Communication_Plan

Communication Plan Kudler Fine Foods is launching a new ready brew gourmet coffee. The product launch is targeted for the domestic market of France and an international extension in Germany. The communication plan will evaluate the effective marketing and communication factors, the advertising and promotion programs, the helpful technology trends, and the marketing communication strategies for the domestic and international markets. Effective Marketing and Communication Factors Identifying the target market is the foundation in effective marketing and communication factors, the remaining factors considers the identified market by determining the objective of the communication, design, market channels, and the budget of the message (Kotler & Keller, 2007). For Kudler Fine Foods, the objective of the communication and design will focus on the target market in France and Germany. The market channels in both countries will establish how the message will be delivered (face-to-face, person-to-audience, etc…). The advertising, events, and sales promotions must be efficient with the proper mix for each county to ensure the targeted audience is receiving the message. Establishing the budget to market the gourmet coffee both domestically and internationally is important for the communication plan. After implementing the communication plan, Kudler must determine how the plan is working. The target audience can be measured through feedback from the customers making adjustments as needed to move toward integrated communication message (IMC). The IMC is “a concept of marketing communication planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan” (Kotler & Keller, 2007, p. 290). Advertising and Promotion Program In designing an advertisement and promotion program, Kudler must consider message strategy, creative strategy, and message source to achieve the response for their gourmet coffee. With France and Germany being the locations and target market, the company must decide the acceptable ads and who will create the advertisement (Kotler & Keller, 2007). The difficulty for multinational company is selecting efficient marketing channels because the channels become more fragmented and cluttered. With Kudler targeting an overseas market, the use of internet marketing will be an applicable way to market the gourmet coffee. Internet marketing is customizable to the target market, up-to-date for quick preparations, and interactive for flexibility in response (Kotler & Keller, 2007). The internet marketing for Kudler must be careful when marketing consumers. “Consumers can resent personal communications if unsolicited: One survey found that roughly 80 percent of the sample of consumers was very annoyed by pop-up ads, spam, and telemarketing” (Kotler & Keller, 2007, p. 286). To avoid the problem, Kudler will employ permission marketing, a practice of marketing to consumers only after gaining their permission, in the advertising and promotion program (Kotler & Keller, 2007). Helpful Technology Trends To penetrate the market and strengthen the position of the gourmet coffee, Kudler must realize the social factors and cultural mentality while working on the advertisement and promotion products. Some of the new technological trends will help by incorporating individuality, interactivity, and active communication with the potential client. A successful technological trend helping business is electronic marketing. The interactive marketing and designing of attractive website will offer many unique benefits for Kudler. The ability to cut cost, like Eddie Bauer who cut marketing cost by 74% by concentrating on higher performing ads, is a huge benefit (Kotler & Keller, 2007). Advertising using the electronic marketing is especially effective at reaching people during the day. “Young, high-income, highly educated customers total online media consumption exceeds that of TV” (Kotler & Keller, 2006, p. 613). Utilizing the helpful technology trends, Kudler can offer new “customized” options for the gourmet coffee to the targeted group. These consumers should believe that they are “special” every time they drink the gourmet coffee. Positioning the gourmet coffee through cost-effective technological trends, can influence every targeted consumer to purchase Kudler’s gourmet coffee. Marketing Communication Strategies In comparing domestic and international markets, both require carefully planned communication strategies. Internet ads can reach a multitude of customers, so Kudler will make sure that they are general enough many different types of customers can make a connection to the product. Pricing is very important and will determine whether the company is successful or not, and should be set according to the specifications of that particular region. In contrast, both marketing strategies are different due to the complexity of the foreign markets that the company plans to operate in. In this case, Germany and France are both very culturally specific making it necessary to consider the environmental opportunities. Although important in the domestic market, it is more crucial in the foreign market due to cultural sensitivity and the lack of market research data. The biggest advantage Kudler will have in France and Germany will be having local distributor feedback on how the market can best be served. Kudler will use their local connections, what marketing data is available for the specific region, and the internet markets to reach the most customers and increase profits. Conclusion Communication is vital in an organization. Proper communication will help solve problems and open up a dialog about opportunities. This communication plan is suggested to help Kudler Fine Foods have more efficient marketing and communication factors, advertising and promotion programs, technology trends, and marketing communication strategies for the domestic and international markets. This plan will prove beneficial through increased sales from efficiently targeting the right audience, making the target audience aware of the quality product, and using technologies to present the best product at the lowest cost possible.