Discuss about the Power of Integrated Marketing Communications.
According to the American association of Advertising Agencies, the purpose of IMC is to recognize and understand the significance of a comprehensive plan which evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines like advertising, public relations, Personal selling, and sales promotion and combines all these tools to bring consistency and impact in its communication (Andrews & Shimp, 2017). IMC basically ensures that all forms of communication and messages are linked together to deliver the same message through all the channels. Apple over the past has been using traditional and Web 2.0 tools for the marketing communication and has been largely successful in all its promotional campaign. In order to manage the effectiveness of the IMC campaigns, the following points have to be kept in mind:
After careful evaluation of the TG and deciding on the message to be communicated, Apple has come up with following channels to include in its integrated marketing communication management:
Advertising is one of the most effective ways of brand promotion. A carefully composed message targeted to the right audience has the potential to deliver unbelievable result for the organization. Advertising through Bill boards, TV commercials, Radio, Newspaper and digital marketing helps the company to not only reach a wider audience but it also helps to create brand awareness. Advertising helps in expediting the process of selling as people are beforehand aware about the product the company is selling, its usage and utilities, thus making it easier for comprehension. Advertising has to be done with a combination of traditional marketing and Web 2.0 to reach the entire audience, at the same time it also helps to build an engagement with the audience who eventually become brand promoters. In the case of Apple, Advertising is important as the target audience is tech savvy and likes to consume the content through various channels. The targeted campaigns of Apple can be reached only through advertising which will help in the increase of its sales. Social media channel is an effective tool to advertise to the millennial, which is the prime audience of Apple watch 3 series. Traditional forms such as TV, radio, billboards can be used to create the brand awareness and reach a wider audience. Thus, the relevancy of advertising lies for Brand promotion, Brand awareness, Sales promotion, Brand recall and facilitating sales (Koekemoer, 2014). Apple watch series 3 advertisement on radio were aired for almost 7 days a week for a duration of one month and eventually the frequency reduced to weekends, the timing of the radio ads used to be in the morning hours and then in the evening. The time was decided based on the target audience of the Apple watch 3 Series. In the similar manner, the TV commercial were aired during prime time on Sky Network and Sports channel. This was decided due to the positioning of the smart watch, people watching sports would have a natural affinity towards the commercial of the watch, thus solving the purpose of the advertisement. Digital marketing was on social media platforms and websites based on Infotainment, sports, entertainment, fitness and lifestyle, which was in sync the target audience of Apple watch series 3.
As the name suggests, promotion of the company’s product to facilitate the increasing sales is termed as sales promotion. Sales promotion is done through different ways such as offering discount to the customers, early bird offers, loyalty points, membership coupons, and bundled products, attractive schemes for the loyal customers or the brand loyalists. At the same time brand can also be promoted through newspapers inserts, danglers, banners at the right communication tool. The underlying purpose here is to increase the sales and get maximum revenue in the early days of Product launch. Apple watch series 3 is known for its Brand loyalty, people buy Apple watch product because of Status, High end quality and brand loyalty, Sales promotion is a way of acknowledging their love and respect towards the product and its brand. The reach of Sales promotions further drive the penetration of product in the market, the early adopters will spread a word about Apple watch 3 series in the market which eventually will help the company in increasing its sales. All across the globe Apple watch series 3 will be launching sales promotion to cater to every country’s audience (Altstiel & Grow, 2015). The same can be seen on the Facebook page in terms of organic and inorganic promotion, Google ad –word, websites like Techcrunch, Techrader and so on.
Apple does not believe in Personal selling, it has in its entire business journey never indulged into personal selling. But looking at the efficiency of the channel, its result and the fitment of the product with the target market, company has decided to get into personal selling. Apple watch 3 series is not just a smart watch, it is a watch which tracks fitness, calories, notifies on message, call and other features and stylish in design has a great utility in Fitness centres. The company has decided to keep few canopies outside 5000 fitness centres across the globe, the purpose of the canopies would be to educate the people about the smart watch and its utility for health conscious or fitness conscious people. It will also facilitate the selling of watch through the canopies (Armstrong, Kotler, Brennan & Harker, 2015). Apart from increasing sales, Personal selling will further help the company in building a deeper and stronger connect with its audience. The process used for personal selling goes as:
Apple watch series is doing targeted promotion to tap the fitness conscious population and creating a brand positioning of Apple watch series 3 in their mindset.
As the name suggest, direct marketing helps in sending highly targeted message to the customer, potential customers or the target customers directly. Different channels such as messaging, email campaigns, catalogues, brochure and promotional letter are used for the purpose of direct marketing. The relevancy of direct marketing lays with reach the end users directly. As a part of IMC promotional strategy the company will roll out the content about the manufacturing details, utility, Tech specification and the usage of Apple watch 3 Series to its esteemed customers. The purpose here is to have direct communication with the customers and make them aware of the high end device and how the smart watch can be a part of their lives and improve the way they function (Keller, 2016).The company have been also doing twitter marketing to announce the release date of the Apple watch series 3 and engage the audience with the amazing smart and intelligent watch. The twitter campaigns were aired 6 months before the watch launch date and were live until the launch of the watch. The twitter campaign was done during the evening, while people are returning from their workplace.
The purpose of public relation is to promote the brand and its product through Press releases, media releases, news, events and public appearances. Apple’s events are widely known all across the world; Steve Jobs was very clear about the importance of the event in the success of Product. Lisa, Macintosh, Apple 1, Apple 2, I-phones all had the luxury of a grandiose event, the attendees were tech enthusiasts, bloggers, media people, newspaper journalist and common audience(Lusch & Vargo, 2014). The idea here is to present to the world, a watch (Apple watch series 3) which is not like any product and different in its own category. The organic promotion the company can generate by organizing a magnanimous event would lead to increased brand awareness and positive word of mouth about the product, which will further boast the sales of the company. Other methods such as news and Press release will also be done with the same intention. Blogging these days is a very important component of IMC, consumers read blogs before making any purchase, and reading blogs has become an important part of consumers purchasing decision. Tech enthusiast or company hired bloggers use the products, review the product critically and present a true picture in front of the followers about the product. Hence, Public relation becomes an important part of Apple’s IMC campaign strategy (Seitel, 2017). For Apple watch series 3 the company replicated the same strategy, it came with number of Press releases like “Apple watch series 3 brings built in cellular- Powerful new health and fitness enhancement” , “Third time the charm” and many more.
In order to conclude, Apple communication strategy is a mix of traditional tools such as TV, Print, Radio and Billboard promotion and the highly effective online promotion. Although, this time Apple will be investing heavily on online promotion to reach the millennial as the product t is a better fitment for them.
References
Andrews, J.C. & Shimp, T.A (2017). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. California: Nelson Education.
Armstrong, G., Kotler, P., Harker, M. & Brennan, R (2015). Marketing: an introduction. New York: Pearson Education.
Blakeman, R (2018). Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to implementation. England: Rowman & Littlefield.
Keller, K.L (2016). Unlocking the power of integrated marketing communications: How integrated is your IMC program?. Journal of Advertising, 45(3), 286-301.
Koekemoer, L (2014). Marketing communication: An integrated approach. Juta.
Lusch, R.F. & Vargo, S.L (2014). The service-dominant logic of marketing: Dialog, debate, and directions. Abingdon: Routledge.
Seitel, F.P (2017). Practice of Public Relations. New York: Pearson Education.
Altstiel, T. and Grow, J., 2015. Advertising creative: Strategy, copy, and design. California: Sage Publications.
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