Lancme Marketing Communication - Report Example

Lancôme Marketing Communication of Institute Executive Summary The aim of this report is to provide an insight into promotional mix theory, to conceptualize its rational effects as a whole, and to highlight the development that digital and non-digital channels cause for better communication practice in a firm. The report uses secondary data to generate conclusions, and there is consideration of ethical to avoid subjectivity. The discussion focuses on 3 Ps communication mix; push, pull and profile. There is an examination of each P in terms of performance in relation to communication context. The conclusion may be that the approach of implementing marketing communication strategies could have a contribution to reinforcing the consistency of delivering messages while conducting the campaign. Content page Content Page Executive summary 3 Introduction 4 Marketing Communication Elements 5 3 Ps Communication Strategy 8 Impacts of Digital Channels 13 Marketing Communication Issues 14 Evaluation of Current Communication 16 Conclusion and Recommendations 17 1. Introduction Lancôme is a leading cosmetics company with an excellent reputation. Established in 1935, the firm first launched a limited fragrance range. After its remarkable success, it diversified its products range to move to identical skincare and makeup products that are available in 140 countries according to the company database. Currently, the corporation is concentrating on developing several strategies targeted at its audience over the world through numerous communication channels that help it engage consumer. The strategies consider some integrated elements such as firm communication objectives, cultural barriers across countries, characteristics of their promotional strategies, its impacts on digital channels and the link between the application of these techniques and the brand awareness and loyalty that is in constant need of evaluation. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate communication tools the organization uses and to create a better understanding of the role marketing communication plays in the firm in the global context. 2. Methodology 2.1. Data sources: The paper uses secondary data from secondary sources. The information comes from scholarly journals, official statistics, company data, reference books and literature review articles as well as academic resources. 2.2. Data analysis: The paper analyses the data from the secondary sources to arrive at a conclusion. There are ethical considerations in the handling of the data so that no injury is caused to any individual’s or firm’s reputation in the course of the research. 3. Results There is use of visual aids such as graphics, tables, and pie chart to illustrate information. The purpose of using such tools is to summarize the results of the analysis of the secondary data. 4. Discussion 1.4. Elements of marketing communication plan The term marketing communication refers to innovative approaches that a company uses to target market in an attempt to deliver effective messages across to its audience. The significance of this is that it helps the company inform the targeted group about company products and motivate customers to purchase to enhance sales maximization (Fill and Jamieson, 2011). Thus, a marketing communications plan can highlight the theoretical strategy that may be applicable in trying to understand consumers. An understanding of consumers and their needs enables a firm to tailor its communication to suits the type of customers it targets. That eventually influences how the firm plans its sales strategy. The marketing communications plan includes the following. Objective Setting The earliest step in the communication plan is to set objectives for the communication plan. That is necessary as it would guide the rest of the process. The success of any activity is reliant of proper setting of objectives. Lancôme’s objective for its communication is to reach out to mainly young consumers. The objective is achieved by focusing on developing a range of products that target the group and tailoring their communication in the same direction. It is therefore not surprising that they aim to create products with higher innovative technology. Designing Messages Although Lancôme targets young consumers, it also has its sights on other market segments. As such, it differentiates its market to target young women who seek intensive skin or older women who want less intensive skin products. They, therefore, consider old women’s skin needs and the needs of the young in order to expand consumer’s base. In the design of its communication, the firm, therefore, has to capture such diverse needs in order to appeal to all groups of customers. Media Selections In this phase, the unity of messages delivered across marketing mix components is very essential. It also becomes necessary to consider the target audience as the effectiveness of the media depends on the access the target group has to that media. For the media to be effective, it has to create awareness and generate interest among consumers. Different forms of communication necessitate the use of different media. Lancôme, therefore, has to select the media to use depending on the target group and the form of communication. Budgeting Budgeting involves forecasting the cost of each promotional communicative tool that the firm will use. It involves the determination of communication activities, the costs of each and how much of each the communication strategy would use. Tracking and Evaluation It is the last stage of the communication plan. The monitoring and management of the communication activities forms a basis for feedback. The process allows the firm to track results and bring success. 2. Push, Pull and profile strategies characteristics 2.1 push strategy Push, pull and profile strategies or the 3 Ps marketing communication strategies as commonly known, are strategies that help promote products. Each one of these techniques has a goal to achieve as they have particular characteristics. Push strategy seeks to promote products or service through retailers and distributors in order to force products down into the distribution channel. The purpose of this strategy is to get products into buyer’s hands. Here the communication targets the distributors and retailers. The characteristics of Push promotional method have a basis on four elements which are consumer knowledge of product, the degree of products familiarity, brand loyalty, the threat of new products entry, and high level of accepting substitute goods. Push promotional method is useful when the level of brand loyalty for products is significantly small. The method helps to increase brand loyalty. It is also useful when a wide diversity of new products can be substituted in the market making the consumers familiar with the products and in cases where the use of advertising for a product is low. In this case, the channel helps to minimize the effect of product substitution on the brand thus maintaining the brand loyalty. 2.2. Pull strategy Under the pull technique, the company tries to motivate consumers to seek out the brand. The tactic aims at generating demand from the consumer and progressively building it towards the producer through retailers and distributors. The pull technique is one strategy that Lancôme uses to attract the potential consumers to buy their products. This strategy is applied in different formats. The use of this method may have high costs, especially with the use of advertising in the communication activities of the program. Use of this channel can profoundly increase the visibility of their brand. The first impact of the channel to the product is high demand for the product. The consumer’s desires would be high, when they come across branded products with a good reputation like Lancôme. Hence, the consumers will be less sensitive to their items’ prices since the brand exists in their minds. The use of advertising raises demand. The second impact of the channel is creating a brand that is appealing. The ability to differentiate products from others would lead to the production of products with a strong brand appeal through the incorporation of features are distinct. Lancôme , for example, achieves this by the use of celebrities in their advertisements and the high-quality ingredients, for which their skincare and makeup products have a reputation. High brand loyalty is the Last impact of this channel. By providing consumers with what they need and expect through quality level and high perception, consumers will not need to check other competitive brands products. 2.3 Profile Strategy Profile strategy is the third component of the overall communications strategy. It involves the sustainability of stakeholders’ satisfaction and how this can meet their needs. In this practical strategy, stakeholders receive communication via email, progressive reports, annual meetings and newsletters that are up-to-date on business progress in order to accomplish the organizational promotional goal. The profile technique is used in marketing. The communication comes in different forms such as advertising, television press, public relation, and sponsorship. The main impact of this channel is to build awareness, increasing perception, raising corporate reputation and attitudes held by the stakeholders, which can also be numerous aspects of profile characteristics. 3.4. Digital Channels Impacts on the Three Promotional Strategies Using a mix of online channels can lead to achieving the following benefits. In traditional push marketing, using digital catalog in Lancôme Corporation, for example, has a number of impacts on the organization. First, the level of brand loyalty increases, since the ability of pushing products to consumers is higher due to the chances available to enable the firm access targeted audience. Secondly, potential buyers can also compare products and share opinions on avenues such as Facebook and Twitter. That may maximize the opportunity for content sharing, thus making the brand engagement rate to increase. Lastly, the range of products displayed will be huge and more accessible thereby saving money and time as opposed to sending a catalog by post which is a push conventional technique. In pull marketing, many promotional concepts are applied. Online store, mobile marketing, online advertising, and blog are some of the visible digital channels Lancôme uses to create a demand for its products. The primary impacts of this channel include lowering marketing costs, continuing investment to accomplish a company promotional goal, expanding the geographical reach and improving customer profiling at Lancôme. Similarly, mobile marketing ensures that the target group is reached within the intended time. Creating personal interaction with users, getting feedback, and their responses are other impacts of this channel. Mobile device marketing pushes demand for products digitally through platforms like blogs and online adverts. Both of online displays and blogs may have a smaller role to play in increasing brand awareness, but the nature of online advertisements makes it almost impossible to ignore. For profile strategy, the use of online magazines and sponsorship can achieve the aim of building perception, attitudes, and reputation. Online magazines, for instance, would measure the advertising goal through specifying the number of readers that clicked on the hotlink. It can also include media content, which leads to consumer interaction without opening new windows. Establishing a charity day may reinforce the bond between the corporate and its stakeholders. As a promotional strategy, it may motivate consumers also to donate towards the children’s research hospital that is a partner to Lancôme. The firm could massively target the audience and highly involve them in making a contribution if they buy any bottle of the Génifique products online. 4.4 Marketing Communication Issues in Global Context Marketing communication is inevitably affected by globalization dynamics (Tian, Borges, 2001). As noted by Ferraro (2006) organizations that sell their products internationally face many communication challenges. Companies are increasingly using digital marketing to sell products and services globally without being physically present in every territory. However, it is necessary for companies to ensure that the content they provide such as legal notices or technical information reflects the prevailing local market demands. Companies must also ensure their communication meets the acceptable local cultural preferences. There are four key marketing communication issues that companies face in the global context: localizing communication, using consistent product terminology, meeting local cultural preferences, communicating through the required channels, and the hindrances. Localization of Communications For the efficient marketing of their products in each country or territory, companies should communicate with the locals in the local language. That means the company must translate product information, market collateral, and business communications. For a company to create communications that conform to the local market needs, they require to go beyond document translation. For instance, the advertising copy must incorporate issues that meet local buyers’ needs. Product description meets the local practices and regulations. The contradictory advertising for Lancôme anti-aging skin care for instance was an indication of the non-ethical standard in managing business. The Lancôme campaign turned out to be unwelcome. That is because the product turned out to contain some identifiable components that were unsafe. The components of the skin care product proved to cause adverse effects on the human body structure (Cheeseman, 2012). In this case, consumers developed unfavorable attitudes towards the products due to the breach of the duty of care the company owed its customers in the US market. Another harsh effect of the advertising campaign was the level of truth. There was little success in the use of Julia Roberts and Christy Turlington to endorse foundation cream. There was criticism on the two pictures of the two celebrities. Although the pictures aimed at showing a difference between a part of the face that had foundation cream and the other without, a keener observation proves the use of Photoshop to edit the pictures. That resulted in a dent to the brand credibility, and it damaged the brand image. In most parts of Europe and the world in extension, that is not acceptable. The UK cosmetics market, for example, responded to this by banning the advert which it considered a “manipulation advert”. That demonstrated the high level of consumer protection. Using Consistent Product Terminology Product manufacturers are trying to ensure names of products, spare parts and components are used consistently in all territories. Inconsistent product terminology may create problems when supplying the product. Companies that are operating globally must develop databases of technical terms and product, and provide translations of the terms to technical authors, marketing agencies, and local distributors. Terminology management can reduce costly errors and ensure consistency in communication. Meeting Local Cultural Preferences Many companies operating internationally must be informed of local cultural preferences in written and verbal communication. Using certain images or colors in marketing material can be offensive in certain export territories. Communicating Through the Right Channels Besides knowing how best to communicate, exporters need to know where they can reach their customers. In certain territories, the most important means of reaching the market may be taking part in trade fairs. As such, communication programs should incorporate presentation and exhibition material. Countries that have established advertisements, feature articles, business media sector, and news releases may be the most potent form of communication. There are other territories where personal communication via local distributors or agents may be the best form of communication. 5.4. Evaluation of Communication Activities for Lancôme to Building Brand Awareness and Brand Loyalty. Marketing communication involves message and media, used in communicating with the market. It is a marketing mix involving promotion, price, place, and product. It involves the use of strategies by individuals to reach the target market in different communications. There are different communication activities that Lancôme uses in building awareness and brand loyalty. These methods include social media, email, in-product communication, and branding. Email Marketing Lancôme uses email marketing to improve its brand loyalty. The method involves marketing of some commercial message to a particular group of people through email. The emails sent to current or potential customers would be referred to as email marketing. The emails are sent in the form of ads, solicit sales, and business requests that are meant for establishing loyalty, brand awareness, and trust. Email marketing could be performed to the customer databases and sold lists. The term email marketing is used broadly in referring to sending of the email messages with the goal of facilitating the merchant relationship with that of the previous clients. Email marketing is useful as it encourages the loyalty of the customer and repeat business, helping them get new customers and convince the existing clients to purchase the product. The advertisements are an addition to the email messages that are the company sends to the customers. Email marketing is a standardized tool used in digital marketing. The method is, however, overused resulting in low rates of engagement, lower open rates, lower conversation rates, and lower click-through rates. Social Media Lancôme uses social platforms like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and Vimeo to market its products and increase brand loyalty. This method is effective because it targets a larger population of the customers. In-product communication It involves the delivering of the marketing content to users directly using some software application or internet-connected device. The content may be related to email marketing campaigns, but the process of segmentation and message delivery would be more targeted. This channel is a useful supplement to other channels Branding Each opportunity in this marketing channel creates and impression of the organization’s brand on the customer. Examples may include media advertisements, webinars, event sponsorships, and personal selling. The experimental chances that are created by Lancôme to the customers or stakeholders would be a brand touch point. It is extremely vital for the managers of Lancôme to survey the brand touch points of their organization and control the customers and stakeholders experience. The marketing communication, in this case, is a vehicle through which the brand management of the organization deals with the promotion of the organizational product, brand, and services to the stakeholders and protective customers using some touch points. 5. Conclusion This report has identified the impact of marketing communication applications alongside Lancôme cosmetics brand. The applications have distinct approaches that aim at the marketing communications plan through components. The report explains the characteristics of three promotional mix techniques and provides a brief analysis of how they affect digital distributional channels and the eventual impact on culture and consumer responses. In addition to this, there is a theoretical evaluation of promotional methods that build brand awareness and loyalty to analyze organization campaign effectiveness and performance for better understanding of marketing communication concept. Bibliography Read More