Importance of Marketing Communication
- Conveys Relevant messages to the right consumers at the right time
- Traditional and interactive marketing method are converging
Categories of Communication Types (tools/marketing levers used to communicate with customers)
- Mass Offline: (1) broadcast media:television, radio, outdoor and public relations) (2) Print Media (newspapers, magazines, yellow pages, brochures, newsletters) (3) point-of-purchase displays
- Personal Offline: (1)telemarketing (2) direct mail (3) statement stuffer: form of direct mail included with a bill or other mailing statement (3) customer service
- Mass Online: (1) basic online tools: banners, interstitial (ads that run btwn pages of a website), search engines, point-of-purchase displays (past shopping histories and databases) (2) Applications of Basic online tools: partnerships and affiliate programs (effective for reaching masses), Sponsorships, chat rooms, serial marketing (keep the audience coming back for more)
- Personal Online: (1) personalized commercial websites (2) e-mail marketing: viral marketing, loyalty programs (rewards programs), customer service
6 Steps in Communication Process
- Identifying the Target Audience: from experience, demographics, and consumer track behavior
- Determining the Communication Objective: should be focused of developing one of the four customer relationship stages
- Developing the Media Plan: be consistent with the target audience, with the communication objective, and should fit together different part of the plan
- Creating the message: theme should be receptive to target audience and insure right message is getting across
- Executing the Campaign: buying the space of the message
- Evaluation the Effectiveness of the Campaign: track and observe behavior and see what changes should be made
Effect of 2i’s of Internet on Marketing Communications
- Interactive: helps drive customers through the exploration stage and into the commitment stage where the firm-customer relationship continues to deepen
- Individual: gives individuals much more control over what marketing messages they attend online rather than other marketing communications vehicles
Customer Stages and Levers Used
Awareness:
- Online Levers- online billboards, search engines, e-mail, viral marketing
- Offline Levers: television, radio, magazines, radio, yellow pages, billboards, outdoor
Exploration/Expansion:
- Online Levers: online billboards, search engines, e-mail, viral marketing, website, permission marketing, serial marketing
- Offline levers: television, radio, newspapers, packaging
Commitment:
- Online Levers: target e-mail/permission marketing, personalized pages
- Offline levers: telemarketing, direct mail permission marketing with personalized offers
Dissolution:
- Online Levers: Personalized pages
- Offline Levers: Termination
Product
- Both tangible good and untangible services generally created for the purpose of transaction
- Two types include physical (quality level, features, styling, brand name, and packaging) and services (actions or intangible work that one party offers to another)
2i’s Affect on Products
- Affects Product Development
- Allows a company to learn more about its customer, personalize a product to meet customer preference, and offer CRM tools to provide more value for customers and cut costs for product sellers
Key Marketing Levers of Products
- Packaging: used to make the product stand out, appear appealing, and communicate to prospective customers both consciously and subconsciously
- Attributes and Features: frequently used at the basic product level to differentiate one competitor’s offering from another, also customize an offering to individual taste and preferences
- Customer-Specified Attributes and Feature: increased ability to allow customer to specify these attributes and features (personalized products and services such as Dell Computer and Internet Services)
- Mass-Customized Product: numerous variations
- Customer Service Programs: post sales support, customer care, and customer relationship management
- Loyalty Programs and Privileges: recognize and reward a company’s best customers by providing additional services in appreciation of their loyalty which in turn increases a customer’s perceived value
- Availability of Complementary Products: improves the potential value of the basic product
- Upgrades:develops long term customer relationship and offer the customer a better value proposition
- Enabling Community: deepens the relationship between the product and the individuals in that community and can offer long-term, loyal and high-margin customers to a company
- Additional Functionality: used to augment a basic product and drive additional benefits to visitors
- Fulfillment Capabilities: allows for greatly increased fulfillment capabilities as a result of the 2i’s
Overall Product Development Process
- Idea generation: brainstorming
- Screening Ideas: outlining a clear set of objectives and metric for the new product as well as the associated development process
- Product Design
- Prototype development: allows design engineers to develop a high level and more conceptual prototype without taking the time and resources needed to create an in-depth model
- Business analysis: analyze current brand equity, imagery and personality, existing product portfolio, how to leverage existing equity, customer base, corporate competencies, timing, and distribution
- Test Marketing: experiments where new product is introduced and supported by a clearly defined marketing mix in order to learn likely performance of product
- Commercialization: requires highly complex implementation plan in which a timing, required resources, marketing, supply, distribution, and the interdependency between them have to be carefully understood, planned and orchestrated
Ways Companies can Manage their Product portfolio
- New Product Development
- Enhancements and line extensions of current products and services
- Development of existing products
- Support of current products and services
Ways Products can help enable a Customer Relationship
- Deploy the product development levers that are appropriate for the existing relationship
- Emphasizes the elements of the value proposition that are most relevant at a given stage of the relationship
Ways Customer-Centric Approach to Product Development can Create Strategic Advantages
- Much higher probability of success since it is based upon likely customer acceptance and a ready-made market
- Gains insights into each individual’s needs is a dynamic process that can begin at site registration, if the product is Internet based