Integrated Marketing Communication - MKT201

The following report will provide information about the elements of integrated marketing communication and which element Starbucks utilizes to increase its profits and to attain organizational goals. Starbucks operates its business around the whole world, mainly it operates in the United States and this company is also known as the leasing coffee shop around the whole world.

Positioning

Figure 1: Starbucks and competitors positioning map

The above axis is the demonstration of the experience of products including the competitors of Starbucks and itself.

The Y-axis is demonstrating the experience and X-axis is demonstrating the cost value. In X-axis the ore we go to the right the cost increases and while in Y the more we go upwards the experience increases.

In the case of 7eleven, the price of the coffee they provided is $1. According to other companies, the satisfaction level they provided are much lower. Generally, the middle class customers visit this shop as the products are much affordable as compared to other companies. It has been observed that the average consumption in 7 eleven is 170 times a month which is only because of lower price and lower satisfaction (Madhani, 2018).

In response to the operation of dunkin doughnuts it is placed above 7 eleven. It is because the price value of the dunkin donuts is more than the product price of 7 eleven. The product pricing of the products starts from $5 (Zhu, 2016). This is higher than that of 7eleven. The satisfaction level of the customers can be defined with that of the annual sales value which is 146.6 million dollar. So, according to the gross sale of the Dunkin Donuts it has been portrayed that the company has much satisfaction as compared to 7 eleven.

In case of Mc Donald’s as a competitor of starbucks it is placed above Dunkin Donuts and more towards right. It is because the valuation of the products starts with 4.49 dollars which is however less than Dunkin Donuts but the availability of the products suffices the experience level of the customers with the product quality (Bhagat, 2016).

In terms of Caribou the average product price is higher than that of Starbucks but the opening price of products is lower which is why it is placed below Starbucks. The annual revenue of the company Caribou is 500 million dollar which is quite portraying the customer satisfaction level and its authenticity in placing at a higher point in the experience axis.

Integrated marketing communication mix

Integrated marketing communication is an uncomplicated concept under which a company conscientiously harmonizes and regulates its many communication channels to convey clear and rational messages. It mainly focuses on securing the messages and the use of media in the organization (Bechtel  2017)

Any 3 element of IMC used by Starbucks with original information150

Public Relation: Starbucks has been considered as the company who implemented the best social media strategies with the help of facebook, twitter. Starbucks also involved mobile applications in their marketing strategy (Publicrelationspeeps.blogspot.com, 2020). They designed the application in such a manner that it could locate and navigate the nearby shops of Starbucks.

Social Media Events: Starbucks uses its multiple facebook accounts to reach its customers. This company maintained around 37 million followers on their official page (Unmetric.com, 2020). They also organize many events in social media pages so that it keeps the customers tuned about the company. According to recent studies it has been portrayed that Starbucks uploaded 60 videos and promoted 51 of them to increase their brand value.

Advertising: In recent years Starbucks has focused on its core retail chain, they gathered some licensed companies to collaborate. Starbucks utilised Pepsico for its RTD products and Nestle for its coffee and tea (adbrands.net, 2020). These two companies draw the attention of customers so they engage these companies in their marketing.

One IMC tool to be analysed (Advertising)

Starbucks is known as one of the leading companies in the United States. It spends huge capital in their advertising procedure. This company uses its Twitter to interact with its customers and maintain a friendly relation with its customers. They always remain tuned in their webpages to upload recent stories which knocks the interests of the customers. Starbucks also endorses some celebrities to organize an advertising campaign which can increase their brand value. According to recent research it has been observed that Starbucks provides several offers to its customers so that they prefer products of Starbucks. Additionally Starbucks launched upstanders to challenge a use generated competition that generated over 1000 entries, this strategy also gained the demands of the customers. This company also provides regular updates in social media. Accordingly they also remain updated in flickr, as in this application Starbucks provides images and videos upon their company's products.

Advertising

(Imagery)

Starbucks increases their brand value with the help of facebook, instagram, and pinterest. They reach their customers with the help of facebook and they also show their favourite products in that social media (facebook.com, 2020). They also know how to personalise their brand with content. It has been observed that Starbucks is known as the king of instagram. They mainly reach and communicate with their customers on instagram. They also made animations and presented their products to the customers so that it could easily absorb the interest of the customers.

 (Messaging)

Starbucks also operated SMS and MMS facilities so that it could draw the attention of the customers by providing them exciting offers. They also organize several types of contests through which the customers can win exciting prizes. The company also provides some short videos regarding its products to the customers through the help of MMS. They also started a contest named as Trivia which also drew the attention of the customers (mobilemarketer.com, 2020).

(Tone and style)

Starbucks uses both functional and expressive voices to provide better quality products to the customers. They also represent the products in a fresh, relevant, and interesting way. Starbucks also tells some stories to the customers which make them smile and accordingly the customer feels comfortable and prefers to buy products from Starbucks (creative.starbucks.com, 2020).

Justification of choosing the elements

In the positioning map we have observed Starbucks is placed at the top right corner of the map which justifies that there is a requirement of expensive product buying to have a heavy experience of the quality. Now when discussing Integrated Marketing Communication too i.e public relations, social media events, and advertising. We observe the expensive method inculcated by the organization going together with the higher cost of the product.

Recommendations

According to the above marketing concept, it has been recommended that Starbucks needs to improve in some area where they are lacking. As it has been observed that Starbucks usually targets the teenagers who come in the age group between 18-24. Starbucks has detailed that these are customers who come to the coffee shop to spend time with their friends. Accordingly, this brand needs to make some refinements in some areas through which they can gather more customers and this will help in increasing brand loyalty as well as the profits. The recommended refinements are enumerated below:

• Starbucks needs to design the coffee shops according to some theme which could attract the customers who visit. Generally, they need to attract the artists by renovating the workplace with the help of wooden sculptures which could draw the attention of the customers and this will result in spending more time in the coffee shop. This will support the company in increasing its sales.
• This company can also capture the attention of the middle-class people and through this, they could earn huge profits. The preferences of the middle-class people can be achieved if the company reduces the prices of the products without changing the quality. They also need to maintain some experts in the workplace who could easily instruct the customers accordingly. The company can also attract more customers if they implement some innovative ideas in the welcoming area of the shop.

These are the recommendations through which the company can earn huge profits and can also obtain its focused objectives. They mainly perform their business using demographic segmentation. The increment in the profits of the company can be possible if they stop using demographic processes. They can capture huge interest if they provide equal services to every customer.

Conclusion

In the above-mentioned report,t it has been informed about Starbucks’ marketing communication. The information about the marketing position of Starbucks is also discussed. In the above report, the recommendation of how Starbucks can become successful in their marketing process is also discussed. The discussion about the element which Starbucks uses to maintain a better communication system in the workplace is also included in the above report.

References

Bhagat, S., 2016. An Empirical analysis on customer satisfaction level in Fast Food Industry among the major competitor’s [Delhi-NCR]. International Journal of Advanced Scientific Research and Management, 1(10), pp.23-29.

Madhani, P.M., 2018. BUILDING CUSTOMER-FOCUSED SUPPLY CHAIN STRATEGY WITH 4R MODEL. Journal of Contemporary Management Research, 12(1).

Zhu, H., 2016. Factors Influencing Customer Doughnut Brand Choice Decision in Thailand, Focusing on Mister Donut, Dunkin'Donuts and Krispy Kreme Doughnuts.

facebook.com, (2020) FACEBOOK Available at: https://www.facebook.com/Starbucks/photos/a.10150362709023057.369892.22092443056/10154677694883057/?type=3&theater Accessed on 21 May 2020

mobilemarketer.com, (2020) MOBILEMARKETER Available at: https://www.mobilemarketer.com/ex/mobilemarketer/cms/news/messaging/15346.html Accessed on 20 May 2020

creative.starbucks.com, (2020) STARBUCKS Available at: https://creative.starbucks.com/voice/ Accessed on 23 May 2020

adbrands.net, (2020) ADBRANDS Available at: https://www.adbrands.net/us/starbucks-us.htm Accessed on 24th May 2020

Unmetric.com, (2020) UNMETRIC Available at: https://blog.unmetric.com/starbucks-social-media-strategy Accessed on 21st may 2020

Publicrelationspeeps.blogspot.com, (2020) PUBLIC RELATION Available at: http://publicrelationspeeps.blogspot.com/2012/04/best-social-media-strategies-starbucks.html Accessed on 24 May 2020