buy essay on Integrated Marketing Communications Planning and Control: Nesquik

Communications schedule
The implementation of the communications plan should be properly scheduled. Otherwise, Nestle may face a problem of the ineffective implementation of the plan. The first stage of the plan is the research of customer needs and preferences. This stage will take about a month because it is important to identify the common trends in customers attitude to Nesquik and the company-customer communication. The evaluation of the data collected in the course of the research will take about a week that will be enough to process the information. The next stage is the development of an effective promotional strategy, which should take into consideration needs and preferences of customers. This stage will take up to three weeks because it is a very important stage which can define the overall effectiveness of the company-customer communication. At this stage, Nestle should define the promotional strategy, involve a celebrity and define sport events to sponsor and to promote the product. Finally, the promotional campaign should lead to the improvement of the image of Nesquik and formation a positive attitude of customers to the product along with the constant interest to Nesquik on the ground of customers’ concerns with their health and positive impact of Nesquik on health.
Budget for communications plan
The budget for communication plan should focus on the maximization of the effectiveness of the communications plan. In this respect, it is important to define priorities in the communications plan. First, the research of customers’ needs and preferences will need substantial funds because it is necessary to research different categories of customers in different regions of the world. The research will take $2 million for the organization and conducting research, including the materials used in the research, such as questionnaires, paying researchers for the collection and analysis of the information. The evaluation stage will not take substantial resources because the evaluation will be carried out by Nestle’s personnel, including managers and specialists working in the field of marketing.
Furthermore, the promotional campaign will need the most substantial financial resources because it will involve the contract with a celebrity, who promotes Nesquik, and sponsoring sport events. Basically, the promotional campaign will take up to $125 million because it will be conducted worldwide. At the same time, the company should use funds effectively to minimize financial losses and maximise benefits of the promotion. If necessary, the funding of the promotional campaign can increase on the condition of its effective implementation. In other words, if the promotional campaign brings positive results for Nesquik, for instance sale rates are boosting, then Nestle may increase the funding of promotion to maintain its positive impact on the product sales and positive image of the company. Finally, it is necessary to fund the control system, including control officers who can carry out the control over the implementation of the plan.
Monitor and evaluation of plan
The monitoring and evaluation of the communications plan is extremely important and should be grounded on the theoretical basis. In this respect, it should be said that the communication should motivate customers to buy Nesqiuk and it shapes a positive image of the company and product. It should be pointed out that the utilitarian approach to the motivation heavily relies on the rationalism of an individual since, in terms of this theory, human actions are determined by their utility or profitability (Royse, 2006). This means that it is only a perspective of some benefits that can really motivate a person, but, on the other hand, such a utilitarian view implies that an individual should evaluate carefully all his/her action and motivation is also rationally justified and evaluated because it is on the basis of the racial judgment an individual can get either motivated or non-motivated to take an action. At first glance, such an approach seems to be logical and quite convincing, but, in actuality, it proves to be rather naïve because such a view on the motivation means that people are unable to spontaneous actions (Austin et al, 1990). In other words, the motivation is rather a rational act than a spontaneous or unplanned act. Therefore, if a person starts conflict, he wants to achieve certain goals and if his opponent is able to understand these goals he can avoid the conflict.
Basically, such a utilitarian point of view contradicts to the position of David Hume, who, in contrast, stood on the ground that the motivation is not a product of human rationalism. Moreover, he laid emphasis on the fact that people cannot make their judgments and get motivated on the basis of the reason solely. Instead, he admits the possibility of the significant impact of the sympathy to other people that, according to the philosopher, can be a strong motivating factor. In fact, David Hume develops his sentiment-based theory in terms of which the motivation is mainly based on sentiments instead of reason and rationalism. Consequently, the philosopher defends the possibility of the non-utilitarian motivation, which rather refers to the sphere of sentiments and emotions than to the sphere of reason and logic. It is worth mentioning the fact that such a view on the motivation is quite original and opposes many other theories. In this respect, it is possible to name not only the utilitarian theory but also the psychological egoism. Unlike the supporters of the psychological egoism, such as Joseph Butler, David Hume does not admit the possibility of making moral judgments and, therefore, motivation, on the basis of self-interest alone (Benfari, 1999). On the other hand, he does not fully deny the importance of self-interest as an important part of the motivation, but he suggests a larger view on the motivation that also includes the possibility of the impact of sympathy to other people on the motivation. In such a context, conflicts seem to be caused by emotional problems and, therefore, they can be solved by means of rationalizing causes of the conflict, which can reveal that the conflict is illogical and provoked by strong emotions only.
Obviously, in order to properly evaluate and assess the current situation and develop efficient recommendations concerning its improvements, it is necessary to apply proper methodology to meet this goal (Carter, 2003). At the same time, it should be pointed out that it is hardly possible to achieve plausible results if only one method is used. This is why in order to objectively assess the situation and make up efficient recommendations it is necessary to use a complex of methods that would contribute to objective and precise understanding of the real problems the company and its BU Inflammation are currently facing. In this respect, it is should be said that the methods used to address the objective setting and controllability were three-fold and comprised.
First of all, such a widely spread method as interview was used in order to meet the main goals of the research. Obviously, this methods is quite efficient since it provides the possibility to properly evaluate the situation and learn the position of different people that are directly or non-directly related to the problem analyzed (Royse, 2006). In other words, this method helps to analyze the situation on the basis of the opinion of specialists that know the essence of the problem and current situation.
Furthermore, on analyzing the problem, it is obviously necessary to take into consideration the current situation that can be researched by means of the analysis of the management controls systems that are currently applied by Nestle. It proves beyond a doubt that it is extremely important for the evaluation of the problem discussed since the management controls systems’ evaluation contributes to understanding of certain drawbacks as well as indicates at certain perspectives and changes that are essential for the resolution of the existing problem.
In fact, it is necessary to underline that the methodology offered is probably not ideal but nonetheless it provides ample opportunities to properly assess and evaluate the current situation, reveal the essence of the problem and work out plausible recommendations concerning its solution. Furthermore, this methodology creates conditions for high objectivity of the conclusions made in the result of the analysis of the current situation and the existing problem in relation to Nesquik and company-customer communication (Royse, 2006). In fact, the company can apply the aforementioned methodology to control the implementation of the communications plan but Nestle should be able to introduce changes in the plan, if necessary.
Conclusion
Thus, the communications plan influences consistently the performance of Nestle’s Nesquik. At the same time, it is extremely important to insure the effective research of customer needs and preferences to create an effective strategy of the promotion of Nesquik. On the other hand, the implementation of the communications plan implies the existence of an effective system of monitoring and control, which should be based on the utilitarian ground and define the extent to which customers are motivated and satisfied with Nesquik.
References
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