Steps involved in initiating media plan

Communication can be considered as one of the major components for the business organizations in conveying their message to the target customers. This is due to the reason that the more effective will be the communication process, the more visibility will be gained by the firms in the market (Reddi, 2014). In this case, the choice and use of the media plays an important role due to the reason that media helps in communicating the right content to the right customers and in the lowest possible cost (Huang, Baptista & Newell, 2015). There are number different media platforms available for the organizations and it is important for them to get the right choice according to the target audience and their trend and preference pattern. An idea and effective media plan can helps the business organizations in having these criterion met.

Media strategies are getting more importance among the large business organizations mainly due to the increase in the competition and increased threat from the new entrants. One of such organizations is Coles from Australia. They are the market leader in the Australian retail space but constantly facing the heat of increase in competition from their rivals (Coles.com.au, 2018). In accordance to the change in the trend and preference pattern among the target customers, Coles is also changing their business strategies, which should be effectively communicated to the targeted audience.

This report will design a media plan for Coles in relation to their business objectives. In the recent time, they have introduced a new adult fashion line in the market, which will require an ideal media plan to get communicated. In addition, Coles is also having the need for a media plan to maintain the visibility of their existing fashion brands. This report will also discuss about selection and profiling of the target market for Coles and detailing about their media objectives. Different frameworks will be used in determining the media objectives and selecting the right choice of media. The media cost will also be identified to be borne by Coles.

There are number of steps involved in selecting the right media and in accordance to the strategic objectives of Coles. In the following sections, each of these steps will be discussed from the perspective of Coles.

The first step involved in setting the media plan is identifying the business objectives. This refers to the fact that different organizations are having different sets of goals to be achieved from their media process plan. Thus, the media selection plan should be designed in accordance to the strategic objectives (Jugenheimer, Sheehan & Kelley, 2015). In the case of Coles, their objective is to communicate their newly introduced products in the market to the targeted customers along with maintaining the customer recall value for their existing products. Thus, different media tools will be used for communicating the newly introduced products and different tools for the existing products (Mulhern, 2013).

The next step is the identification of the target audience. This refers to the process of identifying the media usage pattern of the target customers. This may get vary due to the fact that not all media platforms are having same level of penetration among the different target segments. For instance, traditional mode of media will have more penetration among the older age groups while online media will have more penetration among the younger age groups (Cappella, Kim & Albarracin, 2015). Thus, it is important for Coles to determine the target customer customers and select the media tools accordingly. On the other hand, it should be noted content of subject of the media should also be designed according to the preference pattern of the target customers.

Selection of the target market

The next step involves initiating the ideal and effective media mix that will include different media tools and platforms that will ensure coverage of maximum target audience. This will include use of the both traditional and new age media platforms. In the case of Coles, it should be noted that they are having diversified product offerings, which denotes the presence of diverse sets of customers (Gensler et al.,2013). Thus, the media mix strategy of Coles will also be more diverse and varied to cater to the different sets of customers. The media mix of Coles should have the presence of different media tools and platforms.

The last step is the determination of the cost of initiated media. This is also important due to reason that funding process and availability will determine the effectiveness and efficiency of the media mix on the targeted customers. In addition, funding will also determine the extent to which different media platforms can be used. In the case of Coles, funding will not be a problem due to the fact that they are large business organization (Krajcovic, 2015). However, determination of the cost of media plan is important due to the reason that fund will be allocated accordingly and the performance of the media can be evaluated based on the return on investment.

Selection or profiling of the target market is important in order to target a specific segment and determining their taste and preference pattern. This involves a number of variables, which will be used in segmenting the target market. The following sections will discuss about these segmentation variables for Coles.

In terms of the demographic segmentation, the target market for Coles will be vast and wide due to the reason that product variety for them is more and is having product for different age groups. However, in this case, the targeted product is the adult fashion brand. According to Sandy,Gosling and Durant (2013), the targeted audience will be the age groups between 20 and 40. In terms of gender, both the gender will be targeted due to the offering of both men and women wears. On the other hand, it is stated by Valentine and Powers (2013) that in terms of income, the targeted audience for Coles will be the premium customers due to the reason that the newly introduced fashion brand is targeted towards the top of the pyramid. On the other hand, same age groups will be targeted for their existing fashion brands but more mass market customers will also be targeted. Thus, Coles is having the need for both premium as well as mass market media tools.

Geographic segmentation

Coles is having different set of products as well as different customer segments mainly due to their large number of stores present across Australia. However, the newly introduced premium fashion line will be only be marketed from their flagship stores present in the tier I locations. Thus, according to Khan (2013), in terms of the geographical segmentation, the urban customers from the tier I cities will be targeted. On the other hand, for their fashion lines, tier II cities will also be targeted due to the reason that they are available from more number of stores.

In terms of the psychographic segmentation, customers with having active lifestyles will be targeted. This is due to the reason premium fashion line will well align with their lifestyles only. Thus, the media planning should also be done in a way that they will connect with the active and new age customers (Hardcastle & Hagger, 2016). In this case, the media tools and the content will be made more globalized due to the reason that customers with this lifestyle will have more awareness about the global trend.

After the identification of the target customers, the media objectives should be designed and they should be well aligned. In this case, AIDA model will be used. According to the AIDA model, there are four stages of setting the media objectives. The following sections will discuss about these stages.

Attention 

This stage defines the objective of gaining the attention of the customers. The approach of the media should be designed in such as way that it will gain the initial attention of the targeted customers. In the case of Coles, the media objective will be to gain the attention of more than 50 percent of the targeted customers for their newly introduced products in the market within the next 1 year. Hence, as per Hassan, Nadzin and Shiratuddin (2015), in order to have maximum coverage, the media approach should be made more attractive and eye-catching by use of more graphical elements and audio visual aid. In the case of their exiting fashion lines, grabbing more attention will be their key objective due to the reason that the more will be the attention from the side of the customers, the more will be the customer recall value.

The next stage of the AIDA model is to gain interest among the customers. This refers to the process of providing more information about the products to the customers only to make them more interested. In the case of Coles, the media objective will be to provide more informative content through their media channels. This will make the customers aware about the products and to what extent these products are superior over others (Rawal, 2013). In addition, the more information should be provided to the customers regarding their existing fashion lines such as the new designs added. This will help to maintain the interest of the customers over their existing products.

The next stage is creating desire. This refers to the process of creating the need of the customers for the particular product. This objective will further enhance the probability of sales for the organization. In the case of Coles, their media objective is to have the exact information regarding the competiveness and distinctiveness of the products. As discussed earlier, the newly introduced fashion line of Coles will be targeted towards the premium customers. Thus, according to Wijaya (2015), the media content should be designed in such a way that it will demonstrate the advantages to be gained by the customers from the product. In the case of the existing fashion line, the objective will be to communicate the customers about what the products got updated.

The last stage is converting the desire of the customers in sales. This is due to the reason that the core objective of media plan is to maximize the sales. In the case of Coles, online purchase link will be given with the media content that will enable the customers in purchasing the products (Lee & Hoffman, 2015). In addition, in the case of traditional media, stores will be stocked with available reserves only to enable the customers to have their products they selected in the media. It is targeted that within the next 1 year, 5 percent of the total revenue of Coles will be gained from the newly introduced fashion line.

Selection of the media categories and vehicles are another major step in the media planning process. Media categories refer to the type of media to be used by Coles in communicating their message and content. On the other hand, media vehicle refers to more specific process of communicating to the particular target segment without becoming too general.

In the case of the newly introduced fashion line of Coles, the type of media will be more specific and newer media tools will be used. For instance, social media marketing, sponsorship marketing and television marketing will be initiated (Bivens & Haimson, 2016). This is due to the reason that the newly introduced fashion brand is targeted towards the premium customers and this set of customers will be more active in the online media over the traditional media. In addition, the media vehicles to be chosen should be more of the premium categories such as Instagram over Facebook. This is due to the reason that facebook caters to the more generalized segments and the content of Coles will get diluted. On the other hand, Instagram is having more niche customer segments and it is more related to the lifestyle, which can be well aligned with that of target positioning of Coles (Dessart, Veloutsou & Morgan-Thomas, 2015).

On the other hand, television channels should also be selected based on the positioning of the brand. For instance, fashion channels and channels with high end content can be targeted. This will help in targeting the customers with having premium set of lifestyle (Kazakova et al., 2016). In case of the sponsorship marketing, initiating fashion shows and events of sponsoring them will create the buzz among the target audience and the media vehicles will be more aligned.

In the case of the existing fashion brands of Coles, more generalized media categories will be chosen in order to cater to the larger section of the customers. Facebook can be used to determine the average market trend and opinion regarding their brands. In addition, television channels will be more wide ranging from teenage channels to entertainment channels due to the fact that existing fashion brands are having more wide targeted customer segments. Thus, it can be concluded that Omni Channel media strategy will be initiated in communicating with the larger section of the customers and this will also help to maximize the gain from each of the mediums, thereby enhancing the return on investments (Saghiri et al., 2017). In addition, initiation of the Omni Channel marketing will also help Coles to have the targeted segments both from online and offline market. Cost of communicating through the online mediums will be less compared to the traditional media and thus more preferences and focus to the online media will help in regulating the cost of media for Coles.

Activities	Estimated budget
	AUD (In millions)
Social media marketing	20
Content marketing (SEO)	40
Television commercials	90
Sponsored events	30
Final estimated cost (total)	180

Maximum budget is allocated for the social media marketing and sponsored events due to the reason that unconventional media will help in creating the distinctive image in the market. In addition, social media marketing will only be the two ways communication process and customer involvement will be included in the med process of Coles. In accordance to this budget and selection of media, timeline for the implementation activities will be stated in the following section.

Main activities/ stages	1st-2nd Week	3rd– 4th Week	5th– 6th Week	7th-8th Week	9th– 10th Week	11th– 12th Week
Content selection for social media marketing
Date, time and venue selection for sponsored activities
Selection of television channels
Running of television commercials
Media database
Follow ups

Key performance indicators	Evaluation plan
New customer acquisitions	Determining the rate of new customer acquisitions after the implementation of the media plan will help in identifying the effectiveness of the plan.
Status of existing customers	Determination of the status of the existing customers will help in evaluating the effectiveness of the media plan for their existing brands.
Generation of revenue	Determination of the generation of revenue will help in identifying the increase in the sales after the implementation of the media plan.

Conclusion 

Thus, it can be concluded that Omni Channel usage of media will be the most effective mode for Coles in communicating with the larger targeted customers along with having regulated cost. In this report, the steps to be followed in determining the media plan are being discussed with the use of AIDA model. Different media vehicles are being identified, which will be beneficial for Coles in communicating with their customers. In this report, the media objectives of Coles are also being discussed in terms of their newly introduced and existing fashion brands. In accordance to their media objectives and vehicles, the probable cost and timeline for the implementation are being stated in this report.

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