WHAT
IS PROMOTIONAL CAMPAIGN ?
An advertising campaign is a series of
advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an
integrated marketing communication. An IMC is a platform in which a group of
people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base.
Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time
frame and target identified audiences. The campaign theme is the central
message that will be received in the promotional activities and is the prime
focus of advertising campaign, as it sets the motif for the series of
individual advertisements and other marketing communications that will be used.
The campaign themes are usually produced with the objective of being used for a
significant period but many of them are temporal due to factors like being not
effective or market conditions, competition and marketing mix. Advertising
campaigns are built to accomplish a particular objective or a set of
objectives. Such objectives usually include establishing a brand, raising brand
awareness, aggrandizing the rate of conversions/sales. The rate of success or
failure in accomplishing these goals is reckoned via effectiveness measures.
There are 5 key points at which an advertising campaign must consider to ensure
an effective campaign. These points are, integrated marketing communications,
media channels, positioning, the communications process diagram and touch
points. Integrated marketing communication Integrated marketing communication
is a conceptual approach used by the majority of organizations to develop a
strategic plan on how they are going to broadcast their marketing and
advertising campaigns. Recently there has been a shift in the way marketers and
advertisers interact with their consumers and now see it as a conversation
between Advertising Marketing teams and consumers. IMC has emerged as a key
strategy for organizations to manage customer experiences in the digital age.
The more traditional advertising practices such as newspapers, billboards, and
magazines are still used but fail to have the same effect now as they did in
previous years.
The importance of the IMC is to make
the marketing process seamless for both the brand and the consumer. IMC
attempts to meld all aspects of marketing into one cohesive piece. This includes
sales promotion, advertising, public relations, direct marketing, and social
media. The entire point of IMC is to have all of these aspects of marketing
work together as a unified force. This can be done through methods, channels,
and activities all while
using
a media platform. The end goal of IMC is to get the brands message across to
consumers in the most convenient way possible. The advantage of using IMC is
that it has the ability to communicate the same message through several
channels to create brand awareness. IMC is the most cost-effective solution
when compared to mass media advertising to interact with target consumers on a
personal level. IMC also benefits small
businesses, as they are able to
submerge their consumers with communication of various kinds in a way that
pushes them through the research and buying stages creating a relationship and
dialogue with their new customer. Popular and obvious examples of IMC put into
action are the likes of direct marketing to the consumer that the organization
already has a knowledge that the person is interested in the brand by gathering
personal information about them from when they previously shopped there and
then sending mail, emails, texts and other direct communication with the
person.
MEDIA
CHANNELS
Media channels, also known as,
marketing communications channels, are used to create a connection with the
target consumer. Traditional methods of
communication with the consumer
include newspapers, magazines, Radio, television, billboards, telephone, post
and door to door sales. These are just
a few of the historically traditional
methods.
Along with traditional media channels,
comes new and upcoming media channels. Social media has begun to play a very
large role in the way media and marketing intermingle to reach a consumer base.
Social media has the power to reach a wider audience. Depending on the age
group and demographic, social media can influence a company's overall image.
Using social media as a marketing tool has become a widely popular method for
branding. A brand has the chance to create an entire social media presence
based around their own specific targeted community. With advancements in
digital communications channels, marketing communications allow for the
possibility of two-way communications where an immediate consumer response can
be elicited. Digital communications tools include: websites, blogs, social
media, email, mobile, and search engines as a few examples. It is important for
an advertising campaign to carefully select channels based on where their
target consumer spends time to ensure market and advertising efforts are
maximized. Modern day implications to the advantages & disadvantages of
traditional media channels In the rapidly changing marketing and advertising environment,
exposure to certain consumer groups and target audiences through traditional
media
channels
has blurred. These traditional media channels are defined as print, broadcast,
out-of-home and direct mail. The introduction of various new modern-day media
channels has altered their traditional advantages and disadvantages. It is
imperative to the effectiveness of the Integrated Marketing Communication
strategy that exposure to certain demographics, consumer groups and target
audiences is anticipated to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum
communications impact. Print media is mainly defined as newspapers and
magazines. With the transition in last decade to digital information on phones,
computers and tablets, the demographic that still are exposed to traditional
print media is going to be older. It is also estimated that there will be a
reduction of print material in coming years. This has to be taken into account
by the advertisers and in some cases, they could use this to their advantage.
Newspapers advantages would be that it is low cost, timely, reader controls
exposure and has moderate coverage to the older generations in western society.
Disadvantages would obviously be the aging demographic, short life, clutter and
low attention-getting capabilities. Magazines are similar in some cases but
have defined differences as they are a niche product increasing segmentation
potential; they also have high informational content and longevity.
Disadvantages are they are visual only, lack of flexibility and a long lead
time for advertisement placement. level of income and education to name the
main factors. This process is called segmenting customers on the basis of
demographics. Gender is simply whether a person is male or female. Age is
usually broken up into bracketed intervals of ten or so years, for example, a
person's age between 15-25 years old. By understanding which age bracket the
target market falls into the advertisers can position their efforts
accordingly. Occupation is also known as a profession and refers to what a
person does for a living; this could be a particular job, student, unemployed
etc. A person's marital status defines whether they are married or unmarried. Geographical
location is a broad term specifying a particular area or place within a given
country, state/city, suburb or street as some examples. Income refers to how
much money a person is earning annually which can help identify how much money
they have left over after expenses to potential spend on a brand. The final
factor to explain is education, whether a person went to school or not, what
school they attended, what standard of education they have, diplomas,
certificates, graduate, degrees, masters, Ph.D. or other forms of defining
educational factors. Knowing this information can help an advertiser understand
their target markets level of thinking to help adapt the advertising campaign
to be understood by the given target consumer/s. For a business to successfully
find the appropriate target market for their products or services, it is
important that they segment the market to better
decide
which customers to target. This is best done when the market is segmented into
the four following areas: geographic, demographic, psychographic and
behavioural. Geographic segmentation involves the market being divided into
different nations, regions, states, counties, cities, or neighbourhoods.
Segmenting the target market geographically is effective as different areas
have different needs, which can be affected by weather, fashion, etc.
Demographic segmentation separates the market into groups according to age,
gender, family size, income, occupation, education, religion, nationality, and
race. It is important to note that this is the easiest and least expensive way
to segment the market, as the research has already been done. Psychographic
segmentation is the process of markets being divided into groups based on
social class, personality characteristics, and values. Behavioural segmentation
"divides a market into groups based on consumer knowledge, attitude, use,
or response to a product". This is believed to be the best starting point,
when a business is building a market segment. The behavioural segment is important
because it focuses on why consumers consume products. For example, during
Father's day and Mother's day, flowers were promoted due to the heavy demand of
flowers during these holidays. Defining the target market helps businesses and
individuals design a marketing campaign. This in tuins helps businesses and
individuals avoid waste and get their advertisements to likely customers. While
attempting to find the correct target market it is important to focus on
specific groups of individuals that will benefit. By marketing to specific
groups of individuals that specifically relate to the product, businesses and
individuals will more
quickly and efficiently find those who
will purchase the product. Businesses and individuals that monitor their
existing data will find it easier to define their target market, and surveying
existing customers will assist in finding more customers. Avoiding
inefficiencies when finding a target market is equally as important. Wasting
time and money advertising to a large group of potential customers is
inefficient if only a handful become customers. A focused plan that reaches a
tiny audience can work out well if they're already interested in a product.
Over time target markets can change. People
interested today might not be interested
tomorrow, and those not interested in the present time, might become interested
over time. Analysing sales data and customer information helps businesses and
individuals understand when their target market is increasing or decreasing.
There are many advantages that are associated with finding a target market. One
advantage is the “ability to offer the right product” through knowing
the
age and needs of the customer willing to purchase the item. Another advantage
of target marketing assists businesses in understanding what price the customer
will pay for the products or service. Businesses are also more efficient and
effective at advertising their product, because they “reach the right consumers
with messages that are more applicable". However, there are several
disadvantages that can be associated with target marketing. Firstly, finding a
target market is expensive. Often businesses conduct primary research to find
whom their target market is, which usually involves hiring a research agency,
which can cost "tens of thousands of
dollars". Finding one's target
market is also time-consuming, as it often "requires a considerable amount
of time to identify a target audience". Also focusing on finding a target
market can make one overlook other customers that may be in a product.
Businesses or individuals may find that their “average customer' might not
include those that fall just outside of the average customers “demographics",
which will limit the sale of their products. The last disadvantage to note is
the ethical ramifications that are associated with target marketing. An example
of this would be a "beer company that may target less educated, poorer
people with larger-sized bottles".
Positioning In advertising various
brands compete to overtake the perceptual mapping in a consumers mind. Everyday
consumers view advertising and rank particular brands compared to their
competitors. Individuals rank these specific brands in an order of what is most
important to them. For example, a person may compare brands of cars based on
how sporty they think they look, affordability, practicality and classiness.
How one person perceives a brand is different from another but is largely left to
the advertising campaign to manipulate and create the perception that they want
a consumer to
envision
Positioning is an important marketing
concept that businesses implement to market their products or services. The
positioning concept focuses on creating an image that will best attract the
intended audience. Businesses that implement the positioning concept focus on
promotion, price, placement and product. When the positioning concept is
effective and productive it elevates the marketing efforts made by a business,
and assists the buyer in purchasing the product. The positioning process is
imperative in marketing because of the specific level of consumer-based
recognition is involved. A company must create a
trademark brand for themselves in
order to be recognizable by a broad range of consumers. For example, a fast
food restaurant positions itself as fast,
cheap,
and delicious. They are playing upon their strengths and most visible
characteristics. On the other hand, a luxury car brand will position its
brand as a stylish and expensive
platform because they want to target a specific brand very different from the
fast food brand. For the positioning concept to be effective one must focus on
the concepts of promotion, price, place and product. There are three basic
objectives of promotion, which include: presenting product information to
targeted business customers and consumers, increase demand among the target
market, and differentiating a product and creating a brand identity. Tools that
can be used to achieve these objectives are advertising, public relations,
personal selling, direct marketing, and sales promotion. Price of an object is
crucial in the concept of positioning. Adjusting or decreasing the product
price has a profound impact on the sales of the product, and should complement
the other parts of the positioning concept. The price needs to ensure survival,
increase profit, generate survival, gain market shares, and establish an
appropriate image. Positioning a product is essential in the positioning
concept. It is the process marketers use to communicate their products'
attributes to the intended target market. In order for products to be
successful businesses must focus on the customer needs, competitive pressures,
available communication channels and carefully crafted key messages. Product
Positioning presents several advantages in the advertising campaign, and to the
businesses/ individuals that implement it. Positioning connects with superior
aspects of a product and matches them with consumers more effectively than
competitors". Positioning can also help businesses or
individuals realise the consumer's
expectations of the products they are willing to purchase from them.
Positioning a product reinforces the companies
name, product and brand. It also makes
the brand popular and strengthens customer loyalty. Product benefits to
customers are better advertised through positioning the product, which results
in more interest and attention of consumers. This also attracts different types
of consumers as products posse's
different benefits that attract
different groups of consumers, for example: a shoe that is advertised for
playing sports, going for walks, hiking and casual wear will attract different
groups of consumers. Another advantage of positioning is the competitive
strength it gives to businesses/ individuals and
their products, introducing new
products successfully to the market and communicating new and varied features
that are added to a product later on.
COMMUNICATION PROCESS
DIAGRAM
The
Communication of processes diagram refers to the order of operation an
advertising campaign pieces together the flow of communication between a given
organisation and the consumer. The diagram usually flows left to right starting
with the source. An advertising campaign uses the communication process diagram
to ensure all the appropriate steps of communication are being taken in order.
The source is the person or
organisation that has a message they want to share with potential consumers. An
example of this is Vodafone wanting to tell
their consumers and new consumers of a
new monthly plan. The diagram then moves on to encoding which consists of the
organisation putting messages, thoughts and ideas into a symbolic form that be
interpreted by the target consumer using symbols or words. Common examples of
touch points include social media links, QR codes, person handing out flyers
about a particular brand, billboards, web sites and various other methods that
connect the brand and consumer. Multi sensory touch points are subconscious yet
helps use to recognise brands through characteristic identified through human
sensors. These characteristics could be shape, colour, textures, sounds, smell
or tastes associated with a given brand. Guerrilla marketing is the term used
for several types of marketing categories including street marketing, ambient
marketing, presence marketing, alternative marketing, experimental marketing,
grassroots marketing, wild posting, guerrilla projection advertising,
undercover marketing and astroturfing Jay Conrad Levinson coined the term
Guerrilla Marketing with his 1984 book of the same name. Through the
enhancement of technology and common use of internet and mobile phones,
marketing communication has become more affordable and guerrilla marketing is
on the rise, allowing the spread of newsworthy guerrilla campaigns. When
establishing a guerrilla marketing strategy, there are seven elements to a
clear and logical approach. Firstly, write a statement that identifies the
purpose of the strategy. Secondly
define how the purpose will be achieved concentrating on the key advantages.
Next Levinson suggests writing a
descriptive summary on the target
market or consumers. The fourth element is to establish a statement that
itemizes the marketing tools and methods
planning to be used in the strategy.
The fifth step is to create a statement which positions the
brand/product/company in the market. Define the brands characteristics and give
it an identity is the sixth element. Lastly, clearly identify a budget which
will be put solely towards marketing going forward.
These seven principles are commitment
- stick to the marketing plan without changing it: investment - appreciate that
marketing is an investment,
consistency
- ensure the marketing message and strategy remains consistent across all forms
of, confidence – show confidence in the commitment to
the guerrilla marketing strategy,
patience - time and dedication to the strategy, assortment - incorporate different
methods of advertising and marketing
for optimum results, and subsequent –
build customer loyalty and retention though follow up marketing post-sale.
Non-traditional, unconventional and shocking campaigns are highly successful in
obtaining media coverage and therefore brand awareness, albeit good or bad
media attention. However, like most marketing strategies a bad campaign can
backfire and damage profits and sales. Undercover marketing and astroturfing
are two type of guerrilla marketing that are deemed as risky and can be
detrimental to the company. See also Advertising
ADVERTISING
MANAGEMENT
Augmented Advertising Campaign
advertising Family in advertising Mobile Campaign Radio commercial Television
commercial
REFERENCES
Bibliography: Wikipedia @baygross
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