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MKTG522 Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) Campaign Plan Topic Proposal Form: Due Week 1

Complete this form and submit it to the Week 1 Course Project: Topic Proposal Dropbox. Your instructor must approve your idea, and will give you feedback and suggestions if you need help.

Begin by brainstorming and generating a list—you have several options when choosing a product or service for your IMC plan. Consider choosing a brand that you have a passion for or creating a new brand for a new company or a new brand for an existing company. Perhaps you would want to select a product extension of an existing product. You might consider a different approach to marketing an existing service—you may select a product or a service. You can target consumers or businesses. You may choose a product or service offered by your employer or your own business, or one from another organization. Ultimately, to maximize your learning experience, choose a product or service brand that you have an interest in. Make sure there is information available about the industry and target market of the brand that you have selected. Think about why this brand needs an IMC Campaign—or why the existing campaign needs to be changed—what problem are you solving?

Your name:

Thalia N. Douglas, D40001820

Identify and describe the selected brand.

Optimum TV is a digital cable television (Cablevision network) provided by Altice USA. Cablevision is a subsidiary of Altice USA servicing New York City and several other states. Engineer Patrick Drahi in 2001 acquired Cablevision from the Dolan family. It provides digital cable television, high-speed Internet, WIFI and many more products to the residential and business community.

What brand problem are you attempting to solve with an IMC?

Today, cable is costlier, making it easier for consumers to jump to online streaming. Cable customers are responsible for the payment of the equipment as well as the cable service that includes customer service. Today, a lot of consumers resort to streaming platforms that are accessible through Amazon Firestick, Apple TV, and Roku because it is hassle free. According to Andrew Meola, he states that cable companies lost approximately "345,000 video subscribers in 2015" and still losing subscribers continuously. (Meola, 2016) Consumers pay for their equipment, and the rest is history. Cable television is over-priced, making it easier for consumers to make the switch to online streaming. Online platforms such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime cost approximately $9.99 no more than $10. Consumers watch approximately twenty channels overall on their cable television.

For the costs that they incur, why not switch to something more substantial and cost effective? Team "Go" came up with a great solution called the "Your way package." The "Your way package" is a package for consumers that only want to subscribe to certain channels. Customers can now pay what they want with no hassle. In addition, we will offer the option of upgrading their connectivity options from the coaxial box to a fiber optic connection (Free upgrade limited offer). We can't live in the past with old cable technology. Therefore, we will revamp our old coaxial for fiber optic cables. The fiber optic is more cost effective in the long run because it is more reliable as well as secure, sturdier, increases bandwidth, and download speeds. I like the idea – I wish Comcast offered this.

I will offer no additional writing edit recommendations beyond this point, Thalia.

Who do you think the target audience is? (Remember that you will need to confirm this with research.)

Cable television has targeted audience is a specific geographic location. African-American consumers are more prone to watch cable television more than five hours a day. However, more than ever as we get older close to retirement age we tend to watch more television as the days go by. According to David Hinckley of the New York Daily News, states when we are young we tend to look at television the most while we are at home. Teenagers are more intrigued with outside interests and more high tech ways of engaging. Researchers found that "African Americans watch an average of 218 hours of television a month, Caucasian 155.3 hours, Hispanics 123.2 hours, and Asian Americans 92.3 hours a month." (Hinckley, 2014) It is clear to say that African Americans watch a lot of television. That is a publication title – differentiated by underlining, talents, or some other means.

You want to describe your target market in terms of gender, age, education, income, ethnicity (as appropriate), and geography. Were is your target market located?

Are similar or competitive brands available? List or briefly describe a similar brand.

There are several cable providers that offer skinny bundles such as Verizon, Comcast, and AT&T. They are offering subscribers bundle packages that include streamlined content with internet access. According to Allconnect, Verizon FiOS offers their subscribers internet service, local channels, a choice between Showtime or HBO as well as a year subscription to Netflix. On the other hand, Comcast offers internet service, only ten local channels, and a subscription to HBO as well as Streampix. Comcast hasn't stopped there they expanded their audience by targeting the College dormitory making deals with the campuses to allow them access to Xfinity. (Allconnect, 2014)

How does your brand differ from competitors? What is the distinctive competitive advantage?

Optimum TV differs from other competitors by their pricing. Their pricing is a bit cheaper than such brands like DIRECTV and Verizon FIOS. Some prices from other providers such as DIRECTV and FIOS can range from $70 to $140 per month not including tax whereas the most Optimum TV will cost is approximate $110 (not including tax). Optimum TV believes in international communication; it caters to a specific geographical area, and it includes approximately 20 international channels. Also, it offers News12 for the Tristate area with news content 24/7. Optimum TV does not subject their consumers to a cancellation fee since there is no abiding contract, unlike other providers they will charge the consumers. Optimum offers TV to Go that allows consumers to access the Optimum Internet even if they have not subscribed to the service.

Do you have questions for your instructor? Please list them here.

Allconnect. (2014, December 14). Cable companies slim down offerings with “skinny” bundles . Retrieved from Allconnect Connected: https://www.allconnect.com/blog/cable-companies-slim-down-offerings-with-skinny-bundles/

Hinckley, D. (2014, March 5). Average American watches 5 hours of TV per day, report shows . Retrieved from New York Daily News: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/average-american-watches-5-hours-tv-day-article-1.1711954

Meola, A. (2016 , March 16). Traditional pay-TV loses even more ground to cord cutters . Retrieved from Business Insider: http://www.businessinsider.com/cable-tv-curbs-subscriber-losses-but-cord-cutters-continue-to-grow-2016-3

Thalia, as you look at what you are proposing, I want you to reflect on what is the BRAND problem that you are attempting to solve for the product/service for the company that you have selected… and that you feel your IMC Plan can help to solve (or minimize).

Your product/service is competing with similar entities – what does your company’s service do BETTER for your target market that is not being addressed by other companies that focus on something similar… or being addressed as well? This is something to consider when you craft your message!

After all, if the target market doesn’t see a problem, they don’t see a need for a solution... and will not be seeking a solution from you, i.e., what message you promote via your IMC Plan.

This is the difficult part of coming up with an IMC message. If what you wish to promote is seen by the target market as a “me, too” offering, unless you have a CLEAR differentiator that solves a concern that the target market has, they may not want to consider that about which you are so enthused via your IMC Plan.

Were I to approach your target market and say to them, “Thalia feels that this is needed and that it will solve a problem that exists in the market. What do you think? Does it?”

What would they say?

Thus, and especially when you have competition, it is important that you have a clear differentiator that would be attractive to your target market and that solves a problem… or reduces the risk of a problem occurring. Your IMC Plan will communicate a message that will resonate with your target audience that, in turn, will help to entice them to purchase your product/service…or at least look into it.

You want to be more specific in terms of geography and consumer demographics. WHERE is your audience located? You are asked to select a major metropolitan area within the United States and that your executable IMC Plan would target. Consider the nearest metropolitan area relative to where you live. Please identify this metropolitan area. We will talk about these this week in Week TWO when we discuss the topic of Target Markets and segmentation.

Okay, let’s go with this – I’ll look forward to your IMC Plan Outline at the end of Week FOUR (January 29th). Remember that you want to use the format provided you in the Course Project Week FOUR Draft (Go to DOC SHARING). Ensure you have demonstrated sufficient research to fulfill the content and evaluation requirements.

Certainly, a measurable IMC communications objective should be stated. An example of such an objective is found in the MKT522 IMC Plan Key Content Considerations and the Week FOUR IMC Plan Draft documents that are both found in DOC SHARING – following the advice found in each should serve you well.

One last thing – ALL of your MKTG522 written papers are evaluated for graduate-level writing. The MKTG522 Writing Tips for Success offers some good ideas that make your papers look better. Do proofread your paper so that errors that cost you points aren’t overlooked. I offered some edit recommendations above.

Thanks!

bob

Evaluation -- Content: 16/18 Writing Quality: 1.4/2 17.4/20