MPK732 Marketing Management: Competitive Advantage via IMC & Consumers

This report delves into the critical aspects of marketing management, emphasizing the significance of understanding consumer behavior and implementing effective Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) strategies. It highlights how a deep understanding of consumer behavior can provide companies with a competitive advantage, using the contrasting examples of Blockbuster and Netflix to illustrate the impact of adapting to changing consumer preferences. The report further explores the role of IMC in aligning marketing efforts across various promotional channels to deliver a consistent message, referencing PepsiCo's marketing campaign failure and Starbucks' success in building a sustainable brand image through integrated and ethical practices. The analysis underscores the importance of aligning marketing strategies with corporate objectives and maintaining consistency in communication to achieve marketing goals and sustain growth in the market. Desklib offers a wealth of similar solved assignments to aid students in their studies.

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Marketing Management
Blogging

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Table of Contents
Blog Entry 1: Competitive Advantage through Understanding of Consumer Behaviour..........2
Blog Entry 2: Achieving Success through IMC............................................................................6
References................................................................................................................................11

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Blog Entry 1: Competitive Advantage through Understanding
of Consumer Behaviour
In today’ competitive business world, the importance of generating a competitive advantage
has increased substantially for corporations as they struggle to stay relevant in the ever-
changing business environment. One of the key ways through which companies generate a
competitive is by effective understanding of consumer behaviour which enables them in
making changes in their products and services to ensure that they are able to stay relevant
in the market (Chen, Chen and Huang, 2012). We have seen in many cases such as
Blockbuster and Netflix where lack of effective understanding of customer behaviour leads
to failure of the company. This is especially in the case in marketing because the lack of
effective understanding of consumer behaviour in marketing strategy leads to disastrous
results for a company. In this blog, the role of marketing management foundations will be
discussed to understand that companies should focus on consumer behaviour while
implementing their marketing strategies.
While implementing marketing strategies, companies should rely on marketing theories and
models which help them gain a perspective towards consumer behaviour and what changes
do they have to make in order to reach a wider audience. A good example is the marketing
mix theory which is a crucial tool that enables companies to understand what products or
services they can offer to their customers and it helps them plan a successful product
offering. This theory is applied by parties through the 4P’s of marketing which includes
price, product, promotion and place (Chikweche and Fletcher, 2012).

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Figure 1: Marketing Mix Theory
(Source: Professional Academy, 2019)
Before moving forward, we have to understand each of these factors and what role do they
play in the marketing strategy of a company. The first “P” is product which is referred to
tangible goods or intangible services which satisfy the specific customer demand or need. A
logical product life cycle is followed by each product which is vital for marketers to
understand to ensure that they eliminate unique challenges. By understanding these
factors, companies can rely on the unique selling proposition of the product to effectively
market it to customers. Understanding of price is also important because the pricing
strategy of a product directly affects how it sells. A product priced higher or lower than its
perceived value will not sell in the market. The marketing communication techniques and
strategies implemented by companies fall under the category of promotion which includes
advertising, public relations, sales promotions and special offers (Londhe, 2014). Lastly,
place is referred to the placement of the product which is provided to customers. This
section includes information regarding distribution channels used by companies to place
their products in the market.
The evaluation of this theory is important for companies to understand consumer behaviour
and use them for their advantage to reach out to a wider customer base. Organisations face
many issues and problems in the market which are necessary to be evaluated to ensure that
they sustain their growth in the market. These challenges are a result of lack of

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understanding about customer behaviour which leads to the failure of a company. This can
be understood through an example of Blockbuster and Netflix. In its prime, Blockbuster
opened more than 9,000 stores across the globe; however, currently, there is only one
Blockbuster store left (Morris, 2019). The company failed to understand its consumer
behaviour which resulted in the failure of its business model. Based on the marketing mix
theory, the company failed to understand that its products are not suitable to meet the
demand of customers. The company did not rely on the changes in technologies so that they
can improve their services. It continued to offer products from its stores which customers
have to visit if they wanted to rent a video. The pricing strategy of the company was flawed
as well because the company imposed heavy penalty on its customers if they did not submit
the rented movie within the deadline (Gershon, 2013). The advertising strategy of the
company did not focus on the key customer base of the company which was changing
rapidly with the advancement in technologies. Moreover, the company only had a single
distribution channel which was its physical stores where customers have to visit if they
wanted to rent the movie.
Figure 2: Blockbuster Versus Netflix
(Source: Chhabria, 2017)
However, all this changed when Netflix was launched because it allowed customers to rent
movies through the post (later through the internet) which eliminated all the hassle of going

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to the video store to rent and submit the DVDs. The company used an effective marketing
strategy to promote its products to a wide range of customers which enable it to quickly
expand its operations and disrupt the video rental industry (Matrix, 2014). It shows how
companies can rely on effective marketing strategies to beat incumbents in the industry and
sustain their growth in the market. Organisations should rely on marketing strategy
fundamentals to ensure that they effectively conduct their business and reach a wider
audience.

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Blog Entry 2: Achieving Success through IMC
All marketing activities require companies to use different promotional tools which work
together in harmony in order to realise marketing objectives. While implementation of
these policies, Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plays a major role in relating to
existence to manage various promotional tools by the management. It is referred to an
approach which is adopted by companies to ensure that they convey a consistent message
to their customers through a wide range of promotions channels such as television, social
media and the internet (Ots and Nyilasy, 2015).
Figure 3: Integrated Marketing Communications
(Source: Sinha, 2014)
While implementing marketing mix theory, companies have to ensure that different
distribution channels chosen by the company are working together to achieve common
marketing goals. We have seen many successful companies in adopting effective IMC
policies which provides them a competitive advantage whereas companies that did not
apply these policies are likely to fail in the market. While selecting the places to
communicate with customers, companies have to take relevant values into consideration to
ensure that they did not violate them by maintaining consistency in their operations.

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The IMC resulted in linking the marketing mix theory with the corporate objectives of the
company to ensure that they align together to achieve the common goals. The marketing
mix theory enables companies to understand 4 P’s which affects their decisions such as
product, place, promotion and price and all these factors are linked with IMC (Mihart, 2012).
While promoting the product, it is important that all the communication channels are linking
together to deliver a common and consistent message to the audience. The IMC assists
companies in increasing their overall profits since the company is able to deliver a consistent
message to its audience. If a consistent message is not delivered by the company, then it
can face substantial loss in its customer base. This can be understood through the example
of PepsiCo because the marketing campaign of the company failed significantly because the
company failed to deliver a consistent message which misguided its customers. The
company created an advertisement starring Kendall Jenner which depicted that people can
stop major social issues such as police brutality by sharing a soft drink with each other
(Grady, 2017). Although the company wanted to deliver a positive message; however, the
failure of effective IMC policies lead to negative implication on customer.
Figure 4: PepsiCo Advertisement
(Source: Grady, 2017)

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People were upset by the advertisement campaign of PepsiCo, and they started to boycott
its products which adversely affect the sales of the company. Due to the public pressure,
PepsiCo had to delete its advertisement which resulted in causing loss to the organisation
(Victor, 2017). It shows that lack of effective understanding of IMC resulted in creating
challenges for companies which affects their marketing campaigns. However, a positive
connection between the market strategy and IMC leads to positive results as well which can
be understood by the example of Starbucks. People love Starbucks, and they love to spend
their time (and money) in Starbucks stores. The company has a positive reputation in the
market as a ‘sustainable brand’ which resulted in increasing its sales. A recent study showed
that 73 percent of millennial customers prefer to pay higher prices for products which are
sustainable (Curtin, 2018). Starbucks knows this; therefore, its management has
implemented sustainable policies in the company which company promotes through its
IMC. For example, the company take small steps such as using recyclable cups and
renewable energy for its operations; however, it has also taken major steps in this area. For
example, it has implemented the C.A.F.E program in which it provides support to farmers
and gives educational facilities to their children. The company also make sure that 100
percent of its coffee is ethically sourced (Starbucks, 2017).
Figure 5: Starbucks CAFE Program

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(Source: Starbucks, 2017)
All this information is integrated with the marketing strategy of the company and customers
can easily access them on its website which creates a positive brand image and enables the
company to justify its higher prices. The company also apply this strategy in marketing
because it uses the IMC approach through which it uses cost-effective ways to market its
products. For example, it heavily relies on social media sites to interact with its customers to
resolve their queries and it helps to learn about its products. It has created a positive brand
image of the company, and it enables it to target its main audience which mostly includes
millennial customers (Huff, 2014).
Figure 6: Starbucks Social Media
(Source: Chan, 2019)
The company uses different sources for marketing its products such as social media sites,
television and the internet on which it offers a similar viewpoint to its customers which
maintains consistency in its operations and ensure that customers are not confused. While
using these mediums, the marketing costs of Starbucks remain, and the company continues
to sustain its growth in the market. Therefore, effective IMC integration resulted in creating
a consistent and trustworthy marketing promotion for companies which enable them
sustain their growth in the market.

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References
Chan, J. (2019) Social Customer Service: Lessons from 5 of Our Favorite Brands. [Online]
Available at: https://mention.com/blog/social-customer-service/ [Accessed 22/03/2019].
Chen, C.C., Chen, P.K. and Huang, C.E. (2012) Brands and consumer behavior. Social
Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 40(1), pp.105-114.
Chhabria, A. (2017) The rise of Netflix and the fall of Blockbuster. [Online] Available on:
https://medium.com/@ScAshwin/the-rise-of-netflix-and-the-fall-of-blockbuster-
29e5457339b7 [Accessed 22/03/2019].
Chikweche, T. and Fletcher, R. (2012) Revisiting the marketing mix at the bottom of pyramid
(BOP): from theoretical considerations to practical realities. Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 29(7), pp.507-520.
Curtin, M. (2018) 73 Percent of Millennials are Willing to Spend More Money on This 1 Type
of Product. [Online] Available at: https://www.inc.com/melanie-curtin/73-percent-of-
millennials-are-willing-to-spend-more-money-on-this-1-type-of-product.html [Accessed
22/03/2019].
Gershon, R.A. (2013) A case study analysis of eastman kodak and blockbuster Inc. Media
Management and Economics Research in a Transmedia Environment, Routledge, New York,
NY, pp.46-68.
Grady, C. (2017) Pepsi has pulled its controversial ad suggesting you can solve police
brutality with soda. [Online] Available at:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/4/5/15186216/pepsi-ad-kendall-jenner-black-lives-
matter-controversy [Accessed 22/03/2019].
Huff, T. (2014) How Starbucks Crushes It on Social Media. [Online] Available at:
https://www.socialmediatoday.com/content/how-starbucks-crushes-it-social-media
[Accessed 22/03/2019].
Londhe, B.R. (2014) Marketing mix for next generation marketing. Procedia Economics and
Finance, 11, pp.335-340.