BUS7B33 Customer Continuity and Growth
Introduction
In order to achieve growth and customer continuity communication with the target customers are essential at all stages with effectively helps in the development of a loyal consumer base. As a result, there are various communication strategies that can be adopted by Zara and implemented in different ways and through different channels that would allow the organisation to achieve its customer continuity and growth objectives. In this regard, the following report is focused on the development of a communication strategy that can be utilised by Zara and integrated into their marketing plan to achieve continued growth and continuity of the growing consumer base.
Proposed strategy
In the digital age communication with customers has become much easier with the presence of various digital platforms. It can be implicated that achieving a widespread digital transmission is essential for achieving better results with the help of the following communication strategy.
Expansion of digital brand recognition
Brand recognition, brand value and overall brand equity of an organisation are some of the factors that act as a catalyst in improving an organization’s reach with the help of market communication strategies (Muniesa and Giménez, 2020.). As a result, in the current digital age, digital brand recognition has become much more important for companies as most of the target customers of Zara can be found online on different social media platforms. Even though Zara already has its own social media handles on different social media platforms nevertheless it is essential to maximize the potential of brand recognition through these platforms.
Zara can utilise sponsored ads as well as other social media advertisements and technology to enhance its reach to that target customer (Labus et al. 2022). Adding to that, it is also essential for the organisation to increase the responsiveness of the different social media platforms so that they can communicate efficiently with that target customers. This would not only help in resolving customer care is but would also help in increasing the consumer engagement trade which is another aspect that can help to achieve customer continuity and growth. Social media platforms are also a great place for hosting digital events and in the present age, the concept of Metaverse is becoming rapidly popular (Gonzalo et al. 2020).
Metaverse, Blockchain and NFTs
There are various organisations that are focusing on the development of their own Metaverse which would not only help target customers to become a part of a growing community but would also help the organisation to attend to continuous consumer growth (Sestino et al. 2022). The presence of Metaverse and the concept of blockchain has also become quite relevant with not only aims to offer value to the customers but also helps in achieving a transparent method of transaction.
Non-Fungible Tokens or NFTs and their popularity have significantly grown ever since 2020 which can also be demarcated as the year that skyrocketed the concept of digital art and its value. Since then NFTs have changed and rather than being just a form of digital art companies have started offering utilities linked with the NFTs (Wang et al. 2022). For instance, some of the top organisations like Adidas, Lamborghini, Coca-Cola, Nike, Samsung, Louis Vuitton, and McDonald’s have entered the NFT space where these companies are offering NFTs to their customers for real utility within the entire value chain (Indiatimes, 2022). One of the key features of NFTs is their relevance in the metaverse, where NFTs hold a monetary value and can be traded on the native blockchain of the company.
Taking these aspects into account Zara can adopt a similar strategy and develop their own NFTs and then work upon a metaverse which would further increase the relevance and value of their NFTs (Silva et al. 2021). By doing this the company would be able to create hype in the market and would also spark interest among the target customers which can be enhanced with further digital marketing campaigns (García-Medina et al. 2019).
Two-step flow theory
The two-step flow theory of communication helps in understanding how information can be effectively communicated to a target population with the help of media and opinion leaders. This theory can be integrated with social media influences as well as celebrity endorsement strategies that can be adopted by Zara to further enhance its customer continuity and growth strategy (Ratnasingam et al. 2021).
Figure 1: Two-step flow theory
(Source: Miller, 2022)
The above framework indicates that two-step theory of communication where initially the organisation would need to adopt and develop a market communication plan with would be required to be aired on mass media (Nurfadila, 2020). In this regard, mass media can be television radio live events on YouTube Facebook Instagram and other social media platforms. Once mass media is involved in the propagation of a particular communication plan regarding the production services offered by Zara the opinion leaders can take their position to further enhance the overall communication plan. In this case, opinion leaders can be social media influences as well as celebrities who can endorse the brand and promote it to their followers on different social media platforms (Miller, 2022). The two-step theory can also be implicated to spread the news of NFT releases and their adoption within the consumer base of Zara which can effectively help the organisation to further develop and work upon the concept of Metaverse (Umer and Kishan, 2021).
Unlike other industries, the fashion and retail industry can much more effectively utilise the concept of Metaverse where users can have their own digital avatars and the products that they buy in real life can also be accessed through Metaverse.
The concept of the Metaverse is a disruptive innovation and is at its adoption stage among the mass population. The sooner the organisation gets into the matters space the more effectively Zara would be able to achieve competitiveness against other large retail firms.
Berlo’s SMCR model of communication
The SMCR model of communication is another framework that can be effectively incorporated by Zara within its market communication strategy to enhance customer continuity and growth (Muyanga and Phiri, 2020). Adding value to the customers can be the key attribute of their Marketing communication plan and in this regard, the following framework indicates 4 major stages so that the information the company wants to relay to its target customers can be effectively delivered.
Figure 2: SMCR model of communication
(Source: Li, 2021)
Based on the above framework it indicates that primarily the source of information plays the most important role which requires effective communication skill knowledge and needs to be aligned with the market and consumer culture (Kuznar and Yager, 2020). The second most important part of this framework is the message that the company is willing to deliver and, in this regard, the content elements, as well as the structure of the entire message, are going to be an essential aspect of the entire communication plan. It has been seen that the content of any marketing communication plan determines how effectively consumers can understand or comprehend it (Li, 2021). Not only that but the content of a market communication plan also helps in ensuring that the customers can be engaged. In most cases, content that is attractive fails to acquire the attention of the target customers. Therefore, to do this, the organisation can higher either a professional marketing company for developing the content of the communication plan or utilise its existing internal marketing team for doing the same (Farivar and Wang, 2021).
The third stage of the framework would need channels through which customise can come across the market communication campaigns. These could be social media platforms television radio billboards newspapers and other channels of communication that the company regularly utilises. However, to increase the effectiveness of the channels in spreading the news digital channels can be utilised (Labudović, 2019). The reason behind using a digital channel is that it helps targeted advertisements with more effectiveness and helps the company to achieve real-time analytics and performance of their ads.
The fourth and final stage of this communication theory indicates in the receiver and the attributes of the receiver also determine the effectiveness of the communication plan. Communication skills can be identified as an effective attribute of the receiver or the target customers and in this regard, if the communication skills of the receiver are not good then the communication plan would not be received as desired by the organisation (Muyanga and Phiri, 2020). As a result, it is essential for organisations like Zara to have simple and comprehensible market communication plans which can be understood and comprehended by the larger population. Making complicated advertisements can distract customers from the real motives of the ad and would also reduce the overall effectiveness of the plan.
Implementation strategy
Developing content
Developing the content of the market communication plan is the first stage of the implementation strategy and in this regard, comprehensible and clearly understandable content is necessary (Pažėraitė and Repovienė, 2018). The content development of the advertisement and market communication campaigns need to be directly related to the production services offered by Zara and can also be utilised for products that the company is willing to launch. If the content is delivered effectively then the organisation would be able to achieve a better response which would allow the company to understand the performance of their advertisement on different channels (Wilson, 2019).
Working with influencers
As identified in the above section the proposed strategy involves the utilisation of social media influencers and celebrities (Backaler, 2018). It is essential for the organisation to identify potential social media influencers who develop fashion-related content on their social media handles. After identifying such individuals, the company can approach them with proposed offers for either reviewing their products or promoting them directly (Soto-Vásquez and Jimenez, 2022). In exchange, the company can offer them free bees and merchandise of Zara or can also engage them in a financial contract for a specific duration. Similarly, celebrities can also be utilised as brand ambassadors and in most cases, renowned brands have their own ambassadors.
Developing NFTs
The development of NFT has also been proposed in the above strategy and in order to implement this the company would need to hire a graphic design team along with full stack developers that can help to develop both the NFT and the related utility that consumers can avail (Gonzalez, 2022). The NFT that Zara can develop can be digital imprints of fashion accessories and clothes that customs can hold on to until the Metaverse of Zara is developed and launched. One of the advantages that Zara can avail regarding Metaverse is that they can collaborate with other developers who already have their own Metaverse and endorse their products on those Metaverses. Examples can be the Metaverse of Meta (Facebook), Earth 2.0, Sandbox, and others (Influencer marketing hub, 2022). These meter verses allow users to have their own avatars and from a psychological perspective having wearable items that users possess in real life can effectively help them to enhance their online persona much more realistically (Lee and Choi, 2021).
The full-stack developers would need to develop Solidity smart contracts where customers of Zara can either get a free NFT of the products they buy or can purchase the NFT with an additional amount (Kirjavainen, 2022). For the time being, especially after this strategy is implemented, it would be advisable that the NFTs are offered for free so that customers can experience the Metaverse. This would help to achieve feedback thereby allowing the developers to improve the overall consumer experience. Once this concept gets established, hyped, and popular the company can slowly monetize the NFTs which would also increase the Value of the NFTs that customers already possess and can be traded on platforms like Opnesea, Solsea and other NFT marketplaces.
Conclusions
Based on the above analysis and strategy for enhancing consumer continuity and growth there are various strategies that the company can employ to effectively achieve brand recognition and growth and their consumer base. The strategy devised in the above study can be effectively incorporated with the help of an implementation strategy that has also win discussed above. The company would need to have a strong financial position for this project and it also requires a dedicated team which can help to successfully implement the plan thus allowing Zara to achieve its marketing goals that are better than its existing strategies.
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