Direct and Marketing Communication - Essay Example

?Direct and Marketing Communication Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Dynamic Relationship Management (DCRM) Theory 4 Creation and Implementation of Marketing System 5 Media Planning 6 Marketing Communication Planning 9 9 Conclusion 12 Works Cited 13 Bibliography 16 Introduction Anthony Menswear is a small apparel organization situated in Cambridge of United Kingdom. The company focuses on retailing European clothes of superior quality. Anthony Menswear uses business to consumer marketing through several activities such as internet marketing, advertising, and public relations and maintaining brand reputation. Since the initiation phase, Anthony Menswear has maintained a good status in apparel business by providing ranges of quality products in affordable rates. Anthony Menswear preserves a comfortable shopping environment for customers so that it can provide contentment to customers (Anthony Menswear, “Anthony Independent Menswear – Cambridge UK”). The apparel industry in the UK is highly competitive with several big players, and it is vital for Anthony Menswear to revise the marketing system in order to increase the customer base. Managing good relationship is one of the success factors for Anthony Menswear to sustain in this competitive business environment. Therefore, the paper will attempt to establish and implement marketing communication plan for Anthony Menswear so that it can improve the direct relationship with the customers. Further, the paper will also focus on the importance of Dynamic Customer Relationship Management (DCRM) theory and apply the AIMRITE and SOSTAC framework to evaluate the choices. Dynamic Customer Relationship Management (DCRM) Theory Nowadays, effective customer relationship management (CRM) has become a strategic imperative for organizations in all business sectors, especially in retail apparel industry. In order to generate more value for the brands and for the customers, organizations are attempting to maintain a close relationships with the customers and thus using huge amount of money in CRM activities. Anthony Menswear will gain effectiveness if it focuses exclusively on attaining more customers rather than obtaining higher market share. The major aspect for enhancing customer relationship in Anthony Menswear is through developing information sharing, creating faith and pledge between relationship participants (Park & Kim, “A Framework Of Dynamic CRM: Linking Marketing With Information Strategy”). In Dynamic CRM, organizations not only focus on company’s and customers’ profits but also concentrate on relationships for future advantages. Customers should be measured as an investment and an asset for organizations. CRM has emerged as one of the crucial marketing activities for companies functioning in dynamic commercial atmosphere. CRM can be regarded as an inclusive tactic and procedure of obtaining, retaining and associating with worthy customers in order to develop bigger value for the organization as well as the brand. In present days, CRM has developed as a method of preserving positive and commercial relations. Customer Touch Points: The touch point is considered as the point of interaction among the customers or the vision of organizations’ business. In apparel industry, touch is vital aspect for wooing customers. According to the observation of Stine & Et. Al., touch point is the “point at which products are purchased” (Singh & Lamba, “Maintaining CRM in Apparel Retailing through Touch Points: A Factor Analysis Approach”). It comprises of television advertisements and word-of-mouth among others. In Anthony Menswear, the major touch points are products and information sources. Anthony Menswear provides quality and ranges of products to the customers; therefore the organization needs to develop the information management system. Presently, several customers are influenced by modern kinds of information sources such as internet, social networking, and television advertisements for purchasing any product. Communication: Communication through advertisement in internet, television or newspaper and merchandise display can impact on the purchasing decisions of customers as it is one of the primary touch points in apparel industry. Customization: Customization of apparel products is required which can raise customers’ satisfactions. Customization can be of product size or product price to meet the specific customer requirement. Developing Brand Loyalty: Brand loyalty can be improved through positive commendation from families and individuals, word-of-mouth, point of purchase and providing loyalty schemes (Singh & Lamba, “Maintaining CRM in Apparel Retailing through Touch Points: A Factor Analysis Approach”). Creation and Implementation of Marketing System Implementation of marketing system in Anthony Menswear can generate more sales and brand reputation. The company can take benefits of customers’ information in order to improve the marketing policies. In present days, there is ongoing trend among apparel organizations to spend huge amount of money so that they can collect and manage the databases of customers. It can help to recognize their purchasing patterns, needs, and preferences. In order to create an effective marketing system, there is need to successfully exploit customers’ databases so that an effective relationship can be maintained (Lia & Et. Al., “An Empirical Study of Dynamic Customer Relationship Management”). Media Planning Media is a significant method for direct marketing. The communication of the message through media needs to be planned in such a way so that it can reach to the target customers. For instance, Anthony Menswear generally targets customers within the age group of 25–34 years of males which has moreover similar values. For this target group, internet media can be used as the most significant direct marketing medium. Through internet, the databases of Anthony Menswear’s customers will be managed effectively. A well designed website can automatically help to increase brand awareness of Anthony Menswear in the apparel market. As a result, Anthony Menswear can recognize the requirements of customers more effectively. The television commercials will be helpful to draw the attention of potential customers towards the website of Anthony Menswear. Television is one of the major communication media used by marketers to get the consideration of broad customers and share the message to them. The choice of internet and television media can be analyzed by using AIMRITE framework (McCorkell, G., “Direct and Database Marketing”). Internet Television Audience Several people use internet for getting information Television is a popular media for reaching wide customer group Impact Internet media will probably get audiences’ undivided attentions Appropriate timing can probably have an impact on the vast customer group Message A tailored message targeted for customers will help to convince them effectively The response rate of people in company website can ensure that the advertisement message has been communicated clearly to the target audience Response Customers can easily respond in case of internet by providing feedbacks or posting their opinions Customers can respond to the television commercials by seeking information in the company website Internal Management Internet media can be managed effectively The television media can help to enhance the effective utilization of marketing plan The End Result The cost of developing a website is approximately 5000 Pounds. The average response rate is high due to increased use of social media The cost of developing an advertisement will be almost 15000 Pounds and the impact will be observed on the long run (Pickton, D. & Masterson, R., “Marketing: An Introduction”). Marketing Communication Planning After recognizing the preferences of customers, the major task for Anthony Menswear is to convert those information and databases of customers into sales. The market planning comprising of marketing mix needs to be customized so that it can satisfy the requirements of target customers. The information and database will be valuable only if they are transformed into profitable interactions. The SOSTAC framework is a useful tool for planning the marketing system of Anthony Menswear. Situation Analysis: Since the beginning, Anthony Menswear has maintained a good brand image by providing high quality products, standard services and tailored stylishness to the customers. The company has strong position in the apparel retail market. The customer touch points of Anthony Menswear are superior clothing brands, ranges of products and well developed shopping environment (Cambridge Newspapers Ltd, “Anthony Menswear”; The Perse School, “Anthony Menswear”). Objectives: Anthony Menswear markets European brands such as Canali, Pal Zileri, Eton, Duchamp and Gran Sasso among others. As a small individual apparel organization, the objectives of Anthony Menswear are to increase the brand reputation and revenues. In order to increase sales, Anthony Menswear also develops loyalty cards for valuable customers which provide the benefits of discounts on every purchase. The other objective includes enhancing customer satisfaction by providing them with variety of products. For instance, the company has above 100 designs of ties and 40 dissimilar cufflinks in their retail stores. Anthony Menswear also provides gifts to entice customers for repeat purchase (Cambridge Newspapers Ltd, “Anthony Menswear”; The Perse School, “Anthony Menswear”). Strategy: Anthony Menswear requires push strategy in order to generate demand for the company products. The push strategy will be more appropriate for the company as it has strong distribution channel in the UK. Anthony Menswear can increase its sales through brand awareness by following strategies: Developing commercial advertisement to achieve initial attention of target customers and providing them information through developing the website more attractive. As a result, the customers will be more interested towards Anthony Menswear and will keenly pursue for more information. Developing an exclusive website or online media articles will help to make the marketing campaign more fruitful Anthony Menswear can also use banner advertisements to generate general interest of customers. It can increase the word-of-mouth as well as the brand awareness Presently, viral marketing has become more popular and a useful marketing technique for many organizations. Anthony Menswear can develop an attractive viral message, targeting towards the customers with high level of social networking prospective, which can simply increase the brand awareness in less time. Therefore, people will go through the company website for more information Tactics: After driving the customers towards the company website, Anthony Menswear will be capable of implementing a smart marketing communication tactic. There are ranges of media available for Anthony Menswear for marketing communication plan such as television advertisements, websites, magazine advertisements, and online articles (Business Services Agency Ltd, “Developing A Marketing Communications Plan Using The SOSTAC Model”). As a primary media, Anthony Menswear will use the internet efficiently and television advertisements will be used for secondary media. The marketing plan simply focuses on attaining more customers so that it can compete with the rivals competently. Action: After deciding the tactics that will be used for campaign, Anthony Menswear will launch the marketing plan by introducing new offerings and new collections in the city of Cambridge. The company will provide television advertisements as well as online articles which can help to generate curiosity in the minds of audience and they will be able to know details in the newly developed website of Anthony Menswear (Business Services Agency Ltd, “Developing A Marketing Communications Plan Using The SOSTAC Model”). Control: In order to evaluate the achievement, there is need to measure the impact of marketing campaign. The measurement of success can be judged by calculating numbers of people visiting the website of Anthony Menswear after launching the campaign. Besides, the feedbacks in the social networking sites can also be another metrics for measuring the impact of marketing plan. The ultimate result of implementing the revised marketing system will be augmentation of sales. If the number of people requesting the information about the company products is high then it can be concluded that the marketing plan is a success (Business Services Agency Ltd, “Developing A Marketing Communications Plan Using The SOSTAC Model”). Conclusion The success of marketing plan depends on the strength of the marketing campaign. The key intention for this marketing communication plan is to enhance the relationships with the customers. In present generation, the internet and the digital media play significant part for making a company competitive. Anthony Menswear needs to take advantage of this emerging media and understand the trends of customers so that it can respond with the preferences quickly. It will be effective for Anthony Menswear to manage the database of customers and track their behaviour so that it can imply better marketing strategy in order to gain more competitive advantage; also it can help to maintain positive connection with them. Works Cited Anthony Menswear. “Anthony Independent Menswear – Cambridge UK”. December 13, 2011. Home, No Date. Business Services Agency Ltd. “Developing A Marketing Communications Plan Using The SOSTAC Model”. December 13, 2011. Effective Marketing and Business Development, No Date. Cambridge Newspapers Ltd. “Anthony Menswear”. December 13, 2011. Commercial, 2011. Lia, Chunqing. & Et. Al. “An Empirical Study of Dynamic Customer Relationship Management.” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services 12 (2005): 431-441. McCorkell, Graeme. Direct and Database Marketing. Kogan Page Publishers, 1997. Park, Chung-Hoon. & Kim, Young-Gul. “A Framework of Dynamic CRM: Linking Marketing With Information Strategy.” Business Process Management Journal 9.5 (2003): 652-671. Pickton, David. & Masterson, Rosalind. Marketing: An Introduction SAGE Publications Ltd, 2010. Singh, Swati. & Lamba, Manju. “Maintaining CRM in Apparel Retailing through Touch Points: A Factor Analysis Approach.” IJCEM International Journal of Computational Engineering & Management 14 (2011): 151-156. The Perse School. “Anthony Menswear”. December 13, 2011. Participating Stores, 2009. Bibliography Bird, Drayton. Commonsense Direct And Digital Marketing. Kogan Page Publishers, 2007. Evans, Martin. & Et. Al. Exploring Direct And Relationship Marketing Cengage Learning EMEA, 2004. Tapp, Alan. Principles Of Direct And Database Marketing Financial Times/Prentice Hall, 2008. Read More