Developing an IMC Campaign for Oatly in the Canadian Marketplace

Tasks and requirements

This assignment requires the group to analyze the Oatly case provided below and develop the structure for an IMC campaign. The learning outcomes for this assignment are as follows:
• Evaluate behavioural and communication objectives in an IMC plan.
• Demonstrate positioning and repositioning strategies of a brand within an industry.
• Analyze various creative tactics and strategies in advertising.

Each group will complete the following:
• Review the Case Study at the end of this assignment description.
• Discuss the marketing challenge for Oatly.
• Describe the target audience and include two personas (Chapter 3)
• Discuss the need to change consumer behaviour through the use of the AIDA model (Chapter 4)
• Discuss in detail the marketing, behavioural, and communications objectives to maintain existing clients and to attract new clients to Oatly (Chapter 5)
• Discuss the brand positioning, including a brand positioning statement (Chapter 6)
• Develop an IMC promotional campaign that discusses the following
o Creative theme (page 164-166)
o Proposed new slogan or tagline for Oatly (page 166)
o Message appeal (page 170-176)
o Source characteristics (page 177-183)
o Creative execution style (page 187-192
o Message structure (page 193-197)
o Design elements (page 197-199)
• Concluding thoughts for the campaign.

• The group will present their analysis in a report, 4-6 pages in length, single-spaced (not including the title page or references list). The report will include:
? Title page
? Executive summary (brief overview of the report’s contents)
? Introduction
? Research and analysis of the required elements listed above
? Conclusion
? A single ad design for your IMC campaign (use of Adobe Creative Cloud apps is recommended, but not mandatory)
? APA in-text citations and APA reference page (if you cite, you need to prove it)
• Please proofread and edit your work before submitting it (up to 20 percent of the grade may be deducted for errors). Consider using Grammarly, Ginger, or WhiteSmoke to aid proofreading and editing. However, remember that the best way to catch errors is to reread your work before submitting it or have another person proofread your work.
• Please submit through the Dropbox in DC Connect. Turnitin will be activated on the Dropbox, and students are expected to follow the college guidelines for academic honesty.
• Late assignments will be penalized at a rate of 20% per day (including weekends). If the assignment has not been submitted within three days following the due date, it will be assigned a grade of "0".

Oatly was founded by a scientist in Sweden who was looking for innovative and environmentally friendly alternatives to milk products. By 2016, Oatly had entered the North American market but mainly in the United States. Specifically targeting health food stores and higher-end coffee shops, Oatly’s products were a hit with customers.
Oatly’s meteoric rise is partly thanks to introducing its product to coffee shops around the world.
The company’s main product is oat milk made through a relatively simple process of blending oats and water, adding some enzymes, and then removing fibres. What remains has a taste and consistency very close to cow’s milk. As a result, the alternative product has been gaining awareness and popularity. The other reason for Oatly’s success is the increased popularity of plant-based products. With consumers becoming more willing to wrap their heads around eating a Beyond Meat burger or breakfast sandwich, other food options are also becoming more palatable, with one critical requirement: that they taste good. If this condition is met, consumers today seem very willing to look at alternative products, especially ones that don’t derive from a food supply that is heavily animal-focused.

Despite the positive reviews of the taste and consistency of their oat milk, Oatly has struggled to create a stable foothold in the Canadian market. Even though awareness is high in the US and Europe, it struggles with its marketing communications in Canada. A CBC investigation looking into the popularity of oat milk included a reference to Oatly as a pioneer in the industry. Still, when it looked at the marketing of oat milk products, Oatly was not included. Therefore, Oatly has an incredible product, but its ability to raise awareness in Canada has been low to this point.

Clearly, Oatly is in need of your assistance to develop an IMC campaign for the Canadian marketplace