Catching the Buzz: Promotional Strategy and

Integrated Marketing Communication

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Chapter Objectives

• Understand the role of marketing communication• Understand the communications model• List and describe the traditional elements of the

promotion mix• Explain how word of mouth marketing, buzz

marketing, viral marketing, and guerrilla marketing provide effective marketing communication

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Chapter Objectives (cont’d)

• Describe integrated marketing communication and its characteristics

• Explain the important role of database marketing in integrated marketing communication

• Explain the stages in developing an IMC plan

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Real People, Real Choices

• General Motors R* Works (Vince O’Brien)• Needed marketing plan supporting

Chevy’s commitment to skiing while increasing sales at local dealershipsOption 1: continue ski promotion but better qualify

test-drive trafficOption 2: offer season passes to local ski mountain as

purchase incentive for designated SUVOption 3: scrap ski relationship and look for another

platform to promote Chevy’s products

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Tailoring MarketingCommunication to Consumers

• Promotion: the coordination of marketing communication efforts to influence attitudes or behavior

• Marketing communication: Informs Reminds Persuades Builds relationships

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Tailoring Marketing Communicationto Consumers (cont’d)

• Integrated marketing communication (IMC): process that marketers use to plan, develop, execute, and evaluate coordinated, measurable, persuasive brand communication programs over time to targeted audiencesConsumers see the variety of messages from a firm

as a whole.

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Discussion

• With an IMC program, firms need to coordinate all marketing communication activities.What inherent problems do you see in ensuring this

coordination?

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Figure 12.2:The Communication Model

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The Communication Model

• Encoding: process of translating an idea into a form of communication

• Source: organization or individual sending the message

• Message: the communication in physical form

• Medium: communication vehicle used to reach members of a target audience

FRAM.COM

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The Communication Model (cont’d)

• Receiver: individual or organization that intercepts and interprets the message

• Decoding: process whereby a receiver assigns meaning to a message

• Noise: anything that interferes with effective communication

• Feedback: receiver’s reactions to the message

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Marketing CommunicationStrategy and Promotion Mix

• Promotion mix: communication elements the marketer controlsAdvertising

Sales promotion

Public relations

Personal selling

Direct marketing

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Figure 12.3: Control Continuum

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Mass Appeals

• Advertising: Nonpersonal communication from an identified sponsor using mass media

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Mass Appeals (cont’d)

• Sales promotion: contests, coupons, and other incentives designed to build interest or encourage product purchase during a specified period

• Public relations: communication activities that create/maintain a positive image of a firm and its products

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Personal Appeals

• Personal selling: direct interaction between a company representative and a customer

• Direct marketing: efforts to gain a direct response from individual consumers

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Group Activity/Discussion

• Traditional promotion elements include advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing.

• --Which do you feel is most effective for each of the following clients? 1. a cellular phone service provider 2. a hotel 3. a university 4. the manufacturer of a new soft drink

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Buzz Appeals

• Buzz: everyday people who help marketing efforts by talking about a product or a company to others

• Buzz marketing: high-profile entertainment or news that gets people to talk about the brand

• Viral marketing: entertaining or informative messages designed to be passed along

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Buzz Appeals (cont’d)

• Word of mouth (WOM) marketing: activities that give people a reason to talk about the product

• Guerrilla marketing: activities that “ambush” consumers with promotional content where not expected

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Discussion

• Some say buzz marketing is just a craze that will fade in a year or two.--Is it here to stay?

--Do you think buzz is effective? Why or why not?

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Group Activity

• Your team is a word-of-mouth marketing department for a sports equipment company such as Spalding.

• Develop ways to create buzz for your company’s products.

SPALDING.COM

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Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

• With IMC, marketing communication programs create and maintain long-term relationships with customers by satisfying their needs.

• IMC unifies all marketing communication tools to send a consistent, persuasive message.

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Characteristics of IMC

• Creates a single unified voice for firm.

• Begins with the customer.

• Seeks to develop relationships with customers through one-to-one marketing.

• Relies on two-way communication.

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Characteristics of IMC (cont’d)

• Focuses on stakeholders, not just customers.

• Generates a continuous stream of communication.

• Measures results based on actual feedback.

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IMC and Database Marketing

• Database marketing: creation of ongoing relationship with a set of customers who have identifiable interest in a product

• --Customers’ responses become part of ongoing communication process. Is interactive Builds relationshipsLocates new customers Stimulates cross-selling Is measurable Yields trackable

responses

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Discussion

• Consumers are concerned that databases invade privacy. --Do you feel this is a valid concern? --How can marketers use databases effectively and

protect individuals’ rights?

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Developing the IMC plan (Figure 12.4)

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Developing the IMC Plan

• Step 1: Identify target audiences

• Step 2: Establish communication objectives Create awareness Inform the market Create desire Encourage purchase and trial Build loyalty

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Figure 12.5: The Hierarchy of Effects

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• Step 3: Determine and allocate the marketing communication budgetDetermine total promotion budgetTop-down budgeting techniquesPercentage-of-salesCompetitive-parityBottom-upObjective-task

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• Step 3: Determine and allocate the marketing communication budget (continued)Push strategy: move products through the channel by

convincing channel members to offer themPull strategy: move products through the channel by

building desire among consumers, convincing retailers to respond to demand

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• Step 3: Determine and allocate the marketing communication budget (continued)Allocate the budget to a specific promotion mixOrganizational factorsMarket responsivenessMarket potentialMarket size

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• Step 4: Design the promotion mixType of appeal AIDA model: communication goals of attention,

interest, desire, and actionStructure of the appealCommunication channel

THEWOMB.COM

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• Step 5: Evaluate the effectiveness of the communication programAre communication objectives adequately translated

into marketing communication that is reaching the right target market?

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Discussion

• Some people argue there’s really nothing new about IMC.What do you think? Why?Why is the IMC plan superior to conventional

advertising?

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Real People, Real Choices

• General Motors R* Works (Vince O’Brien)

• Vince chose option 2: offer season passes to local ski mountain as purchase incentive for designated SUV.

• Chevrolet has completed its sixth year of this Ski Chevy promotional program, and it’s all smooth going from here!

SKICHEVY.COM

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Marketing in Action Case:You Make the Call

• What is the decision facing American Express?

• What factors are important in understanding this decision situation?

• What are the alternatives?• What decision(s) do you recommend?• What are some ways to implement your

recommendation?

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Keeping It Real: Fast-Forward to Next Class, Decision Time at BzzAgent

• Meet Joe Chernov, director of PR at BzzAgent, Inc.

• Buzz marketers accused of “perpetrating large scale deception upon consumers”

• The decision: What public relations strategy to use to respond to the criticism?