Strategic Planning for Digital Marketing Communications - Business Plan Example

?Strategic Planning for Digital Marketing Communications By [Presented to] of SECTION Challenges and Objectives Section 1a: Marketing Communication Challenges 1a (i) Business Challenges – The Economy The economy of the United Kingdom (UK) had been fragile for long time. This poor condition of the United Kingdom’s economy has slowed down the business process to a remarkable extent. The food and drink industry of the United Kingdom (UK) is considered as the largest manufacturing sector that contributes ?20.5 bn Gross Value Added (GVA) to its economy. The global recession has heavily impacted the economy of the United Kingdom which led to the proportionate increase in the prices of the goods and commodities. Less availability of cash to the public had extremely slowed down its business flow resulting in stagnancy. Though the food and drinks industry did not come to a static point but it received a massive blow as the food and drinking habits found cheaper avenues and the major food joints were largely affected (Pesto,2013). 1a (ii) Business Challenges – Savy Consumers With the United Kingdom (UK) grappling under recession, unemployment and other related difficulties the consumers become excessively choosy in matters of expenses. United Kingdom (UK) has been languishing under unemployment for a very long time, and as a result there has been huge amount of change in their expense habits. They have been reduced to the basic requirement items, which saw a large drop of sale in the luxury items and other high value good and services. The non-promising state of the recovery of the economy, poor economic policies of the government has also failed to assure the citizens of economic security and sustainability. As a result, the consumers concentrated more on saving than on spending. The minimal expenses made by the consumers were on the essential commodities and cheaper versions of luxury items that made them satisfied of using luxury items in exchange of lesser money. In such a situation it became significantly difficult for a business house to sell their items and make a considerable profit for sustaining themselves (Pesto,2013). Industry Challenges 1a (iii) Industry Challenges – Market Competition Zouk being one of the differentiated restaurants located in a popular hub is a symbol of class and luxury. Such a differentiated brand is an added advantage for the kind of life style led by the citizens of the United Kingdom until affected by the economic downturn. Since the world recession and unemployment for a longer time has affected the normal functioning of the United Kingdom, the food and beverages industry has also been noticeable affected. The consumer preference has shifted from high end luxury wining and dining experiences to the less costly food stalls. The cheaper food items pose great competition and a threat to the profit margin of the Zouk’s which is specializes in quality food and food experiences. 1a (iv) Industry Challenges – Consumer Perception Zouk has been established as a high ended, luxury restaurant that offers great cuisine experiences. In the face of long term unemployment and great economic recession has left people with low disposable incomes and great uncertainty that looms over their future. In such a scenario, such branded and luxury avenues remain a distant object that hardly anyone would like to visit. The consumer preference shifts to cheaper food and food joints. The same perception that earned Zouk the present status has adversely affected its business in the time of this economic recession and a prolonged tenure of unemployment that has engulfed entire United Kingdom. In order to attract the consumers it has to offer the less costly products but it will give rise to different speculations regarding the quality of the offered menu. The customers would doubt the quality of the food in the menu because of its availability in lower prices. It has the possibility of adversely affecting the image of the restaurant and its brand over the issue of consistency of food quality. Such damage to the brand would continue to keep the consumers away even after the economy gets back to the normal position and business resumes to operate. Organisational Challenges 1a (v) Organisational Challenges – Average Spend The production of an industry requires a considerable number of raw materials and other related items (Adcock, et al, 2001). Similarly, for a unit of the larger food and beverage industry – a restaurant, it needs a good number of ingredients, fuel supply, assets and others for producing their offered product. Besides, the food it is the experience that brings a customer into a restaurant, so a considerable expense has to be incurred for ensuring that the customer gets complete and valuable satisfaction of dinning in Zouk. This adds up to cause a good amount of expense by the restaurant. The restaurant has to earn from their service in order to ensure that they only overcome the amount of expense but also make profit in order to sustain the business. This becomes an organisational challenge in the face of recession. 1b: Marketing Communications Objectives Marketing communications is the nothing but the simple strategic framework of different related elements that would together cause the sale of the product or service. According to the theories of marketing communications objectives it is the 4Ps of namely Product, Price, Place and Promotion but when we are looking for the marketing communication strategy for the tertiary industry the customer satisfaction is to be given prime importance to. He it becomes imperative to include the account of the customers and hence it becomes the 4C’s as suggested by Lauternborn (1990). The 4 C’s of marketing communication are customer needs and wants, cost, convenience and communication. The entire marketing communication process of by the Zouk’s will be guided by these 4 Cs. The purpose of giving immense importance to the 4 C’s is to earn the customers value and at the same time facilitate the perception of the brand. When the United Kingdom (UK) faces such an adverse situation of economic downturn, the marketing communications process should give more emphasis over securing customer satisfaction and a sense of value for the money shelled out (Adkins and Brashers, 1995). Thus, it will focus on: Service – It will focus of the quality of service to its customers besides great food. This will built in them a complete value for their valuable money (Anderson and Kanuka, 1997). Sell – Even if the restaurant offers service it is in exchange of money. So the service is the product and the restaurant sells their service. The sale has to incur profit. Stand out – Zouk is not the only luxurious restaurant in the United Kingdom, it has got numerous competitors especially in the face of this economic downturn. The experience of dinning has to be engaging such that it retains the customer and ultimately changes to loyalty. Live kitchen and customized recipes are some of the interesting element that makes the food an experience. Section 2: Techniques and Requirements Section 2a: Critique of Existing Digital Communications 2a (i) Critique - Website The well designed website of the Zouk gives the restaurant a quintessential presence in the virtual world. This helps in increasing the appeal – nation and worldwide appeal of Zouk. Having its presence over the popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter helps it to get connected to the audience that is not bounded by boundaries but instead joined or connected by ideas and commonness (Boug, 2010). In spite of being operational since 2006 October and also being on the popular networking sites for a considerable amount of time, it is yet to gain the expected amount of public attention and participation. Given the considerable amount of exposure achieved through the social networking sites, it has fifty six members on its Facebook page in spite of being an open group. Zouk has 1, 390 followers with 1,154 tweets over its official Twitter page. Looking at the figures it gives the impression of lack of online presence in terms of active involvement. Visibility in this virtual world doesn’t translate to business or increase in sales until it actively involves the audiences. Such involvement with the site or its page in the virtual world will attract the audience to visit the restaurant and be its customer. It needs to properly utilize the platforms to generate more revue where means and grammars of marketing have been given a new from that is immensely flexible to suit the needs of an ambitious business firm (Balmer, 2012). 2a (ii) Critique – Email marketing With the advent of technology and a great deal advancement marketing has come to the fingertips and creative thinking of the mankind. The combination of Information Technology and the Internet has opened and largest possible market and an ever increasing scope of marketing products and services to a huge number of customers. The concept of e-mail marketing came into existence with the increasing popularity and spread of the use of email for varied purposes. It has the potential of being an effective medium of marketing because the marketing message will be directly received by the potential customer (Briggs and Hollis, 1997). The recipient can reply to the email if the marketing offer gets clicked with him or her. The establishment of interaction has a great potentiality of turning into good business. Several companies have been benefitted by applying email marketing as one of their marketing tools. Newsletters or templates could be sent out to individuals informing them of the new incorporations in the menu, special offers, food festivals, and even wishing them on their birthdays and special occasions as a gesture of good will. All these will culminate to draw the attention of the individuals and would make them Zouk’s customers. Section 2b: Digital Communication Proposal An analysis of the existing Digital Communication procedures has clearly surfaced the changes that are essential for the better performance of the restaurant in terms of more customer visits on their sites and pages and in their restaurants (Chorlton, 2009). A list of Digital Communications proposal is being made in order to formulate an integrated marketing approach for Zouk. The website of Zouk is quite impressive offering wide arrays of information on food and beverages. At the same time, the option of online booking is also there offering customers an added benefits and advantage. Zouk needs to invest more on enhancing its personal communication using the digital media and for this purpose; Facebook and Twitter can be used to promote the promotional offers. Followers can also be offered discount coupons and loyalty points for making comments and sharing the updates. In recent times, mobile application has emerged as one of the highly preferred tools to garner different information from anywhere. An application dedicated to offer wide arrays of information on food and beverages along with online booking will be of great help. Moreover, loyal customers can be offered this application for free while people showing great amount of interest but not loyal can be asked to earn the loyalty points by following and liking the Facebook and Twitter page. This will help in enhancing the business appeal along with making the business profitable in the long run. All these initiatives need to be taken as soon as possible in order to make the business more attractive and lucrative. 2b (i) Digital Communications Proposal – Engaging Activity in the Social Media Zouk has received an exposure to a larger audience through its presence in different social Medias but it has noticeably failed to register considerable participation of the audience in its pages. Social media is the most effective and important tool of getting connected to a huge number of people where they use different tools to share information, experiences and interact. It is establishes communication effectively in a more personalized manner and thus increases its probability of success. Zouk can incorporate engaging activities like online polls on the most popular dishes at Zouk, the wish list of the visitors, interaction with the chefs and so on to make it more interesting and most importantly, engaging. This help Zouk in having knowhow of the audiences demands and incorporate the same in the restaurants. This would invariably increase the appeal of the restaurants to the audiences and customers and ultimately increase its sales even in the face of the downturn. 2b (ii) Digital Communications Proposal – Email marketing Newsletters, new menu, information regarding special offers, wishing on birthdays, anniversaries and on other special occasions would make the individuals closer to the restaurant and would even secure good business. E-mail marketing thus, gives an impression of personalized approach to the individual expressing care and concern (Charlton, 2007) 2c: Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators Critical Success Factors are a set of elements which are essential for the success of an organisation and its objectives (Chaffey, et al, 2006). In case of Zouk, the Critical Success Factors are the elements that would help it achieve the maximum number of customers and also their loyalty. On the other hand Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are means to measure the extent of success in their organisational goals (Lotz, 2007). Marcoms Objective Critical Success Factors (CSFs) Key Performance Indicators (KFIs) Serve Creation of personalized customer service not only on the premises of the restaurants but also by creating 24x7 customer address systems – both online and attended by personnel to provide a human touch. Creating opportunities for online and offline interaction with chefs More number of customer presence in the restaurants. More likes, shares and tweets over the social media. Increase in the sale and profit of the restaurant. Sell Unique restaurant ambience. Great food quality. Exclusive menu. Great presentation, signifying food as not just a habit but an experience. Increase in the amount of its sale. Increased number of footfall at the restaurants. Opening of another branch of Zouk in Manchester. Stand out Special menu with additional health benefits. Unique dining experiences. Customers from different age group visiting the restaurants. Section 3: Communications Planning Section 3 a: Integration of Offline and Online Techniques The marketing communication planning and proposal has been laid down with a major focus on increasing its online presence and activity, and gaining more customers from their online presence (Davis, 1995). Online interaction serves a great deal in adding dynamism to a company and especially to Zouk but that doesn’t mean the offline techniques are less competent. Various offline communication techniques could be used to effectively serve the purpose of the Zouk (Deis and Kyle, 2010). 3a (i) Integration of Offline and Online Techniques – Paper inserts Paper inserts are a glossy leaflet that are inserted in between the newspaper and distributed by the newspaper vendors to the readers. A hard copy of the online version of the communication would have more relevance to a reader. This acts as the hammering ad and the reader observes the advertisement which was previously only viewed (Gibbons, 2010) 3a (ii) Integration of Offline and Online Techniques – Press The advertisements in the print media, particularly the Press, are a very common practice by companies and organisations for reaching out to the consumers and reflecting the response through its sales. The Zouk has been advertising in the print media since its inauguration. It is one of the most traditional forms of advertising and also a mean to reach a huge number of people at the same time. Press messages can be carried out the regional and even at the national level for a specific and decided time period (Kozinets, 2011) 3a (iii) Integration of Offline and Online Techniques – Television Advertising on the television has been a very traditional form of advertising but has a great appeal to the viewers. The auditory as well as visual senses create a perfect balance that influences the choices of the audience (Davis, 1995). The Zouk has been using the television commercials for promoting the restaurant as a unique wining and dining experience that would leave one enthrall (Muntinga, et al, 2011). 3b: Digital Communications Plan Online Approaches Offline Approaches Summary Web site modification Including activities to engage the visitors in the website to invest more and more time in the website and thus the website will have a higher number of viewers and popularity. Creating a 24x7 customer service help line in case of an untimely and important query. Newspaper inserts. Advertisement in the newspapers. Television commercials being broadcasted within the commercial breaks. Commercials during a feature film in cinema halls. This caters to the educated and more sophisticated among the audiences who greatly rely on the traditional line of communication. By incorporating the customer service for the entire stretch of 24 hours it is catering to the adventurous demands of the audience. Modification of the website. Including interactive features in the website that would engage the viewers and also ensure their participation. Functioning of the 24x7 customer service. Newspaper inserts. Press advertisements. Newsletters Television commercials Word of mouth publicity Such a communication strategy plans to target educated middle-men who have a standard sense of quality and a considerable disposable income. It is the affinity for good products that inspires the audience to turn as guardians. Social media and social networking sites (Wallington, 2010) Newspaper inserts Press advertisements Television commercials Such a digital communication plan intends to capture the online traffic and turn them into consumer pools. In the above chart the target audience and the approaches are clearly defined with a pre-decided aim of increasing its acceptability (Doyle, 2010). Section 3c: Return on Investment The market is crowded with numerous commodities and services, in the milieu of products and services it is the brand that distinguishes a product or service from the other (Newton, 2010). A brand is a perception in the minds of the audience or the customers that encourages them to put their trust on the organisation or company. A brand represents the trust and confidence of the customers in the product or service offered by the company. Zouk has been in operating as a successful restaurant since its inauguration (Odden, 2011). The offerings by Zouk have been its Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and have been serving the quintessential food. As a result of its huge success, it has opened another brand in the heartland of Manchester. The Return on Investment is an investment concept where the gains from the investment are more than the original cost of the investment. While starting on the venture, Zouk made the investments and its success will determine the Return on Investment (Shapiro and Bonoma, 1994). Return on Investment is only possible when the customers are satisfied with the service and food of the restaurant. Thus, in order to increase the Return on Investment (ROI) it should meet the objectives with carefully designed marketing communications messages. References: Adcock, D; Al Halborg, Ross. C (2001). "Introduction". Marketing: principles and practice. McGraw Hill/Irwin Adkins, M., & Brashers, D. E. (1995). The Power of Language in Computer-Mediated Groups. Management Communication Quarterly, 8(3), 289-322 Anderson, T., & Kanuka, H. (1997). On-Line Forums: New Platforms for Professional Development and Group Collaboration. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 3(3) Boag, P. (2010) What Is the Secret to a Successful Website? 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