TOMS Shoe Integrated Marketing Communications Plan - Essay Example

 Integrated Marketing Communications Plan Overview The plan detailed below is aimed at outlining the communication tactics that will be employed in order to create awareness regarding TOMS shoe. The channels that will be used to ensure that our target audience is reached will include advertisements on television, advertising on social networking sites, experiential marketing and also on college campuses. This integrated marketing communication plan will be aimed at reaching the objectives set by the company as well as looking at the critical issues that will be encountered in the course of its implementation (Baker & Mitchell 2000, pp. 6). TOMS Shoes began in Argentina, the sky blue and white colour on the TOMS Shoes logo thus, represents where the idea of the shoes company was conceived and that is Argentina. As a matter of fact Argentina was the first place where TOMS Shoes were given out for free. In a period of only five years that TOMS Shoes has been in the market; the company has managed to sell over a million pairs of shoes. The company has not only sold out all those pairs of shoes but also it has given away freely almost an equal figure of shoes as part of the companies model of buy one get one free (one for one). TOMS shoes mission statement is to be a trendsetter with its stylish shoe variety as well as to be socially responsible through charitable missions. TOMS donates a pair of shoe to a needy child for every pair of shoe bought.   Marketing objectives The marketing objectives of the company is to increase the purchase of TOMS shoe among the youth including college students, those who have recently graduated and in general those below the age of 35 years. In addition, the company in its objectives aims at increasing its market share by 20% in the next 3 years by aggressive marketing using advertisements and other outlined promotional techniques. 1.1 Communication objectives The communication objectives of the company are geared towards increasing by 30% the target audience that is aware of our products during the first year of implementation. It is also the company communication objective to increase the traffic on our website by 40% in the first year of operation. Further the communication objectives of the company are directed towards increasing the number of customers by 15% in the first year. The ultimate objective of the company communication is to increase our overall presence in social networking sites operating in the country and the globe at large. 1.2 Challenges Previous research conducted on marketing to the youth has yielded some less positive results. Marketers consider this group as the hardest one to reach. The marketing initiatives will have to be both convincing and interactive with the prospect of dialogue between the company and the youth in a bid to getting feedback on the quality of the products and also on the nobility of its objectives. 2. Situational analysis SWOT Analysis The strength of TOMS shoe is that it has a noble cause attached to its marketing initiatives. The fact that one shoe bought will lead to another being donated to African poor is bound to elicit support from the young people who are the target for the designs of shoes to be marketed. The marketing initiative will ensure that customers will spread the goodwill message to others and in turn will create long time loyalty to the brand. One weakness that the brand has is that it is new. Therefore, it will face stiff competition from the already established brands. The brand will also be under immense scrutiny due to the cause that it will further and customers will want to reassurance that what the company preaches to do is what it actually does. This will require additional capital in reassurance of customers. An opportunity presented by this initiative is that it is the first of its kind and therefore may elicit support for the cause in people who always desired to be charitable but could not have had the opportunity to be. The greatest threat to the performance of the brand is the state of the economy. Since the economy is recovering from an economic downturn, household spending is still somewhat constrained. Additionally, the idea is easily replicable meaning that once competitors get wind of it, they will counter it in some way. 3. Target audience 3.1 Identifying target The target market is mainly young people since their main attraction is fashion and price. As such, our products are mainly stylish and sell at reasonable price considering the cause that they seek to serve. Considering the prices charged for nearly the same quality of shoes by the competitors, this target audience will be attracted. 3.2 Determining market segmentation Considering the age at which people are conscious of the occurrences in the world and the purchasing power, the youth, specifically those in college and graduates are the most likely targets for our products. There are many students who are over the age of 15 years enrolled in colleges. These people are fashion conscious and also are exposed to the realities occurring elsewhere in the world and thus are easily persuaded to assist. Additionally, older adults are also going back to school and therefore, the age bracket is stretched to encompass those under the age of 35 years. 4. Positioning When the young people were asked what they considered when purchasing shoes, they cited price as the major determinant (Hartley & Pickton 1999, pp. 36). The second factor identified was the style of the shoes and the third factor was the quality of the shoes. As such, TOMS shoe seeks to provide the best price and the best design shoes. The price will be based on donations to Africans which is a charitable cause that will elicit sympathy for their plight and in turn sales. The design will mainly be characterized by blue and white colours. Blue is associated with coolness like the sky, deep oceans, twilight and sleep. In some cultures, the colour signifies purity like the Virgin Mary, inspiration, spirituality and sincerity. The colour also has a calming effect. On the other hand, white is the colour that is associated with peace. Therefore, unstable conditions in Africa can be said to be striving to achieve white and thus the shoes will signify this message. The company also has a USP for the product which is one-for- one meaning that when an individual buy one shoe he gets one for free. 4.1 Barriers to entry The economy is the leading barrier to entry in the market (Shimp 1997, p. 24). Since the economy is recovering however, conditions might gradually improve in the long run. But until it does, people are constrained from spending the limited resources that they have. The rigidity of people to change is also a major barrier (Smith, Perry & Pulford 1997, p. 75). Marketers have always cited the unwillingness to change as one of the major reasons for stifled competition. However, the youth, who are the target in this case, are not as conservative as the older generations and are always willing to try out new products (Wirthlin 1999). 5. Communication vehicles 5.1 Promotion Promotion is the most important aspect of this plan (Clow & Baack 2007, pp. 107) and is expected to take up 50% of our budget. The most preferred methods will be word of mouth and also through events. These were the two channels that respondents felt was the most influential in their decision making (Pickton & Broderick 2001, p. 64). These activities are expected to increase the brand awareness and together with experiential marketing where depictions of Africans who benefit from the charity of the endeavour, will ultimately increase sales. The target audience will be reached based on their geographic locations and also by demographics especially in college campuses across the country thus increasing the extent of coverage. Promotional activities will also entail hiring of interns who will actively work as “TOMS Shoe Ambassadors.” These ambassadors, apart from spreading the catchy message “141” which is a depiction of “one for one”, the message the company wills to send, will also be actively involved in social networks in campuses and in alumni of those campuses. The interns will need to be people of repute that can be depictions of the brand with excellent social skills, perfect work ethic, responsible and in the same age group as the target customers. The interns will possess promotional materials and will be coached on ways of inserting the TOMS Shoe´s message into the campuses´ cultures. The interns will receive a stipend and will be required to be innovative in promoting the products especially through sports (Masterman 2004, p. 8). 5.2 Television TV commercials will be used primarily to create awareness of the company´s website. The interactive website will send information to those who request it and will also allow for people to send information to friends and family. Our target market, especially those in the lower threshold have been found to be heavy TV watchers. As such, a convincing, well crafted, detailed advert that arouses interest in people will be the most favourable method of passing the message to these younger people (Fill 2002, p. 46). The TV advertisements will be set to run during popular television programs like Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and sports programs. 5.3 Magazines Magazines are also a very efficient way of reaching our target clientele. Detailed and coloured depictions of our products on magazines will elicit interest in readers and this will lead to increased awareness and in turn sales. The cost of running the advertisements will also influence the most viable option to use. Magazines like ESPN Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Peoples Magazine and Rolling Stone are some of the popular ones with young people. 5.4 Internet Perhaps the most efficient mode of advertisement in the current age especially for people in our target audience is the internet and specifically social networking sites. An analysis by Anderson Analytics (Fowler 2010, p. 15) showed that the most visited sites in order of the volume of traffic were Facebook, ESPN, Google, Youtube and Digg.com in males and Facebook, Google, and Youtube in female college students. Therefore, advertisements in the three leading sites could guarantee that a large number of the target clientele will be reached. Fig.1 from the Power Position A Power position Ads which depict the company´s detailed logo can be placed in a wide range of internet sites whereas Ad Words can be used effectively in Google so as to ensure quick access to the company´s products online. 6. Budget Item % Promotion 50 Television Advertisements 30 Print Advertisements 10 Internet Advertisements 10 From the feedback from customers who considered word of mouth and events including the use of interns, half the budget will be allocated to promotional activities. Since majority of the younger generation are heavy TV watchers, and considering the cost of running an ad on TV, the budget towards that end will constitute 30% of the total. Print and internet advertising are not cost intensive and will therefore take 10% of the budget each. 7. Competitors In the shoe industry, TOMS has a number of competitors. Basing on the market audience as well as style, the major competitors of TOMS include: Rocket Dog, Converse (Chuck Taylor All Star), UGGs, Vans, and Birkenstock. Rocket Dog and Converse are casual shoes that have laced, and usually manufactured in variety of designs and colors similar to those TOMS produce. Other show brands such as Vans and Birkenstock produce designs similar to TOM’s classic shoe which a person can ware even in outdoors. In boots design TOMS major competitor is UGGs. Similarity notwithstanding however all those competitor companies differ from TOMS in on aspects of design and price. 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