Designing and Managing Integrated Marketing Communications

The purpose of the communications activities is to:

Creating awareness of the brand.

Positioning a brand image in consumers memory.

Driving positive brand judgments

Implanting brand good feelings

Building a strong consumerbrand connection

For solar car the communications activities will be as follows:

Advertising: (TV & broadcast ads, Brochures, booklets, Posters & Logos)

Sales promotion: as a the solar car is a new product sales promotions will
not be applied

Events and experiences: as in the automotive market test drives will be

allowed

Public relations :
Speeches for those who need to have open discussion of the product
Company magazine: weekly or monthly including last updates for the
product & news for plans of improvement.
Seminars introducing ideas & plans ..
Community relations : sponsorship for events with high publicity attention
 Digital Marketing:

A digital monthly newsletter & Catalogs will be available for the customers
& audience containing last updates for the product & news for plans of
improvement via E-Mailing & Fax Mailing.

Websites, Blogs & Chat rooms: a proper website will be available

containing all required info about the product. blogs & chat rooms will be
used for direct communication among brand members & the audience.

Telemarking: will be used for informing the potential customers of the future
offers & places to experience the solar car test drive.

Person to person: street campaigns will be held to introduce the solar car.

Developing Effective Communications

 1. Identify the Target Audience

Type of
Primary Target Segment
Segmentation

Nations: Egypt
Geographic
Governorates: Great Cairo
Urban/ Rural: Urban

Age: 25-45 years: 37.47% (male 18,020,332/female 17,448,871)

Social Status: Single , Married , Married with kids , Widowed , Divorced

Demographic
Gender: Males & Females

Income: Mid Earners (5,000 EGP ~ 15,000 EGP)

Loyalty Status: Shifting loyals & Switchers

Attitude: Ambitious, enthusiastic & Positive

User status: Nonusers, Potential users, First-time users

Behavioral
Buyer-Readiness: willing to buy & willing to replace their cars

Decision Roles: Decider, Buyer & User

High Resources and High Motivation: Innovators, Thinkers, Achievers &

Psychographic
Experiencers
Key segmentation elements for setting communication strategy:

What to say Where to say To whom to say it

Tv, Radio
Social media
Loyalty Status: Shifting loyals & Switchers
Outdoor billboards
Newspappers & Magazines

Tv, Radio
Social media User status: Nonusers, Potential users, First-time
Outdoor billboards users
Newspappers & Magazines
 2. Determine the Communications Objectives
Communication objectives will be determined using the AIDA model as follows:
AIDA Model Stages
Awareness:
Build awareness to motivate
target customers to take action
and purchase solar car
Interest:
Create interest toward the solar
car by informing target
customers about benefits
perceptions
Desire:
Create desire; move from
liking to wanting Stimulate trial through test drives to create desirability and
Action:
Take action toward purchasing
as a result of awareness,
interest & desire stages
Typical Campaign Objectives
Develop brand awareness and recognition
Increase traffic to physical or virtual stores, social media
and other channels
Remind customers about solar car benefits
Differentiate a product, stressing points of difference
(PODs) to differentiate solar car from other competitors
products
Provide more information about the solar car because
information may be correlated with greater likelihood of
purchase
Increase demand for solar car and generate enough
interest
Build brand equity by increasing customer perceptions of
quality, desirability, and other solar cars benefits
create demand among the target customers
Change or influence customer beliefs and attitudes
about a solar car creating an emotional connection
Reduce purchase risk to make prospective customers feel
more comfortable buying the solar car
Increase sales and/or market share, with the goal of
broadening reach within a time period, product category,
or segment
3. Design the Communications
Message Strategy (What to say)
Message strategy will vary according to the communication objective as follows:
Awareness objective: cognitive message strategy
Cognitive message strategy will be used to raise the customers awareness towards
the solar cars potential benefits such as the fuel consumption cost saving and will
be used during the awareness stage of the AIDA model

Interest, Desire & Action objectives: Affective message strategy
Affective message strategies fall into two categories: (1) resonance (2) emotional
Resonance advertising will be used to connect the solar cars potential benefit
(fuel consumption cost saving) with the customers past experience with the high
fuel costs associated with the ordinary vehicles and this message strategy will be
used during the interest, desire and action stages of the AIDA model

Creative Strategy (How to say)

o Informational appeals
Problem solution ads: will show how the solar car will help customers to
overcome the fuel consumption high costs problem
Product comparison ads: will compare solar car benefits with the ordinary
automobiles negatives and demonstrate the solar car PODs
Testimonials: highlighting the availability of pre-sale test drives
o Transformational appeals
Positive appeals: will be used to demonstrate the core benefit of the solar car
Save Dollar, Go Solar
Negative appeals: will be used to demonstrate the negatives of the ordinary
automobiles Relieves FUEL Pains, Sun Driven
Message source (Who to say)
Relevant celebrity will be selected: Ahmed El-Sakka, Ahmed Helmy & Amr
Mac-giver
o Expertise: well known for their experience in the automotive field during their
acting careers
o Trustworthiness: well trusted celebrities
o Likeability: popular celebrities with good reputation
 4. Select Communication Channels

a) PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS:

Social channels:
Word-of-Mouth Marketing: will rely on good word of mouth among the target
segment to create demand and convince more customers to purchase the newly
introduced solar car
Advocated & Expert channels: Not applicable during the introduction stage of the
product life cycle and will be activated during the decline stage

b) NONPERSONAL (MASS) COMMUNICATIONS CHANNELS:

According to the PLC stage, various mass communication channels will be heavily
used to raise solar car awareness among the target audiences
Media: the following means of communications will be utilized
Broadcast: can be utilized to reach the larger sector of our target
audiences, also TV & Radio commercials can have huge impact on the
target audiences and can have a good dramatic effect, our brand
ambassador will be selected and our commercials will be aired in a
premium time
Print media: well-known newspapers & magazines will be targeted to
dispatch solar car printed commercials as El Masry El Youm, El Youm
El Sabea & El Ahram automotive
Display media: can be used to reach target audience when they are out
of reach by other communication channels via outdoor billboards in the
Primmum locations in the target geographic zone
Online advertisement: as our target audiences are largely exists on the
internet and its increasing rapidly online advertisements will be used,
also will be heavily used as the online advertisements are the less costly
means of advertising
Sales promotions: not applicable during the introduction stage of the PLC
Events and experiences: solar car company will be a very bright icon at the car
events and solar energy events, sponsorship also for el Zamalek sports club
and the football national team, the company also will target athletics and
Olympic Games players such as Gymnastics, Swimming, Handball, Car
races& events
Public relations: by providing information to media through press conferences
and also through organizing media events

5. Establish the Total Marketing Communications Budget:

According to the solar car company vision, the objective-and-task method will be the
proper way for determine the total marketing communications budget. , as we will work on the
following.
 a) Establish the market share goal:
According to (CAPMAS) Central Agency for Public Mobilization and
Statistics that the number of licensed vehicles by the end of 2016 reached
9.4M vehicles. ( 3.2M at urban , 3.1M at sea side Governorates, 2.8M at
upper Egypt , 247k at boarder Governorates )

b) Determine the percentage of the market that should be reached by

advertising: After the marketing plan were hopefully expecting to have
30% as market share from vehicles owners category, plus we expecting
attraction of non-vehicles owners to buy the solar car with 20% from this
category.

c) Determine the percentage of aware prospects that should be persuaded

to try the brand:
We will be so pleased if 25% of the vehicles owners category could try it,
this will create the market goal which is the loyal user

d) Determine the number of advertising impressions per 1 percent trial

rate:
We are expecting that every 1% of the population will be increased, will
automatically increase the customer trail rate.

e) Determine the number of gross rating points that would have to be

purchased:

f) Determine the necessary advertising budget on the basis of the average

cost of buying a gross rating point:

6. Deciding on the Marketing Communications Mix

Advertising
a) Pervasiveness: it will be guaranteed as were going to use a multiple communications
tools at different channels (billboards, radio ,T.V ,car events )
b) Amplified expressiveness: the Ad Quality is one of the man factors to express the
product (the creative Ads. the sound quality, and colors), all the small details will be
considered to express the product in a very good image.
c) Control: The Ads timing, duration, occasions, billboards places will be considered
with arrangement with the Advertising agency.
Sales Promotion
a) Ability to be attention-getting: using the wholesalers, retailer database to send SMS
to the customer guiding them to the nearest test drive place and time , well trained
sales persons will be available at the tire exchange shops distributing a free gifts and
coupons , ex: this coupon will be in attractive design
b) Incentive: the coupon will be valuable to the customer as its giving a voucher at the
service he is doing at the place he got the coupon from, discount.
c) Invitation: this coupon will be linked with date for the test drive, or a visit to a big car
showroom. With a clear message that its free of charge.

PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICITY

a) High credibility: car expertise will be asked to publish a reportage about the solar car
at the specialized newspapers, and the good reputation ones.
b) Ability to reach hard-to-find buyers: this kind of customers will be targeted by the (word
of mouth), the customers will invite a new customers for a test drive or a full
presentation for the car specs. and the value , ( the old customer will get 20%
discount at the first 5 times he visit the service center for that simple task )
c) Dramatization: the idea and the need to the solar car will be explained in an attractive
story to be considered as the brand history, and explain that the need, and only the
need which generated the innovation.

EVENTS AND EXPERIENCES

a) Relevant: Car events and rally championship will guarantee that
b) Engaging:
c) Implicit: the solar car company will provide a training program for the engineering
facultys students who are interested at the solar field, and will be the sponsor for
their companions with other countries.

DIRECT AND INTERACTIVE MARKETING

a) Customized:
b) Up-to-date:
c) Interactive:

WORD-OF-MOUTH MARKETING
a) Influential:
b) Personal:
c) Timely:
d)
PERSONAL SELLING
a) Personal interaction:
b) Cultivation:
c) Response:
7.Measuring Communication Results
8.Managing the Integrated Marketing Communications Process