MBA Integrated Marketing Communications

 Introduction

The report will analyse the various integrated marketing communication strategies that can be utilised by Amazon to enhance its marketing campaigns. The proposed strategies will be based on the loopholes and issues identified from the previous assignment analysis. From the observations, it can be seen that Amazon needs to organise events as their marketing tool for influencing customers to take part in it and get exciting gifts or other benefits. Following that, Amazon needs to focus on improving their PR so they can reach to broader customer base. The report will also identify various personalised techniques that use technological advancements for driving their sales. The 4C’s of integrated marketing communication will be implemented in context with Amazon’s marketing strategies to enhance their IMC plan.

Proposed strategy

Looking at the integrated marketing communication tool, it can be seen that Amazon needs to focus on upgrading its media content to attract and influence more customers. Some of the proposed strategies are described below based on loopholes and opportunities they can address.

Adopt AI and ML

The Company must adopt artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to bring innovations to their website. For instance, using AI they can allow customers to place home accessories in their home virtually that will offer them an idea of its looks after they buy the product. They can use the tagline of “virtual-try-on” which allows the customer to try before buying. It will attract customers as this strategy allows the customer to have a very different shopping experience like never before (Allen, 2020). Further, Amazon can also adopt this when customers are buying clothes. Allow customers to try the clothes virtually and analyse the look they will have after wearing them in real. They can advertise this on diverse online media channels and use direct marketing. Similar to Kindle ads they can send direct mails to existing customers for trying the new AI and ML technologies they have brought to their online website. Implementing this strategy is very helpful as it will offer customers an excellent shopping experience that is different from any other e-commerce platform.

Organise events

From their marketing communication, it can be observed that Amazon advertises their product essentially but it could be more beneficial if they take advantage of various events and programs. The company can organise events on their social media platforms based on different cultures to attract more customers. They can offer free prices, offers, discounts, vouchers, and other benefits to gather more and more consumers (Magnotta et. al. 2020). For example, they can involve customers on different festive occasions allowing them to share their decoration pictures or wearables brought from Amazon. They can organise a competition on Christmas Eve asking customers to share their decorative, and clothes tagging Amazon so they can select winners. Amazon can offer exciting gifts, discount coupons, vouchers, and offers to attract customers for purchasing products.

Furthermore, they can organise events using public relations that focuses on interacting with customers and showcasing newly launched service and products. They can organise events allowing book readers to read Kindle books for free and interested candidates will get free Kindle membership for one year. It would attract customers and join the events (Karacaer, 2021). Using public relations and news reporters for organising events would be beneficial for telecasting the event on huge platforms so they can influence the customer to buy products.

Advertising using traditional media

Many of the customers are still watching television and targeting those using traditional media is highly beneficial. They can advertise products in television shows and movies (Yajing, 2019). For example, they can ask television shows to promote their product in one of their scenes highlighting the benefits that would be beneficial for attracting customers. They can advertise Alexa into reality dance shows and reel parties that can influence the customer to buy Alexa and use it in their parties. Other than that, they can also sponsor the Television shows on their Amazon Prime and ask them to advertise them in their show. In this way, they can enhance their customers and sales. The thing that needs to be kept in focus is to advertise and promote in shows that are most watched and liked by people so they can target a wide range of consumers.

Sales promotions

Using the technique of sales promotion, Amazon can promote their products and service on different online channels to increase their sales. As discussed above, the company offers a free delivery service to Amazon Prime members. Looking at their promotion strategy they only offer free delivery to a customer having a prime membership account. For targeting wide customers, they can offer free delivery to every customer for a small period during festive occasions (Peng et. al. 2019). For instance, allowing the customer to buy products without any delivery charges on Christmas, New Year, and other occasions will boost their sales and profitability.

Following that, they can utilise a customer database and send them festive gifts advertising their product using catalogs is a different form of advertisement. For instance, sending New Year goodies to promote their products would be beneficial. In this, they must target customers that haven’t purchased for so long and send them a message that “it’s been so long you purchased with Amazon”. It would make them feel special and respected and it would enhance their sales.

Direct marketing

Unlike sales promotion, they can use e-mail marketing to send a notification to customers that haven’t purchased with the company for so long. It could be a cost-efficient method in comparison with the sales promotion strategy described above. In this, they can take advantage of the customer database and can notify about their last purchase and send them a missing message like “It’s been so long you have made any purchase with Amazon.” Further, they can also send notifications about the items that are waiting for making a purchase decision or notify them about the products that customers have added to the bag but further processes are incomplete. Sending personalised notification help in enhancing customer trust as they see that their decisions are valued and respected (Rosário, 2021). It would be beneficial for personalising the customer experience and seeking their attention appropriately.

4C’s of integrated marketing communications

It is to be noted that every campaign the organisation needs to be check against 4C’s of IMC that are consistency, coherence, continuity and complementary.

Figure 4: 4C’s of integrated marketing communications.

(Source: 4C’s of integrated marketing communications, 2020)

Amazon must adopt 4C’s in their IMC plan to develop a message that is highly attractive and influencing for changing customers buying decisions. Adopting consistency would be beneficial for the company to show its consistent efforts in developing products and innovations that are customer-centric and meet the demands of customers (Desai and Shah, 2019). Following that, their advertising strategy needs to be coherent and logical which makes some sense. Coherence can be seen in the advertising approach of Amazon as they post simple, clear, and understandable advertisements. Further, the advertisement needs to be continuous and complementary that seeks customer attention along with sales and profitability.

Implementation strategy

An implementation plan for the above-described strategy would be beneficial for the company to execute the strategies adequately along with reaching their targeted customer. Developing an implementation plan is beneficial for the organisation in achieving success for their planned strategies. The implementation plan is developed based on the strategies discussed above.

Conclusion

The above strategies are proposed based on the integrated marketing communication plan used by Amazon. The strategies aim at adopting the emerging opportunities that can enhance the marketing efficiency of Amazon. The report has discussed various strategies that can resolve the loopholes. Organising events and competitions will help in enhancing their PR relations. Other than that, technological advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are described for allowing the customer to try products virtually. It is the strategy that enhances the shopping experience of customers and it is never experienced before. Following that, Amazon can use direct marketing and sales promotion to target customers that haven’t purchased for so long. The implementation plan is discussed based on the activities and milestones they will face.

References

Books and Journals

Allen, G., (2020). Understanding AI technology. Joint Artificial Intelligence Center (JAIC) The Pentagon United States.

Desai, A. and Shah, J., (2019). Integrated Marketing Communication Then and Today-A Challenge or An Opportunity?. Journal of Marketing Vistas, 9(1), pp.2-12.

Hewage, T.N., Halgamuge, M.N., Syed, A. and Ekici, G., (2018). Big Data Techniques of Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter. J. Commun., 13(2), pp.94-100.

Karacaer, S.S., (2021). The Role of Social Media in Event Marketing: Outcomes for Practitioners and Participants. In Impact of ICTs on Event Management and Marketing (pp. 262-281). IGI Global.

Magnotta, S.R., Peev, P. and Steffes, E., (2020). Everyone’sa winner: The initiation and effectiveness of an Intracollegiate sales competition. Journal of Marketing Education, 42(3), pp.243-256.

Peng, L., Zhang, W., Wang, X. and Liang, S., (2019). Moderating effects of time pressure on the relationship between perceived value and purchase intention in social E-commerce sales promotion: Considering the impact of product involvement. Information & Management, 56(2), pp.317-328.

Rosário, A.T., (2021). E-Mail Marketing: Research and Challenges. International Journal of Online Marketing (IJOM), 11(4), pp.63-83.

Singh, A. and Pathak, G.S., (2021). Revisiting marketing strategy in emerging markets: a study of Amazon. com Inc. International Journal of Economics and Business Research, 22(2-3), pp.113-126.

Yajing, L., (2019). Research on Interactive Television Marketing based on Brand Experience. Academic Journal of Business & Management, 1(3).

Online

4C’s of integrated marketing communications. (2020). [Online]. Accessed through:<https://blog.oxfordcollegeofmarketing.com/2020/11/19/4cs-of-integrated-marketing-communications/>

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