IMC Strategy for the HP Slate Tablet: A Full Campaign Plan
This paper presents an integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan for the HP Slate 7-inch Android tablet, launched by HP in 2013 as the company's second attempt to enter the competitive tablet market. The plan outlines a multi-channel campaign spanning television, print, billboards, and digital media including YouTube, Facebook, and dedicated online forums. The central theme is consumer empowerment — demonstrating how the Slate can enhance users' daily lives. Drawing on Kotler and Keller's framework of benefit-driven purchasing, the campaign emphasizes tutorials, social engagement, and exclusive user communities to build both sales and brand loyalty. The paper also reviews the product's key features, pricing, and primary competitors, including Samsung, Google, and Amazon.
- Introduction: HP's Return to the Tablet Market: Context for HP's 2013 tablet market re-entry
- Product Overview: The HP Slate: HP Slate features, pricing, and competitors
- IMC Campaign Overview and Core Theme: Multi-channel campaign built on consumer empowerment
- Print Advertising Strategy: Empowerment-themed print ads with QR codes
- Television Advertising Strategy: TV storyboard showing real-world Slate use cases
- Billboard and Out-of-Home Advertising: High-traffic billboard placements mirroring print theme
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What makes this paper effective
- The campaign is anchored to a clearly stated consumer insight — Kotler and Keller's principle that customers buy benefits, not products — which gives the IMC theme a theoretical foundation rather than relying on intuition alone.
- Each media channel (TV, print, billboard, digital) is treated separately with tailored execution details, showing an understanding that different platforms require different creative approaches within a unified message.
- The paper integrates online community-building (exclusive user forums, weekly tutorials) as a retention and loyalty mechanism, extending the campaign beyond awareness into post-purchase engagement.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper applies benefit-segmentation theory from Kotler and Keller (2011) to justify the campaign's empowerment theme. By framing the tablet not as a device but as a tool that enables specific lifestyle outcomes, the writer connects consumer motivation theory directly to creative strategy — a strong example of grounding a marketing plan in established academic frameworks.
Structure breakdown
The paper is organized as a slide-by-slide presentation outline. It opens with market context and a product review, then articulates the overarching IMC theme before walking through each channel in sequence: print, television, and billboards. Each section describes both the creative concept and the tactical rationale. The structure is logical and mirrors how a real campaign pitch would be delivered to a client or stakeholder audience.
Introduction: HP's Return to the Tablet Market
In 2013, HP made a second attempt at entering the tablet market. In 2010, the company had launched a tablet that was competitive in terms of price and features, but failed to gain sufficient market share against its competitors, leading HP to withdraw from the segment entirely. Returning in 2013, HP needed not only a strong product but also a robust marketing strategy — particularly given that the company would be competing against major players such as Google, Samsung, and Amazon. The aim of this plan is to present an outline for an integrated marketing communications (IMC) campaign to support the HP Slate.
Product Overview: The HP Slate
Before developing the IMC campaign, it is useful to review the product it will support. The HP Slate is a tablet computer available in either dark grey/black or red, with a soft-touch backing that makes it comfortable to hold. It is a smaller-format device featuring a 7-inch screen and runs the Android Jelly Bean operating system. A key point of differentiation is its integrated Beats Audio system and speakers, incorporated to deliver superior sound quality.
The retail price in the U.S. is $169, though promotional offers frequently reduce this price or include a cash-back option. Given its functionality and price point, the HP Slate competes directly with the Samsung Galaxy Note, Google Nexus, and Amazon's Kindle Fire.
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