Marketing
Integrated Marketing Communications, and the Changing Media Landscape
Communication is a significant component that helps businesses to grow and flourish. Furthermore, effective communication establishes relationships, fortifies the efficacy of organizations, and permits individuals to understand and accept each other. Modern technology, for instance, the Internet, cellular phones, and social media have played a crucial role in determining how individuals communicate mainly in the 21st century. This means that the nature of communication is changing, particularly through technological development that influences the messaging approach of organizations and other business entities. The current paper will present an integrated marketing communication that targets international air passengers for Delta Airlines.
Delta Airlines has been in operation since 1924. Initially, the organization began as a crop-dusting firm referred to as Huff Daland Dusters. Since then, the organization has grown to become one of the leading provider of effective air travel services globally. The organization is based in Atlanta, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport as its main base but it has offices spread in several nations across the globe. In the Unites States, the airline also controls other main hubs in U.S. several cities, for example, Los Angeles. The airline is acknowledged among the top three international air carriers.
Integrated Marketing Communication
When the organization has developed its products and services, it is significant that it engages in communication, an element that will benefit it in triggering the existing and potential clients (Welch & Jackson, 2007). Through integrated marketing communications (IMC), I would be able to provide the best strategy that is aimed at delivering a single and consistent message to all the customers via the organizations promotions. I would employ the most suitable media that will be suitable for my target market, mainly, the executives or business class who are frequently using air transport. I would use an appealing message, for example, “the safest and comfortable way of travelling” provided it would provide a consistent communication about the organization. Moreover, my message would be aimed at ensuring the organization is implanted in the minds of all the consumers and possible customers across the globe.
Marketing Communications Objectives
Delta’s airlines target mrket is wide. Despite the fact that the organization has a strong customer loyalty, the firm also undertakes marketing communications with the main objective of attracting more customers. Under the A.I.D.A, which, which means attention, interest, desire, action, marketing is undertaken with a sole intention of influencing the customer to take action. The attention part of marketing is where the marketing communication takes place at the start of the communication then facts are later presented that provide solution to a common problem, hence gaining attention. After identifying the problem, it is significant to explain to the recipients how the issue in the attention step is affecting them, hence getting their interest. After that, the communication is supposed to create a desire through presenting your product or service in addressing the problem identified. After creating the desire, to communication is then supposed to compel the target market to take action, which is normally buying the service or product.
Promotion mix
A indicated,AIDA model entails a marketing communication process that is applied by marketers in ensuring that the target clients ultimately take action, which is to purchase or take the anticipated action. Several tools and media are best employed in order to attain the objectives both within and outside the organization (White, et al., 2010). In the awareness stage, the best too is a PR campaign that needs to take place for some time before the real promoting of the service or product. This can be done on social media online or the main stream media available. In growing the target market interest, the best tool is the direct mail or communication strategy campaign, which is free to the target clients. This would effectively provide adequate information that will trigger the interest of the customers. In making the clients have a desire to take action, using the local media about how their lives can be changed using a given product or service would be significant. In influencing the customers to take action, social media, for instance, Facebook, would work or the organization website as well as local advertising among other call to actions promotions.Generally, the AIDA model is meek and candid. The requirements are simple for the advertisers.
Media Strategy
The choice of media is important in ensuing effective advertising communication (Belch & Belch, 2007). In most instances, consumers and business specialists normally sought for information and thereafter connect with other individuals and businesses using their computers and phones in the current technological era. This is because the social environment has transformed the public relations and marketing field (Smudde, 2005). Therefore, as the media is transforming, the media landscape also varies. Therefore, use of social media is significant in marketing strategy communication. Virtually everyone is on social media, hence, using the platform, for example, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram among others will ensure that the message reaches a wide variety of consumer generations. Most of organizations have adopted Facebook advertising as a result g its popularity and unlimited provision in presenting message.
Another effective method of strategy communication is through the traditional media, for example, magazines, newspapers, television. Despite the explosion of the internet, a large population of the individuals is still hooked to the traditional media. For instance, almost every homesteads owns a television that is one of the medium used in family entertainment. Advertising using such medium is important in ensuring that the message of the advert also sinks in the mind of the target audience. This signifies implies that also the promotion mix as indicated in the AIDA model is effectively incorporated to influence the mind of the consumer easily take action.
B2B Marketing
Business to business marketing entails the process where an organization provided services or sells to other businesses. One of the notable element in the B2B marketplace is that it focuses greatly on the customer education. This is significant since it promotes the proof of benefit than or other expressive sales pitches in marketing. Business-to-business selling also is also significant in ensuring an effective personal interaction with customers unlike other forms of promotions, necessary hence ensuring effective consulting services. Therefore, to achieve full potential of marketing, segmentation may come into play and may involve several types based on, potential value, vertical segments, interest segments, role segments and status segment, to achieve full potential of the market in product consumption. In Delta airline, the sale of a new commercial jet to another airline organization, for instance, Southwest American Airlines entails business to business marketing that takes some time to be completed. Nonetheless, these forms of business marketing are at times risky since the buying organizations incorporate several elements, for example, safety issues, reliability, and efficiency of the planes hence too much time and effort needed.
Industrial B2B Marketing
The industrial market entails organizations doing business in business in hard goods, for example, machinery, furniture, fuel and supplies. In most cases, the buyers are considered as manufacturers while the sellers are suppliers. The suppliers are normally specialists in the service of product being offered hence play a major role in the market services. Therefore, they take advantage of this opportunity I providing a review selling approach in collaboration with clients. This enhances the process of solving the problems of customers at the same time meeting organizational objectives. Other B2B market segmentation that can be found in the Delta airlines organization include segmentation by size, which is based on the size of the firm’s sales revenues as well as the number of employees. The segmentation can also be done in accordance to the customers through categorizing them into distinct groups based on the product or service needs. The third B2B segmentation is based on the firmographics that is shared qualities or demographics of a given segment.
According to the Harrison, Hague, and Hague behavioural-grounded segment model provisions, the system that most suitably fits Delta organization is the quality based and brand-focused segment. This is because the segment entails the provision that the organization will offer the best products and service, which are well planned to be purchased. Delta Airlines is among the leading air travel organization that takes pride in in comfortable services their brand demonstrates. The brand is also of good highest quality. Many people prefer the airline travel services as a result of the brand image and the quality of products that are reflected alongside the quality image. As a result of these qualities, the organization products and services are effectively marketed to the potential consumers who could not have considered the company’s products. Therefore, quality based grounded segment does not only reflect the organization’s but also the high quality services and planes that are in line with the current technology.
Marketing Information Systems
Marketing information system is a system that scrutinises and evaluates marketing information that is collected both internally and externally within an organization. Effective marketing information is significant in ensuring effective decisions are made decisions, for example, service or product development, media selection, and mode of promotion. Internal records includes the internal reports that have information on customer orders, transactions, prices, cost, accounts, incomes and expenditures. The major element of internal record include the order-to-payment sequence involving clients as well as the firm (Jeffery, 2010).
The marketing intelligence system involves measures and sources that are applied by organizational leaders to access the daily information concerning the marketing environment. Marketing decision support system on the other hand aid organization leaders in making informed that are supported by supported by a software and hardware collecting data related to the business and environment. Through effective market in information, organizational leaders are able to offer proof for any decisions that they undertake. For example, in the contemporary business environment, the marketing software programs are significant in assisting businesses to undertake marketing research, market dissection, selling values, media analysis, and future planning of the organization marketing and other strategies.
Marketing Metrics
These quantifiable values are employed by marketing teams to validate the efficiency of the campaigns across all marketing mediums. The metrics are significant in assisting the organization to attain the set or desired targets over time as well as tracking the goals in line with the metrics. These are significant for ensuring that the organization understands the need of investing on marketing returns. There are several marketing metrics essential for marketing in the Delta organization categorized as non-financial and classical and can be used to define the efficacy of branding, customer loyalty, comparative marketing activities and marketing campaign performance and may include; brand awareness, test drive, customer satisfaction, net present value, payback, word of mouth, among others (Jeffery, 2010).
In conclusion, marketing communication is an important facet in a business environment, ranging from promotional mix, media strategies, segmentation and marketing metrics, all of which play a significant role in ensuring the success of set objectives and goals in a business. As such proper strategies should be devised to ensure they are fully utilized.
References
Belch, E. and Belch, M.A. (2007), Advertising and promotion: an Integrated marketing communications perspective, 7th ed., McGraw-Hill/Irwin, New York, NY.
Jeffery, M. (2010). Data-driven marketing: The 15 metrics everyone in marketing should know. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley.
Lipiäinen, H. (2014). Digitization of the Communication and its Implications for Marketing. Jyväskylä studies in business and economics 152.
Smudde, P. (2005), “Blogging, ethics and public relations: A proactive and dialogic approach”, Public Relations Quarterly, Vol. 50 No. 3, pp. 34-38.
White, C., Vanc, A. and Stafford, G. (2010), “Internal communication, information satisfaction and sense of community: The Effect of Personal Influence”, Journal of Public Relations Research, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 65-84.