Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for Holsten - Case Study Example

Integrated Marketing Communications Plan for Holsten Abstract This is primarily a marketing communication strategy for one of the leading cellular service providers in Germany, Holsten. The objective of the study is to increase the customer base of the company and develop a marketing communication strategy which can be adopted and implemented by Holsten for staying ahead of it’s competitors. Introduction Holsten is a company which has been operational since 2001. The company is headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany and has almost 20 million subscribers. Although its main customer base is Germany, Holsten also has its presence in countries such as Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Poland. In late 2007, Holsten tried to acquire the rival mobile operator, RCQ, but was beaten in the competition by UK’s telecom giant Sprint. The company presently has 1,500 employees with offices spread throughout Germany and a few other European countries. Presently, the turnover of the company is EUR 256 million. In 2009, the turnover was EUR 209 million. This clearly indicates that the company is growing a steady pace. One of the most important ideas of the marketing strategy is to focus on the inbound roaming customers of Holsten. It is also important that Holsten regains its position as one of the leading cellular service providers by winning the favour of the prepaid customers. Some of the innovations of the company which has helped it to be among the top three telecom providers in Germany include the introduction of 3GPP service. The company was one of the first companies to introduce UMTS, which is an improved technology, thereby making the GSM service redundant. The company has also successfully integrated the WCDMA, LTE, HSDPA and HSUPA. These technologies are one the latest breakthroughs in innovation and mobile telephony. Such innovations and technological upgradations have helped Holsten in maintaining its market position and retaining its existing customer base. The company has recently rolled out trials for its 2GB data rates which have so far been one of the most successful plans rolled out by the company. Defining Marketing Communications In marketing communications, it is vital that a marketing plan be selected which is practical as well as cost effective. Since the objective of the marketing communication plan of Holsten is retaining the existing customer base in Germany, retain the inbound roaming customers as well as expanding the customer base in countries such as Poland, Croatia and Austria, it is important to discuss some of the alternatives available to the company. The 4P model in marketing mix should be taken into account. The most important P for Holsten at this point is Promotion. Since Holsten has already developed a product(Telecom Service) which is cutting edge and innovative, it does not require spending resources in further improving the Product. As far as the Price is concerned, Holsten’s rates and tariffs are in fact one of the most economical, hence this segment of the 4P’s can be ignored too. Regarding Place, Holsten already has a strong base in Germany with a presence in some other neighbouring countries. Therefore, the most significant P for Holsten at this moment is Promotion. George and Michael Belch (2009, p.6) comments ‘Marketing facilitates the exchange process and the development of relationships by carefully examining the needs and wants of consumers, developing a product or service that satisfies these needs, offering it at a certain price, making it available through a particular place or channel of distribution, and developing a program of promotion or communication to create awareness and interest. These four Ps—product, price, place (distribution), and promotion—are elements of the marketing mix. The basic task of marketing is combining these four elements into a marketing program to facilitate the potential for exchange with consumers in the marketplace. The proper marketing mix does not just happen. Marketers must be knowledgeable about the issues and options involved in each element of the mix. They must also be aware of how these elements can be combined to provide an effective marketing program. The market must be analyzed through consumer research, and the resulting information must be used to develop an overall marketing strategy and mix.’ Marketing communications basically comprises of three elements; media, messages and a set of tools. A few of the relevant tools for achieving the objectives include advertising, personal selling, public relations, direct marketing, promotion and sales. Ideally, a number of these tools need to be used simultaneously. Besides, marketing communications have two primary aims; first of all, the marketing communications must succeed in developing the brand value of Holsten Telecom by setting up promotional campaigns which improve the beliefs and create visions on the customer’s mind about the company. Secondly, the marketing communications should also make the existing customers behave in a positive way to Holsten. Additionally, a successful marketing communication plan will meet two major obstacles, particularly from the context of the German and European milieu. The message of the promotion has to be delivered in a way which makes the target customers easily notice the message. Secondly, the promotional message should not be complicated, so as to make the customers easily understand and process the information. One of the goals of a successful marketing communication plan is to deliver feelings, consequences and atmospheres which would awake the customer’s wanted visions. SOSTAC Framework The marketing communication plan intends to integrate the SOSTAC system of planning, which is widely regarded as the most powerful management and marketing plan system available. SOSTAC has all the vital ingredients which can help in making the marketing communication plan for Holsten a resounding success. Large companies such as IBM and BT have already integrated the SOSTAC marketing plan and have been greatly successful. SOSTAC is essentially an acronym, which stands for Situation analysis, Objectives, Strategy, Tactics, Action and Control. A few of the probing questions which SOSTAC helps to answer include questions like where the company stands at the current time or what are the objectives of the company. Situation Analysis primarily attempts to evaluate the current position of the company. Objectives answer questions regarding the short term and long term objectives of the enterprise. Strategy gives a synopsis of the plan which would help the company meet its objectives. Tactics basically is the detailed discussion of the strategies. In other words, Tactics are the elaborate marketing strategies which will help meet the aims of the company. Action is the implementation tools and machinery which will help in the realisation of the tactics. Control on the other hand means the measurement, reviewing, monitoring, modifying and updating mechanism which is incorporated for ensuring the marketing strategies are properly executed. SOSTAC also contains three added elements to its framework. They are the 3 M’s, namely Men, Money and Minutes. Men denote the manpower and the expertise available to the company in performing the jobs. Money obviously means the allocated budget for executing the marketing plan whereas Minutes signifies the deadlines and schedules which the company requires to follow, for making the whole marketing exercise cost effective. Context Analysis A marketing plan is always based on the definition of the problems and the opportunities that the market offers. Context analysis is an important aspect of a marketing strategy, since context analysis determines and properly comprehends communication drivers which can have an effect on the company or brand. One of the crucial elements in a context analysis for Holsten Telecom would obviously be the market research data of the target telecom customers. Once the market research data on the customers of Germany and the other related countries are gathered, it will be easier to study the decision-making processes, the motivation, attitudes and needs of the target customers. It is essential to know the mindset of the customers in the first place, since a perfect and tailor-made promotional mix can only be sketched after knowing the target thoroughly. The communication plan not only gets enriched, but also helps to draw out a plan which is aligned to the stakeholder context, the business context, environmental context and the customer context. Context analysis will be easier to interpret when it is divided to external and internal factors. The analysis of the telecom services and the tariffs offered by Holsten would fall under the internal context factors. Also the company position in the telecom market as well as the company turnover would be included in the internal context. Competitors of Holsten such as Sprint as well as the logistics and dynamics of the areas of operation for Holsten, namely Germany, Croatia, Austria and Poland, would constitute the external factors. The main objective of context analysis would be to deeply understand the current situation of Holsten, its brand and its product. Only after the current company situation is understood, can an effective communication plan be developed. SWOT analysis can be implemented in order to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the company. The Influential Factors affecting Holsten At the moment, Holsten has major competition in the area of prepaid subscribers. Some of its competitors include Six Plus and Go Mobile. Six Plus has been successful in capturing a part of the market by slashing the prices and executing some aggressive marketing tactics. Go Mobile on the other hand caters to the tourists and their marketing communications are also very extensive. Philip J. Kitchen and Patrick De Pelsmacker (2004, p.6) states ‘IMC (Integrated Marketing Communications) is a product of the late twentieth century. Its birth can be traced to practitioner (advertising, direct marketing, and public relations) activities in the late 1980s – as witnessed by articles in the trade literature. Its growth can be traced directly to emergent academic interest, commencing in the early 1990s – spear headed by the work at the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University, led by Professor Don Schultz. Since that time, its growth has been meteoric. But, like so many marketing developments, it has been driven by: Market dynamics; continued academic inputs in the trade and academic literature (see for example the series of articles and papers in Marketing News, the main practitioner magazine for the AMA (American Marketing Association); the fact that from its earliest beginnings, the development was embraced and supported by ‘gurus’ in the generic marketing discipline (for example, the top-selling textbook in marketing is by Professor Philip Kotler, also from Northwestern University); the widespread adoption of IMC by advertising agencies around the world, who were themselves driven by organizational exigency. Thus, ad-agencies are now integrated agencies; the apparent adoption of IMC by major companies around the world. Integrated approaches make sense to businesses, and to agencies who service their needs; the needs to have ‘promotion’ appear to be consumer-orientated and consumer-driven, previously ‘promotion’ had been internally driven and by a philosophy of separatism where each promotion mix element had its own foci and dynamics; The need to overcome the ‘silo mentality’ associated with promotion mix singularity.’ One of the main internal factors which Holsten needs to address in this context is the improvement of customer service of all its prepaid customers. One of the biggest challenges for Holsten has been developing a competitive customer care team in Croatia, Austria and Poland. Although the customer service for Holsten prepaid subscribers in Germany are appreciated for their efficiency, the Croatian and Polish counterparts are often found lacking. Proper training facilities as well as sound technological infrastructure in all the customer care centres of Poland, Austria and Croatia will ensure the customer care service of Holsten is at par with its competitors in those countries. It’s also important to keep the customer care centres open for 14 hours a day, rather than the current 8 hours a day policy followed by Holsten. SMART Guidelines Smart is an acronym which stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Targeted & Timed. When drawing out the objectives of an integrated marketing communication plan, all the required factors of SMART has to be taken into account. Holsten has not yet designed an effective marketing communication strategy which properly follows the SMART guidelines. Holsten can either choose the Two Way Model for achieving the marketing objectives or use the One Way Model. Besides, Holsten should also decide whether to carry out its marketing campaign proactively or reactively. Proactive marketing would require Holsten to follow the latest trends in marketing communications while the Reactive system would mean that Holsten needs to emulate the moves of its competitors. Most definitely, a Proactive model is suggested, if Holsten wants to expand its existing customer base. There is yet another consideration which would make the SMART guideline more effective. The product life cycle of Holsten, or in this case, the life cycle of the new services offered by Holsten to its subscribers, requires to be evaluated. The typical life cycle of the telecom service would include the introduction of the service, the growth, the maturity of the service and the gradual unpopularity of the service. Holsten was in fact the first mobile service provider to offer MMS service to its customers. However, MMS is not as popular these days and hence, Holsten should try introducing the latest 4G technology before its competitor does. A new service such as the launch of 4G along with sound promotional efforts would ensure Holsten gets a new set of customers. Appropriate Marketing Communication Strategies For properly implementing SOSTAC, the right tactics needs to be executed by the marketing communications team of Holsten. For promoting its latest range of services, Holsten needs to embrace the latest proactive model in communications, which is Internet Marketing or e-Marketing. Holsten already has a website which takes care of its web presence. However, Holsten must continuously thrive to improve its web presence by using tools to promote its brand on the internet. One of the best ways to do so is Social Networking Sites. Big companies such as IBM, Capgemini and Nestle have their presence in networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. A dedicated team of web marketers constantly updates their presence on these networking sites. Holsten too must venture into social networking, as social networking will most certainly be an indispensable marketing tool for promoting the brand on the internet. To augment their online presence, downloadable brochures and small internet advertising on portals and technology news sites should also be executed. Public Relations is another tool Holsten should consider, since PR is a tried and tested marketing tool which ensures successful promotion of a product. Holsten could generate free publicity in German and Austrian cities by promoting soccer, for example. Since the Soccer World Cup is the ongoing event which is attracting millions of enthusiasts’ worldwide, promoting soccer would help in the brand visibility of Holsten. Holsten also requires changing its brand identity. The visual means of identifying Holsten requires a revamp, since some of the brand identity elements such as its logo has been criticised for being outdated. Customer mailings are another communication policy which has been used by global telecom giants such as Vodafone and Sprint. Customer mailing would not only enable the customers to be informed of the latest offerings from Holsten, it would also help Holsten to maintain a good relationship with its existing customers. Control and Evaluation After taking a closer look at Holsten’s communication strategy, it can be said that Holsten did not develop an effective integrated communication plan. Therefore, Holsten requires having a changed attitude towards its old promotional plan and embracing a new communication strategy which woks in the current context. For the marketing and promotional plan to be effective, it’s also important that a control and evaluation method for the marketing communications is put in place. In order to evaluate and monitor the promotional activities as well as measure the results of the marketing plan, a SOSTAC method based control system should be integrated. Some of the control measures to ensure a smooth marketing plan implementation would include keeping all the internet and real time marketing activities under strict monitoring by maintaining a monitoring team; making use of after-use Holsten service evaluation form and properly analysing the customer feedback sheets; observing the monetary spends as wells observing the paid placement results for its advertisements, both online and print; keeping an ‘Activities booking sheet’ in order to monitor which, when and how many activities are being sold. Other control measures would include occasionally conducting surveys among its former clients and new clients, in order to know their changing tastes and preferences in mobile telephony. Additionally, help desks and kiosks should be established which would serve as touch points. These touch points would help Holsten gather valuable inputs from target and existing customers, on a range of issues related to its service offerings and integrated promotional methods. Conclusion Hence, the integrated marketing communication plan would be a successful marketing plan, since it not only integrates the vital elements of the SOSTAC framework, but also integrates the essence of the SMART guidelines. All things considered, when the integrated communications plan is implemented by Holsten, the results of the plan would prove that integrated marketing communication plans (IMC) can completely transform an organization and ensure that its profit graph keeps shooting up. References Becken, Susanne (2005) The Role of Tourist Icons For Sustainable Tourism, Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol 11, No 1, Pgs., 21-30. Belch, George, and Belch, Michael (2009) Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective, McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NY. Biderman, David (2009). Retailers Get Innovative, The Journal of Commerce, November 16, Pgs. 30-34. Edward, The Edward Publishing Company (2009) Environment & Ecology (Fall, 2009) Evans, etc ( 2005 ) Governing Sustainable Cities Janssens, Maddy. (2009) Diversity, Economic Growth, and Social Cohesion, University College London. Kitchen, Philip J. and De Pelsmacker, Patrick. (2004) Integrated Marketing Communications: A Primer. New York: Routledge Quaddus, M.A., & Saddique ( 2004 ) Handbook of Sustainability Development Planning. Stylus Publishing Waer, Hussam Al and Sibley, Magda {Evans, etc} ( 2006 ) Sustainable Regional Retail Centers, Liverpool School of Architecture, (www.liv.ac.uk) Wustenhagan, Thomas & Hamschmidt, Jost ( 2008) Sustainable Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Google Books, ISBN-1847200370 Read More