Chapter 11: Branding and Marketing Communications

Contents Importance of marketing communication in brand building Influence of marketing communication on the consumers Various communications tools used by an organization Advertising Sales promotion Publicity and public relations Internet marketing Integrating the brand communications

Need for marketing communication in branding Given the cultural diversity in India, brand managers need to educate the customers about their brands in terms the consumers understand so as to build the bond that enhances the organizations’ credibility and fosters brand related attitudes and purchase intentions. There is a significant relation between firm-sponsored education activities and positive customer brand attitudes and purchase intentions. Organizations through their marketing communication activities can impact the way consumers consume brands by influencing their beliefs and attitudes. Thus, their marketing communications can be used to educate the consumers about their brands’ attributes and develop positive associations so that the consumers feel that the brand is the best consumption choice for them given their values and life-styles

Marketing communication and promotion and the influence on consumers Promotion is defined as ‘the managerial process of communication an organization has with its target audience to generate attitudinal and behavioral responses and facilitate exchanges for mutual benefit.’ (Jauhari and Dutta, 2010). In the consumer purchase process, the customer purchases a product or service from the awareness set, i.e., the brands the customer is aware of out of the total number of brands (total set) available in the marketplace. If the service meets the initial buying requirements of the customer, they form the consideration set and as the customer gathers more information the strong contenders form the choice set from which the customer makes the final choice

Marketing communication Building brand awareness Enhancing brand knowledge Favourable brand attitude

Communication options Advertising Personal Selling Sales Promotion Events and campaign marketing Direct Marketing Publicity Word-of-mouth Internet marketing

Advertising

Advertising is ‘any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor’ (Kotler and Keller, 2006). It is advertising that transforms a product that provides functional benefits and no more into a brand that offers the consumer psychological rewards in addition to the functional ones Advertising is the most visible form of brand communication and can be done through any of the media available like television, radio, internet, out-of-home (hoardings, banners, posters etc.) and the print media (newspapers, magazines, leaflets etc.).

Purpose of advertising Brand information Brand positioning Brand recall Brand personality and identity Brand repositioning

Advertising media and influence on branding Television Print media Radio Cinema advertising Out-of-home media Online advertising

The consumers’ exposure to a particular media will decide whether they view the brand advertisement or not. An understanding of the consumer’s media consumption habits helps in deciding which media option to choose. Brand managers can also use a combination of the various media options to reach their target audience. In such an eventuality a diverse set of consumers and customers can be reached. The overlap (i.e., when the same consumer is exposed to both the media’s) will help reinforce the brand awareness and brand recall Advertising media and influence on branding

Personal selling

Introduction Personal selling unlike advertising is the interpersonal interaction between the organization representatives and the customers. It is defined as the ‘Face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective purchasers for the purpose of making presentations, answering questions and procuring orders’. Personal selling is helpful in building a brand as the manner in which the brand is communicated and sold to the ultimate customer is directly controlled by the brand owners. This helps them to create a brand experience at the time of sales which can be the start of building brand relationships.

Ways of personal selling Going to where the customer is: Organizations can approach customers to sell products to them in the convenience of their homes, for example Eureka Forbes At a retail outlet where the customer comes: Organizations can do personal selling by hiring sales executives at the company owned outlets where the customers can come for buying a product.

Sales Promotions

Introduction Both advertising and personal selling are aided by sales promotions. Sales promotions are ‘a variety of short-term incentives to encourage trial or purchase of a product or service’ (Kotler and Keller, 2006). It therefore influences and motivates the customer to make the purchase ‘now’. As a brand manager the choice of tool for sales promotion is critical as it should be in line with the long term brand strategy and should strengthen the same.

Tools of Sales Promotion Coupons Samples Price packs Cash refund Premiums Advertising specialties or promotional products Point-of-purchase promotions Contests, sweepstakes and games

Events and campaign marketing

Brands have long been associated with sponsoring events like the various cricket matches, football tournaments, etc. Companies can also organize their own events Organization of such events/ campaigns increases the brand recall by the customers and association with a big event inculcates trust in the customers and convinces them that the brand is a big brand.

Direct marketing

Direct marketing can be defined as ‘use of mail, telephone, fax, , or internet to communicate directly with, or solicit response or dialogue from specific customers and prospects’ (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Electronic shopping, telemarketing, television shopping, etc., are various ways in which organizations can do direct marketing

Forms of Direct Marketing Direct mail marketing Catalogue marketing Telephone marketing Mobile phone marketing

Publicity and public relations

‘A variety of programmes designed to promote or protect a company’s image or its individual products’ (Kotler and Keller, 2006). Organizations can maintain public relations through company magazines, annual reports, donations etc. News releases are a popular means of disseminating information about the brand. However, if the release is not in the favor of the brand, then that can also harm the brand image.

Publicity and public relations Other ways by which publicity can be created is through newsletters, magazines and annual reports and this also helps in disseminating the relevant information about the brand that helps the organization in building higher brand equity. ‘Public service activities’ indulged in by the organizations also helps in creating goodwill for the brand. ‘Corporate identity material like business cards, logos, stationery, buildings, websites, company cars and trucks’ etc. all helps in creating brand identity in minds of the customers.

Word-of-mouth

This includes the customer-to-prospective customer interaction which is not directly under the control of the organization. ‘In developed countries it is advertising that affects the purchase choice the most but in developing countries like India and Indonesia it is word-of-mouth that affects the purchase decision the most. Indians are a closely knit society and are easily influenced by their peers, relatives etc.

Word-of-mouth Brands can create a positive word of mouth for themselves by consistently delivering during the moments of truth for the customers. Also during initial days of a start-up when organizations cannot invest money in advertising – word-of-mouth publicity is the best way to spread word about the brand and create a brand awareness and ultimately footfalls.

Internet marketing

Internet and the related platforms are considered as the new age media. The internet scores over the traditional media (advertising through print, television, radio, etc.) by providing current information to be communicated to the customers with the minimum of lead time, to the relevant target audience and the impact is more measurable. The customers are also benefited by receiving the relevant advertising.

Tools of Internet Marketing Viral marketing Social networking sites 3-D digital shops Blogs Web TV Mobile phones SMS Podcasts Company websites Online advertising In-store TV In-programme brand placement

One of the strategies by which marketers can connect with the customers online is through ‘crowdsourcing for advertisements’. In crowdsourcing, organizations take the work from an employee and entrust it to a large group of people (crowd) that leads to a community based design. This allows the consumers to have a say in the brand be it the product, promotions, designing, innovations, etc. Marketers are benefited as it allows them to get a feedback from the consumers well in time that can be incorporated in their brand building strategy. Internet marketing

Integrating the brand communications A marketer can communicate with its target audience via a number of media and various communications tools. In actual life the choices of the consumers are not simple specially given the fact that there are a multitude of brands to choose from. Also a consumer is influenced by a number of parameters prior to the purchase of the same. Thus as marketers we need to be present and touch the lives of the customers at more than one platforms with information about the brand offering be it educating the customers about the brand, brand attributes, brand price, etc. The message that goes out via all the tools and media used should be consistent and deliver the same message across. This helps in building a strong consistent brand image and reinforces the brand attributes in the minds of the customers.

Quick Recapitulation Importance of marketing communication in brand building Influence of marketing communication on the consumers Various communications tools used by an organization Advertising Sales promotion Publicity and public relations Internet marketing Integrating the brand communications

Questions?