Annual Advertising and Public Relations Program - Essay Example

ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN FOR AN AUTOMOBIILE ORGANIZATION Table of Contents Contents Page Introduction Introduction of the Company 1 Introduction of the Product 1 Target Market and Target Audience 2 Target Market 2 Target Audience 2 Media Selection 3 Strategy and Tactics 4 Pull Strategy 4 Push Strategy 4 Creative Strategy 4 Media Plan and Timing 5 Monitoring and Evaluation 6 Conclusion 7 References 8 Advertising Campaign 1. Introduction Before going into the details of the advertising plan, let us get a better understanding of what advertising actually is and what benefits advertising can provide to the companies. Advertising means to promote a product or to create awareness about the products and services, which a company manufactures and provides to its customers. An advertising campaign includes defining marketing goals and objectives of a company and setting the strategies and tactics to achieve the marketing goals. Perez (2010) asserts, “The creation of a marketing plan is very vital for any business enterprise because it helps to create the entire business plan which is like the route map of the business”. If we talk about the major benefits of developing and executing an advertising campaign for a company, we come to know that there are various benefits that a company can achieve by implementing a well-structured and strategic advertising plan related to its products and services. Mckenna (1991) states, “When you own a market, you lead the market”. Some of the benefits include achievement of market dominance, communicating a change in the product line, increase in the market share, competitive edge, market penetration, seasonal promotions, and increased awareness among the people about the products and services being provided by the company. 1.1 Introduction of the Company The name of the company is Car World and it is a well-established company belonging to the automobile industry of Oman. Car World deals with manufacturing and distribution of local cars. Some types of the vehicles, which the company manufactures, include mini trucks, family vans, and trucks. American Motor Corporation (AMC), which is an American automobile company, carries out some of the key manufacturing processes of the Car World’s cars. 1.2 Introduction of the Product The product for which I am going to develop the advertising plan is Salome Family Van. Salome van is a new product manufactured by the Car World in collaboration with AMC. Salome van is a 7-seater vehicle, which is an economical car for the large families. People should buy this car because of its cost-effective price, beautiful shape, and capacity to hold a large number of people at a time. This car consumes very less amount of fuel as compared to other competitors such as Raxel Motors and Raymon Cars. The market share of the cars manufactured by the Car World is 35% in 1300cc engines, which is a good market share in the automobile industry of Oman. 2. Target Market and Target Audience 2.1 Target Market Kayne (n.d.) states, “Marketing strategies differ depending on the product, target market and budget”. Awareness of the target market plays an effective role in developing an appropriate advertising plan for the company. Lake (2010) asserts, “A group of individuals whom collectively, are intended recipients of an advertisers message”. Target market is generally not a small group of individuals; rather it is developed for large groups who have somewhat same desires and demands. If a company does not know the needs and demands of the target market, it cannot develop a result-oriented or productive advertising plan. Dahl (2007, p.23) states, “By identifying your primary target market, you can do a better job of narrowing your media buys”. I am designing the advertising plan, which will market Salome van by considering the geographical location of the customers because geographical location based advertising plays a great role in target marketing. Geographical marketing considers the trends of the local markets, and the awareness created through the analysis of local markets helps a company in target marketing of the newly launched product. 2.2 Target Audience Same like target market, awareness of target audience also plays a great role in determining the success of the advertising plan. Upson (2010) asserts, “The demographic, or group of people, that an ad campaign is trying to sell to is called the target audience”. Therefore, it is clear from the above statement that the awareness of the target audience is also crucial for the success of an advertising plan. One of the major differences between target market and target audience is that target market needs to be considered after developing the product whereas target audience needs to be considered during the process of developing new products. In our case, the product is Salome van, which will be beneficial not only for the large families but also for those families, which are not financially very sound. Salome van will be a great vehicle for such families because it has not only the capacity to hold 7 to 8 people but also its engine is designed in such a way that it consumes less fuel as compared to other vans and trucks. 3. Media Selection Shah (2008) states, “Ever since mass media became mass media, companies have naturally used this means of communications to let a large number of people know about their products”. So it is evident from the above statement that media is a way to communicate to the customers. Customers also make use of media to get awareness of their desired products and services. There are various types of media available for marketing a new product or service. Manohar (n.d.) found some of the widely used advertising methods to be print advertising, outdoor advertising, surrogate advertising, covert advertising, broadcast advertising, and celebrity advertising. The most useful form of two-way communication media between a company and its customers is internet. Various companies make use of internet marketing to launch their products and to get proper feedback from the customers. As a marketing consultant for Car World, I have decided to use some of the most famous and beneficial forms of advertising for making the advertising campaign profitable and successful. For the marketing of Salome car, Car World will make use of internet marketing along with other forms of advertising such as print advertising, outdoor advertising, and covert advertising to create awareness among the public about its products. I have decided to use internet marketing because it will help me market the product in different markets. Almost every individual uses internet these days and that is the reason for me to do internet marketing. Print media, covert advertising such as advertising in movies and dramas, and outdoor media such as billboards and kiosks are also very beneficial for advertising a new product. Therefore, these were the reasons why I have decided to use these advertising methods for the newly manufactured Salome van. As far as TV channels are concerned, I will make use of Oman TV for advertising the car. The reason of selecting this channel is that Oman TV is the most famous and national television channel of Oman and a large number of people watch this channel to get up to date information about different issues. I am developing the marketing plan, which will market Salome van by considering the geographical location of the customers. As far as target audience is concerned, I have plans to target those people who have large families. 4. Strategy and Tactics 4.1 Pull Strategy Clemente (2002, p.340) found that pull strategy is a marketing strategy, which is designed to make the consumers request a specific product or brand from retailers. Pull strategy means development of such advertising strategies, which should be able to entice the prospect to buy the product of the company by giving attractive offers to the buyers. I will make use of pull strategy by developing an effective promotional campaign for the car, which will make the customers come to the company’s showrooms to view and buy the car. In my plan, the car buyer will get 10% discount if he buys the car within first couple of months of advertising. 4.2 Push Strategy In push strategy, the advertising campaigns are geared towards the distribution and marketing channels in order to make them advertise the product of the company. The companies use personal selling and trade advertising methods to make the distributors such as wholesalers carry and sell the products of the companies. Lamb (2009, p.219) states, “The wholesaler, in turn must often push the merchandise forward by persuading the retailer to handle the goods”. The distributors make use of different techniques to sell the product, which include kickbacks, wholesale discounts, and various types of bonuses. I have also decided to implement push strategy for advertising the car because it will help the company advertise its car through wholesalers and retailers. 5. Creative Strategy Media Message Strategy Use of Special Personality Justification Internet marketing Through website of the company None Because use of company’s website is the most interactive method Print media Through famous newspapers and magazines Yes Because people usually read famous newspapers daily Outdoor media Through billboards Yes Because billboards catch attraction of many people Covert Through movies Yes Because people love to see movies and new dramas 6. Media Plan and Timing Media Channel Reach Duration Days of Week Timings Spot Internet Website Whole world Non-Stop 7 24-hours Index TV Oman TV Oman 30 minutes 7 24-hours Commercials Newspaper and Magazine Times of Oman and Al-Mara Gulf --- 7 for newspaper and 1 for magazine Morning Front page of newspaper and inside the magazine Billboard MSQ and Seeb Oman --- 7 24-hours Near airport Covert Movies and dramas Oman Depend on length of movies 7 --- Trailers I have decided to use internet marketing because it is a two-way communication between the company and customers. The communication can take place 24 hours a day. It will help me market the product in different markets and to different people located all over the world. Print media such as newspapers and magazines will also be beneficial because people usually read famous newspapers in the morning everyday. People get useful information from the newspapers. In addition, magazines are also important but they are published weekly instead of daily, so I have decided its timing to be 1 day per week. TV channels are also beneficial in a sense that almost every person living in Oman watches Oman TV for entertainment and information. Advertisements will be launched through commercials because people see commercials, which appear during breaks. The timing is 24 hours a day because the programs are on air almost every time on the TV. Outdoor advertisements such as billboards will also play a great role in creating awareness about the product of the company. People usually view the billboards near commercial places and airports. Therefore, I have decided to use MSQ and SEEB for making the people view the advertisements. The billboards will be showing the advertisements 24 hours a day so that every person coming across the billboards should get an opportunity to view the advertisements. Covert advertising such as advertising in movies and dramas is also beneficial because people usually watch the trailers of different movies and if the celebrity-based advertisements are set with the trailers, people will like to watch the advertisements every time they watch the trailer. 7. Monitoring and Evaluation The advertisements should be evaluated in order to know whether the advertisements would prove to be beneficial for the campaign or not. If the advertisements are not found to be successful, they should be altered or the mode of advertisement should be changed within no time. Monitoring and evaluation methods are used to determine the success of the advertisements. Clow (2009, p.484) asserts, “Evaluation or testing of advertising communications can occur at any stage of the development process”. There are various methods available to evaluate the success of the advertisements. Some of the widely used methods include concept testing, recall tests, emotional reaction tests, and persuasion analysis. I will make use of concept testing and recognition tests. Concept testing will help me develop an advertisement based on the concept of vehicle, whereas recognition test will help be determine the success of the advertisement after the ad will be launched. 8. Conclusion Summing it up, advertising is a way to promote a product or to create awareness about the products and services, which a company manufactures. An advertising campaign includes defining marketing goals and objectives of a company, setting the strategies and tactics to achieve the marketing goals, and selecting the most suitable media for advertising the product. I have designed a well-structured advertising plan in order to advertise the newly manufactured car of the company and I am confident that the campaign will prove to be beneficial for the success of the product. References Clemente, M., 2002. The Marketing Glossary: Key Terms, Concepts and Applications. New Jersey: Clemente Communications Group, LLC. Clow, C., 2007. Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communication. 3rd ed. Delhi: Pearson Education, Inc. Dahl, G., 2007. Advertising for Dummies. 2nd ed. Indiana: Wiley Publishing, Inc. Kayne, R n.d., What is Marketing?, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . Lake, L 2010, Target Market, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . Lamb, C., 2009. MKTG. Canada: Cengage Learning. Manohar, U n.d., Different Types of Advertising, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . McKenna, R., 1991. Marketing is Everything. PubMed.gov, 69(1), pp.65-79. Perez, A 2010, Importance of Creating a Marketing Plan For Your Business Offline - 3 Basic Questions to Answer, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . Rossiter, J., 2001. What is Marketing Knowledge?. SAGE journals online, 1(1), pp.9-26. Shah, A 2008, Media and Advertising, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . Upson, M 2010, What is a Target Audience?, viewed 27 Dec. 2010 . Read More