Advertising review - Assignment Example

?Advertising Review Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 3 A Critical Review of the Campaign In Relation To Its Strengths and Weaknesses 4 Recommendations for Improving the Effectiveness of the Campaign 9 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction In the present business scenario, advertisement is considered to be one of the most applied tools for the effective promotion of products and/or services in the worldwide market segments. Advertisement is recognised to be the most appropriate medium of communication for companies with customers. This promotional tool is thus utilised by companies with the objective of creating better awareness among customers in the market segments in relation to their products and/or services [1] (The University of Sydney, 2013). Coca-Cola is a world-renowned beverage company established in the year 1986 that has been operating quite competitively on a global context. The company is perceived to be executing its business activities in beyond 200 countries currently. Moreover, the company is recorded to be offering around 500 brands to its consumers in the worldwide market. In its marketing tactics, the company has been utilising various promotional strategies with the objective of performing its various business activities in a successful and competitive manner within its wide-ranging market segments. In this respect, it has been observed that the company uses extensive advertisement practices, especially through the audio-visual media such as television and internet for developing better awareness among consumers (The Coca-Cola Company, 2011). For instance, in 2011, the company used an effective promotional strategy named ‘Share a Coke’ campaign with 150 different popular first names of individuals printed on the bottles and cans along with the brand name of the company. The campaign was launched within the beverage market of Australia. The campaign was promoted through advertisements in television and other internet medium which included FaceBook as well as websites (Digital Advance Limited, 2013). Taking the example of this advertisement campaign, the discussion henceforth will intend to discuss the strengths as well as weaknesses of the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign organised by Coca-Cola in its Australian market. Moreover, the discussion will also emphasize on strategies to be recommended in order to improve the effectiveness of the campaign. A Critical Review of the Campaign In Relation To Its Strengths and Weaknesses The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was organized and executed in the beverage market of Australia in the year 2011 targeting the young generation buyers. In accordance with the campaign, the first names of 150 different individuals of Australia were to be printed on the bottles as well as cans of Coke. This in turn was expected to build enthusiasm among the young buyers and thus assist in obtaining the main objective of creating better awareness among the customers about the products offered by Coca-Cola. In the short run, the campaign was also expected to improve the sales volume and profit margin of the company in the Australian beverage industry. Source: (YouTube, 2012) Strengths of the ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign The Coca-Cola Company is recognised to be one of the world’s leading ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods’ (FMCG) companies which have been a pioneer in executing some of the unique but quite effective marketing campaigns. Likewise, the major strength of its ‘Share a Coke’ campaign in Australia can be recognised as its target to teens as well as young adult consumers. Additionally, in targeting the youth, the company focused on making use of attractive audio-visual media such as the social media through internet and television which are extensively used by this generation and is further perceived to be highly persuasive for this particular group of consumers. Moreover, the company with the assistance of this campaign was facilitated with the opportunity of offering its products availing a better public awareness program. Prior to the execution of this particular program, the company had recorded that around 50% of the young consumers in Australia had not even tasted a Coke which firmly addressed the need for an appealing awareness generation campaign which provided with a precise objective to the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign by Coca-Cola. In this campaign, the brand name of the company was accompanied with around 150 different common first names of the people of Australia on the label of each bottle of Coke (Bergh & Behrer, 2013). Hence, it can be affirmed that the company with this campaign was able to promote its products through the strategic decision of ‘contact points’ which is also recognised as ‘touch points’. The company with its ‘contact points’ strategy has been able to form a connection of individuals with the brand [2] (The University of Sydney, 2013). Another advantageous characteristic of the campaign was that the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was promoted through digital advertisements and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter among others. The people interested in this campaign were able to participate as well as share their experiences on these social media networks which further extended the popularity of the brand within the Generation Y consumers. Furthermore, the people were also facilitated with the chance of casting themselves in the commercial advertisements on television. The fans could also develop their individual version of commercial advertisements including their friends over these social websites. The fans could also share a virtual ‘Coke’ Can with the name of their friends over the media that again fostered the popularity of the campaign by a substantial extent. Additionally, the fans on the Facebook could trace a Coke with a particular name through mobile application. The fans could also vote a particular name to be printed in the bottles or cans as per their wish through the internet which further extended their satisfaction and brand loyalty towards Coca-Cola (Wunderman Australia, 2013). In the aftermath, the Facebook account of ‘Share a Coke’ campaign of the company is identified to acquire a renowned position with rising number of fans or loyal consumers. Moreover, the company with the assistance of this campaign has been able to develop a better brand image in the market segments of Australia which was further noted to be highly focused on the trend of consumer buying behaviour, their satisfaction needs and demands. Furthermore, the company with this campaign was observed to be successful in relation to increased sales volumes and profit margin which in turn extended the market share held by the company in the targeted market [3] (The University of Sydney, 2013). The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign is also recognised to be a sort of ‘persuasive advertising’. To be stated, persuasive advertising is developed with the intention of affecting the attitudes as well as enhancing the belief on the brand. The campaign is also perceived to acquire a better appealing advertisement labelling the common names of individuals with its brand name. The advertisement campaign with the inclusion of all these factors was expected to develop a better relation of the products with the targeted customers. The company was also provided with the chance of determining the responses or feedbacks of the consumers in relation to the products as well as the messages conveyed [4] (The University of Sydney, 2013). Thus, it can be comprehended that the company with the assistance of ‘Share a Coke’ campaign had been effective in developing a better brand image. Additionally, the company was also able to execute its business activities in a successful manner in the targeted market segments during the post campaign phase with the assistance of better customer awareness. Weaknesses of the ‘Share a Coke’ Campaign The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign of the company is recognised to be successful in promoting the brand name of Coca-Cola in the market segments of Australia to a substantial extent. However, it has been observed that certain weaknesses persisted identified to adversely impact the brand image of the company on a long term perspective. The names of 150 different individuals which were printed with the brand name of the company on the label of each bottle mostly comprised Anglo names. In other words, the list of individuals’ names which were printed in the bottles dis not consist the names of Asian, Arabian, Indian and African consumers depicting a cultural bias. It has been perceived that out of the 150 names only three names were determined to be ethnically diverse. In this context, the campaign was criticised to tend towards the issue of ethnicity or cultural conflict for the non-inclusion of other most common names of various ethnic groups. The non-inclusion of other common names was further considered to adversely affect the brand image of the company in the long-run t. Moreover, the company was also estimated to lose certain potential customers for the inclusion of their names in the bottles as well as cans of the company (Funnell, 2011). Furthermore, the company was also observed to be involved with unethical business practices in relation to advertisement campaign. To be noted, the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign was promoted through commercial ads in television with white skinned models. The company used white skinned models with the motive of improving advertising effectiveness in the market segments of Australia. In this respect, the advertisement campaign was criticised to develop racial discrimination among consumers. The demography of Australia is also identified to comprise a diverse culture wherein the campaign represented through white skinned models was likely to lead towards cultural conflicts (Funnell, 2011). It was also perceived that this particular promotional strategy which was adopted by the company lacked to be recognised as a complete marketing strategy due to its weakness in determining the behaviour of consumers in reality (Marketing Futures, 2013). Moreover, the campaign was also criticised to be affecting consumers whose names were not included in this campaign thus creating a negative impression on a proportion of a particular consumer group thereby losing consumer loyalty over the long run. Recommendations for Improving the Effectiveness of the Campaign The ‘Share a Coke’ campaign in Australia was perceived to be successful for the enhancement of business operations and profitability. However, there are certain factors which are deemed to be responsible for affecting the brand image as well as value of the company in its future long-run performance. In this respect, a few recommendations have been suggested in the below discussion with the intention of improving the effectiveness of the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign for the better performance of the company. These recommendations are as follows: Cultural Diversity To mitigate the above described weaknesses of the campaign, Coca Cola is required to adopt an effective ‘Integrated Marketing Communication’ (IMC) tool which shall be beneficial in minimising racial discrimination among consumers in the targeted market segment. In this respect, the company can adopt an IMC tool such as Public Relation (PR) in order to execute its business activities with better efficiency in an ethical manner. The PR will further facilitate the company in developing an enhanced relationship with its consumers. The company can also open an online voting system with the aim of acquiring votes with respect to the names to be printed in the bottles or cans that can provide it with cultural diversity advantages and also assist in mitigating the ethnic weaknesses. Moreover, the consumers should also be availed with the opportunity of selecting names for the voting which shall further be included by the company to foster better customer satisfaction. In this context, the company will be able to operate its business operations with better customer loyalty and thrust (Pires & et. al., 2005). Market Segmentation The company with the regard to racial discriminations is required to segment its market in accordance with ethnic groups as the demographic and socio-economic structure in Australia comprises of a diverse culture. In this regard, the company will be able to meet the requirements of these versatile customers divisions in an effective manner. Conclusion In the current day context, marketing is essential to contribute towards the long-run sustainability of the company as it can preserve the potentialities and likewise enhance its capabilities to main profitability and customer satisfaction. Coca-Cola can be identified to have recognised this particular fact which has apparently paved its way to be a leading multinational beverage corporation. In its various pioneering marketing campaigns, the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign in its Australian division has indeed been a benchmark. In the year 2011, the company adopted the ‘Share a Coke’ campaign, wherein the company offered its products with 150 different common individual names printed on its bottles and cans along with the company logo which was further promoted through commercial advertisements on television and social media along with other audio-visual techniques. The campaign has been thus observed to be successful in improving the sales volume as well as profitability margin of the company. However, this campaign has also been criticised to possess certain disadvantages in relation to cultural discrimination and ethnic biases. It is worth mentioning in this context that the company needs to be much careful when executing the technique in its future promotional affairs focusing on a wider scope for cultural diversity in its branding or customer awareness programs. References Bergh, J. V. D. & Behrer, M., 2013. How Cool Brands Stay Hot: Branding to Generation Y. Kogan Page Publishers. Digital Advance Limited, 2013. What's in a Name?. Lifestyle. [Online] Available at: http://www.voxy.co.nz/lifestyle/whats-name/240/105315 [Accessed May 07, 2013]. Funnell, N., 2011. I Can’t Find My Name On A Coke Bottle. Social. [Online] Available at: http://www.mamamia.com.au/social/i-cant-find-my-name-on-a-coke-bottle/ [Accessed May 07, 2013]. Marketing Futures, 2013. Share a What? With Whom??. Participation Pudding. [Online] Available at: http://www.marketingfutures.com/2012/01/08/participation-pudding/ [Accessed May 07, 2013]. Pires, G. D. & et. al., 2005. Ethnic Marketing: Accepting the Challenge of Cultural Diversity. Cengage Learning EMEA. The Coca-Cola Company, 2011. United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Form 10-K, pp. 1-159. [1] The University of Sydney, 2013. Advertising & the Consumer. Advertising: Creative Principles, pp. 1-33. [2] The University of Sydney, 2013. The Consumer Insight and Designing the Creative Brief. Advertising: Creative Principles, pp. 1-10. [3] The University of Sydney, 2013. The Role of Creativity in Brand Building. Advertising: Creative Principles, pp. 1-23. [4] The University of Sydney, 2013. Developing the Advertising Idea. Advertising: Creative Principles, pp. 1-13. Wunderman Australia, 2013. Share a Coke. Portfolio. [Online] Available at: http://www.wunderman.com.au/portfolio/share-a-coke/ [Accessed May 07, 2013]. YouTube, 2012. 'Share A Coke' Campaign ...Coca Cola, A Marketing Genius!!! Watch. [Online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2X8Bd3-G6IU [Accessed May 07, 2013]. Read More