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MA Marketing Communications
CAMPAIGN PLANNING PROJECT
Module 4MMC7A5.1
Daniel Bernardi - 13237383
MANAGEMENT SUMMARY
Purpose of project
Integrated Marketing Communications Project for Aston Martin
Opportunity attempt
Long-term campaign targeting wealthy classes in UK in order to expand the target
audience by introducing 2 new models in the market. Attempt to raise the highest
levels of awareness and satisfaction to go public in 2015.
Investment risked
£35mi based on push elements of strategy to start-up the business operation of the
Cygnet model in the dealership chain, supported consequently by pull strategy to
boost communication and demand in order to achieve a capital of £500,000,000 by
going public in 2015.
Time-scale
The campaign is proposed to run for 3 periods of one year each with different
strategies, approaches and individual goals that will converge in to the ultimate
objective of going public.
CONTENTS
1 1.1 Introduction (overview / clarification of topic)
6 1.2 Host Organization
9 1.3 Research sources
12 2.1 / 2.2 Macro Analysis
21 2.3 / 2.4 Micro Analysis
22 2.5 / 2.6 Marketing Objectives / Strategic Context
25 3.1 Role of IMC in Marketing Management
31 3.2 IMC Performance Objectives
37 3.3 / 3.4 Target Market & Consumer Profiles
46 3.5 Branding Issues
49 4.1 Communications and Campaign Strategy
58 5.2 Campaign Delivery Recommendations
77 6.1 Campaign Performance Evaluation
Appendices
Bibliography
Topic Overview
The purpose of this document is to present an Integrated Marketing Campaign for
Aston Martin, one of the most traditional UK automotive brands, part of an industry
that generates £50bi/year. Although being part of this industry, Aston Martin operates
in a niche classified as “Top-end car market” that represents 2,7% of the whole
industry with a market value estimated at £1.5bi.
Why Aston Martin?
Aston Martin is a company that presents 3 important pillars for potential growth: Iconic
brand, Product differentiated and financial support.
The brand Aston Martin carries itself 100 years of tradition, history and
competitiveness, without any downfall to the brand image. To confirm the status did
not remain in the past, Aston Martin was voted for the fifth time in six years as the
“coolest” UK Brand in 2010, surpassing design-driven brands, including Apple and
Bang & Olufsen.
The company is controlled by 2 important funds of investment from Kuwait; Investment
Dar and Adeem Investment that together sum over £1bi on assets.
The IMC will exploit the release of 2 new models in the market: the supercar “One-77”
and the eco-friendly “Cygnet” as a commercial opportunity to generate annual
revenues of £1bi. Consequently, the IMC will also support strategy and tactics to
achieve the marketing objectives and prepare the company in 3 years period to go
public.
Strength and history of the brand
The British manufacturer Aston Martin is one of the brands with strongest reputation,
not only due the quality and performance, but the aura and status that the cars
transmit to the owners.
Relevance for the brand regarding the product’s portfolio
“Luxury products perhaps are one of the purest examples of branding, because the
brand and its image are often key competitive advantages that create enormous value
and wealth to organizations” (Kotler and Keller, 2012)
Appealing to the history, it is clear to notice that the car‟s prestige and performance
came before the name, but over the years these attributes built the reputation and the
values of brand. Aston Martin can be considered a branded house, presenting unique
ties between product and brand. There is a perfect alignment featuring Brand Essence
X Product Performance X Ownership Experience.
A clear example of these tie‟s characteristics can be explained by asking Porsche or
Mercedes owners about what car do they have, and the answer probably would be:
“ – I drive a Porsche 911”
“ – I have a Mercedes-Benz SL 500”
Owners desire to match personal values and aspirations with a specific model, which
carries the desirable status, performance or utility. If the same question would be
made to an Aston Martin owner, the answer would be:
“I drive an Aston Martin.”
The answer is pure and simple because the values and status of the brand are
delivered and represented equally in the whole product portfolio, doesn‟t matter if you
are driving a Rapid or a Vanquish, they have different features but are still an Aston
Martins firstly. This concept is followed by the company even for the city car Cygnet,
which will be sold in the same price range as the luxury coupes.
Position in the Market
Aston Martin offers exclusive products for premium price in a mature and segmented
market. The industry is replete of niche manufactures and surrounded by global
producers, these features characterize the market as highly competitive and
specifically segmented. The UK registered 1,688,038 new vehicles in 2011, whereas
only approximately 45,000 vehicles were considered top-end cars. Aston Martin sold
till November of this year 901 cars, placing the company in the 3rd position of market
with 6% of market share, behind Mercedes-Benz and Porsche and closely followed by
Ferrari.
Aston Martin History
The company was founded in 1914 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Lionel
Martin used to race special models at Aston Hill near Aston Clinton and from this
racing experience and background they decide to make their own vehicles. The first
vehicle created by Martin was in 1908.
Later on 1922, the company produced a series of cars to race the French Grand Prix.
The performance of Aston Martin cars setting speed and endurance records gave
birth to the racing essence that the brand still proudly boasts.
The Company bankrupt in 1924, and was bought by Lady Charnwood, but failed again
in 1925 and closed the doors in 1926 with Lionel Martin leaving.
Source: SMMT (Society of Motors Manufacturers and Traders 2011
37%
28%
6%
4%
25%
Figure 1 : Top-end cars UK market share
Mercedes-Benz
Porsche
Aston Martin
Ferrari
Others
1970’s – Changing Ownership
This period was characterized by several changes in the ownership of the company
and a turn-around strategy that lead the recruitment of 360 new employees and a
trading profit of £750,000. Despite the car‟s appreciation value, the company was
often financially troubled and the economic contraction of the early 1980‟s almost
closed the production to concentrate on service and restoration.
The Ford era
During the decade of 1980, Victor Gaunlett was in control of
Aston Martin and managed to regain strengths after the economic contraction.
In 1988 the company produced 5,000 cars in a period of 20 years. Although the
company was doing well, Aston Martin needed extra funds to survive in the long term.
In the same year, Ford Europe recognizing the potential of the brand decided to
become a shareholder.
Aston Martin was placed in the Premier Automotive Group, substantially invested in
new manufacturing and quickly ramped the production. The company was back to the
racing tracks and produced a record of 700 vehicles.
Ford Europe remained as shareholder for 19 years and was the period of most
development and growth, by releasing 5 successful models and relevance in the
market.
New Era
In 2006, after internal review of costs and realizable investments, Ford decided to sell
all or part of Aston Martin by auction. In March 2007 a consortium led by Prodrive,
John Sinders, an Aston Martin collector; and two Kuwaiti investment companies
purchased Aston Martin for £475mi and left Ford with a stake in the company valued
at £40mi.
ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE
Aston Martin‟s headquarter is located at Gaydon, in England‟s historic Warwickshire
and is the place where all design and engineering processes are developed.
Furthermore, the company outsourced the production of the first four-door Aston
Martin to Austria and still rely part of the engines production to the city of Cologne in
Germany.
The company is headed by the chairman Dr. Ulrich Bez and co-owned by Ford Motor
Company that keeps 12.1% of share. The investment group Dar and Adeem hold
together 80% of Aston Martin remainder assets. Aston Martin operates a global
dealership network of 135 dealers in 42 countries with over 1,000 employees.
BUSINESS MIX: PRODUCT PORTFOLIO
Luxury Sports Car
Basically, 95% of Aston Martin‟s revenue comes from the commerce of Luxury Sports
Car. This is the core business of the company that currently offers to the market a
range of 8 models of cars and 15 variations
Heritage
As a traditional brand in the market for almost a century, some models built decades
ago can have a market value over 10 times the new top model available to sale.
Aston Martin provides to their costumers and enthusiastic owners a reliable market of
vintage models and collectible cars.
Racing
The Racing segment is a branch of the company that participates in the most
important automotive events, such as Gran Tourism Championship and others.
Aston Martin also develops, produces and commercializes racing engines to other
teams and categories worldwide.
Fashion accessories and goods
This is a visionary enterprise idealized by the investment fund behind the brand.
Aston Martin brand is being licensed to other companies in order to develop
merchandising products, clothes and accessories in general.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
According to Aston Martin, the global, high-luxury sports car demand was 110,000
units in 2008. During the crisis in 2009 the company achieved profits of £6.6m, even
operating with sales falling over 20% in the segment regarding the same period in
2008.
Aston Martin Holdings' revenue increased 61.4% to £537m in 2008 and its after-tax
profit was up 38.1%. According to the accounts of Aston Martin Holding Limited, the
company jumped 36.3% last year to £474.3m. The company is operating profits
increased by 46% to £35.3m. Most part of the growth of Aston Martin is due the
penetration in emerging markets such as China, Russia, Turkey, India and Brazil.
Although, sales in the UK market has fallen by 9%.
The forecast for next year is to achieve the revenues of £1bn by introducing to the
market 2 new products, the supercar “One-77” with a market price estimated at £1.2m
and the city car Cygnet.
Figure 3: Summary Financial Analysis
2010 2009 2008
Revenue £474,3mi £302,2mi £357,mi
Profit £35,3mi £6,6mi £48,3mi
Increase 36.3% -20% 61,4%
Source: Aston Martin Annual Report 2009/2010 ; 2008/2009
CORPORATE VISION/MISSION
The mission statement of Aston Martin describes their dedication to producing cars
that are both creative and that benefit from mechanical discipline. These vehicles not
only have to look great but it is also important that they provide the ultimate driving
experience possible. It is this dedication to quality vehicles that has ensured that the
name is so revered by many people. The brand is synonymous of professional
achievement and consolidated carriers.
“ Aston Martin is dedicated to produce hand-made cars regarding creativity and
benefit mechanical discipline. The company is engaged to develop cars based on 3
important elements: power, beauty and soul. Owning an Aston Martin is viewed as a
symbol of success. ”
HEADING THE FUTURE
As sales have collapsed in the UK, luxury car brands have instead turned to emerging
markets for growth. This strategy of global expansion will diversify the markets and
decrease investments in mature markets as Europe an USA. Aston Martin strategy is
to raise funds to support the strategy of global expansion, and in order to reach
emerging markets, to make it possible, Aston Martin plans to take the company public.
The company estimates that floatation on the London Stock Exchange would value
the business around £500mi.
RESEARCH SOURCES
In order to provide realistic and accurate analysis of the market and competitors, the
document is based on official automotive industry data provided by the SMMT
(Society of Motor Manufacturer and Traders).
Financial analysis and the market trends were developed considering annual reports
and articles published by specialized online and press media. Recommendations and
conclusions were based on secondary research analysis and personal background.
Working 7 years in the automotive industry for Citroen and later for a turbocharger
manufacturer qualified an inside view and relevant understanding of the market.
POLITICAL ISSUES
The political and legal environment consists of laws, government agencies, and
pressure groups that influence various organizations and individuals. The European
Commission established new laws covering competitive behavior, product standards,
product liability and commercial transactions for the 27 members nations of the EU.
Aston Martin as private company operating in the UK territory, as well as in other
countries, it is subjected to laws established by a superior power, the government.
More legislation impacts the business and distracts employer‟s attention from
management and development.
New mandatory recycling laws boosted increased costs for automotive manufacturers
and created a business opportunity for dozens of new companies making products
from industrial waste.
Aston Martins as a niche manufacturer aspiring to be a global luxury producer, still
struggles with limited production. Aware of its limitations, the company outsources the
production of the Rapide model to Austria and a part of the V8 engines to the city of
Cologne in Germany brings the engines from the city of Cologne in Germany.
The strategy of outsourcing in order to transcend the lack in production exposes the
company to different restrictions and regulations established by the governments
involved.
Being a Global brand with territorial growth strategy will expose the company to
different export taxes and market restriction. Restrictions related to working-time and
raises in the minimum wage are examples how badly the company could be impacted.
ECONOMIC HEALTH
Purchasing power depends on income, prices, savings, debts and credit availability.
Economic downturns can impact negatively business, especially companies whose
products are geared to high-income and price-sensitive consumers. Economic crisis
spread havoc across local and global markets, and one of the major victims is the top-
end car market. Economic crisis impacts directly Aston Martin‟s market in two
different ways: retention of the good and acquisition.
During periods of economic instability the natural trend for consumers is to cut
unnecessary and superficial costs. Following this thought, Aston Martins owners are
running in the opposite hand of the road by spending money on insurance, taxes,
expensive maintenance service and high petro consumption, inevitable expenses for
this category of vehicles. Consequently, owners start to get rid of their cars
generating depreciation of the brand and product value.
The acquisition of models is also negatively impacted during periods of instability by
credit crunch. The consequences of the raise in mortgage rates, automatically
increases the price for money loans, such as: financing and leasing restricting the
market. The economy also plays a fundamental role in the consumer‟s behavior, by
increasing or decreasing their power of purchase by the price inflation.
SOCIAL TRENDS/CUSTOMER BEHAVIOUR
The brand and company Aston Martin exists on international level; socio-cultural
factors determine the external environment of it. Managing over 135 dealerships in 42
different countries around the globe is a barrier in order to establish the
communication and deliver the same values and messages cross-cultures.
The percentage of people that possess the spending power to buy an Aston Martin is
rather low anywhere around the world, the target market is considered very small and
characterized by the high concentration of money in the small population fraction. In
our current society we can classify 3 different trends: Fad, Trend and Megatrend.
A Fad is unpredictable, short-lived, without social, economical or political significance
and is not relevant for the automotive industry. The Trend is more predictable and
durable, it reveals the shape of the future and can provide strategic direction, and this
is the mainstream that companies invest money in order to identify before it actually
happens. A Trend in the automotive industry can be exemplified as the desire for cars
in white color, and the demand for navigation system.
The Megatrend is a large social, economic, political and technological changes, and
this is what all automotive seeks to identify. In order to develop a model that matches
with a Megatrend, the company must identify it years before, once the development a
new model can takes more than 5 years. A Megatrend on the automotive sector is the
desire for small cars, more fuel-efficient and electric or hybrid cars.
The characteristics of the current society, urban chaos, traffic jam, high price of fuel,
lack of parking places and environmental impacts are leading consumers to face a
period of behavioral transition, by increasing tendency to buy smaller cars
environmental friendly and fuel-efficient, opposite features of Aston Martins. Most
manufacturers are looking forward to extract maximum power and torque from small
engines, equipped with turbochargers and compressor to re-use the energy produced,
while Aston Martin production is based on big blocks of V8 and V12 engines.
These social trends leads to an interesting consumer behavior described basically as
a shift across sublevels of automobile categories. It means, that there is a trend that
might shift consumer of top-end cars to smart or hybrid cars.These social trends will
definitely put the UK manufacturer at stake if the Cygnet model does not take off.
TECHNOLOGICAL DRIVERS
The essence of capitalism is to tolerate the destructiveness of technology as the price
for progress. Following this thought, cars hurt the railroads, television hurt the
newspaper and Internet hurts both. This is an indicative that companies that fight or
ignore new technologies will have their business declined.
Considering the characteristics of the top-end car market, technology is a competitive
advantage, but for Aston Martin might be a deliberated gap to success. Once more, in
order to overcome this weakness the company rely on outsourcing electronic
components provided by Porsche, maintaining the quality standards.
The tradition that hand-made car exalts, goes in the opposite direction of the need to
be innovative. Considered old-fashioned in terms of manufacturing, the company that
emphasizes the use of manual labor found a mid-term solution to does not have the
production restricted.
Aston Martin currently has an automated production line, but all finishing is hand-
made, keeping the essence and attention to details.
The modern car engineering is split between mechanical and electronic. Considering
these two aspects, Aston Martin offers a product well-balanced with desirable
technological features and the elegance of vintage.
ECOLOGICAL FACTORS
Road transport is one of the biggest sources of pollution in the UK, contributing to
poor air quality, climate change, congestion and noise disturbance. Of the 33 million
vehicles on our roads, 27 million are cars.
Concerned with the quality of life and health for the next years, the EU government is
improving the laws regarding pollution emitted by cars. Aston Martin will be badly
impacted by the new laws and restrictions, once their cars emit 3 times the accepted
levels of CO2.
The company is trying to adapt their products to the new regulations that the EU is
imposing on CO2 emissions for cars. By 2012 all car-making companies need to begin
efficient reduction in the emission of CO2. New regulations will impact badly Aston
Martin owners in a short future. The government is analyzing a law that will force high
emission cars owner‟s to plant a tree per year to compensate the emission of CO2 by
their cars. Opportunities wait for companies that can reconcile prosperity with
environmental protection.
COMPETITION
Mercedes and Porsche are the leaders in the segment of luxury sports car and they
differ from Ferrari and Aston Martin, primarily by the total investment on advertising.
While Mercedes and Porsche expenditures were over £100mi each, Ferrari and Aston
Martin investment on advertising were just a fraction.
Secondly, these 2 giants manufacturers approaches the target audience using IMC
tools in order to communicate with the mass, their advertising are more focused in the
brand rather the product, this because the product portfolio is huge and adapted to
different needs and desires.
Ferrari is focused in exclusive events to owners and their relatives in order to bring
people with similar style and habits to the brand. Ferrari also relies and focus their
investments in the Formula 1 championship, having its own team and maximizing the
media exposure through live broadcasting of the races.
Aston Martin presents a varied mix of communications, sponsoring races and
automotive competitions, realizing exclusive events for owners and prospect future
owners, advertising the brand on conventional and non conventional media channels,
developing partnership with brands that will add value to Aston Martin and finally
relying on direct marketing.
Figure 4: Key Players Marketing Mix
Mercedes-Benz Porsche Aston Martin Ferrari
Competition F1 Team
GT1 / GT3 / GT4
Porsche
Challenge
GT1 / GT3 / GT4
British GT
GT1 / GT3 /
GT4
F1 Team
GT1 / GT3
Communication
Direct Marketing
TV
Online
Press
OOH
Direct Marketing
TV
Press
OOH
Online
Direct
Marketing
Online
Press
OOH
Public
Relations
No advertising
expenditure
CRM Campaigns
word of mouth of Ferrari
enthusiasts
Promo &
Events
Sponsorship
Mercedes Fashion
Week
Mercedes
Superdome
MB Tennis Grand
Slam
Porsche UK Club
Porsche Design
Official
Merchandising
Product
Placement
Official Merchandising
Ferrari Stores (retail)
Ferrari Park Abu Dhabi
Advertising
Budget
£160mi £100mi £4,5mi zero
THREATS AND OPPORTUNITIES
Aston Martin has a high value and traditional brand recognized all over the word. Also,
it‟s important to consider the role that product placement as the 007 agent‟s car
played to increase the brand awareness globally. Exploiting this brand‟s beneficial
feature, the company demonstrates potential and recognition enough to reach
emerging markets as Middle East, Asia and BRICK countries in order to achieve
territorial growth. The next 3 years will be vital for the history of Aston Martin, by
moving or remaining from a niche manufactures to a global luxury producer.
The company was being seriously threatened by the megatrend of eco-friendly cars,
now has the opportunity to penetrate, to segment and to develop this market by
introducing the Cygnet. This model, has all the desired features of this car category,
but also combines luxury and exclusivity for a premium price.
The release of the model “one-77” is an opportunity to elevate the brand status and
value to the highest place, attracting the interests of opinion leaders and the richest
people in the planet to purchase it. Each sell of the “one-77” will create buzz and
spontaneous media, enhancing the brand prestige and presence in the market of Top-
end cars.
Being an automotive manufacturer, subjects the company to many threats maximized
by the status of a top-end car producer for niche markets. The company is super-
sensitive to instable financial climate, which would decelerate sales and depreciate
the product value in the market. Another important factor related to the economy and
ecology is the fluctuating fuel price and possible fuel shortage, that is a frequent threat
for company, Aston Martin owners and their huge V8 and V12 engines of high petro
consumption. Keeping an eye on this threat and the market trends for small and fuel-
efficient cars, Aston Martin developed an eco-friendly version, opening a new
opportunity in this trendy and immature market.
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESS
Aston Martin, as mentioned before is a company that presents 3 important pillars for
potential growth: Iconic brand, Product differentiated and financial support. The brand
carries almost 100 years of tradition without any damage to its prestige, high
awareness among target audiences and voted as the coolest brand in UK for the last
5 years. The product offered is synonymous of high quality, valuable and exclusivity.
Their cars present unique design, quality and luxury is enhanced by hand made
process and sportiveness is a remarkable heritage.
The company is properly managed and frequent changes in ownership have proved to
be beneficial so far. Furthermore, behind the Label Aston Martin there are 3 major
players: Ford Motors, Dar and Adeem Investment funds are able to provide capital
injection into the business.
Unfortunately, the company still struggles with issues related to production. Aston
Martin outsources part of the V8 engines to Germany, the production of the model
Rapide to Austria and relies on the supply of electronic components by one of the
competitors, the Porsche Group.
The lack of production also reflects on price and availability of parts, scarcity of service
shops and expensive services. The post-service of the brand is a critical problem,
more specifically in countries outside UK, where official service shops are rare and
owners are due to rely their cars to Porsche or Mercedes maintenance centers,
resulting in non-satisfactory service, delays and even more expensive fees.
Another relevant characteristic is the limited product mix, constituted by 8 models.
This limited portfolio contributes to restrict even more the target audience, another
problem faced by Aston Martin, which is considered stereotyped brand consumed
basically by investors, bankers and footballers.
A minor issue identified in this project, but relevant for the strategic context is the
difficult by customers to recognize the difference among Aston Martin Models.
MICRO ANALYSIS
As mentioned before, the company presents 3 important pillars for future
development: Iconic brand, financial support and product differentiated.
Analyzing the structure of the company and market, Aston Martin‟s stakeholder can be
described in different classes:
Primary Stakeholders: Consumers are those ultimately affected, either positively or
negatively by an organization's actions.
Secondary Stakeholders: Dealers, business partners, traders and suppliers are the
„intermediaries‟, that is, organizations who are indirectly affected by an organization's
actions.
Ford Motors Company and the investment funds behind Aston Martin enable
investment of capital to increase the number of dealerships and an Integrated
Marketing Campaign for the next 3 years.
The brand speaks by itself as the coolest in UK and the cars are consumption dream
for majority, which could be considered as a competitive advantage. Lack of
production does not cause any negative impact so far, quite the contrary, it even
reinforce the exclusivity status of the brand, by delaying the deliver of new models to
recent owners. Obviously, heading the future, the company after going public will raise
capital enough to invest on new production sites in order to attend the global demand.
Figure 5: Key Stakeholders
Traders
Dealerships
Shareholders
Media
Employees
Suppliers Government
Authorities
General Public
Prospects
Competitors
Customers
STRATEGIC CONTEXT
The objectives for Aston Martin IMC Project will be developed in 3 years period; along
this timeline the company aims to achieve individual objectives in order to prepare the
company to go public in 2015.
The release of the Cygnet model in the first period of the campaign establishes a
strategy of related diversification, which a new product will be marketed to new
customers in the same segment or industry
Figure 5: Ansoff’s Product Matrix
Market Penetration
Product Development
Market Development
Diversification
PRODUCT
MARKET
OLD
NEW
OLD NEW
The ultra-exclusive model One-77 will also be released, but to reinforce sportiveness
and exclusivity status of Aston Martin, placing the brand in the highest level of car
producers, where only Ferrari, Mercedes, Porsche and Bugatti reign. The company
adopts premium price as a character of differentiation to reinforce exclusivity by
targeting a restricted audience by wealth.
Figure 6: Michael Porter’s Generic Strategies
The strategy of releasing 2 new models in the market will generate awareness and
help to enlarge the target audience to different classes of consumers. The second
year of the IMC will also rely on the strategy of territorial growth, by extending the
dealerships to emerging markets. During the same period, the company will also work
on the market development for the Cygnet model, creating a niche market of luxury-
smart cars inside the popular market of smart-cars.
Overall Cost Leadership
Broad Differentiation
Cost Focus Differentiation
Focus
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
CO
MP
ET
ITIV
E
SC
OP
E
NA
RR
OW
B
RO
AD
LOW COST HIGH COST
The third year of the IMC, Aston Martin will have already placed all the cards on table,
and the effort will be to develop synergy between car categories, increase the
transactions on heritage, increase as well the sales on merchandising and
consequently increase market share. This period will be characterized by high
investments on advertising to generate the highest rates of awareness in order to go
public.
SMART MARKETING OBJECTIVES
Develop an Integrated Marketing Campaign for Aston Martin, in order to:
Increase UK market share from 6% to 10%
Increase market penetration by reaching broader target audience
Develop purchase synergy between car categories
Increase volume sales on merchandising by 100%
Increase transactions in Heritage business by 20%
Prepare the company to go public in 3 years
THE ROLE OF IMC
IMC – Integrated Marketing Communications is a denomination originated in the 80”s
to incorporate all internal and external communications in one organization. The
purpose of the IMC arisen was to develop a process where all marketing
communication aspects would be working together with the same objective under one
unified system.
IMC can be defined in countless ways, but its main objective is to combine all
corporate media and messages to project clarity, consistency and maximize the
communication impact and effectiveness.
Figure 11: Comparison of Traditional versus IMC Perspectives
TRADITIONAL MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
INTEGRATED MARKETING
COMMUNICATIONS
Separate functions, fragmentation Integrated into one strategy: synergy
Starts with organization goals Customer oriented
Specialist practitioners Generalists
Fragmented communication programs Consistent communication programs
Shorter-term objectives Relationship / Brand building
objectives
Mass audience Targeted to stakeholders segments
The development of digital technology, emphasis on branding and spreading of
markets across the traditional geographical borders were the major drivers of IMC in
the 1980‟s (Schultz & Schultz; 2003).
The standard communication adopted by companies in that period were basically
composed of one-way communication, whether companies maximize their efforts just
to deliver the message to their target audiences.
The IMC process made companies to move from “telling and selling” to “listening and
learning”, or from “one-way” to “two-way customized communication”. (Duncan; 2002)
Regarding this thought, companies started to consider IMC as a competitive
advantage of marketing by incorporating; advertising, public relations, sales promotion
and direct marketing to work with synergy under the same umbrella.
The marketing mix is not anymore a competitive weapon for a technologically
advanced, informative and global market; it tends to be efficient, less sophisticated
and less informative in countries under development.
According to Schultz, Tannenbaum & Lauterborn (1994) the market environment
forced companies and retailers to change the 4P‟s into the 4C‟s:
Product was replaced by Consumer;
Place was replaced by Convenience;
Price was replaced by Cost to satisfy;
Promotion was replaced by Communication;
Following these thoughts, the IMC proposed to Aston Martin will lead the company
and strategies to focus in the relationship with the costumer in order to identify their
needs and desires, consequently to become more costumer oriented. The IMC for
Aston Martin will became a new way to look over communication, actually in the way
that the consumer sees it, as a flow of information from indistinguishable sources.
(Pelsmacker, 2004).
According to Smith (1998), Aston Martin will follow the principles of IMC, listed below
to develop the communication plan:
Starts with customer perception and activity.
Integrates the strategy of the business with the needs of the customer.
Coordinates all the communications of the business within an IMC mix.
Creates dialogue with the customer.
Seeks to customize communications towards individual need.
The increasing market and media fragmentation have contributed to the clutter world
we are living. This trend has led marketers to integrate their market tools aiming to
overcome the noise barrier and reach the target audience.
“Marketing overload is forcing corporations to shout even louder” (Keller, 2001)
Considering the statement above, for Aston Martin, shouts even louder than
competitors is not the desired approach, the strategy would be more like to
“whispering in the consumer‟s ear”. This is an analogy for Aston Martin strategy that
will be to get closer, to gain the consumer‟s confidence and understand what they
want to hear.
IMC has been used by organizations as a cohesive and planned approach that helps
by being consistent in using the tools of marketing communications to deliver the
message to the range of target audiences in a synergistic manner.
This process plays an important role to ensure that the communication techniques
adopted are consistent and are not in conflict with the strategic positioning of the
brand. (Yeshin, 2006).
An example of perfect use and application of IMC principles is the U.S. presidential
campaign that elected Barack Obama in 2008. Combining the skills of political
marketers, social media experts and a range of agencies, Barack Obama was
managed as a brand, carrying message and values. The structure behind the
management of the brand Obama was an example of horizontal structure that enables
fast decisions taken and integration between areas.
In order to run for president of a nation, the campaign should deliver a consistent and
coherent message across towns, counties and states maximizing the exposition
through multiple media platforms; Obama‟s campaign adopted the slogan:
“Change we can believe in” and the chant: “Yes, we can”.
Following this message the visual identity was composed by a hip image of the
candidate produced by the creative Sol Sander and adopted as official logo that
represents the symbol of change. In addition, a digital grass-roots style created by the
street artist Shepard Fairey carrying the message “Hope” spread all over internet, art
critics also called as “the most efficacious American political illustration since Uncle
Sam”.
The campaign song was created by the British singer Joss Stone due her appeal to
black and white voters. The Black-Eyed-Peas singer Will-I-am and his music theme
“Yes, we can” was viewed more than 14 millions times on YouTube.
Chris Hughes, one of the founders of Facebook was hired to provide insight and
strategy for social networks. Obama‟s intimate and personal exhibitions on Facebook,
Twitter and MySpace together brought over 6 millions online supporters and US$ 51
millions on small donations to the campaign. At the same time 1 billion emails were
sent with 7000 different messages targeted to specific audiences.
The perfectly alignment between objective, resources and horizontal management
supported by conventional and experimental medias led Barack Obama to the White
House and his campaign to be considered a perfect case study of IMC.
The example cited above ran perfectly not only because of the management skills or
the heavy media investments, but mostly due to time and planning. The campaign had
an anticipate planning of 3 years, this period of time is not reality for most of
companies and markets, this is one of the main reasons why IMC is still a dream for
most of organizations.
IMC PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVES
The proposed IMC for Aston Martin will work as a spotlight for the brand. It will
illuminate the product portfolio, the attractiveness and the culture that surrounds the
British car manufacturer, making all of it visible to consumers that previously had no
eyes for the brand and even more attractive for those who already admired.
For the next 3 years the company will maintain the brand image and positioning, once
it is the coolest brand in UK for the last 5 years. The role of the IMC for Aston Martin is
to transform the benefits and characteristics of the brand into competitive advantages.
The period of 3 years is being proposed aiming the ultimate goal of going public and
starting from the release of 2 new products that will work in parallel. The model Cygnet
will enter and develop a new market, while in the other hand, the One-77 will lead the
company to the highest level of car manufacturer enhancing sportiveness, luxury and
exclusivity.
TARGET MARKET AND CONSUMER PROFILES
Following the principles of Self Concept Theory and applying in the context of Aston
Martin‟s consumers, it‟s clear to identify how relevant the product is to the “extended
self ” which means: you are what you own.
Running in the opposite direction of most of product categories, the Aston Martin
product uses the “Extended Self” to project the “Ideal Self” and reinforce the
positioning of the “Actual Self”
Aston Martin‟s owners are also strongly subjected to the theory of Trait – Empirical. It
means that, the target audience is characterized by the desire to distinguish one
individual from another. In other words, they are driven by the need of uniqueness;
innovativeness and the constant seek for new sensations.
Continuing in this line of reasoning and applying the concepts of Means End Chain,
the consumer presents high involvement, it means that the product‟s attributes are
linked to personal goals/values and invokes higher affective (feeling or emotional)
responses. The factors that influence the involvement, in this case are exclusively
personal sources of involvement and means end knowledge stored in the memory
acquired through past experience, not being influenced by situational sources such as
promotions or windows displays.
Considering the restricted market of top-end cars, there will be 2 different types of
relationship between consumers and brand. The first one are loyalists, characterized
by strong ties with high self-relevance, basically consumers that spend their lives with
the brand, changing their Aston Martins for new ones and generating personal
influence in the family and close friends.
The second are information seekers, they are characterized by deep knowledge in the
category but no brand stands out for them. This type of consumer will have an Aston
Martin eventually in the garage for no longer than 2 years, after it will be exchanged
for a Porsche or a Ferrari in order to achieve new feelings and sensations. This group
is also considered opinion leaders and they will prosecute high influence in the market
and everybody around them.
Figure 7: Consumer Segmentation
SEGMENTATION CHARACTERISTICS
GEOGRAPHIC
UK Population – 61 millions
UK Target Audience – 3,2 millions
DEMOGRAPHIC
Age: 21 - 60
Gender: Male & Female
Occupation: Higher Managerial, Bankers,
Lawyers, Investors, Successful starters
Income: £50,000+
Education: BA, MA & PhD
SOCIO-CULTURAL
Social Class: “A” Upper middle class
Marital Status: Married, Divorced & Single
Affluent Achievers and Settled Suburban's
AFFECTIVE – COGNITIVE
BEHAVIOURAL
Esteem Seekers and Innovators
Brand Loyalists and Information Seekers
One of the objectives of the brand is to expand the target audience, mostly by the
release of Cygnet. The figure 7 presents the current target audience reached and
impacted by the brand (Yellow circle and the blue line identifies the target audience
that Aston Martin desires to impact during the IMC and evolve to make these new
groups prospects of the brand for the future
Figure 8: Current and Desired Target Audiences by Groups
Source: www.experian.co.uk
BRANDING ISSUES
Aston Martin is a brand with a clean and strong reputation among car enthusiasts and
the general public. The glorious past and the history behind the brand take place in
the current days by being voted as the coolest brand in UK, for 5 times in the last 6
years. The marketing programs of the company are aligned to ensure quality products
and services as well as pleasurable purchase and consumption.
The brand is synonymous of success, personal achievement and elegance in the
market. Aston Martin owners generally match their personality with the image and
values of the brand. Aston Martin is an Armani suit, you can use to go party, to go
work and if you take the tie off you will be very well dressed to go to a sport match.
Aston Martin cars don‟t have to be red or shinny yellow to drive attention, or open their
doors like a seagull to demonstrate the sportiveness, all these elements are there, in
their respective places ready to be used or admired.
The communication between the brand and the target audience is restricted to one-
way, whether the company delivers its message through different medias, more
commonly using high profile magazines, internet and TV ads. The concern for the
company is to enhance the communication and drive it to an upgrade level, where it is
going to be possible exchange information with the target audience, in order to
understand their needs and become more consumer oriented.
The first barrier to be overcome is the characteristic of their target audience. They are
time-poor / cash rich and extreme introspective individuals that are not keen to share
personal details and thoughts.
The brand has a positioning perfectly aligned with their promises and values, but it
must be reinforced and extended to other target audiences that might recognize their
personal values in the brand and become potential customers and consequently
increase market share
Figure 9: Brand Aura
Power
Beauty and Soul
The Communications and Campaign Strategy
Once the company will be working in a 3 years period to achieve gradually individual
goals, but aiming the ultimate objective to go public in 2015, it‟s important to make the
Central Organizing Idea as clear as possible to be the north of the whole
communication strategy.
I Period - “Cygnet and One-77”
Taking in consideration that Aston Martin is presenting to the market 2 new models
with completely different features, price and consequently target audience, the
strategy will be obviously different and the message as well.
Cygnet Campaign
Cygnet is the cheapest car in the product portfolio and considered the market entry
model; it will be addressed to a costumer audience different that the brand is used to
communicate.
The core messages to be delivered are:
“Yes, it is an Aston Martin in every detail and essence “
“The most elegant way to be convenient and eco-friendly”
This product is available in the market at a price range starting from £30,000. The
pricing strategy of this model is characterized by a smaller margin of profit if compared
to the other models; therefore, the strategy will be to reach high volumes of sales to
achieve real profit. Considering the aspects of the product, there will be the need to
populate the dealerships with units, in this case the company will rely on push
strategies, by promoting the model trough subsidies, benefits and training the force of
sales to a different customer‟s approach.
The staff training will be an important step of the campaign, once the car presents
endless possibilities of customization, addressed to the concept of uniqueness that
the brand stands for. The process of sale is also different, in this case the sales force
has more impact in the decision making processes by involving the costumer with the
brand status and car features.
The continuity of the campaign will make progress after the product be placed in the
dealerships and the staff being qualified to attend customers. The issue is to promote
the model via pull strategy and the use of its tools to maximize the exposition in the
media creating awareness.
Advertising
Cygnet is considered the market entry model for Aston Martin; it means that it will
work as an attractive for broader target audiences.
Newspapers:
The Sunday Telegraph & The Sunday Times
The circulation will be restricted only to these 2 titles due their characteristics that
reflect their reader‟s profile. Both newspapers are traditionalists, conservative, political
and business oriented. The communication will be restricted to Sunday editions in
order to be tied to leisure time and family.
Magazines:
BusinessWeek, Cosmopolitan, GQ and Time
The main benefit of using magazines to advertise the Cygnet is the ability to reach
specific audiences and the characteristic resonance that this type of media presents.
Between 3 to 5 people with similar profiles will read the same magazine and will be
impacted by the ad in a period approximately of 2 months. The quality of print is an
important feature and the possibility to extend the message is also a benefit to explore
in this media
OOH Media
Outdoors
Outdoors play an important role to reinforce and remind the message delivered by
other medias, besides the limitation on message content and short time of exposure, it
impacts powerfully when integrated to other medias. A relevant number of outdoors
will be placed on zones 1 and 2 not considering areas with high flow of pedestrian or
automotive, but considering routes to business centers, commercial and wealthy
residential areas across the city.
Urban Furniture
This method of communication will be adopted in order to work with synergy with
outdoors and billboards, by taking advantage of ordinary street components to deliver
a message. This media is more like to be impacted by pedestrians and cyclists.
Regarding the target audience, makes no sense advertise bus stops or tube stations,
but it will be take place around shopping areas such as: Oxford Street, public parks
and shopping malls.
In-flight Ad
This unconventional advertising will take place in flights with holidays and business
destinations, by using passenger screens to run infomercials and tray tables to be
used as billboards. This type of media is interesting by the time of exposure and
focus, once there is no other media to disturb the message delivery and the possibility
to select special destinations according to the desired profile to be impacted. The filgh
companies that attend the desired target audience and consequently chosen to run
the ads are British Airways, Lufthansa and Virgin.
Internet
Online advertisement is not the focus of the brand and doesn‟t work for the majority of
Aston Martin‟s target audience, but in order to reach a different target audience for the
specific product Cygnet, internet is more than welcome in this strategy.
As an IMC project, it‟s important that the medias work with synergy, therefore, during
the negotiation of buying media will be important to purchase packages of press
media spaces extended to the online version of them.
The online advertising will be constituted by banners, skyscrapers, Search Engine
Optimization, hotlinks, hotwords, viral content and social media. The traffic generated
by online advertisement will be addressed to an exclusive landing page for the Cygnet
model.
The websites that will run Aston Martin Cygnet advertising will be related to topics,
such as: Travel, Health, Business, Society, Sports, News, Entertainment, Design and
Arts.
Product Placement
Product placement has proofed itself as an efficient way to increase share of mind and
sales in general. Different from the context of the DB9 model and the 007 fiction
movies, the Cygnet model will be placed into advertising of other products. For
example, there will be an advertising movie of 20 seconds showing a woman mid-age
arriving at Westfield for shopping, she drives a car….and this car will be the Aston
Martin Cygnet.
Nevertheless the exposition of the product being less than 2 seconds, it generates
unconscious awareness that can be triggered by another Cygnet advert. The product
will also be placed on movies, series and events related to sophistication, elegance
and high society.
During the first 2 weeks of February occurs the London Fashion Week, one of the
most important fashion related event in the world. This is an opportunity to promote
the Cygnet among their target audience and to reinforce the ties with fashion x design.
Infomercial
The production of a 5 minutes movie will be vital for the integration and synergy
between internet and television. The content will be related to the conception idea
adopted by the brand in the development process. Inspirations and drivers that lead to
its creation, as the usage habits that Aston Martin wish for this specific model and to
illustrate why it is so different from the other models and why it is still an Aston Martin
above everything.
This video will be the starting point for TV advertising and will be placed trough
endless lists of websites specialized in cars, lifestyle, design and consumption.
The main objective of developing one infomercial for each period is to create relevant
information attached to institutional message. The content will be will be hosted and
promoted continuously during the 3 periods of campaign via YouTube, Facebook and
Vimeo, it aims to create a chain of Aston Martin in the web, whether one content pulls
another relevant info that will trigger the traffic to also other channels of the brand
TV
The use of TV ads to communicate the Cygnet will be important to reach a fraction of
the target audience only reached by mass media. The use of TV will boost awareness
and spread the message among different social classes. Another beneficial
characteristic of this media is the possibility to develop the message using resources
such as audio and video to increase the emotional impact.
The channels that will be chosen to run the campaign are high profile programs
available on pay-per-view TV and related to: Lifestyle, Automotive, News, Fashion and
Movies.
Celebrity Endorsement
Creating bonds between the product and a specific celebrity can influence brand
affinity and consumer purchase intent. It also can generate spontaneous media by
being clicked by paparazzi during their daily activities.
Celebrity endorsement consists in associating characteristics and values of the
celebrity to the product to be advertised, in this case of celebrity endorsement the
message is:
“Cygnet is the choice of the most elegant women in the word”
The presence of the celebrity will be requested to corporate and sponsored events,
and also related to the cinema industry or fashion. There are 3 names of celebrities
ranked as top 10 fashion icons in UK that would be perfectly aligned with the concept
of the product and the message to be delivered.
Agyness Deyn - Top Model
Victoria Beckham – David Beckham‟s wife
Keyra Knightley – Actress
Promotion & Events
The Cygnet being a new model has an intense need to be exposed and presented to
the public. Sales and Promotion events will take place in business areas, such as
Canary Wharf and shopping venues such as Oxford Circus and inside Shopping
Malls. The action consists in the development of a custom island for the car, with
qualified promoters to provide information, to distribute brochures and to collect data
from potential customers.
Taking advantage of the major event of fashion in London, the project includes the
exhibition of the Cygnet Model during the Fashion Week in partnership with a major
stylist. Supported by Product Placement and extending to Celebrity Endorsement, the
presence of the car during the event will generate spontaneous media and generate
positive impact among opinion leader and trendsetters.
Public Relations
The use of PR in the strategy is a cost-effective way to maximize the media exposure
and generate positive impact in the customers via specialized and mass channels.
This strategy will rely on media relations and event management to develop
workshops, press conferences with media kits and quality information to relevant
journalists. There will be the need of a PR agency in order to provide news-releases
and feature articles to the media. A good example of feature article will be the case of
Sir Stirling Moss, the famous British pilot was the first person to buy an Aston Martin
Cygnet and gave as a birthday gift to his wife in celebration of her 74th anniversary.
Direct Interactive Marketing
A company as Aston Martin recognizes the importance of the customer‟s database
and have being working across decades and recent events to build and manage
customers details, historic purchase and preferences.
Aston Martin‟s database will be crossed and matched to create 3 classes of potential
customers to be contacted:
Loyalists:
Owners that have in their customer history of 2 or more Aston Martins purchased in
the last 5 years.
Preferred:
Owners of two or more Aston Martins in the garage at the moment.
Familiarity:
Owners of one or more Aston Martin that presents potential target audience in the
family, such as wife, son or daughter.
This costumer base segmentation enables the company to develop exclusive
commercial offers to be communicated via direct interactive marketing.
Email - Marketing
This tool will be used in 4 opportunities with different objectives:
1 – To announce the release of the Cygnet
2 – To communicate the features and advantages
3 – To offer a commercial opportunity
4 – To keep costumer base informed
Direct Mail
It will be used just once during the campaign to announce the release of the model.
The idea is to create a brochure with all features and advantages of the car and an
image of it with a plate number based on the customer details.
I.e. If the costumer‟s name is Daniel, the printed plate would be D4N13L.
SMS
The use of SMS communication will be carefully managed to don‟t be considered
abusive and will make use of the details acquired during promotion and events to
invite potential customers for a test drive.
One-77 Campaign
The One-77 model is the most exclusive car in the planet and one of the most
expensive cars available in the market. Considering these 2 characteristics the
strategy for its communication will be the opposite from the Cygnet. There is no need
to push strategy, once there will be only 77 units available and most of them have
already being pre-ordered.
When an automotive company announces the releases of a car that can be
considered the fastest, the most expensive or any other kind of ultimate features, the
general media is interested and the specialized media becomes excited to publish,
evaluate and describe in detail. In order to take advantage of the situation, the
strategy for the model One-77 will rely exclusively on Public Relation to maximize the
media exposure and generate awareness for the brand.
A car like One-77 will not bring relevant financial profits for the company, even with a
cost estimated at £1.2mi. The real benefit of producing this model comes for the
company as a whole, the brand is admired, values are building and the car
manufacturer is raised to the ultimate level of quality and awareness.
Media Relations
It will place an important role in the strategy; once the car is newsworthy there will be
a negotiation between PR agency and medias. The agency will chose carefully the
main channels and will offer the car to be evaluated, analyzed and photographed in
order to achieve the front page of magazines and exclusivity during TV programs such
as Top Gear.
Event Management
A car like these deserves a party to be presented to the media, and nothing better
than a fancy party in an exclusive location to gather the media, journalists and opinion
leaders. Workshops and Press-conference events will be created to provide in details
the features and characteristics of the model.
II Period - “Cultivating Aston Martin’s culture”
The second period of the IMC will be focused to engage the target audience into the
Aston Martin‟s culture in order to achieve higher levels of satisfaction and
consequently loyalty.
Enhance the Aston Martin culture means to provide deeper understanding of the
company values, promises and beliefs in order to build and strength ties with the
target audience. This improved knowledge and perception will enable customers to
identify the differences in the product portfolio to match more naturally with their needs
and develop synergy among car categories.
Advertising
Press Media
The frequency of newspapers and magazines ads will be increased, mostly by
releasing ads during the weekly editions of The Times and The Telegraph.
The Magazines titles will remain the same with Top Gear and Car Auto Magazine in
addition. Cosmopolitan ads will be placed in the back cover, BusinessWeek will be
placed at the 4th cover and Time will present a double page ad.
Internet
The online advertising will be restricted only to the package negotiated with press-
media and extended to their online version. No advertising will be placed in the
websites used during the first period. Instead, the company will focus in the creation
and development of content for web.
Videos of the CEO Dr.Bez driving an Aston Martin V12 Zagato racing against the
president of Toyota in Nurburgring is an example of the content to be developed.
Another interesting content to be developed would be to bring celebrities that are
Aston Martins owners or demonstrate connectiosn with the automotive world to
demonstrate their skills in a track. Accidents, drifts and funny comments would
generate many hits on YouTube and uncountable sharing via social networks.
TV
The frequency and medias chosen in the first period of the campaign will remain the
same, but the message and focus will be different. Previously the focus was on the
model Cygnet, now the TV advertising will enhance the culture and aspects that are
involved by having a car of the brand. Cars will be treated as personas, with different
tempers and personalities.
They will be exposed to different backgrounds and situations to reinforce and
distinguish their individual characteristics appealing to their respective target
audiences.
OOH
There will be no use of Urban Furniture and the amount of outdoor placed will remain
the same, but divided on 2 product categories, Cygnet and Luxury models. The
Cygnet communication will give continuity to the first period of campaign and due the
fact of Cygnet is a new model in a new market still under development. The message
remains the same for the outdoor with Cygnet creativity:
“Yes, it is an Aston Martin in every detail and essence “
“The most elegant way to be convenient and eco-friendly”
The second part of the outdoor will expose the Aston Martin luxury models and their
respective personas and characters, in order extend the message from TV and Press
media.
Public Relations
The effort on PR remains and will be focused on media relationship management, by
providing fresh and relevant news via feature article and news-releases.
Event management also will play an important role in this moment, the workshops and
press-conferences will happen whether necessary but the effort will be to bring key
journalists and TV programs to the site where the One-77 is produced. The place
looks like the inside of a spaceship, the employees seems to be doctors completely
dressed on white contrasting with the last generation of robots working with surgical
precision.
The surreal environment whether the One-77 is produced is unique and when
exposed to the general public will bring positive impact and ensure the premium
quality promised by the company.
Direct Interactive Marketing
Direct Mail
The communication via Direct Mail will continue focused to build relationship by
sending anniversary congrats and other festive dates.
There will be no commercial initiative by Direct Mail and the communication will
enhance how important the customer is for the brand in an attempt build trust to
collect data via other media channels, such as email and mobile.
E-MKT
Email Marketing will work as o tool to keep the customer base informed of the
company news and developments. Will also apply small surveys to penetrate in the
customer‟s life and identify their needs and desires.
The objective will be to provide relevant information in accordance to the customer
profile and start a process that aims to identify drivers of customers purchase habits
and trigger them to upgrade models
Mobile
Differently from the use of SMS in the first period to communicate and to invite, the
second period evolves to a mobile platform. This mobile project will be the interface
between the owner, the car and the brand. This platform will work as a 24/7 telemetry
system and will enable the owner to achieve measurements never reached before.
This mobile platform provides information about consumption issues, engine parts and
tires wear. It will be possible to locate dealers, authorized service shops and book
appointments.
Landing Page
An exclusive landing page will be built to support and integrate the mobile platform,
with more complex telemetries like F1 teams, the owner will be able to identify and
predict any problems related to maintenance or natural wear. This channel is a safe
environment for the customer to enjoy and understand more about their cars. This
technology is already available on Aston Martin cars since 1999 and now not only
authorized service shops will be able to see the telemetry, but the owners on real-time
on their mobile or internet.
This model helps to build trust, loyalty and add value to the brand, once the company
is sharing knowledge and providing benefits to the customer base without any
additional cost.
Promotion & Events
Track Days
The creation of events will gather customers together to experience the Aston Martin
culture and extract the best performance from their cars in a safe environment. By
paying a monthly fee, Aston Martin will provide to customers the opportunity to drive
their cars and be part of amateur competitions in a racing track.
The season of Track Days would be constituted by 8 events across UK in the period
of 1 year. Technical and medical support will be provided to events as well as driving
courses to improve the customers driving skills and build even more strong ties with
the brand.
Cygnet Art Gallery
This project involves showing the Cygnet to a small target audience constituted by
opinion leaders and high profile public with strong influence. The idea is to invite 5
artists with different influences and techniques as plastic artists, street and
contemporary artist to make their Cygnets a moving canvas with their artwork.
After finished, the models would pre introduced to the media managed by PR to
generate buss and spontaneous media and consequently to be exposed in alternative
events and vernissages.
Aston Martin Drives You Home
This project will be developed in order to impact and generate awareness among 2
different target audiences; the youths and the singles male with a touch of corporate
social responsibility.
The company would negotiate partnership with 3 top nightclubs in London, probably
Maddox, Cuckoo and Boujis in order to expose the Cygnet models used in the
previous project “ Cygnet Art Gallery” in front of the main entrance and to take
selected customers home, avoiding issues related to drink and drive.
The same model of project, but using the 4-doors model Virage will be developed
targeting high income single males having party at V.I.P. Members Club, such as The
Wellington Club in Knightsbridge, London.
For both target audiences will be an unique experience to be in touch with the brand
and the product, even more, it generates positive impact and word-of-mouth buzz by
taking care of potential customers and providing an unexpected courtesy after party.
III Period - “Creating Awareness”
The strategy for the last period of the IMC will be to boost media exposure, maintain
and manage the events developed in the 2 previous periods, in order to reach the
highest levels of satisfaction and awareness before go public.
This period will be characterized by high expenditures on advertising and careful
management of key stakeholder‟s issues. It‟s important to manage their expectation
and keep them informed about financial performance of the company and the future
steps that will be taken after going public.
One of the main objectives for this period is to keep the position as the coolest brand
in UK, maximize their media exposure and avoid any noisy that can damage or disturb
the image of the company. The media outline of this period will remain the same as
the previous periods, but it will be boosted on frequency and reach.
CSR
The use of Public Relation in the third period will be extended to Corporate Social
Responsibility, due the strong appeal in the media and following the trends of
environmental consciousness. This strategy also enables the company to build
reputation reservoir and strength the ties with the society.
The idea of CSR consist in creating an annual charity action with heritage Aston
Martin models, racing prototypes and Cygnet models created by artists in the project
“Cygnet Art Gallery” and used in the following project “Aston Martin drives you home”.
The funds would be in the concepts of market related philanthropy, whether the
company is associated to the values and benefits of an admired organization. Aston
Martin will associate its image with socio-environmental non-profit organizations to
reinforce the concepts of eco-friendly present in the Cygnet model.
Inviting high society characters, wealthy collectors and loyalist customers the brand
will offer a friendly environment to exchange experience and knowledge and intend to
attract the media by offering historical models and collectable unicorns with an
investment of £1,000,000 to raise funds of £3,000,000 destined to philanthropy.
Figure 10: Media Outline
Budget
The IMC for Aston Martin involves a delivery timeline based on 3 periods of campaign,
each one of them determined to run for one year. Considering the desire to go public
in the end of the project with the ultimate goal of raising a capital of £500,000,000 by
going public, the company must improve the investments in marketing to attempt to
reach this goal. In order to achieve gradually individual objectives that will lead to the
ultimate one, the proposed budget consists in investing per year approximately 200%
more if compared to the previous campaigns, it can be explained by the need of brand
exposure and investments in the release of 2 new models that will request staff
training, individual campaigns and physical structure as well as professionals and
partners with expertise in vital areas.
The company supported and managed by Ford Motors and 2 investment funds from
Kuwait, presents financial capabilities to support the investment and become one of
the biggest top-end-car producers in the world.
Figure 25: Budget
CATEGORY QUANTITY / TIMING COST NOTES
MICRO
Video Presentations 2 Cygnet and One-77
Email Communications 2 x month In house
Intranet Outsourced
Staff Training 3 x year Accommodation, Food, Transport
Briefing Packs 3,000 Hard & Soft copies
In-store Communication 5,000 Billboards, Signs
Décor Refurbishment 23 Dealers Customized Area for Cygnet
Outsourced Promoters 60 Support Promo & Events
Staff Meetings 2 x year Accommodation, Food, Transport
CATEGORY QUANTITY / TIMING COST NOTES
MACRO
Infomercial Production 1 x Period £350,000 5 minutes movie
Infomercial Ads 6 x Period £1,500,000 Air-time
TV Ads Production 5 x Period £300,000 5 Themes, 3 Formats
TV Ads II Periods £15,600,000 Air-time
Cinema I Period £3,000,000 Air-time
Press Media Production 10 x Period £200,000 Photo shooting, creativity
Newspapers Ads 12 x Period £1,200,000 2 Titles
Magazines Ads 12 x Period £6,900,000 6 Titles
OOH – Outdoors Production III Periods £36,000 Printing
OOH – Urban Furniture Production I Period £4,800 Printing
OOH – In-flight Ads Production II Periods £15,300 Printing, Editing
OOH – Outdoors Ads 200 x III Period £5,400,000 Air-time
OOH – Urban Furniture Ads 150 x I Period £400,000 Air-time
OOH – In-flight Ads 100,000 Seats £750,000 Air-time
Internet Landing Page Development 1 £20,000 Development, Production, Management
Internet Ads Production 10 x Period £5,5000 Creativity, Programming, Layout
Internet Related Sites Ads I Period £300,000 Air-time
Internet Search Engine Optimization III Periods £300,000 Agency contract including fee
Internet Website Management III Periods £108,000 Agency contract including fee
Internet Content Development III Periods £150,000 Photo, Video, Music, Creativity
Internet Social Media Management III Periods £290,000 Agency contract including fee
Product Placement III Periods £150,000 Production, Transport, Partnerships
Celebrity Endorsement I Period £1,000,000 Annual contract fee
PR Agency III Periods £750,000 Agency contract including fee
PR Media Relations 12 X Period £50,000 Printing, Mail, Production
PR Corporate Social Responsibility III Periods £4,000,000 Cars, location, Logistic, Hospitality
PR Events Management 6 x Period £200,000 Location, Transport, Food, Printing
DIM – Mobile SMS III Periods £240,000 Agency contract including fee
DIM – Mobile Platform Development III Periods £120,000 Agency contract including fee
DIM – Email Marketing III Periods £90,000 Agency contract including fee
DIM – Direct Mail 8 X Period £300,000 Printing, Mail, Creativity
Sales & Promotion 12 x Period £1,500,000 Staff, Fees, Structure
Events 8 x Period £6,500,000 Staff, Hospitality, Location
CAMPAING
Cygnet and One-77 I Period
Cultivating Aston Martin Culture II Period
Creating Awareness III Period
TOTAL £35,000,000
Media Timeline – 1st Period
I PERIOD - 2012 JAN FEV MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AGO SEP OCT NOV DEC
PRESS MEDIA
The Telegraph
The Times
Cosmopolitan
Car Auto
BusinessWeek
GQ
Top Gear
Time
OOH
Outdoor
Urban Furniture
In-flight Ad
TV
HBO
Telecine
ITV5
Discovery
E!
Top Gear
Fifth Gear
Speed
Sky News
ITV News
WFF
FTV
CINEMA Cinema
INTERNET
Related Sites
Ext Press Social Media
SEO
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Movies
TV Shows
Events
CELEBRITY Event Presence
DIRECT INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Direct Mail
E-Marketing
SMS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Media Relations
Events
CSR
PROMO Events
Promotion
EVALUATION MEASURAMENT
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Media Timeline – 2nd Period
II Period - 2013 JAN FEV MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AGO SEP OCT NOV DEC
PRESS MEDIA
The Telegraph
The Times
Cosmopolitan
Car Auto
BusinessWeek
GQ
Top Gear
Time
OOH
Outdoor
Urban Furniture
In-flight Ad
TV
HBO
Telecine
ITV5
Discovery
E!
Top Gear
Fifth Gear
Speed
Sky News
ITV News
WFF
FTV
CINEMA Cinema
INTERNET
Related Sites
Ext Press Social Media
SEO
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Movies
TV Shows
Events
CELEBRITY Event Presence
DIRECT INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Direct Mail
E-Marketing
SMS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Media Relations
Events
CSR
PROMO Events
Promotion
EVALUATION MEASURAMENT
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Media Timeline – 3rd Period
III Period - 2014 JAN FEV MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AGO SEP OCT NOV DEC
PRESS MEDIA
The Telegraph
The Times
Cosmopolitan
Car Auto
BusinessWeek
GQ
Top Gear
Time
OOH
Outdoor
Urban Furniture
In-flight Ad
TV
HBO
Telecine
ITV5
Discovery
E!
Top Gear
Fifth Gear
Speed
Sky News
ITV News
WFF
FTV
CINEMA Cinema
INTERNET
Related Sites
Ext Press Social Media
SEO
PRODUCT PLACEMENT
Movies
TV Shows
Events
CELEBRITY Event Presence
DIRECT INTERACTIVE MARKETING
Direct Mail
E-Marketing
SMS
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Media Relations
Events
CSR
PROMO Events
Promotion
EVALUATION MEASURAMENT
● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Campaign Performance Evaluation
Marketing Communications have historically been measured on a medium-by-medium
basis, in the new digital communication system; consumers seem to use all
communication systems concurrently, simultaneously and synergistically. The same
technology that improves communication systems provides the opportunity to collect
incredible amounts of data on consumer-brand measures. The abstract objective of
the measurement process regarding communication is to identify how the
communication program impacts the customer‟s behavior at several points of the 3
period‟s time campaign.
The IMC campaign will be evaluated against the communication objectives focusing
on multiple metrics:
Brand awareness level among the target audience.
Position towards becoming „top of mind‟ brand in its category
Positive brand image. To measure the consumer perceptions shift towards the
brand as the result of marketing communication
New product awareness level amongst the target audience
Intention to purchase
Pre campaign (pre testing) is aimed at setting the benchmark of the brands
awareness level and existing perceptions about the brand.
Continuous tracking. A repeat survey will monitor changes in consumer
awareness level and attitude shift throughout the duration of the campaign
Post campaign tracking is designed to measure brand awareness level
changes and perception shift and evaluate them against the benchmark and
campaigns objectives
Figure 20: Evaluation Process
The Campaign Evaluation Performance is the last step in the IMC‟s journey and will
identify the success or failure of the campaign, instead of only evaluate if it was
successful or not, this process if used continuously, will reduce investment risks,
enriches planning and managing, provide controls and document IMC contributions.
The barriers to be overcome in order to evaluate perfectly the IMC involves high costs
of staff and measurement services, time consumed by testing or analyzing and also
might lead to restricted creativity.
The methods used to measure and evaluate communications strategies are varied
and will range from consumer surveys to ad hoc sales force feedback, and from
complex statistical data analysis to intuitive interpretation of anecdotal evidence,
adopting the IMC objectives as a criteria of evaluation
Figure 21: Campaign Measurement and Evaluation Model
Control
Control plays an important role in the process of performance evaluation duo to two
aspects; first to ensure that the plan is being implemented as it should, and secondly;
to check if the strategies being implemented are having the expected effect.
Macro
The management of an IMC proposed for 3 years period places the performance
evaluation as a vital component of the project that will determine the success or
predict the failure of the campaign objectives. The evaluation will be continuous,
starting from the initial stages to the implementation and consequently post-
evaluation, it will enable changes and adaptation in the communication and chosen
Medias during the periods by measuring efficiency and effectiveness
The campaign evaluation can identify the performance by measuring two important
aspects; response and profitability. The IMC proposed for Aston Martin has the
ultimate objective of generating a capital of £500,000,000 by going public in 2015 with
an investment of £35,000,000 in marketing. In order to achieve the ultimate goal, the
evaluation process will track and evaluate the media resonance, assessment of “share
of voice” and” share of discussion” in comparison to the main competitors.
Secondary Research, ELP identifies the brand target audiences; Gilt Edge Lifestyle,
Successful Starters, Mid Life Affluence and Advancing Status in the like hood and
intention to purchase an Aston Martin, as well as reactions and opinion towards
attitudes and values presented by the brand.
The IMC measurement and evaluation will also make use of econometrics and
modeling techniques to evaluate „One touch away‟ campaigns impact over the time:
Pre copy concept testing using focus groups and online medium where target
audience are presented with the „One touch away‟ story boards. The overall and
individual medium adverting concepts will be pre - tested. Tracking survey will focus
on:
Level of ad recall
The quality of the creative message
Impressions and feeling towards the brand
The environmental prominence and impact of specific media vehicle
Post copy testing will measure advertising copy impact in company outcomes
Quantitative and Qualitative analysis including in-depth interview with costumers and
“mystery shoppers” will identify issues during the purchasing process and check if the
staff is qualified and well trained for sales.
The internet response rate and traffic, as well as social media monitoring will be
tracked by accurate, reliable and instantaneous tools available such as Google
Analytics, Google Trends, Facebook Analytics, Technorati and Alexa.
Considering that the UK Automotive industry is one of the biggest revenue generator
and one of the largest board of employees, the government makes itself present and
active in monitoring, evaluating and regulating the business. Due this strong presence
of the government, there are official entities and associations in charge of different
analysis and tracking. In order to evaluate the performance of the Aston Martin
proposed IMC, it will make possible to rely on reports from the Society of Motor
Manufacturers and Traders to evaluate the performance of the IMC in different
objectives.
The report will provide weakly monitoring on:
Market Share
New Vehicles Sales
Used Vehicles Sales
Competitors Performance
Vertical Integration
The company‟s vertical integration means marketing and communication objectives
must support the higher level corporate objectives and corporate mission. Vertical
integration enables the company to control all business parts together, produce,
market, and distribute products from manufacturing though retailing.
The challenge lay in Aston Martin being an international company which means there
is a complex organisational structure and challenging relations between internal
departments and external agencies involved in delivering the IMC objectives. Once
strategic decisions are made at the highest organisational level, it is essential for
every single department and person within the organisation to understand strategy
importance and know the route how objectives are going to be achieved.
Communication and mutual understanding between separate organisations units is
crucial as it integrates individual tasks into the overall company strategy. The
department‟s “ego and turf wars” (Duncan & Everett, 1993) are the easiest way to
jeopardise the success of the strategy because of the failure to understand and work
towards a common goal. Aston Martin IMC requires a number of external agencies;
advertising, public relationships, mobile and number of „creative hot houses‟ for
individual creative solutions. Therefore external agencies must be precisely briefed via
client briefs and know exactly what is expected from them to be delivered.
Furthermore, the close coordination and management of external agencies is required
as failure to do so can lead to different agencies performing identical tasks (i.e.
different creative agencies making solutions for the same element of the integrated
campaign) which will increase costs and cause delays in the campaigns
implementation.
Once tasks are dispersed, the timeline should be followed closely and it is important
that someone from a higher managerial level would be responsible for overlooking the
IMC strategies‟ implementation
Aston Martin presents a vertical integration that enables control and management of
the point of sales, once the company owns most of its dealerships. The organization
structure also facilitates the delivery of mission and beliefs of the company to their
employees, from the CEO to the force of sales via a lean chain of command. It‟s
important that this message to be clear to the sales force, because they are the last in
the hierarchy scheme, but the first contact with the target audience in the most
important moment: the purchase act.
The only gap perhaps in vertical integration, for Aston Martin as a whole company is
the disability to produce some important parts of their cars, such as electronic
components and outsourced engines. This disadvantage forces the company to rely
on suppliers and restricts new product development, but in the other hand, the attempt
to integrate this expertise might become an expensive way to waste time and
resources trying a development that would be better done by specialized partners.
Horizontal Synergy
The horizontal synergy within Aston Martin‟s IMC manages all forms of communication
and message carefully linked together to surround the target audience by messages
that will impact them in different levels of attention and consciousness, but
coordinated to triggers a desired response or attitude change.
The IMC strategy is designed in a way which enables target audience being exposed
to communication message via multiple touch points built-in the target audience‟s
natural environments. As the result, consistent communication coming for Martin
enables to build relationship with the customers and invites to engage with the brand.
The IMC strategy involves a number of promotional tools that are set up to act
together across wide range of media vehicles. Advertising techniques are intended to
influence emotional elements of the decision making mechanism so that product
awareness and brand preference can be generated. At the same time using third
parties channels public relation activities are designed to advocate heritage,
performance and stylish design.
One example of horizontal synergy in the Aston Martin IMC can be described as the
ability that internet, sales, direct mail and advertising can help each other via data
integration. Marketing information is an outcome of horizontal synergy whether this
system collects and share relevant data across different departments
As the result third parties‟ add- on credibility would allow break through the clutter and
make communication message more familiar, consequently more trusted. Finally, by
providing value and exchanging knowledge via events and DIM techniques will trigger
even more high rates of emotional involvement. The final result of the IMC strategy
significantly relies on the individual promotional mix elements‟ performance. However,
by integrating all promotional tools to work together communication strategy enables
to delivery synergy. Meaning that excluding any one or more elements from the
proposed promotional mix would result lesser impact, therefore communication
objectives would not be fully achieved.
7497
6764
1080
467
8187
6382
1024
384
Mercedes-Benz
Porsche
Aston Martin
Ferrari
Figure 2 : Top-end cars sales in Uk by period
2011 2010
