Custom essays on Integrated Marketing Communications Planning and Control: Nesquik

Nesquik is one of the leaders among flavoured milk products, which today faces the problem of the consistent deterioration of its marketing performance. As the matter of fact, today, Nestle’s Nesquik suffers from the drop of its sale rates. This trend is extremely dangerous, taking into consideration the overall growth in the industry in international markets. In actuality, Nesquik faces the risk of losing its leading position for its competitors, such as Fijj can outpace Nesquik. At the same time, some specialists (Thomas, 2010) lay emphasis on the fact that the major cause of the deterioration of the marketing performance of Nesquik is poor and ineffective communication with customers. As the matter of fact, the company-customer communication is the main factor that leads to the drop of Nesquik sales because Nestle is still focused on the use of its commercial potential but the company pays little attention to the formation of a positive and up-to-date image of Nesquik in customers’ perception. In addition, the company needs to develop positive company-customer relationships and develop new, effective communications plan which can help the company to attract the attention of customers to Nesquik and regain its position in the market. In this regard, the company should focus on the use of new approaches to promotion of its product, Nesquik, and to learn actual needs of customers because, today, needs of customers are different from those Nestle used to that actually makes its advertisement and promotion of Nesquik ineffective.
One-year integrated communications plan and schedule with budget costs
One-year communications plan
The development of an effective communications plan starts with the research of current needs of customers. In this respect, Nestle should focus on the research of current needs of customers and the evaluation of their preferences. The understanding of customers’ needs and wants helps the company to elaborate an effective promotional campaign that will allow the company to reach the target customer group. At the same time, the research of customers’ needs will involve the work of company with its customers because it will be necessary to obtain their feedback concerning the product they consume. In this regard, loyal customers are particularly important for the company because they can help to reveal the major changes that occurred to customers’ needs and preferences for a relatively long time. At this point, the company should introduce a program of loyalty for its customers and encourage them to provide their feedback concerning Nesquik.
The next step in the elaboration of the communications program is the evaluation and the adaptation of the product to customers’ needs. What is meant here is the fact that, on gathering feedback from customers concerning Nesquik, Nestle should analyze the information carefully. In this respect, it should be said that the needs of customers have changed consistently since the 1990s, whereas the promotional strategy and communication strategy of the company has not changed much since that time (Thomas, 2010). In such a way, the company needs apparently to adapt its promotional strategy and communications with customers to the current needs and wants of customers.
In this respect, it should be said that customers are growing more and more concerned with their health. Hence, today, the promotion of Nesquik as a product that is fun to consume is absolutely ineffective and out-of-date. In stark contrast, it is necessary to focus on the healthy lifestyle and positive impact of Nesquik on health of customers. This strategy will help the company to make its product more attracting to customers. At any rate, customers will grow confident in Nesquik as a healthy product which is worth to consume. The emphasis on the positive impact of Nesquik on consumers health may accelerate sale rates of the product but the presentation of this idea and its communication to mass customers should be different from the current promotion. In fact, Nestle should use more effective means of promotion and promotional strategy which can provide the scientific, reliable back-up to the information about a positive impact of Nesquik on health of customers.
At the same time, Nestle should pay a particular attention to children as the target customer group. At any rate, the company should focus the promotion of Nesquik on children because it is through children the company can influence the behaviour of adults as consumers. The development of the new product destined for kids specifically may be very helpful in this regard. This means that the company can change Nesquik or modify it to make it particularly useful for children. On introducing such changes, the company should convey to customers the main message that new Nesquik is useful for children because it balances the development of children and helps them grow healthy. Obviously, customers can hardly resist when the health of their children is at stake.
The improvement of the product, Nesquik, is an essential part of the effective communications plan because it is through the product, its high quality and attractiveness to customers, the company can shape positive company-customer relationships and shape a positive image of Nesquik in customers’ consciousness. In this respect, the replacement of the RTD with transformational products, such as twin-pot device may be an effective improvement that can attract customers, especially children. The use of such innovations can help Nesquik to improve its image and raise sale rates.
At the same time, the promotion of Nesquik is an essential condition of its effective advancement in the market. At any rate, without promotion, Nestle can hardly increase the sale rates of Nesquik. The promotion of Nesquik is an effective means which the company can use in communication with customers. In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the organization of the promotional campaign is a very important factor in the communication with customers because it is through the promotional campaign Nestle can shape a positive image of Nesquik. The development of the promotional campaign should include the development of effective approaches to advertising and promotion of Nessquik, which are different from current ones. What is meant here is the fact that Nestle should refuse from the emphasis on the funny advertising and promotion of Nesquik. Instead, the company should focus on the positive impact of Nesquik on health of customers. As the matter of fact, health issues are crucial for the promotion of Nesquik and the extent to which the promotional campaign can persuade the target customer group in usefulness of Nesquik for health defines the overall success of the product. In such a way, the promotional campaign should communicate clearly the message concerning the positive impact of Nesquik on health of customers, who consume this product regularly.
In order to increase the effectiveness of the promotional campaign and company-customer communication the involvement of celebrities to promote the product may be very helpful to draw the public attention to Nesquik and to improve the image of the product. Moreover, the involvement of a celebrity can change the traditional philosophy of the promotion of Nesquik, which is apparently ineffective. In fact, the involvement of celebrity can replace funny advertising by more serious advertising which refers to really important issues such as health of customers. In this regard, a celebrity can help the company to persuade the audience that Nesquik is really a good and useful product which is worth consuming. It proves beyond a doubt that a celebrity will be more persuading than a funny rabbit that is present in practically all advertisements of Nesquik. In such a way, the company can improve the quality of communication with customers, who will take the company and its product seriously.
In addition, sponsoring sport events, especially those involving or destined to children, can help Nesquik to attract the attention of the target customer group. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that sport is traditionally associated with a healthy lifestyle. Therefore, the involvement of Nestle in sponsoring sport events can present Nesquik as a useful and healthy food. In such a way, customers will associate Nesquik with sport and achievements of sportsmen. At any rate, Nesquik will be definitely associated with a healthy lifestyle that is one of the major goals of the communications plan because it will upgrade the image of Nesquik and lead to the formation of a positive image of the brand.