Integrated Communication Strategies in Marketing

Posted on Sep 16, 2024 in Other subjects

Communication in Marketing

Communication is a crucial strategic tool for any company aiming to establish a strong market position. While not the sole key to success, it plays a vital role, and its absence can lead to failure. Through integrated communication, we project the desired image of our company to the market, enabling us to stand out in an increasingly competitive landscape.

A well-defined communication strategy is essential. This strategy can be built using various marketing tools, but a consistent message conveyed to the market is paramount. This message positions us and differentiates us from competitors. Choosing the right message is crucial for an effective communication strategy.

Integrated communication encompasses the following key areas:

  • Advertising
  • Sponsorship
  • Promotion
  • Merchandising
  • Direct Marketing
  • Internet Marketing

Due to its significance in our industry, we will focus on advertising.

Advertising

Advertising is a non-personal, paid form of presenting ideas, products, or services by an identified sponsor with the goal of influencing individual behavior.

The importance of advertising lies in four key features:

  • Mass Character: It allows us to deliver the desired message to a large portion of the target audience.
  • Speed: Its actions yield immediate results.
  • Cost-Effectiveness: While advertising may seem expensive initially, the cost per useful impact is relatively low.
  • Effectiveness: It generates an immediate response, regardless of the objective: increased sales, brand recognition, or enhanced company reputation.

The key players involved in advertising are:

  • The Advertiser: The entity needing to communicate or promote something, typically paying for it. They determine the target market, the message, the timing, and the budget.
  • Advertising Agency: Specialists who create advertisements for a fee.
  • Advertising Channels: Responsible for disseminating the advertisement and charging for it. Common channels include television, press, radio, magazines, and increasingly, websites.
  • The Receiver: The recipient of the message, who neither pays nor charges.

Advertising Media

The most commonly used advertising media channels are:

1. Mass Media

These include press, radio, and television, with the internet gaining prominence as a widely used communication medium.

  • Television: High cost but offers unique possibilities by combining words, images, movement, sound, and color. It’s highly effective in creating desire for the advertised product.
  • Radio: More affordable than television. Radio stations are increasingly catering to specific target audiences, making them effective for reaching niche markets.
  • Press and Magazines: The reading public is typically more focused than television or radio audiences. This focused attention can be advantageous. Print media is relatively affordable.
  • Internet: Has revolutionized communication with concepts like interactivity, personalization, globalization, and the information society. It blends communication with marketing, sales, and distribution, creating new opportunities for businesses and professionals.

Each medium has its advantages, disadvantages, and associated costs. Television is generally the most expensive, followed by press and radio. Costs within each medium vary depending on factors like program placement, page position, and time slots.

Mass media share certain characteristics:

  • One-Way Communication: Communication flows from the transmitter to the receiver, with limited immediate feedback.
  • Large Audience: They reach a vast number of receivers with similar characteristics. However, audiences are becoming increasingly fragmented, making it challenging to reach everyone effectively.
  • Added Value: Some media lend credibility and acceptance to the message.

2. Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor advertising is a distinct medium that utilizes various supports to convey messages. It’s a constantly evolving medium, with new formats emerging regularly.

Key types of outdoor advertising include:

  • Billboards: Stationary displays in cities and along roads. They feature concise messages designed for quick comprehension. Billboards are highly visible and can generate repeated exposure.
  • Public Transport Advertising: Advertising placed inside and outside public transport vehicles like buses, subways, trains, and taxis.
  • Mobile and Semi-Mobile Advertising: Billboards mounted on authorized vehicles or placed on vehicles parked in urban areas. Active screens controlled remotely and displaying changing content are becoming increasingly popular.
  • Aerial Advertising: Banners towed by airplanes.
  • Sports Venue Advertising: Static advertising displayed in sports stadiums, racing circuits, and other venues during events.
  • Other Static Advertising: Includes advertising on bus shelters, phone booths, litter bins, public clocks, streetlights, newspaper kiosks, subway platforms, digital displays, and other urban structures.

The profitability of each outdoor advertising format varies depending on the objective. The key is to ensure the message stands out within the urban landscape, making creativity crucial.

3. Direct Mail

Direct mail involves sending advertising materials to a specific audience through their mailboxes. It allows for targeted messaging to a desired group and is relatively inexpensive. However, its effectiveness depends on the message reaching the intended recipient and being read.

Advertising in the Tourism Sector

Commonly used channels in the tourism sector include:

  • Specialized Magazines
  • Trade Shows and Exhibitions
  • Sponsorship
  • Online Channels
  • Brochures

Communication Plan Objectives

When launching a new product or promoting an existing one, a company should establish clear communication objectives. These objectives should address:

  • New Product: Communicate its features, benefits, and the needs it fulfills.
  • Existing Product: Highlight any improvements or new uses.
  • Distribution Channels: Inform consumers about where the product can be purchased.
  • Sales Support: Provide materials and information to assist the sales team.

Developing a Communication Plan

The steps involved in drafting a communication plan are:

A. Setting Goals

The advertising department head must be fully aware of the company’s objectives. This ensures the campaign aligns with the company’s needs. Common business objectives include:

  • Maintaining market share
  • Supporting the sales team
  • Informing the target audience about company developments
  • Attracting new customers
  • Gaining market share from competitors
  • Reaching potential customers
  • Promoting the company’s image
  • Building customer loyalty

Four types of advertising can be used, depending on the objectives:

  • Informative Advertising: Introduces new products or services or recommends existing ones.
  • Persuasive Advertising: Creates selective demand by highlighting the features and benefits of a specific brand.
  • Reminder Advertising: Reminds consumers about an established product and its qualities.
  • Reinforcement Advertising: Reinforces customer satisfaction with a purchase by highlighting its benefits and confirming the right choice.
B. Creating a Briefing

A briefing document defines the characteristics of each action within the communication plan. It provides instructions and essential information to ensure consistency with objectives and marketing strategies. It should be concise but comprehensive, including elements like:

  • Target Audience Definition: Demographics, psychology, purchasing habits, age, and role as consumer, prescriber, or purchaser.
  • Product Definition: Differentiation, added value, benefits to the consumer, focusing on use, profitability, and life cycle.
  • Market Characteristics: Current status, sales conditions, market volume, trends.
  • Competitive Environment: Brands, market share, marketing strategies, advertising, promotion, product differentiation, pricing, image, and design.
  • Company Details: Mission, culture, principles, corporate identity strategy.
  • Marketing Channels: Company’s channels and competitors’ channels.
  • Historical Advertising Analysis: Past communication activities, objectives, and results.
  • Objectives: Clear communication of marketing objectives and strategies to determine communication objectives.
  • Budget: Essential to understand the financial parameters within which the agency must operate.
C. Base Proposal

The briefing serves as the foundation for the agency’s campaign proposal. The proposal identifies key product or service benefits (both rational and emotional) that will be the focus of the campaign. The base proposal is then presented to the client company.

Message Development

Once the campaign’s core benefits and the base proposal are established, the message is developed. The message’s design is crucial as it’s what the public receives and what drives the achievement of objectives. It should clearly communicate the product or service’s benefits, reasons for these benefits, and supporting evidence. To mitigate risks and ensure effectiveness, a campaign pretest through focus groups is recommended.

Media Plan Development

With the message, budget, and target audience defined, the next step is to determine the most cost-effective and efficient media channels to reach the target audience. This involves analyzing media consumption habits, reach, frequency, GRPs, audience demographics, and cost per impression. Data can be obtained from media providers and independent research organizations.

Based on this data, a media plan is developed, selecting the most appropriate channels, specifying formats, frequency, and scheduling. It involves assessing and allocating media resources across space and time.

Message Adaptation

Effective communication requires adapting the message to different media channels, formats, and audiences. While the central message remains consistent, it’s tailored to maximize the strengths of each medium. Television campaigns leverage visuals and broad reach, while billboard campaigns consider size, color, and location. Radio relies on the power of the spoken word.

Campaign Launch

The campaign launch is the ultimate test. Once launched, feedback from the market starts flowing in, indicating the message’s acceptance. While stopping a campaign prematurely due to high costs is generally not advisable, it may be necessary in cases of message misinterpretation or damage to the corporate image caused by external events.

Control Systems

Campaign effectiveness is typically measured by net sales increase. However, audience research can reveal whether the campaign achieved its initial objectives even if sales don’t immediately reflect it. In such cases, other marketing variables need to be analyzed to identify the cause. Regardless of the outcome, campaign results should be carefully evaluated to learn from the experience and improve future campaigns.