The Feel Good Company's Marketing Communications - Essay Example

Introduction The Feel Good Company is a relatively new company in the soft drinks and juice market. This is due to the fact that the company was started six years ago in the year 2001. This was through some executives from the well known Coca Cola Company. The company has witnessed a rapid growth in sales and has established itself relatively well in the market. Problem definition Feel Good position in their market Because Feel Good is a relatively new player in the market, it is still establishing a name for itself in the market. Its products have brought something new in the market because Feel Good is the only soft drink company that offers a blend of flavours. Most other companies that have been in the market for long have been offering only single flavoured drinks. Feel Good addresses the need for variety and flexibility. The Company has been performing well because it has sold a million bottles of its products every month in the year 2007. This kind of performance is relatively good indicating that the company's market share is on a steady rise. The market for soft drinks is cross generational and surpasses most age groups. However more emphasis is placed on the younger generation because they are the ones who are keen on new products and easily embrace emerging trends. (Jefkins, 1994) The company offers a range of chilled juices and fizzled drinks. The market is segmented into groups of people who take their meals at different times of the day. There are the lunchbox and breakfast markets. Competitors The Company's main competitors are the well established names in the fizzled drinks sector. These are companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi. This means that the company has to compete against the strong brand image that Coca Cola has established. This company is also characterised by strong captivating advertisements and promotions. Pepsi is also acclaimed for its reputable brand image. Feel Good Drinks also has to compete against other companies that produce chilled juices. These include Tropicana and Minute companies. Some of the brands which Feel Good has introduced that compete against the latter mentioned companies include Tangerine, Mandarin and Apple; Golden Kiwi and Lime. Key marketing objectives that need to be addressed Establishing a strong brand image for Feel Good Company-the Company is competing against a number of well established companies and needs to impact consumers with a captivating image. (Assmus and Farley, 1984) Making the products offered stand out- Customers need to be able to identify the company with something unique. There are a number of drinks in the market and Feel Good needs to inform customers that it is the best choice using its marketing tools. Ensure that the products offered by the company make the customers feel good after purchasing the item-this is the main reason that will maintain a steady flow o customers because they will not regret the choice they have made to purchase the item. Marketing communications strategy Evaluation of marketing communication tools The first alternative that Feel good can use is the internet. The internet allows the company to have a geographically wider market thus enabling the products to reach a wider audience. This communications tool has a low cost set up due to its low barrier in the entry to the products market. (Masaki and Helsen, 2004) Another element is personal selling; this marketing communication tool could be used by the company to get its products in the market, pushing the consumers to the point of purchasing the products. Personal selling is a way of maintaining personal customer relations in which the sales person will be acting on behalf of the company, these person should be trained and should be having the personal selling techniques, though hiring them is expensive the company could use them because there is a genuine return on investments. Feel Good can also use exhibitions to make new contacts and renewing old contacts. This will be used to increase the awareness of products to the consumers thus giving the company an opportunity to meet both the trade and consumers. Advertising may also be used in creating awareness of products to the consumers so that one may gain responses from target markets, under this there many advertising mediums including, print (newspapers, journals and posters) and electronic(television and radio) mediums of communication which we may choose to create awareness of products to consumers. (Jefkins, 1994) Proposed communication mix and media plan The communications mix that will be adopted will be advertisements coupled with research before and after the advertisements to establish feedback on the system. This will be the actions that will be done in the communication strategy. Creating a theme Defining company platform Testing the advert Determining the effects of the advert on the target audience The communications media of choice are television sets, radios and posters. Today many families have television sets and radios in their home and it's therefore a good media for any advertisement. TV is ideal because it takes the advert directly to house where it can be viewed. The beauty of advertising through the television is that, it offers realism, since it has sound, colour, and action, television offers benefits no other media can be able to offer (except the cinema which no longer have a lot of audience). With these benefits the company will be able to show the intended effect of the advert and give it ingenious computer effects that are attractive to the audience. The other benefit of the television and radio is that they offer repetition and the commercial can be viewed at the time when the size of audience has increased. The repetition also stresses the commercial and keeps reminding the audience about Feel Good products. The commercial will also be made so well that it will not be boring to viewers. Posters are important in the communication strategy because consumers can be able to view the at all times. If the posters are placed at strategic points, then many people will be reminded of Feel Good every time they pass by that strategic point. (Belk and Pollay, 1985) Proposed creative solution with mock up material Research before launching the adverts Advertisement research is not meant to give facts on the ground but, rather it is supposed to reflect on the expected tendencies and also indications of the market response. The results can be debated on. It is also important to have a large database for the company to get more accurate data. Thus, before the company comes up with the commercial it must have some expectations from the data collected. If the company plans a comprehensive research, the actual results from the ground will not be far from the research findings. (Assmus and Farley, 1984) Creating the concept Today many people want to be associated with positive things, and this commercial capitalizes on that. As Dave Wallwork, a managing director of the company says Feel Good encourages the public to positively make their choices. The commercial will challenge the public to come up with their real issues that are positive, be spontaneous and be able to hear their soda hearts while living their lives in complete colour. The concept of the advert is that Feel Good is at its best when it shows simple and optimistic times in life. Thus the company that will be used is 'Feel good; brings out the sunshine in you!' identifies universal experiences as those where the drinks is providing refreshments and is uplifting. (Belk and Pollay, 1985) Research to define the copy platform The company has to undertake research on how to define the copy platform. The purpose of the research will seek to define the most efficient appeal in terms of cost, quality, and uniqueness offered. Whether the advertisement has to be serious one or humorous one, the company will choose humour. This research also determines if the advert had to have a lot of pictures or not. To make a conclusion on motivation i.e. what are the hidden reasons for buying Feel Good drinks. This kind of research utilizes clinical tests, and depends on a small model of people. In a discussion group, the best way is to organise the discussion group under a chairperson, this is the same person who asks questions, and listens during the discussion which ignites off impulsive ideas and also comments, and the chairperson can then summarize the answers and use them to come up with the theme of advertisement. Probably this how the company will come up with the theme 'Feel good; brings out the sunshine in you!' (Margolin, 1979) Research done during the campaign time As the advertisement runs it is important for the company to do research to determine the public response. The best way of doing this is to question a sample of audience or readers about what they specifically recall about the advert either on the television or on posters. The company sales and also number of orders received can act as an indicator of success of the advert. To test the final response of the advert, can be determined by using the above earlier discussed methods. A continuous assessment of the advertisement can continue to be taken to give a graphical image of the advert over a period. The Feel Good Company may be satisfied with the results if the company sales continue to increase; this is a true indicator that the commercial is effective and need to continue running. The objective of the advert The main objective of the Feel Good Company to carry out this advertisement is to create new markets and retain its market share. Today marketing has become more than merely distributing products to the end consumer. It has many stages and one important stage is advertisement. For the company to keep up with competition and consumer demands, it has to continuously come up with new themes of its product, which keeps the consumer aware of the product. In summary the objective of the advert is, increasing sales, keeping the consumer informed and improving the company distribution network, because it has been noted advertisement is the lifeblood of a company. (Margolin, 1979) The target group of the advert Since Feel Good is a soft drink that is enjoyed by all age groups people, the advert will be intended for all the people around the world. The advert is meant to persuade people in the whole world to see the brighter side of their lives and Feel Good. As the drinks are seen as inspiring, thus bringing out sunshine means having a positive attitude and thoughts. The theme is supposed to inspire or motivate people to take a positive look of their lives. It is important to note that the advert should be translated into many languages so that it can reach a wide audience. Though, the main target group is any person, the adverts target adults mostly as they are the one who spend a lot than children. In countries found in third world, adults are the one who control buying habits of children. Media research on the advert After the company has the theme and created the advert, it has to seek independent views from bodies before running the advert. Various companies which provide these services were used. This can be research organizations or media houses. Various methods are used which include readership, readership surveys, audit bureau and many others. For the company to gauge how well the advert is doing in magazines it has to use readership. In readership an estimate people reading magazines is made, from a sample of reading people and the results compared. To measure the performance of the advert on the radio, the company used radio research, for example it might have used BBC, and here there is an all-inclusive research on radio advertising. Research methodology For the Feel Good Company to know how effective the advert is, it had to use a research method called ad tracking. This method of advertising method will be used to measure change in the targeted market perceptions on the soft drink. The changes that occur in the perception are then plotted alongside the level of how much the consumer is exposed to the Feel Good adverts and promotions. The main use of this method of research is basically to provide a way of measuring the combined outcome of the weight of media, or expenditure level, know how effective the media is on the target group and also measure how creative the advert is. Naturally, if the results are good the commercial will still be running on the media. (Caillat and Mueller, 1996) How the creative communications mix meets the objectives in the brief The advertisement will be colourful, played often in a number of media outlets, will have a catchy theme and will be improved with continuous research before and after the campaign has been placed. All these communication strategies will serve to enforce the idea of feel good and will also ensure that people recognise this image. The product will also be able to stand out form other products in the market because it will have a unique selling point. (Assmus and Farley, 1984) All the advertisements will bring out positivism and zeal. This will create a buzz around the product and will make people get interested in purchasing the products. Lastly, the advertisement will also make customers feel good about themselves because it will be a reflection of what is contained in the drinks. Customers will think of warm days and will have a good mood when they see the advertisement. This will make them feel good about themselves. (Belk and Pollay, 1985) Conclusion Advertisement is an important aspect for a company. With cut-throat competition being observed in the markets, a company has to come up with catching themes to be able to maintain its market share. In today's world consumers have become more informed and require more information on buying. Research in advertisement is very important and necessary; it enables a company to come up with appropriate adverts that are relevant to the market. It also makes the company to save on costs and at the same time help the company to achieve its objectives. Through, research a company is able to gauge how well or bad its advert is doing, from this the company can make changes. The advert will be a major success for the Feel Good Company if it does extensive research, good creativity of the advert theme and good planning. (Alden and Hoyer, 1993) Reference Alden, D. L., and W. D. Hoyer, et al. (1993): Identifying Global and Culture-Specific Dimensions in Humour in Advertising: A Multinational Analysis. Journal of Marketing 57(2): 64-75. Assmus, G U. and Farley, D.L (1984): How Advertising Affects Sales: Meta-analysis of Econometric results Journal of Marketing Research 65-74 Belk, R. W. and Pollay R.W (1985): Images of Ourselves: The Good Life in Twentieth Century Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research 11(March): 887-897. Caillat, Z. and B. Mueller (1996): The Influence of Culture on American and British Advertising. Journal of Advertising Research (May/June): 79-88. Holme, B. (1982): Advertising: reflections of a century; New York: Viking Press. Jefkins, F. (1994): Advertising, Financial times, Pitman publishing. Margolin, V. (1979): The Promise and the Product; New York: Macmillan Masaki, K and Helsen, K (2004): Global Marketing Management, 3rd Edition, John Wiley and Sopns, Incorporation, publishers. Read More