Integrated Communication Campaigns Questions - Assignment Example

Integrated Communication Campaigns Questions There are four questions that are answered in this paper related with direct marketing, database marketing, consumer loyalty and sales promotions, all of which come under the integrated communication campaigns. 1. Can direct marketing be used to build long-term relationships with consumers? Explain. Answer: The whole idea of business is to earn a profit. However for the sake of earning the profits it has to interact with the customers, without whom there would be no profit in the first place. Thus in order to ensure that there is complete interaction between the business and its different customers, there has to be a game plan for extracting the best out of the related interaction and this is only possible through marketing communications. These could include the paid form of advertising, the highly sought after publicity and public relations, the sales promotion campaigns, personal selling and direct marketing/selling. Direct marketing entails direct mail, brochures, pamphlets, newsletters, sales guides, customer testimonials which keep get updated from time to time and just about any message which is tailored to the needs of the individual and targeted customers. The best thing that is present in direct marketing is the fact that it comes right at the doorstep of the customer and he/she does not have to make an effort to reach it. The last of the lot is the focus of our question and we need to delve into it further. Direct marketing is pointed towards the customers and it takes into consideration that each and every customer is a potential business entity for the overall processes of the company. Direct marketing or selling entails of all the activities and tasks that enable the company to narrow its focus on the individual customers or the potential ones and then hit their message upon them in an effective and efficient manner. This means that direct marketing is precise, timely and more concentrated on the needs of a singular entity rather than broadening the whole concept for that matter. In other words, direct marketing makes use of ‘narrowcasting’ as opposed to advertising which is ‘broadcasting’ in the real sense of the word. The personalized nature of direct marketing makes it all the more different from the rest of the marketing communications mix since direct marketing looks at targeting on the right tangents right from the onset of its activities. It aims to justify the manner under which the targets have been chosen and then personally reach out to one and all through customized messaging. This would mean that direct marketing has different offerings for different sets of customers, as and when they become the customers of the company or the business as we say. Another important point is to understand the fact that since direct marketing is a one on one relationship marketing, hence it has its own due share of benefits and not to forget the drawbacks as well. If direct marketing activities are properly positioned upon the prospective customers, then there is a strong possibility that this can lead up to a solid and effective relationship building between the two. This relationship would be one that will require the company’s products and/or services to be offered to the customer under question without any barriers that he/she has to face up with, whilst going through the proper (and usual) routine courtesy the buying/purchasing cycle. Furthermore, the activities and tasks of direct marketing helps in the fact that the customer thinks that since the same have been personalized for him/her alone, the company thinks of the customer very highly so much so that it has changed on some offerings, brought it right down at his home or office and made it available without any costs to his/her pocket, the customer starts becoming more soft with the stance that has been adopted by the business in the first place and thus the chances of having a positive link between the two also raise nonetheless. It is all a game of perception and in this equation, the customer gets positive vibes about the different business processes and the linkage of the company with him/her in a steadfast manner, one that will surely reap rich dividends not only for the company but also for its revenues and sales targets since this customer would go ahead and advice some of his friends to get on the list of the company, hence the term ‘word of mouth’ comes into play in full effect. Thus to summarize the key points related with direct marketing, we see that direct marketing is targeted, has cost savings within it, there are immediate results for all and sundry, the results are pretty much predictable and foreseen and lastly there are endless benefits to consumers at each and every level of direct marketing. More than anything else, and as the question asks here, direct marketing builds a strong rapport with the customer which is so very quintessential in the short term and long run business angle. The connectivity between direct marketing and relationships with consumers is so paramount that direct marketing is often known as relationship marketing in the business spheres. The role of the Direct Marketing Association is to help the direct marketers interact with their clients and prospective customers in an interactive fashion and thus succeed nonetheless. This means that the role of direct marketing becomes even more significant in the wake of different associations cropping up, doing their best that they effectively can and presenting a picture of complete control more than anything else. In the end, it would be right to conclude here by suggesting that direct marketing is indeed one of the few good things to have come out of the marketing communications concept since it helps build a strong relationship line with the customers and thus makes them realize of their rights as concerns to consumer protection tenets. This also means that the relationship fosters the business of the company and thus helps it grow more and more, in turn producing more and yet better grounds for the consumers/customers. The customization of message is thus one thing which needs to be understood in the proper context of things. 2. The marketing communication practitioner faces some unique challenges managing database marketing. What are they, and how would you overcome these? Answer: There are a number of challenges that arise in the wake of managing the database marketing few of which include the statistical techniques that need to be properly fitted in to the equation, the usage of proper rules and methodologies for selecting the right target audiences, the manner in which they are segregated on the basis of their roles and positions in the society and not to forget the buying patterns of them as well, their decision making abilities in the market, the manner in which economical changes are shaping up the whole society and the drifts that are happening as a result, the changing consumer lifestyles with the advent of technological options and grouping all of these in a single database or a combination of databases which would make the work of the marketing communication practitioner easy. Rather the other way around has been seen, where the practitioner has been running from one end to another in the wake of devising the best possible database which will target the right people at the right time with the right offering. It is a difficult proposition that has to be managed day in day out by the marketing communication practitioner but one that needs to be in place so as to enable growth on the part of the company and the link that is present between the business (company) and the customers that are being targeted upon by it. Database marketing is one of the most powerful tools that looks at building a strong rapport between the company and its stakeholders, not only the customers but also the ones who have invested in its stocks, though in an indirect manner. The challenges thus faced account to problems ranging from handling all these records and files on not only a sequential basis but also that correlates with each other and thus comes up with results which precisely target the exact individuals (prospective or otherwise, customer) that have to be sent the newsletters, direct mail, brochures and so on and so forth. This also means that database marketing looks at revolving the glitches that may arise at some point in time within the whole matter of managing the database marketing subjects. Another challenge that can be had by the marketing communication practitioner lies in the fact that he might not be able to fathom who actually accounts for as a ‘hit point’ within the channel and who just falls out of the targeting technique. This provides a rationale for the understanding of the issues which actually hold a customer responsible depending on his actions, abilities and behaviors with respect to different buying undertaking and the like that would make the marketing communication practitioner’s job so very easy in the first place. This puts his position in a clear and lucid manner as he just has to jot down the name of the people who buy a certain product and hence these would form up as the ones who will be sent the message through. However it is easier said than done since there are problems in the wake of precisely finding out what are their likes and dislikes with regards to a product, under which situation they bought a product and whether or not would they be able to buy the offering of the company under discussion given they have the same resources and buying capital. Thus the economic tilt is also present in the whole matter nonetheless. Furthermore, moving on the same tangent, the marketing communication practitioner needs to find out the exact mechanisms through which the database is enacted and thus play upon the rationale that the common aspects of different customers within the database are linked up with each other while the dissimilar ones are also taken into consideration to study their buying habits, preferences and different things that have to be taken in consideration when we speak of maintaining and managing the marketing databases. Another such challenges includes the update process on the part of the database since the customers increase with each passing day and it is difficult to track down each and everyone’s basis for likes and dislikes, the manner in which a customer will react when he receives direct mail (direct marketing aspect) or would he not like to have it in the first place at all. Apart from this, there are the issues of maintaining the customer records and having proper backups as system crashes are pretty normal in present times. Then there is the issue of properly providing the information and the data to the right people so they can exercise their target messages to the individuals that we are talking about here. These people include the channel members like the marketing middlemen, manufacturers, distributors and so on. An important point of concern is the fact that unethical practices are rampant since the customer information is open to one and all and anyone can literally disturb an individual merely because his data is present on the marketing database. This could mean that the customer be bombarded with all sorts of irrelevant messages coming his way and it can also account for a number of potential hiccups in the line of proper and smooth functioning of the company that we are talking about here. The manner in which all these problems could be overcome is to prioritize things and put the database in an order to start with. Also there should be strict concerns with regards to the leakages which could happen with regards to the database and the data that is contained within it, should only be made available to the company’s internal resources and external entities must be kept away no matter what happens. All said and done, it is the duty of the marketing communication practitioner to ensure that there is fair play at all ranks and no discrepancies arise come what may. 3. Is it important for marketing communication practitioners to have an understanding of consumer loyalty? Explain Answer: Consumer loyalty is very specific to the hearts of the people who use the products and/or services. The loyalty to a brand raises a lot of questions that the competitors have to answer. These could be in line with their falling standards that the customer switched over to a loyal and more dedicated company or at other times, not able to come to the market scene much earlier than the one which has taken a large share of the customers anyway. The people who are more loyal to a particular brand or a company for that matter cost much less to this company than the ones who have not yet reached on to the bandwagon of adopting the said product. But on the other hand, the question also raises up in the light of the discussion on the costs that are lesser for the loyal folks but since they have to be reminded again and again of the products available in the market, their cost somehow or the other equals to that of the ones which are being targeted upon so that they could adopt this product and satisfy their needs, wants and desires. Furthermore, consumer loyalty is a tangent that needs to be specifically seen in the light of the ever changing consumer demands and these might just be short lived to start with. Consumer loyalty is something that the consumer might not easily tell to everyone as positive word of mouth ratios are much lesser than the negative spread courtesy the word of mouth where it spreads like jungle fire, with respect to a particular brand’s usage, experience or the mere presence of it within the sights of the target audience due to negative past images and memories. Coming back to the question at hand, it is indeed of much significance to understand what consumer loyalty does to a peculiar brand or product. It gives the marketing communication practitioner room to maneuver his message and tailor it according to the needs and wants of the intended audience, time and time again. This also provides for a more basic understanding of the consumer buying and spending patterns as well as his interests with regards to the whole category and not to forget the mechanisms related with the usage of the product and the manners in which it is being used in the first place. Apart from these, the marketing communication practitioner dedicates his efforts whole heartedly towards the understanding aspect of the customer, his incisive details with relation to the product, the manner in which he makes use of it, the ideologies linked with customer’s picking the product off the shelves, whether or not he likes to have it from ‘over the counter’ stores or through superstores, etc. Consumer loyalty can be pretty vague at times since he might not be entirely dependent on a single brand. He can choose from a mixture of two to three brands or keep on switching the same from time to time. So this makes the job of the marketing communication practitioner all the more difficult. Consumer loyalty also means that the aspects of brand loyalty with relation to different brands, products and indeed the whole of the category come under it. It also means that consumer loyalty plays a big role in the marketing communication campaigns from time to time. These campaigns need to be fine tuned in relation with the loyalty levels of the consumers/customers. Furthermore, there are different levels which come under the heading of consumer loyalty. Among these are the hardcore loyals, the passively loyals, the changing lot and the ones who do not care just for the sake of changing. Hardcore loyals comprise of those individuals who do not change a brand no matter what happens. They stick to a single brand and do not make a purchase if the brand is missing from the shelves, hence these are the ones who have to be reminded again and again of the message that is being delivered by the company courtesy its brands (and products). The passively loyals are the people who buy the same brand more out of habit rather than reason. These individuals buy the same brand because it is the only brand that is available to them or because its different features make the consumers get attracted towards them for one reason or the other. The changing lot keeps on changing between different brands just for trying something new and fresh. This can happen because they want a change in their lives and have a knack for trying something fresh and novel. Thus, in the end, it is significant to apprise ourselves of the fact that marketing communication practitioners need to play their due role in the related scheme of things and more so where the patterns of consumer lifestyles and loyalties are concerned. More focus should be given on the roles adopted by the consumers and the manners in which they are actually making the purchase in the first place. Also emphasis should be laid on the fact that the cutting edge scenarios are found out so that the industry grows as a result of the same and there is a lot of competition that can occur in the market. This will only help the consumers as it would provide for more options and hence the value delivery network would also improve as a result of the very same. Lastly, it is correctly stated here that marketing communication practitioners need to understand the role of consumer loyalty in the whole equation and thus carry out measures which run parallel with the consumer demands, expectations and more so the needs that have to be satisfied all this while. Consumer loyalty is something that can be best gauged from return purchases and having positive word of mouth for a particular product or brand for that matter on the part of a consumer nonetheless. 5. Can sales promotions enhance a company’s brand image? Discuss. Answer: There is a difference between the brand identity and the brand image. To start with, we need to clearly outline what the two actually are before we delve any further into it. Brand identity is the perception that is transferred by the company to its customers and prospective customers through a series of messages, logos, signs, delivery of messages, etc which are more or less on a continual pattern. This is one that is based on the long term dimension and does not entail the angle which is adopted by the perceptions of the customers. On the other hand, brand image is the perception that the customers and to-be customers have of the brand and what they would like to see or improve in the present day working methodologies of the brand are just an extension of the very same. This means that the stance adopted by the company is the brand identity while the one taken by the people stands as the brand image. Now the wider the difference between the two, the more likely is that the product is on a failing angle and there can be some hope of its salvage if and only if the company tries to change the brand image through doing some work on the brand and the associated linkages which are with the brand. If there is less difference between the brand identity and the brand image, then we can safely deduce the fact that we are on the right track, one that leads towards success. If there is no difference whatsoever between the brand identity and the brand image, then this means this is a perfect position in which the company finds itself within and a good starting point for investing more and more in its capitals, considering however the market scenario and the situations it is working under. Coming back to the question of sales promotions, we see that they are a short term tactic to boost sales. Hence the advantage of sales promotions can be gauged from the fact that they sell a lot during a short period of time and thus make for a quick buck. Sales promotions boost sales in a given period of time when the economic activity is not that strong and there is not a lot to gain from the whole selling exercise. Plus the advertising and personal selling have not been that successful in their respective domains and hence the need for sales promotions raises the bar just a bit. Sales promotions uplift the selling activity of the business as well as form a bridge between the products that are not making much out of the whole selling game and the ones who are thriving big time within the markets. Sales promotions indeed build the confidence level of the customers that the company cares about them but in no way this can be accredited to building brand image since the customers and the intended ones take this as an insult to a company’s image if the business brings out all sorts of deals and promotional activities from time to time. They would start thinking that the company just wants to sell no matter what they have to do or maybe at times, to get rid of the old stock which can raise quite a few questions nonetheless. Thus it is easy to suggest here that sales promotions increase the sales process of the brand or the company we are talking about here but difficult to digest the fact that they indeed does hamper the smooth flowing of the brand image proposition and it is best to balance between the two on the company’s part but then it all decides on the customers and the perceptions they are getting all this while. However sales promotions can be tailored in a manner that the company and indeed the brand’s perception or image is not diluted and the same remains steadfast, in the same vein as it was before in the eyes of the customers. For this to happen, there is a need to understand the exact tangents which the customers value within the brand and what echoes their feelings with regards to their perceptions and beliefs. When the understanding has been made, the next thing that can be done is to assure the customers that the brand would not compromise on the value delivery chain and no matter what happens, it will promise to deliver value and reliability day in day out. The message for this has to be loud and clear, consistent and one that can break the barriers of clutter and confusion nevertheless. In the end, it would be safe to fathom here the fact that sales promotions downplay a company’s image and in terms of a brand, the brand image gets lowered but then again there is a dire need to understand what actually comprises of the brand image in the first place and what can be done to ward off the concerns that are raised by the customer right from the onset. Perhaps these people can be surveyed through and asked for their concerns so as to keep away from the problems that may so arise. At other times, sales promotions might just enhance a brand’s image since this could be attributed to the fact that the company or the brand did not get recognized ever in the minds of the target audience and it was only after it was continuously hit upon them (by persistent bombardment of advertising message) that they came to know of the brand and thus the recall factor also came into the play. In cases such like these, we surely can bet that sales promotions might just enhance the brand image but then again, we cannot guarantee success right from the onset. BIBLIOGRAPHY HARRIS, Lisa. (2002). Marketing the E-Business. Routledge KARSON, Eric J. (1997). Direct Marketing Advertising: The Assents, the Dissents and the Ambivalents. Journal of Advertising Research Vol. 37 STREETER, William W. (1999). Can Privacy survive in a Database World? ABA Banking Journal Vol. 91 ETZIONI, Amital. (2000). The New Enemy of Privacy: Big Bucks Challenge Vol. 43 GRIFFIN, Jill. (2002). Customer Loyalty: How to Earn it, How to Keep it? Jossey-Bass SCHULTZ, Don E. (2000). Customer/Brand Loyalty in an Interactive Marketplace Journal of Advertising Research Vol. 40 BAUER, Gerald J. (1998). Emerging Trends in Sales Thought and Practice Quorum Books RATNATUNGA, Janek. (2005). The Brand Capability Value of Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Journal of Advertising Vol. 34 Word Count: 4, 013 Read More