IMC as an Integral Part of Marketing

Chapter takeaways

• Understand marketing strategy, its impact on communication, and vice versa

• Identify a firm’s area of competitive advantage, and understand basic competitive strategies

• Learn about segmenting, targeting, differentiating and positioning

• Comprehend decisions related to marketing mix elements and their impact on promotions

Marketing factors impacting communication

Dealing with competition

The target marketing process

To segment or not?

Segmentation criteria

Bases for segmenting consumer markets

Brands segment on various bases

Segmenting with hybrid variables

Target marketing

Differentiation

Positioning • The act of designing and

projecting a distinctive image of the company’s offering in the minds of the target market

• Positioning map indicates the relative placement of brands in consumers’ minds based on 2-3 select product characteristics.

Positioning options

Benefit positioningBenefit positioning

Attribute positioningAttribute

positioning

Application positioningApplication positioning

User positioningUser positioning

Quality or price positioning

Quality or price positioning

Product class positioning

Product class positioning

Competitor positioningCompetitor positioning

Image/ personality positioning

Image/ personality positioning

Attribute positioning/Benefit positioning

User Positioning

Brands position using different strategies

Positioning strategy-Taaza orange juice

• Benefit Positioning- Healthy orange juice, vitamin C enhancer, protects from cold

• Attribute positioning- 100% pure orange, sugar free juice

• Application or use positioning- a breakfast juice• User positioning- a drink for diabetics• Quality or price positioning- Value-for-money juice• Image positioning- fun juice

Choosing a positioning strategy

Repositioning brand image

✗ ✓ ✓✓

8-to-8 banking

Employee presentations for culture change

✓

Apple

Nutri-Bar• Positioned as convenience snack• “Good food to go”• Repositioned as breakfast substitute• “Respect yourself in the morning”

Developing the marketing planning Program Product

• Anything that can be offered to the market to satisfy needs & wants

• Services– Intangible– Inseparable– Variable– Perishable

• Product symbolism: Sum total of product/brand experience

• Product life cycle– Introduction– Growth– Maturity– Decline

• Product attributes: quality, features, design

• Packaging: Conceptualize, design & produce product container

• Branding: Investing a product with desired brand attributes

Product symbolism

Rin meets challenges at various stages of its life cycle

Communicating product-related aspects

Communication can create a brand

Quick Q!

• A product’s package serves as:a) A container to hold & protect a productb) A means for clubbing product into assortmentsc) A safety deviced) A communication toole) All of the above

Distribution

• Distribution channels: Organisations, individuals & processes making products available from manufacturer to end user

Push vs. Pull StrategyPush strategy

Pull strategy

Push vs. Pull Strategy

PUSH

• Appropriate when: – Low brand loyalty in category– Brand choice made in store– Retailer recommendations

are valued– Product is an impulse

purchase item– Marketers have low budget

and/or good channel relations

PULL

• Appropriate when:– High brand loyalty– High product involvement– Product has unique benefits

or is superior to competition– Purchase decision is made

before going to the store

Prestige pulls consumers through advertising

Price

• What a consumer ‘pays’ or ‘gives up’ for product acquisition – includes time, energy & psychic costs

• Pricing considerations:– Product perception– Consistency with other

marketing mix elements– Market & competition

• Price serves as an indicator of product quality – high price is associated with superior quality

• Advertising increases a firm’s ability to charge a higher price without lowering demand

Brand image allows Reebok to charge a price premium

Rasna communicates its value-for-money pricing

Quick Q!

• A product that has high quality and low price will usually:a) Confuse the consumerb) Excite the consumerc) Communicate a high product qualityd) None of the above