Integrated Marketing Communication
Communication is a crucial parameter within the marketing activities. Effective communication resolves the marketing issues related to the selling and buying of the products and services. Integrated marketing communication acts as a promotion for the products manufactured by the brand (Blakeman, 2018). This assignment deals with the marketing communication mix adopted by Who Gives a Crap (WGAC). Along with this, the report assesses the feasibility of waterless toilets in comparison to the infertile soils of Australia.
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is an innovational means for Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) in terms of reaching to the customers. Within this, media plays an important role for enhancing the brand image. Various marketing channels are used for popularizing the launched toilet papers. This includes both online and offline means (Belch et al., 2014). Search engine optimization enables the users to gain an insight into the specific tastes and preferences of the customers. Apart from this, online marketing channels included pay per click advertising means, which increased the number of visitors for the company. Along with this, it also enhanced the financial parameter. Webinars and blogs are the other examples of the online methods used by the company for conducting campaigns regarding the toilet papers.
Offline marketing channels include pamphlets, advertisements in the newspaper, magazines, mails, billboards, radio and television (Luxton, Reid & Mavondo, 2015). Disseminating the essential information about the toilet papers, through these means, enhances the Public Relations for the company. The persons entrusted with the responsibility to conduct door-to-door campaign emerge successful in conducting personal selling.
All these marketing techniques helps the Who Gives a Crap Company to boost their sales revenue and profit margin. This boost up helps in achieving competitive advantage over the contemporary brands. Major drive behind this are planning for future investments, including the employees (Andrews & Shimp, 2017).
One of an important component in this regard is communication, which resolves the doubts of the customers regarding the produced products and services. This communication enhances the purchasing power of the customers. Stability between the personnel and the customers results in the innovation within the products and services. This innovation, in turn, enhances the brand image.
Along with this, integrated marketing communication expands the scope and arena of the company. Herein lays the role of the human resource manager, who creates plans and research for upgrading the standards and quality of the toilet papers. Surveys and feedbacks from the stakeholders and shareholders are typical features in this research (Blakeman, 2018). Planning helps in gaining an insight into the needs, demands and requirements of the customers. Rationality in the planning helps in achieving loyalty, trust and dependence from the clients. Seeking innovation within the toilet papers helps WGAC to secure their position within the competitive ambience of the market.
Marketing Channels
Through the integrated use of marketing communication, WGAC increases the profitability sector. This is through the means of one-to-one communication, which helps the personnel in understanding the needs of the clients at one go (Finne and Grönroos, 2017). Typical examples of this are emails, meetings, conferences, video calling and Skype among others.
Uploading the images of the toilet papers along with their specifications enhances the awareness of the customers. In this regards, the usage of emails proves helpful in collecting the responses of the clients regarding its effectiveness, feasibility and appropriateness. Along with this, IMC stabilizes the financial parameter. As a matter of specification, it helps WGAC in saving the cost of graphics and photography, which is included within advertising. Apart from this, the agency fees is also saved, as is calculated within the expenditure of the communication agency (Camilleri, 2017). Meetings results in the assemblage of the agency partners and the personnel, which helps in taking decisions for the betterment of the company.
The personnel of WGAC comply with certain rules for conducting the integrated marketing communication. Support is sought from the senior managers in terms of proceeding with the planned steps. Coordination and unity between the different levels of management enhances teamwork, which helps in completion of the tasks within the stipulated time. Before implementing a particular toilet paper in the market, the clients are provided with a manual to go through the product specifications. This review helps in the excavating the drawbacks, which needs to be modified (Munoz et al., 2015). The personnel take special care to ensure that each of the client is supplied the manual. Strategies are developed before indulging in marketing communication. These strategies prove effective in prioritizing the important tasks. WGAC believes in starting the tasks with a zero budget. This is in terms of stabilizing the financial parameter in the initial stages of producing the toilet papers. Here, main focus are the customers, as they are the assets for the company.
Strategies are also developed for adopting efficient and effective marketing information system. Setting goals for incorporating the strategies assist in enhancing the brand image. Moreover, it also maintains the stability in the relationship between the personnel and the customers (Schultz, Kim & Kang, 2014). WGAC personnel indulge in partnership with the graphics and photography agencies to develop the artworks in the advertisements. Clarity and transparency is crucial within the designs for answering all the queries of the customers regarding the effectiveness of the toilet papers.
Waterless Toilets in Australia
Theoretical consideration enlivens the integrated marketing communication for WGAC. Considering AIDA Model assists the personnel in gaining an insight into the sanitation and hygiene needs of the customers (Finne and Grönroos, 2017).
Figure: AIDA model
(Source: Butu & Mshelia, 2014, p.12)
One of the primary step is enhancing the awareness of the clients regarding the increased need of safety hygiene and cleanliness. As a sequential step, information is collected by the WGAC personnel, regarding the interest of the customers. In the process of this survey, the personnel achieve an understanding about the desires of the customers in terms of practicing safe hygiene. These insights help in taking the appropriate action, producing eco-friendly toilets.
Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) has achieved accolades and glory through the production of eco-friendly toilet papers. Catering to the sanitation, hygiene and environment can be considered as their corporate social responsibility towards ensuring the wellbeing of the customers. In order to expand the scope and arena of business, the company can launch waterless toilets. This would be an example of technological advancement for the company, attracting Japanese companies like Nitto Kogyo INC. This is because technologically, Japan has given the best innovation to the world.
One of the other benefits of the waterless toilets is water conservation. Not flushing would save a considerable amount of water. Instead, the waste would be absorbed by the inner surface area of the pot. This would also be an innovative means for reducing the waste generation. Moreover, absorption of the waste would result in less pollution of the environment.
As the soils of Australia are not fertile, therefore, waterless toilets would be an innovative plan. This is in terms of absorption of the wastes, which reduces the chances of environmental pollution. Quality tests of the soils would help the researchers in assessing the feasibility of the toilets on that particular soil. These quality assurance tests reflect the consciousness towards the health issues of the customers.
Roosevelt had once opined that humankind would become civilised the day they know how they can dispose their waste in some other manner than flushing it out into drinking water. In fact, with the innovation in new sewage waste disposal technologies, the onetime water use for disposal of waste is likely to become obsolete in the near future. The new generation of Australians are very cautious about the sanitary hygiene (Olanrewaju, 2015). Therefore, it is very likely that this stereotypical practices of the Australians is likely to be changed in the future. The flush water from domestic and industrial use are discharged in to the rivers, lakes or the underground water reserves. According to Edington, (2017), this makes the water unsafe for drinking. Again, human faeces is composed of 75% water. Scientists have analysed the components of faces and introduced a new category of toilet that have the capacity to distinguish the solid part of human faeces from water. The solid part that is left off, can be utilised or generation of fuel or fertiliser (Davies, Bowman, & Luby, 2017).
Online and Offline Marketing Channels
3.1 Market Uptake of the Product.
The Who Gives a Crap (WGAC) company is going to face challenges while marketing this new product. However, ample possibilities of market absorption of the product has influenced the organisation to conceptualise eco-friendly Waterless compost toilets as their upcoming new product. According to the ideas of Bryant et al. (2015), the most important task in hand is the commercialisation of the product. The organisation have planned to utilise the rental model for the sales of the product. Besides, the organisation has also collaborated with a Japanese organisation for making the product unique and technologically advanced. The NITTO KOGYO Company of Japan have worked with the R&D department of the WGAC Company to design the screening pad of the product.
3.2 The Rental Model
According to the rental model, the organisation do not requires the customers of waterless toilets to pay upfront for purchasing the product. The company has posted local entrepreneurs would are interested to take up franchises of the new product of the company. The retail customer would have to pay small rent for the usage of the product in their houses. This would also incorporate the servicing charges. The sales strategy is much likely to see success, since it is a win-win negotiation. The users do not need to pay the price for buying the product. Along with that the local franchise owners are also going to earn profit (Redfield, & Robins, 2016). On top of that third party agencies or individuals might earn from regular maintenance of the waterless toilets.
Figure 2: Advantages of the Rental Model
(Source: Anand & Apul, 2014)
3.3 Advantages of use
The users of the product have multifaceted advantages. They do not need to have faecal dumping facilities in their home. Weekly maintenance of the toilet is the only thing that is required by this product. This is indeed an innovative product implementing a new pattern of domestic handling. However, the target market of the product is very large. The waterless toilets have reservoir refills at the bottom end of the product. After the refills are filed up, they needs to be replaced by new ones. The weekly service includes the replacement facility. The organisation have established very good network of teams that would execute the servicing in every household (Lee & Cho, 2017). Another advantage of the product is that the users can earn from selling the filled refills, since they would serve as raw materials for the fertiliser plants and biogas manufacturing companies. The company adjusts the money earned by selling the refills with the servicing cost. At the end of the year, the servicing charges incurred are hardly 3 to 5 AUD. Therefore, there is apparently no hindrance is adaptation of this product for regular domestic usage (Butu & Mshelia, 2014).
Role of Human Resource Manager
3.4 Other Commercial Usages
Other than domestic use framework, the WGAC Company has also conceptualised a new version of the product for being used in public vehicles like buses and trains. The organisation have conducted a survey with 5 government funded schools of Australia. The survey makes it evident that the schools buses for transportation of kindergarten and primary school children requires installation of toilets. Normal vacuum toilets are costly and difficult to use (Anand & Apul, 2014). Many schools have shown interest to install the new waterless toilets in their school buses. Besides, in the internal facilities of the schools the installation of the waterless toilets also seems feasible. Many of the little school children are yet to learn proper hygiene. Hence the installation of this new toilet would be helpful for the schools. Other than that the toilets needs very les space, since they do not need to be connected with a plumbing facility (Kim et al. 2016).
3.5 Ecological Advantages
The waterless toilets have been experimentally introduced in Australia by companies like EcoSan, Separrett and other few companies. Along with saving cost, the waterless toilets also spreads very less odour (Rose et al. 2017). There is a urine collecting duct in the toilet also. As an additional advantage, this product remarkably reduces the residential water usage. The garbage flow would be regulated highly if majority of the Australian population start using the product. Other organic wastes that are miscible with water can be dumped into the pot of the waterless toilet also. Lastly, as per Sossou et al. (2016), these toilets can also be installed in public bathhouses. This would bring down the water consumption easily. Considering the marketing avenues for this eco-friendly toilet product, it can be said that the there is ample possibility for the success of the product in the consumer market.
Product Advertising (not brand advertising)
At first the traditional marketing practices like advertising through commercials and newspaper and magazine advertisements can be done. However, while promoting the product in the advertisements, the organisation should not concentrate on promoting the brand name or give details of the specifications of the product. The ecological value that waterless toilets generate should be communicated at first. In order to do this, the average Australian householders have to be made aware of the ill-advantages of poor sewage disposal. The organisation can create a series of commercial advertisements each of which would portray a disadvantage and danger of poor waste disposal and its impact on the humankind. In the end, 15 seconds of the commercial, the product is to be promoted in the advertisements. However, the product characteristics should not be revealed initially. After making the public aware of the benefits of using the product, detailed promotions of the products can be done.
Effective Marketing Information System
Distribution of pamphlets for spreading awareness against waste dispersal
The company can also adopt the strategy of spreading pamphlets which highlights the danger of unscientific waste disposal. Major part of the pamphlets would cover the details of waste disposal. In the lower section or overleaf part of the pamphlet, details of the product can be provided.
Thirdly, the company can arrange for free demonstration and experimental installation of the product in schools and other public organisations. This would help in marketing largely. The public would be able to realise the advantage of the product in this way. Installation of the product in such areas would be helpful, since the people who use the product would conduct word of mouth publicity of the same product also.
Lastly, the WGAC company can also make public toilets on own initiative as a part of their CSR activity. They can install the new kind of toilets in there.
5. Conclusion
Analysing the product specifications and the scope in the Australian market, it can be concluded that there is high market value for this product. In case if the product marketing is done correctly, the product would find potential consumers. Moreover, the market demographics reveal that the market of this product is quite open and free of saturation. Hence, it can be concluded that with the correct promotional strategies, the company can acquire a pioneering position in the market of waterless toilets.
Reference List
Anand, C. K., & Apul, D. S. (2014). Composting toilets as a sustainable alternative to urban sanitation–A review. Waste management, 34(2), 329-343.
Andrews, J. C., & Shimp, T. A. (2017). Advertising, promotion, and other aspects of integrated marketing communications. Nelson Education.
Belch, G. E., Belch, M. A., Kerr, G. F., & Powell, I. (2014). Advertising: An integrated marketing communication perspective. McGraw-Hill Education.
Blakeman, R. (2018). Integrated marketing communication: creative strategy from idea to implementation. Rowman & Littlefield.
Bryant, G., Hewitt, P., Hope, J., Howard, C., Ironside, J., Knight, R., … & Ridgway, G. (2015). Minimise transmission risk of CJD and vCJD in healthcare settings. Report on the Prevention of CJD and vCJD by Advisory Committee on Dangerous Pathogens’ Transmission Spongiform Encephalopathy (ACDP TSE) Subgroup.
Butu, A. W., & Mshelia, S. S. (2014). Municipal solid waste disposal and environmental issues in Kano metropolis, Nigeria. British Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2(1), 1-16.
Camilleri, M.A., 2017. Unlocking Corporate Social Responsibility Through Integrated Marketing Communication. In Corporate Sustainability, Social Responsibility and Environmental Management (pp. 41-59). Springer, Cham.
Davies, H. G., Bowman, C., & Luby, S. P. (2017). Cholera–management and prevention. Journal of Infection, 74, S66-S73.
Edington, J. (2017). Water Supply and Waste Disposal. In Indigenous Environmental Knowledge (pp. 143-170). Springer, Cham.
Finne, Å. and Grönroos, C., 2017. Communication-in-use: customer-integrated marketing communication. European Journal of Marketing, 51(3), pp.445-463.
Kim, Y., Hashemi, S., Han, M., Kim, T., & Sohn, H. G. (2016). The waterless portable private toilet: an innovative sanitation solution in disaster zones. Disaster medicine and public health preparedness, 10(2), 281-285.
Lee, H. K., & Cho, E. (2017). Prototyping and Case Study of Sustainable and Ergonomic Toilet Design.
Luxton, S., Reid, M., & Mavondo, F. (2015). Integrated marketing communication capability and brand performance. Journal of Advertising, 44(1), 37-46.
Munoz-Leiva, F., Porcu, L., & Barrio-García, S. D. (2015). Discovering prominent themes in integrated marketing communication research from 1991 to 2012: a co-word analytic approach. International Journal of Advertising, 34(4), 678-701.
Olanrewaju, O. (2015). Assessment of a waterless toilet. Journal of scientific research 11 (3), 1-14.
Redfield, P., & Robins, S. (2016). An index of waste: humanitarian design,“dignified living” and the politics of infrastructure in Cape Town. Anthropology Southern Africa, 39(2), 145-162.
Rose, E. K., Lucien, K. B., Firmin, K. Y., Louis, K., & Lancine, G. D. (2017). Characterization of Mineral Macronutrients Kinetics During Faeces-Based Composting Process in Composting Toilets. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 13(36).
Schultz, D. E., Kim, I., & Kang, K. (2014). Integrated marketing communication research. The handbook of international advertising research, 455-483.
Sossou, S. K., Sou, M., Konate, Y., Maiga, A. H., & Funamizu, N. (2016). Inactivation kinetics of indicator microorganisms during urea treatment for sanitizing finished compost from composting toilet. Journal of Water Sanitation and Hygiene for Development, 6(2), 269-275.
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
