Integrated Marketing Communications Essay For Manufacturing Companies.

Discuss about the Integrated Marketing Communications for Manufacturing Companies.

In order to evaluate the integrated marketing communication strategy implemented by Red Bull it is necessary to investigate the situational analysis of the company. In order to do so at first the internal analysis of the company will be conducted and in the next step the external analysis will be done.

Red Bull is considered among one of the largest and most famous energy drink manufacturing companies. The blue and silver can have become an iconic symbol of the vitality while helping the people during the working and playing hours (Hall et al., 2016). The catchphrase of the company is “Red Bull gives you wings” signifies the statement that depicts the message an energy drinks manufacturing company wishes to portray.

The “Red Bull” brand first came into existence during the year 1984, while the first product of the company was launched in the year 1987 pioneering itself in the market for energy drinks. The drink is produced by using a number of ingredients such as caffeine, carbohydrates and essential vitamins (Baetzgen & Tropp, 2013). These constituents are claimed be helpful in generating physical endurance, improvements in the reaction along with concentration and speed in the performance.

The slogan of advertisement of the company “Red Bull gives you wings” has been effective in generating awareness and popularity about the drink in the market. It has been observed that the drink is very popular among men; the consumer group of the company consists of students, athletes, night club hoppers and those who are in need of lift till late at night (Ijabadeniyi et al., 2015).

Over the passage of time the company has established itself across the world and, made available the drink across 162 countries as per the data available till 2010.

The most crucial Microeconomic factor that the company is faced with is the major number of competitors in its genre. The competitor base of the company ranges from 300 newly established corporations to a massive company like Coca Cola Company and Pepsi Co, Rockstar International and Hansen Natural. However, these so called massive corporations do not hold massive shares in the market for energy drinks. However, Red Bull will have to keep the pace with its competitors in order to maintain the lead (Ryan, 2014). Competitors of the company provide alternative taste to select as compared with the line of products of the Red Bull. In addition to all these established companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi Co possess extensive and efficient networks of distribution and also possess well-established brand names.

Internal analysis

In order to analyze the external macroeconomic factors of the company PEST analysis tool will be used. PEST analysis is an analytical tool that analyses the Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors that affect the company externally.

Politically, as the demand for energy drinks is increasing along with the awareness about the side effects of drinking these drinks. The governments of the respective countries may device plans for these highly caffeinated drinks to be tested clinically. In such a situation when the government imposes safety regulations over the drink, the sales of Red Bull may fall. As the number of cans sold is affected. Some of the countries have even banned the Red Bull because the administration of those countries think that the drink possesses thereat to health and safety (Jankovic, 2012). However, some of the countries have accepted the use of Red Bull an a popular energy drink.

In the context of economic factors it is quite likely that the consumers will cut down the consumption of Red Bull whenever there is price inflation. This is because due to the inflation the disposable income of the consumers will go down significantly.

In case of social factors the younger generations are faced with different possibilities of different sports and routes to entertainment. In this aspect Red Bull has always projected the product as an ideal drink for the youth and this is the perfect promotional mix adopted by the company. This may lead to an increase in the sales of the product (Jankovic, 2012).

With the significant advancements in the social media and technological factors Red Bull will have to design its communication strategies as well as the promotional tools to become more relevant (Jackson et al., 2014). This will in turn help the company in the advertising activities and the promotion of the products and thereby providing a new avenue to communicate with the consumers.

SWOT analysis is also an analytical tool that examines the internal strengths and weaknesses of the company along with the external opportunities and threats.

Strengths:

• If measured in terms of the brand equity Red Bull is the world’s leader in the market of energy drinks. The energy drinks are exclusively produced in Australia and are exported to more than 100 countries around the world. The company also enjoys an extraordinary sales and thereby dominates the market of energy drinks by holding 70% share of the entire world’s market for energy drinks (Verčič & Verčič, 2015).
• The marketing efforts put by the company are also very impressive. The marketing campaigns of the aims at the young professionals between the age group 18-25.

Weaknesses:

• The basic weakness of the company is that it does not hold a patent for the recipe it uses for producing the energy drink. Therefore, its competitor may easily copy its recipe and enter the market (Rogers, 2014).
• The product line of the company is very limited, it only produces energy drinks and with a variety of sugar free. If there is a fluctuation the market it will be hard for the company to persist in the market of soft drinks.

Opportunities:

• If Red Bull extends the product line it will definitely help the company to flourish in near future. As the competitors who are new to the market will have to incur a huge cost for marketing and promotional activities and Red Bull is already a well-known brand in the market (Grohs & Reisinger, 2014).
• The company should also license its patent. This will help to reduce the competition faced by the company in the market.

Threats:

• However, the media has reported that Red Bull contains the ingredients that are harmful for the health. This will lead to a significant decline in the sales of the company (Beck, 2014) .
• Competition is also one of the major threats faced by the company. The major competitors of the company are large established corporations as Coca Cola and Pepsi Co.

From the above analysis the market problems and market opportunities faced by the company can be identified. In the next section these are stated.

Red Bull is considered as the King of the energy drinks market. Currently the company possesses more than 43% market share globally. As the market for soft drinks is growing extensively it is expected that the company flourish in near future. However, as the society is becoming more and more affluent the behavior of the buyers are also changing (Halkias & Komodromos, 2016). Here in this report it is identified how Red Bull could address and mitigate the needs of the existing as well as the potential customers.

External Analysis

As there are new entrants in the market with their new marketing strategies and gimmicks, it results in a creation of too much clutter and therefore makes it harder for the company to maintain its image in the minds of the consumers (Huang, 2016). Therefore, the company should efficiently design new marketing and communications strategies to compete in the market.

The image that the company imposes on the mind of its audiences as a reliable and dependable brand of energy drink, it could not compel the buyer to buy its products. Therefore, the company should again increase the communication with its existing as well as potential buyers to influence their purchase decision.

Red Bull Flux is a new product introduced by the company as the company has planned to extend its product line. The broad marketing objective before the company was to identify the new product as an exciting flavor of the Red Bull line of products. While increasing the brand awareness the company is aimed at influencing the purchase decision of the buyers along with compelling them to shift to the Red Bull products (Pagani et al., 2015).

The marketing objectives of the company were to increase the can sales of the new product by 1500000 by the end of the financial year. Moreover, to achieve 10% share in the Singapore’s market for energy drinks.

The communications objectives of Red Bull was to held Red Bull Flux as the original alternative of Red Bull as a sugar free drink. in doing so the company also tried to divert the attention of the buyers from the products produced by its competitors. The sale of existing energy drinks produced by Red Bull will be increased by 70% by using effective Integrated Market Communication plans. It will be achieved by using the hierarchical effects of communication, knowledge, preference and choice of the consumers and the conviction to purchase the product. These are also well-aligned with the Integrated Marketing Communication plans from the very beginning (Baetzgen & Tropp, 2015).

The Integrated marketing Communication model used by the Red Bull is well efficient and it addresses the targeted and focused customer groups of the company in an efficient manner. It is conducted by using the media that is by integrating television; radio broadcast along with printed advertisements. The printed advertisements will include advertising in the magazines and newspapers (Baetzgen & Tropp, 2015). By integrating these media along with the posters and bill boards the company will be able to attract the targeted customer base quite efficiently. Hence the integrated marketing communication model of Red Bull is quite efficient and effective in attracting and mitigating the needs of the customers.

SWOT Analysis

Conclusion:

In order to conclude it can be said that the report has effectively addressed all the issues regarding the integrated marketing and communication plans of Red Bull. It has effectively evaluated the need of implementation of integrated marketing communication plans and the effectiveness of the implemented plans as well. While conducting the study a wide range of literature relevant to this topic has been reviewed and this has helped to gain a broader knowledge about the marketing communications of Red Bull. In the light of the knowledge gained while conducting the study the integrated marketing communication strategies applied by the company is evaluated. It has been observed that though the communication strategy applied by the company is efficient it is also necessary for the company to look after extending its product and changing its communications strategies accordingly.

Reference List:

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Baetzgen, A., & Tropp, J. (2015). How Can Brand-Owned Media Be Managed? Exploring the Managerial Success Factors of the New Interrelation Between Brands and Media. International Journal on Media Management, 17(3), 135-155.

Beck, A. (2014). Integrated marketing communication and the developing marketing technologies for small business.

Grohs, R., & Reisinger, H. (2014). Sponsorship effects on brand image: The role of exposure and activity involvement. Journal of Business Research,67(5), 1018-1025.

Halkias, D., & Komodromos, M. (2016). Social media and the practice of marketing public relations in Cyprus. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 8(2), 103-113.

Hall, A., Conway, T., Betts, P., & Parker, C. (2016, June). From economic man to connected consumers. In 4 th International Conference on Contemporary Marketing Issues ICCMI June 22-24, 2016 Heraklion, Greece(p. 53).

Huang, G. (2016). Moderating Role of Brand Familiarity in Cross-Media Effects: An Information Processing Perspective. Journal of Promotion Management, 1-19.

Ijabadeniyi, A., Govender, J. P., & Veerasamy, D. (2015). The Influence Of Cultural Diversity On Marketing Communication: A Case Of Africans And Indians In Durban, South Africa. International Business & Economics Research Journal (IBER), 14(6), 869-882.

Jackson, M., Harrison, P., Swinburn, B., & Lawrence, M. (2014). Unhealthy food, integrated marketing communication and power: a critical analysis.Critical public health, 24(4), 489-505.

Jankovic, M. (2012). Integrated Marketing Communications and Brand Identity Development. Management (1820-0222), (63).

Pagani, M., Goldsmith, R., & Perracchio, A. (2015). Standardization vs. adaptation: consumer reaction to TV ads containing subtitled or English dubbed ads. International Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 702-714.

Rogers, G. C. (2014). Red Bull–It Gives You Wings! An Examination of the Emotional Experiences That Drive the Brand for the Popular Energy Drink.Journal of Integrated Studies, 5(1).

Ryan, D. (2014). The Best Digital Marketing Campaigns in the World II. Kogan Page Publishers.

Verčič, D., & Verčič, A. T. (2015). The new publicity: From reflexive to reflective mediatisation. Public Relations Review.