The Marketing Plan - Driver Of Communication Processes, Brands, IMC, And Essay. (70 Characters)

Describe the essence of the research (e.g. key learning/take-outs from the reading, results, conclusions and practical implications) and highlight what is distinctive about it.

Rationale

This assessment is about encouraging students to develop their ability to critical thinking and collaborative learning skills. The intent of the assessment is designed to provide insight into Learning Objectives 1-2. That is to be able to explain and critically discuss the role of marketing communication in the overall marketing and business strategy; to be able to evaluate theoretical concepts underlying integrated marketing communications.

Key findings of the research

The Marketing Plan – driver of Communication Processes, Brands and IMC

The research highlights the significance of integrated marketing communication and brand identity for the business organizations in terms of brand equity strategy. According to the research, integrated marketing communications help in communicating the brand, its product and the features to the target customers in a particular market.

The key finding of the research includes the strategy of brand equity that sheds light on the role of integrated marketing communications is creating and maintaining the brand equity effectively. Additionally, the research enlightens them about the contribution of brand identity in informing and guiding the firm along with developing, nurturing and implementing the overall integrated marketing communication for the business organizations.

From the research, it can be concluded that the paper lays the foundations for developing further theory in terms of integrated marketing communications thereby, acting as one of the significant research materials for relevant and rigorous research. Additionally, the research also makes a small contribution for the academics and practitioners in terms of integrated marketing communications and brand equity.

Application of the proposed framework developed in this research will help the practitioners to initiate a completely defined and functional brand identity. As a result, the business organizations need to emphasize more defining and developing brand equity. Moreover, it is essential for the managers and the employees of the business organizations to communicate the identity of the brand to the individuals responsible for firm's marketing communications effort.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

Communication Challenges for consumers and businesses including social, legal and ethical issues. IMC Planning needs. Paid, Earned and owned Communications

The research highlights that either the self-concepts of the customers influence the purchase decision or the purchased products influence the self-concepts of the customers. The research thereby, evaluates whether a similar concept is applicable in terms of online advertisements. Therefore, the research signifies whether the individuals buy what they believe in terms of online advertisement.

The learning of the research highlights whether the online customers use word of mouth in sharing the online advertisement thereby, constructing and expressing their self-concept. From the research, it can be learned that the self-concepts influence the purchase decision of the customers. The integrated marketing communications thereby need to be convincing enough for influencing the customers’ decisions.

Significance of brand identity

According to the results, it can be concluded that entertainment value, self-brand congruity and the involvement of the product category maximizes the individual expressiveness of the online advertisements. This eventually increases the likelihood of the customers for sharing those advertisements in order to communicate the product or service to the target customers. 

Practically the study is extremely effective as it has the potential of creating and replicating successful and viral advertising campaigns. Therefore, when the advertisements are able to generate sufficient buzz, it highlights the success of the integrated marketing communications. However, internet marketing still encounters challenges in exploiting the various opportunities in terms of integrated marketing communications.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

In the Eye of the Beholder: An Analysis of the Relative Value of a Top Sales Rep Across Firms and Products

The research highlights to understand the best time for the most skilled and qualified salespersons to sell the best products. Therefore, even the best and skilled salespersons need to implement integrated marketing communications for selling the products. Due to the successful implementation of IMC, even an inexperienced salesperson is able to sell products easily.

The key learning of the research is that skilled and qualified sales representatives must be able to sell the best of their potential when the task is complex. On the contrary, even the most skillful and experienced sales representatives sale worse products when given a relatively simple task. 

 The results provide a deep insight of the key issues while implementing integrated marketing communications such as the type of salespersons to be recruited along with allocating training funds. The results also show the ability of the sales representatives to either create value or persuading with the value of the customer.

The practical implications highlight the methods used by the business organizations for recruitment, as recruiting the right sales representatives is a significant issue. Therefore, the business organizations need to allocate the most skillful sales person to sale their most complex products than allocating them for selling easy products. Therefore, in a complex selling environment, better business organizations allocate highly skilled sales representatives compared to worse business organizations.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.  

Behavioral response to sales promotion tools

Importance of developing brand equity

Integrated marketing communication is largely used and facilitated in the supermarket as this helps in the supermarkets to communicate the products and the offers and discounts on the products to the target customers. Communicating the offers and discounts on the products helps in engaging the attention of the customers along with increasing the sales largely.

In this research, it can be learned that offers as price discounts and buy one get one free was highly preferred by the customers. Therefore, implementation of integrated marketing communications allows the supermarkets to communicate the offers and discounts effectively among the customers. As a result, the supermarkets were able to know the most preferred way of increasing sales by considering the customer's preferences.

A survey was conducted in 206 supermarkets in Hong Kong in order to evaluate the most effective sales promotions among the customers. The five different sales promotions include price discounts, in-store demonstrations, coupons; games and buy one get one free. The survey suggested that price discounts and buy one get one free was most effective among the customers.

 Practically, price discounts and buy one get one free is most widely used promotional strategies used by the supermarkets. Implementation of integrated marketing communications allowed the supermarkets to communicate the promotional strategies to the customers effectively thereby, attracting more customers.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

Direct Marketing, Message Strategy and Execution

The research is significant as this highlights the comparison between the effectiveness of four integrated marketing communication processes. The effectiveness of the four integrated marketing strategies is introduced in the context of new product and communicating it with the target customers. The research includes the corporate image and credibility as moderators of analyzing the effectiveness of the strategies. 

From the research, it can be learned that the four integrated marketing strategies include publicity-publicity, publicity advertising, advertising-publicity and advertising-advertising that influences the integrated marketing communications distinctly. Therefore, the business organizations need to implement the integrated marketing communications appropriately for each of the four types.

The A 2-phase experiment included 423 participants for evaluating the most effective integrated marketing communication technique. After the experiment, the result demonstrated that publicity-publicity integrated marketing strategy is the most effective in generating positive product attitude thereby, influencing the purchase decision of the customers. 

The business organizations implement the publicity-publicity integrated marketing strategy for communicating the product to the target customers. This helps the business organizations to circulate the offers and products to the customers thereby, attracting them. Effective implementation of integrated marketing communication helps in creating a unique image in the eye of the target customers. Positive corporate image ad high credibility highlights the effectiveness of the publicity-publicity strategy.

Challenges for consumers and businesses in communication

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

Measuring the Effectiveness of True Sponsorship

The significance of the research is that it highlights the impact of integrated marketing communications in measuring the effectiveness of true sponsorship. It is difficult for the advertisers to gain sponsorship without communicating effectively with the target customers. The research also signifies the difficulty encountered by the leading advertisers for gaining sponsorship.

The major highlights of the research are that without effective and successful implementation of integrated marketing communications, it is difficult for the leading advertisers to convince for sponsorship. This is because lack of communication with the target customers will not spread enough information about the product and the services thereby, hampering the gathering sufficient sponsorship.

According to the results, it can be concluded that persuasion of sponsorship is easy if used internet advertising. This suggests that the use of integrated marketing communications helps in communicating with the target customers and circulating required information successfully. This provides an opportunity for the sponsors to evaluate the effectiveness of the plan thereby, providing sponsorship.

 The Internet is the most widely used technology across the world with the majority of the population around the world using them on a daily basis. Therefore, using integrated marketing communications will help the leading advertisers to communicate the required information about the product successfully thereby, persuading sponsorship easily. 

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

Analysis of the Impact of Executional Factors on Advertising Performance

The research highlights the significance of integrated marketing communications in terms of analyzing the various execution devices and its influence on a television commercial. Television is one of the most widely used media for remaining updated with the current scenario. Therefore, effective implementation of integrated marketing communication helps the business organizations to communicate with the target customers about the product through commercials.

The key learning of the research is that TV commercials are plays a significant role in communicating with the target customers if they want to inform the target customers about some recent launch of products and services. Therefore, integrated marketing communications help in communicating the required information to the target customers.

The research concludes that execution factors have resulted in the rise from 13% to 26% of the variance in relation for recalling measures based on the different types of variables that were used. The most important factor for persuading the sponsorship is the presence of a brand-differentiating message for the target customers.

Role of self-concepts in advertisement

Effective use of integrated marketing communications helps the business organizations to communicate with the target customers through television commercials. Therefore, the business organizations can use television commercials as the medium of integrated marketing communications. This will allow the business organizations to reach out customers who do not use the internet or less technology friendly.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

Media Multiplexing Behavior: Implications for Targeting and Media Planning

This research signifies the growing trend among the target customers to rely on and use different types of media. This creates an issue for the integrated marketing communications as the business organizations are not sure which is the best media to use in order to communicate with the target customers. This research helps in identifying the technique that will help the business organizations to understand the most preferred method of communicating with the target customers.

 The key learning of the research is the understand the key challenges encountered while implementing integrated marketing communications for communicating with the target customers, as they prefer using different media at the same time. The research emphasizes on predicting which media or combination of media are preferred by the target customers along with developing an understanding of the potential complementarities and substitutions in the media multiplexing.

According to the results, it can be concluded that model forecasts can be improved by accounting for the media synergies within a utility specification. The research also introduces the utility function that governs the cross-channel complementarities directly thereby, facilitating interactive effects of the parameters of media multiplexing. 

The forecasting model will help the business organizations in predicting the media or combination of media preferred by the target customers. This will be easier for the business organizations to communicate with the target customers effectively.

According to the research, failure in implementing the integrated marketing communication theories and brand equities will have an adverse impact on the business organizations.

References

Bobi Ivanov, JeanettaD. Sims, KimberlyA. Parker . Leading the Way in New Product Introductions: Publicity's Message Sequencing Success With Corporate Credibility and Image as Moderators. Journal of Public Relations Research, Volume 25, Number 5 (November 2013), pp. 442-466

Godes, D. (2003, Spring). In the eye of the beholder: An analysis of the relative value of a top sales rep across firms and products. Marketing Science, 22(2), 161-187. 

Harvey, B. (2006). Measuring the effectiveness of true sponsorship. Journal of Advertising Research, 41(1), 398-409. doi: 10.2501/S0021849906060478 

Madhavaram, S., Badrinarayanan, V., & McDonald, R. E. (2005, Winter). Integrated marketing communication (IMC) and brand identity as critical components of brand equity strategy. Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 69-80. 

Media Multiplexing Behavior: Implications for Targeting and Media Planning. Marketing Science, Volume 32, Number 2 (2013), pp. 310-324

Read Taylor, Strutton & Thompson (2012) " Self Engagement as a motivation for sharing online advertising" Journal of Interactive Advertising, 12(2), 13-28.  

Stewart, D. W., & Furse, D. H. (2000). Analysis of the impact of executional factors on advertising performance. Journal of Advertising Research, 40(6), 85-89. 

Yi-Zheng S., Ka-Man, C., & Prendergast, G. (2005). Behavioural response to sales promotion tools. International Journal of Advertising, 24(4), 467-486.