Integrated Marketing Communication Plan For Lion Company Australia

Communication Objectives

This report is an integrated marketing communication plan that focuses on Lion Company in Australia. The company operates with its headquarters in Sydney Australia. Lion Company specialises in manufacturing of food and beverages. For example, some of the products processed includes beer, wine, spirits, yogurts, cheese, soya products, and flavoured soya milks. Therefore, this IMC focuses on households and primary consumers of flavoured soya milk brand.

The report covers nine different sections. For instance, section two outlines the communication objectives that the company seeks to achieve. Section three looks at the segment and the target market that the company seeks to serve while using its internet service brand. Most importantly, the IMC will focus on the small business owners as the primary market. Section 4 looks at the creative idea concerning the creative message behind the strategy. Section 5 considers the positioning strategies that would help make customers’ consumer more flavoured soya milk brand from the company. Section six of the report looks at the best communication strategy and the media mix. While on the other hand, section 7 – 9 looks at the budget, timeline, and the evaluation metrics.

For a company that seeks to create a market awareness regarding the flavoured soya milk, there would be the need to design marketing objectives that depends on a SMART framework. For example, Fifield (2008) explains in his study that such a marketing objective must show specific, measurable, realistic, and timebound objectives. In this case, therefore, the company will use the following objectives;

1. To increase the level of market awareness among households in Australia by 20% by 2020
2. Increase the volume of sales of flavoured soya milk from the current 2 million sachet to 3 million sachets y 2020
3. Increase the market share from the current 34% to 45% by 2020

In today marketing, companies are now appreciating the importance of segmenting their markets to assist them identify groups of customers with similar behaviours and those that are likely to increase their demand when marketed in the right manner. The objective of segmenting the market just as Fifield (2007) explains is to design the correct marketing plan that would help create a market awareness among these groups. Furthermore, Ainsworth (2013) explains that this is always an audience and not product focused in order to communicate and deliver the message.

Therefore, this report provides that the company start by knowing its target market before selling the flavoured soya milk. The marketing department can use the above to subdivide the market into appropriate subgroups that are easier to manage. This report recommends that the marketing department answer the following five questions to help come up with the best strategy.

1. Who are the consumer market in Australia? The answer to this question is that the company seek to sell its flavoured soya milk to teenagers.
2. Where is the location of the market? Currently, Lion Company sells to customers located throughout Australian market.
3. What is the interest of the consumers? The teenagers are interested in consuming milk full of vitamins

Therefore, having answered the above questions, this IMC recommends that the marketing department apply demographic segmentation strategy. The strategy will assist in dividing the customers into structured. For example, the marketing of flavoured soya milk is meant for teenagers aged between 13 – 19 years of all gender.

The second segmentation strategy will be based on geographic. Currently, the company offers its products to most of regions in Australia. Therefore, the best strategy would be a country geographic strategy. Behavioural strategy in the marketing will consider information that the company has collected on the benefits of consuming flavoured soya milk among teenagers. According to Brink (2015), is that consumers always seek to buy products at the best prices and those that gives them the value for their money.

Segments and Target Markets

The objective to evaluate the market segment as explained above is to select a specific market where to sell flavoured soya milk. Therefore, the marketing department will select teenagers as the correct market choice. Besides, the company will select the target market by making a choice of whether the company seeks to the focus on all teenagers or only few teenagers. Jimenez-Castillo (2013) categorizes marketing strategies into four generic strategies; undifferentiated marketing, differentiated, concentrated, and customized.

This marketing IMC recommends that the company adopt the use of differentiated market targeting strategy. For example, Melton (2011) explains that when a market has several potential target segments where a company can serve well while at the same time increasing the level of profitability, then the company can use marketing mixes. The strategy to target only customers aged between 13 -19, will help the company come up with mixed marketing mixes in order to appeal to this group. Most importantly, a differentiated marketing strategy will make it easier to exploit a strategy that targets specific group. Currently, several brands now develop in order to serve each of the segment. This has become one of the most used targeting strategy for companies that seek to increase profits, market share, and sales volume. They will try to purchase soya milk because of its positive effect to their bodies. In overall, customers will purchase products that provide them with benefits.

The creative idea regarding the IMC is that it must achieve the attributes, design, and the portability aspect of a product. Additionally, the IMC plan will benefit teenage customers if they continue buying from Lion Company. Customers remain important to a company in terms of how they make decisions in order to purchase a product.

Positioning strategies refers to personality statements that companies use when they want to declare the value to their customers. OTS (2015I) advices that when a company comes up with the right positioning strategy, it becomes easier to create a positive impression in the minds of customers. At the same time, customers depend on positioning in order to become loyal towards the company products. For instance, like engaging and relating with companies they already understand that companies also understand them at a more personal level. Companies that create strong brands make customers recognize and identify them easily. Furthermore, companies also depend on strong brands in order to create and strengthen their relationships, and trust any new service launched by the company. The current marketing plan suggest for Lion Company to market its flavoured soya milk through the following positioning strategies.

The department should recruit and train sales representatives. The training should focus on ways that they can communicate different benefits to the parents of teenagers. Brand positioning require that a company communicate different unique benefits that associates flavoured soya milk. For example, the department will create a standardized message for representative to read to the target customers regarding the benefits of consuming soya milk. Most importantly, the company will use this strategy as the best approach to highlight the powerful benefits of drinking soya milk among teenagers such as the need for vegetable proteins, consumption of no lactose, less allergy, no insulin causing diabetes.

Targeting Strategy

The marketing department will approach and talk to celebrities from Australia. Their role will be to act as ambassadors and spokespeople for the company brand. They will be called upon whether the company seeks to introduce the brand in the market (Fifield, 2008). This strategy will become popular to introduce the flavoured soya milk to other areas in Australia where Lion Company as not penetrated. Just as explained by OTS (2015), the goal is to ensure that consumers identify as well as recognize brands manufactured by the company. However, Ainsworth (2013) maintains that while the approach might seem expensive to undertake by any marketer, one thing that stands out is how consumers show their allegiance and following for celebrities. This comes from customers who love reading that their celebrities write about, their characters, personality, behaviours, and what such people stand for in the society. The marketing department will make contract with some of the Australian celebrities such as Kylie Minogue, Liam Hemsworth, Keith urban, or Naomi Watts. This will form the best way to shape teenagers in following the leads of their celebrities.

Management will adopt the use of value and prices charged on soya milk as two way to position the product. For example, the company will use a high-end technique. Such a technique can make the marketing depart to start exploiting the psychology of customers that soya milk offered in the market is premium. Second, the marketing manager will ensure that the company cements the milk as one that offers high nutritional value to its customers that what competitors are selling. Consequently, customers will find the reason to treat premium priced products as those that offer high value.

Lion Company has succeed in processing and distributing flavoured soya milk that contain high value. The company does this in all its products offered across Australian market. Based on this foundation, this plan recommends that management increase the level of quality. Besides, the marketing department through different communication strategies will pass the message concerning the commitment of a company in ensuring that it does not compromise on quality.

Advertising should become part of the promotion, which is also one part of the communication mix. Besides, the company should not treat advertising as an isolated strategy that can occur alone. Development of a successful advertising campaign will require that the company follow the following procedures; pre-campaign phase, strategic decision, tactical execution, campaign implementation, and a campaign follow-through (Momany & Alshboul, 2016).

Pre-campaign period demands that the company assesses the market condition. Doing this would be one way of understanding the competitive field. For example, the initial analysis should be in a position to examine a number of competitive offerings that relates to the market trends, the media choices, and usage pattern.

The company will also establish advertising objectives. Apart from the overall formulated communication objectives, marketing department must also ensure that they formulate advertising objectives such as;

1. Offer support to personal selling program
2. Improve relationship with dealers
3. Improve attitudes of consumers
4. Create awareness in a market

The company will use different media mix to achieve the above objectives. For example, the company can opt to use prints that has pictures, logo, and colour of soya milk. Second, the company can create a standardized message to be aired in different local broadcasting houses. Some of the nationwide broadcasting televisions could include ABC, SBS, Seven west Media, and Prime Media Group.

Creative Idea

Billboard as a mix, can also play a key role of relaying information. The company can hire GOA Billboards Pty Ltd in order to design and place a picture soya milk associated benefits. This strategy will help create a visual picture for those passing along business roads.

Public relations officers at the company will assist in the early stages of launching soya milks in Australia. Furthermore, they will also assist in the positioning and repositioning of the product after they will have reached maturing stage.

Media mix under public relations include; publications, special events, sponsorships, news sories, lobbying, and public service activities. The company should use publications such as articles, newsletters, and magazines in order to influence teenagers. The company should also think about important special events (Milligan, 2012). For example, the department need to organize and support exhibitions, contests, and conferences. Those in attendance might include teenagers or their parents. Sponsorships also bring a group of people together. Hence, the company can promote soya milk brand by sponsoring football events. Those that come for such events will meet with different company managers or brand ambassadors.

This approach will help the company deviate from the use of intermediaries when it comes to selling of the brand. This implies that the company through different media mix will be in direct contact with the target groups. The fact that the target group will be teenagers, the best way for communicating to them could be through internet, shopping, and TV Shopping.

Internet is now changing how companies communicate with its target market. The internet has led to revolution of social media platforms. Thanks to the availability of internet to a greater percentage of people owning smart phones. Teenagers have also become part of the internet mandra when it comes to accessing of social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Currently, Lion Company has running accounts with the above accounts. Therefore, this IMC recommends that the company communication department create messages and share with those in the friend list and advertising. Besides, the company can contract other third parties that have experience in internet marketing. The advantage of taking this strategy would help in achieving the following media mix;

1. Social media marketing (SMM)
2. Search engine optimization (SEO)
3. Pay-per-click (PPC)
4. Search engine marketing (SEM)
5. Email marketing

The company should recruit and train sales representatives. The training need to focus on strategic planning and ways that they can start thinking like the strategists. Within the current marketing environment, sales people need to rise above the notion of wring orders at the counter. However, not that they need to arm themselves with market intelligence in terms of special focus in understanding the activities of competitors.

The company will need to come up with clear inference of equipping the entire sales representative with techniques of competitive strategies. For example, the trained group must understand how to counter-strategies to their senior management. This implies that they will have to plan and accommodate some critical components.

For rationale in having, a team with broader role is because of understanding that they are always in the forefront of actions. Every sharp sales person at the company will need to notice some changes in customer buying behaviours and identify a surge in a competitor’s activity. In overall, therefore, this IMC suggest that the sales team should behave just like the general manager of Lion Company. Furthermore, they should ensure they act like a marketing director.

Positioning Strategy

CAMPAIGN TYPE	PROJECTED SUBTOTAL	%
National Marketing	$500.00	0%
Local Marketing	$86,000.00	17%
Public Relations	$14,550.00	3%
Content Marketing	$6,000.00	1%
Social Media	$18,300.00	4%
Online	$2,720.00	1%
Advertising	$25,000.00	5%
Web	$14,200.00	3%
Market Research	$600.00	0%
Sales Campaigns	$30,120.00	6%
Other	$321,000.00	62%
	$518,990.00

Action/Tool	Objective	Target	Timing	Responsibility	Detail Integration	Progress
National marketing	Increase awareness	Parents	November, 5th 2017	Marketing department		pending
Local marketing	Increase awareness		November 5th 2017 – June 30th 2018			pending
Public relations	Increase awareness	parents	November 5th 2017			pending
Content marketing	Increase awareness	teenager	November 15th 2017 – April 20th 2018			pending
Social media	Increase awareness	teenager	November 15th 2017 – March 20th 2018			pending
Online	Increase awareness	teenager	November 15th 2017 – March 20th 2018			pending
advertising	Increase awareness	teenager	December 10th 2017			pending
web	Increase awareness	teenager	January 15th 2017 – April 20th 2018			pending
Market research	Increase awareness	teenager	November, 5th 2017			pending
Sales campaign	Increase awareness	teenager	November 5th 2017 – June 30th 2018			pending

This IMC plan recommend that the marketing department take the responsibility of a control process. This strategy will help in ascertaining the implementation of the program. The evaluation also understand the achievement of objectives. For example, the first process would involve setting up benchmarks as standard variables in terms of measurable and observable indicators. The company will evaluate the effectiveness of IMC program by looking at the process measures, the return on investment, and new measures. Besides, it is critical to understand that the IMC will go through three phases of evaluations.

The first phase will cover strategic development. This stage will involve conducting planning. Just as indicated in the rest of the paper, this section involved defining the marketing problems, defining the product, and the target group. The second stage of evaluation should involve developing the actual campaign. During this stage, the process will involve pretesting and in-market testing. Furthermore, the stage will require refining the message and channels before and after the marketing department has implemented the marketing activity.

The last stage is the evaluation state. This will come as a post-campaign evaluation. The company will evaluate the campaign against the objectives established above and returns on investment. For example, this process will involve making comparison between the benchmark and the results after two years. The procedure will assist in identification of any form of deviation.

It will be the responsibility of the mid-level management to identify the actual performance against the set measures. While doing this, management will ask a number of questions such as what, why, and what occurred. The key measures to use at this stage will include profitability level, the marketing cost, and the sales volume of soya milk. In addition, the evaluation process will consider designing appropriate corrective measures against the deviations.

11. Conclusion 

The current report focused on IMC plan of Lion Company in Australia, The Company specializes in processing and delivery of food and beverages to customers distributed throughout Australia. Some of the products that the company distributes includes Beer, wine, spirits, yogurts, cheese, soya products, and flavoured soya milks. The communication objectives presented in the report involves increasing the level of market awareness among households in Australia by 20% by 2020, to increase the volume of sales of flavoured soya milk from the current 2 million sachet to 3 million sachets y 2020, and to increase the market share from the current 34% to 45% by 2020. The major target group included teenagers aged 13 – 19 years across Australian geographical area. The report provides that Lion Company adopt four positioning strategies. The four strategies will include benefit positioning, celebrity-driven positioning, value and price, and quality positioning strategies. Be marketing department must ensure that the company implements the communication mix in terms of public relations, direct marketing, and advertising.

References

Ainsworth, J. (2013). Business Languages for Intercultural and International Business Communication: A Canadian Case Study. Business Communication Quarterly, vol. 76, no. 1, pp. 28-50.

Atanassova I, Clark L. (2012) Social media practices in SME marketing activities: A theoretical framework and research agenda. Journal of Customer Behaviour [serial online]. April 2015; 14(2):163-183.

Brink, K. (2015). Oral Communication Skills: Are The Priorities Of The Workplace And Aacsb-Accredited Business Programs Aligned?’ Academy Of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 14, No. 2, Pp. 205-221.

Chanthinok, K., Ussahawanitichakit, P., & Jhundra-indra, P. (2015) social media marketing strategy and marketing outcomes: a conceptual framework. Allied Academies International Conference: Proceedings Of The Academy Of Marketing Studies (AMS), 20(2), 35-52.

Edeling, A., & Fischer, M. (2016) Marketing’s Impact on Firm Value: Generalizations from a Meta-Analysis. Journal of Marketing Research (JMR), 53(4), 515-534.

Fifield, P. (2007). Marketing Strategy. Amsterdam: Routledge.

Fifield, P. (2008). Marketing Strategy Masterclass. Amsterdam: Routledge.

Jimenez-Castillo, D. (2013). Integrated Market-Related Internal Communication: Development of the Construct. International Journal of Market Research, Vol. 55, No. 4, Pp. 2-19.

Melton, J. (2011). Integrating Social and Traditional Media in the Client Project. Business Communication Quarterly, Vol. 74, No. 4, Pp. 494-504.

Milligan, S. (2012). Marketing Strategies. New Delhi: Research World.

Momany, M., & Alshboul, A. (2016). social media marketing: utilizing social media to advance brand awareness and increase online sales. International Journal Of Business, Marketing, & Decision Science, 9(1), 33-54.

Olof Holm, (2006). Integrated marketing communication: from tactics to strategy”, Corporate Communications: An International Journal, Vol. 11 Issue: 1, pp.23-33

OTS, M. (2015I). Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Why Does It Fail?’ Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 55, No. 2, Pp. 132-145.

Sarapaivanich, N 2015, ‘The role of interpersonal communication in developing small-medium size enterprise (SME) client loyalty toward an audit firm’, International Small Business Journal, vol. 33, no. 8, pp. 882-900.