Critically discuss for one specific brand of your choice, the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication.
Critically discuss for one specific brand of your choice, the concept of Integrated Marketing Communication. Support your answer by referring to appropriate theory and concepts of Integrated Marketing Communications and discuss theory in close relation to your chosen brand.
I have chosen Marks & Spencer and more specifically their 'Per Una' clothing range around which to base my study. I will begin by providing an overview of Marks and Spencer and the recent problems they have encountered and how 'Per Una' has contributed to the company's much improved performance over the past two years. I will then discuss the theory of marketing communications and in particular what has become known as 'integrated marketing communications' (IMC) whilst closely relating it to Marks and Spencer and its 'Per Una' range.
In January 1999, Marks and Spencer, one of the most profitable companies in the UK, shocked the city by announcing that profits for the financial year would be almost half that of 1998. Before this, M&S had a reputation as a safe 'blue chip' investment, their pre-tax profits having increased every year between 1992 and 1998, probably having had the most marketable brand on the high street, which is strange for a company that was said several years ago to not even use the word 'marketing'. For customers, Marks and Spencer's reputation was built on quality, dependability and good value, and for its employees, M&S offered high quality training, staff development, welfare, and relatively good job security.
Various reasons were put forward for the decline in profits - from holding excessive stock due to expansion, to the inability to utilise fully the increased available floor space as a result of the difficulties selling its products. The main reason for these difficulties was that Marks & Spencer failed to see how their customer base was "becoming more segmented with different tastes emerging. The company's products and services became seen as less 'vibrant', too staid, and insufficiently dynamic." (Business Open Learning Archive, P.3) Once word spread that the merchandise range was dull, lifeless and old, profitability levels and customer confidence dropped. Realising it would have to strengthen its marketing skills if it was to regain its market share, June 2000 saw M&S make an announcement about a realignment of its marketing department, designed to put the customer at the forefront of everything the company did. The realignment provided a focus and direction for marketing the M&S brand and helped ensure that the buying, selling and marketing areas work together as a part of a more integrated communications approach.
Whilst most people put the recovery of M&S down to the new clothing ranges, the fact is that the restructuring of the marketing department provided M&S with new focus and direction that was inherent in the creation of the new ranges. The realignment of the department has helped M&S ensure that they fully understand the competition, are aware of trends in the market place and "can communicate in the most effective way." (Press release, The Company, 27/07/2002)
Marketing communications is defined by Fill, (2002, P.1) as "a management process through which an organisation enters into a dialogue with its various audiences. The objective is to influence the perception, understanding and actions the target audience has towards the organisation and/or its products." The direct way in which organisations like Marks and Spencer attempt to communicate with their various target audiences is through the promotional tools which together form the promotional mix. The five main tools are split into above and below the line communications. Above the line communications consists of mass media advertising, whilst below and through the line communications, which are used a lot more these days, consists of sales promotion, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing.
Until recently, these promotional tools were regarded by many as separate from each other, that the benefits that could be achieve from each of them did not overlap in any way. It took until the mid-1980's for many companies to realise that co-ordinating these tools together could provide numerous benefits to the organisation. This coincided with the rapid development of direct marketing and the impact of the Internet. This moulding of the above and below the line communications into one cohesive bundle became known as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). The explosion of interest in IMC has resulted from ...
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Until recently, these promotional tools were regarded by many as separate from each other, that the benefits that could be achieve from each of them did not overlap in any way. It took until the mid-1980's for many companies to realise that co-ordinating these tools together could provide numerous benefits to the organisation. This coincided with the rapid development of direct marketing and the impact of the Internet. This moulding of the above and below the line communications into one cohesive bundle became known as Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). The explosion of interest in IMC has resulted from many organisations recognising the opportunities available as a result, whether they be market-based drivers such as the reorientation from transaction-based marketing to relationship marketing, organisational drivers, for example, increasing profits through improved efficiency, or communication-based drivers, such as more effective triggers for message and brand recall. Therefore it is somewhat surprising that so few organisations have been willing or able to move to this approach.
Ever since the new marketing department was set up at M&S, there is evidence that management have move towards embracing IMC with its new clothing ranges, including 'Per Una'. If we examine the elements of Marks and Spencer's promotional and marketing mix, we can see how they have tried to integrate these elements in order that their target audiences perceive a consistent set of messages. In order to do this I will look at the tools in M&S's promotional mix individually and then move on to discuss the harmonisation of the elements of their marketing mix.
The first element I will discuss is advertising, which can be defined as "any paid form of non-personal promotion transmitted through a mass-medium." (Brassington & Petitt, 2000, P.593) "The purpose of an advertising plan is to provide the means by which appropriate messages are devised and delivered to target audiences who then act in appropriate ways." (Fill, 2002, P.486) M&S rarely conduct television advertising. The lack of necessity for television advertising might be because Marks and Spencer brand and values are so well known, expensive television advertising would not be cost-effective. M&S's marketing managers may well be from the same school of thought as Ehrenberg (1988, 1997) who believe "that a consumers pattern of brand purchases is driven more by habit than by exposure to promotional messages." (Fill, 2002, P.492)
However, M&S frequently take out ads for their specific ranges including 'Per Una' in lifestyle magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Vogue and Marie-Claire. The reason for choosing these magazines is they are aimed at 25-35 year old women, as is the 'Per Una' range. Also, advertising in magazines such as these, alongside adverts for designer labels such as Gucci, helps M&S deliver 'Per Una's' core message that the range is aimed directly at the fashion market. There are a number of advantages magazines have over television as a advertising medium, that might explain Marks and Spencer's desire to use magazines advertising more than television advertising, such as the specific and specialised target audiences reached, low costs and longevity of the advertisement.
A further element of the promotional mix is public relations, which is defined by the Institute of Public Relations (1986) as "the deliberate, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its public." Unlike the other tools in the promotional mix, public relations does not require the purchase of airtime and space in media vehicles, such as T.V or magazines. And compared to the other promotional tools, public relations has higher credibility because the decision whether or not an organisation's public relations messages are delivered is not down to the organisation, but those charged with managing the media resource. Another big advantage PR has over other tools is that it has such low absolute costs.
Within the communications programme of an organisation, public relations have two major roles to play. "These are the development and maintenance of corporate goodwill and the continuity necessary for good product support." (Fill, 2002, P.644) The first task of PR is to provide a series of cues by which the stakeholders can recognise, understand and position the organisation in such a way that it builds a strong reputation. Through public relations and word-of-mouth, M&S has built a extremely strong brand and a reputation for quality clothes for all at accessible prices and although this reputation may have been tarnished by the recent downturn in fortune, new ranges such as 'Per Una' have helped re-build its old reputation whilst adding a new fashionable element to it as well.
"The second role of public relations is to support the marketing of the organisation's products and services, and its task is to integrate with other elements of the promotional mix." (Fill, 2002, P.644) Apart from during the downturn in1999, M&S have always had good press which supported their corporate and marketing strategies and helped them become one of the most profitable companies in Europe. The launch of the 'Per Una' range in 2001 is an example of great awareness being built in the target customers resulting from public relations. PR was used to inform editors and news broadcasters that the new product was about to be launched. The fact that the 'Per Una' range is designed by veteran designer George Davis, who already has a great reputation because of his work with 'Next' and 'Asda', gave M&S and the new range excellent publicity which has certainly helped 'Per Una' become as successful as it has been. To some extent, this role is tactical rather than strategic, "but if planned, and if events are timed and co-ordinated with other elements of the promotional mix, then public relations can help build a competitive advantage." (Fill, 2002, P.645).
Of the five promotional tools, Marks and Spencer use only three. Because they don't participate in direct marketing or personal selling in a significant way, the last promotional tool for discussion is sales promotion.
According to the Institute of Sales Promotion, sales promotion is "...a range of tactical techniques designed within a strategic marketing frameworks to add value to a product or service in order to achieve specific sales and marketing objectives." This added value could be in the form of an inducement, (for example, price-offs, coupons, premiums) and is intended to encourage buyers to act now rather than later. Marks and Spencer's sales promotions take the form of price-offs - usually as part of the January and July sales. Because the 'Per Una' range has now established itself in the marketplace, the key objective of any sales promotion activity should be to stimulate an increase in the number of purchases made by current customers and to attract users from competing products or organisations. M&S 'Per Una' range has targeted the custom of stores such as Next and Gap.
"It can be argued that sales promotion serves to discount a brand, either directly through price-based reductions, or indirectly through coupons and premiums." (Fill, 2002, P, 569) Because of the small amount of sales promotion carried out at M&S, it would seem as though the Marketing Managers at M&S to some degree, agree with this statement. As 'Per Una' is marketed as a fashion product, too many or too big a sale or even the use of coupons may lead the consumer to perceive the range as poor quality or poor design. So to keep in line with 'Per Una's' marketing communications strategy of a high quality, fashionable product, M&S feel it is important not to have coupons or too much sale activity.
As already stated, marketing communication success is not determined solely by the activities or use of the promotional tools, each element of the marketing mix has a capacity to communicate, and if IMC is to occur, all the marketing mix elements should be combined together in such a way that they should meet the needs of the target segment. I will start by looking at the product element of 'Per Una's' marketing mix.
The 'Per Una' range is designed to appeal to 25-35 year old and does not cater for the larger woman. The fact that size doesn't exceed 18 is an intrinsic cue that helps the range seem of good quality and fashionable. There are also intrinsic cues which are normally concerned price, store image and the manufacturer. M&S hoped that the more fashionable image of 'Per Una' would improve the whole company's image.
Regarding 'price' the responsibility of informing the target audience about the price of an offering is with marketing communications. An organisations pricing strategy needs to be reflected in the communications undertaken, and "it should be sensitive to the expectations of the target audience an the positioning strategy." (Fill, 2002, P.461)
In accordance with the fact that the 'Per Una' range is directly aimed at the fashion market, the price points are not cheap. Jeans will sell for around £30, trousers for around £40 and jackets at around £70. "Our prices clearly establish the categories," says the Marks and Spencer's 'the year in review' article. M&S can't position the 'Per Una' range in the fashion market and then charge a low price, because as well as low value often representing low quality, the prestige attached to wearing fashionable clothes may disappear in the eyes of many of the consumers. Buyers are usually conscious of price, but this is used in conjunction with other cues, such as shape, size and colour, to determine perception of the value that the offering represents.
The third element of the marketing mix is people. This part of the marketing mix, the customer/company interface is becoming increasingly important, as to many customers, it is a way of differentiating organisations and their product offerings. M&S have a reputation for have well trained staff who learn that the service element of the buying of a product is of great importance to the image of the organisation.
As we have discussed the promotional aspect of IMC in great detail earlier, the last main element of the marketing mix to be discussed is place. Place is concerned with marketing distribution channels and logistics and represents a significant target audience for all involved in the marketing channel system. For effective communication, these activities need to be coordinated and synchronised in such a way that the best possible impact is derived. When launching a new product, it becomes even more important that the product is made available through the supply chain. This was the main problem with the 'Per Una' range. It was to originally feature in 100 stores, but when it was launched in September 2001, due to severe lack of stock, only 50 of the 100 stores received the range when they were supposed to. This lead to unsatisfied customers and demoralised staff who had been told about the forthcoming range and how wonderful it was going to be. In all the 100 stores that were due to receive the new range, there had been a whole window dedicated to the launch as well as lots of PR in the newspapers etc. The result was empty selling spaces and probable damage to the credibility of the product and the organisation. Realising its importance, Mr Davies, who insists he is only a supplier to M&S, is aiming to get fashions from European factories onto his store space in three days.
Although the promotional mix and the marketing mix are important parts of any organisation's move towards IMC, the organisation as a whole needs to accommodate many changes. At a strategic level for example, IMC has at its roots the overall business strategy of the organisation. Using Porter's (1980) generic strategies, because M&S pursue a high quality and dependability, it makes sense to complement the strategy by using messages that stress these aspects, as apposed to any low-cost strategy, which for 'Per Una,' they have. "The next major issue concerns the recognition that IMC cannot be sustained unless it is supported by all customer facing employees" (Fill, 2002, P.464). It is also important to have good communications with your various outsourced providers, such as production and material suppliers id the implementation of IMC is to be successful.
During the course of this essay, we have seen that combining the tools from the promotional mix, enables the communications strengths of one tool to reinforce those of another, this way target audiences are much more likely to benefit, as is the organisation, in the form of improved effectiveness and delivery of messages. This is evident in Marks and Spencer's 'Per Una' range, where the message of a quality, fashionable range is delivered well across the different elements of 'Per Una's' promotional and marketing mix. We have seen how ranges like 'Per Una' have encouraged a move towards IMC at M&S, and how they have helped M&S put right a number of problems that were previously evident within the organisation, many of which were communication orientated. But by no means has M&S achieved totally integrated marketing communications, they are still a number barriers to integration at M&S, such as their relationship with some of their agencies, but if this can be improved, there seems no reason why M&S cannot achieve total IMC and further enhance their market position.
Matthew Flint
Candidate number - 013220707
MN - 2007 Marketing Communications Essay
Dr. S, Wagner-Tsukamoto
8th May 2003
Word count =
Bibliography
Books
Fill, C, Marketing Communications, Contexts, Strategies & Applications, Prentice Hall, 2002.
Lancaster & Massingham, Essentials of Marketing, McGraw-Hill, 1988.
Brassington & Pettitt, Principles of Marketing, 2nd Edition, Prentice Hall, 2000.
Kotler, Marketing Management, 7th Edition, Prentice Hall, 1991
Web Pages
www.Marksandspencer.com
www.guardian.co.uk
www.sol.brunnel.co.uk
www.managementlearning.com
www.microsoft.com
