Essay Example on Marketing Communication Strategies: Connecting with Target Groups

Introduction

Marketing communication strategies play a significant role in various companies in the world. It helps the individual companies to reach the target groups; hence it's a plan aimed at persuading customers to buy products and services in the market. Various strategies are implemented from the perspectives of cultural values, identity, verbal directness, target group, geographical features, demographic characteristics, as well as multiple appeals (Clarke, Schellinck & Leonard, 2016).

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A perfect example of a fast-food chain advert applies to the Kentucky Fried Chicken in the United States of America. It's a popular restaurant that specializes in chicken pieces and has extensive customer coverage as it is based in many countries around the globe.

The above figure shows a Chicken advertisement by KFC, and it has employed various strategies based on their specific areas of expertise that is Grilled Chicken piece hence creating customer satisfaction. Cultural differences play a significant role in the marketing of the chicken as it creates different customer responses in different states. KFC focuses on cultural consumer values, needs, and purchasing trends and loyalty of the USA customers. Cultural values have a more significant impact on consumer behavior, and since many people in the USA tend to be unique and independent, not forgetting self-sufficient hence tend to purchase chicken due to its quality in the market.

The target group is an essential factor with the KFC advertisement. They usually target the upper-middle class individuals through their pricing mechanisms, and at times they lower their prices to accommodate the lower class people in the community; also it targets the student population; thus it has tried as much as possible to adjust its prices to cater for all classes of people. The geographical feature is another factor that is considered in their advertisements. Segmentation is done about geographic areas like States, countries, regions, and cities. Its outlets are located in densely populated locations like in schools, markets, cinemas, and colleges hence taking advantage of high return (Roopchund Randhir, Khirodhur Latasha, Panyandee Tooraiven & Bappoo Monishan, 2018). As well free home delivery strategy has been implemented free of charge, and it's through advertisement communication that the customers get information about the services provided by KFC.

The psychographic feature is essential as it divides customers into different groups based on lifestyle, social class as well as personality traits. KFC identifies ambitious people, and their lifestyle feature is not specific. The demographic feature has been taken into consideration as thought the advertisements; KFC divides individuals into groups by basing on age, gender, occupation, level of income, education, race as well as nationality. For instance, KFC has no age limit, and it targets all individuals in society, and this applies to stereotype factors since KFC does not limit specific gender and age nor race. Equality is granted in service provision to people from all spheres of the world. Appeals do exist within the KFC environment. For instance, customers do not have fear when they make purchase choices as they already developed a sense of trust towards the company products. However, the health status of customers is questioned as experts argue that oils used to prepare chicken and other products contain transit fats, which affect the health status of people in the society like causing obesity problems.

KFC uses some advertising media forms to place its advertisement. It uses Outdoor billboards which are in many cities, Newspapers, the internet, and television. This strategy creates awareness for customers, primarily in the time of promotion and offers. Timing is critical concerning advertising, especially during the Christmas period and international days like women's day and Valentine's Day. Cultural and national identity has been identified in the advertisement like, for instance, in the menu items names, smell, and taste to fit a particular culture. KFC being a fast food industry, it faces challenges due to globalization, especially ethical issues. It has a problem, especially in the health status of people, as many individuals become obese, as well as cultural differences that exist in different counties. With globalization, culture cannot be abandoned. Instead, a company has to integrate and adapt products to the culture of people in a given state.

Car Advertisement in Japan

Another case study that applies communication strategies within the advertisement is the Toyota Motor Corporation for Cars in Japan. It's one of the best manufacturers of cars around the globe and implements various plans for its products. Cultural value and identity exist in the advertisement of the brands a market economy as people from different states have different tastes and preferences. For instance, in Europe, many people have a rich and elegant culture and which does not apply to Toyota car brands. Target groups are very critical with Toyota Company as focuses on medium passenger customers and private clients are shared.

Concerning target customers, individuals are considered to be early adopters, value-conscious as well as environmentally friendly, especially when it comes to the introduction of a new brand in the market. Early adopters tend to acquire cars with the latest version. In contrast, environmentally friendly is very keen on the negative impact on the environment; hence through media advertisement, the company gets potential clients. The geographical feature is a strategy considered within the adverts has it covers a broader region globally of over 45 manufacturing companies within 26 countries. The demographic feature also exists as much advertisement focus on relaying information to private customers who are between 30 to 50 years of age and not limited to gender factors. The population requires classy cars and of comfort, and mostly they are upper-middle-class levels.

Psychographic segmentation implies that buyers are under different classifications.For instance, early adopters who are technology-oriented as they wish to acquire the latest model and invention in the market. As well we have environmentally friendly individuals who seem to be cautious with the environment as they are aware of global warming and tend to purchase environmentally friendly cars. Thirdly, some customers need a perfect blend of low maintenance vehicles with economic effectiveness in fuel consumption at a relatively lower price. The use of celebrities has been applied mainly in the USA market in advertising s hence creating attraction to people from all the states (Shaw, 2011). Consumer perceptions, tastes, and preferences do differ concerning the brand and country of origin; hence bin an aspect of stereotype arises in advertising communication strategy. Toyota Company is product/service oriented as it focuses on the diverse and changing needs of its clients hence believes that quality, safety, and reassurance goals must be achieved to its various customers.

The best medium of placement of the advertisement is the television, as it has a significant impact on consumer behavior. Also, print out papers is used primarily in weekend editions as well as car industry periodicals. Toyota uses natural language in its advertisements that tend to be a slogan to create a brand identity and desire to the consumers. Cultural and national identity is communicated in the ad; for instance, in China, Advertisement presents a four-character slogan for their national identity. Globalization has accelerated problems in Toyota, especially concerning media coverage, has it is difficult to persuade consumers to purchase cars due to risks involved.

Phone Advertisement in Germany

Mobile phones have become very common in modern society, and various communication advertisement strategies are applied. For instance, Germany employs different communication strategies for phones. First, Cultural identity and values play a critical role in the advertisement strategy in that when advertising phones, the message tends to be informative, and focus is centered on the features. In contrast, in other countries like the USA, the letter is informal and uses various images to relay the message. As well the advertisements encompass some critical attributes like general safety of the gadget and performance. Most ads target people of all classes through adjustment of prices to meet customer needs since the phones are highly competitive in the market.

The phones are favorable to people by considering certain demographics features like age, current occupational status, gender as well as location. For example, apple phones advertisements focus on individuals who are aged 25 years old and below hence implying the users tend to be young, especially those in colleges with the highest percentage being the male population. The stereotype does exist in the case factor of age as mainly the advertisement focuses on young people as compared to the old community. The best age bracket is 25 years old and below. IPhone has tried to create a friendly culture to its customers as it is a product and service-oriented due to the quality of phones provided in the market. Advertisement placements are majorly through the television, print media, and city light; hence the strategy tends to accommodate all people regardless of your class. The timing of the advertisement is crucial as mostly it happens during holidays, and the specific language of humor is applied to attract more customers.

Cultural and national identity does exist in the communication advertisement strategies, especially in the description of the device specifications since different nations do have different preferences of the phones. Innovation as been a challenge due to globalization challenges concerning advertising since when it comes to advertising, many businesses are not implementing technology as they do not update it. As well when customers use a phone that is not updated, they encounter poor experience and abandon it to get a competitor model.

Various advertisements from different cultures employ strategies that aim at attracting the target group in the market. The procedures apply in the field of demographics, geographical factors, target groups, stereotypes, and psychographic features. The perfect example applies to fast-moving food restraint that is KFC in the USA, Toyota for Cars in Japan, and iPhone in Germany. The marketing strategies must be identified to fit the needs and preferences of the target group to create a brand image and overall maximization of profits.

References

Adetunji, R., Md Nordin, D., & Md Noor, S. (2017). Integrated Advertisement Message Strategy: A Tactical Implementation of Imc in Advertisement Discourse. Indian Journal Of Applied Research, 3(10), 1-3. DOI: 10.15373/2249555x/oct2013/65

Clarke, T., Schellinck, D., & Leonard, T. (2016). Developing an Effective Communication Strategy to Modify Environment-related Consumer Behaviour. International Journal Of Advertising, 4(2), 105-118. DOI: 10.1080/02650487.1985.11105054

Roopchund Randhir, Khirodhur Latasha, Panyandee Tooraiven, & Bappoo Monishan. (2018). Analyzing the Impact of Sensory Marketing on Consumers: A Case Study of KFC. Journal Of US-China Public Administration, 13(4). DOI: 10.17265/1548-6591/2016.04.007

Shaw, V. (2011). The Marketing Strategies of British and German Companies. European Journal Of Marketing, 28(7), 30-43. DOI: 10.1108/03090569410064445