Marketing Communication Plan Research Paper

Executive Summary

The main aim of this report is to develop a marketing communication plan for an organic energy drink that will have a competitive edge in the market and will also increase product success through a well-planned and attractive media strategy.

The initial part of the marketing plan consists of a situational analysis of the plan by analyzing the macro and micro environment, thus providing information about the product’s background. For analyzing the macro environment, we used the model of PESTEL, whereas for analyzing the Microenvironment, we used SWOT and TOWS models.

The next part is about the STP process. This entails segmentation, targeting, and positioning of the market and the product. This part basically reflects our main idea of the campaign, that is campaign objectives and how they are linked with the strategies and their implementation. After the transport used to reach the audience, we showed how we would attract them through emotional slogans and messages. This part is followed by the budgeting plan, counting the expenses which the company will bear regarding the campaign. The last part of this section shows how we will evaluate the efficiency of the campaign.

The main findings are that consumer are more conscious about their diet and fitness in line to save their time and money. The UK market provides opportunities for companies to grab with the help of their strengths. After analyzing the market, we deduced that the target market is more attracted to digital marketing, and hence, we will spend more of our budget on that. The main aim of the campaign is to attract customers and have a strong bond with them while keeping in view our future opportunities.

Introduction

Product innovation has become a necessity since the preferences of the customer have started to change. In order to maintain sustainable growth in the market, companies have to come up with new ideas. So, the carbon-based industry, with the collaboration of energy snack bars, is making an innovative offer that can attract a great number of customers to PEPSI Co., which recently lost its market due to its traditional products.

The message of the plan should be in accordance with the offering provided, and delivery should be planned according to the response gained from the customers. This means that we need to do some situational analysis and analyze the environment in which the product has been introduced and the steps that regulate the media strategy; moreover, this can be supported by budgeting. Finally, we will derive some strategies to take good measures to sustain the brand’s personality.

Product And The Brand

Composition

Our company is providing an energy drink which would be filled with protein and multi vitamins, NOS is an innovative and modern energy drink which increases the stamina plus keeps the body active. The drink contains vitamins B6 and B12, carbohydrates, sodium and natural sugar (Brown, 2017). The product is made in different flavours, such as exotic fruit punch, watermelons, peach, and peach mango. This will be manufactured in 500ml size translucent glass bottles at the retail price of $10.

Following the model introduced by Aaker in 1997, the PEPSICO brand personality is perceived to be in the category of competence as it has been working for a long time, so it is reliable and dependable. With the introduction of the energy drink, it is trying to enter into the category of excitement to be up-to-date, daring, and challenging.

Situational Analysis

Macro-Environment Analysis

The PESTEL model was used to scan the macro environment.

Political/Legal

PEPSI has a well-developed reputation in the market and is keen to sustain this by signing a petition to pay the fine for false advertisements. The employees have signed the petition regarding the security of the information regarding any matter related to the firm.

Economic

Analyzing the current situation, it is important for NOS to place an appropriate price to conserve its image in public along with affordable prices and high quality. Targeting a younger market also implies an economic benefit in terms of durability in the age group compared to a higher demographic.

Cultural/Social

Obesity has been a common issue for a long time, and people are fighting hard to deal with this problem. This issue can be linked to unhealthy dietary choices. The social and cultural variations in individuals have made them extraordinarily conscious about their diets and intakes.

Technological

NOS drink avails the opportunity to target the Millennial demographic, and so they have decided to make their campaign on air through social media. This can not only enhance the brand image but will also strengthen the relationship between consumers and the company and make their online presence more influential. In addition to this, nutritional information is quite easily and readily accessible, owing to the availability of smartphones. Exposing NOS energy drinks is an organic idea that shows how healthy they are without any artificial flavouring.

Competitive Environment

NOS drink’s top opponents are The Coca-Cola Company, Odwalla, Inc., further coming towards PepsiCo, owner of the NOS drink brand, its competition from the soda market has transformed it into a juice market (Forbes.com, 2018).

Micro-Environment Analysis

The microenvironment is analysed by using the SWOT analysis model.

Table 2: SWOT analysis (Forbes.com, 2018)

Table 3: TOWS analysis

STP- segmentation, targeting and positioning.

Figure 8: The STP process (Akers, 2017)

STP (Segmentation, Targeting and positioning) is an important concept of marketing management and is usually the first step in marketing (Rice, 2017).

Segmentation

3.2 Targeting

Above 20

Athletes

Average income

Students

Fitness freak

U.K

Adults

Target market

Positioning

Brand positioning is how the consumers perceive your brand and products, which is usually based on feelings and impressions (Stephen, 2018).

Health

As we are using organic material, no artificial flavours or other unhealthy prerequisites are included in the drink. The makers have also taken the advice of the nutritionist so that no doubt exists in the authenticity.

Labelling

The information available on the label is very useful in identifying the amount of dosage needed at a time; hence, any new brand of energy drink must appeal to authenticity. In order to attract energy drinks, the brand must distinguish itself by adding labels which clearly identify the amount of sugar content. So, the amount of sugar added is available on the label.

Media

Advertising on television can create a good perception of the product as you are free to explain your message through videos. Additionally, promoting a more relatable and cool image and using the most focused strategy like Rockstar and Monster is recommended (Stephen, 2018).

The Campaign

4.1 Creative Strategy

The main aim of the campaign is to create awareness and gain more brand loyalty by introducing a sub-brand and thus working further hard towards the maintenance of the company’s image.

They will be influenced more by the messages and the promotional videos, which will go on air within no time. The main slogan of our campaign at the initial stage will be “…..Your Fitness is our priority”. This will compel them to think further about the product. Following this campaign, we will change the slogan “……loyalty always poses good results”. Along with this, after receiving some fruitful results, it will be changing to “…… You know what is better for you. Stay together” This will really help us to make a strong relationship with the customer and will take brand loyalty to a new level.

The objectives thus deduced from the above information are:

To create awareness alongside reaching 30% of the target market in the first year.

To sustain our image and create brand loyalty

By the end of the campaign, the target is to reach 2/10 of the target customer.

4.2 Media strategy and tactics

To implement the strategies, we will be using the following types of tactics.

YouTube

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Instagram

Facebook

Social media marketing

Hullu banner

T-station banners

Digital billboards

Newspaper

Pandora ad

Magazines

Non-traditional media

Traditional media

Execution of Traditional Magazine

Magazines:

Health service journal: Our print advertisements will be published in this magazine during our six-month promotion. People targeted through this are the ones sitting in the waiting area of the hospital or ones who have a habit of reading. The space will consist of a full-page (colour) advertisement (4.74’’ x 7.18’’) that will run from May-October (6x).

Business Matters Magazine: The magazine reaches out to most of the United Kingdom’s businessmen and college graduates who are interested in the business side. The space will consist of a full-page ad (6x) that will run from June to September.

Digital Billboards:

Digital billboards will be available on the main routes. Such billboards would be available at highly noticeable structures to pass out our marketing promotion and message to a vast reach of drivers, those driving and shopping at a high pace. These billboards will run for a six-month period of the campaign.

Newspapers:

Daily Express: According to the research, Express has the readership of the majority of our target audience. Its circulation in December 2016 was 335,271(Ponsford, 2017). A two-column and six-inch ad will be placed seven days per week in order to reach our target audience.

T-Station Banners:

T-station banners would probably be watched by daily commuters who go every day through trains, especially through the Crystal Palace Line, Greenwich Line, South London Line, and North London Line. These banners will run for six months in the previously mentioned locations.

Execution of Non-Traditional Media

Hulu Banner:

It’s an online service for streaming videos. It provides two types of services

1. 5-7 seconds banner ad shown at the start of the video
2. The ad is straight down in the video throughout the program. We have selected the second option.

Strategy 3: Social Media

Facebook

The most used medium for interacting is Facebook these days. According to the demographics, 67% of users are women (Perin and Jiang, 2012). Consequently, NOS will utilize this opportunity as the main social media display. We would hand out enticements and incentives with QR codes at the launching ceremony of NOS in order to attract potential consumers over Facebook.

Twitter

According to the research, Twitter is used as the second most extensively utilized social media platform by our target demographic. Our page background will highlight the picture of our Facebook page. Hashtags surrounding our products and or events will be created by us in order to encourage the customers to get NOS into the prevailing trends in the region at the time of an event. Additionally, we would encourage our consumers and followers to have more live tweets covering our events.

Instagram

Instagram is the fourth most well-liked and used social media platform for the people in our target demographic (Perin and Jiang, 2012). We will be conducting an Instagram contest. They will be asked to post their picture of a healthy lifestyle and use specific hashtags highlighted on their Twitter page. One person will be awarded with a prize.

LinkedIn

Our company’s name page will be created, which will help us to engage the followers by posting updates, news, promotions, sales, and content related to healthy lifestyles. Moreover, we will be using this as a recruitment tool for promotional groups and college-aged interns so that they can provide help in monitoring our social media pages.

YouTube

This will be used as a medium to update customers about a healthy lifestyle in their managed time. We will consult the health experts who will give lectures, as PEPSI will sponsor 9 (Theodore, 2016).

“Do Something Healthy Today” Video Series:

Schedule and Budget

Media

Post Campaign Evaluation

Conclusion

Analyzing all the variables and the research done up till now, the new direction of our energy drink will achieve a long-lasting triumph and also would lead the company to an unimaginably great level within the current market. By achieving complete support and getting back from the executives and personnel of the marketing and promotion team, this new marketing plan is aimed at going off without any main glitches and would really strike the market once it is hot.

We will conduct some pilot testing, in which we take a sample of some target audience and let them taste the drink. This will help us get an idea of what is lacking in our drink. What more improvements can be made, and how can we improve our marketing campaign? The customers will be invited to a specific location, and two moderators will conduct the session in which they will ask open-ended questions. We will also ask them about their future buying habits and what their friends think of the product to gauge what direction we should head in the future and what kind of brand extensions we may employ in the future.

References

Brown, E. (2017). Ingredients in the NOS Energy Drink. [online] LIVESTRONG.COM. Available at: https://www.livestrong.com/article/381000-ingredients-in-the-nos-energy-drink/ [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].

Forbes.com. (2018). Energy Drinks Could Be The Growth Driver For Coca-Cola In The Domestic Market. [online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/greatspeculations/2014/05/08/energy-drinks-could-be-the-growth-driver-for-coca-cola-in-the-domestic-market/#11de5ff01108 [Accessed 18 Mar. 2018].

Ponsford, D. (2017). Print ABCs: Seven UK national newspapers losing print sales at more than 10 per cent year on year – Press Gazette. [online] Pressgazette.co.uk. Available at: http://www.pressgazette.co.uk/print-abcs-seven-uk-national-newspapers-losing-print-sales-at-more-than-10-per-cent-year-on-year/

Perrin, A. and Jiang, J. (2018). About a quarter of U.S. adults say they are ‘almost constantly’ online. [online] Pew Research Center. Available at: http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/14/about-a-quarter-of-americans-report-going-online-almost-constantly/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018]

Stephen Zoeller’s Marketing Blog.(2018). How to Create a Millennials Positioning Strategy for a New Energy Drink Brand – Stephen Zoeller’s Marketing Blog. [online] Available at: http://www.stephenzoeller.com/positioning-strategy-millennials/ [Accessed 19 Mar. 2018]

Segmentationstudyguide.com. (2018). What is the STP Process?. [online] Available at: http://www.segmentationstudyguide.com/stp-process/what-is-the-stp-process/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018].

Rice, C. (2017). The STP Process in Marketing Management. [online] Bizfluent.com. Available at: https://bizfluent.com/info-8738531-stp-process-marketing-management.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018].

Akers, H. (2017). The Steps in Developing an Integrated Marketing Communication Plan. [online] Smallbusiness.chron.com. Available at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/steps-developing-integrated-marketing-communication-plan-56305.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018].

Theodore, A. (2016). The Naked Truth About Naked Juice’s Customer Engagement Strategy. [online] DMN. Available at: http://www.dmnews.com/marketing-strategy/the-naked-truth-about-naked-juices-customer-engagement-strategy/article/477825/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2018].