Introduction
This is the third part of the marketing plan which includes the pricing and distribution and integrated marketing communication plan. The purpose of this assignment is to explain and develop the integrated marketing communication plan and that plan should be more relevant for the products offered by Go-auto Company and its target market. The plan of integrated marketing communication includes various promotional methods such as the advertisements, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, trade shows, direct selling and all the other forms of marketing to make the people aware about the products in the market. The most important element while developing the IMC plan for Go-Auto is to analyze the target market segments to improve the effectiveness of the marketing and promotional activities. There are three main strategies for communicating with the target audience and these three elements are the public relations, sales promotions and personal selling plan. All these strategies are going to be discussed in context to the hypothetical company (Tibebe & Ayenew, 2018).
Description of Feedback
Feedback is the response towards a product, plan or service, which can be used to improve the current products, services or plans. The feedback that received for assignment 2 is not good as this assignment includes the branding strategy and consumer behaviour of the target market in context to the go auto company. Some of the negative feedback has been received which helped me to bring some improvements in future strategies and in overall marketing plan (CCSF Marketing, 2018). The branding strategy and consumer behaviour plan lack in rationale and there are need some more specific information in relation to the target market, branding and consumer behaviour. This feedback is useful to make better marketing plan by considering the comments on assignment 2. The feedback by the seniors is always useful in identifying the gaps in the current marketing strategy.
Company’s pricing and distribution strategy
Pricing strategies
Pricing is the strategy according to which the company has to set the prices to attract the target audience. The pricing marketing strategy is highly based on the evaluation of the products offered by Go-auto Company. There are two pricing strategies which the company can apply to gain a competitive advantage and to attract the maximum number of people. The first strategy that company can use to set the prices for the automotive parts and accessories is the price penetration strategy. This strategy involves setting low prices for the products by the company and offers some discounts with an objective to gain the attention of the new customers and also to retain the existing customers. According to this strategy, the price of the products needs to be low in comparison to competitors. This strategy will help Go-auto to increase its market share and customer base. There is a need to be aware of the actions of the competitors before implementing these strategies in order to avoid the undesired price war (Clayton, 2013). The second strategy for Go-Auto Company is the skimming strategy, which is based on the setting of the high prices for the products and explaining customers about the reasons behind the high prices for high-quality products. Customers living in USA and many other countries are ready to pay high amount for the products with high quality. Products used in the automotive industry sold at high prices and it is better for the organization to target niche markets and adopt skimming pricing strategy.
Distribution strategies
The distribution strategy is part of the marketing plan that helps in making the products available for its customers. It is essential to make decision regarding the channel of distributing the products in the market so that people can easily purchase them. There are two ways of distribution including direct and indirect channels. The direct distribution means selling the products directly to its customers through its outlets without involving any third party such as retailers and wholesalers. On the other side, indirect distribution means selling of products through retailers and wholesalers (Thomas, 2010). The company also has the option to distribute its products using online platforms such as development of the ecommerce website. The automotive parts and accessories need to be distributed among the customers using the direct as well as indirect distribution channels in order to increase the availability of the products. The company can utilize its financial resources to establish more outlets in USA in the region of Memphis. Therefore, it is recommended to make use of the indirect, direct and online distribution channels for Go-Auto Company.
Integrated marketing communications plan (IMC)
The integrated marketing communication plan is an approach that helps in achieving the objectives of the company using different promotional methods and presented with a similar tone and style that reinforces the brand’s core message. The plan of integrated marketing communication includes various promotional methods such as the advertisements, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, trade shows, direct selling and all the other forms of marketing to make the people aware about the products in the market. The most important element while developing the IMC plan for Go-Auto is to analyze the target market segments to improve the effectiveness of the marketing and promotional activities.
Objectives of the IMC plan
The main objective of developing the integrated marketing plan for Go-Auto is to carefully integrate all the communication channels in order to deliver a clear and consistent message to the customers about the products of the company. Go-Auto has the main objectives for IMC plan are to build a strong brand image, to develop brand awareness and to enhance the firm image.
Some of the important objectives of this IMC plan are:
To increase awareness among the people regarding the quality and other features of the products
To bring some changes in the people’s attitude and behaviour towards the automotive parts and accessories by addressing the needs of the people and communicating the positive aspects of the products (Dharmappa, 2018).
To encourage people to try products of Go-Auto and purchase their products.
To drive brand switching among the customers by fulfilling the specific objective of getting the customers who purchase the products sold by the competitors to switch to the company’s brand.
Message strategy
The message with regard to the high quality of the products needs to be delivered to the target customers in order to increase market share, sales volume and to build customer traffic. The company should adopt different advertisement styles to convey a clear message to the people. In the initial launching stage, the exposure and awareness of the brand are more important than making a profit. There is need to convey the features of the products offered by the company by using proper words and language (Naeem, Bilal, & Naz, 2013). The message that conveyed through the IMC plan is about the quality of the products used in the manufacturing of the automobiles. This message will be delivered to the customers by running a marketing campaign.
Media plan
The media that used to convey the message is the combination of the TV commercial, radio commercials, print commercials, newspapers and magazine commercials, digital advertisement through websites, applications and social media platforms, and outdoor billboards for the company. The organization should develop a new strategy for social media advertising and promotion and also overhaul the design, content and the layout of the website to make it more interactive and attractive at the same time. The organization should make use of multi-channel marketing campaigns to increase awareness among customers (Mulhern, 2009). The organization should use Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and many other channels for the promotion of the business. The media strategies for the promotion of the product and services of the hypothetical company are:
Creating ads to run on the paid media channels such as television, radio and magazines
Creation of social media or digital ads to generate traffic to the website of the company
Development of the posters and banners for displaying them on the public places
Communication plan
There are three main strategies for communicating with the target audience and these three elements are the public relations, sales promotions and personal selling plan.
Public Relations
The public relation strategy basically refers to the management of the message conveyed by the company to its public. The most important objective of the public relation strategy is to create the goodwill of the company and taking credit for the good things that doing by the company for the benefits of the company. Go-Auto Company has the opportunity to spread the information about its products to public by using the various tools of public relations. Some of the common tools of the public relation strategy are the press releases, event sponsorships, consumer education programs. Social media is the biggest platform carrying out public relation activities. The company can develop an attractive website to make people aware of the company’s products (Camilleri, 2017). The event sponsorship can also be used to create awareness among the people regarding high-quality automotive parts and accessories. These social media platforms are very fast, inexpensive and can improve customer services very easily. The main role of the public relation strategy is to execute the programs in order to gain public acceptance and also this strategy is useful in identifying and evaluating the attitudes and needs of the public.
Sales Promotion
The main objective of adopting this strategy is to increase the sales of the company. This strategy for Go-Auto will include two types of promotions including consumer-based sales and trade selling. The company can stimulate its market demand and increase the sales of company by targeting the customers and meeting their needs and also by selling the products to the different automobile trade organizations. The company can offer coupons and vouchers to its customers for purchasing the products in bulk. The trade selling is useful for the company as the automobile manufacturing company can purchase the accessories and parts from Go-Auto if it offers coupons and loyalty marketing programs for its customers (Naeem, Bilal, & Naz, 2013).
The SMART goal of the company is to increase the sales of the company 10% in the next 12 months and the tactic to achieve this objective is to implement the customer loyalty programs. A go-Auto can implement this loyalty program where the customers are going to reward for the purchasing of products from Go-Auto. This loyalty program will establish the relationship between the customer and company and people will feel valued when the company will offer them rewards for purchasing the products.
Personal Selling Plan
This plan refers to the one on one interaction with the customers where the marketers convinced the people to purchase the products of Go-Auto. The most important aspect that helps to build this plan is to understand the needs of the people. This plan refers to the direct communication between the sales representative of the company and the customers in an attempt to convince the customer to make a wise decision and purchase the products of the company. Some of the important strategies which can be adopted by Go-Auto include telephone calls, email, personal referrals and social networking sites. The main motive behind using these strategies is to build long term relationships with the customers (Bui, 2013). This strategy is designed to attract the customers, generating interests, creating desires and inspire actions with intent to rise in the
sales of the company.
Online and direct marketing plan
The online and direct marketing plan for Go-Auto will utilize the direct mails and catalogues in order to achieve the set objectives of the IMC plan. The target market for Go-Auto Company is the niche market where individuals are ready to pay for high quality and the car is the most important part of their lives. The main objectives of this online and direct marketing plan are:
To generate traffic to the company’s website and generate leads in the target market in the next year
Utilizing the logo and catalogues of the company to increase the online sales (Hunt, 2018).
Direct marketing tactics
The company has the opportunity to mail features of the products to the target market. The segments of the market should include those individuals who recently purchased their first car or people having automobiles of 5 years old.
Direct mail is a useful way to generate the interests of the people towards the products and build relationships with them.
The second tactic is to redesign the Catalog and website of the company for the alignment of the sustainability efforts. The company can promote its products by redesigning its websites and generating traffic to the website.
The generation of traffic to the website leads to create leads for the company.
Development of the ecommerce websites in order to increase the online sales of the products (Camilleri, 2017).
Posting ads on social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Social responsibility
The social responsibility in context to the company means to show the responsibility or concern towards people, society and the environment. The ethical marketing plan is the one that focuses on the important factors such as honesty, fairness and responsibility and which does not harm the emotions of the customers. There were six main ethical values have been considered while setting the marketing plan for Go-Auto. The American marketing association has developed some of the ethical values that are expected to uphold by marketers while developing or implementing marketing strategies. Some of the important ethical values that considered while developing this marketing plan are:
Honesty: The marketers of Go-Auto will offer value and integrity to the customers as per its marketing plan.
Responsibility: The Company has prepared itself to accept the consequences of the marketing practices and understand its responsibility towards meeting the needs of customers.
Fairness: It is the responsibility of the company to avoid manipulation while sharing the information with the customers and maintain the balance between the needs and interests of buyers and sellers in a fair manner (Naeem, Bilal, & Naz, 2013).
Respect: it is also a responsibility of Go-Auto Company to acknowledge the dignity of the people, understanding their needs and appreciating their contributions.
Transparency: The Company is focusing on the creation of the spirit of openness and fully disclose the information to the customers.
Citizenship: The Company also needs to uphold the social responsibilities of all the stakeholders as well as giving feedback to the community and focusing on the protection of the environment.
Sustainability and monitoring of effective marketing plans
According to the report of world business council for sustainable development, the sustainable development and monitoring of effective marketing plans are essential for driving success in the organization. It is analyzed from this report that the marketing strategy adopted by organization must respond to the sustainable environment in which it is operating. The term sustainability means to fulfil the needs of people without compromising the ability of future generations. The marketers need to manage and monitor the marketing plans, brand management and new product developments (Peirce, 2017).
In the article titled “Applying green marketing in the automobile industry” written by Salemi and Namanian, the role of green marketing in the automobile industry is evaluated. According to this research, there are four variables in the marketing plan that needs to be monitored including quality, advertisement, innovation and prices (Salemi & Namamian, 2016).
According to the study of Nairn, it is observed that the success of the business is highly dependent on the effectiveness of the marketing strategies in context to automotive campaigns. The author believed that effective and sustainable marketing plans always helps in building long term relationships and profits for car manufactures. This article also explains the future issues that may face by the automotive industry (Nairn, 2016).
Conclusion
From the above report, it is concluded that the integrated marketing communication plan is an approach that helps in achieving the objectives of the company using different promotional methods and presented with the similar tone and style that reinforces the brand’s core message. The online and direct marketing plan for Go-Auto will utilize the direct mails and catalogues in order to achieve the set objectives of the IMC plan. The target market for Go-Auto Company is the niche market where individuals are ready to pay for high quality and car is the most important part of their lives. Customers living in USA and many other countries are ready to pay high amount for the products with high quality. Products used in the automotive industry sold at high prices and it is better for the organization to target niche markets and adopt skimming pricing strategy. The company can utilize its financial resources to establish more outlets in USA in the region of Memphis. It is recommended to make use of the indirect, direct and online distribution channels for Go-Auto Company. There are three main strategies for communicating with the target audience and these three elements are the public relations, sales promotions and personal selling plan. All these strategies have been discussed in the above report in context to the hypothetical company.