integrated marketing communication

The MAANZ MXpress Program

eMarketing Communication

Copyright January 2013. This Power Point program and the associated documents remain the intellectual property and the copyright of the author and of The Marketing Association of Australia and New Zealand Inc. These notes may be used only for personal study associated with in the above referenced course and not in any

education or training program. Persons and/or corporations wishing to use these notes for any other purpose should contact MAANZ for written permission.


• The primary goal of this topic is to understand the Internet as a tool for efficiently and

effectively exchanging marketing communication messages between marketers and their

audiences. You will learn how each marketing communication tool can carry messages over the

Internet and how marketers buy and use promotional space on the Net as a

communication medium.

MXpress Course Copyright MAANZ 2

eMarketing Communication • Internet marketing is a powerful way to start and strengthen relationships with customers. However,

online marketers must be increasingly clever to design and deliver brand messages that capture and hold audience attention —because on the Internet, users are in control. They can delete unwanted incoming

email and impatiently click away when Web sites don't quickly deliver desired information. Also, the Internet allows consumers to widely disseminate their own attitudes and brand experiences via email and Web postings, shifting the balance of control over brand

images from companies to consumers.



• Marketing communication (MarCom) tools that use technology to provide convenience, in conjunction with value ‐ added product experiences, are important in capturing

attention and winning long ‐ term customer relationships. And as a bonus, technology

lowers the costs


Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC)

• Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a cross ‐ functional process for planning,

executing, and monitoring brand communications designed to profitably

acquire, retain, and grow customers. IMC is cross ‐ functional because every contact that a customer has with a firm or its agents helps to

form brand images.



• Every contact with an employee, a Web site, a magazine ad, a catalogue, the physical store facilities, and so forth, helps the customer form an image of the firm. In addition, the product experience, its pricing level, and its distribution channels enhance the firm's marketing communication in a variety of online and offline media to present a strong brand image. The

best advertising can be undermined if these online and offline contact experiences do not communicate in a unified way to create and support positive brand

relationships with customers.



• Profitable customer relationships are key to a firm's existence. Successful firms recognise that not all customers are equally valuable — some, such as frequent flyers or buyers, are more

important than others. Using technology, firms can monitor profits customer by customer and, based on this analysis, pay more attention to high ‐ value customers. Databases and the analysis

techniques allow firms to differentiate customers by value and track the results of company

MarCom campaigns.


IMC strategy

• IMC strategy begins with a thorough understanding of the target stakeholders, the

brand, its competition, and many other internal and external factors. Then marketers select specific MarCom tools to achieve their

communication objectives. After implementation, they measure execution

effectiveness, make needed adjustments, and evaluate the results.


IMC strategy

• IMC should:

• 1) be more strategic than executional (i.e., more than just about 'one voice, one look'),

• 2) be about more than just advertising and sales promotion messages,


IMC strategy

• 3) include two ‐ way as well as one ‐ way communication, and

• 4) be results driven.

• Although strategic IMC entails a coordinated marketing mix and cross ‐ functional

participation, this section focuses on the promotion mix elements (also called marketing

communication tools), the core of a firm's marketing communication plan.


Marketing Communication Tools• MarCom consists of both planned and unplanned messages

between firms and customers, as well as those among customers. Companies use planned messages when trying to inform or persuade their target stakeholders. Unplanned messages include things such as word ‐ of ‐mouth among consumers and publicity in media. However, because

consumers have more control over communication on the Internet, it is nearly impossible for companies to directly

manage unplanned messages. Thus, firms should concentrate on creating positive product experiences so that unplanned messages will be positive. In fact, some

firms have experienced tremendous growth almost entirely based on unplanned email (e.g., Hotmail).


Marketing Communication Tools

• Using innovative technologies, e ‐marketers can enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of

traditional MarCom in many interesting ways. Important technologies include text and

multimedia messages carried via Web pages and email ; databases to store information; new Web development, browsing, and email software to facilitate Internet communication; and a plethora

of digital ‐ receiving devices from PCs to cell phones for viewing multimedia messages.

Marketing Communication Media• The Internet is just one of many media used to carry

marketing communication messages. TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, outdoor (e.g., kiosks, bus cards, and billboards), postal mail and the various

channels of the Internet are also channels of communication.

• Because the Internet is often compared with traditional media, marketers need to understand the major

media's characteristics as well as the Internet's media characteristics so they can make appropriate choices

when buying promotional space.


Media Characteristics• Marketing communication can be sent to an individual (e.g., postal mail) or the masses (e.g., newspapers) and can range from broadcast (e.g., television) to pointcast

(e.g., email ). Electronic media such as network television, radio, cable television, the Internet,

facsimile (fax) transmission, and cellular phones can be viewed as broadcast, narrowcast, and pointcast on the

basis of their capability to reach mass audiences, smaller audiences, or even individuals with different messages. Other traditional media competing for marketing communication dollars include print and

postal mail.


Media Characteristics

• Differences among these and other media allow marketers to select the best

combination to achieve their goals . For instance, e ‐marketers might select email if they want to customise an offer to one

individual and request an interactive response via clicking on a hyperlink.


Media

• Broadcast media (TV and radio) have a number of strengths and weaknesses, TV penetration

reaches 98 percent of households, with one ‐third owning three or more sets. TV remains the only medium for advertisers wanting to reach

large numbers of consumers at one time, but it is costly

• Radio's penetration is also ubiquitous. Almost every household and car has a radio. Radio

advertising time is inexpensive


Narrowcast Medium

• Cable TV (CATV) is a narrowcast medium. It is called narrowcast because cable channels contain focused electronic content appealing to special ‐

interest markets.

• For example, cable channels such as CNN or ESPN are networks in that they reach extremely large

audiences worldwide, but they still have specialised programming. CATV advertising tends to be less expensive than broadcast advertising,

although some exceptions apply.


Pointcast Media• The folks at pointcast.com, who brought individualised

news service to every computer desktop (and do not exist today), coined the term pointcast. Pointcast media are electronic media with the capability of

transmitting to an audience of just one person, such as the Internet and the cell phone. Pointcast media can transmit either personalised or standardised messages in bulk to the entire audience of those who have the equipment to receive them, and these individuals can transmit a single message back to the sender using the same equipment. Receiving devices include pagers, cell phones, PDAs, computers, TV, fax machines, and more.


Media

• From a media buyer's perspective, the strengths of the Internet include selective targeting with email and Web content by using databases, ability to track

advertising effectiveness, flexibility of message length and delivery timing, ability to reach global markets with one advertising buy (e.g., the Yahoo! portal), and interactivity. The Internet is the first electronic medium to allow active, self ‐ paced

viewing (similar to print media), and it is the first and best medium for interactivity. In fact, many say that with the Internet, users create their own content.


Internet weaknesses

• The Internet's weaknesses include the inability to reach mass audiences, slow video delivery to

many individuals due to low broadband penetration, and incomplete audience

descriptions. Many of the weaknesses of the Net are in the process of being remedied. Audience measurement was initially a weakness, though companies such as comScore Media Metrix and

Nielsen//NetRatings have made major improvements in this area.


Print Media

• Print media include newspapers (local and national) and magazines. The Net is often

compared to print media because its content is text and graphic heavy, and because many

traditional print media publishers maintain online versions. Unlike television and radio, print media allow for active viewing: Readers can stop and look at an ad that interests them, sometimes

spending quite a bit of time reading the details. In general, magazine advertising space is much more expensive than newspaper space.


Direct Postal and Electronic Mail

• Finally, like the email , postal mail allows for more selective targeting than any mass medium, can be personalised, gives good message and timing

flexibility, and is excellent for measuring effectiveness because of response tracking

capability. However, direct mail has a poor image (junk mail and spam) and postal mail has high costs for production and postage. Conversely,

email has low costs but limited market coverage compared with postal mail, which is changing as companies build extensive email databases.


Broadcast Faxing

• Broadcast faxing, in which faxes are sent to multiple recipients, is now less common than in the past. This is partly due to laws in the United States and elsewhere which regulate

its use for consumer marketing.


Broadcast Faxing

• Roughly 2% of direct marketers use fax, mostly for business‐to‐business marketing campaigns.

Also, due to the popularity of a variety of digital communication methods, the overall

use of faxes is less than in the past.


Couponing

• Couponing is used in print and digital media to elicit a response from the reader. An example is a coupon

which the reader receives through the mail and takes to a store's check‐out counter to receive a discount.

• Digital Coupons: Manufacturers and retailers make coupons available online for electronic orders that can

be downloaded and printed. Digital coupons are available on company websites, social media outlets, texts, and email alerts. There are an increasing number of mobile phone applications offering digital coupons

for direct use.


Couponing

• Daily Deal Sites offer local and online deals each day, and are becoming increasingly

popular. Customers sign up to receive notice of discounts and offers, which are sent daily by email. Purchases are often made using a special coupon code or promotional code.


Direct Selling

• An additional element of the direct‐marketing program is direct selling, the direct, personal presentation, demonstration, and sales of

products to consumers in their homes. Avon, Amway, Mary Kay Cosmetics, and Tupperware are some of the best known direct‐sellers. Most direct sales representatives selling

throughout the world; (98 percent of them) are independent contractors (not employees

of the firm they represent).


The three forms of direct selling are

• 1. Repetitive person‐to‐person selling. The salesperson visits the buyer's home, job site, or other location to sell frequently purchased products (for example, Amway).

• 2. Non‐repetitive person‐to‐person selling. The salesperson visits the buyer's home, job site, or other location to sell infrequently purchased products (for

example, Encyclopaedia Britannica).

• 3. Party plans. The salesperson offers products to groups of people through home or office parties and demonstrations (for example, Tupperware).


Email Marketing• Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves

using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and is meant to build loyalty, trust, or brand

awareness. Email marketing can be done to either cold lists or current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually

used to refer to:• Sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the

relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat

business,


Email Marketing

• Sending email messages with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately,

• Adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers

• Researchers estimate that United States firms alone spent US $1.51 billion on email marketing in 2011 and will grow to $2.468 billion by 2016


Email Marketing

• Types of email marketing• Email marketing can be carried out through

different types of emails:• Transactional emails

• Transactional emails are usually triggered based on a customer’s action with a company.

Triggered transactional messages include dropped basket messages, purchase or order

confirmation emails and email receipts.


Transactional email

• The primary purpose of a transactional email is to convey information regarding the action that

triggered it. But, due to its high open rates (51.3% compared to 36.6% for email newsletters)

transactional emails are a golden opportunity to engage customers; to introduce or extend the

email relationship with customers or subscribers, to anticipate and answer questions or to cross‐

sell or up‐sell products or services.•


Email Marketing

• Many email newsletter software vendors offer transactional email support, which gives

companies the ability to include promotional messages within the body of transactional emails. There are also software vendors that offer specialized transactional email marketing services, which include providing targeted and personalized transactional email messages and running specific marketing campaigns (such as customer referral programs).


Online

• Marketers also use search engine optimisation to drive traffic to their sites.

• Social Media Sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, also provide opportunities for direct marketers to communicate directly with customers by creating content to which

customers can respond.


Mobile

• Through mobile marketing, marketers engage with prospective customers and donors in an interactive manner through a mobile device or network, such as a cellphone, smartphone, or tablet. Types of mobile marketing messages include: SMS: (short message service) —

marketing communications are sent in the form of text messages, also known as texting. MMS:

(multi‐media message service) — These messages use elements such as images, video,

and audio; Mobile Applications:


Mobile

• Smartphone‐based mobile apps contain several types of messages. Push Notifications are direct messages sent to a user either automatically or as part of a campaign. They include transactional, marketing, geo‐based, and more. Rich Push

Notifications are full HTML Push Notifications. Mobile apps also contain Interactive ads that appear inside the mobile application or app;

Location‐Based Marketing: marketing messages delivered directly to a mobile device based on the

user's location;


QR Codes

• QR Codes (quick‐response barcodes): This is a type of 2D barcode with an encoded link that can be accessed from a smartphone. This technology is increasingly being used for everything from special offers to product

information. Mobile Banner Ads: Like standard banner ads for desktop Web pages but smaller to fit on mobile screens and run on the mobile

content network


IMC Goals and Strategies

• Marketers create marketing communication objectives based on overall marketing goals and the desired effects within selected target

markets.



• The traditional AIDA model (awareness, interest, desire, and action) or the "think, feel, do" hierarchy of

effects model is part of what guides marketers' selection of online and offline MarCom tools to meet their goals. Both the AIDA and hierarchy of effects

models suggest that consumers first become aware of and learn about a new product (think), then develop a

positive or negative attitude about it (feel), and ultimately move to purchasing it (do). The thinking, or cognitive, steps are awareness and knowledge. The feeling, or attitude, steps are liking and preference.



• Consequently, emarketers must select the appropriate IMC tools—which may vary from one stage to the other, depending on the desired results. For example, e ‐marketers may opt to use traditional IMC tools of sales promotion, such as giving away free T ‐ shirts

or mouse pads, to create awareness; television advertising to create interest and desire; and direct selling by telephone to get

the desired action (buying).


IMC tools

• The think, feel, do model is well accepted for high ‐ involvement product decisions (those that are perceived as being high financial, emotional, or social risk). This model works because consumers

spend some amount of time gathering information and considering alternatives prior to

buying such products. Conversely, for low ‐involvement decisions, consumers often just hear about a product, give it a try, and then decide

whether they like it.


IMC tools

• If a firm wants to build its brands and inform customers, it will operate at the cognitive and attitude levels of the hierarchy of effects,

perhaps utilising information publishing, Web advertising, email campaigns, and other

promotional techniques.


IMC tools

• If a firm wants to encourage online transactions (behaviour), it needs more

persuasive communication messages that tell how to complete the transaction on the Web

site, over the telephone, and so forth. Postpurchase behaviour doesn't appear on the commonly accepted hierarchy, yet many MarCom strategies seek to build customer satisfaction after the purchase. Email is especially well suited for this goal.


The hierarchy of effects model

• The hierarchy of effects model is important because it helps marketers understand where consumers stand in relation to the purchase cycle so the firm can select appropriate communication objectives and strategies that will move consumers closer to purchase and loyalty. Bear in mind that some MarCom tools are more appropriate for building awareness and brand attitudes (advertising, public relations) and others are more suited for encouraging transactional behaviour (direct marketing, sales promotions, personal selling).

Nevertheless, all can be used at each level.


Target markets

• Understanding the desired effects in each target market is the first step to building an

effective IMC plan and establishing benchmarks for applying performance metrics

to measure the plan's success.


Branding versus Direct Response• Marketing communication can be used to build brand

equity or to elicit a direct response in the form of a transaction or some other behaviour (such as Web site

registration or email inquiry). The goal of brand advertising online is to put the brand name and

product benefits in front of users. "Brand advertising creates a distinct favourable image that customers associate with a product at the moment they make

buying decisions". • Marketing public relations also aims to build brands, while sales promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling primarily attempt to solicit a direct response.


Branding versus Direct Response

• Direct ‐ response advertising seeks to motivate action. Brand communication works at the awareness and attitude levels of the

hierarchy of effects model (heads and hearts), while direct ‐ response communication

primarily works at the behavioural level (do something).


Branding versus Direct Response• Although every contact with a firm helps to create

brand impressions in the heads and hearts of consumers, marketers tend to focus on only one type of strategy in each IMC campaign. Why, then, is all marketing communication not direct response?

Marketers hope that all communication will contribute to sales in the long run, but consumers must first be made aware of a product before they will buy it. For high ‐ involvement products, consumers must develop positive attitudes prior to purchase. Marketers must keep these principles in mind when selecting among

IMC tools.


Internet Advertising

• Advertising is nonpersonal communication of information through various media, usually

persuasive in nature about products (goods and services) or ideas and usually paid for by an

identified sponsor. All paid space on a Web site or in an email is considered advertising. Internet

advertising parallels traditional media advertising, in which companies create content and then sell space to outside advertisers. This can be confusing, especially when a house banner appears on a firm's own Web site.


Internet Advertising• The key is exchange: If a firm pays money or barters with goods for space in which to put content it creates,

the content is considered advertising. Previously (earlier section) we discussed how firms create

revenue streams from selling advertising space, but this and later sections discuss the flip ‐ side: buying

advertising space from someone else to reach a firm's stakeholders. These specific definitions are

meaningless to consumers (who view all commercial messages as advertising), but they are important to marketers because various MarCom tools help to

accomplish various specific goals.


The changing face of online advertising

• Over the next few years the online advertising landscape will change dramatically. Consumer consumption of video, mobile and social are all starting to play a role in the way we plan and buy media however by 2015 our online media schedules will look very different to

how they look today.


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