MCOM4040 Marketing and Communications : Promotional Mix Theory

1. A visual illustration (an A4 poster supported by texts and images) following the guide below:
A) The content of the poster should be appealing to both internal and external stakeholders (i.e. employees as well as customers).
B) The content must include Image/s and brief written message/s that communicate the proposed strategy and capture the attention of the intended audience.

2. A rational to support the communication campaign (the poster) which should:
A) Include an explanation of how the promotional mix theory can generally be used to decide selection of a communication channel.
B) Describe the target audience and the response sought in relation to the new strategy.
C) Apply / use a marketing theory such as ‘AIDA’ (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action) or ‘DRIP’ (Differentiate, Reinforce, Inform, Persuade) to explain how the poster created will achieve the objectives set.
D) Academic references must be included in the rational 

Answer:

Rationale:

Promotional mix theory is a tool which helps any business in communicating in an effective manner and proves beneficial for the products or services which are provided to the customers (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2009). It could include one or a combination of tools, which include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations and sales promotion (Eagle, Dahl and Czarnecka, 2014).

This theory helps in making the consumers aware about the products, services, offers and other relevant information relating to the company, so as to ensure the survival and growth of any business. By using an appropriate promotional mix, one can stimulate the target audience to purchase the products or services offered (Fill and Hughes, 2008).

For Chipotle, the marketing plan has already been drawn. And on these bases, a poster was made for the promotion of the offer being given by the company. The promotional mix theory helps in deciding the communication channel.

The product mix here is focused on kids and healthy food enthusiasts. In this age, everyone is opting for junk or fast food and even burritos and tacos fall under this category. But, by making the consumers aware about the quality product used, as well as, the health components of the products of Chipotle, the individuals focused on their health could be attracted. And the market of such consumers is on the rise, due to raised awareness about diabetes.

Communication channel decided on basis of individuals belonging to digital era. This is because of the increased use of social media in every sphere of life (Ryan, 2011). The social media has resulted in the success of a number of startups and an established company like Chipotle can only gain from it. So, the channels of social media, for instance, Facebook and Twitter, have been used in the promotional offer.

Hence, the targeted audience here is the tech generation focused on healthy eating. This generation is actively involved in social media and uses it to track the latest updates. And so, this plan would be advertised over these social channels through sponsored ads. So, the promotion would be done in a dual manner, one through the hard copy of the poster and the other through the social media. The poster appropriately highlights the targeted audience needs and hence, would help in fulfilling the objectives of creating this offer.

AIDA is one of the marketing theories which describes the steps/ stages which take place from the moment the consumer becomes aware about the product, to the actual purchase of the product (Kotler and Armstrong, 2015). For this promotional offer, the AIDA has been applied in the following manner:

• Attention- the attention of the targeted audience is garnered through the discounted offers and the loyalty program being offered, along with its benefits;
• Interest- the interest here is in quality and healthy food, which is also delicious;
• Desire- by establishing a loyalty program, the customers are encouraged to be loyal, eat healthy and attain benefits of the new loyalty program;
• Action- in order to enter into loyalty program, so as to earn benefits, the consumers would undertake the desired action of purchasing the product and proving themselves as a loyal customer. This would also help Chipotle in achieving profits.

References:

Eagle, ‎L., Dahl, S., and Czarnecka, B. (2014) Marketing Communications. Oxon: Routledge.

Fill, ‎C., and Hughes, G. (2008) Marketing Communications. Burlington, MA: Butterworth- Heinemann.

Kotler, P.T., and Armstrong, G. (2015) Principles of Marketing. 16^th ed. USA: Pearson.

Ryan, P.K. (2011) Social Networking. New York: Rosen Central.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing. (2009) How to achieve an effective promotional mix. Retrieved from: https://www.cim.co.uk/files/promotionalmix.pdf