IMC Plan for Red Bull: Integrated Marketing

IMC Plan for Red Bull:

Integrated marketing communications is a general term that is used to refer to a holistic approach to marketing communication that is geared towards ensuring or enhancing the consistency of the message and the corresponding use of media. This concept is the combination of every marketing tool, approach, and resources in a company that enhances impact on the mind of consumers leading to maximum profit at lower costs. Notably, the integrated marketing communications entails the combination of online marketing channels like e-marketing initiatives and offline marketing channels like newspaper advertisements. When developing the integrated marketing communications program, a company includes the four components of the marketing mix.

An example of the use of integrated marketing communications program and tools is through marketing of Red Bull, which mature brand in the energy drinks market. Since the introduction of the non-alcoholic and caffeine-based drink in 1987, Red Bull can be found in over 162 countries across the globe as it originated from Austria. The corporate growth objectives of using an integrated marketing communications plan for this product is mainly fueled by external factors from its competitors. Red Bull has started to recognize the need to reconsider its marketing communications practices in order to develop the position in the growing market and protect it. This is primarily because of the extremely high competition that the brand has experienced from other large and resourceful products like Coca-Cola and Pepsi (Vishnyakova, Okhovat & Kulzhabayev, 2012).

The promotional program situation for this brand is that the company usually targets the youth between 16 and 29 years that are leading active lifestyles and males in urban areas who are involved in sporting activities. Red Bull has used social networks and other media to increase its communications with consumers and enhance brand loyalty. Moreover, the company supports and conducts various sporting events that help in enhancing its brand loyalty. Notably, the firm uses an interesting approach in marketing the brand that is largely described as buzz marketing. Through the approach, Red Bull uses public awareness and the strength of its opinion leaders to spread its message by word-of-mouth rather than the conventional mass marketing approach.

However, the current marketing campaign is considered as old and unattractive despite of its effectiveness in the previous years because of the increasingly educated public. As a result, the firm needs to adopt a new marketing campaign whose communication goals and objectives are geared towards freshening up the brand in the extremely saturated market. The new campaign should target younger consumers in the early stages of adolescence as well as consumers who are not well informed about the brand. Since an integrated marketing plan could be the most suitable strategy, it should be engaging and entertaining to remind loyal customers and convince new consumers that the brand is still the leading energy drink in the market.