The Importance of a Marketing Communication Strategy - Case Study Example

The Marketing Communication Strategy of Zumanity and it’s Effectiveness in Relation to AIDA Marketing communication strategy is of great importance in relation to the marketing strategy and overall business strategy of any company. Marketing communication strategy will have a significant impact in helping to gain a competitive advantage and in achieving, or more desirably, exceeding business objectives. An article in Strategic Direction (2006) states that; “The fundamental principle determining the success of any communications strategy is that everyone involved needs to understand the meaning of each others communication.” (Strategic Direction; 2006, 22) In this paper I will examine the marketing communication of Zumanity, a show produced by the renowned Cirque du Soleil. I will review the effectiveness of the strategy employed with regards to the Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action model as advocated by E. St Elmo Lewis circa 1900. The Cirque du Soleil was born in Quebec, Canada in 1984 during the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s arrival in Canada, founded by Guy Laliberte. It is a spectacular theatrical delight, a combination of arts of the circus and street entertainment. The shows features original music, flamboyant costumes, dramatic lighting and visual effects. However, in comparison to the traditional circus it differs significantly in that it is an all human show with absolutely no animal involvement. (www.circusnet.info) From its beginnings in 1984 – 2003 the Cirque du Soleil grew rapidly and extensively, transforming from one show travelling circus to an international multi show production company. Significant elements including strategic European alliance with the Swiss Circus Knie, resident shows in Disney World Florida (La Nouba) and in Vegas (O), alliances with MGM-Mirage and Imax and both film and television productions. Cirque du Soleil productions target all genres, however, there is a great emphasis on family audiences. (www.cirquedusoleil.com) 2003 marked Cirque du Soleil’s 15th show. The company was firmly established as an example of artistic genius of its kind, a firm institution and family favourite. For the 15th show the creative directors wished to diversify with its creation of Zumanity, targeted purely at the adult only market. The creative thinking behind Zumanity had been in the piping since 2001, in collaboration with MGM-Mirage. Designed to be extraordinary, just as the circus had been reinvented 20 yrs previous, Zumanity was designed to reinvent the adult entertainment market in Vegas. Zumanity: billed as; “An edgy and provocative discovery of sensuality and eroticism” (Canadian Congress of Advertising; 2004). Zumanity is the first production to show an alternative side to Cirque du Soleil and its communication strategy needed to be exact in order to achieve success with a carefully selected and targeted market. Key issues the company had to overcome are noted by Canadian Congress of Advertising (2004): image risk, social tolerance to sexuality and competition; Zumanity was not what the traditional Cirque customer would expect, it was to be more dance orientated, smaller, sensual and erotic. Care would be of the essence to ensure the original brand would not be compromised. Zumanity is not simply another erotic show and the communication strategy needed to portray the message that it is; “resolutely sexy and astounding, while meeting Cirque’s high creative standards.” Legalities and social considerations had to be accounted for. The direction thus for materials to “show eroticism without really showing it.” Marketing needed to be savvy. The media budget was $3.2 Mill in comparison to the major competitor at the time, Celine Dion who was launching her new show, with a $10 Mill media budget. PEST analysis had to be carried out and important features such as the financial slump and impending Iraq war taken into consideration. Awareness, imagery and materials needed to be created and tickets sold before the show actually existed. The Canadian Congress of Advertising (2004) highlights that the Cirques objectives regarding Zumanities marketing communication strategy were; To sell 15,000 tickets prior to the opening date of August 14th 2003. To build show awareness and comprehension. To create a new category of show in America, premium erotic live entertainment. To integrate “adult entertainment” into Cirques portfolio (i.e. successfully introduce this new genre—that could potentially hurt some peoples sensibilities—to Cirques traditional audience). To increase Cirques database with 50,000 new members. The marketing creative team used a number of techniques to achieve the defined objectives which included; Naming the show; Zumanity, a combination of zoo and humanity, conjuring images of animal instinct merged with human nature, beauty, diversity, sensuality, eroticism, rythymic music and fine acrobatic dance. The name summoned imagery which perfectly summarised the theme portrayed within the show. Brand creation; the relationship to Cirque du Soleil had to be clearly defined so as to avoid misconception. Expectations needed to be carefully managed. There needed to be a connection yet differentiation. Thus, Zumanity was positioned as : “ ‘another side of Cirque du Soleil’. This leveraged the Cirque equity, while telling the audience they should expect something different.” (Canadian Congress of Advertising; 2004). Creation of visual identity; appropriate and grasping imagery was essential to, as outlined; “show eroticism without really showing it.” This was mastered via use of a latex screen, a colourful background which stood out and an erotic image which identified the adult nature. Imagery also conveyed the sensual theme, they weren’t ostentatious, cheap or tacky, but artistic and evocative. Plus, by using veiled imagery legal complications were avoided. Cirque ascertained that to achieve success the show would have to be targeted to three main categories in Vegas; 1. The creative class, this category included the gay community, high living artistic, liberal, highly educated urban class with high disposable incomes. Methods and tactics used to reach this sector included buzz marketing and a launch with the main tactics including web usage, TV and outdoor presence. Also included was a VIP Oscar nominee premiere which provoked an article in US Today. 2. The Vegas visitor, this would be the mainstream audience with visitors to Vegas equating to 86 Mill people per year. A ‘big show’ approach was used and tactics included outdoor presence and airport video advertisements. 3. The Vegas resident, the most cynical grouping who would have to have this cynicism overcome. Again a ‘big show’ approach was adopted with T.V, newspaper and outdoor presence used as tactics. ” (Canadian Congress of Advertising; 2004). Direct marketing was used to target those people within the Cirque databases with offers of enticement to attend Zumanity. A website was designed for people to follow the entire creative process and prompted visitors to the site to join the database. Posters, TV. and both stationary (on property) and in transit (billboard, airport) media were used. (Canadian Congress of Advertising; 2004). Zumanities marketing communication strategy was hugely successful, exceeding all expectation with the show being a sell out and occupancy averaging 91.8% over the first 12mth period. The website received 15 000+ hits per day with an exceptionally high click through rate of 5.1%. Immense awareness was created with 102 056 new members becoming part of Cirques database. Cirque was able to establish, via its online registration tracking programme that there is most definitely a positive relationship between cause and effect and advertising and results; “The only thing that could bring online registration was online advertising (banners, email blast) or offline advertising (drive-to-web match boxes, postcards etc.) This online registration tracking program makes it apparent that the driving force behind the Zumanity campaign was advertising” (Canadian Congress of Advertising; 2004). Hence, it can be stated that advertising hierarchy models such as AIDA and alternative adapted versions of the original model acted as a very important and valuable tool in the marketer’s toolbox and the success experienced by Cirque du Soleil highlighting their worth and justifying their use. Kotler (1999) states; “The AIDA approach has the salesperson take the initiative and ‘lead the dance’ ” (Kotler; 1999, 125) Certainly, in the example of Zumanity this was quite literally the case. AIDA us a ‘strong’ theory of advertising which has a strong USA base. Jobber (1998) states; “According to this theory, advertising is strong enough to increase people’s knowledge and change people’s attitudes and as a consequence is capable of persuading people who had not previously bought a brand to buy it. It is therefore a conversion theory of advertising; non-buyers are converted to become buyers.” (Jobber; 1998, 325) This is certainly relevant in relation to Zumanity as consumer’s expectation from the Cirque du Soleil tradition was altered and new customers were also targeted. AIDA was the predecessor of the hierarchy of effects models of advertising that have emerged, the most commonly cited being Lavidge and Steiner (1961) (Appendix 2). Models have been designed to explain how advertising affects a consumers buying behaviour. Such models have both psychological and sociological underpinnings. AIDA is a cognition-affect-conation sequence. “Proponents of the traditional hierarchy framework claim that audiences of advertising and other marketing communications respond to those messages in a very ordered way: cognitively first (thinking), affectively second (feeling), and conatively third (doing).” (Barry & Howard; 1990) Academics who favour the AIDA type approach to advertising and that advocated by its successors also propose that rather focus on sales alone that a hierarchy of objectives should be used. Colley (1961) with his Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results (DAGMAR) model advocates this theory. Elements of DAGMAR are evident in the Zumanity communications strategy, thus it can be stated that an adapted version or AIDA type model / hierarchy theory has proved successful and effective for the company. DAGMAR can be said to show influence as evident by the database increase as resultant advertising. The model forwarded in 1961 by the Advertising Research Foundation can also be deemed influential as communication of knowledge was relevant regarding Zumanity, potential audiences had to be made knowledgeable about the show. Criticism has been made of models such as AIDA, especially in relation the limits in ability to convert the non-buyer to a buyer and that it ignores what happens to the customer after the initial purchase. (Jobber; 1998) Hence, it is evident that Cirque du Soleil’s communication strategy was inspired by AIDA and its adopted versions as tracking to increase databases for future advertising campaigns was conducted. However, criticisms do not devalue such models. Whilst there may be debate over actual sequences and altercations, the basic principles remain the valuable. Although perhaps not to all products and industries. As made evident by the Zumanity case study, AIDA and its adopted versions are still entirely relevant and important for the entertainment industry where essentially the produce is intangible, an experience rather than an actual physical product. Appendix 1 Example of imagery used Appendix 2 Lavidge and Steiner Model THE LAVIDGE-STEINER TRADITIONAL ORDER HIERARCHY OF EFFECTS aIndicates a stage not presented in predecessor models References Advertising Research Foundation (1961) Audience Concepts Committee. New York: Toward Better Media Comparisons Anon (2006) The importance of marketing strategies: gaining the competitive edge with integrated marketing communications (IMC). Strategic Direction 22 (8) Barry, T.E. & Howard, D.J (1990) A review and critique of the hierarchy of effects on advertising. International Journal of Advertising 9 (2) Canadian Congress of Advertising (2004) Cirque du Soelil – Zumanity: Canadian success stories 2004. Toronto: WARC Colley, R. H. (1961) Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. New York:Association of National Advertisers. Jobber, D. (1998) Principles and Practice of Marketing 2nd London: McGraw Hill Kotler, P. (1999) Kotler on Marketing 1st London: Simon & Schuster Lavidge, R.C. & Steiner, G.A. (1961) In Barry, T.E. & Howard, D.J (1990) A review and critique of the hierarchy of effects on advertising. International Journal of Advertising 9 (2) www.cirquedusoelil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/pressroom/factsheets/cds_history.htm [Accessed 17 May 2006] www.circusnet.info/cirque/soleil.php [Accessed 17 May 2006] Read More