Creating and Implementing an IMC Strategy for a Brand (2 days training)

Training Overview: Participants will learn how to build a compelling brand through integrating all the elements of the Marketing Communications (Marcoms) Mix into a custom-designed plan optimized to achieve “total communications” that will deliver short and long-term success through communicating different value propositions to internal and external stakeholders through the most effective channels. Through integrating and implementing the strategic and practical elements of their marcoms plan participants will learn how to positively influence defined customer segments. NB This course is designed for people without any prior detailed knowledge of marcoms.

 

Goals:  

Upon successful completion of the course, the participant will be able to:

• Understand the concepts and theories of Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) strategy so that strategy and concept go hand-in-hand with tactics and implementation.
• Understand the role, functions, and importance of IMC to the enterprise.
• Implement an IMC strategy using a media neutral / multi-media approach of online and offline synergy combining one-message delivery and multi-media exposures whilst giving prominence to the driving force of all marcoms: the imperative of branding.

 

Content of Day 1:

Introduction to Marketing Communications – a Quick Review

• What Marketing Communications (Marcoms) is and how it can be achieved.
• How Marcoms can help create 'meaning' for consumers.
• The need to create an ongoing Brand Narrative in order to engage with target audiences.
• The advantages of Media-neutral Planning in scheduling Brand Communications.
• The media need for extended narratives due to the effect of technology on viewing patterns and behavior.
• How and why Marcoms is both an appropriate and integrative practice.
• The links between Branding and the power of Marcoms.
• How the building of a Brand Narrative can provide a framework to ensure brand longevity and effectiveness.
• The need for the management of all Brand Encounters and Brand Conversations.
• The dynamics of the Marcoms process.
• Evaluating conventional approaches to how Marcoms works.
• The influence of communication intermediaries in the dissemination of information in the Marcoms process.
• The application of sequential models of Marcoms.

 

Analysis and Planning for Marcoms

• Marcoms and Buyer Behavior.
• The nature of consumer decisions.
• The difference between informational and transformational motivations.
• The internal and external influences on the buying decision process.
• The role of Marcoms in consumer decision-making.
• Why Target Audience Segmentation is fundamentally important to determining Marketing Communication Objectives.
• The different 'effects' of Category Need, Brand Awareness, Brand Attitude and Brand Purchase Intention and Purchase Facilitation.
  • Why they are required in order to affect customer purchase.
  • How these desired effects and objectives can help create 'meaning' for consumers.
• The different types of Communication Objectives at different stages of Adoption and the Product Life Cycle.

 

Content of Day 2:

Marcoms Strategy and Planning

• The 'promoting to - communicating with' dichotomy.
• The difference between 'strategic' and 'tactical' positioning and how they support one another.
• The contexts within which Marcoms Strategy is set in order to provide a realistic impression of what audiences must be targeted, and what objectives and strategy are required to bring about effective communications.
• The key components of Marcoms Planning.
• Why target audience, message and media which must be integrated to work cohesively together.
• The constituent parts of the CAMPAIGN Planning Framework.
• The difference between 'strategic' and 'tactical' positioning and how they support one another.
• Why categorization issues are fundamental in creating and maintaining brand positioning.
• Strategies for new and emerging markets as well as mature markets.
• The Link Between Positioning Strategy and Tactics
• The Communication Effects Required
• Tactical Positioning Guidelines 
  • Brand Name
  • Logotypes
  • Typefaces
  • Packaging
  • Other Tactical Elements
• Improve the Position
• The Cumulative Memetic Effects of Positioning

 

Creating and Reviewing Your Strategic Marcoms Plan

• Context ─ what's happened before? What's the history?
• Environmental Scan ─ what are the key factors that will affect your success?
• Stakeholders ─ your stakeholders and their expected reactions. How you will manage them?
• Objectives ─ what do you want to achieve? (should be clear, relevant, measurable... we will use the C-SMART approach)
• Strategy ─ where are you going, and why?
• Audiences ─ who are the key audiences?
• Announcements ─ given the strategy, are you making announcements? What are you announcing?
• Messages ─ what are you saying?
• Tactics ─ how will you implement your strategy?
• Issues ─ what problems will you have to overcome?
• Budget ─ what will it cost?
• Evaluation ─ how will you know if you've been successful?

 

Training Methodology: 50% Theory, 50% Practical

This will be an interactive program, drawing from the course leader’s experience and prompting the participants to engage in discussions and analysis of their experience together with the case studies and the readings (provided by the course leader) as well as role-play activities carried out during the training.