Integrated Marketing Communications: Sky Broadband - Essay Example

Table of Content Table of Content 1 Introduction 2 2 Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) 2 3 IMC Development Model 4 3 Tactical Coordination 4 3.2 Consumer Information 5 3.3 Information Technology 6 3.4 Financial and Strategic Integration 7 4 The Plan 8 5 Concluding Reflection 10 6 References 12 1 Introduction Sky needs to expand its market share by drawing in that segment of the population which has generally disregarded, possibly due to lack of awareness and knowledge of its services, that which Sky has to offer. The segment in question is the 55+ age group. The wealth that this group commands and the influence they collectively exert over the market can, should Sky successfully draw them in as customers, solidify the company's position as the leading broadband and entertainment provider in the United Kingdom. This report, following the clarification of the advantages and proven benefits of integrated marketing communications, will propose a strategy for doing just that. 2 Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Integrated marketing communications has been widely accepted by businesses around the world as a marketing communications system that allows organizations to better manage their brand images (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). In theory and practice, IMC strategies are aimed at combining or integrating the elements of the communication mix, such as advertising and public relations in order to create a balanced and consistent marketing communications message that strengthens the brand. IMC, if managed correctly gives an organization a competitive advantage because of its cost effectiveness and its ability to maximize the impact of its product and services development and the communication of the organization's messages within the marketplace (Ireland, 2002). There is no shared definition of integrated marketing communications in the scholarly literature, but the tenets of IMC have been adopted by businesses globally, and scholars do agree on the theoretical underpinnings of the IMC model (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). The literature offers some outlines for conceptual frameworks that can guide agencies and organisations to ensure an effective implementation of an integrated marketing communications program (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). According to Fitzpatrick (2005), "one of the defining features of IMC is that it uses all forms of communication and all sources of brand or company contacts as prospective message delivery channels. The ultimate goal is to influence buying behavior through directed persuasive communication targeted to a broad range of stakeholders that influence brand image and organizational reputation" (p.94). Scholars and practitioners of marketing communications believe that the increase in the number of communication channels, media fragmentation, segmentation of consumer preferences, sophistication of consumer databases and analysis, and importance of relationship building to strengthen brand image has forced institutions to consider and adopt a more sophisticated, strategic, and integrated marketing communications effort (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). Integrated marketing communications has evolved from a concept of bundling all of an institution's communications in order to speak with one voice, to a strategic management effort that utilizes detailed consumer information to develop relevant communication (Kim, Han, & Schultz, 2004). Kim, Han, and Schultz (2004) stress the need for organizations to speak to their consumers with an integrated approach because today's consumers are not dependent on organizations to provide them with information. Technology has helped to fragment the current media environment and to increase the speed of information gathering. The result is that consumers are able to integrate their product information consumption without the aid of the organization. In addition to message integration, effective IMC must be supported by marketing budgets and appropriate staffing, skills, and infrastructure (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). 3 IMC Development Model Schultz and Kitchen (2000) offer an IMC development model that illustrates the many challenges an organization faces to successfully achieve an integrated approach with their marketing and communications program. They present four stages of IMC and suggest that currently most organizations who have adopted IMC achieve at most, the first two or three stages of development. Each of these stages will now be discussed in relation to Sky's proposed integrated marketing communication's plan. 3.1 Tactical Coordination The first stage is the tactical coordination of marketing communications, which requires a high degree of coordination between departments to speak with one voice. The coordination challenge between departments varies based on the complexity of the organization which can be measured by size, number of departments involved in a particular business activity, and amount of available resources. The goal of the organization is to achieve a high-degree of interpersonal and cross-functional coordination and communication between internal departments and external consultants (Kitchen, Schultz, Kim, Han, & Li, 2004). Organizations need to be careful to manage their external resources and not allow external consultants to lead the organization's activities. In direct relation to Sky's proposed plan, this means that all of the programming, finance, public relations, marketing departments, among others, must coordinate their activities. It is essential that the marketing department constantly collect market and consumer information, especially as relates to the identified target group, that the public relations department use that information to speak to and appeal to this group and the programming department select content and programmes which appeal to this group. 3.2 Consumer Information Redefining the scope of marketing communications by collecting information about the institution's consumers and evaluating the feedback is the second stage in Schultz and Kitchen's (2000) model. Market data collection is often executed with the help of external research consultants because it can often be more efficient and cost effective for the organization. Again, the organization needs to manage the research project and its external consultants to maintain a consistency in its data collection over time. An evolving and sophisticated perspective for collecting data is needed to ensure that an organization is capable of exhaustive analytical procedures, and thinking outside the box is recommended. Proceeding from the above stated and also building upon the first stage, this translates into the following recommendations: Centring of the channels and packages which would appeal to the targeted 55+ group in the campaign; Highlighting the programmes/shows which would appeal to them; Offering the said group a low-cost Kids' Package for their grandchildren. The goal here is to persuade this group that, not only is Sky for them but Sky is for them because it understands their entertainment needs, appreciates their taste and gives space to their tastes. In other words, Sky acknowledges them. 3.3 Information Technology It is the third and fourth stages that Schultz and Kitchen describe as truly moving beyond bundling and toward integration. The third stage of their model is the application of information technology in order to develop databases to globally segment customer data into customer knowledge for the purpose of communication and relationship building. The ability to build relationships with a diverse market is critical to an organizations success. However, intelligent and creative human resources are also needed to manage the capabilities of technology in order to identify appropriate relationship building strategies for each organization's market segment. Rowley (2001) describes how web pages can provide links in order to facilitate communication and begin target marketing communication efforts. Customer data means very little until it can be understood in a market context, and the more creative an organization is at looking at customer data in order to gain knowledge of the market, the better the chances of an organization gaining a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Again, depending on the complexity of an organization, the challenges of analysis and strategy development varies and resource need to be applied accordingly. The above stated means that Sky should exploit the internet in order to reach out to its targeted consumer segment. It needs to do so through the strategic placement of internet advertisements on web pages most often visited by the identified group. 3.4 Financial and Strategic Integration Finally, the fourth stage is financial and strategic integration that describes an institution's ability to continually measure performance from a return on investment perspective by market segment. The ability for organizations to make the link between marketing communications strategies and organizational success is difficult because of a diverse group of variables responsible for organizational success. Duncan (2002) has listed traditional measure of individual communication campaigns such as exposures, impressions, and personal contacts, but suggests that the ability to effectively measure the impact of the complex interaction of an organization's entire marketing communications efforts may be beyond the current methodological tools available today. Shultz and Kitchen (2000) suggest that an organization can differentiate performance measurement by business building and brand building, but emphasize that organizations should move towards measuring outcomes rather than outputs. In relation to Sky, this means that the organisation should ensure that its integrated marketing campaign correlates to the financial resources which the company can provide, on the one hand, and that human resources are strategically exploited to ensure the success of the campaign. The above further outlines the imperatives of measuring success through the measurement of the outcomes of the campaign at various stages, as in the numbers of new subscribers from the targeted group. 4 The Plan The communications theories which will frame the proposed IMC plan is immediately informed by the aim of the campaign: to expand into the 55+ market by appealing to the tastes and mentality of those who comprise that demographic segment. There are, however, obstacles to achieving the aforementioned since the value of that which Sky is offering cannot be realised unless the service is utilized. At the same time, it is simply not possible for Sky to provide the said segment with a test-run of its services. Therefore, by somewhat modifying Kelman's model of source characteristics, one can propose the overcoming of the aforementioned obstacles through reference to Sky's decades-long credibility in the UK market, thereby highlighting millions of satisfied customers' product experience and emphasizing that the Sky brand is synonymous with quality and consumer-focus. By highlighting the implications of the brand and the long years of successful operation in the UK market, the proposed integrated marketing communications campaign could, at least, come across as credible. Further drawing from the Kelman Model and acknowledging the Linear Model, the campaign message must be designed in order to promote credibility and satisfaction. Highlighting the program contents and channels offered to this group and which is bound to appeal to them, such as the UK TV, the Documentary and the News packages. The content aired on these channels are likely to appeal to this group as they embrace much of the country's classical drama and comedy, films, series, shows and sitcoms. The point here is that by highlighting the content of these channels within its integrated marketing communications campaign, Sky will, quite effectively, be supporting its claim regarding customer satisfaction, on the one hand, and understanding of the tastes of the identified segment, on the other. It is further advise, for the purposes of solidifying and fortifying credibility, that celebrity endorsement be used. The celebrities in question should be drawn from those which command both credibility and popularity with Baby Boomers, such as Dame Helen Mirren, Madonna, George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan and Sir Elton John to name but a few. Added to the above-stated, the integrated marketing communications campaign need also embrace newspaper and magazine advertisement. The said group is both literate and informed, with this meaning that its members both purchase and read printed materials, possibly on a daily basis. Therefore, Sky should take out informative ads in the newspapers and magazine which appeal the most to this group. Billboards and ambient media advertisements are another highly visible and effective strategy for popularizing Sky's services and of attracting the identified segment's attention. Direct mail would, undoubtedly do the same. However, given the amount of direct mail people receive per day, it is advised that Sky adds a promotion coupon in order to stand out. The coupon in question could be for a 10% discount on any Sky package for the first six months or, alternatively, the addition of two children's channels free of monthly charges for three months. The point here is that Sky's advertising has to stand out from the rest and must be structured in such a way so as to say that Sky is confident that once its services are tried, customers will be satisfied and hence, it is willing to initially sacrifice part of its fee backing up this claim. It is important to emphasise that the proposed campaign be fortified by a public relations campaign which is designed to promote the Sky brand and project the company itself as one standing for quality. 5 Concluding Reflection Acting the role of an agency and working out an integrated marketing and communications with other agency employees, was highly educational and, indeed, promoted and deepened my understanding of the ways in which to translated theory into practice and the difficulties which one may encounter in doing so. The group met for a total of seven sessions. Each session had a very clear aim and the meetings were not concluded before the aim in question was fulfilled. For example, in the first we had to assign roles to group members and sound out our ideas for the campaign. It was an enthusiastic meeting and a very constructive one as group members found that thinking together, building upon one another's ideas and such, encouraged us to think outside the box and to be creative even as we remained practical, keeping an eye on budget and resources. To further clarify that which the project taught me, as a participant and the group member responsible for outlining the strategies for targeting mature consumers, I would like to begin by emphasising that I embarked upon both stages (group and individual) with a clear understanding of what IMC is and what its benefits are. As much of the scholarly literature has taught me, IMC is a cost effective way for successful, result-oriented marketing. In order to accrue its more positive benefits, however, it is imperative that the campaign be meticulously designed and addresses the company's needs and its market objectives. This necessitated that we research Sky itself and try to achieve a correlation between the company's market objectives and marketing theory, as in which theory or group of theories would best aid in the successful realisation of the said objectives. With this in mind, many of us came up with very good ideas but upon considering their implementation, we found that they would be cost prohibitive. Therefore, we taught ourselves the imperatives of realism - designing a realistic campaign from the perspective of what is financially feasible. In sum, and as a final commentary upon the experience, I want to note that it was an effective learning experience - one which called upon me, and other group members, to put our theoretic knowledge into practice. 6 References Duncan, T. (2002). IMC: Using advertising and promotion to build brands, International Ed. McGraw-Hill. New York, NY. Fitzpatrick, K. (2005). The legal challenge of integrated marketing communication (IMC): Integrating commercial and political speech. Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 93-102. Ireland, L. (2002). Channel integration strategies. Target Marketing, 25(9), 34-36. Kim, I., Han, D. & Schultz, D. (2004). Understanding the diffusion of integrated marketing communications. Journal of Advertising Research. 44(1), 31-45. Kitchen, P., Schultz, D. Kim, I, Han, D. & Li, T. (2004). Will agencies ever "get" (or understand) IMC European Journal of Marketing, 38(11), 1417- 1436. Rowley, J. (2001). Remodeling marketing communications in an internet environment. Internet Research, 11 (3), 203 -212. Schultz, D. & Kitchen (2000). Communicating globally: An integrated marketing approach. Macmillian Press Ltd., London. Read More