Saturday, January 25, 2020

EasyJet E-Marketing Strategies Analysis

EasyJet E-Marketing Strategies Analysis This technical report has been order to clarify the e-marketing strategies implemented by the EasyJet airline to gain competitive advantages over its rivals in the marketing for low cost aviation. Situation analysis present position and industry of EasyJet by use SWOT and PEST model. This report was looked at the various strategies used by EasyJet and researched in depth the European budget airline industry. The main objective was study EasyJets successful e-marketing campaigns. Chapter 2 Introduction Since 1995, EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a great and successful example of a European airline. The chairman Stelios Haji-loannou (Greek) founded the company this year. It is based on the US carrier SouthWest, and is low cost, no-frills model. Stelios hired an expensive brand consultancy and offered them  £100,000 to come up with one. A month later, the consultants turned up at EasyLand with magazine clippings attached to pieces of cardboard. Unimpressed by their efforts, Stelios promptly fired them. In the end, he came up with the airlines name himself. The word easy kept on coming into his head, so he decided to christen the airline EasyJet. For the company logo he went to a small local design consultancy, White Knight, which gave the airline its famous shade of orange, know as Pantone 021C, used by no other airline at the time or since. The design consultancy then created a simple set of graphics for the airlines first advertising campaign. In 1995, EasyJet starts fights from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh with to leased Boeing 737-300 with a capacity of 148 seats at a price of only  £29 for one way ticket. Glasgow and Edinburgh are the first routes. The logic was simple: southern Scotland was the biggest domestic market from London for which air was a sensible alternative to road or rail. The airline opened a telephone reservations centre and took its first booking on 23 October 1995. The phone at the EasyJet telephone reservation centre started ringing and never stopped. They were in business. Two years later, EasyJet launches its website, easyjet.com. Web bookings grew from zero to 26 per cent of business within a year. On the first day of trading during one promotion, 13,000 seats were sold, believed to be a record for the most commercial transactions carried out on the internet in 24 hour period. By mid-1999, when its internet sales represented 58 per cent of the total, EasyJet because the first airline to make more sales on the internet than through normal telephone reservations. In March 2000, EasyJet reached two million sears, and it took only another three months to reach the three million mark. By 2001, online bookings regularly reached 80 per cent, the highest proportion of online sales for any airline in the world. In financial view, EasyJet plc was listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: EZJ) and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index on 5th November 2000. In October 2004, the international investment company FL Group was purchased an 8.4 per cent stake in EasyJet. In 2005, FL Group increased its share in the company to 16.9 per cent. Lois (2005) mentioned that, according to the investment house, EasyJet was becoming a paperless company with a powerful electronic infrastructure. The results were lower administration costs, better management information and more responsive decision making. Figure 1 Milestone of EasyJet Chapter 3 Situation Analysis In this chapter, I will present position and analysis the current position using both of used SWOT and PEST model. EasyJet seems like very good situation and more expertise will predict have great opportunities for the low cost strategy. Resultingly the saturated market and lack of other choice in the British, competition is likely aggravated ineluctability followed by acquisition and coalition, an early sign of which is EasyJets purchase of British Airline subsidiary GO. In UK airline market, gave very less growth opportunities, therefore focus will be on the other continental market. Next step forward in this direction is a new base going Dutch, Berlin, with flights from 11 European cities, and as well on Eastern Europe. Price strategy was also the focus point, its expansion their route network. At last, promotion also needs to convince people that it is safe to fly and constitute EasyJet as Euro largest low fare airline. 3.1 PEST analysis The following factors are likely to have an influence on the EasyJet. Political factors In 1990 the European deregulation of commercial aviation coincided with the expansion of the low cost airline industry. The LCC in the industry were able to take advantage of the relaxed laws and expand their operations. On the other hand, threat of war in the East Euro and EU east enlargement may provide access to viable the new markets were also the political factors of EasyJet. Economical factors Mercer Management Consulting (2002) reported that the low cost airline market conforms to the criteria of three components. Firstly, it provides a simple product consisting of no seat reservation, free seating, and adequate in flight service. They are a genuine no frills airline with a simple product offered to the market. Webster (2004) noted EasyJets ability to maintain a high degree of customer focus through a new, user friendly website with an improved booking process. Secondly, mergers and acquisitions is also the low cost airline markets characteristic; the expansion of existing low cost airlines and finally, market exits as a result of bankruptcy. Finally, the industry operates a low cost ethos, which is maintained by lean sales, high productivity of resources, low maintenance costs and low wages. Social factors The low cost carriers position their product to leisure travellers and non business travellers, however EasyJet has differentiated by targeting the business and leisure segments. This behavioural segmentation creates a more dynamic edge in comparison to their competitors who solely focus on leisure travel. Thus, EasyJet must ensure that its strategy is tailored to a wider market. Walton (2005) confirmed that EasyJet was presented as a European low cost airline with a current reading of 26 million passengers in 14 key countries. It has 190 routes to 58 airports and 163 million people live within one hour of EasyJets airports. Technological actors Low cost carriers have the ability to maintain a high degree of customer focus through user-friendly websites with improved booking processes. These websites have the capability of charging bookings with greater ease and utilising an easy to use fare finder to obtain the cheapest fares. Selling tickets via the technological medium of websites and hence by having no travel agents, they avoid paying agency commissions. 3.2 SWOT analysis Strengths: EasyJet was used the bright orange as Pantone 021C, used by no other airline at the time or since. It have a successful financially which they cut out all meals and snacks on travel tour, can reduced the cost of operation. Have more flexible organisation and being seen as an innovative. The airline opened a telephone reservation centre is a strong e-business on 1995. EasyJet is also was a part of the consortium and have awarded by UK air traffic control system National Air Traffic Services (NATS). The brand name EasyJet has all the qualities required for long term memory storage and will not be easy to forget. The airline flies to main destination airports throughout Europe making it very attractive to business travellers. It gains efficiencies compared to traditional carries with rapid turnaround times, and progressive landing charge agreements with airports, maximizing asset utilization. Single model of aircraft reduced training, maintenance and supervisory costs. At last, EasyJet has been wisely investing in strong brand build measured like advertising and television shows ensured high brand recall. Weaknesses Below have some weaknesses for EasyJet organisation. It continued sustenance of cost leadership can be difficult in a dynamic market. The two drivers of growth, the focus on price and the focus on convenience seem to be reached their natural limits and differentiation from there could become difficult. The airline does not own the EasyJet brand, its owned by Sir Stelios and as a result, does not have control on its performance of other products and services used the same name. It also loss of usage in future could adversely affect its own market performance. On the other hand, the business model can over time become blurred under competitive pressure and consolidation of the Low Cost Carries (LCC) industry. The airline must be continuously innovative to maintain its current advantage in e-tailing. Increased fleet capacity could be difficult to fill during lean periods and in the face of growing competition in a matured market. Opportunities Recent expansion of the EU has resulted in open of new markets for the LCCs. Their low fares will increase movement of job seekers across boarders and also promote the tourism industry, lead to economic growth. Consolidation could help EasyJet to a certain degree offset the pressure on its costs and fares. Otherwise, vertical and horizontal expansion could be an important option for EasyJet for growth in mature markets and offset any future threat of increased in service provider costs. Withdrawal of traditional airlines from less traffic-intense routes could be an opportunity for expanded. EasyJet does not seem to have any flights to Scandinavian capitals like Stockholm and Helsiki where immigrant flow was on the rise. Threats The threats of EasyJet had some factors. Terrorism and catastrophic loss can result in lesser air travel and loss of infrastructural support, war threats and outbreak of epidemics or pandemics could increase apprehensions about air travel. Technology advancement in the conduct of business meetings like video conferencing can be detrimental to short distance flights and impending increased in environmental taxes could increase costs. In addition, limited or no slot availability could be hurdle in future expansion plans and due to its limited fuel hedging policy, EasyJet is more vulnerable to fuel price fluctuations increased by variability in its costs. Currency fluctuations is also the factor of threats, it will affect especially the US dollar denominated costs like aircraft purchase, aircraft financing costs, maintenance reserve payments, fuel purchase etc.. Excess capacity and cost cutting tactics by competitors can affect passenger traffic on popular routes. Imitation of some main no-frills features by traditional airlines on same routes can confuse and blur the distinctive image of any LCC. Additional, traditional players can partly switch over or start their own baby low cost airline. Last, dependence on third party service providers could cause problems when any of these contracts are not renewed or negotiation of suitable replacement does not take place or if higher rates are charged. Chapter 4 eMarketing Strategy This chapter was analysis what eMarketing strategy has the EasyJet adopted or is planned to adopt and what is the value proposition and differential advantage of this strategy. 4.1 Marketing application of internet marketing Internet based media offer a range of opportunities for marketing products and services across the purchase cycle. EasyJet illustrate the applications of internet marketing since they show how organisations can use online communications such as their web site, third-party web sites and e-mail marketing as: Direct response medium: EasyJet uses sponsored links when a user is researching a flight using a search engine to prompt them to directly visit the EasyJet site by clicking through to it. Similarly the EasyJet e-mail newsletter sent to customers can encourage them to click through to a web site to generate sales. Platform for sales transactions: EasyJet sells flights online to both consumers and business travellers. Customer service mechanism: Customers serve themselves on easyJet.com by reviewing frequently asked questions. A relationship-building medium where a company can interact with its customers to better understand their needs and offer them relevant products and offers. EasyJet uses its e-mail newsletter and tailored alerts about special deals to help keep its customers and engage them in a dialogue to understand their needs through completing surveys and polls. 4.2 Consumer matrix Bowman and Faulkner (1997) were also mentioned that the consumer matrix details that customers have with regard to the service or product offered to them and the prices charged. When used this theory to apply in EasyJet, can guestimate the general perception generated by the market. EasyJets flights was offer the value to consumer as gained the benefits from the online or telephone transaction relative to price appear favourable in comparison to another competitors. In the view of heterogeneous, according to the demands for the service, indicated that, one service meets all demands might be let it to the wrong competitive strategy. More consumers were demand the low cost alternative and price sensitive with the airline segment. EasyJet was in order to attain sustainable competitive advantage by the customer matrix price strategy. 4.3 Marketplace channel structures Channel structures describe the way a manufacturer or selling organization delivers products and services to its customer. The distribution channel will consist of one or more intermediaries such as wholesalers and retailers. The relationship between a company and its channel partners shown in below figure can be dramatically altered by the opportunities afforded by the internet. This occurs because the internet offers a means of bypassed some of the channel partners. This process is known as disintermediation or cutting out the middleman. Benjamin and Weigand (1995) calculated that, using the sale of quality shirts as an example, it was possible to make cost saving of 28 per cent in the case of (b) and 62 per cent for case for (c). Some of these cost savings can be passed on to the customer in the form of cost reductions. 4.4 6 Is of eMarketing In this section, I used the McDonald and Wilson (1999) as the 6 Is of eMarketing to summarised the differences between the new media and traditional media. The 6 Is are useful since they highlight factors that apply to practical aspects of internet marketing such as personalization, direct response and marketing search, but also strategic issues of industry restructuring and integrated channel communications. The 6 Is are Interactivity, Intelligence, Individualization, Integration, Industry restructuring and Independence of location. But in this case, I only focus one of the factors Integration, for used by this theory. The Internet provides further scope for integrated marketing communications. Below figure show how it is just one of many different media channels. When assessed the success of a web site, the role of the internet in communicating with customers and other partners can best be considered from two perspectives. The EasyJet web site can be used as a direct response tool enabled customers to respond to offers and promotions publicized in other media. The web site can also have a direct response or call back facility built into it. The internet can be used to support the buying decision even if the purchase does not occur via the web site. Customer information delivered on the web site must be integrated with other databases of customer and order information such as those accessed via staff in the call centre to provide what Seybold (1999) calls a 360 degree view of the customer. The internet can be used to support customer service. In EasyJet, who received over half their orders electronically, encourage users to check a list of frequently asked questions compiled from previous customer enquiries before contacting customer support via phone. 4.5 Marketing Mix The marketing mix the 4 Ps of Product, Price and Promotion originally proposed by McCarthy (1960) is used as an essential part of implemented marketing strategy by many practitioners. Price Baker et al. (2001) have mentioned that the price element of the marketing mix refers to an organizations pricing policies which are used to define pricing models and, of course, to set prices for products and service. In EasyJet case, low price is a key element of the brand. Used differential pricing, booking in advance makes a ticket less expensive and off-peak travelling. Additional, can get the discounts for tickets though online booking. Product There are many alternatives for barying the prosuct when a EasyJat was developed its onoine strategy. The EasyJet website also has car hire, hotel booking services and links to other EasyGroup website. It also provided point to point services. Place Allen and Fjermestand (2001) were discovered that that the internet has the greatest implications for place in the marketing mix since the internet has a global reach. Internet booking system and open a telephone reservation system were the new channel structures for book the tickets. Promotion Specification of the promotion was usually part of a communications strategy. EasyJet highlights its a number one position among Europes low cost carriers. Printed in bright orange telephone booking number and website link on the side of its aircraft. 4.6 Competitive Strategy Michael (1980) has described three general types of strategies that are usually used by organisation. There are cost leadership, differentiation strategy and market segmentation strategy. But in EasyJets case, only two basic of competitive advantage was used: cost leadership and differentiation. Cost leadership Michaels theory was also adopted a cost leadership strategy which is describe to consumers via the cheap fares offered online. However, Easyjet provided technology advantages in terms of cost reductions, its competitors have followed and created websites of their own, provided extremely competitive rates for EasyJets customers. Consequently, another competitor needs to accommodate EasyJets strategies for retain competitive advantage. Differentiation strategy EasyJet had made prominence attempts to make their product pop out from its low cost airline competitors. McDaniel (2000) mentioned that a product differentiation feature acts as competitive advantage was no longer alive. Also, EasyJet was generally the trend-setter for differentiation its market. Shiv and Alfred (2001) was discovered a matrix for classifies and identifies types of competitive positioning. EasyJet provided differentiation service of many routes to major airports such as Gatwick airport which shifts the focus to high produce traffic while abnegate economic and operative advantages of secondary airports. For the merchandise differentiation, EasyJet provide more variables such as have self check in kiosks, unrestricted baggage restraints, easy of use for the website and booking of tickets, these features of differentiation can helps the customers to enhance their purchase power with EasyJet. Figure 8 Michael (1980) Generic Strategies adopted in EasyJet Chapter 5 Implementation 5.1 How is the management creating new core and extended value for customer? EasyJet have the three main components to create new core and extended value for customer, the first was provide the number one safety airline, the second was build up a number one air transport network, and the last was enhance easyjet.com. Provide the number one safety airline: In 2009, EasyJet saw the introduction of a new Safety Management System (SMS), its provided a framework for safety compliance and manage the two pillars of safety performance at EasyJet. With active support by the European Aviation Safety Agencys European Commercial Aviation Safety team, the Safety Management System was a continuous improvement process. Build Europes number one air transport network: Slot management: EasyJet thinks departure time was very important to all customers, both of business trips and weekend breaks. Different from other competitors, who used smaller, much less convenient airports, and more remote, over 90 per cent of EasyJet aircraft operate into and out of congested airports. At these busy business and facilities, where slots were at a premium, EasyJet work hard to build up their portfolio across Europe. The slot management team has expertise and considerable capability, with over 60 years of extensive contacts and combined experience at European airports. Base Management: Overnight stops can create unnecessary costs. EasyJet were located aircraft and crew by managing the bases, they were able to maximise revenue and improve efficiency. Constantly under review the base location. For example, since 2006, EasyJet increased the number of aircraft based in Italy and France. Such as Luton, they also reduced capacity at under performing bases. Enhance easyjet.com Easyjet.com was the most visited airline site in UK. The web site was EasyJets primary distribution channel and they rebuild and refresh it in 2008. EasyJet also consulted with their customers, identify what was like and dislike about the existing site, and also looked at main pages, both outside and inside the travel sector. The website was built on a scalable platform and more robust and was even easier to use. 5.2 How is the management balancing their online and offline promotion methods? Efraim (2008) mentioned that, in a click and mortar business, the allocation of resources between offline and online activities can create difficulties. Especially in sell side projects, the two activities can be viewed as competitors. In this case, personnel in charge of offline and online activities may behave as competitors. This conflict may cause problems when the offline side needs to handle the logistics of the online side or when prices need to be determined. Corporate culture, the ability of top management to introduce change properly, and the use of innovative process that support collaboration will all Pricing Strategy Traditional methods for determining price are the cost-plus and competitor models. Cost-plus means adding up all the costs involved material, labour, rent, overhead, and so forth and adding a percentage mark-up as profit. The competitor model determines price based on what competitors are charging for similar products in the marketplace. Pricing products and services for online sales changes these pricing strategies in subtle ways: Price comparison is easier: In traditional markets, either the buyer or, more often, the seller has more information than the other party, and this situation is exploited in determining a products price. By facilitating price comparison, the EasyJets internet booking system helps created what economists call a perfect market one in which both the buyer and the sell have ubiquitous and equal access to information, usually in the buyers favour. Online and offline goods are priced differently: In EasyJets pricing strategy, it was difficult for click and mortar company. Setting prices lower then those offered by the off-line business may lead to internal conflict, whereas setting prices at the same level will hurt competitiveness. Differentiated pricing can be a pricing strategy: For decades, EasyJet have maximized revenues with yield management charging different price for the same product. EasyJet is in the B2C marketplace, one-on-one marketing can extend yield management from a class of customer to individual customers. Bockstedt el al. (2005) also mentioned that, versioning is selling the same good but with different selection and delivery characteristics, is especially effective is selling digitized goods. Last minute deals: I attention that, in practice, last minute deals were sometimes offered, often at very low prices. If the airline decides to launch in such offers, either via a reseller or directly, it can set a new price that will allured the lower end of the tourist segment that didnt purchase tickets. Last minute deals were always made very close to the actual flight time. The overall impact of these changes is good news for the consumer. Internet technologies tend to provide consumers with easier access to pricing information, which increases their bargaining power. To remain competitive and profitable, sellers will have to adopt smarter pricing strategies. Specifically, business will have to look at ways of using the internet to optimize prices, primarily through greater precision in setting prices, more adaptability in changing prices, and new ways of customer segmentation for differentiated pricing. 5.3 What impact is the implementation of strategy having upon the performance of the business? To improve results for any aspect of any business, performance management is vital. The process and systems intended to monitor and improve the performance of an organization and specific management activities such as internet marketing are widely known as performance management systems and are based on the study of performance measurement systems. 5.3.1 Defining the performance metrics framework: Kotler (1997) mentioned that measurement for assess the effectiveness of internet marketing also be related to different levels of marketing control. These include strategic control, profitability control, annual plan control and efficiency control. Efficiency measures are more concerned with minimizing the costs of online marketing while maximizing the returns for different areas of focus such as acquiring visitors to a web site, converting visitors to outcome or achieving repeat business. Chaffey (2000) presents a framework of measures which can be applied to range of different companies. Metrics for the categories are generated as objectives from internet marketing planning which then need to be monitored to assess the success of strategy and its implementation. Objectives can be devised in a top down fashion, starting with strategic objectives for business contribution and marketing outcomes leading to tactical objectives for customer satisfaction, behaviour and site promotion. An alternative perspective is bottom up success in achieving objectives for site promotion, on site customer behaviour and customer satisfaction lead sequentially to achieving objectives for marketing outcomes and business contribution. Business contribution A contribution to business profitability is always the ultimate aim of e-commerce. To assess this, leading companies set an internet contribution target of achieving a certain proportion of sales via the channel. When EasyJet (www.easyjet.com) launched its e-commerce facility in 1998, it set an internet contribution target of 30 per cent by 2000. They put the resources and communications plan in place to achieve this and their target was reached in 1999. Assessing contribution is more difficult for a company that can not sell products online, but the role of the internet in influencing purchase should be assessed. Discounted cash flow techniques are used to assess the rate of return over time. Service contribution from e-channels should also be assessed. 5.3.2 Tools and techniques for collecting metric and summarizing results Techniques to collect metrics include the collection of site visitor activity data such as that collected from site log files, the collection of metrics about outcomes such as online sales or email enquiries and traditional marketing research techniques such as questionnaires and focus groups which collect information on the customers experience on the web site. I start by describing methods for collecting site visitor activity and then review more traditional techniques of market research which assess the customer experience. EasyJet was used customer relationship management CRM software to enhance its online booking server and reduce operational costs. Tony (2006) mentioned that CRM was specifically about gather customers information to provide their own customer service through the web. The CRM system was centralised all the data and information and allows innovations in customer service to be deployed and tested. An email marketing automation tool and a pilot voice self service solution is also can provide and enhanced levels of customer support with EasyJet. The CRM service system module was enabled the 1.5 million people who visit the EasyJet website each week, it can recorded end-to-end transactions while they are online, without any interposition from customer service agents. It responds to keyword searches and natural language text, have 90 per cent of customers were resolving queries by used this solution. Chapter 6 Legal and ethical issues Plamer (2005) mentioned that business ethics defines how a company integrates the core values of honesty, trust, respect, and fairness into its policies and practices and complies with legal standards and regulations. The scope of business ethics has expanded to encompass a companys actions with regard not only to how it treats employees and obeys laws but to the nature and quality of the relationships with shareholders, customers, business partners, suppliers, the community, environment, and future generations. European companies especially have embraced this expanded definition of ethics. Because of the worldwide scope and universal accessibility of the internet, there are serious questions as to which ethical rules and laws apply. These questions involve an appreciation of the law that is constantly changing. Lawsuits and criminal charges are very disruptive, expensive, and may damage customer relations. The best strategy is to avoid behaviours that expose the company to these types of risk. 6.1 e-Commerce ethical issues Two additional e-commerce related ethical issues are non work related use of the internet and codes of ethics. Non work related use of the internet EasyJet had a policy to avoid the employees used email and the web for non work related purposes. The use of company property for email and inter use creates risk. The degree of risk depends on the extent to which the company has implemented policies and procedure to prevent and detect illegal uses. EasyJet was also held liable for their employees use of email to harass another employee, participate in illegal gambling, or distribute child pornography. Some employees may use the company email to advertise their own business. Used other corporate computing facilities for private purposes may be a problem. Codes of ethics Volonino and Robinson (2004) were discovered that a practical and necessary approach to limit non work related internet surfing is an internet Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) that all employees must agree to. Without a formal AUP, it was much more difficult to enforce acceptable and eliminate unacceptable behaviours and punish violators. Whenever a user signs on to the corporate network, the user should see a reminder of the AUP and be notified that online activates are monitored. Such notification should be a part of a code of ethics. EasyJet have some corporate web policy guidelines, such as issue written AUP guidelines about employee use of the internet and commu

Friday, January 17, 2020

Integrated Marketing Comunication

IMC PLAN by Daniela Stolk Table of Contents 1. 0 2. 0 Executive Summary Promotion Opportunity Analysis 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 3. 0 Communications Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Opportunity Analysis Target Market Analysis 7 10 12 14 15 17 20 21 22 24 25 26 29 30 31 32 33 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 44 Corporate Strategies 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3 3. 4 3. 5 Corporate Image Strategy Brand Development Strategy Brand Positioning Strategy Public Relations Strategy Evaluation 4. 0 Integrated Marketing Communication Management 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 IMC Objectives IMC Budget Agency Selection Internet Website 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer 5. 5. 2 Marketing Budget – Consumer IMC Methodologies – Consumer 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer 5. 2. 1. 1 5. 2. 1. 2 5. 2. 1. 3 5. 2. 2 Advertising Budget Creative Brief – Consumer Advertising Design Consumer Promotions 3 5. 2. 3 5. 2. 4 5. 2. 5 5. 3 5. 3. 1 6. 0 Personal Selling – Consumer Sponsorship Programs Database Programs Sample Media Schedule – Radio 45 46 47 49 51 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 69 70 71 72 73 75 76 77 78 Media Plan IMC Objective Two – Distribution 6. 1 6. 2 Marketing Budget – Distribution IMC Methodologies 6. 2. 1 Advertising – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 1 6. 2. 1. 2 6. 2. 1. 3 6. 2. 2 6. . 3 6. 3 Advertising Media Budget Creative Brief – Distibution Advertising Design Trade Promotions Personal Selling – Distribution Media Plan 7. 0 Strategic Planning 7. 1 7. 2 7. 3 7. 4 7. 5 7. 6 7. 7 7. 8 7. 9 Company Background Mission and Vision Statement Goals and Objectives Product Review SWOT Analysis SWOT Matrix Marketing Mix Strategies Management Team Industry Research 8. 0 Corporate ID 8. 1 8. 2 8. 3 Letterhead Envelope Business Card 4 9. 0 Advertising Campaign 9. 1 9. 2 9. 3 9. 4 9. 5 9. 6 9. 7 9. 8 9. 9 3 Ad Series TV Story Board Radio Script Press Release Direct Mail Piece Banner Ad Billboard Poster POP Exhibit 9 80 83 86 87 88 90 91 92 93 5 1. 0 Executive Summary 1. 0 Executive Summary The following is an integrated marketing communications plan designed for HOLA Jewelry. This plan includes a promotion opportunity analysis, corporate strategies and our IMC Objectives: Consumer and Distribution. This plan will also include an advertising plan, promotions, personal selling, sponsorships and database programs. Additionally, a media plan and methods of evaluating the success of this IMC plan are described. HOLA is a unique and high-end jewelry brand that wants to introduce beautiful fashion statement.Not only will we sell a beautiful fashion statement but a great concept along with the brand that will give us the opportunity to enhance our brand image. Our products will be offered in sterling silver and gold with multiple designs of earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces. This brand is primarily offered to Hispanics in the USA. The main idea is to bring a sense of unity and pride among Hispanic Americans living i n the USA. They will not only love the fact of wearing beautiful jewelry, but the fact to be supporting Hispanic non-profit organizations by buying our products.Since HOLA is a new brand that will be launching in the beginning of 2009, we want to make sure to create brand awareness among potential customers and future distribution partners by advertising in various medias. Our main objectives for this IMC plan are to build a strong brand image, to develop brand awareness and to enhance the firm image. On the other hand, we also want to encourage distribution channels to carry our products in order to be able to increase market share, sales volume and to build customer traffic.HOLA’s target market for the consumer segment is males and females between the ages of 1835, who represent middle to high-class status and who can afford to buy jewelry. This segment is directed primarily to Hispanics. It is a huge and dominant market that gives us the opportunity to be targeting to this specific market for the first launch in order to later infiltrate into different 7 markets. To successfully reach our target market, we will utilize magazines, radio and direct marketing pieces. Our main goal is to create a marketing communications program that includes advertising, sponsorships, promotions and direct marketing.This will allow us to increase market share and to build customer traffic. 8 2. 0 Promotion Opportunity Analysis 2. 1 2. 2 2. 3 2. 4 Communications Market Analysis Competitive Analysis Opportunity Analysis Target Market Analysis 2. 0 Promotion Opportunity Analysis HOLA is a beautiful and elegant jewelry brand that will be launching its first collection in January 2009. The name says it all; it is a beautiful word and the most famous Spanish word worldwide. Also the word HOLA has a wonderful meaning: ‘’HERITAGE OF LATIN AMERICA’’. Latin Americans, being the first minority in the United States, represent a huge market.This population is growing at a 5 to 1 pace and there is no jewelry brand offered specifically to this market. The main concept of this brand is the fact that it is directed to the Latin American Population in USA. Our primary marketing strategy is to create brand awareness in the beginning of the first launch. We want position HOLA as the number one jewelry brand in the consumer’s mind. We want to make sure that our main target market understands not only HOLA’s unique business concept but also the unity it will bring with the Hispanic population in USA.By doing so, HOLA will be able to build loyal customers that will start the word of mouth throughout this powerful market and that will continue to spread into new markets. The main target market for HOLA are Latin American males and females who are 18 and 35 years of age, that represent middle to high-class status who are able to afford fine jewelry. In addition to that, people who are proud of their heritage and background history and that love and can afford to wear beautiful jewelry.In terms of the marketing mix variables, HOLA wants to introduce a unique and well-designed collection that will include multiple designs in sterling silver and gold with precious stones, such as diamonds, rubies, sapphires and emeralds. A line of silver and gold combined will also be available. The beautiful design has tremendous flexibility for collections that will be launched in the future. We consider the design is beautiful and well rounded, it allows endless combinations for pendants, earrings, bracelets, rings, necklaces, etc.A line for children and a religious one will also be considered for future collections. The pricing strategy will set up to a higher than average price among its competitors. HOLA wants to position itself as an upscale brand as well as superior quality jewelry. 10 HOLA wants to promote itself with famous Latin American celebrities, charity events, holidays, sponsorships and tourism. We also want to reach our main target market through a variety of media such as magazine ads, catalogs, Internet and various channel promotions.HOLA Jewelry will focus its main distribution in those states where there is high concentration of Hispanic Americans: Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. The first launch will be based in South Florida. The jewelry collection will be available in middle to high-level retail stores such as Nordstrom and Macy’s. In addition to that, the line will also be available online at the HOLA website. Today, the Internet is growing and people prefer to do online shopping than going to the actual store. 11 2. 1 Communications Analysis The jewelry market is a huge one.The USA has a 45% consumption rate in contrast to the rest of the world; which means that almost half of the world’s jewelry market is consumed by the USA. Since this is such a strong and huge market, jewelry brands that are able to spend more money in the communication strategy need to use the most successful methods. The most common used channels are magazines, direct marketing, trade shows and the Internet. The high-end jewelry brands advertise their products mainly through magazine ads, direct marketing and trade shows. When advertising for magazine ads, they will either introduce new collections or simply notify heir loyal customers to continue to visit their stores. These high-end jewelry brands such as Tous, Tiffany’s and Bulgary also utilize direct marketing in order to keep their customers aware of what they have available. The primary direct marketing tool that is used are catalogs, which are sent monthly to subscribers who can afford to buy their fine jewelry constantly. Trade shows are a very powerful use of communication channel because jewelry brands are able to introduce new collections as well as building relationships with distribution partners such as Nordstrom, Macy’s and Neiman Marcus.Today, the Internet is also very usefu l because almost every business has an online website where they sell their products and try to turn visitors into future buyers and subscribers. With online subscribers, the marketing team will be provided with an online database with information such as name, age, gender, zip code and email address. This information is successful because customers will be aware of product promotions, sales and new collections that will be sent through emails. The lower-end jewelry brands such as small boutiques or low priced jewelry spend less money on developing a strong brand.Some small boutiques can’t afford to spend money on magazine ads or direct marketing and so they utilize the Internet as their primary communication channel. They try to promote and sell their products through their websites. In order to have consumers to come and visit their store, the most successful method is by word of mouth. 12 On the other hand, low priced jewelry distribute their products through low- to †“middle end retailers such as Walmart, TJ Max and Target. This positions their products as middle-to-low end quality that most people who represent low to middle high-class status will be able to afford. 3 2. 2 Competitive Analysis Even though the jewelry market is a huge one with many brands and with a high level of competition; HOLA has no main competitor because of the way this brand is being developed and launched. Additionally, our unique philosophy and image won’t allow HOLA to have a major competitor. However, there is a brand that will be considered a minor competitor because of the similarity of the design concept and the target it reaches the most (Hispanic). In comparison to HOLA; Tous is a strong jewelry brand that started their collections with a symbol of a bear.This symbol has been and is still being used in almost every design that Tous provides. Unlike HOLA, Tous is already a well-established brand that has been in business for many years. Not only does Tou s is well known for their jewelry and famous bear, but also for the beautiful handbags they offer that have been a very powerful trend for years. Tous is what will be considered as our competitor because HOLA wants to stick with the concept of introducing a symbol that will be part of the design in each and every earring, bracelet, necklace and ring offered.Since it has been such a powerful strategy for Tous to build a strong and recognizable image HOLA will introduce their first collection with the logo and the word â€Å"HOLA† on it. This will represent what Tous used as the bear symbol. Aside from the similarity of the design concept, Tous’s main target market are Hispanics. Since this brand was first introduced in Spain, it has been able to reach a big part of the Hispanic Market in the USA. Their ads and website are also provided in English and Spanish.This is why Tous will be considered not only a competitor but also a business model to follow. 14 2. 3 Opportunit y Analysis An analysis of the high-end jewelry market as well as the Hispanic market shows several opportunities for HOLA Jewelry. These opportunities will reveal the plan HOLA wants to pursue for consumers and distribution. Consumers †¢ HOLA has the powerful opportunity to build a strong brand image by targeting to the Hispanic Market in the USA. This market is a huge and dominant one. This allows HOLA to establish itself as a powerful jewelry brand in the USA.The fact that HOLA is targeting to this specific market also gives the opportunity to expand to different markets in the future in order to grow and become a high-end jewelry brand. †¢ Latin Americans have a high rate of consumption in the jewelry market. In addition, the jewelry market is a $40 billion per year industry. This is why HOLA will have the opportunity to develop brand awareness as well as to establish itself in this powerful market because consumers will have a new and unique brand available with a mean ingful message tailored to them. Our unique marketing approach will allow us to enhance the firm image. Consumers will feel proud to wear HOLA Jewelry because of its meaningful concept and the unity it wants to bring among Hispanics in the USA and the fact that part of the sales will be donated to Hispanic charities around the country. Distribution †¢ HOLA will have the opportunity to increase market share through a selective distribution. Its products will be sold to specific middle to high-level retailers in the USA. By doing so, we will be able to better infiltrate into the jewelry market and to better reach our main target market. 15 HOLA will have the opportunity to increase sales volume by distributing its products in different geographic locations in the USA. They will be determined according to those states where there is high concentration of Hispanic Americans: Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. †¢ Through new channels of direct distribution, HOLA will have the opportunity to build customer traffic. Sales through the Internet and catalogs will be the two main channels that will allow the traffic growth. 16 2. 4 Target Market Analysis Target Market HOLA’s target market will be a Hispanic American who is looking for modern and high-quality jewelry.The target is a person who will be highly influenced by other Hispanics and who will be able to follow this new trend by wearing HOLA jewelry and feel proud of their roots. The target will also be someone who has a passion for fashion jewelry and are the typical trend followers. Someone who is willing to spend money in order to satisfy their wants and feel with a unique and modern look. Our marketing campaign focuses on two target segments: 1. Hispanic Target: Hispanic males and females between the ages of 18-35 with a total annual family income of $75,000 and up who represent middle to high-class status and can afford to buy fine jewelry 2.American Target: American Males and f emales between the ages of 18-35 with a total annual family income of $75,000 who represent middle to high-class status and can afford to buy jewelry. †¢ Males are considered to be part of the two target segments not only because there will be designs offered to them; also because they are the ones who are considered to be buying jewelry for their spouse, fiancee or daughter on special occasions. Customer Analysis HOLA will focus on a special kind of customer: the kind of person who is proud to be a Hispanic living in the USA and who likes to wear fine jewelry.The psychographics will allow us to determine the different consumer segments that will feel satisfied by buying HOLA products. †¢ Hispanic Pride: This group will include Hispanics who are proud of their heritage and live in the USA trying to blend in and be part of this country. These customers will feel 17 proud to wear HOLA jewelry not only because of its modern and unique look but also because of its unique busin ess concept. †¢ Fine Jewelry Lovers: These are the typical customers who love to wear jewelry on a daily basis.Hispanics have a high purchasing power in the jewelry industry; this is why this segment includes fashion lovers who are ambitious and who are willing to pay more for high quality jewelry. Segmentation Analysis †¢ Consumer: The consumer market is based and segmented by age, lifestyle, income and personal interest. The two segments include Hispanics as a primary target and Americans as and a secondary target. The groups share the same interests, lifestyle and annual income. The Hispanic group is considered the primary target because it is the market that is trying to be reach first.On the other hand, the secondary target includes Americans who will also be considered part of the target market but as a secondary market that will be reached completely after the brand is well established and considered not only for Hispanics but just a jewelry brand offered to a wide public. †¢ Distribution: HOLA’s main distribution will be through different states where there is the most concentration of Hispanics. These states include Florida, Arizona, Texas, Illinois and California. These five states will allow HOLA to distribute the jewelry lines to different middle to high-end stores available in each state. 8 3. 0 Corporate Strategies 3. 1 3. 2 3. 3 3. 4 3. 5 Corporate Image Strategy Brand Development Strategy Brand Positioning Strategy Public Relations Strategy Evaluation 3. 0 Corporate Strategies HOLA’s image is based on offering a beautiful, elegant and entirely unique line of jewelry. HOLA also wants to introduce a concept along with the brand that connects directly to the Hispanic Market. This is why HOLA stands for Heritage of Latin America. In order to start building a strong brand, HOLA will start by developing a unique and elegant line of jewelry that will be appealing to the Hispanic Market in USA.Research and efforts will be m ade to attract the primary market in the beginning of the first launch. HOLA’s goal is to create a strong image among its competitors by creating brand awareness through uniqueness and differentiation. Through marketing efforts such as advertising, sales promotions, public relations and sponsorships; HOLA will be able to start building potential customers as well as developing relationships and contracts with leading retailers to maximize the exposure of their products. 20 3. 1 Corporate Image StrategiesHOLA’s corporate goal is to be become one of the most modern and unique lines of jewelry offered to the Hispanic Market in the USA. In addition to that, HOLA wants to bring a sense of unity and pride among Hispanics Americans through a representation of the brand with famous Hispanic celebrities around the country, charity organizations, special promotions, public relations, etc. It is a society pulled in two directions, trying to blend in and be part of this country wh ile remaining true and proud to their unique heritage.They have become a huge and strong market in the USA, since they represent almost 16% of the entire population and a big influence in this country’s everyday life. By being introduced to this new line of jewelry, Hispanics will start to follow this new trend that offers a meaningful concept to them. HOLA wants their future customers to know that they will be provided with beautiful and unique designs of earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings offered in sterling silver and gold with a variety of precious stones, based around a basic design using the word â€Å"hola†.In order to start this new trend successfully, HOLA will start building new customers by implementing unique strategies of advertisements, sales promotions, public relations and sponsorships. The fact that HOLA will be donating part of its sales to charity organizations will attract consumers to buy our products. This will allow HOLA to help build and m aintain a strong image in the market place as well as brand awareness. Even though these strategies will help this brand to become one the most modern and unique lines of jewelry to wear with its meaningful business concept; there are certain obstacles that might have to be overcome.This is an untested concept, it remains to be seen if it will resonate with the Latin community. 21 3. 2 Brand Development Strategy The brand name â€Å"HOLA† was selected because the word â€Å"HOLA† is the most common word among Hispanics and also one of the few Spanish word that is understood by Americans. Almost everyone knows the meaning of it and it expresses â€Å"friendship†. HOLA wants to introduce a jewelry line in the USA that stands for Heritage Of Latin America.The brand is trying to communicate primarily with the Hispanic market and by using this well-known word; future customers will eventually feel familiarized and will evoke positive feelings from the brand name and its concept. The name â€Å"HOLA† will be a successful word that has a high level of stimulus codability because it has a meaning and cultural concept behind the word. The brand name will be easily recognized in advertisements and it will immediately grab the attention to its main target market. Each design will be built with the HOLA symbol in order to make this shape recognizable in every jewelry design.Since the word is famous and communicates â€Å"friendship†, the brand will be able to sell its products though the use of this word in every piece of jewelry. The logo is an undulated square plaque with rounded corners, 4 holes (one on each corner) and a smaller hole in the center, which represents the letter ’’O’’. Part of the word HOLA, which is carved through the design, gets together with the letters ‘’L’’ and ‘’A’’; which ends up on a beautiful symbol that will be perfect to use in the first collection in order to promote the brand successfully in the beginning of the first launch.The symbol has the word HOLA in the middle in order to be recognized easily. The logo remains consistent with the brand image by representing elegance and uniqueness. The logo’s color is gray with a platinum effect that represents a modern look as well as the typical sterling silver color in jewelry. HOLA wants to transmit an overall look of simplicity as well as cleanliness. The lines will be available for women, men and children. The design is very well rounded and allows endless possibilities in jewelry for future collections that are being developed.HOLA wants to communicate two main words: â€Å"unity† and â€Å"friendship†. This market will not only love the fact to wear beautiful jewelry designs but the fact that they represent a huge market in the USA that share a unique heritage: history, roots, language, culture, art, family values and traditions. 22 L ogo Design 23 3. 3 Brand Positioning Strategy HOLA is positioned based on its attributes and price-quality relationship. It wants to position itself in consumers mind as a modern and unique jewelry brand that not only represents a beautiful fashion statement, but a cultural meaning within the brand.HOLA wants to build an effective positioning strategy so that the firm can expand itself into new markets in the future. HOLA wants to establish long-term relationships with both, consumers and distribution partners. The quality and elegance of the jewelry collection will be positioned in the consumer’s mind as a beautiful piece of jewelry to wear and to feel proud of wearing. In contrast to its major competitors, we will offer an affordable price with a good value for attractive jewelry designs appealing to a wide public. Most jewelry brands limit their main target marketing by offering designs only to females.On the other hand, HOLA will offer multiple designs to both, males and females. By wearing HOLA, Hispanics will feel proud of their heritage. They will be able to represent their cultural background with a universal word that offers friendship. Many Hispanics wear fine jewelry because of tradition and over half own a piece of religious fine jewelry. They also follow the latest trends, such as right-hand rings and three-stone jewelry. There are many occasions like: birthdays, Christmas, Father’s day, Mother’s day, etc. Any occasion will be perfect to buy this jewelry – a unique cultural symbol and a unique and beautiful fashion statement.HOLA is more than a brand; it is a business concept that wants to incorporate sports, successful Latin American celebrities, charity organizations, tourism and art to its jewelry line. By donating part of its sales to charity organizations; HOLA will attract consumers to buy our products. 24 3. 4 Public Relations Strategy HOLA will hire an external PR consultant to handle our press and make our info rmation newsworthy. The consultant will be part of a PR agency; they will be in charge of monitoring internal and external publics and provide positive information about our company.We have to work hard on informing our consultant about our business concept and company background. Otherwise, the audience will think this is just like every other jewelry brand. We have to make sure to provide successful information about our unique strategy that is being developed as part of this brand. Our primary strategy is to maintain a consistent image of community involvement within the Hispanics living in the USA. We will generate positive publicity by informing the audience about our unique brand that wants to bring a sense of unity among Hispanics besides the beautiful jewelry we will be offering.The fact that HOLA will be donating part of our profits to charity organizations will put a positive image into the consumers mind. We will also establish a strong brand reputation through sponsorshi p events and campaigns that will inform the audience on how they can change someone’s life by buying our products and becoming part of the HOLA spirit. 25 3. 5 Evaluation Evaluations for our consumer objective will be conducted internally and by DS Innovation Media through constant marketing research that will take place after the launch of the brand in 2010.These evaluations will be done early in the year in order to plan for the rest of the year according to the studies made. The evaluation will involve an in-depth analysis of the brand awareness and brand image, positioning, advertising campaign, consumer promotions and direct marketing. The analysis will provide us with the necessary feedback concerning our advertising goals and objectives for the next year. Brand awareness and brand image will be evaluated by conducting surveys to individuals that fit our main target market. It will also be evaluated by looking at our website traffic and the number of subscribers in our database.The awareness will be collected by the end of each year and later studied in order to follow with a new approach if the current one is not increasing brand awareness. The position analysis will be measured by the end of the year. Our Marketing Director and the rest of the consulting team will evaluate this. The analysis will allow us to know if the right positioning was projected. The results will let us adjust our main goals and objectives for the next year. The advertising campaign will be evaluated by conducting an advertising impact study.The information provided from this study will allow us to know how efficient and influential our campaign has been. We want to know if we are reaching the main target market and if they are getting the concept of the brand and the meaning of the word â€Å"HOLA† through our advertisements. All this information will be available through attitude and opinion tests. Our consumer promotions’ effectiveness will be evaluated by measuring the amount of customers that bought our products by utilizing gift cards that were sent through direct mail. This will be determined by information that will be kept from purchases made online or at a retail store.This evaluation is also part of the direct mail program. This will allow us to see the impact of the direct mailing. DS Innovation media will be in charge of evaluating the effectiveness of these efforts. 26 To evaluate the distribution component we will utilize various methods of evaluation. We will analyze the impact of our advertising to our members of the distribution channel. This will consist of a large study conducted internally and externally. The evaluation will include an analysis of the personal selling aspect and trade promotions. Personal selling will be a very important aspect of our evaluation.It will be done during March and April. We want to find if the satisfaction level of our distribution channel members is what we projected. This will consis t of an examination that will determine the overall satisfaction of our business customers. Trade promotions will also be part of our evaluation since we are utilizing this method to push our products through the channel. We will examine the effectiveness of the promotions we used previously and how it impacted sales. According the results on the effectiveness we will later determine what will remain consistent or what needs to change from the previous trade promotions. 27 . 0 Integrated Marketing Communication Management 4. 1 4. 2 4. 3 4. 4 IMC Objectives IMC Budget Agency Selection Internet Website 4. 0 IMC Management HOLA’S main objectives for this plan are to develop brand awareness and to reach our main target market. In order to do so, we will implement strong marketing strategies in the consumer and distribution market. The overall budget for this IMC plan for the year 2010 will be a total of $1,639,000. The largest portion of the budget will be spent on media cost in order to fulfill for our number one objective (consumer). This portion is $1,087,000, which is 66% of the overall budget.A smaller portion will be allocated to the distribution efforts. It will be 34% of the overall budget, which is a total of $552,000. 29 4. 1 IMC Objectives HOLA’s primary objective is to develop brand awareness. Advertising efforts will allow us to inform potential customer and distribution partners about our products. The following marketing objectives will help us achieve our main goals. Objective One (Consumer) – To create brand awareness among Hispanics in the USA. – To position HOLA as a unique and high-end jewelry brand. – To inform potential customers about our unique business concept.Objective Two (Distribution) – To encourage channel members to carry our products. – To persuade channel members to provide information to potential customers about our business concept. 30 4. 2 IMC Budget HOLA’S total expense b udget is set to $1,639,000. The IMC budget will be allocated into two main objectives: IMC Objective 1 (Consumer), IMC Objective 2 (Distribution). The total budget will be distributed as follows: -IMC Objective 1 (Consumer): $1,087,000 -IMC Objective 2 (Distribution): $552,000 IMC Objective 1 addresses the need to create brand awareness towards potential customers.Most of the budget will be spent on media costs and brand development. Therefore, 66% of the IMC budget is allocated to his objective, of which 40% will be spent on advertising. IMC Objective 2 addresses the needs of the channel of distribution. We will use 34% of the total budget in order to market potential customers, of which 20% will be spent on advertising. 31 4. 3 Agency Selection HOLA selected DS Innovation Media as our agency that will handle most of the integrated marketing communications material. DS Innovation Media is a outique agency located in Boca Raton, Florida. Their area of expertise is to assist clients in marketing, website design, advertising design, direct mail and integrated campaigns. Additionally, they have bilingual professionals who are able to specialize in the Hispanic Market. HOLA decided to use DS Innovation Media as their external advertising agency because it is a small agency that has experience in marketing and advertising strategies that have been able to help other clients to build strong image for their businesses.Aside from the experience and their multicultural knowledge, HOLA chose this boutique because it is a small agency that will focus on their marketing communications plan as well as providing affordable prices for exceptional advertising and marketing plans. DS Innovation Media will provide us with a successful integrated marketing communications material that will help the brand to build a strong image as well as to develop brand awareness to two specific targets. 32 4. 4 Internet Website HOLA’s website, www. holatin. com is an important aspect f or our communications strategy where our main purpose is to draw more customers into our business.It is a content and an e-commerce website. First of all, we want to ensure that we provide our visitors with the necessary information about our company since it offers such a unique business concept. This portion of the website will be easy to navigate. The website will also contain a Flash video that will show all the jewelry we offer. This presentation will be available to all customers who wish to see our products in a more dynamic format. For other visitors who are not into this level of high-tech computerization, a â€Å"skip intro† tab will be available in order to take them directly into the home page.HOLA’s e-commerce site will allow us to sell our products online in order to make it convenient for some shoppers. It will contain an appealing catalog that will show a presentation of our products by looking at photos and general information. It will also contain a s hopping cart where the purpose is to assist consumers as they select products. The site will continue with a payment page where customers will make the final decision to buy their products. Our website will also provide customer service, HOLA will support the customer after the sale when necessary.Customers will have the opportunity to send e-mail or use the FAQ for further information about their purchase. Finally, the website will be part of our strategy to create a positive public relations image. We will place information about non-profit organizations as well as links to website where their purpose is to help Hispanic charity organizations in the USA. HOLA will also contain other links to other websites that will inform the Latin Americans about events or general information about Hispanics that might fit their interest.DS Innovation Media will help us accomplish these goals in order to build a successful website. The agency will also work on expanding and improving the online database program that will allow us to build closer relationships with our customers as well to increase sales. 33 Site Map HOLA Home Page Brand Concept Brand Image Products Bracelets Earrings Necklaces Pendants Rings News Contact Information 34 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer 5. 1 5. 2 Marketing Budget – Consumer IMC Methodologies 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer 5. 2. 1. 1 Advertising Budget 5. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – Consumer 5. . 1. 3 Advertising Design 5. 2. 2 Consumer Promotions 5. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Personal Selling 5. 2. 4 Sponsorship Programs 5. 2. 5 Database Programs Media Plan 5. 3. 1 Sample Media Schedule – Radio 5. 3 5. 0 IMC Objective One – Consumer The objective of our target market focuses on creating brand awareness within the Hispanic market in the USA. We also want to persuade customers that we will offer a unique and high-end jewelry along with a unique business concept. The development of these objectives wi ll help us to generate sales that will result in profits for our business.In order to accomplish our main objectives we will utilize a combination of advertising, consumer promotions, direct marketing, sponsorships and public relations. The overall jewelry market has not been advertised heavily specifically to Hispanics. This will allow us to advertise heavily to this target market. 36 5. 1 Marketing Budget – Consumer The IMC Budget by consumer will be spent in 5 major areas. For the advertising budget we will be spending a total of $437,000. As shown in the table and the graph below, it represents that advertising is the largest portion of the total budget.We believe it is an important investment because it will help us achieve our main goal: create brand awareness among potential customers. The second major part of this budget will be $200,000. This amount will be spent on several sponsorships that will take place throughout the year. This will also be considered and import ant investment in our company because it will enhance the brand image and help to create positive word of mouth. For personal selling, we will spend $180,000 in order to develop high quality customer service when selling our products.The database program will be developed once the website is active. The development of this process will be constantly changing throughout the year until we are able to acquire the necessary information from our customers. The cost for the database program will be approximately $120,000. Finally, for consumer promotions we will utilize mainly direct mail pieces. By utilizing this method we will provide customers with gift cards and catalogs. This will show the customer that we care about them as well as informing them about our new collections. The cost for this will be approximately $150,000.HOLA does not have to choose to spend the exact budget amount for consumer advertising. This is an estimated budget where the purpose is to demonstrate all possibil ities that will help achieve our main goals for reaching our customers. 37 IMC Budget by Consumer Budget Advertising Consumer Promotions Personal Selling Sponsorships Database Programs 2010 $437,000 $150,000 $180,000 $200,000 $120,000 Total $1,087,000 38 5. 2 IMC Methodologies – Consumer In order to reach our main target market effectively we will utilize various methods. Advertising is the primary component of our approach.In addition to that, we want to supplement with consumer promotions, direct marketing and sponsorship programs. Creating brand awareness and enhancing our brand image is the primary goal for advertising. Through consumer promotions we will encourage our customers to continue to buy our products as well as persuade them to visit our website and retail stores that carry our products. The direct marketing approach will be done through mail and email. This will motivate individuals to buy our products by looking at our catalogs and the jewelry offered.The spon sorship programs will help to generate brand awareness and enhance our brand image. We will sponsor Hispanic events that will consist of fund raising programs that will help charity organizations with the gain of the total profits of the event. 39 5. 2. 1 Advertising – Consumer Advertising is our primary communication vehicle for this IMC plan. Our primary goals are to build a strong brand image, create brand awareness and to inform future customers about our unique brand. We also want to establish HOLA brand name in the consumer’s evoked set. HOLA is an entirely new and unique jewelry brand.Therefore, we need to ensure that our advertisements are consistent, creative and very effective. By placing effective advertisements in several media we will be able to start reaching our main target market. Television advertisings will be 58% of our advertising budget. We will start to place our ads in the beginning of the year 2009. The months will be during January, March, Augu st and November. The advertising campaign will inform customers about our new jewelry brand that is being offered to Hispanics. The three main TV channels will be: Telemundo, Univision and Mega TV.Radio advertising will be 28% of our budget. We will place the radio ads in two main radio stations: Romance 106. 7 and Amor 107. 5. These two radio stations are Hispanic and they target to this specific market. Both stations have as their primary audience Latin Americans. By utilizing these two radio stations we will be able to place ads in the morning drive time from 7-9 and also in the afternoon from 4-6. Our magazine ads will be placed primarily in Level Magazine. This magazine targets the Hispanic market as well. We will start placing our ads in January 2009 and continue to do so for the entire year.We will also consider other magazines that target this specific market later throughout the year. Additionally, we will begin to place our ads in magazines that target Americans in order t o start reaching our secondary target. Internet advertising will consist of banner ads that will be placed primarily on Hispanic websites. The three main websites will be terra. com, entretenimiento. com and latino. msn. com. These three websites have large number of visitors and by looking at our banner ads traffic will be directed to our website. 40 5. 2. 1. 1 Advertising BudgetConsumer advertising will be 40% of the $1. 08 million budget for Objective One. Of the $437,000 allocated for consumer advertising, $255,000 will be for television advertising, $120,000 will be for radio advertising, $18,000 will be for newspaper advertising, $26,000 will be for magazine advertising, $15,000 will be for Internet advertising and the remaining $3,000 on billboard advertising. Budget Television Radio Newspaper Magazine Internet Billboard 2010 $255,000 $120,000 $18,000 $26,000 $15,000 $3,000 Total $437,000 41 5. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – ConsumerObjective: To build a strong brand image a nd to develop brand awareness. Target Audience: Males and females between the ages of 18 to 35 who represent the Hispanic population in the USA. These customers typically earn an annual family income of $75,000 and represent middle to high-class status. This target includes people who are jewelry lovers and can afford to buy fine jewelry. It is the typical Hispanic who likes to look and feel elegant and modern by wearing a beautiful fashion statement. On the other hand the target audience will include the same gender, age, lifestyle and annual income.Unlike the primary target, the secondary target will be directed to the American market. Message theme: The primary theme will be that HOLA is a unique and modern line of jewelry that is being introduced to Hispanics living in the USA. Support: The meaningful business concept along with the brand that wants to bring a sense of unity among Hispanics; which will include the participation of famous Latin American celebrities and charity or ganizations. Unique Selling Point: Modern and unique line of jewelry with beautiful designs directed to the Hispanic market.Product Benefit: Unique, beautiful jewelry that looks good. Personal Values: By wearing HOLA jewelry, Hispanics will feel proud of their roots and happy to buy beautiful jewelry from a brand that will give part of their profits to charity organizations. Leverage Point: The leverage point will be the headline, which is the meaning behind the word HOLA: â€Å"Heritage of Latin America†. This meaning will be further explained in the copy by informing that this brand sells not only jewelry but also a meaningful business concept and our unique strategy to be helping charity organizations. 42 5. 2. 1. Advertising Design HOLA will utilize an affective message strategy for their print advertisements. This strategy will allow HOLA to sell their products through emotional advertising, which leads the consumer to act. Feelings and emotions affect decisions and conn ect the consumer with the product. This is why HOLA will utilize this method because the brand is building itself with a unique concept among Hispanics that will invoke feelings. The strategy will be conveyed through an emotional appeal. The ad will feature the meaning behind HOLA (Heritage of Latin America), their roots and passion for life.The text will be focused on the main characteristics Hispanics have: beauty, love, warmth and joy. HOLA will also utilize informative execution. This will be developed by informing the viewer with further explanation in the copy about this unique brand and the whole concept it wants to transmit. In addition to that, the jewelry will be the main point of the ad, which will grab the eye of the consumer. The overall look of the ad will demonstrate elegance, uniqueness and a clean look. For our television commercials HOLA will utilize a slightly different approach. We will still utilize an affective message strategy through emotional adverting.The a ppeal will also be emotional. Unlike the ad, the TV commercial will utilize a slice of life execution that mimics real life events. This will demonstrate the four main aspects of the brand: love, joy, warmth and beauty. 43 5. 2. 2 Consumer Promotions The budget for consumer promotions will be $150,000 for the entire year. Since HOLA offers high-end jewelry, the consumer promotion will be through direct mail. Each month, birthday gift cards will be sent out to our subscribers who provided us with information about their birthday and other general information.The gift card will have a special offer of 10% off of their purchase online or at any retail store that offers HOLA jewelry. This method will be very effective because it will show the consumer that we care about them. This will also invite the consumer to visit our webpage or retail stores where our products would be carried and to introduce them with our new designs. Aside from the gift cards, invitation cards will be sent alon g with the catalogs in order to have our subscribers invite friends and family members to join the HOLA community.This will be sent during the months of October and November in order to promote the Holiday season by becoming a member of our website. Each customer will be notified that if they become a member they will receive free catalogs, gift cards and they will also have the opportunity to donate to charity organizations by buying our products. This will have an emotional appeal to consumers during the holiday season of giving. Other consumer promotions such as price reductions or coupons would not be a prominent part of this plan. We offer high-end jewelry brand and offering the mentioned promotions would not be a logical approach.Our image instead is a high quality brand that offers beautiful jewelry to a very powerful market. 44 5. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Consumer HOLA will spend $180,000 on personal selling for the consumer budget. We want to ensure that the sales peo ple from the retailers have the required knowledge, background and experience in order to develop high quality customer service when selling our products. The salespeople should be trained in order to provide customers with information about our company and the whole background reasoning for this new brand.We will be checking on a bi-monthly basis inventory and sales in order to make sure that everything is on track. Additionally, we will be placing additional information on posters and POP displays in retailers as soon as new collections come out. HOLA will also offer incentive programs to our retailers. We will provide the salespeople with HOLA jewelry. This will encourage each sales person to provide our customers with a high level service and at the same time the opportunity to show our jewelry through the sales person that is in charge of selling our products.Since there is no personal sales team for HOLA; the people who will be in charge of selling our products will be the sal espeople from each retailer. HOLA’s goal is to be able to open a store in the future in order to provide our future salespeople with unique uniforms that will represent our store with elegance and high-end brand. 45 5. 2. 4 Sponsorship Programs For sponsorship programs we want to enhance our company image in order to help our firm develop closer relationships with prospective customers. We want to match our target audience by sponsoring Hispanic charity events primarily.In the future we would also like to sponsor a variety of events related to Hispanic causes. In all these events we will be spending a total amount of $200,000. We will be presenting a unified message to our main audience in order to project a positive corporate image and create brand awareness. In all these events we will make sure it fits with our corporate image; this is why we also choose to sponsor fundraising events such as, concerts of Latin American singers, fashion shows by having the models wear HOLA jewelry and finally, bar/restaurant openings in Miami.The main goal is to gain profits that will be later donated to non-profit organizations. Our catchy phrase will be: â€Å"Catch the HOLA spirit and be part of it! † We will place the HOLA symbol around the event in big posters and we will also give away pins with our company logo. We want to make sure that we put our website address in every piece we give out in order to begin to build traffic in our website and begin word of mouth. 46 5. 2. 5 Database Programs Collect Data: Through data collection we will be provided with information for direct mail and Internet marketing. The total budget for this will be approximately $120,000.All information that will be collected will be available from an online database program in our website. The person in charge to manage all the information available will be the marketing director and several assistants that work for HOLA as a marketing team. Information such as age, gender, annua l income, lifestyle and email address that will be filled by our customers who buy anything online or at retail stores. Aside from general information, we will also ask customers about what influences their purchase decision such as price, quality, the concept of the brand, etc.We would want to know if our customers are buying our jewelry because they either loved our jewelry as a fashion statement, or because they were inspired by the business concept. All the information will be kept confidential at all times and only available to our marketing representatives who will manage and access everything on the database program. Data Warehouse: HOLA will use the data warehouse by targeting customers through direct marketing. Our system will work in a way that the salespeople have access to important customer information as they prepare to make sales calls.We will make sure that our internal salespeople are able to have access to the database when a customer calls to place an order or dea l with inquires and complaints from previous purchase. Direct Marketing We will implement a direct marketing campaign in order to reach our customers constantly. Our campaign will consist of two methods of direct communication: e-mail and mail. We know that consumers are being reached and bombarded with direct marketing material so we will make sure that our campaign is entirely unique and creative in order to attract the mind of the viewer when looking at our direct marketing pieces.Through mail we will be sending catalogs to update our customers about our latest collections or any promotions available. Through email we will also inform our customers about similar information but with less information. We will continue to follow our objectives and themes when it comes to creativity. 47 Permission Marketing HOLA will provide a subscriber tab on our website in order to obtain information by asking customers for their email to see if they will allow us to send them information about o ur product developments and/or promotions.They can either choose to become or not to become part of the e-mail list. We will notify them that by becoming an online subscriber they will have the opportunity to donate to charity organizations and help people around the world. We also want to collect as many emails as possible in retailers and trade shows in order to attract customers aside from the online subscribers. Frequent Shopper Program We will encourage our customers to continue to buy our products by placing continuous advertising and by inspiring them to wear beautiful jewelry for a meaningful reason.Through our advertisements we will always inform about our unique business concept as well as the several benefits from buying HOLA products. This will inspire customers to make repeat purchases because they will feel happy to make donations to charity organizations. 48 5. 3 Media Plan Our primary objective is to create brand awareness and influence consumers as they are approach ing a purchase decision. In order to develop successful brand awareness we will use frequency and continuity.The main goal is to establish HOLA as a high-end jewelry brand that is mainly offered to Hispanics Americans. Additionally, we want to transmit and inform future customers about our unique business concept. Jewelry is not purchased on a frequent basis. As a result, it is important for consumers to have HOLA brand in their evoked set just as they are contemplating a purchase. We will do so by placing repetitive ads in several medias such as television, radio, magazines, direct mail, Internet and mall. HOLA does not have to choose to utilize all media that will be listed in the following pages.They are part of this IMC plan where our purpose is to demonstrate all possibilities that will maximize frequency, reach and profitability for HOLA. Television For Television advertising we will start to place our ads in the beginning of the year 2009. The months will be during January (l aunching the brand), February (Valentine’s Day), March (Mother’s Day, several promotions will be offered. The advertising campaign will inform customers about our new jewelry brand that is being offered to Hispanics. The three main channels will be: Telemundo, Univision and Mega TV.These three channels are mainly directed to the Hispanic market. This is why they were chosen; they will inform our main target about our products by placing our ads. The perfect timing will be during the morning news during the weekdays, this is the typical time were our main target (Hispanic women) are watching morning television while getting ready to go to work or take their kids to school. At night will also be a good time for our ads placement because people are usually watching soap operas or news before going to sleep. Radio Radio advertisements will be placed in two main radio stations: Romance 106. and Amor 107. 5. These two radio stations are Hispanic and they target to this speci fic market. Both stations have 49 as their audience Latin Americans that are constantly listening to this radio station because they feel identified with the topics, music and several programs that are offered to their audience. By utilizing this radio station we will be able to place ads in the morning drive time from 7-9 and also in the afternoon from 4-6; trying to reach once again, Hispanic women that will be either driving to work or traveling their kids to school.On the other hand, we have many employees that listen to radio during their office hours as well as people who are in transition to or from work. Magazine HOLA will place print advertisements in Level Magazine. This magazine targets the Hispanic market as well. They try to reach Latin American men and women from 25-38 years of age who earn from a medium to high household income. His or her main lifestyle will be someone who lies within what is new and sophisticated. This magazine fits perfectly with the target we want to reach and this is why it was chosen.Level is a publication created by and for the Hispanic and Latin American community in the USA. By introducing this brand to the Level team we were able to negotiate a special rate with the level team in order to place a full-page ad 11 times throughout the next year for a lower price than what is usually offered. Direct Mail Through direct mail we will be able to send catalogs to customers who become subscribers online as well as future customers that will be part of the client database. This will enable us to introduce our customer with new collections and designs available.Aside from the catalogs that will be sent according to the launch of new collections there will also be consumer promotions for database clients who’s birthday is about to come. Internet For the Internet HOLA will place banner ads in different websites. The three main websites will be terra. com, entretenimiento. com and latino. msn. com. These three websites have large number of visitors and by looking at our banner ads traffic will be directed to our website and consumers will start to become aware of this new jewelry line. 50 5. 3. 1 Sample Media Schedule – Radio Format: Hispanic Music. 07. 5 Amor MEDIA WEEKS (January) SPOTS/ DAY (Mon-Fri) LENGTH/ SPOT DAYPART1 (6am-9am) COST/SPOT (Daytime 1) DAYPART 2 (4pm – 7pm) COST/SPOT (Daytime 2) COST/ WEEK Week 1 (1-7) Radio (107. 5) Week 2 (8-15) Week 3 (16-22) Week 4 (23/29) TOTAL: 4 4 4 4 30sec 30sec 30sec 30sec 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots $550 $550 $550 $550 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots 2 spots $500 $500 $500 $500 $10,500 $10. 500 $10,500 $10,500 $42,000 51 6. 0 IMC Objective Two – Distribution 6. 1 6. 2 Marketing Budget – Distribution IMC Methodologies 6. 2. 1 Advertising – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 1 Advertising Media Budget 6. 2. . 2 Creative Brief – Distribution 6. 2. 1. 3 Advertising Design 6. 2. 2 Trade Promotion 6. 2. 3 Personal Selling – Distib ution Media Plan 6. 3 6. 0 IMC Objective Two – Distribution Our second objective is to encourage our channel members to carry our products and to provide information about our company to potential customers. We will do so by utilizing middle to highend retailers. This is a traditional distribution channel that will be in charge of pulling customers into the store. The main goal is to be the vendor of choice of the retailers and to increase sales volume and market share.We will use a selective distribution by selecting different geographic locations in the USA. The states will be determined according to those states where there is high concentration of Hispanics. The main retailers will be primarily Nordstrom’s and Macy’s. These retailers will give HOLA the opportunity to position itself as a high quality jewelry brand. 53 6. 1 Marketing Budget – Distribution The budget for developing distribution channel for 2010 will be a total of $552,000. As shown belo w in the table and graph; the largest portion will be spent on trade promotions.It has been budgeted for approximately $180,000. These funds will be spent primarily on retailers that carry our products. For advertising we will utilize trade journals, direct mail and the Internet that will cost $110,000. We will also spend $100,000 on database programs and $150,000 for personal selling. Finally, for the Internet we will spend approximately $12,000. This overall budget provided below will allow us to start initial distribution and recruit channel partners. HOLA does not have to choose to spend the exact budget for distribution.This is an estimated budget where the purpose is to demonstrate all possibilities that will help achieve our main goals for distribution channels. Budget Advertising Trade Promotions Personal Selling Database Programs Internet 2010 $110,000 $180,000 $150,000 $100,000 $12,000 Total $552,000 54 6. 2 IMC Methodologies In order to develop distribution channels, we w ill implement advertising. Our main goal is to establish relationships with our channel members that will carry our products. We will use several tools such as trade journals, direct mail and the Internet.We will also utilize trade promotions, which will allow us to gain advantage among our competitors. Personal Selling will be an important tool used for this plan. We want to build strong relationships with those who will become our partners. We will advertise in trade journals and on websites of channel members. This will be important for attracting retailers who will be selling our products. The tools listed above will improve our communication between our future partners and us. It will also gives us the opportunity to increase orders from our retailers in the future. 55 6. 2. Advertising – Distribution The advertising budget for our distribution channel will be divided into three main channels: trade journals, direct mail and the Internet. Our main goal is to establish re lationships and encourage our distribution partners to carry our products. Trade journals will be approximately 54% of our budget. We will purchase advertising space in MJSA journal. We will send out our advertisements through direct mail to our major distributors. Finally, to supplement the trade journals we will place banners ads on the Internet in trade journal sites. 56 6. 2. 1. Advertising Media Budget The advertising budget for the distribution program will be 20% of the $552,000 for Objective Two. Of the $110,000 allocated for distribution channel advertising; $100,000 will go to trade journals and $75,000 will be for direct mail. With the remaining, $10,000 will be used for the Internet. Budget Trade Journals Direct Mail Internet 2010 $100,000 $75,000 $10,000 Total $110,000 57 6. 2. 1. 2 Creative Brief – Distribution Objective: To generate inquiries into stocking HOLA jewelry line into middle to high-end retailers in order to increase sales volume and market share.Tar get Audience: These targets are middle to high-end retailers that sell high quality jewelry and certain fashion statements such as clothes, shoes and handbags. All these retailers are willing to know how adding HOLA jewelry line will benefit their business. Message Theme: The primary theme is that HOLA will satisfy individuals who are looking for fine jewelry with a modern and unique design they can wear on a daily basis. For the distribution market, the theme is carried one step further to include the distributor as an important link to that customer.The Support: HOLA not only sells high-end jewelry but a unique concept with the brand that wants to sell specifically to Hispanic Americans living in the USA. HOLA will be donating part of its profits to charity organizations. The Constraints: There are many jewelry brands that want to sell their products to the same distributors. Therefore, the distributors may not want to sell more jew

Thursday, January 9, 2020

Essay about The Vikings - 3552 Words

The Vikings The word Viking in the Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language says that the word Viking means the following. â€Å"Vi†¢king 1. any of the Scandinavian pirates who plunder the coasts of Europe from the 8th to 10th centuries. 2. a sea-roving bandit: pirate. 3. a Scandinavian. 4. U.S. Aerospace. One of a series of space probes that obtained scientific information about Mars.† (1) The Vikings lived about one thousand years ago in the lands that we now call Iceland, Lapland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. To most people the Vikings were raiders that got in their longboats and sailed somewhere and then went from town to town killing and pillaging. This is not completely true, because the Vikings were also†¦show more content†¦Still other Vikings worked as merchants, traveling far and wide to trade their goods. Some were even specialized craftsmen such as silversmiths, blacksmiths, and woodcarvers. But the most famous of all the skilled Viking workers was the master shipbuilders and excellent sailors. Viking Lifestyle The growing population of Vikings in towns such as Birka in Sweden, Ribe and Hedeby in Denmark, and Kaupang in Norway prospered for the trading that took place along this string of cities. The trading flourished even though Danish and the Norwegian Vikings were raiding all the cities over in Europe. The Scandinavian towns were built on major waterways that were easy to reach by ship which in turn made trading much easier. The Viking houses were built on or near a water source for obvious reasons and also had access to their ships much faster being so close to the water. When there was no water source nearby they would dig wells and reinforce them with stones or wood that was sealed with a pitch. There were no sewers in Viking towns, but instead each house had a garbage heap. The larger towns produced their own goods such as pottery, products made out of iron, ships, glassworks, and leather products. Towards the end of the Viking age, as power became more concentrated, the Viking towns became large prosperous cities. The biggest city of the Viking time was Hedeby; itShow MoreRelatedVikings1677 Words   |  7 PagesVikings Close your eyes for a moment. Now imagine that you’re an English monk going about your eclectic duties, when a noise suddenly grabs your attention. You look towards the beach and you see a boat, massive in size and awe-inspiring in appearance, sitting right there on the beach where there was only sand a moment before. Then armed warriors pour off the boat, five at first, then ten, then fifteen, then twenty. To you, they’re giants, a good 4 inches in height greater than you; heavilyRead More vikings Essay976 Words   |  4 Pages Vikings In Control They were fierce, heartless Barbarians who Seized and looted many European lands from the 800’s to 1000’s. They made their sneaky attacks at the crack of dawn killing anyone who came axe length away. Including innocent babies defenseless children of all ages, and helpless women. ( The Celebration Program) During their time, these people never called themselves â€Å"Vikings.† This name isn’t even meant to be the name or a group, but an activity. The base word vik was simplyRead MoreThe Vikings And The Viking Age1569 Words   |  7 PagesThe Vikings were Norse seafarers, who mainly spoke the Old Norse language. They raided and traded from their Northern European homelands across wide areas of northern, central and eastern Europe, during the 9th to 11th century. 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When these fierce sea-borne raiders rummaged and plundered European sea ports of their valuables and treasures. These Scandinavian inhabitants were known to most of the world as a barbaric group, when in reality, there style of attacking had more skill than the world had seen. They struck fear and intimidation into their victims and made the whole European seaboard quake in angst for their arrival. Not onlyRead MoreThe Age of the Vikings Essay1648 Words   |  7 PagesWhen someone mentions the word ‘Viking’, the image that comes to mind is usually not pleasant. Often pictured as bloodthirsty barbarians in horned helmets, the Vikings are one of the most unfairly stereotyped ethnic groups. Although a large part of the Viking lifestyle involved invading and pillaging, they also had a rich culture that includ ed unique gods and goddesses and fascinating traditions. Although often overlooked, the Vikings were some of the most amazing and accomplished people ever toRead MoreViking History and Culture2231 Words   |  9 Pages Viking Culture Viking history and culture have been depicted in many movies, television series, and stories. Vikings are commonly known as barbarians that raid villages and intimidate others with huge ships with dragon heads, and horned helmets. This information is based on facts, but has been distorted and exaggerated over many years and tales. Viking history spans from the years 780 until 1100, which is the time span of the Viking raids. Not every Scandinavian was a Viking; Vikings wereRead MoreThe Origins Of The Viking2866 Words   |  12 PagesThe term Viking commonly relinquishes thoughts of ship-born warriors and pillagers known as the Norsemen, or men from the north, who originated in Scandinavia and raided the coasts of Britain, Ireland and mainland Europe as far east as the Volga River in Russia from the late 8th to 11th century. The terminology of the Viking has also been denoted by historians as entire populations of Viking Age Scandinavia and their settlements. Although the Norse men are infamous for their pillaging and plunderingRead MoreEssay on There is More to Vikings than Violence992 Words   |  4 PagesHistory typically describes the Vikings as the fiercest, most brutal of all the barbarian groups that invaded Europe. Historians agree that the Vikings were fierce, but was there more to them than that. The word Viking has been used to identify people who lived in Sweden, Norway and Denmark in early medieval times. In the language Old Norse, Viking means pirate. Sometimes they were known as Northmen or Danes. The Vikings shared a similar heritage as the Saxons, a group of people who hadRead MoreStrengths And Weaknesses Of The Vikings906 Words   |  4 Pages The strengths of the Vikings surely was the most significant factor in enabling them to be successful in terms of their strategies and tactics. Their strategies for example included the ‘Great Army’ which consisted of small forces therefore allowing them to use the element of surprise to their advantage and so raid completely undetected. They first gathered in East Anglia (866/7) and were skillfully able to live of this land by taking horses and supplies from the locals. The success of these Great