Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign White Horse Whiskey - Coursework Example

Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign White Horse Whiskey and Submitted Question The IMC campaign plan for White Horse Whiskey will be anchored on the main objective of two SMART communication objectives: 1) Revamp the ‘old’ and ‘cultural’ images assigned to whiskey as a product category to make it more relatable to the younger market; and 2) Increase awareness and induce trial for Whiskey White Horse among the tapped niche group—the Hispters. Question 2: I. Situation: Analyzing the Status of Whiskey Market in the U.K. and the Brand Status of White Horse Whiskey A. Industry Analysis: Whiskey Market in the U.K. Whiskey can be considered a dying product category in the U.K. as consumption habits among its primary and secondary markets have been on a decline for the past 15 years. While this alcoholic drink continues to make a strong following among the old market, the contrary could be said about the younger crowd. Its distinct and traditional taste does not seem to appeal to them as they prefer lighter and chilled drinks such as vodka, wine, and lagers. In addition to this, whiskey is commonly associated with unpleasant images of “briar pipes, cozy slippers and stags’ heads over the mantelpiece”. Some marketing tactics have been developed and implemented to induce trial and eventually build the loyalty of the younger market with whiskey. For one, whiskey is now being promoted as a mixed drink (preferably with Coke) in some parts in Europe. In the U.K., one of the top whiskey brands called Bells promotes a more sophisticated image of whiskey through its above-the-line (ATL) and below-the-line (BTL) efforts. While these developments prove to be helpful in maintaining the relevance of whiskey in the rapidly changing and evolving lifestyle of the younger market, critics believe that there is a need to preserve the traditional and cultural images of whiskey as it is considered a national heritage in the U.K. B. Brand Analysis: White Horse Whiskey Launched in 1890, White Horse Whiskey was founded by legendary entrepreneur Peter Mackie. It is commonly known for its distinctive taste that is derived from Lagavulin—a malted barley that is soaked by salt-laden sea spray. Over the years, White Horse Whiskey has received various recognitions from aficionados of dark spirits and other passion groups due to its smooth and intriguing taste. The brand, however, has remained conservative with its marketing efforts as it relied more on the efficiency of its value chain and the effectiveness of its distribution model to keep the business up and going. Taking in mind all of these findings, there is a big opportunity to make the brand more appealing to the younger market by banking on its traditional and cultural image. II. Objectives of the Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign 1) Revamp the ‘old’ and ‘cultural’ images assigned to whiskey as a product category to make it more relatable to the younger market; and 2) Increase awareness and induce trial for Whiskey White Horse among the tapped niche group—the Hispters. III. Strategy: IMC Campaign The IMC campaign for White Horse Whiskey will be executed under the big idea (and basic slogan) “Cheers to Our Difference”. Such slogan is premised on the basic strategy that the campaign aims to successfully implement, that is, to position White Horse Whiskey as a unique and cool drink for those who are unafraid to be themselves and shout their individualities. At this point, it has to be made clear the campaign will only intend to tap a niche group of the young market. This is essentially because: (1) communicating the new positioning of White Horse Whiskey will not be an easy task considering the negative imageries assigned to whiskey drinking; (2) there is still high product loyalty (as reinforce high consumption) for lighter and chilled drinks; (3) it will be costly to target the young market given the various marketing executions that have to be to suit their various demographical backgrounds. Thus, the campaign will target a specific niche group, which is comprised of the hipsters. As explained also in the communication objectives part of this paper, hipster following is continually growing and expanding in the U.K., as evidenced by a number of groups formally acknowledging themselves as hipsters. However, in order to more clearly understand to whom this campaign is talking to, it will be helpful to provide a comprehensive look at the lifestyle and behavior of our target market. Meet Harry, the Hipster Dude. Harry is 19 years old, currently a college student, taking up Literature in a known university in the U.K. He has a taste for the Humanities, be it history, philosophy, music, or the fine arts. But what separates Harry apart is his lifestyle—he simply wants to be unique and different. Without even broadcasting it to his classmates or friends, Harry is indeed embracing a kind of lifestyle more popularly known to be as hipster. Taking a closer look at his interests, he likes listening to indie rock music. Bands like The Maccabees, Two Door Cinema Club, The Friendly Fires, and SBTRKT are among his favorites. He is also fond of collecting vintage items like camera, bicycle, or anything that will give more meaning to his chosen lifestyle. He also considers himself as a certified art junkie—he likes photography, painting, and writing songs. Lastly, he has a unique fashion style—plaid shirts, fitted pants, leather boots, and hip glasses always form part of his wardrobe. But just like any teenager, Harry likes socializing and meeting new people. Art events, indie rock concerts, and house parties are among his top go-to’s. And while Harry has remained comfortable drinking light and chilled drinks during these social gatherings, he hopes to find a drink that will match perfectly with his uniqueness. IV Tactics, Action and Control: IMC Campaign: “Cheers to Our Difference” The “Cheers to our Difference” campaign—which will run from September 2013 to January 2014—will be divided into two phases of creative executions. The first phase will revamp the negative images associated with whiskey as a product category by bringing whiskey closer to the lifestyle of the younger market. The second phase will create awareness and induce trial for White Horse Whiskey as a brand by communicating its new positioning to its niche market (the hipsters)—a unique and cool drink for those who are unafraid to be themselves and shout their uniqueness. The third phase will enrich the brand equity of White Horse Whiskey by going beyond the mere communication of its slogan, but more importantly by putting it into action. In essence, the last phase will have a public relations side to it, which will be explained in detail in the next part of this paper. 1. First Phase: Changing the Whiskey Image Changing the younger market’s perception of whiskey as an old drink entails a careful selection of communication strategies. As such, this phase will be anchored on the selection of two ‘whiskey ambassadors’ (one male and one female) who will communicate the relevance of whiskey in teenage lifestyle. They will be calling themselves ‘Whiskey Buddies’, a coined term intended to provide a sense of identity and belongingness among the young whiskey drinkers; and they will be changing the mindsets of the younger market on whiskey through two executions. The first execution will reinforce the presence of the whiskey ambassadors or ‘Whiskey Buddies’ in social media by creating a Youtube channel, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account. Through these social media sites, ‘Whiskey Buddies’ will be able show some fun videos highlighting the consumption of whiskey in social gatherings such as easy-to-do drinking games and interesting facts about whiskey. The basic objective here is to bring whiskey closer to the younger market’s lives which will be measured by the number of subscribers and views. The second execution is intended to create an online competition among the subscribers of the social media channels It will be announced in the social media sites of the ‘whiskey ambassadors’ in one of their videos. Thus, the competition is meant to get the viewers try the whiskey drinking games featured in the site which will be measured by the number of participants. In essence, the first phase of the campaign is aimed at bringing whiskey closer to younger market’s lifestyle. Although it is not the goal of the campaign to instantly increase the younger market’s consumption of whiskey (thereby lowering their consumption of lighter and chilled drinks like vodka), the revamping of their perception on the product category becomes the major objective of this phase. 2. Second Phase: White Horse Whiskey and Its New Positioning The second phase of the campaign is targeted to increase the awareness and induce the trial of White Horse Whiskey among the target market—the hipsters. Such objective will be attained in three interrelated executions. The first execution is focused on sponsoring an indie rock musical festival featuring the notable bands like The Maccabees, Two Door Cinema Club, The Friendly Fires, and Darwin Deez. Since hipsters are known to be indie rock music lovers, this activity is definitely strategic in not only increasing their awareness on the new positioning of White Horse Whiskey, but also in stirring their interest about the upcoming marketing initiatives for the brand. To give a brief overview of the event, the musical festival will be hosted by the two whiskey ambassadors featured in the previous executions in the social media. It will begin with an announcement of the new positioning of White Horse Whiskey by its brand manager—White Horse Whiskey being the official drink of the ‘young and hip’ who are not afraid to embrace their uniqueness and shout their individuality. This will be followed by the official unveiling of the brand’s new slogan “Cheers to Our Difference”. After this announcement, the vocalists of aforementioned bands will give a short talk explaining the reasons why they chose to be part of this momentous event and why they deem White Horse Whiskey as a true hipster drink. This will be followed by the performances of the bands. The second execution will be focused on strengthening the brand presence of White Horse Whiskey through out-of-home (OOH) media like posters and billboards. The strategic choosing of the venues where these posters and billboards will be placed is vital toward the attainment of the success of this phase. This is why to maintain the effectiveness and cost-efficiency of this initiative, it will only be deployed in ‘hipster sites’ such as clubs, theatre houses, restaurants, and museums. As regards the creative execution of this initiative, the posters and billboards will typical hipsters being in various social events. The campaign slogan “Cheers to Our Difference” will be placed at the bottom part of the material, alongside the product shot of White Horse Whiskey. The third execution will bank on the tapping of influential lifestyle bloggers to bolster the ‘talk value’ of the new positioning of White Horse Whiskey. Such execution is crucial in not only sustaining the target market’s interest for the brand, it can also help induce trial by initiating mini-contests highlighting White Horse Whiskey as their official prize. With regard to the mechanics of the blogger’s competition, it can be as simple as letting their readers explain why they regard themselves as hipster, or why they think whiskey is a hipster drink. The best entries (to be picked by the blogger himself) win the competition. 3. Third Phase: Enriching the Brand Equity of White Horse Whiskey The last phase of the campaign will be focused on enriching the social value of the brand by sponsoring various initiatives that encourage the uniqueness and individuality among the youth. For one, White Horse Whiskey is targeted to sponsor scholarship programs to those who are less fortunate (preferably, those who want to pursue arts as their major degree but could not financially afford to do so). In addition to this, White Horse Whiskey can set-up its charitable organization named ‘Be Uniquely You: Speak and Act Against Discrimination’. As suggested in the title, this organization will be operated by the corporate communications arm of White Horse Whiskey and will be dedicated to providing action against all form of discrimination—racial discrimination and gender discrimination at main focus. In both of these initiatives, White Horse Whiskey can definitely uplift the imagery assigned to it by not just being able to live up to its brand value of advocating uniqueness and individuality among individuals, but also by undertaking concrete steps to protect one’s uniqueness. IMC Campaign Summary Campaign: Cheers to Our Difference Client: White Horse Whiskey Target Market: Hipsters (Niche Group) Objective Strategy Tactics/Execution Timing Measurement           1) Revamp the image associated to whiskey Bring whiskey closer to young markets lifetsyle through product ambassadors - Creation of Brand Ambassadors for Whiskey Jul 2013 - N/A     - Reinforce relevance of whiskey in social media Sept 2013 - No. of Views - No. of Subscribers - Image study associated with whiskey for Sept 2013     - Create excitement among the young market via a online competition Nov 2013 - No. of Participants - Qualitative feedbacks - Image study associated with whiskey for Nov 2013           2) Increase awareness and induce trial for Whiskey White Horse Communicate the new positioning for Whiskey White Horse to its niche group—Hipsters - Sponsor an indie rock musical festival Dec 2013 - No. of attendees - Sales growth of White Horse Whiskey for Dec 2013 - Image study associated with White Horse Whiskey for Dec 2013     - OOH media executions (posters and billboards) Dec 2013 - No. of views (based on population density and food traffic in area) - Sales growth of White Horse Whiskey for Dec 2013     -Tapping lifestyle bloggers to inititate digital brand contests Jan 2013 - No. of participants - Qualitative feedbacks - Sales growth of Whiskey Horse Whiskey for Jan 2013   Enrich brand equity of White Horse Whiskey -Start the sponsorship of educational programs to those who are less fortunate Jan 2013 - Qualitative feedbacks - Sales growth of Whiskey Horse Whiskey for Jan 2013     -Set up its Charitable institution called "Be Uniquely You: Speak and Act Against Discrimination Jan 2013 - Qualitative feedbacks - Sales growth of Whiskey Horse Whiskey for Jan 2013 The overall cost of the campaign is estimated to be around 1,000 Euros, as justified by the fact that majority of the executions employed are digital and below-the-line—which normally cost less than the typical above-the-line executions. Creative Executions As explained in the previous part of this report, OOH initiatives will form an important part of this IMC campaign. As previously mentioned in the previous part of this paper, the campaign will be using posters and billboards in order to increase the awareness and stir the interest of the target market on White Horse Whiskey. 1. Creative Layout As regards the overall creative direction for these materials, real pictures of hipsters will be used in order to attain reinforce the communication that the campaign is intending to impart—that is, White Horse Whiskey is definitely the drink for those who are not afraid to be themselves and shout their individualities. Apart from this, the use of real photos of hipsters will bolster another key factor of being a hipster—that which goes against commercialism. By maintaining the natural look of the shot, such creative endeavor will be successfully attained. In relation to the copy of the material, the slogan “Cheers to Our Difference” will be used in order to immortalize the new positioning of the drink. The font to be used will be “Gulim”, a non-formal yet stylish font that suits the scene in the background. To help it stand out from the background, it will be surrounded by a copy box bearing color that matches the look of the material. The dimensions to be used for the OOH materials will of course vary depending on the haggled commercial space (as to be handled directly by the media buyer). However, it must be noted that the strategic choosing of location is of top priority whenever a media spot is identified. This pertains not only to the cost of leasing the media spot, but also to its foot traffic and media relevance. 2. Media Optimization Tactics In order to support this OOH initiative, the chosen blogsites would be used to further increase the awareness of the target market. In this regard, it is expected that these bloggers would contribute in bolstering the talk value of the campaign. They would not just mention where these posters and billboards are located, they would also inform their followers about: (1) the campaign; (2) the new positioning of White Horse Whiskey; (3) what should be expected from this marketing initiative. Read More