Brand Management
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Brand Management
- Criteria on IMC Programs
The dynamic media landscape has been recording significant changes over the years. With the technological advancements, the traditional advertising platforms such as televisions, radio, magazines, and newspapers have been gradually losing their grip in the industry, with new advertising techniques and platforms gaining traction. Marketers in the contemporary world have, therefore, had to apply effective structures and control to remain relevant in their respective industries. Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) has outlined several strategies that have been applied in line with the business organizations’ policies, to enable them to conduct effective marketing. To enhance success, the IMC has often embraced six principal criteria.
The first criterion for IMC programs is coherence, which involves the logical flow between the mediums used to enhance the advertisements. The marketing theory asserts that the success of a business depends on the ability of the marketing department to be effective in the industry (Sheikh & Ishaq, 2017). Marketing managers, therefore, need to ensure that they use the best media to enhance their advertisements. Televisions would for instance be more suitable for showcasing a company’s logo, as opposed to radios. A critical challenge that was faced by Spotify on enhancing coherence was the lack of marketing knowledge by the managers on how the advertisements were shown and the viable opportunities for a target. The aspect prevented most of them from using the platform for advertisements, hence failing to tap wider market bases.
The second element of IMC involves consistency, where the advertisement messages from a marketing department reinforce all the other forms of communication. For instance, the use of good soundtrack music to enhance the advertisements enables marketing departments to tap wider markets through the use of Spotify ads. However, the company faced the challenge of having to use Virtual Reality (VR) to showcase buyers on how the ads operated and the types of music that could be added to the specific advertisements.
Contribution is a criterion characterized by the ability of the advertisements to create the desired goals among the target audience. The criteria relate to how the advertisement affects consumers. According to the branding theory, the marketing department should ensure it establishes a good relationship with the customers through the advertisements (Rather & Parrey, 2018). The company, however, faced a significant challenge in the extent of the application of the ads to enhance marketing. The challenge emanates from the lack of resources and knowledge on how to go about the establishment of cordial relationships with customers.
Commonality relates to the extent to which common experiences and associations are reinforced across the various communications. Business advertisements need to be enhanced in a way that brings the natural aspect of life to the individuals. Using attractive songs to soundtrack business advertisements enhances commonality among the targeted customers. The Spotify management faces challenges in helping the business organizations to enhance creativity for the natural effect on customers. The organization has thus taken to showcasing different sections of a house with different soundtracks to enhance the training of prospective customers.
Another criterion for IMC involves complementary, which is related to how different associations and experiences are reinforced across communication options. The communication strategies chosen by the marketing departments must, therefore, compensatory to enhance the desired consumer knowledge and experiences. Owing to the limited knowledge of most organizations on the use of ads, the company had a challenge in ensuring that the potential customers were able to tie their data together to enhance the tapping of wider customer bases.
Furthermore, versatility is the extent to which a market communication tool is robust and effective for different consumers. Various techniques must always be applied to ensure that the advertising messages conform to all societal members. The organization, therefore, has had to come up with innovations to enable potential customers to enhance versatility.
- Strategic Brand Management Process
Brand equity is the value that a company generates from a product with a recognizable name. Strategic brand management highlights four critical steps for brand building. The steps include brand positioning, brand marketing, brand performance, and brand value. Spotify applied the four critical steps to enhance its growth.
Brand positioning is the place that a brand occupies in the minds of customers and how the brand is differentiated from that of competitors. To enhance its growth, the organization provided immense ‘wow’ experience that showed the company’s products in action and experience. The element was critical in attracting thousands of customers.
Brand marketing involves the aspect of showcasing brands through various media platforms to attract a huge number of prospective customers. To enhance its marketing, Spotify applied a freemium model with more than 116 million people across the world enjoying free advertisements. The company thus used ad-free tiers to attract a wider customer base.
On the other hand, brand performance and analysis is the measurement of the performance of the brand in the industry, upon its launch. The aspect is conducted frequently after specified periods to identify the areas for improvements. Spotify enhanced its performance by identifying the number of brand prospects and clients that experienced the VR tool. The reports on the direct impact on revenues and reports from clients further informed the company’s performance.
The last element of strategic brand management is the building of brand value. Through various strategies such as the use of attractive songs, creating an effective VR tool, and other experiences to customers, the company has been able to build its brand significantly. Such strategies have enabled the organization to attract a wider customer base.
- Experiential Marketing
Experiential marketing is a technique that directly engages the consumers, by encouraging them to take part in the evolution of a brand. Spotify applied various techniques to enhance the invitation of consumers to the ads. First, the company invited various players to explore the VR tool and report on their experiences. The aspect involved the decision to work with Manzalab, an agency based in Paris. Furthermore, the organization used different songs for advertisements as it took the potential consumers through a virtual reality house tour. Such strategies were fundamental to the success of the ads.
References
Rather, R. A., Tehseen, S., & Parrey, S. H. (2018). Promoting customer brand engagement and brand loyalty through customer brand identification and value congruity. Spanish Journal of Marketing-ESIC.
https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SJME-06-2018-0030/full/html
Sheikh, A. A., Shahzad, A., & Ishaq, A. K. (2017). The growth of e-marketing in the business-to-business industry and its effect on the performance of businesses in Pakistan: Marketing success. International and Multidisciplinary Journal of Social Sciences, 6(2), 178-214.
https://hipatiapress.com/hpjournals/index.php/rimcis/article/view/2704