Integrated Marketing

Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign

The Pet Communicator

Learning Team A

Executive Summary

Communication is the key to any successful relationship. Historically, man has always strived to communicate with fellow beings. Egyptians communicated with mirrors, carrier pigeons and the American Indians communicated with smoke. Early American inventors communicated with the telegraph and later the telephone allowed even more advanced communication. Computer technology eventually broke the international communication barrier and recently a communication milestone was achieved as Hill's introduces The Pet Communicator.

Through modern technology and a well-planned Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) plan, Hill's has found a new niche in the market place with The Pet Communicator. The IMC will provide a brief overview of Hills, a product description, SWOT analysis, define market research; and segmentation; provide the positioning strategy; specify the strategic 4-P's; define the budget; and review various control mechanism's. Hill's realizes this product will intrigue and fuel imagination through a detailed and organized IMC plan.

The Pet Communicator will expand the already defined target market with goals of enriching and lengthening special relationships between people and their pets. Market awareness will focus on the product launch during the summer of 2006 to build new customers and offer Hill's existing customers special offers. The IMC will explain the steps of The Pet Communicator and follow the beliefs that this will aid pet owners and veterinarians to understand their pets better.

Situation Analysis

Secondary Market Research

The Pet Communicator market research focus will be nationwide, due to the number of pet owners throughout the United States. As sales stabilize the marketing strategy will expand to Canada and Mexico. Eventually The Pet Communicator will be a global necessity for pet owners.

The demographic segmentation for secondary market research will include age, gender and lifestyle. Research shows a certain target market is able to devote more time and money towards their pets. More and more women fill their lives with pets rather than children due to various reasons including job demands.

Smaller families are targeted because of the specialized attention given to these furry four-legged family members. Middle and upper class income level families spend more money on their pets than ever before, making them excellent recipients of The Pet Communicator.

Market analysis and auditing existing programs are imperative for a thorough understanding of the competition and current industry programs. These include reviewing customer feedback regarding their levels of interest. Advanced technology assisting with the human-animal bond will include these services:

-Public relations to trade and consumer media

-Print advertising

-Packaging copywriting and design

-Marketing services for small business

Primary Marketing Research

Hill's will research all avenues including micro marketing to gain maximum positioning, new customers and a high profit margin. Micro marketing is more productive than mass marketing. Many projects begin with a behavioral segmentation of Veterinarians, based on actual patterns. Through the use of statistical modeling techniques and utilization of qualitative research each segment will identify the reasons pet owners and their purchase patterns quantify their purchases.

With quantitative surveys of veterinarians and pet owners, Hill's can analyze the correlation veterinarians will recommend the product and affect purchasing decisions. This will lead to an additional phase of qualitative research testing various marketing messages and develop communications plans to maximally effective the purchase decisions of the target market.

Model results will provide the sales force with target market leads, names, addresses, segment identification and determines the message to present The Pet Communicator. Through an integrated process the target market will be well defined and include purchase patterns of the target market pet owners. Understanding key segments like who the consumer is, what motivates purchasing behaviors, responsiveness to sales and marketing efforts and key promotional messages will provide insight and induce the purchase of The Pet Communicator.

The answers for each key segment will be different and strategic plans can be made to maximize the advantage of those differences. Considerable experience is pet owner marketing. Individual components of this process will be streamlined with additional research projects. Through a dedicated effort, Hill's can capitalize on The Pet Communicator and drive sales for the existing customer base (Communications 2005). This effort will include various stages of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats throughout the marketing campaign.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

* The Pet Communicator is a breakthrough product that will change the way humans communicate with animals.

* Ability to find lost animals easier.

With over three million pets lost last year, The Pet Communicator will help reunite pets with their owners and control the pet population.

* Aids the veterinarians in making a better diagnosis.

* Large target market. A large segment of the U.S. population owns a pet.

(Pet Trends 2005)

Weaknesses

* Limited research information

There are possible concerns on how The Pet Communicator will affect different animals.

* New product with limited competition.