Introduction
The term "integrated marketing communication" (IMC) refers to a strategy that unifies not only communications but all means of outreach (Percy 2014). Promotion is a crucial component of marketing and by maintaining a solid synchronisation, the tools produce greater results when combined. Vertical, horizontal, internal, external, and data integration are the several types of marketing communication integration (Yeshin 2012). All the integration layers act differently in enhancing integrated communications. The marketing strategy and company operations are both integrated horizontally. This suggests that all the activities such as finance, manufacturing, communication, and distribution have to work together of because their decisions typically transmit a form of a message to the customer. Collecting and exchanging departmental information is a function of data integration. Subsequently, vertical integration sustains numerous components of the firm objective including both marketing and communication. The final step of internal integration is internal marketing, in which all employees are made aware of, and hopefully inspired to embrace, the company's refreshed branding, promotional materials, and service benchmarks (Shimp and Andrews 2012). Finally, external integration involves working with organisations outside of your own, such as public relations firms and advertising organisations. By reducing costs and increasing efficiencies, as well as increasing sales and profits, integrated marketing communications provides several advantages to businesses (Yeshin 2012). By guaranteeing integration of all marketing communication, the customers are able to proceed through all the stages of buying while at the same time solidifying the image of the business and enhancing customer relations. As a result, the company's competitive edge is bolstered as concentrated client interactions shield it from the inevitable onslaught of competitors. The following study investigates the features of Integrated Marketing Communication on Coca-Cola Company which launched a new product to its long-standing range of soft drinks called as Coca-Cola Life. The study examines the present product market and looks to establish their integrated marketing communications goals. In addition, the paper also tries to establish an Integrated Marketing Communication campaign for the Life brand of Coca-Cola.
Description of the Product and the Overarching Advertising Effort Employed\sCoca-Cola Life belongs in the same category of other Coca-Cola products like as Coke Zero and Diet Coke. Since the majority of the company's prior goods are high in sugar content, the introduction of the Life brand was primarily motivated by a desire to increase the availability of healthier alternatives (Wawrzak-Chodaczek, Zeligowski, and Kowal 2015). Advertising for the newly released product appeared in a total of 7,000 bus shelters, digital billboards, and other outdoor sites around the country (Mitchell 2016). Also, social media marketing suggested a favourable reaction from the customers. The announcement of a competition on September 20, 2014, was another part of an integrated marketing effort for the Life brand (Roderick 2016). In this campaign, Coca-Cola provided its consumers opportunity to win various prizes via pop-up stores in London. Online users also had a chance to participate in the competition by posting Coca-Cola Life moment’s images using the hashtags #comp and #Cocacolalife. Two years following the debut of the campaign, it has proven to be a successful Integrating marketing communication tool which as has witnessed a large increase for the Life brand and the Coca-Cola Company in general. The approach has met all the criteria and standards of Integrated Marketing Communication in that it mixed up the media channels employed marketing. Coca-Cola Company, however, preserved brand consistency throughout the whole roll out by utilising a variety of media venues (Strausbaugh and Parente 2014). How a message is conveyed can have a significant impact on the success of an integrated marketing strategy. To achieve this goal, it is important to carefully pick the media platform that will serve as the campaign's primary focal point. The motivating elements behind the plan must be adequately articulated. Finding this sweet spot is essential to developing effective Integrated Marketing Communication and fostering brand loyalty among target audiences.
An Examination of the Present Market
Coca-Cola Life is a very recent addition to the market, having debuted in August of 2014. Since its inception, the product has built up a dedicated following of purchasers. Earlier in 2015, the corporation began promoting the product under a single brand name. In 2014, however, Coca-Cola introduced Coca-Cola life in response to consumer demand for healthier beverage options. Coca-Cola Life is 30% less sweet and contains 30% less calories than the leading soft drinks. According to marketing data, the Life brand has expanded rapidly since its debut in 2014, and now accounts for over 2% of the overall Coca-Cola portfolio, generating sales of £28.9 million. However, industry-wide sales of Coca-Cola products dropped 5% and 2.8% by volume in 2015 due to the lack of a successful Integrative Marketing Campaign, which was launched 10 months after the debut of Coca-Cola life (Mitchell 2016). The value of sales of non-cola beverages fell by 3.8%, while sales of fruit juice fell by 7%. Sales of energy drinks declined by 2.2% during the same time. After an unfavourable reception, both Coca-Cola South Pacific and Coca-Cola Amatil tried out several versions of Coke Life. The new tactic's goal was to keep the Life brand's flavour while reducing the number of calories per serving (Mitchell 2016). In doing so, they were able to entice Coke customers to try other carbonated soft drinks and give regular and Diet Coke consumers tasty, healthier alternatives. Coca-Cola Life was first formulated in the United States and the United Kingdom, and then adapted for usage in Australia. The preparation contains of 60% less kilojoules and greater stevia content in comparison to the conventional coke (Roderick 2016). (Roderick 2016). According to the latest IRI numbers, the Life brand of Coca-Cola has attracted a somewhat small group but the faithful customer. After the intensive advertising in 2014, the sales of the Life brand peaked at £4.1 million in the first four weeks of the promotion (Roderick 2016). (Roderick 2016).
Integrated Marketing Communications Objectives
As a means of reaching out to its demographic, The Coca-Cola Company's marketing relies on IMC. The corporation is in 360˚ communication making it the organisation with the best distribution plan word wide. The Integrated Marketing Communication employed for marketing the Life brand has the fundamental purpose of getting into the market surrounding consumers of Coke products who are health conscientious. The marketing strategy was also revised to better reflect the product's target audience, competitive landscape, and overall potential. Coca-Cola Life's Integrated Marketing Communication aimed, in part, to foster a sense of personal connection with the brand and to help make its products routine parts of people's lives. Part of the larger field of Integrated Marketing Communication, social media marketing aims to make customers feel more connected to the brand they're buying (Chitty et al. 2011). In most cases, this is accomplished by participation in social responsibility activities, such as fundraising for natural disaster relief. Further, Coca-Integrated Cola's Marketing Communication approach appeals to a wide variety of consumers by emphasising lightheartedness and entertainment and grounding products in universally appealing ideals like joy, merriment, and generosity (Chitty et al. 2011). The IMC aims to do more than just get people talking about its goods; it also wants to have people thinking about them, using them, and buying more of them in the here-and-now. This includes the implementation of seasonal sales in supermarkets and marketing the same to the customers via the media. The Integrated Marketing Communication of Coca-Cola aims at reinforcing the purchase behaviour of the product customers by making it a healthy alternative and a type of lifestyle. As a result, the customer will remain loyal to the brand for the rest of their lives.
Establishment and Allocation of the Promotional Budget
The marketing manager is in charge of setting the advertising budget, allocating funds to different marketing techniques, and promoting sales. The budget allotted for product marketing is fully manageable and hence should be effectively distributed among departments, services, and lines (Piercy 2014). (Piercy 2014). Too much money put into advertising a product can be wasteful and cost the business money (Shin 2013). If you invest too little in marketing, though, you'll see negative outcomes like lower brand awareness and fewer sales. So, it's important to weigh the investment in the marketing against its expected return. Very, the timing of marketing is also significant in relying on the purchasing power of the target market and other current conditions (Piercy 2014). (Piercy 2014). Establishment and distribution of the advertising budget may be handled based on approaches that are most convenient for the firm. However, many approaches have advantages and disadvantages.
Percentage of Sales or Profits
It is feasible to set the advertisement budget to utilise by focusing on the proportion of sales. Advertising costs should be weighed against the impact on sales and customers in the same way that other company expenses, like labour, are. By employing the percentage of sales, it is feasible to remove some of the inaccuracies resulting from basing the outcome of the promotion on the accumulated earnings. For instance, the marketing budget for the Coca-Cola Life brand was set largely as a proportion of sales. The soft drink had a 5% reduction in sales 10 months after it was introduced to the market (Roderick 2016). Therefore, future marketing integrated marketing communication tactics adopted by Coca-Cola Company targeted at raising the percentage of sales product. Once the product gains widespread acceptance, the advertising expenditure may be reduced, yielding a greater rate of return. Within a specific line, sales percentages are often stable over time. It is, thus, feasible to compare product performance by examining the patterns from a similar product. In turn, this aids the marketer in determining the advertising cost-to-revenue ratio. Reports from Internal Revenue Services are also vital in creating the advertising budget for the goods. Also, by assessing the ratio of the industry, it is feasible to judge on how much more or less should be spent in comparison with the competition. This way of promotion budget establishment tends to be easier and faster to apply and supports the market stability.
Pricing Per Unit Sold
How much advertising a product needs to increase sales is a factor that can only be determined by the marketer based on their expertise and understanding. When employing the units of sales, the amount utilised in ads is precisely proportionate to the units of sale. It's similar to the percentage-of-sale model, but with some subtle differences. This strategy eliminates the propensity to base the budget on money quantities. The Coca-Cola Company relies heavily on it because of the possibility that elements like weather could alter beverage consumption. Therefore, the budgeted amount needs to be appropriate for the current situation and expected number of sales units worldwide.
The agreed-upon advertising budget determines how much of the overall integrated marketing communication budget will be spent on individual components. Establishing whether the advertising funds will be used for promotional or institutional purposes is the first stage in the process of allocating the advertising budget. Departmental budgets, calendar periods, the overall budget, sales regions, and media spending are each allotted a specific percentage of the total budget. Coca-Cola Company invests most of the advertising expenditure to media in order to obtain and keep its significant market share internationally owing to the competitive nature of the beverage sector. The financial allocation for media ads through radio, newspapers, or direct mail is reliant on prior experiences, opinions of the media professionals and industry practise. Departmental budgets are set by examining the proportion of sales whereby the departments selling more items likely to obtain higher advertisement budgetary allocation. In terms of calendar periods, the higher budgetary allocation is necessary during the period in which the product is anticipated to earn more sales. Coca-Cola has consistently been the largest advertiser, spending $3.342 billion in 2012, $3.266 billion in 2013, and $3.499 billion in 2014. (Wawrzak-Chodaczek, Zeligowski, and Kowal 2015).
Promotional Ads from an Integrated Marketing Campaign
To promote another party's goods or services through impersonal means is the definition of an advertising. Coca-Cola Life brand marketing relies heavily on advertisements, and the more aggressive the better, especially for new products like their soft drinks. IMC advertising for the Coca-Cola Life brand may make use of themes and concepts that are especially useful when utilising electronic media. Their use by soft drink buyers as a form of identification will help spread the word about the beverage (Belch and Belch 2015). Celebrities, particularly those in the entertainment business, might be employed in the commercials to boost sales of the soft drink in another way. Using these kind of celebrities can help market a product because many people can relate to them (Belch and Belch 2015). Moreover, the advertisement may be marketed using fresh phrases that are easily associated with it.
Proximity advertising
The Life brand might benefit from Coca-use Cola's of direct marketing in addition to traditional advertising methods. This type of advertising may be carried out in several ways, including the establishment of partnerships with establishments like theatres, eateries, and hotels that will stock the product on the company's behalf. Direct marketing eliminates potential alternatives by making sure consumers can only buy the advertised product. Also, this sort of marketing for the Coca-Cola Life brand may be done through sponsoring of entertainment events such as motor racing, football, etc.
Program of Measurement, Analysis, and Control
ROI analysis may be used for marketing strategy monitoring and evaluation (ROI). Tracking Return on Investment helps businesses see if their marketing efforts are paying off (Ferrel and Hartline 2011). Secondly, the number of sales may be utilised in monitoring and assessment by assessing if it has a good or a negative influence based on the prior records. Customer feedback is another approach the Life brand marketers may use to measure the success of the product (Ferrel and Hartline 2011). (Ferrel and Hartline 2011). To do this, we can use online questionnaires. Integrated marketing communication relies heavily on sales staff to track and measure the success of its many promotional tools. The external marketing team often recognises the campaign's success before upper management does.
Conclusion
In the present day, businesses that want to reach a large audience must employ integrated marketing communication strategies. When a firm employs all of its marketing tactics in tandem, it is better able to set a financial allocation and approaches that Assignment Help the promotional goals without running the danger of losing money due to overspending or missed sales. Integrated marketing communication is beneficial for more than just the bottom line since it allows for better tracking of product, market, and consumer reaction patterns.
