Managing The Commercial Communications Process (Week 28)
Kopparberg Fieldwork
The Big Idea - About "The Kopparberg Komedy Klub"
As
Kopparberg are primarily a brand known for doing things differently, Black
Sheep Marketing wanted to expand further on this idea and create a Summer
campaign for 2013 that was new, innovative, different, unique and stands it
from the competition. From looking at both primary and secondary research
conducted, it has been greatly noticed that the majority of audiences and cider
campaigns itself, relate extensively to music and the festival industry. For
example, Kopparberg formed partnership with online music player Spotify for a
series of festival events for their 2012 Summer campaign. Unfortunately, the
million-pound Spotify deal did not receive the successful results which the
brand and agency had originally hoped for. As a result, Black Sheep have decided
to steer away from the stereotypical musical “motif” that most cider brands
(including Kopparberg) relate their campaigns to and instead focus on a
different focal point; comedy.
Particularly
taking notice of some of the answers given in our preliminary primary research
(focus groups), not all individuals within Kopparberg’s target market attend
music festivals during the Summer due to their age range and financial issues.
As a result, Black Sheep have decided to create the “Koppaberg Komedy Klub”.
When researching
into the idea, we decided to look for a key joke or funny limerick or saying
that could be used in partnership with the campaign and comedy events around
local Wetherspoons pub chains (as explained earlier). That is when we came
across the joke of;
“How
does a lad plan for his future? He buys two bottles instead of one.”
An outline of our campaign image
we have created for the campaign is shown below as well as an in-depth
explanation and analysis of the brainstormed idea;
Black
Sheep decided to push ahead with the joke as it was funny, easily relatable to
the “laddish” target market and could even result in more sales for the
Kopparberg brand due to the joke’s nature. We also suggested the joke and
comedy club could revolve around a 2 for 1 deal to get more audiences involved
(particularly as they care about price and costings).
The
Kopparberg Komedy Klub would involve both an offline (located in pub chains
around the UK) and online (via social media such as YouTube and Twitter)
competition in order to reach much wider audiences from around the country.
Typical lad behaviour or “banter” as it is often referred to, can sometimes
“egg” each other on in social situations. As a result, the campaigns tag lines
are “Can you do better?” and “Share The Banter This Summer!” This allows much
more audience members to get involved and enter a joke they think might be
better than our initial 2 for 1 gag for a chance to win a variety of prizes.
For example;
Facebook/Twitter Daily
Competition
- #CanYouDoBetter
- The best jokes with the most retweets or favourites wins (e.g. top 3)
- Daily wins with prizes of “2 cases of Kopparberg instead of one”
YouTube Competition
- #CanYouDoBetter
- Best comedy “skit” (e.g. potential time limit to ensure fair competition?)
- Can apply via the official Komedy Klub online website or through posting YouTube Link via social site such as Facebook & Twitter
Wetherspoon Kopparberg Komedy
Klub
- Every Friday night at your local participating Wetherspoons Pub
- Each act gets ten minutes to perform their comedy skit. Each person in the pub will vote via ballot, resulting in who was the best performance. This brings them automatically to the national quarter final.
- If the other entries were not successful they can find their video via our social site and upload it as an online entrant.
Prizes Include:
- ‘Lads’ Holiday to Sweden for you and 3 mates
- Tickets to Live at The Apollo, Comedy Roadshow, Stand-Up Comedian Tours etc.
- Kopparberg Merchandise and Cider
By implementing both online and
offline methods for consumers to enter the Kopparberg Komedy Klub competition,
this can allow the brand and agency to reach a much wider target market. For
example, some entrants may not live close enough to a Wetherspoons venue to
enter or may be nervous about performing in front of a large crowd of people
and would prefer to record themselves via webcam or camera device on YouTube.
Black Sheep really wanted to cater the competition to all types of people.
Social media winners are to be announced daily for smaller prizes whereas the
Wetherspoons competition is much larger and will contain various rounds (as
voted by ballot from the audiences) until the grand final where one lucky
person will win the prize of a holiday to Sweden (keeping in line with the
brand’s heritage and roots as well the type of target audience/nature of the
campaign). Details of the Social Media & YouTube rules and competition
details/advantages are outlined next.
The Big Idea - Social Media
In addition to this, social media channels has
revolutionized the practice of PR and marketing and the “capabilities and
expectations of how people gather and communicate online” (Weinreich, 2011).
Brown (2010, p. 6/15) explains that if well invested time and effort is put
into social media; it can become a “business enabler”. Controlling an effective
social media campaign helps to effectively engage and connect with customers. Many
organisations now recognise this opportunity when targeting specific audiences.
This is because the use of managing social media platforms as part of a
campaign can help drive traffic for the brand and product. (Tench &
Yeomans, 2009, p.313).
The
use of other social media platforms as part of a new business campaign can act
as an audience facilitator. Members of Kopparberg’s target audience can be
exposed to approximately 3,000+ marketing, advertising, and PR methods daily.
Therefore, it is extremely important to ensure the brand’s message gets
noticed. “Competing messages can come from the constant buzz from social media”
(Weinreich, 2011, p.37). Social media helps to find and engage with customers
on a more personal level, identify influencers, gain advocates, amplify key
messages and develop and improve the quality of customer relations to increase
satisfaction and brand loyalty (Brown, 2010). The cider brand’s reputation can
also be enhanced through websites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as
they can ensure relationships with their consumers are managed well in a quick,
effective way.
Brown
(2010, p.12) depicts the use of social media and blogs (or web 2.0) as “fan-out
messaging” (also known as word-of-mouth). For example, if a message is received
well by two people, they are more likely to tell two people, who will tell two
people and so on. The message has “fanned out” and has gained more new
potential customers or “potential influencers” for the brand. Influencers get
the message out on behalf of the company. For example, retweeting details of
the exciting Kopparberg competition details and winners on Twitter, linking the
company blog from their own blog, sharing useful links on Facebook etc. “This
network helps to rebroadcast and amplify the original message”.
It is also worthy to measure how successful different
aspects the Kopparberg Komedy Klub campaign is performing. For example, in the
case of social media channels, Arena Media, Black Sheep and Kopparberg
themselves can identify whether or not this area of the campaign has been a
success by the number of viewers/followers, Google Analytics, SEO etc. After
evaluating this, valuable lessons can be learned for help in the future. The
results of the campaign activity can help “to see how the company is doing so
that the public relations strategy overall can be revisited and, if necessary,
revised” (Harrison, 2000, p. 56).
Black
Sheep hope to implement successful social media strategies by making use of
numerous “hash tags” and interacting with other brands such as Wetherspoons,
The Lad Bible (potentially, this has been analysed earlier within the report)
as well as other users, potential/current customers and more. Eye-catching
images and interesting external links are also to be included within all
aspects of social media to allow the market to get more involved with the brand
and its campaign on a more personal level as well as improving click-throughs
(SEO, Analytics etc.) The use of hash tags; retweets and connections on Twitter
can also allow website users to find the platform much easier. Again, this also
improves relationships with a much more personable friendly approach.
Black
Sheep have created numerous high-profile social media platforms where
individuals can post their competition entries as well as an official website.
This in turn can allow the brand to keep better track of all entries and
eventually decide on a final winner, runner-ups etc. A screenshot of this is
shown below as well as an example of a potential comedy entrant for the club’s
competition;
YouTube
According
to Chaffey & Smith (2008), “viral marketing is a clever idea, a shocking
idea or a highly informative idea which makes compulsive viewing. It’s so
amazing that it makes people want to pass it on”. It can be extremely effective
in reaching a large number of people, in various countries, at rapid speed.
Viral marketing also occurs in social networks (as explained earlier; retail
brands incorporate video/sound content into social media platforms like
Facebook and Twitter). A viral marketing execution must need to create a “buzz”
in order to be successful. YouTube also gives visitors the chance to “share”
video content via email, Twitter, Facebook, “recommend to a friend” etc. thus
improving word-of-mouth. Overall, the strategy relies heavily on a “high
pass-along rate from viewer to viewer”.
Overall,
by implementing a competition via YouTube, Kopparberg can increase their online
coverage. YouTube is the most popular video-sharing website ever with millions
of users visting every single month. It is also completely free to upload content,
share footage, register, comment, vote and more. Competition entries can be
tracked much easier by entering the simple key phrase of “Kopparberg Komedy
Klub Entry” for instance. Viewers can then vote using the thumbs up or thumbs
down buttons. 2013 has also seen the launch of “YouTube Comedy Week” where
users from all over the world can get involved by uploading their funniest
video footage, best jokes or random comedy skit. This can help improve the
publicity and involvement within the competition for Kopparberg. If the
campaign is successful, YouTube Comedy Week can also potentially prove to be an
effective affiliate marketing strategy for the brand and agency to employ in
the future/2014 for example.
Overall,
YouTube is a great advantage for the Kopparberg brand. It is the world’s largest video sharing website and the
second largest search engine in the world behind Google (who actually own it!).
Over 800 million unique users visit YouTube every month and a whopping 72 hours
of video content are uploaded every single minute.
The Big Idea - Finance
The table below outlines Black Sheep Marketing’s
recommended budget analysis and breakdown (assuming £2.5 million total) for
Kopparberg and Arena Media’s potential Summer 2013 campaign. Implementing new
advertising, marketing and PR material for such a large brand’s seasonal
campaign can be very costly and if managed poorly, finance can be a major
downfall for the agency and the client itself. While it is difficult to project
the total final cost of campaign activities for the brand, it is essential to
always keep track of expenditures to avoid insufficient funds or bankruptcy in
the long-run. Spending will be an ongoing concern for Black Sheep, Arena Media
and the Kopparberg brand itself and therefore, all financial figures are
estimates and may need to be consulted further for overall approval.
The Big Idea - Conclusions & Future Recommendations
Marketing campaigns are a
great way to drum up business and if executed successfully and coordinated
well, can result in great long-term results for the organisation. Black Sheep
believes we have the best campaign brainstorm for Kopparberg’s Summer 2013 campaign;
the idea is innovative, creative and strategic, it will stand out highly above
competition and can ensure maximum success for the brand in the market today.
In conclusion, we believe The Kopparberg Komedy Klub meets key criteria;
- Key goals and objectives have been established
“Nothing in business ever
works without a plan. Marketing campaigns need to be purpose-made to achieve
some tangible goal for the organisation.” Black Sheep believe our campaign plan
for Kopparberg during Summer 2013 will help to achieve the aims of standing out
above competitors, creating a strong brand image in the UK public eye, attract
high volumes of consumers with the 2 for 1 deal and comedy club
events/competition and ultimately, make substantial profit margin and ROI.
- The key target audience(s) are well known
“It may sound obvious, but companies frequently overlook
establishing exactly who their clientele is supposed to be. The most common
approach is to treat the audience as literally anyone. The truth is, very few
companies can realistically address absolutely everyone as their customer.” It
is extremely key to know the business as well as the niche in order to know who
would convert into a sale via the campaign.
- The Unique Selling Proposition/Point (USP) is clearly stated
“USP is a key term
when it comes to generating sales. What makes your company unique – and thus
worth doing business with? What value, feature, and/or benefit do you have to
offer your audience? These are the kinds of questions you should bear in mind
as you begin your marketing campaigns. What impetus does your customer have to
take the plunge and make a purchase? The answer: only the one you give them, so
give them one that sells.” As analysed from the secondary and primary research,
the overwhelming majority of cider brands relate their marketing, advertising
and PR material from campaigns to music or annual music festivals. Black Sheep
wanted to something completely different (in line with Kopparberg’s “un” brand
name and differentiated business in comparison to others) and focus on comedy instead.
In turn, this is the campaign’s key USP as it is likely to strongly stand out
from competition.
- A wise, wide variety of outlets are to be used
A website alone won’t make a successful campaign. Other
outlets and platforms (both online and offline) are to be used to effectively
engage the audience. More is better than one but all focus on different
results.
For example, as explained earlier within the report, Black
Sheep want to make extensive use of social media (particularly Twitter and
YouTube) as well as an affiliate partnership programme/competition with
Wetherspoons. An official online website is also to be produced for the main
port of call for the campaign and competition entries. “Chances are, regardless
of niche, your business will only benefit from engaging on at least a couple of
those fronts”.
- No leads lost
“Everyone who enters your sales funnel – that is, your
website, social media pages, and mailing list – can prove to be valuable, even
the ones who leave early. Data collected from every interaction lets your
company know what worked, and what didn’t. Beyond that underlying value, the
ability to identify unique clients and remain in contact (through follow up, or
“retargeting”) is crucial to making the most out of every lead. Keeping an up-to-date
prospect list is a great way to maximize your marketing campaigns.” (smedio,
2013)
- Follow-Up
Non-converting leads will initially leave the sales funnel,
but that may not be the end of the interaction. Sometimes, all that is needed
is a little follow up. Following up with an automated, yet personalized, email
or strategic ad can do wonders for customer growth and retention. In order to
continue and build momentum and make sure everything is running smoothly for
the campaign, it is important to follow up with the target audience. Robyn
Sachs (president of an advertising, marketing and public relations firm
based in Maryland) explains that too many companies focus all their efforts on
the first announcement and initial marketing content. “The key to a successful
campaign is consistently communicating your product through a wide variety of
public relations, marketing and advertising mediums (press releases, social
media etc.) over a long period of time. (Vanden Bos, inc.com, 2010).
By focusing on promotional work and keeping track of what’s
happening; Kopparberg can gain the opportunity to create long lasting
relationships with clients and customers. At this point, it is important for
the brand to follow up with any interested parties or have shown any interest
in what they are doing (journalists, editors etc.) By keeping track of this
information, Kopparberg and it’s agency can set up great opportunities for the
future. The same people that helped the initial launch can help with future
projects, launches or other business down the road (produclaunchx, 2011). By
opening up these communication channels with stakeholders, long-term success
can be accomplished.
- The Call to Action (CTA) and Final Thoughts
“The absolute most important concept in sales is the offer –
the call to action. You can’t have a sale unless you first have a CTA.
The best advice is to make sure your offers aren’t overly advertorial. The most
successful marketing campaign has the seemingly uncanny ability to bring the
consumer to action because they want to take the action. It comes down to equal
parts skill and logic, but you can’t succeed without a CTA.
“Marketing campaigns are essential to everyone these days.
Like all things in business, the more thought you put into your media and
content, the better your results will be. The above seven practical rules
are things you can’t afford to miss in your marketing efforts. They must all be
present. Perhaps now is a good time to look at your marketing plans and
realistically ask: can I do better in one of these areas? If you can answer
“yes” to any of these, then you can only benefit by addressing those issues,
right away.”
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