Marketing Communications Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Marketing Communications - Assignment Example It is clear from the discussion that in today’s changing environment of marketing, there is a need for marketing communications since markets have been fragmented and very few companies go for mass marketing. The fragmentation of the media is also taking place (Grunig and Hunt, 1984, p. 36). The development of information transfer and technology improvement has caused this segmentation of each mass market. Hence, it is necessary to target each segment and to reach out to these segments particularly. The main forms of marketing communications include advertisement, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and direct marketing (Kotler and Keller, 2006, p. 605). These marketing strategies have to be implemented by a company in a manner of integration so that each of the strategies complements another one. Since nowadays people have access to all kinds of media in the form of visuals, audio, and the Internet there are loads of ways in which messages come to the custome rs from varied sources. These messages may be conflicting at times. The various kinds of promotional activities of a number of companies in the same sector can confuse the consumer in a lot of ways. The brand images that are set in the minds of the customers can also be vague. This problem particularly occurs in the functional specialists who handle various forms of communications for marketing that are independent of each other. Though these days the Internet is used as the most popular medium for the exchange of information, it cannot be the sole medium for promoting a brand. There should be a right mix of other forms of communications like the interaction with the customers and traditional forms of branding which need to be blended well to get the final result successfully. The right marketing message has to reach the public, and for that, the coordination of all the marketing channels is essential (Stern and El-Ansary, 1995, p. 92). The message that would be transmitted to the c ustomers has to be consistent, clear, and compelling in order to convert. For example, when Coca-Cola wants to launch a new flavor of soft drink that it would like the youth to consume, the company has to devise the marketing communication strategies in such a way that it reaches the youth in the most effective way possible. Thus, the strategists have to go for those kinds of media that the younger generation has the maximum access to like the Internet. The main communication activities have to be done in the colleges and the eateries which this generation visits. Any kind of marketing communication would not be successful unless the managers have adequate knowledge about the working of the communication process. There are various steps to this. First of all the target audience has to be identified and the basic questions have to be asked regarding the decision making drivers of the target market. There will be two parties of this communication process, the sender and the receiver. It has to be decided how and where the message will be communicated (Bowersox and Morash, 1989, p. 21). The objective of this kind of communication has to be understood and the message will have to be designed accordingly. Generally, the AIDA models are used for this purpose. Each of these communication messages should have an emotional, rational, and/or moral appeal to touch the minds of the customers.