The significance and practice of integrated marketing to start-up companies

Many start-up companies in the planning of brand/marketing strategy, often suffering from "piecemeal, piecemeal" disease. For example: In the absence of any brand positioning, also do not know their current stage of marketing goals is what the situation, on the rush to start social marketing (symptoms are: hurriedly opened micro-letter public number).

I suggest that entrepreneurs understand "integrated marketing" carefully. Because the start-up company has to carry out the integrated marketing "the place and the people". The core of integrated marketing is: customer-centric, and the company's overall strategy integration. These two points are often difficult to achieve in many large companies or to achieve difficulties. In large companies, "customer-centric" tend to evolve into "boss-centric"; brands are dispensable; marketing is disconnected from business strategy. I think: No start-up companies are willing to embark on this path.

In the case of Coca-Cola (UK) "One brand" strategy, this article will show why integrated marketing is so important to startups and how does a start-up company integrate marketing?

Case study: "One brand" strategy

by Coca-Cola (UK)

Insight：

British consumers ' taste preferences and lifestyles are changing. Many people are suffering from "obesity". "Obesity" has also become a source of some diseases.

Company Business strategy:

Coca-Cola has long been looking for ways to keep its business sustainable. The main thing is: find ways to help consumers solve their problems, and some of the social issues we face. and "Obesity" is now so many people worry about the problem.

"Coca-Cola" has long been a negative brand impression: high sugar, high calorie, unhealthy and so on. So how to improve the product, on the one hand, adapt to the consumer "change", on the one hand, to assume corporate social responsibility?

To this end, Coca-Cola (UK) has established a company's business strategy: by 2020, will become the world's first country, the sale of cola, 50% is Low-fat or fat-free. (currently 43%)

Product Development:

Coca-Cola (UK) combed the "cola" beverage product line, a total of 4. Respectively are: Cola, Diet Coke, Cola Zero, Cola Life. Each product line has its own uniqueness (each with misspelling own identity).

In product development, Coca-Cola (UK) knows: On the one hand, people pursue a healthy diet, but on the other hand, they refuse to compromise on taste. How do you find a balance between taste and health? Coca-Cola (UK) has made innovations, such as adding stevia leaf extracts, reducing the calorie content of cola but still delicious.

Coca-Cola (UK) also developed a new product in 2014: Cola life. Its sugar and calorie content is about one-third less than the traditional Coca-Cola. So far, Coca-Cola has developed 27 of sugary, low-calorie beverages.

All of these "restructurings" and innovations in the product are integrated into the overall business strategy of Coca-Cola (UK).

Cola product line:

Coca-Cola cherry flavored Coca-Cola vanilla Coca-Cola

Diet Coke product line:

Diet Coke Cherry-flavored Diet coke Tangerine Diet Coke decaffeinated Diet

Cola Zero product line:

Cola Zero cherry-flavored cola Zero

Cola Life product line

Cola Life

Brand Strategy:

But the question is: in the consumer mind, the dominant brand image is still the traditional Coca-Cola: it's classic. They do not know: Coca-Cola and other cola? Not to be clear: what are the specific characteristics of other cola?

Coca-Cola (UK) decided to launch a brand new "one brand" strategy. 4 product lines are unified in the "Coca-Cola" this big brand umbrella, but each child brand has its distinctive characteristics. The brand strategy extends not only to the traditional Coca-Cola brand, but also to the brand image of Coca-Cola in the minds of consumers, and it helps consumers to choose the type of cola they need more easily and conveniently.

"It is believed that this approach would allow sugar-free/Low-sugar cola to benefit from the association with the ' Coca-Cola ' big brand." Said Jon Woods, general manager of Coca-Cola (UK).

It can be said that the brand strategy on the one hand from consumer awareness (oh, this is also Coca-Cola AH). Coca-Cola's own brand is highly significant, its brand connotation (open happiness) clear, and consumers have a strong brand relationship. But with the exception of traditional cola, other Cola's identification is not high. For example, 10 out of 5 people don't know that zero-coke is sugar-free and calorie-free.

The other is the business strategy from Coca-Cola (UK). By 2020, Coca-Cola's low calorie or calorie-free product will exceed 50% of its total UK sales.

Marketing Tactics:

What marketing methods does Coca-Cola (UK) adopt in the "surgery" level?

1, set the "responsible Marketing Guidelines" (Responsible Marketing code)

Coca-Cola (UK) first gave its own marketing plan, delineated the boundaries: the responsibility of the marketing guidelines. It does not offer Coca-Cola to schools and does not sell Coca-Cola to children under 12 years of age. This rule also applies to network sales. Therefore, Coca-Cola and Consumer communication information, sales channels, etc. are targeted at the age of 12 people. For example: You won't see Coca-Cola advertising on a TV channel like "Cartoon Channel".

Around the marketing guidelines, Coca-Cola (UK) has launched a forward-looking marketing campaign. These can make consumers more enjoy and trust Coca-Cola.

2, unified dominant brand elements. Because clear and simple information is the foundation on which people make the right choices.

Coca-Cola (UK) unified the packaging design of four kinds of cola. But the color is differentiated: Coca? Cola: red; Coca? Cola Zero: black; Diet Coke: Silver; Coca? Cola Life: Green.

On each Coca-Cola ingredient label, Coca-Cola (UK) uses the Department of Health's system (voluntary Front-of-pack nutrition labelling scheme) to show the ingredients of fats, saturated fats, salt, sugar and calories with color labels. March 2015, the label will gradually appear in addition to pure aquatic products in all bottles.

3. Media Launch

In the 2015, Coca-Cola (UK) increased its marketing costs for low-calorie, sugar-free, calorie-free cola.

For example, the Coca-Cola (UK) advertisement will show all categories of cola, and Coca-Cola's TV commercials will describe the characteristics of each category of cola. Coca-Cola (UK) will also sponsor international sporting events for the first time: The 2015 Rugby World Cup, which promotes 4 cola categories and advocates a vibrant lifestyle (active lifestyles).

4. Channel cooperation

For example: In the summer of 2015, all McDonald's restaurants in the UK drank zero-sugar, calorie-free coke. This has benefited about 3.8 million consumers.

5. Community Support

All four of these tactics are strongly related to the Coca-Cola product itself. However, most of the solution is to let consumers know Coca-Cola, but not fully reflect the brand connotation of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola hopes to improve people's health awareness.

In the UK, more than one-fourth of women and one-fifth of men exercise less than 30 minutes a week, and they are inactive (inactive). This became the fourth leading cause of disease. Coca-Cola realizes that the problem of "too lazy to move" is becoming increasingly prominent in Britain.

So, around the "dynamic lifestyle" (Activelifestyle), Coca-Cola (UK) actively supports community activities. For example: sponsorship of Special Olympic Games (Special Olympics), Street Games (streetgames). In 2014, Coca-Cola (UK), in collaboration with local government agencies, launched the ParkLives project. Free, fun family sports activities in more than 70 parks in places such as Newcastle or in the heart of the local community. In the first year of the ParkLives, 22500 visitors were involved.

When we comb the logic clues of Coca-Cola (UK) "Insight-business strategy-brand strategy-marketing tactics", we can see that the "Integrated marketing" that is called rotten is not a superficial activity on the same subject in various media. It must be integrated with the company's business strategy, and the efforts of various departments (in this case, we see: The department involved is not only marketing, as well as products, sales and other departments).

So why is integrated marketing so important to startups?

1, not to solve the user problems as the responsibility of the start-up companies, most live in their own world. The core of integrated marketing is "customer as the starting point". If your entrepreneurial project is intended for users pain point, then, please attach importance to integrated marketing.

2, although the word "feelings" has been rampant, but entrepreneurship without feelings of support, it is difficult to continue. What is emotion? In the final analysis, it is a social responsibility. What is your mission? This is the company's business development strategy. Integrated marketing to do is to let the company's business development strategy and brand/marketing strategy integration.

3, integrated marketing of the company's organizational structure requirements are flat. Each department can work together around the business strategy. Integrated marketing allows a fast-growing start-up to think clearly: is it trapped in a fast-expanding, blind-recruiting trap? Is it unconsciously that there are layers of organizational barriers in the company?

4, Brand is the backbone of integrated marketing. We see this case "a brand" strategy, is based on "Coca-Cola" years of accumulation of brand identity. So, when the start-up companies are busy marketing, first think about what they have done for the brand? Brand is a long-term investment, not overnight.

5, in this case, has not reflected the user "financial value" of the realization. But increasing the marketing costs of sugar-free, Low-calorie cola from Coca-Cola (UK) shows that Coca-Cola (UK) is looking to get more value from the health-seeking customers (not the deep Cola fans). Integrated marketing reminds you that creativity is important, but don't ignore the benefits of this marketing strategy because of creativity. How much value do you derive from your customers?

Of course, this case only reflects the integration of marketing, but hope it is a primer, so that more entrepreneurs have more thinking.