MARKETING COMMUNICATION - PROMOTIONS, AD AND MANY THINGS TOGETHER

THE WAY YOU COMMUNICATE THE VALUE TO A CUSTOMER CAN BUILD YOU

(CAN ALSO BREAK YOU)

Today where there is stiff bottleneck competition, jus developing a good product, pricing it attractively and making it accessible is not enough. The technological advancements has ensured that today doing these aren’t tough, everyone can imitate you and make something better. But what makes one different from its competitors is the method of communicating the product value to the customer.

Modern marketers concentrate on not just on element of marketing and promotions, but come up with plans with involve an extensive use of all the available elements of the marketing communication mix.

 Before they start working on the communication campaigns, marketers establish at what stage of communication process, the customers are in. They try to determine whether the consumer is totally unaware of the product, or have knowledge but not buying it.  They have shown interest but no sales happened. Also, they try to examine their behavior during purchase.

This response hierarchy model will help us understand better as to what stage comprises of what:

For every marketer it is very important to determine at which stage his consumers are at, and then he would plan that particular strategy suitable for that stage.

DEFINING THE MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX

HOW DOES CORNETTO COMMUNICATE?

The marketers of  Cornetto usually use the following mediums to communicate the value to their customers:

1.    Advertising: Cornetto invests huge amounts on advertising campaigns through TV commercial and print media. The reason they take up TVC’s and newspapers, as their main medium of communication is mass reach. They have been running campaigns appealing to the emotional side of the consumer. With the competitors bombing into the market, Kwality Wall’s established Cornetto as the “connector of hearts”. Soon, TVC’s, print ads and hoarding were put up, with tag line – “Ho Jaye Dil Ka Connection”.

2.    Events and Experiences: Marketers of Cornetto often come up with creative ideas to provide a first hand experience with the company and also interact with their customers. They are known to sponsor music festivals or music nights at popular clubs in cities. They come up events, games and competitions in schools, colleges and shopping malls. Their main agenda is to bring people close to each other.

3.    Public Relations and Publicity: The marketers make sure the consumers feel connected to the company and thus make sure that right message has reached the consumer. Usually, PR team is responsible for the events and experience.  

4.    Interactive Marketing: With the rise of social media websites and internet, it is very easy for any consumer to reach the company and for any company to connect with the consumer. Cornetto today uses Facebook and Twitter to reach out their customers. They have dedicated pages, where the consumers can post their photos and experiences with their loved ones while having Cornetto. The team is quick to reply and comment on the posts, which makes consumers happy and appreciated.

But, Sometimes One Word can Spoil the Image of the Product:

Few years back, the marketers came up with this tagline " Pleasure Up" which looked like this –

                       

                                                 

Many people who saw the ad commented at first they mistook it for a condom ad. While they were trying to establish it as a family brand, this seemed to go to far for a consumer. Soon, this ad, was changed and old ad campaigns were resumed. 

The Recent AD Campaigns

The recent campaigns have been given a fresh look while keeping the basic frame and their value same. They signed in on Yami Gautam and SIddharth Malhotra, who are new young actors in Bollywood and quite popular. The fresh pair and their small fights to have ice cream bites, have a lot of hearts, be it kids, adults or men and women. They appreciated the small details - small places like (parks, beaches) where you would go out with your friends often has been payed utmost attention making it real and something at which they can look at and say, “I have been there, last Sunday I had ice cream there. Infact it was a Cornetto itself.”

“WHERE WILL I FIND MY CORNETTO?”

Distribution channel plays a very important role in any marketing mix, as this is what determines how the product will reach the product for who the product was designed. There are many factors that determine the channel through product will be sold. If the products are perishable goods, then they are sold through smaller chains and easy shops or maybe delivered by the company itself from the point of production.

 In case of Cornetto, this being an ice cream that melts in warm weather, and India being tropical region requires cold storage facility investment.

Kwality Wall’s Cornetto are not only sold through retail outlets but also small Paan shops, Kinara stores (small local grocery stores) who keep small cold storage facility or refrigerators to keep items cold. At times, the Kwality Wall’s itself invests in the retailer’s shop to buy a refrigerator to keep ice creams, thus giving them an edge over other Ice cream manufacturers.

Also, the most profitable channel is the small cart puller with a freezer storage, which we usually see outside schools and colleges. They are the most effective as they reach faster the kids and can be easily helpful in attracting the potential customer.

Think of a day, when you are waiting for the bus stop for the bus to come. And that Ice cream wala comes ringing the bell. It makes you want to stop him and order something. And, many people do that.

Hence, we can say that channels should not restrict us, but rather be flexible enough to reach the customer than wait for the customers to come to them.

THE MONETORY WORTH OF KWALITY WALL’S CORNETTO

“What should be the price of my product?” is a question every manufacturer, research and development team and marketer asks each other. They all want to come to a price that will not only be too low nor too high. (Please see we are talking general FMCG goods, and not premium brands like Pringles but something like Lay’s). At the same time, the price should be such that it provides profit as well as a competitive advantage.

There are several pricing strategies companies use, like:

1.       Survival – prices are low, covering only the variable cost and the fixed costs.

2.    Maximum current profit – a price that would give companies maximum profit in the current situation.

3.    Maximum market share – prices are kept low to ensure high penetration in the market.

4.    Maximum market skimming – prices are kept high, so as to attract only select customer.

5.    Product quality leadership – prices are too high and are meant for only a section of society where brand and class is important.

6.    Other objectives – A NGO or government college looking only for partial recovery.

What pricing strategy does Cornetto use?

Cornetto uses a maximum market share pricing strategy. All the flavours under Cornetto are priced between Rs20 to Rs.45 with a weight of 45ml-125ml. The cheapest one priced at Rs. 20 is a simple chocolate flavored cone. And, as the flavors improve form exotic to two flavors in one cone, the price rises and so does the weight.

Because of this strategy, it is affordable by large masses than just select few. They thus, have become a popular choice among the kids at school or college. They are just pocket friendly.

MY PRODUCT –

KWALITY WALL’S CORNETTO

Product is the first and most important element of the marketing mix. Product strategy calls for making coordinated decisions on product mixes, product lines, brands and packaging and labeling.

In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to think through the 5 levels of the product, namely:

Now, let’s understand how does Cornetto provide the consumers these benefits

CUSTOMER-VALUE HIERARCHY – PRODUCT LEVELS

1. When the customer buys Cornetto, he is buying a cold dessert, initially to leave a cold taste in the mouth. (Core Benefit)

2. The consumer who will buy Cornetto will now convert core benefits to basic products like it will be served chilled and will not have a soggy cone.

3. At this level, the marketers try to come up with what consumer expects from the product, like the flavors will be tasty and rich.

4. At this level the marketer establishes the Cornetto as a product that gives more than the product, bringing in the brand and the value it will hold for the consumers. (augmented product)

5. Finally at this level, Cornetto is transformed into something it was not augmented and come up with the potential product, like the smaller pack at lower price for school and college children as their pocket money is low.

Now, let us try to put the Kwality Wall’s Cornetto (a part of HUL) in the product mix and see where it fits.

PARTICULAR	DESCRIPTION
Need Family	Beating the heat, hunger
Product Family	Food
Product Class	Dessert
Product Line	Ice Cream
Product Type	Frozen cone
Item	Cornetto itself
Width of the Product Mix	The stick ice cream, fruit based ice cream, dry fuits based ice creams, home pack sundaes
Length of the Mix	4 items
Depth of the Mix	Cornetto double chocolate, Butterscotch, Coffee, chocolate, pistachio
Consistency	Travel through closely related channels as other products