Hello and welcome back to Nat 20 Marketing!
After resting well for a week, we are back with our humble campaign toward successful integrated marketing communications. For this week’s topic, I call it the 3 R's – Right Message, Right Time, and Right Place, which we will cover one at a time.
Let’s start with the Right message.
When we promote a good or service, often times we want to make sure our point is well received by our target market. Marketers try very hard to be better than their competitors, at least from the outside. There are many ways to present what a company sells, such as comparing their own product against competitors (often unnamed in commercials); demonstration of the product usage and effects; endorsement from celebrities and influencers, etc. But, in IMC, we don’t really just talk about a product. We want to communicate a concept – the value that the company tries to uphold and provide for their customers. The value in a company’s product usually reflects directly at the mission statement, at what the company believes and promises to deliver.
When we target any segment, we want to understand where these people are coming from. We want to know what they care about and what they are looking for. We are the solutions. We need to send ourselves to them, and let them consider us when they are making the purchase decision. As a consumer myself, I like to see brands that align with what I care for, from my core principles to my hobbies and interests. I like brands that are honest and direct with their sales techniques. I tend to look at brands that are relevant to what I do daily. So, a company that sells gaming chairs should send their message to gamers who play video games when they are sitting at a desk. Mobile gamers may not care as much as console gamers when it comes to the quality of their chairs, since mobile gamers play their games on the go. With the right audience, we need to draft a message that really catches their attention. We need to communicate this message in ways that allow the brand to stand out from the others and memorable enough to last for a while, sometimes even after the marketing campaign is over.
When you read through this blog, I have raised several marketing examples from the past few years. Those commercials and campaigns did not happen recently, but they have left me a deep impression that I am able to bring them up naturally in writing and casual conversations with my peers. This is what marketers should aim for when they compose the message and perhaps the slogan.
Slogans can be a good primary channel to convey an idea. They are often short and catchy, with words that are impactful and to the point. The slogan may not always need to be grammatical, so marketers can be creative with their choice of words.
As free as creative writing can go, there are times when brands may be required to edit their slogans, symbols, or even logos to fit societal expectations. This may go into rebranding but I would consider it is a way to continue a product line without changing the core ingredients of what makes the product THAT product. A fairly recent and well-known case would be the Aunt Jemima brand name change to Pearl Milling Company, where the change was made due to the racist stereotypes present in the old brand name and logo.
On to choosing the RIGHT time…
A good marketing campaign should be timely and relevant. Marketers should always be on the watch-out for the latest trends and decide whether to join in on the bandwagon or not. Sometimes, marketers need to take the initiative to bring forth new ideas that really wow their target audience. There are so many big and small contributory nuances we must think about when designing a marketing campaign. There are seasons, politics, social issues, and the list goes on. Sensitive messages should be handled with care, and a critical part is choosing the appropriate time to communicate.
For example, during the pandemic, marketers would promote social distancing instead of social gatherings, since it would be inappropriate to encourage gatherings when there was a highly transmissible virus going around the world that was taking away countless of lives. Every year, marketers take the opportunity to promote their products according to festivals that happen around the world, celebrating different cultures, from Lunar New Year to Christmas; from Easter to the Moon Festival.
Lastly, it would be choosing the RIGHT place!
Different generations of people indulge in different types of media. Baby boomers may prefer traditional channels like newspapers, magazines, and television. Gen Z and Gen Alpha would choose the wide variety of social media instead. As marketers, they need to analyze and follow their target audience to where they spend their time. Additionally, some may even have to consider going to public venues such as the Super Bowl and cultural conventions.
Let's wrap up!
To summarize, choosing the right time and place to send the right message out is critical the the success of an IMC campaign. They go hand-in-hand with each other and as marketers who aim for that Nat 20 roll for the marketing check, we ought to put effort into each of these elements when planning and organizing.
We will meet again next week with another Nat 20 Marketing post! See you next time.
