Refresh Organic Fruit Juice by Glimmers Limited - Marketing Communication Plan - Case Study Example

Integrated Marketing Communication Plan Assignment 2 Name: Course: Date of Submission: Word Count: 1.0 Executive Summary Refresh Organic Fruit Juice is a new product to be launched by the soft drink company, Glimmers Limited. The following integrated marketing communication plan (IMCP) is designed in anticipation of the new product launching successfully and maintaining sustainability within the organic fruit juice industry. This IMCP encompasses the use of mass media vehicle such as print, television, Internet and mobile marketing as the main tool for marketing. Promotional events are also expected to be carried out by the company where the company will sponsor seminars and other health events as part of it corporate responsibility. This IMCP outlines the background of the product and the growth of the market for fresh organic fruit juice in Sydney Australia. The target market for this product are health conscious Australians between the ages of 17-35 (Gen Y). This market has grown and the demand for organic fruits has also grown. The market has grown because of the increased lifestyle change as many individuals are practicing healthy living. This has increased the demand for this healthy drink and thus enlarged the market (Lyons, Lockie & Lawrence, 2000). The strategy to introduce Organic Fruit Juice has incorporated the new trends in technology. As there is a developing trend for the increased usage of mobile phones and the Internet, the strategy has focused on these two mediums as the main tools for the campaign. Print media and Television have already been established as the best tools to use to educate the public about the need for Fresh Organic Juice as well as showcasing the products commitment to health for the consumers. The promotional events and sponsorship programs will also be used to consolidate the consumers trust in the product. Fliers and brochures as well as coffee cup advertising will also be considered as supplementary modes that will help to keep the product awareness at a satisfactory level. The paper recommends the use of Internet and the mobile marketing as the main marketing tools and the Television and Print Media as the information outlet where information will first be transmitted through these tools. Television and Print will also be used to educate the public about the product. 2.0 Introduction This is an integrated marketing communication plan for marketing a new product from Glimmers Limited. The new Refresh Organic Fruit Juice is an organic juice that is expected to cater for the new trend that is emerging. Due to the increased demand for organic produce, Glimmers Limited have decided to introduce a product that will resonate with this new organic trend and become the market leader in the untapped sector of ‘Organic Fruit Juice’ (Chang, Griffith & Zepeda, 2004). The product is made from freshly crushed organic fruits with no preservatives or additives. With the current consumer trends indicating the shift to organic fresh fruit according to Chang, Griffith & Zepeda (2004), Glimmers Limited will use this integrated marketing strategy to market Refresh Organic Fruit Juice to the health conscious consumers demand for fresh healthy juices. To effectively market the new product around the country, the company will embark on a marketing strategy involving the internet, the mobile, the print and the television marketing media. These marketing tools will be able to reach the specified target market more easily and efficiently. It is expected that in the first twelve months from its launch, the product will have established itself in the market, becoming the leading organic fruit juices in the country. Since Glimmers have been in the soft drink business for eleven years, it will use some of the advertising media that it uses for the other products. The introduction and the maintenance of the momentum of advertising and product awareness will be done through both online and offline marketing. Some of the offline marketing strategies that will be used include the use of promotional events and sponsoring health seminars where the benefits to drinking Organic Juice compared to Non-Organic Juice will be outlined and promoted. The IMCP will be a 12-month plan and is expected to become the platform into introducing the product to other parts of the country. 3.0 Timeline of Events Month 1: Giving out the juice as a special offer to customers who purchase the soft drinks from the company to create awareness. However, the company will incur the costs but it will be able to promote the new juice image in the market. Month 2: Glimmers should seek for sale licenses from the legal bodies to avoid conflicts with the law which might alter the production plans. Month 3-5: Glimmers should engage in market research and collecting feedback from those it issued the samples in order to start the actual advertisement knowing what the customer feel about their refresh. Month 12- 1year: The Company should start advertising the juice in all possible advert methods, the reason for this late advertisement is because by this time the product is readily available in the markets. Within this period the company can start selling the product at the normal market price as the consumer market is aware of the juice and they will just go for it since it will be satisfying their needs. At this duration the Glimmers’ management should meet regularly to ensure the policies they have set for the product are successful and can change the ones that seem not to work well in satisfying the consumers needs in accordance to the company’s mission “to serve the customer with highly nutritious and deliciously healthy drinks”(Botha, 2005). 4.0 Target Market The marketing strategy is targeting the health conscious Gen Y on healthy living. This market segment has a great propensity to buy products that are natural and healthy. The youths who are conscious about their health are also willing to purchase fresh juices which are in compliance with their healthy living. Furthermore, the current issues in obesity are forcing the youths to search for healthier diets which include drinking natural and organic juices like refresh. According to a research by Lyons, Lockie & Lawrence (2000), organic foods are seen as safe as well as socially responsible. Hence launching a marketing campaign for organic fruit juice is bound to be successful for this demographic. Australians aged between 17 and 35 are increasing their usage of the Internet and Mobile Phones (Baker, 2010). A high percentage of this demographic are using their computers when they are in the office or at home. Digital advertising will be the major vehicle for Glimmers to increase the ‘Refresh’ product awareness among the target market. The usage of the Internet on mobile phones is becoming a popular trend among the Gen Y generation (Baker, 2010). Google and Facebook are now the Internet’s biggest players in the search engine and social media categories (Baker, 2010). It is therefore important that Glimmers implements a special digital advertising team to target consumers through search engine optimization techniques as well as social media advertising techniques that will increase the probability of the product being mentioned or viewed when a consumer’s online profile is recognized as a health conscious consumer. Specialised media firms are now able to assist Glimmers in accessing advertising software that will specifically target people with online profiles consisting of organic or health browsing interests. The target market is also using 3G mobile phones. This gives the opportunity for mobile marketing of the new product (Mobi thinking, 2011). Australia have achieved a 110% mobile penetration and the 3G coverage is above average, this makes mobile banking one of the best ways to reach to the target market as the young professionals and the students make up the biggest part of the mobile users (Mobi thinking, 2011). The development in the mobile industry is supported by good infrastructure that will ensure continued use for the time this promotion will run. To advertise through mobile phones the company will seek the services of mobile specialists TigerSpike that is an Australia company that develops mobile websites for companies and also utilizes text messaging advertising services (Mobi thinking, 2011). This will allow the company to reach the target market on a more intimate and specific level. 5.0 SWOT Analysis The company has a well experienced and supportive management team that will help in the changes needed to effectively introduce this product in the market. Caution will however be taken to ensure that the experience of the management is adequately used where it is applicable. The introduction of the product in the market will be made through the company’s regular channels of distributions. The 500,000-customer base the company enjoys for now will play a big role in ensuring the product’s success. The company will however trend cautiously in the introduction of the product by conducting proper market research and examining the strategies being used by its competitors. This will help the company to prepare for any eventualities that may not have been considered. Through the new marketing strategies and the large network of vendors the company has currently, it will be able to produce and distribute the fruit juice within 24 hours. The network of vendors will ensure that the product reaches the consumer in the right time hence securing the company’s image. The company has introduced new marketing media (internet and mobile market) in order to cater for the specific market targeted by this product. The company cannot rely on the current production channels since the product is required to be fresh in the market, as it will not contain any additives or preservatives. New pressurizing technology that allows the organic fruit to be crushed a pressure-packaged will allow the product to remain fresh while be distributed through the current Glimmers’ soft drink channel. The enthusiastic personnel available at Glimmers will work together to ensure that the promotion activities established in this model are well executed to position the product as a market leader. This will be done through continued marketing and promotion of the product. However, caution will be taken to ensure that the personnel as well as the marketing and promotion activities carried out by the company remain relevant to the target market. This will effectively secure the product as the consumers’ juice of choice. Glimmers will have the opportunity to increase people’s knowledge of the new fresh juice, its price and where it can be obtained. Glimmers will also have the opportunity of liability insurance because it increases the consumers’ confidence on the juice as they are sure the product is high quality and they are covered by the insurance. The major threat is competitions with similar product and the cost they have to incur during advertisement and paying for liability insurance. The major weakness is that distributors will act like middlemen between Glimmers limited and the consumers thus the products prices will have to rise to accommodate distribution costs. 6.0 Communication Objective The first objective of this campaign is to introduce the consumers to the new product. This will be done through promotional materials like brochures, leaflets and the coffee cup campaign. The coffee cup campaign will include the distribution of coffee cups into all CBD cafes. Café’s spend up to $40,000 per year on coffee cups and so Glimmers will provide these cafes with free cups for whole 12-months of the marketing campaign. Takeaway coffee cups act as a 35-minute billboard (Eat Media, 2011) when sitting on someone’s desk at work. This is a massive marketing opportunity to stimulate some conversation about the new ‘Refresh’ product. Written on the cups will be “THIS IS NOT COFFEE” and then the promotional message (Krishna, 2005). This will be the initial campaign that will ensure face-to-face communication between customer and the company’s staff. The initial campaign will also involve Television where “health tips” during ad breaks will be given sponsored by the Refresh Organic Fruit Juice; this will ensure that the product is first positioned as an organic juice with health benefits. After introducing the product as an organic and healthy fruit juice, the other objective of communication will be to encourage the consumers to buy the product. This will be done by attributing healthy living with the Refresh Organic Fruit Juice. The attribution will be achieved through educating the consumers on the components of the refresh which are fresh and thus healthy. Similarly, they could also assure the consumers that their juice is free of preservatives and thus healthy. The third objective will be to set Refresh Organic Fruit Juice apart from other products in the market. To achieve this, the campaign will emphasize the freshness of the product; this will maintain the brand’s status as the only “pressure-packaged” fresh organic fruit juice in the market. The second phase of this marketing strategy will be to consolidate the product as the product of choice for people wishing to live a healthy life. This will be done through sponsorship of health seminars, endorsement by health practitioners and professional athletes, and other relevant people in the health products industry (Clow, Kenneth, Baack, & Donald, 2007). The aim is to position Refresh Organic Fruit Juice as a beneficial and imperative product to all of the target market. 7.0 Marketing and promotional tools The marketing and promotional tool will be divided into two categories –offline and online communication tools. Online communication tools include the internet, and mobile marketing. The offline communication will include the television and the print media. The integrated marketing plan will ensure that all these platforms for advertising carry the same message. This will be done through a coordinated approach to all messages in these platforms (Philip & Armstrong, 2001). The messages will focus on the natural health benefits of the product and the freshness of the product. The campaign will run simultaneously in all the media platforms allowing a great impact on the consumers. The product will be launched in a manner that will ensure that the product will be ready for consumers at all outlets across Australian major cities. The marketing and promotional tools will be chosen in such a way that they will be available for over six months of the first phase of marketing this product. Different advertisement will be used in a span of three months in order to evaluate the results of the marketing strategy. After the first three months the product awareness campaign will be evaluated using product awareness survey to determine the level of awareness among the target market. The information from this survey will guide the campaign for the next three months remaining of the first phase. All the information collected in the first phase will be used to build a strategy for product consolidation. This will be done through the internet, mobile and the print as well as the television. To position the product as the organic fruit juice of choice, the campaign will embark on a strategic campaign through sponsorship and dissemination of health tips both in television and through the mobile phones. This will ensure that the brand is recognized as a leading health organic fruit juice in Australia. 7.1 Mobile Marketing The mobile industry in Australia is growing at an alarming rate (Charlesworth, 2009). The target market for this product is mostly using a mobile phone most of the time, either in making calls, texting, or checking mails and browsing (Mobi thinking, 2011). It is therefore important to use this tool to market Refresh Organic Fruit Juice. The mobile network has grown and the Australia people are willing to adopt the new technology and use it to their advantage. The flexibility of the mobile marketing tool makes it easy for Glimmers Limited to utilize. In its initial stage, the marketing campaign of Refresh Organic Fruit Juice will utilize mobile marketing to alert people of the new product in the market. This could be achieved by obtaining prospective client’s numbers or taking random mobile numbers and then writing free texts with refresh adverts. The other way would be to attach the refresh message as an ad to the top up messages so that when a person recharge their airtime, the response they get for a successful recharge come with an attached advert. This service will also be used to communicate any promotional events occurring within that consumer’s city. The convenience of this method will be relied on to give accurate information on those events. Text messages will be sent to subscribers during lunch hours, giving them the nearest location where they can get the fruit juice and the daily promotion. The links to the mobile website of Glimmers will also be included on the text for the customers to visit when they have free time. Another appropriate time for sending these text messages is in the morning. This helps the potential customer to plan for any event that may be coming up near him/her. This method will be widely used during the whole of this campaign. 7.2 Print Media Marketing Before the launch of the product the print media will be utilized to publish the research done on the health benefits of fresh organic fruit juices. These articles will also shed light on the launch of the product. This way the consumers will be made aware of the benefits of the new product. There will also be consequent publications on the new product and adverts will be posted in news papers and leading magazines. Newspaper/Magazine promotional pull-outs will be used for certain Print Media vehicles that display a high exposure to GEN Y readers. In these pull-outs the necessary information about the products health benefits and the places where it can be found will be given. Introductory free juices will be offered to generate the initial awareness of the product. These pull-outs will appear once a week and they will contain information on health and the importance of organic fruit juice to people’s health. Aggressive print media advertising will continue for three months where it will then be evaluated and a decision made on whether to continue with it or not. This campaign depends on how many promotional coupons are being used to obtain free ‘Refresh’ products as well as relevant customer surveys asking how consumers got the information about the product and the information received will help to determine which platform will be good for further product advertisement. The use of the print media will mostly concentrate on the educational part of the campaign. This is important as the people will be willing to know what sets Refresh Organic Fruit Juice apart and what benefits it has over other competing products. In those articles endorsements by medical practitioners and professional athletes will be displayed. Endorsements will ensure credibility of the product and many customers will be willing to buy it (Pardalos, 2004). 7.3 Television Advertising Television is a useful tool in advertising that is able to penetrate the target market. This tool will be used at the initial stage to communicate the launch of the product (Matthew, 2005). After, advertisements will be run promoting the product as a health organic fruit juice. The television will also be used to air healthy tips sponsored by the brand. This will help to make the product recognizable as a healthy fruit juice from Glimmers. The television will also be used to inform potential consumers of any promotional event or seminar sponsored by the brand. The customers will be encouraged to buy the product and any endorsement made by medical practitioners will be televised mostly for the GEN Y audience. Television will be used for the whole 12-month campaign and will be reviewed for evaluation of its impact upon the 12-month completion (Baourakis, 2004). 7.4 E-Marketing E-marketing will be launched on the company’s website and all other major websites like google, yahoo, and ninemsn (Charlesworth, 2009). Some of the marketing budget will be allocated to pay Google for search engine optimization whch will enable Glimmers Refresh Organic Fruit Juice the first when consumer search for key words like “health, organic, fruit juice”. Group Discount websites will be approached for the first 6 months of the campaign in order to access some relatively cheap yet effective product promotion (Ashurst, 1994).. The Refresh website will also have a version for mobile users where it can be accessed using the mobile phones. Internet marketing will also involve taking orders especially from vendors and also making payments online. This will ensure the convenience of buying the product and will save the company in having to invest in a large sales team (Ecommerce-Digest, 2010). 8.0 Product Guarantee Glimmers Limited should make sure the product is fully certified by the bureau of standards. This will create confidence in the consumers that the new juice is healthy, fresh and does not have any harmful side effects after consumption. For instance, the production of Organic Juice with Pulp in America was halted because the weather conditions did not favor the growth of high quality oranges that were needed to produce the juice (University, 2007). This was done to ensure the quality of the orange juice is maintained and consumers are given the best thus the consumers are guaranteed the juice is of high quality (Wright, 2007). 9.0 Liability Insurance To acquire more confidence and trust from the consumers, Glimmers can pay for the product liability insurance which guarantees the consumer safety because the company will be liable for any health complications that might be caused by the juice on the consumer. However, this will bring additional insurance costs to the company (Ashurst, 2004). Insurers have duties in defending the insurer when there are challenges, indemnifying whether the Glimmers insurance will pay the amount they are liable to the consumer for the damages caused by the company’s organic juice. There is also settlement of claims which are reasonable (Botha, 2005). Glimmers Limited ought to adopt Product Liability insurance to protect their customers as required by the law (Botha, 2005). 10.0 Conclusion Glimmers have been around for eleven years hence it is a well known company in the soft drink industry. Therefore the introduction of this product will be an advancement of the company’s mission to provide customers with nutritious products that are good for their health. This marketing plan will be used for the first twelve months where it will then be reviewed to evaluate its effectiveness. However, specific aspects of the campaign will be evaluated for their impact to make sure that the campaign is on the right track. The Internet marketing tool will also introduce business-to–business interaction between Glimmers and vendors where purchases will be allowed online. This will allow faster distribution of the product hence maintaining the companies high quality of delivering Fresh Organic Fruit Juice on time. The print and television marketing will act as information outlets to customers where educational materials will occasionally be given, advising the public on health and the need for organic fruit juices. This will run for twelve months and an evaluation will be done after six months. 11.0 Recommendation This report recommends that the company utilises the discussed media vehicles to market its products. The mobile marketing will be useful to sell to the niche market that the IMCP targets. The Internet marketing as well as the ability to buy and access discounts online will attract many vendors and also allow the quality of the product to be maintained. The key message through the Television and Print media vehicles will be raising awareness to consumers of how important and beneficial organic produce is for one’s health. After 12-months, the campaign will be evaluated and measured against the performance indicators set by management prior to implement the IMCP. The twelve-month plan, if adopted will ensure that the product is well introduced into the market and will also outline the key performance indicators found from the media vehicle strategy and what will enable ‘Refresh’s’ sustainability in future years. References Ashurst, P. R. (1994). Production and Packaging of Non-Carbonated Fruit Juices and Fruit Beverages. New York: Springer. Ashurst, P. R. (2004). Production and Packaging of Non-Carbonated Fruit Juices and Fruit Beverages. Paris: Springer. Baker, F. (2010). Maedia use statistics. Retrieved from http://www.frankwbaker.com/mediause.htm Baourakis, G. (2004). Marketing trends for organic food in the 21st century, Volume 3. Newyork: World Scientific. Botha, J. S. (2005). Introduction to Marketing. Portland: Juta and Company Ltd Chang, H., Griffith, G., & Zepeda, L. (2004). Issues and research needs of the Australian Organic Food Products Market. 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