Message & Media Strategy

An effective communication campaign should comprise of a well thought out messagestrategy. What message are you trying to put across to your target audience? How will youdeliver that message? Will it be through the appropriate use of branding?

Study of Promotional Strategy

Logos or slogan design? The message should reinforce the benefit of the product andshould also help the company in developing the positioning strategy of the product.Companies with effective message strategies include:

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

A consumers perception of a company and/or its brand is a synthesis of bundles of messages through all sources of brand or company contact.These messages could be of the following nature: Media advertisement Price Packaging design Direct marketing effort Publicity Sales promotion Websites

A successful product or service means nothing unless the benefit of such a service can becommunicated clearly to the target market. An organization promotional strategy canconsist of: Advertising: Is any non-personal paid form of communication using any form ofmass media. Public relations: Involves developing positive relationships with the organizationmedia public. The art of good public relations is not only to obtain favorablepublicity within the media, but it is also involves being able to handle successfullynegative attention. Sales promotion: Commonly used to obtain an increase in sales short term. Couldinvolve using money off coupons or special offers. Personal selling: Selling a product service one to one. By personalizing advertising,response rates increase thus increasing the chance of improving sales. Direct Mail: Is the sending of publicity material to a named person within anorganization

Planning a Integrated Marketing Communication ProgramReview Marketing Plan Objectives Examine overall marketing plan/ objectives Role of advertising/promotion Competitive analysis Assess environmental influences

Promotional Program Situation Analysis Internal analysis

Assessment of the firms promotional organisation and capabilities.

Review of firms previous promotional programs and results Assessment of firm/ brand image and also the strengths/ weaknessesof its products and services

External AnalysisCustomer analysis

Who buys our products/services? Who makes the decision to buy? Who influences the decision to buy? What needs must be satisfied? Why do the customers buy a specific brand? Where do they go or look to buy the product/ service?

Competitive analysis
Who are our direct or indirect competitors? What key benefits/positionings are used by our competitors? What is our position relative to competitors? How big are the competitors advertising budget? What message /media strategies are the competitors using?

Environmental analysis
Any current trends that might affect promotional program?

Analysis of Communications Process

Analyse receivers response process Analyse source,message and channel factors Establish communication objectives often stated in terms of o

Nature of message to be communicated o What specific communication effect is to be achieved Communication objectives may includeCreating awareness about products,their attributes and featuresCreating imageCreating favourable attitudes, purchase intentions ________________________________________________________________________

The Case of Bajaj

Bajaj Autos two wheelers had enjoyed market leadership till the late 80s without anymajor threat of competition. It roped in millions of satisfied customers. It was the largestselling scooter in India . But things changed during the late 80s, where Bajaj, especiallyBajaj scooters faced competition from LML Vespa and Kinetic Honda. Both thesecompetitors were claiming technological superiority of their products. Though Bajajclaimed value for money for years, the new competition created a perception that Bajajscooters were made of old technology that was now on its way out. However, in order toupgrade its technology, it needed time and resources. In the mean time, Bajaj Autowanted to further consolidate its leadership status. Till Bajaj saw competition, theiradvertisements spoke about product features, sales figures and product ranges available,etc. The new competition forced Bajaj and its advertising agency - Lintas - to rework ontheir communication strategies. The assignment in front of the advertising agency was totake the brand Bajaj scooters to a superior position without altering the alreadyestablished brand equity of the product.The company and the agency shortlisted factors which has strong India -association, suchas, Independence Day, sports (cricket), cinema and heritage. The company released apress campaign in 1990 with the theme the great Indian spirit. This was also prudentlyextended to the electronic media. The commercial depicted habits and behaviouralaspects of a cross-section of the population comprising the length and breadth of India ,such as Panjabis, Parsis, etc. Thus, the commercial was targeted at the emotions of theviewers with relation to the brand. For that commercials were first written in English andlater translated in Hindi. The birth of Hamara Bajaj took place with the Hinditranslation. The company, promptly replaced the great Indian spirit, identifying thepotential of Hamara. The term Hamara encompasses the entire target audience -consumer or not; it led to a strong association with India . Indians are proud to sayHamara India . Thus, Hamara Bajaj.

The theme Hamara Bajaj not only helped the company to build its brands. But it alsofunctioned indirectly as a motivator to all those associated with the company : thedealers, employees, suppliers... Bajaj, in the process of brand building, has also builtnational pride and enjoyed positive mileage as a result.This is one way for a brand to build an identity for itself. Bajaj had it not invested inrevamping its communication policies it would have died out, because it really didnthave the recourses to compete with companies like LML and Kinetic Honda whosetechnology undeniably much superior to that of Bajaj. So the only reason consumerspersisted with Bajaj in spite of the fact that tilting the Chetak to the side for starting was acommon joke,was because of brilliant communication strategies of Bajaj .