Marketing Communication Report: Unilever, Animal Welfare Charity Plan

This report comprises two main tasks. The first task critically evaluates Unilever's current marketing communication strategy within the UK, assessing the effectiveness of its use of social networks in its integrated marketing efforts. The analysis examines Unilever's advertising, its principles regarding consumer communication, and its focus on traditional media, while highlighting the need for greater emphasis on digital marketing. The second task involves creating an integrated marketing communication plan for a new animal welfare charity, focusing on digital platforms to raise funds and increase donor engagement. The plan emphasizes the importance of SMART objectives, attractive messaging, and the strategic use of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. The report underscores the significance of animal welfare and the role of marketing communication in promoting it.

Marketing
Communication
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Table Of Contents
INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………………………..3
TASK1
Evaluate about the current marketing communication strategy within the UK in a critical
manner. The evaluation should include that how social networks support in integrated
marketing communication effort…………………………………………………………….3
TASK 2
Create an integrated Marketing communication plan which enables them to launch charity for
a new animal welfare in June 2021………………………………………………………….6
CONCLUSION………………………………………………………………………………9
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………10
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INTRODUCTION
Marketing communication refers to that fundamental and complex part of a
company’s marketing efforts. It can be described as all the messages and media deploy to
communicate with the market. Marketing communication includes advertising, direct
marketing, branding, packaging, online presence, printed materials, public relation activities,
sales presentations, sponsorships, trade show appearances and more. Marketing
communication is very important for building the brand value. Through marketing
communication audience get to know about the new products and services launched by the
company. (Mukherjee, S. and Shivani, S., 2016). It is important for the success and growth of
any organisation. In this report, the analysis has been done on the current marketing
communications strategy in a critical manner. Also the research has been done on the
integrated marketing communication plan for the purpose of launching them. The chosen
organisation is Unilever. Unilever is a multinational British consumer goods company
headquartered in London, England. The famous products which includes are food,
confections, energy drinks, baby food, soft drinks, cheese and ice cream. The company’s
purpose is to make sustainable living common place. This is the main reason that they work
for it, they are into business. In this manner, they inspire exceptional performance.
TASK 1
Evaluate about the current marketing communication strategy within the UK in a critical
manner. The evaluation should include that how social networks support in integrated
marketing communication effort.
The current marketing communication strategy is that somewhere they indirectly
force this work on the research and development team through tactics of audience profiling
and anticipation of demands require specific skillets. Small medium enterprises in the UK
already have lower human resources that they can rely on for the purpose of market research
and development. They mostly rely on those marketing research which has been published by
the marketing research companies due to its accessibility. The publicly available information
can also be accessed by other competitors so it can be an advantage for other competitors to
copy the strategies of marketing communication. (Kasemsap, K., 2018). Traditional method
of doing marketing research need lots of investment and financial assistance for doing
marketing communication. The large corporations also uses an effective mix of traditional
and new methods of doing marketing communication. The ability to analyse data obtained via
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any market research method and turn this into relevant information for marketing purposes is
still closely linked with the talent available within the company. In terms of Unilever, they
have opted for the advertising strategy where the company has informed people about the
benefits of products and innovations. It is their way to engage with consumers on issues that
matter to them. They have their defined principles regarding the guidance of communications
with consumers. They are committed towards in building the trust through responsible
practices and transparent communication. This is both directly to consumers and indirectly
through other key stakeholders and thoughtful leaders. The company has its responsibility
that the products should be safe and provide clear information on their use and any risks that
are associated in terms of their use. They also support for the right of consumers to know
about the products ingredients and also about the transparency in their values and the health
and beauty properties of the products. The company has used the combination of channels
which includes product labels, websites, care line phone numbers or consumer leaflets to
communicate openly with the consumers. (Kurniati, and et.al., 2015). Their main focus is on
the advertising part which includes media, newspaper, radio, hoarding. The company has
telecasts some daily soap to attract women and young people. In today’s fast development of
technology the company does not focus on a large scale in terms of digital marketing.
Digital marketing is such a platform through which the company can reach to the large
segment of consumers. Through digital advertising, they can increase awareness about their
products and services amongst the people. They can popularise some particular products also
by focusing and segmenting the target market. Through this way the company can reach out
to the everyone’s mobile phone and by short ads between the series or some programmes can
also the company in making aware people about the products produced by their company.
Through this type of marketing, analysis and survey can be done about some particular
products by conducting small questionnaire by the company while people visit on their
website or through different messages on their mobile phone. Unilever is already a well
established brand so it does not aim or focus on digital marketing or online marketing. This
kind of practice helps in supporting for the analysis regarding the products which are mostly
in demand according to the current market situation Through this way, it comes to know
about the tastes and preferences of consumers.(Kudeshia, and et.al., 2016). Unilever needs to
focus on the fast moving technological development so that they can run according to the fast
moving or changing environment. In UK, the integrated marketing concept is based on the
holistic view of marketing communications. The brand has capitalize its synergies through
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advertising, public relations, direct response and sales promotion. These kind of combination
provides communication discipline regarding the consistency, clarity and maximum
communication impact. The company has mainly lean towards the advertising which
provides amplified expressiveness, persuasiveness and public presentation. Sales promotion
is also one of the factor for marketing communication where some samples have been
provided for the purpose of trying the product by the consumers. Public relations is also one
of the way through which brand image can be improved by organising different campaigns.
Direct marketing is also the way of attracting customers through the potential data who take
interests in their products and services. Above all these kind of strategies and ways of doing
marketing communication has becoming older and older day by day.
According to the current situation and in this fast moving technological changes social media
plays a very important role in integrated marketing communication. Social Media has its own
power in becoming the company as millionaire and also help in getting popular within a
single day. (Koch, O. F. and Benlian, A., 2015). Through different kinds of social media
platforms like Facebook, Instagram, You tube are the best ways to connect with large number
of audience. Social media not only gives popularity to the product but it also gives openness,
participation, conversation, community and connectedness as unique characteristics of social
media platforms. Social media helps the company in sharing ideas, cooperating and
collaborating to create art, thinking and commerce, vigorous debate and discourse. Social
media has its power to connect with hundreds or thousands of other people. These people
help in building the brand image or can degrade the company if they have taken any wrong
step in against with their customers. Blogs also comes under the category of social media
networks where people can give their personal opinions and can write about the products and
services which they have liked or not. These blogs are personal websites where people can
write anything in terms of they are passionate about it. Blogs are the best known form of
social media and also a online journals with entries appearing with most recent first. Content
communities is also one of the way of social media marketing where users are allowed to post
and share content. These communities exist around anything from videos and photos to
stories and links. Sites like Flicker, Vimeo and Jamendo.com greatly simplify the process of
sharing and commenting on photos, videos related to the products and services provided by
the company. Forums is also the way of social media marketing which supports in integrated
marketing communication. (Singh, and et.al., 2015).
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Under this head, multiple users can create topics and then comment on these topics. Through
this way any particular product of Unilever can also get popularity which is mostly liked by
the consumers. It helps the company to grow in every aspect. Wikis are community-generated
documents and databases. These websites allow the users to write, add and edit the
information on them. This kind of platform helps in getting reviews about the company’s
products and services. This is the way through which companies can prepare themselves for
future and do not repeat the mistakes which consumers don’t like. The best known wiki is
Wikipedia which is the online encyclopedia. (Fadil, A., 2015). There are many social media
platforms which can be used as a tool for integrated marketing communication. It includes
podcasts, mash-ups, commerce communities, educational materials sharing, open source
software communities, windows live, google community. Social media networks have the
power to reach to the customers at the global level where every small people can get to know
about the things that what is going on in the current business world and what is famous
among the lots of consumers. Social media helps in generating lots of revenue and profit for
the company so that they can innovate themselves and comes with new ideas in the future. In
this way social media networks helps in supporting for the integrated marketing
communication effort.
TASK 2
Create an integrated Marketing communication plan which enables them to launch charity for
a new animal welfare in June 2021
To create a integrated marketing communication plan, the most important approach
for launching a new animal welfare is the digital platform or through digital marketing.
Digital marketing is the best way for communicating the message to large number of people.
They should adopt SMART objectives. The message should be specific, measurable,
achievable, realistic and time-bound so that people can understand the value of animals in the
environment. (Cui, and et.al., 2021). The message should be in this manner that it should be
clear cut. Measurable should be in terms of that the persons are how much interested in
giving charity for the animal welfare. The marketing communication plan should be in this
manner that it can be achieved within the time frame so that it can fulfil the objectives of the
animal welfare. The integrated marketing communication plan should be designed in such a
manner that it should be realistic in nature so that it can be implemented in practical manner.
The last objective which is time-bound. The plan should be in this manner that the objective
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can be achieved within the set period of time. An integrated marketing communication plan
should be prepared in this manner that it conveys the importance of animals in our
environment. Because animals are the parameter of the life cycle which maintains the balance
in the environment. Animals are the important part of nature which contributes in the
development of nature and maintain a cycle in the nature. Through this plan it needs to be
create awareness that to love the animals and raise the pet animals in the home. (Rezvani,
and et.al., 2017).
Animals not only act as protector but also becomes part of the family by helping in the small
works. By creating such type of content for the social media can attract people for the
purpose of charity of animal welfare. For making the message attractive, leaflets and
pamphlets can be prepared so that people take interest in reading the content. Value of
animals is important because without them the chain has been broken down which affects the
various aspects. Different social media platforms can contribute in spreading the message
which includes Facebook, Instagram, You Tube, online blogs and other online media
networks which needs to be considered in creating awareness and charity for the animal
welfare. (Mahmoud, and et.al., 2017). The integrated marketing communication plan should
include some key parameters which includes segmentation, targeting and positioning. Its
really important to understand which kind of demography needs to be targeted so that they
can take interest in participating for charity. The category of audience that needs to be
targeted which includes young, adult people and students who are earning side by side for
their own survival.
A small amount can be contributed by students so that their contribution can turn into the
good cause. Segmentation can be done so that marketplace can be divided and easy to
understand the accessible, actionable and profitable area. Its difficult to cover the entire
market for the purpose of charity of animal welfare because of time, cost and effort
restrictions. The marketing should be so much effective that people have the good mindset
about the charity for animal welfare. This only can be possible through by creating awareness
about animals and the importance of animals with regards to their life. The kind of awareness
which is required can only be fulfilled through different social media networks. The
communication should be effective in such a manner that it connects with large number of
people so that they can attract themselves for the purpose of charity. For attracting the
customers push and pull strategies can be included in integrated communication marketing
plan. Push marketing is that kind of marketing pushing the charity purpose in front of
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audiences by realising the importance of animals in the environment. Pull marketing is that
kind of strategy that naturally draws consumer interest in the animal welfare. The natural
instinct can only be developed in people only through when they connect with animals
emotion in terms of love and care. Media strategy can also be included in the plan by setting
the clear, measurable media objectives. Need to do research about the audience then craft the
message in a strategic manner and also create such impactful content that fits its platform.
Under this strategy it is important that analysis has been done for the distribution channel for
conveying the message. (Alam, and et.al., 2015). Here distribution channel for conveying the
message can be the different kind of social media platforms. It includes Facebook, twitter,
Instagram, Reddit, Quora, Digg, Pinterest. Overall focus is on the digital media and digital
technology. But there are some people who are not very much aware about the online
platforms and digital media. For those kind of people some campaigns can be organised
through which awareness can be created about the importance of animals. When the
campaigning has been done then a metrics can be created which helps in analysing the
effectiveness of it. Under the integrated communication marketing plan it is important that to
infuse Marcomms tools which help in improving the communication level with customers
regarding the charity purpose. Marcomms tools are those tools which include some
parameters with respect to marketing. (Petruzzellis, L. and Winer, R.S. eds., 2016). It
includes advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, social
media and promotion to public relation.
For the purpose of animal welfare and to attract lots of charity small ads can be made through
which awareness can be created that some kind of initiative has been taken by the society for
the welfare of animals. Under personal selling, the direct contacts and large corporations can
contribute in this good work. Through face to face and one by one can be asked for the
purpose of charity. Direct marketing can also be included in the plan. This kind of marketing
can be done through emails, online advertisement, flyers, database marketing, promotional
letters, newspapers, outdoor advertising, phone text messaging, magazine advertisement,
phone calls, websites and catalog distribution. By adopting various kinds of strategies under
direct marketing, a large number of people can be attracted towards animal welfare for the
purpose of charity.This is the detailed plan through which integrated communication
marketing can be done for the charity of June 2021.The major task is for creating awareness
about the animals emotions and their importance in the nature. Animals are not only part of
the nature or a cycle but it also act as a protector for all of us. In todays time everyone is so
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busy that they don’t have time for animals and nature. Everybody is busy in running their life
and busy in making money. But no one does make use of this kind of money for the good
cause. So its important to create awareness and understand the value of animals in this fast
moving world. Animals somewhere depends on the people also for their survival and also in
terms of the health. It’s the best idea for creating awareness through digital platforms for the
purpose of charity as well as for understanding the place and value of animals in the
environment. For the protection of animals its important to take corrective measures so that
their breeds can exist in the environment for longer period of time. To convey the message
through digital media that animals contribute in various aspects in the life. (Floridi, L., 2019).
It includes through provisioning of food, fiber, transportation, work and companionship . In
this fast and challenging world animals plays a very important role in lives of human.
Animals provide companionship with emotional support, reduce stress levels, sense of
loneliness and helps to increase the social activities, adds child’s self esteem, positive
emotional development. That’s why pets are important and animals significance is very
important in the lives of human. This kind of awareness on a large scale can only be done
through communication marketing strategies.
CONCLUSION
Marketing communication plays a very important role in the business world. Without
marketing communication no one can get to know about the brand on a larger scale.
Marketing communication gives an opportunity to grow itself and make popular by
communicating through their products and services. Through marketing communication,
company gets the feedback and analysis that how much customers are liking their products
and services. (Opreana, A. and Vinerean, S., 2015). They also get the help that where they
need to improve themselves. Sometimes marketing communication faces negative responses
because this approach is in the form of openness where other competitors are also there
where they can copy the ideas from particular companies. But if companies make themselves
protected and aware in terms of every aspect then the marketing communication act as a
boom for the company as well as for their customers. Marketing communication can be done
through various parameters whch includes different kinds of social media platforms.
Marketing communication is just not important for making themselves popular but also the
main reason for making aware people about some good causes and their effects so that they
can implement those changes in their lives.
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