Integrated Marketing Communications Analysis: Nokia 8 Smartphone

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the integrated marketing communications (IMC) plan for the Nokia 8 smartphone, considering its competitive landscape including Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9. The report begins with a market situation analysis, evaluating internal factors like brand strengths and weaknesses, promotional capabilities, and previous IMC efforts, along with external factors such as customer behavior, competitive dynamics, and environmental trends. It includes a SWOT analysis to assess opportunities and threats. The report then identifies and profiles the target market segments, outlining consumer characteristics and selecting segment characteristics for media selection and IMC messages. The report concludes with specific IMC objectives, detailing how these objectives are linked and contribute to the overall marketing strategy for Nokia 8. The marketing mix implications, including product, price, place, and promotion, are discussed in detail to provide a comprehensive understanding of the brand's strategic approach.

Running Head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
Integrated Marketing Communications

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 1
Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................2
Market Situation Analysis...........................................................................................................................2
Internal Analysis......................................................................................................................................2
Relative Strengths and Weaknesses of the Brand................................................................................2
IMC and Promotional Organization and Its Capabilities.....................................................................3
Previous IMC and Promotional Programs...........................................................................................3
Brand Image........................................................................................................................................3
External Analysis....................................................................................................................................3
Customer Behavior Analysis...............................................................................................................3
Competitive Analysis..........................................................................................................................4
Environmental Analysis..........................................................................................................................4
Marketing Mix Implications....................................................................................................................4
SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................................5
Target Market Segments and Target Audience............................................................................................6
Profiling of the Current Target Market of the Brand and Selecting Segment Characteristics for Media
Selection and IMC Messages...................................................................................................................6
Target Market Segments..........................................................................................................................6
Consumer Characteristics........................................................................................................................7
Primary Target Market Segment..............................................................................................................7
IMC Objectives...........................................................................................................................................8
Specific IMC Objectives for IMC Plan....................................................................................................8
Description of the Objectives and Their Link with Each Other...............................................................8
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
References.................................................................................................................................................10

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 2
Introduction
Integrated marketing communications can be defined as the approach utilized by the
organizations for the creation of a seamless and unified brand experience for the customers
across channels. With the passage of time, the marketing efforts have shifted to niche marketing
from mass advertising and therefore, the companies are increasingly making the use of IMC for
the purpose of developing more cost effective campaigns that are capable of delivering customer
value.
Nokia Corporation is the multinational information technology, telecommunication and
consumer electronics company from Finland which was founded in the year 1865. Nokia 8 is a
high end smartphone by Nokia that runs on Android operating system.The product faces direct
competitors from the products Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9.
The focus of this assignment is IMC and planning regarding the consumer product Nokia 8 while
taking into consideration its direct competitors Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9.
Market Situation Analysis
The situation analysis can be defined as the analysis of the current conditions of the marketplace.
The ability of the organization plays a great role in its success or survival as it allows toact on the
current performance in its operating environment.
Figure 2.1: Situation Analysis
Internal factors External factors
Assessment of Firm’s Promotional
Capabilities
 Nokia is a phone that supports the
personality of the owner. The
promotional organization will make an
integrated campaign that will r-
establish Nokia as a brand which is
different from others.
 Unique experience can be offered by
the brand which other brands are unable
to offer.
 The promotional agency is capable of
Customer Behaviour Analysis
 The consumers who buy the Nokia
products are those who expect durable
products.
 The decision is made by them on the
basis of features offered by the product
and their capability of providing value
for money.
 The purchase decision of the customers
is dependent on the technology offered
and the marketing activities undertaken
by the brand.

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creating personal content that expresses
their individuality. The total budget of
the campaign will be $200,000 which
will be divided across advertising,
product placement, social networking,
website, etc.
 The customers buy products that highly
satisfied them. Core needs should be
satisfied of customers.
 The customers buy Nokia 8 due to
quality and loyalty.
 These days Nokia 8 is mostly being
purchased via online after complete
evaluation of alternatives (Park, Jun, &
Lee, 2015).
 They buy on Christmas season for gift
purpose.
 The modern lifestyle and age factors
impact on the decision of purchase.
Assessment of firm’s Previous Promotional
Programs
 Promotional objectives are to increase
the awareness of products by using
different promotional channels and to
gain the sales of product.
 For this, $1400 will be required for
promotional budget and marketing
activities will be allocated to marketing
manager and salesperson.
 The previous IMC of the brand
revolved around advertising for
reaching the target audience by making
the use of different mediums such as
electronic media, print media, TV ads,
billboards, social network, etc.
 Customer satisfaction with quality
products was the prime focus of these
promotional campaigns.
Competitive Analysis
 Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9 are
the direct competitors of Nokia 8.
However, some new players are also
emerging in the market such as Xiaomi
which are coming up with innovative
technology at competitive prices.
 Apple is not involved in the promotion
of its products while Samsung reserves
huge budgets on the marketing and
promotion of its products.
 It has low position relative to the
competition.
 Competitors use promotion budget
according to their promotional
channels.
 These competitors are promoting their
products through internet, television,
etc.
Assessment of firm or brand image
 Since Nokia is one of the oldest
telecommunications organizations of
the world, it is acknowledged by the
customers for its reliability. There is
positive perception of the customers
toward the brand. The reliable products
offered by the company have
encouraged the customers to re-
purchase the mobile phones produced
by the company even after paying a
premium price. In other words, the
Environmental Analysis
 The promotional programs for Nokia 8
are significantly affected by the current
trends and developments. There are
certain current trends or development
that affects the promotional program. In
this way, all the brands are coming up
with innovative technology for winning
the hearts of the customers. Flexible
and easy to carry lightweight
smartphones which are capable of
being charged wirelessly and speedily

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 4
image of company is capable of
establishing brand loyalty among the
customers. The brand is known among
the customers for its quality products
that are highly durable (Yeh, Wang &
Yieh, 2016).
are the latest trend in environment and
these features are also being promoted
with the help of the promotional
programs. The promotional programs
of Nokia 8 are based on the technology
used in the product which is capable of
providing added value for the amount
paid by the customers (Steenkamp,
2017).
Assessment product/services strengths and
Weaknesses
 Nokia is a well- established brand and
has its own strengths and weaknesses.
The strengths of the brand are its
experienced bases as it is one of the
oldest companies of the world and has a
leading experience in the area of
information and technology. Also, the
brand is in possession of the most
experienced and technologically
advanced human resources.
 Moreover, the products offered by the
brand are highly durable and have
therefore created a long lasting
reputation which is the unique selling
point for the company.
 The brand also suffers from certain
weaknesses. The brand is slow in terms
of taking initiatives and reacting to the
competition due to which it is facing
difficulties in standing out in the
market. Also, it is not considering the
tastes of the customers and introduced
smartphones running on android
operating systems very late.
Furthermore, in the beginning of the
smartphone period, they manufactured
and sold low performing smartphones
based on Windows operating system
(Park, Jun & Lee, 2015).
Marketing Mix Implications
Following is the marketing mix implications for the marketplace which will assist in the brand
strategy and the development of IMC plan:

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Product implications- Nokia 8 is the comeback product for the company and is going to
compete against the big names i.e. Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9.The product has come up
with 3090 mAh non removable battery and dual sim feature that accepts Nano- sim.Also, the
touchscreen of the phone is equal to 5.30 inch with a resolution of 1440 pixels by 2560 pixels.
The features and ratings of the products are similar with that of iPhone X and Samsung 9 but
Nokia is offering such features at a lower price (Huerta-Muñoz, Ríos-Mercado & Ruiz, 2017).
Price implications- Since it is the comeback product of the company, the prices have been kept
lower as compared to iPhone X and Samsung S9. It is an advantage for the customers to
purchase such features at a reasonable price from a durable brand. The competitors are still
unable to provide value for money as the features are similar.
Place implications- Nokia 8 will not be distributed by the company directly to the customers.
The use of distributors will be made for the physical distribution of the headsets. The company
also engaged in the tie- ups with the service operators and offers a number of discounts and
packages to the customers. Nokia 8 will also be distributed with the help of online stores ande-
commerce sites and website of the company (Datta, Ailawadi & van Heerde, 2017).
Promotion implications- All media channels will be utilized by the company for the purpose of
promoting Nokia 8. The brand ambassadors are also engaged by the brandfor promoting the
product through television advertisements, bill boards, newspapers, radio, sign boards, posters,
brochures, dummies, and display stands (Stead & Hastings, 2018).
SWOT Analysis
With the help of SWOT analysis, the marketers can easily examine the opportunities and threats
from the external environment along with making the identification of the strengths and
weaknesses of the organization from its internal environment.
Strengths-
Durability of the products
The durability of the products provided by the company over a period of time has improved its
brand image. This brand image will have a positive impact on the sales of Nokia 8 as well.

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Technologically advanced product
Nokia 8 is a technologically advanced product which have the capability of beating the
competitive products i.e. Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9. This is due to the efforts of its
professional team and its strong R &D unit.
Brand image
The brand image has also resulted in high expected re- sell value of Nokia 8 as compared to its
products (Venter, Wright&Dibb, 2015).
Weaknesses-
Unable to match up with the products of the competitors
During the past few years, Nokia products were unable to match up with the products of the
competitors like Apple and Samsung due to use of older technologies which are not in demand
by the customers. This has subsequently reduced the market size of the brand which, in turn, will
also poorly affect the sales of Nokia 8.
Not giving enough preference to its marketing activities
Nokia is not giving enough preference to its marketing activities which will impact the sales of
Nokia 8. The price of Nokia 8 is also high for the features offered by the brand (Ernst &
Dolnicar, 2018).
Opportunities-
Diverse features
These days, the customers want to explore the products of different brands in order to get the
benefit of diverse features offered by the brands.
Rapid pace of smartphone
Also, the smartphone market is growing at a rapid pace which is very beneficial for Nokia 8.
There is still the demand for Nokia phones as they are considered to be reliable phones (Kim,
Yoon & Han, 2016).

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Threats-
Competitor
The major threat for Nokia 8 is from Apple iPhone X and Samsung S9. Xiaomi is another
upcoming competitor for the brand as it is winning the hearts of the consumers in the market.
During the previous years when Nokia was unable to perform in the market, Apple and Samsung
attained the major market share (Vuori & Huy, 2016).
Innovative technology
Also, new entrants are bringing innovative technology in the market which can create trouble for
the sales of Nokia 8 (Chowdhury & Rahman, 2015).
Target Market Segments and Target Audience
Profiling of the Current Target Market of the Brand and Selecting Segment
Characteristics for Media Selection and IMC Messages
Profiling of the current target market of Nokia will assist the company in making the
identification of the customers who wish to purchase its products. This allows the brand to what
are the demands of such target market and whether Nokia 8 is able to meet such demand or not.
Through this, the brand is able to target as many groups and people as possible. This further
allows the promotional strategy of the brand to specifically talk about the brand to diverse group
of individuals.Also, it brings cost effectiveness to the promotional budget in promoting the
product to one type of customers and speaking directly to them. The IMC messages will also be
based on the characteristics of the particular group and it can be a highly focused campaign for
directly meeting the desires and needs of a specific group (Berman, 2016).
Target Market Segments
The two target market segments for Nokia 8 and Nokia brand are Hi- fliers and trendsetters.
Hi- fliers- This is the biggest market segment which consists of corporate executives.
Demographic segmentation provides that this market belongs to the age group of 25-45 year
old corporate executive belonging to high income group.

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Geographic segmentation targets the people in almost every part of the world.
Behavioral segmentation provides that the users are loyal towards the brand for conducting data
transmission and other business transactions.
Psychographic segmentation provides that this market segment have a lavish lifestyle and do
not give importance to the price range (Ernst & Dolnicar, 2018).
Trendsetters- This target segment want to become the early adopter of emerging technology.
Demographic segmentation provides that this segmentis related to the age group of 16-30 middle
income and high income group consumers.
Geographic segmentation targets the people in almost every part of the world.
Behavioral segmentation provides that these customers refer the latest products in terms of
technology.
Psychographic segmentation provides that they give less importance to price range of products
(Yeh, Wang & Yieh, 2016).
Consumer Characteristics
The consumer characteristics of Hi- Fliers are that they aim at purchasing a mobile phone which
can increase their productivity at work. Secondly, the segment looks for data transmission and
other business related featuresin the phone (East, Singh, Wright & Vanhuele, 2016). These
requirements are met by Nokia by offering durable products that do not create troubles on day to
day basis.
The consumer characteristics of Trendsetters are they are more receptive to advanced models.
Secondly, they often aim at getting it at reasonable prices. This requirement will be met by Nokia
8 which is the most advanced phone of the brand and is available at a reasonable price as
compared to that of Apple and Samsung (Cecere, Corrocher & Battaglia, 2015).
Primary Target Market Segment
The trendsetters will comprise the primary target market for the brand. This is chosen as the
target market due to the reason that smartphones are mostly popular among such segment only.

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Secondly, such segment is ready to even pay higher price for good technology. Thirdly, if the
company is able to win the heart of this segment, it reaches new heights.
IMC Objectives
Specific IMC Objectives for IMC Plan
Following are the specific IMC objectives that will guide the development of the IMC plan for
Nokia 8:
Communication objectives
Attention and Awareness- The IMC plan will be builtwith the objective of building attention and
awareness for the product and the brand. This, in turn, will assist in establishing a consistent
brand image which will further build stronger relationships with the consumers (Luxton, Reid &
Mavondo, 2015).
Media objectives
Desire- the development of IMC plan will be focused on cultivating the desire for making the
purchase among the customers. In the process of creating the desire, firstly liking for the product
will be created among the product and they will then be encouraged to take the decision
regarding the purchase (Esmaeilpour & Aram, 2016).
Message objectives
Interest- Interest will be the third integrated marketing communication objective for the product.
This will assist Nokia in generating interest for Nokia 8 among the customers by way of
informing them regarding the features that differentiates it from the products offered by the
competitors (Kitchen & Burgmann, 2015).
Description of the Objectives and Their Link with Each Other
The three specific IMC objectives for Nokia 8 i.e. attention and awareness, desire and interest
have a link with each other.
Attention and Awareness- This IMC objective will assist people in recognizing Nokia 8
smartphone across media. One of the brand’s blog or the social media posts will be seen by the

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS 10
potential customers and thy will immediately recognize the writer of such blog. This objective
will keep the brand in front of the customers and remind them about the product and its
capabilities. More opportunity of sales will be provided to the products through increased traffic
as a result of brand awareness and attention (Pluta-Olearnik, 2018).
Desire- This objective can also be regarded as the bridge for making the sales of Nokia 8. This
objective of creating desire will be achieved with the help of elevating their viewpoint regarding
the product. The customers will feel comfortable paying for the product if they will know how
much value will be provided by the product.
Interest-This objective will aim at communicating the product related information to the
prospective customers For this, blogs and other related content can be incorporated in the IMC
plan for the product as a means for offering expertise and value to customers. Various ways can
be adopted for the purpose of generating interest, however, the ultimate goal is to increase the
demand for Nokia 8. There is a link in all these IMC objectives asall these objectives together
assist in the development plan. It is therefore essential that all of these are given equal
importance. Firstly, attention of the customers are required to be grabbed and then interest and
desire is required to be created so that they make the purchase decision in the favor of the
product.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that integrated marketing communications is the approach utilized
by the organizations for the creation of a seamless and unified brand experience for the
customers across channels. This assignment focused on IMC and planning regarding the
consumer product Nokia 8 while taking into consideration its direct competitors Apple iPhone X
and Samsung S9. It provided market situation analysis, SWOT analysis, target segments and
IMC objectives for the brand and product.

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