The Pandemic Changed Marketing Plans

Although the awful Covid-19 pandemic of 2020-2021 is not yet over, conditions in some areas are changing rapidly and, in response, marketers are adjusting their plans.

After months of experimentation with new ways to reach customers, marketers are increasing their media budgets to fuel new growth.

Meanwhile, the UK government is using marketing to encourage people under the age of 50 to get the jab. 

Brexit: adjusting marketing plans for uncertainty

Now that Brexit has taken place, businesses large and small are going to have to adjust their marketing plans.

Much uncertainty remains, however, as this Guardian article indicates and this podcast interview with a small business owner indicates.

The race to market electric cars

Although Tesla is one of the best-known electric car brands on the planet, many automakers have marketing plans that include the introduction of electric cars.

Especially now that Tesla appears to be having difficulty consistently producing its Model 3 mainstream auto in sufficient quantities to meet its objectives, other automakers see real opportunity to gain market share with their own electric vehicles.

For example, Germany's Mercedes recently introduced an all-electric SUV, branded the EQC (for 'crossover'). The interior has many familiar features, including a robust infotainment unit.

Porsche is preparing its Mission E vehicle for 2019 introduction, with the goal of having plug-in electric and hybrid vehicles comprise half of all of its vehicle deliveries by 2025.

Volkswagen is investing heavily to develop and market electric cars in global markets. Chinese carmaker Geely is also gearing up to introduce more electric cars in more markets, including its recently-launched SUV crossover.

As a result, Tesla will face global markets more crowded with electric cars than ever in the past. How will it keep its production and its marketing plan on pace?

This post updates the Marketing in Practice example in Chapter 6 of my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.

Lego: 60 years of marketing plastic bricks

60 YEARS OF LEGO BRICKS

The Lego Group began marketing its iconic plastic brick sets in 1958. Fast-forward to 2018, and the 60-year-old product is one of the world's most popular toys, with marketing reinvented for the next generation. The brand is also estimated to be the world's most valuable toy brand.

The CMO notes that the brand's mission is 'to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow, to reach more kids'. It continues to introduce new building sets, many linked to strong brand franchises like Star Wars, Harry Potter, and Ninjago.

Lego's sales in Europe and the US didn't meet company expectations last year. It experienced very good growth in China, however, and the company plans to open more branded stores there as demand surges.

The brand is also building on the strength of Legoland theme parks to keep its toys in the public eye. For the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, for instance, Lego built a small-scale version of Windsor Castle on the grounds of Legoland Windsor.

And, with an eye toward social responsibility, Lego is beginning to make some of its bricks from plant-based materials. The idea is to become more environmentally-friendly and demonstrate good corporate citizenship.

This post updates the Lego Group example that opens Chapter 5 of my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning.

Unilever shakes up its product portfolio

Unilever recently sold off its spreads and margarine brands to concentrate on other, higher-potential products in its portfolio. The company's CEO explained: 'The announcement today marks a further step in reshaping and sharpening our portfolio for long term growth'.

Brands sold to KKR, a private equity firm, include Flora, ProActiv, Becel, Country Crock, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and and Blueband.

Although the spreads business was profitable for Unilever, with margins of about 20%, the firm wants to concentrate its marketing resources on products that closely fit its vision.

In particular, Unilever has been growing formerly niche brands like Pukka Herbs tea into mainstream brands to accelerate growth. It's also investing in personal care brands that are growing quickly and launching a number of new products for highly targeted customer segments within specific geographic markets.

This updates the Unilever examples in Essential Guide to Marketing Planning 4th edn.

Sainsbury's vs Domino's Pizza: Unexpected competition

When you think about competition, think not just about current rivals but also about potential rivals. Sainsbury's, for example, is testing a new pizza takeaway service that aims to add convenience during the busy holiday season. And this is the kind of unexpected competition that Domino's Pizza has to consider when writing a marketing plan and conducting SWOT analysis.

'By giving our customers the chance to pre-order personalised hot pizzas and pay at the counter, we are saving them time and giving them a great value takeaway experience', says a Sainsbury's exec.

To streamline the in-store preparation process, the grocery chain is initially offering only two sizes of pizza, with multiple toppings available, in three branches. Customers order in advance and then pick up in the store, paying at the pizza counter rather than joining the queue to pay. All in line with Sainsbury's strapline, live well for less.

Grocery retailers like Sainsbury's typically offer frozen pizza or ready-to-bake pizza, but it's not usual to sell made-to-order takeaway pizzas. Yet adding takeaway pizza makes sense because so many shoppers like to buy premade meals to eat at home. Will consumers get into the habit of buying pizza where they buy milk, juice and nappies?

Sainsbury's is popular on social media, with 1.6mm Facebook likes, 505k Twitter followers, 96k YouTube followers, 171k Instagram followers, and 39k Pinterest followers. Comments about the pizza trial on these social media sites will help Sainsbury's gauge interest, in addition to tallying sales.

Plan for brand power on social media

Drum reports that on social media, a NetBase study found the above five brands are the most loved by UK consumers, based on sentiment analysis of comments.

Notice how international this brand ranking is? All of these brands operate across national borders. Tesco has business operations in Central Europe and Asia, not just the UK.

But the important point about this most-loved brand ranking is how these brands are perceived among UK consumers. And clearly, they have favourable perceptions. Brand love enhances the brand power of these firms and may reinforce brand loyalty. The marketing plans of these five 'most loved' firms surely include detailed initiatives for social media interactions with customers.

Of course, many brands are increasingly savvy about social media. A brand can be smaller and more local and still be clever and engaging on social media.

For instance, take a look at the brands Hubspot says are 14 of the 'best brands on Instagram'. Brands that understand consumer behaviour can maintain customer interest and loyalty by planning to interact with their fans via all types of social media.

Happy 8th Blogiversary

This blog was born in April, 2009, and has continued through 760 posts in 8 years.

Happy blogiversary!


The all-time most viewed blog posts are:

• Yes, competitors are stakeholders (from 2012)
• Updating Tesco's marketing plan (from 2013)

Clearly, competitors as stakeholders continues to be a topic of great interest. As my posts over the years have noted, many countries outlaw certain types of collaboration among competitors (specifically, coordinating prices, for example).

However, research shows that participating in non-market activities with competitors is a good way to implement certain strategies for mutual benefit. Industrywide initiatives are a good example of competitors working together for a common goal. The fashion industry could collaborate on eco-friendly activities for a cleaner planet, for instance. Some are already working with recycled materials to keep items out of landfills.

As for Tesco's latest marketing plan, the UK retailer's strategy currently focuses on four key areas:

- value and sustainability (marketing goal)
- reducing food waste (societal goal)
- healthy living (societal goal)
- local communities (societal goal)

Coca-Cola's changing product mix

Coca-Cola Life, introduced in 2014 as a low-cal alternative to traditional Coke, will reportedly be delisted in the UK from June, as the company emphasises zero--meaning zero sugar. (Coke Life will remain in the product mix for other markets.)

Sales of Coke Life had dwindled, and now Coke wants to more clearly define its soft drinks and their benefits.  'As we look to drive no-sugar sales even more and make it clearer for consumers to differentiate between sugar and no-sugar options now feels the right time to phase out Coca-Cola Life from the UK market and focus on our three leading and iconic cola variants', says the GM of Coke GB.

Coke may also have been looking ahead to 2018, when a UK sugar tax is supposed to go into effect for sugary soft drinks. Such legal and regulatory changes make a difference in how Coke and its competitors develop and adjust marketing plans for today and tomorrow.

To introduce more UK consumers to Coke Zero, there has been an ongoing campaign featuring billboards and transit ads, TV adverts and other brand communications. This summer's campaign will include extensive sampling to induce 'try and buy' consumer behaviour.

The iconic Coke brand has more than 103 million Facebook likes, more than 2 million YouTube followers, 140k Twitter followers and thousands of other social media fans, giving it a popular platform for dialogue with consumers.

Writing a marketing plan? Check newly updated links

If you're preparing a marketing plan, you may find some valuable ideas amongst the 80+ hotlinks here on my blog. The list is now updated with additional sources of marketing news and links to marketing resources around the world. 

• For marketing plan templates and tips, be sure to check the CIM Marketing Expert page.
• For an overview of the main components of a marketing plan, visit NI Business Info.
• For more detail about writing a marketing plan and planning for social media, visit Business Victoria.

Just as important as your marketing choices: Plan ahead for metrics to measure results to evaluate the outcome of each marketing programme.

New pound coin, new update for UK marketing plans

Businesses and government agencies should already have new marketing plans in place as they prepare for the new pound coin, shown above. The coin was announced more than a year in advance, with occasional information updates released to the public.

From March 2017, this distinctive 12-sided coin will be legal tender for any purchase. This is an especially important issue for operators of vending machines, ticket machines and parking meters. Any marketer that operates any of those machines has to plan now to adapt to the new coin.

The old coins will still circulate until September 2017, giving businesses and consumers time to make the change. Machines don't have to accept both coins, just one or the other (and notify consumers which will work) during March through September.

This new coin introduction has nothing to do with Brexit, yet it also introduces an element of change into the marketing environment. Not only do machines have to be adapted to the new coin, banks and retailers must use internal marketing to educate their employees to respond to customer questions, requests and confusion. 

Inside the marketing plans of UK challenger banks

Challenger banks are recently-founded banks challenging the traditional UK high-street banks. As some high-street banks close branches and adapt IT systems to multichannel requirements, challengers begin with the latest technology and lessons learned by studying the established competitors.

Monzo is a challenger bank targeting digital-savvy customers. Originally named Mondo, Monzo operates no branches but instead delivers services electronically. Its marketing plan involves continuous customer input--asking for feedback on products for cocreation, and even soliciting ideas for the brand name Monzo. It hosts periodic get-togethers for customers to meet each other. 'People in corporates roll their eyes when startups talk about values and vision, but the brands who succeed are those who can define that for the people on the journey with them', says Monzo's head of marketing.


Another challenger is Metro Bank, founded by the experienced bank entrepreneur Vernon Hill, with retail branches that are open for extended hours every day of the week. Looking at the UK bank industry, he observes: 'There had been no entrepreneurial tradition in banking. Maybe there was 50-100 years ago, but there certainly hadn’t been one here for a long time'. So Metro bank's marketing plan is based on competing with convenience and friendly service, as well as multichannel marketing to allow customers to bank when and where they choose.

Also competing as a challenger bank is Atom Bank, which is digital-only, no branches. Its marketing plan relies on differentiation via customer focus. Customers can choose a personalised look for their Atom Bank app and even call the bank whatever they wish. Atom's CMO says: 'The traditional old banks constantly reference their relationship with its customers, but our brand strategy is about us helping people understand money much better'.

Brand personality builds marketing impact

Brand personality is a key ingredient in any marketing plan--especially for small businesses that want to grow quickly. Differentiation communicated with personality, including perhaps a bit of humour, attracts attention on a small budget to build brand awareness and preference. 

For example, Jimmy's Iced Coffee is a fast-growing business based in Dorset. Its brand personality shines through all of its marketing, from the logo to the product packaging and beyond.

The packaging shows a tagline ("Keep your chin up") from the first Jimmy's YouTube rap-beat promotional video, which attracted 3.5 million views in a year. It also echoes elements from Jimmy's brand history. Jimmy's has, in fact, expanded distribution by emphasising its brand personality and is now on the shelves of Tesco, Sainsbury and other major UK grocery chains.

What's Jimmy's secret to social media marketing? 'The good thing about online, if you do something offline you should be able to just put it online and show people what you’re doing. It’s not just pack shots of our cartons on Instagram all day long', he tells Management Today.

Take a look at how brand personality is showcased on Jimmy's social media: Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.

IBM thinks 'consumer' and 'brand story'

Traditionally a business-to-business marketer of computer hardware, software and consulting services, 105-year-old IBM just hired its first chief marketing officer for the corporation. Why? Because IBM is increasingly visible to the consumer world and needs to be sure its marketing is targeted, coordinated and differentiated across every subsidiary, product line and location.

In particular, the new CMO has experience with digital marketing and is knowledgeable about the importance of Big Data, key elements in IBM's marketing plan for Watson and other initiatives.

IBM has developed a range of sophisticated tools for applying analytics to customers' marketing challenges. When marketing IBM itself, Big Data is the key to segmenting markets and communicating what it can offer to meet individual customers' needs.

Did you know IBM now hires professional screenwriters to script ads? Professionals know how to tell a story, which all brands must be able to do to engage B2B or consumer audiences. 'Ultimately, our goal is really to make an emotional connection, and we think we can do that better by being personal without of course, being creepy', notes the CMO of IBM Commerce.

How did LEGO do?

From LEGO's corporate newsroom

LEGO recently reported turnover and profits . . . and different media outlets viewed the results in different ways.

• 'Lego wobbles after American downturn and higher wage bill' - The Evening Standard's headline
• 'Lego continues to build up sales' - BBC's headline
• 'Building on bricks with clicks' - CNBC's headline
• 'Lego profit falls 1.8% as company builds in China and Mexico' - Irish Times headline
• 'Toymaker LEGO builds more plant capacity to revive growth in US Sales' - Reuters

LEGO's profits are down a bit because it's expanding its workforce and its manufacturing capacity. Why? Because worldwide demand continues to grow and grow and grow.

In fact, demand was so extraordinarily high in 2015 that LEGO struggled to fill all orders for Christmas.

To avoid a repeat, LEGO is investing now as it continues implementing its global marketing plan, following a long-term growth strategy. Just in time: LEGO products are, of course, on this year's lists of top children's toys for Christmas.

Online marketing: seconds count

Seconds really count in online marketing.

• Amazon calculated that a one-second slowdown in loading its e-commerce site could cost it as much as £1.2 billion (US $1.6 billion) in sales per year. 
• The US department store Nordstrom actually experienced a sales drop of 11% after its retail website began loading more slowly--only half a second more slowly. 
• Mobile-friendly websites also have to be speedy to retain Millennials' attention, which is why Google offers a free speed-test utility.

Google reportedly plans to lower the results ranking of mobile websites that use pop-up ads--because it wants mobile users to get their results faster. Meanwhile, Google itself is testing ads that will load more quickly on mobile sites, helping to speed up load time for sites that carry the ads.

Marketers, when you develop your marketing plans for e-commerce or brand promotions online, test and refine to be sure your sites load quickly. Seconds lost can translate into visitors lost and money lost.

Chocolate demand is up but supplies are down

Updating the sample marketing plan in my Essential Guide to Marketing Planning, here's a look at the marketing situation of my fictional company, Lost Legends Luxury Chocolatier.

Even as the world's appetite for chocolate treats increases, the world's supply of cocoa beans is not keeping pace. In fact, chocolate supplies are declining. As crop yields drop, chocolate marketers like Mondelez are advising growers on how to improve. And, of course, lower supplies mean higher prices on the wholesale level, which often leads to higher prices on the retail level (and profit margin pressure).

Small marketers are seeing opportunity. One growing firm in South America wants to put the spotlight on its fine chocolates made not from beans grown in Africa, but in Ecuador.

Meanwhile, some of the biggest chocolatiers are innovating to appeal to choco-lovers worldwide and throughout the year. An ongoing challenge has been making fine chocolates that retain their properties and quality in hot conditions. For areas where air conditioning isn't widespread, or retail stores that aren't equipped to store chocolates in a cool place, Barry Callebaut is now marketing 'heat-resistant' chocolates.

In Japan, where chocolates are one of the favourite gifts on gift-giving occasions, Kit Kat has a new hand-crafted, gold-dusted bar for the status conscious consumers who are willing to pay more for a special product. Limited quantities only add to the scarcity and perceived value.

Marketing predictions for 2016

Marketing experts have a number of predictions for the year ahead. Keep these developments in mind if you're creating or refining a marketing plan in 2016:

• Trust will be more important than ever. Brands must take care to keep earning it with every transaction, every marketing action. Customers still want transparency and authenticity, not just the right product at the right price.
• Omnichannel is no longer merely an option, it's a basic requirement as customers expect personalisation and relevant marketing communications and offerings across platforms, online and offline. Customers who buy online should be able to return products in a store without fuss.
• Real-time analysis of Big Data wins. Customers leave traces everywhere they digitally go. It's up to marketers to interpret wants and needs by tracking behaviour and offering ads, content and other information at the moment consumers need and want it.
• Virtual reality is a reality. Brands and entertainment marketers need to have communications and services for cutting-edge technology, especially for millennial consumers.
• 'Alternative' has gone mainstream. Goods and services that were once on the margins are increasingly popular. Customers want 'unique', and retailers want to differentiate themselves by offering something other than the usual.
  
• 'Buy it now' is the new social media reality. See it on Pinterest or Instagram, buy with a swipe or click. Is your brand ready to take advantage of this trend?

Marketing and creativity

Whether you're developing a marketing plan or looking for a new marketing idea, here are a few sites to check for inspiration and information:

• Brand Republic's best digital campaigns - Shown at left, selected mobile, social media and online marketing campaigns.
• Mobile Marketing Magazine's Innovation Lab - A weekly review of some of the week's tech innovations. Recent innovations pictured include cardboard guitars, sweat-powered clothing and invisible keyboards.
• Think with Google's Creative gallery page - Articles and advice about advertising, social media, branding and other creative marketing activities.
• The Drum's creative page - Articles and opinion about advertising, brand creativity and media innovations.

The art and science of marketing forecasts

Every marketing plan requires some kind of marketing forecast--usually, sales forecasts on a product by product OR brand by brand OR market by market basis. But how do you develop a reasonable forecast, especially when you're looking at something new or somewhat unpredictable?

Tetlock and Gardner, authors of Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction, researched people who are more often correct than incorrect in their forecasts, and concluded that three things can improve a forecast:

1. Don't make up your mind in advance. Instead, be open to new ideas and critically evaluate information. If you want to examine the market for doughnut shops in London, media coverage of National Doughnut Week's top trends can help you think about the ascendancy of doughnuts after years of the cupcake craze, for instance. Try not to rule out information that contradicts your initial thoughts on the forecast--instead, ask hard questions to test the data before relying on it.
2. Identify the various elements that can influence the forecast. It's difficult to predict exactly how many doughnut shops will open in London next year, but easier to start by calculating the number of residents of London, the number who typically buy doughnuts and the number of doughnut shops already in existence. These statistics will help you consider what drives trends affecting consumption and business formation.
3. Look at what others are forecasting. Find authoritative sources of information, examine their forecasts (element by element if possible) and see how your forecast compares. Here, you might track the number of new London-area shops opened by Krispy Kreme and other doughnut retailers, analyse how the number of new openings has changed by chain over the years and link this information to other developments in the marketing environment that affect doughnut consumption and retail expansion.