Building the Communications Plan Mktg 340 Maureen O’Connor

Building Blocks of the IMC Plan – The Promotional Opportunity Analysis Situation Analysis Objectives Creative Brief Strategies Budget Evaluation

Promotional Opportunity Analysis The process of identifying consumers in the marketplace and targeting messages that fit their needs Steps: – Conduct a communication market analysis – Establish communication objectives – Create the brief – Prepare strategies and tactics – Create the communications budget – Evaluate the effectiveness

STEP 1: Communication Market Analysis What are our competitors doing? – Use secondary research (web sites, annual report, news articles) and primary research (visit stores, talk to wholesalers and retailers) to discover the competition’s promotional activity. What opportunities exist for us? – To serve new markets – To better communicate our benefits to consumers – To better differentiate our products

STEP 1 – What’s going on in the external environment? Cultural and social trends Technological factors Legal issues

STEP 1: Communication Market Analysis (continued) Identify target markets – Segmentation: group consumers (existing, competitors and potential) by common characteristics Demographics Psychographics Geographics Benefits Usage

STEP 1: Communication Market Analysis (continued) Targeting – Target the segment that has The greatest need and match with the product That is large enough to return value/profit to the company That is reachable through media channels

STEP 1: Communication Market Analysis (continued) Positioning – The perception of the product compared to the competition. For a toothpaste, position by: Attributes (whitens teeth) Competitors (better than Colgate) Price (cheaper than Colgate) Use (after smoking) User (for children) Product class (better than mouthwash) Cultural symbol (fresh as peony)

Step 2: Establish Communication Objectives Objectives outline the specific goals of the communication plan. They may include: – Develop brand awareness – Increase demand – Change attitudes – Build store traffic – Build sales – Encourage repeat purchases – Increase market share – Reinforce purchase decisions

Step 2: Establish Communication Objectives (continued) Characteristics of good objectives: – Measureable (i.e. raise awareness by 10%) – Directed to a target market (i.e. among males ) – Within a time frame (i.e. within one year)

STEP 3 – Create the Brief Articulates and communicates the relevant consumer understanding and insights in relationship to the overall objectives of the communications Created by the account/research team for the creatives – sparks the inspiration

Step 4: Develop Strategies and Tactics Strategies direct marketing communication decisions – Message strategy: what do we need to say? – Media strategy: where will we say it? Tactics are the tools used to deliver messages: – Advertising (TV, radio, newspaper, outdoor, alternative, online) – Promotions (coupons, sales, contests) – Events (concerts, programs) – Direct and e-marketing

Step 5: Establishing Budgets Percentage of sales Percentage of sales Meet-the-competition Meet-the-competition “What can afford” “What we can afford” Objective and task Objective and task Payout planning Payout planning Quantitative models Quantitative models

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 4-15 F I G U R E 4. 6 A Decay Effects Model

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Prentice Hall 4-16 Restaurant Chains U.S. Market Share vs Media Ad Spending (Thousands) RankBrand Market Share Media Ad Spend (Mil) Cost Per Share Pt. (Mil) 1McDonald’s7.7% $ $ Burger King 2.4% $ $ Wendy’s2.3% $ $ Subway2.2% $ $ Taco Bell 1.9% $ $125.1 Source: “Top 10 Restaurant Chains,” accessed October 1, 2008www.adage.com

STEP 6: Evaluate Results Evaluate against objectives Determine what will be measured – Awareness – Brand loyalty – Attitude change – Behavior (click through, inquiries, redemption rates)

Evaluation challenges Factors other than advertising affect metrics Delayed impact Purchase decisions made in the store Level of brand equity