developing an integrated marketing communications strategy

Implementing an integrated marketing communications strategy can provide a competitive advantage for your business. However, many companies still employ a linear direct marketing process in which products are developed, messages created and incentives are added to the mix. The products are then pushed through various media or a salesforce to consumers. This methodology relies on behaviour assumptions that all consumers follow the same decision process: Awareness – Knowledge – Evaluation – Purchase.

This strategy worked well a few years ago because targeting and smart advertising gave companies the edge over consumers with limited product knowledge. However, buying behaviour has become more sophisticated since consumers acquired access to technology such as the Internet, mobile phones, iPods, search engines and on-demand TV. This technology has made the traditional linear marketing and communications process (product/brand – channel – media – customer) redundant. Because consumers can now block out marketing messages using spam filters, pop-up blockers, remote controls, “do not mail” lists or the regular trash can.

>>Why do consumers need to learn about your product/service now when they can
just Google it?
>>What are you going to tell consumers that they don’t already know or cannot
find out for themselves via an online product comparison site?

A consumer-controlled communication landscape has emerged with a faster dynamic consumer learning process. The outcome is declining efficiency rates and increased costs from traditional direct marketing activity. Thus companies now need an integrated marketing communications approach that combines traditional media, online channels, PR, affiliate partnerships, products, people and social networks to be successful.


How can your organization develop an integrated marketing communications model?

Don Schultz, Professor of Integrated Marketing Communications at Northwestern University suggests companies can coordinate their marketing resources and supply customers value-added information to create engagement and build long-term relationships. Start by using what I call ABCD resources -Audience, Brand (Product/Service), Content, Delivery. You then need to find the optimal mix based on your industry and competitive position.

Audience – a key ingredient is to use extensive data and analytics to understand your target segment. Creating pen-portraits of your core customers including demographic and lifestyle information will help optimize your media targeting strategy.

Brand – your product or service must have a unique selling proposition to provide a competitive advantage. It must deliver superior value for the audience and be clearly differentiated on features, service or price.

Content – with most competitors using the same linear marketing strategies targeting the same consumer segments, content can now become a point of competitive differentiation. When you supply value-added content you provide consumers a reason to engage with your brand and connect your products or services.

Delivery - You then need to connect new digital media channels with traditional channels to create a push-pull system. Consumers must become engaged with the media employed or your content delivery will be unsuccessful. To achieve this ensure the content is linked to your brand positioning to make the emotional connection with your product or services.

Traditional measurements systems do not work well with integrated marketing, but most companies have all the data and just need to align it. Problematic areas can include breaking down internal silos and defining measures of success –site traffic, new sales, revenue per customer, return on capital, NPS (Net Promoter Score) etc.

The customer experience now occurs during the interaction with your products, online channels, customer service and content. If companies can optimize the synergy between the ABCD resources and employ an integrated marketing communications strategy they can drive improved returns from their marketing investment.

Achieving strategic agility in unpredictable markets

Some companies seem to have a knack of embracing new ideas and innovations faster than others. In many industries growth and profitability is determined by speed-to-market with new product development. So what makes these companies better at seizing opportunities?

Professor Don Sull, from London Business School,proposes that organizations start off as nimble and agile, but when they grow large it’s how they transition between agility and absorption that determines success.

>>Agility - the capacity to seize opportunities faster
>>Absorption - the capacity to sustain change and deliver long-term shareholder return.

To use a boxing analogy, Mohammad Ali early on in his career had great agility to “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee” but later on lost some of that speed and had to absorb more punches from his competitors, eventually losing the title.

When companies become larger, growth begins to stall as markets mature. Professor Sull suggests that firms can develop absorptive capabilities allowing them to seize opportunities when the perfect storm arises. Some examples are;

>> Diversified cash-flow (General Electric)
>> A war-chest of cash (Microsoft)
>> Powerful tangible and intangible assets (Procter & Gamble)
>> Excess resources and staffing (JPMorganChase)
>> Lock-in via exclusive partnerships or integration (Oracle)
>> Compete in protected markets (Royal Bank of Canada)
>> Strong local market or low cost position (Cemex)

These absorptive capabilities mean companies can outlast others in a war of attrition or scale new innovations quickly. Diversification, strong brands or patents can provide the beachheads to reinforce and attack other customer segments. Strict government regulation and exclusive partnerships can limit new entrants. Finally, a strong local market or low cost position may allow you to absorb price volatility and downturns in international markets.

To increase agility in your business you can outsource or acquire it. Outsourcing requires you find the right partnerships that compliment your core business. Whereas acquiring agility involves you keeping the hardware and rewriting the software by changing organizational structure, key management personnel and culture.
------------- source: www.innovationreactor.com

Product diffusion and adoption

The adoption process can be described as:

Awareness-->Interest-->Evaluation-->Trial-->Adoption-->Post-adoption confirmation

• Innovators tend to be opinion leaders who are the first to purchase and these are basically the same purchasers as those who purchase at the introduction phase of the product life cycle. They are likely to be younger and better educated from reasonably affluent, high social status, family backgrounds. Their knowledge of the product tends to come more from their own feelings than from the efforts of marketing people. They represent the first 2.5% of the entire market - which is two standard deviations to the left of the mean.

• Early adopters possess similar characteristics to the innovators, but they are slightly more cautious and less gregarious. They tend to belong more to ‘local’ groups, but as opinion leaders they are influential. These comprise 13.5% of the entire market.
• Early majority purchasers tend to rate slightly above average in terms of their social class and now that the product has become more established, they rely principally upon marketing information before making their purchases. This group represents 34% of the market.
• Late majority purchasers tend to be more cautious, but are more prone to social pressures to adopt the product for the first time. This group comprises 34% of the total market.
• Laggards are the final 16% category and they make up the cautious group. They tend to be older and more conservative, generally coming from a lower socio-economic class.
Diffusion is of course closely related to the adoption process of individual customers and it has been found that five particular facets of products will lead to a more rapid and wider adoption:

• Relative advantage in terms of the greater the perceived advantage of the new product to customers the faster it will diffuse.
• Compatibility relates to the greater the extent to which the new product is compatible with existing products, the faster it will diffuse.
• Complexity is a disadvantage, because the more complex the new product is, the more difficult it will be to understand in the marketplace and the diffusion rate will thus be slower.
• Divisibility means the greater the ability of the new product to be used or tried on a limited scale before full commitment on the part of the purchaser, the faster it will diffuse.
• Communicability means an ability of the new product to be demonstrated or communicated by early purchasers to later potential purchasers, then the quicker will be the rate of diffusion.

The Whole Product Concept

1. Generic product is considered to encompass the basic requirements—such as features and form factor—that the customer associates with the tangible product.

2. Expected product tends to be the intangibles, such as expected reliability, service expectations, and feature enhancements as compared to the generic product.

3. Augmented product describes those things that differentiate the expected product from competitors' offerings. The augmented product consists of intangible things such as enhanced customer service, as well as tangible things, such as features not offered by the competition.

4. Potential product provides the consumer with a glimpse of the future by offering a view of tomorrow's augmented and even expected product.

Creating Product message

When creating your product message, put Kipling's "six faithful serving men" to good work. They will help improve and sharpen your product message:

"Who" Are You Marketing To?

While creating your product message, first clearly identify who you're marketing to. Then write your message for this audience. Don't write a message that tries to appeal to everyone - it is highly likely it will end up appealing to no one.

"What" Does Your Product Do For Them?

Tell your target audience what your product does for them in plain English. Do not use jargons or unnecessarily complex language - many B2B software companies are especially guilty of this.

"Why" Is Your Product Better Than Other Solutions?

Odds are your audience has several other means to achieve the same thing that your product does. Tell them why your product is better. Why they should consider your product instead of the other solutions.

"How" Can You Prove Your Points?

Provide concrete, tangible information that proves your points about what your product does and why your product is better. Often companies make vague statements that cannot be proven. Instead, use concrete data - such as customer testimonials, success stories, third party surveys, etc.

"Where" and "When" Is This Message Being Delivered?

When creating your product message, take into account where and when the message will be delivered to your target audience. For example - a message on your website will be delivered to any visitor to your site, whereas a message in a direct mail will only reach the intended audience during the intended timeframe. Tailor your message accordingly.

Technological product developement and failure

Regardless of the model, critical phases include: Product idea generation, idea screening, concept testing, business analysis, marketing mix development, test marketing and commercialization.

Customer Focus versus Managerial Focus while developing product:

Customer Focus

-Features
-Consequences, values
-Ease of operation
-Unique qualities
-Consumption

Managerial Focus

-Design
-Cost
-Ease of production
-Unique technologies
-Production

In addition, several authors have suggested that high tech markets, unlike low-tech markets, must focus on both demand-side marketing and supply-side marketing.

There is one or combination one or more reasons given below responsible for product to fail in the market:

--Customer expectations not met
--No innovative advantage perceived
--Information about product is scarce, unclear, or difficult
--Need for product is not seen
--Unique attributes not seen
--Poor selection of target market
--Poor communication of product benefits
--Distribution channel selection
--Pricing problems

High tech product marketing

Marketing high tech product is different from marketing simple product.

"High tech markets are characterized as complex. In addition, they exist under rapidly changing technological conditions which lead to shorter life cycles and the need for rapid decisions. The importance of speed in high tech markets is driven by increasing competition and the continually evolving expectations of customers. All of this is compounded by higher levels of risk for both the customer and the producer."

Lets understand some areas of high tech product developement etc to better fine tune marketing process.

Customer vioce:

First is the importance of customer voice while developing the product- Due to dynamic market conditions high tech companies frequently rely on a product which is driven by the innovations in technology rather than by the needs of the customer. This orientation often leads to abandonment of a customer focus; a must in today's globally competitive markets.
Bottom line: customer vioce, knowledge of customer needs are very important and marketing strategy should be to clearly communicate product features and benefits aimed towards satisfying these needs.

Product Differenciation:

Second, there are specific features of high tech markets that are believed to distinguish them from other product categories. Examination of both of these sets of issues is necessary to understand the particular importance of the diffusion of innovation in the launch of high tech products.
Bottom line: marketing strategy should aim towards creating product differentiation in the minds of the customer. Last, but not least, their goal is to fulfill unmet needs.

Technology changes:

High tech companies, however, must recognize that both technological and marketing conditions are rapidly changing. This dynamic environment necessitates stronger consideration for the marriage of marketing and technology.
Bottom line: Marketing must understand technology fully before developing marketing strategy.

Changing Target market

Research and practice indicate that high tech markets are characterized as dynamic and complex which results in a changing target market over the life cycle. The complexity of the product also impacts market acceptance in different ways in high tech markets. As high tech products are more complicated, they require greater customer education and more product information.
Bottom line: greater effort on the part of marketing to adequately convey the necessary information. Consequently, it is important to recognize the need to clearly identify and profile a target market as well as take into account that the profile of the target market will change over time.

Other basic things to be taken care of in High Tech Product marketing:
--Purchase decision taken by the group rather by an indivisual
--Relationship building is important
--Sales person capability to sell product

Understanding the relationship between the product development process and the product adoption process provides the means of incorporating the marketing concept into the development of new products.