The Major Objective of Marketing Communication - Essay Example

?Case Study – Fruit Delight Overview of communications considerations for the target market The major objective of marketing communication for the target market, “weight-conscious adolescent female aged 12-16”, would be as follows (Dahlen, Lange and Smith 2009): to provide a brand different from the current one under the name Fruit Winders to provide information about the brand value as well as about its differentiating features persuade the target audience to change attitude and shift to the choices being made available Usually adolescent females in this age group are highly influenced by social figures and peer group behavior. They want to look and behave like the celebrities who have high influence on them. Hence, as described by Kelman, source attractiveness would be an important characteristic of our communication messenger (Egan 2007). Word Of Mouth marketing using the brand’s current customers would also influence the target audience as they are highly image-conscious and trust their peers more than others. Fruit Winders already has a positive image (especially with the mums) as far as health benefits are considered. Using these indirect customers to propagate the benefits of the product can be effectively used for viral marketing as was done by “Dove”. They used the real customers in their ads to spread a credible word of mouth (Dahlen, Lange and Smith 2009). Critique of current/recent campaigns to the same target audience The target audience of Fruit Delight overlaps that of Fruit winders for the 10-12 year olds. This can have both favorable and unfavorable implications. A major disadvantage of this can be the confusion it can create in the minds of this age group. So, far this group of audience has been used to the symbols and self-association with these symbols. With the introduction of the new product which would propagate a different image association, the target audience would not know which one to adopt. There will be a symbol clash in this kind of brand extension. This will erode some customers from the Fruit Winder’s basket which may or may not fall into the Fruit Delight basket as they might get attracted towards other brands in the same product range. This is because they have already perceived this brand as one for smaller kids and they may not be able to associate with the new one as being for older kids. This is what happened with the global brand “Pierre Cardin”. The company diversified into so many product lines that people did not associate with the core line of business. The brand eventually died (Mininni 2006). Thus, we can see that any failure of strategy implementation by inappropriate transfer and linkages of brand associations of the parent brand to the new product can lead not only to the failure of the new brand but also that of the parent brand (Juda 2007). However, a major advantage of this brand extension is that it is not moving very far away from its core brand values. This is an important factor to consider before going into a product line. Positive images and strengths of the current brand, Fruit Winders, can easily be leveraged to achieve a successful brand launching into a new segment (Juda 2007). This is one of the ways of “increasing the rate of new acceptance and purchase intention of customers” (Juda 2007). It can help in penetrating into a new segment while achieving advertising and promotion expenditure efficiencies. Thus, using viral marketing can be a very easy strategy to launch the new product using old customer base. Using the same TV commercials with extra information on the new product can help in promoting the Fruit Delight through the younger siblings of the target audience. Current websites can be used to promote the product but content of the websites for this audience can be designed according to their interest. Using the same billboards and TV commercials to promote websites will help in promoting the product to a great extent. Positioning statement Positioning consists of two main factors – the first is the basic functionality and capabilities along with other physical attributes of the product and second is the way it is communicated to the target audience and the way they perceive it with respect to other similar products (oup.com n. d). It is very important to understand the attributes of the products that will appeal most to the customers of the target segment. Once this has been identified, relevant communication needs to be made to ensure that the right message about its attributes is made. A retail survey of teenagers showed that being stylish and trendy was the most important driver for their choice of clothing (oup.com n. d). This shows that our target audience would prefer products that help them become stylish and trendy. Thus, Fruit Delight would require to be positioned as a product that can help them achieve this by ensuring them a low fat but healthy snack which can keep their body in shape. There are a lot of low fat snacks and refreshments available in the market like chocolates and drinks, but since Fruit Delight contains 60% fruit and has very high levels of antioxidants (due to the inclusion of acacia in its ingredients), it is far better than others which contain unhealthy chemicals. Positioning statement: “Girls, be delightfully slim with fruits” This stament helps achieve all the points discussed above. It gives a message that the product has fruits and not chemicals, it will help the customers keep their body slim (in-shape) as well as healthy and ultimately help the target audience achieve the main goal of being trendy as a person who has good shape can fit into the trendiest clothes. It talks to the target audience by directing the statement towards them, thus clearly defining the audience. The statement also indirectly names the product. Thus on the whole, it helps in bringing out the unique benefits of the product (Aurora Marketing 2005). Phases of communication, and their objectives Various tools of marketing communication need to be used to provide the maximum impact on the target consumers. This needs to be done in various stages. Phase I Objective: To provide information to the target audience through the current customer base. Time of activity: Three months Since the Fruit Winders has already established itself, we can use the same platform to communicate with the existing consumers and create awareness about the new product. However, this would first require creating awareness about the new product through PR program. The current customer database can be used to first gather information regarding the relatives and friends of the previous buyers of Fruit Winders. Those current consumers who have acquaintances in this group can then be provided information about new product symbols which have been especially created for the target group. These new symbols can be based on famous celebrities who are the current heart-throbs of teenage girls. These new symbols can be distributed along with the sample of the product along with the every purchase of Fruit Winder. This would be viral marketing technique. The existing customers would attract the new ones as they are already highly influenced by the current product. Websites which provide specific information regarding teen health issues or other growing up issues can be created and these need be linked to how the new product is helpful in achieving positive results. During this phase only sample products will be available and nothing will be available at the retail outlets. Once a particular level of awareness has been reached with respect to the product differentiation, next phase can start. Phase II Objective: Increase awareness to non-current customer base Time of activity: Three months Once a particular level of product awareness has been reached in the target audience with the first phase the audience base needs to be increased. For this distribution of information as well as symbols in the form of stickers, stuffed toys, handbags, bracelets etc. will be started. Some products like stickers can be distributed with the teenager magazines, while toys and teenage accessories bearing the symbols can be made available for retail sale. This should be reinforced with billboard advertisements. So far magazines and billboards will be used as communication medium. The TV commercial would still have Fruit Winder as the main focus, but a slight reference to the new product with the aim of increasing curiosity. Phase III Objective: Full fledged awareness program focusing on target audience as well as adults who would be influencers in the buying decision. This would be in continuation to the previous TV advertisements which featured during the second phase of our communication process. This will help in linking the two brands for the bigger audience which was not targeted earlier. Detailed consideration of media use As per the IMC (Integrated Marketing Comunication) model “Outside-in” approach should be used to choose the communication channels to reach out to the customers (Shimp 2008). This means that we need to understand what the preferred communication channel of the customer is rather than impose a particular channel which he would ultimately ignore. It has also been understood that mass communication channels may not always be the most effective ones (Shimp 2008). Hence, we will be using TV advertising in the last phase of our communication plan. Events, sponsorships, internet and other PR techniques help in achieving better touch points. Thus, the first PR technique would be reach out the existing customers and distribute freebees and symbols to reach out their direct contacts. The second media platform is the use of internet. This will be used to create websites where target consumer related issues are discussed and a connection is made between the problems and the solution provided by the new product. This will be a part of relationship building exercise. This will be reinforced in the next stage by using billboards for advertising about the new symbols and product. Billboards placed at strategic location like schools, undergrad colleges and movie halls etc. will help in bringing about awareness about the product to a larger customer base. Major advantage of using this is that key geographical locations can be chosen to reach the target customer. Using LED technology can help project videos for a broad audience (Kenneth 2007). At this point in time, slight reference to the new product in the current TV ads (of fruit winders) to increase the curiosity of the audience will further help in increasing awareness. Finally, independent ads of the product will be aired after around six months of relationship and awareness building. These will be aired during popular female adolescent TV programs as well as those which most of the mums would be watching. The TV commercials will also have celebrities that are famous among the 12-16 age group girls advertise for the product. Modes of customer/company contact specified in ads. Internet is today the fastest and easiest contact medium for most companies. A dedicated website will be created which will carry a catalogue from which to order. This will be a part of direct sales strategy. For bulk order purchases, special discounts and other offers will also be adequately advertised at the website. This website will be mentioned in all the ads. Second point of customer contact will be their nearest retail outlets. These will be mainly for the individual customers who are not making bulk purchases. Customer helpdesk number of the company’s branches will also be advertised to help clients place orders. Content to avoid Content is an important part of advertising. It is as important as choosing the right communication medium. For specifically targeting the female population of 12 to 16 years, it is best to focus on advertising during programs of their interest. It is important to avoid placing the ads in other kid’s shows as this might confuse kids. Low fat is a requirement of a particular group and not all kids. Incorrect positioning of ads might drive 6-10 year olds away from the brand. For example, many fast food companies avoid airing ads in programs where there is bloodshed as it creates a repulsive environment and hence a negative association with the product ( Sheehan 2004). Advertising to children is a controversial topic in many countries because children are easily attracted towards them easily. Thus, care needs to be taken that the new product ad is not taken as “just another ad to promote sale”. Hence, the content of the ads should not be persuasive but informative about the health benefits of the product. A good idea would be to show the nutritional value of the product in the ads so that children know what they are going for. Many advertisers do this to show the genuineness of their products (Gunter, Oats and Blades 2005).However, too much emphasis on low fat should be avoided as many parents view it as linked to artificial sweetener. Hence, the ad might lose the audience trust. References Aurora Marketing. (2005). ‘Positioning statement basics’. Available at http://www.qalfm.org.au/resources/PositioningStatementBasics.pdf. Accessed on April 13, 2011 Dahlen, M., Lange, F and Smith, T. (2009). Marketing Communications: A Brand Narrative Approach. John Wiley and Sons, New York. Egan, J. (2007). Marketing communications. Cengage Learning EMEA, London. Gunter, B., Oates, C and Blades, M. (2005). Advertising to Children on TV: Content, Impact, and Regulation. Routledge, London. Juda, B. (2007). ‘Brand extension – The benefits and pitfalls, Knowledge Box’. Available at http://www.bloomhead.com/KnowledgeBox_Jan07.pdf. Accessed on April 13, 2011 Kenneth, E.C. (2007). Integrated Advertising Promotion, and Marketing Communication. Pearson Education India, New Delhi. Mininni, T. (2006). How far will brand extensions stretch? ’. Available at http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2006/1762/how-far-will-brand-extensions-stretch. Accessed on April 13, 2011 oup.com. (n. d). ‘Market segmentation and positioning, Principles of marketing management’. Available at http://www.oup.com/uk/orc/bin/9780199290437/baines_ch06.pdf. Accessed on April 13, 2011 Sheehan, K. (2004). Controversies in contemporary advertising. SAGE, London. Shimp, A.T. (2008). Advertising Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications. Cengage Learning, London. Read More