and Boons would carry out competitions in various countries in order to get the best writers for their novels. Another distinct feature of Mills and Boons is that after they write an publish a book it is send to the market for sale and displayed in shops and at the end of the month the copies are withdrawn from the shelves so the buyers have to buy within that time period in order to get the first hand copy else they get a second hand copy. Mills and Boons which has been one of the first names in romantic novels and had been able to comprehend their novels in an original, unique and character driven, they choose the writers who can feel the depth of romance and intensity, they are always looking for new writers to bring a different feel to the subject and if you are a romantic writer then if you do not have that passion of love then it's hard to become a effective writer. The company has a global appeal and always comes up with a strong experience altogether. Like they collaborated with the US car racing company and now this Rugby Football union, they have always tried to bring something new for the readers which at the same time giving a different flavor to the reader's experience. Question - 4 Rugby is an outdoor sport and Rugby Football Union is an England based body of the Rugby union. One of the activities of the union is educating and teaching its players, organizing international matches and related activities. Mills and Boons which is the leading publisher of Romantic novels in UK made a call through its publicity agents to the RFU and offered them collaboration between the two companies. RFU agreed and finalized a deal with Mills and Boons, it was basically asking for a license from the RFU to let them publish a series of novels that would include the rugby players it was a kind of a promotional deal that would help the company in increasing its sales at the same capturing the market. When this deal was signed the target market for both the brands was young women who were interested in sports as well as reading. With this deal Mills and boons plans on winning the hearts of the readers by brining them something new in the novel. The company wants to prove that they are contemporary and not always produce the usual typical novels. This is why they collaborated with cars and sports companies. Mills and Boons want to bring glamour touch to their novels and promote them through a different way. They want to attract the female readers who first of all love romantic novels and over that the element of the rugby men as the heroes of the novels would add to it. The company wants to fuel love and energy every time back into the readers mind. Market positioning is basically the way you want your audience to perceive you and it all depends on the company that how do they project their product and marketing. Mills and Boons have been successful in providing quality reading substance to its readers which has made it the largest publishers with a huge market of readers in the UK market. There novels have something to offer to all its customers and every time with their creative team and marketing efforts they revitalize their novels and bring something different and unique. On the other hand Rugby Football Union is a sports organization. It gave rights to Mills and Boons to publish novels which would have Rugby stars as romantic heroes. By agreeing to this deal it was obvious that they have common interest and targets and they can use each others fame in order to reach those targets. According to the sales and marketing director of RFU it's clear that they want to widen their female audience. It is concerned about its image now and they want to play and have fun together. they want to position the brand as an organization that will provide pure entertainment to its audience and since they feel that only one third of the female supporters is there which is too less therefore they need to increase their numbers and there couldn't be a better opportunity then collaborating with the Mills and Boons, women just love it and indirectly they will start loving Rugby too, the message will be conveyed to them. In this way both the companies target is met as well as positioning given that the marketing plan works effectively. They both are going to gain from this collaboration. Mills and Boons will have a rising sale where as RFU will have more female audience. They are using each others fame and specialty to help the other one for an over all gain. Question - 5 Mills and boons collaboration with the RFU has given the company the rights to publish a series of eight books that will have Rugby superstars as romantic heroes of the novels. Mills and Boons is a brand name in the UK with 14% of the female population being a regular reader of their novels. Their focus is mainly on romantic fiction novels though the company is working on the diversity element too. The marketing directors of both the company's agreed to it in order to get together for each others benefits. Mills and Boons is always looking for newer ways to promote their novels and bring passion, uniqueness and something new to the novels. Their novels are loved by the young women of the UK population who literally grow up reading them. They have love, passion and intensity in them. They wanted a sports element in their novels too that is why they took up rugby. Rugby players are suitable to fit into the criteria of the hero of the novels, they are strong, tall , dark and energetic, they have the right ingredients to make women fall in love with them especially if these novels are written by some of the expert writers of Mills and Boons. The company has great writers picked from all over the world who write for them. Mills and Boons team wanted to bring the thrilling effect of sports mixed with the passion of love and give it to its audience. The company has been able to maintain its position over the years as the market leader. Due is due to its ongoing new novels, new ad campaigns, marketing, and devotion to give its readers a perfect reading experience. It is a good idea to include the Rugby players in the novels. This will be different for the regular readers. RFU will also be able to reach its female audience. They have chosen the best way to reach the target audience. The novel also mentions the different ways the women should dress in the rugby match as a teaser for them. If these series of novels are well articulated then it will create the willingness and desire in women to go to a rugby match and see their romantic heroes in the rugby field. This is exactly what RFU wants a more than one third of women audience in the rugby match. By signing this deal with Mills and Boons RFU has actually reached the 14% of the female population of UK which is a regular reader of these novels. Therefore considering the brand images and loyalty it is expected that this collaboration will prove to be fruitful for Mills and Boons as well as RFU in the near future. Mills and Boons has taken an effective marketing approach. References Etzel, Michael J., Stanton, William J. (2003) Marketing. 13 Sub edition McGraw-Hill Kotler, Philip & Armstrong. (2003). Principles of Marketing 13th ed. 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