KENSINGTON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

MODULE LEADER: DAVID ZERDIN

SUBMITED ON: DECEMBER 14-2009

KCB ID: 11834

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In this research work I emphasis on the importance of strategic
marketing communication, and to advise Eliana’s Kitchen on
applying the concepts of marketing communication in order
analyse how well can the company perform on its launch of new
products. Managing and creating new relationship with customers
has a direct bearing on marketing communications. Marketing
communications helps in defining an organizations relationship
with customers not only by the kind of messages exchanged, but
also the way of choice of media used and on which occasion, in
order to suit the customer’s preferences.

Contents

1) Introduction

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 2) Communication models.

3) Concept of opinion formers and opinion leaders

4) Buyer behaviour theory

a) Types of consumer buying situation

b) Consumer buying process

c) Social and cultural factors

d) Psychological factors

5) Analyse on quantitative and qualitative research

6) Brand design and development

a) Brand strategy

b) Brand positioning

7) IMC tools

a) Advertising

b) Sales promotion

c) Public relation

d) Direct marketing

e) Personal selling

9) Conclusion.

1. INTRODUCTION

Marketing communication is the concept of planning that recognizes the added value of a
comprehensive plane which evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines to

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provide consistency and maximum communications impact. Marketing communications is also a
subset of the overall subject area known as marketing. Marketing communication has a marketing
mix that is made of price, place, promotion, product which also includes people, processes and
physical evidence, which is also called the seven P’s. Marketing communication is called as
integrated because a single message is conveyed by all marketing communications by combining all
the ideas into a complete picture. Various kinds of messages can confuse the customers and damage
brands. So if a TV advertisement carries a peculiar logo, images and message, then all newspaper
adverts and point-of-sale materials should carry the same logo, images or message, or one that fits the
same theme. Many different mixes of elements constitutes and forms the term called marketing
communication such as personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, trade
fairs and exhibitions, advertising, sponsorship, merchandising, branding. This forms the basis of
marketing communication campaign.

2. Communication models.

a).Single step Communication model.

This model involves just three elements:

Sender-------- message--------- receiver

b).Based on Schramm’s model 1954

Message

Encoder Decoder

Interpreter Interpreter

Decoder Encoder

Message

In this the communication is reciprocal even though the feedback may be delayed. Some of these
methods of communication are very direct like when you talk directly to someone. A commercial
sponsor examines the sales figures to check for their communicative effectiveness in the
advertisements and sources of advertising.

C.)Mass communication

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Mass communication method is used to reach the customers worldwide as quickly as possible,
because it includes mediums like internet, newspaper, TV etc...

a).One step communication

Sender message Receiver

One step communication suggests the sender has the potential to influence an unthinking and non-
interacting crowd. Receivers can also talk to each other and can get active in that process information
selectively and frequently in a twisted manner. Opinion formers and opinion leaders also influence the
communication process.

3. Concept of opinion leaders and formers.

The communication which does not directly flow into the people but it is interpreted firstly by opnion
leaders and then it reaches the common people.
The process is:
“The mass medium → the opinion leaders → the common people and it is called “two step flow
communication”.
The main contributions of this theory are:
(1) Information can be transferred not only by medium but also by interpersonal communication
network. In other words, people can obtain information by two channels or any of the two;
(2) There is an interface between the medium and the interpersonal communication network, And the
interface is the opinion leader;
(3) The influences of opinion leaders and interpersonal communication network on information
communication and individuals’ decision are far larger than that of the mass medium.
The opinion formers are often quoted in promotional creative writing and advertisement, while the
style leaders are often seen with the brand through clever editorial exposure engineered by public
relations professionals. Both opinion leaders and opinion formers can contribute towards credibility.” 1

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http://nikmaheran.com/v1/attachments/027_IJBM200807.pdf cited on 11-12-09

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a).Two step flow communication:

Mass media

Opinion leaders-----

People in contact with opinion leaders

It assumed that message filtered through opinion leaders to the mass audience.

b).Two step communication model with opinion leaders and formers.

O.F

O.L R

Sender-------- message-- R

O.F R

O.L R

4. BUYER BEHAVIOUR THEORY

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 The study of how and why people purchase goods and services for them for their use is termed as
consumer buyer behaviour. “It covers process of decision making from that which precede the
purchasing of goods to the experience of using product service. They attempt to understand the
proverbial 'blackbox' of what happens within the consumer between his or her exposure to marketing
stimuli and the actual decision to purchase.”2 Kotler et al. (2004) briefly explain the 'black box'
model; the below mentioned diagram shows the content and process involved in it.

Stimuli--------------- transformer------------------ Responses

Black BOX (buyer’s mind)

E

T M ARKETING MIX Black Box (buyers mind) PURCHASE

E Product Internal influences decision making Product

RNA Price Beliefs/attitude problem solving Brand

LF Place Values information search source

AC Promotion Learning evaluation Amount

TOR Other Needs purchase Methods of

S
Economic Perception post purchase payment

Situation Life style evaluation No purchase

Social

Lifestyle

The content of the model suggests that customers will react in some peculiar ways to different stimuli
after they have 'processed' those stimuli in their minds.. It is called the 'black box' model because we
still don’t know how the human mind works.”As far as consumer behaviour goes, we know enough to
be able to identify major internal influences and the major steps in the decision-making process which
consumers use, but we don't really know how consumers transform all these data, together with the
stimuli, to generate particular responses.” 3
2
http://www.marcbowles.com/courses/adv_dip/module12/chapter4/amc12_ch4_two.htm cited on 07-12-09
3
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Marketing-1090/Effective-Marcoms-1.htm cited on 09-12-09

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Explained are some of the facts that affect the buyers:

a).Customer buying situation:

“A customer's approach to purchasing a product or service is influenced by their situation - whether

they have money and how important, frequent, risky or urgent the purchase is to them in their
situation”4.

If the customer is purchasing a product of low value or is being purchased often then the buyer will
spend less time and effort and the rate of involvement with the purchase will fall to be very low.
These kinds of purchases normally have very little risk and it requires very few information. These
kinds of purchases are referred to as Low involvement Process. “Whenever the need is stimulated in
customers mind - a particular brand is automatically purchased. This is called 'Routinised Response
Behaviour.”5

Alternatively, in the case of buying baby food the customers can be conscious and selective. This is
termed as 'High Involvement'. At this time the customer goes through a solving process and trying to
collect information and evaluating it and deciding which brand is more suitable.

There is a third type of buying situation. In this type the customer already had some kind of
experience of purchasing a particular product before. Here the risk factor is less and the information
needed is also too low and this can be termed as ‘Limited Problem Solving’.

b).Consumer Buying Process

There are many different models that attempt to map the reality of the buying process.

“The PSM (Problem Solving Model) identifies the different levels by which a buyer moves:
“Awareness of the need to buy something is called 'problem recognition” 6. For example, when you are
planning to buy instant food from a market, the search could involve advertisements, visiting shops,
recommendations from your friends, exhibition, articles, and also talking to sales people to find out
which can be best for you.

The customer evaluates the criteria, such as quantity, quality, price, delivery, reliability or guarantee.
At last a decision is made by the customer to choose and buy the most appropriate brand.

“It doesn't end here since the shop might be out of stock. In this case the communications mix has
worked but the marketing mix has failed - distribution problems exist since the product is not on the
shelf where and when it is needed.”7

When a purchase is made, most of the customers start to suffer some fear full concern about whether
the choice they made is correct or wrong. This type of anxiety is called Post Purchase Dissonance. “It
is also important for marketers to reduce this customer anxiety so that buyers become satisfied
customers who develop brand loyalty and become more likely to buy the same brand again if and
when the need arises.”8

4
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour/ cited on 09-12-09
5
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour/ cited on 09-12-09
6
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour/ cited on 09-12-09
7
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour cited on 09-12-09
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http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour cited on 09-12-09

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 “Both of these models hide the detailed workings of the mind. Other models, such as Stimulus-
Response models only show inputs, like advertising, and outputs, like sales. Here the complex
workings of the mind are ignored and left inside a kind of 'black box'. There are, of course, more
complex models which try to open up the black box and look inside the buyers' mind.” 9

Some communication models such as AIDA help the marketers to plan accordingly about the
marketing communications.

c.)Social and Cultural Factors

Consumers can easily get influenced by other people. These types of influences emerges from all
kinds of social groups which are mentioned below:

 Family W
 Reference Group
 Social Class
 Culture and Subculture

“An individual also looks to his/her reference group when forming an opinion, attitude or belief. The
Customer may not actually be a member of this group but may simply aspire to be a member of it and
so refer to its value system. The marketing communication planner needs to know whether Customers
are or can get influenced by any reference group and which kind of customer is influenced by
particular reference group.”10 The present Culture and subculture can also influence people's
lifestyles, beliefs, attitudes and, their buying behaviour. “For example, Japanese buy and eat raw fish.
Their children learn to like raw fish. However, few European children eat raw fish.” 11

Subcultures can influence the buying patterns and also influence the way communication messages
are received. The marketing planner should understand the entire group that can influence the
customers and adjusted accordingly to get the maximum effect of marketing mix.

d.)Psychological Factors

The behaviourist in the school of psychology concentrates on the inputs and outputs of the stimulus
and the responses of the messages. Simply focusing on the response,of the people who respond on
seeing advertisements or the response of people who have the idea of making a purchase. Buying
behaviour is, in fact, affected by a complex web of internal psychological variables. These include:
perception, motivation, learning, memory, attitude and personality.

5).Analyse on quantitative and qualitative research:

“The proposed conceptual framework and the testable research propositions offer multiple avenues
and opportunities for future IMC research. Various qualitative and quantitative studies would be
9
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour cited on 09-12-09
10
http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour/ cited on 09-12-09
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http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour cited on 10-12-0

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appropriate for this endeavour. With reference to qualitative research, case studies could follow the
brand equity strategy of a single brand, or a portfolio of brands, through brand identity development
and IMC strategy through to brand equity. Such studies may provide a rich understanding of the brand
equity strategy process”12

6.) BRAND DESIGN AND DEVELOPEMENT:

a.) Brand strategy

Brand strategy starts with the human equation. When planning to create a brand, it’s important to
consider the final source of connection, and your audiencet. “What is the nature of your offering, what
need does it fulfil, what competition might be in play, and what differentiation do you offer? We
should focus on the strategy and then build the story.”13 “To relate a brand is literally, to tell a story.
The important component on this front is that there is an alignment to the human mind — people’s
lives are inherently built on a string of stories, so framing your messaging in this construct is useful
for your planning.”14

b.) Brand positioning

It is the “added value” or augmented elements that determine a brand’s positioning in the market
place.

Positioning can be defined as follows:

Positioning is defined as the way a product is exposed in the market in relation with other existing
products. Positioning of brands is done on a perpetual map for competing against the other top brands
in the market The brand strategy should influence the total operation of Eliana’s kitchen to ensure
consistent brand behaviour in the market place and consistently good experiences by the customer.
Brand positioning is the idea of creating and maintaining a unique representation of the brand in
customers mind and which is expected to stimulate the choice of the particular brand. It is difficult to
develop a successful positioning strategy also positioning the company’s product in the competitive
market can be one of the most difficult tasks.

7.) Integrated marketing communication tools:

When planning the strategy for IMC we have to convey the message to the customers by drawing
their interaction through the coordination of efforts of contents and timely delivery of products and
services. We should ensure consistency, timing and appearance of messages conveyed to the
audience, these factors will help us to avoid any confusion about the benefits of the brand through the
connection of instant product recognition.IMC is the part and parcel of the marketing mix . If the
companies follow ethical planning and if the communication delivered is proper and follow the
industrial guidelines, then they are supposed to earn the trust of their customers and the targeted
audience.

The Five basics of integrated marketing tools are defined below.

12
http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Marketing%20Communications/Marketing%20Communications-
DS2.htm cited on 11-12-09
13
http://www.girvin.com/blog/?p=3195 cited on 11-12-09
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http://www.girvin.com/ cited on 11-12-09

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a.)Advertising:

This is one of the major tools that is used in marketing communication for targeting the audience and
from which the sales can be increased. Advertising is the fastest ways of imparting the theme of the
brand to the audience. Different types of advertising mediums are TV, news papers, radio, internet,
billboards.

b). Sales Promotion:

Sales promotion is used through exhibition, leaflet distribution, contests, etc. This method is used to
enhance the sales by boosting up brand awareness and giving more importance on customer retention.

c). Public Relations:

PR is one of the important tool in marketing communication which is initiated through public
appearances, news/press release or event sponsorships, to built a goodwill by presenting the product
in a positive light.

d). Direct Marketing:

This is the way in which marketing is done through email, direct responses to TV, which is done in
order to get in touch with the targeted audience which in turn will result in hike in sales and also test
new products and marketing tactics.

e). Personal Selling:

Training the sales executives in setting up appointments and one to one meetings, doing presentation
and any type of communication to reach the customers and strengthen the relation that the company .

“Different types of strategies and decisions during planning help to evaluate and tune up the particular
activities of IMC. Before selecting an Integrated Marketing Tool, Marketing managers should have a
look at legal, regulatory, ethical and cultural elements. One thing to keep in mind while activating the
IMC tool is that, it should not reach inappropriate audiences and then end up in controversy. This can
result in damaging the brand awareness”15.

8.) IMC TOOL USED IN ELIANA’S KITCHEN

The appropriate IMC tool which can be used with Point of Purchase material in the first year of
Eliana’s Kitchen would be “Advertising”. All successful ad campaign will start with a well built plan.
It starts with identifying the best customers ending up with what exactly to advertise and when. The
budget plan should be made in such a way that the best customers should be converted to paying
customers.

Run the advertisement just once:

It should be so great that it need to appear only for a single time to make a huge blast. Frequency is
the key. When the targeted audience is noted then you should also know where to advertise. Also how
often do you run the advertisement makes a big difference and the advertisement will be much more
good. Creating a single advertisement will not do the magic but if it’s advertised multiple times it is
possible to gain more and more customers.

15
http://ezinearticles.com/?Integrated-Marketing-Communications---5-Primary-Communication-
Tools&id=2177059 cited on 11-12-09

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Also launching of exhibitions will help in increasing the sales as it is a way of reaching the customer
directly in which they can feel the good products supplied by the company.

About consistency!
No customers will be happy to see the same tag line all the day, changing the advertisement
occasionally and bringing out new ideas for the ad may attract the customers which inturn will help in
boosting up the sales.

In order to maintain customer retention and attract more customers the materials should be kept
consistent and should make the add popular that the more people see the company logo, tag line they
more they begin to associate with the company and the products in which they spend their money.

9) Conclusion

The marketing professional must understand the target market’s behaviour and then plan accordingly.
Communication has always been a critical element in marketing and in the growth of the company.
Planning should be done in utmost care in order to maintain the brand name of the company and to
maintain customer retention. Customer retention is an important factor which in turn helps the
company to maintain its sales even during the time of recession. Hence I conclude that MARKETING
COMMUNICATION IS A PART AND PARCEL OF MARKETING.

BIBILOGRAPHY

BOOKS

Philip J Kitchen (1999) Marketing Communication: Principles & Practices, Thomson Learning,
London.

Richard J .Varey (2002) Marketing Communication: Principle & Practices, Routledge, London.

P.R .Smith & Jonathan Taylor (1993) Marketing Communication: An Integrated Approach, VOL 4,
Kogan Page Limited, London.

Patrick de Pelsmacker, Maggie Geuens, Joeri van den Bergh (2002) Marketing Communication: A
European Perspective VOL 3, Pearson Education Limited, England.

Don E. Schultz, Stanley I. Tannenbaum, Robert F. Lauterborn (1993),The New Marketing Paradigm:
Integrated Marketing Communications. NTC Business Books.USA.

Chris Fill (2005) Marketing Communications: Engagement, Strategies and Practice. VOL 4,Pearson
Education Limited,England.

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ONLINE ARTICLES

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http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/02651330510624408 (An ethics of representation for

international marketing communication) Year: 2005, Volume: 22

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/08858620410523981 (The relationship marketing process:

communication, interaction, dialogue, value) Year: 2004 Volume: 19 Issue: 2

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/00251740910966640 (Outsourced marketing: it's the

communication that matters) Year: 2009 Volume: 47 Issue: 6

http://www.emeraldinsight.com/10.1108/08858620110389786(Relationship development and

marketing communication: an integrative model) Year: 2001 Volume: 16 Issue: 3

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Kym_Gordon_Moore cited on 11-12-09

http://ezinearticles.com/?Integrated-Marketing-Communications---5-Primary-Communication-
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http://www.girvin.com/blog/?p=3435#more-3435 cited on 11-12-09

http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/buyerbehaviour cited on 11-12-09

http://www.icmrindia.org/courseware/Marketing%20Communications/Marketing
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http://advertising.about.com/od/pointofpurchase/a/popadvertising.htm cited on 11-12-09

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