International Marketing Communications Plan: The Body Shop In China - Report Example

INTERNATIONAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLAN: THE BODY SHOP IN CHINA Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Issues Identified in Assignment 1 3 Objectives for Marketing Communications 4 Marketing Communications Strategy 5 Segmentation 5 Targeting 6 Positioning 6 Advertising Message 7 Tactics 7 The Promotional Mix 8 Scheduling and Implementation 11 Evaluation and Control 12 Reference List 13 Bibliography 16 Introduction The process of marketing and communication being used by business firms are now changing from the traditional approaches to the trending online processes (Gabriel, Kottasz and Bennett, 2010). According to Clancy (2008), the online marketing processes have been one of the biggest changes in the history of business development. However, scholars such as Berry and Yadav (2008) and Jaworski and Kohli (2008) still believe that traditional forms of marketing are important for business firms in developing their brand in large and competitive markets. However, this report is not about the comparison between the forms of marketing and communication, rather it focuses on the utilisation of these processes for The Body Shop while functioning in China. It was reflected in the previous segment that The Body Shop uses societal marketing approach for enhancing the value of their brand in the target markets. They try to engage their ethics, core values and mission with the requirements of the customers and also the well being of the society. Considering these evaluations, this report will focus on developing a marketing and communications plan for the selected company in context of their launch in China. Issues Identified in Assignment 1 As observed in the previous task, the marketing process of The Body Shop is focused on societal factors which enable them to communicate with their customers effectively by reflecting their ethical and environment friendly nature of business practices (The Body Shop, 2015). However, despite having a co-operative marketing process, The Body Shop faces some critical challenges in the Chinese market which can be resolved with the help of an appropriate marketing plan. The first challenge is the price range of the products of The Body Shop. The price range of the products are designed with premium pricing so as to reflect the quality and brand value of the company and also cover up the cost of their concentrated production system (Anderson and Narus, 2007). This can intensify the competition faced by The Body Shop in terms of the business development processes. Apart from their pricing strategy, the local market of Chinese cosmetics is famous for their herbal treatments. The number of local retailers present in the market can be a threat for The Body Shop in extending their communication with the Chinese consumers (Beard, 2008). On the other hand, the product range of The Body Shop is based on core cosmetics which may not be sufficient to draw the diversified customer base of China. Finally, the government influence in the corporate operations of China is very high which can hamper the marketing and operational practices of the company (Grayson and Ambler, 2008). The Body Shop needs to develop their marketing and communications plan by understanding these crucial issues and addressing them in an appropriate manner. Objectives for Marketing Communications The objectives for the marketing and communications plan for The Body Shop in context of their launch in the Chinese market will mainly be framed in relation to their existing marketing approach and also consider the issues faced by the company while operating in the concerned market. One of the key factors associated with the Chinese market process is the high level of individualism among the consumers which also promotes the factor of Country of Origin (Kjellberg and Helgesson, 2010). This can be a critical factor in promotional and brand development process of The Body Shop. On the other hand, the high population of the country offers a significant scope for the company to extend their marketing processes and communicate with the consumer base of the country (Boulding et al. 2010). Considering these facts, the following objective for The Body Shop has been designed in alignment with the SMART framework: To design and develop the marketing and communications process with both traditional and online approaches in a manner which will help in connecting with the target customers for brand development in the new market and also to generate 15% revenue contribution from marketing within the first 4 years of launch. The above objective has clearly defined the aim, the measureable aspect, achievable, time frame and relevancy of the contexts with the business of The Body Shop. The marketing objective has reflected that the use of both online and traditional marketing processes for customer communication through which the brand will be developed. In order to measure the efficacy of the marketing process, a target of 15% revenue contribution has been set for the first four years. Marketing Communications Strategy In order to develop the marketing and communications strategy for The Body Shop, it is essential to identify the appropriate customer base and the target markets which can be approached by the company in the Chinese market. For this, the model of Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning will be used. This segment will also reflect on the advertising message through which the positioning of the brand will be processed. Segmentation The segmentation and targeting process for The Body Shop will mainly focus on their product base and the existing strong performers. According to Statista (2013), the cosmetic industry of China has the majority of customers between the age group of 14-60. This creates a huge scope for The Body Shop to cater their products to the large consumer group. On the basis of income group, individuals earning between the ranges of CNY 5000 - 10000 per month are the most frequent users of cosmetic products. However, it must be considered that the Chinese cosmetic products have lower price in comparison to that of the products of The Body Shop. This can also influence the choice and consumption of the customers and hence the target customer group on the basis of income will be set at a higher level of CNY 10000 – 25000 per month. Considering the nature of products of The Body Shop, they have always focused on developing environment friendly product which also aligns with the regulatory policies being implemented in the Chinese market. Targeting In context of the targeting process, CBS News (2012) mentioned that the growth in the Chinese cosmetics sales has increased by a massive 200% equivalent to $54.32 billion since 2006 and is further expected to reach $113.9 billion by the end of 2017. However, majority of these sales has come through online platforms. Statista (2013) also stated that the overall online sales of cosmetics in China were 9 times than that of the online sales of cosmetics in the USA. The online sales value of the cosmetics in China reached $1.35 billion at the beginning of 2014 (Statista, 2013). Thus, the target marketing process of The Body Shop will specifically focus on the online segment rather than targeting individual physical markets. Positioning The positioning process of The Body Shop will focus on promoting their environment friendly concept for building the brand perception of the company. The marketing process will reflect the nature of the products and their benefits for the customers in relation to the herbal product core. As stated above, the cosmetic market of China is largely dependent and attracted towards herbal products which allow the company to position their brand appropriately. Figure 1: Positioning Map for The Body Shop (Source: Statista., 2013) Advertising Message The advertising message for The Body Shop will also be used as a tag line for the Chinese market. The advertising message for The Body Shop will consider the aspect of the brand positioning from the environment friendly point of view. Thus the advertising message and tag line for The Body Shop will be: For You with Care from Nature Tactics The process of brand promotion and the business development for The Body Show will be developed in multiple stages focusing on the objective of the marketing and communication plans developed previously. The promotional strategy for the concerned company will include both offline as well as online strategies in respect to the available sources of media for communication with their target customers. In order to design the tactics for The Body Shop, the promotional mix will be used. The Promotional Mix Figure 2: The Promotional Mix (Source: Mulhern, 2007, p.34) Advertising: The advertising process of The Body Shop will be developed on both online and traditional platforms such as television, leaflets and newspapers. However, the primary focus will be on the online marketing process. The online marketing process provides a direct route for communicating with the customers and is cheaper in comparison to offline means of advertising. Moreover, the increasing use of internet has enabled a larger consumer reach for corporate organisations in context of advertising and promotions. In order to simplify the communication process, the online ads will be designed in Chinese language and will be promoted on various third party sites which are renowned among the target customers such as the E-commerce website Alibaba.com. In order to boost the online promotional activities, The Body Shop will also engage in extensive Search Engine and Social Media Optimisation which will enhance the communications with the customers (Overby, Woodruff and Gardial, 2005). The traditional marketing approaches will be used for initiating the marketing processes so that the company can reach the mass market and develop the market base for their products and services. Personal Selling Process: The personal selling process to be employed by the business process will focus on organising various events at shopping malls and other famous market hubs of the company (Möller and Saren, 2009). One of the most crucial segments of the personal selling process will be to employ local presenters so that they can connect with the customers effectively. However, as observed that the sales of cosmetic products in China are primarily based on the E-Commerce transactions the aspects of personal selling will be aligned with the online selling process of The Body Shop. In order to do so, the company will have to employ local experts on marketing and customer communication so that they can effectively guide the customers in solving their queries about the product and the brand. Moreover, in order to increase transparency in the online transactions, The Body Shop will develop audio and video chat systems in their online portals. Sales Promotion: Considering the high volume of E-commerce usage among the Chinese consumers, the sales promotion process will mainly stick to the online customers. Nevertheless, The Body Shop will also engage in offline sales promotion to build the psychical markets. The sales promotion strategy for The Body Shop will be developed with initial discounting strategies which will help in reducing the price difference with the rival products and also attract the customers for building better brand awareness. The discounting process in the online segment will also feature loyalty points and coupons for gaining customer information via customer registration in the company website (Pieters and Bijmolt, 2008). The sales promotion for The Body Shop will also be performed with extensive advertising via kiosks, banners, newspaper ads, television ads and other traditional means. The selection of traditional means for sales promotion and the discounting activities of the company is mainly based on the reach of the advertising methods. Public Relations: Public relations for The Body Shop will be the most challenging marketing and communications process considering the high level of Government influence on the business activities. The public relations process implemented in the business process will be performed by developing networks among the business and government institutions. The Body Shop can also create relationships with local media houses to promote the core values of the company for brand development and also reflect the advantages of their product base. Furthermore, the concerned organisation can develop business relationship with public bodies associated with health and skin care of the local population. This will increase the direct association of The Body Shop with potential customers and can create a trustworthy relationship between the vendor and the buyers. One of the most important aspects of public relationship is that as the promotional activities are performed by third parties the consumer participation is more in comparison to direct marketing processes. Direct Marketing: The direct marketing aspects have reduced in the contemporary marketing strategies being used by the business houses. However, with the development of social media marketing process, the direct marketing has been converted into virtual direct marketing processes. In online direct marketing process, the customers can communicate with the executives via live chat and video chat facilities where they can understand the product information and also solve their queries (Sanchez-Fernandez and Iniesta-Bonillo, 2007). The direct marketing will be embedded in the social media marketing process of The Body Shop. Apart from this, in-house stores of the company and the third party retailers will be provided with a Body Shop executive to help the customers in gathering information about the products and in the product selection process. Scheduling and Implementation The scheduling process of the marketing and communications plan for The Body Shop will be performed with the help of detailed Gantt chart which will include all the aspects of the marketing and its relevant functions. The scheduling will also reflect the duration of each activity to be performed and their reappearances in the market plan for the 1st year (Tuominen, Rajala and Möller, 2008). The following is the scheduling plan for The Body Shop: Table 1 Gantt chart for Marketing and Communications Plan of The Body Shop Activities Duration 2015-2016   1st Quarter 2nd Quarter 3rd Quarter 4th Quarter   Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Month 5 Month 6 Month 7 Month 8 Month 9 Month 10 Month 11 Month 12 Online Marketing         Website Development                         SEO and SMO                         Pay Per Click                         E-Mail Marketing                         Web Advertisements                         Offline Marketing         Public Relations                         Print Advertising                         Events                         Telemarketing                         Media Strategy         Television Ads                         Radio                         Magazine Ads                         Newspaper Ads                         Evolution and Control                         (Source: Created by Author) The above given Gantt chart reflects the four year plan for The Body Shop marketing and communications plan. It can be seen that all the activities are being performed in a concurrent manner for the first year in order to cater to majority of the target markets and enhance the brand perception of the customers in the favour of the company. The activities included in the Gantt chart has been segmented into three board headings namely, the online, offline and media strategy. The actives included within these headings will be performed in a concurrent manner for reducing the overall time and expenses of the marketing process. Evaluation and Control The evaluation of the marketing and communication plan will be done by comparing the results and the budget of the overall process with the set objectives. Each of the quarter for the total duration will be provided with individual targets which will help The Body Shop in monitoring the progress of the plan in a singular manner and with absolute focus. In order to understand the long-term implications of the plan on the revenue generation, the budgeting segment can be used. The budget focus will also help the company in controlling their marketing activities according to the response gathered from the customers and the performance of the business in the target markets (Blakeman, 2009). Reference List Anderson, J. C. and Narus, J. A., 2007. Business marketing: Understand what customers value. Harvard Business Review, 76(6), pp. 53-62. Beard, F., 2008. Marketing client role ambiguity as a source of dissatisfaction in client-ad agency relationships. Journal of Advertising Research, 36(5), pp. 9-21 Berry, L. L. and Yadav, M. S., 2008. Capture and Communicate Value in the Pricing of Services. Sloan Management Review, 37(4), pp. 41-51. Blakeman, R., 2009. The bare bones introduction to integrated marketing communication. 4th ed. Boston: Unwin-Everyman. Boulding, W., Staelin, R., Ehret, M. and Johnston, W. J., 2010. 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