Introduction
Companies should have an important marketing framework to guide their activities and ensure that communication plans are successful. In addition, such a framework ensures that the team supports the overall marketing objectives of an organisation. A marketing framework provides a system that is simple to comprehend with regard to marketing and assigning a given indicator and metric for performance measure and management. It helps in evaluating the effectiveness of a marketing campaign and indicates whether an organisation has achieved the desired goals through its marketing plan. Such goals may be to enhance customer retention or acquisition (Berry and Wilson, 2001).
This essay applies a marketing communication framework developed by Chris Fill to create a marketing communication plan for Moveo, a folding electric scooter (Fill, 1999). Therefore, the essay shall explore elements of Chris Fill Framework, such as context analysis; promotional goals; promotional strategy; coordinated communication mix; implementation; budget schedule; and control and evaluation in order to develop a marketing communication plan for the Antro Group. The marketing communication plan covers a period of 12 months from June 2014 to May 2015.
Moveo: A Folding Electric Scooter
Moveo is a carbon fibre electric scooter developed by the Antro Group, Hungary. The company revealed the product in February 2013. It is an outcome of five years of research and development.
Moveo is different because one can easily fold it in half and carry it into a train, the back of a car, pull it into the office or alongside a piece of luggage because it weighs only 25 kg / 55 lbs.
The product takes one hour to charge. Its battery life can cover 22 miles with speed of 28 mph.
The electric scooter is completely closed when folded. It protects riders from grime and dirt from the road.
The scooter is designed for commuters in large cities all over the globe. It will complement the public transport system and operate in an eco-friendly way.
The folding electric scooter will retail at £2000 in the beginning of 2014 hopefully.
Context Analysis
Customer Context
The folding electric scooter is designed for commuters in busiest large cities in the world. The marketing communication plan aims to account for their levels of awareness, product perception and attitudes (Yeshin, 1999).
Today, there is a growing demand for scooters from various customer segments (Coxworth, 2013). These include the following:
- Young men and women (professionals);
- College students;
- Seniors.
These customer segments may interact with the business in different ways (Solomon, 2006). Thus, a marketing communication plan must meet their various needs and appeal to them. The marketing communication plan will ensure that the Antro Group benefits from the growing reputation of electric scooters as an alternative complement for public transport. Therefore, it will focus on the growth of the brand by evaluating various media channel responses.
It is also imperative to account for the external environment in which the Antro Group conducts its operations and the perceived business risks (Scott, 2011). The marketing communication plan must account for the level of competition in the scooter business environment, particularly the electric scooter in various market segments.
Marketing communication scholars observe that a business plan must understand what exactly competitors are doing to attract consumers, particularly the company’s customer base and market shares. For instance, within the electric scooter retail market, many ‘bricks and mortar’ companies have turned to online retailing and social media appeals to attract new customers (Kotler, Veronica, Saunders and Armstrong, 2005). This strategy exposes scooters to many potential consumers who visit such online media platforms. The Antro Group will launch the product at an affordable retail price and appeal to various consumers globally (Johansson, 2009). This would ensure that the company drives sales and acquire market shares of competitors with expensive electric scooters.
Business Context
The marketing communication plan must account for the corporate and marketing strategy of an organisation (Fill, 1999). This would differentiate the Antro Group from competition. It involves a brand analysis of Moveo, the folding electric scooter.
The Antro Group strives to develop an environmentally friendly means of urban transportation (Coxworth, 2013).
Company will operate in a highly competitive business environment because of other available electric scooter products from competitors. However, Moveo is different because of the following features.
- No need for a parking space – users can fold the scooter and pull it like luggage into their offices by using the integrated handle;
- It is easy to fold into two;
- Moveo has a closed design, which protects users from its grubby bits when folded;
- It is affordable.
While the marketing communication plan will account for all these features of the folding electric scooter, the Antro Group will also evaluate and understand its brand. This would provide the company with an external perspective of both customers and competitors.
In addition, such assessment allows an organisation to understand its relationships with suppliers and other partners.
Organisation Identity
Today, consumers know the Antro Group as a company that is committed to an environmentally friendly means of transportation in large cities. The company developed this identity when it launched the “eye-catching SOLO human-electric hybrid car” (Coxworth, 2013).
The company’s marketing communication plan must reinforce this identity and emphasise the need to purchase electric scooter as an attempt to reduce the rate of global warming from vehicle emissions.
External Context
The business evaluation would allow the Antro Group to understand its external business environment before developing a marketing communication plan. The company will understand its consumers and the type of media channels that they prefer. In addition, it will also evaluate affiliates or alternative routes of product distribution and interaction with customers.
Customers
- college students;
- young professional women and men;
- and seniors.
Media
Traditional media (Television, radio, newspaper, magazines and billboard) and new forms of media (the Internet and social networks) shall be used to facilitate marketing efforts of the company (Gillett, Ajasafe, Lovell, Schmid and Holmes, 2011).
Affiliates/distribution channels
Independent distributors, vehicle resellers and supermarket outlets.
Internal Context
It is also imperative to understand internal context of the business before creating the marketing communication plan.
Financial resources
The Antro Group has allocated £5 million to develop the marketing communication plan. The company believes that the budget is realistic to meet the budgeting campaigns for the new product.
Business cultures, values and beliefs
The Antro Group must develop cultures, values and belief systems that focus on customer service and product delivery.
Marketing expertise
The company requires the right skills, staff and resources to ensure that the campaign framework is successful.
The marketing team will be responsible for implementation of the marketing communication plan.
Promotional Goals
Corporate Goals
The ultimate goal of the marketing communication plan for the Antro Group is to create awareness to potential customers about the new product, the folding electric scooter, Moveo. This reflects all aspects the company will achieve through the communication plan (Scott, 2011). The Antro Group corporate goals include:
- Achieve excellent customer service and retention of 90 percent by the first year of operation
- Achieve customer loyalty of 50 percent in the first year of the product launch
- Acquire 15 percent of the market share for the new Moveo after six months
- Increase sales every quarter by 10%
- Reach 85 percent of the targeted potential customers through the communication channels
- Enhance teamwork in the company to create marketing synergy
- Increase product distribution and delivery
- Achieve 50 percent of influence on consumers, opinion leaders and media alongside the company visibility within the first year of the product launch
Marketing Goals
The Antro Group marketing communication plan aims to achieve the following:
- Create awareness by 50 percent in the first year
- Develop 15 percent of consumer segments for the product within the first six months
- Achieve 15 percent the market share in six months with 85 percent of retention customers after the first year
The company will rely on its competitive advantage and the product quality to gain customers from competitors with the established scooter business (Waller, 2012). Specifically, the company shall use media campaigns and effective product distribution channels as techniques of acquiring the market share from competitors. It would track all marketing activities and evaluate outcomes in order to understand how the marketing plan has contributed to the growing market share.
Communication Goals
The marketing communication plan aims to depict Moveo as the only folding electric scooter in the entire world with affordable price. The plan will emphasise an environmentally friendly scooter that achieves efficiency through its integrated features. Thus, the communication objective of the company will be to create the brand awareness after the product launch. The Antro Group’s objectives shall consist of the following:
- Moveo brand: to increase brand visibility across the European markets and the world among young college consumers and professionals by 50 % from June 2014 through to May 2015
- The brand awareness shall be evaluated through market research across different markets in Europe
- Sales: To achieve 10% in sales of Moveo scooter within the first quarter of 2014 after the product launch
The company shall use sales records against the target to evaluate this objective.
Promotional Strategy
The Antro Group shall apply several strategies in its marketing communication plan to achieve its ultimate goal (Brassington and Pettitt, 2005).
Push strategies
The company shall enhance added value activities to customers through push strategies. The aim of push strategies is to ensure that the Antro Group achieves its objectives of customer retention and repeat customers (Fill, 1999). In this regard, the company shall use the following push strategies:
- Aggressive media campaigns
- Sales promotions with discounted prices
- Public relations by focusing on environmental conservation through electric vehicles. The company already has achieved some advantages as Europe focuses on electric vehicles to reduce emission of carbon gases
- Sponsoring some green campaigns
Pull strategies
The Antro Group shall apply pull strategies by targeting its potential customers. Specifically, the company will focus on enhancing the level of Moveo awareness among potential customers, especially college students and young professionals. It will educate end users about the importance of electric scooters and environmental conservation, the need to eliminate parking charges and convenience of folding the scooter. The main aim of the pull strategy is to ensure that consumers change their attitude about scooters and motivate them to purchase the product repeatedly (Fill, 1999). Some of the approaches the marketing communication plan shall emphasise include:
- Personal demonstration and marketing on how the folding features of the scooter works and can be pulled into the train of the back of a car
- Direct marketing through mails, e-mails and brochures
- Product demonstration through the company’s Web site and other marketing activities
Profile Strategies
The Antro Group shall use profiling strategies to differentiate itself from other competitors. Profiling activities would ensure that the company creates public awareness, changes perception and attitudes about the scooter and the organisation itself. The Antro Group shall engage in continued dialogue with potential customers through social media networks and other online platforms, public campaigns and personal appeals to create beneficial relationships with the public (Fill, 1999). Some of the profiling strategies the company shall use include the following:
- Regular promotions and announcements about advancement in scooter technologies
- Long-term sponsorship programmes for various organisations involved in promoting green cities
Push, pull and profile strategies have different roles in the marketing communication plan of the company. Therefore, the company shall integrate all these strategies to ensure that they all contribute to the overall objectives of the Antro group.
Coordinated Communication Mix
In this essay, the Antro Group’s marketing communication plan focuses on elements, which the company shall use to achieve its strategic business objectives (Clow and Baack, 2013). Consequently, the integrated marketing communication mix shall indicate the overall communication tools, which the company would adopt for the folding electric scooter. In most cases, marketing communication plans tend to concentrate on specific strategies for the product and the company.
Specific tactics for the marketing communication plan
The target audience for the communication mix has been by accounting for their demographic characteristics and behaviours (Smith and Taylor, 2002).
Online activities
These activities will assist the Antro Group to achieve its marketing objectives and the overall promotional goals (Paine, 2011; Poynter, 2010; Safko and Brake, 2009).
Affiliate marketing
This is a low-cost model for increasing sales and rewarding supporters with commissions on successful sales.
Partnership
Develop partnership with other Web sites to drive product awareness and sales.
The company shall use e-mail for direct campaigns and sales. It will also serve as a tool for interacting with potential customers, as well as existing customers with the company
SEO
The SEO strategy shall drive traffic to the company’s Web site and promotions. This is a cost-effective mode of increasing the Internet campaigns by relying on keyword searches.
Social media
The company shall advertise Moveo on social media platforms, specifically to attract college students and young men and women who use such sites. This would help in developing fan base and potential customers (Reece, 2010).
Web site
The company will develop a Web site page for promoting Moveo (Qualman, 2009). The Web page will have a professional look, be easy to use and promote interaction with users. The Web site will help the company to establish credibility and appeal to potential customers globally (Hellensen, 2007).
Traditional media activities
- Television.
- Radio.
- Print.
- Outdoor or billboard.
- Public relation activities.
- Regular updates.
- Participation in eco activities.
Resources for the communication plan
The Antro Group shall require highly skilled marketing team to implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the marketing communication plan (Solomon, 2006).
Financial resources are necessary to support the project through the year.
Communication messages must be creative (Solomon, Marshall and Stuart, 2009). Thus, the company may seek for services of external creative agencies if there is no in-house creative department. The creative idea must account for the overall objectives of the company. For instance, the overall goal is to create awareness about Moveo among the public and acquire a market share.
Implementation schedule
Note: there is no completed task
Budget
June 2014 – May 2015 Budget Sheet for the Antro Group’s Moveo Marketing Communication Campaign
Control and Evaluation
Chris Fill Framework ensures that objectives are evaluated against the outcomes (Fill, 1999). Thus, there would be measures and monitoring strategies for the project. For instance, evaluating this objective would involve the following:
- Moveo brand: to increase brand visibility across the European markets and the world among young college consumers and professionals by 50 % from June 2014 through to May 2015
- Measure: market research and media analysis to assess the impacts of the campaign on the target audience (Sterne, 2010)
- Social media analysis for tweets associated with Moveo , folding electric scooter (Shih, 2009; Singh, 2010)
- Evaluating responses from direct mails
Motoring
- The company shall monitor daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly achievements.
- Internal marketing staff shall monitor all activities.
- Outcome measures.
- These would include responses from potential customers.
- Achievements recorded every quarter shall be used to predict yearly performance. They shall also aid in reviewing performance and targets (Swan, 2014).
Conclusion
This is a marketing communication plan, which utilises Chris Fill Framework. The framework was applied in the development of a marketing communication plan for Moveo, a folding electric scooter.
It provides a systematic account of how the Antro Group should launch and market its new invention. The framework highlights corporate goals, marketing goals and communication goals, which guide all processes in developing the communication message. The product features are equally important in the process of developing an effective communication tool. It shows that the company shall adopt various strategies to promote Moveo with the ultimate goal of creating consumer awareness and acquiring market share. Therefore, effective implementation of this marketing communication plan will result in the product success.
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