8.1 The specific marketing efforts
The primary qualitative research showed that consumers won’t trust an energy gum brand to actually provide energy before they have tried it themselves. Trust of the product's function will only be attained by friends recommending WOM, or consumers trying the product themselves.
Thus, all marketing campaigns are designed to create maximum awareness at beginning of semester to first of all establish complete awareness and second of all to convert non-users into users.
When awareness is created with the focused marketing efforts at beginning of the semesters, it is up to WOM and horizontal opinion leaders to keep brand equity value as high as possible during the rest of the semester.
Hence all marketing activities must focus on awareness creation. For example, a cool and funny commercial, seeking viral spred (digital and IRL) must to provide students value by focusing all commercials on delivering what they want - a good laugh rather than telling about product attributes and functions. As Keller (2008) states:
“Awareness is the first step in creating brand loyalty and value and each step must be completed before going to the next”.
Ensure a fast entry strategy – Create awareness with an impact.
It’s important that Grade Up make a big impact when first entering the market. If they don’t make an immediate interaction with their target costumers when entering the market, then there’s a risk that consumers will stick to their preferred brands as they always have been used to. Therefore a fast awareness creating campaign is needed to create relationships with target customers and changing their behaviour from the first market interaction. It’s critical - Else Grade Up will risk losing customers to their respective and already preferred gum brands.
Research studies have shown that in low involvement purchases, customers make purchases based on brand salience alone (Keller, 2008)
Ensuring a fast market awareness strategy will have a self-enforcing effect on brand awareness and associations, hence also overall brand equity. So if creation of brand awareness happens too slowly, then customers will stay loyal to their respective and already preferred gum, coffee and energy brands.
8.2 Allocation of resources and activities (budget)
An example of a marketing budget is created to illustrate the allocation of resources we have assumed in order to execute the brand strategy effectively.
We have assumed the budget of 200.000NZD to complete the market
entry/implementation of the brand strategy. Money spent in the first year equals 180.000NZD, thereby leaving 20.000NZD leftover to variations and unforeseen obstacles in the plan.
According to Keller’s customer based brand equity pyramid, each of the 4 steps.
(Idendity, Meaning, Response and Relationships) must be fulfilled in a chronological order to establish loyal customers and create true long lasting brand equity (Keller, 2008).
The qualitative research showed that consumers won’t trust the performance factors of the brand before trying the product by themselves or being recommended by a friend. Hence we will push awareness and imaginary values within the brand forward at first.
Annual expenditu
re Januar Febuar March April May June Juli Aug. Sept. Okt. Nov. Dec.
Homepage $ 10,000 $ 6,000 $ 2,000 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200 $ 200
By focusing all marketing efforts towards the beginning of the semesters, we are achieving that goal.
The most important part of the implementation strategy is to build awareness, interest and WOM from the very beginning of each semester, and thereafter letting the
community take brand equity to the next level.
An exposure graph is also created to show, how the marketing efforts will be focused towards the beginning of semesters. Students will be exposed to online marketing campaigns and IRL events on schools in order to establish full awareness, WOM and horizontal opinion leaders within a month. During rest of the semester it is the plan to limit exposure and thereby letting the community keep the Grade Up brand alive through IRL WOM and horizontal opinion leaders.
8.3 Ensuring brand equity
As the qualitative research stated that consumers will only trust an energy gum brand by referrals or trying themselves, we haven’t been able to build responses and
relationships before actually getting people to try and use the gum.
Therefore the target of this implementation strategy is split into 3 parts
$10.000 $20.000 $30.000 $40.000 $50.000 $60.000
Januar Febuar March April May June Juli Aug. Sept. Okt. Nov. Dec.
Aggregated marketing expenditure
1) Establish full awareness (and link imaginary associations to the product) 2) Create trust in the effect of the product performance (when they try the gum) 3) Handing over the creation of judgements and feelings our target group –
thereby automatically letting the community (NZ students) build up active relationships with the Grade Up Brand.
Studies show that too much consistent advertising exposure can be incidental on the brand (Pracejus, 1995). Thus in the first phase, all marketing efforts will (as shown in the graph) be focused at a quick and effective exposure of the Grade Up brand with an impact (peaking efforts). This will limit costly overexposure. Furthermore it will make it possible to establish a quick focused injection of Grade Up brand awareness into the target community.
After exposing the target group to an intense brand exposure, identity and meaning of the Grade Up brand is stated pretty clear.
Now second phase of the implementation strategy steps in, where the community of NZ students are starting to develop responses – what about me and Grade Up?
It is at this point that NZ students will start to develop judgements and feelings about the Grade Up brand and thereby interest about the new product will thrive in the schools and WOM will start to appear. As more interest and hype about Grade Up is occurring, people will start to try the gum.
At this stage people will start developing their own opinions about Grade Up – what does it mean to them individually? Judgements and feelings about the product will start to appear, some will like it and some will not.
Then third phase of the implementation kicks in, where the people that do like it starts to act as horizontal opinion leaders that can create referrals.
Hereafter sales should start increasing as “late adopters” will try to figure out what the hype is all about. They will also start to develop their own judgements and feelings about the product. Some will not like it and others can imagining themselves using this gum quite often. In other words - individual relationships are starting occur
between the consumers and the Grade Up Brand = Customer based brand equity is starting to appear.
From this point we let the target community drive up the Grade Up brand and let each person exposed to the campaign, decide which type of relationship they want to have with this product. Stay away, try, use regularly or do both and recommend to friends.
Hence the Grade Up brand is now elevated to the next level, where it is beginning to take a firm position within the community of NZ students and thereby have
associations and relationships in the mind of our target group. It is at this point that we can claim to have built up real Customer based brand equity.
In other words Grade Up is branded into the community.
At this point objectives such as making all NZ students able to recall and recognize Grade Up’s product and brand including name, logo and functions can start to be measured.