INTEGRATING MARKETING

COMMUNICATIONS TO BUILD BRAND EQUITY

WHAT IS MARKETING COMMUNICATION?

Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform,

persuade, and remind consumers—directly or indirectly—about the brands they sell.

It can also be seen as the voice of the brand and are a means by which the brand
can build a relationship with customers
WHY IS THIS RELEVANT TODAY?

New Media Environment

 Traditional advertising media such as TV, radio, magazines, and newspapers seem
to be losing their grip on consumers.
 Marketers spent $18 billion into Web advertising in 2005. While Web advertising
jumped 20% during this time, spending for TV ads remained flat. Shows us a clear
trend.
MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

A simple way to judge any communication option is by its ability to contribute to

brand equity.
- How well does an ad campaign contribute to brand awareness?
- Does a sponsorship cause consumers to have more favorable brand judgments
and feelings?
- To what extent does a promotion encourage consumers to buy a product?
MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

Current Brand Desired Brand

Knowledge Knowledge

- What is your current brand knowledge? Have you created a detailed

mental map?
-What is your desired brand knowledge? Have you identified optimal
points of parity and points of difference and a brand mantra?
-How does the communication option help the brand get from current to
desired knowledge with consumers? Have you clarified the specific
effects on knowledge engendered by communications?
INFORMATION PROCESSING MODEL OF
COMMUNICATIONS
1. Exposure – must see or hear the communication
2. Attention- must notice
3. Comprehension- Must understand the intended message
4. Yielding- Must respond favorably
5. Intentions- Must plan to act in a desirable manner
6. Behavior- Must actually act in desirable manner
MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS OPTIONS

 Advertising
 Promotions
 Event marketing and sponsorship
 Public relations and publicity
 Personal selling
ADVERTISING

 A powerful means of creating strong, favorable, and unique brand associations

and eliciting positive judgments and feelings

 Controversial because its specific effects are often difficult to quantify and predict

 Nevertheless, a number of studies using very different approaches have shown

the potential power of advertising on brand sales.
IDEAL AD CAMPAIGN

1. The right consumer is exposed to the right message at the right place and at the right
time.

2. The creative strategy for the advertising causes the consumer to notice and attend to
the ad but does not distract from the intended message.

3. The ad properly reflects the consumer’s level of understanding about the product and
the brand.

4. The ad correctly positions the brand in terms of desirable and deliverable points-of-
difference and points-of-parity.

5. The ad motivates consumers to consider purchase of the brand.

6. The ad creates strong brand associations to all of these stored communication effects
so that they can have an effect when consumers are considering making a purchase.
 CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING

MEDIUM ADVANTAGE DISADVANTAGE

Television Mass coverage at low cost per exposure Short message life, especially due to clutter

Radio Local coverage at low production costs Low attention; Audio only

Magazines Segmented audience; High information Long lead time for ad placement; Visual only
Print
Newspapers High coverage; Short lead times Low attention; Selective reader exposure

Direct response High selectivity; Reader controls exposure High cost per contact; Poor image (spam)

Interactive Customized and personalized; Detailed Non-obtrusive; Lacks emotionality

Outdoor Location specific; Easily noticed Short exposure times; Poor image
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (TV)

 Television
 Powerful medium because it allows for sight, sound an motion
 Reaches a highly engaged, broad audience spectrum audience
 Message strategy – WHAT the ad attempts to convey
 Creative strategy – HOW the ad expresses the brand claims
 Effective TV ads
 Contribute to brand equity in some demonstrable way – Awareness, Association
 EFFIE awards for advertising effectiveness – Apple, Naukri.com
 Copy testing – Reactions of a sample of consumers are gauged
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (RADIO)

 Radio
 Stations are highly targeted and Ads are relatively inexpensive to produce
 Complement and reinforce TV ads
 Effective radio ads
 Identify brand early in the commercial
 Identify the brand often
 Promise the listener a benefit early in the commercial
 Repeat it often
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (PRINT)

 Print – Newspaper & Magazine

 Can provide detailed information to consumers
 Perceived as less intrusive, more truthful and more relevant
 Can effectively communicate brand information and imagery
 Effective print ad
 Is the message clear at a glance?
 Is the benefit in the headline?
 Does the illustration support the headline?
 Is it easy to read and follow?
 Is the product/brand easily and clearly identifiable?
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (PRINT)
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (DIRECT)

 Direct Response
 Mail, Telephone, Internet etc to solicit a response from specific customers
 Easier to establish a relationship with customers
 Infomercial – Cross between a sales call and a television ad
 Mercedes, Microsoft, Philips, Monster.com have used infomercials
 Effective direct marketing program
 Up-to-date list of current and potential customers
 Put forth the right offer in the right manner
 Tracking the effectiveness of the program
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (DIRECT)
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (INTERACTIVE)

 Interactive – Websites, Online Ads, Mobile marketing

 Websites – Low cost customizability; Timely delivery of reliable information
 Online Ads – Trackable, Non disruptive, Targeted; Very low click-through rates
 Mobile – Highly personalized; Closer relationships; Infotainment content

 Outdoor or Place advertising

 Billboards
 Movies, Airline lounges
 Product placement – Cameo appearances in movies
 Point of purchase
CATEGORY OF ADVERTISING (INTERACTIVE)
PROMOTIONS

 Short-term incentives to encourage trial/usage of a

product or service
 Advertising provides a reason to buy; Promotions give
incentives
 More in-store decisions, Less brand loyal, More immune
to advertising
 Consumer promotions - Designed to change the choices,
quantity, or timing of consumers’ product purchases.
 Trade promotions - Financial incentives or discounts
given to retailers, distributors, and other members of
the trade to stock, display, and in other ways facilitate
the sale of a product.
EVENT MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP

 Event marketing is public sponsorship of events or activities related to sports, art,

entertainment, or social causes
 Target a particular market/lifestyle
 Increase awareness of the company/product name
 Create/reinforce customer perceptions
 Express commitment to society or on social issues
 To permit merchandising and promotional opportunities

 Dependent on the success of the event

EVENT MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP

 Event sponsorship provides a different kind of communication option for marketers –

Chance to develop a deeper relationship

 Choosing opportunities – Event must meet marketing objectives and communication

strategy; Sufficient awareness; Match target market

 Designing programs – Strategically identify itself at the event; Supplement such

activities with prizes, samples etc.

 Measuring effectiveness – Supply side method focuses on potential exposure by

assessing extent of media coverage; Demand side method focuses on reported exposure
from consumers
EVENT MARKETING AND SPONSORSHIP
PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY

 Publicity – Non-personal communications such as press releases, media interviews,

press conferences etc.

 Public Relations – Includes annual reports, fund-raising, lobbying etc.

 J&J’s handling of the Tylenol crisis boosted the value of PR

 PR is now an invaluable part of crisis handling

 Buzz marketing – Techniques to create consumer word of mouth

 Allow influential consumers to “discover” the product in the hopes of them giving positive
endorsement to their peers
PERSONAL SELLING

 Personal selling is face-to-face interaction with one or more prospective

purchasers for the purpose of making sales
 Detailed customized message to customers; High cost, Lack of breadth
 The keys to better selling
 Rethink training
 Get everyone involved
 Inspire from the top
 Change the motivation
 Forge electronic links
 Talk to your customers
INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS

The “voice” of the brand

A means by which it can establish a dialogue

and build relationships with consumers

Allow marketers to inform, persuade, provide

incentives, and remind consumers directly or
indirectly

Can contribute to brand equity by establishing the

brand in memory and linking strong, favorable,
and unique associations to it
DEVELOPING IMC PROGRAMS

Mixing and matching communication options to build brand equity

• Evaluate all possible communication options available to

create knowledge structures according to effectiveness
1. criteria as well as cost considerations

• Different communication options have different

2. strengths and can accomplish different objectives

• Determine the optimal mix

3.
CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION OF IMC
PROGRAMS
Coverage
Contribution
Commonality
Complementarity
Versatility
Cost
 COVERAGE

Communicat
Proportion of audience ion Option A
reached by each
communication option AUDIENCE
including how much
Communic Communic
overlap exists among ation ation
communication options Option B Option C
COVERAGE

 Unique aspects – relate to direct main effects of any communication i.e.

Outcome of exposure

 Common aspects relate to the interaction or multiplicative effects of two or more

communications working together
 If there is overlap in communication options marketers must decide how to design the
options as consumers will have some memory of the brand due to previous exposure
 It should strengthen the linkage or carry forward the associations with the brand
 CONTRIBUTION

Ability of a marketing The collective effect on brand equity

communication to create in terms of :
the desired response and
communication effects • Enhancing depth and breadth of
from consumers in awareness
absence of exposure to
any other • Improving strength, favorability
communication option and uniqueness of brand associations
COMMONALITY

Extent to which information shared by different communication options

share the same meaning
Why do we need Commonality?
• Lack of commonality leads to confusions regarding the meaning of the brand  less
strong and less favourable associations due to uncertainty and inconsistency

Problem with commonality – consistency (e.g. – deodorant ad)

Encoding Variability Principle:

• Presenting information in varied contexts causes information to be encoded in
different ways
• Multiple communication elements are more effective
• Consumers form multiple retrieval routes  convergence of information to be
recalled enhancing recall
VERSATILITY
Extent to which information contained in a communication option
works with different types of consumers

Two types of Versatility – consumer and communication

• Communication should be effective regardless of consumers’ past communication history
• Some will be ineffective unless consumers have been exposed to previous communications
– should work at both levels – Mass awareness is pre requisite for personal selling

Ways of Achieving Versatility

Multiple Information Provision Strategy
• Provision of different information in one communication – appeal to different segments
• Problems -How information is processed by different segments; may lead to overload and
confusion
Broad information provision strategy
• Provide rich or ambiguous information regardless of prior knowledge
• Consumers have to find necessary information to satisfy their goals
 Complementarity
• Extent to which different associations and linkages are
emphasized across communications options
• Ideal communication options – mutually compensatory
and reinforcing ( e.g. – Promotions combined with ads)

Cost
All communication options must be weighed against cost
to ensure effectiveness and efficiency
USING IMC CHOICE CRITERIA

• Evaluating communication options

1.

• Establishing priorities and trade offs

2.
• Executing final design and implementation
• Three main aspects – creativity, concentration and
3. continuity
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
GUIDELINES

Analytical • Use frameworks of consumer behavior and managerial decision

making to develop well-reasoned communication programs

• Fully understand consumers by using all forms of research and

Curious always be thinking of how you can create added value for
consumers

• Focus message on well-defined target markets (less

Single minded can be more)

• Reinforce your message through consistency and

Integrative cuing across all communications
MARKETING COMMUNICATION
GUIDELINES
• State your message in a unique fashion; use
Creative alternative promotions and media to create
favorable, strong, and unique brand associations

• Monitor competition, customers, channel

Observant members, and employees through tracking
studies

• Understand the complexities involved in

Realistic marketing communications

• Take a long-term view of communication

Patient effectiveness to build and manage brand equity
THANK YOU