Task:
- Select a brand which you are familiar with – note it should be a brand not a product.
- Provide an Introduction which gives us some background to the brand – sector – how long established, products, strategies etc.
3.Identify the key characteristics of users of the brand – what assumptions do you feel marketers have made regarding users.
- Identify the approach taken to brand positioning that is taken and comment on alternative positioning that could have been taken.
- What approach does this brand take to advertising – identify any alternatives.
- Critically evaluate how the brand combines tools to ensure there is integrated marketing communications (IMC) using both digital and traditional tools.
- How could different circumstances affect the effectiveness of the message?
- Briefly evaluate the overall effectiveness of marketing communications in meeting brand objectives – if you can provide a metric or two to support it would be helpful.
Introduction
Different brands use several communication tools to differentiate the brand and enhance the positioning. In the competitive market, an effective brand strategy is needed to make it appealing. The company can increase customer attraction, shape attitudes, accelerate sales, and depict brand loyalty. The IMC strategy is to be shaped and implemented effectively to get an edge over other rivals in the market. This study revolves around a particular brand along with several branding strategies. It can depict the overall picture of the brand journey and success in the competitive market.
The Brand: Unilever
Unilever is a British consumer goods company. Unilever sells an immense range of products for customers in different markets. The main products of the firm are Foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care items. The company was founded in 1929. It is the 7th most valuable organization in Europe. The firm operates in 190 countries. The revenue of the company, according to 2017 financial reports is US$62.622 billion. The Unilever brand has successfully expanded the business by acquiring many firms. Business expansion and product diversity to meet the needs of customers around the globe is a good strategy to sustain the business and gain a competitive advantage.
The chief marketing officer of the company revealed the brand strategy. This brand has used the 5C framework to meet brand objectives. Customer, connection, content, community, and commerce are the main elements of this brand strategy or framework. For Instance, the brand intends to predict the needs of empowered customers. The brand connects with customers with clear, swift, and relevant content. Unilever aimed to eliminate the impact of bad advertising. Telling success stories of the brand and building the advertising is one of the prominent strategies to create a positive impact on customers. In real-time, the firm enhanced the brand interaction with different customer communities, as it also helped to build a strong relationship with customers. By using several digital tools, the brand reached the customers exceptionally. New ways to reach customers are adopted successfully (Tan, 2017).
2-Key characteristics of users of the brand & Assumption
Unilever has integrated with modern customers remarkably. The brand management has assumed many things regarding customers, and accordingly shaped strategies. By creating customer value, the brand positioning became easy for the company. For Instance, in the modern business era, Unilever customers usually control their brand experience. They research and explore and share. Unilever customers are always connected. They like to interact with the company at different touch points. Users or customers are using Smart phones, and it enhances the connectivity. The management has assumed that it can provide a consistent experience through personal interactions with customers. It made customers of the brand responsive and assertive. One of the most prominent characteristics of the brand user is that they usually compare brands regarding quality, features, prices, and marketing communication. Thus, coming up with a different output is a great response to this particular user characteristic. In the contemporary market, customers have become more opinionated (Hausler, 2017). Sharing the bad or good experience regarding different Unilever products has helped the brand to improve the brand image and positioning.
The approach is taken to brand positioning & Alternative positioning
The brand positioning is the customer perception about the brand. The customer usually perceives the brand against the competition. It has been revealed that Unilever has used several approaches to enhance the visibility of brand positioning. Unilever has taken the product-led positioning approach to position better in the minds of customers. The company has differentiated elements of products for customers, and it enabled the positive perception. It has been observed that the management applied the concept of the unique selling proposition. In the competitive market, Unilever product is tough to imitate or duplicate as compared to other substitutes. Customers usually provide value to personal care and many other product segments, and it justifies the brand positioning.
Apart from the product led positioning strategy, the value-led positioning is a prominent alternative positioning approach. For Instance, the process of product processing and delivery matters in the competitive market. The firm can enhance the product delivery differently. By using modern technology, the firm can differentiate the delivery process and enable the positive perception value-led positioning is effective because it can streamline the target group in the market as well. On the other hand, the infrastructure-led positioning process is another key alternative approach. The location and availability of Unilever products in different regions can help to meet the needs of customers. The positioning process through infrastructure seems rare in the good consumer market. However, it is also a strategic brand option to make the difference (Keohane, 2016).
Approach to advertising & alternatives
Advertising on different traditional and social media channels is necessary for the company to attract customers and increase its positioning. The purpose is to enhance customer traffic, sales, and attraction. Several approaches to advertising are in the limelight. For Instance, Unilever has used the claim element in different advertising claims. For Instance, beyond product benefit claims, the brand has intended to depict several corporate responsibility claims. The company intended to show that it has developed human and environmentally friendly products for customers with a lower environmental impact. Unilever has claimed in the advertisement process that it has improved 135 million people’s health through hand wash, safe drinking water, and oral care (Baker, 2012).
However, the appropriate alternative regarding advertising is a bandwagon. The firm can use this advertising approach to lure customers. For Instance, some exiting personal care products are to be streamlined by the company to increase the attraction. Also, the company can advertise the product to say that everyone is using the product. Being a prominent consumer good company, the firm has a prominent young or adult customer segment. Thus, this advertising approach is quite pertinent.
Critical evaluation of IMC
Unilever has successfully combined different tools to implement integrated marketing communication. The company intended to consider several touch points to enhance customer interactions and shape behavior. Marketing communication is customer oriented, and the relevant tough points help to meet the purpose. Unilever speaks with a single voice. It refers to the frequent messages in the communication process. Depending on the market and the needs of customers, the brand has combined modern and traditional tools. For Instance, integrated marketing communication contains an advertisement, public relation, sales promotion, personal selling, and direct marketing. Unilever is based on different IMC drivers for the change. These are organizational, market and communication drivers. Communication-based drivers are relevant to the effective IMC strategy. The Unilever Company has aligned with both traditional and modern media channels to communicate with the customers. Critically, the integration with the social media channels to target customer segments in the consumer goods market is not up to the mark. New arrivals and existing competitors are looking to use these modern tools to justify several customer segments. Conversely, Unilever struggled to make a shift from traditional media such as TV with social media channels such as Facebook, Twitter, and many other channels.
Combining both tools for advertising is also a good approach by the company. Traditional media channels have been used by the company to target senior citizens. The company has targeted young customers through social media channels. Thus, Unilever has grabbed different customer segments by using or combining both tools. However, the response of customers through social media platforms is quite high.
Apart from the modern media channels of IMC, the company has successfully used sponsorship as a key communication channel. From different sports events, education, the firm sponsored along with several objectives. Creating awareness, target customers, building, sustaining relationships, attracting distributors, and creating several promotional opportunities are important objectives. However, critically, by combining tools, meeting these objectives seems rare. Through celebrity endorsement, Brand has increased the awareness. However, on modern media channels, personal interactions have sustained a strong relationship with target customer segments.
Circumstances affect the effectiveness of the message
Many barriers have occurred, which created an impact on the effectiveness of the message. Content marketing and the message in the advertising process are two important elements in the marketing communication process. Differentiation of other companies in the consumer goods market can create an impact on the marketing message. The differentiation from competitors can be reflected in the product or marketing content. It usually creates a negative impact on the current message of the company. Perceptions of customers have been changed several times due to a differentiated content of the competitors. Change in the competitor’s message creates unfavorable circumstances for the company. A well combined and organized IMC needs a decentralized structure. In different business divisions, the centralized structure creates an impact on the message. The element of creativity in the message seems rare in the centralized structure. Moreover, the choice of medium also creates an impact on the message. The firm has a strong financial position, and therefore, it selects the appropriate or relevant channels to spread the message. As mentioned, this company operates in different countries. Every company may have a different culture. Thus, the marketing message of Unilever is quite different in different countries due to the deeper understanding of cultural integration (Porzio, 2017). The culture of the country usually creates positive circumstances. The cultural integration of this company is exceptional, and successfully, it is reflected in the marketing message.
The effectiveness of integrated marketing communication is based on the effective message. Unilever is aware of these possible circumstances. The most important thing is to mold the message according to these circumstances and meet objectives.
Overall effectiveness of marketing communications to meet brand objectives
The effectiveness of the Unilever brand can be justified through the alignment with the brand or corporate objectives. For instance, the brand wants to increase sales of sustainable products. Sustainable living standards enabled 60% of total growth (Unilever.Com, 2017). The marketing objective of the brand is good, but it needs the IMC to enhance brand approach and sales. The Unilever brand is perfectly aligned with marketing and corporate objectives, and it keeps everything in the loop. The firm wants to increase customer satisfaction in the competitive market. It seems another brand objective. Thus, this satisfaction can be justified through an effective marketing message. Customers must contain the necessary information to buy the product and depict a positive perception.
Conclusion
In the end, it is to conclude that Unilever has a good brand communication strategy. By streamlining some key marketing objectives, the firm may change the IMC plan. Circumstances in the competitive market can alter things for the company. However, Unilever is capable of facing marketing challenges and powering up the brand strategy. The comprehensive reflective essay has helped to derive several marketing insights. The change in the marketing process is required by the time to be relevant and adaptive. Unilever, despite having different business divisions, has successfully implemented the strategy.
References
Baker, R., 2012. Unilever plans corporate sustainability ads. [Online] Available at: https://www.marketingweek.com/2012/04/25/
unilever-plans-corporate-sustainability-ads/ [Accessed 18 November 2018].
Hausler, S., 2017. 7 characteristics of modern customers. [Online] Available at: https://smartercx.com/7-characteristics-modern-customer/ [Accessed 18 November 2018].
Keohane, K., 2016. 5 Brand Positioning Models. [Online] Available at: https://www.brandingstrategyinsider.com/
2016/09/5-brand-positioning-models.html#.W_EutYczbcs [Accessed 18 November 2018].
Porzio, M., 2017. Culture Clash: Conflicting Visions Killed the Kraft Heinz/Unilever Deal. [Online] Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattporzio
/2017/03/15/culture-clash-conflicting-visions-killed-the-kraft-heinzunilever-deal/#1ee9e0d86773 [Accessed 18 November 2018].
Tan, E., 2017. Unilever marketing boss Weed reveals 5C brand strategy. [Online] Available at: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/
unilever-marketing-boss-weed-reveals-5c-brand-strategy/1445575 [Accessed 18 November 2018].
Unilever.Com, 2017. Unilever’s Sustainable Living brands continue to drive higher rates of growth. [Online] Available at: https://www.unilever.com/news/press-releases/2017/unilevers-sustainable-living-brands-continue-to-drive-higher-rates-of-growth.html [Accessed 18 November 2018].
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