What is Internet Marketing - Case Study Example

Communications Plan for Closet An Independent Retailer for Designer Clothes March 9, 2007 I. Introduction Closet is an Independent Retailer ofBritish Designer Clothes. Its Head Office and Main Branch shall be located at the Covent Garden, where it would compete with various designer shops such as Adolfo Dominguez, Esprit and Mango. Closet carries five designer brands and several fresh clothing lines from new and upcoming London Fashion Designers. Its focus is to constantly provide a wide array of fresh and sophisticated designs to its target market, which is London’s working women whose ages range from early 20s to late 40s. Closet management chose to set up its Main Branch at London’s world-class visitor destination simply because it wants to tap the already existing market of Covent Garden and be exposed to tourists and visitors frequenting the area. However great the opportunity is for Closet to introduce its brands and clothing line given its marketing plan, the company still needs to identify its Communications Plan to be assured that it will reach its target market within the desired period and achieve 100% of its financial objectives. II. Objectives This Communication Plan seeks to: 1. Establish the company’s advertising and promotional strategy for the next two years; 2. Develop ways to market Closet’s various brands and products while maximizing the company’s limited resources; and 3. Aid in achieving the company’s financial objectives, ensuring success of this entrepreneurial venture. III. Positioning Statement Closet shall position itself as a retailer of youthful, yet sophisticated clothing lines aimed at dressing up today’s career women. It will be warm, classy yet accessible to the modern-day cosmopolitan woman. Closet does not really emphasize on age, but on attitude. It would provide clothing to women who require a comfortable yet sophisticated set of wardrobe that would match their career and their fast paced lifestyle. IV. Key Message Closet embodies the British Lifestyle. It represents the modern day woman – classy, sophisticated, yet trendy and youthful looking. As a brand, it represents class and elegance, yet it proves to be accessible to all those who wish to acquire the Closet Lifestyle due to its strong presence through various media vehicles. V. Strategies Roughly about 35% of Closet’s monthly operational budget shall be allocated to Advertising and Promotional strategies alone. This includes expenses to be incurred in utilizing mainstream media particularly print advertising; other alternative media; and design and production of merchandising and promotional materials. Mainstream-wise, Closet shall utilize print advertising particularly through tie-ups with different magazines. Although this would not be the company’s primary vehicle in promoting its products, it would just aim to maximize its relationship with these magazines whose websites Closet shall be utilizing in its online campaigns. By alternative media, it means that Closet shall utilize media channels other than print, radio and TV. And this would mean the use of Online Marketing through the Internet. Merchandising and promotional materials include posters, flyers and mini billboards for display in strategic areas in London and in neighboring cities. Specifically, Closet shall undertake the following strategies: 1. Internet Marketing Internet Marketing has become popular because Internet access is becoming more widely available and used. Well over one-third of consumers who have Internet access at home report to using the Internet to make purchases (What is Internet marketing 2004). Moreover, statistics show that internet users increase at a rapid rate that in five years’ time, it is predicted that 80% of United Kingdom’s population will have a computer with Internet access at home (Advertising 2007). Since Closet’s target market are working women who, most likely have internet access either at the office or at home, it chooses to primarily utilize internet marketing to promote its products. First and foremost, Closet shall create a website that contains pertinent details regarding the company’s profile and its products. It would contain the company’s mission-vision and a statement of what the company wishes to achieve market-wise. It would also present the profiles of the designers creating its product line. More importantly, it would contain an updated catalogue of the products being offered. Each designer shall be represented through his own sub web page. Products shall be sorted and categorized to make it easier for browsers to look at the collections and make their decisions on which to purchase. Online shopping would be available through tie-ups with affiliate credit card companies. Tie ups with shipment companies shall also be made to ensure that Closet would reach various places in UK and in other countries. The website shall be launched simultaneously with the main branch’s opening. Advertising in the listings on the Internet can provide a website with a number of viewers. As such, Closet shall do Search Engine Optimization (SEO) by subscribing to the most popular search engines such as Google and Yahoo, among others. Closet shall subscribe to advertising services such as Google AdWords, in which Closet’s website would appear immediately following key word searches from Internet browsers. This would prove to be cost-effective since Search Engines charge a company only whenever a person actually accesses its website. Further, this would guarantee that the advertising effort would reach the targeted market because one can limit its ad to appear only to people searching in a particular city, state or region. Closet would also do Online Banner Advertising, as this is an effective way to promote brand awareness. Online Banner Advertising allows a company to flash its brand name and other details to browsers upon prompting through specified keywords. Although this does not guarantee sales leads, it nonetheless promotes the Closet brand through its repeated appearance on the screen, consequently leading to brand awareness and recall. To save on cost, Closet would employ a “cost per lead” or “cost per acquisition” strategy to ensure that it only pays for quality viewers or for browsers who actually expresses interest by logging in Closet’s website. Closet would secure numerous key words to maximize the opportunity to flash its banners to Internet browsers. Closet will also initiate a tie up with affiliate magazines, particularly Elle Magazine’s web site, to reach this publication’s already captured audience. Since Elle targets the same market, it would be easier to create a client base among those already subscribed to Elle Magazine. Closet shall arrange to create a sub page or hyperlink in Elle Magazine’s web page, create a link therein which automatically directs browsers to Closet’s official website upon clicking. Internet Marketing shall constitute 40% of Closet’s overall Advertising and Promotions budget. Closet shall subscribe to these search engines and participate in web tie- ups immediately upon activation of its website and shall continue to be active doing Internet marketing as the business grows. 2. Word-of-Web/ Online Promos Word-of-Web is actually a modified version of Word of Mouth Marketing, in which information is passed through verbal means. Word of mouth is typically considered a face-to-face spoken communication, although phone conversations, text messages and web dialogue, such as online profile pages, blog posts, message board threads, instant messages, chat exchanges and emails are also considered word of mouth. This might be informal, and non-quantifiable, but it is also a personal means by which information can be endorsed from one satisfied customer to a potential customer. Closet would seek to further modify this means of communication by coming up with rewards for every referral made through its official website. Closet shall launch the “Closet Exclusive Circle’, a club exclusive to registered members who have provided their email addresses and other contact details for regular updates on Closet’s products. Club members may be considered satisfied clients, who may have, at one point or the other, purchased Closet products, or at the very least, repeatedly browsed through Closet’s official website. Closet would capitalize on the fact that these people who have actually seen, experienced and enjoyed the company website would have great influence when spreading the company’s products and offers through word-of-mouth. Registered members shall be given rewards or downloadable promo coupons for every 10 persons referred. Referral would mean that the club member has provided contact information regarding their referrals. Contact information such as email addresses shall be used to invite the referred customers to browse through Closet’s website or visit the branch. The registered member who provided referrals, meanwhile, may enjoy discounts for every purchase of products either at the Closet branch or if they purchase online through the use of the downloadable promo coupons. In addition to this, part of the efforts involved in word-of-web advertising is the use of direct mailers to be sent to club members and their referrals. Exclusive invitations to fashion shows and galleries, invitations to special promotions shall be given to these referrals to further ignite their interest in Closet’s products. Word-of-Mouth or Online Promos would constitute 30% of Closet’s Advertising and Promotions budget, 70% of which shall be allocated for subsidy of discounts and promotional gimmicks to be given to every qualified club member, while 30% shall be allocated in the production of free items and other necessary materials to be provided to club members. These materials are aimed at further promoting the brand and shall serve as walking advertisement for Closet. An example of this is free items such as limited-edition mugs, small office paraphernalia that the club members may display in their work places to also promote brand awareness to whoever sees them. Part of this budget would also be allocated to sponsorships or staging of events to be held exclusively for Closet Exclusive Circle members. 3. Merchandising and Promotional Materials Closet shall further convey its message to its target market through using posters, leaflets and mini billboards as its media. These materials shall carry the company’s brand message “Closet Brings You British Lifestyle” and shall feature teasers of the clothing line that Closet carries. Particular attention shall be given to photoshoots that would feature the latest designs so that these materials would definitely catch the attention of onlookers. Further, the ads should adhere to Closet’s key message, which is classy, sophisticated, yet trendy and youthful looking. The layout should represent class and elegance, and should be an embodiment of the Closet Lifestyle. Mini billboards shall be displayed at areas where high foot traffic is present. And since Closet’s target market includes working women, these mini billboards and posters shall be displayed at bus stops in main avenues like in Oxford Street, where a lot of working women pass by on their way to work and on their way home. Promotional materials would also be displayed in highly crowded places waterloos, subway stations among others. Design and production of these materials would constitute the remaining 30% of the overall advertising and promotional budget. A bigger portion of this allocation shall be used for the services of a good layout artist and photography team to ensure that the company’s key message is delivered right through Closet’s target market. These strategies were made in close reference to Closet’s marketing mix. Pricing-wise, subscribing to relatively low-cost advertising consequently leads to competitive pricing of Closet’s product line up. Promotions-wise, utilizing Internet marketing provides Closet with the opportunity to touch base with its target market and interact with them on a more personal level. Interacting with customers online, particularly through interactive activities such as online surveys and the like through the Closet Exclusive Circle gives Closet the chance to collect valuable feedback regarding its product line up. This enables management to be in constant check whether the products being carried continue to be competitive. This way, the management would be able to keep track of the needed improvements and move on to achieve an distinct advantage compared to competitors so that the target market may prefer patronizing its products over other retailer stores. As a whole, Internet Marketing would definitely play a big role in showcasing Closet’s product line up in the market since Closet has only one branch to physically carry and showcase its merchandise. VI. Evaluation The strategies listed shall be evaluated at the end of every month to validate if these efforts have indeed contributed to the growth of the company or not. Closet is expected to immediately sell within the first quarter of its launch due to the fact London already has an existing and steady demand for the kind of clothing that the company offers. Within the first two years of launch, it is expected that 75% of the total number of customers would come from Internet marketing while 25% of which from merchandising or physical advertisements. The 75% as mentioned would be achieved both from online shopping and from customers who actually visit the store after accessing Closet’s website. In particular, effectiveness of these efforts shall be measured according to the following: 1. Closet’s web site traffic or the number of online visitors per month – Closet targets to gain 600 viewings of the company’s website in the first three months and increase this at 20% per month for the succeeding months. 2. Customer’s response to the invitation to join the Closet Exclusive Circle through actual online registration - Closet targets to gain 200 new members per month within the first three months and increase this at 15% per month for the succeeding months. 3. Number of referrals made by club members - Closet targets to gain 2,000 new referrals per month within the first three months and increase this at 15% per month for the succeeding months. 4. Actual Revenue – As a retailer, terms of consignment shall be set with the designers. As such, costs would be heavy on manpower, operational and advertising costs. Closet targets gross revenue of £ 50,000 per month and increase this at 15% per month for the succeeding months for the first 12 months and 25 % per month for another 12 months. Given the targets mentioned above, Closet expects to achieve its Return of Investment (ROI) within two years of operations. Reference List What is Internet Marketing 2004. Retrieved March 9, 2007 from http://www.what-is-net.info/what-is-internet-marketing.html?gclid=COCs9JiE5YoCFQQeTAod5w7UyA Advertising 2007. Retrieved March 10, 2007 from http://www.weblinx.biz/advertising.htm Read More