Communications_Plan_Paper

Bass Pro Shops Communications Plan By: Ellen Kent, Teresa McCullough, Robin Morris, Anthony Reagan, and Jim Waverka MKT/571 Marketing Debbie Thomas June 24, 2013 The Bass Pro Shops is developing a communications plan to launch the company’s business domestically and internationally. The communications plan covers four main areas; plan development, marketing considerations, technology trends, and target market comparisons. This paper provides evaluation of each section of the communications plan pertaining to the domestically in the United States and internationally market in Japan. Developing and Managing: Campaign managers communicate through public relations, marketing on the web, and advertising (Gruescu & Nanu, 2008). The main aspect in securing the focus of the client is direct advertising. Direct advertising is the pivotal device utilized in forming kinship with a modern organization and its client. According to Frenz (2013), the direction an organization will go depends on the client’s entanglement in the modernized organization. To expand the intensity of the kinship Bass Pro Shops will utilize direct mail, direct advertising, and direct selling. The organization should expand a marketing direction to recognize all the marketing ducts utilized. Recognizing the marketing ducts can assist the organization with the decision on how to reach the clients and their monthly goals. By modernizing the diagrams every month, the organization can define the increases or decreases in goals through every channel. Then the organization can appraise these canals and the answers to decide which type of communication needs improvement and how they can meet the mission of the organization. According to Black (2004), for the organization to make incessant meliorations, data capture with data warehousing will ameliorate the written accounts and the examination of data in real-time and stationary business forums. Real-time examination dashboards have become commonly utilized for an organization to view cardinal metrics and purvey significant information. Utilizing real-time data, post transaction data can be examined in foreshadowing information to ameliorate the supply chain, operations, and marketing. Marketing Campaign: According to McMellon (2004), “effective advertising is based on a great idea, not on production techniques or sidesplitting humor” (pg. 365). Leadership at the Bass Pro Shops understands this concept and the company has been successful in advertising products and services domestically and internationally. “It also has a growing presence in TV, radio and publishing properties nationwide, and a marketing strategy that has turned its bigger-than-life retail footprint into an element of its brand identity” (Pardee, para. 2, 2010). Bass Pro Shops recently partnered with Cheetah Mail helping them with their robust e-mail program. Cheetah Mail developed individualized messages enabling customers to interact with Bass Pro Shops by telling them what information they want to receive. Bass Pro Shops has been successful with their direct email program and can reach a targeted audience willing to purchase their products. Technology Trends: The world and its people are constantly changing and embracing technology at an exponential pace. To complete in the global market the Bass Pro Shop must embrace technology when deciding on how to market its products in different countries. According to Inc. Magazine there are many new technologies that have surfaced the last few years for Bass Pro Shops to consider: * Facial Recognition * Hyper Targeting * Eavesdropping Apps * Augmented Reality * Mobile: Codes and Spots Targeting * Video * Incentives and Virtual Currency * Social Analytics * Web * Deals Bass Pro Shops successfully uses the web, deals, and video to market its products. However with the increasing popularity of smart phones and streaming media content into homes via the Internet, Bass Pro Shops will add Eavesdropping apps, mobile, codes, and spots targeting. It is projected that by the end of 2013 there will be 1.4 billion smart phone users on the planet (Leonard, 2013). To capture this opportunity Bass Pro Shops will add a mobile site to its marketing plan. A mobile site is a streamlined website, configured to fit on a smart phone screen (Solomon, 2011). Marketing Compassion: Developing an effective communications plan to support the company’s product launch in Japan and the United States requires a thorough understanding of the similarities and differences of the respective markets. Simply adapting a domestic communications plan to the Japanese market would not ensure the success of the company’s product launch because of the cultural difference that exists between the markets. The biggest defense between the two markets for consideration during the development of a communications plan is the cultural appeal to nationalism. Japanese customers’ are motivated to purchase a product because of the connection the product has to the nation of Japan whereas the United States consumer purchases a product because of the appeal to individualism (Kobayashi, 1980). Despite the cultural differences present in each market advanced technology enables two forms of communications to be most effective in delivering the product message through advertising, TV and the Internet. Printed media and other forms of communications offer different value in their respective markets. More emphasis will be placed on the use of printed media communications in the United States market whereas the same funding will be diverted to TV and the Internet communications in the Japanese market. The most promising form of communications in both markets is the Internet. A study published in the International Journal of Advertising notes that the shifting media landscape to Internet communications has witnessed a proliferation of the 15-second spot advertising campaign. In the United States utilization of the Internet to broadcast spot ads has grown by more than 70% over the last five years (Okazaki & Mueller, 2011). Conclusion: To stay ahead of the competition Bass Pro Shops communications plan incorporates the use of traditional advertising and direct marketing. Direct Marketing is using channels to reach the customers without middlemen (Kotler & Keller, 2006). Bass Pro Shop’s communications plan will change as customer needs change. What works domestically for Bass Pro Shop may not always work for Bass Pro Shop internationally. Bass Pro Shops market specific communication plan is developed with tailored messaging and market specific media channels to reach the most customers. References Black, J. (2004, Summer). Integrated Marketing Communications. College and University, 80(1), 53-54. Des Marais, Christina (2011). 10 New Tech Ideas to Help You Market Your Business. Retrieved from http://www.inc.com/articles/201109/10-tech-ideas-to-help-you-market-your- business.html Frenz, R. (2013). Factors Involved in Developing and Managing an Effective Marketing Communications Plan. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_8294637_factors- effective-marketing-communications-plan.html Gruescu, R., Pirvu, G., & Nanu, R. (2008). Brand Orientation: An Integrated Marketing Communication Approach. Annals Of The University Of Petrosani Economics, 8(1), 253-258. Kobayashi, Y. (1980, Winter). Differences in advertising creativity between the U.S. and Japan: A cultural point of view. Journal of Business Communication, 17(2), 205-232. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost Kotler, P., & Keller, K.L. (2006). Marketing Management (12th ed.). Retrieved from The University of Phoenix eBook Collection Database. Leanord, Heather (2012). There Will Soon Be One Smart Phone For Every Five People In The World. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/15-billion-smartphones-in-the- world-22013-2 McMellon, C.A. (2004, June). How to Advertise: What Works, What Does Not - and Why. The Journal of Consumer Marketing, 21(4), 365-366. Okazaki, S., & Mueller, B. (2011). The impact of the lost decade of advertising in Japan: A grounded theory approach. International Journal of Advertising, 30(2), 205-232. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost Pardee, T. (2010). Advertising Age. Retrieved from http://adage.com/article/print-edition/bass- pro-shops-america-s-hottest-brands-2010/147044/ Soloman, Susan (2011). Going Mobile: Smart Phone Marketing Efforts Just Make Sense. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/ehost/ pdfviewer/pdfviewer'sid=6145c6c4-1da0-4798-b855- b8ffc6588720%40sessionmgr110&vid=2&hid=128