Integrated Marketing Communication for the Launch of Renault Clio in Germany - Essay Example

IMC for the Launch of Renault Clio in Germany Introduction Renault, founded in 1898, is the strongest car manufacturer in France, holding 27.3% of the market share for personal cars and light commercial vehicles (renault.com, 2014). The Renault Clio is still the leading vehicle in terms of sales within the French market, while it is the third best-selling car in the EU. The German market is the fourth largest in the world for Renault after France, Brazil, and Russia, in which they hold 5.4% of the total market share (Bekker, 2014: p1). Renault should market the Clio aggressively in Germany, especially given that the Clio brand has driven Renault sales across Europe in the last year. The total German auto market improved to 832,222 cars in the Q1 of 2014, which was an increase of 6.8%, while the registration of new passenger vehicles increased by 5.6% in the same period (autonews.com, 2013: p1). This report details the marketing communication mix design and implementation for the launch of the Renault Clio in Germany. Situational Analysis The objective of Renault’s advertising in Germany will be to communicate a repositioning message regarding the stylishness and safety of the Renault Clio. The Renault Clio has novel designs, coupled with vibrant colours (autospeedmarket.com, 2010: p1), which other safety cars in Germany lack. Because the German market has preferences for other brands of safety cars, it will be important to effectively target the audience by generating top-of-the-mind recall for the car in the safe passenger car category. The Renault Laguna II vehicle was one of the first cars to pass the safety test, which enhanced its popularity in the German market where the consumer trends have shown a preference for safety cars (ixpos.de, 2013: p1). The Renault Clio was voted among the most trustworthy, credible, and safe cars in Europe, while also being praised for its comfort. Moreover, the Renault Clio is more novel and trendy compared to German made cars like BMW. The increase in the registration of new passenger cars by 5.6% in 2014, coupled with safety-status accorded to the Clio in Europe, provides an opportunity for Renault in a safety-conscious country (autotrader.co.uk, 2013: p1). Identification of IMC Opportunities Given the safety-concept trend in the German car industry, in the recent past by consumers of passenger vehicles, Renault should communicate the safety message for the Clio to build brand conviction. The company should also position its car in a way that shows its suitability for young families, which will mean targeting the young German mother aged between twenty five and thirty five years (renault.co.uk, 2014: p1). This market is lively, prefers novel products, and is generally protective of their young children, thus the importance of a car that offers safety. This demographic is also aware of safety products in the market, while also receptive to interactive marketing promotions and campaigns. As a result, Renault can use a fear appeal strategy for the Clio, utilizing young mothers to market the safety offered by the car. This can be done using different media and PR activities (Ouwersloot & Duncan, 2011: p50), created to evoke positive associations of the Renault Clio and safety features in the target consumer. Agency Selection Choosing an external advertising agency is one of the more critical decisions in constructing an advertising programme, during which the organisation must determine whether it has sufficient in-house resources to promote its product in the target market (Bryant, 2012: p30). Because Renault is going into a foreign market with intense competition from strong domestic car manufacturers, the organisation should hire an advertising agency, in this case McCann Erickson agency. The agency is part of the Interpublic Company Group and was founded in 1902, rising to become one of the world’s most respected marketing communications companies with revenues topping $6.5 billion in 2013 (adbrands.net, 2014: p1). McCann Erikson can offer Renault advertisement, marketing, and media communication solutions. The company is one of the leading agency networks in Germany already (mccannworldgroup.com, 2014: p1), which should help Renault in their push into the German market. McCann Erikson will be charged with establishing the Renault Clio’s safety standards and features among young German mothers. By appealing to the target market’s fear of accidents or faulty vehicles, McCann Erikson will be charged with creating an advertisement that presents the Renault Clio as a stylish, novel, but safe car. Campaign Implementation The marketing communication mix will include advertising, direct selling, sales promotion and public relations. Advertising plays an essential part in marketing because of its convenience when reaching the mass market, specifically because it requires only a few touch points to attract the target market segment (Baker, 2013: p32). This will increase the probability of the target market perceiving Renault Clio as one of Europe’s safest cars for the young German mother segment. Advertising will involve the use of billboards and guerrilla marketing showing benches in the shape of bags in the park, for example. In addition, advertising will also be done through TV and digital marketing, of which Twitter and Facebook will be used to reach the target audience. With regard to direct selling, public places such as convenience stores, fuel stations and shopping malls will be used to place a Renault kiosk, from which Renault can demonstrate the high safety features in the Clio, including the child safety-seat functionality (edmunds.com, 2011: p20). Sales promotions, on the other hand, will be carried out at a car show at a central location where young German mothers frequent, such as the museum, using a catchy tagline like ‘supermoms make their loved ones the top priority’. Finally, they can also use public relations, for example, the Renault Clio safety cars challenge. Public relations play an essential role in brand building with a significantly higher impact than advertising (Shimp, 2013: p50). The safety cars challenge would target all young mothers in Germany, during which they would drive the Renault Clio around a track with simulated threats. This would enable them experience the car and evaluate its safety features first hand. Evaluation Testing during and after the marketing campaign will be important in aiding to evaluate the marketing campaign’s actual success, for example whether the objectives were achieved and the money used in the campaign was well used (Bryant, 2012: p30). Feedback could also aid during the planning of any future campaigns. McCann Erikson will also be used for the post-test, which specializes in determining the reaction of the public to the marketing communication. Various aspects that will be tested for include recall rate of the ads, awareness/recognition of the ad, and the ad’s influence on the consumer’s attitudes/feelings. The post-test results can be compared with results prior to the campaign to identify the campaign impact (Semenik, 2012: p38). Future Planning This marketing communication strategy, which utilises PR, advertising, direct selling and sales promotions, will be considered as a plan/model rather than a definitive strategy. There are likely to be changes if the evaluation tests prove that the strategy is not having the desired result (Hope et al., 2010: p41). Those strategies that prove to be successful will continue to receive funding so as to remain in the consumer’s mind with regard to safety cars, while those without any effect will be withdrawn. References adbrands.net. (2014). McCann Erickson Deutschland. Retrieved 27 November 27 2014 from McCann Erickson: http://www.adbrands.net/de/mccann_de.htm autonews.com. (2013, May 3). German car market returns to growth. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Automotive News Europe: http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130503/ANE/130509951/german-car-market-returns-to-growth autospeedmarket.com. (2010, May 25). Dacia’s car models on German Autobahn. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Auto Speed Market: http://www.autospeedmarket.com/2010/05/dacias-car-models-on-german-autobahn.html autotrader.co.uk. (2013, September 4). RENAULT CLIO car reviews. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Auto Trader: http://www.autotrader.co.uk/carmakes/renault/clio Baker, M. J., & Saren, M. (2013). Marketing theory: A student text. Los Angeles: SAGE. Bekker, H. (2014, April 2). 2014 (Q1) Germany: Best-Selling Car Manufacturers. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Car Sales Statistics: http://www.best-selling-cars.com/germany/2014-q1-germany-best-selling-car-manufacturers/ Brady, D. L. (2012). Essentials of international marketing. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe. Bryant, C. (2012). Integrated marketing communications: An exploratory investigation of appropriateness and use in the SME sector. Manchester: University of Manchester. Chitty, W., Barker, N., & Shimp, T. A. (2012). Integrated marketing communications. South Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning Australia. Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2014). Integrated advertising, promotion & marketing communications. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Prentice Hall. Devinney, T. M., Pedersen, T., & Tihanyi, L. (2012). The past, present and future of international business & management. Bingley, UK: Emerald. edmunds.com. (2011, May 5). Most Important Safety Features for a Family Vehicle. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Edmunds: http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/most-important-safety-features-for-a-family-vehicle.html Hope, C., Blythe, J., Clow, K. E., Baack, D., Fill, C., Pickton, D., Broderick, A., & Wells, W. (2010). Introduction to professional communication. Frenchs Forest, Sydney: Pearson. ixpos.de. (2013). The Automotive Industry. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Germany Trade & Invest: http://www.ixpos.de/IXPOS/Content/EN/Your-business-in-germany/_SharedDocs/Downloads/automotive-industry-in-germany.pdf mccannworldgroup.com. (2014). McCann World Group. Retrieved November 27, 2014, from http://www.mccannworldgroup.com/ Ouwersloot, H., & Duncan, T. (2011). Integrated marketing communications. London: McGraw-Hill. Semenik, R. J. (2012). Promotion and integrated marketing communications. Cincinnati, Ohio: South-Western Thomson Learning. Shimp, T. A. (2013). Integrated marketing communication in advertising and promotion. Mason, OH: Thomson/South-Western. renault.co.uk. (2014). Renault and Car Safety. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Renault UK: http://www.renault.co.uk/safety/euroncap/ renault.com. (2014, July 7). World sales results in first-half 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014 from Renault Group: http://media.renault.com/global/en-gb/renaultgroup/Media/PressRelease.aspx?mediaid=59683 Read More