Woolworths IMC Planning: A Comprehensive Marketing Strategy

This report provides a comprehensive integrated marketing communication (IMC) plan for Woolworths, a leading Australian supermarket chain. It begins with an introduction to IMC and its benefits, followed by a company background, product and service overview, and marketing objectives of Woolworths. The report analyzes the current marketing situation using the PESTEL model, covering political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal factors impacting the Australian retail market. It also includes a detailed segment analysis, identifying target markets such as households and young female customers. Communication and advertising objectives are defined, focusing on health benefits, environmental friendliness, and reaching younger, health-conscious consumers. An alternative creative advertising style is proposed, emphasizing emotional appeal and natural purity. The report outlines a media plan, including media mix, target market, coverage, geographic location, scheduling, frequency, and budget considerations. Finally, it presents an evaluation plan to assess the effectiveness of the IMC strategy, using metrics such as return on investment, sales numbers, customer response, market expansion, and feedback from salespeople. The plan aims to improve profitability, brand awareness, and customer engagement for Woolworths.

Running head: INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Integrated Marketing Communications Planning
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Company background, Products and services and Marketing objectives..................................3
Overview of current marketing situation...................................................................................4
Current segmentation and segment analysis..............................................................................6
Communication/Advertising objectives.....................................................................................7
Alternative style of creative advertising....................................................................................7
Media plan..................................................................................................................................8
Evaluation plan...........................................................................................................................9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
References:...............................................................................................................................12

2INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Introduction
Integrated marketing communication (IMC) is a marketing management concept
which aims to carefully integrate all forms of communication and flow of information to
enhance the marketing capabilities of an organization (Luxton et al., 2015). The strategy
involves the integration of all forms of promotional strategies and tools in a synchronized and
interconnected manner. Integrating multiple strategies for communication can additionally
enhance the performance of each strategy as the sum of their impact is greater than the
individual strategies used in isolation (Camilleri, 2017). Thus IMC can harness the benefit of
different channels of communication and combining them to create a bigger impact to
improve effectiveness of a marketing campaign (Vernuccio & Ceccotti, 2015). The different
channels of communication that are generally implied within the IMC matrix includes social
media, multimedia, email marketing, print media & direct mail, search engines, websites,
social sharing, videos, offline media, public relations, blogs and mobile devices (Luxton et
al., 2015). These communication channels can help in several marketing activities such as
advertising, sales promotions; direct marketing, public relations, social media marketing and
personal selling (Vernuccio & Ceccotti, 2015).

3INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Figure 1: IMC Channels. Source: Vernuccio & Ceccotti, 2015
The aim of this study is to develop an integrated marketing communication (IMC)
plan for Woolworths based on the market situation, segment analysis, advertising objectives.
A media plan as well as an evaluation strategy would also be outlined that can help to
implement and evaluate the IMC strategy being proposed in the study.
Company background, Products and services and Marketing objectives
Woolworths Supermarket is an Australian grocery/supermarket chain that is under the
ownership of the Woolworths Group (Bolton, 2015). The organization was founded in 1924
and it currently it holds about 80% of the market in Australia making it a leader in the
industry. As of 2018, the company earned revenue of AUD 56.72 billion and it employs more
than 11,000 people around the country (Ryan, 2015). The company operates 19 convenience
stores, 976 supermarkets and 1000 stores across Australia (Knox, 2015; Woolworths.com.au,
2019a).
The company primarily specializes in the sales of groceries such as packaged food,
meat, vegetable and fruits. Additionally, the company also sells health and beauty products,
stationary items, pet care products, baby care products, household products, hygiene
products, magazines and DVD’s (Woolworths.com.au, 2019a). The company also offers
value added services and discounts to the customers on various products and also allows the
customers to plan their weekly grocery purchase as well as order in bulk.
The marketing objectives of Woolworths includes the development of an end to end
process that can provide value for the customer and simpler management of the stores. The
organization aims to create differentiation in all the businesses by differentiating food
customer propositions, accelerate innovations in the drinking business and unlock the

4INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
portfolio values for the company. Additionally, the marketing strategy also aims to develop
growth platforms for the future by developing a customer first, team first culture
(Woolworths.com.au, 2019b; Grimmer, 2019).
Figure 2: Marketing objectives of Woolworths. Source: Woolworths.com.au, 2019a
Overview of current marketing situation
The marketing situation of Woolworths can be analyzed using different tools and
frameworks such as 5C Model, PESTEL and SWOT. Discussed below is the analysis of the
Australian Retail Market using the PESTEL model. The model comprises of 6 components
such as political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal. Each of the
component helps to understand the market in terms of the political, economic, social,
technological, environmental and legal perspectives and develop a holistic understanding of
the market situation and therefore help to understand how they impact the organization (Pan
et al., 2018; Schuetz et al., 2018)
Political Factors
 Australia is a politically stable country (opportunity)
 Risks of foreign invasion (threat)

5INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
 Corruption (threat)
 Protection of intellectual property (opportunity)
Economic Factors:
 Stable economy of Australia (opportunity)
 Improving GDP and Exchange Rates (opportunity)
 High labor costs (threat)
 Increasing interest rates (threat)
Social Factors:
 Diverse demography (opportunity)
 Cosmopolitan culture (opportunity)
 Negative public opinion about GMO food (threat)
 Changing attitudes towards health (threat)
Technological Factors:
 Developments in logistics technology (opportunity)
 Technological advancements made by the competitors (threat)
 Online shopping (opportunity)
 Data theft and online security breach (threat)
Environmental Factors:
 Global climatic change affecting crop production (threat)
 Changing attitudes towards renewable energy (opportunity)
 Waste management policies (opportunity)
 Stronger regulations on air and water pollution (threat)

6INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Legal Factors:
 Strong data protection and copyright laws (opportunity)
 Occupational health and safety laws (opportunity)
 Strong laws on consumer protection (threats)
 Risks of legal litigations (threat)
Current segmentation and segment analysis
Market Segmentation refers to the process of dividing the market into multiple
segments based upon different criterion based on age, demography, socioeconomic factors,
and characteristics of product, geographic location and customer behavior (Liuet al., 2019).
For retailing industries, segregation of the products based on the age of the customers can
help to prevent overstocking and obsolescence of the products (Dolnicaret al., 2018). This
can allow the segregation of the marketing activities and present age appropriate products to
the customers. Segmentation can also be done based on the customer’s income levels and
purchasing powers which significantly influence the pricing strategy of the product (Ernst et
al., 2018). Food choices and consumption behavior can be used to market appropriate food
products to the right customer and avoid upsetting them. Geographic locations can be an
important factor that can affect the delivery of the products to online customers and therefore
can impact how certain products with limited shelf life and higher perishability risks are
marketed due to which they can be used for market segmentation (Cho et al., 2017).
Targeting: The household segment have long been the primary market segment for
Woolworths. Such a fact can be exhibited through a high amount of revenues through the sale
of groceries and household products. Moreover Woolworths also have a vast array of fashion
products and women’s wear which are targeted towards the young female customers (Jia et
al., 2017).

7INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Positioning: The Company has positioned itself as a leader in the industry. Its
marketing campaigns have effectively developed the impression that all the products of
Woolworths have been directly sourced from small farms and created a positive attitude
towards the products. The company have also used the online shopping platform to increase
its revenues and reach out to more customers. Also, the website of the company have strong
analytics on customer behavior and preferences which helps to design the marketing activities
(Cross et al., 2015).
Communication/Advertising objectives
In order to effective market the products it is vital to develop the
communication/advertising objectives that can help to understand how the brand can reach
out to the customers. Technological advances have allowed a two way communication
between the businesses and customers and thus understand the needs and expectations of the
customers. Such advancements can be used to support the communication/advertisement
objectives and ensure its success (Jugenheimer et al., 2015). Important objectives for
communication/advertisement of the brad to the customers can include:
1. Highlighting the health benefits of using Woolworths products
2. Showing the environmentally friendliness and sensitivity of the organization
3. Increasing the reach to the younger and health conscious customer
4. Increasing the revenues from sales by 25%
5. Increase the market reach by 15%
Alternative style of creative advertising
In order to develop an effective advertisement design it is important to consider the
target market for the product and their expectations. The advertisement needs to be

8INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
persuasive as well as engaging for the target market and provide them complete information
about the product and its features. Using people who have an influence on the target market
for the advertisement of the brand can be hired to as brand ambassadors to increase favorable
response to the brand. The company can also implement a word of mouth policy of
advertising by providing brand loyalty discounts and referral discounts. The style of the
advertisement can be based upon the ideas of environmental friendliness, healthy living and
wellbeing to attract the health and environmentally conscious customers (Cross et al., 2015).
Media plan
Media Plan helps to identify the best and most effective strategy to convey
information to the target customers. It involves a systematic approach of synchronous
function of all the elements involved in the process. Media planning can be divided into four
stages: analysis of the market, setting up media objective, development and implementation
of media strategy and finally follow up and evaluation of the process (Schultz & Block,
2018).
Figure 3 stages of media planning. Source: Schultz & Block, 2018
Outlined below are the important considerations of the Media Plan:
Media Mix: The media mix can include multiple channels for communication and media
such as social media, television, newspaper and radio where the advertisements can be
broadcasted. Additionally newspapers magazines, billboards, direct media, public
transportation and handouts can also be used .to increase brand awareness.

9INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Target Market: The target market that can be addressed in the media plan includes young
customers, customers who are more environmentally conscious and health conscious and
customers purchasing household products and groceries. The new line of fashion wear can be
marketed to both young men and women.
Coverage: The coverage of the advertisements of Woolworths would only take place once
during the shows to prevent overexposure. The same advertisement content won’t be repeated
three times in a row to prevent monotonousness.
Geographic Location: The advertisement coverage would include the cities where
Woolworth’s stores operate.
Scheduling: The advertisements can be scheduled at the peak hours for television and radio,
every day for newspapers and social media and weekly to monthly for magazines. Billboards
and public transportation advertisements can be changed annually.
Frequency and Reach: The advertisements would be made regularly to ensure optimal
market penetration and brand awareness. The reach of the advertisement can be increased by
using multiple agencies such as TV Channels, radio broadcast channels and newspapers.
Mood and Creative Aspects: The advertisement would appeal to the emotions of the
customer and create a sense of quality and natural purity in the Woolworths products.
Flexibility: Developing multiple advertisement contents to improve diversity in the
advertisement media and prevent monotonousness.
Budget: The overall budget for a 12 month campaign would cost approximately AUD
250,000.
(Schultz & Block, 2018)

10INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Evaluation plan
After the implementation of the marketing plan, it is also important to evaluate the
plan to analyses its effectiveness and understand if it was able to address the marketing and
advertisement objectives. Outlined below is a plan that can be used to evaluate the media plan
proposed earlier.
Return on Investment: This can help to understand whether the marketing and advertisement
campaigns have improved profitability for Woolworths by comparing the amount spent and
revenues collected.
Sales Numbers: Counting the number of sale of the product can give a direct measure of the
success of the product and help to understand trends in the purchase of the product.
Response of customers: Customer response can be collected through feedback forms and
surveys. The information can help to understand if the marketing campaigns were able to
reach the customer and influence their purchasing behavior.
Market Expansion: An improvement in the market reach can be considered as a success for
the marketing activities and thus can be a good index for its performance.
Feedback from Salespeople: The salespeople can also provide valuable insights about the
choices, preferences and opinions of the customers on Woolworth’s products and thus
understand the effectiveness of the marketing campaign.
Response of competitors: Effectiveness of the marketing strategy can also be exhibited
through a favorable response from the competitors and the usage of the same models in their
businesses.
(Jugenheimer et al., 2015; Cross et al., 2015)

11INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING
Conclusion
Integrated Marketing Communication is a concept from marketing management that
aims to harness the collective strengths of various channels and media of communication to
effectively share information about the brand and products to the customers. The process
involves a systematic approach through which different communication and media channels
are used synchronously to create a greater combined impact to influence customer’s
purchasing behavior and improve market reach.
Woolworths is one of the leaders in the supermarket industry which holds 80% of the
Australian market and generates a revenue of AUD 56.72 billion through hundreds of stores
and supermarkets across Australia. The environment for Woolworths have been analyzed
using PESTEL analysis to identify factors that can pose as threats and opportunities. The
ideal market segments have also been identified for the products followed by analysis of the
market segment, identification of advertisement objectives, identifying a creative alternative
for advertisement and a media plan. A plan to evaluate the efficacy of the media plan have
also been proposed.