Advertising Brief of Juniorville Publishers Limited - Case Study Example

JUNIORVILLE PUBLISHERS LIMITED (Advertising Brief) By Name Institution Date CONTENTS Section Page Nos. 1.0 Executive Summary……………………………………………………………………. 3 2.0 Introduction and Background Information 2.1 Introduction……………………………………………………………………….. 3 2.2 Juvenille Publishers Limited……………………………………………………… 3, 4 2.3 Organizational Structure, Ownership, and Expansion……………………….….. 4, 5 Fig 1…………………………………………………………………………….……5 3.0 Main Body 3.1 Product……………………………………………………………………………. 5, 6 3.2 Target Audience Insight…………………………………………………………... 6 3.3 Competition………………………………………………………………………..7 Fig 2……………………………………………………………………………….7 3.4 Communication Challenges…………………………………………………..…..8 3.5 Obstacle……………………………………………………………………………8 3.6 Urgency……………………………………………………………………………8, 9 Fig 3…………………………………………………………………..………….9 3.7 Core preposition and support……………………………………………………..9, 10 3.8 Brand Insights……………………………………………………………………..10 3.9 Brand personality and tone of voice…………………………………………..…10 3.10 Deliverables…………………………………………………………………...…10, 11 3.11 Budget……………………………………………………………………….……11 4.0 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………11 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………….….12 1.0 Executive Summary The paper focuses on the pertinent need for promoting a new product immediately it is to be released onto the target consumers. This is so as to realize adequate market performance. The Juniorville Publishers Limited’s advertising brief first introduces the need for originality, then the company’s background information for a brief history and general look up of it. The main body is characterized with the core areas of product; target audience insight; competition; communication challenges; obstacle; urgency; core preposition and support; brand insights; brand personality and tone of voice; deliverables and the budget. Finally, the conclusion sums up the whole document in a precise format for a more professional outlook. 2.0 Introduction and Background Information 2.1 Introduction Originality is a line of attack that most businesses employ to pick up the pace for their optimum sales performance. The strategy at times calls for acquiring services of an advertising agency to ensure more promotion and subsequently, fortify sales performance in overall. Originality promotes possession among customers and longevity of suppliers. With the realized technological milestones, and tastes for products, a company, including a publishing firm should try hard to stay ahead of its worthy competitors by using advertising, with advertising briefs employed. An advertising brief is a business document binding an advertising agency and client on all aspects of an advertising undertaking. 2.2 Juniorville Publishers Limited Juniorville Publishers Limited owes its origin around four years back, which is 2009 through the individual efforts of its founder and managing director, Mr. K’Otoyo James. He had a vision of setting up a publishing firm after a decade-long working for the Longhorn Publishers Limited as the Chief of Sales and Marketing. Being an insider in the industry, he first set out to conduct a thorough market research concerning the book materials for the very foundation of schooling. (Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. 2004 p.43). He did this by visiting various primary schools in Nairobi City and in the process, was able to deduce much response for his noble ideas. The creditable reaction from his target customers made him to invest in Juniorville Publishing Company Limited. This advertising brief will look at the company’s ownership; expansion and structure as well enhance promotion of the newer book titles for the market and its current performance. The firm relishes in its exceptionality of producing products that consist of acute market segmentation. (Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. 2004 p.67). Such a decision was marked by clear cut focus, with the focal point being on the children story books as the publishing firm’s niche of the market. Moreover, most of the storybook titles are directly aimed at lower and a few at the upper primary school level of the Kenyan education system as prescribed by the Ministry of Education. The products published at present are generally the story books and a few Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) workbooks. The workbooks are authored by experienced teachers who know the right content for the kids of such level of education, whereas the storybooks are written by any person who has interest in the children stories. Furthermore, all the titles are subjected to appraisal and more scrutiny by the teachers before their final publication for market. 2.3 Organizational Structure, Ownership, and Expansion The organizational structure at Juniorville Publishers Limited comprises of four key departments. Every one of the department has its own mode of organization. The first main team is the management department. This department comprises of the managing director, who is the founder and the general manager. The second main department is the Editorial team. Under this, there are the editorial operations involving manuscript acquisition, copyediting, designing, illustrating, proofreading and subsequent printing of the books. The third department is the administrative; this can also be seen as the operations office due to its more coordinative roles connecting almost all the other department. Finally, there is the Sales and Marketing team; this is rather more widespread since some of the staff members are not based at the head office in Nairobi. (Baines et al 2012, p.100). Fig 1.0: Diagram showing the organizational structure 3.0 Main Content 3.1 Product Since early 2013, when the publishing firm made some major changes in its strategies in line with the Kenyan Book Market needs, it did identify another niche within the Kenyan Book Market that it seeks to exploit in full. That is the publishing of the Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) books with the brand name, “beginner series”. This is a new product with basis on an effective market research and consequent market analysis the firm partook in the year 2012. Owing to this, the publishing firm seeks to enhance ample marketing and promotional (advertising) strategies that are in line with its objectives in order to reap benefits from this new product in the market. The “beginner series” consists of six workbook titles for the ECDE level of education. 3.2 Target audience insight As has been highlighted above, the target audience for the product, “beginner series” is mainly the pre-school going children. (Shaw 2009, p.145). The need for diversity in learning materials grows hence production of more information materials to meet this need. Additionally, there is more call for need to start equipping them with some basic skills to equip them more for the lower primary level of schooling thus multiplicity in the book contents with the sole aim of their wholesome preparation. In view of the above, the publishing firm devised a teacher-based approach to this matter. The concept is premised on the core concept of market-led approach. This entails contacting and consulting the teachers of the ECDE on the contents of the workbooks since they are more resourceful on the area. This is accompanied by precise incorporation of their recommendations of the contents of any particular book as they know the information needs of the children in that level of education. Also to note, the ECDE teachers prop up recognition and consequent recommendation of the workbook titles to their school administrative staff and the parents. This ensures listing of the book materials in the titles to be considered for acquisition by the schools and parents. Wholly, this is a promotion on its own thereby allows for swift moving of the titles published by Juniorville in the market. 3.3 Competition With the liberalization of the Kenyan Book Market segment of the economy, an opportunity arose to set up many publishing firms to satisfy the ever growing thirst of the Kenyan population to learn and Juniorville Publishers Limited was brought up based on this premise. The core competitors of the firm are other publishing firms in the Kenyan Book Market. Some of them are; Longhorn Publishers, Moran Publishers, Mountain Top Publishers, Oxford University Press, Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, among others. These firms publish storybooks other than other genres of books, hence are broad based and have been in the book market for quite a longer span as compared to the Juniorville Publishers Limited. However, that is the least of worries for the firm according to its founder and managing director, Mr. K’Otoyo James in his latest interview documented in the Kenya Publishers Association Journal, 2014. He says the market is big and everyone has to play his part effectively, and that is what Juniorville does. Fig 2: diagram showing the company’s main competitors for the new product 3.4 Communication challenges These are common to both new and established ventures. Juniorville Publishers Limited faces a few challenges in communication that are also accompanied with varied effects. Some of them include: The Sales and Marketing staff are few in number. Likewise, they are not able to cover many areas as may be expected of them. This is taking into account that the company’s strategies of meeting some of the objectives are mostly short term. This is further explained by the need to actualize the objectives in a rather progressive manner hence some areas in the republic may get to know about the book titles earlier than others. Secondly, the cost of acquiring the services of the mass media as a channel of creating awareness to the general public concerning the titles that the publishing firm has produced is rather expensive for the firm to invest in, hence uneconomical. This has made the firm to resort to other techniques of promoting their book titles. 3.5 Obstacle The greatest obstacle predicted to positive performance of the “beginner series” is roadblock imposed by the Orange Book that has a record of all books recommended by the Ministry of Education in fulfilling syllabus for the Kenyan Schools. This is coupled by the fact that most public schools follow the book strictly. This has pushed the firm to incline a greater percentage of its promotional focus on the privately owned ECDE centres and schools. 3.6 Urgency Juniorville Publishers considers promotion of the new title series as urgent, and as a result; its resolution to outsource services of the advertising agency. This is considering the fact that the date to commence promotion of the product as per the firm’s timetable is already due by three months. The advertising agency should now engage in fast pace to try unwinding back the wheels of time and achieve the required percentage of market awareness by some agreed time. Fig 3: Diagram showing modes the company would love to be used in advertising 3.7 Core preposition and support The underlying facts coupled with relevant experiences that will adequately prop good marketing of the book titles is premised on the following: Background/reference of the firm in its mandate to produce book materials that cater for the needs of the market as had been realized through the storybooks in the market thus, a self made reputation in the book market. Some editorial and articles that had been beforehand written concerning the book materials published by the publishing firm were often very positive, thereby boosting the company’s stature. Some competitor materials citing the publishing firm as a force to reckon with in terms of worthy competition within the book market also puts it in an amiable position to sell the newer titles. There are some client references and testimonials based on the customer feedback within the firm’s registry and records office bear much validity on the reputation of the firm’s general acceptance. Finally, the firm’s website, www.juniorvillepublishers.co.ke is a plus for further references and subsequent enquiries, with more online purchases based on a client’s preference. 3.8 Brand Insights The “beginner series” is a brand that was carefully selected by the publishing firm’s editor based on the options that were presented by the ECDE teachers. Most of them felt the brand name was suitable for the series since it was considered to be more of introduction to schooling for the children in that age bracket. 3.9 Brand personality and tone of voice Over the duration that the company has been in the market since its inception to date, Juniorville Publishers Company has been in leaps and bounds in order to get where it is and this is greatly attributed to its hardworking, motivated staff. Besides that, the strategies it has always employed in gaining this market standing have more often than not been working in its favour. With these in mind, the company is certain the “beginner series” will be a reflection of the previous storybooks’ sales performance in the market. This will not only advance the publishing firm’s overall market repute, but also push it further to engage the market and enhance publishing of more book titles. This will convey to the market that the company is actively involved in meeting their thirst for knowledge for the minors. 3.10 Deliverables The publishing firm will supply its books to the bookshops that have been selling their storybook titles. The bookshops are well spread in the republic, and this will enable access to the workbook materials for ECDE learning. Also, interested bookshops are free to acquire the firm’s titles including the older ones at agreed terms of trade after their expression of interest has been approved. Other than that, the Sales and Marketing staff will be conducting book displays in various schools for marketing purposes and more promotion. 3.11 Budget Owing to the above major operation to be undertaken on behalf of Juniorville Publishers Limited, the company has set aside a total amount of six hundred thousand Kenya shillings for the exercise. 4.0 Conclusion Sufficiently marking out its niche in the book market, which is focusing on the storybooks for the primary-school going children has been a strategy that has enabled Juniorville Publishers Limited make a mark. Bearing this in mind, its expansion by incorporating a newer niche being carved out of the book market segment- the Early Childhood Development Education workbook titles it is expected that the fortunes of the fast growing publishing firm will be spurned to a whole new level. But this cannot be assumed to be involuntary thus; the firm has to outsource services of an advertising agency to ensure more sound promotion of their new product, “beginner series”. This is a presumed high quality product of the publishing firm targeting the pre-primary school going children and well designed as per the recommendations of experienced ECDE teachers who know their information needs. All in all, the publishing firm expects to receive an amiable reception of this product and in turn reap some good revenue for it. Bibliography Baines, P., Fill, C., & Page, K., (2012), Essentials of Marketing, Oxford University Press: UK. Kotler, P. & Armstrong, G. (2004). Principles of Marketing. New Delhi: Prentice-Hall Inc. Shaw, M., (2009), Copywriting: Successful Writing for Design, Advertising and Marketing, Laurence King: London. Read More