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Introduction
The aim of this report is to investigate and provide the Best Clothing Company with the most effective promotional strategy for introducing female leather jackets/coats, which is a new product, into the market.
Best Clothing is a small business located in Nottingham, United Kingdom, which mainly manufactures and sells women clothes. Best Clothing currently plans to introduce a leather jacket/coat for women into the highly competitive UK market.
The clothing market in the United Kingdom is perceived to be very competitive; with most of the clothing companies being large-scale, they can easily lower the prices of their clothes to take control of the market.
For Best Clothing to successfully launch the new product, it must employ an effective promotional strategy.
This report provides an exclusive description of the aspects Best Clothing needs to consider to launch the new clothing product into the market.
The report describes the project rationale; campaign audience profile; campaign objectives; campaign idea; creative execution, marketing, and communication strategies; and how the success of the campaign will be measured.
Project Selection and Rationale
The aim of the promotional strategy described in this report is to assist Best Clothing to successfully introduce the new leather jacket/coat for women into the market. There are a number of challenges that Best Clothing needs to consider before it plans to launch the new product.
For instance, the UK market for clothes currently experiences stiff competition, which could make it difficult for Best Clothing to get into the market with the new product, given that it is a small-scale business.
These are some of the problems and challenges that Best Clothing needs to put into consideration when designing the promotional strategy for the new product.
The most effective way by which Best Clothing can introduce the new product into the market is by creating consumer awareness about the product.
Such awareness can be created through the implementation of an integrated marketing communication strategy that uses the internet, support media, advertising, public relations, sales promotion, and direct marketing.
An integration communication strategy that uses all of these communication modes can enable the company to reach all the target consumers for this particular product (Smith & Zook, 2011).
Campaign Audience Profile
It is recommended that a company should determine its target market before the business embarks on the promotional strategy to reach the customers with its products. Targeting marketing is an equivalent of target promotion.
It is difficult to try to sell to the general market; such a move is considered a waste of time and resources. In such a scenario, it becomes difficult for the business to identify the potential customers for its products.
The closer a business is to its target market, the more it is able to reach relevant customers who are interested in its products (Smith & Zook, 2011).
In case of Best Clothing, the target audience is middle-aged working class women and college female students. The leather jackets are a bit expensive than the ordinary ones and as a result, the target market must comprise individuals with a good source of income or who like a good sense of fashion.
The new jackets are meant to make the target consumers feel good and stylish. Best Clothing, having identified the target consumers for the new product, is in a better position to design the most suitable promotional strategy for this group of clients.
Another important point as far as the target consumers are concerned is market segmentation. Market segmentation is concerned with characteristics such as demographics, geographic factors, psychographics, and needs and behaviours of the target consumers (Blakeman, 2007).
The target consumers consist of female individuals aged between 18 and 30 years. The target clients also include both working individuals and female college students who can afford to purchase the jackets.
Best Clothing plans to first introduce the new product to Nottingham markets and the neighbouring towns before going nationwide. This implies that the promotional activity for the new product is only going to cover Nottingham and its environs.
Audience Perception/Problem
The target audience has a positive perception of Best Clothing since the company has always provided them with the best clothes and shoes. The persons being targeted know the company as one of the best places they can shop for clothes.
The company is known for its attractive customer and after-sale services besides the quality wear it provides its customers with. It is speculated that the target audience will continue to have the same perception throughout the entire promotional period.
The target consumers are also known as a group of a high lifestyle and which likes to shop for new clothes and shoes. It is a natural behaviour in middle-aged women to want to identify with fashion and new attire since this makes them feel good.
The attitude of this audience is best identified with changes in fashion. The middle-aged working women and college female students prefer to spend a larger proportion of their income and resources on purchasing new clothes, especially those that they think are the most fashionable.
The three aspects, including consumers’ perception, lifestyle and attitude, are very important elements to be considered when designing an effective promotional strategy for the new leather jacket to be introduced into the market.
The marketing communications strategy and tools are going to be designed to reflect the three aspects (Blakeman, 2007).
For example, since it is known that the target audience cherishes fashion and likes to purchase clothes that make them feel good, the content of the communication tools will mainly be meant to explain to the target consumers how special the new jacket is and inform them the ways in which it will make them look good and special.
Campaign Objectives
This promotional campaign is intended to assist Best Clothing to achieve three main objectives: to build awareness for the new jacket, creating interest among the target consumers, and assisting the business to remain competitive in the market.
The promotional campaign is intended to assist Best Clothing to create awareness for the new jacket to be introduced into the market. The campaign is going to employ the available communication tools to expose the target customers to the new product.
The communication tools may also help the company to capture important information regarding its target customers as they get exposed to the product during the promotion period.
The main tools that can be used to capture customer information are sales promotion and advertising. The information can be used as an effective tool in following up the marketing efforts (Shimp, 2010).
The promotional campaign is also going to be used to create interest in the new product among the target consumers. The communication tools that are planned to be used in the promotion are effective and can enable the company to create a significant following for the new jacket.
Marketing scholars argue that an effective promotional campaign can help to increase consumer traffic to the company outlets. The interest can also be created by moving the target consumers to experience the new product (Shimp, 2010).
During the promotional period, the consumers may be allowed to try the new product at a lower cost to enable them to experience it before they make a decision to purchase it. This is intended to motivate a large number of the target consumers to try the product.
Lastly, the promotional campaign is meant to assist Best Clothing to remain competitive in the market by capturing a significant proportion of the clothing market in Nottingham and in the adjacent towns.
The promotional tools may also be used to induce the existing customers of Best Clothing to purchase the new product. Some of the sales promotion devices that can be used to achieve this objective include discount coupons and persistent persuasion.
It is predicted that with an intense promotional campaign, a significant number of the existing customers of Best Clothing will be easily convinced to try the new product, which will be introduced into the market (Shimp, 2010).
Campaign Idea and Slogan
The main idea that is going to be used to drive the planned promotional campaign is ‘It Is Different, It Is the Best.’ It is believed that the target audience comprises individuals who are more cautious about their looks than anything else.
For that reason, it is predicted that by assuring them that they will look smart, feel good and at the same time, protect their bodies from the chilly weather, they will be more willing to purchase the new jacket.
There is a high probability that the campaign idea is going to catch the attention of most of the target consumers.
The audience, which comprises mainly middle-aged working class women and college students, has a strong passion for clothes, especially those that are the most fashionable.
There is a high chance that the campaign idea is going to be an extremely convincing idea, which will make the target audience purchase and try the new product.
It is predicted that the idea is going to attract many individuals from the group being targeted to buy the new product as it can help them meet many objectives at the same time.
The campaign slogan that is going to be used in the promotional marketing is closed linked to the campaign idea. The slogan, as shown in the visual below, states that ‘Best Clothing, Keeps You Warm, Keeps You Smart, Makes You Feel Great.’
Figure 1: Campaign Slogan
It is believed that the slogan is going to assist the promotional marketers to attract the attention of the target audience. The slogan explains a lot about the new female jacket to be introduced to the market.
It is written in colourful letters and decorations to catch the attention of the target audience. It is believed that with this slogan, the promotional market of the new product is going to be very effective.
Marketing Communication Strategy
The main objective of marketing communication tools is to assist a company to create awareness of its background, its position in the market and the products and services it offers.
A communication strategy is said to be effective if it can address both the company’s immediate problem and its future needs (Chitty, 2011). There are a number of communication tools that Best Clothing can use to promote the new product.
Some of the tools include: the internet, sales promotions, and advertising (Pickton & Broderick, 2005). However, to obtain the best results, the company should adopt a combination of multiple communication tools.
Consequently, the proposed promotional campaign is going to apply a combination of the internet, advertising, sale promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and support media.
Internet
The internet is one of the most powerful tools that can be used by Best Clothing to inform the target audience about the new product that is about to be introduced into the market.
The main internet platforms that can be used in the Best Clothing promotional campaign are websites and social media. Best Clothing should design its website with information regarding the new jacket it plans to introduce into the market.
The information should include details such as the price and the benefits that customers will get from obtaining the new product. The pictures of the new jackets should also be included in the website to make the promotion appear realistic (Chitty, 2011).
Social media, the second internet platform, is also as effective as coming up with a good website; it can also enable Best Clothing to obtain good results and adequate customer feedback.
It is a fact that most of the target consumers are youths, who are the most frequent users of social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter. The main social network that is going to be used in this promotional campaign is Facebook as it cheap and easy to use (Clow & Baack, 2005).
The marketers are going to create a Facebook page for Best Clothing, where the new product will be promoted. The target customers will then be informed during sales promotions to visit the company’s Facebook page to obtain more details about the new product.
The internet is one of the communication tools that are going to be used a lot in this promotional campaign. The internet has many benefits when used as a promotional tool or as a marketing tool.
Firstly, the internet is cheap and easy to use; secondly, it reaches a large number of the target customers at the same time.
Thirdly, it is one of the most suitable tools for this case since most of the target consumers are frequent users of the internet, especially social media sites such as Facebook.
Lastly, the internet is extremely convenient as the target audience can access the information at any time they wish (Clow & Baack, 2005).
Advertising
Advertising, like the internet, is also an effective marketing tool. There are different types of advertising that a company can use depending on the stage or level in which the product is. The main advertising methods are pioneering, competitive, and comparative advertising.
In the case of Best Clothing, the type of the advertising that is going to be used is the pioneering type since the product is new and as a result, it needs to be launched first.
Pioneering advertising is intended to stimulate primary demand for the new jackets to be introduced into the market (Paley, 2006). The advertising should be designed in such a way that it provides the target consumers with in-depth information about the benefits of using the jacket.
As a result, the pioneering advertising method is going to help Best Clothing to create an interest in the new jacket and increase the awareness of the target audience with regard to its planned introduction.
Although advertising is going to help the campaign team to create awareness and increase the interest of the target audience in the new product, the advertising method will not be used as much as the other communication tools. Advertising has a number of shot-comings.
Firstly, some of the potential target customers are likely to be put off as the advertisement team attempts to increase their commission through hard core selling.
Secondly, the method is likely to leak secrets of Best Clothing to competing companies since there are no measures to guard the leakage of confidential information (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).
Direct Marketing
Direct marketing allows Best Clothing to advertise and market directly to the target audience through both electronic and print media.
The direct marketing method is going to focus mainly on the target customers, statistical data obtained from marketing activities, and the reliability of the marketing team.
The information dissipated through this marketing tool is going to be based upon a principle of ‘call for action.’ The information will be delivered to the target audience directly (Czinkota & Ronkainen, 2007).
Figure 2: Direct Marketing Message
Direct marketing can provide the marketing team with an opportunity to reach individual members of the target customers as they seek to deliver a particular ‘call to action’ to them.
This marketing tool may enable the marketing agents of Best Clothing to develop a personal relationship with the target audience; consequently, the personal touch could make it easier for the agents to convince the audience to try using the new product (Kumar & Phommathed, 2005).
Direct marketing is going to be used more in the promotional campaign due to the numerous benefits it has. Direct marketing may enable company to cut down the cost of sending messages to the target consumers since the target market is situated close to the company.
Secondly, customer responses in direct marketing can be tracked and are measurable, which makes it easier for the marketing team to gauge the success of the promotional campaign (Doole & Lowe, 2008).
Sales Promotion
Sales promotion is a marketing communication tool that uses special short-term offers and techniques to persuade and convince individual members of a target audience to try a particular product.
During sales promotion, the marketers are supposed to offer valuable items to the customers who accept to purchase the product on promotional terms.
Some of the items that are offered mostly, depending on the nature of the product on promotion, include gifts, free samples, vouchers, coupons, discounted prices, and free trips (Jain, 2008).
The marketing team, in the case of Best Clothing, is going to offer gifts, such as perfumes, notebooks, vouchers, discounted prices, and mobile phones.
The team members, during their sales promotion trips, may tell the target audience that the first 20 customers to purchase product will be given specific gifts and vouchers. They can also tell them that the first 50 buyers will be given a discount that is worth 25% of the marked price of the product.
Another strategy that the team may use to persuade the target consumers to try purchasing the product is to tell them that they stand a chance to win beautiful mobile phones at the end of the promotional period.
Sales promotion is going to be used more since it is more likely to make the target consumers try buying the product. Even though it is quite expensive because of the resources required, sales promotion offers the most effective way of obtaining the consumers’ feedback in the shortest time.
The method also provides the marketing team with an opportunity to measure the success of the promotional campaign (Doole & Lowe, 2008).
Public Relations
Public relations, although a lowly perceived promotional tool, is also one of the most effective marketing tools that small companies can use to promote their products.
To apply this marketing tool in the promotional campaign for the new product, Best Clothing should first create a good working relationship with its customers, especially the ones who are expected to purchase the new product.
There are a number of strategies that Best Clothing can use to develop a good relationship with the target market. The best strategy at the moment is to attract the members of the target market by offering to them gifts, samples and vouchers (Jain, 2008).
After that, the customers can then be invited to purchase and try the new product. Although, this method appears to be extremely effective, it is not going to be used a lot since it is complicated and involving.
Support Media
Support media is equally important in the promotional campaign of the new jacket. Support media is effective and can be used by small companies that wish to enhance their link with their customers.
Best Clothing can use support media to reach many members of the target audience since most of them like to visit the media.
The marketing team of Best Clothing may be required to create pages for the company on Twitter, YouTube, Myspace, and Google + where details such as price and benefits of the product can be outlined. The support media platforms are going to be used extensively because of their benefits.
Firstly, support media is cheap as very few costs are incurred in using it. Secondly, the support media enables the company to reach a larger number of the target clients as most of them are known to use the platforms frequently (Egan, 2007).
Measuring Campaign Success
The success of this promotional campaign can be measured through a number of strategies.
Firstly, the success can be measured by visiting the company’s websites and its pages on the social media to check the number of internet users who normally access its sites.
An increase in the number of the target consumers accessing the sites and the pages will mean a success in the campaign.
Secondly, the success can also be measured through online surveys in which the respondents, who are mainly members of the target audience, may be asked if they were reached during the campaign period.
A significant number of positive responses will indicate a successful promotional campaign (Ferrell & Hartline, 2011).
Conclusion
This report provides an outline of how integrated marketing communication can be used by Best Clothing to promote one of its new products, a women jacket, to the target market. The target market in this case comprises middle-aged working class women and college female students.
Best Clothing is a small textile company with its headquarters based in Nottingham, in the United Kingdom.
Considering the nature of the company and the characteristics of the target group, the marketing communication tools proposed to be used in the promotional campaign are the internet, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and support media.
The success of the campaign can be measured through visiting the company’s websites and pages on social media, or by conducting an online survey.
References
Blakeman, R. (2007). Integrated marketing communication: Creative strategy from idea to implementation. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Chitty, W. (2011). Integrated marketing communication. South Melbourne, VC: Cengage Learning.
Clow, K. E., & Baack, D. (2005). Integrated advertising, promotion and marketing communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Czinkota, M., & Ronkainen, I. (2007). International marketing. New York, NY: Thompson.
Doole, I., & Lowe, R. (2008). International marketing strategy: Analysis, development and implementation. London: Cengage Learning.
Egan, J. (2007). Marketing communications. London: Thomson.
Ferrell, O. C., & Hartline, M. D. (2011). Marketing strategy. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Jain, S. (2008). Integrated marketing communication: Trends and innovations. New Delhi: Global India Publications.
Kumar, S., & Phommathed, P. (2005). New product development: An empirical study of the effects of innovation strategy, organization learning, and market conditions. New York, NY: Springer.
Paley, N. (2006). The managers’ guide to competitive marketing strategies. London: Thorogood.
Pickton, D., & Broderick, A. (2005). Integrated marketing communications. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Shimp, T. A. (2010). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.
Smith, P. R., & Zook, Z. (2011). Marketing communications: Integrating offline and online with social media. Philadelphia, PA: Kogan Page.
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