Overview
Within the past 10 years, as the internet and online digital media have become one of the largest and most prevalent platforms of advertising and product sales to date, it has become increasingly apparent that for any company looking to expand its market share it has to be able to appeal to online consumers groups.
This consists of developing advertising and sales projects that are not only in conjunction with the latest social media trends and sites but are also able to act as stand-alone platforms that can entice customers to purchase particular items and services.
Such platforms of sales and advertising can consist of interactive websites (i.e. websites with games), downloadable apps (as seen in on the iPhone and iPad), online viral advertising campaigns (YouTube videos), banner ads and a variety of other processes and projects.
Brand Objectives
It is based on this that the brand objectives of this particular project is to achieve an incremental sales growth of 10% per year of Thomas the Train engine merchandise through the use of varying methods of online advertising and E-commerce sales.
It is anticipated that through the utilization of the digital tools and strategies that will be described in this report an effective marketing and sales plan can be developed which will not only increase public awareness and interest in the Thomas the Train engine brand but should help to foster better relations between the company and the consumer groups that are to be targeted.
Marketing Strategies to Reposition “Thomas” in the Minds of Parents and Children
Increasing Parent/Child Engagement and Excitement for “Thomas”
One of the best ways in creating a certain degree of “hype” and excitement around a particular character is make that character readily known and available to the general public.
Digital Marketing
Increase general awareness of Thomas the Train Engine by allowing more of the show’s episodes to be available for free online through YouTube so that children can watch it at their leisure.
Reasoning
By promoting these videos through YouTube, parents will in effect know that there is a channel available that they can access that allows their kids to watch child-safe programming online and is educational as well. This would create a certain degree of online “hype” regarding Thomas which could translate into product sales especially if links to the E-commerce site are placed with the video.
Increasing Appeal of “Thomas” to 1-5-Year-Olds
One way to increase the appeal of “Thomas” to the 1-5-year-old age set is to develop games that center around the life of “Thomas” due to the way in which games appeal to the mindset of children.
Website Game Development
Create a free online gaming platform where children can play a variety of flash games based on the adventures of Thomas from the TV series.
iPhone and iPad Game Development
Develop a variety of Thomas the Train Engine games for the iPad and iPhone.
Reasoning
- Such a technique has proven itself to be quite effective as seen in the case of Disney and Cartoon Network wherein their respective websites have a collection of flash based games that come with advertisements that connect to their online E-commerce stores.
- It is a well known fact that children love to play games and with recent trends showing a subsequent increase in the amount of time children spend online to play games (average of 12 hours a week).
- The iPad and iPhone have increasingly become one of the most popular interactive devices for young kids to play around with via touch screen games. The company could develop a series of games for the iPad and iPhone based around the life of Thomas and have them placed on the Apple App store at a much lower price (or even for free) in order to entice parents to buy the apps since they’re cheaper there-by increasing the popularity of the Thomas the Train Engine Brand.
Extending the “Thomas” Experience outside the Store
One way of ensuring continued consumer patronage is develop a continued “Thomas” experience for clients outside the store. This means having the brand being the foremost thought in the minds of consumers through the implementation of creative advertising strategies to increase subsequent interest in “Thomas”.
Strategies to Utilize
- Creation of a variety of promotions, events and competitions wherein through purchasing Thomas the Train Engine merchandise this allows customers to “compete” so to speak for cash prizes, merchandise and even “a day out with Thomas” which is equivalent to a fully paid for family trip to a particular location.
- Develop a sufficient online advertising strategy that takes advantage of not only traditional methods of online advertising (i.e. banner ads and paid promotions) but also the creation of a viral marketing campaign to help penetrate new markets as a result of the company’s unique approach to promoting the brand.
Developing “Thomas” Loyalists
Creating Sentimental Value
- Retaining Thomas Customer for 2 more Years
- Simplifying the Purchasing Experience
As VonRiesen and Herndon (2011) explains, brand loyalty isn’t limited to the quality or popularity connected to a product but can also encompass the way in which it invokes a certain degree of “sentimentality” among consumers (VonRiesen and Herndon, 327).
Develop a Social Networking Website
- By developing its own social networking site which focuses on promotion emotional and funny stories, the brand will be able to create a significantly large community of advocates consisting of digitally savvy moms that make up 50% of the target universe, digitally active moms that make up 30%, or traditional moms that make up 20% of the target universe.
- The site can function as a video/commentary site wherein funny/ emotional/ heartwarming videos can be uploaded by customers in order for other people to see the antics of their children. Not only that, parents can also share stories on the site involving their children which can consist of getting out of poverty, finding happiness despite the odds, discovering the true meaning of family etc.
Reasoning
- By establishing a site that enables customers to in effect share their happiest and saddest moments the Thomas the Train Engine brand will be able to develop a certain level of sentimentality between it and its customers which should result in the long term patronage of “Thomas” merchandise.
- Proven to be highly successful in the case of Yahoo! Wherein the company established a site where individuals adversely affected by the 2008 financial crisis up till the present could share their stories and gain some degree of feedback and encouragement from other people who have experienced similar if not worse hardships.
- The effectiveness of this particular strategy lies in the continued expansion and development of the community of advocates of the site which are connected to the target demographic that the company is after. As Nobre (2011) explains, consumers tend to patronize products that show a certain degree of Corporate Social Responsibility or enact a positive service to the community (Nobre, 270).
Retaining Thomas Customers for 2 More Years
Online Loyalty Program
Develop a loyalty program attached to a customer’s online registered E-commerce account on the Thomas the Train Engine website
For customers that have been loyal for 1 year or more they would gain significant discounts with the highest discount attainable after a 2 year loyalty period. This would ensure that customers would continue to stay loyal to the brand since loyalty translates into savings.
Simplifying the Purchasing Experience
In order to avoid customer dissatisfaction with the purchasing process it is thus necessary to simplify the method in which transactions are to be made on the Thomas the Train Engine website.
Phau and Cheong (2009) note that even if a product is priced affordably, presented effectively and entices customers to buy it, so long as the purchasing experience itself is poor or overly convoluted it is unlikely that the customer will ever complete the transaction (Phau and Cheong, 109).
Problems with the Online Purchasing Experience
Studies such as those by Vander Schee (2011) which examined the purchasing behaviors of online consumers reveals that while many of them are satisfied with the speed and efficiency of E-commerce websites the fact remains that many of them are “turned off” so to speak when it comes to overly rigorous checkouts and the need to register (Vander Schee, 32 – 43).
Seen in the Kapferer (2005) study was a situation where a customer that was just about to purchase all her items in her “shopping cart” declined to finish her transaction when the website asked her to create a registered account before paying for everything she chose (Kapferer, 1).
This particular pattern showed itself over and over again in numerous instances resulting in the conclusion that some consumers just didn’t want to complicate the process any further since filling out an online registration form for them seems to be an unnecessary and ill-advised action, especially when taking into consideration the potential for their e-mail address or even their home address being bombarded with various advertisements and promotional schemes
Removing the Need to Register
- Completely removing the necessity of having a customer register in order to complete a transaction.
- Customers should only be given the choice of registering after they have already purchased their product with the prompt indicating that if they register they may be able to avail of exclusive discounts and offers
Reasoning
By removing the registering process it is expected that customers should find that making transactions on the E-commerce site is a lot less tedious, faster, more convenient and above all allows them to have a pleasant customer experience without feeling the subsequent frustration of once again having to register before making a purchase. This should help in retaining more customers since the main issue described in the Kapferer (2005) study would have been removed.
Removing the “Expensive Stigma” from the Thomas the Train Engine Brand
One of the current problems of the Thomas the Train Engine brand is its association with high cost toy genres such as train sets and expensive brands that have a popular TV series connected to them (i.e. My Little Pony Friendship is Magic, Batman, etc.).
Why this is false
- Thomas the Train Engine brand name goods and merchandise is constrained to a fairly limited consumer market (kids aged 1 – 5) and as such the prices set by Mattel for this particular type of brand is set at a low and acceptable level as compared to the nearly 200 to 300 percent mark up on the more popular toy brands.
- The brand doesn’t have the same level of “collectability” associated with toys from Marvel or DC which are usually associated with collectors due to the potential for a considerable increase in value as the years go by.
- An in-depth examination of prices of Thomas the Tank Engine merchandise shows a price average of $10 or less for particular train pieces which is much less compared to some of the more popular brands.
Strategies to Utilize
- Create an online marketing campaign which focuses on the affordability of the brand
- Create redeemable limited time offer promotional codes through online banner advertisements and social media networks that will entice parents to go to the online E-commerce site of Thomas the Train Engine and redeem them for discounts on select merchandise. It is expected that once consumers see the prices of the products the stigma associated with the product being expensive should lessen considerably.
- Jump on the coupon bandwagon with partnerships with sites such as Groupon.com wherein parents are given the option of purchasing Thomas the Train branded merchandise at select outlets and merchandisers within the targeted markets of the company.
- Develop an online viral marketing campaign on YouTube which focuses on the affordability of brand through a humorous 5 minute showcase.
Digital Tactics
Digital Goals/ Measurement
The goal of the company’s digital marketing strategy is to create an incremental increase of 10% in the number of online merchandising sales by the E-commerce store connected to the website. In order to accomplish this a certain number of facebook “likes”, pinterest “pining”, twitter hashtag usage, as well as views on YouTube must be established in order to create a certain level of online popularity for the company brand.
Measurable goals for this particular strategy come in the form of at least 3,000 facebook likes a year and 100,000 “fans”, 10 million annual visits to the Thomas the Train Engine website, 50,000 thousand followers on the company’s pinterest page as well as 100,000 followers on twitter and lastly up to 3,000,000 or more yearly views on the company’s YouTube channel which features various episodes of Thomas the Train Engine as well as a variety of interesting marketing videos created by the company.
These are the set goals of the brand and are achievable should the various strategies suggested within this report be followed.
YouTube
Objective
Create a YouTube channel devoted entirely to Thomas the Train Engine in order to drum up interest in the brand.
Target
- Primary: Internet Savvy mothers, semi-internet competent mothers, traditional normal/infrequent internet using mother.
- Secondary: Children aged 1 to 5 who will watch the YouTube videos that are shown to them by their mothers.
Rationale
One of the problems with helping to expand the popularity of the Thomas the Train Engine brand is the fact that it is difficult to encompass the target audiences at times which are convenient. One way in which studios have attempted to get around this is to offer video on demand services such as those found on Netflix and TiVo however not all individuals have access to these particular services and it must be noted that they cost money in order to utilize.
As such, by creating a YouTube channel where the videos can be viewed for free in all regions this will enable Mattel to allow parents to let their children watch YouTube videos in their car, home or where ever an interest connection is available in order to keep them preoccupied. This has the advantage of parents turning towards the Thomas the Train Engine YouTube channel as one of their primary means of entertaining their kids which will result in greater brand awareness.
By placing hyperlinks and advertisements at the end of each video regarding Thomas the Train Engine merchandise the company will be able to subsequently increase the amount of people visiting the E-commerce section of website. Furthermore, with the subsequent increase in the amount of views on the YouTube page this would in turn increase its rankings on the YouTube search results and enable the company to penetrate new markets that it otherwise would have been unable to access otherwise.
Description
By placing old episodes of Thomas the Train Engine on YouTube and allowing parents to let their kids watch it for free this would drum up more attention for the brand especially if links are included in the video description which connect to the Thomas the Train Engine website and E-commerce store.
What must be understood is that YouTube is one of the most visited websites on internet with millions of people viewing content on it on a daily basis. As such by actively uploading videos on YouTube and enabling people to view them freely this would result in a definite expansion in the market range of consumers the company would be able to successfully access.
Success Metrics
Metric
Method of Calculation
Number of videos Total Number of Channel Views
E-gaming Website
Objective
Create an E-gaming website that has age appropriate flash based games that appeal to the 1-to-5 age segment
Target
- Primary: Kids aged 1 to 5
Rationale
Children aged 1 to 5 are the primary consumers of Thomas the Train Engine brand merchandise however they also like playing games. By combining the two via an online gaming website/ E-commerce store the company will not only be able to target its chosen market but will be able to better convince them to buy “Thomas” brand merchandise.
It has been shown through sites belonging to Disney and Cartoon Network that creating flashed based games around a particular cartoon can drum up significant amounts of interest around a particular brand. This was seen in the games developed by Disney which centered around Mickey Mouse, Lilo and Sitch and a variety of other cartoons which boosted the appeal of the characters to children since they were able to play games that were centered around the adventures seen on TV.
Not only that, but by connecting these games to their online merchandising stores Disney and Cartoon Network were both able to gain significant amounts of revenue. Such a system can easily be implemented in the Thomas the Train Engine website and as such would be a beneficial instrument to utilize in order to generate the desire of children for Thomas the Train Engine brand merchandise based on the games that they just played.
Description
Online E-gaming sites have become a popular trend among the younger generation today with many children preferring to play games on computers as compared to watching TV.
In order to take advantage of this growing trend the development of a site function that specifically caters to children aged 1 – 5 will enable the company to bring in more children by show casing to them the types of games they can play and enable them to know more about the world of Thomas the Train Engine.
Success Metrics
Metric
Method of Calculation
- Number of Website Views Total Number of Channel Views and sales made
- Number of times a Game is played
Content Features/Outline (User Generated)
Personal Stories
As mentioned earlier, the primary client group aside from children aged 1 – 5 that the company will focus on are digitally savvy moms that make up 50% of the target universe, digitally active moms that make up 30%, or traditional moms that make up 20% of the target universe.
Through the creation of an online platform that allows such women to share their stories one of the first key contents that it is expected that they will create is their own personal self-interest story detailing either their experience with their child using Thomas the Train Engine merchandise or merely their own stories regarding what they’ve experienced in their own lives or stories involving their family.
Basically this will be a dynamic self-updating feature that will immediately post their stories on the main webpage for all to see.
Videos
Another type of user generated feature that this project is expecting to see is a variety of uploaded videos which show humorous segments of the lives of the families of the mothers that are being targeted by this paper.
Such a method of content creation can be considered similar to the style seen in the now defunct TV show “America’s Funniest Home Movies” however in this case all the videos are commented on and posted by users. The company could also implement monthly contests where the latest video that has generated the most “hype” will be given cash prizes or Thomas the Train Engine merchandise. Such a method of
Social Networking “Likes” and “Posts”
Other user generated content that the company would like to see originating from its consumers are Facebook “likes” and posts that are related to the Thomas the Train Engine website, Facebook page and twitter account.
What must be understood is that through the creation of a sufficient number of likes and posts the online presence of the company will subsequently grow thus creating a significant increase in the number of people that visit its website, facebook page and potentially its online E-commerce website.
This translates into potentially greater sales for the company through which it will be able to meet the business objective of 10% incremental increase in sales per year.
Works Cited
Kapferer, Jean-NoĂ«l. “The Roots Of Brand Loyalty Decline: An International Comparison.” Ivey Business Journal 69.4 (2005): 1. MasterFILE Premier. Web.
Nobre, Helena. “Should Consumers Be In Love With Brands?: An Investigation Into The Influence That Specific Consumer-Brand Relationships Have On The Quality Of
The Bonds That Consumers Develop With Brands.” Journal Of Transnational Management 16.4 (2011): 270. MasterFILE Premier. Web.
Phau, Ian and Cheong, Edith. “How Young Adult Consumers Evaluate Diffusion Brands: Effects Of Brand Loyalty And Status Consumption.” Journal Of International
Consumer Marketing 21.2 (2009): 109. MasterFILE Premier. Web. Vander Schee, Brian A. “Students As Consumers: Programming For Brand Loyalty.”
Services Marketing Quarterly 32.1 (2011): 32-43. Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts. Web.
Von Riesen, Dale and Herndon, Neil C. “Consumer Involvement With The Product And The Nature Of Brand Loyalty.” Journal Of Marketing Channels 18.4 (2011): 327. MasterFILE Premier. Web.