Integrated Marketing Communication Plan for Barclays - Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Barclays' integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan, focusing on its operations in Canary Wharf. It begins with an overview of Barclays, its services, and current challenges in marketing communication. The report then examines current communication objectives, evaluating their strengths and limitations across various channels such as public relations, sales promotion, advertising, and personal selling. Activity A includes a critical evaluation of the overall marketing communication plan, with recommendations for improvement. Activity B delves into an IMC situational analysis, defining target markets and developing SMART communication objectives. It explores integrated marketing channels, content development, budget estimations, and monitoring mechanisms to optimize the IMC plan. The report concludes with a summary of findings and recommendations for enhancing Barclays' market presence and customer relationship management.

Integrated Marketing
Communication

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ACTIVITY A...................................................................................................................................2
Overview of organisation.......................................................................................................2
Current communication objectives along with their critical evaluation.................................2
Channels of communication along with their critical evaluation...........................................4
Critical evaluation of the overall marketing communication plan.........................................6
Recommendations..................................................................................................................8
ACTIVITY B...................................................................................................................................9
IMC Situational analysis........................................................................................................9
Target Markets and SMART Communication Objectives...................................................10
Critical Evaluation of Marketing Channels..........................................................................11
Integrated Marketing Channels............................................................................................12
Development of Appropriate Content..................................................................................12
Estimated Budget for IMC Plan...........................................................................................13
Monitoring and Controlling Mechanism..............................................................................14
Conclusion............................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................16

INTRODUCTION
Marketing communication is important aspect which help in proper disbursement of
information about the different offerings of an organisation. The importance of this can be
ascertained from the aspect that this will provides an opportunity to attain competitive edge in
market. There are large number of channels are available that enhance the communication aspect
within the organisation. The different kind of channels which are present and can be used by the
organisation are named as Direct marketing, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation,
advertising, sponsorship, advertising and social media (Andrews and Shimp, 2017). All these
have their own strengths and limitations and simultaneously provide help to the organisation in
betterment of their communication services which ultimately improve their market presence.
Communication is the aspect which not only help in building connection with the consumers but
also provide assistance in determination of their needs. This will provides an opportunity to the
organisation to gain the trust of existing consumers and persuade their buying behaviour. The
main objective of this report is about determination of the different communication tools and
importance of their integrated functioning towards development of the disbursement process.
Barclays is the reputed multinational investment bank and financial services organisation and
having their operations worldwide. This organisation also have their operations in Canary Wharf
but lack in communication that results in proper disbursement of information about their
products and services and redressal of consumers complaints. This will have negative impact
over their customer relationship management (Blakeman, 2018).
This report covers overview of the chosen organisation, current communication
objectives, different channels of communication and demonstration of the overall marketing
communication plan which help to enhance organisational revenue and to meet business
objectives. Also, this report covers IMC situational analysis, development of SMART
communication objectives for given organisational situation, integration of various marketing
channels to maximise organisational resources, budget required for IMC plan and monitoring &
controlling mechanism for overall development of IMC plan.
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ACTIVITY A
Overview of organisation
Barclays is British multinational investment bank and financial services organisation
which operates their function in all over the world. This organisation is founded in 1690 around
328 years ago in the city of London. The main services which are provided by this bank includes
personal banking, corporate banking, wealth management and investment management. Number
of employees working in this organisation at world wide level are more than 80000. Also, this
has many divisions which are operating under the ownership of Barclays are named as
Barclaycard, Barclays investment bank and Barclays Wealth. This organisation have primary
listing on the London Stock Exchange (Bruhn and Schnebelen, 2017) .
According to the paper released in 2011, Barclays hold the most powerful transitional
corporation in terms of ownership, financial stability and corporate control and market
competition. Also, they hold 2nd and 3rd position at world wide level in banking industry.
Currently in this report, major focus is provided upon their operations in Canary Wharf
and the struggle they faced during the marking of their products and services. Also, they lack in
redressal of client complaints that results in reduction of their brand image in market. As
marketing consultant, some of the major aspects are undertaken and defined below to address
challenges and increment of the competitive edge of the organisation in market.
Current communication objectives along with their critical evaluation
Communication objectives are those which help an organisation to achieve their overall
organisational objectives through effective disbursement of their offerings in market. It is the
duty of the management of the organisation that frame communication objectives and align all of
them properly with organisational objective to gain consumers interest towards their offerings.
The main communication objectives which are required to adhere by the management of
an organisation includes stimulate interest of brand, establish product image, increase market
penetration and development of repeat purchase behaviour (Camilleri, 2017). All these
communication objectives along with ascertainment of their strength and limitation is elaborated
below:
Stimulate interest of brand: This is one of the objective behind the development of the
communication aspect of the organisation that build positive image of brand in market. The main
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aim of this objective is about building the trust of consumers towards the services of an
organisation and create image as they always ready to help their clients and consumers.
The major strength of this objective in accordance to the adopted communication channel
of public relations is that it help in aligning the interest of different parties in organisational
offerings. The limitation of this objective in accordance to one of the selected communication
channel of social media is that rumours and negative feedback of consumers have some negative
impact over the brand value of organisation.
Establish product image: This communication objective have work of improving the
image of particular product of an organisation. In context to Barclays, the objective is regarding
the improvement of retail banking services through bring changes in service structure.
The major strength of this objective in accordance to the communication channel of
advertising that it provides an opportunity in disbursal of information at large area which need
better banking services. The limitation in accordance to one of the adopted communication
channel of personal selling that it increases the chance of fraud (Chenini and Cherif, 2016).
Increase market penetration: This communication objective having the work of bring
improvement in their existing services in the same market through usage of better
communication tools.
The major strength of this objective in accordance to the adopted communication channel
of advertising and public relation that help banking organisation and its products and services to
be in notice of each and every category of society. The limitation that can be ascertained by this
objective due to the usage of the marketing communication channel of social media is that not
only the positive news and offerings are disbursed to consumers but also they get all the
knowledge of flaws and mistakes associated with providence of existing services.
Develop repeat purchase behaviour: Communication help in disbursement of
information with objective of building log term relation with consumers. This objective is based
upon the same concept about development of repeat purchase behaviour of consumers towards
the products and services of Barclays.
The major strength of this objective on the basis of the selection of the communication
tool of advertising and personal selling that it help the consumers to know all the offerings and
associated changes on time which saves their time and money both (Chitty, D'Alessandro and
Gray, 2019). The limitation which can be associated with this objective due to use of
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communication tool of advertising is that common in nature and each and every competitor is
used the same. So, not having any extra feature or characteristic which help in retention of
consumers.
Channels of communication along with their critical evaluation
Marketing communication channel and its importance
The modes of communication through which an organisation deliver their message to
target customers is known as marketing communication channel. Whenever an enterprise starts
their marketing campaign, communication channel become its important part. It should be
creative and consist of well combines messages in order to assure that customer provide business
to the company. Social media, television, personal selling, trade fairs, billboards etc. are some
example of marketing communication channel (DIACONU, OANCEA and BRINZEA, 2016).
These modes of interactions help company in increasing brand awareness. It play crucial
role in developing strategic vision and allow firm to express their competitive advantage. Buying
space in mind of customers is not an easy task, this can be considered as the prime reason that
most of the enterprises use more than one marketing communication channel.
Four different communication channels are required to adopt by the organisation to bring
improvement in their communication and same are defined below along with their strengths and
limitation on the basis of their their impact upon organisation:
Public relations
This communication channel is used for developing positive image of an individual or
organisation. It is basically unpaid mode which also involve traditional as well as social media.
PR professionals charge money for improving image of their client but they do not pay anything
to media houses or other platform like in the case of advertisement. Customer consider messages
sent through PR are more reliable as it comes from objective source. It is cost-effective i.e. does
not eat much share from Barclays revenue. The biggest flaw with public relations is that is
cannot be control by anyone. It does not guarantee delivery of desired message and, in past,
Barclays has faced public humiliation because they failed to communicate correct information
(Duralia, 2018).
Sales promotion
Sales promotion is a way of convincing potential customers to buy products/services
from company. It is generally for short term and it cannot help organisation in building long
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lasting relationship with consumers. Another aim of this channel is to motivate buyers for buying
more goods/services. Barclays use sales promotion because it increases customer engagement
and loyalty. It is easy to develop and can be adopted in no time. It improves profit of company
in less period of time; this work is done without disturbing long term goals.
Like of all communication channels, sales promotion also has some limitation. Offers are
not perceived in a good way by service users. They understand that company is in a weak spot
because of which they are ready to give them something in addition. Another problem with sales
promotion is that it cannot be used on continuous basis. This ultimately put managers of Barclays
in a situation where they do not have permanent solution of marketing related problem.
Advertising
Advertisement is a paid form of communication with potential/current product or services
users. It deliver the ideas or message of the organisation and generally is a creative way. It can be
personal or non-personal but it is always one sided communication. Barclays also spend huge
amount of money in advertising because it assist them in reaching millions of customers.
Attracting and educating new buyers is another advantage of advertising (Gabrielli and Baghi,
2016). More service user means increased profit, it also improves brand value. But advertisement
also have some limitations. In case of continuous and numerous advertisements, customers get
confuse. Barclays has many advertisements which sometime, instead of educating customer,
confuses service users. Increased cost is an inherent drawback of this marketing communication
channel.
Personal selling
It is a method where face to face communication is done by seller and buyer; where prior
one try to convince later one for buying goods/service. Barclays use this communication channel
in retail banking, it assist them in ensuring higher level of customer satisfaction. Customized
message can be delivered through this approach and it assures better opportunities for closing a
sale. These advantages make a positive impact on organisation by reducing customer turnover.
Personal selling also have some weaknesses, it does not has wide reach and it is very
expensive (Heller, 2016). It is a labour intensive techniques; these are not considered
sustainable. This marketing communication method affect Barclays in negative way as it add
more burden of cost.
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Critical evaluation of the overall marketing communication plan
Marketing communication has immense importance within an organisation. If an
organisation lacks in the same then required to build with immediate effect for betterment of the
organisation. The aspect which help in its effective development in proper manner is termed as
marketing communication plan. This will includes different steps which provides an opportunity
to improve each and every aspect of communication to attain the overall goal of organisation.
The different steps which are covered under communication plan are defined below:
Research analysis: This is the point which includes situational analysis of an
organisation to understand the internal condition of an organisation i.e. strength and weakness.
This will further contributes in achievement of opportunities and identification of threats. The
tool which is used to carry on the situational analysis is named as SWOT. This is used in respect
to determination of the strengths and weaknesses of the organisation from communication
aspect. Also, analysis of the opportunities and threats by considering the same (Hsu, Lin and
Tsai, 2016).
Strengths
 Availability of higher number of communication resources in front of organisation is the
strength of organisation.
 Trained and developed personnel in respect to handling of communication aspects is also
one of the strength of the organisation.
Weakness
 Lack of team behaviour in all the personnels is one of the weakness of an organisation in
respect to the communication because it hinders their capacity about the usage and
selection of available resources. Majorly it lacks in retail banking section of Barclays.
Opportunity
 Large number of opportunities are present in front of an organisation as they have
sufficient amount of resources and personnel. This will allows them to effectively
improve their communication aspect by creating team behaviour in all of them (Juska,
2017).
Threat
 Technological up-gradation is one of the threat in respect to the communication as this
involves emergence of new communication channels.
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Audience and identification: This will includes selection of target upon which focused
is provided in respect to the development of communication. As, from the above situational
analysis clear that organisation lacks in retail banking communication. So, their targeted group or
audiences includes all the stakeholders who have interest in retail banking transactions.
Objectives: There are many objectives are set by the organisation on the basis of the
aspect of communication development. The main objectives which an organisation want to
achieve through bring improvement in their communication aspect incudes Stimulate interest of
brand, Establish product image, Increase market penetration and Develop repeat purchase
behaviour. The main change that can be ascertained in the communication aspect of an
organisation is about adherence of all the standards and norms of communication along with
timely redressal of complaints (Keller, 2016).
Strategy: This is the aspect which includes about the determination of the activities
which is going to perform in future for successful accomplishment of objectives. One of the main
strategy of the organisation in respect to the achievement of communication objective is about
adoption and usage of different communication channels like personal selling, sales promotion,
public relation, advertising and social media in different situation in accordance to the need arise
within an organisation.
Tactic: This is the aspect which help an organisation in difficult times to overcome from
the typical situations. Tactics are short in nature and provide opportunity to the organisation to
succeed in their operations. The tactic which is decided by the organisation for future
incumbencies is about usage of integrated marketing communication channels. This includes
about the combination of more then one communication channels to effectively deal with the
situations arise with the organisation. This will provides an opportunity to the organisation attain
success in shorter period of time.
Budget and control: The total amount required to spend in effective application and
arrangement of the all different communication tools and channels is around £5000.
Implementation: This is the stage which includes implementation of strategies in
accordance to the situation (Key and Czaplewski, 2017). As defined above, the strategy build by
the management is about the use of different channels in accordance to the situation arise in the
market. Right now, organisation lack in marketing of their products and services of retail
banking and redressal of the complaints of consumers. In this regard, the best approach which is
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implemented by an organisation for marketing of their operations is advertising. Also, the
approach which is used for redressal of the problem of consumers includes personal approach
and social media platform. In accordance to the situation both are very effective and help an
organisation to attain success within less period of time. Usage of thee approach help an
organisation to improve their function and effective attain competitive edge in the market.
Evaluation and control: It is a last step of plan which will helps manager of Barclays to
evaluate and control each activities of plan in effective manner. With the help of effective
communication, company become more able to accomplish competitive advantages easily. In
this phase, business evaluate which strategy is more essential in reduction of communication
barrier. As these will support manager to control excess of fund and other impact that have
negative effect on business performance and productivity. Bank must also control complaints of
their customers and gain better advantages within given time duration (Manser Payne, Peltier
and Barger, 2017).
Recommendations
As per the provided case scenario, there some recommendation provided to manager of
Barclays bank through which they can easily improvise their marketing communication in order
to provide effective and satisfactory services to customers. Some of the core recommendation
provided to the manager of this company are presented as below:
 At first, it is recommended to manager of this company to approach social media
channels for promoting products and services offered by the bank to its customers.
Adoption of this channel will allow company in approaching maximum number of
customers which will directly influence their sales performance in rightful manner in
future.
 At next, it is advised to HR manager of Barclays bank to hire highly skilled staff who are
expertise in financial aspects and its associated zone. This will help out Barclays bank in
satisfying customers in more effective manner as their complains will going to be
addressed by this new staff in rightful manner. As a result, with the passing time number
of complaints will decline in future.
By following these recommendations, Barclays Bank can easily improvise its
performance in the industry. This will also contribute in gaining in competitive edge with
effective support of employees.
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ACTIVITY B
In Barclays plc, there is one of the main issue is communication which will negatively
impact on its business performance and profitability. Lack of marketing communication have
direct impact on customer relationship management and also on market image of bank. In order
to overcome this issue, the preparation of IMC plan will be more appropriate and suitable. This
plan includes different stages which will be explain as below in detailed manner (Naumovska
and Blazeska, 2016).
IMC Situational analysis
Lack of communication is main situation that arised in Barclays plc. With the help of
IMC plan, bank become more able to follow communication channels and handle complaints of
customers on daily basis. As it will support them in managing strong relationship with customers
and also assist them to accomplish overall marketing and business objectives within given time
duration. It will further assist them in achievement of competitive advantages. Along with this,
SWOT analysis is an effective structured method that will be apply by Barclays plc in evaluation
of its strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats that can impact on brand of Bank. Therefore,
SWOT analysis will be explain as below:
Strengths Weakness
 Highly skilled employees via
successful training and learning
programs are main strength of Barclays
bank. They investing large resources in
training and development program of
its employees. As it will support them
in its growth and success.
 Barclays Bank has strong free cash
flows that give different resource in the
hand of the organisation to expand into
new projects (Patti and et. al., 2017) .
 Lack of customer relationship
management is main weakness faced by
retail banking i.e. Barclays plc. It has
negative impact on business
productivity and performance.
 Insufficient Advertising is another
weakness of Barclays plc. As it will
also have direct and negative effect on
its Brand image in customer's mind and
in marketplace.
Opportunities Threats
 The development of market will lead to  The Bank can face lawsuits in different
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