Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy, Essay Example

For all intends and purposes, the use of promotions serve as an integral part of achieving significant marketing gains and hence the reason it is featured prominently in the conduct of contemporary business activities. It is common knowledge that the availability and access to information plays a crucial role in influencing the decision of customers to patronize a good or service offered by any business but also the perception held about the business in the minds of customers (Kotler, 1984). It is in the light of this that businesses typically as a means of communicating with their customers and other stakeholders. In other words, a good or service is as good as how it is communicated to the target market.

In the most general sense every promotional strategy would reflect a combination of the following mixes: public relations; advertising; sales promotion and personal sales. Knowing these fundamental details about the constituent component of the promotional strategy forms the foundational basis of getting started in developing the strategy. It is also worth noting that the promotion is a continuous process guided by regular planning all the way through. Within the limited scope of this paper, attention will be focused on advertising and sales as tools to enhance the development of the promotional strategy; consequently the promotional strategy will be developed along this framework using the indicators that will be discussed in the next paragraph to buttress the points made here.

The promotion begins by creating and taking ownership of the identity of the business venture. As an illustration, a hypothetical pharmaceutical company called Maganie Inc will be used. Undeniably, there scores of pharmaceutical companies on the market today, but what distinguishes Maganie Inc from the rest is our specialization in producing medications for treating chronic ailments. TIMSUNG is the main product it produces in the treatment of a list of chronic diseases like diabetes, asthma, arthritis and rheumatism. Therefore the treatment of chronic maladies explicitly conveys the theme message of the promotion. The most appropriate audience for this promotion will be people within the health sector, institutions and rehabilitation centers and to a lesser degree wholesalers and retailers of pharmaceutical products.

Essentially, a sales promotion is often put in place to foster a boost in sales revenue for a short time period. The use of special offers and money off schemes will particularly be of significance within this context.

It is expected that as the product is brought unto the market the promotional strategy will achieve the following sales and advertising goals within the broad framework;

• Through extensive advertisement the level of awareness of the TIMSUM product should reach 45% within the first year;
• Achieve a total sales point of 35% within the first six months;
• Double product awareness and sales within the growing season.

Another important part of the strategy has to do with the propagation mechanism to be used to reach the target audience. It is imperative to assess all the conventional media options in use to ensure that the pros and cons of each medium is identified so that an optimum choice(s) can be adopted. The basic justification in the choice of the above approach in executing the promotional strategy is primarily because the product is making its debut entrance unto the market.

Now on the question of the role of public relations in the promotional strategy, it is worth stating affront that much as public relations and conventional advertisement share some striking similarities what makes the distinction and corresponding effectiveness is gauged by recognizing the difference between them and thus tapping into the strengths (Trout, 1981). Public relations unlike advertisement is an art built on the ability to create a sustainable relationship with the media community such that the company is able to effectively carry out publicity both pleasant and unpleasant publicity.

Having said so, it is imperative to begin a public relations activity with a clearly defined goal to guide the objectives of the promotion. Instead of conflicting with the promotion strategy it is wise to incorporate it into the bigger picture so that it is specific, measurable, realistic and time-bound. The core message should succinctly resonate with the target audience such that its impact will be felt using the right communication channels. Some of the very likely ones are Press releases, press conferences, event sponsorship, speaking engagements, media tours and what have you. Finally, it should be complemented by a definite evaluation system that will inform future actions.

The role of distributors, wholesalers and retailers in the manufacturing process cannot be overemphasized, consequently the ability of their combined effort to trigger growth. Increasing consumer demand, and improvement in services are among the reasons why distributors, wholesalers and retailers all part of the supply chain ought to be poised to take advantage to spur growth. Meanwhile, the first step towards progress hinges on the ability to create a networking plan that incorporates the entire supply chain in a seamless manner. For instance, the plan should be able to account for where and how does the target market shop for products similar to what I offer? It is also prudent to know the distribution channels used by other competitors in either my industry or other related industries. Last but not the least, looking out for potential impediments to my successful distribution channels.

But a deeper analysis indicates that often times, companies resort to distributors for the sheer purpose of cutting costs. In addition, it is known that distributors tend to exhibit a propensity to be very skilled in sales techniques with very little technical expertise on the products they sell (Lyon, 1997). It is therefore appropriate to engage their services when dealing with very simple products. Price is always the prime motivator for distributors which makes them incapable of stimulating the creation of orders besides the taking of orders.

Other related difficulties that arise from the relationship between manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors and retailers has to do with differences in expectations. For instance in the relationship cycle the manufacturer may have the main goal of opening up new markets as a result only sees the distribution channel system as yet another cost cutting route where as the players in the distribution channel system are mainly interested in having more varied products to satisfy their diversified customer base. In other words there is an open inconsistency in the relationship structure.

Reference

Andrew B. Lyon, (1997). Cracking the Code: Making Sense of the Corporate Alternative Minimum Tax (Washington: Brookings Institution, pp. 77-97.

Kotler, Philip (1984). Marketing Management. Englewood: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Al & Jack Trout (1981). Positioning: The Baffle For Your Mind Ries, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co.