Hi folks, i have one blog for the subject of marketing of 800 words from the topic Integrated Marketing Communication. I want the blog of 800 words in word file along with 10 deakin harward referencin

The Only Way A Girl shoul be : #LikeAGirl

“Always”has been an excellent example when we talk about marketing campaigns. The company has made its ultimate brand value by providing trusted feminine hygiene products and educating girls about puberty (Always.com, 2018).

About the movement 

“Always” encouraged girls to embrace their failure as a fuel to build confidence and keep going #LikeAGirl.

When puberty hits, 50% of the girls feel paralysed, as they become less confident, in which 80% of the girls feel that society drives this fear.

For three decades, women empowerment movement worldwide, has led to educating millions about their puberty and cycles, to make them feel confident (Always.com, 2018).

“Always” brought this creative idea of making a change in this not-so-feminist world who always interpreted this phrase ‘LikeAGirl’ in derogatory ways. The creative team of the company has been constantly indulged in finding new ways to build confidence in girls that were more pertinent, and which could portray that the phrase ‘LikeAGirl’ is changing from a term of offense to that of pride, empowerment, and liberation.

The campaign they began was based on a social experiment to depict what impression does the phrase ‘like a girl’ brings in the minds of society, more importantly on girls during their puberty age. The first step to spark the light of this movement was releasing a video, which captured the different interpretations of this phrase by people of all ages, and sadly most of these interpretations were of being inferior, other than those of some bold girls (The Drum, 2018).

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhB3l1gCz2E[/embed]

How they implemented 

IMC has been regarded as a management philosophy which can be incorporated into the business approach (Reid, Luxton and Mavondo, 2005). The company showed a great example of implying IMC with their campaign. Lauren Greenfield, documentary filmmaker was brought on board for the production of their film (Always.com, 2018).

Once they had shot the film, a campaign was then constructed around the video to spread messages which were directed towards women empowerment, showing that ‘like a girl’ should be embraced by women as an eloquent and commanding message.

Social hashtag was introduced as a rallying cry to rally people to change the conventional meaning of this phrase, and it was used on many posts and tweets, by women to show the world how amazing can a girl be.

The hashtag used with the phrase captured the crux of the idea as well as stimulated people to take part in shifting the conventional meaning.

The impact

The video released became a massive success, generating considerable awareness globally, achieving above 135 million views on YouTube from 150+ countries.

 The campaign showed a strong rise in Always’ brand equity, while most of its competitors saw a decline. After six months of this campaign, during 2015 Super Bowl, a 60-second spot highlighting the campaign was run. After two months, the company released a follow-up video showing how the meaning of the phrase is changing, to mark the International Women’s Day(D&AD, 2018).

The main reason behind this campaign’s success balances on three key aspects, viz. creation and distribution of content and how well these both are integrated with consumer path (Medium, 2018).

The content created by “Always” is much valuable, consistent and relevant.

Considering the fact that girl’s confidence plummets during puberty, valuable and interesting videos were created by “Always” to change the meaning of the concerned phrase from an insult to an ultimate compliment. The way the campaign has segmented and targeted customers, which boosted girls’ confidence made them distinguish from their competitors.

The content they provided regarding girls’ puberty which had relevant tips and advice for them to get to know more about their periods, had always been consistent in theme, directed towards boosting up puberty girls’ confidence, irrespective of the forms or channels they are in.

To market content and to make that reach wider audience, they chose YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms which promoted #LikeAGirl videos. They also paid famous people, to spread videos with the phrase.

To provide tips and advice for puberty girls, they used Google SEO and their official website to reach target customers effectively.

The reason behind using hashtag #LikeAGirl was to incite its target customers to share their impactful stories and engage with the brand on social media. Moreover, there is a separate section for discussion and ideas about how to boost up girl’s confidence.

From a marketing perspective, content holds the utmost weightage, followed by distribution. Integrating both of these into consumer path, creates a wide base for the company’s products. “Always” very well found the target consumer track (Aware – Appeal – Ask – Act – Advocate), and then spread the appropriate content through suitable channels at every phase of consumer path.

#LikeAGirl videos on YouTube make girls aware of the brand and they tend to like this brand for their interesting and empowering videos, which champions up their confidence, making them feel valued. To know more about this brand, they tend to search and in turn like this brand for the tips and advice provided, about the changes in their body and mind during puberty. This inquisition turns into interest which leads them to purchase recommended pads, which if felt comfortable, makes them promote #LikeAGirl videos. 

References:

Always.com. (2018). About Us | Always.com. [online] Available at: https://always.com/en-us/about-us/we-care-about-all-women-and-girls [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Always.com. (2018). Our Epic Battle #LikeAGirl. [online] Available at: https://always.com/en-us/about-us/our-epic-battle-like-a-girl [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Campaignlive.co.uk. (2018). Case study: Always #LikeAGirl. [online] Available at: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/case-study-always-likeagirl/1366870 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

D&AD. (2018). Case Study: Always #LikeAGirl. [online] Available at: https://www.dandad.org/en/d-ad-always-like-a-girl-campaign-case-study-insights/ [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Medium. (2018). Why “Always #LikeAGirl” is so successful? – Sparkle_Yi Wu – Medium. [online] Available at: https://medium.com/@yw2467/why-always-likeagirl-is-so-successful-643a6e6fe834 [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].

Reid, M., Luxton, S. and Mavondo, F. (2005). THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATION, MARKET ORIENTATION, AND BRAND ORIENTATION. Journal of Advertising, 34(4), p.13.

The Drum. (2018). 2014: Always unveils groundbreaking ‘Like a Girl’ campaign. [online] Available at: https://www.thedrum.com/news/2016/03/31/2014-always-unveils-groundbreaking-girl-campaign [Accessed 19 Sep. 2018].