MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS

1. Market—who is the target market?  Define clearly—demographic, geographic, lifestyle  Different niches adapted from What is Marketing? HBS press KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARCOM ADAPTED FROM WHAT IS MARKETING?

2.Mission—what is the purpose?  Awareness  Features  Prestige/Coolness/etc.  Other?

3. Message—what benefits are you communicating?  Tell a compelling story (for target market)  Utilize peer network  Differentiate from competitors

4. Media—which media will you use?  Consider the budget  Figure out what is newsworthy  Utilize the media target market consumes adapted from What is Marketing? HBS press KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARCOM

5. Money/Budget  How can you get the most for your dollar?  How much money is available?  How will you justify the expenditure? adapted from What is Marketing? HBS press KEY CONSIDERATIONS FOR MARCOM

6. Measurement  What is required in your business environment?  How will you measure your success?

 Initiator — recognizes the problem to be solved  Decider — makes the choice  Influencer — has input although doesn’t make final choice  Purchaser — actually does the transaction/buys  User — consumers of the product or service  Gatekeeper — applies to B-B marketing allows or prevents access to decision maker DECISION MAKING UNIT

 Press Releases (see samples on Course Page)  Websites  Social Media  Direct Marketing & Mailings  Cold Calls  Media Tours and/or Trials  Collateral Materials  Special Events—trade shows, conferences PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS

 Speaking Engagements  Sponsorships  Employee Relationships  Investor Relations  Government Relations  Community Relations & Philanthropy PUBLIC RELATIONS TOOLS

 Tell a story  Problem solve  Generate an emotional response—DRAMATIZE! Febreze makes stinky stuff smell better! Hot Mess Feel Better Forbes on "Breathe Happy" Febreze campaign 18.2% increase in sales in 10 weeks! (P&G brand) www. forbes.com by Jerry McLaughlin (7/11/12) ADVERTISING

 Sales Promotions  Premium prices  Buy one, get one free  Coupons  Rewards/loyalty cards  Product demonstrations Which of these did Zhu Zhu pets campaign include? Orabrush? Via?

 Kickstarter Aquaponics Kickstarter  Indiegogo Indiegogo NOTE: must have a network and contacts to be successful on Kickstarter or other crowdsource funding sites FUNDING + PR from these resources! CROWDSOURCED FUNDING

The Third Screen 1. TV 2. Computers 3. Mobile Phones MOBILE MARKETING

Definition: a public relations announcement issued to the news media and other online or targeted publications to let people know about new products or services and/or company developments. It’s FREE PUBLICITY PRESS RELEASE

 News story can be almost a recommendation (a positive one)  Multiple stories from one press release  Real prospects can result (maybe more than from ads)! BENEFITS FROM PRESS RELEASES

“Release 6.0 doubles the level of functionality available, providing organizations of all sizes with a fast-to-deploy, highly robust and easy-to-use solution to better acquire, retain and serve customers.” PROBLEMS: sounds like an ad not newsworthy says little (non-specific) EXAMPLE OF WHAT NOT TO WRITE IN PRESS RELEASE

 Must be newsworthy  Should sound like a reporter wrote it  who, what, where, when, how, why  Include good quotes  Internal sources (CEO)  External sources (3 rd party)  Make personal contact with news outlets  Have an up-to-date list of outlets (relevant to product/service) SEE COURSE PAGE for examples of press releases ESSENTIALS OF PRESS RELEASES