Integrated Marketing

Communications Plan
IMC Assignment

Submitted By:
Amit Kumar
2009B53
SCMHRD
TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAND- COMPANY PROFILE ...................................................... 3

Target Market ................................................................................................................. 3
Product Range ................................................................................................................ 4
Consumer Behavior and determining communication objectives .............................................. 4
Longterm Communication Objetive ...................................................................................... 5
Brand Personality .............................................................................................................. 5
Brand Identity Prism ...................................................................................................... 7
Designing The communications ...................................................................................... 7
Marketing Communication Mix ....................................................................................... 8
Advertising .................................................................................................................. 9
Direct Marketing ........................................................................................................ 10
Sales Promotions ....................................................................................................... 11
Personal Selling ......................................................................................................... 12
Events and Sponsorships .......................................................................................... 12
Word Of Mouth .......................................................................................................... 14
TOUCH POINTS ............................................................................................................ 14
SYNERGY AMONG TOUCH POINTS ........................................................................... 14
Ensuring MC’s effectiveness.......................................................................................... 14
Partners in communication ........................................................................................... 15
Implementation Plan ..................................................................................................... 16
Evaluation of imc program ............................................................................................ 17
References .................................................................................................................... 18

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 A new Ethnic Apparel Brand

INTRODUCTION TO THE BRAND- COMPANY PROFILE

The Bodhi Shop is a chain of few apparel retail outlets in Gujarat which stocks various fabrics,
garments and accessories. Apart from the retail outlet, Bodhi has a wide range of products that are
made to order for export and for the domestic Indian market.

Filled with the aesthetics and values Bodhi, is a fresh and dynamic ethnic wear lifestyle brand that
thrives to make both traditional as well as contemporary clothing and printed fabrics with a distinct
flavor that comes from a sophisticated sense of aesthetics, attention to detail, quality and excellent
craftsmanship. Bodhi's creations carry great designs which are hand printed on natural fabrics by a
process that has minimal impact on the environment.

Bodhi as a brand is since 1994 and has grown since but doesn‟t have a pan India presence
through stores. Instead it takes up exhibitions for a period in different cities.

Based on the IMC plan Pyramid we will take each tool to build a brand for Bodhi. The apparel
brand was born from the idea to make a brand, which will take the Indian weavers and the
centuries old Indian Embroidery to the organized market. The concept of the store is a place which
brings these exquisite art forms, on Indian hand woven cloth.

TARGET MARKET

The target market for the salon is predominantly female. The female individual appreciates beauty,
fashion and style and likes to show that. This female tends to take very good care of herself
through exercise as well as numerous upscale beauty products. She appreciates quality and is
willing to pay for it.

Base on this the target customer can be profiled as a Woman

o Upper middle/ Lower Upper/Upper Upper class

o Age group starting from 18 - 40
o Student
o Working professionals/Socially Active Women
o Having cultural and integral values

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PRODUCT RANGE

Products
Garments Home Linen Accessories

Sarees Duvet covers Stoles

Kurtas Bed covers Scarves
Indian Pants Table Cloths Dupattas
Skirts Napkins String Bags
Blouses Tea-cozy
Kaftans Aprons

CONSUMER BEHAVIOR AND DETERMINING COMMUNICATION OBJECTIVES

The communication objectives are based on the response hierarchy models and can be set at any
level. The model here we want to use is the HOE i.e. Hierarchy of Effects model.

Awareness: If most of the target audience is unaware of the object, the communicator‟s task is to
build awareness, perhaps just name recognition, with simple messages repeating the product
name. Consumers must become aware of the brand. As most of the target segment is
comparatively new to this brand so we need to aware the mass to build awareness.

Knowledge: After making the target audience aware of brand, but still they do not know much,
hence this stage involves creating brand knowledge. This is where comprehension of the brand
name and what it stands for become important.

Liking: After knowledge about the brand the feelings of consumers assosciated with brand should
be analysed, and if the feelings are unfavorable then stress should be laid on this stage.

Preference : even after the liking it may happen that many people may prefer another brand in the
same category more favorable may be due to availability, prices, attitude etc.In this case, the
communicator must try to build consumer preference by promoting quality, value, performance and
other features.

Conviction: A target audience might prefer a particular product but not develop a conviction about
buying it. The communicator‟s job is to build conviction among the target audience.

Purchase: Finally, some members of the target audience might have conviction but not quite get
around to making the purchase. They may wait for more information or plan to act later. The
communicator must need these consumers to take the final step, perhaps by offering the product

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at a low price, offering a premium, or letting consumers tried out. This is where consumers make a
move to actually search out information or purchase.

Based on the above we have to set our long term objectives and subsequent IMC strategies.

The IMC Plan would focus on three main things:

1. Creating general Brand Awareness

2. Taking products to preference level
3. Increase sales through above said objectives.

LONGTERM COMMUNICATION OBJETIVE

Based on the above done customer behavior study the long term objective would be a multiple one
with following objectives:

Brand Awareness

 To promote the awareness about Bodhi and to make it be the first brand that comes
to mind for ethnic,elegant and colorful clothes.

Brand Attitude

 To make the brand more preferable by 50% for the target customer in view of
customers

Brand Purchase Intention

 To get each target customer to visit a “Bodhi” store at least once every season, and
to get new referred customers equal to 100 % of existing customer base every year.

The key to any apparel brand‟s success is to become a style mirror for the person who wears it.
Thus with the range and the regularly updated designs , our communication should ensure that the
customer gets to go through the collection at least once. The communication should excite and
encourage the customer old and new, that Bodhi is the place where they will definitely be items
which they would like to own or gift.

The clothes should make the person feel comfortable and good, get attraction and attention from
others and then reply back as the question of “where did you buy it from?”. Thus referrals, positive
ones are the brand builders.

BRAND PERSONALITY
The brand personality is basically what a brand would look if it was a person. Based on the target
market analysis and brand image and positioning

Based on the Aaker’s model of brand personality the “personality” of a brand can be described
and measured in five core dimensions, each divided into a set of facets and each facet is in turn

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measured by set of traits. The trait measurements are done using a five point scale (1= not at all
descriptive, 5 extremely descriptive)

1. Sincerity(Down to Earth, Honest ,Wholesome, Cheerful)

2. Excitement( Daring, Spirited, Imaginative, Up-to-date)
3. Competence(Reliable, Intelligent, Successful)
4. Sophistication( Upper Class, Charming)
5. Ruggedness( Outdoorsy, Tough)

Dimension 1 2 3 4 5
Sincerity 
Excitement 
Competence 
Sophistication 
Ruggedness 

Based on the above analysis Bodhi scores high on sincerity as it projects itself as Gentle, honest,
sensitive and complete as personified by a Family Oriented Woman which also describes it as
reliable and successful and thus high scores on Excitement and competence dimensions. It can‟t
be described as rugged as it is projected as contemporary, bright and lively, caring, confident and
in control. So in all the brand personality that emerges is:

Bodhi can be seen as a brand which will have the characteristics of being a global Indian , a
person who is cheerful and makes you feel good , works hard to do everything with perfection ,
caring and sensitive to people around, and Modern yet an Indian at Heart.

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BRAND IDENTITY PRISM

DESIGNING THE COMMUNICATIONS

The designing of the communications would be based on the idea of one voice-one message
strategy. The strategy would be to address the three problems:

WHAT TO SAY (MESSAGE STRATEGY)

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The brand is basically for the woman and home décor, thus the theme of message should be
targeted on the housewife. Based on the brand positioning the theme would be :

“The primary theme will be that Bodhi is for the sophisticated, successful woman of today,
who plays all responsibilities of life – family and carrier excellently. Celebrate your Lifestyle
with Indian Colors”

This theme would be directly appealing to the social(social conformity) and the ego satisfaction of
women.

HOW TO SAY IT (CREATIVE STRATEGY)

The creative strategy would be based on the Transformational appeals i.e. which elaborates on a
non-product-related benefit or image. As discussed above the appeal would be to depict a
confident elegantly dressed Global Indian woman successful on both professional and
personal front.

WHO SHOULD SAY IT (MESSAGE SOURCE)

The spokesperson selected should portray the appeal we want to create. So qualities of being
successful, elegant and truly Indian with global appeal should be there in the spokesperson. Based
on the three dimensions of expertise, trustworthiness and likability the spokesperson for this brand
would be Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bacchan.

As she has carved a niche in global arena as she was ex Miss world, and has been a quite
successful actress. Not only that after marriage she has balanced perfectly between her home
and professional responsibilities. So, she provides the perfect personality for the brand.

SELECTING THE COMMUNICATION CHANNEL

The communication channels for such a brand would include both the types of channels viz.
Personal as well as Nonpersonal.

Personal: It refers to the channel when two or more persons communicate face to face, over
phone, email etc. Rather than stressing on Advocate channels the more focus would be on the
expert and social channels as this would be easier and more cost effective. This will include social
media marketing and word of mouth marketing

Nonpersonal: It refers to when communication is directed towards more than one person. This
channel in our case will include the media, sales promotion, events and experiences, PR etc.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX

Below are presented the implementation of the selected components of marketing mix.

Throughout the focus is on building the desired image of the brand , and to get the customer to be
interested in the brand by means of thematic communication. Once the customer has visited a
store and experienced the brand , entice him with all possible touch points and after purchase ,
maintain a constant relationship with him , so that he is periodically remembered and informed
about the brand , Thus engaging him. To build a trustworthy relationship , which the customer will
trust enough to refer to friends.

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ADVERTISING
Advertising provides a platform to reach geographically dispersed buyers. It can build up a long
term image of a brand. It will include the advertisements on FM,TV, newspapers and magazines.
The strategies would include:

1. Adverticles

The informative articles generally on new fashion trends, or Indian traditional themes such as
marriage wears, occasional party wears etc. will be published in national newspapers with “Bodhi -
Indian Woman”as the author.

The adverticles will be placed in the additional pages on Fasion/beauty page that actually appeals
to woman. It will contain a weekly column related to topics like art forms , different seasons ,
flowers , Indian festivals , mythological characters and other Indian themes. Articles will we very
enticing and create an image of beauty an aura for the subject. The language of these articles will
be very urban and contain pictures of the art form.

The “BODHI” Logo will appear with the article, with one line that will relate the News paper article
with the current collection at the store.

2. Newspaper and Magazine Advertisements:

The advertisements will be limited to media of English Newspapers and other local magazines as
well as national magazines. The advertisements will have a theme running through the season,
which will link to the collection at the store and display pieces from the collection.

 Each ad would be of the same size and have the logo at the same place.
 Indian Themes relating to the collection at the store
 The ads will appear on weekends, not on the main newspaper but on the additional.
 The ad should contain the website name

3. TV advertisements

The advertisements of the brand would be shown only on cultural/fashion channels generally
around 3pm and 8pm.the channels for this cause would be NDTV GOOD TIMES, Discovery Life &
Travel. The advertisement would include a glimpse of Aishwarya Rai promoting the brand .

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4. Radio

The radio advertisements would be generally on FM and would be done only near the launch of a
store in the surrounding vicinity. Thus the AD can be aired at preferred location with less
investment. As the target group we are considering , would generally travel by Car so FM is better
way to target them.

DIRECT MARKETING

E-mails:

Short and Concise newsletters that can entice customers can be sent to existing customer base, to
prospects whose email ids are obtained by partnering with clubs and other social communities.

For ex. : Tying up with the Spic Macay and other theatre groups and promote their plays by
selling tickets and gathering the database of our target consumers.

 The emails should have interesting content like perfectly embroiders sarees, handlooms
etc. with more visuals that are appealing to eyes and almost like forward mails , which
people will go through and pass on.

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  As the brand boasts about environmental security this can be weaved into the newsletters
and direct mail cards can be sent to such people to join the Bodhi Community.
 Other type of newsletters could be about various city happenings related to cultural
festivals , events , etc.

INTERACTIVE MARKETING

1. WEBSITE

“Bodhi “website will be a very important communication, interaction and customer engagement
tool.

The colorful website with a green background will be an integration tool for the various
communication efforts.

 Will have information about the “Bodhi” beliefs and dreams.

 Collection of all the print advertisements
 Customization of embroidery, printing of customer selected pics/prints facility
 Info about upcoming events.
 Information about the artworks.
 CSR information as to how we are working towards the betterment of the weavers and the
artisans.
 Environment protection efforts taken by us
 Customers Articles and designs submitted at website
 Customer Feedback and complaint forum.

2. Social Media Campaigns

After a planned roll out of all the other promotional tools the brand would like to make a community
of its own. The customers would be sent a invitation to join on different social media sites. This will
help in creating a intense brand awareness among the unreachable target segment otherwise and
also will help the brand to get a international platform.

The applications would be provided on these sites which will make active engagement and would
in turn provide loyalty to the brand from its customers.

SALES PROMOTIONS

 Initially for increased footprints and traffic a discount of 10% on MRP for irst 30 days would
be run.
 Customer Relationship Management: With your first purchase of above 3000 a loyalty card
would be given along with some points. These points could be redeemed at any store to
get the free ticket to the events we are going to sponsor.
 Also a unique no. would be given to you by which you could access different applications
on website and utilize additional and exclusive features on the site.( mentioned in the
Website section.)

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  The customers would be provided an in house magazine describing the facts and
information about family,fashion etc.alongwith customer‟s experiences and articles.
 Weekend Guests: an artisan will come and demonstrate live, his artwork. Customers
get a hands-on experience.

PERSONAL SELLING
At Bodhi every artist or salesman will acts as its own salesperson. Every employee that is involved
with the customer has to make sure that she / he comes back. At the end of the service treatment
the person that handles the customer has to make sure to set a future appointment, and that the
customer feels obliged not to miss it.

Secondly he should try to engage the customer in the community projects for example: CSR
activities and environment protection activities so as to make resonance with the customers

Sales people should provide needed information only and just find things according to their need.
All the sales person should have same yet ethnic uniform

The Sales team should be very responsive, friendly, well informed and well dressed.
Trained to understand the taste and needs of the customer when she walks in.

EVENTS AND SPONSORSHIPS

The events that need to be sponsored need to be in sync with the message that is conveyed
through the brand and its products. BODHI has an Indianised image, depicting and celebrating the
success of today‟s age women with traditional values, sophisticated with a status symbol and the
„Be a Proud Indian‟ attitude. The followers or enthusiasts of the event could possibly be the
influencers or share the values with which the brand empathises with. Based on the above
attitudes this can be done by associating with:

1) Local Theatre Groups In Metros

As many upper middle and upper class ladies are much into such events so they can
provide a good medium to reach the target.Moreover such theatre groups generally
correspond to our message of ethnic appeal and thus are a must to go for.

2) Classical Dance /Musical Concerts

As these are core essence of Indian culture they can correlate better to our target group.
Thus sponsoring such events will greatly enhance the brand equity.
Spic Macay and Pancham Nishad organize many such events and sharing name with them
will definitely make our brand popular as well as strong.

3) Folk events / Handicraft Exhibitions

The folk events that are generally held in metros for example :Dilli Haat in Delhi where the
target segment capturing probability is highest exhibition and events for example TEEJ fest
etc. can be sponsored so as to increase the awareness

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PUBLIC RELATIONS
1) NGOs
For the CSR activities to engage the community and to make a resonance with the
customers some events assosciated with the NGOs could be done.

o There will be donation campaigns at the store and on the website.

o The customers will be informed about the NGO, and the relationship „Bodhi‟ shares
with it.
o Customers will be told about how they can help other than by money

2) Trade shows
The exhibitions along with the new collections that entice the women can be made in big
trade shows like Trade fair at Pragati Maidan in Delhi and similarly in other metros can be
done initially to make the business community aware of such brand.

3) Exhibition by customers for customers

Invited to come and exhibit their artwork, etc

4) Contests for Customers

o Contests will be held where customer can show their creative talents

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 o Contests for best ideas, design and themes for future collections
5) Sponsoring of a handicraft festival in NIFT/NID every year

WORD OF MOUTH

 Socialites: Being the focal points for the line of business, its very important to be in contact
with the socialites of Delhi, Mumbai, etc so that the product can get free publicity via word
of mouth and these socialites can also serve as the Brand evangelists
 Also,For word of mouth publicity the main source would be to satisfy and amaze the
existing customers , which will be greatly dependent on the brand image built by the quality
, uniqueness and customer engagement with the brand.

TOUCH POINTS

 Adverticles  Store Billboard  Mail Cards

 Trade shows  Sponsored Events  Promotional
 Products Pamphlets Coupons
 NGOs and Other  Carry Bags  Events billboards
Communities  Bills  Contest forms
 Catalogs/Brochures  Brand Tag  Social Media Page
 Emails  Sales Person  Applications

All the touch points reinforce what brand stands for, they draw synergy from each other as each
focuses on making the brand more and more attractive to the customers, reinforce the correctness
of the purchase decision , and increase the value of the bought products.

SYNERGY AMONG TOUCH POINTS

The touch points should synergise and in turn should potentiate each other. It should be in the
concordance with the one voice one message strategy.

For example:The models portrayed while doing the photoshoots for the brand should be in Indian
ethnic wear and should be Indian. A foreign model won‟t be able to make the product Indianised
and thus would defeat the purpose of the brand. Also the other touch points that are there should
provide a feel of sophistication. The touchpoints shouldn‟t show vulgarity but should have a family
appeal.

ENSURING MC’S EFFECTIVENESS

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  All the marketing communication mix elements used for BODHI and the various touch
points available, will be controlled by the one agency only so that message is coherent in
each medium
 Moreover if possible the in-house agency would be given the task of whole IMC plan
 To ensure effectiveness, the communicated message should actually be fulfilled by the
brand.
 Thus effectiveness in case of the apparel brand like BODHI will be a joint effort of the
operations and merchandize planning, and collection designers.

PARTNERS IN COMMUNICATION
With a strong reliance on building the brand through rich experience of interaction with the brand
touch points, direct marketing and customer relationship management, the partners in
communication would be mostly from the creative fields.

Media House

The media houses would be according to the medium chosen. For example the media partners for
the print media and TV would be the TV Today group as it will allow Bodhi to have a presence on
NDTV Good times as well as magazines like outlook, India today etc.

The newspaper media would be Times Of India which has the highest reach and has good
supplements in which we want to place our ads.

In-house agencies

Bodhi Store will strongly rely on In-house agencies/ departments for communications associated
with

 Direct Marketing – Designing , collating , Editing and finalizing the direct marketing mails.
 In-store event planning
 In-store décor planning
o Poster designing
o Interior decoration
o Theme decisions and execution
 Package and Carry bag designing
 Brochure Designing
 Preparing articles for news papers

Internet and Web Designing Partners: These will be responsible for creating and maintaining
the website. They will be adding new features from time to time. They will also provide Web
Analytics data

Design Studios: Will be consulted by the in- House agencies, and provide them with required
resources like photographs, graphic art, etc.Used for print media communication execution

Frequent Buyer cards/ Loyalty programs agencies

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 Responsible for providing the system to run the program , and also maintain database of
customers and their accounts . During evaluation of communication will help in analyzing the data.

Celebrity Endorsers:

The celebrity and the brand ambassador for Bodhi would put forth the idea of a perfect Indian
woman. Suggested celebrity endorser would be Mrs. Aishwarya Rai Bacchan. The idea behind
having her as endorsers is to convey the secondary association, with the achievement, success
and family orientation of young generation Indian women.

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Phase Description Key role Time Activities

1 Pre-Opening of  To create brand Before 2 months of  TV ads
stores awareness opening  Bill boards
 Adverticles
 Magazine Ads
2 Opening of stores  To increase brand Next 2 months of  Direct mailers
awareness opening  CSR activities
 To create a  PR
Preference for the  Events
brand sponsorships

3. Post- Opening  To create After 2 months of  Emails

phase preference/Liking opening till next 8  Social media
for the brand months engagement
 PR
 Events
Sponsorships
4 Proliferation  To create After 3-4 months of  Sales
Phase conviction for the opening Promotions
brand  TV ads
 To Increase  Direct
purchase and Marketing
customer base  Personal
Sales
 Word Of
mouth
 NGOs
sponsorships

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EVALUATION OF IMC PROGRAM

The evaluation of the advertising and marketing efforts will take place on an ongoing basis over
various levels.
 The store will receive the month‟s media schedules before the first of the month. It is the
receptionist‟s/floor coordinators duty to ask how the customer (when they enter and
enquire) heard about Bodhi.
 They have to find out if it was through a referral, a direct mail piece, or if they have seen an
ad somewhere. After writing down where the prospect has heard about the store (in what
publication, station or direct mail), he or she will be noted down in a set up computer
program/software. The same is true for walk-in customers.
 After the purchase is finished the receptionist/floor manager has to also mark the amount
paid for the product. This way the store can take exact control in measuring media
effectiveness.

Sources of data:

- Data from loyalty cards

- Customer surveys in store and online
- Website ( Web analytics) trafific analysis
- Sales Data

Sales data analysis

 Merchandize wise (Artwork , Fabric , Size)

 Season wise
 Month wise
 Weekend/weekday wise
 Demographics of the customers wise ( from the Loyalty cards)
 Promotional coupons sold

Surveys

Once a quarter the store will send out a direct mail piece as well as hand out a survey in the
store/malls/cultural events to see what is the top of mind recall for the ethnic wear category? Which
medium has the strongest recognition with the customers. Future advertising development will be
tweaked accordingly .Conducted online and in-store to get to know

 How customers are actually coming to the store ?

 What is the perception about the brand ?
 What was most exciting part of shopping at Bodhi
 Success of in-store events

This will help us modify and redesign our communication mix to make it more effective and
efficient.

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Some of the observations that can be made from the data would be

• How the How much the store made compared to how much they spend that month
(Return on Investment (ROI)) separated by the medium or in total.
• How many customers the ads pulled in, the referrals pulled in and othersin total or
separated by hour, day, month, year.
• What medium is effective, what medium is working.
• What ad is working to drive in traffic, what ad is working to drive sales.
• If the ad is driving in the right customer

It will take some time for the store to establish an effective database with the computer program,
but it is only a matter of time.
One of the most essential steps is to set up the system correctly from the beginning on to make the
advertising work.

The store will evaluate its communication effectiveness at the end of every quarter so that it can
better it for the next season.

REFERENCES

1) Marketing Management - Philip Kotler

2) Principles of Advertising and IMC – Tom Duncan
3) www.bodhi.in
4) Photos – Google Image
5) Belch and Belch

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