1.0 Situational/Context Analysis
Pampers is the biggest brand of Procter & Gamble Company. The company provides consumers with packaged goods in different areas such as household care, grooming and beauty, well-being and health. P & G sells its products in approximately 180 countries with the aim of providing high quality products to improve the lives of consumers (Procter & Gamble, 2017). The company faces competition from local, regional, and global competitors. The stiff competition it faces is mainly based on brand strength and price. To ensure that it remains highly competitive, it is focusing on innovating services and products using recent technology, marketing programs, advertising, and effective sales (Gamble, 2017). The company provides consumers with sustainable commodities, improves environmental operations, engages employee, develops social programs, and ensures that stakeholders shape the future of the company.
Pampers which is a P & G brand is popular around the world for producing quality baby products. In the recent past, Pampers has expanded the range of products it offers to target pregnant women and the elderly. Consumers of pampers products are satisfied and happy because babies are kept clean, dry, comfortable and safe while sleeping and playing. The company targets preschoolers and infants (Pampers, 2017). The company offers high quality, sensitive, dry and soft diapers that are highly preferred by women around the world.
Pampers provides consumers with five types of diapers that come in nine sizes. It also offers training pants, diapers wipes (natural clean, Kandoo Toilet wipes, natural clean, and sensitive), and swim pants. Other products include: pampers Baby Dry, Pampers Splashers, Pampers Cruisers, and Pampers Swaddlers among others. Pampers also makes it products look fashionable and appealing especially to parents who feel that their babies should have a sense of style (Pampers, 2017).
1.1 SWOT ANALYSIS
1.1.1 Strengths
Pampers was founded several decades ago and it is a brand that is well known for its products. It leads in the disposable diaper industry. The brand also has a strong distribution network because it is associated with P & G. Pampers sells its products in twenty different markets and has the largest market share among its competitors (Gamble, 2017). It is also the highest selling diaper brand in the United States.
1.1.2 Weaknesses
Even though the brand is quite popular, it products are costly thus customers tend to opt cheaper options. It also faces stiff competition from other well established brands such as Huggies (Brown, 2011).
1.1.3 Opportunities
The company can take advantage of innovations and comes up with new products to maintain customer’s involvement. Pampers also has innovative methods of interacting and connecting with mothers (Doherty & Lu, 2012).
1.1.4 Threats
Some of the threats that pampers faces include; availability of easy substitutes, price wars with competitors, and sensitivity of diapers since slight changes may harm the brand (Kumar et al., 2014).
1.2 Porter’s Five Forces
Suppliers have a medium bargaining power. This means that they do not have a wide range of options to produce raw materials their own way. There are few large scale manufacturing suppliers with complex machines. Switching costs are also high because machines need to be finely tuned. On the other hand, there are high threats from other companies offering similar products (Kanter, 2011). There are several substitutes which are equally good. Customers may opt for cheaper options because pampers products are slightly more expensive than those of competitors. There are low threats of new entrants because pampers brand is already well established and popular in most regions. Procter and Gamble spends a lot of money on advertisements meaning that new entrants may be required to spend more on the same (Pampers, 2017). It is also quite challenging to get shelves to display products which may not go well with a starting company. There are also huge set up costs because machines needed are expensive.
Additionally, consumers have a high bargaining power. A slight change in either the commodity being offered or price changes could significantly affect the business. Customers are sensitive to prices. Since there are a several substitutes, they may opt for other brands. Pampers has to always offer promotions such as coupons to remain competitive (Payaud, 2014).There are also few difference in products meaning that a customer may not see something very significant that might hinder him/her to buying another product.
Some of the trending issues in pampers include stiff competition from other well established diaper brands, diapers with Smartphone applications and diapers that track a baby’s health (Elthon, 2014). Kimberly-Clark Corp developed a Smartphone application that notifies parents when the diaper become wet (Schuman, 2016). This technology will attract more customers and increase sales. Pixie Scientific LLC also developed that notifies parents when a baby catches a disease. The diaper is expected to be expensive due to the technology used (Paton, 2014).
2.0 Key Challenges
2.1 Internal Challenges
Pampers should carry out adequate research to ensure that the price of their products are lower than the current prices. Groznika & Trkman (2012) notes that through development and research the company producing the products can achieve short-term impacts. At the moment, the company offers products that are relatively more expensive than their competitors. This shows that there are research and development challenges that hinders it from producing cheaper diapers and wipes. The company’s researchers can identify new designs and cheaper options of production. Through regular developments the brand can create unique features that will allow its products to compete favorably with competitors.
Marketing awareness challenges are also faced by the brand. This shows that that brand needs to work on distribution and retail. Pampers should become more vigorous in increasing market awareness to reach new markets. This can be done by targeting retailers. Du, Bhattacharya and Sen (2010) posit that retailers reach new consumers easily, they can also advise consumers on the best options, as well as market for the company. Pampers at the moment does not have sustainable strategies of providing large discounts to retailers. This, therefore, means that retailers opt for cheaper options and products that offer bulk discounts.
2.2 External Challenges
Pampers engages in limited recreation programs and family activities between babies and mothers. This means that the company faces problems in awareness and familiarity. Through sponsoring babies-mothers activities and programs consumers from different regions people can become more aware of their products and benefits. The fact that such programs are not much evident shows how other diaper brands take a market share. Using this strategy may enable the company to build a culture between itself and mothers (Parente, D. and Strausbaugh, 2014).
Pampers does not carry out sufficient blended marketing and periodic promotions. This means that it does not make use of advertising media or other internet technologies to provide period promotions. Their products have remained more expensive than most of their competitors thus leading to reduction of market share since some consumers may opt for cheap options. Reducing the price of their products and giving out more discounts can increase awareness of consumers. Due to insufficient awareness, some consumers may not understand the unique features of pampers (Lanford, 2010).
3.0 Communication Objectives
3.1 To increase pampers awareness by 30% by December 2017.
Homburg, Klarmann & Schmitt (2010) states that creating product awareness enables a company to enjoy increased sales, earn huge profits, reach new markets, and maintain customer loyalty. To achieve increased brand awareness, the company can increase its online presence through carrying out increased advertisements on social media. This will enable the brand to gain more followers. Huang & Sarigöllü (2014) notes that interaction between customers and the company on social media should be increased by frequently posting new products, videos, and responding to consumers’ concerns.
3.2 To increase engagement in recreational programs and family activities by 20% before December 2017.
The brand’s management should locate which type of activities and programs it can introduce to ensure that consumers are actively involved. Examples of activities that company can get involved with include; family fun day and women’s seminars on how to take care of babies. Involving consumers in such activities will increase brand awareness (Carroll, & Shabana, 2010). Consumers will also understand the unique features of pampers through close contact with the company.
3.3 To increase research activities by increasing the amount allocated to the department by 25% before December 2017.
Increased investment in research and development means that the company will increase the number of researchers as well as research activities. Hair (2015) states that through carrying out vigorous research, the company will identify new products, market gaps and the most effective communication strategy that reach out to more consumers around the world.
3.4 To increase blending marketing and periodic promotions by 30% before December 2017.
Through this strategy, pampers will be able to reach out to more consumers. Customers will be attracted to Pamper products. They will also be interested to understand the features of the products offered. This type of promotion will also help consumers to understand the unique features of pampers. The company may also get feedback from consumers through such promotions thus helping them to understand how they feel about the products and the type of adjustments that can be made (Lowe, 2010).
4.0 Communications Strategy: Target Segments and Positioning
4.1 Segmentation
Targeting consumers from different geographical segments can be increased by availing products to retailers in small towns, counties, and shops. Reaching out to retailers in such regions creates more awareness of products thus increasing popularity (Fraser, 2013). Some of the targeted counties especially those in the interior of the country may not be extensively exploited by competitors thus giving the brand a good opportunity. The brand can also make adjustments that enable it to reach low class and middle class consumers (Gbadamosi, Bathgate, and Nwankwo 2013). They should make products affordable to such consumers or to also make them aware of the benefits of buying pampers products over other products.
4.2 Targeting
Pampers should target more healthcare professionals and guardians handling toddlers and babies using baby products on daily basis. Such target consumers include; infant care providers, hospitals, and baby care centers. These are the type of institutions that need baby products to ensure that babies stay healthy and safe. The other important target market is friends and families of people with toddlers and babies (Zentes, Morschett & Schramm, 2017). Awareness should be directed to such people to enable them to learn what type of gifts of shopping they can buy their friends and relatives with babies. Pampers should target guardians and parents by engaging them in programs and activities that train them on how to take care of babies (Gbadamosi, Bathgate, and Nwankwo 2013). Through such activities, they can elaborate more on the features of diapers thus creating customer loyalty.
4.3 Positioning
Pampers should be positioned to offer utmost benefits to both parents and babies as compared to its competitors. The products offered should offer the best options for toddlers, parents, and guardians. This means that it should ensure that products are of high quality, affordable, and with outstanding features (Neuhaus, 2013). Pampers can also create a brand name by being the leading innovator in babies products. The company can also gain consumer loyalty by giving individualized attention to consumers through engaging them in programs and activities such as seminars and workshops (Keller, 2010). This will increase the brand’s popularity in terms by demonstrating outstanding features not provided by other brands.
5.0 Ethical Considerations
Honesty should be observed when advertising for their products. Advertising based on false information can jeopardize the success of a brand. Consumers appreciate an honest review of services and products because they are the true representation of the company. Failing to present an organization in the best possible way may destroy the profitability of the company (Rossouw et al., 2010). For instance, it is important to give detailed and truthful information about the features of a product. When consumers find out that the false information is given, they may opt for other brands.
When marketing products, pampers should not give false information about other brands. The company should also not focus on tarnishing other brands to prove that its products are far much better. The marketing strategies employed should not mention other brands; instead, they should pay attention on giving details about product features. This enables consumers to have a deep understanding of products offered and to make a decision for themselves (Shaw & Barry, 2015). Furthermore, pampers may be sued if it tarnishes the name of a competitor thus leading to avoidable expenses. Focusing on positive energy will enable Pampers to identify the most effective marketing strategies.
Pampers should not make use of subliminal advertising, taking advantage of individuals who are less educated, using emotional appeals, and spreading propaganda for their marketing campaigns. Consumers are generally more attracted to organisations that do not use unethical and psychological manipulative methods to gain popularity (Rossouw et al., 2010). Using legally accepted and ethical advertising campaigns will help the company gain the trust and loyalty of consumers.
6.0 Communication mix elements
The company should consider increasing social media activities to create awareness of the products. This is done by creating messages and videos where consumers are encouraged to comment, share, and like the message. This includes sales promotions to get the attention of consumers (Wierenga & Soethoudt, 2010). Face book and instagram pages of pampers brand should become more active than before. This can be achieved by increasing response rate to consumers’ concerns, uploading new messages at an increased rate, increasing the number of pictures and videos posted each day (Tuten & Solomon, 2014). For instance, the brand can ensure that it posts at least two pictures and one video every day to engage consumers. The other important method is encouraging consumers to shop online. The brand should ensure that online shoppers have an added advantage. For example, reduction of prices for products shopped online could encourage more sales thus increased profitability. Awareness could be increased through sponsored social media advertisements. This method will reach more consumers. Another added advantage is that they will understand the unique features of the products.
To improve communication between pampers and consumers, the brand should invest in activities that encourage direct contact between the two parties. For example, more money should be allocated to engage mothers in recreational programs and family activities. Such activities include; family fun day, collaboration with medical centers to offer clinical check-ups, and workshops. Through such activities, the company is able to get direct feedback for products which help to understand which adjustments will be put in place. The strategy also allows direct communication which enables consumers to understand the products and why they are better than those of competitors. Such programs and family activities should be done regularly possibly once in a month for different alternating activities to increase market presence.
Investing in research activities and development of products and services enables a company to stay innovative. Through innovations, a company is able to develop unique products and also identify better ways of increasing sales and market share (Hentschke, 2010). Through carrying out intensive research, Pampers will be able to monitor sales effectiveness, quality of services offered, communication tools, and existing business practices. Research also helps to evaluate the existing business plan for pampers competitors. Researchers should find out the effectiveness of communication strategies used on social media, sales promotions, and advertisements made. After getting data, the team should devise other better ways of improving communication between consumers and the brand. Awarding researchers who come up with the most effective strategies will also encourage them to work harder. Targets should be given to the team of researcher. For example, they should be challenged to come up with a better way of marketing, and identifying challenges facing the current communication methods within three months to ensure progress is made.
Pampers should increase promotion activities for their products. According to Babutsidze (2011), promotion refers to is a terms used in marketing since it is an important element in the market mix. Product promotion refers to raising awareness of products, generating sales, awareness of the brand, and creation of brand loyalty. This element could be used together with other marker mix elements such as price, product, and place. Pampers should carry out product improvement through identifying cheaper production methods to ensure that products’ prices are reduced to boost sales. This strategy also attracts consumers who opt for other brands.
Coupons and discounts should be offered more often to attract new customers and to maintain the already existing ones. Once new consumers use pampers products for the first time, they are able to compare them with other products (Waterlander et al., 2013). Since pampers offers high quality products, there are high chances that the customer will remain a loyal customer of the company. This will lead to subsequent sales. Additionally, pampers should invest more on targeting other geographical regions such as counties, small towns, and retailers in sparsely populated regions since it already has a high presence in urban centers as well as other highly populated areas. For instance, to encourage purchase, the company can give offers such as buying one and getting another free. These types of promotions should be carried out monthly to ensure that the brand remains competitive. This strategy does not only boost sales but also increases the market range of the products offered.
More money should also be allocated in carrying out public campaigns and advertising through billboards, magazines, and television. There are people who are not quite active on social media but have other sources of information. Billboards are conspicuous thus being visible to most individuals. Such billboards should be located on busy locations such as densely populated towns (Moriarty et al., 2014). The company should also makes adverts on magazines that concern health issues and other interesting topics to parents. Through such adverts, they will be in a good position to reach out to first time mothers.
7.0 Justification of the Marketing Communications Plan
The marketing communication plan is set to be effective within a period of twelve months. This gives the project enough time to grow since it is bound to have errors during the process. The ample time given is enough to correct possible errors, to identify the strengths as well as weaknesses. The other important thing to note is that significant progress can be made within those months given. Differences can be noted from the beginning of the project and the end.
Social media and online resources are included as major forms of promotions. This is because we are at times where technology has taken over most industries and business operations. Kaur (2016) states that social media covers different activities such as sharing images, videos, and content for marketing purposes. Advertising through social media is also effective because the messages reach millions of people within a short time. Use of internet marketing is applied in this plan because it is relatively cheap as compared to other methods and the fact that it can be implemented within a short time. Internet marketing also helps to build a good relationship with customers thus making it effective for passing information.
Engaging in family activities and other types of programs enables pampers to interact with consumers at an individualized level. This strategy is included in the plan because it enables the company to get direct feedback from consumers. The relationship created makes customers loyal to the company because they are in a good position to understand details about the features of the products the company offers.
Investing in research and development has been included because it helps to save time and enables the business to be proactive. The method also helps to save costs that might be incurred after incidences have occurred. Research helps to identify potential threats and ways of curbing them before they cause avoidable losses. Research helps to maximize and prioritize time effectively. It helps to inform the management both long term and short-term goals. This strategy has been included because it will keep the company focused to its goals and innovating new products. Investing in research also keeps pampers future-oriented to ensure continued growth in terms of better communication methods. All these strategies employed help to increase brand awareness through communication methods reaching to different target groups.
8.0 Evaluation of the Marketing Communications Plan
One of strategies that have been employed to create brand awareness is through online platforms such as social media. To determine whether the extent to which such methods are successful, several factors can be taken into consideration. For instance, checking on website traffic, page views, downloads, and video views are ways of determining how many consumers have been reached. The larger the number of consumers engaging the more effective is the strategy.
The level of engagement with consumers also determines the success of the strategy used especially on online platforms. This could be determined by checking on the number of social media comments, likes, shares, and tweets and inbound links. A large number shows a high level of engagement thus indicating that the company’s brand is reaching a large number of consumers.
Increased number of sales also shows that the brand awareness communication strategies used are working. Sales could be tracked before and after sales promotion methods have been used to show the difference in sales made. Determination of customer loyalty and presence of new customers shows the success rate of the communication strategies used. If more products are consumed by already existing customers and a large number of new consumers buy products, it shows that the brand has gained a larger market share than before. Continued consumption of products by existing customers shows that the consumer has understood the features of the product.
Success of research activities could be determined by the number of successful innovations made and the time taken to implement changes. For instance, within those twelve months, the research team should be challenged to identify solutions to certain marketing communication strategies used. If results are obtained within the stipulated time, then that shows progress and success. If funds are also successfully allocated as budgeted and used appropriately, then that shows that the plan is being implemented accordingly.
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