MKT1ADD Advertising In the Digital Age

Develop a Media Schedule and Criteria

Review of Marketing Plan

Reviewing a marketing plan involves examining the overall marketing plan and objectives, identifying the role of advertising and promotion, performing the competitive analysis, and assessing the environmental influences (summary based on Market Campaign under analysis).

Situation Analysis

Based on Market Research (This section should demonstrate the ability to desk search for and use of relevant knowledge and skills required to critically examine a market, prospective consumers, industry, competitor and demand for a specific brand). This is an in-depth analysis of the firm (company), external factors and current IMC strategies and campaigns etc.

1. Internal Analysis: Assesses the firm and relevant areas involving the product/service offering

Assessment of:

• Capability to develop and implement promotional program
• Brand image and implications for promotion
• A product’s relative strengths and weaknesses
• Reviews previous promotional programs and results
• Unique selling points or benefits

1. External Analysis: Focuses on characteristics of a firm’s customers, market segments, positioning strategies, and competitors

Assessment of:

• Characteristics of the firm’s customers, including their perceptions, attitudes, lifestyles, and criteria for making purchase decisions
• Market segments
• Positioning strategies
• Competitors

Key elements of the external analysis include customer analysis, competitive analysis, and environmental analysis (PEST).

IMC Objectives

IMC Objectives (Provide long-term goals where marketing campaigns are intended to drive up the value of your brand over time) (apply SMART approach for objectives)

1. Objectives in the Analysis of the Communication Process

Assessment of:

1. Marketing objectives

• Determine what is to be accomplished by the overall marketing program in terms of sales, market share, or profitability

1. Communication objectives

• Determine what the firm seeks to accomplish with its promotional program
• Stated in terms of:

1. Nature of the message to be communicated
2. Specific communication effects to be achieved

Target Audience

Target Audience (Target audience should be defined as summarised in lectures and drawing on your previous marketing segmentation knowledge).

Target market selection is done after evaluating market opportunities and doing a competitive analysis. It has direct implications on a firm’s advertising and promotional efforts.

1. The process by which marketers develop different marketing strategies to satisfy different customer needs is called target marketing.

Assessment of:

• 1. Identifying markets with unfulfilled needs - In this step consumers with similar lifestyles, needs, and wants are isolated and increases the marketers knowledge of their specific requirements.

1. Marketer identifies the specific needs of groups of people (or segments);
2. Selects one or more of these segments as a target;
3. Isolates consumers with similar lifestyles, needs, and the like;
4. Increased marketer’s knowledge of consumers’ specific requirements.

• 2. Determining market segmentation - In this step a market is divided into distinct groups that have common needs and will respond similarly to a marketing action.

1. Dividing a market into distinct groups with common needs, who respond similarly to a marketing situation
2. Customer characteristics segmentation criteria:

Geographic: Dividing the market on the basis of region, city size, metropolitan area, and/or density

Demographic: Dividing the market on the basis of age, sex, family size, marital status, etc.

Socioeconomic: Dividing the market on the basis of income, education, or occupation

 Psychographic: Dividing the market on the basis of personality, lifecycles, and/or lifestyles

• 3. Selecting a market to target - This step determines how many segments to enter, and which segments offer the most potential.

1. Determine how many segments to enter
   1. Utilizing market coverage alternatives:

• Undifferentiated marketing: Ignoring segment differences and offering just one product or service to the entire market
• Differentiated marketing: Involves marketing in a number of segments, developing separate marketing strategies for each
• Concentrated marketing: Selecting a segment and attempting to capture a large share of this market

1. Determine which segments offer the most potential
   1. Selecting the most attractive segment

• Sales potential of segment
• Opportunities for growth
• Competition analysis
• Ability to compete
• Ability to market to this group

Develop an IMC plan to budget

Using a minimum of three IMC variables one of which to include a broadcast, print or internet/ interactive media.  Develop approximate budget for each variable (suggest using table).

Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program—The most involved and detailed part of the promotional planning process occurs at this stage as decisions have to be made regarding the role and importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with one another. Each IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, messaging, and media strategy (each one selected is a “strategy” and should be named and placed in its own dedicated sub-heading).  

These include:

• Advertising message and media strategy and tactics
• Direct marketing message and media strategy and tactics
• Interactive/Internet Marketing message and media strategy and tactics
• Sales promotion message and media strategy and tactics
• Public relations/publicity strategy and tactics
• Personal selling—sales strategy and tactics

Budget Determination:

• Set tentative marketing communications budget (total amounts)
• Allocate tentative budget across different media, geographic markets, and time periods (specific)
• Budget may not be finalized until specific promotional-mix strategies are develope

Develop a Creative Strategy and Mock-Up  

Detail and explain the rationale for your selected creative strategy. Design a creative mock-up of your broadcast, print or internet/interactive media campaign (consider elements of “divergence” as well where possible!)

Creative Strategy Development (consider steps PER strategy completed prior):

1. Advertising Campaigns—Most advertisements are part of a series of messages that make up an IMC or advertising campaign, which consists of a set of interrelated and coordinated marketing communication activities that center on a single theme or idea that appears in different media across a specified time period. The determination of a strong idea for the campaign theme is very important, as it is the central message that will be communicated in all of the advertising and other promotional activities and thus set the tone or direction for the development of the individual ads that make up the campaign. The theme or idea for the campaign is usually expressed through a slogan or tagline that reduces the key idea into a few words or a brief statement.
   
   
2. Creative Brief—The creative brief (which some agencies refer to as a creative platform or work plan or creative contract) is a written document that provides a plan or checklist that is useful in guiding the development of an advertising message or campaign.
   
   
3. The Search for the Major Selling Idea—An important part of creative strategy development is determining the central theme that will become the major selling idea or big idea for the ad campaign. Big ideas are important in business-to-business advertising as well as advertising targeting consumers.
   
   
4. Developing the Major Selling Idea—There are several different approaches that can be used for developing major selling ideas and as the basis of creative strategy. Some of the best known and most discussed approaches include:

• The unique selling proposition—Its three characteristics include:

1. each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer
2. the proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer
3. the proposition must be strong enough to pull over new customers to your brand

• Creating a brand image—Some competing brands are so similar it is difficult to find or create a unique attribute or benefit so the creative strategy is based on the development of a strong, memorable identity for the brand through image advertising.
• Finding the inherent drama—The famous ad man Leo Burnett, founder of the Leo Burnett agency in Chicago, believed that advertising should be based on a foundation of consumer benefits with an emphasis on the dramatic element in expressing these benefits. This type of advertising bases the creative strategy on presenting the message in a warm and realistic way.
• Positioning—The basic idea is that advertising is used to establish or “position” the product or service in a particular place in the consumer’s mind. Many of the top brands in various product or service categories have retained their leadership position because they have established and maintained a strong position or identity in the minds of consumers.

1. Contemporary Approaches to the Big Idea—These approaches to determining the major selling ideas discussed above are very popular and are often used as the basis of the creative strategy for advertising campaigns. These creative approaches represent specific “creative styles” that have become associated with some of the most successful advertising creative minds and their agencies. However, it should be noted that many other creative approaches and styles are available and are often used in advertising. The challenge to the creative team is to find a major selling idea and use it as a guide to the development of an effective creative strategy.
   
   
2. Mock-up!! Be creative… show your idea!

Develop a Media Schedule

For your broadcast, print or internet/interactive media campaign (table format required). 

Positioning Strategy

Show how your IMC plan contributes to brand’s Positioning or re-positioning

Positioning: Fitting a product or service to one or more segments of the broad market to make it unique within the marketplace

Approaches to Positioning:

1. Focusing on the consumer—Linking the product with the benefits the consumer will derive
2. Focusing on competition—Positions the product by comparing the benefit it offers versus the competition

Seven positioning strategies available to marketers:

1. Attributes/Benefits - A common approach is setting the brand apart from competitors on the basis of specific characteristics or benefits. Marketers attempt to identify salient attributes, which are important to customers when making purchase decisions.
2. Price/Quality - Price is used as a characteristic of the brand. If a product is positioned as high quality, price may be a secondary consideration. Another option is to focus on product quality or value offered at a competitive price.
3. Use/Application - This strategy associates the brand with a specific use. This approach can be an effective way to expand usage of a product.
4. Product Class - This strategy positions the product against a product in another category, rather than against a competitor. For example, positioning frozen orange juice against fresh oranges.
5. Product User - This strategy associates a brand with a type of person or group that uses a product or service.
6. Competitor - This strategy positions a company or brand against a competitor. Often another form of positioning is used to differentiate the brand.
7. Cultural Symbols - This strategy uses a cultural symbol to differentiate a product from competitors (e.g. Keebler elves, the Jolly Green Giant, Tony the Tiger).

Campaign Timeline

It will feature the strategies to be taken under the campaign (prioritize accordingly) within a set deadline.

Campaign Evaluation

An in-depth understanding of the expected outcomes, and relevant evaluations and marketing control variables are discussed. The assessment presents a detailed and focused summary of the ideas presented; drawing clear and well-thought-out conclusions.

The final stage of the IMC planning process involves monitoring, evaluating, and controlling the promotional program.  At this stage, the marketing should be gathering feedback concerning how well the IMC program is working and whether it is meeting its objectives. It is important to note that information regarding the results achieved by the IMC program is used in subsequent IMC planning and strategy development.

1. Determining how well the program is:

• Meeting communication objectives
• Helping the firm accomplish its overall marketing goals and objectives

1. Evaluating promotional program results/effectiveness
2. Taking measures to control and adjust promotional strategies

Evaluation types:

• Conversion – number of people to purchase a product or achieve the advertisers end-goal.
• Coverage – number of people, or cars, which were potentially exposed to the advertising.
• Reach – measurement of audience accumulation.
• Comparison – how the advertising performed in comparison to another.
• Research – in this instance looking at focus groups (primary and secondary data).
• Feedback – particularly from front-line staff who are interacting with customers.
• Competitor response – the greatest form of advertising flattery.
• Digital – SEO and SEM.