Essay
Subject: Marketing
Topic: Media Planning and Buying
Introduction
It is highly
probable that things would still come easy for marketers if
competitors remained few, average demand for products, and no wide
ranges of products. However, as generations have passed globalization
has become the big thing in the market today. Hence following these
changes in necessities for the business, rapid inventions of new
technologies together with clients’ prospects; marketing has
evolved too. This brings with it a major challenge which is how the
marketers will be able to get in contact with the primary consumers
of their products. The internet has created a platform on which a lot
of information can be passed across within a very short time. The
vast information thus creates a basis for the expansion of the
markets since geographical barriers are now done away with. The
challenge hence remains how best the internet could be used in order
to ensure that the marketing campaign using online media attracts as
many primary clients of the product. For this paper, I am going to do
a case on iPhone to show how media planning and buying can be
achieved.
Discussion
The marketing
strategy adopted by iPhone involves exploiting consumer media
consumption traits. This is by intensely making use of all the media
that the target consumers are exposed to. The target group for iPhone
is the working population. This is because most of iPhone features
suit their corporate needs. These features satisfy the constant
communication that is there between corporate and business partners.
At the same time it seeks to target the secondary market of high
school and college students by incorporating better entertainment
features. These features will suit their entertainment and internet
social messaging. All these features are designed to attract new
clients every time a new product is launched.
The achievements
that will be made through this advertising means will be measured by
how many phones have been sold by a given target. This is because
marketing is expensive to a company and thus the company may go at
loses if it does not make its intended sales. The phone has set
deadlines for three months by which it should already have sold one
million handsets. Thus if by the end of the three months the target
is not met then the advertising is not delivering its intended
purposes. This will thus call for the company to deliberate on the
changes that should be done on the adverts. But if the targets are
met then the adverts will have served their purpose. Also we will be
trying to monitor the number of potential clients of the phone or
those that have made enquiries to see how many have already been
introduced to our phones’ through the adverts.
Promotional
Strategies
Before every iPhone
model is launched, the company runs television adverts for a whole
month. This is so as to attract the numbers of waiting clients so as
to record high entry sales. The new products are also expected to be
displayed for a whole month in the apple stores so that consumers can
have a real life interaction with the product. By experiencing the
product in a real life situation will also make the consumers await
its launch eagerly. This will also facilitate in recording high entry
sales.
Due to the expected
high sales, the product will be launched with an initial high price.
This will be so as to record a high sales profit since there will
already be a high number of waiting consumers. The price will be
reduced after three months to make it affordable for both the primary
and secondary market targets. This is because the client base would
reduce drastically since not many mobile phone users would have the
ability to purchase the phone. This will ensure the product continues
to be bought by consumers and thus maintaining the high sales. The
initial launch price will be $599 and then reduced to $399 after
three months. This move is aimed at seeing that the company sells its
target of the number of phones it intends to have sold by a certain
date.
The distribution
method that the company will employ is the direct distribution. The
company will make use of its own resources to avail the products to
their clients. These will include using their employed sales persons
to market the product, availing the products in all the company’s
physical and also online stores. Other reputable distribution methods
they have employed are using accomplished online retailers and
cellular phone service providers. This is to ensure that the product
is availed everywhere.
CommunicationMedia
The marketing
communications media that the company has decided to employ is the
use of television, the internet and their physical stores. Through
running the television adverts the company will reach a wider market
even where apple stores are not yet available. They will also be able
to reach the whole of their market target and, even meet their target
of attracting new clients to expand their client base. In their
physical stores clients will have the opportunity to interact with
the phone and also with the store representatives. This will ensure
that they are able to get answers on any of their enquiries about the
phones. This will also be employed on their website through engaging
clients in chats. Both the online store and the physical store will
also present clients with an opportunity to view the wide range of
phones available and also their accessories in terms of applications
and enhancements. By advertising at the store a month earlier before
the launch and doing the same on television ensures that the product
gains popularity even before it is launched.
There will be a
constant design that will be used for the purpose of advertising. The
design will involve a plain background, the apple logo and the phone
itself. This simplicity is so as to avoid the client from being
distracted and rather concentrating on the features of the phone.
Another strategy the company employed is the use of catchy phrases to
articulate the quality of their phones. They will also be advertising
the phones applications concurrently with the physical design. This
is so as to show why the phone is different from all other phones
through expressing the quality of their applications. By advertising
the applications together with the phone is so as to enable those who
already have the phones but would wish to add a new application to
purchase it. Another method employed to increase on their sales due
to the phone and also its applications. The company will also employ
the print media to reach the news of their phones to their clients.
Through magazines the clients will be informed of any updates, new
releases of applications and also how to make maximum use of your
iPhone.
The design of the
adverts will be similar in all the media. This will ensure that the
phone is identified with a brand. The history of apple products that
are sleek in design is emphasized by not including a lot of graphics.
By attracting the client to the phones appearance only creates a
bigger impression of the product. Thus clients will only see one
consistent form of designs and immediately distance it from the
competitors. By creating this uniqueness they will be able to make
for themselves in the smart phone market.
Measuring
Customer Satisfaction and Addressing Gaps in Customer Expectations
and Experiences.
By use of their
website they will be able to market their products online. This will
ensure that even when the stores are not accessible clients can still
get to their products. This is also to ensure that clients can get
any answers they may require pertaining to their phones. Since their
clients are expected to be internet users, the company will also
ensure that it uses numerous sites to enhance their online
advertising. This will enable the customer to stay constantly in
touch with their clients and also reach their intended market targets
easier. It also ensures that they reach a larger target of their
future customers.
Through keeping
records of the feedback from our clients we will be able to rate the
levels of customer satisfaction. Using this information we will be
able to understand what changes or adjustments will require to be
made either on the phones or the phones applications. We will also
provide the clients with free updates to their phones applications to
ensure that they continue enjoying the phones services for a longer
time and better results. This will make the customers always like the
experiences due to more and more things that will be provided to make
their interaction with the phone better.
From the above case
study of iPhone the following observations can be made. In order to
increase competition, marketers need to come up with a plan that
outlines the strategies that they will use to manage the variant
nature of the market. One important strategy is that online marketers
are required to be vibrant. This is to ensure they are always able to
move with the dynamic changes of the market. Always being on the
lookout for the expectations of the clients will increase their
innovation in advertisements so as to fit the consumers’ styles. By
establishing the right target, they will be able to strengthen the
brands reputation and also the company’s. The reason why online
marketing would fail to yield good results is if; the correct market
is not reached and hence a wrong perception of the brand develops
among the wrong targets. Thus in order for the advertisements to
remain relevant, the marketer should make sure that the adverts are
only displayed in the correct sites that are most probably to be
visited by their primary consumers.
Another strategy is
making sure that the clients are directed to the intended links once
they click on them. The clients should only be directed to the
product being advertised by the link since if it takes them to a page
they have to waste some time to see it, they will avoid hitting the
links anymore. By reducing time for the client to view the product,
they can always look at any other products that you offer them in the
future. Thus companies should research so as to establish the
favorites of their consumer, spending habits and also their trends.
This will enable the managers to maintain their clients as they
continue to expand their market.
The online marketing
should also be able to remain relevant since this is one crucial
thing that decides the success of the advertisements. By using words
that will relate to the primary consumers, they will remain relevant
since they can easily notice them. With the rapid changes in
technology, internet users have now become experienced and it is easy
for them to distinguish between which wordings would be relevant to
them and those that are not. Thus to build and maintain a positive
image for the brand, relevance to your target consumers should be of
utmost importance. Also in instances where the consumers are mailed,
the company should make sure that they do not send too many emails to
a client and especially if it is a regular client. They should also
be keen on the content of the messages in order to uphold
professional standards. By being irrelevant and sending many messages
just makes the consumers avoid your mails in the future.
The main intention
for companies to market online is to increase their sales through
targeting a wider client base. More and more people are using the
internet every day and this is a good incentive for marketers to
capitalize on this resource. More opportunities are opened up because
clients from all over the world can be able to shop for things they
desire despite the geographical location of the sellers. Thus one way
managers would use to capitalize on online marketing is giving
promotions for their products online. This is because the company
advertises for free either on their websites or social sites and thus
cuts costs on the advertisements if they were to be done manually.
Thus it is easy to display numerous adverts on one page by changing
them dynamically. This gives prospective clients a high chance to
view their products and thus to remain competitive advertising wise
and fair pricing technique should be used. Since they have already
saved a lot from the cost that would have been spent on advertising,
giving small price deductions for customers will increase their
loyalty to the brand. Another trend that is observable as technology
advances is that people are opting to shop online since VISA cards
can now be used to purchase online. Hence with this increase, a
promotion on the company’s online adverts will act as an incentive
to the clients since everyone is interested with value for their
money.
Another objective
set out in marketing is to increase the client base. Through online
marketing, it can be possible to keep track of all those who visit
the page. This is in order to help the team to measure the
achievements of the online advertisements. This will help to
establish if the marketing media that is being used is able to
achieve any objectives as stipulated for the firm. It will also help
the team to know whether their adverts are relevant or how the brand
is performing. In order to increase the client base, social online
media may be used too. This is because social media is the easiest
way to reach too many consumers.
Sites like Facebook,
Twitter and LinkedIn provide a platform on which people can also
suggest products to other people. These social sites are able to
bring together people from different parts of world and share their
experiences. Thus it is even possible that the brand would get
recognition among a huge demography of people. This helps to expand
the market by a very large margin. Marketing managers should thus be
able to effectively run their social website pages with current
updates and also reach out to new followers of their pages. Social
online media is also a highly suitable media to use when introducing
new products in the market. It increases competitiveness since
managers are able to avail these products to their followers who are
most probably their primary consumers. Thus social online media is an
important tool to ensure that long lasting relationships are founded
and thus keeping a grip on the market segment.
Online marketing is
actually helping marketers to concentrate on the customers’
requirements and specifications. This is enabling them to capitalize
on the vast opportunities created by globalization. New inventions
are coming up and thus are the need to remain relevant to the needs
of the users. This ensures that the firm is able to retain its
clients and continue recording high profits. Customer Relationship
Management can also be enhanced through online marketing by offering
discount incentives to capture the bulk of the online shoppers.
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