Executive summary:-

This term paper mainly focus that how an IMC plan is generated in order to make the product familiar with the customer and also how to introduce the product in the market. IMC [integrated marketing communication]is a vast concept under which their comes many sub concept on whose basis the whole IMC plan stands.

The various sub topics which I have consider for making IMC PLAN for washing machine are situational analysis, determine a problem or opportunity , determine the budget and develop IMC strategies .

Objectives:- the objective of this term paper is as follows :-

• To understand the concept of IMC.
• To analyze to how important an IMC is for making a brand.
• To understand that how various message can be send to various audience.
• To understand how various promotional activities can come out from IMC.

IMC is about integrating the customer into the company:

It’s not about putting widgets or services in the marketplace based on what you think customers need. Instead, it is becoming a responsive organization driven by consumer insights that knows its customers’ wishes, wants, needs and desires and then creating products and services to fill those needs.

IMC argues you need to get to know the customer better than your competitors, and maybe even better than they know themselves.

A true IMC company is closer to the customer, and would never be nervous or ashamed to have one sit in on a strategic marketing meeting—a true IMC company has the best interests of its customers in mind.

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION

Integrated Marketing Communications is a simple concept. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together.

At its most basic level, Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC, as we’ll call it, means integrating all the promotional tools, so that they work together in harmony.

Promotion is one of the Ps in the marketing mix. Promotions has its own mix of communications tools.

All of these communications tools work better if they work together in harmony rather than in isolation. Their sum is greater than their parts – providing they speak consistently with one voice all the time, every time.

As a marketing strategy, Integrated Marketing is closely related to and inter-dependent with Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC). Indeed, many observers use the term integrated marketing when they probably mean integrated marketing communications. Whereas IMC aims to ensure consistency of message and the complementary use of media, integrated marketing is concerned with the alignment and focus of the whole organisation.

Schultz and Kitchen (2000) identified four stages of IMC concluding with an integrated value-based model. According to this interpretation, as the organisation becomes more committed to achieving consistency and differentiation across all customer contact points the business management challenge moves from marketing and marketing communication to the whole organisation, requiring a cultural and systemic infrastructure for integration. This in turn calls on new practices and higher-order levels of organisation management. For example, at this point IMC and CRM are effectively merged.

As I am doing the IMC plan for tooth brush it is very essential for me to view the situational analysis: My products will mainly target the kids in which I think is a very large scope for the tooth brush industry and I want to grab that opportunity.

Name of the tooth brush:-

SHEILD TOOTH BRUSH

Brand vision:

To be the catalyst of change for younger generation and to create a brand inspiring innovation and to see SHEILD in the hands of 70% of our target market after 5 years.

• BIG IDEA: “Brighten Up The Tooth Brushing Experience”
• Campaign Idea 1 : It’s not a Compulsion. It’s an Adventure!!
• Campaign Idea 2 : Watch Your Mouth.
• Campaign Idea 3 : Good Brushing Now Means More Teeth later.
• Campaign Idea 4: Rediscovering Fun!
• Communication & Channel Strategy:
• Buzz or street marketing
• Awake TV, Print
• Interactive website
• Prompt Point-of-sale activities, Sales promotion.
• My focus : SHEILD, which is an unattractive toothbrush, we propose a plan to revitalize the brushing experience for kids.
• Target market : Aimed at children from age 5 to 10
• Colgate, Oral B are the two major players advertising their messages.
• SHIELD is one of the local companies of Jammu and Kashmir, which is manufacturing & distributing toothbrushes for kids.
• They are not at all considering the kids market segment as distinct and have not come up with a separate communication campaign for kids yet
• AIM : To generate trial, achieve 40% purchase rate and become most preferred local brand in kids segment.
• OBJEVTIVE: To build an image of SHEILD as adventurous and exciting, create awareness about our presence and inform about the features and benefits of SHEILD.
• Single idea : “ Tooth brushing is not a compulsion, it’s an adventure”.
• Proposed Essence : changing the way you brush. Forever!

SHEILD’S SITUATION ANALYSIS

• Product Attribute: A toothbrush with a small head and soft bristles having rubber feet at the bottom enabling it to stand.
• Pricing: Rs.40
• Distribution : Distributed in Jammu and Kashmir wholesalers and retailers.
• Promotion: We will offer trade incentives/ promotions in the form of gifts and discounts but on occasional basis.

CURRENT TARGET MARKET FOR MY PRODUCT:

• Target market approach: Kids 5-10 years
• Product positioning: The product gives a better SMILE
• Attitudes: Mostly people are not aware of the fact that SHIELD’S toothbrush range also has toothbrushes for children and those who do know don’t find it appealing enough as compared to imported brands.

CUSTOMERS:

• Due to increased level of awareness, parents care more about their children’s teeth.
• Previously consumer didn’t have much knowledge about toothbrush functions and benefits. Consumers used to purchase toothbrushes without much information about the product.
• They don’t have good quality perception of local products.

MARKET SEGMENTATION :

GEOGRAPHIC:

All the cities which include both Jammu and Kashmir.

DEMOGRAPHICS:

• Gender: Both male and female.
• SEC: Both low class and middle class people.
• Family Size: Families even with one child are enough for our target but if the family size is big, it’s even better because more family members means more children if not currently then may be in future.
• Family life cycle: The main focus is on full nest which means families having children at home.
• Education: Children studying in High schools to Primary school.

PSYCHOGRAPHICS:

• Personality: Marketers endow their products with a “brand personality” that corresponds to a target consumer personality.
• If we look at the range of toothbrushes by SHIELD, we’ll see that none of them has a distinct personality that could make it prominent amongst the other brands available in the market.

SOWT ANALYSIS OF THE BRAND:

Strength:

• SHIELD is a known company(Hypothesis), mostly people are aware of SHIELD toothbrush due to its distribution network by the virtue of which it is known to very body.
• Leader in oral and baby care segment because we have made our main thrust on the baby segment which is going for us in the long run.
• Diversification
• Strong distribution network
• Wide range of toothbrushes, each targeting different age groups.
• Price Range (ranging from Rs( 10)to Rs( 55) affordable as well as expensive.

Weakness:

• Weak Positioning and Image.
• Low budgets.
• Lower quality as compared to MNC competitors.
• People mostly prefer Oral B and Colgate over Shield.

Opportunities:

• Consumers are preferring functionally effective premium products with professional quality to meet their personal care needs.
• People are now more conscious about their image and appearance and prefer to use branded products.
• Increase in awareness of dental hygiene and its importance.
• Increase in population
• Exploring new categories like kids market
• Migration of people from rural to urban areas and Rural population switching from miswak, Desi toothpowder to toothpaste.
• Automated supply chain which we have decided to have for our shield product.
• Lifestyle of people is changing and they are becoming more.
• Awareness and Education of the people due to the increasing education standards.
• Hygiene conscious.
• Variety seekers.

Threats:

• Local companies producing low priced products.
• Threat from Chinese products that are cheaper and more attractive.
• Threat from substitutes.
• Low brand loyalty and weak image.
• Increase in raw material price.
• Inflation in the country
• Competitors re-launching their products
• Competitors increasing their marketing budgets
• Unstable economic conditions

SHIELD’S CURRENT APPROACH

• Shield’s Objective: To become No.1 category toothbrush and we plan to pursue it by increasing awareness level among the customers.
• Their core communication message is based solely on smile, it’s our positioning strategy.
• Big idea is based on the fact that people should replace their toothbrush after every 3 months, otherwise it loses its effectively.
• We will follow continuous advertising pattern, the advertising mediums used are TV, radio, and print ads.
• Strength: product range, portfolio

Tagline : “haso zara aur khil khila k”

We will also use several sales promotion tactics in order to enhance the sales and ultimately the profit of our firm.

Competitors: Our local competitor is EZI GRIP (Hypothetical) and we have made certain marketing strategies in order to tackle with these local brands. Chinese products are making the competition more and more tough for the other brands to survive the market. Colgate ,Oral-b are the two main competitors of my brand.

ANALYSIS OF KIDS TOOTHRBRUSH MARKET TOOTHBRUSHES DEMOGRAPHICS PURCHASING POWER Sheild:

Our main objective is to target the kids market. Our product is designed in a very sophisticated manner in order to save the grasp the kids market in which we think is the huge opportunity for the brush makers.

Shield aimed at children from age 5 to 10 containing a very small head with soft bristles, particularly for children whose set of milk or baby teeth are still breaking. Is a high priced product. Our customers have a high purchasing power and are ready to spend money on purchasing an expensive toothbrush. Shield Junior is made for children from age 4 to 10 containing a very small head with soft bristles. The toothbrush has candy shaped figures at its end with two different colors. Low priced as compared to other competitors to maintain a certain difference between both the brushes and their target markets. Little Star shield made for children from age 5 to 10 containing a very small head with comparatively hard bristles. Little Star does not contain costly raw materials and does not have an extraordinary design therefore, it is also low priced. Chota Shield cater to the children from age 6 to 11 and the design of the toothbrush is very plain aimed at parents who don’t want to spend much on toothbrushes. Regular toothbrush for children with an ordinary design and specially targeted to people with a low purchasing power. Little Star Shield is same as Chota Shield same as our new product FLEX JUNIOR aimed at children from age 10 to 12 as its head is a little big as compared to other toothbrushes and is made for those children whose baby teeth have been replaced by adult (permanent) teeth. Low priced according to the pricing of competitors because flexible toothbrushes are provided by all competitors.

ISSUES FACED BY THE BRAND (SHIELD)

• Main purpose of the toothbrush is not being fulfilled (does not stand and falls down)
• Over Priced & Low Quality
• Major focus is on the range and not on promoting children’s toothbrushes separately
• Unattractive Colors
• Low Budget
• Major competition from low priced products (Chinese) in the market

BRAND VISION:

• To be the catalyst of change for younger generation and to create a brand inspiring innovation.
• To see Giggles in the hands of 70% of our target market after 5 years.

OBJECTIVE:

To spread awareness about the importance of oral health and improve the quality of teeth of India’s Children so that they are able to live a better, happy and healthy life.

ROOT STRENGTHS:

• Wide range of toothbrushes
• Local Brand
• The ‘Care’ is the core message, which has made Shield a recognized household name in Jammu and Kashmir.

BENEFITS:

• SHIELD toothbrush is for children with a complex mixture of different sized permanent and baby teeth.
• It features a combination of bristles for cleaning sensitive gaps and to effectively reach and clean teeth.
• The handle is cartoon shaped sized to fit optimally into a child’s hand for maximum comfort and control.

POSITIONING:

• DISCRIMINATIOR:
• Only Shield is the first one in the local market of INDIA to emphasize only on KIDS Tooth Brushes.
• ESSENCE:
• Changing the way you brush. Forever!
• STRATEGY:
• Niche strategy
• By targeting the segment of consumers aged between 5-10 and charge a premium price.
• To be able to differentiate from other tooth brushes in the KIDS segment.

AGENCY BRIEF

1. What are the JOBS TO BE DONE and resulting Marketing Objective?

To get kids and their parents to understand the importance of having healthy teeth, brushing at young age and to create an association between fun, excitement and tooth brushing.

• MARKETING MEASURABLE OBJECTIVES:
• To generate trial amongst non-users by 30 % till January 2012.
• To achieve a 40% purchase rate amongst the target market by the end of 2010.
• To be the most preferred local brand in the kid’s market segment by the end of 2012.
• MARKETING COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES:
• To build an image of SHIELD as adventurous and exciting among 25% of our target market.
• Create awareness about our presence in the kids’ market segment.
• To inform 40% of the target audience about the features and benefits of SHIELD by the end of 2010.

2. What insight drives this brief?

Oral health has a major impact on children physically and psychologically. It can have an impact on growth, enjoying life, appearance, how children speak, chew, taste food and socialize, as well as their feelings of social well-being .

Dental health problems affect children, which impact their performance as students, lower self-esteem, and slow down their personal development. Failure to prevent dental diseases has a large effect on school attendance.

Kids take tooth brushing as a compulsion and are always forced to do it by their guardians.

Children find their toothbrushes boring and prefer their favorite cartoon characters on their tooth brushes. KIDS like bright, colorful and funky toothbrushes. Today kids have more autonomy and decision-making power within the family than in previous generations, so it follows that kids are vocal about what they want their parents to buy. ” Pester power & quot; refers to children & apos;s ability to nag their parents into purchasing items they may not otherwise buy. Increasing participation of women in the workforce has prompted a shift in this role as children are increasingly the & quot;buyers“ for the entire family. Even in families where women do not work, children are observed to share this role with their mothers. Children enjoy greater discretion not only in making routine consumption decisions for the family but also in pestering their parents to buy other products desired by them.

CONSUMER INSIGHTS FROM OUR STUDY:

There are lot of reasons why we choose that we will go for kids toothbrushes are:

• KIDS like bright, colourful and funky toothbrushes.
• Kids take tooth brushing as a compulsion and are always forced to do it by their guardians.
• Children find their toothbrushes boring and prefer their favorite cartoon characters on their tooth brushes.
• Favourite cartoons are Tom & Jerry and Barbie.
• Majority of the mothers prefer Oral-B and Colgate.
• Majority of the mothers prefer imported brands of toothbrush over SHIELD, some of them do not know that SHIELD also has tooth brushes for Kids.
• Quality is the most important factor in purchasing a toothbrush.
• Dentists recommendation influence a lot when it comes to purchasing tooth brushes for kids.
• Parents are ready to buy a good quality tooth brush at any price.
• Kids spend less than 3 minutes while brushing their teeth
• Candies are consumed a lot by the kids.
• Majority of the kids eat sweets 1-2 times a day.
• Kids’ tooth brushes are replaced within 3-4 months.

3. Who is our Target Audience?

PRIMARY TARGET AUDIENCE:

• AGE: KIDS aged between 5-10 years
• SEC: We will target both the sections of the society that is both financially strong as well as strong sections of the society.
• ATTITUDES: Have social interaction with peers of the same age group. They are not concerned about brushing their teeth and are quite careless. They love to eat lots of sweets and chocolates.
• LIFESTYLE: Kids that go to school, and are in the process of continuous learning.
• INFLUENCERS: Encouragement from parents, caregivers, teachers, adults, brothers, sisters and children themselves has a great influence on oral health. If everyone starts to encourage kids to take care of their teeth and also encourage big white smiles, children of all ages will benefit.
• SECONDARY TARGET AUDIENCE: Parents of the KIDS

4. What do they think & do now?

KIDS have comparatively less knowledge on how to keep their teeth neat and clean. Some of the children take tooth brushing as a very boring exercise and also create problems for their parents. Kids get attracted towards cartoon oriented tooth brushes. The bristles of toothbrushes do not clean the plaque properly.

5. What would we like them to think and do in response to the Communication?

• We would like them to think of tooth brushing as a fun experience, an experience full of adventure. In response to this, we want them to start tooth brushing twice a day for 3 minutes.
• We want KIDS to be the chooser of GIGGLES.
• We want parents to realize the importance of kid’s brushing their teeth at an early age.

6. What is the single most important point to communicate?

“Tooth brushing is not a compulsion, it’s an adventure”.

7. Why should they believe it?

Because SHIELD is the first one to communicate about only of KIDS toothbrush in India. SHIELD will be the first one to introduce colorful cartoon oriented toothbrushes for kids in Jammu and Kashmir.

CREATIVE PLAN

• Our launch of SHIELD tooth brush with the cartoon character design will make the brushes appealing, colorful and more exciting for the kids.
• Kids will happily enjoy the brushing experience and will be encouraged to do it themselves without being forced by their parents.
• The soft and effective bristles of the new SHIELD Tooth brush will help children brush their teeth smoothly and they would not complain about the bristles being too hard or their teeth hurting.
• To communicate that SHIELD adventure of brushing will wave off the boring image of tooth brushing from the minds of the kids.
• To communicate that Kid should brush their teeth for 3 minutes and it is an effective way to keep their teeth healthy and clean.
• To communicate those Kids should take care of their teeth by keeping an eye on the intake of their food and cut down on candies, chocolates etc.
• To communicate that SHIELD’S range of toothbrushes include tooth brushes for kids as well.

CAMPAIGN IDEA 1

MESSAGE: Widen your imagination and make tooth brushing an activity full of excitement, fun and adventure that takes the kids into a fantasy world full of Disney characters dancing, playing and enjoying.

• TAGLINE: It’s not a compulsion, it’s an Adventure…….!!!
• APPEAL: Music appeal (Rhyme)
• JINGLE : Brush your teeth,
• Give your teeth a treat.
• Brush up and down and all around,
• To keep them clean and neat!

We have decided to make certain ads so as to make a positive mind set in the minds of to costumers; the ad would be like this………..

TV ad

A girl is sleeping at night and sees a nightmare that one of her tooth is broken and she gets hurt by using her old hard tooth brush…suddenly she sees that a new tooth brush (SHIELD comes in) and kicks the old tooth brush that caused the little girl pain, and tells her that SHIELD is her new gentle best friend and won’t hurt her while brushing & “Creating a cartoon world, where all the cartoon characters are brushing their teeth and enjoying with SHIELD”.

MESSAGE: WATCH YOUR MOUTH

The toughest part of the body is not your bones but your teeth. Each tooth is covered with a substance called enamel which is so strong that it can cut or crush the toughest kinds of food. There is a price to pay for this toughness: unlike bones, teeth cannot repair themselves and it pays to take care of them. Keep track of what you are eating.

PRINT Ad

MESSAGE: When feeding is done at naptime: The child falls asleep and the liquid becomes pooled around the teeth. This liquid provides excellent medium for the bacteria to grow and cause CARIES which is defined as Tooth Decay causing cavity through bacteria.

COMMUNICATION STRATEGY & MEDIA SELECTION RATIONALE COMMUNICATION STRATEGY Trigger the target to talk about the Brand, create maximum exposure and create buzz around the new innovation. Awake the target, build high awareness, change consumer’s Perception. Captivate the target to make a purchase, engage, interact with the consumers and strengthen associations. Prompt/induce the target and get the product in consumer’s hands. Buzz or street marketing TV, Print activities, Brand Activation, Interactive website Point-of-sale activities, Sales promotion

TRIGGER

• To create BUZZ and to generate talkability, we will place an Out-of-home hoarding at SRINAGAR. The hoarding would consist of a giant sized toothbrush with the cartoon character Jerry and the brand name GIGGLES on it.
• Another way to gain maximum exposure and create buzz around the new innovation will be to use a MOBILE BUS, decorating it with bright bulb lights, and a picture of Giggles toothbrush along with some of the favorite cartoon icons of children. The mobile bus will roam near parks in the evening.

PRINT:

In Print we will go for Hindustan Times, Times of India and Greater Kashmir(local news paper of Kashmir) ,with articles highlighting important facts and information such as Good oral health is important to your overall well-being.

Healthy teeth not only enable you to look & feel good, they make it possible to eat & speak properly. Steps that should be taken to prevent dental problems and how to keep your smile healthy and bright.

What you eat……affects your teeth. Proper tooth brushing techniques.

We also decided to carry on some other activities like

In welcoming the school holiday and the start of new school activities, we will launch a colorful package of Shield toothbrush along with a small tube of toothpaste for milk teeth with famous characters of TOM & JERRY, BARBIE etc.

CELEBRATING NATIONAL SMILE MONTH OR ORAL HEALTH WEEK: Following are the activities:

• Dental Expert Talk Oral health educators and dental professionals who want to help the community and for schools, colleges or workplaces who want to educate their pupil or staff. Both children and adults can learn something from an expert talk and different subjects can arise ranging from the importance of fluoride in toothpaste to the systemic links between the health of the mouth and body.
• Class Visit to the Dentist seeing the dental practice up close and meeting friendly staff can help encourage regular dental visits. Local newspapers will be happy to take a photograph of the event that can benefit both school and dentists.
• Creating characters and playing a small skit in schools. Characters such as Mickey mouse the tooth brush, exhibiting decayed tooth and a neat and clean tooth that uses SHIELD TOOTHBRUSH.
• Apartment activities- dental hygiene.

FUN BASED ACTIVITIES IN PROMOTING OUR PRODUCT

• Organizing Special Fun days , an ideal way to grab the attention and interest of children as well as general public and can work well in schools, dental practices, retail outlets, colleges and the community. A fun day can be a great way to create a buzz in your local area as well as to engage your target audience. People are far more likely to learn when they are having fun, – so make sure you also hand out information.
• Writing stories on THE TOOTH FAIRY would be held in various schools, and distributing prizes to winners.
• Distribute ice creams among children, and the ice cream stick should be shaped like a toothbrush having the brand name SHIELD on it.
• Tooth brush drawing competition among children in different schools.
• Take a close-up of each student’s mouth (smile). Have each student cut out their mouth from the picture and glue it onto a cutout of a tooth. Have them write a sentence under their smile and on the tooth that describes something they do to keep their teeth healthy. (I brush my teeth after every meal. I drink milk. I use SHIELD. I eat a healthy diet…) After these are completed staple them to a Bulletin Board entitled; LOOK WHO IS SMILING!!!

PROMPT:

• Consumers Perceive the Brand through these 5 senses…
• Sight, Touch, Sound, Smell and Taste.
• Marketers can use Sight and Sound for GIGGLES.
• Logos
• Contrast
• Style
• Size
• Cartoon characters
• Slogan
• Music
• Bright and happy color combinations can be used to give a certain brand recognition in the minds of the customer.
• Instead of holding a toothbrush, make the whole thing a Cartoon character to make
• SHIELD recognizable in the market.
• A unique rhyme in the ad (mentioned above) with a different tune which whenever.
• These senses will always help in breaking through the clutter and make SHIELD prominent amongst the different competitor products.
• This SENSORY BRANDING will stimulate the person to buy the product.

POINT- OF -SALE (HIGH PRODUCT VISIBILITY):

• Audio Visual Display: A display in which audiovisual technology is used to stimulate purchases
• Big visual display of SHIELD TOOTHBRUSH
• Special racks, banners, signs
• Distribution of pamphlets, posters, puzzles, and stories to dentists
• Retail boards

SALES PROMOTION:

• Placement of drawings of SHIELD TOOTHBRUSH in newspapers ( kids section), requesting them to color the drawing and send it to the company to get a FREE SHIELD tooth brush. ( for trial generation)
• Free SHIELD tooth brush with SHIELD TOOTHPASTE.
• Sampling: Organize samplings to pharmacies and dentists to generate trial.
• Coupons for discounted dental check up for 6 months on purchasing SHIELD TOOTH BRUSH. Coupons for getting free bags, lunch boxes, water bottles for schools (Specialty advertising)

EVALUTION OF IMC PLAN IN LEGAL &REGULATRY BUSINESS:

The advertisement that we are giving in the media is legal which means that it has been approved by the law. All the documents that are required are legally approved. There are no fault chances in the documents. In future there will be no problem to the customer regarding any documented work or any servicing criteria, no problem will arise. This is a step taken for the customer satisfaction, for attracting more customers and this also help in sales area.

The advertisement of my product is according to the standards of ASCI (Advertising standards if council of India) the advertisement of my product is within the legal boundaries of

• Indian Penal Code1860
• The young Person act 1956
• Indian copyright Act 1957
• Trade mark act 1999
• Advertisement of my product is truthful and honest. All objective information, claims and comparisons should be capable of substantiation.
• I the advertisement there is no reference to a person, firm and institution.
• We have not misled consumers by implication, omission, and ambiguity.
• We are not abusing the trust of consumers or exploit their lack of experience or knowledge.

DEVELOPED AN IMC PLAN FOR SOCIAL AND ETHICAL VALUE:

There is no objection against any advertisement of our product. There is no problem against our product. Our product is socially accepted which means our product is a social product that will be accepted by the society very easily for sure. There is no negative impact on the customer or people living in the society of our product as it is legal product. Customers are easily attracted towards the product

The advertisement of my Tooth brush is according to the codes of ASCI as it is not derides any race, caste, color, creed or nationality. I am sensitive towards ethnic and cultural issues.

BIBLOGRAPHY:

• http://www.multimediamarketing.com/mkc/marketingcommunications/
• http://responsiblemarketing.com/blog/tag/imc
• http://www.slideshare.net/nyssar/shield-imc
• http://www.scribd.com/doc/13395424/lovely-ads-real-Funny
• http://www.scribd.com
• http://www.slideshare.com

Books:

• Advertising & Promotions(kruti shah,alan d’souza)