Integrated Marketing Communications
Essays

There are several significant advantages of using qualitative measurements in marketing research. The most significant is the ability to capture the voice of customers that may have evaded the more structured, numerically-based approaches that force respondents to provide a specific set of answers. Qualitative research can also lead to entirely new insights into a new market or service that has not been seen in the past, given the open-ended questions inherent in this approach to research. Qualitative research techniques also can be used to capture the shared knowledge of experts as well, as the Delphi Technique is so well-known and used for. Capturing the tacit expertise and knowledge of a specific group of thought leaders can also be accomplished using qualitative techniques as well. Additional advantages of qualitative measurements include the ability to complete greater exploratory or primary research into a specific subject, often following a specific line of questions as they develop within an interview. An additional advantage of qualitative research techniques are the ability to understand how prospects and customers make trade-offs on substitute products and services. While price elasticity studies are often highly quantitative in scope, the use of interactive discussions of pricing trade-offs can be highly effective in determining just how much a prospect is willing to sacrifice price for a given feature or benefit. The total value of a brand can also be ascertained through the use of these types of qualitative techniques, providing respondents with the ability to define in their own terms the value of the experience a brand delivers. The many advantages of qualitative research are predicated on having more interactive sessions with respondents, including the ability to ascertain how they make trade-offs over time on value versus price. For the many advantages of qualitative measurements, there are several disadvantages as well. First, the results of any study predicated on this approach cannot be analyzed at the higher levels of statistical analysis. As the results of studies and research completed with qualitative measurements are by nature not nominal, ordinal or interval in terms of data orthogonality, they cannot be used to represent an entire customer or segment population. At best they can be used as a means to capture nominally-based data that can lead to only a rough approximation of an overall market size or series of market dynamics. Qualitative data can only be as useful as the means used to capture it as well; if a methodology is very informal and focused on a series of loosely-guided objectives, the overall data will of mediocre quality at best. When the goals and objectives of a research study, in addition to the sampling frame and methodology lack rigor or precise focus, the resulting research can also lack precision and meaning. It is more difficult to create greater levels of meaning and transferability of data when the methodologies are highly qualitative in scope; the data is only relevant for a specific series of objectives and often is defined by applicability to a given point in time as well. Qualitative data is often also open to interpretation, as the methodology can be debated in terms of its relative appropriateness, robustness and value over the long-term. Finally, qualitative data cannot be taken entirely on its own; it must be combined with a series of other research sources to ensure relevancy and accuracy of interpretation, especially over time. In conclusion, qualitative data needs to be taken in context and often balanced with quantitative data to ensure a 360-degree view of a given situation or strategy of interest has the greater level of insights gained from research efforts.

Strategic Action Plan Nosh Communications

¶ … Future of Advertising and Its Impact on Integrated Marketing Communications Programs

This paper presents an analysis of the marketing strategies of Mochalicious Coffee. The analysis includes a brief introduction to the company; its mission statement, branding, pricing, and distribution strategies, integrated marketing communications and customer satisfaction plan, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, competitor analysis and differentiation strategy, and an analysis of the macro-environmental issues.This paper presents an analysis of the marketing strategies of Mochalicious Coffee. The analysis includes a brief introduction to the company; its mission statement, branding, pricing, and distribution strategies, integrated marketing communications and customer satisfaction plan, analysis of the strengths and weaknesses, competitor analysis and differentiation strategy, and an analysis of the macro-environmental issues.

Woolworths limited is one of the renowned companies in the Australian retail industry and it has been operating since 1924. Woolworths is the largest food retailer in Australia and it is also the second largest retailer…

Psychographics is a method by which one can analyze and understand a social group and whereby one could get information about the psychological response to given situations by particular groups or individual persons.

In the early 1990s, AIDS was still pretty much an unknown and taboo subject. United Colors of Benetton aimed to raise awareness and to bring people sick with AIDS out of their isolation by showing that they were still part of families and communities. This paper looks at that integrated marketing communication that Benetton used.

¶ … Organic Food Purchases by German and Italian Consumers

Top Travel is a well established travel agency which cares not only to satisfy the most specific needs of its wide customer base, but also to understand the forces affecting the domestic and global tourist sector and to…

Using Nike's relationship with Federer as an example, the paper analyzes the use of celebrity endorsement strategy of the brands beginning from choosing the right celebrity figures until the final results of the strategy. Many industries promote their products by hiring the services of influential celebrities who advertise the products in question. The celebrity has to have various characteristics in order to be seriously considered as endorser. The company also has to take various steps to protect itself. The whole process of considering, finding, and finally hiring a celebrity is one that is done incrementally and thoughtfully with the whole, actually, occurring in four stages. Celebrity and brand are closely intertwined. Just as celebrity may profit the brand, the brand also effects the reputation of the celebrity. The company-endorser relationship, in other words, can provide potential benefits to both with both brand and endorser receiving increased attention and both benefitting from deal in various other ways. On the other hand, potential hazards include the fact that the endorser may overshadow the brand, may become involved in public controversy hence tarnishing the brand, and may be too expensive. Ultimately, research shows that the product has to be good to begin with and that The trend seems to be that celebrities are losing the appeal in marketing. A worthwhile product and ad will always attract notice regardless of endorsement. A poor one will fail for the same reason. Nonetheless, given the appeal of celebrities, it is likely that celebrity endorsement will always be around with their accompanying benefits and risks.