Integrated Marketing Communication Plan for EnviroGuard Company - Case Study Example

EnviroGuard Company Integrated Marketing Communication Plan for Recycled Water Usage for Drinking for the Grathwohl City to Combat the Lack of Drinkable Water in the Area as a Result of Long Periods of Drought and Overuse/Abuse of Available Water Resources EXECUTIVE SUMMARY As the Integrated Marketing Communication Director of the advertising firm EnviroGuard Company, I am presenting to the Grathwohl City the IMC Plan which I developed as part of my task. Grathwohl City which is located in the semi-arid part of Texas will be introduced with recycled and clean waste water. A number of communications are designed for the targeted market segments of the city. A lot of people in this town are clamouring for potable water. At the same time, the governments are becoming increasingly conscious of the need for drinkable water sources. In this recycled water usage for drinking, the consumers will be asked to pay minimal fees for high quality and readily available, drinkable water. TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION ………………………………… 1 TARGET AUDIENCE Political Environment ………………………………………………… 2 Geographical Position ………………………………………………… 3 History Surrounding the Area in Which the City ……………………… 4 COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AND CREATIVE STRATEGIES … 4 MEDIA PLAN …………………………………………………………… 6 PROMOTIONS MIX ……………………………………………………… 7 CONCLUSION ………..…………………………………………………… 11 REFERENCES …………………………..…………………………… 12 Integrated Marketing Communication Plan for Recycled Water Usage for Drinking for the Grathwohl City to Combat the Lack of Drinkable Water in the Area as a Result of Long Periods of Drought and Overuse/Abuse of Available Water Resources BACKGROUND/INTRODUCTION Integrated Marketing Communications is a way of planning systematically. This is done in order to determine the most consistent and effective message for appropriate target audiences. As observed by Percy (1997; 2008), systematic way of doing things is barely achieved by companies. There are several segments in developing this promotional campaign. The city or town is situated in the semi-arid part of Texas. This makes it a good spot to offer recycled water usage for drinking. For several years, there is a huge clamour for potable water in this area. According to Schultz et al. (1996), mass marketing no longer works. Nowadays, it is integrated communications programs that can respond to each customer. For this product / service, minimal fees will be charge. This will be very much affordable for all segments of the society. Services and/products are carried out or conducted through the centralized recycled water usage system to be put up at the heart of the Grathwohl City. Currently we get our water from the Palma creek, which passes at Lawton farm outside of the jurisdiction of the Grathwohl City. The farm plus the wild animals render the water not fit for drinking. If we do not want to give up our town, this leaves us with the only option to recycle and clean our own waste water. Currently, we open our tap, get the water we need and let it into the drainage. After a little cleaning, we let it back into Palma creek. We make the almost impossible for the settlements further downstream to use the water. The Government of Grathwohl City had decided to build a sewage plant. We clean our waste water and recycle it back into the town. This will not only give us all more water but might be a change to grow as town. The big advantage in the Grathwohl City is that the scarcity of water was a phase since the beginning of the history of the town which means that all our industries do not consume a lot of water. Aside from the technological aspect, we face the problem that people have to accept to drink recycled water. In the supermarket, we can all buy bottled water. However, not all people have enough income to buy bottled water from the outside. It also is the duty of the town to supply the needed water. To secure the votes of the opposition, they are offered the option to open a water station and sell water she can collect before the mixing of the recycled water. TARGET AUDIENCE Political Environment The target audience are the constituents of the Grathwohl City. The promotional strategy for this should consider the target’s media habits. Another thing to look into is the kinds of messages will be most persuasive for these types of people (Wells et al., 2002). There are strategies that can be used to deliver selling messages. But this time, the target audience is specific. According to Schultz et al. (1993), selling to a mass culture through a single medium are now obsolete. As suggested by the authors, customer-focused marketing is more appropriate in this modern age. The government are becoming increasingly conscious of the need for drinkable water sources and consumers are being asked to pay premiums for such a commodity and the services rendered. Governments and subsequently residents may potentially have some form of social status attached to recycling water that can impact on where they live. The attitudes and beliefs of consumers who contribute to recyclable water is that patronizing the recycled water would be best for the city. Geographical Position Grathwohl City is located in a semi-arid part of Texas. Significant floods from stalled weather fronts and tropical cyclones are occurring across the city throughout history. The health of the humans can be affected by floods. Floods may lead to contact with water respiratory diseases. Contact with polluted water may result to dermatitis, wound infections, conjunctivitis, ENT (ear, nose and throat) infections, possible serious waterborne diseases and gastrointestinal illnesses. The floods can also damage the water supply systems. It can damage the sewerage and sewage disposal systems. There may also be insufficient supply of drinking water. There may also be insufficient supply of water for washing purposes. The disruption of the transport systems may eventually lead to food shortages. During and after the flood8ing, there may be disruption of the underground piping. Storage tanks may be dislodged. The flooding may result to release of chemicals, overflow of toxic waste sites, disruption of petrol storage tanks which possibly lead to fire. The potential acute or chronic effects of chemical pollution are something that the government officials and the concerned people should address. On the other hand, since the climate at Grathwohl City is semi-arid, it is prone to drought. Yearly, the city is receiving between 16 and 32 inches (810 mm) of precipitation. History Surrounding the Area in which the City Resides During the olden times, the city was populated by natives alone. However, through the years, other nationalities have migrated to this area. Destructive hurricanes have impacted the Grathwohl City in the past. As nice as it would be to be a wild west town, the Grathwohl City was founded when the road was built. Shortly after the big depression, no place was a real good place. Therefore, a few of the worker, among them Dude Grathwohl decided to settle down. The river was not polluted in the earlier times. It was half way between the next town's bigger stops. "Dude" became the first sheriff and Mayor. As critical as we see things like that today, during this time it a blessing for the town. Dude had enough foresight not only to rule the day-to-day affairs, but plan for the future. It was him who invited mining companies and prospectors. During this time some minerals were found. Even if the finds were to small to rise as a big mining town, it established the Grathwohl City on the map. His Second big achievement was to enforce a schooling system. His system was, to make the basic education free, meaning two (2) years which is enough to learn to read and write and the basic learning of calculation was free. And the next two (2) years were still subsidies by the government. This allowed a lot of young men to go out into America and make a living and sent money back to support. COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES AND CREATIVE STRATEGIES A number of communications that are targeted at specific market segments for the city and their product/service are designed for the Grathwohl City. This involves identifying new target audiences/markets. The town has a population of 8,765 heads. Each person needs about two (2) litres of water (65 ounces)/day for drinking and as much as available for our daily consumption like bathing, laundry, washing the dishes, rest room. The creative strategies below are related specifically to the communication objectives targeting particular market segments for a particular purpose and requires a specific consumer response (Belch & Belch, 2004; Fill, 2004). Objective 1: To identify new target audiences/markets that would give attention to the product/service 25% Creative 1: I will get people to give attention on my product by utilizing the tri-media Objective 2: To develop brand awareness 20% Creative 2: I will develop consciousness of the buyers for the brand by intensive information dissemination Objective 3: To influence interest or consumer attitudes interest 18% Creative 3: I will affect the consumer by making them realized the right attitude in patronizing the service/product and at the same time helping out in the environmental preservation and protection Objective 4: To promoting product and company knowledge 15% Creative 4: I will disseminate information materials on the good qualities of the product/service and the company Objective 5: To develop the product’s image 12% Creative 5: I will develop the product's image by focusing on its image and ensure consistency Objective 6: To influence the purchase intention 10% Creative 6: I will affect the buyer's purchase intention by informing them on the numerous benefits that the products can bring. MEDIA PLAN Governments and subsequently residents of the Grathwohl City have some form of social status attached to recycling water that can impact on where they live. Hence, the media vehicles that I will use for each creative strategy will be well-thought of and well-implemented. I will get people to give attention on my product by utilizing the print media, television, radio and internet. The consciousness of the buyers for the brand has to be developed through intensive information dissemination via the tri-media. I will affect the consumer by making them realized the right attitude in patronizing the service/product and at the same time helping out in the environmental preservation and protection. This will be both promotions of the product and at the same time advocacy campaign. I will disseminate information materials on the good qualities of the product/service and the company. I will develop the product's image by focusing on its image and ensure consistency. I will affect the buyer's purchase intention by informing them on the numerous benefits that the products can bring. Al these will be done by creating a good logo that speaks of the position statement of the company, the best provider or recycled and clean water. We look at it as two sections. These are the technical side and the person, the individual side. The technical side has been solved, at least for the needs of the Grathwohl City. Now, we need to focus on the marketing acceptance. This is not a commercial adventure and hence we see no problem to focus our attention on the kids and the young adults. They are the future of our town and our future depends on the availability of water. Part of out marketing will connect to the ideas of "Dude" Grathwohl to make the basic education free of charge. We have put aside some of the funds for basic laboratories, personnel and teachers. If the kids know, they will tell their parents. Likewise, if they understand they will support the cause. Our goal is not to live a life like the hornets of the Kalahari who only need two (2) liters of water a week. Rather, our aim is to live a comfortable modern life American style. PROMOTIONS MIX Living fairly remote, internet is just available for about ten per cent (10%) if the households. However, we will still use the internet for promotion. Step one is to open a portal for the town. There will be a live camera where people can see the progress. We will start a campaign dubbed as “The astronauts from the dessert”. These will be the form of advertising to be done for this product/service. Publicity, sales promotions will be mostly via the internet promotion. Internet promotions help reach out to a lot of would-be buyers (Pickton & Broderick, 2004; Clow & Baack, 2005). The advantage of doing marketing and promotional activities via the internet is that it costs much less than the traditional way of promoting and marketing. We will have a weekly discussion in the local TV and radio program. The company that was awarded promised to sponsor a one-time magazine about Grathwohl City, the Zero Water Waste Space Station. All possible promotion tools will be harnessed. The biggest opposition so far stems from the ten (10) motels along the Route. They are afraid that the waterless toilet would give them problems with the guest. Direct and interactive marketing will be done from time to time. This will be specially done during interactions with the residents of the Grathwohl City. During this time personal selling will be done. Public relations will always be part of this project because this type of product/service is for the people of the Grathwohl City. All classes in all schools will start a project “Clean Water from Waste”. The winner will be selected during the opening of the sewage plant. The results and the progress of these classes will be covered by our news media and the internet via the YouTube. We will also encourage the out-of-school youth to use the computer as a laboratory and as a means of communication to find supporters out there in the world. As important as it is to create and channel the enthusiasm of our youth, it is also important to open the mind and attitude of the grown up citizens. Living remote as we do, there is a tendency to be self-centered. This self-centeredness often goes hand in hand with the attitude of “it is as it is”, “we always did it like that” and “Why change as long as it s working?” The latter attitude is where we will start marketing the idea. It is still working. However, from day to day is working less as well. There is a saying that a constant drop will make a hole in a stone. Many of our elders and not so busy citizens play cards. We have designed a set of cards with the theme of change and modern times and water. This set of cards are given away free of charge but it also can be bought in the local store. Hans Grathwohl the owner of the merchandise store and Senior Baliton both agreed not to order new “normal” card desks but sell ours instead. We hope there will be a certain income from sales in eBay or more general in the internet. It is modern to talk about cloud computing and cloud intelligence. It is not only modern, but it enters our daily living more and more. We want to use the intelligence of our city, of our inhabitants who know the way of life, the challenges and who learnt a lot from their forefathers. The card desk will serve as a mind opener. But the creative minds will have a chance to use the laboratories as mentioned before in order to get education as do the kids. Learning has to become fun again! It will make us young again, but it will also show our limits, at least to some of us. This is a community project and we will make sure that even the less fortunate can join us and not need to be afraid of being laughed at. We already contacted the main national News channels in writing about coverage of the planning and implementation phases, as well as the grand opening of the plant. At first the response was meager, to say the least. But when we said that the topic could be Grathwohl City where people drink their urine to survive, we all of a sudden found open doors. Due to the fact that all is covered by tax money, we will only have a small financial incentive. However, we will create a Senior Desertnaut of the month/year for the adults and a Junior Desertnaut. One of the challenges is not to be a single fighter but to have a supporting team. This is one of the logical consequences of the cloud or swarm intelligence mentioned earlier. But it is also one way to broaden the basis for the supporters. As far as we see it, the problem will be less to have it run in the future, but to create the critical mass of supporters to make it a model for the future. America is strong because of the strong entities it is formed of. These are the countries down to the Municipalities and the individual. America faces a difficult time now, but so it did during the great depression in the thirties of the last century. America had risen from that challenge and became the leading nation of the world. We, at the Grathwohl City, face a much smaller challenge. And being a true American, and a true American town, I see no reason why we should not be successful. As you see, we are read. Even America is ready to watch us, so please help us to make Grathwohl City a town which survived and risen to new heights. CONCLUSION Preliminary studies done for this project revealed that recycled water usage for drinking will be appropriate to introduce to the Grathwohl City since my advertising company has been contracted to develop an integrated marketing communication campaign. The integrated marketing communication developed by my company will help combat the lack of drinkable water in their area due to the long periods of drought and overuse / abuse of available water resources. One of the key success factors of this project will be the dedication and enthusiasm of the local city council in moving to recycling water for drinking. Another factor is the readiness of the people and/or buyers for this kind of product/service. For so long, the residents of the Grathwohl City are rearing to have potable water. This is now their chance to avail of good product/service. The integrated marketing that will be used for this project would assist very much in the high patronage of this recycled water usage for drinking. The big challenge is not to recycle the water, but to make the project of the people. This is doing integrated marketing by harnessing stakeholders' relationships (Duncan & Moriarty, 1997). Grathwohl City may well play a leading role in the years to come for similar places in America, but also in the Arabic world and other arid and semiarid areas of out planet. How do we motivate and make each person part of the project? That is the better legacy for our environment. REFERENCE Belch, G. and M. Belch. 2004. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communica-tions Perspective. 6th ed. Singapore: McGraw-Hill. Clow, K. & Baack, D., Integrated Advertising and Promotion and Marketing Communications, 2nd ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Duncan, Tom and Moriarty, Sandra. 1997. Driving Brand Value: Using Integrated Marketing to Drive Stakeholder Relationships. Illinois: McGraw-Hil. Fill, C. 2002. Marketing communications, frameworks, theories and applications, Harlow: Prentice Hall, Percy, Larry. 2008. Strategic Integrated Marketing Communications. Butterworth Heinemann. Percy, Larry. 1997. Strategies for Implementing Integrated Marketing Communications. Illinois: National Textbook Company. Pickton, David and Broderick, Amanda. 2004. Integrated Marketing Communications. 2nd. Ed. Pearson Education. Schultz, Don E., Tannebaum, Stanley I. and Lauterborn, Robert F. 1996. 1st ed. The New Marketing Paradigm: Integrated Marketing Communications. McGraw-Hill. Schultz, Don E., Tannebaum, Stanley I. and Lauterborn, Robert F. 1993. Integrated Marketing Communications: Putting it Together & Making it Work. McGraw-Hill. Wells, William D., Burnett, John and Moriarty, Sandra. 2002. Advertising: Principles and Practice. 6th ed. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Read More