Integrated marketing communication
5.0 – Integrated activities/ Element tools
Marketing has evolved with the introduction of technology. For a company to
penetrate the market, they need how to comprehend ways to incorporate the traditional,
technological and modern techniques in their marketing approach. The traditional marketing
channels have mainly concentrated on network cable television, radio, and billboards. Social
media network is being adopted by most companies because it is affordable and more
customers are using the various platforms. Despite this, other elements of marketing will be
tackled; they are sponsorship, ambush marketing, sales promotion, philanthropy marketing,
and buzz marketing.
Integrated marketing is important because it does provide an opportunity for
actualizing the creative marketing communication plans. This enables the company to have a
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significant communication impact, especially when they are launching the various varieties of
the five chewing gum. Furthermore, the integrated activities allow the company to establish
an investment concerning communicating with their customers. Customers needed to feel
valued and appreciated, maintaining a constant communication is one way (Kotler et al.,
2016). In the next section below there is a detailed explanation of how the elements will be
employed in marketing and communicating five chewing gum by Wrigley Company.
5.1 Selection, integration and detailed explanation
Communication is about getting the message out to the target customers about the
chewing gum that the Wrigley company is offering. In the first part, five element tools have
been identified which with proper selection of the communication channel will ensure that
the customers are made aware. The Wrigley company as discussed in the previous sections it
does focus on Chewing gum 5. The product is more attractive to the young people especially
teenagers and youths. The company needs to focus on sponsorship to draw the young people
to their products. According to Rosen and Minsky, (2011), sponsorship deals with activating
the brand. It does connect with the customers’ passions and desires drawing them to purchase
the product.
The company has the objective of ensuring that the Five Gum Brand becomes one of
the American hottest gum brands by 2010. The next step is for the company to determine
their equity opportunity that they can use and later on select a partner that reflects the goal of
the company. The company needs to select a person whom the young people can relate with
to sponsor their chewing gum. The popularity of the personality can be linked to art, sports or
business that most of the teenagers and youths aspire to emulate. The next step is moving
selecting the media channel that will propel their activity (Rosen & Minsky, 2011).
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Moreover, in line with sponsorship marketing, the company can sponsor events that
their target market is interested in. The teenagers and youths are interested in sports; this is an
avenue that the Wrigley company needs to use. They can sponsor various national events
where a large number of youths are expected to take part in. This will create the necessary
awareness that will accelerate the success of the product in the market.
The second approach that the company needs to employ is ambush marketing. The
approach of ambush marketing requires the marketing to be prompt and creative in launching
their plan. Ambush marketing focus on taking advantage of the events happening in the
society to promote the products of a company (Luxton et al., 2015). In the case of conflict
between different parties, the company can promote the product as a stress reliever. The
different flavors do not only activate the taste buds but also help a person to relax.
Moreover, in the case of the tension that is present in the USA and North Korea, the
packaging of the product to create a peace and unifying message will promote the chewing
gum. Various events are taking place in the nation. To ensure that the customers can get their
message on time, the incorporation of radio and television adverts are essential to Wrigley
Company. Ambush marketing capitalizes on an event and once it passes the marketing
message becomes irrelevant. This, therefore, requires the channels selected to propel the
message at a faster rate (Luxton et al., 2015).
The third approach is sales promotion and is a vital part of marketing. The sales
promotion takes various forms, some of which are bonus items, sampling, trade promotions
among others. According to Kotler et al., (2016), the sales promotion is a short time approach
that is done to stimulate sales. In the case of Wrigley Company, the five chewing gum has
added more varieties into its product line to attract customers. They, therefore, need to make
the customers aware of the products. The fastest way is to focus on giving bonus chewing
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gums or allowing the customers to sample the various varieties and provide their feedback.
The Wrigley Company can employ sales agents in the different retail stores in the country to
carry out the sales promotion.
The fourth approach that the company can incorporate is philanthropy marketing. The
marketing focuses on giving back to the society by taking part in various events. There has
been a lot of complaints and discussing that chewing gums tend to stick-on the paths. The
county governments have stated that they spend a lot of resources on removing chewing gum
from the streets. Adelaide City Council reported that they spend more over $200 cleaning the
streets dirtied by chewing gum (Jory, 2013). The company targets the youth they, therefore,
can focus on cleaning the environment to draw the younger people to participate actively.
Also, they can donate trash cans with the company’s labels in strategic places. The message
of maintaining a green and clean environment once linked with the company will attract
environmentally conscious customers.
Moreover, the approach is affordable and requires minimal resources to launch it.
The channels to use to ensure the message penetrates the market are participating in
charitable events, and advertising on their website and social media networks. Additionally,
the company can use their slogan Stimulate your Senses” in the events to communicate its
unique to all potential customers in the world (Cronin, 2017).
The fourth approach that can be used is branded environment. Chewing five gum is a
brand, and the company should focus on building a platform for it. The focus on what it
offers that makes it distinctive from other brands will provide the product with a selling point.
The communication message should also concentrate on the flavors and the unique packaging
to draw customers to the products (Luxton et al., 2015).
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Lastly, the company can focus on buzz marketing. Buzz marketing infuses excitement
in the industry and it is affordable becomes it relies on word of mouth (Luxton et al., 2015).
The target market for the Chewing 5 gum is teenagers and youths who are in school and
colleges. The company can start a competitive sponsorship and paid internship for their
customers. The initiative is sufficient to create the needed awareness that will promote the
product in different parts of the country.
All the approaches need to be integrated together to ensure that the company has a
consolidated approach when marketing their products. This will eliminate confusion among
the customers and make the product appealing. To achieve this, the marketing team needs to
build the discussed integrated marketing communication elements within the creative plan.
The selection of the teenagers and youths as the target market provides the company with
wider market scope to sell their product.
In conclusion, the employment of the various approaches discussed in the section will
enable the five chewing gum to penetrate the market. The strategies discussed are in line with
the creative plan as they will not only appeal, but also draw the target market to purchase the
five chewing gum. Moreover, in integrated marketing communications, the main aim is
creating awareness of the unique features of the product. The knowledge will enable the
customers to differentiate the product from that of their competitors, hence stimulating the
revenues of the company.
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References
Cronin E, 2017. Wrigley’s in car gum holders return. [online] weblog.
Jory, R. 2013. Jory: Adelaide City Council spends more than $200k a year cleaning gum from
footpaths. [online]. The advertiser.
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Kotler, P., Keller, K. L., Brady, M., Goodman, M., and Hansen, T. 2016. Marketing
management. Pearson Education Ltd.
Luxton, S., Reid, M., and Mavondo, F., 2015. Integrated marketing communication capability
and brand performance. Journal of Advertising, 44 (1), pp.37-46.
Rosen, W., and Minskey, L. 2011. Six steps to successful sponsorships. [online] Harvard
Business Review.
