Chapter 1 – Marketing
communication
What is marketing communication?
Types of marketing communication:
Advertising
Sponsorship (e.g. brand placement)
Heineken is apparent in James Bond movie to reach wider audience and become
associated with coolness of James Bond.
Health communication can use marketing techniques, but is not marketing communication,
because it is not aimed at promoting a product, but focused on discouraging the use of a
product.
Marketing= The process of planning and executing the conception, pricing, promotion and
distribution of ideas, goods and services to create and exchange value, and satisfy individual
and organisational objectives.
Marketing communication is part of marketing.
Marketing mix:
1. Product= Conception and design of the thing you aim to sell.
- Core product= Unique benefit
- Tangible product= Product features (e.g. availability)
- Augmented product= Service that comes with product
2. Place= Distribution. How does it get to consumer and where is it located in the store?
3. Price= Strategic instrument. Company consider what price says about product.
4. Promotion= Marketing communication. All means to promote brands or products.
All 4 P’s are connected. Sometimes other 3 P’s are marketed through marketing
communication (the 4th P). The product or price might be shown in the ad.
Marketing communication= All instruments by means of which the company
communicates with its target groups and stakeholders to promote its products or services.
Goal= Always to sell or promote a product or service.
Target group= Potential consumers or consumers
Stakeholders= Any group with whom a company wants to create goodwill.
Product fur: Target group= Exclusive rich group of women. Stakeholders= Animal’s rights
activists.
Difference corporate communication and marketing communication:
- Corporate communication= Management instrument to coordinate internal and
external communication in such a way that allows for an organisation to acquire and
retain the desired reputation with the most important target groups/stakeholders.
Main focus: Create image and attitudes towards the organisation.
- Marketing communication= Directed at the outside (target groups and stakeholders)
and is aimed at improving people’s attitudes towards products or brands, but not
towards the organization as a whole (you can love Dove but hate Unilever).
,MarCom Instruments
Instruments:
Advertising= Non-personal mass communications using mass media, the content of which
is determined and paid for by a clearly identified sender.
Coca Cola Christmas commercials. Affect the consumer’s attitude towards Coca Cola.
Features:
Clearly identified sender
The brand has determined what the ad should look like and paid for them
Advertising by definition uses mass media Advertising is one-way communication
(from brand to receiver).
Sponsorship= Investment in cash or kind in an activity, in return for the exploitable
commercial potential associated with this activity.
Red Bull sponsors Max Verstappen’s Formula 1 team with funding for the car. Max
Verstappen helps the sponsor with communication objectives (building awareness, creating
positive association). The associations with Max Verstappen as speed, winning, thrilling spill
over to Red Bull.
Features:
Sponsor provides support to an activity (funds, goods, services, know-how) and in
turn the sponsored organization helps the sponsor with communication objectives
(building awareness, creating positive associations).
Difference with advertising: Sponsorship is two-way street. Sponsor does something
for the team and team does something for sponsor.
Public Relations= All the communications a company initiates with its audiences or
stakeholders. Systematic promotion of mutual understanding between organization and
stakeholders with goal of generating publicity.
Apple decide what is news worthy and put that in a press release with hope to create a buzz
on social media. Stimulate this by giving followers a sneak peek into the products which
increases the reviews and buzz Apple receives.
Features:
Two-way street: Apple wants to create buzz and sell products. Consumers wants to
sell latest news and become early adopter.
Difference with advertising and sponsorship: Brand does not pay for the message.
Content is also not written by company but by journalists/social media followers.
Direct marketing= Personal and direct way to communicate with clients or prospective
clients/consumers.
Letter with offer sent to your e-mail or home address. Specifically addressed to you
(with your name).
Tele-marketing= Phone call to your phone number because you fall within a target
group or the company wants you back as client.
Brand activation= Activating consumers by stimulating interest, product trial or loyalty
(e.g. through personal sales). Creative integration of all types of communication as long as
it is aimed at getting people to try the product. You can bring a brand to life through
interaction. Try a product in the supermarket or personal sales.
,Sales promotions= Sales-stimulating campaigns.
Discounts, price cuts, coupons, loyalty programmes, free samples.
Point-of-purchase communications= All types of communication at the point of purchase.
Displays, merchandising, advertising in store, product presentations in store, displays with
special offers.
Online communication= Communicate interactively with customers/stakeholders through
the internet/mobile devices/social media.
Banners that appear on the internet or companies using social media. You have to follow
them to get their messages. Advergames (=when potential consumers interact with your
product through games). Aimed at creating positive associations with the brand.
Personal VS Mass Communication (one-way street VS two-way
street)
*Selective perception= Extend to which people can choose to attend to the communications
or not. Option to ignore the message is higher for mass communications than personal
communications.
Personal communication is aimed at specific individual identifiable persons. Mass
communication is aimed at multiple unidentifiable persons, not differentiated.
Integrated Marketing Communications
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC)= Marketing communication instruments are
combined in such a way that they communicate coherently. A consistent message and
style is communicated from the company to all target groups and stakeholders. A concept
of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive
plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines (general
advertising, direct response, sales promotion and PR) and combines these disciplines to
provide clarity, consistency and maximum communication impact.
There should be:
- Centred around receiver (customer-centered view)
, - Aimed at relationship with the customer
- Data-drive (based on consumer info)
- Alignment between the instruments
There are no clear distinctions between the different marketing communication instruments.
That is why integration is so important. You need to integrate all marketing communication
instruments and look at it from a consumer point of view. Each contact a consumer has with
a company/brand should be consistent and coherent, as if it is one flow of information.
Reason for integrating: It is confusing for consumers to get clashing/different messages from
the same company even if they’re from different marketing communication instruments.
If a marketing communication campaign is truly integrated, advantages:
1. Consistency= Consistent and effective way to communicate which gives a clear
image of the company/product.
2. Synergy= The instruments of the marketing communication mix, enhance each other.
The influence of the instruments together is bigger than the effect that each
instrument would have separately. 1+1=3
Examples of (non-)integration
A commercial aims to give people the ambition to better the world, but nothing of
that is put on the website as well. (Domino’s)
Commercial by Walker’s in the village sandwich which integrated sponsorship, PR,
direct marketing, brand activation, sales promotions and online communications all
mentioning the same message.
International marketing communication
Integration is not only essential for different instruments, but also in different countries. One
of the most important decisions to make when going international, is to what extend
marketing communication needs to be integrated across cultures.
Types of integration:
Standardisation
= Globalized campaigns. Same campaign/message/atmosphere is used across
different countries.
Dior uses the same campaign, only the language in which it is written differs.
Adaptation
= Localized campaigns. Different campaigns for different countries. The campaign is
completely different.
