Excerpt
List of Content
List of abbreviations
1. Introduction
1.1 Currently relevance and background/ problem discussion
1.2 Scope and objectives of the thesis/ methodology
2. Theoretical basics
2.1 Definition and delimitation of marketing communication
2.2 Elements and use of marketing communication/ communication mix
2.3 Marketing communication strategies
2.4 Effects and objectives of marketing communication
2.5 Definition of brands and ‘brand equity’
3. Practical part
3.1 The attractiveness of golf for brands
3.2 Elements of brand and marketing communication in golf
3.3 Reasons and objectives for marketing communication in golf for brands
3.4 Example of Nike’s brand and marketing communication strategy in golf
4. Findings and conclusion
4.1 Brief summary
4.2 Discussion and critical reflection
List of sources
List of attachments
List of abbreviations
illustration not visible in this excerpt
1. Introduction
1.1 Currently relevance and background/ problem discussion
The brand and marketing communication environment has changed rapidly during the last few years. Esp. the consumer market which was classified as a typical mass market is now shifting away towards a more fragmented market. Due to this change, companies have to adapt themselves to the new market situation by developing targeted MarCom in more specifically defined niche markets. Thus, they can build and assure customer relationships. Moreover, they are able to reach a new target audience, e.g. golfers, who will be (most) interested in the firms’ products or services. Another relevant fact is that companies which esp. offer luxury brands have to face the effects of the globalisation, e.g. intense global competition as well as saturated markets and critical consumers with high demands. That is to say, the more and more intense competition makes companies realize the need for being proactive in communicating their products and services offerings to the consumer as well as for being unique with regard to the way of comm. In order to generate more sales and to increase the brand awareness and brand equity firms need to communicate the attributes and benefits of their products or services to the consumers. Thus, brand and MarCom will be strategically very important for firms to keep up with their competitors. One popular target audience for luxury goods in particular are golfers. Because of the fact that this sport is a national sport in America and is experiencing an explosive growth in Europe, golfers could be an attractive target group for companies. Many well and high positioned firms have already focused on people who play golf. The widely-used action of enterprises can be justified by observing the consumer market which is swamped with totally equal goods offered by different companies. Hence, a firm has to be different from the others in order to perform successfully on the saturated market. Within this framework, companies have to be unique by demonstrating a unique selling proposition. This could be either an innovative new product or service, or alternatively the company could take a different approach to communicate with their customers.
1.2 Scope and objectives of the thesis/ methodology
For companies which are positioned in the upper price segment, it is very attractive to focus on golfers. By using different types of brand and MarCom firms are able to skim the huge potential of this market. For this reason, this thesis aims to answer what possibilities firms can have if they try to communicate with the target group of golfers. This thesis begins with introducing the past and current consumer market and the consumer traits, followed by a short description of the need for companies to use these comm. tools, particularly with respect to golfers. This is recessed by defining the theoretical basics of brand and MarCom in order to ensure a uniform understanding of their meaning and use throughout the thesis (see para. 2). Hereafter, there is an explicit focus on branding and MarCom for brands in golf and finally the brand ‘Nike’ is presented which already has successfully used the golf market as a comm. platform. It is important to acknowledge that there are some limitations, esp. regarding the level of detail because of the restriction of writing space.
2. Theoretical basics
2.1 Definition and delimitation of marketing communication
MarCom are all arrangements involved in getting the desired marketing message to target customers by means of several media tools. In the context of the ‘marketing mix’ or the ‘four P’s’: place, price, product and promotion, MarCom belongs to the promotional part. That means firms use MarCom instruments in order to inform, persuade and communicate – directly or indirectly – with actual or potential consumers about the benefits of their products and services. Additionally, they automatically promote the relevance of their brands and accordingly themselves as companies. Hence, firms try to pursue their promotional efforts to generate sales and increase brand awareness and brand equity. It has to be noted, that MarCom is not a temporary and static, but a constantly moving and dynamic process.
2.2 Elements and use of marketing communication/ communication mix
The comm. mix in the context of MarCom is the specific combination of the elements: advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, public relations and sales promotion which is used by companies to achieve their marketing aims. Advertising is a non-personal form of mass comm. intended to endorse ideas, goods or services and delivered through media which have to be paid. That means companies use this form of comm., known as the mass media method of MarCom, by buying media or rather renting time and space owned by others in order to communicate the particular message. The traditional forms of paid advertisement include newspapers and magazines, television, radio, signs and posters. There are three main objectives of advertising:
1) Informative Advertising: Informing the market (customers) about new products, product features product information or price changes.
2) Persuasive Advertising: Persuading customers to purchase the product or service and building brand preferences.
3) Reminder Advertising: Reminding buyers that the product or service may be needed in the future.
Direct marketing seeks to engage individual customers with the intension to deliver personalized messages. The goal is to build a relationship based upon their responds. This method enables firms to reach out directly to buyers without intermediary advertising channels. Companies use tools like direct mailing, catalogues, coupons and inserts, telemarketing, online marketing and television infomercials. Personal selling is a method that concerns interpersonal comm. between salespeople and individual customers, undertaken through face-to-face, video or web conferencing, by telephone or other means. It is often used by representing an organization, in order to influence an individual or group to take appropriate action, as required by the sponsor’s representative. Personal selling is about affecting behaviours, about actually getting buyers to make a positive decision. Therefore, salespeople can probe customers to learn more about their needs and requirements and then offer them the adapted products or services. Furthermore, they can build personal relationships which are very important for a high brand loyalty. Public relations used to be concerned with establishing and maintaining relationships with various stakeholders and in doing so enhance the reputation of the organization. It is a very credible form of comm. because firms do not pay directly the media but they rather give the opportunity to e.g. journalists to report the company and the brand. Those messages are perceived by the audience to be credible because they are communicated through third parties. Sales Promotion used to encourage customers to buy now rather than later. That means that if the consumer buys the product now, he will get some benefit (e.g. a reduced price or some additional gifts). It comprises various marketing techniques which are often used tactically to provide added value to an offering. The aim is to accelerate future sales and gather marketing information. Thus, the value of sales promotion is that companies can use it to aid outbid their competitors. However, nowadays the internet has also taken on a crucial role for firms because they are able to reach several ‘online-affine’ target groups with it. Therefore, this medium has to be considered by companies to be part in the MarCom mix as well. Besides, it can be seen that the comm. mix consisting of the primary elements advertising, direct marketing, personal selling, public relations and sales promotion has developed in the past years. The rapid growth of sponsorship causes this method to be counted already among the marketing mix by some marketing experts, but the literature differs about this. However, until now sponsorship has not been a fixed part of the MarCom mix in most literatures yet. In my opinion, the comm. method ‘sponsorship’ needs to be part of a MarCom campaign because its popularity as a comm. tool is growing every year. Sponsorship is used to communicate a company’s message and image for products, services or brands to the target market. It is defined as the financial or material support of an event, activity, person, company or product by an unrelated organisation in return for the prominent exposure of the sponsor’s name and image. This method is an effective way of meeting a company’s brand objectives. It permits a firm to enhance the value of its brand through a positive association with an event or tournament. By using the sponsorship tool companies do not only get the opportunity to develop their brand, but they also can sustain their label and automatically create brand awareness and brand attitude on the part of the existing customers. Moreover, they can introduce themselves at a new target market to reach potential customers. Celebrity endorsement is one part of sponsorship which can help firms to build and endorse their brand. That means a celebrity acts as a brand ambassador and certifies the brand’s message and image by utilizing his/ her character, vogue and position in the society. But MarCom will only be successful if the interaction of the promotion mix harmonizes. Hence, the tools have to be coordinated and have to match the companies’ comm. strategies. That means firms have to decide what components of the mix they are going to utilize in communicating with their target audience. The integration of all these instruments in order to make the buyers more consciously affected and finally make them buy the product can be named “Integrated Marketing Communication” (see attachment I). Accordingly, firms have to keep in mind the complete marketing activities instead of concentrating on single components.
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